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Archive for December, 2009
Santa & his Helicopter
You will not find too many Santa’s in LA with a fake beard. After all, there is a reputation to uphold in this town. At many of the high end malls in Southern California you will find old St. Nick just as you last saw him in your favorite Christmas movie.
Beyond the standing in line to meet Santa, there are special private venues that you can tell Santa what you want for Christmas. For instance, by reservation in December, the jolly fella will actually land to meet you for a quick photo op, atop a roof top building over looking LA. Yes, Santa has an agent! It is the most fantastic way to experience one of our Los Angeles Helicopter tours and to have the most unique Holiday picture for your Holiday card and/or Facebook page! Our source tells us that he does not use the sleigh to run errands the rest of the year.
The Americana at Brand
The Americana at Brand is a large outdoor shopping community in Glendale, California. The site is owned by Caruso Affiliated, a real estate development of many other projects such as The Grove at Farmers Market in Los Angeles, CA. Americana at Brand has 75 retail shops and a variety of dining options. The Americana includes 100 condominiums and 238 apartments.
The Americana project stirred debate in Glendale for four years; with some merchants fearing the Grove-style “lifestyle center” would hurt businesses for stores along Brand Boulevard and in the Glendale Galleria. Some residents worried about overdevelopment and traffic.
Both The Americana and The Grove are organized upon the idea of a city center-with a mix of architectural styles, building heights and materials used, as well as vast open spaces at the projects’ center. Caruso Affiliated often sets their developments in place and time. The architectural style of the Americana is meant to reflect the industrial era, including a massive elevator shaft with exposed steel beams, in contrast to The Grove, which is based on 1940s Charleston, South Carolina. The Americana at Brand is much like The Grove in that it is designed to appear like a public space, but is private property, and is protected as such. However, the 2-acre park in the center of the complex is entirely public property, and a new place for LA tours to frequent.
Reindeer Romp
Thanksgiving weekend through the New Year, live reindeer will be paying a visit to the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens at this year’s Reindeer Romp. A flurry of festivities and holiday entertainment will accompany this popular annual event where children can make their own reindeer antlers and join the herd.
On weekends, meet Santa and friends for a photo opportunity. During the winter months, the zoo’s botanical gardens are as green and lush as they are in summer; it’s a beautiful time to explore, and the perfect addition to one of the popular private Los Angeles tours.
LA Helicopter Tours
Growing up in Southern California, I feel that I have a pretty solid understanding of the Los Angeles area. When I decided to take my girlfriend back to meet my family, she was excited to do some sightseeing, as she had never been to the West Coast before. I was less than enthused to spend a whole day reviewing the terrain that I was already quite familiar with.
Instead of hiring a run-of-the-mill tour company, I decided to try something a bit more exciting and looked into LA helicopter tours. I have to admit; I was blown away by everything that we saw. Not only did the helicopter take us to areas that I was unfamiliar with, but it also allowed us to circumvent the notorious LA traffic. The guide was also quite knowledgeable, and gave us some intriguing tidbits of LA history that I had never heard before.
Christmas Tree Lane
Every Christmas season for more than 80 years, the majestic deodars on the “Mile of Christmas Trees” are strung with 10,000 lights. Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena is the oldest large-scale Christmas lighting spectacle in the United States. These Deodars were introduced in 1883 to Southern California by Altadena founder John P. Woodbury who first saw a stand of the deodars in Italy.
Proclaiming them the most beautiful trees he had ever seen, he returned with seeds, and getting assurance from a friend of his at the Department of Agriculture that the trees would do well in California, had his brother Frederick nurse them at the Altadena ranch.
In 1920 Altadena resident and Pasadena businessman Frederick C. Nash came up with an idea of lighting the trees for the holidays. He sought assistance from his organization The Pasadena Kiwanis Club and from the City of Pasadena to initially light a 1/4 mile section of the roadway. Over the next few years the lighting expanded until the entire row of trees, 150 in all, were lighted. The boulevard at that time was referred to as the Avenue of the Deodars. Though many pedestrians would walk along the lighted street, it was really a spectacle to behold from the seats of slowly passing automobiles and “tours vans Los Angeles” frequent as well. Visit Christmas Tree Lane @ E Calaveras St & Santa Rosa Ave Altadena, CA 91001
DWP Light Festival
The the 14th Annual Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Griffith Park Holiday Light Festival is always a sight to see! This magnificent display of lights along a one-mile segment of Crystal Springs Drive has become a holiday tradition that attracts more than half million visitors each year.
This festival symbolizes LADWP’s proud history and shared legacy of service to the people of the city. It is also made possible through the generous support of the Los Angeles Visitors and Convention Bureau (LA Inc.), the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, the Los Angeles Zoo, the Los Angeles World Airports, Autry National Center, Automobile Club of Southern California and CalTrans.
