Top Ten Geek Destinations In L.A.

January 4th, 2010

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Los Angeles isn’t particularly known for its geek culture, but in a city this big, there’s something for everybody, even us nerds.

1. Machine Project
The Machine Project is an art space and classroom in Echo Park where nerds can tinker, create, and pick up a new skill. From programming to sewing, pickling to soldering, Machine offers interesting classes that you probably won’t find at any university. There’s also a packed schedule full of lectures by local scientists, concerts by experimental musicians, art installations, and film screenings.

2. Museum of Jurassic Technology
Soothing muzak permeates each dimly-lit room in this small Culver City institution, evoking the distinct feeling of being in a museum. Unlike most museums, however, the exhibits here are designed to confuse rather than inform. Framed stereoscopic X-ray images of flowers are accompanied by placards displaying 16th century poems (possibly fake). Visitors can also use high-powered microscopes to view micro-miniature sculptures and paintings, such as a sculpture of Pope John Paul II carved from a single human hair. Geeks in particular will enjoy the exhibit memorializing Russian dogs sent into orbit as part of early space missions (never to return to Earth), or the tribute to German physicist and geologist Athanasius Kircher which includes his writings on a unified theory of magnetism, gravity, and love. The museum’s founder, David Wilson, was awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant for his work. The foundation’s website is as confusing as the museum, but not nearly as enjoyable.

3. Griffith Park Observatory
Sitting high in the Santa Monica Mountains, 4000-acre Griffith Park, with its winding hiking trails and spectacular views, is a peaceful and convenient retreat from the bustle of Los Angeles. The park also holds some of Los Angeles’ most loved attractions, such as the Hollywood sign and the LA Zoo. But the top destination for nerds and non-nerds alike is the stunning Griffith Observatory. Immortalized in the classic film “Rebel Without a Cause” starring James Dean, the domed observatory holds a large telescope, a solar telescope, a planetarium, and a large collection of science exhibits that teach visitors basic physics and astronomy principles. An easy hike up Mount Hollywood, a stop to enjoy the panoramic views of the city, and a tour of the observatory make for the perfect nerd afternoon.

4. Mt Wilson
While the Griffith Observatory mostly serves as a museum and educational facility, Mount Wilson Observatory is the home to an active research team. Just north of Pasadena, the laboratory offers tours during the summer and fall months. Be sure to see the 100-in Hooker telescope.

5. Echo Park Time Travel Mart
“Whenever you are, we’re already then.”
This mini-mart is a required stop for any time traveler in transit. Barbarian repellent, ray guns, and robot memory erasers (yes, they’re all actually for sale) all come in handy for a nerd hurtling through the space-time continuum. This wacky store is actually the front for the Echo Park chapter of 826LA, an after-school tutoring organization founded by author Dave Eggers. Each afternoon, local students gather in the large classroom behind the mart to tackle homework and hone their creative writing skills. You can enjoy the fruits of their efforts and help support the center by picking up one of the many amusing literary collections in the Time Travel Mart.

6. Center for Inquiry
The Center for Inquiry is an oasis for nerds in a city imbued with hokey new age philosophy, pseduoscientifc quackery, and shadowy, sci-fi religious beliefs. CFI aims to advance critical thinking, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values. The center on Hollywood Blvd. hosts a bookstore that sells atheist books and magazines. Nerds will also be happy to discover that the center hosts one of the most exciting theaters in Los Angeles, the Steve Allen Theater. The Steve Allen puts on an impressive and exciting schedule of events, from screenings of obscure and bizarre horror films, original plays, like the wildly popular Edgar Allen Poe-inspired “Nevermore”, adventurous musical performances, and alternative comedy shows.

7. Fry’s
This big box store near the Burbank airport is the stuff of nerds’ dreams. Not only does Fry’s offer a wide selection of flashy electronics, aisles of obscure computer parts, and every household gadget or gizmo you can imagine, but the store itself is a sci-fi Disneyland. Pulling into the parking lot, visitors spot the giant UFO crashed into the store’s exterior. Once inside, they might run into a life-size alien while roaming the aisles. Fry’s attracts not just the
astute nerd looking for a great deal on a laptop or mp3 player, but photo-snapping families looking for a theme park thrill.

8. Gogosha Optique
Geeks come here to trade in their coke-bottle glasses for sleek, modern frames. Julia Gogosha (a true nerd herself) has outfitted more than a few Border Stylo engineers with new spectacles, see if you can spot them in the Face of the Day.

9. Little Tokyo
This exciting downtown neighborhood is filled to the brim with delicious
restaurants, bakeries and fascinating stores. But no visit is complete without stopping by the Kinokuniya Bookstore on Astronaut Onizuka Street. Nerds may feel faint upon seeing their selection of mechanical pencils, elegant graphing paper, and simple and stylish notebooks. This is also one of the few places you can find the impossibly sleek .3 mm pens. Aside from pens, pencils, and stationary, you can find a wide selection of Manga, as well as an aisle full of Japanese magazines.

10. Caltech / JPL
Caltech is one of the world’s premier technical schools. Geek godfathers like Feynman, Pauling, and Einstein called this place home at one time. The students may not be the most athletic (the school’s basketball team at one time ran a historic 245 game losing streak), but when it comes to the sciences and engineering they are about has hardcore as you can get. Caltech’s picturesque campus, including the peaceful turtle pond, is great for biking and strolling, and the Beckman Auditorium regularly hosts lectures by science rockstars.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory in nearby La Canada is the institute that in the past gave us satellites to distant space, and today works on the Mars Rover project. The people here really like like servos, oscilloscopes, and simulated red dirt landscapes.

Image source.

Tagged with: Los Angeles, Geek Culture

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