Category Archives: Metro Lifestyle

Go Metro Weekends, April 13 – 14

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Jackie Robinson statue in Journal Square, Jersey City. Photo by zaxouzo via Flickr Creative Commons

Jackie Robinson statue in Journal Square, Jersey City. Photo by zaxouzo via Flickr Creative Commons

The movie “42” starts showing in theatres today and this Saturday is Jackie Robinson Triple Play Day at the Sports Museum of Los Angeles, presented by the Zimmer Children’s Museum. Go and check out the limited time only exhibit of Jackie Robinson and Negro League memorabilia. Use the code METRO when buying tickets online and save 25% on general admission tickets. The VIP tour/lunch is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and general admission is from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. (Metro Blue Line to Grand Station, Metro Bus 10/48 to Main/Washington)

Head to the Heritage Square Museum for their annual Vintage Fashion Show and Tea to learn about fashion through the decades. The event will take place on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and general admission is $30. Call the museum offices at 323-225-2700 ext 223 for reservations, which are required. (Metro Gold Line to Heritage Square Station or Metro Bus 252 to 3628 Griffin)

L.A. Heritage Day is this Sunday, go and celebrate the city’s history. Festivities will take place around El Pueblo from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Show your TAP card at the L.A. Heritage booth to receive a free gift bag while supplies last. (El Pueblo is located across the street from Union Station, use Trip Planner to find the best route for you)

An early reminder to go Metro to Festival of Books

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#whatareyoureading?
The Jasper Dickson Revue
L.A. Times book critic Hector Tobar reading to passing commuters
Max Lugavere

Photos by Anna Chen/Metro

This morning, Los Angeles Times book critic Hector Tobar, The Jasper Dickson Revue and Max Lugavere took the stage at Union Station East Portal to promote going Metro to the Festival of Books, which will be taking place Saturday and Sunday, April 20 – 21 at USC.

Head to the Festival of Books at USC next weekend for more readings, musical performances and great family-friendly activities. Metro has three rail stops that serve USC off the Expo Line: Jefferson/USC, Expo Park/USC and Expo/Vermont. The Metro Silver Line also drops off at 37th/USC. Show your TAP card when buying official FOB merchandise and get 10% off!

Discover the Arts in Los Angeles with Metro

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Catch the LA Phil at the Walt Disney Concert Hall during Discover the Arts, just a short walk from Metro's Civic Center Station. Photo from LA Phil Official Facebook

Catch the LA Phil at the Walt Disney Concert Hall during Discover the Arts, just a short walk from Metro’s Civic Center Station. Photo from LA Phil Official Facebook

L.A. Tourism’s annual Discover the Arts in Los Angeles: History, Culture, Science and More campaign began on March 18 and will continue until Friday, April 26. Take advantage of special offers and save up to 50% on admission at over 40 of L.A.’s leading museums and performance groups.

Many of the participating museums and performances can easily be reached by Metro, here are just a few:

For a full list of participating museums/performances, visit Discover L.A. To help you start planning your trip, there’s Trip Planner.

Green Line to Cleveland and Philly? Check out this fun transit map

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subways

This piece of awesomeness comes from the xkcd blog and neatly ties together North America’s urban rail systems using some fun, albeit questionable, geography.

Under this scenario, one leg of the Gold Line would run to Chicago and the other San Francisco; two pretty options if you fall asleep and miss your stop in the San Gabriel Valley or East L.A. The Red Line would also visit San Francisco.

The Green Line, however, seems to get the short end of the stick with the Norwalk end of the line terminating in Cleveland and a South Bay Extension swinging east to Philadelphia. The Blue Line would also visit Philly via Long Beach. Hopefully there will be stops in Colorado ski country, Yellowstone and Cincinnati enroute with the Cincy station including a Skyline Chili counter.

Hat tip: Carter Rubin and Alex Boekelheide.

 

Go green, go Clippers!

