-Weekend-Whaddup-
Once again, this is your handy-dandy -Weekend-Whaddup-… your not so insider’s guide to what’s up around Studio City and the Los Angeles area…
The Long Beach Grand Prix
when: Apr 11 – Apr 13 at 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
where: Long Beach Convention Center, 300 E Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, Ca
cost: $28 and up adults, kids free
the Whaddup:
This is a favorite of mine, a local institution. If you haven’t been, get there. I have great memories of this as a kid. My dad raced cars and seeing these guys lap the track at unbelievable speeds, on a closed course, with all that power and noise has to be seen to be believed.
The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is an open-wheel race held on a street circuit in Long Beach. The Long Beach Grand Prix is the longest running major “street” race held on the North American continent.
Ticket prices vary depending on date and seating, but you can check it out with the kids on the cheap side. General admission tickets for adults start at $28, and kids 12 and under are free with a ticketed adult.
more info:
The L.A. Times Festival of Books
when: Apr 12 – Apr 13 at 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
where: Exposition Park, USC, Exposition Blvd. and S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, Ca
cost: Free
ages: All Ages
the Whaddup:
I got tired just reading through the website about all the activities going on at this fair, this one’s a keeper!
This year authors include Jon Klassen (This is Not My Hat), Oliver Jeffers (The Day the Crayons Quit), Levar Burton does Reading Rainbow Live!, David Shannon (Bugs in My Hair), and kids friendly cooks and sports stars and more. And in between readings and book signings with these authors, cool music acts for kids will take the stage. Don’t miss Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band, Jose Luis Ortega, and more. There are tons more authors on this stage alone – remember to check the schedule so you don’t miss your favorites. Oh yeah, there’s some other stuff for grown ups, too.
The event is free. Parking at the USC campus is $10.
For more info:
Butterfly Pavilion
Open April 13 through September 1, 2014
The Whaddup:
More than 30 native North American butterfly species and an array of plants take up residence every summer for our much-anticipated living habitat, the Butterfly Pavilion. Wander through a unique changing ecosystem, witness free-flying creatures interacting with plant life, and emerge with a better understanding of the environment needed for the survival of these spectacular animals.
Tickets Click here.
Showcase for Butterflies
The Butterfly Pavilion showcases hundreds of butterflies and the plants that surround them, each visit to the Butterfly Pavilion throughout the summer can be a different experience!
Butterflies from Near and Far
- 20 species of California natives such as the Monarch, Mourning Cloak, and Buckeye
- 10 species of subtropical varieties from south Florida and Texas, such as the Malachite and the Grey Cracker
More about our Monarchs citizen science project here!
Puppet Festival
A Family Celebration of the Wonders of Puppet Theater
Sunday, April 13, 10:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
ADMISSION
- $10 General
- $7 Seniors and Children over 12
- $5 Children 2–12
- FREE to Members and Children under 2
Walk-up tickets will also be available at the door on festival day, subject to availability.
Carpooling and early arrival are highly recommended.
Download a full schedule of activities and campus map here!
There is a whole lot going on at Skirball that day, check their website for a complete schedule.
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Pacific Opera Project. Photo: Martha Benedict
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Family Festival celebrating:
A Royal
Passion: Queen Victoria and Photography
Date: Saturday, April 12, 2014
Time: 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Admission: Free; no reservations required.
Chumash Day Powwow and Intertribal Celebration
Saturday, April 12
The Whaddup:
This year’s 16th annual Chumash Day Powwow will celebrate Native Americans from all over the country, representing hundreds of tribes who will gather at Malibu Bluffs Park. Native American food, craft vendors, tribal ceremonies and dances will be a part of the event on both days.
Saturday, April 12
11am-7:30pm
Grand Entry at 1pm
Sunday, April 13
10am-5pm
Grand Entry at 12pm
Admission and parking are both free. Parking and free shuttle will be on the corner of Civic Center and Webb Way; parking onsite at Malibu Bluffs Park will not be available.
