The Brief

We know how the saying goes: Everybody poops. Except for some Los Angeles-area dogs that refuse to go outside and do their business when it's raining.

For L.A.'s shorter rain events, this might not be that big of a problem. But big, multi-day rain events are becoming more common with climate change — and they can throw dogs in Southern California for a loop when they're trying to poop.

So we thought we'd put together a guide for the next time a major storm rolls through. (Obviously, this won't apply to dogs that love the rain, though we hope you have some odor remover on standby!)

How long is too long?

If your rain-averse dog didn't poop at all during the latest atmospheric river, a visit to a professional could be in order.

The American Kennel Club advises that it's best to call a veterinarian after 24 to 36 hours with no bowel movements — though before you call anyone, it wouldn't hurt to check if they managed to find a corner of your living space to do their business.

Malibu and Megan were not into the atmospheric river that has slammed the region.

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Puppies tend to go more frequently, generally following meals, so it may be worth checking in on them more frequently.

And be sure to keep a close eye on your dog's behavior: According to the American Kennel Club, dogs could be suffering from health complications like intestinal blockages if they aren't having bowel movements, especially if they're also vomiting or acting lethargic.

Mindset shift

Katya Lidsky, a certified dog trainer and self-described "life coach for dog people," recommended starting from a place of mindfulness when you try to get your dog to go outside. If you're feeling irked, your pooch will likely be able to sense your frustration, which could make it less likely to cooperate.

The Pasadena Humane Society also urges patience, since your dog might just be confused. That means keeping up whatever pre-bathroom routine your dog may be accustomed to.

"Dress like you're taking them for a walk," said Pasadena Humane spokesperson Kevin McManus, who passed along some tips from the organization's behavioral team. "You just have to brave the elements with your dog, because that will increase the chances that they'll actually go before the next rainstorm."

So in brief: Keep your routine, and be patient with your dog for being afraid of what it doesn't know.

Accessories for a fearful Fido

If you don't have time to prepare before the next rainstorm, accessories can be a good place to start. McManus said Pasadena Humane recommends setting out a golf umbrella outside your front door, which may create enough of a dry space for your dog to do their business before heading back inside.

If your dog can tolerate wearing outfits (we assume you've tested this out by now), you could see if it'll go outside wearing a raincoat to protect it from the elements.

Eddie, despite the stylish rain outfit, was not enjoying the rain.

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And since dogs' paws are highly sensitive, McManus recommended putting boots to protect them from any unpleasant sensations of walking on wet pavement or grass.

As a last resort, you can look into getting a doggy litter box, which McManus recommended putting in a semi-outdoor space like a garage or patio if possible.

Training your dog to face its fears

Getting your rain-averse dog to go outside during a multi-day storm can seem like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, especially since dogs can't check the forecast and may not realize the best times to do their business.

But with the right preparation, many dogs can learn that the rain isn't anything to fear.

Lidsky recommended gradually exposing the dog to the rain, which they may be afraid of because they don't know what it is. (It goes without saying that that's especially true in Southern California, particularly for dogs who may have grown up during California's last drought.)

To that end, giving dogs treats — hot dogs, chicken, or whatever their treat of choice may be — before some limited exposure to the rain can help set them on the path to going outside.

"Maybe it's just one paw in the rain while they're getting this chicken," Lidsky said. "And you're basically saying, here's another way to feel about this."

Lidsky also suggested coating a spatula with peanut butter and taking it with you on walks on non-rainy days. Just hold it in front of your dog, give it as a reward every so often — that could help your dog build associations that will get it out of the door when it sees the spatula, even when it's rainy.

If you're looking to build up your pet's tolerance for the rain, Lidsky said it may also be worth taking advantage of misty or drizzly days if your dog's willing to venture outside. Alternatively, the Pasadena Humane Society recommends setting out a damp towel for the dog to walk over so their sensitive paws get used to the feeling of rain.

Another tip from both Lidsky and Pasadena Humane: Give your dog attention and/or treats every time it poops, no matter if it's raining. We know how it goes: You probably don't want to congratulate your dog for pooping when you're the one who has to pick it up. But that feeling of positive reinforcement could help your dog get out of the door on bad weather days.

And if all else fails, Lidsky recommended working with a professional dog trainer who can help your dog face their fear of getting wet.

"A lot of times we put our story on it, like, 'Oh my God, they're depressed, they don't like the rain,'" Lidsky said. "No, they just don't know, and they need your help."

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced several significant rule changes for the 99th Oscars, including AI protections for actors and writers as well as expanded eligibility for international films.

In a statement to NPR, the Academy on Saturday said the changes are in response to listening to the global filmmaking community and addressing barriers to entry in its eligibility process.

The Academy added that its rules and eligibility standards have always evolved alongside technologies such as sound, color, and CGI, and that AI is no different. Awards rules and guidelines are reviewed and refined each year.

