The boyfriend and I have finished our Quest for Housing! We were welcomed yesterday to our new building, a recently remodeled apartment from the 1920s. We started last month, and looked at a lot of places last weekend, and are happy that we have finally found a place we absolutely love.

However, we’re not quite sure where to tell people we live. There’s a screenshot of the Google map, above, which can be clicked on to go to the original Gmap page. According to a City of Los Angeles district map, we’re just over the border of Westlake. But that map doesn’t have all the neighborhoods the Wikipedia list does, and it’s been suggested by 5000! that we’re just inside the Historic Filipinotown borders.

Whatever it is, I’ve noticed that as soon as I say, “Hoover”, people look shocked or concerned. Then I have to clarify, “no, no, not THAT part of Hoover, the part up by the 101, almost in Silverlake”. Then I cop out and say, “we’re Silverlake adjacent”. The blocks around the building are actually just quiet streets lined with 1920s bungalows. Any bars that are still on windows are clearly older, indicating that no-one has felt the need to put bars up for years, and that the crime is lessening. It may not have been a low-crime district ten years ago, but it struck us as one now.

So that’s why I need help figuring out what neighborhood I live in. Hoover, apparently, conjures up association with the neighborhood by USC. Maybe if I figure out what neighborhood I live in, I won’t have to explain that there are, indeed, quiet residential streets east of La Brea when I’m talking to my Westside friends.

Last Thursday night, L.A.-based songstress Jesca Hoop (MySpace) was at Temple Bar in Santa Monica. Here is a photo from the show.

Four photos after the jump.
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Just spotted this sign on the door there. Not sure how brand new it is but it wasn’t there a few months ago when I ate there last.

My awareness took flight last September when I spied the danglebird pictured at right hanging from the corner of Sunset and Maltman in the junction zone of Silver Lake. It wasn’t the first one I’d seen, but it was the one that piqued my curiosity, and I posted about it here. The same curiosity from the blogger at MontyHeights predated me by a couple weeks.

I’d hoped my post would yield some info on who the artist was and what his or her motivation might be, but that didn’t happen and so I resigned myself to being content to find the new ones that would occasionally pop up around the way and just enjoy them in all their colorful whimsy — until last Friday when Mike over at Franklin Avenue refreshed my memory and inquisitivity. Responding to inquiries from some of his readers, Mike reported that the fine folks at L.A. Brain Terrain had had some luck finding some clues in a post made coincidentally on the same September day I’d made my original one. Apparently the artist had a MySpace page identifying himself as “Berd” and a blog titled Flipping The Birds. Reference was made to attempting an interview but that hadn’t happened.

Figuring what the hell I clicked over to the former and sent “Berd” message suggesting it was time to spread his wings and let Blogging.la help shed some light on the subject. To my pleasant surprise the artist responded postiively in rapid fashion and after some email tag we chatted on the phone Tuesday afternoon. Though he was markedly guarded about certain aspects such as his first name (“I don’t have one”) to how much he’s spent on this project (“I can’t tell you that”), the 24-year-old L.A. native with a studio in Venice was wide open about a lot of other things. Make the jump to listen in.

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Ever driven/rode/walked through downtown and wondered about the homeless population there? About how many there actually are and how they move around? Well the folks at Cartifact just made answering that a lot easier. Eric just announced the launch of the Downtown Homeless Map. Since downtown LA is the center of the largest homeless population in the country, this map should be a very useful tool in making things better. Cartifact says:

“The purpose of the Downtown Los Angeles Homeless Map is to visually tell the story of downtown’s homeless population. Before a problem can be solved it must be understood. These maps exist to convey the situation on the streets to City leaders, the Police Department and all those who are concerned with homelessness in our city.”

Eric has a much more detailed announcement over on blogdowntown. Nice work.

While reading Peter Hong’s excellent account of what it is like to live near a registered sex offender, I thought about my own experience with the Megan’s Law database earlier this summer.

Although I live in Los Angeles, I frequently go home during the weekends to visit my parents, hang out with my siblings, chat with the grandparents (when they’re in town), and play with our dog, VR.

My family lives on a quiet street in an unincorporated suburb of Los Angeles County. My parents moved there from East LA in 1978, just a few weeks before my older brother was born. Since then, we’ve forged strong relationships with our neighbors. As new families move in, we get to know them too.

The newest residents are a family of 8; a couple, four teenage girls and two boys about 8 years old.