Malibu Bluffs Park
24250 Pacific Coast Highway
Kids Rhythm Club @ Remo
Saturday, April 12
The Whaddup:
LA Puppet Fest Parade
Sunday, April 6
2nd Saturday at the Adobe
Saturday, April 12
The Whaddup:
Critters n’ Kids: Loveable Lemurs @ LA Zoo
Monday, April 7 through Saturday, April 12
Exciting Elephants – May 12, 13, 14, and 17
Non-members: $26 per child/adult pair
Peter Rabbit Day
Saturday, April 12
The Whaddup:
For more info: Event Website
LAKE SHRINE
AVOCADO FESTIVALS:
So, you like green things and avocados are on the short list… you’ve got a couple of places to visit this weekend. One is a bit of a haul but sounds like good time, come on… be adventurous and head down to Fallbrook in San Diego County for a big ol’ street fair with the green fruit at its center.
It’s that time again! The first avocado festival of 2014 is nearly here, which means avocado enthusiasts from all over the world will be heading to Fallbrook in San Diego County to celebrate the California Avocado. Fallbrook is a natural fit for the avocado festival as its roots go deep into California agriculture. The Fallbrook/Bonsall area has been an agricultural-based community since the earliest settlers arrived in the 1800
This street fair-style festival, taking place on Main Street, is accommodating to all ages (note: pets are prohibited in the main festival area, but there is a designated pet area – shown on the map below) with many activities happening throughout the day including:
- A Fallbrook Farmers Market
- A Guacamole Contest
- The Art of the Avocado Contest
- The Avo 500 Children’s Car Race
- The Best Decorated Avocado Contest
Additionally, the festival attracts all kinds of vendors, including:
- California Avocado growers
- Avocado Packers
- Arts and Crafts (art and jewelry)
- Breweries
- Food (including the famous avocado ice cream!)
Los Angeles AVOCADO Festival
The Whaddup:
- La Placita Olvera is located right across the street from Union Station and one block from Chinatown.
It’s the host of many beautiful traditions held by our Latin Community. Also known as El Pueblo de Los Angeles is a traditional Mexican style plaza area with shops for handcrafted Mexican souvenirs. Olvera Street is the birthplace of the City of Los Angeles in 1781.The avocado fruit was introduced from Mexico to California in the 19th century. Some 90% of United States avocado production is located in Southern California, with 60% in San Diego County.While dozens of cultivars are grown, the Hass avocado is today the most common. It produces fruit year-round and accounts for 80% of cultivated avocados in the world. Peru, Chile and Mexico are the avocados exporter to USA.The avocado is very popular in cuisine dishes, meats, sandwiches, Seafood, California sushi rolls, salads as well as a spread on corn tortillas or toast served with spices like the Mexican dip known as guacamole.
Generally, avocado is served raw and is also often eaten as a fruit, eaten alone, or mixed with other fruits. They are generally available throughout the year, they are the most abundant and at their best during the beginning of spring in California.
At the “Los Angeles AVOCADO Festival” (free entrance to the public) in La Placita Olvera more than 15,000 people will taste a variety of Dishes serve with lots of Avocado or Guacamole provided by all type of ethnicity food vendors and local Restaurants of Los Angeles area. Attendants can also enjoy Crafts, live entertainment, free ruffle to win gifts, cooking recipe books, Commercial Products, free health screenings, services and information provided by all type of exhibitors.
- Official Website
- Sunday, April 13, 2014 10:00am-6:00 pm
Olvera Street
845 N Alameda StLos Angeles, CA 90012
DESPICABLE ME MINION MAYHEM:
Universal Studios Hollywood is debuting its splashy ride for the warm-weather season. By the way, expect to see minions. Personally I’d wait a couple of weeks to check this one out, for two reasons.
1. Crowds are brutal when this sort of thing first opens.
2. Wait for the heat, any wet ride is best tried when it’s hotter than 80 degrees out.
DEATH VALLEY FLOWERS:
The national park is expecting a much bigger wildflower bloom than expected, right now, this minute, so if you want to see petals in the desert, go, go, go.