A blow for Tilly Norwood 

Among the most noteworthy changes, the Academy now explicitly states that only roles, "demonstrably performed by humans with their consent" are eligible for Acting awards. In other words, AI creations like the much-hyped Tilly Norwood cannot hope to win a Best Actress Oscar anytime soon.

Particle6, the production company behind Norwood, did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment on Saturday about its creations' ban from consideration. In March, Norwood commented, "Can't wait to go to the Oscars!" in an Instagram post announcing its newly released music video.

The Academy also requires screenplays to be "human-authored" and said it reserved the right to investigate the use of generative AI in any submission.

Meanwhile, qualifying flesh-and-blood human actors can now be nominated for multiple performances in the same category if those performances get enough votes to land in the top five. So, someone like Anne Hathaway, who has five major movies scheduled for release in 2026, could now theoretically sweep the nominations – though that outcome seems extremely unlikely.

"If an actor has an extremely prolific year, might we even see someone swallow up three of the five nominations?," wrote Deadline's awards columnist and chief film critic Pete Hammond about the changes. "Probably won't happen, but it's now possible."

Under previous rules, an actor could only receive one nomination per category. If they had two high-ranking performances in Best Actor, for example, only the one with the most votes would move forward.

International films prioritizes filmmakers over countries

While international films can still be the official selection of their countries, now they can qualify by winning the top prize at a major international festival such as the Palme d'Or at Cannes, the Golden Lion at Venice, or the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

Historically, countries "owned" the nomination, and only one film per country was allowed. The new rules allow multiple films from the same country to compete if they are critically acclaimed, and it shifts the honor from a geopolitical entity to the filmmakers themselves.

Largely positive response

The changes have prompted a largely positive reaction from the film community on social media, such as on the popular The Shade Room entertainment and celebrity-focused Instagram feed, where commenters widely praised the "human-only" move to protect creative jobs.

The Academy's Awards Committee oversees the rules in tandem with branch executive committees, the International Feature Film Executive Committee and the Scientific and Technical Awards Executive Committee.

The rules are scheduled to go into effect next year, covering films released in 2026.

Copyright 2026 NPR

Los Angeles changes fast, and oftentimes that means some of the architectural relics of our shared past get swept up and paved over in all the "progress." (RIP Garden of Allah.)

But there are still places where you can find ruins that tell a tale, like a long-forgotten speakeasy reputedly for old Hollywood near La Crescenta.

The ruins are still there 

On a recent afternoon, author and local historian Mike Lawler led me just beyond the boundary of Crescenta Valley Park. Joggers like me might have seen an old, towering stone arch shrouded by bushes there — and wondered what lies beyond.

Turns out there was once a place called the Verdugo Lodge back there and Lawler has spent years excavating its history.

A car speeds away from the lodge onto New York Avenue. The stone archway that still stands can be seen in the background.

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“It was a very high-end speakeasy for a time,” Lawler, who also helps run the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley, said. “An amazing thing. And all the ruins are still here, just like this arch.”

Lawler said we don’t know exactly when the lodge was built, but we do have some of the picture starting in the late 1920s. The place was set up kind of like a timeshare where people bought 10 x 10 foot ‘tent lots’ that gave them access to on-site amenities. There was a golf course, stables, trout stream, a swimming pool — and a lodge with gambling and alcohol.

“The Crescenta Valley in the teens and '20s was a hotbed of moonshine, prostitution, all that stuff," Lawler said. "It was a quiet little community. But in all these canyons up here, stuff was going on. Illegal stuff!”

We don’t have a full guest list, but Lawler said it’s likely at least a few Hollywood types had gone up to the lodge to circumvent Prohibition era laws.

In some ways, it was kind of like the original glamping. Lawler said patrons probably weren’t doing much sleeping, though.

“They might have been unconscious!” he said with a chuckle.

Lawler led me to a road that swooped around a meadow. We passed by a massive swimming pool nestled into the hillside.

Once known as the “Crystal Pool,” it’s now empty and fenced off, with pitch black locker rooms below.

The exterior of the locker rooms for the old Crystal Pool.

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We continued our journey up the hill and eventually arrived at a cascading stone stairway.

And at the top, the big show: overgrown with orange monkey flowers and goliath agaves lies the foundation of the old Verdugo Lodge, with lofty stone fireplaces the only guardians keeping the surrounding oak trees at bay.

Lawler takes out a floorplan that one of the former owners drew up for him.

“This is what it was laid out like on the inside. So a dancehall, and band stand on that side... And then upstairs was the gambling,” Lawler said.

Lawler had in hand a copy of a Los Angeles Times article from 1933 he found. The headline reads: “Revelers Flee in Lodge Raid.”

