Airplane Parts Sculpture: Los Angeles, CA
Location: Lat 34° 3' 11.9916" N Long -118° 15' 3.0096" W
250 Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA
Cost: Free, MOCA - $10
Website: Click Here
Offbeat Frontier Article: In Plane Sight
Showing posts with label Downtown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Downtown. Show all posts
5/1/10
Hidden Gem of So Cal #15
Telephone Parts Mural: Los Angeles, CA
Location: Lat 34° 3' 3.5528" N Long -118° 15' 11.0848" W
Mural Mural On The Wall
A few weeks ago Offbeat Frontier ventured to downtown Los Angeles. (Angles Flight Article) While lost in the urban jungle we stumbled upon a really neat mural. On the AT&T building (located on Grand Avenue, between W 3rd and 4th Streets) there is a 3D mural dedicated to "the golden age of telephones" and how it shaped the world we live today.
Bell Communications Around The World
The "Bell Communications Around The World" was designed by Anthony Heinsbergen. The greatest part about the mural is that old telephone parts were used in its design. Bells, transistors, and switchboards connect the continents and takes us back to the days of calling operators and using something called "phone book" to look up numbers for prank calls.
Operatorus: Greek God of Dropped Calls
We did notice one thing, in the artist's representation of the world it seems that Japan is missing. As a leader in advanced technology for the past 20-30 years it seems odd to not represent the nation. It took some careful observations, but we ended up finding Japan on the mural.
Japan in 5 Years Time
*Note: The mural was built in 1961, so that's probably why Japan was forgotten. It is a known fact that Japan has time travel technology (they are simply not sharing it with us). They most likely traveled back to the 60s and persuaded Heinsbergen to represent Japan as some sort of transformer robot island.
According to Roadside America, there is a "Time Capsule of Communication" that is supposed to be unearthed at the 50th Anniversary of the Building. Which happens to be in 2011.
Offbeat Frontier has some ideas of what we will find next year in the "Capsule of Communication":
1) 2 Dixie Cups and String
2) The Red Phone from the Batman TV Series
3) Edison's patent for text messaging (which he stole from Samuel Morse)
*This joke I am proud of, but afraid not all who read it will get. A thinking man/woman's joke.
4/26/10
Hidden Gem of So Cal #13
Angels Flight: Los Angeles, CA
Location: Lat: 34° 3' 3.3815" Long: -118° 14' 59.1947"
351 South Hill Street Los Angeles, CA (Entrance on Hill and Grand)
Cost: 25 Cents per ride or 5 rides for $1
Website: Click Here
Offbeat Frontier Article: Angels Flight
Angels Flight
The Los Angeles area is world famous for its horrendous motorways. Somehow it takes 20 min to travel anywhere within a 10 mile radius. Bogus, however did you know that the city has a functioning, energy saving, cost effective light rail system? A solution at last!
But ... there is always a catch... it is only available downtown... and takes you one block up a hill (from Hill St to the top of Bunker Hill on Grand and vise versa)... but it's cheap, real cheap. For only 25 cents you can commute on the shortest light rail trail in the world, Angels Flight Railway!
Entrance on Hill Street
Virtual Ride Courtesy of Offbeat
Built in 1901, its a functioning funicular (a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slop, the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalancing each other). Though it has been through two variations, so it's not the original, it is still awesome. And it just reopened in March after a nine year closure.
Taking the midnight train to anywhere
Adjacent to the railway is Angel's Knoll Park , for fans of the film 500 Days of Summer, the park bench with the view of the city landscape (most of which are parking lots) is located for your viewing pleasure.
Summer & Tom on the bench, 500 Days of Summer
Angel's Knoll Park
The bench has a plaque making it official. On a clear day, you can see a bum drinking liquor on it.
Didn't want to risk getting a closer picture at "500 Bench"
If you are visiting the downtown area, this is a must see. Angel's Flight and the park, I did not mean the drunk on the bench.
Funicular-ific!
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