The Ultimate Escape: Los Angeles

The best part of LA is that no matter how long you've lived here, there's always somewhere new and exciting to go. If you're asking me and many of you have, this is my adventurous guide to visiting the fantastical lands of Los Angeles!

First time in LA Must See Spots:

3rd street promenade in Santa Monica 

The Santa Monica Pier -Ride the Ferris wheel, it’s a must! 

Hollywood 'n Highland Star Walk

Grauman's Chinese Theatre & Handprints on Hollywood Blvd

The Griffith Observatory & Hike

Starline Hollywood House Tour to see celebrity homes. Buy your ticket

on Hollywood Blvd $50/per ticket right in from of Grauman's Chinese

Theatre, very fun and worth it -they will take you to Rodeo Drive as well on the tour.

The Grove on 3rd street
See a movie at iPic theater in Pasadena or the one Wilshire Blvd –recliners and pillows and dinner brought to you. I prefer the Pasadena iPic so you can explore downtown Pasadena while there.
The Getty -right off the 405 on the way to the beach free parking on Sundays after four, but otherwise $15 to park but the exhibit is free.
The Getty Villa in Malibu -Free but reserve a time online and print pass.

Malibu Paradise Cove Beach Cafe -eat with your feet in the sand, make reservations for outside seating.

Walk the Venice boardwalk and canals and eat at one of the restaurants on Washington Street. 

City walk in Universal City -Eat at Buca Di Beppo - order their EPIC

chocolate cake for dessert. Try Voodoo Doughnuts there as well.

Cinespia Cemetery Screening Hollywood

The Staple Center/LA Live to see a concert, sports game, or just have dinner.

LACMA museum $15/person but cheaper with student ID and free some hours/days. Look at online schedule.

Hornblower Champagne Brunch cruise in Marina del Rey $100/person

Disneyland

The Magic Castle in Hollywood if you can get in, it can be hard to get

a reservation if you don't know a magician there. 

Other fun things to do: 

Rent a bike in Santa Monica and bike on the beach in the morning before it gets crowded

Madame Tussauds Wax Museum Hollywood

Get tickets to a live show tapings from tvtickets.com

Warner Bros. Studio Tour

Shopping on Melrose and Lunch at LaLa's Argentina Grill on Melrose

Castle Park Mini Golf in Sherman Oaks

Catalina Island for a day trip

UCB Comedy Show in Hollywood
Six Flags
Zuma beach in Malibu
Greystone Mansion and Park

Chateau Marmont

Venice canals cross streets Washington St and Venice Blvd.

Drive Malibu coast PCH

Farmers Markets

Melrose Trading Post on Sundays
Knots Berry Farms

Pool bars:

Make a reservation via resortpass.com

The London 

The Beverly Hilton Hotel
Roosevelt Hotel Pool bar in Hollywood
The W Pool bar in Hollywood

Night Bars:

Blue Collar bar -Best cocktails Mid-Wilshire Area

The One up- Amazing healthy organic food and most importantly, free arcade games

Firefly Bar for drinks in studio city
La Descarga  Hollywood Cuban themed bar with burlesque-style salsa acts. Make reservations or go on a Wednesday or Thursday Night.
The Den Hollywood for Drinks

Early Evening Bars:

Laurel Hardware -Weho

The Blue Dog Beer Tavern -Sherman Oaks 
The Local Peasant -Sherman Oaks
Laurel Tavern -Studio City

Clubs:
The Edison Lounge Downtown LA -Dress up

Hiking:
Griffith Observatory Hike -My favorite

The Hollywood sign Hike
Runyon Canyon Hike in Hollywood
Rustic Canyon Hike -Brentwood
Fryman Canyon -Studio City
Echo Mountain -Altadena (Pictured below, yup that's me!)

