That’s So Embarrassing, L.A.

Do they even bother to focus group these things? You may have read that Los Angeles has unveiled a new tourism campaign, under the slogan “That’s So LA.”

New spots include Tom Hanks, Kobe Bryant and Lauren Conrad — yes, really, that’s who L.A. has chosen as one of its ambassadors to the world (ugh, that’s a blog post in itself).

Los Angeles has always struggled with finding a catchy slogan. As Rick Orlov notes, past failed attempts include “L.A.’s the Place,” “Together, We’re the Best” and most recently, “See My L.A.”

But hold on. At least none of them were kinda derogatory toward L.A. And none of them sounded remotely like a tasteless yet popular slur.

“That’s So L.A.” manages to do both. In much of the country, “That’s So L.A.” might be uttered after someone does something bizarre.

Meanwhile, let’s face it, the slogan rhymes with the all-too common slur, “That’s so gay.” And strangely, L.A. is starting to promote “That’s So L.A.” right when several groups, such as ThinkB4YouSpeak.com, are making a new effort to convince the nation’s youth to stop saying “That’s so gay”:

New York vs. Los Angeles, via Classic Movies

vs.

Turner Classic Movies is pitting Los Angeles against New York on Thursday nights throughout January:

Each Thursday in January, TCM will pit the Big Apple against the City of Angels with a trio of double-features that showcase the cities. The various double-features include “When Animals Attack” on Jan. 1, with King Kong (1933) and Them! (1954); “Kelly vs. Kelly,” with the Gene Kelly musicals On the Town (1949) and Anchors Aweigh (1945); “Simon Says,” with the Neal Simon comedies The Out-of-Towners (1949) and California Suite (1978); and “Broadway vs. Hollywood” with All About Eve (1950) and Sunset Blvd. (1950).

Wonder what a modern NY-LA movie smackdown might consist of…

Traffic: Always Had It, Always Will

Let me be the latest to post about the cool photo archives now found at the Life website. Type in “Los Angeles,” and check out some cool shots (and some not so interesting ones, BTW) of L.A. in mid-century.

Above, a reminder that our traffic woes are nothing new…

Reality Stars, They’re Just Like Us!

As a kid visiting L.A. (age 8), I remember taking one of those bus tours to see the stars’ homes. Highlights included the home formerly owned by Lucille Ball. (Yeah, it didn’t take much to get people excited back then). These days, tourists are flocking to L.A. to catch a glimpse of their fave reality star.

And sometimes catching a glimpse isn’t enough. They’re coming to experience the lifestyle — and perhaps befriend their favorite TV personalities. The L.A. Times features one such “The Hills” fan:

In the weeks leading up to her spring break earlier this year, Rachel Haas, then a high school senior, wasn’t concerned with trying on new bikinis or misting herself with a spray tan. Instead, she was obsessively watching MTV’s reality show ” The Hills” and making a long list of every restaurant and nightclub that appeared on-screen that she wanted to visit on her trip to Los Angeles.

Her ideal itinerary began with her and her friends venturing down the Sunset Strip to eat burgers at Ketchup, where they figured they had a shot of catching the cameras from “The Hills.” On the weekend, they’d hit Les Deux, Hollywood’s über-trendy club, with its Euro-themed wallpaper and bottle service.

“My perception of L.A. was that it was a place that felt completely unreal, like a movie set. I had the highest expectations for it — I thought I’d literally be running into famous people everywhere,” said Haas, now an 18-year-old freshman at Washington University in St. Louis.

No happy ending here: Haas didn’t get to meet L.C. afterall.

Everyone Gangs Up on Los Angeles

Our constantly misunderstood and stereotyped city has been suffering even more knocks — mostly unfair — as of late.

A few recent slights:

– According to the L.A. Times blog L.A. Land, Los Angeles is ranked far behind other major cities in terms of sustainability — even behind Cleveland, Omaha and Dallas:

According to the 2008 SustainLane U.S. City Rankings, which rate the nation’s 50 largest cities in terms of urban sustainability, Los Angeles is behind those cities … and 21 others as well.

The city fell three spots from last year. Why? Well, one clue come from the fact that rankings are based on factors including air quality, roadway congestion, sprawl and housing affordability.

The study blames L.A. suburbia for auto-dependence, heavy freeway congestion, and the second-worst worst air quality (behind Fresno) in the nation.

– Over at the L.A. Times blog L.A. Now, reporter Patrick McGreevy notes that the Northern California state congressional race pitting Thousand Oaks’ Tom McClintock against Charlie Brown (good grief!) is getting nasty — and L.A. is being used as a slur:

Democratic candidate Charlie Brown is running radio ads in the 4th District near Sacramento, attacking Republican contender Tom McClintock as “this guy from L.A.”

Though part of Brown’s point is that McClintock, who represents a district in SoCal, is carpetbagging, there’s a definite anti-L.A. tone in the commercials.

