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May 20th Street Closure

May 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Get ready for a sports-filled day in Downtown LA tomorrow, Sunday, May 20th!

The NHL Western Conference Finals: LA Kings vs. Phoenix Coyotes is scheduled to take place at the Staples Center, along with the Nissan Ride Before the Pros and Amgen Tour of California 5-mile bike race, to circuit in different areas of the city.

With this, major streets will be closed to make way for participants and fans. Although Renaissance Tower will not be heavily affected, please note that Olympic Blvd. from Figueroa St. to Olive St. will be closed between 7:00 am to 12:15 pm.

Click here for more details on the Street Closure. 

For more information, you may contact LA Live Events at (213) 763-7747.

Wishing you all a fun and safe weekend!

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Best Fitness Spas Around The Country

May 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Are you hankering for a vacation that will give you a chance to recharge your health batteries while also basking in luxurious surroundings and amenities? If so, there are many exciting spa destinations around the country that emphasize well-being, weight loss, and fitness. Here are some of the best options out there, certain to make your next getaway a bastion of relaxation and health-conscious fun:
 
The Biggest Loser at Fitness Ridge: Ivins, Utah
This spa, known as the site of the popular weight-loss show The Biggest Loser, is recognized as one of the highest quality weight loss and fitness spas available. The spa serves a menu of delicious low-calorie food and offers a wide variety of indoor and outdoor fitness classes. It has the added boon of being located amid the stunning Red Rock Canyons in Utah, so you will get fit while basking in glorious views – especially if you partake of the resort’s daily guided hike options. At Fitness Ridge, you will participate in a structured program designed to get you back on track toward a healthier lifestyle. After a good workout, you can take advantage of luxurious spa offerings like massages, body treatments, and reflexology. 
 
Cal-a-Vie Spa: Vista, California
This spa in Southern California has a beautiful Mediterranean-style appearance that will captivate you from the moment you arrive. You’ll stay in a gorgeous guest villa and partake of carefully crafted programs designed to help you achieve greater balance with your health, fitness level, and mind-body-spirit connection. There are many gorgeous trails for walking, running, hiking, and biking, and there’s an 18-hole golf course. You can participate in fitness classes that range from weight training to Zumba Latin Dance, as well as relax with meditation sessions in the spa’s on-site chapel. Cal-a-Vie also offers a variety of pampering spa specialties, like hot stone foot treatments and oxygen facials.
 
Copperhood Retreat and Spa: Shandaken, New York
This spa in New York State is a particularly great option if you’re passionate about engaging in outdoor activities amid stunning natural settings. Surrounded by the gorgeous Catskills, Copperhood offers you opportunities for fishing, bird watching, horseback riding, and tennis, as well as a variety of excellent winter options like snowshoeing and skiing. The spa also offers classes in fitness activities like Tai Chi, fencing, and African dance. You can work with the friendly and accommodating spa staff to help you figure out an individual program geared toward your health, fitness, and wellness goals. The philosophy that guides the programs at Copperhood is one of integration – an emphasis on combining naturopathic and conventional approaches to health. 
 
Birdwing Spa: Litchfield, Minnesota
This spa is set within a stunning 300-acre lakeside property. You’ll stay in a beautifully decorated suite in a private turn-of-the-century renovated barn that features walk-out decks and a Jacuzzi. Birdwing Spa a particularly great destination for couples seeking a romantic getaway, but it’s also wonderful for singles, and pairs or groups of friends. Whether you want to improve your health, achieve weight loss, or just relax and enjoy pampering, the spa will accommodate your needs. For those with a health emphasis, you’ll love taking advantage of the spa’s comprehensive program that offers metabolism assessment, personalized fitness programs, cooking courses, and a wide variety of fitness classes including yoga and kickboxing. 
 
