The Last Bookstore

Dear Readers, 

It was with a sense of despair that I headed out to see The Last Bookstore with my own eyes.  While I hoped that the name was just a tongue-in-cheek take on the state of brick and mortar retail establishments, it would not surprise me at all if the actual last bookstore in the world closes its doors in my lifetime.  As bleak as that thought may be, I’ve already given in to the notion that it will happen. While there are some who would say that no one reads anymore, I feel like convenience is the rocket fuel hastening the end of an era.  Thanks to Amazon and its lightning quick delivery, a physical copy of a book is only a click away.  It’s even faster if a person is using an e-reader. When that dark day comes, there will be good reason why The Last Bookstore will be the final retailer to soap its windows and thank its customers for their years of loyal patronage.

The Last Bookstore also employs the last sign painter.

Some folks think heaven may look like this place.

It has everything to do with the design the proprietors have taken with The Last Bookstore. Housed in a former bank building in downtown Los Angeles, they have integrated several features of its former self.  Laying eyes on the soaring columns and repurposed vault are reason enough to come and gander.  However, that was not what brought me in this Saturday morning.  Like most everyone else here, I had been drawn in by the book sculptures and the images I had seen online.  Flying books, a book tunnel, as well as a portal made out of books have all helped establish the store’s eternal presence on Instagram.  Without spending a dime of their marketing budget, The Last Bookstore is able to get endless advertising by people like myself taking and sharing photos.

You’ve seen the pictures before. Just not with my kids.

Book tunnel with my kids . . .

And of course, the book portal. With my kids . . .

Opportunities for selfies aside, I would consider this a first-rate bookstore.   The Last Bookstore offers up both new and used books housed in over twenty-two thousand square feet.  According to its website, that makes it the largest in California.  The inventory is spread out over two stories and into an annex next door.  Understanding that finding a proper book is a leisurely affair, interspersed throughout the store are places to sit comfortably so customers can thumb through a selection before making a purchase.  Their formula worked in my case.   After putting eyes on the book portal deep in the twists and turns of the second floor, I was left to wander through the store at my own pace.  As any mildly literate person can attest to, it’s impossible to move through stacks of books without picking up and skimming through a couple.  And with that, I was able to get the photos I was looking for and ended up leaving with a copy of Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon. 

Plenty of space to browse and diddle on phones.

Never judge a book by its cover. Unless you’re an interior designer. In that case, The Last Bookstore has you covered.

I am happy to report that I was not the only person who fell under the spell of The Last Bookstore.  Early on a Saturday morning, the place was full of the curious and those who came to browse.  The business was brisk as people chose to be here instead of lining up for brunch.  To my relief, it appears that the end of bookstores has been averted, at least for now.  

I get a little bit of nostalgia when I see people waiting on line to make a purchase.

The Last Bookstore

435 South Spring Street

Los Angeles, California 90013

213 488-0599

What does one do with an old vault?

Looking for some other unique experiences that Los Angeles has to offer? How about a ride on a funicular at Angel’s Flight? Or, what about a puppet show with The Bob Baker Marionette Theater?

This post is based on a visit made on June 4, 2022

EddieWorld

Dear Reader, 

For this latest installment of Animated Meat, I feel the need to provide a warning to travelers whose wanderings may take them through the heart of the Mojave Desert.  This entry will not serve as a reminder to prepare for the obvious threats one may encounter in a harsh and unforgiving environment.  Readers of this fair periodical are a cerebral bunch, so it’s safe to assume they have the wisdom to pack plenty of  sunblock and extra water.  Nor will this be an attempt to caution you about the poisonous snakes who call the burning wasteland home. You already know that critters such as the Western Diamond Rattlesnake just want to be left alone.  No, this dispatch is to let you know about something entirely different that has grown out a wide open stretch between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.  Hugging the shoulder of Interstate 15 sits EddieWorld, an unbelievably well appointed gas station that has something for everyone.  And if you’re not careful, it may become your family’s next great travel tradition, just as it is now ours.

Plenty of light and space. And candy. Plenty of that, too.