“The police that raided it were here at 3 o'clock in the morning. And there were still 500 people here. And they said it was the classiest joint they had ever raided... Anyway, people were diving out of windows and everything,” Lawler explained.

In a ruin like this, covered with moss and overgrowth, the imagination can run wild, too.

The archway that still stands outside of what's now known as Mountain Oaks.

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Lawler pointed out a questionable door jam below the old dancefloor that’s been cemented over.

“That is a door. So what is behind there? So there’s a room in there that got walled in for some reason,” he said.

What we do know is that, sometime after the raid, the tawdry Verdugo Lodge and the surrounding land were purchased and then renamed Mountain Oaks by the Kadletzes — an entrepreneurial family who had run everything from a Turkish bath to a mini golf course. Over the next few decades, the family would rent the place out to local groups for recreational retreats.

The future of Mountain Oaks 

After they sold it in the ‘60s, Lawler said Mountain Oaks faced a “nightmare” of development threats. Over the years, some of the subdivided "tent lots" had been combined and sold off, Lawler said. A dozen private homes now stand on these pieces of land, next to the ruins of the Verdugo Lodge.

A map showing the Mountain Oaks public property acquired by The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA).

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Last year, with help from the City of Glendale, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant among other funding sources, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) put up $6.1 million to acquire 33-acres of the land — not including the private lots where the homes stand — so the public can continue to roam the meadow and ruins.

Paul Edelman, MRCA's director of natural resources and planning, said his group will continue to manage the land, doing things like brush clearance, trash pickup and sign maintenance. And he said there are no current plans to remove the ruins or make any major changes to the property.

“If somebody comes up with a grand idea where they can find some funding for us to do something to enhance it, we’re always open to it,” Edelman said.

The purchase was good news for local preservationist Joanna Linkchorst.

“I grew up directly up the hill. But I always saw the sign that said ‘private property’ and didn’t really think about it until several years ago when I finally asked Mike. And he said, ‘Oh yeah, we got a resort speakeasy down the street,’” Linkchorst said standing among the oaks and overgrowth.

Linkchorst, who founded the group Friends of Rockhaven to preserve another nearby historic site, said it’s been amazing to see all of the decaying structures that were still hiding out at Mountain Oaks.

“There’s almost like these little ghosts in your head as you imagine what it was like when there was a beautiful wood floor and there was a second floor that people came jumping out of,” Linkchorst said.

Now, let’s check in to the Overlook Hotel.

That’s the fictional place Stanley Kubrick brought to life in his 1980 film The Shining, loosely based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name.

A local architect who hails from South Pasadena meticulously crafted a 3D model of the iconic space so Shining fans everywhere never have to check out.

‘I just couldn’t stop’ 

At his day job, architect Anthony Chieh mainly works on residential and boutique commercial spaces. But over the course of five months, he spent his nights meticulously recreating a virtual replica of the Overlook Hotel from the film that first scared him when he was 12.

Of course he started with the deeply haunted Room 237. That’s where Jack Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson, has a terrifying encounter with a ghostly woman.

Chieh's 3D rendering of Room 237

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Anthony Chieh

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“But once I started, I just couldn’t stop,” Chieh told LAist.

“I ended up modeling the Colorado Lounge, and then after that I was thinking maybe I should make the lobby and then arriving to the Gold Room, and then Grady’s bathroom.”

“It’s like a rabbit hole,” he said.

Users who download Chieh’s free 3D model can fly through all of those spaces, immersed in atmospheric sounds and music from the film.

“It’s interesting to dive into these kind of fictional environments and try to make sense of it,” Chieh said. “And the hope is people will get a different perspective once they’re in there.”

Kubrick’s take on the Overlook was famously inspired by real hotels like the Timberline Lodge in Oregon and the Ahwahnee in Yosemite. But the interiors you see in the film were created on sound stages in England.

“Real architecture, physical buildings, are built for people to live. And for movies, these are more meant to express the emotional aspect of things. It’s a psychological construct,” Chieh said.

In a recently published video essay on YouTube, Chieh dives deep into those psychological constructs and how, as he puts it, “Kubrick designed the Overlook Hotel not as a backdrop, but as the film's true villain.”

How spaces scare 

Chieh said during the monthslong process he was reminded of the power of architecture and design in the real world too – whether it’s an uncomfortably repetitive carpet design or a claustrophobic hallway.

“A physical construct can affect your emotion,” Chieh said.

“You can use it in a way to make people feel comfortable and you can also use it in a way to create fear.”

Chieh's 3D rendering of the Torrance's apartment in 'The Shining'

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What’s next for this architect moonlighting as a 3D modeler?

Chieh says he’s thinking about giving the spaceship from “2001: A Space Odyssey" the virtual treatment next. Or maybe turning to a local non-fictional space, like the Stahl House.

That is, of course, if he can ever escape the Overlook.