It caught my eye and I don't know why.

Today is one of those blah days.  No energy but wanted to do something.  The thought of TV bored me.  The thought of another campaigner on the stoop wasn’t too thrilling either.  Everyone else in the house was in the same funk, maybe the post halloween sugar crash?  

I meandered over to the Lario Bike Trail and Park over in Azusa just off Foothill.  With camera in hand I took off along the various paths along the railroad tracks.  I just enjoyed the brisk breeze on an autumn day.  I brought along my camera but wasn’t really too motivated to shoot. 

A few things caught my eye along the way.  To see them all you need to make the jump. Read the rest of this entry →

Finally, The Faint are back! They play the Wiltern on Monday Wednesday the 3rd 5th. The last time I saw The Faint I didn’t actually see them; they were playing The Smell downtown, which is basically an overgrown hallway with cool art, great bands, an amazing proprietor and awesome vegan food. The band was at one end of the long, narrow venue, and I was at the other end, standing on tip-toes at five-foot-one. Suffice to say I only *heard* the music that night, and didn’t actually SEE anything. But what I heard was still awesome.

So I’m not only thrilled they’ll be playing, but to ice the cake–oh hell, to throw a whole ‘nother cake into the party–Dr. Dooom (that’s Kool Keith, people, the guy who founded Ultramagnetic MC’s) will be opening. Opening? Really? Seems like they should share equal billing. But hey, I ain’t complaining. Add local awesome noizepunkers Mika Miko and this show will get music nerds slobbering.

So, you want tickets? Tell me your favorite line from a Kool Keith, UMCs, or Dr. Octagon or Dr. Doom rap. We’ll pick a lucky winner to get tickets.

Sean Bonner (our fearless leader) and Tara Brown (fearless leader-adjacent) were married yesterday. Jason DeFillippo took some amazing pictures of the ceremony, including this one.

Congratulations, you two!

Cheapest mainline gas in the SGV spotted this morning in Azusa

Wooohooo the fill in my little daily driver was $20!  I’m so freaking happy I could just carp.  Now if it can just stabilize that will mean a lot more money being diverted to jump starting the economy instead of blown out the tailpipe.  Map Link here to the cheap gas.

(pic done with the trusty phone cam)

Some fellow West Siders and I invaded Long Beach last night for a really fun Halloween party at a friend’s house.  At most Halloween parties I have ever been to, usually, a few people are dressed as someone or something that is topical at the time in the popular culture.  This can include the political culture, especially in an election year.  Therefore, I cannot believe that no one showed up to the party last night dressed as Sarah Palin.

More tricks and treats, after the jump

The leftover goodies that went unclaimed at my house.

Is it just me or were the Trick or Treaters way down this year?  My street has always been a hit or miss so it is hard to tell by our traffic.  I took my youngest out for his last year of trick or treating and we ventured off the street as legend has it one of the streets above us does “only big candy bars”.  Even off the street for the most part it was lighter traffic than usual.

It was scary seeing the other neighborhoods around me.  Barely 1 in 4 homes were handing anything out.  Even fewer homes were decorated for the day with mazes, haunted houses or just great yard art.  Both a big departure from years past.

While I was pondering what happened I noticed on my facebook feed that a metblog writer in New Orleans, Daneeta Loretta had run a post with a similar observation there titled “Silent Night, Hallow Night”.  I guess the economy freak out is much bigger than I thought, certainly much deeper than the signs I see around my little corner of LA.

I heard from my friend Jeff  who turns his house into a “haunted house” and he had over 600 kids visit this year.  My daughter spent hours in line in Old Pas for a Haunted House there.  Old Town Monrovia was packed with kids for their afterschool party that included trick-or-treating.  Did everyone shift from door-to-door in favor of those activities?

How was your  Trick or Treater traffic?  What was your take on the shift in traffic?

(The pic is by me, trusty phone cam, and this year we gave pretzels and I am so glad as I wouldn’t want it to be that much candy left in the house to tempt me).

It gets bigger with a click but it still makes you sick

The mail last week has been sorted at and dumped directly into the blue recycle bin.  Little was worth saving.  This gem was so big it stood out, when i read it, it made me wanna vomit.  It is about as low as I have ever seen.  I’m not a big fan of Drier, but come on attack the issues. If he’s taking dates on our money and you can prove it say so.  Really that is the important issue here. 

My wife’s reaction when she saw it: “What the hell are they so afraid of that they have to stoop to this level”?  Beats the hell out of me.  It was put out by a group calling themselves “Blue America PAC” and align themselves with the democratic party.  It was published and printed by the Los Angeles Blue America PAC.  Frankly, that kind of hatefulness based on orientation is way out of line with the platform that party has stood for in recent years.  I wonder how the local democractic party dignataries feel being associated with this group?

