Los Hobos Invade San Francisco

Thanksgiving in the City by The Bay

Once or twice a year some fun seekers we know all try to get together and go somewhere special together. We jokingly refer to ourselves as the "Los Hobos".  This is never an easy event to arrange as all of the folks involved have active careers with demanding clients, kids in college, and "to do" lists from hell. 


But somehow it all works out.

Next week we are heading to San Francisco to spend a few days at Thanksgiving. We have some pretty good stuff planned. Segway tours, good food, the new academy of sciences (Steinhart Aquarium - feeding the penguins!), Thanksgiving dinner at McCormick and Kuleto's in Ghirardelli Square, tree lighting at Union Square, the Tadich Grill, rides on the Cable Cars, really good Chinese food, and of course, an evening at Beach Blanket Babylon at the Club Fugazi.

For me this will be kind of like a sweet visit to my past as my Grandmother always made sure we made the trip across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco every year just before the holidays. To us San Francisco was always simply referred to as "The City". And it was. Back then women in SF always wore white gloves and hats. People shopped at I Magnins and The Emporium. 


We would go see the department store windows, take a walk down Maiden Lane, and, of course, stop in to see the beautiful decorations and smell the Christmas trees at the Podesta Baldocchi florist shop on Grant Street (it is the florist where Kim Novak shopped in Hitchcock's Vertigo).


We'd finish each trip with a visit to The City of Paris department store (now absorbed oddly - blame the late Phillip Johnson - into a very peculiar Neiman Marcus store) to see the amazing four story Christmas tree they installed every year under the store's incredible stained glass dome.

This week we will fly into SFO and take BART, but somehow, I know "The City" will conjure up its magic for us!

Roadboy's Travels © 2009

A Walk in Battery Park

A Short Walk On A Cool Fall Day

Last week I had a project that brought me to New York City. While my work kept me busy most of the time, I was able to get about a two hour walk in Friday morning near my hotel before heading to the airport. 

It was the day after a huge storm hit Long Island. There was still a lot of wind, and to a Phoenician it felt pretty chilly. It sputtered a bit of rain and the clouds were grey. But it still felt like a fine time to walk and a chance to glimpse the very last of fall's golden leaves on the trees. 

The Face of Fall

As always in New York City there was something cool to see every where I turned. As I walked I could see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island out in the Harbor.  But there was also the beautiful NYPD officers memorial which, sadly, has too many names on it.

The NYPD Memorial

The NYPD Wall of Honor

I also found myself pretty choked up at the sight of the beat up sculpture from the plaza of the World Trade Center.

WTC Sculpture

It wasn't all somber and introspective. I also found this playful Jim Dine sculpture of a romantic interlude between a cat in a skirt and an ape dancing in the park.

Waltzing in the Park

At the foot of the Battery is the beautiful US Customs House. It is precisely set where immigrants were brought after passing through Ellis Island. Now it is the Museum of the American Indian. Seems strangely ironic. The juxtoposition between our main portal of immigration and a tribute to the original Americans. 

The Larger Than Life Sculptures at the US Customs House

The Merchant Marine Memorial is dramatic as well as it depicts hands outstretched to save a comrade.

Hands Reaching To Safety

As I rounded the foot of Broadway on my way back there was the wonderful Bull looking for Wall Street.

The Bull

All in all two great hours of architectural  battery charging.

Roadboy's Travels © 2009

Obscure Los Angeles

Roadboy's Mini LA Tour

In any city I visit I like to take in more than just your typical tourist traps. Not to say that I don't love some big old tourist traps too, but hitting some obscure places along the way suits me just fine.

Last week my daughter and I spent four great days in southern California.  We enjoyed some  excellent food and spent some time in "behind the scenes" LA.

We made our first stop Indio California. We stopped there to eat. Not just eat anything. No we stopped to eat tamales. And not just any tamales, but the sweet corn tamales found at Indio's Pueblo Viejo Grill. Oh they are wonderful! Word of warning their full meals are huge. For every two people we order one combo and a bit of A la Carte. Another must stop in Indio is for a medjool date shake at Shield's Date Garden (Shield's has been a pesticide-free date growing institution in Indio since 1924).

The Place to Stop For Tamale's in Indio

I had a business appointment which resulted in an overnight stay in Fontana. This provided an excuse to eat lunch at Walter's in Claremont. Claremont is lovely and Walter's has that "only in California" feel to it. Great food, beautiful indoor or outdoor seating, and creative salads and entree's. I had a very tasty lamb pita. Two days, two great meals. 

