Savoring Summer to the Last

Oh sure, it’s summer year-round in Southern California. But there’s no question that as September rolls by, our activities tend to turn indoors. So, before the days grow too short, make the most of the season’s last days. Consider these suggestions for a late-summer fling, compiled by Times staff writer Booth Moore.

Writer Sandra Tsing Loh’s newest novel is “If You Lived Here, You’d Be Home by Now” (Riverhead); her one-person show, “Bad Sex With Bud Kemp,” begins previews at the Tiffany Theatre Oct. 2.

As anyone who does it can tell, being an L.A.-based writer of the gentler, non-Hollywood forms--fiction, theater, poetry, etc.--seems to bring with it a peculiar kind of horror. Dissed by the East, ignored in the West, you cower in this palm-fringed hellhole watching, stupefied, as wheelbarrows of money are hurled at everyone but you! But then summer comes, casting the city in a more Mediterranean hue. And even the grumpiest artist in the worst car has to think: How bad is it really?

Yes, summer is the time when tearfully written manuscripts fester on desks and vacationing agents disappear in a puff of smoke. But on the bright side, the Pacific sparkles, booze is cheap and unlike Van Gogh, you have your ear.

In short, when the mercury in Van Nuys hits 110, it’s time for a festive To Hell With the World barbecue! For the more adventurous, my friends Mark Salzman and Jessica Yu have an annual Bad Review Party (we read our bad reviews out loud, prizes go to the worst); it’s the ultimate literary autodafe--My Career Is in Flames and So Is This Meat! Waiter! Over Here! Another Margarita!” It’s more fun than you can imagine. Truly, I can’t recommend it more. It makes summer in L.A. a thorough delight.

Dancer Lula Washington.

Summer means working hard to fill the seats of the Ford Theater.

Summer means dancing at the Redlands Bowl where the seats are always full--and free.

The happiest part of summer is the chance to rest. Summer means hopefully, two weeks to rest.

The summer is a time to walk on the boardwalk in Venice Beach and eat outside at the Boardwalk Cafe and watch lots of interesting people pass by.

Summer means a time to visit the African Marketplace and see old friends we haven’t seen since the summer before. It’s reunion time.

Summer means time for the Summer Dance Camp, which is work, work, work with tons of little kids who always make summer fun, fun, fun.

Artist Liza Lou’s own backyard (a massive papier mache construction covered in millions of beads) had its U.S. premiere at the Santa Monica Museum of Art this summer.

I’m not going to lie, I think summer in L.A. is hell! August in L.A., although not nearly as bad as some U.S. cities, is a smoking furnace! A boiling caldron! And there are way too many half-naked strangers frolicking and cavorting along the PCH in a Viagra-induced, Prozac-inspired frenzy. I just want them all to put on some sensible clothes, put the tops on those bright purple and emerald green rental cars, and go home!

For me, the good things in L.A. tend to be free or at least free of teeming masses of total strangers. So the simple, if not civilized, pleasure of a barbecue enjoyed in one’s backyard or at a friend’s makes the last days of summer bearable. Oh yes, and cold beer helps.

Science-fiction writer Octavia Butler’s next book, “Parable of the Talents,” will be released in late October by Seven Stories Press.

This sounds very old lady-ish, but summer in Southern California means good walks. I live in Altadena near the San Gabriel Mountains and I take a walk along Altadena Drive almost every morning at 6 a.m. There are lovely gardens to look at, and I take my binoculars for close-up views of the mountains. From Altadena Drive you can walk into Eaton Canyon and you are in the mountains.

Guitarist Daniel Ash hit several spots in the Southland this summer during Bauhaus’ reunion tour. His other band, Love and Rockets, will release a new album on Red Ant Records in October.

Summer means riding one of my four motorcycles around town and out of town. One of my favorite rides is through Angeles Crest National Forest. I love that place because you can go skiing and it’s like going over the Alps in the summer. I hit the road early on Sundays and stop to get breakfast at a little place at the top of the hill where all the other bikers meet up at around 8 a.m.

Actress Vanessa Marcil (“This Space Between Us,” “Nice Guys Sleep Alone” and “Beverly Hills, 90210”)

Lots of sunscreen.