Escondido Falls hike in Malibu -very dangerous hike

My Favorite Lunch Spots in LA:
Plancha on 3rd st $20/person Try the Mexican Protein chicken breakfast burrito best burrito in the world say no beans and get the light orange sauce and ranch to dip it in
Blu Jam Café-Tex Mex Hash, Breakfast Quesadilla, Cornflake French Toast
Paradise Cove Malibu -On the beach, feet in the sand $40/person
LaLas on Melrose has good Argentinian food $20/person. Awesome pico chicken sandwich Salad bar and mini burgers delicious 
Diddy Riese in Westwood for famous dessert and awesome Enzo’s pizzeria across street
Aroma Cafe Studio City for Lunch

Mulberry Street Pizzeria for the best Pizza in LA - Many locations 
Bacari in Silver Lake 
Cheesecake Factory because Happy Hour 4-6 Monday through Friday in the bar area

My Favorite Dinner Spots in LA:
Larsens in Encino -Favorite steak in LA $50/person
Palm’s Thai Hollywood -Try the Chicken Pad Thai Mixed veggies Egg rolls with sweet and sour sauce $20/person
Hugo’s Sherman Oaks –Veggie Burger in spinach wrap add onion and hummus, side salad, green lasagna

Ca’Del Sole Italian  restaurant in Studio city -good for drinks and appetizers in outside area great atmosphere
Favorite Chinese- Chi dynasty in Studio City $15/person
Japanese BBQ place called Gyu kaku $20/person in Sherman oaks really cheap happy hour s'mores for dessert roast them right at your table cream cheese wontons & spring rolls also recommended
Delancey on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood Favorite Italian for Chicken Parm -$30/person 
Barney's Beanery in Santa Monica Great Chili and get s'mores for dessert roast them right at your table $10/person
 

My favorite Vegan/Organic restaurants in LA:
Granville -Best vegan Burgers

Sestina -Vegan Italian
Hugo's
SunCafé Studio City-Raw Nachos, Tacos,Strawberry Almond shake
Le Pain Quotidien
Native Foods Cafe
Sage
Ve Station
Crossroads
Real Food Daily
Cafe Gratitude
   

Holidays in LA

For your Holiday dinner, I would suggest paradise cove because they do a 3 course meal with the salad bar and dessert for $75/person and it was so delicious and beautiful because you're eating with your feet in the sand right on the beach and it's a private beach so you can legally bring your own alcohol to drink in the sand. But I'd make reservations ahead of time and ask if they are doing the Holiday dinner set price per person like they did for thanksgiving.

Where to stay in LA

Stay in Santa Monica near 3rd street if you can find something reasonable or if you're renting a car stay in Universal City, because it's right in between the beaches and downtown and close to Hollywood. Universal city is also right by City Walk, which is an awesome attraction full of lights, free performances, restaurants, shops, bars, and Universal Studios. Another great place to stay would be Mid-City near the grove/3rd street area. Also, if you want a cheaper hotel not far from attractions Burbank, Sherman Oaks, and Studio City are all safe places equal distance from fun. But I would recommend Santa Monica or West Hollywood if you want to really be in the center of fun.

Other Advice:
UBER otherwise, Always read street signs or just pay to valet, because they ticket you for parking constantly in LA. And try to stay off the highways during rush hour M-F 8am-10am and 4pm-730pm. I always get my tickets round trip from cheap tickets.com, but do so on a Tuesday night after midnight or wed for best prices and fly into LAX. I usually pay $600 round trip from east coast to west coast. And always check Groupon for deals on hotels, food, and entertainment.

See you soon!

2020 Update: For great food: Craig’s, Locanda Portofino, Spago. For atmosphere: The rooftop by JD, Polo lounge. I haven’t tried, but heard was a fun experience: Barton G. Honorable Mentions: N10, Mr. Chow, Perch, Elephante, il Cielo, Toca Madera, Other Honorable Mentions: Cecconi’s, The Bazaar, The Little Door, The Rooftop Garden at the Peninsula, Salt in Marina Del Rey.

