Over the years, Los Angeles has become as much of a home to me as London is. You can't even begin to compare the cities, but that's what I like about them. When I get tired of one, I'm lucky that I can swap it out for the other. What I most like about the City of Angels is that you can create your own reality and live at your own pace (most of the time). The following are my Character Approved LA highlights, accompanied by a few songs to help evoke the feeling of that place.

1. Vermont Canyon Tennis. Nothing beats a Wednesday afternoon game of tennis with my buddy Harry in Griffith Park--the only downside is that he always wins. I love these courts nestled into the side of the Hollywood hills. In the summer you hear the artists at the Greek Theatre doing sound checks before their evening show. All very soothing stuff.

Song: Albert Hammond and M. Hazlewood, "It Never Rains in Southern California."

2. Inner City Filmmakers. For the past couple of years I've been mentoring a young group of budding filmmakers as part this nonprofit, which was founded by husband and wife team Fred Heinrich and Stephania Lipner. The ICF promotes and maintains a balance of high-quality education, mentors, and job placement services for diverse disadvantaged youth so that they can learn, grow, work, succeed, and over time build fulfilling careers in the entertainment industry. It's a very inspiring family to be part of.

Song: Q Tip, "ManWoman Boogie."

3. Elysian Park. An oasis in the city of neon and freon. I jog here a lot, usually at sunset. If you can huff and puff your way around the whole park you're treated to great 360 views of LA: downtown, the San Gabriel mountains, Santa Monica mountains, and on a clear day, the Pacific Ocean.

4. El Matador Beach. Somewhat trickier to get to than the other Malibu beaches, which makes it that much more special. If I go on the weekend, I'll head down after lunch and stay for sunset, after which I get some great fresh fish and chips at the Malibu Seafood Fish Market.

5. Mashti Malone's. The best ice cream in LA? I think so. These gents are originally from Iran and were stranded in LA as students after the Iranian revolution. Mashti Sharoni bought an old ice cream shop in Hollywood named Malone's and added his family's name. Mashti says, "ice cream is happy business," and I agree. I usually go for 3 scoops (why have 2 when you can have 3?) of French vanilla bean, cookies and cream, and chocolate fudge sundae in a huge wafer cone and then devour it on their front patio. By the time I'm home 20 minutes later, I'm well into my sugar coma. They have some great rosewater ice cream and Persian pastries too. Excellent.

Song: Van Morrison, "Sweet Thing."

6. KCRW. Outside of the BBC this has to be the most diverse listening experience a city can have on its airwaves. "Left, Right and Center," "Morning Becomes Eclectic," "The Treatment," Warren Olney, Raul Campos from 10 'til midnight is da bomb, and don't even get me started on that crazy theme song by Sparks for the Bookworms show... Can't turn the thing off!

Song: Chemical Brothers, "Another World."

[Images: Yelp, KCRW, Los Angeles For Visitors]