Results tagged “lalive”

Other big (and colder) cities get ice rinks, so what's there to stop us? Great weather might be one factor, but it hasn't stopped the likes of the cities of Santa Monica and Los Angeles.

As the two hotels and condos prepare to open at L.A. Live (all in one building), Eric Richardson at blogdowntown sat down with the building's Director of Food and Beverage to get some details. What's known so far is enough to get foodies excited. There will be two "signature" restaurants with yet-to-be-named celebrity chefs. The ground floor will be home to L.A. Market while the other restaurant will live on the 24th floor. There will also be a cocktail room called the Mixing Room. And add to that a lobby lounge and poolside bar named Glance and Ion, respectively.

Last month we had the chance to talk to Bill, who has been signing his 700 page long NBA book in cities like Washington D.C., Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Phoenix, San Diego and of course, Boston. "LA signings are weird. They had the lowest turnout of any city," said Simmons over the phone when we spoke with him just days before hitting the road for his book tour. "I think it’s because there’s so many celebrities out here that I’m like Z-list. I’m on whatever list the guys from "The Ruins" are on. If I go to Providence or somewhere like that, it seems like a much bigger deal."

When the two hotels and Ritz Carlton residences open at L.A. Live next year, that's not the end for development at the mega sports and entertainment complex in downtown. The Downtown News finds that AEG has submitted some big plans. It includes "332,618 square feet of office space and a 269,182-square-foot broadcasting studio that could accommodate a nationwide cable television network, a 275-room hotel and a 25-story residential building with 65 units adjacent to the L.A. Live campus." Currently, L.A. Live is home to two stage venues, the Grammy Museum, a movie theatre and various restaurants.

In an attempt to attract the thousands of USC students ready to spend money in downtown, AEG is funding a free weekend shuttle between the campus and the entertainment complex.

              

If you were at LA Live on Halloween night, whether to see the Michael Jackson concert-documentary film This is It or just enjoy the evening out, you may have thought for a moment you'd stumbled onto the set of a horror film or a cemetery in full uproar thanks to the assembled dancers participating in yet another dance-along to the late pop icon's mega hit. Just one week earlier a record-breaking 22,923 people danced in 32 countries as part of the Thrill the World annual event; some of those performers were back among the undead to entertain the crowd at the Clippers game Saturday night.

The new Regal Cinemas L.A. Live is offering seven free screenings to downtown residents tonight, according to blogdowntown. They are first come, first serve, but the boundaries of downtown and whether IDs will be checked is unknown. "Tickets are available the day of from the box office. I don't believe they will be checking IDs, but they don't explicitly say," noted blogdowntown's Eric Richardson in the comments section. Tonights films are Funny People (7:00), 500 Days of Summer (7:10), District 9 (7:20), Star Trek (7:30), Up (7:40), G.I. Joe (7:50) and The Proposal (8:00). Update: No IDs will be checked, explains an AEG rep.

It's a big night for downtown Los Angeles, more specifically L.A. Live. 6 p.m.: "This Is It," the Michael Jackson documentary, premieres (some wonder if some movie premieres will move from Hollywood to downtown. The movie 2012 will premiere here next week.). | 7 p.m.: Lakers and Clippers open basketball season at the Staples Center | 9 p.m.: L.A. Live's newest addition, Regal Cinemas opens to the public.

After a hot mess of a meeting between the L.A. City Council, AEG and City Attorney Carmen Trutanich's office, the council unanimously approved sign permits for AEG. Attorneys with Trutanich say this action, an exception as they put it, will open the city up to more lawsuit fodder from the billboard industry. They're probably right. Nevertheless, this particular drama has ended, setting the path for the opening of Regal Cinemas, which will play the Michael Jackson film "This is It" on all 14 screens. Eric Richardson at blogdowntown live blogged the trainwreck of a meeting--see all the drama here.

