Sacramento Murals: A City’s Stunning Surfaces (Gallery)

Detail of Maverique Style House mural, I Street between 20th and 21st. Portrait by Love Ponci, other features by Meme, Reds, and Beth Emmerich

(Disclosure: I received a discount on the International Food Blogger Conference (IFBC) registration fee in exchange for writing three posts about my experiences at the conference.) It was a long hot drive to Sacramento for the International Food Blogger Conference (IFBC) — a searing 95 F and increasing traffic intensity as I reached the city’s outskirts. Construction and […]

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Touring Sites of Car Commercials in Los Angeles

Postcard of 7th Street in Los Angeles from nypl digital collections

Los Angeles has all kinds of tours and guide maps:  movie stars’ houses, filming locations, locations in Raymond Chandler novels, architecture, city history, staircases, and food. But if you’re a true fan of advertising or cars, here’s a tour that might appeal to you:  Los Angeles car commercial filming locations.  Because of the good weather, the […]

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Breeding Ground: a Visit to Luther Burbank’s Gold Ridge Farm in Sebastapol

(Update, 3/6/17: fixed broken links, updated photos) A few weeks ago, I visited Gold Ridge, Luther Burbank’s experimental farm in Sebastopol while touring the wine country and counting the hours until our reservation at Ubuntu in Napa (which unfortunately closed in late 2011). Luther Burbank may not be a household name, but his work touches […]

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