Two free things to do this weekend.

I liked this juxtaposition of the burned land in gp, and the lush river. Bring your camera!

And for very little gas money! (This part works better if you’re me.) I can see a glimpse of the LA River from where I live, and have been asking friends for YEARS if they want to go down in there with me, but there were no takers. It looks foreboding, cementy and maybe a little dangerous from a distance. The sliding slopes look distressing, like you could roll a body down there and no one’s the wiser. Not to mention all the pictures I’ve seen of ugly graffiti, trash, dead animals, etc.

I’ve always thought of it like the tag line from Alien : No one can hear you scream in outer space the LA River.

Now that I’ve whetted your appetite…

I want to urge you to try it out this weekend. Because I conquered my trepidations last month and went down there! The occasion was a group effort of Friends of Los Angeles River and the Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council; a clean up day. There was ugly graffiti, but not where we were. It was calm, and pretty, and felt very very safe right next to the golf course. It was nice seeing the water, and next time I’ll get closer. It was hot. Really really really hot. It’s a channel, after all. But it looked like there was a little shade on the other side.

I’m not going to link to FoLAR, as for some reason their site crashed my computer twice, but they are certainly a worthy, hardworking group, and I plan to take one of their tours soon. I’ve had Nature Trumps on my blogroll almost since the beginning, however, and his work, writing, and photos are outstanding. He was doing God’s good work. How he put up with Garcetti’ disgusting do-nothing attitude about problems there is amazing to me. Unfortunately, Jay left last month to go to NYC and do more good work.

Nice view from the garage. Bring your camera!

The other free place to go is the Americana in Glendale, the mall by developer Rick Caruso, who gave us the Grove. Well, I don’t think the Grove is all that, like some people do. I mean, they make it an adventure, or something. The Farmer’s Market there is what it has always been, great for people-watching, and some good food. I like the layout of the stores at the Mall, the theatre, and it never feels too crowded. And it’s festive at Christmas.

But what was Mr. Caruso thinking when he set up the Americana? First of all, I have no idea what the name is supposed to mean. Second, how pushy to build a mall RIGHT NEXT DOOR to the Galleria, which has been there for ages. Third, who in their right mind would want to live on top of stores at a mall? The Times puff piece says,

…the developer of an extravagant Glendale shopping center is betting big that luxury stays in fashion.

I couldn’t find any report on how they’re doing, but luxury stores? In Glendale? Houses don’t go for that much around there. I would never think of Glendale as connected with luxury. I want to go to the Tiffany store to window-shop, as it was closed when I was there, and I did go in the Kate Spade store looking for her perfume. I had tried it several times in Sephora, but when I finally decided to buy, they no longer sold it. You know what THAT’S like, ladies, so I did buy the perfume. The store was empty except for my friend and I.

Melinda is quite an excited shopper, and she had gone to the Americana 3 times in the first 2 weeks (“but one visit was really quick.”) We both liked browsing in Anthropology (or Urban Outfitters – what’s the diff?) I went in Kiehl’s to buy some lip gloss, and it was fun to have things in person to look at, instead of online. We walked around and got hot. No interesting restaurants that I saw, and the train seems to go only a few yards, not enough to bother getting on. The big crowds were at the cheaper stores. There was a huge line at a woman’s clothing store that looks like Forever 21, but it’s not.

Someone else gets bored shopping, too.

I guess my favorite part was the nice new garage, which has a lot of open windows, and I could see gp, even in the smog! Chris Erskine is usually somewhat amusing, but he couldn’t pull it off with the story of his overnight stay there. Ugh. Peter Viles talks more about the condos, and a lot of commenters wonder about them.

I would go back again and combine it with a trip to the Galleria next door.

Go forth, and make your own snap judgments.