Los Angeles Thread #5: That fearsome excavation on Magnolia Boulevard

As JBR sayeth before, so shall it be anew: New Year, New Thread.

(JBR is currently experiencing technical difficulties with connecting to Teh Interweb, but asked that the steak be claimed re. a new thread in Los Angeles.)

What happenings in the Southland?

steak

Mmm, steak.

winter margaritas, you guys. when/where?

My vote is for winter steaks.

holy fuck a week ago I went to dinos on pico and ate half a chicken in like 15 minutes how have I only heard about this place now

carne asada + margs

xp where on pico is dino's?

a couple blocks from alvarado going away from the staples center

Sounds promising to me!

Former editor Marc Cooper with the full background on the assimilation/demise of the LA Weekly

ugh jill stewart that explains the stench. i'd take the first few years of new times l.a. over the current weekly tbh.

but hey nikki finke still gets to write for a living which is comforting in a way

jeesus, is it normally like this in january? ay! hot hot hot!

Global Warming, innit.

Definitely not going to miss tomorrow (Wednesday) night at the Hammer...

http://www.centerforvisualmusic.org/Events.htm
January 21, 2009 - CVM's new Essential Visual Music: Rare Classics program at UCLA Film and Television Archive's Billy Wilder Theatre, at The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. 35mm/16mm. 7:30 pm. Free Admission. UCLA Film & TV Archive Calendar. The theatre is at the Courtyard level of The Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90024.

UCLA Film and Television Archive and the Center for Visual Music (CVM) are pleased to present this program of rarely screened films from the CVM collection. This evening features a range of works, from experiments by German film pioneers to light show psychedelia, and highlights the evolving technology and artistic sophistication of visual music and experimental animation. Several of the works in the show were designed to be used in performance contexts, light shows and other expanded forms of cinema, often with independent musical accompaniment. Accordingly, one of the themes that emerges from this program is a dialogue between structure and spontaneity in visual music. A number of the films were made in Southern California, and include early experiments in computer graphics from UCLA in the 1960s and Cal Arts in the 1970s. Many of the prints in this show represent recent preservation work by CVM. Includes films by Oskar and Hans Fischinger, Jules Engel, Charles Dockum, Mary Ellen Bute, John Stehura, David Lebrun, and Sixties Light Show films by Jud Yalkut/USCO and The Single Wing Turquoise Bird. Program presented by archivist/curator Cindy Keefer; a Q & A with filmmakers Michael Scroggins, David Lebrun and Peter Mays follows the screening.

Full program here:
http://www.centerforvisualmusic.org/VMEssenClassics.htm

i'm not expecting much but i'd like to poke my head in here sometime this weekend:

http://www.gogreenexpo.com/events/index.php?evid=3

Hi peeps - in slightly over 24 hours I will be in your town, til 5 Feb! I've got plans at the weekends already so FAPing is probably out of the question but no plans during the week, so on the off-chance any LA ILX0rs are up for meeting up midweek thought I may as well post in here...

Not liking the exchange rate at all btw!

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2009/01/metro_pushes_forward_four_projects_including_two_subways.php

just got hailed on in los feliz, kinda weird

Nowcast as of 11:25 PM PST on January 25, 2009

Now
At 1115 PM...Doppler radars indicated a line of heavy showers and thunderstorms extending from La Canada south southwestward to just east of Hollywood. This line was moving east. Pea sized hail has been reported by spotters in La Canada and Altadena...and hail was accumulating on the ground in some areas. As these showers and storms move across the San Gabriel valley and adjacent mountains...heavy downpours and small hail can be expected. Accumulating small hail could make for very slippery conditions on area roadways across the San Gabriel valley through the early morning hours. In the mountains...local snow accumulations up to three inches are possible above 3500 feet.

i always lol @ "la canada" when i see it in print

craigslist already has it covered:

Burrr, its hailing - any straight man want a warm lip on hard cock? - 29 (Hollywood)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply to: pers-1007902✧✧✧@craigsl✧✧✧.o✧✧ [?]
Date: 2009-01-25, 11:19PM PST

Just at home drinking and smoking some joints. Just got surprised by the hail snow storm. Any straight man want to have a nice warm wet mouth to nurse their hard cock? I am hanging out, very clean, disease free - just discreet here looking to suck and please you. I am looking for now, got great 420 here.

i don't think the hail made it to my part of the valley. which is fine, i've had enough weather excitement this weekend.

http://imgred.com/http://assets.hulu.com/shows/key_art_hot_hot_los_angeles.jpg

http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss51/tr_fudge/key_art_hot_hot_los_angeles.jpg

omg the robert oppenheimer docudrama on pbs

anybody see that shit

oh tavis smiley why u do dat

charlie rose: "obama seems to be both of the moment and above it, in a way..."
david axelrod: UH

for like 4 minutes. in fairness i think he forgot the question about 5 seconds in

so ok excuse me the oppenheimer thing was intense. david straitharn as him being subjected to a vicious psyops cross-examination in a hearing re: the loss of his security status. i assume it's from transcripts. maybe the most powerful courtroom scene i've ever seen. The actor who played the lawyer deserves an emmy. i wouldn't ever want to talk to that dude

ok, this is a japan post but the link is from an l.a. website:

http://la.streetsblog.org/2009/01/27/underground-bike-parking-in-japan/#more-1664

looks like it could be fairly energy intensive (and expensive to implement, esp. all the digging), but the concept is FUCKING COOL.

the poster is a futurist kraftwerkian wet dream:

http://la.streetsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01_22/1_27_09__eco_cycle.jpg

Griffith Park Designated Historic-Cultural Monument

By Joanna Lin
January 27, 2009

Griffith Park was designated a historic-cultural monument this morning, making it one of the largest landmarks in the country. The designation, approved unanimously by the Los Angeles City Council, puts major changes and developments in the park under the review of the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission.

Some newer areas of the park, including freeways, the Los Angeles Zoo and the Autry National Center, are not subject to the same commission oversight. The city’s Department of Recreation and Parks still owns and operates the 4,218-acre urban park.

Griffith Van Griffith, whose great-grandfather gave the park to the city in 1896, applied last summer for the park’s landmark status. At City Hall today with his wife, Barbara, he said he was “ecstatic.” His great-grandfather, he said, would be “doing a little jig in his mausoleum” in celebration of the designation.

The park's monument designation received widespread community support, with dozens of boosters attending every city hearing and hundreds signing petitions in favor of the landmark status. Griffith and the park’s supporters said they are hopeful the designation will provide protection for the park from commercial developments, such as those briefly proposed in a 2005 master plan commissioned by the city.

“There was never an absolute threat to the park, but this absolutely protects the park,” said Councilman Tom LaBonge, whose district includes Griffith Park. LaBonge was an early skeptic of landmark designation but strongly supported it after he said he was assured it did not negatively affect the park or the city’s stewardship of it. For many supporters, landmark designation also signals a renewed interest in the country’s largest urban park.

“The park has been repositioned in our city’s consciousness as the heart,” said Bernadette Soter, a member of the Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council who rallied community members to support the designation.

Though historic designation of the park passed smoothly in the City Council, the application was the subject of heated debate throughout the legislative process. Various city utility departments have expressed concern over how landmark designation would affect their operations and general maintenance of the park’s infrastructure.

City officials say those departments are working with the Office of Historic Resources, which oversees city landmarks, to iron out the logistics over the next six months. A ceremony at Griffith Park to mark the designation is being planned for the spring, LaBonge said.
___________

bunnies!

http://unhipla.blogsome.com/2009/01/24/fear-of-a-rabbit-planet/

can i just say how much i love the 110 fwy. i mean 6:30 eastbound traffic bumper to bumper seemingly impassible i love the sport of it. and i know how to fucking drive.

Totally last minute, but we're playing The Airliner tonight at 10pm. Drink up and come avoid the rain!

Hawking guest lecture at the Pasadena Convention Center, March 9:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2009/02/11/guest-post-kip-thorne-on-stephen-hawking/

I have seen him give lectures. It is bizarre but certainly worth $10.

this is tonight at redcat:

http://annenberg.usc.edu/Events/2009/090211_doesLAneeddowntown.aspx

February 11, 2009

Does Los Angeles Need a Downtown?
REDCAT at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Complex, 631 West 2nd Street, Los Angeles, 8:30 p.m.

In an age of digitally networked cities, regions, nations and international hubs, is there still value -- economic, social, political, cultural -- in central downtown districts? CalArts President Steven D. Lavine invites three of L.A.'s most influential urban thinkers to ponder this question in the first of a series of roundtable discussions on the evolving shape of urbanism in the City of Angels. The distinguished panelists are Manuel Castells, the Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication Technology and Society and author of Society, The Information Age: Economy and Culture; Edward Soja, Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning at the UCLA School of Public Affairs and author of Thirdspace: Journeys to Los Angeles and Other Real-and-Imagined Places; and Cecilia Estolano, CEO of the Community Redevelopment Authority of the City of Los Angeles. Free admission with USC ID. Presented by CalArts and ALOUD at Central Library as part of Talking City: L.A. Today and Tomorrow.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/23/villaraigosa-economy-unemployment-jobs-opinions-columnists_los_angeles.html

^^good points in the column because after villaraigosa's really somewhat hope-inducing election he's just turned into a "mayor carcetti" type, but at the same time using rick caruso as a dissenting voice of reason is cringe-worthy.

^^good points in the column because after villaraigosa's really somewhat hope-inducing election he's just turned into a "mayor carcetti" type, but at the same time using rick caruso as a dissenting voice of reason is cringe-worthy.

Bear in mind that it's a Joel Kotkin editorial. He's utterly consistent in his criticism of cities and Suburbs Über Allies.

I'm shocked, SHOCKED to find gentrification reversing in Eagle Rock! Bohemian Sprawl Hits the Limits in Los Angeles

Heads up - there's a lot to be annoyed about in/with the article. Starting with:

WHEN Emily Cook, a screenwriter, bought a house four years ago in Eagle Rock, a neighborhood on the Northeast side of Los Angeles, she fantasized what the area might look like in a year or two, with cafes and boutiques replacing tattered old businesses. “It was like fantasy football,” said Ms. Cook, 38, who also sings in a band named Fonda.

A sad flower shop on the corner, she thought, could become a miniature Whole Foods. An upholstery store could be a gastropub where she and friends would grab a beer, and a neglected 1940s diner could become a retro spot for a quick meal.

But Ms. Cook has stopped fantasizing about what might be, and started worrying about what might shut down. The flower store has closed; no gourmet market is moving in. Lucy Finch, a vintage boutique, folded last month. That Yarn Store, a hangout for crochet-heads, didn’t survive a bad winter.

And what will become of the storefront that once housed Blue Heeler, which sold Australian imports?

“Please don’t make it another martial arts studio,” Ms. Cook pleaded. “What is it about Eagle Rock and martial arts?”

The deep recession, with its lost jobs and falling home values nationwide, poses another kind of threat: to the character of neighborhoods settled by the young creative class, from the Lower East Side in Manhattan to Beacon Hill in Seattle. The tide of gentrification that transformed economically depressed enclaves is receding, leaving some communities high and dry.

For long-time residents, the return to pre-boom rents may be a blessing. But it also poses a rattling question of identity: What happens to bourgeois bohemia when the bourgeois part drops out?

Over the last five to six years, Eagle Rock became the glamour girl of Northeast Los Angeles, a crescent where the asphalt jungle meets the foothills. The neighborhood of 35,000 or so has attracted screenwriters and composers, Web designers and animators, who labor on their laptops in cafes, discuss film projects at Friday night wine tastings, and let their children play with the handmade wooden toys in a Scandinavian-style coffee shop, Swork.

lol my cousin owned a martial arts studio in eagle rock until last year. yr welcome b*tch!