Lamb Pita at Walter's Claremont

We then traveled on into LA with a much anticipated stop at the Galco Market in Eagle Rock. This little Mom and Pop grocery store features lots and lots and lots of soda pop. They sell soft drinks I have not seen since I was a kid (Nesbitts!) as well as flavors from around the US and around the world. Soft drinks and beer from South America, Europe, and Asia all represented in little old Galco. We stocked up on six packs of real Dr. Pepper in bottles from the plant in Dublin Texas (Texan's out there know what that means). Update 2012: Dr. Pepper's corporate owners have officially closed the Dublin Dr. Pepper plant, so the last plant making the soda so many of us cherished is now history. Shame on you Dr. Pepper!  We also got our Cheerwine from N.C. We got Shandy from Scotland, mint julep soda from KY, and birch beer from Maryland. Frankly, you could sample something everyday for a couple of months from Galco and not duplicate any two favors. They also have all the old time candy. Yep, I bought a big old sugar daddy. It was 45 minutes of pure bliss on a stick. I remembered my childhood and years of dental work squirmed.  

Galco's Market Eagle Rock
(Click to Enlarge)

Day three was spent visiting friends and taking the Sony Pictures backlot tour. While everybody knows about the "get in the tram" tour of Universal's backlot, not many know that NBC, Sony, Paramount, and Warner Brothers also offer intimate, small group walking tours by reservation only. They vary from $8 for NBC to $45 depending on the studio.

Sony Picture's 46 Acre Studio in Culver City
(Click to Enlarge)

For this trip we chose the Sony tour in Culver City. Yes kids many of "Hollywood's" biggest movies were not made in Hollywood. They were made in Culver City! 


The tour was great. It is a walking tour and takes about two hours. It starts with a film highlighting the history of this amazing movie factory. This lot was formerly MGM and is where Louie B. Mayer once boasted he had "more stars than there are in the heavens". One of the gate's still has MGM's trademark lions. The lot was also home to David O. Selznick (Gone With The Wind). It was where The Wizard of Oz was filmed, and in the 50's it ushered in television by housing I Love Lucy's DesiLu Studios. Later the studio became Lorimar and almost lost its soul. It is now officially Sony Entertainment and home to Columbia Pictures. 

Maybe 5 minutes into our tour Will Smith stepped up from behind us and grinned said a big "Hello" and disappeared into the Thalberg Building. He is taller than I had thought and before I could swing my camera up, he was gone.

The studio is immaculate, very safety conscious, and very, very, busy. The current depressed value of the dollar is clearly making it viable to shoot pictures in LA. This lot is 46 acres, so wear comfortable shoes.

For lunch a friend took us to Addi's Tandoor on Torrance Avenue in Redondo Beach. Don't let the strip mall location fool you. I have eaten Indian food in some wonderful restaurants before, but this was a simply exceptional lunch. We started with very hot and very perfect onion kulcha and garlic naan. From there on lunch just kept getting better and better. I had halibut masala and Ms. M had scallops malabar. The portions were way big and again we could have easily shared.

We had dinner at Izaka-ya sushi near Beverly Center on West 3rd St. in LA. This is the hole-in-the-wall casual second cousin to the pricey Katsu-Ya restaurant chain. While not cheap, it is not stratospheric like Katsu-Ya. Service is fast. It is noisy and crowded. But the creamy rock shrimp on spicy salmon roll was just eye-rolling good. Go early!

The next day was spent visiting a college friend of Miss M's at Kazu Kibuishi's Bolt City Studio in Alhambra. Bolt City is the dream factory where the Flight, Daisy Kutter, Copper, and Amulet graphic novels are created. The talent in Kazu's studio is awe inspiring. Bolt City is not open to tours. But you can go to their website www.boltcity.com to see what they are all about. 

Visiting Bolt City had a nice by-product for us; Alhambra. Alhambra is becoming a very cool city. You can eat just about anything on Main Street or visit Gallery Nucleus (www.gallerynucleus.com). Hint: a great place for some off-beat web based Christmas shopping. At the far end of West Main Street is another treasure Fosselman's Ice Cream. One taste and you can see why they have all those "Best of LA" awards on the wall.