Chides the ad: “L.A. Tom could vote for himself if he would just move here.”

Just one problem — McClintock’s from Thousand Oaks, a quiet little city far from the mean streets of Los Angeles.

– Then there’s Forbes’ list of the nation’s most stressful metro areas. L.A. placed fourth, behind Chicago, New York and Detroit.

I suppose we’re in good company — but as L.A. Land notes, Forbes’ reasoning is a tad suspect:

Unemployment, home prices and gas prices were among the reasons given for L.A.’s placement, as well as having what Forbes called “the worst air quality in the country.” In fact, they went on to explain, “Angelenos often need to stay indoors when the smog gets really bad.” Say what? A show of hands please.

Apparently the Forbes reporter climbed through a time warp to 1965 to deliver that report.

L.A. Plays Itself, And Plays Itself, And Plays Itself Again

A list of the top 25 L.A.-centric films of the past 25 years? And Midnight Madness wasn’t among them? For shame.

Kidding aside, it is a pretty good list. The top 10:

1. L.A. Confidential (1997)
2. Boogie Nights (1997)
3. Jackie Brown (1997)
4. Boyz N the Hood (1991)
5. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
6. The Player (1992)
7. Clueless (1995)
8. Repo Man (1984)
9. Collateral (2004)
10. The Big Lebowski (1998)

That’s a movie festival I wouldn’t mind seeing.

Los Angeles Forgets Its Own Birthday

Every year around the anniversary of Los Angeles’ Sept. 4, 1781, founding, a group of die-hard Angelenos and descendants of the city’s original residents reenact the nine-mile hike that L.A.’s 44 pobladores (settlers) took from the San Gabriel Mission to El Rio de Nuestra Señora La Reina de Los Angeles de Porciúncula.

Here we were, all set to finally take part in the Los Pobladores Walk this year. But it was too late to register by mail, so I took the advice of the flyer and checked out L.A.’s 227th anniversary birthday page at www.lacity.org/227. Nothing.

No one bothered to upload the page, despite the city referencing it in its brochure. Strangely, the city’s 226th birthday website — www.lacity.org/226 — is still up there.

I hope they get their act together by 2009… or at least I get my act together and mail in a form.

POSTSCRIPT: I can’t be too laudatory about last year’s 226th birthday site. Check out how the city spells its own name:

Yep, “City of Angles.” Go L.A.!

Hey Kids, Let’s Rap About The History of Recycling!

Meet the LA City mascots! Via LA City’s website, today we introduce you to Robo Blue.

His “blue brothers and sisters”? Brings up an, ahem, obvious question: How does one figure out the gender of a recycling bin?

Hey Kids, Let’s Rap About Clogged Sewer Pipes!

Meet the LA City mascots! Via LA City’s website, today we introduce you to the Grease Avenger.

The Grease Avenger, the superhero least likely to be contacted in event of emergency. Don’t ask about the action figure.

Your Favorite Summertime Haunts

Last week, as we launched the contest for tix to see Gilberto Gil and Devendra Banhart at the Hollywood Bowl, we asked you to tell us your favorite places to celebrate summer in L.A. Some answers:

Alexander: My favorite spot in LA is downtown LA. There are a lot of swimming pools on the rooftops and there’s a bunch of bars and museums, and Little Radio has BBQs on Saturdays.

Cathy: My favorite summer places in LA are Evenings sitting on a bench up at the observatory with the breeze
looking at the lights in the Los Angeles basin. Daytime strolling around the Santa Monica pier especially during the
twilight dance concerts.

Jamie: One of my favorite summer afternoon things to do is to sit in the shade at the Trails Cafe, on Ferndell in Griffith park, and eat one of the yummy tomato tarts with a glass of lemonade… mmm, summery!

Mitch: The best place to spend the summer in L.A? Has to be the ice skating rink in Culver City. You wouldn’t know it’s summer…’til you walk outside.

Loren: El Matador State Beach in Malibu, more specifically one of the beach caves accessible at low tide but more challenging to reach once the swell increases.

Allison: My favorite place to spend the summer is at the Hollywood Bowl-duh!

Iko: Scoops!

Leslie: My favorite place to spend the summer in Los Angeles is Runyon Canyon in those early evening hours of sunlight. Perfect temperature and light for hiking without sweating up a storm.

Margaret: Mothers’ Beach

Ivona: I am not sure does it count, since it is not a part of the LA per se, but more part of the LA region. I loooooove jumping on cat express, going to Two Harbors, and then do a hike to Shark Cove. Beautiful beach on the other side of the island, nice surfing, great diving, perfect chillin out area. And sunset, definitely one of the best ones in this area.

Don: So many places to be in the summer, but I’d have to pick hiking in the San Gabriels as my pick.

Bob: Self-Realization Lake Shrine.

We’ll reveal the winner tomorrow!