I spent the weekend trying to avoid the mall. We did pretty good and if you’re looking for something not quite cookie-cutter for a holiday gift, check out some of these:

The Man and I started on Saturday morning by heading to Culver City to pick up a few things at Surfas at the Helms Bakery Building and of course explore the many new-to-us stores. Most notably the HD Buttercup, which I suppose could be called a mall in the sense that it’s lots of stores under one roof, but they’re not chains and you’re more likely to find something a little less common here. If you’re looking for home accessories, it’s a pretty good bet you’ll find something to your liking here. Parking was super easy and it’s freeway close. But what I really enjoy about the building is their celebration of the history of the place. Ooh, and all the way in the back there was a little machine that gave you free coffee! We ended up finding some really good deals at Boom Studio around the corner. There are also a few sassy restaurants there.

We then headed over to the 3rd Street Promenade, which is also rather mallish, but contains many independently owned stores and shops and of course is a madhouse. I can’t say we had any success there, but it was fun to look and of course the people watching is pretty good.

On Sunday we headed down to Chinatown. It’s a great place to find inexpensive stocking stuffers (or even Chinese silk damask holiday stockings). Teapots and pottery for everyone on your list and amazing selections of tea. Little silk items, handpainted parasols, slippers, and ties make great inexpensive gifts

It’s not all tacky Chinese stuff, the big draw there at the moment is Munky King and you might enjoy Ooga Booga and Realm (pictured).

There are plenty more places in LA to find some really well-thought out gifts for your friends and family. And I still have lots left on my list to take care of. Anyone else have some suggestions?

Joseph Cornell has always been one of my favorite artists. His mysterious/mystical boxes and collages that contain elements of false travels and distant lands are endlessly fascinating to me…continue reading

My parents and grandparents woke up this morning at 4 something a.m. I ignored them and went back to sleep. As much as I try, I can’t match my elders’ devotion to la Virgen de Guadalupe. They left to church to begin the festivities for el DÌa de la Nuestra SeÒora de Guadalupe. December 12 is a major holiday in Mexico and is celebrated the Mexican way: with a big party.

Ay my home parish, the celebration occurs on the Sunday before December 12. The day starts off at dawn with a procession, Rosary, and “Las MaÒanitas.” At morning Mass, mariachis play songs like “Las MaÒanitas” and “La Guadalupana.” The best part of the Mass is when the Aztec danzantes (dancers) enter the serene church and begin their dances in honor of la Virgencita. They command the entire assembly’s attention with sounds of conchas (conch shells), huehuetls (drums), and sonajas (rattles). Aztec dancing is always impressive, but in a Catholic church it takes on a different meaning. It shows that the civilization and customs the Spanish and Catholic Church wanted to stamp out still exist today.

After Mass, parishioners head over to the church hall to enjoy Mexican folklÛrico dancers, more music from the Mariachis and good food. I helped my mom make signs yesterday for the food sales. On the menu? Tacos de carne asada, sopes, tamales, pan dulce, hot chocolate, champurrado, and other typical foods. The dancing and singing stop long enough for children to re-enact the story of the miraculous events that occurred in December 1531, just ten years after the Spanish had invaded Tenochtitl·n and decimated the Aztecs with guns and disease.

Any Mexican knows the story, but it’s worth repeating. As with other stories of apparitions, the Virgen did not appear to a powerful person, but a poor man Aztec Indian, Juan Diego. On Friday, December 9, he was walking through the hills of Tepeyac on his way to Mass in Tlatelolco when he first encountered la Virgen.
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I know you’ve seen her. She’s on candles, murals, taco trucks, and flickr. She’s in private homes and in public spaces. She has her own alcove in ornate churches and graces humble shrines. She’s even on a steering wheel cover in Wal-Mart.

La Virgen de Guadalupe is omnipresent throughout El Pueblo de Nuestra SeÒora la Reina de los Angeles del RÌo de Porci˙ncula. I was thinking of this on the way to campus yesterday morning. I was so lost in concentration that I almost hit a black pick-up truck slowing down at the 10/405 interchange. When I noticed the white decal of la Virgen de Guadalupe on the rear window, I laughed at the irony of nearly crashing into the subject of my thoughts.

A decal on a truck should not surprise me. There are thousands of people with roots in Mexico living in LA. La Virgencita is the patron saint of Mexico (but this does not preclude other Latinos from being devotees). Monday December 12, el DÌa de Nuestra SeÒora de Guadalupe, is the day when Mexicans and other Guadalupanos (devotees), get together to celebrate and honor her.

I’ve split this up into three posts because one would be too long. Tomorrow, the origins of la Virgen de Guadalupe and the story of how she appeared to a humble Aztec Indian, Juan Diego, in 1531. Monday, more about the way she’s been interpreted by Guadalupanos in contemporary times.

Thanks to Gilbert Estrada for the photo.

I found this lovely wig in a store window on Hollywood Boulevard this morning, somewhere between Highland and Vine. How cute is that little guy?! If I had white hair, I would knit a tiny scarf and sculpt a snowman hairstyle of my own. (Click for a larger version.)

While certainly I’m a long-winded advocate for cycling as an alternate commute option, it could be argued that I come up short in practicing what I preach… and I’m nowhere near as knee deep in the bike culture as I could or should be. That changed some when I got better acquainted with the Bicycle Kitchen last summer and undertook an abandoned bike restoration project (previously written about here and here).