2022 Updates for Favorite Food Spots in Los Angeles:

Prince street pizza 
Lorenzo’s pizza 
Pizzaoki
Pepe’s pizza 
Granville -veggie burger
Plancha -Blanca burrito no beans 
Spago -corn pasta begins with an A  
Craig’s -vegan ck Parm & truffle honey chicken  when I wasn’t vegetarian 
Perch -truffle Mac and cheese and Brussel sprouts 
Celodan Thai  marina del Rey 
Bodhi Thai 
Cafe Habana Malibu -quesadillas and margs
Natraj Indian food & catering 
Hillstone & South Beverly grill -Thai steak & Noodle salad can get vegetarian 
Chinois -fried rice and mixed vegetables 
Plancha -Breakfast Blanco burrito, fajitas quesadilla
Mulberry's NY Pizza
Electric Owl happy hour menu burgers are bomb every day 420-7
Blu Jam -Tex Mex Tofu Hash, eggwich 
Vegan house Thai bistro -ck pad Thai stesmed veggies egg roll 
Locanda Portofino -eggplant linguini & penne alla vodka 
Mendocino farms -Superfood Hemp Burger vegan bun toasted
II Tramezzino -Sicilian panini and vodka penne 
Panera - southwest salad, seasonal corn chowder, tomato soup half of Cesar sandwich  or broc ched soup 
Malibu farm pier cafe -broccoli quesadilla
Tekila -fajitas and quesadilla
Public School -PS Burger 
Madera kitchen on Cahuenga in Hollywood -the carrots and pasta
Mh Zh silver lake -potatoes, hummus, frittes salad 
Alcove -veggie burger 
Jersey Mike's -Italian Sub
Cheesecake -Mini Burgers & avocado egg rolls 4-6 HH
Stone oven -southwest salad with avocado instead of ck and sun dried Tom ranch dressing 
Korean BBQ at mall -veggies water chestnuts 
Larsens -classic mac n cheese steak mash potatoes cream of spinach (5-7 HH)
The One Up -burrata salad and squash gnocchi 
Palms Thai -Hollywood ck pad Thai stesmed veggies egg roll 
Pizza Rev -gluten free Pizza 
Blaze -pizza 
Tender greens -happy vegan salad 
Hugo's -veggie burger wrap 
The next door -burger & the little door 
Toca Madera -Margaritas & food good 
Din Tai Fung -spicy noodle, spicy wontons, spinach 
Tocaya -Tacos, corn and Tortilla soup 
The front yard -street tacos 
Citizen - hazelnut dessert 
Panzella -eggplant pasta & pumpkin pasta
On the thirty -happy hour pizza and salad 
No name-mushroom pasta 
Sotto -market salad and meatballs 
Cafe Roma -happy hour -eggplant pasta and pizza 
Beauty & Essex
Tangine - morrocan 
Elephante 2nd and Santa Monica rooftop restaurant truffle pizza and endive salad 
Bossa nova -WeHo California salad and ck pasta here is good too
Al Basch -Mediterranean Hollywood (12.99 catering option for 16 ppl 232 total)
Kung Pao Bistro -orange chicken veggie rice broccoli & onions, egg rolls 
Terroni -truffle pizza 
Javier’s -javier’s margarita ck quesadilla cubed not shredded  
Terra -Italian with a view salad and mushroom app good 
The Henry -pretzels, hummus, burger 
The rooftop by JD at the Waldorf hotel 
Polo lounge outside 
Mr. C’s hotel pool and cobb salad and bubbly
Bacari -Bussel spouts cauliflower marg pizza 
il cielo -atmosphere 
Sweet greens- green goddess avocado salad 
25 degrees -beyond burger 
Veggie grill - Buffalo wraps and kids beyond burger ,Mac and cheese
Sweet greens -green goddess avocado salad
Pit fire -vegan pizza
Bodhi Thai 
Terra -pasta & burrata with beets
Maggiano’s -eggplant Parmesan 
The Malibu Farm Restaurant on the Malibu pier the have a broccoli quesadilla that’s amazing 
La piazza at the grove 

Disclaimer: These photos are not my own and I do not own the rights to these photos. Noted for the digital millennium copyright act (DMCA)

“Self-Imposed Loneliness, Glorified Bloodshed, and a Psychotic Fantasy”

   When the Wizard’s only advice is to “Go out, get laid, get drunk, cause we’re all fucked anyway,” that’s when we know for sure we aren’t in Kansas anymore.

    Taxi Driver is a Martin Scorsese film where a despicable character becomes the hero. The film is set in the streets of urban New York. The screenwriter, Paul Schrader, says he used New York because the city represents everything forbidden and crazy, but the irony is that it is the loneliness place. “You can only do real true loneliness in a crowded atmosphere,” Schrader explains. And Taxi Driver is a story about male drifting loneliness or more specifically self-imposed loneliness.
    Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro) is the confused protagonist in search for his identity and place in this world he considers hell. He’s referred to as the doughboy who will do anything for a dollar. Travis is a taxi driver who spends most nights alone, driving around in the darkness in search of an identity. However, he has a syndrome of behavior that reinforces contradictory impulses.  The viewer witnesses this as the film progresses; Travis engages in porn and puritism at the same time and often says “I gotta get healthy,” but then proceeds to ingest numerous, unidentified pills. Travis does all these things to make sure he’ll never get where he’s going. He reinforces his own doomed condition by preventing himself from achieving his goals.