To demonstrate continuing commitment to a “greener” LA, the Holiday Light Festival will be a pedestrian only and “vehicle free” event from December 4 through December 17. Visitors may park at the L.A. Zoo parking lot. Parking will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Walkers are encouraged to wear comfortable shoes and to dress warmly to walk the full one-mile route each way. It is also recommended that walkers have outerwear, as it can get chilly. I have conducted many Los Angeles van tours, highlighting festival!
List of Songs about Los Angeles ” U – Z “
- “Uncomfortably Numb” by Butch Walker
- “Under the Bridge” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
- “Valley Girl” by Frank Zappa
- “Van Nuys (Es Very Nice)” by Los Abandoned
- “Venice U.S.A.” by Van Morrison
- “Ventura Highway” by America
- “Walking in L.A.” by Missing Persons
- “Walking in L.A.” by Hagfish
- “Walking on Sunset” by John Mayall
- “Wannabe in L.A.” by Eagles of Death Metal
- “War Within a Breath” by Rage Against the Machine
- “Watts Riot” by Kam
- “We Lost Our Way” by Chris Isaak
- “Welcome Home” by Kurupt
- “Welcome Me” by Indigo Girls
- “Welcome to Hollywood” by Mitchel Musso
- “Welcome to the Boomtown” by David & David
- “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses
- “West L.A. Fadeaway” by Grateful Dead
- “West of Hollywood” by Steely Dan
- “Westside” by Mr. Capone-E
- “What I Got” by Sublime
- “When Canyons Ruled the City” by Butch Walker
- “When Veronica Plays Her Harmonica” by Kay Kyser
- “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby
- “White Punks on Dope” by The Tubes
- “Whittier Blvd” by Thee Midniters
- “Why You’d Want to Live Here” by Death Cab for Cutie
- “The World Began in Eden and Ended in Los Angeles” by Phil Ochs
- “Zoot Suit Riot” by Cherry Poppin’ Daddies
An independent band from my college days performed a rock song called “sightseeing tours Los Angeles” that was a tribute to the cultural melting pot of diversity that the City of Angels most definitely is!
Photo of : Mitchel Musso
List of Songs about Los Angeles ” S – T “
List of Songs about Los Angeles ” P – R “
- “Pacific Coast Highway” by Burt Bacharach
- “Pacific Coast Party” by Smash Mouth
- “Paradise City” by Guns N’ Roses
- “Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus
- “Peace Frog” by The Doors
- “Peace Treaty” by Kam
- “Piano Man” by Billy Joel
- “Pico and Sepulveda” by Felix Figueroa & His Orchestra (regularly featured on Dr. Demento’s syndicated radio show)
- “Pico and Sepulveda” by Lee Press-on and the Nails
- “Picture Postcards from L.A.” by Joshua Kadison
- “Poor Man’s Shangri-La” by Ry Cooder
- “Powerhouse” by The Game
- “Pretty Tied Up” by Guns N’ Roses
- “Prophet” by Jude
- “Qué Onda Guero?” by Beck
- “Redondo Beach” by Patti Smith, later covered by Morrissey
- “Revolution Blues” by Neil Young
- “The River” by Good Charlotte
- “Rockin’ and Rollin’ on the Streets of Hollywood” by Buddy Miles
- “Rock Show” by Paul McCartney and Wings
- “Rooming House on Venice Beach” by Jonathan Richman
- “Route 66″ by many artists
With so many things to do in Hollywood, it is undoubtedly the most unique melting pot is the US! ( Photo: Burt Bacharach )
List of Songs about Los Angeles ” M – O “
- “MacArthur Park” by Jimmy Webb
- “Malibu” by Hole
- “Manifest Destiny” by The Temporary Thing
- “Magic Johnson” by Red Hot Chili Peppers
- “Memories Of El Monte” by The Penguins
- “Men’s Room, L.A.” by Kinky Friedman
- “Moving to LA” by Art Brut
- “Moonlight Drive” by The Doors
- “More Bounce (In California)” by Soul Kid #1
- “Mr Flossangeles” by Basik
- “No.5″ by Hollywood Undead
- “No Other Place” by Hollywood Undead
- “No Peace, Los Angeles” by Mike Doughty
- “No Se Vende La Calle” by Doc Gyneco
- “Nothing Like Cali Rollin” by Mr.Criminal
- “Not a Dull Moment” by Bad Astronaut
- “Now I’m a Fool” by Eagles of Death Metal
- “Ode to L.A.” by The Raveonettes
- “Old L.A. Tonight” by Ozzy Osbourne
- “Old School Hollywood” by System of a Down
- “Onda Callejera” by Ry Cooder
- “One in a Million” by Guns N’ Roses
- “On My Way in L.A.” by Phil Carmen
- “Open Up” by Leftfield
- “Out in L.A.” by Red Hot Chili Peppers
- “Out of L.A.” by Jude
There are so many things to do in Los Angeles, that is can be pleasantly overwhelming. While it seems that there is a never ending agenda of stones to uncover, Los Angelenos proudly soak it all in! ( Photo: The Raveonettes )