Vidiots: film nerd Mecca
Vidiots video store on Pico is one of the great things about living in Santa Monica. The place would be perfect if it had a slightly longer rental period and a bigger space. But these are minor quibbles. I don’t know of another video store in Los Angeles where a person could rent a Danish […]
Reddi Chick
A ritual I observe at the beginning of most weeks is a Monday morning stop at Reddi Chick at the Brentwood Country Mart. Lunch is not the first thing on my mind at 10 a.m. But since I’ve started doing all my grocery shopping on Monday mornings (Westside grocery stores are blessedly free of the […]
The recession has me in stitches
It’s awful and alarming what’s happening all around in the wake of the recession. My favorite Santa Monica restaurant, Violet, closed it’s doors in the last several months. The place was notable for its affordable take on the tapas/small plates craze in American fine dining and for its wonderful punk rock aesthetic. The owner was […]
Babies on the cheap again
Mention Santa Monica to other parents in Los Angeles who get around, and you might hear something about how many good parks there are or the names of some famous children’s stores. It used to be that all of the major streets had baby boutiques of one kind or another. Maybe I’m just noticing it […]
Montana blues
Last Friday night I walked along Montana Avenue in Santa Monica. The street has few evening hotspots – R and D Grill, Father’s Office, and a few restaurants with better than average food and wine – Babalu and Cafe Montana. In the recent past these restaurants are hopping, sometimes even at 9 or later in […]
Sears abides
I must give a quick shout-out to the Sears on Colorado and 4th in Santa Monica. I’d given up hope of any practical and not outrageously expensive store remaining in Santa Monica, but my quick trip there today gave me renewed hope. The last time I went in there was a couple of years ago, […]
Condoville
The volume of construction and demolition in the City of Santa Monica has been astounding for the last several years. In letters to the editor in local newspapers like the Santa Monica Mirror and the Santa Monica Daily Press, casual chitchat with strangers, and other scuttlebutt, there’s sometimes been discontent when one hears from developers […]
Graffiti Hotline
For those of you live in or near Santa Monica and don’t like graffiti, I would like you to take a moment now to program the following phone number into your cell phone: (310) 458-2231. That is the Santa Monica Graffiti Removal Hotline. There you can leave a message requesting that graffiti in the city […]
9-0-4-0-what?
Santa Monica is one of the westernmost points of West Los Angeles. It’s a wonderful place to live in many ways. Hovering just around a population of 100,000 and possessing mild weather, there’s little to complain about, other than the perennial city problems of traffic and congestion. The level of civic pride and community spirit […]