Read to the end of the article, Tremendoid! She's thinking about taking it up now! :-D

Besides, this is the best part:

The new residents brought prosperity and, the locals say, a little arrogance as well. “They sounded the trumpets and announced a vision of something like Silver Lake or Los Feliz,” said Bob de Velasco, who runs Commercial Printing Network, a copy shop. “But it’s not going to happen. Eagle Rock wasn’t meant to have that. Eagle Rock is an old-fashioned, atmospheric town.”

Indeed, in this downturn, Mr. de Velasco’s printing shop doesn’t seem to be hurting, nor is Tritch Hardware. The shops at risk are the ones playing the Decemberists in a continuous loop.

“Some of them tried niche things,” Mr. Tritch said, with no gloat in his voice. “That didn’t work out.”

who the fuck would think that an australian import shop would do well anywhere, let alone eagle rock

xxp it's out of my hands now but that's good to know >%-)

the womans sort of bitchy about it, but there are more auto shops and martial arts studios in eagle rock than in most hoods. all things considered tho its a pretty great little place in a pretty perfect location.

also its a weird hood to take up w/r/t discussions of gentrification due to oxy's presence

tons of really pretty houses btw

And the view South from the 134 on a clear night is one of the best in LA.

if eagle rock isn't gentrified i don't know what to say, even york ave in highland park is getting to be gentrified.

haha i'd probably be living there if the boom hadn't pushed the price of 2br houses past the 1/2mil$$$$ mark. if prices come back down to 300k i'd definitely think about living there

u been here omar: http://www.theyorkonyork.com/

seriously if i were moving back to LA id start looking in the rock before anywhere else, i really loved living there

All those Decembrists tunes you could hear while walking down the street...

i'm really not loving the word "gastropub" tbh

yeah its a pretty iffy bar but ill ride for their burger even if it costs $13

yeah, i don't mind the concept, just the word irks.

we went to johnnys more

but its less gentrification-y

this was my favorite eagle rock bar http://www.yelp.com/biz/verdugo-los-angeles

my bro's gf's cousin owns johnny's, it's a dope spot

hmmm, i should check that out
xpost

i really like the york too, good joint. they should change up the taps a little more but the beer is good and the food is better than any of these "gastropubs" other than father's office.

verdugo bar is the best bar on the east side imo

you know what bar suxx on york is martys

former ilx poster gershy tipped me to this joint, rip http://www.yelp.com/biz/footsies-los-angeles

footsie's is good, i know sorta know this dude who i think djs there every so often

don from dons music djed there a lot while i was going, i dont know if hes still in LA tho since i heard his shop closed down

damn that sucks : /

might just be a rumor. someone told me it closed down last month but it just moved two stores to the left

The Colorado Wine Store lets you buy bottles and drink it there in their back room for no corkage fee, and you can bring in pizza from Brownstone Pizza next door - good deal. It's a small room though.

Started another thread about this, but: Lily Afshar is giving another concert tonight at The Coffee Gallery in Pasadena on Lake; went to last night's show and was pretty impressed (okay, so maybe she's also luscious in a very good way - but the music was marvelous).

Eagle Rock = Oinkster cheeseburgers and fries and Fatty's for the vegan relatives.

tbh i think the oinkster burgers are not very good, their pulled pork however is murderous

The burgers went through a REALLY bad stage but now seem to be back to being hand-formed and loosely packed - haven't yet tried their pork, though.

i believe that. i dunno i never loved the oinkster pastrami either--their chicken salad sandwich tho is top-notch

imo the best burgers in eagle rock are at the bucket--as i said the york also has an excellent froo-froo burger for $13

http://laist.com/2009/03/05/silver_lake_neighborhood_council_vo.php

We're booking a night at The Airliner on March 23rd and we're looking for a DJ. Anyone know anyone that wants to do it?

in this town? just throw a rock and you'll hit a DJ. and do me a favor, throw it hard.

checked out the colorado bar in pasadena because a bro of mine moved over there recently. nice low-key dive, too bad it's so far away for me.

i practically grew up there. it has seen fappage.

Re: fappage

Pasadena/Eagle Rock area FAP?

Been a while, could be fun!

Shit, even if its just you and me, Ned. We could reach an agreement on this whole SoCal/NorCal thing, and just impose our will on everyone else in absentia.

"Dude. We TOLD you about the meeting where we were going to decide this. You didn't show. Deal."

A fine plan.

If folks are around Highland Park Monday night and want some cheap beer, we're booking the upstairs part of the Airliner

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3599/3360730768_6200459803.jpg

The Chalet is a fine, find drinking establishment. Colleen is a fine bartender.

Had a nice time there last evening with Bro of Blam (aka 69) and his lady friend.

i'm sure this question has been asked by non-angelenos on various los angeles-centric threads over the years but because i don't really want to trawl through all of them:

CONFIRM/DENY: it is nearly impossible, or at least frustratingly difficult and not worth it, to maneuver around LA w/o a car

(bearing in mind if i end up going it will only be for a few days probably)

The answer depends on your patience. (In my case I say deny.)

it is not impossible, and not that frustrating if only for a few days. do you know people here w/wheels??
i would not live here w/o a car, i learned to like driving even tho the traffic is as bad as people say. i know people who don't have cars or went w/o a car for long periods of time. they managed, but these people ended up spending the vast majority of their time in a relatively narrow section of the city.

you can totally get around. but i'd avoid the freeways and major surface roads at rush hour. (also, evening rush hour starts at around 3pm and starts to thin out around 7.)

the metro.net trip planner is usually pretty helpful. there are a few bus lines that are seriously fucked w/r/t reliability, but most of them are efficient.

and now, for no reason at all, i'm going to be self-righteous and post this picture:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cIOicHgOP_o/ScQSZG2C5UI/AAAAAAAABjY/3t4AkK5V0co/s1600-h/cbb.jpg

oh yeah, you can't hotlink from blogspot:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cIOicHgOP_o/ScQSZG2C5UI/AAAAAAAABjY/3t4AkK5V0co/s1600-h/cbb.jpg

i was there for two weeks without a car and was travelling between long beach, echo lake, downtown and pasadena all on public transport. no problem.

OR, you could go and split the difference, figure out the easily accesible spots, and do them via public transit.

And then rent a car for a day or two, and get to know a very central element of LA.

Where are you staying?

ALSO - FAP? Chalet FAP? SOON?

Urgh: A Music War is showing at the Silent Movie Theater tonight!

Anyone else planning on going to any of the Postopolis events? Copy/pasting from http://www.storefrontnews.org/event_dete.php?eventID=88

On the occasion of Los Angeles Art Weekend, Storefront for Art and Architecture and ForYourArt are pleased to announce Postopolis! LA, a live five-day event of near-continuous conversation about architecture, art, urbanism, landscape, and design to be held in Los Angeles from 31 March to 4 April 2009. Six bloggers, from five different cities around the world, will host a series of discussions, interviews, slideshows, panels, talks, and presentations, fusing the informal energy and interdisciplinary approach of the architectural blogosphere with the immediacy of face-to-face interaction.

Over the course of five days, the six host bloggers will invite 40+ participants from a multitude of fields including architecture, urban planning, geology, defense, publishing, game design, artistic practice, oceanography, music, politics and many others to give brief presentations, each followed by a public discussion.

Postopolis! LA follows in the footsteps of the first groundbreaking edition of Postopolis! held in New York in May 2007, hosted by BLDGBLOG, City of Sound, Inhabitat and Subtopia and attended by several thousand people over a period of five days. Postopolis! LA takes place during the 2nd annual Los Angeles Art Weekend, highlighting the city’s vast array of creative talent.

Full schedule at above URL...

ooh, michael dear is speaking (he's a usc guy). and so is my own personal jonas brother, christopher hawthorne:

http://aia-awards.com/AIAPF/info/AIAJury/christopher_hawthorne2.jpg

i added this to my facebook events a while back but forgot it was happening this next week. now i have to budget my time between postopolis, the homosexuals/silver apples show, and the million other things that are going on.

so what i thought was a few days in LA is actually going to be 2-3 weeks. and because of no car i'm trying to find a cheap sublet somewhere nearby studio city (where this internship is taking place). my friend from LA recommended los feliz off the sunset/vermont red line stop if i can find a place to stay there - i honestly have no qualms living anywhere that's relatively safe and decently affordable, esp. if only for 2 wks, but what do ppl here think of LF?

expensive! but basically nice. think, uh, williamsburg? or LES?

Nice enough area and well-located. The closer to the subway stop you get the worse it is, but still not bad. The hilly area is expensive. Why not live in Studio City and do your entertainment traveling from there?

i think felicity lives in lf but i dont know how often she posts

yeah like i said the main requirement for me is "near the red line"

or, maybe not like i said. but that is the ideal situation

hollywood and koreatown are on the red line too, k-town would be a bit cheaper

but u might get MURDERED

on the other hand: korean bbq

lol @ wiki

Today, Koreatown leads Los Angeles in its effort for gentrification. The neighborhood is known for its many commercial and residential mid and high rise towers, its rich collection of pre-1940 brick colonial revival buildings, Asian high fashion boutiques, the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, and holding the largest concentration of nightclubs and 24-hour businesses and restaurants in Southern California.[3]

Recent media coverage of Koreatown has lead to the misconception of high-crime activity within the neighborhood. Adding to the belief is the memory of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Though individual numbers for the various classified crimes rank mid to high among the city's districts, when resident population and the area's density is used to determine rates, Koreatown is not a high-crime rate area [12] and ranks among the 20 safest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, out of the city's 90 neighborhoods.

korean bbq trumps everything. sold!

"The neighborhood is known for the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy"

i was gonna suggest north hollywood, but if korean bbq's your thing, hey!

east hollywood is on the red line and is still cheap-ish.

hipsters love assassinations, everybody knows that

Hipstersination

east hollywood is kinda the greenpoint to los feliz's williamsburg.

also, easy access to $cientology celebrity centre

a new giant korean grocery store that opened up next to me just closed down in like the span of a moth or two.

if i know insects, that would be about two weeks

argh

celeb centre AND di@n3tics foundation!

! well that does it then, i'm leaving on next available flight

i once looked for an apt. in the Whitley Heights section of Hollywood, right next to the Highland & Hollywood stop, lots of cool old buildings but kinda pricey too.

so when in mid-to-late may is an laxor around for a party?

pre-coachella mbv show at the el rey on thurs apparently

MBV playing three blocks away from my apartment? No way I'm going to miss it!

grilled cheese invitational tomorrow at the cornfield; who's in?

http://grilledcheeseinvitational.com/?p=2139

Meant to post this earlier, but if you're interested in William Burroughs or graphic novels, I recommend the AH POOK IS HERE show at the Track 16 gallery at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica. It consists of a lot of drawings (Malcolm McNeill) and text (Burroughs) for a graphic novel done in the early 70s that never got published due to the expense. It's there till May 2nd.

Anyone else going to the UCLA Festival Of Books this weekend?

http://www.foodgps.com/more-info-on-territory-bbq-and-records/

ffffffff

going by the map that is linked there, how is that location considered silver lake???

it's like when i was searching for apartments on craigslist and i'd see some dope-looking pad listed as being in silver lake but it was actually in the shittiest part of koreatown.

silverlake is pretty far from there huh

i think that's a universal thing! like i've looked at apartment listings in nyc that claim to be williamsburg but are actually plainly in bed-stuy

unless they messed up the address and it's north hoover, at least that's getting warm. otherwise, lol @ lafayette park being in silver lake. i mean even by real estate "adjacent" fudging that is bullshit

yeah it looks like they fucked up the address, i did a google street view on 534 n hoover (intersection of hoover and bellevue) and that's where it's at. so it is in silver lake after all.