KROQ’s Rodney Bingenheimer

Cruising down Sunset Boulevard in my ’67 GTO with windows rolled down, the radio blaring, and listening to the new Hole single, “Celebrity Sin.”

Arthur B. Rubinstein, music conductor of the Symphony in the Glen

One of my favorite times in Los Angeles occurs toward the end of summer, and when it comes, I love to pause awhile and allow my senses to drink it in. It comes and goes so quickly; that brief period of subtle but dramatic change between earth and sky. Light changes its contrast. The air releases its summer thickness--its zephyrs permeating the senses with fresh aromas. If I could capture the moment in music it would probably be a sudden shift from C to E Major.

I know of no better place to experience this change of seasons than on the hiker’s trail, starting at the Griffith Park Observatory and leading up to Dante’s Peak. This morning the sun is streaming across the Hollywood Hills in ribbons of light, painting the homes in richly hued olive and ochre.

It’s end-of-summer magic! The landscape is suddenly no longer Hollywood, but a 15th century Italian hillside. The trees have a deeper greenness and the earth is a symphony of browns. Wake up, Los Angeles! It’s an E Major morning.

Actress Vivica A. Fox of Fox-TV’s “Getting Personal” and “Why Do Fools Fall in Love.”

I hike in the Southern California mountains to stay in shape for TV and movie projects, followed by soaks and beauty treatments at the spa to soothe aching muscles.

I just came back from North Carolina, where the humidity was 100%! Summer is also when I have the most time to shape up. I Roller-blade and go to the gym.

Mayor Richard J. Riordan

Summer in Los Angeles is a great time to enjoy the longer days, refresh your mind, body and spirit.

I love books, so summer is a great time to beat the heat and enrich the mind by visiting our wonderful public libraries. They’re open more hours than ever. There are story hours, summer reading programs and, of course, it’s always a good time to get a library card.

The time of year is also a great opportunity to celebrate the cultural diversity of our city at our cultural festivals. In this month alone we will celebrate Latino Heritage Month and the 13th Annual African Marketplace and Cultural Faire. There are concerts, fairs and neighborhood events like Little Tokyo’s Nisei Week honoring the culture of Asian Americans. The new California Science Center and all the rest of our world-class museums and galleries make Los Angeles a city for all interests and tastes.

Los Angeles is the greatest city in the world any time of the year. But in summer, it sizzles.

Actress Natasha Gregson Wagner

Summer means the beach and a sense of family, having friends over for barbecues and lying in the sun and walking my dog on the beach. S’mores and dolphins and seals in the water.

Author Francesca Lia Block’s “I Was a Teenage Fairy” (Harper Collins) is due this fall.

On summer Sundays, my boyfriend Chris, my springer spaniel Vincent Van Go-Go Boots and I get in Rose the 1963 Rambler and drive through Topanga Canyon to the sea before the crowds arrive. Afterward, we get cinnamon raisin bagels at Main Street Bagels in Santa Monica, or lemon raspberry muffins at Mani’s, and grab a Sunday paper.

At noon, I take modern dance at Santa Monica Dance Studio with the sublimely inspirational Nicholas Gunn. Later, Chris takes me to Noshi where the sushi is big, fresh and ridiculously affordjable, and the sky is always jacaranda purple. Then we go home to eat frozen yogurt by candlelight, listen to “The Open Road” with Gary Calamar on KCRW, and inhale rag champa incense, the sweet jasmine that, warmed by the summer air, reminds us of why we are here.

Actor Chris Tucker’s next movie is “Rush Hour” with Jackie Chan.

Summer means flowers blooming, birds chirping, swimming pools and summer movie premieres, like the one for my movie “Rush Hour,” which opens Sept. 18.

Champion skateboarder Tony Hawk

Summer in Southern California, for the first time in six years, means being with my family. I have been on various skate tours in the United States and Europe--weeks at a time--each previous summer, only to come home as the weather is cooling off and schools are back in session.

I can finally appreciate pushing my son into the surf on his Boogie board, eating breakfasts on the patios of outdoor cafes, wearing sandals at any time, swimming in our pool at night, and taking my wife to see all the summer blockbuster movies during their theater releases (instead of watching them alone months later on a hotel pay-per-view).