The Counter – Tonight Only – 20% to a good cause
It’s a limited engagement, tonight at The Counter here in studio city 20% of your check goes to support PALS (Police Activity League Supporters).
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Free CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) Course
This looks cooler than it sounds. My wife is doing it, otherwise I would.
sponsored by the Studio City Neighborhood Council
Studio City Neighborhood Council is proudly sponsoring C.E.R.T. 1 Classes
Thursdays at 6:30pm, from March 6 to April 17
CBS Studio Center (MPR-9)
4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, CA 91604
Community Emergency Response Team Training Class, aka “C.E.R.T.”
This class runs on consecutive Thursday evenings from 6:30-9:30 PM
Classes are FREE to the public and your CERT instructor will be LAFD Firefighter McKnight
First-Aid/CPR/AED* also offered (fee required)*
The information and knowledge you will gain is PRICELESS!
RSVP to: scnc.2014certtraining@gmail.com
You will learn such basics life saving skills as:
- Manage public utility functions and safely put out small fires.
- How to prevent the three “Medical Killers” by Opening Airways, Controlling bleeding, and Treating for shock.
- Provide basic emergency medical aid to your neighbor.
- Search for and Rescue Accident Victims Safely.
- Organize yourselves and other CERT Volunteers to be Effective Rescuers.
- Collect Disaster Intelligence to support First Responder efforts.
Additional information here: CERT-Studio-City-NC.pdf
(818) 655-5400 Select the Public Safety Committee option
Info on SCNC Public Safety Meetings: bpender@studiocitync.org
What’s Old is New Again (Drive-Ins)
Stay near the car! Stay near the car! That was my mom’s mantra and we heard it over and over and over while images of dancing sodas, french fries and hot dogs played on the enormous screens over our heads. In my memory it’s more vivid than Danny Zucko’s hormonal spikes and Sandy in her poodle skirt from the movie Grease. Danny should have known better than to try what he did, Sandy was a good girl. It wasn’t just my parent’s voices. Everyone’s parents were shouting out commands to their kids as they darted in and out of the parked cars those long nights, first on Long Island and then here in the SF Valley. It wasn’t just here or there, it was universal. We were kids being kids.
Some might say these theaters were a fad since they came and most went. There were hundreds in the SoCal area at one time and more than 4,000 across the US. They now number only in the hundreds nationwide, but left an indelible mark on my time as a kid. Having such great memories, I was happy to hear one is coming back.
An old theater in the city of Paramount (once called the Roadium) is bringing sexy back this spring, it’s been flying under the radar as a swap meet since their screens went dark. But the projectors will soon roll again. Now they’re digital and instead of a squawky box hanging from your window it’s Dolby Digital through your car’s own stereo. It has just changed ownership and sources mention that a member of the original owner’s family is still involved. The LA Business Journal says that local developer Modern Development is planning to show second-run movies at discounted prices ($9 for adults, $3 for kids). They have two spanking new 75 foot screens and there’s talk of a smart phone app you can pop open to order food. It’s not exactly your mom and dad’s drive-in. I hope they get hi-HI-tech and deliver my nachos via drone helicopters directly to my car.
This isn’t the only Drive-In SoCal, here’s a list of what’s out there.
- Vineland Drive-in, 443 Vineland Ave, La Puente, (818) 961-9262
- Mission Drive-in, 10798 Romona Ave, Montclair, (909) 628-0019
- Harbor Drive-in, 32nd & D Ave, National City, (619) 477-1392
- Valley Drive-in, 3480 Mission Ave, Oceanside (619) 757-5556
- Fiesta 4 Drive-in, 8462 Whittier Blvd, Pico Rivera, (310) 948-3671
- Rubidoux Drive-in, Mission Blvd. & Opal, Riverside (909) 683-4455
- Van Buren Drive-in, 3035 Van Buren Blvd, Riverside (909) 688-2360
- South Bay Drive-in, 2170 Coronado Ave, San Diego (619) 423-9676
- Hi-Way Drive-in, 3085 Santa Maria Way, Santa Maria (805) 937-9715
- Santee Drive-in, 10990 Woodside Ave, Santee, (619) 448-7447, (619) 449-7927
If you know of others, let me know!