Anybody want to get a drink this weekend? I've been inspired by the "Why don't ILX FAP no morez" thread.

I can assist with transpo if anyone should need it.

I might actually be up for it, but I might have to see on the day -- Saturday will be best. get bent had asked after a get-together pre-Memorial Day weekend so maybe we can do this?

Saturday. Even if its just me and Ned. Which will mean lots and lots of talking.

Hahahah.

I would be more than happy to invoke the heresy of folks heading down my direction for a change, if only because there are some great spots for food and drink around here that (understandably) only I know about given I'm the only ILXor regularly posting from OC...

My band is playing with The Lovetones on Friday, May 15 at the Redwood Bar downtown. Anyone up for goofy pirate decor?

Arrrrr.

I'm in.

memorial day (and thereabouts) works much better for me. if somebody's planning something for this weekend i may be able to steal away for one drink, but right now that's tentative.

re the redwood, ned may remember it as the site of my '08 birthday drinks! it was a little too loud/rowdy that day though -- as most of the downtown bars tend to be lately.

Love the Redwood's fish & chips, and the fact that they have Craftsman pre-prohibition recipe lager on tap.

Here's a flyer. Hope people can make it...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3381/3474856970_055447bb68.jpg

totally random - Does anyone here have a 4-track cassette recorder I could borrow for a week or so? I have some old silliness I need to convert to digital soon, and I don't have my own 4 track.

Much obliged.

I can't say I'm choked up about this.

FINALLY found a place in LA (i think)!

Congratulations, where at?

north hollywood/valley village, near a bus that takes me to the red line, but close enough to bike to work if i want to

also nojinxnojinxnojinx

yo, i live near there (i'm a few stops in on the orange line).

and depending on where you are in the nh/vv area, you can probably take the studio city dash (a steal at 25 cents, but it doesn't run at night).

lool channel 4 is doing a paul moyer retrospective right now. he's retiring.

http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss51/tr_fudge/colleen_williams_cropped.jpg
still foxy

I miss her skunk stripe of grey hair that she used to rock in the 80s.

she looks like jo from the facts of life!

this place btw is AWESOME

http://www.territorybbq.com/

http://powerofthedolla.blogspot.com/2008/08/atlanta-rapper-dolla-inks-deal-with.html

anyone know who this guy is? he just got shot and killed at the beverly center, apparently.

she looks like jo from the facts of life!

totally, i had forgotten this! had a crush on jo growing up too. the mayor is right about the skunk stripe, almost always sexy, some women thinks it ages them i think the opposite is true (when compared to dyeing it all one color)

i finally tried the kogi truck korean tacos tonight,came upon it by chance in the middle of a downtown bar crawl. they were good, but not spectacular (maybe the hype unduly raised expectations). in other words,i won't be forsaking my beloved taco zone anytime soon.

Anyone else going to Ghost tonight besides myself and Jeff T?

some interesting kogi truck PR rep scandal being documented on eater la. blogger sends email to various taco truck vendors, including kogi, kogi rep writes back condescending bitchy screed.

http://la.eater.com/archives/2009/05/20/adventures_in_pr.php

haha, sucks to be a publicist

they were a block away for a month but i never tried em ;_;

Some hipster you are.

coming again in june! love this town, but this will be my first time there outside of january. i am going to get my ass kicked by the sun.

Pete Ellis Dodge, Long Beach Freeway, Firestone Exit, Southgate.
Pete Ellis Dodge, Long Beach Freeway, Firestone Exit, Southgate.

Go see Cal.

been seeing this graffiti all over from weho to silver lake lately:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3302/3493292530_7192facf51.jpg

Noticed that same graffiti around my friend's house over by Sunset Junction.

Emo Joker?

what about these? (this one from Beverly and Sweetzer)

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs014.snc1/2947_75080658445_501188445_1633812_551535_n.jpg

Side note -- will be up in LA tomorrow here for the Windy and Carl/White Rainbow show:

http://www.syncspacela.com/

FAP ideas welcomed.

http://www.nickadamsweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/img_4240.jpg

califor
nia

monopoly, 21, checkers, and chess
yeah yeah yeah yeah

hey i'm here now!

and about to get thai food

if you're still in the north hollywood area, there's great, cheap thai food at sri siam (in a strip mall at vanowen & coldwater): http://www.srisiamcafe.com/

and i just came from having tummy-warming japanese comfort food at daichan (again, in a strip mall) on ventura in easternmost studio city:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/daichan-studio-city (usual disclaimers about yelp reviews apply)

oh, p.s. you l.a. folx, rrrobyn is going to be in town from thurs to mon and she wants to hang. who's around?

thanks jbr! i did not know name of this thread. i hope my recent ilxor outsidor status does not discourage anyone - i still <3 you all n all that. work has been busy! and is in fact the reason for me coming to LA! film press junket! lols

i do want to hang. there will be hanging. i haven't been to LA since the mid-90s! what has changed

also: OMG BASKETBALL

And all that!

Hi I know I'm not on ILX much anymore (I had trouble remembering my login just now!) but I want to meet rrrobyn, please keep me informed.

Also I am going to REDCAT Inside The Actor's Studio taping with Mickey Rourke tonight!

Come back alive!

Also while I'm here, is there really any truth to the Skyl1ght Sc1entology rumors?

they're not rumors... the owner is sc!3no.

actually, correction: one of the store's partners was a sc!3no and he recently passed away. i'm not certain about any other involvement.

that cat was definitely thetan, r.i.p.

http://forums.whyweprotest.net/7-chit-chat/book-banned-scientology-owned-skylight-books-40043/

either way, it's a good store -- their l.a./california section is very thorough for such a small space.

thumbs up on the annex next door, too.

Oh that Antonio

SOME OF YOU ALL SOUND SO OLD FASHION UNTIL I GUESS YOU WOULD VILLIFY ME FOR GIVING MY WIFE A KISS IN CHURCH.WE'VE ON LY BEEN TOGETHER AS FRIEND AND SPOUSE FOR 27 YEARS. THANK GOD HE DON'T THINK LIKE SOME OF YOU'LL. I WILLSAY ONE THING. LET'S LET GOD BE THE JUDGE THAT HE IS AND LET'S MIN D OUR OWN BUSSINESS. HE WITHOUT SIN, PLEASE THROW THE FIRST STONE. I SPEAK FROM MY HEART, I COULD BE WRONG BUT IT'S MY OPINION. GALATIONS 4:16

Posted by: RICK | June 02, 2009 at 03:10 PM

Mirthala Salinas was better looking

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/03lvaSa69masz/610x.jpg

xxpost -- T✧✧@K✧✧.E✧✧'s uncle, I guess.

http://bensbreakfastblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/newsies.jpg

executive decision about sunday:

i'm thinking somewhere downtown so ned can get back to union station easily. how about wurstkuche for sausage and beer?

http://www.wurstkucherestaurant.com/01%20ASSETS/Wurstkuche_WEB_MENU_V4.pdf

or cole's for french dips and martinis?

http://colesfrenchdip.com/menu.html

i'm staying with a friend on melrose from june 21-28! attending LAFF, so excited!

if you go to cole's check out the varnish, the little faux-speakeasy in the back

Both these spots sound v. worthy. Maybe let the weather decide (cooler = beer, warmer = martinis).

has anyone been to cozy's? i think i'm seeing a show there

Meantime let us celebrate:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-himi-pink7-2009jun07,0,4145997.story

Isadore Pinkowitz!

A hell of a name!

Those both seem like good suggestions. Both close to Lil' Tokyo too...I'd maybe favor Cole's ever so slightly but you know, sausages.

hey guys! i wld be up for whatever obv as long as it is fun and everyone can get there easily and maybe there is bball nearby or there. also, i have no vehicle and am staying in silver lake (hills! hills!) car dependability here is intense. it'll all work out tho!

there's a lakers game on sunday at the staples center (downtown): http://www.staplescenter.com/

watch out for coyotes!
xpost

also: skunks

and feral cats

haha we were actually having a conversation yesterday about all the skunks and raccoons in these parts. i am going down the hill to drink coffee at intelligentsia, where i hear wild animals are no match for hipster army. i think they are just busy plotting tho.

we were talking about cole's french dip yesterday!
also, i am within decent walking distance of vermont/santa monica stop on red line to downtown. in any other city i wld have no hesitation re: metro but i have to wonder if this one...

red line is fine! i say proceed without caution.

nice!
correction: we were talking abt a dif french dip place - my friend says cole's is overprices and meh! (he works right near there. and is a foodie... it seems a lot of LA people are!)

It's what we live for. :-D That being the case, Wurstkuche?

ohman that was a pretty fun sunday
drivin around, griffith park, spanish coffee and bread pudding at urth on melrose, tarot card buying and conspiracy-theory marvelling next door, beer and fries and sausagesss at wurstkuche with you dudes whoooo, extreme basketballl and chinese broccoli and giant beers in little tokyo, ride 'home' into the hills (thx adam!), architecture/cityspace talkin, true blood watchin, almost sleepin
i do like LA.

Yay! Come back soon!

I am now officially moving (back) to Highland Park. See you at Fresh & Easy!

The takeover begins.

http://www.keyt.com/news/local/47252927.html

pretty creepy story. as it turns out i just proposed to my now-fiancee about 400 ft from the place where the second murder was committed.

i walked by the city of stars collision center a few days ago! what a fantastic name

I like how Gear just casually mentions that. Congratulations to you both!

http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss51/tr_fudge/lakers_championship_banner_22975big.jpg

oh wait

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBwIs2IggwA

http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/ept_sports_nba_experts__26/ept_sports_nba_experts-639767787-1245041772.jpg?ymsh2aBDvSaNbRLu

I can't help but feel my boss will be complaining tomorrow anyway. (As he told me, he says that the one thing he will brainwash his young daughters about is hating Kobe with every depth of their being.)

Watching Kobe lose>watching someone you enjoy win.

A report from the field:

As the buzzer rang on the Lakers' 99-86 victory over the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals, revelers spilled from the ESPN Zone restaurant out onto Chick Hearn Court in front of Staples Center.

Some climbed the statues of Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Oscar De La Hoya, whooping and holding Kobe Bryant jerseys aloft.

"I'm so excited, excited, excited," said a red-faced Louis Merida, a 21-year old UC Riverside student. "I don't even know what to say! I don't even know what to say!"

"It feels great," Merida said. "No one can hate on Kobe anymore, because he's won a championship without Shaq."