Canyon Ranch in The Berkshires: Lenox, Mississippi
Canyon Ranch will immerse you in a world of compelling natural beauty as you set out on a path to better health. The spa offers top-notch programs in stress management, nutrition, preventative health care, fitness, and spiritual development. There is a daily roster of indoor classes that focus on strength, endurance, and flexibility, as well as many outdoor activity options that include hikes, fun on the spa’s high-ropes challenge-course, and activities like kayaking in the warm weather and snowshoeing during the winter months. Canyon Ranch serves a rich palette of healthful cuisine and organic food culled from local farms with sustainable practices. 
 
 
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Five Tips For Heart Health

April 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Your heart is the largest and most important muscle in your body, and when it goes the whole shebang comes crashing down. Preventative care is vital in keeping your heart working optimally. Here are five quick tips to get you on your way to heart health.

Get regular exercise
Even in short doses, aerobic exercise is very important to your health. If you don’t have time to go to the gym, try working out during the day by taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or parking at the far corner of the lot.

Quit smoking
Tobacco is one of the most preventable causes of heart disease, and both primary and secondhand smoke can be incredibly damaging. Thankfully, your heart can repair itself quickly – after a decade of not smoking, your heart will be as healthy as someone who has never smoked.

Reduce the amount of sodium in your diet
Although salt is delicious, it also works to raise your blood pressure, which makes your heart have to work harder to pump blood. Use herbs instead of salt.

Get more sleep
Multiple studies have found that people who sleep until they’re rested have fewer heart conditions than people who don’t. Sleep more than seven hours a night and try to avoid caffeine after noon.

Have a drink of wine
The latest science indicates that a glass of wine a day increases HDL cholesterol levels, which can help reduce heart disease risks. Don’t drink too much, as that can have negative effects.

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Five of History’s Greatest Fashion Icons

April 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Throughout history, there have always been stylish people in the limelight who help to set the trends that the rest of us follow. Here are five stars whose fashion flair has made a particularly huge impact on the styles of ordinary consumers:
 
Audrey Hepburn 
This actress had a look and style that dominated the fashion trends in the 1960’s. She is credited with having started the cultural phenomenon of the little black dress. She emphasized simple classic colors and lines, with items in chic black and classic white making up the mainstay of her wardrobe. Other Hepburn staples that became hugely popular: flat shoes with skinny capri pants, a vibrant neck scarf, and a white shirt tied at the waist.
 
James Dean
James Dean’s emphasis on laid-back and effortlessly hip style helped shape some of the most popular fashion trends for men during the 1950’s and 60’s. An example of a classic James Dean look, widely imitated in American culture: a tight-fitting white t-shirt, a rustic leather jacket, a vest, and cowboy boots. His signature look was always to appear casually cool and a little bit disheveled in whatever he wore (for example, he made a point of not always fixing his collars), emphasizing the importance of bringing individuality to style rather than going for a boring and perfectly clean-cut look.
 
Princess Diana
Princess Diana was known as a woman whose style influenced a generation of females all over the world. Her glamorous gowns and fabulous hats made her the essence of chic in her day. She was also known for her sophisticated tailored suits with vivid colors and dynamic angular cuts, which set trends in ladies’ suits for many years. Her elaborate wedding dress, the most famous in the world when she wore it, made a significant impact on wedding fashion during that period. 
 
David Bowie
Musician David Bowie has been a major shaping force at the cutting-edge of men’s fashion for decades. The essence of his approach to fashion is this message: be yourself and don’t be afraid to try something new even if goes against the grain. He manages to conjure an appearance of coolly rumpled effortlessness even while every aspect of his outfit is carefully chosen. His most famous and enduring look is the head-to-toe white suit. Another famous Bowie look that captures his fashion spirit: a suit with shortened sleeves and trouser legs and a pair of brown wingtips (worn without socks, in true Bowie style). 
 
Madonna
Pop superstar Madonna yielded a huge impact on 80’s fashion, and her style influences are still felt today all over the world. Some of her key looks during the 80’s: leg warmers, chunky jewelry, and stonewash demin. She also made major fashion waves when she performed in a Gaultier conical bra and donned her body with religious iconography. Madonna’s approach to fashion is all about change and evolution, never being caught in one phase for too long before moving on to the next means of style expression. 
 
