My total crush favorite artist Ed Ruscha will be participating in a panel discussion at the Getty with Jerry McMillan and Mason Williams (who will also be performing) in a little over month…continue reading

Everyone knows how much we here at blogging.la love the Arclight. However my love for the Arclight doesn’t limit itself beyond the reserved seating, good parking and nice aesthetic. Arclight is a whole lot more than your movie experience. Take the bar with tasty drinks or the store in the lobby.

I usually never give more than a glimpse to the Arclight store because I’m usually cutting it close to movie time. But earlier this holiday season I had an hour to kill, so I wandered over. They had an amazing selection of Christmas and Holiday cards and tons of fun “urban outfitteresque” type gifts, candles, giftboxes and movie soundtrack CDs. If I remembered my shopping list, I could have found a gift for everyone on it, while I was waiting for my movie.

Who would have thought, you could do all your Holiday shopping while waiting for your movie to start? That’s a whole lot better than sitting through 30 minutes of preshow advertising. And it’s another reason I love Arclight.

All of us Self Employed owners of online retail businesses can finally come up for air.

“All hope is gone?”

You bet it is. Because after December 20th nobody short of the delusional is thinking that anything they order online is going to reach them in time to be handed off on Christmas Eve or morning. That ship has sailed, and finally we on the other side of the screen can say no without seeming unreasonable or ungrateful.

I’d be willing to bet that a good portion of LA’s population is in the same boat as me: pulled in eight different directions from stress and pressure, and only now able to breathe a sigh of relief. No doubt it’s a good problem – but it’s still tough.

Did you feel it last night? The giant exhale?

I know I did.

It didn’t happen to me, but a tale of a botched moviegoing experience in Hollywood.

I was somewhat shocked and disappointed that Mann’s Chinese Theatre didn’t hold a midnight screening of “Rocky Balboa” on Tuesday night, or at the very least put the film in the “big house” instead of one of their inferior, small screens upstairs (aka the Mann Chinese 6).

My feelings were reaffirmed when I saw that a number of Wednesday evening showings had sold out more than a day ahead of time, in spite of online tickets not having been made available earlier than Monday.

After hearing the following story from my buddy Phil, I think the problem doesn’t just lie in a bad call, but perhaps just plain bad theatre management at the Manns Theatres…

Phil had arrived early enough for the first, 11:15am screening of Rocky to ensure he had a good seat. However, five minutes before showtime an usher walked in to tell everyone that they had to switch reels (or something like that) and needed for everyone to move into another theatre. The small exodud walked over to find a new, smaller screen, and a large number of people already seated, leaving Phil to choose from the way back, the way front, or some nasty side seats.

Phil said the film exceeded his expectations, so he couldn’t be too upset at what happened next.
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Drove up the Angeles Highway yesterday just for shits’n'giggles. This is what I saw when I stopped and turned around, above:

So wee!

In other news, everyone’s getting truffles this year for Christmas. LA is rife with crafty fairs, yes, and they all make my head spin. I just can’t take it. Not only do I always find myself thinking, “But…but…I could make that. I could make that for less than…$45?! You want forty-five steenking dollars for that bowl made out of a melted James Brown record?! Fuck you! Fuck you, little emo girl! I will NOT pay you for stuff I can make myself!” And then I go home and never make any of it. Too many vegan wallets, knitted emo scarves and beer cozies, acid-trippy stuffed alien dolls with button eyes, jewelry made from old records and screen-printed retro tees for me. It all blurs, becomes hazy and vague, I see dancing hallucinations of glue guns at the edges of my vision, and I find myself stumbling off to their crafty little food corner, blood sugar dangerously low, where I drop six dollars on a vegan homemade cupcake. Sorry kids. No one gets handmade guitar straps this year with little cutouts of birds or trees on them. No purses made out of vintage scarves. You all get CHOCOLATE.

Cranberry & milk chocolate truffles. Not pictured: entire trayfuls of blueberry/bittersweet chocolate and ginger-white peach/dark chocolate truffles. I am whupped, and will be happy never to see another slab of Trader Joe’s Ghiradelli’s for at least…erm…a month or two.

If you want the recipe, I might give it to you, but you may be asked to answer riddles or do something embarassing.

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I am sharing the freeway with a couple of crummy prop coffins.

Wonder where they’re off to.

One of the complaints I hear most about Los Angeles is the fact that it’s “spread out.” I’ve often used this complaint myself, especially on my drive home every night, and it’s one of the reasons why I created this blog – to cohere the vast sprawl of the LA art scene. However during a September panel discussion I did at Gallery 825 when I was hearing this complaint voiced loudly as a major negative, I suddenly realized that what I thought was a detriment to LA was, in fact, one of the things I love most about this city…continue reading

Anyone who lives in LA knows that parking can be nightmare depending on where, and when, you want to park. Most of us just avoid those places but occasionally we all have friends who come to town and have to share our deeply held secrets so our visitors don’t suffer the same fate we once did. Well, the folks over at Jaunted just wrecked it for everyone by publishing their Los Angeles Parking Guide and accompanying Parking Map. Right now the focus is just on a few major tourist attractions which I can live with, but if I see a map secret spots near Larchmont or Beverly and Robertson there is going to be hell to pay.

