Last August I posted about the laceration injury mysteriously inflicted by Glendale’s Gateway Animal Hospital on the abandoned puppy we rescued earlier that month while on vacation driving through Monument Valley in Utah and how we had dropped Ranger off for shots and a bath and picked her up a couple hours later shocked to find a large stitched-up cut in her tail and little in the way of explanation from Gateway’s personnel. A subsequent complaint to the state’s veterinary medical board resulted in a cursory investigation that the board said yielded nothing to warrant futher disciplinary action. We promptly found another animal hospital and hankfully Ranger recovered from the ordeal fine and fully.

Unfortunately and heartwrenchingly there’s no chance of recovery for the Escobar family’s 2.5-year-old pitbull mix named Bear who was killed by the animal hospital after Godofredo Escobar took Bear in for a routine rabies vaccination only to have it accidentally euthanized as he looked on.

According to the Escobar’s attorney (from the KCBS newstory that aired May 9):

“They go into a room. They hold the dog down. They put some sort of catheter in the dog’s arm. The owner is watching this whole thing as it’s transpiring. The doctor comes in without making any indication that they’re going to put the dog out and administers the euthanasia shot.”

And as if that’s not horrific enough, according to Escobar, after the tragedy and over Bear’s dead body the vet told Godofredo “you could always get another dog.”

In a city where the vehicle you drive is supposed to define your individuality (as if somehow the items you buy could cover up the sad fact that you’re really just a dullard) it’s refreshing to see this new model of automobile hit the streets: car. No fancy pseudo-exotic name, no “green” gimmicks to make you feel good, just a steel contraption to get you from one point to the next. If they make one with spinning rims then it’ll definitely be my next ride!

It’s still a bargain compared to London’s UK6 (about US $12) day pass, but the Los Angeles Metro daypass goes up to $5 next week in July. The Times has an article on it, which covers a lot of the bare bones. This is the first across the board hike in a decade…and many of the regular riders say they cannot afford it. And the hikes come despite the state Senate’s rejection of Ahnuld’s $1.3B transit cuts. (Did I mention how hypocritical it is for him to talk about the environment while slashing public transit budgets? Rigging a Hummer up to hydrogen is not environmentalism!)

Anyways, if you’re riding mass transit next month, check out the MTA site for fare changes, and carry your $$ accordingly.

Image is by Will Campbell. Thanks, Will!

Hey, folks:

If you haven’t checked out our little competition for the worst job in Los Angeles, now’s the time to point it out to all your friends who gripe about their workplace hell.

The contest will be open for one more day, and at the end, the blogging.la authors will decide whose suffering most deserves a coveted stiff drink at the legendary Tiki-Ti.

Does your job suck out loud? Don’t be shy! post about it here.

It’s a busy week for bloggy events. LA Daddy has invited all bloggers to Hollywood for a blogger party Saturday.

What: The 1st Annual L.A. Blogger Party. It is basically an excuse to get together and talk with fellow bloggers, blog readers, blog lurkers, and blog celebrities (blogebrities?) who live in Southern California. No hype, no pressure, no expectations… just good clean fun for all!

No snarky comments about the 1st annual. I know there have been various blogger meet-ups for a while, but it’s always someone’s first time. Come on out and meet some new folks. I plan to stop by before shaking mah Bootie at Safari Sam’s!

And then Leahpeah is hosting two cool blogger events. First up is LA Angst! I don’t know about you, but I was the living embodiment of angst in my teenage years. A few years ago, I burned all my teenage poetry, school notes and the boxes of love letters from a plethora of X-boyfriends (and husband). But, I still have my journals. I don’t know if I will dare to read from any of them. But hey, you might want to come on out. Ariel Meadow Stallings from Salon of Shame in Seattle is kicking it off.

Here are some guidelines:

Here are some guidelines to help you choose your selection:
1. You must be the author. We only encourage embarrassing yourself, not others.
2. We’ve found the best age range to be the teen years. Childhood and early college years come in as close seconds. Old diaries are pure gold.
3. Selections should be 5 minutes or less. People have short attention spans. If your diary entries are sagas, best to pick your favorite page and leave the rest for next time.

You can check out LA Angst on Sunday, June 3rd at Liquid Kitty in West LA.

The second one is Bloggers Live.

Bloggers Live! is a combination of Los Angeles bloggers getting together every second Thursday to read a selection of their entries live. Anyone who blogs is encouraged to join the group and sign up to read. Anyone who reads them, blogger or not, is invited to come and listen.

I’ll be reading some of my own selections at the first one next Thursday. It will probably be all gushy I love LA type posts. Or maybe I’ll read the one about driving off the canyon road. Regardless, come for the fun and join the group if you are so inclined.

I was just driving around in Hollywood and I was stopped by police cars (at least 5 units that I saw), flares, and yellow caution tape blocking off Gower between Sunset and Selma.

Basically, there’s nothing on that block except for Roscoe’s… so what gives?

Anyone know? I hope it was just some sort of Chicken & Waffle emergency, and nothing more serious…

UPDATE: Leave it to Brian Humphrey of the LAFD to provide a quick answer to my question. (I had my suspicions it was a shooting, but I didn’t want to say anything without having any confirmation.) Thanks, Brian.

