Category: Events/Travel

Union Station in Los Angeles recently celebrated it’s 75th birthday. Quite an accomplishment for a station that almost didn’t get made. If left up to the separate railway companies at the time, it wouldn’t have been. Thankfully, it was made after ten years of struggle and legal proceedings. For it’s birthday, the Metro (who own the station) gave it a face lift. The gorgeous art deco building was updated and refurbished. It’s definitely a treat for the thousands of people who pass through it every day.

I spend a lot of time in Union Station because I commute via Metrolink, but I hadn’t been at the famous Traxx restaurant until recently. This white table restaurant is tucked into the fabulous main lobby of Union Station right by the front entrance to Alameda Street. While there are several fast food options within Union Station, Traxx gives a glimpse into the era when train travel was a classier affair. If you have time for a more leisurely meal I highly recommend stopping in. The decor and ambiance are first class. You are seated within the main area so people watching is a huge plus here. The restaurant area is small and I was sure it would be too noisy with most of the tables being outside the restaurant, but it was surprisingly peaceful.

My favorite part of my experience was the staff though. My server Tom was top-notch and on top of making sure my service was splendid. Even the bus boys were polite and sweet. Sometimes in a white cloth restaurant you feel like you’re bothering the waitstaff, but not so with Traxx. From the minute I walked up to the host until I left I felt like I was, indeed, a star. It’s easy to feel that there’s something glamorous and magical about Union Station with a service like the one you get a Traxx.

For my lunch I tried the hanger steak. It was tender, moist, and fantastically presented. I was full, but the desert menu also looked amazing. Everything tasted fresh and the wait time for my food was not long at all.

Great little piece of LA and a great piece of history. If you’re in the area or traveling through Union Station, be sure to check it out.

If you’re looking for an amazing reason to attend Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando or Florida this is it. Universal Studios has teamed up with Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products to create an Alien vs. Predator Maze that puts you right in the middle of one of the most epic smack-downs in history. To mark the 35th anniversary celebration of Alien, and the 10th anniversary of AVP: Alien vs. Predator, “Halloween Horror Nights” guests and fans of these celebrated films will have a chance to live the horror of these diabolical beasts as they come face to face with the terror of Aliens and Predators.

Here’s a sneak peek of what the experience will be like:

“We’re thrilled to be working with Universal Studios to create mazes in Orlando and Hollywood that will bring fans face-to-face with the horrifying and iconic characters of AVP.” said Greg Lombardo, vice president of global live and location based entertainment at Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products. “The technology being leveraged will surely be a new benchmark and provide a uniquely terrifying and visceral encounter that puts guests right in the middle of an epic extraterrestrial battle for survival.”

The two mazes (on in Hollywood and one in Orlando) sound slightly different from each other. According to the press release the maze in Orlando is set in one of Weyland-Yutani’s secret facilities and the maze in Hollywood seems to be set after the spaceships crash land on earth.

“‘AVP: Alien vs. Predator’ is by far the most technically complicated and ambitious maze we’ve ever created for ‘Halloween Horror Nights,’” said John Murdy, Creative Director for Universal Studios Hollywood and Executive Producer of “Halloween Horror Nights. To help with the complicated and ambitious they’ve recruited Academy Award®-winning make-up artists, Tom Woodruff and Alec Gillis from Amalgamated Dynamic Inc. (ADI) (both of whom worked on the original creatures of the AVP franchise).

If you’re nearby or want to plan a get away, be sure to check it out!

Tickets and vacation packages for Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando are on sale now at HalloweenHorrorNights.com\Orlando

Updates on “Halloween Horror Nights” at Universal Studios Hollywood are available online atHalloweenHorrorNights.com/Hollywood

Exploring an innovative, field-tested approach to building healthy, sustainable American Indian communities will be the focus of an international conference to be held from September 25 to 27 at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa.

Sponsored by the David Lynch Foundation the conference’s featured speakers include Joe A. Garcia, President of the National Congress of American Indians; Robert Cook, President of the National Indian Education Association; Lucille Echohawk, strategic advisor for the Casey Family Programs; and Kevin Skenandore, Acting Director of the Bureau of Indian Education.

The five-point plan includes (1) improving educational outcomes through stress-reducing, consciousness-based meditation; (2) improving health and reducing diabetes, heart disease, and substance abuse through prevention-oriented, natural medicine; (3) promoting energy and economic self-sufficiency through wind and solar technologies; (4) growing healthy, nutritious food through organic greenhouses; and (5) safeguarding the land, language, and culture of American Indian populations.

Learn more about the conference and register to attend at davidlynchfoundation.org

Supergirl Jam is an all-girl, bring your best, showdown in surf, skate, snow and inline. The competition happens in my home state AND celebrates the awesomeness of being a girl – so you know I have to support it. Some of the competitions have already taken place all over Southern California, and the Supergirl Pro-Am Jam brought professional and amateur girls together in one contest to compete for a great prize purse ($3,000 for the winner) and, as a huge bonus, the top-placing amateur got an automatic entry into the Supergirl Jam event that takes place on September 6th in Venice Beach.

Warner Brothers Online is sponsoring the Skateboard Street, Snowboard Rail Jam and Inline Best Trick contests. And starting at 11:30 a.m. Pacific time, all the competitive action will be streamed LIVE here on TheWB.com, the official online destination for the 2009 Supergirl Jam events and competitions. Coverage of the Supergirl Pro-Am Jam and the Supergirl Pro Junior surfing contest which took place on August 15-16 will also be included in the webcast. Check out the competition or follow @thewbdotcom.