In the process to make L.A. Live a reality, AEG has been going through the city for permits and approvals for eight years. Now with a moratorium on billboards upheld by a judge, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich is fighting the installation of six digital billboards at the new 14-screen Regal Cinemas theatre, set to open on Wednesday. Today, the LA Times editorial board chimes in on the issue:

       

New York-based As Tall as Lions opened for Mutemath last night at Club Nokia at LA Live. After chatting with lead singer and guitarist Dan Nigro last week, it was a treat to see the band dive headlong with gusto into their 45-minute set which showcased the best of their latest full-length release, You Can't Take it With You, and one indulgence into the back catalog (the wonderfully haunting "Ghost of York" from their 2006 self-titled release).

       

Welcome to Emmys day! Amid the high heat, red carpet arrivals are underway right now at the Nokia Theatre at L.A. Live in downtown. Grab a drink (preferably the official drink of the day) and enjoy the live arrivals coverage on KTLA right now with Carrie Ann Inaba & Chris Harrison, who we interviewed yesterday.

          

Hockey fans from all corners of the Greater L.A. area -- and beyond -- headed to L.A. Live this past weekend to take in the inaugural L.A. Kings Hockey Fest 09. The three day event kicked off on Friday night and included a variety of events throughout the weekend featuring both current and past Kings players.

Starting late last year, the Downtown "destination" LA Live began to host all sorts of events, including a Grand Opening celebration, a Christmas tree lighting ceremony starring Britney Spears and the Mayor, a big screen broadcast of Obama's inaguration, and the openings of specific "on campus" spots like the Conga Room and the ESPN Zone. Touting itself firmly as LA's answer to Times Square (a promo video shown to some invited bloggers last year at the Ritz Carlton sales office declared as such), the LA Live-ers asserted that the development joining Staples Center, the Nokia Theatres, Club Nokia, and the Convention Center would be both a destination and a pit stop for locals and tourists alike.

    

Plans for a streetcar in downtown moved ahead today when conceptual routes were released by Los Angeles Streetcar, Inc. (LASI), the nonprofit charged with giving Los Angeles a streetcar by 2014. The routes all serve three distinct areas.

       

Up to a million people were expected to be hanging around the perimeter of Michael Jackson's memorial service this morning at the Staples Center. But walking downtown streets a few blocks away, the scene was relatively normal, save for the heavy police presence, the constant drone of helicopters and a handful of vendors selling Michael Jackson buttons and t-shirts.

Today might be a little chaotic, but remember this: what usually would take months in planning was done in only a few days. Yesterday, various agencies alerted the media and public of closures to streets, freeway on and off-ramps and public transit service changes. Here's what you need to know...

       

A lot of people wouldn't be caught dead in downtown LA around midnight. But to catch a glimpse of the dead? That's a whole different story. One of several dozen fans standing on the corner of Olympic and Figueroa checked her iPhone and squealed when TMZ reported that Michael Jackson's body may be brought to the Staples Center for today's memorial service, even though she didn't have tickets.

So the City of Los Angeles is going to put their hands deep into the Piggy Bank to pull out the cash needed to foot the bill for Tuesday's public memorial service for Michael Jackson at Staples Center. That means shutting down the streets around LA Live's Downtown "campus" and lots of bucks to pay LAPD officers to serve as security to police the anticipated throngs of crowds. And don't bother showing up if you aren't on the list: "Officials said that there would be no funeral procession and that no one would be allowed inside a large area around Staples unless they had a ticket and a wristband, a media credential or could prove they live or work there," notes the LA Times.

It's 6 a.m. and beginning right now, you can park at the Coliseum for the noon rally that will last until 1 p.m. The later it gets, the more street and freeway onramp closures you'll face. Gates open at 9:30 a.m. and space is limited to 95,000 (it could definitely fill up). When the parade begins, Coliseum attendees will be able to watch it on big screen TVs.

Talk of a victory parade for the NBA's Lakers began before the team had even cinched the victory itself, which, if you're in LA and live under a rock, happened last night in Orlando in game 5 of the championship.