Feel Good & Do Good
Since people came to The Valley they’ve planted citrus. The trees just drink up that hot California Sun. I rented a home a bunch of years ago that had a navel orange tree chock full of the best oranges I’d ever had, but we couldn’t eat them or give them away as fast they were dropping and rotting. That is where Food Forward comes in, they collect food that would otherwise be wasted and put it in the hands of those in need. 
There is never a shortage of opportunities to volunteer, but sometimes we need one put right in front of us before we act. Here it is. So if you’re looking for a local way to help out and something you can do with the kids, look no further than Food Forward. To date they’ve recovered 1,889,000lbs of food. Don’t worry, they won’t ask you to carry it all by yourself.
You’ll want to click here to go to their site and choose what to sign up for, they have many projects available. If you’re going to bring the kids make sure the event you sign on to help with allows kids their age.
If your kid has a need to do a youth service project, Food Forward can be an interesting way for them to do so. No matter what brings you to help, it sends a great message to our kids to get out there, even if it’s just once in a while, to help those less fortunate.
Living in a Discount World
In days of yore people walked uphill both ways to school in the snow while clipping coupons from the Sunday paper to save a few dollars. Social Media and coupon sites in general have really opened things up, nowadays we have tons of options from Groupon and Living Social, to Coupon Clipper and Amazon Local. Amazon just jumped into the game and I have a feeling they’ll make a big splash. And the list goes on and on. And on and on. Digital discounts are out there for the taking.
As a parent in Studio City there is a huge variety of things to do in way of classes, camps and options for “event” birthday parties. Every birthday party seems like it’s an event. Truthfully, I prefer simplicity and my goal for this year is to begin to make things easier for myself and my family by getting back to basics. Tangent, why do people write truthfully? Was I lying before I wrote it? No. Digress, there’s a lot to sift through and the expenses can add up quickly. If you have more than one kid double or triple it, or utilize what’s around you to shop around and save.
Tennis, golf, gymnastics, Dance (hip hop, ballet, tap), art, musical theater and the list goes on. It seems like we/everyone signs their kids up for everything. Most classes offer a free trial but that doesn’t give your kid enough to really warm up to something. Think you’ve got the next Tiger or Michelle Kwan, you can’t trust the coaches to be honest. Their salary depends on filling up classes with hopefuls. It can take a few whiles to see if your kid likes it, and even longer to see if they’re good. Would little Skylar rather play with bugs than a basketball? Is science their thing, art their calling or sports the goal? My older girl has gone to two different gymnastics camps, for half of the regular price. Not a small thing is that now we know which camp best suits her. Saving pennies is great and a worthwhile goal, even better is using them right.
Groupon and Living Social are two of my favorites, but there are up and comers that should be watched. And if that’s not enough ways to save money, try Plum, Certifikid or Zulily. Zulily is my wife’s personal favorite. Many a time a brown van has graced our street on her behest. You can get daily emails from these folks, it makes shopping for the whole family a point and click endeavor and birthdays easy to take care of from your desk or smart phone.
A personal favorite of mine and something that’s saved me hundreds if not thousands of dollars over the years is the Amazon App. And not for the obvious reason. Go shopping, open the app, and point the camera at the bar code on whatever you’re buying. Zap it. Price-Match! I don’t do this for a can of soup but if it’s something I don’t want to wait for, something I want or need now. Match it and save!
I’ve had mixed experiences with Amazon, I’m one of their prime customers and for years I’ve had great service until recently. They dropped the ball over the holidays and my wife ended up without her “big” gift. Their fault entirely. And while they picked up the “extra” charge I had paid for expedited shipping, it didn’t make up for it.
Share your ideas below on how to save!
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