Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with losangeles

A hike on X-mas morning in or near Los Angeles?

drjimmy11 — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 10:24:46 -0800

A hike on X-mas morning in or near Los Angeles? Since I have no big plans, I'm thinking about getting out and going hiking tomorrow morning. Doesn't have to be a huge all-day thing, I wouldn't mind being back by the Lakers game at 2pm actually.

I'm just wondering if the local parks like Runyon Canyon that are (I think) closeable will be closed. Also just generally looking for suggestions of fun, nearby trails that would make a good solo Christmas day hike. (I know about most of the hiking websites and books, just wondering if anyone has any specific ideas to throw at me.)

Thanks!

Bipolar specialist in the LA area

Jacen Solo — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:16:53 -0800

(Asking for a friend) Any pointers to a good psychiatrist for bipolar disorder in the LA area? My friend was diagnosed with bipolar II a bit less than a year ago. She tried a couple of drugs for it, but they had too-severe side effects and she stopped after a couple of weeks.

Since then she's been managing pretty well without drugs, but recognizes that things could be better, and is now willing to give it another go.

The psychiatrist that our university's health center refers us to is kind of lame in this area. I get the impression that she just tries drugs until something works, without much individual care; she is also well-known for giving you any drug you ask for by name (yay for easy Provigil access!). On the other side of the coin, I recently browsed through a book Bipolar Breakthrough in the bookstore, and what stuck with me was that it was written by a guy who specializes in bipolar and is full of anecdotes where he obviously spends a lot of time on individual patients figuring out what would work best for them.

With this in mind, my friend was hoping to get any recommendations for good psychiatrists in the LA area, especially ones that treat bipolar II. The internet seems unhelpful in this regard, so maybe we're choosing the wrong keywords; help there would be cool too.

LOUD ALL THE TIME

defmute — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:56:23 -0800

WHERE IN L.A. CAN I BE LOUD ALL THE TIME? (FOR CHEAP) i'm looking to find a studio apartment in l.a. county somewhere (the closer to koreatown the better) where i can play music as loud as i want, whenever i want without spending a whole lot of money for some concrete future loft bullshit. i am looking to spend like...500 per month for rent. what do yall think?

Printing large custom sizes in LA?

speicus — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:14:25 -0800

Is there a print shop in Los Angeles that excels in dealing with large custom sizes (10x13 and/or 13x20)? I'm making parts for a piece of orchestra music that requires these custom sizes. I know that places like Kelly Paper and xpedx can make the paper for me, but after that I still need access to a large-format printer. The way I see it I have a couple options:

1) Find a place that would allow me to handle the printing myself. This would be ideal, as there's a lot of finicky specifics that are easy to mess up, and I've had bad experiences with LA print shops in the past.

2) Find a place that has a lot of experience handling custom sizes -- maybe even one that specializes in music copying.

Can anyone recommend such a mythologically awesome print shop?

How do I adjust from sunny LA to freezing cold Virginia?

invisible ink — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:30:15 -0800

Have you ever moved from a warm, mild climate like Los Angeles, to one that experiences four seasons - and did you do so in the dead of winter? What was it like? What do you wish you had known beforehand? In other words, what am I, a native Angeleno currently taking for granted? A compelling job offer has me seriously considering moving from Los Angeles to Arlington, VA. I will most likely be relocating mid-January 2010. Unfortunately, I have never lived in a four-season climate, much less moved myself and all of my belongings to one.

I found this thread, but am hoping more LA transplants can respond.

Long, diverse, rambling responses are most welcome - I really want to know the kind of impact a rapid shift in climate can make in peoples' lives. Thanks in advance:-)

Rainy Saturday in LA

forallmankind — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:46:49 -0800

I'm entertaining guests from India in LA tomorrow for the whole day, and all my plans are being scuppered by a forecast of rain. What can we do in the LA area (don't mind driving pretty much anywhere) that won't be compromised by grey clouds and rain? The guys (3, mid 20s) have been here for a few weeks now and have so far been to Manhattan/ Venice/ Santa Monica and Hollywood, and they're going to Little India on Sun. Usually when I have folks in town we go up to the Hollywood sign, hike in the mountains, drive up the PCH etc and obviously all these activities presuppose good weather. I'm kinda stumped when it comes to bad weather - even the Getty doesn't seem such a good idea since the main attraction for folks from out of town is the grounds and the views.

Help!

Black tie in Los Angeles?

