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!

What Will Be This Year’s Summer Song?

Edison Research’s Sean Ross once again asks the question, What song will ultimately be remembered the most as the quintessential 2008 summer tune?

Last year, it was pretty obvious that Rhianna’s “Umbrella” would wind up as the song. With its catchy “-ella, -ella” chorus, the song dominated the charts and the airwaves all summer long. Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls” wasn’t too far behind.

This year, there doesn’t seem to be an obvious contender just yet. Ross breaks it down:

Kid Rock, “All Summer Long” – It’s been just lying in wait on his “Rock N Roll Jesus” album since the end of last summer. It is already off to a good start in medium markets, but as “Picture” showed, Kid always has to scrap his way back on to major-market, rhythmic-leaning Top 40 stations which could take, well, all summer long.

New Kids On The Block, “Summertime” – A co-worker who grew up with NKOTB heard this and liked it, but couldn’t help making the comparison to LFO’s “Summergirls,” which is a little like the singer John Wesley Harding’s joke about the Beatles reuniting and sounding a lot like ELO and XTC. And, besides, we’ve now seen them go from Boyz II Men as well. Also took a few weeks to get some major-market momentum, but is picking up this week.

Boys Like Girls, “Thunder” – As a power ballad, it’s disqualified. But it belonged on this list because the trade ads have emphasized its “soundtrack of my summer” lyric.

Natasha Bedingfield, “Pocketful of Sunshine” – It’s growing slowly now, but if it can hang in there for a few weeks, it will, like “Unwritten,” then hang around for months. And if having a pocketful of sunshine doesn’t quite sum up the national psyche right now, aren’t summer songs meant to alleviate the national mood?

A few more of Ross’ finalists: Katy Perry, “I Kissed a Girl”; Metro Station, “Shake It”; Danity Kane, “Damaged”; Duffy, “Mercy”; Chris Brown, “Forever”; Alicia Keys, “Teenage Love Affair”; Miley Cyrus, “Seven Things”; Lady Antebellum, “Love Don’t Live Here”; Carrie Underwood, “Last Name”; Flo Rida, “In The Ayer”; Maroon 5 & Rihanna, “If I Never See Your Face Again”; Lloyd f/Lil Wayne, “Girls Around The World.”

And what are your summer picks?