It’s the most wonderful time of the year… if you’re a stargazer anyway. That’s because the Perseid meteor shower 2024 season has officially begun. And though we can’t expect peak conditions until August, it’s still a great time to start planning. After all, you’ll need to find a spot much darker than any afforded by […]
Featured image credit: Rennett Stowe Sometimes, Los Angeles can feel like its own planet. The uncompromising culture of the people, the constant barrage of entertainment options, the otherworldly sunsets. It all contributes to this insular essence. Love it or loathe it, that LA flavor is unmistakable. And you’d imagine that the further you traveled from […]
Featured image credit: Tore Danielsson It’s almost become a mantra amongst those in the know: “The less you know about the Museum of Jurassic Technology going into it, the better.” So, there’s your warning. If the name alone has already sold you, turn back now, buy your tickets, and enjoy. Need a bit more information? […]
They don’t make them like they used to. It’s a phrase used often enough that it’s become a saying. But in Los Angeles, you can’t say it about milkshakes, malts, sodas, and… well, medications, oddly enough. At least not while Fair Oaks Pharmacy is still opening its doors to the South Pasadena community. Its neon […]
Featured image credit: Dr. Paul Koudounaris For being a literal wasteland, the deserts of California have a lot of unusual sites in them. We’ve covered a few of them on this very blog. Remember the rust-colored steel sculptures of Galleta Meadows in Anza Borrego? What about the Invisible House and the Mirage House? Or the […]
Featured image credit: Bryan Hong In-N-Out Burger has become so synonymous with California’s fast food culture that it’s hard to remember we launched the mother of all fast food chains. That’s right. The first-ever McDonald’s restaurant started right in the city of San Bernardino. But this isn’t a blog about the first McDonald’s. It’s about […]
Featured image credit: Mwf95 Decades before 2019’s “raid” on Area 51, 2017’s Fyre Festival, 2015’s dress color debate, and let’s not forget this magic moment, one of the first internet phenomena caught the world’s attention with a resounding ring. It posed the question: “If a phone rings in the desert and no one is around […]
In 1934, a strange publication started making the rounds in esoteric circles, casting beams of hope across Great Depression-era California where there had only been shadow. It was called (deep breath) Mankind United: A Challenge to “Mad Ambition” and “The Money-Changers” Accompanied by an Invitation to the World’s “Sane” Men and Women. Try fitting that […]
Featured image credit: Living in Monrovia In the moments when you first lay eyes on the Aztec Hotel in Monrovia, you’ll find it hard to believe that this was a compromised version of architect Robert Stacy-Judd’s original design. He had envisioned what he called a “pre-Columbian cliff dwelling”; a hotel that seemed to be chiseled […]
As a city steeped in occult history, Los Angeles isn’t unique. Yet, LA’s occult history seems much more a part of its character than New York’s, Chicago’s, or San Francisco’s. Maybe it’s the Hollywood dream machine, holding up a magnifying lens to anything that even remotely interests us. Maybe it’s California’s reputation as a harbor […]
