Monday, October 22, 2007

Justin Timberlake at the Staples Center

Last night the Staples Center hosted the last date of Justin Timberlake's North American FutureSex/LoveShow Tour. Mr. Timberlake's been rocking the Staples Center since Sunday (so the girl sitting in front of me confirmed). To say that the man is talented would be understating it. His performance at the Staples Center is a reflection on how this artist has catapulted his way out of boy band non-obscurity - through sheer talent and great music collaborations. I had a good vantage point for saying this show was amazing. My friend Jay and I were sitting in the back....waaaaaay in the back.

The show opened at 8:00 with Good Charlotte and the Justin Timberlake concert itself didn't start until after 9. Nonetheless, the show was well worth the wait - opening up with fog and an incredible use of lights and great stage design. The last time I was at the Staples Center was for a Lakers game...oh, how a basketball arena can be transformed.

There's a good advantage to sitting in the back row of the Staples Center for a concert of this caliber. You get to see the entire stage design and Justin Timberlake running around most parts of the stage. I'd say that I'm being optimistic and positive about my concert experience, and while, yes I am, it's true.

High School Musical's Corbin Bleu in SoCal

Corbin Bleu - Sara Lee ContestMy High School Musical on Ice post must have turned a few heads, at least someone at Sara Lee. I'm all for educating kids on nutrition and meeting a favorite celebrity in the process, so at their request - here's a great contest for kids to have a chance to win a visit from High School Musical star Corbin Bleu to their school!

Sara Lee is out to once again spread the word about the benefits of whole grain, this time via the wildly popular

Los Angeles Magazine Food Event

With an opportunity to see several LA based chefs and taste food from a dozen restaurants, my wife and I paid to attend the Los Angeles Magazine Food Event: Home Grown - A Celebration of Ingredients Grown, Baked, and Raised Close to Home. Plus, the LA Mission would benefit from the event which was held at The Kitchen Academy in Hollywood and along the walkway to the ArcLight Theater complex.
Blog Experincela
Los Angeles Magazine Food Event
Los Angeles Magazine 2007 Food Event
Los Angeles | Food & Wine Events
The Food Section: MovFeast: Los Angeles
LA2DAY - The Los Angeles Lifestyle Magazine
California Wine and Food Magazine
Slow Food Los Angeles
La You Magazine

Nokia Shows Off Its Versatility on Day Two

It didn't take the Nokia Theatre long to get its game on. After only one night the venue pushed the Eagles aside to host Video Games Live, the touring live performance of game music scheduled as part of the E for All expo taking place in the Convention Center next door. The inevitable hiccups that come with opening a new venue were all worked out by show time, and the fact that such a schedule was even attempted shows AEG's faith in their new venue.

Green Dot to Open a School for Downtown?

Earlier this week the Times ran an interview with AEG head Tim Leiweke talking about the company and its big bet on Downtown. It was a good read, but one bit in particular stuck out to me. When asked about LAUSD, Leiweke replied:

I think people can go spend all the money they want on L.A. Unified, but I'm frustrated with L.A. Unified because I can't figure out how anyone's ever going to fix it. So we love Green Dot. We've already made a million-dollar commitment to Green Dot for the charter school that they're going to put on our end of town. I hope L.A. Unified gets worked out, but I worry about L.A. Unified.

One has to assume that "on our end of town" means that AEG is working with Green Dot to place a school in South Park. I emailed Green Dot's PR contact to try and get a statement from them, but did not get a response.

If correct, this would be a great bit of news for Downtown. Education and schools are going to be big issues for Downtown in the next ten years. Green Dot's doing important things for education in LA, and it would be a big plus to have them charter a school to serve South Park. Though the group operates a school Downtown -- Oscar De La Hoya Animo Charter High School, which meets in the World Trade Center -- it does not currently serve Downtown students.

Something Opens Downtown... Cue the Kotkin Naysaying

Reading the subtitle of the Times story on the Nokia Theatre's opening I just knew we were going to see a Joel Kotkin quote.

Officials hope Nokia helps spur more growth and leisure activity downtown. But some experts have doubts.

Any time a paper needs an "expert" to have doubts about Downtown LA, Kotkin's always there to help out. This story's no exception.

"If you put the Eagles in my backyard, people would come," said a skeptical Joel Kotkin, a presidential fellow at Chapman University who has written extensively about Los Angeles' urban life. "The Forum was in Inglewood. Did that make Inglewood the center of the music scene?"

This is the same Joel Kotkin who has called urban living a fad, opined that Marina Del Rey was an infinitely better choice than Downtown, and called LA Live better suited for Cincinnati. We get the point already: he doesn't like Downtown. That reporters keep going back to that well doesn't speak too kindly to their work ethic.