So I got this little heads up from Marie Bobin who runs the Jules Verne space over at 7th and Fig. I plan on writing a whole blog about this lovely girl, great space and fantastic program for the community. But in the meantime go check out what they’re doing on Thursdays for lunchtime.
“Bring your Lunch and come to our free lunchtime screening of “EXPLORERS: From the Titanic to the Moon”
visit: www.julesverne.org for more details”
More to come…
FOREWORD BY STAN LERNER: downtownster does not celebrate its first birthday until February, but I still feel compelled to post the TEN BEST downtownster blogs of 2009. And while I think all of our blogs have been great, these are the ones that readers read the most and gave us the highest level of props for writing. I wrote this blog almost a year ago. And as it sometimes goes it has recently become even more relevant than it was at the time of its original publication. Yes, as I had hoped for Amazon has lowered the cost of a basic Kindle to $250.00. I urge everyone to buy Kindles for friends and family–a great gift, which will keep on giving for many years!!!
<Click Here: To Buy Books By Stan Lerner>
I often joke in my blogs about downtownster being an unfunded startup, launched in the middle of perhaps the worst economic situation in our country’s history—this is not a joke, but the truth. As downtownster grows, literally every day, I am asked with greater and greater frequency to write about the economy, politics, and relationships. Can you imagine that we live in a time that customers, in this case downtownster readers, can tell you what they want and if you have any business sense—you can oblige at the touch of a keypad. So, I woke up this morning planning to write a brilliant essay on the state of the economy. I was even going to delve into why entrepreneurs, such as myself, should be more aggressively than ever, starting companies like downtownster. But then it occurred to me to write about Amazon’s Kindle DX.
<Click Here: To Buy Books By Stan Lerner>
Kindle, if you are not already familiar, is an e-book reader created and sold by Amazon. The new Kindle DX is a technological marvel, which holds 3,500 book titles at a time and is close to paper-thin. The reading display utilizes ink technology, which gives the reader the closest experience possible to actually reading print. And unlike the Sony e-book reader the Kindle operates with an internal wireless 3G capability that allows books to be downloaded to the device, usually in thirty seconds or less. Yes, THE WIRELESS HOOKUP IS FREE, the cost is covered by Amazon. I should also mention the new DX model has a 9.7 inch screen— 3 inches larger than the past models.
<Click Here: To Buy Books By Stan Lerner>
The LA Times take on the Kindle DX, in a recent article, is, not surprisingly, whether or not Kindle will save newspapers—like the LA Times. And while this is a legitimate question, we should all note here that the LA Times and other financially troubled newspapers are in trouble more than anything because of bad business decisions. A debt free LA Times still owned by the Chandler’s would have turned a profit of a hundred million dollars last year. This begs a discussion regarding leverage—it’s not good. But let’s not digress too far. I predicted almost ten years ago that a device like Kindle would be developed and would be the future of how people, not only read books, but newspapers—and now a little something called blogs. Continue reading GO BUY A KINDLE!!!
Foreword by Stan Lerner: I just got this in the downtownster mailbox, I would laugh if I wasn’t in so much pain!!!
During another post graduate day of slaving away at the coffee shop that uniquely helped me achieve secondary educational success….enter Stan Lerner. After a double short latte order and a short chat session, I discovered that Mr. Lerner was just another soulless, carefree, freeloading Californian who had found his way to a most beautiful summertime in Montana. To make matters worse for Stan, I found out he was from L.A. but unlike most of the native L.A. vacationers in the Montana area, Stan was not reluctant to admit where he came from and his reason(s) (or lack thereof) for the trip to Montana.
Before I continue, let me explain that Montanans are extremely skeptical of outsiders and this is doubly true for those hailing from California. Big money from SoCal converges with small town modesty in Montana to create a situation where natives are having the lands they grew up fishing, hunting and loving being bought up kept from them. After a steady climb in the migration of out-of-staters to the most beautiful areas of the state and a relentless increase in the number of natives staring at “No-trespassing” signs bluntly stating that “violators will be prosecuted,” some of the natives have become restless and untrusting. Continue reading California Monsters by Ryne Mading
The last days of great wine tasting are this week at Ralphs downtown. Don’t miss it or you’ll never be able to say to your grandchildren that you were there. That you had Mike Berger personally pour your wine; that you met the “whole sick crew” of regulars who later became legendary for their association with the greatest wine tasting series in turn of the century Los Angeles.
The remaining wine tastings promise to be emblematic of the excellence that has left indelible impressions on patrons over the last two years. Tuesday, Friday and Saturday are all we have left; I promise I shall make these dates. Meritage and Mr. Berger’s exceptional cooking is the order of the day on Tuesday. Friday brings a sparkling wine and sushi pairing that defies any sushi bar’s best value. Finally, Saturday will shine a light on Merlot and reprise Mike’s efforts to rectify the slandering of those wines by Miles in the movie Sideways when he said: “No! If anyone orders Merlot, I’m leaving. I am NOT drinking any f*cking Merlot!” Continue reading Goodbye, Wine Lovers
As my thirtieth year approached I sat in my building known as ARTGUILD LA, a building that hosted some of the world’s best-known performance art and nightclub events. If I recall, it was Eden Night, ranked second in the world only to Ministry of Sound, and my friend David Besharat a truly extraordinary human being said something I’ve never forgotten. “You see Stan, at your age you’ve just starting to do everything twice. At my age, I’ve done everything three times—it’s not the same. It’s still good, but every time around it’s a little less exciting.” And the party raged on…
And now I’m David’s age, at the time of his wise words to me, and I’ve done everything once, twice, and thrice. But unlike the last century there is another bugaboo in my dream party life—lack of originality. Has everything been done? The new generation could be called Gen Zero, for zero innovation. “And most disturbing, they seem to think that these watered-down knockoffs of what artists, producers and promoters of the past have done are actually cool. If they could have just seen the original,” I think to myself so often when I’m out in the scene.
