My favorite yarn store, Unwind (818 N. Hollywood Way in Burbank), is having a huge sale in the month of May, and owner Stephanie Steinhaus has decided to celebrate Friday by kicking things off a few days early.

25% off an amazing selection of yarn!

Select balls as low as $1.00

There is so much on sale that you’ll think I’m completely crazy. :)

I don’t know about you, but I like crazy. (Photo borrowed from Unwind.)

UPDATE: There is an online portion of the sale as well: 25% off all Lily Chin and Jo Sharp yarns at unwindyarn.com/shop

Just put LC25 in the comments field of the order page.

The Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles really want to fill up the stadium when they return home next week for series against the Padres and Astros, so they’re offering a $10 discount for all “Field Level (regular price $30) and Infield Reserve (regular price $20) tickets for the May 3, 4, 10, and 11 games!”

The only catch is that you have to buy them online through TicketBastard. Enter “KRAGEN” next to “Promotions and Special Offers” after clicking the game you wish to attend, and bend over when you hit “submit.”

I’ve been a couple of times already this season, and the Infield Reserve tickets are a great value; twenty bucks for the second deck right behind home plate is awesome.

If you like thinking, conceptual art, or thinking about conceptual art, then have I got a panel discussion for you…continue reading

If you’ve never been to Cinespia, aka the Cemetery Screenings, let me fill you in: You watch a movie. At night. In a cemetery.

How much more of a pitch do you need? Need I point out that you’re often watching stars on screen who are also buried only a few hundred feet away?

This year’s screening series launches with The Maltese Falcon on May 6th at 8pm. Gates open at 6:30pm. Admission is a $10 donation which goes toward restoration on the grounds of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where the screenings are held.

A few tips those planning on attending: 1. Bring a blanket and a picnic basket… that said, bring a couple of blankets. The ground gets cold and damp over the course of the evening. 2. Arrive early. While gates open at 6:30pm, a number of attendees show up as early as 5pm to be first in line to stake out the best places in the field. 3. Allow plenty of time for parking. 4. Alcohol is allowed. 5. Bring a flashlight!

I’m sure the readers here can also provide some additional insight on making the Cinespia experience even better…

click here to see photos from Flickr tagged Cinespia…

Up in Sactown, our senators just passed a resolution in support of the boycott on monday calling it the Great American Boycott 2006. I will be out on the street on Monday covering it with my trusty Canons. I don’t know what to expect, but I personally hope it will be even bigger the Gran Marcha last month.

LA has the dirtiest air in the country! Joy! I used to live in the city with the 2nd cleanest air in the country, Santa Fe, NM. I miss Santa Fe, but there isn’t much going on there which may be why the air is so clean. For Ozone we’re number 2, second to lovely Bakersfield.

I don’t know if this class of parking ‘tard / douche / asshat has been categorized by the writers here at blogging.la, so I thought I should bring this to everyone’s attention.

I watched as this guy, with a fuel efficient compact vehicle (pictured above) pulled up to the curb across from the Glassell Park Community Center. Mind you, parking is incredibly limited in the area to begin with, so one would imagine that residents would recognize this fact. Instead, this compact vehicle parked in such a way as to keep a second vehicle from easily parking in front or behind it. (and no, they weren’t parking around motorcycles or other obstructions – I watched as it pulled up.)

Dear people of Los Angeles: while parking inches away from another is not cool, or encroaching on a driveway is uncool, so is parking in a way as to prevent others from sharing the space. Common sense, please. The bloggers are watching you!

I swore I would never do a post about parking, and yet here I am. But it’s not just about parking -

Parking info for the newly opened Yoga For Every Body:

The studio is an addition to owner Nancy’s home, so parking is in her residential neighborhood. To minimize the impact on the neighbors Nancy asks people to please park on Burbank whenever possible.

She has one grumpy neighbor (doesn’t everyone). He is at 5627 Mammoth.
White block wall in front. If you park on Mammoth don’t park in front
of his house.

Also, If you don’t mind bending the truth a tiny bit: If asked please say we are a meditation group, meditating for world peace.

Attending Weekend Classes:

The studio will hold 18 people comfortably.
Saturday and Sunday morning classes tend to be large.
If you are planning to attend any Saturday or Sunday class we are
asking that you email (yfeb@earthlink.net) to reserve your space 48 hours prior to class.

This may be a pain in the ass, but Nancy doesn’t want to turn anybody away at the door.

Address:
5623 Mammoth Ave.
Valley Glen 91401
1 block west of Woodman
2nd house north of Burbank
enter on the north side of the house

I saw a couple of articles today about the use of Video News Releases (VNR) by local media. A VNR is basically a short video usually formatted to look like a news item you’d see on your local TV station. They attempt to look journalistic, but of course they’re produced for the sole purpose of promoting a product or service.

The first article was in the Wall Street Journal. It quotes some bits of a new report on the use of VNRs:

Although television stations and big broadcasters all say they have rules in place that prohibit using VNRs without disclosure, it appears that many outlets only pay lip service to the rules.

The latest damning news comes from another watchdog, the Center for Media and Democracy, a Wisconsin-based organization that tracked 36 video news releases for 10 months and found 77 television stations that used some or all of the footage without identifying the source. The stations cited range from small broadcasters to those owned by big media companies, including Viacom Inc., News Corp. and outlets owned by newspaper publishers New York Times Co. and Tribune Co.