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Stories of the City of Angels: Four Classic Films Set in Los Angeles

March 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

It’s not hard to find movies filmed in Los Angeles – after all, the city is the home of the movie industry and filming there is simply convenient. However, some movies really capture what Los Angeles is all about as a city. These four films are prime examples:

Sunset Boulevard
This classic is certainly set in Hollywood, with most of the action taking place on one iconic street, but it is also about the Hollywood star system itself. Fading star Norma Desmond has become shorthand for the men and women who are discarded by the Hollywood machine.

The Player
A wry satire of the movie business, Robert Altman’s black comedy pokes fun at the system without truly deriding it. Starting with the opening montage of writers pitching to producers, this film is pure Hollywood.

Rebel Without a Cause
James Dean, who died before the film was released, plays his quintessential role as an angsty teen in Rebel Without a Cause. Several pivotal scenes take place at the iconic Griffith Observatory.

Chinatown
Using the real life California Water Wars (disputes over reservoir rights in the 1910s and 20s) as a backdrop, Roman Polanski’s neo-noir captures the smoky glamour and menace of the Hollywood noir films and detective novels of the 30s and 40s.

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Film Noir Classics You Must See

March 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment
If you’re in the mood for a richly atmospheric movie with mystery, intrigue, and indelible cinematography, why not opt to see a film noir? Hollywood’s classic era of film noir, which extended from the 1940s through the 1950s, produced a number of unforgettable cinematic works. Here are five must-see film noir picks:
 
The Maltese Falcon
This Humphrey Bogart classic is often considered the first and most quintessential movie in the film noir genre. The movie tells the story of a private detective who becomes enmeshed in a series of events involving crime, murder, unexpected turns of fortune, and, of course, a femme fatale.
 
Double Indemnity
This twist-and-turn filled film tells the story of an insurance agent who get involved with murder because of a femme fatale. The movie is packed with striking imagery, dramatic tension, and plot surprises as the characters continually betray, charm, and double-cross each other. Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck star.
 
Sunset Boulevard
This celebrated Billy Wilder film explores the fading stardom of a former silent-film star named Norma Desmond (played by Gloria Swanson). When Norma hires a screenwriter (played by William Holden) to pen a comeback vehicle for her, a series of dark and unexpected events unfold. The movie offers a powerful and dark look at human ambition and the aging process.
 
Chinatown
This Roman Polanski film was made after the dominant decades of film noir classics in Hollywood but it is still considered an important contribution to the genre. The movie stars Jack Nicholson as a private detective in the midst of investigating an adultery case. In the process, he becomes enmeshed in a complicated series of events that include murder. Faye Dunaway and John Huston also star.
 
Touch Of Evil
This noir classic, directed by the renowned Orson Welles, explores the story of a Mexican drug cop and his wife as they honeymoon on the border of the United States and Mexico. When a bomb interrupts their romantic getaway, the couple find themselves involved in a dense web of surprise, deception, and adventure. Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh star. 
 
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Fun Facts About The Art of Dance

February 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Dance is one of the oldest forms of nonverbal communication between people, prevalent in different forms in all cultures, dating back to the early stages of human life on earth. Chances are you’ve done some dancing yourself and may know the basics about today’s most popular dance forms like ballet, breakdancing, square dancing, and hip hop dancing. If you’re curious to know more about this ages-old art form, read on to learn some fascinating facts:
 
Dancing Away The Great Depression
During The Great Depression, dance contest marathons were a common way for people to escape their woes and earn some extra cash by winning prize money. Participants danced for hours and even whole days straight, taking only very occasional rests. Two Depression era dance marathoners named Mike Ritof and Edith Boudreaux danced for 214 days straight, setting a world record.
 