YoungAmerican — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:21:18 -0800

What's the best black-tie New Year's Eve (or other event) in LA? A friend and I work on a men's style video series, and we're planning an episode on black tie. With New Year's coming up, we though it would make a great opportunity to shoot a field piece - but then we remembered that we live in LA and couldn't think of a single black-tie event besides the Oscars.

Can anyone suggest an elegant black tie New Year's or other event happening in the first 2-3 months of 2010? One that might potentially be open to press with cameras?

(Yes, we thought of the Oscars, and the opera and symphony openings have passed.)

Paging Dr. House

ohyouknow — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:13:06 -0800

Help me find a Dr. House in (or near) Los Angeles for my father. For over a year now my father has been having difficulty breathing (he's never been a smoker). I think his lungs are only processing about 50% of the oxygen he inhales with each breath he takes. I won't go into all of the symptoms and details because I know you aren't his doctor, but he's been seeing pulmonary specialists for a full year and no one can figure out what's going on. They've ruled out a lot of things, but there is no diagnosis yet. The only real clue they have is that steroids have been the only thing that helped him completely--but as soon as he stops taking them he's back at square one.

Am I crazy naive to think there might be a corollary to Dr. Gregory House out there in the real world? I've tried running Google searches to no avail... Thanks Mefites!

Ideas for a place in L.A. to host a large Oscar-viewing shindig?

estherbester — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:50:22 -0800

I'm looking for a venue in Los Angeles -- the closer to downtown, the better -- where we could throw a private party (around 200 people) for watching the Oscars. Indoor location preferred! This is for a fundraising benefit at the small non-profit where I work, so our budget isn't huge. Last year we held it at the J-Lounge, and it worked pretty well, but we're looking for someplace new for this year.

The Oscars will take place on March 7 next year, I believe.

I've checked out the suggestions from this question, but that's a few years old now, and I'm sure newer, fresher, cooler places have popped up since then!

I'd like a number 11, please

pdb — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:57:03 -0800

Why are the tops of buildings in downtown Los Angeles numbered? In TV shows that show helicopter-type sweeping shots of downtown LA, you can see that the tops of many buildings have a number inside a red circle, as Google Maps shows here. What is the purpose of these numbers? They're not unique, for example there's several "12" buildings - I'm stumped as to what they might be. Any ideas?

Bleacher Bum Looking for Fun

gilgamix — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:18:51 -0800

Where can I find old bleachers in Los Angeles? Not to buy (unless their really cheap). I just want to take some photos of old, heavily used bleachers. Anyone? This is the weirdest thing I ever asked you for, I think...

Help me plan a fun solo Thanksgiving

Xere — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:49:03 -0800

Kinda excited at the prospect of my first Thanksgiving alone. Where can a twentysomething girl go, or do, for Thanksgiving - both day and night? I'm in the Los Angeles/Pasadena area. Previous similar question, and I've taken all answers to heart. But mine has a twist: I can't stay in. Staying in is not an option, I have to get out of the house. My live-in landlords are having their family Thanksgiving. Yes, I am invited, but I have no wish to participate. This is because of their current family feud, which will doubtlessly implode over Thanksgiving dinner. I do not wish to be there for the carnage and awkwardness. I don't even want to stay in my room while they bash it out over the dinner table.

So I would like to experience a lovely solo Thanksgiving. What can I do? Surely there must be something. So far, my morning options consist of either exploring the Santa Anita Canyon, or the hiking trails around Pasadena's Rose Bowl or Eaton Canyon. Any other options? Nightlife? Bars?

Anyone know any Norwegian restaurants in the Los Angeles - Long Beach - Orange County area?

holdenjordahl — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:48:01 -0800

It's the holiday season and I'm feeling nostalgic and I'm wondering if there are any Norwegian (not Scandinavian and certainly not Swedish) restaurants in the Los Angeles - Long Beach - Orange County areas? Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Ask suggest no but I can't believe that's possible. Thanks!

I am a camera with its shutter open...

mykescipark — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:47:07 -0800

Angelenos, please recommend an awesome and artsy portrait photographer. I'm being featured in a hardback art book. They need a high-quality portrait of me in the next three weeks (!!). Who do you recommend? I live in Hollywood but can travel within, say, 25 miles for the right person. Links to portfolios appreciated.

What do you do when the court has no record of your "crime"?

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:12:00 -0800

I received a traffic ticket for driving without headlights on in Los Angeles, but now the court has no record of my citation. What do I do now? I was cited during the evening of October 4th for "Driving without Lights on During Darkness." I had only been driving for a few blocks when I was pulled over and hadn't noticed my lights weren't on. For what it's worth, it was a fairly busy street that was well-lit at the time.