Late in the summer, Dan (the father) came over to our house. He talked to my dad, a grey haired man who never acts on impulse.

“Do you know John Doe?” Dan asked angrily while his daughters stood behind him.

One of Dan’s relatives looked up the family’s new address on the Megan’s Law website. The results showed that a registered sex offender named John Doe lived just a few doors down.
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It’s Crispin Glover’s new movie and it’s opening this weekend at American Cinematheque. The movie is described as “Being the adventures of a young man whose principle interests are snails, salt, a pipe, and how to get home. As tormented by an hubristic, racist inner psyche.” And Glover plays “the Dueling Demi-God Auteur and The young man’s inner psyche.” I personally can’t wait!

Last month San Francisco metblogger Darren Mckeeman interviewed Crispin Glover when he was up north. This weekend, you have your own chance to experience him yourself.

American Cinematheque has graciously offered two tickets to their Friday night screening of What is it? How do you win these tickets? Share your own Crispin Glover story. Here are a few Crispin memories from us.

Michele spotted him once in Gold’s Gym:

I saw him once at the Gold’s Gym in Hollywood. He was awkwardly using the stairclimber. Not the one that’s got, like, little feet on it, but the one that’s actually stairs on a conveyor belt. He just kept desperately lunging forward, going nowhere. I was in love.

Will remembers Crispin from High School:

With all this Crispin talk, I had to throw in my two pixels worth about my fellow high school classmate in the form of the only photo of him in the 1982 Beverly Hills High School yearbook, in which he’s pictured in a scene from the school’s spring musical “West Side Story.” If memory serves I believe he played Officer Krupke. The semi-
highlighted caption reads “Crispin Glover commands authority.” Indeed.

My own story spanned back when I was a married woman. The X and I were obsessed with Crispin. Somehow he tracked down Crispin’s phone number. We were ordering RatCatcher – one of Crispin’s “modified” books. When he called the number to order the book Crispin’s mom answered and said “let me have Crispin call you back. I’m making him a sandwich. I’m his mother.”

Colleen noted about finding Crispin’s phone number

Not too hard, if you were checking in the early-mid-’90s: he was listed in the LA phone book. I know. I checked :-)

Do you have a good Crispin story? Do you want free tickets to Friday’s show? Then respond in the comments. Come Friday morning we’ll have a winner! I’ll also burn you a CD with some of Crispin’s “songs”. And see ya at the show!

Just got a phone call from a friend who lives in the Burbank Rancho.

Get this -

Guy comes to her door, tells her a MasterCard commercial is being shot in the neighborhood, and that he needs to get photos of her house INSIDE AND OUT.

Not being a MORON, she didn’t let him in, but he gave it a good try and had an answer for all her objections. Finally she got him to leave and then she called the cops.

But just so you know, keep an eye out for a handsome man, 35-45 years old, white, about six feet tall, with sandy hair and blue eyes, claiming he needs to photograph the inside of your house….

So I came across this website, with a fantastic history of Mount Washington’s early builders/dweller/hoteliers, and then went to the main page, to discover oodles of other pages, all compiled by the Electric Railway Historical Society. Ok, ok–I’m sure LA City Nerd‘s known about this resource forever, but I’m amazed to see all the detailed info compiled here. Some favorites: the view from Mount Washington:

…and the “trackless trolley” of Laurel Canyon, apparently abandoned after two years:
“The failure of the Hollywood trackless trolley which was quite thoroughly investigated by us at the time, was largely due to the fact that the roads were not paved.”

Runner-up, the Los Angeles Railway Corporation and its fantastic acronym: LARy.

It’s fascinating, the degree to which LA was actually quite well-served by public transportation and rail. Obviously all that fell out of favor with the rise of the car, and the fact that LA had yet to become the suburban megalopolis it is today. The short-sightedness of the folks who ripped out the train and trolley tracks still befuddles me, but doesn’t surprise me: People have always been thus (linked because this, of all the towns I visited in Italy, showed the most obvious “layers” of building, with the vast Estruscan stones at the bases of the buildings, the awkward Middle Ages rough-hewn rocks above that, then some skyward-straining Gothic stuff, then the evenly spaced and Golden-Mean-measured Renaissance architecture, then the baroque…literally beginning below the ground and transforming, time-travelling as it extended upwards…), plunking one layer on top of another on top of another. It’s just fascinating to see our own various urban archaological strata laid down in our own lifetimes, ongoing as we walk the streets, history happening right here and now.

