Not-so-Vanilla Diva

Prohibition to Gentrification, French Restaurant Celebrates Decades of Serving L.A.’s French Quarter, Old Hollywood, Politicos and Next-Gen Hipsters   Sunday, October 8, 2017 4 p.m. – 8 p.m. Taix French Restaurant 1911 W. Sunset BoulevardLos Angeles, CA 90026   Taix French Restaurant, Los Angeles oldest family owned and operated French country restaurant, is celebrating its 90th anniversary with its traditional “cent” roast chicken dinner. On Sunday, October 8, 2017 from 4 p.m .to 8 p.m., customers, old and new, can celebrate with a 90-cent “Taix” Roast Chicken dinner special.   The menu for the evening’s anniversary hours will be limited to soup de jour, salad and the “Taix” Roast Chicken with au jus—a classic French country chicken dinner introduced by Marius Taix Jr. in 1927. (Dishes will only be 90 cents each.) Full service bar available; reservations will not be accepted and diners will beseated on a first come, first serve basis.   The Taix Family is the third and fourth generation of sheepherders and bakers from the “Hautes-Alpes” in southeastern France that moved to Los Angeles around 1870. In 1912 Marius Taix Sr. built a hotel called the Champ d’Or in downtown Los Angeles’ French quarter, which was located on 321 Commercial Street, and included a hotel restaurant subleased to a ...

Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center Anaheim, CA By Angela Rocco DeCarlo "Downton Abbey," one of the most successful television shows, is set in a fictional Edwardian English castle, awash with nobles, paid-servants and enormous upheavals due to war, jealousy and financial ruin. The Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center, Anaheim, CA, is presenting an exhibition of the lovely wardrobe of the show. Seeing the clothing up close is delightful. In every detail the show's six seasons evoked the volcanic disruptions brought on by World War I and its political, societal and financial changes. The Roaring Twenties and the Jazz Age took woman from their corseted floor-length dresses to loose shifts exposing naked shoulders and legs - shocking. "In olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking, now God knows, anything goes." From Noel Coward's song, "Anything Goes." The Downton Abbey era is illuminated through the skillful Julian Fellows' scripts and an array of outstanding good-looking actors who enchanted television viewers. The gorgeous period clothing charmed all. "Dressing Downton - Changing Fashion for Changing Times" featuring nearly 40 of the original garments designed and fitted to the individual actors, can be seen at Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center, Anaheim, California, until May 11. It then ...

By Angela Rocco DeCarlo Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall Segerstrom Center for the Arts Costa Mesa, CA February 23, 25, 28 – 8 p.m. Aida, the spectacular Giuseppe Verdi opera of 1871, alight with a dramatic love triangle, political and military intrigue, and the glorious aria “Celeste Aida” in Act 1, and the “Triumphal March” of Act II, comes to Orange County, California, February 23, 25 and 28. This is the opera everyone should experience at least once. Verdi was the most successful and widely performed composer in opera history. No opera season in the world is complete without including at least two of his major pieces. The Pacific Symphony, with Carl St. Clair conducting, at Renee and Henry Segerstom Concert Hall, Costa Mesa, CA, presents Verdi's dynamic masterpiece in a full-orchestra of  88 musicians, “semi-staged” concert presentation, featuring stellar performers, including local diva, Milena Kitic, who was the ferocious gypsy beauty of Bizet's Carmen, in thePacific Symphony production of a few years ago. She performs Amneris, the Egyptian princess in love with military hero, Radames. Making her North American debut, South African mezzo, Kelebogile Besong, sings the role of Aida, captured Nubian princess, slave to Amneris. Unknown to others, Aida and Radames share a deep love ...

About the only thing missing from Odysseo, the mesmerizing equine show from Cavalia, the Cirque du Soleil-style horse show, is Pegasus, the winged horse. Stabled in the huge white tent - looks like a marvel of engineering, at the 405 and 133 in Irvine, CA, we, together with our younger grandchildren were entranced by the grace and charm of humans and their mighty steeds in this exciting show. We had seen Cavalia when it was in the same location in 2007  with our older grandchildren. I wanted to see it again and it was well worth a second look. There is a certain magic in watching a 2,000 pound animal dance gracefully. The brilliance of Odysseo's designers in having a beautifully formed horse shown on a hill in the distance, illuminated in black silhouette, was stunning. Everyone has seen horses execute nimble movements, but this depiction of control, training and charm was unique due to the staging. The audience was so enchanted it's doubtful few noticed stage front becoming a shallow pond. A wonderful effect as riders then took their mounts to gently splash in the little stream. The show begins slowly enough, to give the audience a chance to review the numerous animals in a pastoral scene, before set exercises begin. I found the white horse close drill fascinating as they ...

  Nearly everyone enjoys magic. When done well. As a journalist I’ve covered many such shows, for decades, including those at Los Angeles’ Magic Castle and the late, great, Harry Blackstone, Jr.’s stage shows, to name a few. The best word to encapsulate those experiences is: delightful. Magic shows have the power to lift one’s spirits in powerful ways to relax and allow the wonder of the unknown to transport the audience to another realm. Segerstrom Hall, Segerstrom Centerfor the Arts, Costa Mesa, California, is featuring a magic show, The Illusionists –Live From Broadway. I couldn’t wait to see it. It spotlights seven key performers and a bevy of female and male attendants. There are plenty of stunning effects, but some of the performers reek of the dark side, which is apparently their schtick, but is a long way from tuxedo-clad practitioners of yore. From the onset there seemed to be a current that was uncomfortable to me. Too much grittiness, hint of violence and some things downright creepy. The show runs from Feb. 3, to 7th. Then moves on to the Pantages Theater, Los Angeles. In case anyone wonders – what is the difference between an illusion and a trick I’ll offer this: usually an illusion conjures a back-story, is complicated, with some surprise woven into it…Such as Andrew ...

