Jesus in LA

The other day, while driving to the Hollywood Bowl for a girls' night out, we saw this character walking down the street.  All of us shouted "JESUS" in unison and started snapping photographs. It's amazing that this certain image of Jesus is so ingrained in people's minds such that when a lanky white dude with long brown hair, a beard, and sporting a long shapeless robe, people instantly identify him as Jesus. I'm not even a Christian of any sort, but decades of visiting museums and looking at art by Europeans are enough to imprint the Europeans' image of Jesus in just about anyone.

A few days later, I saw on TV news that this Jesus character had been spotted all over Los Angeles, at LACMA, and other locations.  Apparently, "Jesus" is a man by the name of Kevin Lee Light who dons his Jesus garb regularly and roams the streets of LA and makes appearances in various events just to be spotted by unsuspecting people like myself. He even has a web site dedicated to photos people snap of him. http://www.isawjesusinla.com/. He is seen at the gay pride parade, at the hot dog stand, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and just mingling with regular folks, as you know who also did.

Since no one in his or her right mind would really think Mr. Light is the real Jesus, sometimes, I truly wonder what drives people like him to do what they do. Does he even have a day job? I wonder. Maybe he's a carpenter by trade. At least he gives people something to talk about.Only in LA.

Awesome Ceviche in the Ungentrified Hood

Our neighbors Bill and Martha were planning to go to have ceviche the other night and invited us to join them. They say they found this place called La Cevicheria on Pico, just off Crenshaw Boulevard and it's really good. They added that it's also kid friendly, knowing we have a teenager with us. We took them up on the invitation, along with our fifteen year old daughter. Along the way, we picked up a bottle of chilled white wine from Vons because the restaurant does not have a liquor license.

Bill drove all of us there. The restaurant is definitely in the ungentrified part of town, in what people call "Arlington Heights", sandwiched between a couple of makeshift storefront Latino evangelical churches with congregations singing away during evening worship. La Cevicheria is a hole in the wall with maybe eight tables in all. 

Martha is Mexican by heritage, so she ordered for us: The bloody clams ceviche, aguas chile shrimp, siete mares soup, mussels in butter sauce, and a seafood stew.  The food is heavenly. The bloody clams ceviche is marinated in lime juice with a  hint of mint and worcestershire sauce. Aguachile de cameron is shrimp in lime juice, with a perfectly blended sauce of pureed chiles and garlic. The stew has fish, clams, octopus, scallops, shrimp with side of rice to put in the stew. I am not sure what is in the stew, but it is simply divine. Siete mares soup is good, although the garlic butter mussels is just a tad over done.

Photogrid composition of my photos

We met the chef Carolina. She says the restaurant has been around for 12 years. She and her husband are the chefs, and she prepares the sauces every day.  The food is a combination of Guatemalan cuisine and some Vera Cruz. I am surprised that the restaurant hasn't expanded to Santa Monica or Malibu, or enjoyed the reputation of other tony seafood places on the Westside. It definitely tastes better than any Mexican seafood restaurant I've been to, other than the seafood shack on Careyitos beach in Costa Alegre, Mexico.

Perhaps its the location that scares some people off.  Perhaps it's because the restaurant is just too small. However, I prefer the unpretentious atmosphere and gourmet cuisine of La Cevicheria. I will definitely come back to try their fish tacos and other fish plates next time. They were out of fish the night we visited. Can you imagine?

La Cevicheria

3809 W. Pico Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90019

323-732-1253

Using Discount Coupons to Try New Restaurants: Bronzed Aussie

I joined Amazon Local and bought an $11 certificate for $22 worth of food from a restaurant called Bronzed Aussie in downtown Los Angeles. The restaurant specializes in small meat and vegetarian pies, and I was craving a pot pie, so we decided to try it.

Bronzed Aussie is located near the fashion district in DTLA. In a courtyard surrounded by new lofts, the restaurant location is a quiet contrast to the hustle and bustle of the fashion district. Unfortunately, one hour of street parking costs $4, which added to the overall cost, making it less of a deal than anticipated. But it's good to try something new right?

The restaurant decor is spare with a few tables, a counter, and a glass cabinet that displayed the kinds of food available. When we walked in, there was only one couple ahead of us and no one was eating at the restaurant. I was thinking that this place is probably relatively undiscovered, hence the willingness to give out half off coupons. After we ordered the ground beef pie, the chunky beef pie, lattes, an apple pie, and fish and chips, we sat down to wait for our food. Next thing I know, customers trickled in one after another, and soon there was a steady line of customers placing orders and the two ladies working the counter and register got their hands full taking orders and serving food. Luckily, the pies were already made and sitting in the oven. It didn't take long to serve the food.

