36 Hours / Los Angeles II
And of course we were served by a tall drink of water at Little Dom's (No. 2; 2128 Hillhurst Avenue), and attributed his space-iness to stressing about auditions after his shift. ;) The Carbonara with Wild Boar was for C, and the day's special for me (Eggs Benedict with Sea Bass, on top of Herbed Waffles). The pasta was a bit bland, but it may be because the herbed waffles were amazing. Also, how more perfect can a poached egg look, drenched in buttery hollandaise? For dessert, we shared a peanut-butter filled chocolate bunny from my Easter basket (thank you, Cousin Irene!).
We return to the scene of the crime: neighborhood-loved Skylight Books (No. 1; 1818 North Vermont Avenue). The skylights accentuate a beautiful tree flourishing in the heart of the store, and provide sunlight for Franny, the resident cat. The original bookstore carries more mainstream tomes, and the adjacent expansion's offerings are more eclectic in nature (above). Cameron was engrossed in the graphic novels section, while I skulked around, patiently waiting for patrons to move out of frame so I can take shots. Afterwards, I claimed the Photography and Architecture / Design sections, before we had to run out to our expired meter (warning: be mindful of meters and posted signs in Los Angeles, as enforcement is impressively diligent with citations).
The circa-1935, art-deco Griffith Park Observatory (No. 3; 2800 East Observatory Avenue) rests on the southern slope of Mount Hollywood, a hike-able hill (see the teeny, tiny hiker in the lower right corner of above picture?). It yields the downtown skyline in the south (one of my favorite parts of the observatory, along with the gorgeous design of the building), and in the north, the Hollywood Sign. Renovated and re-opened in 2006, its astronomy-based exhibits, which include live view of sunspots and demonstrations of the Tesla coil, are free to the public. I have an obsession with NASA, and I usually can't wait to reach the gift shop so that I can marvel at the astronaut suits. For film-lovers, The Griffith Observatory is best known for being featured in 1955's "Rebel Without a Cause" (starring James Dean). Note to self: must watch this classic.
Speaking of classics, Cameron has been on a Peter Lorre spree, and we watched Frank Capra's "Arsenic and Old Lace" a few weeks ago. He had mentioned the desire to watch Fritz Lang's 1931 "M," which stars Peter Lorre, and as luck would have it, we found it being selectively screened and caught it that late afternoon. It's about the near-inability to capture a child-murderer, societal psychology and its implications on the universal notion of justice. Fantastic graphic design for the poster (you can see our reflections!). We ended the day with an episode of HBO's John Adams (2008; Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney) on our couch. Happy sigh*