     Cause-effect logic and narrative parallelism generate a narrative, which projects its action through psychologically defined, and goal-oriented characters, however, Travis is a character who does not operate in a parallel pattern. Cause and effect events in Taxi Driver are limited as the narrative is much more intransitive and loose. The world Travis lives in is chaotic and absurd at night, but seemingly harmless during the daylight hours. The government is frequently spoken of, but unfortunately not in control. The streets are dangerous, dirty, and full of crime. Palantine is the last name of the man running for office, but it is not coincidental that the names literal meaning is an old culture that has been destroyed. The world presented in Taxi Driver is not to be desired. Travis describes everyone around him as “cold and distance like the union, especially the women.” Lots of red color and red lighting is used in the film and can be seen in nearly every shot. At one point in the film, Travis tells Betsy (Cybell Shepherd), “You’re in hell and you’re going to die in hell like the rest of them!” This quote may be explaining the excessive use of red coloring in the film, as the color red has been closely associated with hell.
    Cinematic representation, mise-en-scene, cinematography, and sound are devices in which specifically function in a way that ultimately advances the narrative.  Taxi Driver uses these things and formal experimentation to not only keep the film advancing, but also to raise questions and give freedom to thought. This film allows its audience to decide for themselves what it is they are seeing and its meaning.

    Many American values and traditions are challenged in Taxi Driver. Prostitution and rape is presented as a way of everyday life. Iris (Jodie Foster) is only twelve years old, but the only one questioning the morality of the situation is Travis. He sees Iris as a classic flower in a dirty place much like her name implies. He sees her trying to get away and escape from this world and he identifies with that need to escape. Innocence often clashes with sin. Sexuality and age appropriateness is brought into question not only with Iris, but also when a young black boy tries to pay a whore to sleep with him.
    Travis is very neutral about everything -politics, music, porn, and film. He didn’t know seeing a porn film was wrong until Betsy will no longer see him because he took her to see Sometime Sweet Susan. He distances himself from politics and avoids choosing a side. The film doesn’t even mention what party candidate Palantine is.  Obsession is also brought into question when Travis refuses to leave Betsy alone. He never questions whether his actions are right or wrong, he just goes about life without direction of any kind. Classical perceptions of good and evil are both challenged and destroyed.
    Racism is called into question in numerous scenes. The man in the backseat of Travis’ cab, explains that his wife is cheating on him with a “nigger” and Travis has just driven him to the location where he will commit murder as his wife has committed adultery. Racism toward white men is also seen when Travis finds himself in the wrong part of town and African Americans egg his car. Travis shows signs of latent racism when he stares at African Americans, but like most things he doesn’t pick sides. Women in this film are disrespected and seen only for sexual pleasure, often being referred to as nothing other than pussy. Homosexuality is mentioned briefly in the coffee shop, but portrayed in a negative light when Wizard (Peter Boyle) talks about two men being fags. The pursuit of happiness is only mentioned as being something of the past.

    Depressed Travis confronts his old and wise friend, Wizard. Travis tells Wizard he has bad thoughts and doesn’t know what to do. He is worried and conflicted unsure of what’s right and wrong. At this point, Travis is on the verge of going psychotic. Wizard’s only advice is to “go out, get laid, and get drunk, cause we’re all fucked anyway.” Travis hates the “Taxi Life” of others but can’t sleep because of his sexual frustration.
    The characters of the classical narrative have clear-cut traits and objectives, but Travis’ character is more like those found in art cinema –characters that lack defined desires and goals and who’s choices are vague or nonexistent. Travis is similar to an art-film character, sliding passively from one situation to another.  He says, “One of these days I’m going to get organized,” but instead he slips into a psychotic state after being fed up with the disgusting world he lives in. “Bars, cars, sidewalks, stores everywhere there’s no escape,” Travis quotes Thomas Wolfe, “I’m God’s lonely man.”
    Travis decides to take action and prepare for war. He buys an entire case of guns from a traveling salesman and begins his training. He begins thinking he is the only solution this world has because, “All the kings men cannot put it back together again.” He takes on another identity when the secret service man asks for his name and address. He’s loosing control and easily breaks his television. He then writes home to his parents, telling them he’s part of the secret service and in a relationship with Betsy. If it’s not already obvious he’s lost his mind he goes on talking to himself, “Listen you fuckers, you screw heads. Here’s a man who would not take it anymore, a man who stood up against the scum, the cunts, the dogs, the filth, the shit. Here is someone who stood up. Here is… your dead.”