Enter the Downtown LA Film Festival. Did the world need another film festival? Surprisingly, at least judging by last night’s screening of “Passing Strange” and Opening Gala at the AT&T Center—YES! I’ve lived in Downtown for almost fifteen years and had no clue whatsoever that the building formerly know as the Trans America Tower had an incredible theater, albeit vintage 1970’s. And if for no other reason, introducing this gem of a venue to a thousand or so people, made this second annual DFFLA worth having. But there’s more… Continue reading DOWNTOWN LA FILM FESTIVAL BEGINS
In an explosive report delivered this weekend by Fox News’s Geraldo Rivera…Rivera went well beyond implying that Michael Jackson’s concert promoter, AEG, had an interest in the King of Pop’s Death—he used context and comments by Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine, to accuse AEG of having the man killed whose comeback tour they were promoting. At the root of Rivera’s allegation is an insurance policy for seventeen million dollars that he reports AEG wants to collect on. And adding a tanker truckload of fuel to the fire, is a deal between AEG and Sony to turn AEG’s footage of Michael Jackson’s preparations for his concert tour into two feature length motion pictures—GERALDO SAYS AEG IS TO BE PAID SIXTY MILLION DOLLARS FOR THIS FOOTAGE!!!
Of course AEG denies Geraldo’s allegations…And I know for a fact that AEG President Tim Leiweke has said that this story is going away today—I assume he’s pulling some of those power strings AEG has paid for or threatening Fox with legal action; take your pick. But what everyone has to be asking right now is why did this very same person said that AEG had no financial interest in Michael Jackson’s funeral event held at Staple’s Center? This lack of financial interest is how Mr. Leiweke justified sticking the city with a 1.4 million dollar bill for event related city services. Trying to dissuade ticket holders from cashing in 50 million dollars worth of tickets + 17 million in insurance money (according to Geraldo) + 60 million dollar movie deal = 127 million dollars of financial interest, if Rivera is right.
So, I’ve gone after AEG for a number of issues ranging from taking 300 million in tax credits from the public and not giving the community the events in the public space it promised to being a bad corporate citizen to being in the blogging business and not properly disclosing the obvious conflict of interest when making Tammy Billings the director of marketing for LA Live also the LA Live Examiner. But turning an enormous profit on the apparent murder of Michael Jackson? I write a pretty good novel every now and then and even I couldn’t dream this one up. Continue reading IS AEG BEHIND MICHAEL JACKSON’S MURDER???
On August 14 & 15 a 3,600 sq. ft. warehouse space in Downtown, LA will be transformed into a lively enchanted forest. The unique event, called “Serendipity,” features renowned artist Leila Fakouri’s design and art installation works from her full design company, Madera Design. Performance artists including aerial acrobats, dancers, poets and musicians, will take on character roles as the inhabitants of Fakouri’s lush oasis, intermingling with guests while showcasing their skills.
“We want to give our guests a wild ride, a magical experience to escape from the hum-drum of their every day cares ,” says Fakouri. Continue reading SERENDIPITY – Don’t Miss This Happy Chance!
Hello Wine Lovers, here is a copy of the August 2009 Wine Tasting Schedule. Hopefully, having a copy of the schedule here on downtownster .com will make it easier to see what nights will work for many of you.
Cheers!
Mike The Wine Guy
August 7th. Domestic and Import Craft Beer $8.00 Has been canceled.
August 8th New Arrivals From Wine Reset $8.00
August 11th Wine of the Month Ravenswood Clos Du Bois $7.00
Aug 14th Francis Ford Coppola Tasting and Bottle Etching
Aug 15th Australian Wine Tasting Penfolds, Greg Norman , Lindemans $8.00 Continue reading Ralphs’ Wine Tasting Schedule
Yes, it has been sometime since I have written a bit about wine here at the Ralphs Wine Bar. My absence in script has been noted. I must thank Alec Silverman for helping keep the interest in the wine evenings in my absence. Monday night (tonight) will be a nice selection of sparkling wines from all around the California wine growing regions. Join me on a relaxed journey through specialty to pedestrian sparkling wines around the great Grape State. For a mere $12 dollars, your taste buds will be tested and tantalized into several forms of sparkling wines.
You will notice my deliberate reference of sparkling wines. Continue reading Hello Wine Lovers,
The downtownster faithful have no doubt noticed the absence of “Hello Wne Lovers” of late. Our champion of the corkscrew and wine glass, Mike Berger, has been called into even more pressing service at Ralphs downtown than his usual 60-hour workweek and apparently he has to blog on his own time. Since he has so precious little of that, he hasn’t been able to schedule blogging. This is not to say that the wine tastings at the famed “rolling wine bar” have slipped. Au contraire, mes amis! They are as wonderful as ever and still in our top three recommendations for happy hour.
Tonight, the focus will be on French wines and, as this is an immense subject, I cannot predict what to expect. Suffice it to say that France produces the crème de la crème of sparkling wine (Champagne) and dry Chardonnay (white Burgundy). Beyond that they also make some of the finest Pinot Noir (red Burgundy), dry Sauvignon Blanc (Loire Valley wines) and blended red wines driven by Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot or Cabernet Franc (red Bordeaux). “But, wait! There’s more. If you order now…” Seriously, I could go on for hours. Continue reading Wine ─ To the Corps!
