Twilight Zone - "You Drive"

My wife and I are in the midst of watching every episode of the classic television series, Twilight Zone. I was excited to see images of Carlson Park in the 1964 episode, "You Drive". "You Drive" stars Edward Andrews as Oliver Pope, a misguided man who fails to report a hit and run accident that kills a paperboy. His lapse in judgement causes him to be haunted by his car. Carlson Park and the Carlson Park neighborhood are clearly visible in many of the scenes. I was amazed to see how similair the neighborhood looks in 1964 and today. I took the following series of photographs showing the neighborhood then and now. Below is a look at the paperboy riding down Braddock headed for his fateful collision, followed by a shot from the same location today. You can see the dining building and lamp post are visible in the background in both.

Here is a look across Motor to Carlson Park. The ficus trees must have been newly planted in 1964. They are huge now. And, of course, the phone booth is now gone.

Below is a look at Carlson Park, as a woman tries to save the paperboy, followed by the park as it appears today.

Below is a shot down Motor both then and now:

Below is another shot down Motor. The trees are way taller, but the houses are mostly the same.

Below is a shot from inside the pay phone. The houses on the corner of Motor and Braddock are clearly visible. I tried to recreate the same view.

Below is another shot across Motor and Braddock with the police on the scene.

The main characters live at 4183 Keystone Ave in Culver City. The house looks almost identical now as it did in 1964, including the same house number sign. When I was taking the photos, I talked to the owner of 4183 Keystone who claims that western movie star, Gabby Hayes, once lived in the house several decades ago. Gabby was in many movies in 30s, 40s and 50s, and has a star on the Hollywood walk of fame. Below is a look at the house then and now. Unfortunately, a truck was parked in front of the house, so the new photo is not that great. I am going to try to go back and take a better photo in the future.

Here is Oliver Pope leaving his home on Keystone and walking down the street towards Braddock, followed by a shot from today.

In the final scene, Oliver Pope walks down Jasmine where he is confronted by his haunted car. Below is Oliver walking down Jasmine, followed by a shot from today.

Here is a shot from inside the haunted car looking out at a house on Jasmine. The house looks almost the same today as it did in 1964.

Below is a shot of Oliver Pope making a run for it in between two houses on Jasmine. The homes are almost identical then and now.

Finally, here is a shot of Rod Serling. From the looks of the palm trees in the background, I believe this was shot in Carlson Park.

If you live in the Carlson Park area, I highly recommend watching "You Drive". It is available for streaming on Netflix, as is the entire Twilight Zone series.

Culver Hotel in Capella University Commercial

We were watching HGTV today, and noticed The Culver Hotel in the background of this Capella University commercial. That old lady looks pretty depressing. I am not sure that this would make me want to attend their school, but I appreciate that they decided to film in Culver.

Coolhaus

We were in the mood to get out of the house last night and decided on ice cream. Coolhaus was close by and also open on Sundays. I was excited to learn that their specialty is ice cream sandwiches, as I was always a fan of Diddy Riese from my days in Westwood. It turns out, Coolhaus has been around for awhile. They have a number of food trucks in LA, Austin and New York. The Culver City location is their first store and opened in November. It is located at 8588 Washington Blvd near the Helms Bakery complex. It is easy to miss as there is no actual sign saying "Coolhaus". They instead have a large neon sign in the outline of an ice cream sandwich. I liked the place immediately. The guy and girl behind the counter were super friendly, and more than willing to let us sample many flavors. I tried peanut butter, red velvet cake and something with bacon. They were all delicious, but I opted to go with red velvet which was awesome as it actually had crumbled pieces of red velvet cake mixed in with the ice cream.. As for my cookie, I opted to stay traditional with the oatmeal raisin. Also, very good. My selection was excellent, but I think I will be more adventurous next time. There are some pretty adventurous flavors that include olive, chipotle or balsamic vinegar. I also liked the fact that they were obviously being environmentally conscious, but without being obnoxious about it. The sample spoons were all actual metal spoons that are washed and reused. The ice cream sandwich comes in a small wrapper that is actually edible and just sort of melts in with the sandwich as you eat it (apparently, it is made mostly of potato). Overall, I really like Coolhaus and will definitely go back. I am also happy that something nice has cropped up in that part of the city. There are some stretches there on Washington that have yet to be revitalized. I am hopeful that Coolhaus will be the first of many new shops and restaurants in the area.

A Thousand Words

I was watching TV this afternoon and was excited to see downtown Culver City prominently displayed in the preview for the new Eddie Murphy film, A Thousand Words. The Starbucks inside the Washington Building at 9720 Washington Blvd. appears twice in the preview. Murphy is along side Jack McBrayer (AKA Kenneth from 30 Rock). He is also seen outside Starbucks walking John Witherspoon (AKA the dad from Friday) across the street. The Hull Building and Meralta Plaza are also both clearly visible in the preview.

Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook

One of my favorite workouts in Culver City is the stairs at the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook.

The hike takes you up 282 stairs (by my count) to the top of one of the Baldwin Hills.

It is a vigirous work out in a beautiful setting. There is also a path that takes you up and down, if you prefer to skip the stairs. We usually take the stairs up and the trail down and try to get three repitions in for a solid workout. All they way up and down there are great views of downtown LA, Hollywood, West LA and the ocean. Yesterday wasn't too clear, but the views are still pretty good.

It is generally fairly crowded on the weekends. I like to go on a weekday evening in the spring or summer. There is also a free museum at the top of the hill that discusses the history of the area and the surrounding ecology.

The Museum of Jurrasic Technology

I have probably driven by the Museum of Jurrasic Technology at 9341 Venice Blvd 200 times.

The building is understated and the museum often looks closed, so it is easy to miss. From the first time I spotted it, the name perplexed me. "Jurrasic" obviously implies something to do with the Jurassic period or dinosaurs. "Technology" obviously does not. As it turns out, the museum has nothing to do with either. We spent about an hour there on Sunday and I can't honestly say what it is about. If you are going expecting to see a Rembrandt, you will be disappointed. If, however, you are interested in seeing an LED display of the world showing the distribution of trailer parks globally in 1938, this place is for you! The museum seems to house random oddities from a howling fox head in a glass case to a minuature figureen of Goofie on the head of a pin. There are also a number of bizzare videos about obscure historical figures that I honestly cannot say are real or imagined.

Mainly, the museum is quirky and fun. And, very well done. Creator David Wilson was even given a MacArthur Grant for achievements in portraying "life in the Jurrasic" My favorite exhibit was a series of portraits of the dogs that the Soviet space program sent into orbit never to return in the early days of space flight. The portrait of Laika was the feature of the exhibit. I learned that Laika actually became the first animal to orbit the earth (and the first animal to die in orbit) in 1957.

At only a recommended donation of $5 ($3 for seniors), the museum is a bargain. Don't miss the upstairs lounge complete with complimentary cookies and tea. If you go around the corner and up from where the tea is served, there is a lovely rooftop zen garden complete with live doves and seating. When we were there, it looked like people were enjoying this area just to do some Sunday reading.

One note: The Museum of Jurrasic Technology is not actually in Culver City, but directly across the street. Additionally, there is an excellent New York Times article about the museum that is worth a read.

Thrillist's Culver City Cocktail Crawl

Since we visited Peru three years ago, I have enjoyed cocktails with pisco, especially the pisco sour. I was very excited when a friend emailed me about Thrillist's Culver City Cocktail Crawl featuring five pisco cocktails at five bars in downtown Culver City. The event will be held from 3 PM to 7 PM on Saturday, February 25th, with Ford's Filling Station, Seventy7, Rocco's Tavern, Fraiche and City Tavern participating.

Acclaimed mixologists Joel Black, Josh Curtis, Jeremy Back, Gia St. George and Matthew Goldberg will be mixing up the drinks using ORO Pisco. At $25, this a real bargain considering a single cocktail at these places is $10 - $14.