Dining Beyond Dodger Dogs

Jon Weisman recently pointed to the new MLB-approved blog by Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier.

Ethier loves food, and has started blogging L.A.-based restaurant reviews at Dining With ‘Dre.

First up: A review of Westside shabu shabu joint Shabu Hachi:

I was introduced to Shabu Hachi by Takashi (Saito) a few weeks ago. It sits on Olympic in Santa Monica in one of those oh-so-typical LA corner strip malls. From the outside, you have two Japanese restaurants to choose from – one being the typical sushi place and Shabu Hachi, a place offering up some of the best shabu shabu I have had and I think Takashi would agree.

Shabu Hachi is actually in West L.A. But other than that geographic mishap, Ethier does a pretty good job recounting his meal at the spot.

Helios House of Music

It’s still one of the most surreal gas station sights you’ll see: Coffeehouse-style performances at BP’s Helios House.

Helios House, the semi-eco-friendly gas station at the corner of Olympic and Robertson, is not without controversy — after all, it’s more than a little odd to see an oil company start spouting green-friendly jargon.

But given the choice between a regular gas station or one that at least s acknowledging eco issues, I try to fill up there when I’m on the west side (which is rare). Above, a guitarist performs at one of the regular Helios House nighttime gatherings.

And below, a drive-by look at the station.

Is This the Ugliest Building in Los Angeles?

Curbed L.A. held its Ugliest Building Contest last spring, and ultimately chose the poorly designed Hollywood and Highland shopping complex.

But I would have seriously considered this one, on Olympic in Koreatown. Is it the yellow/blue/red paint? The brown marble entryway? The random jumble of signs? The awkward step shape? The mirrored windows? Or perhaps it’s the entire package. Whatever the reason, this is possibly the real ugliest building in all of Los Angeles.

Any other rivals to the title?

The Demolition of Los Angeles High School, 1971

The 1971 Sylmar earthquake destroyed several L.A. structures, much as the city lost several classic buildings in the 1933 Long Beach quake.

Among those buildings condemned in 1971: The original Los Angeles High School. Here’s a pic shot by Flickr user Snap Man on May 14, 1971, as the school is being demolished.

Unfortunately, L.A. High was replaced by a new, rather ugly structure that Snap Man describes as “prison-like.” According to Wikipedia, L.A. High originally opened in 1873 at Temple and Broadway. In 1891, the school moved to a new location on Fort Moore Hill (on Hill St. between California — now the 101 — and Sunset Blvd. — now Caesar E. Chavez Ave.). It moved one more time, to its present location in mid-Wilshire (on Olympic) in 1917.

Wikipedia writes:

Until recently, buildings commissioned to house the school were among the architectural jewels of the city, and always were strategically placed at the summit of a hill, the easier to be pointed to with pride. (One of the school’s mottos is “Always a hill, always a tower, always a timepiece.”)

The 1917 building sustained moderate cosmetic damage, principally in the tower area, during the 1971 Sylmar earthquake. Efforts spearheaded by the Alumni Association, founded in 1876, to repair and preserve the iconic structure were opposed by certain commercial interests, who lobbied for its demolition, and finally decisively thwarted when it was gutted by a fire of mysterious origin. The replacement structure has been universally decried and finds no champions among either current or former students and faculty, or residents of the neighboring community.

Here’s a few more shots from the last days of the original Los Angeles High School, from Snap Man:

Los Angeles Story: A Dead Body, a Clueless Ambulance and a Woman With a Cell Phone

My Variety colleague Michael Leamonth, in town for the TV press tour, witnessed a rather disturbing sight on Olympic this Tuesday.

Driving back to the office from the Beverly Hilton, he saw what looked like a lifeless body just sitting on the sidewalk on Olympic. The man was shirtless, and only wore a pair of shorts. (Dead body on the sidewalk? Must have made our New York boy feel at home. Sorry, gratuitous Gotham-bashing.)

A woman stood a few feet away from the body, on the cell phone — clearly calling someone to get medics out there. In his rearview mirror, Michael spies an ambulance pull out of a driveway… and proceed to speed down Olympic the wrong direction!

Michael says the ambulance made it all the way past 405, before the driver realized his mistake and turned around. Ouch. If that sidewalk guy wasn’t dead before, this gaffe sure didn’t help things.

Michael mentioned this story to me because I brought up the just-released 911 tape from the woman chased earlier this week by a crazed, drunk Lindsay Lohan. The frightened caller — the mother of Lindsay’s assistant — had no idea she was being chased by Lindsay, and was freaked out. But not helping matters: The 911 operator, who keeps shouting at her to tell her location, and gets pissy when the caller — who’s clearly scared — won’t calmly answer his questions. Are all 911 operators this pissy?