Turkeys Galore

"Heritage Turkeys", Submitted by ExperienceLA
Deep fried turkey, turducken, upside down turkey... so many ways to prepare them. Delish.

Just wanted to wish everyone an early Happy Thanksgiving! Don't forget to check out your local farmers markets for your last minute Thanksgiving meal purchases, as well as our latest newsletter for great giveaways (Wooden Classic, Enter Shikari Debut)!

Cheers and Happy Eating!
-ExperienceLA Staff

LA Sports Arena: High School Musical: The Ice Tour

My Tuesday night at the LA Sports Arena featured bright lights, the loud roar of a crowd, and the intoxicating smell of popcorn lingering in the air. What team was playing? "The Wildcats!" "What time [was] it?" "Summerti -" I mean, High School Musical: The Ice Tour...

I suppose my friends Jay and Jessie (who will probably cringe at their names being displayed in this entry) and I looked a bit out of place at the LA Sports Arena last night. At ages twenty-four, we had a few years on the shorter members of the audience and at least the parents could say their kid dragged them along. But we had gotten some tickets and we figured it would be a fun outing.

I actually came with a mission: I wanted to see basketballs on the ice. The thought of basketballs that close to skate blades intrigued me.

You might be asking: How did she know there would be basketballs? How did she know these HSM lines she opened the entry with? How is she using 'HSM' with ease?

At this point, I should make a confession. I actually know most of the songs...and in addition to the basketballs, I wanted to see the pairs routine for "Breaking Free". What better medium to use the lines "I'm soaring...flying..." than the ice!

This blog has featured a fair share of the musicals I've seen (Avenue Q; Curtains), but High School Musical: The Ice Tour is in a lovely canon all of its own.

Acting as a highlights reel of both Disney television movies, the show uses the ice as a stage for the story. The world of High School Musical is brought to life with narration from 'musical playmaker' Kelsi. The story unfolds with the help of skaters who bear remarkable likeness to the movie actors, lights, flexible set design, and a large flat screen that acts as a transition or background for the show. The performers displayed skills as both actors and professional skaters and great choreography was put into the show to re-interpret the show's songs for ice.

As a highlights reel, it might be difficult to keep track of everything that happened in the films if you are unfamiliar with the storylines. While all the major songs were in the show, there were many parts glossed over to fill in the two hour time slot. (I, for one, was a bit disappointed not to hear Lucas Grabeel's "You Got It" as Ryan and Sharpay drove into the country club.) But the show will likely not disappoint any HSM fan. Even if you don't know the songs, you can find yourself 'gettin' your head in the game' and trying to sing along anyway.

The show definitely reaches out to the kid in you and is filled with the kind of story reminiscent of Disney magic. What I like the most about Disney stories is that everything always seems to work out in the end. And while you grow up and know that's not always the case, it's nice to remember that it could be true.

Maybe an opinion on this show is better from someone 2+4 rather than twenty-four, but even surrounded by two people my age, I can't say that I saw anyone in that audience not having a good time (or doing a little karaoke!).

Like the song goes, "we're all in this together..."

-Charity Tran, ExperienceLA.com Web Coordinator

Take Me Out To...Dodger Stadium

There's nothing like watching a baseball game at the stadium. Prior to last night, it had been years since I had attended one. But it's an experience that I know I ought to partake in more often because I love baseball and I love watching the game unfold right before my eyes in midst of a crowd of fans in an open air stadium (while I'm at it, can college football season start up again?!).

The LA-area is home to two baseball teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. I'll be honest in my picking of sides: Los Angeles Dodgers all the way.

A fixture in the Los Angeles landscape is Dodger Stadium, situated just north of the Downtown landscape, and its where my friends Jason and Jessie managed to get some great tickets to the Dodgers vs. Padres game. My friend Jay and I managed to come along for the unexpected Friday night out.

How great were the tickets? The picture accompanying this post is without zoom. I was that close to the action out on the field. We were in foul ball catching territory. In fact, during the game someone caught one a few rows in front of us (and man, did we wish one of us had been in reach). It was perhaps the closest I have ever sat at a baseball game (usually I'm in those nosebleed seats), so that definitely contributed to the excitement of my first baseball game in ages.

I'm not sure I can really describe that sense of feeling of being at a baseball game - it seems to be something that either people understand thoroughly or not at all. There's just this rush of feeling being surrounded by so many fans young and old decked out in team colors and memorabilia as vendors make their way on narrow stair aisles selling Crackerjacks, ice cream, and peanuts (and, believe it or not, CPK pizza - not sure about that one...). There's nothing like having a hot dog - the "no contest in how good it is" Dodger dog - piled high with tangy red ketchup, golden mustard, the sweet and sour taste of relish, and chopped white onion, accompanied with a plate of crispy garlic fries. There's nothing like hearing the roar of the crowd through nine innings as the players run across home base, as the batter cracks that ball with his bat and a stadium-full of people follow in anticipation of a cheer or a necessary chorus of 'boos'. There's nothing like mutual disdain about umpire calls, because the they're always wrong when you don't like them, even when they're right.

There has to be something about that game - whether it be baseball or football, whatever it is that fills that stadium. Why else then would people run through the hectic swirl of traffic to and from the venue, bring their kids in tow with blankets on cold nights where even then they'll ask for ice cream, get caught up in making sure they wear the right colors in shirts and hats and pins, so sure that their team is the "right" team...

Yes, there's nothing like experiencing a baseball game in a stadium.

-Charity Tran, ExperienceLA Web Coordinator