So that brings us round to the local angle on this … did you see that segment on KTLA about phishing and how to protect yourself … well that was a VNR.

If your’e keeping track, here are some other recent posts on similar matters: LA Times blogger makes comments under pseudonyms, LA Observed was on the VNR watch a few weeks ago and of course KTLA’s most recent ethical lapse where morning anchors were taking freebies.

(photo credit – Dawn M Turner at morguefile)

The MTA and CalTrans are currently working on redesigning the end of the 2
Frwy at Glendale Blvd. All options will put more traffic idling on the portion of the 2 Frwy adjacent to the neighborhood. The option that expands park space at Lasorda Field is the least impactful to the community.

Now is the time to ask for things like more trees planted on
our part of the 2 Frwy. More info here. You can also call the project helpline at 213-922-3010, or Dolores Roybal Saltarelli, project manager, at 213-922-3024.

As most Angelenos know, l.a.Eyeworks is much more than snazzy eye-wear as evidence by their super groovy arty display windows…continue reading

I’m quick to gripe when I’m disappointed in a city department’s response so let me be just as quick to sing the praises with a shoutie to the City of L.A.’s Bureau of Street Services (BOSS).

Long have I been bothered by the surface deterioration of the intersection at the north end of my block. But as cracks and potholes and crannies have grown did I do anything about it? Did I alert the media or circulate a petition or pretend to be the responsible and considerate and pro-active neighborhoodnik I consider myself to be? Nah, I just watched the street slowly continue to crumble and shook my head figuring that crying about it would only worsen the bureacracy involved. Silly rabbit. Yesterday, after surveying the advanced no-man’s land that the streets had become, I went to the city’s website, entered “pothole repair” in the search box and I was soon matched up with the BOSS Service Request form that I completed in a matter of moments… though I must admit I muttered something like “ain’t gonna hold my breath” when I clicked the submit button.

Well, I probably could’ve held my breath because returning from a West LA errand earlier this afternoon, instead of turning from Sunset Boulevard ready to take evasive action navigating my bike through the obstacle course my street had become, I found all of its dents and dings topped off and patted down with fresh helpings of asphalt.

Thank you BOSS. Now that’s what I call service!

Every time an opportunity comes up to potentially save the Farm, I gleefully jump up on my soapbox here at b.la to announce it. And I received an update today in my Peak Oil newsletter, that the Trust for Public Land has secured an opportunity to save the Farm – but they must raise $1,000,000 in 30 days. More info is at the South Central Farm page, and you can make your (tax deductible!) donation there.

More soapboxing about Why We Must Save The Farm after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry →

Wow, isn’t this the topic of the day? Memo Pisa El Lodo is documenting it, LA City Nerd is complaining about it, Curbed LA is discussing it and L.A. Voice is asking some questions. There are an endless string of discussions to have about this stuff, and we’ve had a few of them here in the past, but since Mack asked one question I can answer right away, I figured I would. He writes:

“Initially, I resented 20MG plastering giant pills all over the utility boxes around Silver Lake – mostly because they looked like shit when people tried to remove them (what is that adhesive made of?) …”

Bingo. That is the point. With most street art, the idea of it being put there in the first place is for people to see it, however being that it is street art, it’s temporary by nature. So anyone involved with this stuff who spends more than 5 minutes copying an image onto sticker paper at Kinko’s has a delema to solve – how to put something up, that you know is going to come down, but keep it up at long as possible. There’s two pieces to that puzzle that most street artists have figured out. First off, the harder the art is to remove, and the worse it looks mid removal, the more chances that next time someone will opt to just leave it intact rather than try to remove it. (Shepard Fairey has actually addressed this in the art itself, with OBEY stickers that advised “it has been determined that this sticker can not be removed without damaging the integrity of the surface, please do not touch” and “it will take you at least an hour to remove this sticker, is that really the best usage of your time?”) So the harder it is to get the art off and the worst that looks, the better chance the piece will be left alone. Of course nature doesn’t read, or care about the visuals which brings us to the adhesive question. It’s nothing too crazy actually, but very effective. Every artist has their own flavor, but in most cases it’s a powdered wheat paste base. Just add water and you are good to go, however one rain and that is gone so the weat paste is mixed with a combo of sealents and water proofing liquids that you can pick up at any hardware store. Ideally, this combined with very thin paper that won’t peal off easily makes for a lasting image. Without human intervention, some posters that have been put up with this kind of mixture have lasted 3-4 years here in LA.

You may have noticed “No Parking on Red Flag Days” signs going up around the
neighborhood. LA City Fire Dept (LAFD) calls a Red Flag Day when the brush
is dry and the Santa Anas are blowing in hillside areas. While it’s early
yet, we had a few Red Flag Days in January. If you are on one of the
affected streets(in Silver Lake): Corralitas, Riverside Place, India, and parts of Lake View and possible other neighborhood streets, get more info and sign up now for the LAFD email alert for Red Flag Days.

Be advised – they will tow parked cars on streets with Red Flag Days signs
on Red Flag Days – so look into it now – you may need to clean out your
garage or driveway if you want to park near your home on Red Flag Days.

And start thinking about brush clearance: http://www.lafd.org/brush/