Anyway, the ticket says that I must appear at the courthouse by November 18 but I haven't received a courtesy notice in the mail yet. Assuming that the notice must've been lost in the mail, I checked the court's website and they have no record of a citation. I've searched the database with both my driver's license and citation number, but nothing comes up, even though it's past the "21 days" it sometimes takes for the citation to appear in the system.

I've called the court and navigated the automated phone system, but they have no record of it either. I tried to speak to an operator but the system was "too busy" so an automated message said to try the call at a later time.

Is it possible that the police officer, after the fact, realized how brightly lit the street was and decided to discard the ticket or not process it? Incidentally, I later learned that there was a full moon that evening, which could be counted as an extenuating circumstance, something which the officer might have realized himself. I don't know how likely that is or if it's even possible (or just wishful thinking on my part).

Does anyone have any experience with this or advice about what I should do? At this point, I'm leaning towards just going to the courthouse, which is a hassle, but would presumably settle the matter once and for all. On the other hand, I would like to avoid bringing the ticket to the court's attention if it somehow fell through the cracks and there's otherwise no record of it. Please help me, hivemind!

If anyone has any follow-up questions or would like to reply anonymously, my email is wheresmytrafficticket@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Hitting on people in bars makes me want to blow my brains out.

milinar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:17:44 -0800

Let's say you remove geography from the equation in finding a potential partner. How would you go about it? So I'm turning 28 in a few weeks. To a lot of people that seems relatively young, but I've lived an long, eventful, interesting life and had a lot of good, crazy times to look back on.

Long story short, I'm feeling ready to settle down a little, take some steps forward in my personal life.

My life is pretty great otherwise, and I'm really happy and grateful with where I am. My love life, however, sucks. And has for a long time. I've had a string of failed relationships, one after another, going back many years. At every step I imagine it will get easier, but it never does. Having money doesn't help, getting in shape, taking care of myself, trying to be happier, nothing helps. Dating still sucks, working at meeting people still sucks. For something so central, so intrinsic to a long, happy life, it's deeply frustrating to have so little success.

Obviously there's a lot of reasons for this, but the biggest one that I point to is geography. I live in Los Angeles. This is a well-documented issue and I won't rehash it now, but being a single dude here is less than ideal. Most everything else about the city I love, though, and I hate to leave just because of the crappy single life.

Fortunately, I'm in a somewhat unique position. The business I'm in allows me to a) take a lot of time off and b) work most anywhere in the world for short or long projects.

It makes me think - if dating here is so bad, why am I still looking here? I can go anywhere I want, for as long as I need to. I seems worthwhile to really put some time and effort into this aspect of life, doesn't it?

So what would you do in my place?

I'm a writer at heart (a better one than I've displayed here, I promise) so meeting someone on the net is probably the way to go, but I'm open to any suggestions, especially specific anecdotal suggestions.

Obviously I could just go somewhere and meet people, but I'm looking for more systematic kinds of solutions. I feel like the haphazard, serendipitous approach that romantic comedies tell us is the way people find someone hasn't really borne fruit, so maybe it's time to try something else.

KLOS L.A., the hazy '80s past

ambient2 — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:07:26 -0800

Calling Los Angeles Radio, circa 1980s. KLOS, Sunday night 'round 11 p.m. through 5 a.m., call-in talk radio. All topics. They talked about everything. Stoner heaven (a friend says, I swear). Who was the host? Thanks, dude. Rock on.

Where was Mr. Show filmed (besides Los Angeles, obviously.)

joechip — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:47:57 -0800

Does anyone know what studio/ stage the majority of Mr. Show was filmed in? I think the first season, or at least the first episode, was filmed in a different location than the rest of the series. Curious as to where that was as well.

These boots were made for walkin' in LA?

pointystick — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:17:23 -0800

What is appropriate fashion in fall and winter when in a warm or desert climate? I live in Atlanta where we have 4 disctinct seasons (albeit in no particular order!) but I'm hoping to spend more time in the Southwest - Las Vegas, San Diego, Phoenix, Los Angeles, etc - both for fun and perhaps for work, but have no idea what to wear when it's fall (I'll be there this weekend) or winter (again around Christmas). Will my trousers and boots look silly? How about tweedy skirts or sweaters? I am most concerned about business wear (woman, 30s, casual to dressy office) and going out in the evenings. Does it matter if you stay inside where it's going to be air conditioned? Do desert-dwellers and southwesterners still hanker for wool and suede when the mercury outside is in the 70s? Thanks for your wisdom!

