Stepping out of our Internet bubble


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No matter how bad your day is going, the Internet will always be there for you. Whether you need the new download from your favorite music blog or the comfort of a social network to prove you still have friends, the web has got your back. As long as your wireless network is working, you […]

When ‘creeping’ on co-workers, keep as stealthy as possible


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Since the advent of Facebook, the term “creeping” has become rather mainstream. For all you non-stalker types, Facebook creeping generally involves adding someone as a friend, browsing all 863 of their tagged photos, committing their favorite quotes to memory and then performing an advanced Google search on anyone you suspect could have been his or […]

German director remains one of cinema’s finest weirdos


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This story might not be true, but it’s alleged that during the filming of Fitzcarraldo in 1982, the great yet insane Polish actor Klaus Kinski, fed up with months of grueling shooting in the jungles of South America, told his director he was escaping by boat up the Amazon and never looking back. Werner Herzog, […]

Flower mart an evergreen LA fixture


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Hidden in the grid of Downtown Los Angeles, the LA Flower District boasts the title of largest flower wholesale district in the country. Comprised of two main flower markets and individual stores, the district contrasts towering concrete structures with the overpowering smell of plants and people. The Southern California Flower Mart, located on Wall Street, […]

Meteors remind us to cherish rare moments


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Do you remember when you were five, maybe six, and held an empty pickle jar as if it were as big as the world? And it was once, cradled within the intimate embrace of your innocent touch, this gaping expanse entwined with naïve hope and small, clenched fingers. You scampered amidst giggles and lost breaths […]

Finding love online is trial and error


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The holiday season is almost upon us, and that means love is soon to be in the air. Expect repeat screenings of romantic Christmas movies designed to make you pine for someone to share hot chocolate with by the fire. And because of the inevitable desperation that comes with the closing of yet another year, […]

Make nice with your office neighbors


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Office buildings tend to be more like condominiums than your standard, single-family suburban homes in that the workspace is often divided into small parts and shared by many different families or in this case, businesses. Even well-established companies often lease plots of cubicle space to smaller companies, which often become their annoying neighbors. So, it […]

McCarthy novels sap adrenaline from films


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Ours is a violent generation, and Cormac McCarthy knows it. He knows it, and he knows how to exploit us for it. The final third of Joel and Ethan Coen’s adaptation of McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men was one of the most divisive acts of cinema committed this decade. After establishing a violent and […]

A sweet spot in Little Tokyo


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Chewy. That’s the best word to describe traditional Japanese mochi, a treat derived from glutinous rice. Though most Benihana-eating, less educated folk know the treat as a round rice ball filled with ice cream or as a trendy pétite topping for frozen yogurt, mochi’s origins stem from customary offerings to the gods and are a […]