LOUIS MERIDA KNOWS A THING OR TWO ABOUT PEOPLE

the lakers have brought honor to me, and i'm gonna use it

very relieved to hear this:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/06/private-donors-will-cover-citys-costs-for-parade.html

although i would be fine if they'd just canceled the parade in a "you riot, you can't have nice things" move.

guys i'm staying on melrose next week, is it dangerous to ride around on a bike?

xxp absolutely, don't see why the lakers didnt immediately pony up for their own parade

xpost

People aren't as used to bikes here as some other cities, but you should be fine. In fact, bicyclists aren't used to bicycles here and they often just ride them on the sidewalk! There are plenty of side streets to take too and buses and cabs are pretty easy to catch.

you can also ride yr bike on the sidewalk legally, just exercise caution

Bicyclists are permitted to ride on sidewalks; however, it is an infraction to do so in a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property (56.15.1 LAMC). If you ride your bicycle on the street, you must ride in the same direction as the flow of traffic and as close as practicable to the right side of the roadway (21202a CVC).

haha, i just read something about this very issue on streetsblog.

http://la.streetsblog.org/2009/06/12/who-can-we-turn-to-when-lapd-doesnt-know-crosswalk-laws/#comments

(w/r/t the comments: the municipal code overrides the state law, so omar little OTM)

thanks guys, if the traffic is bad, i might be a wuss and ride on the sidewalk

i'm still trying to get used to biking around here. there aren't many bike lanes but whenever you find one, treat it like yr best friend

also i got yelled at by a cop for trying to cross burbank with the red blinky palm + 10 seconds

if yr riding at night on a quiet, residential street, i definitely recommend the street

uh, versus the sidewalk, which is often terribly paved + you have less reaction time w/ sudden cars pulling out of driveways and such

nice username.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEjGmA7Fqp8

I'm still trying to get used to biking around here. there aren't many bike lanes but whenever you find one, treat it like yr best friend

also i got yelled at by a cop for trying to cross burbank with the red blinky palm + 10 seconds

― susan fassbender (donna rouge), Wednesday, 17 June 2009 05:10 (57 minutes ago)

Have you experienced the magic of riding your bike through the Valley via Chandler or Clark? (at least in the general Burbank area)

i'm not a bicyclist, but the orange line bikeway (from north hollywood out to warner center) seems like a good/safe place to ride. it's not completely dedicated since you still have to cross at intersections, though.

hah, thanks GB. ("a pop star who actually looks like a doctor's receptionist" should totally be someone's future handle)

yeah, i ride on chandler every time i bike to work! the moment when i realize i need to turn on lankershim is always a bummer

Where tremendoid is right about now, maybe. Also, some fellow citizens:

Some celebrants parked a mile away from the Coliseum. Among them was Victor Ortiz, 34, who was walking to the stadium along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard with his friends. He had awakened at 6:45 a.m., feeling good about going to the parade.

Ortiz said he has been a Lakers fan since 1979, when he was 5. He said he was watching a Lakers game on television, with his grandmother when she pointed at the screen and said, "That's our team, they play right there at the Forum," referring to the Lakers' home arena at the time, which was nearby.

On her way to Staples Center before the parade began, Nicole Ebrahimi was wearing her Lakers jersey and looking for a restroom.

"I'm 6½ months pregnant," she said, chuckling. She had made the trek from Pasadena with her 12-year-old son and boyfriend. "We'll see if this is all worth the trouble. We don't know when we'll see this again."

She wasn't the only one in the crowd in search of something besides Lakers bliss.

Sandra Torres, 32, a stay-at-home mom from East Los Angeles, was looking to meet men. She had already met a possible prospect in East L.A. the night of the rowdy victory celebration on Whittier and Atlantic boulevards.

"He sent me a picture," she said, looking through her cellphone to show off the photo. She had been in her car cruising by. "Guys cruise by in their cars and say 'Hey what's up' you stop and talk and that's how you meet people."

Today, in her tight, spangly Lakers top, purple capri leggings, and alternating purple and gold painted fingernails and toenails, she was on foot.

"We're here to support the Lakers and have fun."

"He sent me a picture," she said, looking through her cellphone to show off the photo. She had been in her car cruising by. "Guys cruise by in their cars and say 'Hey what's up' you stop and talk and that's how you meet people."

oohhhhhhh boy.

not sure if this will work

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=200104340524&ref=nf

Bicyclists are permitted to ride on sidewalks;

I guess I'll stop shaking my indignant fist at them!

where is the best place for me to sit down and eat a great many tacos near union station around 10.30 this evening? i will have bags with me, so not too nice, but i like nice food!

also can anyone recommend a nice place with an ocean view, walkable to the beach, to work with a laptop, use free wireless, and drink ice tea toward the end of the week?

anywhere by the ocean is fine, but santa monica/venice are probably the easiest beach suburbs for me to get to

where is the best place for me to sit down and eat a great many tacos near union station around 10.30 this evening? i will have bags with me, so not too nice, but i like nice food!

You will be near Olvera Street -- therefore, do not eat there.

Most of Olvera St. will be closed at 10:30pm anyway. I seem to recall a taco truck that hung out overnight on either Alameda or (maybe) Ord St.

i would wait until the next day and then get carnitas tacos at roast to go inside the grand central market.

Is Philipe's open that late? I would forgo the tacos and eat there. French dips, baby!

Is Philipe's open that late? I would forgo the tacos and eat there. French dips, baby!

I thought of Philippes' too, but they close at 10pm. Couple places in Chinatown are open late though...

union was pretty deserted by the time i reached it, so i just got on the gold line. by the time i got to pasadena everything was shut, it seems, so i'm eating burger king now : \

e colorado blvd eating tips most welcome, btw.

sunset junction lineup:

Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band
Sly & Robbie
Arrested Development
Built to Spill
Nortec Collective: Bostich & Fussible
Boogaloo Assassins
Dengue Fever
Delta Spirit
Gran Ronde
Miss Derringer
War Tapes
War Paint
Rumspringa
Nico Vega
Love Grenades
Nico Stai
Local Natives
Fool's Gold.
Dj Kutmah,
DJ Plan 9
Alex Cuba
DJ B
DJ Future Paris
Orgone

looks pretty boring but this festival sucks anyway imo

sunset junction is the worst imo

Nico Stai

^^^already sick of this dude

union was pretty deserted by the time i reached it, so i just got on the gold line. by the time i got to pasadena everything was shut, it seems, so i'm eating burger king now : \

Tonny's has great carnitas and is open 24 hours.
http://www.laweekly.com/locations/tonnys-115117/

e colorado blvd eating tips most welcome, btw.

How far east?

imo no human being should be forced to find non-frozen yogurt food in pasadena ever but all-india cafe in old town is pretty ok

whatever u do, do NOT go to "thaitalian" if it still exists

my question of the day: so, at like 2am, do you think it is safe to run in street clothes down Western Ave. from Wilshire to Malibu?

safer than running naked imo

lol (i meant to say that i'm not going to look like a jogger? i'm just going to look like a 19-year-old kid running down the street?)

wilshire to malibu, down western?

yes

Sunset Junction = *AMAZING* people-watching (but yeah, the lineup is usually really boring).

i'm right opposite pasadena city college, without transport. could probably walk to tonny's tonight though, thanks for the tip. tonight is the last night out here. echo park for the rest of the week, thank god.

e colorado blvd eating tips most welcome, btw.

Right before Rosemead on Colorado, and three blocks south of the Sierra Madre Villa station of the Gold Line, is Super Burrito.

It is a champion food provider. A cleanliness rating. STELLAR breakfast burritos.

And cheap.

Thus, go to Super Burrito.

decisions...

btw don't eat at a single mexican restaurant in echo park, they all suck. just eat at the taco trucks.

i'm going to do the run, btw. i'll probably feel safer doing that than riding the bus (today this guy next to me was totally freaking me out, he was like twiddling his fingers and looking around sorta like a maniac?)

off to see some films, if anyone is going to anything at laff, let me know <3 <3 <3

0ctober Country and C0nvention are totally worth your time, btw

i love tonny's, haven't been there in a while though. the chile verde is out of this world.

off to see some films, if anyone is going to anything at laff, let me know <3 <3 <3

going to a mad men panel on wednesday and the new paul giamatti film on thurs.

btw don't eat at a single mexican restaurant in echo park, they all suck. just eat at the taco trucks.

burrito king (sunset/alvarado) has a good carne asada burrito.

no fear, i wouldn't dare insult the king by comparing it to barragan's and the rest

ew, barragan's... the name always makes me think of bennigan's.

should say i don't eat meat, so i will be eating shrip, fish or bean food

is burrito king the one right on the corner, opposite the gas station? i have eaten there. it was good.

barragan's is good for one thing: $2.95 margaritas on saturday afternoon w/chips and salsa. but even then i'd rather not bother.

yeah, i ride on chandler every time i bike to work! the moment when i realize i need to turn on lankershim is always a bummer

And it's a bummer despite the fact they've revamped the NoHo arts area in the last few years. I wouldn't ride my bike around some streets around Lankershim as recently as 2006 or so. Cahuenga and Magnolia was (is?) one of the worst areas in all the Valley.

dudes, what the fuck is going on with the Taco v. Hot Dog thread?

Chicagoans be trippin' and are trying to say they have better tacos than LA or San Diego.

WTF?

They are a strange people, given to odd beliefs.

chicagoans have an inferiority complex; they're just overcompensating.

Due to conflicts with the show's filming schedule, Sex, Booze, and Copywriting: Close up on Mad Men on Wednesday, June 24 7pm at MAJESTIC CREST THEATRE has been cancelled.

aw man!

LAFF: i think i might see the new claire denis on thursday night

xp ack, that sucks

i'm right opposite pasadena city college,

Where exactly, that's right near where I live.

Try the Tucci's special pizza at Tarantino's (shrimp and garlic) on Green at Hudson (nr Lake).

saga motel for the next few hours, then i check out, drop some truth bombs on caltech, and head into la for the rest of the week

anyone (besides me) seeing malkmus at the echoplex on july 25th?

Always liked the Saga (front buildings and pool area). I'm on the street with the church on one corner (Calvary Baptist/Vision something or other) and Mako Bowl fast food on the other.

my question of the day: so, at like 2am, do you think it is safe to run in street clothes down Western Ave. from Wilshire to Malibu?

― and the ugly girls, too (Tape Store), Tuesday, 23 June 2009 18:47 (Yesterday)

I'm not going to lie and say this wasn't one of the scariest moments of my life. I mean, it would be ok if there were a lot of people around instead of just like the occasional sorta tough guy walking in the middle of the sidewalk in an unlit part of the street.

this is my first time out of small collegetown, btw

well how was 'malibu'

lol, oops, melrose is nice.

ha ok. that stretch could get sketchy, good news is you're the one who looked sketchiest. did you go west to 'melrose' proper or was there something near western/melrose you were going to?

naw, i'm staying in a friend's apt on melrose near that intersection for the next couple days. lesson learned: don't stay out late.

that stretch would be kinda deserted at that time since it's very commercial/strip mally, but that's not really a "bad" part of town, just sorta faceless

i don't love walking on any part of western at any time of the day, but i wouldn't consider that stretch of it dangerous. just kinda grimy and sometimes you get approached by mentally ill homeless people who don't smell too good. solution: keep walking.

so are all the parking meters in the 323 running until 8pm now? and are they all in operation from 11-5 on sundays?

t(^_^t)

i thought it was just on major thoroughfares but maybe that's where it started and they are slowing expanding them? also dimes & nickels hardly buy you any time now, but i need my quarters for laundry : \

all through los feliz it's 8am to 8pm now. this also seems to be the case elsewhere around there. protip i follow: yellow loading zone spots are kosher all day on sundays and after 7pm.

u gotta wake up early tho to get away w/o a ticket

i have a garage, i just use the yellow zones for nights out on the town

yellow loading zone spots are kosher all day on sundays and after 7pm.

Thought it was even 6pm...

but don't tell anyone!

Chicagoans be trippin' and are trying to say they have better tacos than LA or San Diego.

No one said that.

