DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — I always love hearing stories about people being surprised by the changing nature of Downtown. A few weeks ago I posted about a busy night Downtown, with events at the Watercourt, MOCA, and the Music Center all happening simultaneously. Even as a resident, that sort of life amazed me. Tim McGarry, who works Downtown and has a blog, wrote a post the other day titled "Downtown Nocturne" that expresses a similar wonder at Downtown's turn toward the nocturnal.

As I made my way home, it dawned on me that I had been out and about at night in downtown Los Angeles three times in little more than a week. Tuesday night the week before, I walked down the Bunker Hill Steps to the Riordan Central Library to hear Ana Marie Cox, editor of the "Wonkette" blog that skewers George Bush's Washington with outrageous humor.

Then, last Tuesday night, I walked a couple of blocks up Grand Avenue to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Music Center, to hear a panel discussion with the last four governors of California (Jerry Brown, by the way, was livelier, funnier and far more intellectually vital than the other three ex-governors in attendance, George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson and Gray Davis).

And, finally, my Thursday night stumble into the troupe from Henan.

It's a good read. Tim's a thorough writer, and includes all those links I'm too lazy to attach to things in my posts.