Therapy in LA

insectosaurus — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:14:21 -0800

Asking on behalf of a friend: She (age 26) is looking for a sliding-scale therapist in LA. She lives in the Culver City area and works downtown. Complication: she works 9-5, and her job is not flexible, so evening or weekend hours are a must. She would prefer someone who specializes in body image (she is an emotional eater and overweight) and/or in working with queer/gay individuals. I think her income is about $40K per year, but she also supports her boyfriend; they have completely merged finances. He is a full time student and works about 16-20 hours a week on top of that for about $10/hour. She is also a part-time student on top of her full time job. She thinks she can afford about $30 an hour.

The emotional eating/ body image is, I think, the most major factor contributing to her depression at the moment. She would like to start seeing a therapist, but can't afford to spend very much right now. She has Kaiser insurance and is looking into that, but she is hesitant to see a Kaiser therapist, because she is worried that they will be clueless on queer issues and the number of sessions will be limited.

Wildflowers near Los Angeles?

klangklangston — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:59:45 -0800

Wildflowers day trips from Los Angeles? Girlfriend and I want to see wildflowers in the wild. We live in LA, and would prefer to be able to do this on a single day (she's got some furlough time coming up).

Where are the best? What did you like about them? What's can't miss? What specific dates should we shoot for? What's the best season to see which flowers?

I know very little about the plants in Southern California, mostly because I grew up in the Midwest.

And personal experience is very much appreciated—I've found a fair passel of vague pages on the internet (some Parks Service, some not) that don't really have the "Go here the third week of February" specificity that I'd like, being a total newb and all.

Hey, can I Yelp your faction?

evil holiday magic — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:02:43 -0800

Where to find upcoming protests in Los Angeles? I don't want to delve too deeply into a specific movement at this point (call me a dilettante, though I've been there, and done that), but I'm interested in lending my presence to left wing protests and rallies (anti-privatization, pro-gay marriage, pro-socialized medicine etc.) in Los Angeles.

The ("Anonymous") anti-Scientology protests were organized and scheduled (at least in part) via an online forum. Is there something like this for other subjects, or even a site that compiles many different upcoming political demonstrations according to area?

Need money now thankyou.

drjimmy11 — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:50:15 -0800

What are some good tech-centric temp agencies in L.A.? Hi! Yet another in my long series of job-trauma questions.

I'm currently between jobs- I'm a web/software developer, specializing in flex/AS3 but with years and years of doing html/js/ajax/php type stuff too. I have a pretty strong resume, I like to think, going back about 10 years.

I'm currently getting contacted by a lot of recruiters and going on a lot of interviews, but it's a very drawn-out process. Basically I need a gig to bring in some money now- cutting up PSDs or whatever is fine, I'm not proud at this point. I'm curious if anyone knows any decently reputable agencies who could get me something like this soon. Specific names of agencies are appreciated, referrals to specific people are even more appreciated. (meMail me if you like).

(I'd also be interested in where I can advertise myself as a flex freelancer, but I'm more inclined towards W2 right now for a few reasons.)

Thanks!

Jail question

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:50:33 -0800

I'm looking for first-hand experience or information with regard to the LA county jail system. My cousin was arrested for a DUI recently. As part of her sentencing, she has to spend 96 hours in jail in Los Angeles. Apparently she can split these over a weekend. However, her lawyer (who seems to know what he's doing) is fairly certain that if she were to show up at LA County jail and surrender for 96 hours, they're basically going to book her and turn her right around - she'd be in there for maybe 10-12 hours. Has anyone, or anyone you know of, experienced this? What are the chances that she will actually be kept in there for 96 hours?

She does have the choice of spending two weekends (48 + 48) in a city jail (where she pays about $90/ day for nicer facilities).

Thank you very much for your input.

Probably a periscope for an underground lair

dreamyshade — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:01:09 -0800

Help identify a mysterious piece of infrastructure in Los Angeles. What is this squat metal pole? This is on Colorado Blvd. in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of LA. I've seen another similar pole up the street on a sidewalk, and I imagine there are more of them that I haven't noticed. The area also has a rusty old air raid siren up on a pole, so I imagine this isn't a siren. Old fire department equipment? A vent?

I see this when walking our dog, and I'm just curious because I like local weirdness & local history. Educated guesses are welcome. Thanks!