   Travis’ insanity comes in handy when a stick-up occurs in the store he is present in. Travis shoots the black man right in the face. He could have just injured him, but killed him instead. Was it because the thief was black that Travis shot him or did his latent racism have nothing to do with the justice he was serving? The film raises many questions to the audience and never clearly picks a side. Travis tries to help Iris and tells her to go back home, but she refuses. He is trying to cleanup this world he lives in. He tells Iris he wants to give her the money to go to the commune, because he’s got nothing better to do with his money. Iris wants him to come along, but he has assassination plans that are not real clear.
    Travis thinks he has to do this for the government, and that he is finally seeing life clearly.  He says he never had a choice, but only that this was his destiny. His Mohawk symbolizes his mental deterioration and insanity. However, he surprisingly hesitates and doesn’t kill Charles Palantine.  Instead, Travis rushes off to where Iris is kept. He kills Iris’ pimp, Mathew (Harvey Keitel), and continues this glorified bloodshed till he finds Iris. Travis tries to kill himself, but there are no bullets left. As the cops arrive, it appears that Travis takes his last breath and his eyes roll to the back of his head.
    The overhead angle of the bloodshed is reflexive as it points out that it is a film. Overhead angles like this one is unnatural to the human eye and calls attention to the film’s aesthetics. The point of view is almost always from Travis’s view, but it is very distant because the point of modernist films was distancing. Distancing the audience from the characters helped to foreground issues. Giving the audience that distance from the character allows them to emotionally identify with whomever they want and see all viewpoints instead of choosing a side and being close-minded.
    At one point, the point of view switches completely to that of Betsy’s POV. Travis is looking in his rear view mirror back at Betsy, and suddenly the camera moves to the backseat taking Betsy’s position and looking at Travis in the mirror. This shot may suggest that perhaps it is now Betsy that has a small obsession with Travis after reading about his heroism in all the newspapers. The camera often moves in other directions rather than following Travis. Sometimes Travis went one way and the camera went another way like when he’s talking on the phone and the camera moves pass him and focuses down an empty hallway.  Scorsese chose to experiment with the mise-en-scene and editing as he used a lot of slow motion shots to represent a documentary of Travis’ mind. When the audience sees this slow motion they realize this is happening in the character’s mind. The last montage of city shots over lapping each other also points out once again that what the audience is experiencing is in fact a film. This style requires the audience to be observant and watch the film aggressively; otherwise the material may appear quite confusing.

    Overall, the narrative was very structured, but the events of the story appeared free and loose at the same time. Contradictions were in every scene. Social and moral values were questioned through the formal aspects of cinema. Many other outside texts were referenced including Thomas Wolfe’ s “God’s Lonely Man,” Kris Kristofferson “The Pilgrim, Chapter 33,” Goodwin’s “Return to Greatness.” One of the best hidden references was the “Olive it Up,” advertisement that was written on the bus behind them when they were in the coffee shop. The viewer did not have to go outside of the film to understand the film, but knowing the outside references mentioned did help in clarification.
     The film has an ambiguous ending as most modernist films. It’s a happy ending if the audience believes Iris is happy back in Pittsburgh as her family suggests. Perhaps this horrible experience successfully changed her ways as Travis had hoped. Maybe the cops really have been inspired by Travis’ actions against the gangsters and will now take control of the city. Even Travis’ love life looks promising when Betsy slides in Travis’ cab for a ride home. Travis’ psychotic fantasy did end in glorified bloodshed, but perhaps he didn’t wake up from that coma and his ride home with Betsy was simply taking place in his dreamlike state. Maybe Iris will return to the streets and prostitution. To some extent, the audience can choose their own ending, but the final shot of the film is without ambiguity as Travis finally takes Betsy’s advice and looks himself in the eyes through his rearview mirror -finally seeing the real, the truth, himself.