Thanks Blue America for publishing a new low in election rhetoric.  Please refrain from sending the garbage in future, really it made me ill to see that sort of hate in print.  Intolerance, spreading hate and fear is counterproductive to what I am trying to teach my kids.

Sorry for the poor scan, at 8.5X14 inches it is bigger than can fit in my ancient scanner.

Perhaps lost amongst the Halloween hoopla (at least to me) was the news that this weekend brings us the second of the semi-annual Brewery Artwalks:

The Brewery Art Walk is a twice annual open studio weekend at the worlds largest art colony. Each artwalk, over 100 resident artists participate. During this event, you will have the opportunity to see new works, discover new favorites, speak with the artists and purchase artworks directly from the artists at studio prices.

Admission is free. Barbara’s at the Brewery, one of my favorite spots in LA, is always on hand grilling up food and slinging beer. It’s a guaranteed good bet for nursing your Halloween hangover.

2008 Brewery Artwalk & i-5 Gallery Show
November 1st and 2nd
11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Directions

National treasure and noted recluse Mister Jalopy is having an art show!

AND on Saturday he’s giving a lecture too! (I know – painfully short notice, but I only just found out about it)

Mr. Jalopy and the Maker Philosophy

College of the Canyons Art Gallery

The show runs November 1st – November 15, 2008

Artist’s Reception & Talk: Saturday, November 1st, 1:00 – 3:00pm

Check out all the details here.

GALLERY HOURS:
Monday & Wednesday 11:00am – 6:00pm
Tuesday, Thursday & Friday 11:00am – 3:00pm
Saturday 10:00am – 2:00pm

Happy Halloween El Sereno

Happy Halloween from El Sereno.  Tonight, Councilman Jose Huizar, the LA-32 Neighborhood Council and Collis Ave. residents bring you The Legend of Creepy Collis.  From what I hear, this is the coolest thing around.  There’s haunted houses, trick-or-treating and a carnival experience.  No parking anywhere near there, so be ready to hoof it through El Sereno.  The free event, on Collis Ave. between Huntington Dr. and Kendall Ave., runs from 5pm – 8pm.

Halloween was serious business. There was no time for slutty pirates or hooker librarians. And jack-o-lanterns were carved without Presidential candidates or slogans.

It was Halloween at USC. The year was 1890.

Photo from USC Digital Archives

A Prop 8 round-up

The Atlantic magazine reports today that a new internal poll by supporters of Proposition 8 reveals the ballot measure tied at 44% to 44% among those polled. Prop 8 would rewrite the California state constitution to eliminate the right to marry for same sex couples.

California Faultline‘s David Markland (former LA Metblogs captain) says a recent Public Policy Inst. of CA poll showed Prop 8 being defeated, with 44% of those polled supporting it while 52% opposed it.

LA Times ran an editorial saying the governor has reneged on his April promise to oppose Prop 8, siting a statement he made in April to gay political organization Log Cabin Republicans. “I will always be there to fight against that because it should never happen,” said Schwarzenegger.  He also called the proposition “a total waste of time.”

No on Prop 8 has a slew of ads on their site in English and Spanish by community leaders and show biz celebs, as well as a series of clever spots modeled on the “Mac vs. PC” ads from Apple. (The company recently announced a $100,000 donation to defeat Prop 8.)

Read the rest of this entry →

Tomorrow night, just after sunset (6:00pm), look to the southwest sky and you will see a wisp of a crescent moon cozying up to that hottie, Venus. If you are out trick or treating, stop for a minute and gaze in wonder. If the kids won’t let you stop or there are clouds, step out again on November 1 at sunset to see a similar scene. (Though by then Venus will have stepped a little further away from the Moon’s advances. Don’t worry though, Jupiter is chaperoning the whole time.)

Check out the NASA Halloween Sky Show Page for a beautiful photo and more info.

Trick or Treat!

And don’t forget to set your clocks back this Saturday night.

Just a quick reminder that next Saturday, November 8, is our first LA Metblogs Classic Eats Evening. We are starting at 5:30pm at Clifton’s Cafeteria then heading over to the Bonaventure hotel around 7:30 to hang out in the BonaVista Lounge, watching LA revolve/devolve/evolve around us. All of you, dear readers, are invited to join us and help us explore this awesome city that we all call home.

This is the first evening in a series, so start thinking about other classic places that would make a good pairing for the next event. Canter’s and Formosa Cafe? Phillipe’s and Musso and Frank’s? You get the idea. Send suggestions for two classic pairings that are near each other to make travel easy. Hollywood, Downtown, The Valley, Long Beach, San Pedro, East LA, West LA, anywhere. There are no hard and fast rules to what constitutes “Classic” — I think it’s like porn: you know when you see it.

See you on the 8th!