Pulitzer Prize winning food critic Jonathan Gold did not discover an unknown but extremely tasty mom and pop restaurant in a strip mall in one of his reviews this week, but instead headed to LA Live's Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill. "To be honest, Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill feels more like Puck’s restaurants in the Midwest or Las Vegas than it does like Spago: This is the export model, food in the crunchy, spicy, sprightly, smoky, slightly sweet groove he does so well," Gold writes. "He’s not making any breakthroughs here. But Puck, the Magic Johnson of chefs, perfected many of the tropes of new American cuisine, from the Mediterranean-Asian thing to hardwood grilling, from exotic pasta to rowdy herbal accents to wood-oven pizza, and there is a sheen, a professional presence to the cooking here — burgers, chops, sautéed Alaskan halibut and beet-burrata salad — that Puck always seems to execute more consistently than anyone else."

Commence humming the theme to ESPN's beloved SportsCenter...NOW.

Sue Stephenson: Eighteen years. My prior role at the corporate office was Senior Vice President Human Resources. Three years ago I was given the opportunity to start up our social responsibility function, Community Footprints, reporting to Simon Cooper, President and COO. I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in Community Footprints volunteer events as I travel to our properties around the world.

Los Angeles is one of the many global cities participating in Earth Hour tonight. The annual event, which seems to be gaining popularity with each year, calls for everyone to turn off any non-essential lights for just one hour, and that hour is tonight from 8:30-9:30 local time.

On Saturday March 28th, the six-time Grammy winner will be performing three shows in one night at L.A. Live's three music venues. Prince, who will be releasing three new albums on March 29th exclusively at Target and on his Web site, Lotusflow3r.com will be doing full length sets at The Nokia Theatre, The Conga Room, and Club Nokia.

This Friday night, medium, clairvoyant, healer, and author Lisa Williams will be appearing live at Club Nokia, where she will be able to connect people with their loved ones who are no longer living. Williams might be a familiar face, since she has had two Lifetime Television series, Lisa Williams: Voices from the Other Side and Lisa Williams: Life Among the Dead, and has made numerous appearances on TV talk and news shows here and around the country. She hails from England, but was brought to Los Angeles by the late Merv Griffin (before he became "the late") and now teaches workshops in the area in addition to making live appearances like Friday's all over the world.

Tomorrow from 5-6:30 p.m. the Los Angeles Dodgers are holding a rally at the entertainment mega-plex LA Live in Downtown as part of their 8-day preseason caravan. "Outfielder Andre Ethier, infielder Blake DeWitt, pitcher Hiroki Kuroda and recently signed catcher Brad Ausmus will join announcer Charley Steiner, former manager Tommy Lasorda and former players Steve Garvey, Fernando Valenzuela, Tommy Davis and Rudy Law in signing autographs for the first 300 fans who obtain wrist bands," reports the Daily News. Other events this week include a Price is Right taping, a visit to Children's Hospital, a dinner at the Millennium Biltmore, a volunteer stint at the Midnight Mission, and a send-off for their equipment as the team preps to head to AZ for Spring Training.

       

Around 2,000 people converged over at LA Live's Nokia Plaza, a use intended for the new downtown space. "The mood on the plaza was clearly one of celebration," wrote Eric Richardson at blogdowntown. "The crowd waved flags and cheered every time the incoming President appeared on-screen. Smaller screens on towers along the plaza alternated between feed shots and images of the local audience." Here's some of what photographers caught...

Just hours after saying goodbye to his quaterback, Mark Sanchez, USC football head coach Pete Carroll walked the red carpet at the grand opening of ESPN Zone at LA Live. ESPN Zone was already open, in fact, that night the place was packed with Kings and Red Wings fans grabbing a bite prior to the game, but that's what they call a "soft opening." Thursday night was the grand opening with the red carpet, bright lights and celebrities.