For nearly a quarter of a century, a small group of Nikola Tesla faithful have gathered in Brockport, N.Y., just a few miles from where the Serbian electrical genius helped to engineer the world’s first hydroelectric generating plant and forever established the superiority of alternating current for electrical distribution. They meet to pay homage to the inventor. Ed Wingate’s Tesla coil laboratory. The coil itself is at the right. The exposed 1/2-inch copper tubing forming the primary winding is visible at bottom. The secondary winding consists of 200 turns of #10 TFFN and is covered with an insulating layer to prevent arcing to the primary. A large diameter copper pipe connects the secondary of the coil to the “magnifier” or secondary resonator on the left. The torodial “capacity hat” and discharge terminal is 56 inches in diameter. The occasion is a “Teslathon” sponsored in the late summer by Tesla enthusiast Ed Wingate. Admission is limited to a few dozen persons and some travel thousands of miles to pay homage to Tesla and witness the unleashing of manmade thunderbolts in Wingate’s lab.TESLA AND RADIO While Tesla’s name is associated with generating extremely electricity of extremely high voltage, some argue that he should be called ...

Did you ride the subway today?  Did you notice anything out of the ordinary? Show off those New Year's Resolution-ready legs at Improv Everywhere's annual No Pants Subway Ride. Strip down to your skivvies and embark on a discreet mission with other half-naked Angelenos at Metro's North Hollywood (Red), Wilshire/Western (Purple), Culver City (Expo) and Atlantic and Sierra Madre Villa (Gold) stations. If all goes according to plan, No Pants participants should all pull into the Hollywood/Highland stop around 2:30pm—spot any in-the-buff commuters before that and they're likely your typical Hollywood lunatics. Stick around afterward for a debriefing at Loaded Hollywoood (6377 Hollywood Blvd). Unlike the parka-wearing East Coast participants, you probably won't have too many layers on (thank you, LA winters) so make sure to hold on to your TAP card—a day pass costs $5 ($6 if you don't have a TAP card already). PHOTOS: http://www.laweekly.com/slideshow/la-no-pants-subway-ride-2724740 Content borrowed from TimeOut Magazine and Los Angeles Times.

We have an exciting event coming up. A small group of Tesla car owners is organizing a road trip for 30 members to drive their Tesla Roadsters and Model S’s to Wardenclyffe, on Saturday, October 25, 2014. In the morning, they will join other volunteers in this second cleanup season. In the afternoon, we will open the grounds around Nikola Tesla’s former Wardenclyffe lab for the public. Our guests, the owners and enthusiasts of Tesla cars, will join TSC to raise awareness of Nikola Tesla the scientist, and to share their enthusiasm for and knowledge of the technology behind the all-electric Tesla car. For more information please read the announcement at the Tesla Motors Club website. We will share more details as our plans develop. Date: Saturday, October 25, 2014 Rain date: Sunday, October 26, 2014 Cleanup work: 9 AM to 12 noon (not open to the public, see below) Public access: 1 to 4 PM Location: 1–5 Randall Road, Shoreham, NY; north of NY Rt. 25A (GPS: 40.948358,-72.901001) The morning work session is limited to our guest cleanup volunteers (30 Tesla owners) and a small group of experienced local volunteers. We welcome all other volunteers to join us as visitors in the afternoon (1 to 4 PM). Thank you all volunteers! Your hard work, dedication, ...

Traveling entices me… and being made to travel with my imagination by simply closing my eyes and listening, thrills me to the point of submission. Such was my experience this past week at Gabriele Ciampi’s minimalist style concert featuring CentOrchestra in Los Angeles. The highly anticipated event took place at the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles with its 100-seat theater filled to capacity. Some audience members were so close to the stage they could have themselves been considered part of the act. Maestro Gabriele Ciampi has a way with the baton. Musical notes danced in my head and lulled me into their melody. He masterfully moved the audience at his whim, toying with their emotions as he guided us into his realm of melodic masterpiece. It’s always gratifying when an event lives up to expectations. Words on this page can’t describe the beauty of the night’s music, so I beseech you to bring the Maestro into your homes, via his CD, and immerse yourself in his music. You will not regret it. Personally, I am looking forward to a night in with Gabriele’s Untouched Melody, In Memory of Neil Armstrong. For more info please visit http://www.gabrieleciampi.com/  

Space Travel with Virgin Galactic's Steve Attenborough and MIT's Professor Sara Seager! https://soundcloud.com/aforkontheroad/space-travel Space. The Final Frontier. This week on A Fork on the Road Show, Yeni and Mark countdown to consumer space travel with Stephen Attenborough from Virgin Galactic, then trip out with NASA’s #1 Planet Finder, MIT Professor Sara Seager to talk about the long term future of humans traveling to far off Earth-like Exoplanets. Blast off with our annual Space episode!