Th red flag warning will be in effect in Los Angeles and Ventura counties from noon Monday until 6 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. The warning goes into effect at 11 a.m. Monday and expire at 5 p.m. Tuesday in Orange, San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Santa Monica Mountains, Santa Clarita and other wind-prone areas can expect 60 mph wind gusts and “fire weather” in Tuesday’s predawn hours, the Weather Service predicted. The Weather Service also predicts wins speeds in excess of 50 miles per hour for Inland valleys.

The winds are forecasted to also strike the mountains near Malibu and north and northeast of Los Angeles. The San Diego, California forecast office said most areas south of Los Angeles can expect wind gusts of 35 mph. San Diego and Riverside counties are predictated to see gusts of 70 mph in wind-prone areas on New Year’s Day.

It is 2008 and the year of the rat. And the world is gearing up for this wonderful celebration of life and family. All the way from Los Angeles, to China, Vietnam, Korea, San Fransico. and to New York City.

Lately we have been going to the celebrations in Los Angeles due to travel and convience because of where we live. Chinatown businesses in Los Angeles pretty much closes down 1 – 3 days prior to the celebration to adhere to some of the New Years traditions. So roughly from Thursday and Friday of February 7th to the 8th many of the business will be closed. And the celebrations pick up on the morning of February 9th.

Chinatown in Los Angeles has a parade on February 9th, 2008. Get your seat early. There will be huge crowds. At times exceeding over 100,000 people plus. Be sure when the dragons pass you during the parade that they pass directly in front of you. You will be more blessed with luck during the year. And for the children, be mindful, and respect your parents and other adults and wish them a happy and prosperous New Year. There are many red envelopes to be had. The children will find money in the envelopes. Usually one will find anywhere between a nickel up to no more than $4.00. You are considered real lucky if you receive an envelope with $8.00(for its homophone for “wealth”). Sometimes they will find chocolate coins in the envelopes as well.

Prior to the parade you may want to enjoy some of the traditional Chinese and Vietnamese styled restaurants with more of the authentic foods. Not really much of the American-Asian fusion food one would eat outside such enclaved cities. All are wonderful in taste and variety. I always enjoy the traditional bowl of Vietnamese soup called Pho’. One of the many pho’ restaurants I frequent is on Broadway by the name of Pho’ 79. Order the simpliest soup called Pho’ Tai. It is pretty much a steak and noodle soup dish. One may top the soup with bean sprout, basil, hoisen sauce, nuc mum(fish sauce) and a green chile or two.

You may want to do a walking tour of the many shops that have great deals on textiles, art, clothing, toys and food at reasonable prices. You may also be surprised of the many Asian and American galleries spotted throughout Chinatown. It is also rumored that a few Hollywood stars have bought lofts in the area as well. I hear that Quentin Tarantino may be one of them. You know the producer/director/writer of such films as Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, and From Dusk to Dawn.

If you are unsure what Chinese Zodiac(Horoscope) you fall under, you may find out your animal sign here. Your sign will come every 12 years. If you would like to know more about the legend of the 12 signs, you may read more about it at Chinese Zodiac Page.

Liza Minnelli is an icon of stage and screen and has won virtually every award
possible, including three Tonys, an Oscar, two Golden Globes and an Emmy. Her performances of trademark songs from the musicals, “New York, New York” and “Cabaret” are legendary and watching her perform a live show is an experience that you will not forget. Liza Minnelli continues her extraordinary music career with concert tours in the U.S. and Europe, as well as recording a new album.

Ticket Prices: $65 VIP, $55 Reserved, $45 General Admission (Members of
The Club save $5, Platinum Players save $10). Must be 18 years or older to
attend. No refunds, cameras or videos. Tickets are on sale now at the Main
Casino Cage and tmcasino.com.

Table Mountain Casino Event Center
(800) 541.3637 or (559) 822.7777
8184 Table Mountain Road
Friant, CA 93626

Chinatown
Little Armenia
Little Tokyo
Koreatown
Thai Town
Little Ethopia
Little Manila
Jewish – Beverlywood
Little Persia
Little Italy – Which is now Chinatown. Yes odd I know.

I know in Los Angeles we have many of these inner cities as well. Such as East Los Angeles – Echo Park and City Terrace, West Los Angeles, South Central Los Angeles – Leimert Park and Watts as well as Hollywood. Many of them make up small businesses and have great restaurants, and annual festivals highlighting their country of orgin and its cultures.

Now you probably wonder why I would mention Los Angeles enclaves. Well I am sure you do realise the diversity of the “Little Town’s”. And this is one of the many things I enjoy about the Los Angeles community. The best of many countries being brought to one community is a difinite highlight of living or visting such large cities. This is not counting the many districts as well in Los Angeles. Los Angeles also has a financial district, clothing district, jewelry district, toy district as well as a few other districts. So you can do one of two things, visit all the “little enclaves” or shop in the many districts, or do both, your choice. Los Angeles is a must definite visit for a vast cultural and shopping experience.

K-Fed’s bodyguards were sent to Britney’s home on January 3, 2008 to pick up the children for K-Fed’s turn to have the children. The bodyguards were to pick up the children at 7 PM. Britney refused to turn the children over to K-Fed’s people. Apparently the LAPD were called in after Spear’s was not abiding by the court mandated custody agreement. There were about 5- 8 LAPD officers, 2 ambulances, 1 police helicopter and the fire department

During the visit from the police, LAPD allegedly said Britney appeared to be under the influence. She was than transported to Cedar Sinai for a possible 72 hour hold. K-Fed’s and Britney’s 2 year son Sean Preston was also sent to the hospital. It is said that Sean Preston is home safe with his father now.