EddieWorld proudly distinguishes itself from the barren landscape it inhabits with a six-story ice cream hugging the side of Interstate 15.  Who wouldn’t be tempted to satisfy a sense of curiosity by using a need to refill as an excuse?  The good lord knows that I did.  Billing itself as California’s largest gas station, EddieWorld offers up twenty-six fueling islands, assuring as little delay as possible to those itching to get back on the road. However, the minds behind EddieWorld do not hang their ambitions on gasoline sales alone.  With a nod to the future, they also offer up eighteen electric vehicle charging stations.   With the most affordable fuel on the trip to Las Vegas, they have all but guaranteed I won’t stop in Barstow anymore.  But the attraction does not end there. 

I make it a habit not to take pictures in a restroom. Trust me. They’re worth the stop.

Inside, EddieWorld offers up the pinnacle of what public restrooms should be and serves as an example of how a business should treat customers.  Forget about the horrors you have experienced looking for relief at a ramshackle gas station.  Never is there a line for one shabby toilet, nor is there ever a mess to be found. With Las Vegas as the final destination for many, there must be thousands of visitors a day looking for relief.  However, these spotless restrooms belie their persistent use.   Aside from being clean, an added feature I never knew that I wanted until I arrived here are the floor-to-ceiling partitions on the stalls.  

Funko Pops would not have the empire they do without impulse buys.

Affordable gasoline and spotless facilities are only the beginning of EddieWorld’s attraction.  The variety of dining options may well be the thing that calls to your soul.  If you’re looking for something made to order, they have you covered.  As one familiar with interstate highway travel would expect, burgers and chicken tenders are available.  However, the menu is staggeringly expansive and offers everything from pizza and salads, to sushi rolls .  If the siren’s song of Sin City is too strong for you to stay and eat, plan on finding something resembling sustenance in the rows of candy and jerky before you get back on the road.

The reason why we stopped.

However, what draws us here time and again is the well-stocked selection of Beanie Boos.  If you’re uninitiated, Beanie Boos are wide eyed collectible plushies that are convenient souvenirs both in their size and their price.  At about six dollars each, a couple of these always manage to join our caravan before we head back out on the road.  Thankfully, our adventures rarely draw us north on the 15.  Considering all that EddieWorld has to offer those who frequent Las Vegas or points northward, this could get to be an expensive proposition.

EddieWorld

36017 Calico Road

Yermo, California 92398

760 441-7993

Looking for some other unique roadside attractions? Next time you’re in Oregon, head to Prehistoric Gardens. In California, take a look at Bunnyhenge.

This post is based on a visit made on July 11, 2021

One more reason to stop - Laker memorabilia

Huy Fong Foods Factory Tour

According to a recent report by CNN, the golden era of manufacturing jobs in America occurred during the 1970’s.  1979 was the high water mark when almost a quarter of working Americans picked up a paycheck in exchange for spending their waking hours in a factory. Despite all our Commander in Chief’s bluster, only about eight percent are employed in manufacturing. How times have changed.  Where have all of the factory jobs gone? Some have moved overseas, some have been lost due to automation, and still others have been automated overseas. The grim reality of the economy of the twenty-first century is that the types of jobs that gave rise to the American middle class are gone and will not be coming back.  Because the workplace is so different in the twenty-first century, the average American seeing the inside of a factory has become as quaint as picking apples or dipping tallow candles.

Dedicated to seeking out novelty, Animated Meat’s opportunity for a factory tour came courtesy of some nasty local politics.  Huy Fong Foods, parent company of Sriracha sauce has called Irwindale, California home since 2010. One can only speculate what lead up to it, but company owner David Tran to run afoul of the city council and found himself in a good old fashioned pissing contest with the powers that be.   Rather than caving into their demands, the powerhouse behind Sriracha sauce chose to take the city council on and open his factory to the public. By allowing the curious see how their favorite condiment is produced, he pulled a public relations maneuver that caused the city council to back off and made them look like shameless politicians shaking down a local business owner.  

