CALIFORNIA

Sean Patrick Flahaven stands near the center of a theatrical empire that now controls or administers some of the most commercially valuable musical and dramatic properties in the English-speaking theater. Concord Theatricals combines the Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Tams-Witmark, Samuel French, and additional major imprints under one ... Read More »

San Francisco as a cruise sales advantage Princess Cruises’ use of San Francisco as a homeport for Ruby Princess helps turn the city into more than just a departure point. The Port of San Francisco identifies the city as a homeport for Princess Cruises, and Princess’s own San Francisco cruise ... Read More »

In the age before cheap jet fares and mega?ships, there was another way to cross the Pacific from California to the Far East—quiet, deliberate, and limited to just twelve souls on board. American President Lines’ luxury cargoliners of the 1950s and 1960s turned the workaday business of hauling freight between ... Read More »

26 Miles of Pride: Hot Men, Catalina Nights, and Beach Boys Dreams This Pride video cruises off the California coast to Avalon, set to the sunny, nostalgic vibe of a classic Beach Boys–style “26 Miles (Santa Catalina)” track as gorgeous men turn Catalina Island into their playground. The camera drifts ... Read More »

The Acapulco, a 24,400-ton cruise ship formerly sailed between New York and the Caribbean under the name S.S. Nassau. The ship was renovated in Glasgow, Scotland. Advertising pitch in the San Francisco Examiner: Sailing on the blue Pacific! You’ll love the SS Acapulco and the all-one-class shipboard life. Latin music ... Read More »

West Hollywood’s Chasen’s was a glamorous world – “Celebrity chefs” will never replace stylish hosts and personalities like Dave Chasen, Vincent Sardi or Mike Romanoff. I had dinner at Chasen’s many times. First, with my parents and then later on when I became a writer/producer. Dinner with Groucho Marx, who ... Read More »

The federal government just dropped the hammer on a massive Adderall trafficking operation in San Francisco. A telehealth company called Done Global allegedly pumped over 40 million stimulant pills into the country through a subscription model that required little more than a two-minute video chat. The CEO and clinical president ... Read More »

The Southern Pacific’s Streamliner Coast Daylight was the West’s finest train in the 1940s, 50s, and early 1960s. It hugged the Pacific Ocean with great views. Linking Los Angeles and San Francisco on a glorious daylight trip, streaking along the edge of the Pacific Ocean for more than a hundred ... Read More »

In Septermber 2007, Michael L Grace, that’s me,  secured a landmark victory with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) that significantly impacted online media. His fight helped establish bloggers, podcasters, and independent digital voices as fully protected members of the press, breaking the gatekeeper hold of legacy news outlets like The ... Read More »

A kind of paradise used to be at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Crescent Heights. Built when Hollywood was young and in need of a playground, the Garden of Allah was home, or a home-away-from-home for stars of the silver screen, the literary world, and the upper crust. The ... Read More »

West Hollywood’s Chasen’s was a glamorous world – “Celebrity chefs” will never replace stylish hosts and personalities like Dave Chasen, Vincent Sardi or Mike Romanoff. I had dinner at Chasen’s many times. First, with my parents and then later on when I became a writer/producer. Dinner with Groucho Marx, who ... Read More »

The Super Chief in “Warbonnet” colors calls at Pasadena just before heading into Los Angeles Union Station. To the palm trees’ right, we can see the seventh floor of Castle Green above the engine. The Moorish Colonial and Spanish Hotel was across the street from Pasadena’s Santa Fe Station. Pasadena ... Read More »