Ask anyone and they will tell you that I love things that look like things but are actually other things. Like Chocolate Weapons. I’m not a huge fan of actual guns, bullets or grenades. And I hope to never see any of these things up close ever in my lifetime. But the idea of chocolate anything peeks my interest, add the intriguing shapes of destruction and well, I think they just might have something here.
Upon first glance, The Bunny Museum might not seem out of place in an old Twilight Zone episode: Nestled in a quiet Pasadena suburb, the 1928 Spanish-stucco house is owned by a pair of rabid (ha!) though all-too-human rabbit aficionados–and not by giant hind-legged ambassadors of a planet of bunnies who greet their earthling visitors cheerily while they keep a steaming vat of human stew simmering in the back.
Though I was a bit alarmed when I tried to shake hands with owner Candace Frazee, who insisted cheerfully that “We don’t shake hands here at the Bunny Museum. Instead there’s the ‘Bunny Bump.’” For the layperson, this means a peace sign, or bunny ears, and then a traditional ‘knuckle’ fist bump.
As I surveyed the house, I found myself at a loss for words: It’s like one of those foam pits you used to see in a gymnastics or P.E. class, except it is FILLED WITH THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF BUNNIES.
His given name was Rolando De La Garza– and at one time, he had to wear a name badge that read, “Welcome to Office Depot.” But now this 35 yr old character that hails from Houston wears no stinkin’ badges, but if he did, it probably read-“Hello, I’m the Reverend Butter, and anyone can carve ice, not everyone can sculpt it.”
Another Halloween–and hundreds more hordes of freaks, fruits, and assorted miscreants, all coming out of the woodwork to flood Santa Monica Blvd. for the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval. What began as good-natured fun with my fellow Angelenos turned something which all-too-eerily resembled a pesky L.A. traffic jam— one side of the street, you’re packed alongside the others like a human sardine; move to a lane that looks clearer and be caught between sweaty cavorting bodies in fleshy gridlock. Then a horde of H1N1-infected pigs come trampling your way, squashing into you and sending you sprawling onto the street. Even Beaker from The Muppets got in on the act.
The historic Hollywood Forever Cemetery began to open its grounds to Dia De Los Muertos celebrations over one hundred tears ago. For just one night each year, the tombstones along its main roads are transformed into spectacular shrines honoring the dead. Friends and relatives talk about the altars they’ve created and share their memories of the departed. These colorful, glowing constructions are bedecked with candles, marigolds, sugar skulls, and personal artifacts. The latter range from photographs and childhood toys to favorite clothing and delicacies. Each altar is a celebration of a life, complete with gifts, food, and tales of glories past - Oingo Boingo’s song, “Dead Man’s Party”, comes to mind. Participants have less than twenty-four hours to assemble the monuments, which must be torn down at the end of the seven-hour event. In addition to admiring these temporary sanctums, thousands of visitors make their way down dimly-lit paths to feast on traditional Latin American cuisine and check out art exhibits inside the main mausoleum, musical performances, costumed processions, and choreographed Aztec dance numbers.
Words and photos by Zoetica Ebb
This Halloween I dressed up in my anime finest and, along with Chris Gore, set out on a quest to find the best costume and the spookiest atmosphere. Our destinations: Club Ruin‘s Grimm Fairytale Ball and a house party – which would yield the best outfits? Mine was Major Kusanagi from Japanese manga and animation, Ghost in the Shell, while Chris and charming date channeled Roman Polanski and his underage love interest. To my chagrin, Chris didn’t heed my suggestion of wearing polyester pants.
After two night of scrupulous research the results are mixed. Ruin, a nightclub held at the lavish Monte Cristo in LA’s Koreatown, invited its guests to dress in fantasy gear, while the party was all about the geek chic.
Around Halloween, the inhabitants of all those cozily, carefully-shrouded McMansions in Beverly Hills turn their eyes to the scariest thing in town: The Witch House, which looks like something like a cross between the Gingerbread House in Hansel and Gretel, and a hobbit home in Rivendell. It was built in the 1920s for a bunch of silent, and presumably creepy, films — hey, it was used in the Alicia Silverstone movie Clueless! — before finally being relocated to Beverly Hills. Unfortunately it’s not something open to public view, so the best you can hope for is a drive-by, or, for the particularly brave, a nosy peek through the windows.
Happy Halloween ghosts and goulies! Everyone here at ChinaShop hopes you a safe and happy weekend full of tooth decaying, gut rotting good times! Let’s take a look back at the posts from the past that had a bit of that halloween flavor. ChinaShop treats for all!
Unlike most city galleries, with their towering pillars and marble girders, Los Angeles’ Museum of Jurassic Technology first appears to be what is almost literally a hole in the wall. And despite being wedged in what at first seems like unremarkable slabs of concrete on the corner of Venice and Bagley in Culver City, it’s not unusual to see it packed with visitors who have only heard through the grapevine of its extensive list of oddities and wonders. Behind those rather bland walls are endless rooms of exhibits–many of which lie somewhere between irreverent and incredible, and prove that the Museum is, in the true sense of the word, one of Los Angeles’ hidden gems.
Gold Bug is a deco and curiosity shop tucked behind Old Town Pasadena’s main drag, just a block off of Colorado Boulevard. Brimming with entomological rarities, heart-stopping artisan jewelry, toys, knick-knacks, spider-adorned dishes and hilarious taxidermy, this place is a total treasure trove. Forget kid in a candy-store, when I walked in here I felt like Marie entering the magical kingdom in The Nutcracker [really]. It’s easy to get lost amidst gilded walnuts stacked in candy dishes beside brass jumbo teeth and towering old-school hourglasses, delicate golden keys hanging in bunches from porcelain display hands and stacks of tin crowns inviting customers to play dress-up. Though the prices can get a bit steep, the merchandise is precisely the kind you’d actually want to save up for. Perfect example: a huge oxidized silver ring with shimmering blue butterfly wings under glass. In the words of Garth: “One day, it will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.”