(Never mind, I think that hatchet has been buried. Carry on -- I only lurk on this thread to see if my brother has posted.)

bye LA! it was fun being in you for a month. i'll be back probably! (never got to go to the getty, for one)

hi LA miss u

<3

special shout out to tacos

oh man the tacos we had last night were BOMBBBBBB tho i don't remember the name of the place we got them from

"el chato" truck was my local, i miss it so fucking much.

why'd you leave? the tacos await your return

no job :(

yeah, things are a bit grim out here right now

http://vimeo.com/5484133

who here likes tortas?

Hi there.

Hi!

Also is the Occidental bookstore still extant?

it was last year when i graduated

congratulations, max!

who here likes tortas?

I eat at Tortas Mexico at least once a week. Tremendously great!

Me gustan las tortas.

There's a Tortas Mexico on Fair Oaks just north of Colorado in Pasadena, but it doesn't seem to be related. I ate there last week, it's good too.

it might be time for a tortas + oxy bookstore fap.

ok!

I am back in Highland Park now, got the keys today! Totally up for hanging in the hood, schedule permitting.

I been working in Lincoln Heights this week (I like Lincoln Heights!) and heard good things about King Torta (http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=king+torta&find_loc=Los+Angeles%2C+CA) anyone tried it?

Also - I know there is an OC thread but where is a good beach day/overnight getaway in OC? I just want sand and waves, I don't need "culture".

Huntington Beach is your answer, then. It is completely free of culture.

Does it get crowded?

Depends, was down there for a friend's going away party the other weekend and the beach was busy but pretty uncrowded, lovely day too.

Great!

Or you could stray a little further south and hit Monarch Bay/Dana Point/Laguna Nigel

GORGEOUS beaches.

Absolutely true (coastal hills vs. the utterly flat coast of HB) but there is too much culture there for admrl I fear. For culture read Wyland, I realize.

Huntington Beach is your answer, then. It is completely free of culture.

good title for any new OC thread

that wyland thing ugh

How close do you need to be from the beach? I'd go down to San Clemente (hotels are cheaper) and then head over to San Onofre State Beach.

san onofre is beautiful and totally devoid of culture. and if you go far south enough you can see vaguely creepy gay men devoid of clothes!

Meantime this could be good:

MTA officials hope a new partnership with Google Maps will make it easier for passengers to plan trips using the agency's buses and trains.

The MTA is the latest transit agency to join forces with Google to connect transit information on the interactive maps. According to the MTA, users will be able to get bus and train route information, schedules and stop locations using Google maps.

Passengers can type in dates, times and destinations into the map and get trip information, including transfer options and lists of landmarks along the routes.

definitely good news. the la metro website is a pain

it's frustrating to navigate but pretty reliable, wheras the mta info on google maps is either missing or a waterfall of bullshit, so i am in favour of this.

So can you say 'utterly gorgeous day'? I knew you could.

Also if anyone's interested, there's an R. Crumb exhibition opening tonight down here in OC -- I'll be there with a few friends:

http://www.ocweekly.com/events/r-crumbs-underground-440589/

it's a little too hot to be utterly gorgeous -- i'll like it better when the sun goes down.

i have michael mann's collateral out from netflix (along with a julia child french chef dvd); this may be tonight's entertainment.

This is going on all day tomorrow at the Monticello Lodge in Elysian Park: http://www.bastilledaylosangeles.com/

If anything, it'll be cheap ($5) and the food will be good.

recommended: blue corn tortilla quesadillas made by this woman who parks her cart on echo park ave south of sunset. no idea how much they are, but we ordered three of them and a bottle of mango juice and it came out to $11.50. two of them with chicken, one with chicharrón. SICK

The Kristi Engle gallery in Highland Park (5002 York) has an exhibit of pinball-related art, and more importantly, they have about a dozen vintage machines there available for free use. I think they said come back Thursday to play more, so check when they're open.

http://www.kristienglegallery.com/

http://www.pitchengine.com/brands/churchofscientologyinternational/images/17252/ChurchofScientologySignmedium.jpg

Los Angeles - More than a thousand Scientologists, their friends and families cheered the lighting of a new state-of-the-art LED sign Friday night atop the Scientology complex on the corner of L. Ron Hubbard Way and Sunset Boulevard.07.04.2009 – The updated landmark is three times the size of the previous Scientology sign, which had been in place since the late '70s and is recognized the world over. The new sign is 5.2 tons, 84 feet long, 16 feet tall and can be seen for miles - from several Hollywood and Los Angeles freeways, and indeed by aircraft from far above.

In May, the Church of Scientology launched a nationwide multi-platformed ad campaign on the Internet and television which has driven hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Church's massive Web site (www.Scientology.org). Edie Reuveni, president of the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles, said, "With this sign, we tell everyone: we are here, we are open seven days a week and you are welcome to come in and find out for yourself what Scientology is."

"...but you can never leave."

it looks even more egregious all lit up against the night sky. it becomes part of the skyline.

it might be time for a tortas + oxy bookstore fap.

― Visually-striking Cerebral Movies from the 1960s (get bent), Friday, July 10, 2009 12:43 AM (3 days ago) Bookmark

I don't know what oxy bookstore is but El Chavo in Los Feliz just started Gringo Domingo's last Sunday which might be a good FAP. The tacos are your general Echo Park taco truck variety.

P.s. the owner (who also owns Short Stop and Edendale] is Cubs fan FWIW.

I was getting the FAP state of mind for sure. Also a journalist friend from the UK will be staying in Hollywood for the month if August so an event or two would be fun.

Actually, how do people feel about this Friday? I have work off early and could be up there by early afternoon or so.

I would not be opposed to hanging out on Friday.

Although I think I'm going to be throwing a birthday party for my hamster on Saturday night.

I would not be opposed to hanging out on Friday.

^

Hmmm, check email soon.

I'm workin today but could knock off early.

Actually I'm out now as something else came up, but I'm planning something for early August, more details later etc.

You know, normally I'd be sad about a venue closing but NOT THIS ONE:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/07/hollywoods-knitting-factory-to-close.html

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-huell26-2009jul26,0,7955295.story

'The wonder and awe that make up Huell Howser'

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2009-07/48268656.jpg

Did you know that there is a place called Culver City, that serves food and things?

Fords Filling Station has all the LAT writers on their payroll. That place sucks.

I'm going to this in case anyone else is interested, you can get tickets by rsvping i hope:

http://www.scpr.org/

AirTalk Live Event

AirTalk goes "on the road" for our own Constitutional Convention.

Larry Mantle and guests will pick apart the present budget system and make specific proposals to change the way California does business.

Join Larry at the Center for the Preservation of Democracy on August 12th at 7:00 pm. RSVP to AirT✧✧✧@k✧✧✧.o✧✧.

Larry is one of my favorite radio interviewers and a good moderator

Nice.

Very likely going to be up at Griffith Observatory this Saturday with a slew of friends.

Meanwhile in the Dudamel interview that the LA Times ran, I did like this:

AG: You’re a dinner guy.
GD: I love to eat.

AG: What do you eat here?
GD: I love hot dogs. They made a hot dog for me, with my name, at Pink’s, with jalapeño, guacamole, nachos, everything. It’s not very Venezuelan, it’s more Mexican. But it doesn’t matter. I love to eat.

Hello:

Carnivores rejoice: Barbecue beef and pork will be the star attractions in Koreatown Saturday during the first annual Korean BBQ Festival and Cook-Off.

Organizers of the event promise that "you'll smell us from a mile away ... and that's a good thing." The festival will be from noon to 8 p.m. at 3223 6th St., Los Angeles.

The festival will feature an eating contest with a mystery ingredient, cooking demonstrations and food booths. The cook-off begins at 5; judges include Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold, the Times' Food Editor Russ Parsons and Evan Kleiman, owner of Angeli Caffe on Melrose Avenue.

Facebook listing here. I think I'm going! The Griffith Park deal I mentioned with friends is a bit later that evening.

Looks like the city council approved the cirque du soleil thing. The comments are pretty entertaining. Seems like a decent deal for the city tho, much to their chagrin. All the yokels coming to gawk at all the bullshit around hollywood and highland will eat this shit up.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/08/kodak-circus-1.html

Clinton's Cafeteria building up for sale.

dang

We should buy. (And if we rename it "Uh Oh I'm Having a Fantasy" you know we'll get foot traffic.)

Uh Oh I'm Having a Jello Salad

huell just went there for a followup they didnt utter a word >>:==
thank you ned for the introduction

Yer welcome!

GREAT history on LAist today about gambling ships and "The Battle of Santa Monica Bay"

http://laist.com/2009/08/08/laistory_the_battle_of_santa_monica.php

Is anyone going to the Sunset Junction festival this weekend? I think I may.

hey so i'm in town again from the 20th til the 26th. what does a donna do? (besides maybe that festival)

xxp this is cool too: http://www.damninteresting.com/the-battle-of-los-angeles

Rep. Maxine Waters - Health Reform Congressional Town Hall

WHEN: Saturday August 22, 2009 at 1:00 pm
WHERE: The Little Theater (L.A. Southwest College)
1600 W. Imperial Highway, Los Angeles, CA 90047

tell me you don't wanna rubberneck.

from the same e-mail:

We already know that the radical right-wing "tea-baggers" are planning to protest outside in an effort to disrupt, harass and intimidate Rep. Waters and her supporters.

plz liveblog

Hey, It would be much appreciated if anyone had any tips for good club events between the 3rd to the 16th Sept? I am in town to see family, but me and my sister would like to try and escape a bit. House/disco/techno/anything

I've not had any luck on myspace or LA weekly, Bottin/Italians is too late on the 18th. Dam-Funk is playing the 9th, but supporting Health, which I'm not so bothered about. Was thinking I would go to Amoeba and look for fliers?

Also, if anyone knows any other worthwhile events at all that would be cool, thanks

Probably not what you're looking for (unless anything can equal jazz), but there's a decent looking jazz festival September 6th and 7th...
http://www.angelcityjazzfestival.com/

fuck yeah fest is on the 5th or 6th or something but it is also probably not what you're looking for

Thanks, FYF looks alright, but my sister doesn't like rock music at all

Hot enough for ya etc.

seriously. had a good past week there tho (notwithstanding getting smacked in the head crossing bronson ave on hollywood)

smacked in the head with what?! :o

Gotham will welcome you back with open arms, smackfree.

a copy of dianetics?

nope, just some guy's hand. didn't like the fact that i was walking towards him in the crosswalk i guess!

i rarely leave the comfort of my car tbh

There in his car
Velko feels safest of all...

don't blame you!

regardless, i still think fondly of your fair megalopolis (and will probably move out there if a job opens up for me - lord knows there's enough vacant apts out there)

la is ok by me

watching footage of the rancho palos verdes fire. scary, but beautiful to look at.

the fire in the hemet area has grown to over 400 acres now.

From the Droid Behavior list:

Compression presents Convention 101
LA Electronic Music Festival

w/

Juan Atkins
Wighnomy Brothers
Paco Osuna
Stacey Pullen
Misstress Barbara
Deppchord presents Echospace
Egyptian Lover - live
Detroit Grand Pubahs
apendics.shuffle - live
Drumcell
Acid Circus
Jamie Jupiter - live
Robtronik
Andre Ezer
Developer
Matt Xavier
Steve Prior

located: 613 Lot @ 613 Imperial Street, LA 90021
info: http://www.compressionla.com

nm i checked the site and it's on the 19th

hope my old statistics professor who lives in palos verdes estates is doing okay!

