Los Angeles State Historic Park, formerly known as The Cornfields, offers 32 acres of green open space right next to Chinatown with Downtown Los Angeles as a great backdrop for a quiet picnic with family or a couple of friends, but recently it has been taken over by demons, clowns and villains.

Sunday night, a friend of mine and I made our way down to The Cornfields to catch the circus that is in town. Except this isn’t your typical circus.  You wont find any elephants balancing themselves on giant red balls or a couple dozen clowns squeezing into a Gremlin or even a rabbit being pulled out of a top hat.  Quite the opposite.  You might find a top hat being pulled out of a rabbit instead.  Basically its like walking into hell with a visitor pass while the devil is having a tea party.

Cirque Berzerk is a netherworld filled with phantasmagoric visions that will grope at your senses and oddities that are bound to scorch the very tips of your soul.  Everything from a stilt-walking fire-breathing demonic clown to a contortionist and harrowing high flying acts that will leave you breathless and begging for more.

So gentlemen, dust off that top hat and ladies, stretch out those corsets and head on down to Cirque Berzerk and have a little Villain with your Vaud.

Due to popular demand, Cirque Berzerk has been extended through July 26th so don’t miss out!

Downtown LA will have several street closures tomorrow (7-7-09) due to the massive crowds expected to turn out for Michael Jacksons Memorial at the Staples Center.  Please plan accordingly.

Map of Street Closures

One thing that I would like to say however is I do not like double standards.  A couple of weeks ago the City was outraged at the thought, possibility and eventual reality of having to front the cost of police and security for a Lakers Victory Parade.  Today, I hardly hear anybody complain about having to front the cost of police and security for Michael Jacksons Memorial.  Maybe the Staples Center needs to help front the cost of this event and not have Councilwoman Jan Perry hustle on the phone trying to get donations.

I received a press release from LA Department of Transportation regarding Downtown Street Closures for May Day.  They are as follow.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Bruce Gillman
Public Information Office Bruce.Gillman@lacity.org
LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ANTICIPATES MAY 1, 2009 INTERRUPTIONS FOR DASH DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES AND COMMUTER EXPRESS ROUTES SERVING DOWNTOWN
LOS ANGELES (April 30, 2009)—The City of Los Angeles, Department of Transportation
(LADOT) is anticipating DASH Downtown and Commuter Express bus service slowdowns, possible service disruptions and/or service cancellations on Friday May 1, 2009 due to the Labor and Immigration Marches and Rally that will occur throughout the day. Street closures and severely impacted traffic flow are expected within the area bounded by Cesar Chavez Avenue to the north, Alameda Street to the east, Pico Boulevard to the south and Hoover Street to the west.
“LADOT will endeavor to keep our DASH Downtown LA and Commuter Express buses running as efficiently as possible under the circumstances. We encourage Downtown workers, residents and visitors to use other transit alternatives such as Metro’s Red Line, Blue Line and Gold Line or Metrolink, to travel in and out of Downtown on Friday. We will be working closely with LAPD in order to keep Downtown area traffic moving, but we do expect significant impacts” said Rita L. Robinson, General Manager, LADOT.
Specific routing changes will be announced on board buses on April 30, 2009 as well as on the LADOT transit website at www.ladottransit.com.. In addition, on May 1, LADOT’s transit web site will be updated hourly to reflect current bus information.
Area commuters can visit http://trafficinfo.lacity.org/ for real-time traffic information and more detailed information on each march’s route. Real-time traffic reports are a product of LADOT, innovators of Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control System (ATSAC) technology.
For specific information about DASH Downtown or Commuter Express routes, schedules or fares, please visit our website at www.ladottransit.com or call (213, 310, 323 or 818) 808-2273.

Plan accordingly.

Rarely do I ever get to have lunch with the numerous friends I have working Downtown but yesterday I received an email from one of said friends inviting me to lunch at Bottega Louie on Grand & 7th.  I had seen this place on my normal drive in to work and even walked passed it last week when I took the Metro into work.  It had just opened and seemed very very pricey given the amount of staff alone that it takes to run this place let alone the beautiful marble floors and super high ceilings.  Can you imagine the air conditioning costs?  Anyways…

I met up with my friend whom I had not seen in about a month despite us being regulars at IO West on Hollywood.  Immediately you could tell this was a different class of establishment with friendly hosts who make small talk while they walk you to your table.  Once there not a few seconds had passed when a friendly server came by.  He already knew our names and a couple simple facts based on the small talk we had with the host.  It made the relationship with not only the server but the entire restaurant a little warmer.  He immediately made a few recommendations which we took under advisement as he gave us a few minutes to decide while sipping on our fresh lemonade which rivaled that of Hot Dog on a Stick but not quite.

We decided on ordering a pizza with a couple of side dishes to supplement.  We had been recommended the Clam Pizza which sounded amazing but were dead set on having the Tuna Carpaccio as a side dish and thought it might be overkill so we went with the Bianco which had some yummy ricotta, garlic and arugula.  Delicious, as was the tuna carpaccio but for the the star of our lunch were the portobello fries.  Juicy, tender and they came with the most amazing dipping Definatly will have to return soon and try the clam pizza but I think those portobello fries will become a favorite of mine for a long time.

The pizza was a good size with six slices and the side dishes were small to average and overall moderately priced.  Great food with decent portions and an affordable price.  The only downside I found was that it was far too loud.  The acoustics seem perfect for a concert hall rather than a restaurant you want to sit down and have a quite conversation with a pretty lady.

I totally recomend this place if only for the portobello fries and lemonade but overall a great experience.