Tours go on all year long, but Animated Meat was lucky enough to secure a visit during their annual chili grinding festival.  Once a year, they take delivery of their chilis and grind their entire supply until the next season. After donning a hair net, we filed in behind a few Chinese lions and hundreds of devoted Sriracha fans.  Maybe because of the sheer volume of the drummers combined with the grinding equipment, the company did not employ a blazer clad tour guide to fill our heads with company propaganda. As a result, we were able to experience the factory on our own terms and make our own judgements.  The bottom line is that Huy Fong Foods is a massive operation and like any other manufacturer in America, the steady creep of automation is everywhere.  

For the time being, Huy Fong Foods still employ human workers to do the manual labor required to produce Sriracha sauce. There they were, running pallet jacks overflowing with red jalapeno chilis and pounding lids onto blue barrels full of chili paste.  These are people who are trading their time and labor in order to provide for their families. However, the majority of the production could be done in the dark. No human hands touch the bottles as they rocket down the line to be fitted with a trademark green lid, boxed, and packed onto a pallet by eager robots who never ask for time off to attend parent-teacher conferences.  

Despite the lions and the drummers, it became difficult to determine exactly what we were celebrating.  While our visit had all the trappings of an event that seemed doggone festive, one can’t happen to wonder about the fate of the last American workers who find their way into a factory job.  How long will it be before the last American factory workers are sent home once and for all and an army of robots produce everything from Sriracha sauce to Chevy Tahoes?

This post was based on a visit on September 28, 2019.

Huy Fong Foods

4800 Azusa Canyon Road

Irwindale, CA 91706

626 286-8328

Are you interested in other incredible food experiences? Pay a visit to Tio’s Tacos in Riverside.

Madame Tussauds Hollywood

Just a few winters past, the pathway to fame was paved with years of hard work and dedication to a dream.  While fame was elusive, those who managed to achieve it did so by acquiring a skill that set them apart from the crowd. It used to be that famous people could actually do something worth commanding attention. However, as we close out the beginning of the twenty-first century, the American Empire awakes to a morning where fame no longer has the scarcity it once did.   Alarming as it may be, the traditional mechanisms that served as a vetting process to claim one of those coveted spots on Hollywood Squares have broken down. Technology has transformed fame into a commodity as readily available as a pack of Tic Tacs.  Anyone with the ability to speak into a cell phone can command the eyes of millions. It would appear that as the polar ice caps melt, so to do the restrictions required to earn the title of celebrity.  

On demand attention creates a problem.  If notoriety is as cheap and readily available as it has come to be, how will the people of these United States make a distinction between those who are merely well known and those who are real, honest to god celebrities?  If the ability to be recognized by strangers on the street becomes available to everybody, how will our super stars set themselves apart? As our great civilization stumbles into the immediate future, it is entirely possible that the one last status symbols will be frozen in wax at Madame Tussauds.

Madame Tussauds is an institution that has been immortalizing the revered since the time of Marie Antionette.  The Hollywood location sits in the heart of Tinseltown, right next to Sid Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Inside are actors and directors from the golden area of film along with a scattering of pop stars.  Built for the people, the museum provides plebs with an opportunity from a thrill and a picture with the stars. As one of the last temples of celebrity in the modern world, Madame Tussauds is filled with replicas of entertainers who achieved the title in the old fashioned sense. 

In celebration of their storied achievements, each wax figure requires four months worth of work from a team of twenty artisans. The process begins with a series of careful measurements of the star and then progresses through casting. From there, it’s off to hair, makeup, and costuming.  Finally, the celebrity’s doppelgänger is ready to go out on display and be worshiped by legions of adoring fans. The fact that so much goes into the production of one of these figures makes it seem unlikely that in the short term, the same resources involved would be devoted to celebrating an Instagram model or some twenty-year old dude who produces prank videos on YouTube.

However, do not think for an instant that the huns will forever be held at bay.  Posted just outside the entrance stands Kylie Jenner, a young lady who earned her ticket to fame by being a supporting member of a basic cable ensemble.  She’s gathered enough likes to get the star treatment at Madame Tussauds, but is technically not inside yet. She stands vigilant near the entrance, ready to jam a Jimmy Chu in the door and open the place up for the inevitable wave of YouTubers and Instagrammers who will follow. She waits patiently for her moment when she can crack the gate for her mob and displace the collection of Hollywood icons interred inside.