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Photo from NBA Cares Official Facebook Page

Photo from NBA Cares Official Facebook Page

From April 4 – 12, 2013, the NBA will partner with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) for the fifth NBA Green Week to generate awareness and funds for protecting the environment. NBA Green Week is just one of the ways the league, its teams and players are taking steps to be more environmentally friendly. Throughout the week the NBA will highlight league, team and player environmental initiatives, including in-arena awareness nights, recycling programs, hands-on service projects – and riding public transportation.

Go to the Clippers game versus the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, April 7 or against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, April 10 at the STAPLES Center and learn more about this campaign. (Metro Blue/Expo Line to Pico Station, Metro Bus 81 to Figueroa/11th)

Go Metro and save 10% Clippers merchandise. Then tweet a photo of yourself in Clippers gear riding Amtrak, Metrolink or Metro during NBA Green Week with #GOGREEN.  Winners will be selected by the Clippers throughout NBA Green Week to win fun prizes!

If you missed Red Line Time this morning, there are two more performances

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Photos by Luis Inzunza/Metro

The first performance of Stephan Koplowitz: Red Line Time was this morning (check out the slide show for some stills), and the dancers will be performing two more times: tonight at 6 p.m. and on Saturday at 4 p.m. Audiences should meet by the Metro Customer Center at Union Station East Portal and have a TAP card handy.

Check out the previous post for more details on the performance.

Go Metro Weekends, April 5 – 7

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If you haven't checked out the new Figat7th, now's the time! Photo from Figat7th Official Facebook Page

If you haven’t checked out the new Figat7th, now’s the time! Photo from Figat7th Official Facebook Page

Saturday, go RockaYourSoul at Grand Park from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Celebrate with dance legend Alvin Ailey with food trucks, music and more. The event is free to attend. Show your TAP card at the info booth to enter a drawing for tickets to The Music Center’s theatres, including 2 tickets to see Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and 4 tickets to FELA! at the Ahmanson Theatre. (Metro Red/Purple Line to Civic Center Station, Metro Bus 10 to Hill/Temple)

Also on Saturday is Family Fun Day at the newly opened Mendocino Farms at the Figat7th food court. The event includes face painting, a photo booth and more, and kids can eat free when the accompanying adult buys a regular sandwich. Family Fun Day lasts from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Metro Red/Purple/Blue/Expo Line to 7th/Metro Station, Metro Bus 10 or 51 to Figueroa/7th)

Swing by the Los Angeles Theatre Center for some dance, theatre, art and music. Show your TAP card at the box office and receive $2 off at select performances. Melancholia is showing on Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., and on Sunday at 3 p.m. General admission is $20. (Metro Red/Purple Line to Pershing Square Station, Metro Rapid 728 to Spring/5th)

Check out the City of Angels exhibition in Thai Town on Saturday from 7 p.m. to midnight, or visit during Song Kran Thai New Year Festival on Sunday between 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Both exhibition and festival are open to the public. Show your TAP card to the exhibition food cashier to receive 10% off all food items on opening night. (Metro Red Line to Hollywood/Western Station, Metro Rapid 780 to Hollywood/Western)


Dance performances at Red Line stations Friday and Saturday

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Dancers rehearse at Union Station East Portal in preparation for Red Line Time performances on April 5 and 6

Dancers rehearse at Union Station in preparation for Red Line Time performances on April 5 and 6. Photo: Natalie Metzger

On Friday and Saturday of this week, fleeting dance performances will take place at 14 Metro Rail stations as part of a conference on urbanism and modernism taking place at Metro. Stephan Koplowitz: Red Line Time is a time/space durational site-specific performance event presented by the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles and was conceived and created by award winning director/choreographer/media artist Stephan Koplowitz.

Through an ensemble of eight performers, Stephan Koplowitz: Red Line Time utilizes the diverse spaces at each individual station along the Metro Red Line to create a durational, and long distance performance that is in sync with the train in both space and time. Following the Metro Red Line trains’ schedule, Stephan Koplowitz: Red Line Time is performed both above ground at Metro station entrances and underground at various stations’ mezzanine level ticketing plazas. The entire event is designed to match the ebb and flow of the commuting public, and to take place within the strict schedule of the trains. In doing so, the performances aim to transform the Metro Red Line into a long distance performative space and invite the public to discover and re-discover a vital transportation artery of Los Angeles.