The meat pies were very tasty. The fillings were savory and the pie crust was flaky. They hit a spot for sure, and I felt guilty because I am sure I ruined my diet by eating this comfort food. We didn't try the vegetarian pies although I heard other customers praising the chicken mushroom pie and the Thai curry pie. The lattes were good and strong too.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend braving the horrible traffic to the fashion district, pay an exorbitant parking fee just to eat here, but if you happen to be in the neighborhood already, picking up a pie here is highly recommended. It's even better with an Amazon Local coupon.

Bronzed Aussie 
714a S Los Angeles St, Los Angeles, CA, 
1.213.243.0770

Listening to Audio Books While Driving around Los Angeles

I started listening to audio books mainly because with age, I have a hard time reading words on pages without my reading glasses, so spontaneous reading just doesn't happen anymore as it used to. I have to say though, I enjoy audio books tremendously.

I binge read/listened to five books over two weeks recently. 

A couple of weeks ago, I read In the Woods by Irish writer Tana French.  I was hooked enough that I wanted to get a hold of Tana French's four other novels. I found that Los Angeles Public Library didn't have all the books available to borrow on Overdrive e-Media. But, I did find two of French's books: The Likeness and Faithful Place available on Audible.com.  Audible is now a service provided by Amazon. However, the monthly subscription to it is $14.95 and I can only download one free book per month.  Additional books cost extra. This is a bit too steep especially if I am willing to wait for the audio books to be available for borrowing through the public library for free. However, Audible currently has a promotion that allows me to sign up, download two free audio books and cancel within one month and not be charged the monthly subscription fee if I choose. I wanted to check out Audible, so I downloaded the two free audiobooks onto my Samsung Galaxy Player. You can download it onto your tablets, ipad, or ipods, or smart phones.

Overdrive allows me to connect to many public libraries I am a member of and borrow from their extensive e-media catalog.  The drawback is that the public libraries have limited licenses to lend out the downloadable audiobooks, and I sometimes have to place a popular book on hold and wait in queue until someone returns his or her borrowed copy.  When available, I am notified by email that I can download the audio book. For the most part, this is not a problem because I can always find an available book to listen to while I put a hold on a book I want and wait patiently in queue. Once downloaded, I have three weeks to listen to the book. When the three weeks is up, the book is automatically returned to the library via the internet. I never have to worry about late fees.

Audible requires that I download an app to listen to my downloaded books. That was easy enough.  I used Playstore to download the app onto my Samsung Player. The experience was similar to Overdrive Media, quite pleasant. I own the books I downloaded and as far as I know, I don't have to return them. This makes sense: the $14.95 subscription fee allows me to own the books I download.

I did find the fourth book in the series: Broken Harbor, available as a hard back in the LA Public Library, so I read it the old fashioned way, turning the pages, with my reading glasses on. Just when I finished reading Broken Harbor, the final and most recent book by French, Secret Place, became available on Overdrive Audiobooks through the LA Public Library.

After finishing all five books, I came to the conclusion that I may like Audiobooks over reading hard copies of books, or reading e-books. The reasons? 1. I don't have to worry about not seeing the words if I don't have my reading glasses with me. 2. I can listen to the audio books anywhere: while driving, while eating lunch, while cooking, etc. 3. While I might miss some nuances during the readings if I am distracted, for the most part, I am forced to listen to every word and can get the descriptive details the author intended so much more. It is hard to jump ahead with the app not knowing what I am missing. When reading a real book though, I get so engrossed in the plot and would often skip descriptive lines or paragraphs and jump ahead just to find out what's next in the plot.

In my book, these are great reasons to listen to audio books.

Open Past Midnight: Side Show Books

After "A Letter to Momo" at the Nuart Theatre in West Los Angeles, it was close to midnight. We walked out of the theatre into the dark side street where our car was parked.  A few steps away, a quaint stand alone building was lit up in the darkness with welcoming strands of mini light bulbs.  A display stand outside the open door ways announces: "SideShow Rare Remarkable Books, Art and Curiosities".

photo by Boffinart

The store that was open at midnight conjures up images of bookstores from literature such as Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore, or the toy/curio store from The Invention of Hugo Cabret, where one might find books or objects that open up a new world. Here at Side Show Books, we founds old movie posters, matchbooks, old scripts, signed art books, paintings, original pulp fiction, comic books, music scores, and much more.

My daughter bought a copy of Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger for $3.  Hubby couldn't resist ponying up $150 for an old movie poster of "The Cincinnati Kid" with Steve McQueen.

Well, there weren't any real magical occurrences there or even a mysteriously ancient bookseller. Yet the fact that the store was just there, open past midnight and beckoning to the night owls, was a treat in itself.

Sideshow Books: 11323 Idaho Ave Los Angeles, CA 90025‎(310) 428-4631