Part Time Punks festival lineup announced: http://www.parttimepunks.com/ - October 11

CONFIRMED SO FAR:
(MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON!)
THE RAINCOATS
SECTION 25 (Factory Records)
MEDIUM MEDIUM
THE JAZZ BUTCHER
CRYSTAL STILTS
ABE VIGODA
KID CONGO POWERS
FOR AGAINST
SAVAGE REPUBLIC
THE INTELLIGENCE
VIV ALBERTINE [ex-SLITS]
WEAVE
+ guest DJs +
GANG OF FOUR members Hugo Burnham & Dave Allen
DAN SELZER (ACUTE RECORDS)
(MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON!)

I've heard of that one DJ...

yay medium medium

So going.

REALLY happy about For Against playing (and the Jazz Butcher of course!)

Yeah that's all pretty grand -- the 11th's a Sunday, yes? Should be able to swing that...

dudes, the La Canada fire is a scary beast. My mother in law lives about 2 miles away, and the fire on the mountain was scary as all hell.

Hope everyone's everyone is alright.

Not sure if anyone cares, but I put on KDAY last night after not listening to the radio in forever. That station plays nonstop jams. Mostly 90s hip hop r&b and funk but goddamn. I heard 'anything' by swv feat some wu tang dudes that I didn't even know existed. Will tune in again.

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2009-08/48935828.jpg

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-angelyne-hollywood29-2009aug29,0,2535363.story

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2009-08/48944526.jpg
http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2009-08/231163360-26085358.jpg

there was a huge shining mushroom cloud in front of me when I drove towards downtown from manhattan beach this afternoon

Jeez, they're saying the Mt Wilson observatory is threatened by the fire now. Completely depressing.

Had to evacuate the fire crews, it's up to the clearance work they've done, the weather and fire itself and the plane drops now:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/08/on-mt-wilson-right-now-the-fire-is-boss.html

hang in there LA dudes!

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/photos/2009/08/california-wildfires.html

You can pretty much see this no matter where you are in the basin:

http://media.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/photos/images/aug09/calfire_sm/cal_fires14.jpg

I really love people like these, no really:

The Station fire marched west today, prompting new evacuations in the Sunland-Tujunga area as authorities moved to rescue five people who refused to evacuate in the Gold Canyon area.

Officials said a Los Angeles County sheriff's helicopter was going to try to find the residents, who live off Little Tujunga Road.

Updated at 1:24 p.m.: Officials said the five people initially refused to leave their homes when the evacuation order was issued.

But since then, firefighters have set back fires in the area, and the people have now asked to be rescued. The Sheriff's Department considered sending a helicopter but was told by fire officials that conditions were not safe. Spokesman Steve Whitmore said the department is now monitoring conditions and trying to figure out how to get to them.

Dude. People tried to ride that shit out in a hot tub. A HOT TUB.

WTF?!?!

"We're already warm in the hot tub, so we can't catch fire."

Jeez, they're saying the Mt Wilson observatory is threatened by the fire now. Completely depressing.

I have a couple of tangential connections to the Mt. Wilson Observatory (and JPL too) and we all pretty much on pins and needles here. Anytime I can get the tower cam to load I let out a *phew*

Live scanner feed from fire crews/pilots here: http://live.northwestradio.net:8000/losangeles.mp3

how often is the towercam at the observatory down?

http://www.mtwilson.edu/fire.php btw

No doubt it's a shitty situation all around. but these people that refuse to evacuate when asked and then put firefighters at risk trying to save their asses are fucking jerks.

Owners of Hidden Springs Cafe fear it's gone

No doubt it's a shitty situation all around. but these people that refuse to evacuate when asked and then put firefighters at risk trying to save their asses are fucking jerks.

nothing to add, but this is worth reposting.

More on the two dead firefighters. Can't say enough about those dudes.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2009/08/31/astronomical-conflagration/

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/files/2009/08/fire_wayne_smith.jpg

time lapse of huge cloud
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-322595

http://palomarskies.blogspot.com/2009/09/mt-wilson-update.html

looks like mt. wilson is going to be ok : )

Tuesday, 1 Sep 09, 7:21 pm PDT - Much to report! I just got off the phone calling Larry Webster's office on the mountain hoping to confirm his arrival. Instead of Larry, the phone was answered by LA County Deputy Fire Chief Jim Powers who is in charge of protection for structures at the Observatory. Wow, do I feel much better. First, Larry, Dave Jurasevich and John Harrigan arrived safely on site. When I identified myself, Chief Powers asked if I would like a briefing. You can imagine my answer. Here's what I know.

Fire fighters arrived earlier than I previously reported and by 8:00 am they had started their prep work. They began at the northeast corner of the Observatory using drip torches all along a line from that point traversing the northern perimeter to the boundary of the antenna areas. They are currently applying the same treatment to the east and southern boundaries of the site and expect to complete that this evening. These fires will clear ground debris and burn down slope with the intention of meeting any approaching fire with depleted fuel. Many of you watched the Super Scooper drop a major load of water, which was deposited downslope from the backfires and not on the Observatory grounds. That has been supplemented by other aerial tankers and helitankers for more precision dropping at crucial locations. The goal is to slow down encroaching fire, disperse it and make it more manageable.

Chief Powers expressed his absolute confidence that they will save the Observatory. He said that while it may have appeared over the last day or so that the Observatory was being neglected, that they never lost sight of the importance of Mount Wilson's preservation and it is now their highest priority. He flew up to the mountain yesterday, was delighted with what he found and knew they could achieve success here. There are now 150 fire fighters on Mount Wilson. Not only are the crews from Calaveras County (Cal Fire) back up there, but there are Los Angeles County fire fighters and even a crew from Helena, Montana. They have eight engines equipped to spray fire retardant on structures in addition to the crew engines. Chief Powers told me this army of fire fighters is "not going anywhere. They are very hard working and talented people who will get the job done."

After this uplifting briefing from Chief Powers, Dave called me from the CHARA conference room where he will be bunking down for the night. He filled in with some other information he'd learnd from the Chief prior to my own briefing.

The fire is slowly coming up to the mountaintop through the canyon containing the remnants of the old Strain's Camp. Mountain water wells are located above the old tourist camping site. They are also anticipated as coming up the steep eastern canyon located between the Berkeley ISI facility and the CHARA machine shop - due east of the 100-inch telescope. The back fires will burn all the way down this canyon to disable this approach. Dave reported seeing fire on the way up at Eaton Saddle down towards Camp High Hill.

There is no structural damage on the mountain. A short in a pull box produce by old flimsy splicing was compromised by the back fires and power lost to the high pressure fire pump system. (We have also obviously lost our internet connection to the mountain.) John Harrigan and Larry Webster were shopping at "Mount Wilson Depot" - the electrical storage area in the 100-inch telescope building - for materials to construct a new power line to the fire pump building. This should present no difficulties at all for those guys.

Our facility is in great shape for defensibility and in the hands of a group of enthusiastic, highly experienced and absolutely devoted fire fighters. I want to acknowledge my predecessor Bob Jastrow for initiating a brush clearing program that we have continued, and I thank folks like the W. M. Keck Foundation for helping us a few years ago with funding for that activity. Chief Powers assured me that there is never a need to fully evacuate our site and it is essential that we leave knowledgeable personnel on site to assist them and ensure that our fire fighting and support infrastructure is functional. "They are as essential to your protection as smoke alarms," Chief Powers said. That makes me feel so much better about letting Dave, Larry and John go back on site.

Hearing the absolute confidence and expertise in Chief Powers' voice has given me great optimism for, what the Chief said himself, would be "another hundred years for Mount Wilson Observatory."

This is good news.

this is a couple of weeks old, but I hadn't seen it before:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBTUPpJJ4BU

Coyote attacks prompt action in Griffith Park
After two people are bitten in less than month, trappers are called in and kill seven of the animals.

By Tony Barboza

September 21, 2009

A man reported being attacked by a coyote in Griffith Park last week, wildlife officials said.

The man, who was lying down near the Travel Town area Wednesday night, reported waking up to find a coyote biting his foot, but he was not seriously injured, said Kevin Brennan, a wildlife biologist for the California Department of Fish and Game.

The attack was the second reported in less than a month in the 4,210-acre, chaparral-covered park. Wildlife authorities learned from Los Angeles County health officials last week that another person had been bitten in the park in late August.

In response, wardens dispatched U.S. Department of Agriculture wildlife services trappers, who roved the park Thursday and Sunday, trapping and lethally shooting seven of the animals. The agency's policy is to capture and kill coyotes only if there's an imminent threat to public safety. "Somebody getting bitten is an imminent threat," Brennan said.

But because authorities learned of the attacks too late to swab the victim for coyote DNA, they will never know if they nabbed the biter.

"It's been a while since we've had a bite here in Southern California, which is good. That's the way we like to see things," Brennan said. "But almost every day someone's losing pets to coyotes."

A 2004 study by the University of California's Hopland Research and Extension Center found coyote aggression and attacks on people and pets on the rise in the state, particularly in the Southland's "suburban-wild land interface" areas.

Pop singer Jessica Simpson's dog, a 5-year-old Maltese-poodle mix named Daisy, was snatched by a coyote outside her Los Angeles home Monday. Brennan said another 3-year-old "maltipoo" was taken in the jaws of a coyote right in front of its owner two nights later in the Hollywood Hills area.

As drought, development and wildfires have depleted their natural habitat, coyotes have adapted by scrounging for food and shelter in suburban backyards and parks. But there are many measures homeowners can take to make the creatures unwelcome.

What can I do to keep coyotes out of my yard?

Food and water lure coyotes. Don't leave pet food or water outside. Cover your compost and keep trash in clean containers with tight-fitting lids. Keep barbecue grills clean, limit the use of bird feeders, and pick up fallen fruit. Install motion-sensitive lighting and coyote-proof fencing if they continue to be pests.

How can I keep my children and pets safe?

Never allow young children to play outside unsupervised. Don't leave pets outdoors unattended, especially cats and small dogs. If you must keep them outside, confine your animals in sturdy kennels at least 6 feet high.

What should I do if a coyote approaches my home?

Immediately take pets and small children inside. Then make loud noises -- perhaps by banging pots and pans together -- or spray the animal with a garden hose or throw rocks toward it. That probably will drive the coyote away and help it retain its natural wariness of humans.

i could see the emmys red carpet from my plane

you have a plane?

just saw a coyote the other day running around the SL reservoir

I haven't seen any in a while, but I know that the Pasadena area will probably have a bunch since the Angeles Forest suffered so much damage from the Station Fire.

Not cool to snatch pets, crazy wolfish dogs. Not cool.

RIP
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0120a597f9d6970b-600wi

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/09/naked-los-angeles-landmark-to-make-way-for-parking-lot.html

http://www.boingboing.net/images/th_vaginas-r-us.jpg

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/09/la-lifeguards-will-clear-beaches-at-8-pm-amid-tsunami-advisory-for-california-coast.html

http://acuterecords.com/blog/imgs/thechase.jpg

also Part Time Punks. More here:
http://acuterecords.com/blog/?p=169

And a fine day it will be!

just announced, saturday at the Standard Downtown, part-time punks pre-party,

DJs from Gang of Four, The Germs, Punky Reggai, LTM and I should be stopping by. Record signings by The Raincoats, The Jazz Butcher, Section 25 and the Slits (or at least viv albertine, who is playing on sunday)

I just came on to ask about this part time punks thing. It all seems rather good! I wanna see Dan DJ and I wanna see The Raincoats

Yeah, you should come on Sunday! Elvis T., get bent and I are all in so far, anyone else?

I probably will, but that's a LOT of bands. I wanna see The Raincoats and I am not a patient man

So come fashionably late with your entourage and be obnoxious. (Actually you should try that tonight at the Echoplex with the SOOOPER SEKRIT 'oh hai i am thom yorke and these are my best friends' show.)

last year there were no ins n outs for the ptp fest so yeah if you want to see the raincoats come late

Ohhh, might try to come to this.

