March, 25, 2006 archives

my girlfriend celia and i were eating breakfast when we noticed people streaming down main, spring, and broadway. once we noticed a few of the people were carrying signs that said “no to hr 4437,” we were able to do the necessary googling to find out that there is a protest against an immigration bill that starts at 10am at olympic and broadway today.

we may check out the protest and march in a little bit before heading to see some of the buildings that are open as part of the downtown living weekend, and i’ll be sure to take my camera.

cole’s pacific electric buffet and the new laura esguerra adams foundation is sponsoring a blood drive next friday, march 31, in downtown los angeles.

there will be an after-party at cole’s featuring i see hawks in l.a., just like last year.

also, in the goodie bag for blood donators will be a free copy of love smart by dr. phil. so if you happen to have my sort of luck and meet someone really special at the blood drive, you’ll be able to learn what to do. or you can make a few bucks selling it on ebay.

(if there are businesses downtown that wanted to support a great cause, and pick up a little promotional value from reaching that precious downtown audience, they would do well to kick in some gifts for the goodie bags.)

the march/rally was huge. estimates put it over 100,000 people. we didn’t head towards city hall at all, but there were people streaming down broadway, spring, and even main street (and probably hill street).

i put a few more photos up. you can also check out dave bullock’s photos of the march.

we ran into a couple (british or australian, my bet would be australian) in pershing square who had no idea what they had gotten themselves into when they decided to visit downtown today. i wonder how the los angeles conservancy’s walking tours went today.

someone needs to explain to me what the political value of waving around the flag of mexico or nicaragua is at a march like this.

blossom vietnamese restaurant & teas is a new restaurant that opened recently at winston and main (near 4th and main) in downtown los angeles. my girlfriend celia and i ate there last night, and despite a small mix-up where they tried to serve our appetizer to another table, really enjoyed it. i had the shaking beef, she had the grilled pork chop, and we shared shrimp and pork spring rolls. celia also got the soda canh, which is a fresh lemonade made with perrier that was delicious.

they obviously still have some kinks to work out. there’s an unpainted wall outside the bathroom, the dining area is not really decorated, and the service was a little spotty, but they are a very welcome addition to the neighborhood. it looks like a couple of more businesses are gearing up to open in the canadian building. and with the el dorado lofts and rowan lofts under heavy construction, the old bank district is expanding out from the core at 4th and main.

a lot like love is a little gem of a romantic movie, although i see now that it got really bad reviews when it was released. amanda peet is great, ashton kutcher doesn’t stink up the place, and it all fits together remarkably well. there’s a lot of little details and moments in the film that feel right, and make it easier to suspend some of the disbelief about how the lives of these two can keep intersecting.

(and for people who like to see places they know on-screen, there’s a scene that was shot in cole’s.)