Summer Guide to Los Angeles 2014

Amber Larson, Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; PasadenaWeekly.com

Thai Theravada Buddhist young woman in traditional garb (Sasin Tipchai/Bugphai/flickr.com)

Summer Guide 2014: Guide to Summer activities for the season

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Wat Phra Kaew (Naxerdam)

Thought you were traveling to the Theravada Buddhist wonderland that is Thailand? Think again. The military says elections will not be allowed any sooner than next year. And without a duly elected government, a junta of generals will be in charge. Curfew will continue.  

• Thailand travel update: Curfews lifted in tourist hotspots (CNN) 
• How Thailand's coup could affect its economy

Thai protesters rise against coup (CNN)

And Thai-land, which means "free" land, can learn what it's like to live in a police state like neighbors Burma and Cambodia, who have endured the dictatorship of the Hitler-like Gen. Than Shwe and the Saffron Revolution he and his generals crushed and the Khmer Rouge and the Killing Fields that followed from it in the Land of Angkor and Angkor Wat. Both countries, wondrous places for spiritual-tourists, are easily accessible from Thailand. A simple bus ride across an international border used to be enough. And the "troubles" actually preserved lifestyles and temples holding them in a kind of time warp. With modernity come the trappings of modernity. So see it while you can. Few places are more "modern" than L.A., and this is sure to be a bumper year for materialistic-tourism. See a genuine Thai Buddhist temple complex in Los Angeles at Wat Thai North Hollywood. And there are a number of Burmese temples, the best and biggest perhaps being two in Azusa (Thondrarama Brahma Vihara) and La Puente, deep on the eastern border of suburban L.A.

Staying focused

Concentrate on the task at hand and your talent and knowledge will come to the forefront

Pain in the offing
There really is no easy way to leave your lover

What do you want?
Be fair but firm with squatting father and sibling

Another story

Anger at a friend’s "bad" behavior could be triggered by past event.

Dancing in the streets
Make Music Pasadena fest brings 150 bands to town for a Saturday filled with music

"For the free world"

That's "Entershamement"
Amy G. uses her unique comic and singing skills to battle self-doubts at the Carrie Hamilton Theatre