January 31, 2014
Get Your Pom-Poms & Umbrellas Ready

 

KUNG HEI FAT CHOY! Chinese New Year is kicking off this weekend with the 115th Annual Parade on Saturday from 1pm -3pm. Get there early and claim your spot along the route while watching the floats and festivities set up. There's no need to let a little drizzle keep you from enjoying this dazzling event. Those pretty paper umbrellas could make this parade more spectacularly colorful among the onlookers. It should be interesting to see Mayor Eric Garcetti as Grand Marshal of the parade. Wonder if he'll sport a bright silk jacket like former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa?

 

 

LESS SPORTS, MORE SIGHTS: Superbowl Sunday pits the Seattle Seahawks against the Denver Broncos. It should be an exciting game but for those who aren't into putting their game face on, there are lots of things to do and see that are also indoor friendly.

 
ANYTHING GOES: Some things are always fun to do... Check out our Places to Go Anytime and Things To Do pages for plenty of ideas that are available on a regular basis.
  • HEALTH & FITNESS - Shed last year's pounds before spring.
  • ART - Take in a new gallery or sit in on a talk by local artists.
  • RECREATION - The weather is ideal for outdoor activities.
  • MUSIC & CONCERTS - Discover a new band or solo singer.

  HorzLine

 Find more? Check out our Editor's Picks selected at the start of every week.  

  

DiscountsDISCOUNTS - there are some really good ones right now. From whale watching to kids shows to festivals... entertain yourself at a discount. All at very reasonable prices. Even better, most of the discounts offered are direct from the event/activity producers and do not involve additional fees to receive the discount.

  

TIP OF THE ICEBERG: you'll find lots more events and other things to do near you - on our neighborhood and regional calendar links at the bottom of all Eye Spy LA web pages.


Have a Happy Weekend!

 
Year of the Wood Horse: Chinese Zodiac Horoscopes for 2014
By Cici Psy-Chic 

Chinatown Good Luck The Chinese New Year marks a change in its annual 12-totem zodiac. This year is represented by the Wood Horse. It is a very lucky combination of both the element and the animal-together it portends renewed passion, vitality, travel and sociability. Conversely, the horse is a stubborn creature which could make for greater miscommunications, physical stress, uncertainty and superficial pursuits. 

 

Unbridled enthusiasm can urge us to be more spontaneous but taken too far and we could become reckless. Depending on your sign, the Wood Horse can prompt us to move forward but we must be aware of what it is we're galloping towards. Horses in a Horse year may find themselves coming into their own or seeking out greener pastures. They might struggle however from being too horsey for most others to take. Be bold, courageous and run wild occasionally but also be willing to fall into a trot and cantor...

  

READ YOUR CHINESE FORECAST

 

HorzLine

A Rooftop Drive-In All Year Round? Only in L.A. 

 

VALENTINE'S DAY ALERT: THIS COULD BE A ROMANTIC WAY TO SNUGGLE WITH YOUR SWEETIE!

 

Valentine's DayIf you want to do something really cool that requires tickets or reservations, it often pays to plan ahead. Baby it's cold outside (at least at night). What could be more romantic than snuggling together in your car on a rooftop downtown while viewing Bogart and Bergman in the film classic "Casablanca" at a drive-in Valentine's Day weekend. That's what Electric Dusk Drive-In will be screening... 
 

 

HorzLine
Salsa Music & Dancing at Union Station Friday (1/31)
 
Salsa Union Station Head over to Union Station on Friday, Jan 31 and hear a free performance by LA Picante. The performance will take place inside the former Fred Harvey Restaurant, a dramatic space that's usually closed to the public. Bring your dance shoes! 
 
Founded in 2005, LA Picante plays a celebrated blend of classic salsa, collectively drawing from years of experience playing with the top Latin jazz and salsa groups in Los Angeles. Band members hail from Cuba, Colombia, Argentina and the U.S. Fiery classics by Willie Colon, Eddie Palmieri, Ruben Blades and many more fill out the group's repertoire.
  
 
HorzLine

Jefferson, Dickens and Tolstoy are Irresistible in "Discord" 
by M.R. Hunter

Discord

Discord abounds in Scott Carter's world premiere as egos clash in a philosophical debate concerning theology, epistemology, and metaphysics in an existential battle of self-judgment.  

Three famous writers from three different time periods have one thing they all share: their faith. That faith, however, is subject to scrutiny by themselves and each other as they are confined to a white room in the hereafter. For these erudite captives, purgatory soon transforms into a hellish prison as they discover their personal beliefs run counter to their temporal justifications while challenging their cell mates' notion of absolute truth discoverable in the KJV gospels...
 

HorzLine

Eyestrology LA - Happy Birthday Aquarius by Cici Psy-Chic


 
Happy birthday to these celebrity January Aquarians: Edwin Buzz Aldrin (1/20), Billy Ocean (1/21), Diane Lane (1/22), Antonio Villaraigosa (1/23), Aaron Neville (1/24), Alicia Keys (1/25), Ellen DeGeneres (1/26), Alan Cumming (1/27), Joey Fatone Jr. (1/28), Oprah Winfrey (1/29), Christian Bale (1/30), Portia De Rossi (1/31)
 
Celebrity February Aquarians: Lisa Marie Presley (2/1), Shakira (2/2), Nathan Lane (2/3), Alice Cooper (2/4), Jennifer Jason Leigh (2/5), Rip Torn (2/6), Chris Rock (2/7), Seth Green (2/8), Judith Light (2/9), Laura Dern (2/10), Brandy (2/11), Judy Blume (2/12), Prince Michael Jackson (2/13), Florence Henderson (2/14), Matt Groening (2/15), Ice T. (2/16), Paris Hilton (2/17), Dr. Dre (2/18)

Now's the time to take a flying leap as we head deep into 2014 and the Chinese New Year by playing fast and loose whenever we can. The weather couldn't be finer for us to be outside. Emotionally, many signs will be suffering from an unattractive case of ego and selfishness. We all would do well to consider others in any social circumstance among strangers and relations. Should issues arise, Fire and Water signs will do better at logical discussion while Air and Earth need to pay attention to how their message is landing. Maintain civility and employ diplomacy. 
 
READ THE FULL SCOPE for Aquarius and all of the other signs.

  
ABOUT EYE SPY LA
 

Eye Spy LA has been the online Local's Guide to L.A. since 2003. Content is written, edited and maintained by locals and focuses on local and nearby events and the local creative community.

 

Editorial policy: Eye Spy LA editorials are stories written about places, entertainment and events that we go to. The opinions are those of our editorial staff and the writer of the piece. Calendar listings are ads posted by the people producing events and activities in the local area. Each week we pick and recommend events and other things to do based on our experience or sometimes because they look particularly unusual, unique or in some other way interesting. We do not recommend them based on any fees they may or may not have paid us for advertising.

 

You'll always find the latest events & activities plus commentary about where we've been at eyespyLA.com - updated daily. 

 

Andrea Kirk, publisher ([email protected])

 

Eye Spy L.A. EYE SPY LA CONTRIBUTORS:

 

M.R. Hunter - editorial and reviews

Mark Share - reviews

Kelly Hargraves - dance and reviews

Leena Deneroff - food adventures

Charles Phoenix - retro slide of the week