We're probably the 4171 person -- 4172? -- to compare the Academy Awards to a high school prom. So much run-up, so much build-up, so many other things with "up" at the end, and then, over. The ads have ended. Screenings, kaput. Stow the streamers and balloons, because prom, and the awards, Hollywood's hugest event, are finished for another year.
Good thing there are several notable events on the SoCal calendar just ahead. A few we're intrigued by include...
The Great Los Angeles Air Raid of 1942: There's history, there's drama, there are Bryll-creamed hotshots swing-dancing the day away. If you see dashing impresario Maxwell DeMille is involved, count on a true 1940ish vibe to the affair. February 28.
World's Largest Blooming Plant: We get into anything with "world's largest ____" (fill in the blank), because we like to be astounded, and that the world's largest blooming plant is in Sierra Madre delights. It's a wistaria vine, there's a party for it, festival food, arts, etc., but we like it because that giant vine, at over 100 years old, kind of reminds us of "Little Shop of Horrors," but in a good way. Like, it just has a life, and a personality, of its own. It's never asked to be fed though, we hope? March 15.
Blessing of the Animals: Snakes have shown. So have pot-bellied pigs. Whatever beastie you love upon, you'll want to leash that puppy up (especially if he is a puppy) and head for Olvera Street for this much loved, highly attended Eastertime to-do. There's a snapshot of an iguana in a sombrero on the Olvera Street site, fyi. There are no words for the cute. April 11.
Coachella: The dates are a tad earlier this year -- this will save on the high sweating quotient of the dancing masses, we imagine, although we've always found that kind of charming. Paul McCartney, The Killers, and The Cure are the headliners, but we're also jazzed about Amanda Palmer, Calexico, and Leonard Cohen. Oh, and X! Righteous. April 17-19.