This post is based on a visit to Madame Tussauds Hollywood on June 26, 2019.

Madame Tussauds Hollywood

6933 Hollywood Blvd.

Hollywood, CA 90028

323 798-1670

Interested in the cult of celebrity? Don’t miss a visit to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Bunnyhenge

Perched on a clearing high above the Newport Beach Civic Center reside a collection of white magician’s rabbits. Carved from stone and arranged in a circle, locals have taken to calling the attraction Bunnyhenge.  While a rabbit hardly seems to be the kind of creature capable of striking fear in a person’s heart, these bunnies have a history of striking discord among those to have had the courage to visit them. How could carvings of one the most benign creatures on the planet be so divisive?  While not one to succumb to superstition, it would appear that there is some powerful magic occurring on the lawn above Newport’s city hall.

Prior to visiting, I was under the impression that Bunnyhenge was an art installation.  However, after conducting some preliminary research, I was not able to determine a specific purpose for their existence.  According to some reports reviewed, it appears that the good people of Newport Beach opted to have the rabbits installed in the clearing as opposed to purchasing off-the-shelf tot lot.  This would seem to suggest that Bunnyhenge is actually a one-of-a-kind playground.

Yet, even that description does not entirely encapsulate the purpose that they serve.  One consistent thread that is echoed throughout the reports by publications both big and small is that they came with a staggering price tag.  Apparently, it costs a pretty penny to have fourteen vigilant rabbits standing guard over Newport Beach’s seat of power. Knowing the cost actually drove one local politician to his breaking point.  In a disturbing video, former city councilman Scott Peotter went as far as to promise his constituents that he would blow them up if elected. Thankfully, Bunnyhenge has been able to outlast the misguided Mr. Peotter’s career in politics.  While the majority of those who have vocalized their displeasure in the cost of the project do not arrive at the extreme end of the spectrum where he resides, it would indicate to some, that Bunnyhenge is nothing more than a government boondoggle.  

The fact that the rabbits defy description begs the question, what is Bunnyhenge?  Is it art? Is it a playground? Is it nothing more than an overpriced city project?  After seeing it first hand, I can say tell you it’s all of those things. And, at the same time, it’s none of those things.  I return from Newport Beach to inform my dear readers that it is so much more. Quite remarkably, Bunnyhenge is a Rorschach test.  Anyone daring enough to look into the circle of white rabbits will have his own biases echoed back at him.

When I went and took a look at Bunnyhenge, I saw a saga of local politics played out on the lawn.  I saw a city council courageous enough to install some white rabbits in an affluent and conservative neighborhood.  The rabbits served no greater purpose than to bring joy to children. Unlike Disneyland, were are no parking fees or admission fees to come see them.  As a result, the rabbits did nothing to broaden the tax base. Any unwashed plebs mobile enough to get to the civic center would be able to see them. As a result, the citizenry of Newport Beach labeled a blight.   To counteract the magnetic draw of Bunnyhenge, the new city council opted to install a real piece of art, one that anybody could understand, not just these New York City types do. The result? A life sized bronze statue of business-friendly, Republican hero, president Ronald Reagan who now stands in triumphant opposition just a stone’s throw away from Bunnyhenge.

However, for those of you bold enough to make the trek, I can tell you that after realizing the magic of Bunnyhenge, the spell dissipates and they can be seen for what they truly are;  fourteen sweet white rabbits, arranged in a circle, perched in a park on a lawn, high above the Newport Civic Center.

This post was based on a visit to Bunnyhenge on May, 29, 2019

Newport Beach Civic Center

100 Civic Center Drive

Newport Beach, CA 92660

 949 644-3309

Passing through Orange County? If you want to see something iconic, spend the day at Knott’s Berry Farm. If you’re looking for something more off the beaten path, take a look at M and M Nursery.