Stephan Koplowitz: Red Line Time spans all 14 stations of Metro’s Red Line, beginning at Union Station and continuing on to North Hollywood, lasting about 2 1/2 hours. Audiences are asked to meet at the Union Station East Portal, next to the Metro Customer Center, and purchase a Metro TAP card all-day pass, granting them access to enter and exit the Metro Red Line for the duration of the performance ($1.00 for the card for those who don’t already have one + $5.00 for all-day pass). Audience members are invited to follow the performance for as long or as short a time period as they wish as it travels through the Red Line stations.

Performances begin at the Union Station East Portal next to the Metro Customer Center on the following dates and times:

Friday, April 5, 9 a.m.
Friday, April 5, 6 p.m.
Saturday, April 6, 4 p.m.

Stephan Koplowitz: Red Line Time will be performed by Rachel Butler-Green, Roya Carreras, Leslie Curtis, Nick Duran, Monica Mordaunt, Kerrie Schroeder, Alexandria Yalj, Sadie Yarrington and Jacob Campbell (understudy). Anne C. Moore is the Rehearsal Director and Costume Designer.

Re:street is a public conference that serves both as an introduction to the new science of streets and as a basis for discussion about the form of the future city. The conference is jointly organized and hosted by the Bauhaus Universitaet Weimar in Germany and California State Polytechnic University in Pomona.

Dancers rehearse at North Hollywood Station in preparation for Red Line Time performances on April 5 and 6. Photo: Stephan Koplowitz

Dancers rehearse at North Hollywood Station in preparation for Red Line Time performances on April 5 and 6. Photo: Stephan Koplowitz

Dancers rehearse in preparation for Red Line Time performances on April 5 and 6. Photo: Natalie Metzger

Dancers rehearse in preparation for Red Line Time performances on April 5 and 6. Photo: Natalie Metzger

Dodger Stadium Express ridership is up this season

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Here are some quick numbers:

•Ridership on Opening Day on Monday was 5,787 boardings. In 2012 on Opening Day there were 4,326 boardings.

•Ridership so far this season is 9,750 boardings for three games — the exhibition game against the Angels last Friday and two games against the Giants. Ridership at this time last year was 7,157 after two exhibition games and two regular season games.

Another very big crowd is expected for tonight’s 7:10 p.m. game against the Giants, the rubber game of the opening three-game series between the two teams expected to contend for the western division title. 

The shuttle is free to those holding game tickets. Click here for the Dodger Stadium Express home page and below are the basics:

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•Board the Dodger Stadium Express at Bus Bay 3 of the Patsaouras Transit Plaza at Union Station. The plaza is at the other end of Union Station if you enter on Alameda Street.

•Service leaves Union Station every 10 minutes, starting 90 minutes before game time through the 3rd inning for all home games. We recommend arriving early; crowds are heaviest near game time.

•Your Dodger ticket is good on gameday for the Dodger Stadium Express fare*; otherwise, regular Metro fares apply.

•You’ll be dropped off inside Dodger Stadium behind Center Field. Service will run the same route in reverse after the game.

METRO EXPRESSLANES

Driving to Union Station to connect with the Dodger Stadium Express? Beat traffic on the 10 and 110 freeways with Metro ExpressLanes. They’re toll-free for carpools, vanpools and motorcycles; solo drivers can use them too, by paying a toll. All users except motorcycles need a Fastrak® transponder. Learn more at metroexpresslanes.net.

PARKING AT UNION STATION?

Pay for parking before returning to your car. Use the automated machines located in the elevator lobbies of P1, P2 and P3.

Photos of the Dodger Stadium Express in action today

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Photos by Luis Inzunza and Anna Chen/Metro

Here are a few photos of the Dodger Stadium Express ferrying fans to the Dodgers opening day game, which they won 4 to 0 over the Dodgers. The Express will be back in action for Tuesday night’s 7:10 p.m. game with the Giants; all the info you need about the free shuttle is here.