Adam Gropman

How Personality Job Tests Turn Us All Into Liars

Adam Gropman
If you're applying for work today in Los Angeles, chances are that you will cross paths with a mandatory online "personality" test. The tests, now a $400 million–plus industry with annual growth estimated at 10 percent, feature multiple pages of questions asking the respondent about his or her thoughts, feelings,......
A friendly neighborhood gathering at Republic of Pie in North Hollywood; Credit: Photo Courtesy of Flickr/Justin Higuchi

The Best Neighborhood in L.A.? Try North Hollywood

Adam Gropman
Could the best neighborhood in L.A. actually be in the Valley? I think so, and even though you might be a total anti-Valley snob, if you'll hear me out, you might change your mind. First, let's get this out of the way. North Hollywood's charms might at first seem hidden,......
Apple Pan: an odd name for a place that's known for its burgers.; Credit: PHOTO COURTESY OF GUZZLEANDNOSH

How Six L.A. Businesses Got Their Weird Names

Adam Gropman
Every city has at least a handful of strangely named businesses -- it's an inevitable expression of local quirkiness pretty much wherever you go. There are different categories of weird, though, so distinctions must be made. In the Boston area, for instance, there's Newbury Comics which, while it does sell......
Stars on the Hollywood Boulevard -- which have become John Peterson's calling.; Credit: COURTESY OF FLICKR/Luca Castellazzi

Meet the Man Who Shines the Stars on Hollywood Boulevard

Adam Gropman
It's not yet 9 a.m. as John Peterson cautiously steps off the westbound 780 bus near the intersection of Hollywood and Highland and crutches his way to a stretch of sidewalk a couple blocks to the east. After lowering himself down to the ground, Peterson pulls from his knapsack a......
Handsome

How 6 SoCal Places Got Their Really Weird Names

Adam Gropman
There are all sorts of unusual places names in this part of the country we call "The Southland." We have names of historic English derivation, not so unlike what you'd find back in the civilized East (Whittier, Torrance, Hawthorne, Glendale). We have place names of Spanish derivation (Tujunga, Reseda, Calabasas,......

Lost Highway? How Metro Turns the 405 Into an Impossible Detour Maze

Adam Gropman
You're on the Westside at night, trying to take the 405 north during endless freeway construction. How ridiculously convoluted and frustrating might Metro's suggested detour be? Los Angeles residents are experiencing astonishment and outrage over Metro's ever-changing closures and baffling detours that lure drivers into a hell from which it's......
Shrikanth Narayanan; Credit: Kevin Scanlon

Shrikanth Narayanan: USC's People Reader

Adam Gropman
One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2013 issue. Check out our entire People 2013 issue here. People who spend lots of time around Shrikanth "Shri" Narayanan may not hear him ask "What are you thinking?" too often. That's not because he doesn't care but because he......
Urban Air's Kickstarter page

Stephen Glassman Wants to Create Billboards Made of Trees

Adam Gropman
The helicopter hangs in the air over downtown L.A. for what seems like a very long time, its whirring blades adding the slight chill of potential alarm over the otherwise quiet Sunday night streets. The airship hovers at around a hundred fifty feet, it's powerful bluish spotlight illuminating the roof......
Jenna Marbles in Please Subscribe; Credit: Courtesy of Dobi Media

Please Subscribe: New Documentary Looks at What Makes a YouTube Star

Adam Gropman
See also: *Sarah Silverman, Michael Cera and Friends Create a YouTube Channel *Our Profile of YouTube Star Jenna Marbles *Our YouTube Issue Some people like to have only egg whites in their omelet," declares a tomboyish young woman as she weaves around a sparsely appointed L.A. apartment kitchen, her words......