Charles Phoenix at Union Station Walking through the Broadway Arcade mall near the Jewelry District, Charles Phoenix rued the changing face of Downtown. The mall, built in 1922 and billed as Los Angeles's oldest shopping center, was the fourth stop on what could be Phoenix's last tour of some of the oldest and grandest sites in a city long accused of lacking history. But it was in the mall, where naked upper floors could......

KITSCH: The Charles Phoenix Holiday Jubilee returns to REDCAT for the next four evenings. LA kitsch expert Charles Phoenix brings together an evening of live comedy, including the Bob Baker Marionettes, roller rink organist Dominic Cangelosi and a few other surprises. The entertainment's all in combination with his "Retro Holiday Slide Show," comprised of slides he found at area thrift shops and flea markets. 8 pm // REDCAT at Walt Disney Concert Hall //......

The Ford Amphitheatre opened its 2007 season last weekend with local favorite Charles Phoenix and yet another one of his slide show presentations culled from thrift shops in and around Los Angeles. Locally famous for his "Disneyland Tour of Los Angeles," Charles Phoenix knows his way around a good number of the city's landmarks, past and present. Opening entertainment was provided by an original roller rink organist who was then followed by a world......

While we were driving around the country we noticed that people rarely take tours of their own city. When we were in Chicago we had a hard time finding a local who had been up the Sears Tower, when we were in NYC we didn't meet anyone who had been up the Statue of Liberty, however when we were in Memphis we couldn't find anyone who hadn't been in Graceland. If one were to......

“How will we ever recover?” showman Charles Phoenix asked the audience following the spellbinding presentation by master Bob Baker and his dazzling crew of puppets and marionette-iers. A few days later, we still haven’t. Memories of the overwhelming tribute to Baker linger. The fascinating documentary about Baker’s seventy-plus years making and operating marionettes, Phoenix’s captivating slide presentation, and the tour-de-force performance featuring seductive kittens, petunias and onions, glow-in-the-dark skeletons, sort of freaky clowns, and......

Charles Phoenix posts his impressions of this year's Tournament of Roses Parade on Eye Spy LA. ... I was invited to share some of my vintage Rose Parade slides on KTLA’s live Rose Parade pre-show. My segment was scheduled at 6:10am. Frankly, I’m not used to getting up that early and I was worried my 1977 SEARS alarm clock that I got while still in high school, wouldn’t go off. Sure enough it didn’t.......

"Histo-tainer" Charles Phoenix dazzles audiences with images and stories that would otherwise be lost to the landfill and the winds of time. An avid collector of slides, photographs, and other historic memorabilia, Charles generously showcases his archived treasures of Americana with the public. The side-splittingly hilarious narrated slide shows provide fascinating insights into our regional experience. They also serve as the best visual vehicle for learning the histories of those two hallowed Southern California......

The West Hollywood "Fall Into Reading" Book Fair is this Sunday on October 3rd. Avid readers can visit with their favorite local and national authors at West Hollywood Park, 647 N. San Vincente Boulevard from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. The event has attracted a pretty heady mix of talent for a one-day schedule: Local author Nichelle Tramble, will be in conversation with Susan Straight on the "Blurred Reality" panel at 3:30 PM. Actresses......

During the past week since we posted about culinary legend Julia Child�s passing, LAist has been angrily stewing (so to speak) over a local issue related to the woman who transformed the way Americans perceive and experience food. What a loss that the Pasadena native was never featured as Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade. Ideally this should have happened in 2003, in commemoration of her 90th birthday year, but any point......

Summer is getting into full swing, and what better way to celebrate than a night on the town? A hodgepodge of events awaits, dear readers, so get out there and have a good time. BookSoup on Sunset is hosting Charles Phoenix at 7:00 PM, signing his new book Southern Californialand: Mid-Century Culture in Kodachrome. "His collection of found slides date from the late 1940s through the early 1970s, offering a very personal, if mish-mashed......