Get with the modernity. The new thing is Fire Nunchuku! Or if that’s not your thing, there’s Kung Fu Fire Sabre or Fire Eating or just your standard Poi.

And you too can get these modern skills in just 4 to 6 weeks at Fire Groove! Ok, so maybe this sounds a bit like an advertisement, but that’s just because I think it’s so cool – or rather Hot!!! I think ya’all know how much I like the fire. But seriously, if you are into getting some hot fire skills, I suggest you check out Hannah and her siblings. I’ve had their fire staff classes on my todo list for about a year.

This Saturday’s Cemetery Screening is GILDA!

You know the drill – get there REALLY early, bring a Pick-a-Nick Basket full of snacks and drinks – and for the love of god remember your flashlight for those trips back to camp post potty!

Directed by Charles Vidor (1946, columbia, 110 min.)

“Haunted by his past, Glenn Ford starts a new life as the tough manager of a South American casino. He’s happy, that is, until Gilda arrives. Rita Hayworth stars in one of the sultriest roles of any screen siren. One of the most iconic films, Gilda is bursting with snappy dialogue, sexy dance numbers and noir intrigue.”

Gates at 7:30 pm. Movie at 9:00pm. $10 donation tickets available at gate.

hollywood forever cemetery:
6000 Santa Monica Boulevard

dj chris curtis spins before and after the show.

According to Cinematical, when director Mike Figgis recently arrived at LAX and was asked the ritual question, “What is the purpose of your visit,” he replied, “I’m here to shoot a pilot.”

Upon which he was detained for five hours.

*Sigh*

I know I’m not the only one who dreams of an effective and practical subway system in L.A., but Numan Parada has taken his dream and created a “Fantasy public transit map” in the style of the classic London Underground map. I think Parada did a great job of identifying great places for stations, but the one that puzzles me is the one of the fictional purple line marked “Arclight.” The Arclight is already just blocks away from the Hollywood & Vine station; where is this “Arclight” supposed to be?

See other conceptual maps (or submit your own) here.

h/t: Boing Boing

This UCLA grad story from the L.A. Times is a great kick in the ass, especially for those of us who sometimes woe it rather than go it. Kellie Lim, a 26-year-old who suffered a bout of bacterial meningitis and became a triple amputee at age 8, will graduate from UCLA’s medical school this coming Friday. She’s chosen to specialize in Pediatrics, and will begin a residency program at the UCLA medical center.

“Just having that experience of being someone so sick and how devastating that can be — not just for me but for my family too — gives me a perspective that other people don’t necessarily have,” the 26-year-old Michigan native said recently.

And of all the topics she sampled during medical school, only her work with children left her “smiling at the end of the day.”

Lim carried out her medical training with a determination that awed her professors and fellow students and won her the school’s top prize for excellence in pediatrics.

Opting not to use a prosthetic arm, she showed that she can perform most medical procedures with one hand, including taking blood and administering injections. She lives on her own in a Westwood apartment with no special features for the handicapped and drives a car with only one adaptation: a turning knob on the steering wheel. She is learning to swim, is trying horseback riding and even went tandem skydiving recently.

Photo By: (Mark Boster / LAT)

It was 2-4 foot, rapid, closing out, etc. The current was very strong and indecisive. One minute it’s pushing you right, then it’s sucking you out to sea, then it’s pushing you down when you wipeout. The people who created the “undeclared” major for undergrads created this current. Later, there was a pool of blood by the outdoor showers because a guy gashed his head on his fin. That kind of sucked. I’ve read that 30% of all surfing injuries are lacerations from fins. I’ve also read that at least 0.0001% of surfers (me) have no idea why these fins have to be sharper than Ginzus. Sharp is good for speed, but I’m not trying to separate frozen meat patties for the BBQ.

Photo of today’s surf reposted with permission from Swellmagnet.

So last night, with absolutely jack s**t to do (we hadn’t checked the event listings early enough) and bored as hell, my best friend and I decided to drive out to the ocean. He’s a professional photographer and we both love long drives with no particular destination, so a sojourn out to Malibu from WeHo at 10:00pm seemed completely reasonable.

Read the rest of this entry →

I liken the cactus blooming alongside the backyard fence to the wildlife’s version of a “favorite pub.” Everybody drops in.

Waist-high, inconsistent, a little mushy, but fun. Sharing your homebreak with only two other surfers despite a holiday weekend? More fun. Looks like they’re setting up Venice boardwalk for a weight-lifting competition. Also, the Army, Navy, and Marines set up recruiting booths. Didn’t see the Air Force there. Maybe they’re busy in Colorado Springs harassing Jews. On the jog home, I saw a bunch of flyers for surfcamps sponsored by Quiksilver. If you want to take surf lessons, check out some of these surf camp providers. Though some cater only to kids and teens, they also probably have programs or private lessons for adults as well. At least they can point you in the right direction. More info here.

Photo of today’s surf reposted with permission from Swellmagnet.