Well I tried to see if Britney’s people would keep any updates on her myspace profile. But nothing as of yet. So mainly any updates will have to come from news stories. So if you miss any and want an update do a simple search through your favorite media library and  get the latest

The French Crepe Company has a website where one can view the menu and the price range. Be sure to click the Farmers Market location. There are many crepes to try. But I like to order the Beef Stroganoff Crepe. I love the tender beef pieces and mushrooms in the cream sauce. To the side of the crepe is an arugla salad with a dijon salad dressing(they have other dressing as well to choose from). Each plate will run one between $8.00 and $10.00. The other plate I like to order is the L’Opera crepes. L’Opera consists of two scrambled eggs with swiss cheese, avocado, onions and tomatoes. L’Opera crepe also comes with a side order of the arugala salad. For the cold and breezy Los Angeles days, I recommend their Soupe A’l’oignon Gratinee. French Onion Soup – a toasted baguette slice is placed in the bottom of a clay pot. Than beef broth and caramelized onions is poured over the bread. Placed on top is a heaping mound of Swiss Gruyere is than placed under a broiler to melt. The soup is roughly about $6.00. I also like to order their sparkling french lemonade to go with most of my crepe orders.

Greetings, friends and welcome to the newest addition to HomeTurfMedia‘s growing list of city sites!

My name is Jessica Duquette and I am a professional organizer/lifestyle management consultant and adventurous person, lover of the quirky, the fiery hot, the heartfelt and of delicious food and passionate art in whatever form. As long as the inspired one is coming from their heart, it works for me!

InvisibleLa is a blog about the city I was born in, was not raised in, but currently (happily!) live in: Los Angeles. No, it’s not just another LA blog, it’s my mission to ferret out the cool, the weird, the freaky, the marginal and the touching, in people, events, architecture, food and fun. I will be asking regular guest bloggers to add their talents and insights to the blog each month and I always love to hear from you, the reader, on what you think and feel about what you see here. Let’s get this party started!

Even if you don’t live in LA, I hope you will come back and visit to see what’s going on here!

see you on the freeway…

jessica

PS please come visit It’s Not About Your Stuff, my blog about the reasons people find their lives cluttered and stuck and what we can do about it.

Events include Anime Screening(s), AMV Screening(s), Workshops, Autographs (free), Charity Auction and other events. The guests are Zac Bertschy (Editor, Anime News Network), Johnny Yong Bosch (Voice Actor)
Eyeshine (Band), Kevin Lillard (Convention Photographer, A Fan’s View), Scott Ramsoomair (Web Comic Artist, VG Cats) and Tadao Tomomatsu (Actor).

On-Site Registration starts off Thursday (New Year’s Day) at the Pool Deck from 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm. From 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, it will be in the Ballroom Level at the bottom of the escalators.

Registration is located in the lower level of the Los Angeles Airport Marriott. From the lobby, take the escalator downstairs, you can’t miss it.

More information on Registration available here

The Kodak is a 3,600 seat theater. The Kodak also is centrally located within a shopping mall and movie thearter. It also sits comfortably on top of L.A’s mass transit, the red line subway. One of the subways major stops is the Highland/Vine – Kodak Theater Stop. Prepping the theater is done about a week ahead of the broadcast. So many fans and tourists can watch as the set up begins. Including seeing the full size statueets of Oscars lined along the red carpet walkway of the theater. Yes viewing this Hollywood history is free prior to the broadcast. Or you can attempt to be a spectator on the night of the Oscars in hopes to catch a glimpse of your favorite actor and or actress via the street in front of the theater.

The Oscars have been broadcasted from the theater since 2002. Previously they were broadcasted from the Shrine Auditorium located across from the USC campus on Jefferson and Hoover in Los Angeles. The Oscars were originally at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood on May 1, 1929. The Roosevelt Hotel is one block west of the Kodak.

Here are some of the following nominations for certain catergories

Best Picture

Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Best Director

Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen – No Country for Old Men
Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton
Jason Reitman – Juno
Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best Actor

George Clooney – Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp – Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones – In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett – Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie – Away from Her
Marion Cotillard РLa Vie en Rose (La m̫me)
Laura Linney – The Savages
Ellen Page – Juno

Best Supporting Actor

Casey Affleck – The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Charlie Wilson’s War
Hal Holbrook – Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton

Best Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett – I’m Not There
Ruby Dee – American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan – Atonement
Amy Ryan – Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton

Best Original Screenplay

Diablo Cody – Juno
Nancy Oliver – Lars and the Real Girl
Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton
Brad Bird – Ratatouille
Tamara Jenkins – The Savages

Best Adapted Screenplay

Christopher Hampton – Atonement
Sarah Polley – Away from Her
Ronald Harwood – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen – No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood

On January 22, 2008(same day the 2008 Oscars were annoucned) the 2005 Oscar nominated Best Actor, Heath Ledger died in his SoHo, New York apartment. Results of his death are unknown pending an autopsy. May are hearts go out to Heath Ledgers family.

Here is how some Los Angeles neighborhoods are doing: