Jolene "Who dat Ninja?" M.'s Profile

*** #193 of 365 Things to Do in L.A.  ( http://www.365-la.com/... ) ***

When I hear the word "museum," I imagine walking around reading little captions on the walls. I wasn't ready for what was waiting for me at the Grammy Museum in Downtown L.A.. The Grammy Museum is so much more than a museum; it engages your sight, hearing, and touch--a full multi-sensory experience.

You start in "The Grammy Room" where Grammys from past decades are on display. Through the Grammy Room is a larger space where you'll see memorabilia and artifacts, including Taylor Swift's boots, Pavarotti's suit, and John Lennon's penned lyrics.

My favorite thing on this level was a touch/listening station. With headphones on, you look down at a touch-screen with different genres of music floating across it. "Two Tone," "Third Stream," "Hard Bop"--you can touch whatever genre catches your fancy and it will start playing the music and show a description of the genre. Around the description is a cloud of other genres related to the one you chose. You can select another genre, and so on, which will send you on a musical journey that can take you from "Art Rock" to "Zydeco." Seeing how many musical genres exist in the world was an ear opening experience for me.

Down a level, there's a stage set up with two electric drum kits and guitars. Surrounding the stage are hand drums and two keyboards. The third floor also holds tons of costumes, from Michael Jackson, J.Lo (the infamous green Grammy dress), Cee-Lo, Barbara Streisand, and more. There are even a bunch of listening booths where you can practice your mixing and mastering skills. Don't miss the booth next to the Michael Jackson gloves, where you can listen to different Grammy performances as if they were coming through a gramophone, an old record player, a stereo record player, a cassette recorder, mp3 earbuds and surround sound 5.1. Of course, surround sound trounced them all.

On the second floor there's a gift shop, the current Bob Marley exhibit (running till October 2), and the Clive Davis Theater. Click here to see all the upcoming events at the Clive Davis Theater.

Tickets to the museum are regularly $12.95 for adults, but with a KCRW discount, it is $10. Photography is not allowed in the museum.

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*** #190 of 365 Things to Do in and around L.A. ( http://365losangeles.b... ) ***

Up the 405 on the outskirts of a sleepy Sylmar suburb are six of the most adorable porcupines you will ever meet. Adorable? Porcupines? You heard me. In my opinion, porcupines have gotten a bad rap. I think it stems from the rumor that they can shoot out their quills (False, by the way). One trip to the Wildlife Learning Center, though, and I guarantee that you will fall head over heels in love with the prickly little critters.

The WLC is an animal lover's dream come true. Here are some of the things you can do during your visit:

-pet a darling fennec fox
-feel the cool scales of a snake around your shoulders
-come face to face with a sleepy-eyed sloth
-feed a porcupine (his name is Walter, and he will melt your heart)
-hold a tawny owl
-pet a nervous prairie dog
-get up close and personal with a serval wildcat

The Wildlife Learning Center offers three tours. We opted for the 1-on-1 Animal Experience, a 1.5 hour tour which was led by a friendly WLC biologist. The tour costs $100 for the whole group and can accommodate up to four people, making it $25 per person.

The center also sells general admission tickets for $6 ($5 for children and seniors, kids under 2 free), but I would highly recommend paying the extra money for a tour, which ranges from $10 to $25 per person. With general admission, you can only admire the animals outside of their cages, whereas on the tours you can go into their enclosures.

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***#173 of 365 Things to Do in L.A. ( http://365losangeles.b... )***

Did you know that back in the early 1900's, storybook houses could be found all over L.A.? They were apparently all the rage, but since then only a few have been preserved.

The Witch's House is on the corner of Carmelita and Walden Blvd in Beverly Hills. It features a moat, a cobweb doorway, about five "No Trespassing" signs, and (my favorite) a roof that looks like it's gonna cave in at any moment.

The House was built and designed by Hollywood art director Harry Oliver in 1921. It served as the offices and dressing rooms for a Culver City film studio until 1934 when the house was moved to Beverly Hills.

Visit the link above for pics and more Storybook Houses in L.A.!

*** #179 of 365 Things to Do in L.A. ( http://365losangeles.b... )***

Vasquez Rocks, located about 40 minutes north of L.A. in Agua Dulce, is truly an unforgettable place. With its mammoth precipices jutting dramatically out of the earth at 45 degree angles, it is easy to see why it's a popular filming location. Past shows that have been filmed here include Star Trek, Power Rangers, Battlestar Galactica, Jay and Silent Bob, and Planet of the Apes.

Vasquez Rocks was named after Tiburcio Vasquez, a wily bandit who was known as "The Scourge of California." He used these rocks as his hideout.

There are short trails around the park, but we chose to just scramble up any large rock we could find. It was incredibly fun--like being a little kid again! The park was not too crowded, and free parking was plentiful. If you wanted to find solitude here, you could do so by just walking a little ways away from the main parking lot.

*Click on the link above for pics and a video!*

***** #182 of 365 Things to Do in L.A. ( http://365losangeles.b... ) *****

There's nothing like clans of sunning turtles, tunnels made of trees, and flowers in full bloom to make you appreciate our beautiful SoCal weather.

The center has a kid-friendly visitor's center with live tarantulas, snakes and hissing cockroaches on display. Grab a hiking guide and trail map there, and then choose from three trails: a 1-mile paved trail, a 1-mile dirt trail, and a 2-mile dirt trail. We chose to do the 2-mile one, which splits off from the 1-mile dirt one after about half a mile.

This largely shaded hike took us through a forest, past lakes, and alongside a river. On the way, we saw ducks, squirrels, butterflies, birds and turtles. Tons of turtles.

The Nature Center wasn't very crowded on a Saturday morning which made it a relaxing and quiet walk. The trails are well marked, and there are water fountains and a bathroom along the way.

Click on the link above for pics!

***** #183 of 365 Things to Do in L.A. ( http://365losangeles.b... ) *****

This one's for all you design junkies. Yes, it's that Noguchi. As in the iconic Noguchi table.

The Noguchi Sculpture Garden (aka The California Scenario) in Costa Mesa is Noguchi's abstract representation of California's landscape. It features six pieces: Water Source, Water Use, Desert Land, Land Use, Energy Fountain, and The Forest Walk.

Around the pyramid are odd shaped rocks, a cactus dome, and places to sit and relax. It's a great place to enjoy a lunch if you're in the area or passing through.

The Noguchi Sculpture Garden is located in a small hidden courtyard flanked by office buildings next door to a TGIFridays. I know... It's not exactly the kind of place you'd expect to find world class design. But that's also what makes it special. Being here, you feel like you've stumbled upon a secret place that no one knows about. Park for free in the front lot and walk behind the Comerica Building to find it.

*Click on the link above for pics!*

***** #186 of 365 Things to Do in L.A. ( http://365losangeles.b... ) *******

Ah the Hollywood Sign.  A beacon for our vast city, and as impenetrable as the Presidential bunker due to 24-hour surveillance, the sign sits high on a hillside in Griffith Park with a view to die for.

24-hour surveillance?? Yes, sadly you can't actually touch the sign. But you can get pretty darn close to the back of it.

Believe it or not, some ninjas have actually been able to outwit the cameras, motion detectors and helicopters which protect the sign. You may have seen these stealth artists posting photos of themselves on the internet touching the sign. I don't recommend trying this, due to threat of a fine. Instead, why don't you take one of the photos of these guys off the internet and photoshop your head onto him? Brilliant!

The hike to the sign and back is only 3 miles (1.5 hours), but getting there is a tad tricky. First you have to find parking in the small lot at the end of Beechwood Drive and follow the sign on the right for the Hollyridge Trail. Next, dodge all the horse poop from the Sunset Ranch Stables. Down the road, you're gonna come across two junctions. Take a hairpin left at the first one and a right at the second. After that, you're home free.

Click on the link above for pics!

****#174 of 365 Things to Do in L.A. ( http://365losangeles.b... )****

In Valley Glen, a community of the San Fernando Valley, lies one of the most magnificent murals in Los Angeles--the Great Wall of Los Angeles.

Spanning half a mile along the L.A. River, this mural depicts California history from prehistoric times to the 1980's. It was designed by artist Judith Baca and painted by over 400 community youths and artists in the 1970s to '80s.

You can't go down into the river and see the murals up close since it's fenced off, but there is a paved walkway alongside it that lets you see the whole thing.

It is located on Coldwater Canyon Blvd between Oxnard St. and Burbank Blvd. The murals are on the wall of the waterway that faces east.

Visit the link above for a video and pictures of this unbelievable masterpiece!

****#176 of 365 Places to Visit in L.A. ( http://365losangeles.b... )****

You've driven past it on your way to and from Westwood, but have you ever walked around the Los Angeles National Cemetery? The somber rows of identical tombstones lined up perfectly as far as the eye can see is a sight you will never forget.

Veterans from the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean War are interred here. Also included among the headstones are over one hundred Buffalo Soldiers and two war dogs with their handlers. Walking around, you are struck by the sheer number of people who fought and died for the freedom that we now enjoy.

My friend and I were the only visitors walking around this vast cemetery on a Friday afternoon, making for a quiet and reflective walk. I think that it would be amazing to return on Memorial Day when the cemetery is filled with thousands of people honoring the dead.

Directions: The cemetery is on 950 South Sepulveda Blvd. Going north on Sepulveda Blvd, the entrance is on your right shortly after passing Wilshire Blvd. Parking is free.

***** #177 of 365 Things to Do in L.A. ( http://365losangeles.b...) ********

I came here on the last day of the 2011 season. Imagine hundreds of thousands of multi-colored Ranunculus flowers lined up in perfect rows--stunning! $10 buys you entry into this botanical dreamscape.

There are two ways to view the flower fields: walking or riding. I took the walking paths, but other people chose to view them while riding around in a tractor-drawn carriage.

After doing circles around the flowers, we checked out the Sweet Pea Maze--a maze with walls of sweet pea vines. It was actually a little difficult to get out of!

If you're an allergy sufferer like I am, flower fields might not have the same appeal as they do to the average person. I arrived in Carlsbad ready to bust out my Claritin at any hint of a sniffle, but--surprise surprise--I discovered that their Ranunculus and pea flowers don't have much pollen. This was evident by the complete absence of bees in the fields. My nose behaved like a perfect princess--allergies be damned!

****Visit the link above for pics***