But in the time since that connection was established I’ve managed to avoid the Kitchen’s keystone Midnight Ridazz event. Either by lethargy, trepidation or conflicts of schedule I’ve put off participating in the monthly group ride, which basically mashes up elements of a mobile hipster hangout with the take-over-the-streets aspects of a Critical Mass ride. But last night I damned the apathy and fully sped ahead over to the event’s staging area in the Pioneer Chicken parking lot on Echo Park Boulevard a block north of Sunset.

Arriving about 15 minutes before the 10 p.m. start time I found well over a hundred cyclists already assembled on every imaginable type of bike and dozens more arriving as the minutes ticked off. Many embraced the promoted pool/beach party theme by costuming themselves in snorkles, masks, flotation devices. One guy cruised around with a giant shark on his back and still another, donned a furry rabbit head, goggles, waterwings and a beachball as if it were nothing new. One gal removed her tee to bike in just a bikini top despite the chilly temps. To say the mood was festive and high-spirited would be an understatement, in large part fueled by the consumption of many a Tall Boy from brown paper bags. In short order, I was handed a coveted spoke card, with the route listed on the back: Sunset to La Brea to Hollywood to Normandie, ending at the dive bar at Fountain and Normandie. That was shorter than I’d expected. But what I hadn’t expected was how fun, invigorating, empowering and at times flat-out insane the journey would be — even a short one such as this.
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My friend Ian C Rogers tipped me off to this very cool project called The Land Of Plenty. It’s a foundation that gives skateboards to inner city kids in return for art, encouraging creativity and skateboarding all at once. Good things if you ask me. Tomorrow night they are having an event here in LA (Brooklyn Projects Skateshop, 7664 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046-7441) where they will be showing off hand painted boards, dishing out drinks, rockin a mini ramp and sticking a bunch of pros out with the common people to rub shoulders. Should be pretty cool.

This showed up in my inbox and seemed like something I’d actually like to check out. We’ve got an opening at sixspace tonight so I can’t make the release party, but the book looks like a must read. From the e-mail:

“Just a reminder to come and join us in celebrating the publication of Walking LA: 36 Walking Tours Exploring Stairways, Streets and Buildings You Never Knew Existed and visit the Los Feliz Village Holiday Festival tomorrow evening. We hope to see you there!

Who: Author Erin Mahoney, publisher Wilderness Press and host Skylight Books

Where: Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 323-660-1175

When: Saturday, December 10th 6:00 to 9:00 PM

Since we relocated the gallery to Culver City I’m spending a lot of time there and need some new options. Anyone know of any cool coffee shops that have free wifi in the area? The closer to the 10 & Fairfax/ Venice the better. I know there’s the Starbucks on Venice and Culver that has T-Mobile but if I can find something a little more indie with better braodband I’d be all over it. Pls post any suggestions in the comments. Thanks!

These two weeks after Miami and before the holidays are full of art exhibitions, fundraisers, and events. On abLA I’ve listed two benefits, Incognito at the Santa Monica Museum of Art this Saturday and Small Wonders at Pharmaka Gallery next Saturday…continue reading

One would think that after such an art experience like ABMB would curtail art events ever-so-slightly under at least the New Year but not in Los Angeles! At least not this weekend anyway. Saturday night hosts many receptions, mainly in Chinatown and Culver City, that really just carry over the momentum gained by Miami. What a way to end the year! I’ve listed my picks from West-side to East on abLA so have fun kids!…continue reading

Image: Elizabeth McGrath @ Billy Shire Fine Arts

Here’s a really comprehensive follow up on the Starbucks Challenge created by Robert Blum that maps all the del.icio.us tags for people requesting fair trade coffee at a Starbucks.

As a little background, GreenLA Girl started this back in October (Fair Trade Month) when Starbucks was promoting its fair trade coffee. However, not everyone is able to get fair trade poured for them at Starbucks and the corp didn’t seem to understand that. So folks have been documenting their experiences at requesting fair trade coffee at their local Starbucks.

Personally I tried it twice. Once at the Starbucks on Sunset & Gower where they happily had it brewing and the other time at the Glendale Blvd. & Fletcher location where they French pressed it and didn’t even charge me! So my success rate has been 100%.

(Earlier post by Sean)

Get a load of all these rules for the express lane at the Washington Mutual in Culver City:

The annual LADWP Festival of Lights (continuing through December 30) is one of those events you do once — if that — and then probably never again, because suffering the Griffith Park gridlock it creates is more trouble than a mile-long bunch of twinkling representations of everything from city hall to LAX to the Los Angeles aqueduct are worth.

In the years since it debuted, bikes have been a prohibited means of transport through the festival presumably because of perceived safety issues, but in response to bike advocates calling bullshit, last year saw the debut of the Festival of Lights Bike Ride. The second annual excursion is scheduled for this next Tuesday, December 13. So if you’ve avoided the event because of the traffic or just want to reacquaint yourself with the festive use of electricity from a different perspective, you’ll want to roll over to the staging area at Griffith Park Carousel parking lot at 6 p.m.

From the Bicycle Kitchen website:

The more bikes that turn out for this event, the more the DWP will increase the “car-free” time slots! So show your support and bring your friends!

And keep in mind the L.A. Fire Department’s “Spark of Love” crew will be on hand with a bin at the festival’s entrance to accept new, unwrapped toys to be distributed to needy children.

Super congrats to Brian Humphrey and the LAFD News & Information Blog and making it through their first year. I’ve said this before but their blog is an amazing resource and something about which every other Fire Department, Police Department and Sheriff’s Department should be taking a hint. We’re very lucky to have these people working for us as a community. Thank you.