Philo Hagen
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The Merritt Building opened in 1915. Millionaire Hullet C. Merritt, the building’s owner, wanted to construct a 23-story edifice to himself but was turned down by the Los Angeles City Council. So he scaled back his plans and ended up with a ten-story design that set a rendition of Minerva’s Temple on top of a…
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Years ago I asked my mother to write her life story so there’d be a record of it. She passed away in 2016 and when I was cleaning out her belongings I found some handwritten pages. Here’s what she managed to write down: My Life Story by Marjorie Fern Hagen I was born October 21st,…
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It’s not every day you’re driving home late at night in the second largest city in America and encounter a pack of coyotes running down the middle of Beverly Boulevard. Turns out the National Park Service is tracking urban coyotes in LA and the one I captured on video must be “C-144”. She has a…
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Late night light painting shenanigans and self portraits on the 6th Street Bridge in Los Angeles – with Roman Udalov.
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If you’re downtown on a Sunday evening be sure and swing by Pizzanista for a slice of Macaroni n Cheese pizza. They open at 5pm and they only serve mac n cheese on Sundays. It’s the heaviest slice you’ll probably ever eat. Add a little sriracha on top and it’s pure heaven. Gets some!
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I recommend ordering the cold brew at The Bourgeoise Pig. It’s serious cold brew for serious coffee people. Rather mad scientist actually. They’re open until 2am.
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Near the corner of Willoughby Ave and Van Ness I discovered this lovely lady while riding my bike home last night. I’m not sure who she is, but she’s pretty wonderful.
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This weekend I joined more than 400 others and rode my bicycle naked through the streets of Los Angeles for World Naked Bike Ride Los Angeles 2015. Not everybody was naked, and some went with roller skates and skateboards instead of bicycles, but we rolled through downtown, Chinatown, Lincoln Heights, rode along the LA River,…
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So incredibly honored to have been invited back to perform modern hoop dance again this year at Solstice at the Cleveland Museum of Art. It’s such a completely amazing event on every single level and I’m beyond thrilled that I keep getting to be a part of it. Love these photos by the incredibly talented…
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Spent the very late night hours dancing my ass off to the wondrous sounds of Dubtribe Sound System at an underground warehouse event downtown. Great seeing my old friend Sunshine Jones here in Los Angeles doing his thing, and great seeing it happen with Moonbeam again too. It’s been a long time! Brought back some…
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We begin in the midst of an earlier conversation with my best friend Choire in New York City: Philo: yesterday i ran into that ex boyfriend we were talking aboutChoire: no way!Philo: way! the interesting thing about it is that i was at the gym running 4 and a half miles and while I was…
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As I sat here tonight in my mustard yellow, authentic stucco California bungalow surrounded by lovely photographs of friends and family, I couldn’t help recalling the many joys and memories Martha Stewart has brought me throughout her illustrious career, primarily in the form of mocking laughter and snarky commentary. So it was without a single…
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While sipping a Fresca the sound of Native American flute music quietly fills my room while I remember a sun and fun filled day spent hooping in Precita Park. At the corner of Folsom and Precita, just past Cesar Chavez, you will find a two block strip of lush and lazy grass featuring a sprinkling…
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Many years ago I found myself in the city of Paris. I was walking along in my beret carrying a baquette in a feeble Americana effort to blend in. Standing on the corner of a busy intersection I watched in horror as a young man on a Vespa, in an effort to avoid a collision,…
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I don’t smoke pot. In fact I don’t use drugs of any kind these days, so when I encountered a protest march going down Market Street here in San Francisco, a demonstration for medical marijuana and against the Drug Enforcement Agency, I took it all in from the sidelines. I recalled recent reports on the…