Yeah, you should come on Sunday! Elvis T., get bent and I are all in so far, anyone else?

i don't know if i'm gonna make it.

what do people in LA dance to? Hi-Nrg and Hip House? Italo-disco and new wave? Nu-disco? Old disco? House revival? 80s party jams?

lady gaga

poker face or just dance?

any mauricio kagel fans in the house? anyone want to see 111 cyclists?

http://www.mondayeveningconcerts.org/events/022210.html

Nice meeting everybody this past weekend - Dan, Nicole, Ned, Elvis, and Rick!

Sorry I couldn't make it, was up very late wrestling with a gigantic IKEA wardrobe.

Meanwhile in 'that took long enough' news:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/10/1-billion-expansion-of-lax-expected-to-win-approval-today.html

Only .2 billion cheaper than nu Yankee Stadium..

Roffles:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-city-of-industry20-2009oct20,0,4377291.story

These guys and Vernon should have an all out patronage war. Winner gets to figure out who eviscerates Irwindale.

i had lunch from the nom nom truck (banh mi) and coolhaus (ice cream). i love banh mi but would probably get the tacos next time -- tacos are easier to eat as "street food," while the flaky baguette of the sandwich is a little too messy and doesn't hold the fillings in that well. (i got the $7 combo of the 12-inch bbq pork banh mi, 1 lemongrass chicken taco, and a soda.)

coolhaus ice cream sandwich is delicious! i got the balsamic fig & mascarpone inside two sugar cookies. would totally eat this again.

fuckin' nom nom truck

i know it's bourgie but their logo and twitter feed are very cute.

I really want Cowboys & Turbans to get a truck.

I don't really have anything against the nom nom truck except the name is all internet and shit

also when in life would I ever have the chance to type fuckin' nom nom truck

i want a jamaican roti truck. bonus points if they also serve fried plantains.

I wish they had a truck that serves "mexican" tacos.

Santa Ana's right down here, duder.

ooh, that reminds me to take the gold line extension (when it opens on the 15th) to al & bea's in boyle heights.

xpost
If only I could find these mythical "mexican" tacos on the east side!

oh the culture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBg100xK4MU

I spent all day yesterday riding this thing. it's really slow!!

me too. we went brunching across highland park yesterday. good times.

You were in my neighborhood? And you didn't warn me? Where did you go, Larkin's?

Huarache Azteca.

You live there now? I ~knew~ you were a QT fanboy deep down inside! :P

You could say I've lived here for three years with a one-year hiatus in Echo Park.

That's weird, I was almost going to go to Huarache Azteca myself yesterday.

And I love Quicktime, I have no idea what you're talking about.

i miss huarache azteca so muchhhhhh

why did i think you lived in north hollywood? huh. i should have called you.

did u go to galcos

That place is weird

I have never knowingly lived in or near North Hollywood

i only went once but its the only highland park landmark i could think of

besides big lots obviously

This is a good Highland Park landmark:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3062/2627585910_f8b5b8ca14.jpg?v=0

i hadn't been there in years... i used to live on the other side of I-5 many, many, many years ago. i remember when Huarache Azteca opened (winter of 96?), but was stoked to see they had moved the juice bar out of the restaurant and down to a storefront a few doors down. i got a jicima, cactus and grapefruit smoothie that was unbelievable.

oh, you lived in mt. washington, now i remember. my bad! :-P

Or this:
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/thelede/posts/0208gang.jpg

xp
yes, mt washington

adam what is your favorite between the york, johnnys and martys

obviously not martys

haha that looks like a picture from every saturday night on milwaukee avenue when i was living there

I went to Johnnys once and it was ok. They let me use the jukebox for free.

I've never been to Marty's, it looks mad creepy.

My favorite bar around here used to be The Cahelt until it became the Black Boar. Now I guess I just like the bar in All Star Lanes haha

I went to Larkins last weekend. Had the salmon cakes benedict - pretty good!

My boss says that The York used to be this amazing Chinese bar and it had the best atmosphere of any bar in the city. He's lived here for over sixty years so who knows when this was.

xp-you were here too?

The Cahelt = The Chalet, obviously

johnny's is dope imo, they always have good beer on tap and occasional beer tastings.

I was being Yiddish or dyslexic or both

xp

"With you always"

QT ref = Walking down York in suits and sunglasses and my bro starts humming the bass line to "Little Green Bag".

I want to like Johnny's more. Obv I'm very much taken but I was still sort of weirded out when I was in there and it was like 50 dudes and 2 girls.

I will try it again. I live literally two blocks from there.

the york and johnnys are both ok. yorks food is pretty good for bar food.

the verdugo is the best bar in that area imo

Yeah that place is nice. I like the patio out back. I still miss the Cahelt though.

verdugo is maybe my favorite bar in l.a.

johnny's is run by a dude i kinda know. it used to be divier and sketchier, i guess. they have allagash on tap sometimes! i guess there's more dudes there a lot of the time, but it's just that kind of spot i suppose.

Highland Park's other landmark.

http://www.cyclewaycoffee.net/images/photos/los-angeles/chicken-boy-amy-inouye-figueroa-highland-park-los-angeles.jpg

a plug for this show at disney hall on saturday:

http://www.laweekly.com/events/kronos-quartet-terry-riley-matmos-mike-einzier-771189/

my bf (andre, whom most of you have met) will be one of the guitarists on the einziger piece. einziger was in incubus and ran off to harvard to study serious music, so... we'll see.

and of course you all know and love matmos.

I will not be able to attend, but congratulations to Andre!

einziger was in incubus and ran off to harvard to study serious music

"That's funny, Rivers said it would be different."

I will not be able to attend, but congratulations to Andre!

^^^^^ on this

It's time for my annual SoCal adventure (three Januarys running now).

So, I am going to UCSC (but this thread need not concern itself with that), and then observing on Palomar and visiting UCI and UCSB. My question now is: I have four days between Palomar and UCI over a weekend. I have no wheels, but I can get a lift somewhere to start me off. Should I just head straight to Irvine? Or is there somewhere particularly amazing I could spend a weekend without going all the way up to LA. I like beaches and Mexican food, and ideally it would be somewhere inexpensive. Newport? Huntington? Ned, you must know the answer to this.

Quite. Newport? Inexpensive? I roffle at you. :-D That all said drop me a direct line for more info especially since I can give you all the information you need regarding carless travel around here, though others should pitch in too -- I think Admrl spent a chilled weekend in Huntington recently so he might know of a good spot there to stay and the beach is right there, though foodwise you should probably look elsewhere.

Haha, ok, just looked Newport up. I basically looked on Google Maps for what is in the area. I don't know anything about either Newport or Huntington. High cost of living is not particularly a problem, as long as I can find somewhere cheep to stay. I have been to Long Beach, which was laaaaaame, so (i) I don't want to go back (ii) I don't want to go anywhere like that. I cannot get a lift down to San Diego, but anywhere north of, say, Camp Pendleton would be fine. I will be hitting the beach in Santa Barbara, so could forgo it in Orange if there is somewhere particularly great inland. I obviously need to do some reading about this part of the world. Would I have a terrible time in Irvine?

Once I have narrowed this down I will definitely get in touch re: public transport. I have done LA and Pasadena on the bus/train/metro, but I'm guessing OC is kind of a different beast, and it's more important to choose a hotel in the right part of town if you're going to depend on the bus.

cheep

I obviously need to do some reading about this part of the world.

I can recommend without hesitation:

http://www.amazon.com/Orange-County-Personal-Gustavo-Arellano/dp/1416540040/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259254203&sr=8-1

(Helps that Gustavo is not only a great writer but a stellar guy, just saw him a week or so back at a local art gathering.) That said this is a personal/social history of the county rather than a tourist guide, so some brief thoughts:

You don't go to Irvine, you get out of it. (As I'm happy to do each day.) Aside from some restaurants and UCI, which is its own world, there is no need to stay there unless you are relentlessly fascinated by creepy 1960s suburban planning. Also it is v. unwalkable. So no.

Long Beach lame? Lame parts, yes, but there's some great areas too; many friends of mine live there. Sounds like you had a bad spot to be in!

Huntington Beach is this...bizarre place where you have this odd farrago of surfing rednecks defining the town, either because they're in charge or they're the ones getting beaten up by the ones in charge. (Toughlove, I guess.) But the beaches are excellent, though you will never hear a greater amount of 'Hey brah' greetings exchanged between people in Ed Hardy gear. There's some cheapish spots to stay, I think.

Newport's cost of living = uh, yeah. Still there's hostels and the like around and if you stay on the peninsula there's, again, a stellar beach. I think Costa Mesa would be a better option -- admittedly I'm biased since I live there! -- as you'll probably find a cheaper spot to stay in, it's a simple bus/bike ride to the beach from most of the area, and there are plenty of connections to UCI as well. Also, lots of good food that I'll be happy to point you to, Mexican or otherwise (but Santa Ana to the north of Costa Mesa is where you'll REALLY want to go for good Mexican food).

Also -- and yes, OC is a VERY different beast in terms of public transport -- Costa Mesa is probably your best bet there too for these reasons: there's a bus line that runs from the city up to the Anaheim Amtrak/Metrolink stop (I live next to said line -- incredibly handy), while there's also connections easily made to a bus hub in Newport to various lines, including the 1, which is the actual coastal route for much of the county. This would allow you to hit up things like the state beaches tucked away along the coast towards Laguna Beach and up to Bolsa Chica and the like. Then there's Laguna itself and down to South County but that's kinda out of my stomping grounds -- lovely beaches there too but I think your options for cheap accomodation are limited at best.

Staying inland, well, depends on the spot, but there's a lot of anonymous dead zones throughout the county where you'll find little of interest. If you're going to skip the beach, I'd suggest Fullerton -- there's lots of good little spots tucked around there, it's an Amtrak/Metrolink stop, and you can easily use Metrolink to get to Orange as well as Tustin (Amtrak stops at neither) -- the Tustin stop is important since there's a direct bus connection to UCI from there.

Anyway let me know more as the time gets nearer -- I've got a vague travel plan going for January so I'm not sure when I'll be around, but hopefully we can at least meet up at UCI itself for a chat and a drink.

Wow Ned, thanks!

I would love to read that book, and it sounds like just the kind of social history I like, but until I finish my PhD I am on a strict no books for fun diet. I will put it on my list though. I will definitely check it out if I get a job in CA.

I kind of am fascinated by creepy 1960s suburban planning, but not to the extent that I would live in it for four days without a car. So thanks for the heads-up!

My experience of Long Beach was pretty much restricted to the area around the conference center, so it was probably not representative.

Costa Mesa looks perfect, tbh. Looking at Expedia, it seems hotels (I'm too old for hostels : D) suddenly become affordable, e.g. this place I can manage, and the further from Newport toward Costa Mesa you go, the cheaper they get. And with your know-how it sounds like I'll be able to do a day going down toward Laguna or up to Huntington or somewhere, which is enough variety/vacation for me. The other days I just want to write in the morning, sit on the nearest beach for a couple of hours in the afternoon, and then eat Mexican food. Speaking of writing in the morning, I assume it won't be too much of a problem to find a quiet, non-Starbucks coffee shop or something to do this?

Fullerton looks a little bit too far from UCI for me. But it sounds like I need to go that far to avoid the dead zone if I leave the coast, right?

