Lisa Fay and Jeff Glassman perform at the Rhino Fest

It’s no coincidence that Hollywood screens, Broadway stages and  stand-up clubs are filled with Chicago performers.  The Windy City is a legendary training ground for the best actors and performers in the country. A stop by a Chicago Theater to catch a play is a must do on any visitor’s list but the annual Rhinoceros Theater Festival offers the chance to see a bunch of cutting edge theater performances in one weekend. Read More »

The magic hallway that leads to Royce Hall's theater.

Like the portal in “Coraline,” or the tiny door in “Being John Malkovch,” this hallway takes the visitor from the normal world to the theater of art, music, and dreaming presented by UCLA Live on campus at Royce Hall.

[photo by Kim Tracy Prince]

It’s May. High school seniors are graduating and looking forward (or maybe not) to college. Parents are looking forward (or maybe not) to their children leaving the nest, and tuition costs. It’s the time of year when parents and prospective students tour the colleges of their choice before making a final decision.

ASU Campus - Normal School building, built in 1884.

Arizona State University’s main campus is in Tempe Arizona, and has one of the largest annual enrollments for a single campus in the nation. ASU also has several satellite campuses in the Phoenix Metro area. It is a member of the PAC-10 conference, and offers a dizzying array of technical and business programs, at the Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate levels.

There’s lots more information and pictures! Click here to Read More »

Pacific Park photo by Carrie Tracy

1.  Indulge your playful side and go on some rides at Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier.  Open until midnight on Valentine’s Day.

2.  Take a gondola ride in Huntington Harbor.

Queen Mary by Sfoskett, Wikimedia

3.  Enjoy a special Valentine dinner at one of the restaurants on the Queen Mary in Long Beach Harbor.

4.  On a budget?  Grab a blanket, a bottle of Two Buck Chuck, and sit on the beach staring up at the stars with your beloved.  Loaf of bread not required.

5.  If you’re really lucky, have someone watch the kids overnight and make a weekend escape to a luxurious downtown Los Angeles hotel like the Biltmore, which is running two “specials” right now.  (Babysitter bribe might cost as much as the hotel, so this one is not for the budget conscious.)

Standard Hotel Rooftop Bar courtesy of standardhotels.com

6.  Don’t have enough time for that?  Skip out for the evening and have a drink at the rooftop poolside bar at the Standard Hotel in Hollywood.  Breathtaking views, beautiful people, crappy parking options.

7.  Do something different.  See a show at the Pasadena Playhouse .  “Stormy Weather” based on a biography of Lena Horne is now playing.  Tickets cost $63-$78 each.

8.  Get kinky.  Go shopping together at Frederick’s of Hollywood (locations all over Los Angeles) or The Pleasure Chest on Santa Monica Blvd.

9.  Or you can do what we will probably do.  Visit the local Blockbuster and just watch a regular movie before passing out on the couch after we wrestle the children into bed.  Happy Valentine’s Day.

10.  This list originally had only nine items but then I saw this post and figured I’d better include Disneyland.  Duh, happiest place on earth.