Although these may not seem like spectacular activities, they are precisely the types you tend to miss most when traveling. A summer in any other location doesn’t compare. Take it from me: I’ve been there.

Actress Yvette Freeman of NBC’s “Working” and “ER”

Summer in Southern California to me and my husband, Lanny, means being able to enjoy music outdoors. There is nothing better than sitting in the warm California evening and listening to good jazz and blues. We go everywhere that gives us great sound, whether it is the Long Beach Jazz Festival, the Playboy Jazz Festival, Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl or the Greek Theater--and a lot of the smaller venues and club restaurants that have outdoor seating.

Deejay Xavier Soriano plays requests 6-10 p.m. daily on Mega 100.

I’m from the Bay Area--Monterey--so I love Southern California’s beaches, especially Venice Beach. I like to walk, hang out, watch people. If I feel up to it, I might Roller-blade a little. I live in Burbank, but it’s worth the drive.

Actor Phil LaMarr can be seen on Fox-TV’s “Mad TV” and in Groundlings performances.

Having grown up in the Valley, to me summer in Southern California means heat, more heat and how do I escape the heat? Plan 1 is to find a friend with a barbecue and a pool or a barbecue and a beach house (ideally in Malibu). If that doesn’t work, it’s time to find some AC and hide. Which is why God made malls. Between the video arcade and the AMC theater, the Burbank Media Center can eat up a hot day surprisingly quickly.

Then, as evening approaches, I embrace the heat. There’s nothing like working up a sweat walking in Runyon Canyon or Griffith Park, hitting the shower, then watching that bastard sun finally drop while enjoying an ice cold drink. I may not be cool, but somehow I feel like I’ve won.

John Henson, host of E!’s “Talk Soup”

It’s the time when women who wear practically nothing all year long wear even less.

Aurelito, promoter of the undergroup hip-hop club Chocolate Bar

(underground hip-hop club)

Summer in Southern California means throwing the Chocolate Bar parties, working hard on my gallery (I’m remodeling a 100-year-old building in downtown L.A.), getting together with good friends and family, chillin’ with my beautiful butterfly, Desiree, being positive, feeling the ocean breeze, hot, hot days, cool nights and keeping my head up high, just like the palm trees.

Comedian Margaret Cho

Summer in SoCal means refrigerating my sun block so that I can apply it with shivers of delight.

Mariachi singer Nydia Rojas performs Sept. 13 at the Fiesta Del Castillo at the Los Angeles County Fair.

Summer in Southern California means the beach! My favorite beaches are Santa Monica and Venice. I like to walk on the Santa Monica Pier at night. I’m really into water sports: snorkeling, water skiing, Raging Waters, anything water-related. I like to visit the beaches in Mexico, too. Summer is the perfect time to show off a tan.

I take a break from my studies during the summer. I’m a business major at Mount San Antonio College. So really, summer ended a few weeks ago for me.

I travel so much with work, but there’s no climate as good as L.A.’s.

Author Dennis Hensley, whose first book is “Misadventures in the (213)”

A lot of my favorite annual L.A. activities happen in the summer. In June, there’s the Last Remaining Seats film series in which the L.A. Conservancy shows old films in the beautiful old downtown theaters like the State, the Orpheum and the Los Angeles. Seeing a classic like “Laura” in a theater where it would have originally ran is an experience you just can’t get at Blockbuster.

Then, in July, there’s the Outfest Film Festival at the Directors Guild, which is as much about lobby interaction as it is about movie watching.

In August, I like to take a picnic and go see a play under the stars at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga Canyon. The environment is beautiful and the shows are top-notch with a cast of thousands if you count the crickets. Summer in L.A. also means that I inevitably wish that I had done more summery things. Maybe I’ll Xerox this roundup and discover some new summer haunts!

More Summer Flings

* Labor Day weekend is your last chance to go on Disneyland’s Submarine Voyage, which will close after 29 years: Page 44

* Club hoppin’ along Pacific Coast Highway: Page 42

* Enjoy the fresh fruits of summer in sorbets, pies and other delights while you can: Page 47