Our last day this trip was spent doing arguably our one big touristy thing; Universal Studios. On a weekday, in the off season, Universal is such a nice theme park. Meticulously clean, uncrowded, filled with friendly staff, decent food, and then there is also CityWalk Universal's shopping and entertainment district just outside its gates.

Sky Diving in CityWalk
(click to Enlarge)

Next Trip Roadboy is Doing This!

Set from King Kong - Ship Sailing into Skull Island

(Actually a Miniature - Click to Enlarge)

The Life Sized Set From War of The Worlds

(Yep That Is A Real 747)

A Miniature From The Stop Motion Feature Coraline

(Incredibly Detailed Tiny Models - Click to Enlarge)

That evening after Universal closed we were off to Pasadena for a taping of NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me! radio show at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. They taped two shows. One on Thursday that was the "live" show broadcast on Saturday. The Friday night show we saw was what they call an "Evergreen". It uses a timeless theme and is meant to be broadcast sometime in the future (when the cast is taking a holiday). They taped for well over two hours straight. The guest was George Takai from the original Star Trek and it was a lot of fun to participate in the taping. If you are a resident of (or plan a visit to) Chicago, consider catching a taping of the show in their native habitat.

After all that fun we slept like puppies. Next morning we drive home with a stop at the Premium Outlet Malls in Palm Springs.

There were about four other restaurants I had planned to try, but they, along with a trip to Hollywood's Magic Castle, and the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, will just have to wait for future trips to Obscure LA.

Roadboy's Travels © 2009

Next Week LA

Team Roadboy is off to LA


Next week we hit the highway for a quickie trip to LA. 


While I go to LA a lot, usually we do the typical tourist stuff; Disneyland, the beach etc. This time, however, we are going to try some new stuff.

Meredith and I are reserved for the MGM (now Sony Pictures) "by appointment only" backlot walking tour in Culver City. 


We are going to try some new restaurants and go back to a couple of old favorites. 


Meredith will visit the studio where a friend from college works and we are all going to Galco sodas where you can get just about any soda pop made in the world! 


Friday night we have tickets to the west coast taping of NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me in Pasadena.


An architect with his two favorite artists on the road, never boring!

Roadboy's Travels © 2009

Doing What We Love - Loving What We Do

Hey Flight Attendants! Thank You! 

(Addenda italicized - ADDED 10-28-09)
Tonight's newspaper announced that US Airways must lay off 1000 employees. Last year it was over 2000. So, when taken together, these numbers represent about 10% of their 32,000 employees.


In my book, any story about people losing their jobs is heartbreaking.


But as I scrolled to the bottom of the article and trolled though the reader comments, my heart hurt.


Their comments were nothing short of vicious. Many were actually gloating over the economic woes of one of our biggest local employers.


The bloggers repeatedly called the airline "clueless" asserting it is a business that deserves to fold. This is a company where corporate executives have routinely considered the sentiments of their shareholders over their passengers. The mean spirited comments comparing them unfavorably to their biggest rival is their reward for their MBA operating philosophy.


Now, I own my own business. I know how hard it is to compete in today's marketplace. Our firm's success hinges on having staff that genuinely cares about our clients.


So, here's what I hope. 


I hope US Airways executives embrace a new corporate culture. One that appreciates and respects their passengers as much as their passenger's money. 


I hope it then survives and thrives. I hope it can eventually hire all of their staff back and add more. I hope they eventually expand their route structure and fly to China.


I also hope to see a day when those self-righteous, hate filled, blog posters fly to Oz and get a heart from the Wizard. 


This airline has joined its rivals and has brought us more choices in economy fares (with assigned seats). It has helped me make my own business stronger by allowing me to cultivate new  clients in new states. Its demise would only hurt the economic recovery of our region.


For goodness sakes, try out some empathy, US Airway's employees are our neighbors.






Herewith My Original Posting


With limited time given to us by our creator we can't afford to waste it working in jobs we hate.


I have always loved my chosen field; architecture. Before kindergarten, I knew I wanted to spend my life creating the built world. I didn't chose it for money. There's lots of ways to make more money with a lot less effort.


In fact when I look around, I realize my family is filled with artists, teachers, and people who do what they do, simply because they love doing it.


Perhaps I'm off base, but after talking to a whole lot of flight crews over the years, I have come to realize most do it because it is what they love to do. 

It can't be for the money. And it hasn't been for the glamour for a couple of decades now.

And the airlines seem to find new ways every year to make it harder and harder for them to enjoy their one big perk - free travel.