Origins of Ballet
Ballet began in Renaissance Italy, around the year 1500, when Catherine de Medici introduced new dance styles into French court life after her marriage to the king of France. In the early stages of ballet, the dancers wore heavy costumes and their garb limited their mobility, requiring ballet to consist of only very small repetitive motions. Later, when the dance form evolved over time and across various nationalities, the costumes became less elaborate and the art of ballet became freer and more complex. 
 
Peripheral Vision
You probably know that dancers enjoy many health benefits because of the constant exercise they undertake. But did you know that professional dancers also develop superior peripheral vision? Since most choreographed dance routines require prescribed head angles, dancers can’t turn their heads, and so they have to use their eyes if they want to look to the side. 
 
Ancient German Dancing
Many experts and dance scholars believe that the oldest surviving form of dance is the Austrian Schuhplattler (from the German for “shoe-dance”). The dance is so old that a written description of it exists in a poem written by a German monk 1030 called “Ruodlieb.” The dance apparently takes its inspiration from the mating ritual of a large grouse-like German bird called the capercaillie. 
 
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Happy Valentine’s Day!

February 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Best wishes for happiness on Valentine's Day and every day.

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Five Fabulous Oscar Party Ideas

February 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Oscar night is fast approaching – and since many of your friends and loved ones will be glued to their TVs when the big evening comes, why not gather everyone together for an Academy Award fiesta at your place? Here are some creative Oscar party ideas certain to make the night a memorable one:
 
Host an Oscar Pool
Hand out a list of all the categories and nominees. Then ask your guests to check off what they predict will win in each category. Have everyone contribute a small amount of money to a pool – the person with the most correct answers wins the dough. Oscar night is often a long one, so this activity is a time-tested Oscar party staple that helps to keep your guests engaged throughout the entire ceremony.
 
Movie Trivia
Oscar night is a perfect time to engage in fun film trivia games with friends. Do some research and prepare a variety of questions, from ones that the average moviegoer would know to ones certain to challenge even the most diehard film buffs. Then you can make teams or play every-man-for-himself-style. It's a great way to fill the time during commercial breaks and lulls in the Oscar ceremony.
 
Paparazi Fun
Set up a photo-op backdrop against one of your walls and, as guests enter the party, invite them to have their photo taken. This will make them feel like the stars arriving on the Red Carpet – and an added bonus is that your guests will have fun pictures of themselves and their friends to commemorate the party. 
 
Play “Who Am I”
Cut out and decorate cardboard stars (the more glitter the better). Then pen the name of a famous Hollywood figure on each one. Tape a star on the back of every guest and have them try to determine who they are by asking ‘yes’ and ‘no’ questions of their fellow guests. This is sure to give everyone a good Oscar night laugh.
 
Glamorous Invitations
Prepare your guests for a great night by sending Oscar-themed invitations. Some possibilities: opt for a large thick-papered white envelope sealed with red wax if you want your guests to feel like they’re opening an actual Academy Award announcement (“and the winner is…”), make a movie-collage invitation with images from the year’s biggest films, or glue each guest’s photo on the body of a movie star for a fun and personalized invitation.
 
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Los Angeles Lakers: The Dynasty Continues

January 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Los Angeles Lakers have been an almost unstoppable force for years now, and their continued strength should thrill their fans. New head coach Mike Brown has some big shoes to fill after the retirement of Phil Jackson, but Brown's strong defensive game will be a great match with the talents of the roster. Metta World Peace has proven himself time and time again to be a priceless asset to the team. The three-point skills of Derek Fisher continue to be valuable to the offense. And of course there's the legendary Kobe Bryant: Bryant remains the cornerstone of the Lakers, and his incredible talent continues to shine as a powerhouse player and leader on the court. Lakers fans felt some disappointment when a few preseason trades didn't pan out as some had hoped, but this is still very much a winning team still in its prime. Kobe and company continue to have real championship potential, and they're planning to live up to that potential in the 2011-2012 season.

Head over to http://www.nba.com/lakers for Lakers schedules, merchandise, ticketing, and more!

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