Yeah the holidays are a bummer but seeing a Guns N’ Roses tribute band doesn’t! We’re having our 35th Annual Christmas party and you better be there. Come tell Santa what you really want for X-mas boys & girls.
Where: The Vine Bar in Hollywood, California. 1235 N Vine St, between Fountain and Santa Monica.
When: This Friday, December 8th, 2006.
Why: Cuz most of the holiday season sucks and Buddyhead likes to do cool shit.
What: Dust N’ Bones – Guns N’ Roses Tribute band (myspace page) will be performing live (like a suicide) and in concert. Travis Keller & Jesse Hughes (Eagles Of Death Metal) will be djing your favorite rock n’ roll songs. Drink specials. And get your photo taken with Santa “Casper” Clause by Rony’s Photobooth (website).
(Photo of Santa “Casper” Clause after the jump)
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[click for gratification]

Looking for a good time this Saturday, but feeling pressured to do your holiday shopping instead?

Here’s a way to kill all the birds on your list with one stone!

The Mooneyes Xmas Party (formerly the Rat Fink Reunion) has been going on longer than most of you have been alive. Every year it gets bigger and bigger, and this year it’s trying out a new and awesome location: The Irwindale Speedway.

Bring or just come see some great cars (pre ’65 only), take in a little full-on racing (pre ’69 only), and then get your gift buying out of the way, courtesy of the many artists vending their wares directly to you for this event only.

Shameless Plug Department: Coop will be on hand to meet, greet, and sign stuff, and he’s bringing a lot of brand new merchandise to unveil at the show.

Coopstuff NEWS Page has more details (including a map and a link to get driving directions).

Do you know this man?

He is Mr Frederick Mellinger and he opened his now famous store on Hollywood Boulevard in 1946. He is the man behind the push-up bra and inventor of the thong – the one and only Frederick of Hollywood.

When Frederick Mellinger returned from WWII in 1946, he brought with him the idea of selling a sensuous and sophisticated European style of lingerie to American women. When good girls wore white cotton panties, Frederick caused a hullabaloo with his raunchy black panties, bras, and nightgowns. [Source]

And the rest is history. Who would believe that 60 years later we’d still be eating up the glamour? Before moving to a new location in 2005, you could visit The Celebrity Lingerie Hall of Fame – “a tribute to the stars who glamorized lingerie.” Unfortunately the Hall of Fame no longer exists. However this site has enough to tempt your imagination.

Frederick died in 1990, but his legacy lives beyond Hollywood. So go get sexy.

[both embiggenate]

If you’re in awe of the House Industries guys – and let’s face it who isn’t? – then you’ll need to free up some calendar space to attend their Reserve gallery show on Friday December 8th.

The Reserve exhibit combines original artwork with an exclusive line of clothes created specifically for the exhibit in a collaborative effort between Freshjive Manufacturing and House Industries, offering both a visual and tactile experience.

Or perhaps you’d care to warm up by attending their scintillating AIGA lecture at the Petersen Automotive Museum on the 7th? This one even has live music, which should prove more than just entertaining.

Hey why not do both? You won’t be disappointed!

PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM
6600 WILSHIRE (AT FAIRFAX)
Thursday, December 7th at 7pm

RESERVE GALLERY
420 N. FAIRFAX
323-651-0131
Friday, December 8th at 7pm
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When I came into work today, there was a reporter in a suit outside my office, filming in front of a tree wrapped in memorial letters and photos, surrounded by candles and memoriabilia. A fatal accident took place late Saturday, when a car driven by Prison Break’s Lane Garrison hit a tree in the 300 block of South Beverly Drive. According to CBS2, a seventeen year old boy was killed, and a fifteen year old girl was critically injured. As I write this, a dozen of his friends are downstairs mourning, burning his favorite cigarettes like incense, lighting candles and taping photos and memories to the tree.

Obviously, there are questions – like why a twenty-six year old had teenagers in his car – but it is heartbreaking seeing the letters that have been put up on the crash site. There are letters from siblings and classmates, relatives and friends. The expression on the faces of the teenagers mourning is one of shock. I wonder what Lane Garrison’s PR people will do to address this.

UPDATE As of Tuesday, 12/05, CBS 2 reports that it was a fatal DUI, and Garrison met the teenagers at the Pavilions across the street.

Spotted on Traction Ave., Arts District, downtown and was told they were leftovers from a bunch that appeared during Halloween.