They are not there for our comfort, they are there for our safety. It is a job with unpredictable hours, requires a lot of training, and the patience of a saint. 


One minute they may be settling seating disputes, serving drinks, or performing first aid. The next minute they are serving as human shields protecting pilots that need a break.

With the new baggage rules they are blowing out their backs helping people lift baggage into overheads. And lets face it many of them qualify for the seniors menu at Denny's.

Yet, I love that. I have a warm feeling every time I see some grey hair in the flight deck. I feel the same way when I see knowing, experienced eyes twinkle as they greet passengers boarding an aircraft.

The airwaves go nuts when the rare mistake is made (whoops, we flew past the airport....).  And everyone seems to love to regale us with a "flying nightmare" story.

But flying is still the safest way to get from here to there fast.

And that is, in a large part, thanks to well trained flight crews that love what they do.

So next time you get on the plane, shut off your flippin cell phone in the jetway.  Smile and make eye contact with the crew. Offer them a genuine "Hello".

And on your way out, give them a warm "Thank You!"

I do, and I mean it!

Roadboy's Travels © 2009

Spooky Nights Ahead

My Scariest Travel Day

I've been pretty lucky in all my years of travel.

I've never been the victim of a major crime, never been involved in any sort of major vehicular wreck, never encountered any lost spirits haunting the historic Inns owhere I've slept over the years.

I did, however, have one Stephen King experience that stands out as my scariest travel moment.

It happened at a hotel in Alexandria Virginia. I won't say which one although I've stayed there twice and had a miserable experience both times.

The first event involved some unwanted wildlife in my room.

I slept pretty well in the "garden" room (which means my room was on the ground level and opened up to a courtyard with some grass and shrubs).

Per my usual morning routine I headed for the shower. Without glasses or contacts I was in my usual morning land "o" blur.

As the warm water from the shower started to spray my peripheral vision picked up something moving down around the drain.

As I bent over to see what it was I saw cockroaches. Lots and lots of 'em - scurrying out of the drain and running up the sides of the tub and shower curtain.

After a completely involuntary shriek, I jumped out of the tub, ripping the shower curtain right off the track.

Now at this point, primal instinct had taken complete control of me. I armed myself with the first thing I saw, my best dress shoes, whose heals became lethal weapons. I initiated project Roach Smackdown.

It got pretty ugly.

After my roach hunt I simply laid the critters side by side on the bathroom counter.

On the way out I informed the desk clerk that my room had become the insect equivalent of the Tate LaBianca massacre scene.

A little advice. If you stay in a hotel in Alexandria VA and are offered a "garden" level room, run screaming from the place.

I did.

Roadboy's Travels © 2009

Police Chiefs, Chicago, and Crisp Fall Days

Time to Enjoy Fall and Time to Move On

This week was productive, but sorta grueling for me. I spent Sunday to Tuesday in Denver attending the International Association of Chiefs of Police convention. With thousands of police executives from around the world, I'd have to guess Denver was the probably the safest city in North America this week!

The Convention Center Bear Checking In

And, as always, Denver was beautiful and its citizens were gracious. Denver also staged one heck of a party on Tuesday night.

The Chief's Host Party in Denver

Note the Donut....

Chilly nights have returned to the Mile High City. Nature casts no doubt that snow will soon fall. I only wish I could have spent some time up in the mountains as this is the time of the year when the aspen's turn gold and their leaves literally shimmer with each breeze that passes.

After departing Denver I travelled on to Chicago to attend an American Institute of Architects conference.

This has been a hard week for Chicago. It would have been such a great host to the world for the Olympics. But, that is not to be.

Despite the pathetic spin the media has made out of it, the folks around here all get it. They know they would have done a great job and they are happy for Rio. Chicago knows that no one likes a sore loser, and this most amazing City of Big Shoulders is sure as hell not the kind of place that stops to sulk.

Instead, Chicago is enjoying a beautiful fall. Downtown streets are clean, the Art Institute is still free on Thursday nights, the planters on Michigan Avenue are still blooming, and the fountains in Millennium Park are still bubbling.

Soon snow will come here too, the plants will go dormant, and the fountains will hibernate till spring.

The North Bridge In The Chicago River At Night

American Gothic on Steroids

In the meantime, Chicago residents will still walk with purpose, the tourists will still look up, and the cabs will still honk a nanosecond before the signal lights change.

I love this city.

Roadboy's Travels © 2009