I will be in town the long weekend of January and am definitely up for meeting you and any of the rest of the gang if you happen to be in the area. Long shot, but I will be zinging through LA at some point the following week too (maybe even Friday night, Jan 15). Still got to figure that bit out though.

Ha, I know all about having to put reading for pleasure on the shelf when doing grad work so understood.

Yeah Irvine's interesting looking at as a social experiment I suppose...if your ride from Palomar has the time, turn off the 405 and drive around a bit to get a sense of it. And then get back on and get out of there. (And yes, Long Beach is not the convention center. Try Belmont Shores/2nd Avenue next time.)

Haha okay that Ramada is PERFECT for you. Seriously, just book there and be done with it. You're right near the 55 bus line, which will take you down East 17th, where a lot of good spots to eat and/or chill are located, but all of which is easily walkable from that Ramada as well. If you need coffee in that area, go directly to the very decidedly NON-Starbucks Kean Coffee, do not pass go; meanwhile, my hands down favorite restaurant in OC, the Avanti Cafe, is equidistant from the Ramada and Kean. Another bus line, the 71, goes right down into the Newport Beach Peninsula and the beaches there. Meanwhile the 55 line goes directly to that transportation hub I mentioned for the 1, which will take you to the other beaches as mentioned, as well as the 79, which goes through UCI itself en route north. As for Mexican food, as mentioned Santa Ana has the cream of the crop -- look for anything Gustavo recommends via the OC Weekly food site -- but the 55 line in the other direction from the Ramada location can comfortably take you there and back, while Taco Mesa's original location in Costa Mesa is also walking distance from the Ramada and must not be missed. (And if you need a quick fix go for any Wahoo's location you find -- this one isn't far from the Ramada either, but Taco Mesa is nearer, and you must go there first, without exception) Everything you're after in one spot! And since I've mentioned all the bus lines, use the OCTA website to scrounge up further details -- best way to LA and further north would be the 55 to the hub, then the 57 straight up to the Anaheim Stadium/Amtrak etc. stop, though you have do a little walking to the station from there, nothing too bad.

Yeah that long weekend is very likely when I might not be around. We'll see!

If you do end up in Laguna, drop me a line - I've got a lot of food recommendations there.

Heed Elvis's words -- I know a couple of okay spots in Laguna but he'll have much more to offer there.

Ned, may a thousand virgins shower you with lotus blossoms. I am going to end up going to 90% of your suggestions. I hope you are in town, because I owe you dinner!

Elvis (and Ned), I will post again nearer the time to see who's available.

I hope you are in town, because I owe you dinner!

Then you're on the hook for an Avanti meal! Thanks and hope the whole trip's a blast.

Is it "er-vin" or "er-vine"?

Vine.

Thanks, now they've GOT to give me the job.

Haha

earvin johnson

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61PN2BYAZNL.jpg

i recommend the new silver lake branch of the LAPL, fyi. they carry virtually every single criterion collection dvd!

i helped do some of the recon for this project last year -- nice to know that an initial "study" has become a reality.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/las-west-3rd-street-to-launch-public-valet-service-nov-28th-70189327.html

amagi the funnest karaoke spot in l.a. has closed :(
http://theguide.latimes.com/hollywood/music/amagi-night-club-venue
rip ninja steve

yes thats a dare to show me fun karaoke spots low on dbaggery and attitude. the place had a pisspoor selection but the cameraderie was a+

oh man... had some good times at amagi

Unfortunately, some valets have abused the public parking meters and loading spaces...

srsly. used ta be you could get a meter around there until all the valets moved in >:-[

Can anyone recommend a shop (besides Amoeba) for reggae vinyl in LA? The search function wasn't much help.

Try Record Surplus. There's also Reggae Taz in Mid City

gonna go see Patton Oswalt's new movie at the new bev this Wednesday if anyone wants to come. Patton will be there!

Big Fan is an emotionally charged, sometimes harrowing, ceaselessly fascinating look at the fallout following a rabid football fan's violent encounter with a star player. Oswalt is nothing short of mesmerizing as he steps back from his razor-sharp standup persona and delivers a powerful portrayal of a man who gets too close to the world he idolizes, suddenly finding himself the focus of the media spotlight, at odds with his family and questioning every aspect of the passionate fandom that has dominated his life.

oh laker game on that night nevermind
jk!!!!!!!

Yeah, that's how to bury a news story.

maybe he was tutoring the grad student ; )

i'm excited about vinyl again... who's up for ambushing some record stores sometime soon?

Post Xmas, likely enough!

Hey look guys theyre making the Sunset Strip cool again!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/fashion/06adler.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=roxy%20adler&st=cse

He responded by booking indie acts that would typically play venues like Spaceland or Echoplex: Weezer, the hipster D.J. Steve Aoki and Them Crooked Vultures, the all-star band with members from Led Zeppelin, Queens of the Stone Age and the Foo Fighters. That show sold out after it was announced on Twitter.

For one thing, he had to contend with the hipper Silver Lake and Echo Park music scenes, six miles east — an eternity in Los Angeles traffic.

“I watched that community happen and I was very impressed by it,” Mr. Adler said. “At first I was very resentful and felt like, ‘Oh no, they don’t know anything about music.’ Then the bands left and bloggers started to move there.”

i don't think the strip is gonna compete with spaceland/the echo/henry fonda/etc, they're just two different worlds. tbqf dealing with the strip on a weekend evening is just not worth the trouble for people who don't live within close proximity. it's barely worth the trouble even dealing with the troubadour.

He responded by booking indie acts that would typically play venues like Spaceland or Echoplex: Weezer, the hipster D.J. Steve Aoki and Them Crooked Vultures, the all-star band with members from Led Zeppelin, Queens of the Stone Age and the Foo Fighters. That show sold out after it was announced on Twitter.

this makes no sense

ITT The Viper Room

i think it's proof that music that matters® is back on the sunset strip

Youd also think the people who charge $20 for parking near that shithole have a vested interest in keeping it a tourist trap.

huell howser meets clementine the goat!

http://ow.ly/KnGy

Maybe we need a quiddities thread for the LA Times.

nachos complete with gooey orange cheese product ($26)

more like lol lol land

HOW DARE YOU MOCK THE PRODUCT ($341)

OG Hyde has great bones though. The bar that was there however many name-changes ago spawned BOONDOCK SAINTS.

Super exclusive!

Contact: For table reservations, call (323) 330-8018 or e-mail hydestaplestab✧✧✧@s✧✧.c✧✧; www.sbe.com/hydestaples

Hahahah okay somehow that just seems right. (xpost and that too)

Maybe we need a quiddities thread for the LA Times.

quiddities and agonies of the working class: "seven-member family gets evicted from studio apartment, is living in van. matriarch is let go from nanny job because the 761 bus to bel-air is always stuck in traffic on the sepulveda pass"

WHOOOOSHHHH! It's windy out!

my girlfriends latches on her bedroom window are weak to say the least.. bedroom windows were blown open at 7am this morning. =(

could be worse.. could live in lancaster or some other shithole where the winds are undoubtedly 100mph.

also glad Im not going north today as the 5 is closed for ice.

i just attempted to go outside and quickly realized i didn't want to be outside after all. back home now.

Ran into this guy on the walk to work...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2731/4206082839_4cde1f2b80.jpg

could be worse.. could live in lancaster or some other shithole where the winds are undoubtedly 100mph.

MHV (Mojave airport) was reporting 30 knot winds with a temperature of 35°. I'll take a pass...

Ran into this guy on the walk to work...

There were a series of smaller ones on the 101 this morning. cars were literally swerving to miss them. I took the opportunity to plow straight through something at 75 mph.

Not even a scratch on the car!

Does anyone have a favorite Sichuan place?

Right now planning on hitting this place: http://www.yelp.com/biz/chung-king-san-gabriel

sounds like a place i would have loved in my twenties, when my body could handle that level of spice. ma po tofu sounds delicious right now.

I've been to Heng Yang Chili King in Monterey Park and liked it, but I can't compare it to Chunk King as I've never been there.

Does anyone have a favorite Sichuan place?

Right now planning on hitting this place: http://www.yelp.com/biz/chung-king-san-gabriel

I've eaten at Chung King a LOT though I slightly prefer the one on Garfield Ave. Their Chinese bacon with leeks is one of my Alltime Favorite Dishes anywhere.
Jonathan Gold's review of it is great: http://www.laweekly.com/2002-06-27/eat-drink/chile-scenes-of-summer/

Follow up on last post... Apparently, the chefs from the Garfield location have moved to the San Gabriel one.

Love Jonathan Gold. Love being back in LA.

ned, do you know if you'll be in town jan 8-11 yet?

Yup, will be around -- I thought you were arriving the week after though? No matter, I'll be here.

Cool! Let's go to Avanti one night that weekend? Friday, Saturday or Sunday are all fine right now. Will any other LA ilxors come, or should we take this to email?

[Not clicking the thread until I see it, but I assume you've already seen Avatar, which is also on my todo list for that weekeend.]

Whoops, forgot to reply -- if anyone else wants to head down next weekend, Avanti *is* worth it. If it's just us, Friday would be best; otherwise Saturday.

Cool. Will keep them both free for now.

What was the name of the Irvine area IMAX theater I should see Avatar at?

It's at a mall called the Spectrum:

http://www.fandango.com/edwardsirvinespectrum2126imax_aabtb/theaterpage

So this would be next weekend, right? I would be down.

The weekend of the 9th and 10th? I'd be down also.

Good to hear -- here's the info on Avanti:

http://www.avantinatural.com/

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=259+E.+17th+St.+Costa+Mesa,+CA+92627&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=27.22791,54.931641&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=259+E+17th+St,+Costa+Mesa,+Orange,+California+92627&z=16

Let me assure you that this is some of THE best food around, anywhere, and that you'd be crazy not to leave room for dessert. I'm on v. good terms with the owners as well and will be happy to book in a reservation -- in fact I'm swinging by there today, so how about Saturday the 9th at 5 pm? I can put us down for four people for now.

Sounds great.

It does sound great. I'm in.

I have a party to go to later that night, but if it's at 5 PM I can probably join you guys.

Good deal! Am just coming back from Avanti now and have already booked in for four; I'll give them a final number when I swing by again next Thursday so if anyone else will be joining beyond Jeff, post here. See everyone on the ninth!

sweet!

Meantime noting what get bent had said a while back, anyone up for a general record store scrounge, vinyl or otherwise? Will be up at Amoeba tomorrow around lunch but otherwise nothing specific planned.

Are we all set for tomorrow still?

Sure are, was about to revive the thread. 5 pm, set for five people at present, but if anyone else wants in let me know. Will see folks there!

I am in town!

I'm still in for Avanti.

Rock. And your timing couldn't be better, caek, given the weather.

owned:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/01/cyclist-sentenced.html

For great justice.

Meanwhile, Scott of Pretty Goes With Pretty called my attention to this, which sounds like a must at some point this month:

http://www.marshallastor.com/2010/01/06/lacma-has-the-best-art-thing-in-la-right-now/

toying with avatar tomorrow morning at the edwards irvine. seats aren't pre-allocated, right? let's say it's sold out (i'm planning on the 11.30am screening, so i'm not sure how likely that is). trying to figure out when to get there. what time does the room open? what time might i worry about a line forming and me ending up in shitty seets. or can i just turn up 15 mins before showtime and all will be well?

seets = seats, of course

Based on everything I was hearing from some group one table over at lunch, IMAX screenings are still selling out big time. I'd probably call their box office directly right now to be safe.

A new thread for 2010:

Los Angeles Thread #6: Bury My Heart At Forest Lawn