California
Magic Lantern Slides from the Berkeley Geography Collection pics of natural California has some great vintage photos of California nature.
Los Angeles
A Tour of LA Through Vintage Postcards has some really great old pics of LA through postcards, but without thumbnails, or any other user-friendliness, the site is a bit of a pain to view. The picture of Broadway on the right is one of the postcards - i don't know the year of the picture.
Channel 101 has free monthly screenings at Cin(e)space of new shows, pilots, and more, that get voted on by the audience. I definitely want to check that out next time I'm in LA!
Stacey came back from a week in LA, and told me that i had to put up something about the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica. She described it as Alice in Wonderland meets Graceland! That's a tall standard to meet! It's at 1919 Ocean Boulevard in Santa Monica. After looking at the website, i think it may be a little too chic for me.
I was going to visit Watts Towers, but didn't get the chance. I'm even more dissapointed after finding this great Mr. Pants guide to Watts Towers. He also has a link to a 12 minute movie about the towers from archive.org. I downloaded it, and am glad that I saw it, but it was a little dry.
Los Angeles in 1942: gorgeous, quirky illustrated map
There are many lovely old maps of Los Angeles in this Library of Congress web-exhibition. But none surpass the obsessively illustrated genius of "Nuestra Se–ora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciœncula," by Joseph Jacinto Mora. To really appreciate the detail, you have to download the full resolution version (4.5MB). But here's a lower res for starters -- and you can click and zoom for detail.
Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood is a great theater for movie lovers.
A while ago, Mark Frauenfelder of Boing Boing and Make tagged me with a "To Live & Meme in L.A.", a four things meme (see MarkÕs entry with precious nuggets of info such as he likes to watch Pee WeeÕs Big Adventure and to eat at CarneyÕs in Studio City).
Now, having fruitlessly racked my brain about the Los Angeles meme - simple as it is (I just moved here from San Francisco about two years ago and am not very familiar with the city and surrounding sprawl), IÕve decided to slightly change the meme (is this legit? Oh wellÉ).
I'm going to write about some neat (and by neat I mean weird or interesting) things about Los Angeles and I will invite/tag other people to write 4 neat things about their hometown - the format is up to them. OK, here we go:
- 4 Neat Things about the Streets of LA
- Four Neat LA Signs
- Four Neat LA Museums
- Four Neat Places to Eat and Drink in LA
- 4 Neat LA Buildings
- 4 Neat LA Art Installations
San Francisco
Amoeba Records is a must for me to check out every time I'm in SF. It's one of the best and largest used record stores in the US. It's at 1855 Haight at the far western end, right before Golden Gate Park.
The Red Vic is a great independent movie theater that's owned by the people that work it. It's at 1727 Haight Street, a block from Amoeba.
The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose has an unofficial blog by a guy named Stephen that used to work there. There are lots of pictures and stories about the place, including lots of stuff that's off-limits to the public.
Country Station Sushi
2140 Mission Street
(between 17th and 18th streets)
415-861-0972
My friends Mark and Heather raved about Country Station Sushi. I haven't been there, so I googled it and found a wide variety of opinions on the place. A lot of people thought that it was filthy and the food mediocre. I'll bet that the place is cool, but the people that said that are a little uptight.
Minako
Minako
2154 Mission Street (at 17th St.)
San Francisco, CA 94110
415-864-1888
In searching for more info on Country Station, one place seemed to stand out in people's opinions. Minako was more than one person's favorite, and no one had anything negative to say about it. Sounds like its definitely worth checking out.
See other restaurants in the Mission at addyourown.com.
 Fat Tire Planet has a converted fire truck they use for city tours. I haven't tried it, but it might be worth checking out.
Oakland
TacoTrcks.net has reviews of all(?) the Taco Trucks in the Oakland area, reviewing not only the food, but the art on the side of the trucks and more!
Santa Cruz
The Skyview drive-in in Santa Cruz, Calif. (2260 Soquel Drive, 831-475-3405, skyviewsantacruz.com), where Boardwalk crowds flock for summer blockbusters. One of the last drive-in movie theaters in the state, it is free for kids under 12, has two big screens - and car heaters!
Big Sur
On the central coast of California lies this unique yurt-based bed & breakfast called Treebones Resort, high above highway 1.
| 