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Somebody’s looking out for you!

The Echo Park Ave merchants are staying open tonight until midnight tonight (Wednesday) to make sure you get your shopping done in time for the big You Know What.

In addition to some good shopping, you’re also looking at a sidewalk sale, drinks and snacks, and free gift wrapping.

Block of 1551 Echo Park Avenue
Tonight ’til midnight

A little over a week ago, I was in the videogame section @ Fry’s Electronics when I overheard a conversation involving one of their employees and a Fed Ex deliveryman about the Nintendo Wii console and when their next shipment would arrive. After their conversation ended, I pulled the deliveryman aside, we engaged in a pleasant 15 minute conversation about videogames, and I gave him some advice on securing a Wii for his family.

The most important tip I gave him was to check the FatWallet.com and SlickDeals.net forums on a very regular basis, as many of their members live on the East Coast (what happens there in terms of delivery schedules may apply here later in the day) as well as in Southern California (likewise). At one point, I was checking those forums once every few minutes during that crazy first week the Wiis and Sony Playstation 3s were onsale. Also important is to know when the UPS and Fed Ex delivery trucks arrive, because often times, the consoles are unpacked from their respective boxes and brought over to the store shelves immediately. And finally, when checking to see if a console is available at a particular store, try physically going there and asking someone (in a managerial position if possible), as opposed to calling over the phone. If you’re friendly and not a douchebag in your approach, chances are that said employee will fill you in.

Meanwhile, if you still looking for one of those elusive consoles for Christmas, and contrary to 1Up‘s glum prediction (via Digg/Joystiq) about availability through the rest of the year, Toys R Us announced (via Joystiq) that they will have additional Wiis and PS3s before the end of the year (but probably only as part of a bundle, so be ready for that).

More after the jump.
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If you’re looking for groceries but would rather shop on another planet for them, you should by all means check out the Super King on San Fernando near the 2 freeway.

This GIANT emporium has every kind of ethnic food, fresh or packaged. The produce section is larger than all of Gelson’s and has I’d say 40% of it is stocked with things I cannot identify. There’s half an aisle just of grape leaves!

Or visit their huge nut department, (insert huge nut jokes here) meat market, or full-on falafel restaurant. Not enough? Then be sure not to leave before you check out the full selection of hookah pipes and crazy tobacco flavors.

There’s more but it was too overwhelming and I’ve forgotten it. So I’ll have to go back soon!

Prices are low and quality is high – and it’s such fun to be in there!

From the Can’t Be Too Careful Or Too Stupid file, The L.A. Times is reporting this morning that a woman put her one-month old grandson into a carry-on tray and sent him through the X-ray machine at LAX Saturday. Perhaps even more moronically is that no one in her vicinity either in a passenger or official capacity stopped her from doing it.

An unwritten rule about blogging is that if you’re called to jury service, you’re required to write about it. Yesterday was my first day at the Henry Mosk Criminal Court Building in downtown Los Angeles, and this is my post.

1. Show up late. The summons tells you to arrive at 7:30am, and to even allow enough time to get through security. However, they don’t really start checking names until at least 8:30am. So, sleep in, and grab McGriddle before schlepping it to the Court House.

2. Bring a book, a pad of paper, and if you’re bringing a computer, bring an extra battery. If you’re not assigned a jury pool, you could be in the holding room until 5:00pm, where there’s no wireless internet access and only a handful of power outlets. (to be fair, there’s a half dozen computers set up with paid web services). Now’s a good time to enjoy that old timey print.

3. Dress Appropriately. When you receive your summons in the mail, scan your juror i.d. badge and make it into a t-shirt. Show that you’re proud to serve on a jury! (you can see my t-shirt above… if you want to be a little more subtle and avoid possible contempt charges by a less humorous judge, you can make a golf shirt instead)

4. Be careful what you buy. If you grab a grande vanilla peppermint latte* from the Starbucks just outside the jury holding room, be advised that if you’re assigned to a jury pool, you may have to toss it before even sipping off the foam. That said, you may just want to bring a thermos so you don’t have to ditch your $3.90 when the judge is ready to see you.

5. Don’t want to serve? Shut the f up! (whoops – forgot it was the holidays) When the judge asks if there’s a reason you can’t serve, don’t think your time is more valuable that anyone else’s, even if you’re a doctor, teacher, student, or have a vacation lined up. The judge won’t care, and, frankly, its your civic duty. If you only want poor people with a bad education to serve on a jury, then I look forward to seeing what the verdict will be the next time you’re falsely accused of a crime or have to sue someone who may need some suing. (5000! wrote more about these people last year).

*Thats four pumps vanilla, two pumps peppermint. You’re welcome!

Los Angeles’ de Soto gallery is LA Booths in Miami series number seven…continue reading

You’re creeping me out, and I’m walking from my car, not to it. If I thought you could take my parking spot, I’d have given you a friendly nod. Instead, I feel like I’m either being stalked or about to be run over.

Move along, please.