Congratulations are in order. NBCLosAngeles.com is reporting that L.A. interior designer Michael Smith has been put in charge of making over the private quarters of the White House.

From his official web bio:

Smith has consistently developed a style that has been characterized as a delicate blend of “European tradition and American modernism.”

A native of California, Smith studied interior design at the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.

Smith is no stranger to celebrity homes, having previously worked with Steven Spielberg, Dustin Hoffman and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Last week, you suffered obliged me in a rant about some unsightly signage I discovered draped from the stately facade of the civic/national landmark Second Church of Christ Scientist on Adams, east of Hoover. Yeah, sometimes I pick weird battles.

But just a quick follow-up given what I found strapped across the six corinthian columns while biking by the place this morning. Yeah, that would be nothing (clickably pictured at right).

Before you go thinking my pointedly powerful and passionate prose had anything at all to do with the disappearance… pfffft. What probably helped was that I contacted the city’s Office of Historic Resources and asked them what they might think about such a thing. An architect there was quick to reply and dispatch an inspector to investigate the potentially unpermitted placard. And In a week: poof! Thank heaven!

I try to peruse K-Rod‘s LA Observed on a semi-regular basis, and so when I stumbled upon this mention of an internal note from the LA Weekly, naming LA Metblogs (among other great city blogs like LAist and LA Observed) as a “competitor blog” to the Weekly’s own, well, I must admit to feeling a flush of pride. The Weekly’s been an institution in LA since Jay Levin fired it up in 1978, and while its quality has fluctuated with the times it still is, in my opinion, one of the flagship sources for local journalism & writing that provides a strong sense of place.

I’d like to ask you, our readers, what you’d like to see more of on LA Metblogs, and how you think we can serve you better. At first I thought I’d ask for you to send me feedback via e-mail, so no other media outlets could bogart the good ideas; but really, it would be great if every news/culture pub in LA could raise its game–so fire away in the comments.

The memo in its entirety is here on LA Observed.

According to something called the HealthSaver Caffeinated Cities Survey, Los Angeles is one of the top five most caffeinated cities in the country. Tampa claims the #1 spot, followed by Seattle, Chicago, and New York.

Our neighbors in Riverside/San Bernardino are the least caffeinated, followed by Atlanta, San Diego, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Dallas.

Coffee, tea, sodas, energy drinks, chocolate, pain relievers and caffeine pills were all included in the survey.

Twitch on, L.A.!

Click image for source.

It’s no secret there’s been all sorts of conflict over the division of the Eastside and Westside. The battle is no simple black and white matter, either–numerous factions battle for supremacy. Hipsters rise above their ennui long enough to dub Silver Lake the eastside; Boyle Heights & East LA residents rattle sabers, just DARING the mustachioed tight-pantsed hipsters to cross the LA River; and dopey Santa Monica dwellers in Dockers refuse to even cross Western Avenue. What a mess.

So it is with great amusement that I’ve been following the debate over at LA Eastside, where with the post “Mas Revolucion!” the die-hard Eastside OG blog attempt to rally the TRUE Eastside troops to resist the coming hipster apocalypse. Senor Guerrero, a hat tip to you and your excellent post, which manages to address real LA social issues with wit and humor.

On a tangent, though, I sure wish gentrification would come to Canoga Park. I’d take hipsters any day over gang shootings two blocks over. Hipsters are obnoxious, but rarely deadly (unless rabid), and they do increase my property value. Is it a sign of institutional racism that the well-kept yards and tidy homes of my immediate neighbors–who are working-class Latino families and excellent neighbors–are not enough to raise the property values in the area? Sigh.

Hello!  My name is Victoria Lane.  I am yet another new writer impishly adding my words to the mix.  As seems to be the trend, I am a native Californian.  I grew up behind the Orange Curtain and presently live in the Hollywood area.  I’m a professional creative, working primarily as an actress and a writer.

I am madly in love with Los Angeles and cannot wait to share that passion with all of you while discovering yours in return.  I tend toward the dark corners, glamorous occasions and imagination-driven sandboxes.  Even after so many years there are always new discoveries to be made because of the scale of this place and the simple fact that inspiration never dies.  This town is replete with frequent births and many a phoenix rising from the dirty ashes of a fiery fall.

I am addicted to the world-class people watching that borders on salacious voyeurism.  I adore the wild interactions that come with living in a place where artistry and shooting star dreams converge in a bizarre (and sometimes scandalous) parade of human behavior.  Merely going to a coffee shop or hitting the gym at 2 am can be an escapade worth writing a novel about.

I am thrilled to have been invited to contribute to Metblogs.  I cannot wait to begin a sordid little valentine to the City of Angels.

Over the weekend, the LA Times’ LA Unleashed blog had a quick blurb about health insurance for your pets. According to the article, 1% of all pet owners have pet insurance, and the number is expected to increase. In November, the Los Angeles Animal Services Commission recommended that the city partner with pet insurer Pet’s Best to refer
Pet’s Best as an insurance option for individuals who adopt an animal from any of the six Animal Care Centers. In return, the city gets a sponsorship fee for each policy sold. Pet’s Best estimates that between 200 and 250 policies will be issued this year as result of this partnership.

Now, the eternal question for pet owners: at a time when people can barely afford insurance for themselves, is insurance for their pet worth it? I agonized over this to-insure-or-not-insure problem when I bought my dog, and then lived to kind of regret not insuring her when, at the ripe age of 6 months, she vaulted off a sofa and somehow managed to completely break her left foreleg.
The emotional and financial agony after the jump.

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From the Weather Service email:

Red Flag “RESTRICTED PARKING – LIFTED” as of 01/12/2009, 08:49 PM.

I have to say my weather widget IS still predicting high winds through Wednesday, but at least for now the Red Flag parking restrictions are lifted.

Arrrgh!!!! I hate writing about this… but like Jason said in a previous post… crime does seem to be on the upsurge and it’s better to watch your back, than be taken by surprise.  Last Wednesday, a friend of mine was beaten and raped in Beachwood Canyon.

In broad daylight, a white guy dressed in a ski mask, broke into her apartment while she was inside.  The place is right on Beachwood Drive, which is somewhat public so the whole thing was pretty shocking.  Because of the circumstances, the police think he had been watching my friend and was waiting for an opportune moment.  He also stole her jewelry, but that seemed to be an afterthought.

Soooooo, get those locks toughened up and keep your eyes wide open cuz there is a mighty bad guy running loose.

RT @ginnycase Are you hoarding an old computer?

It’s time to let go of that first generation iPod, Broseph. Ginny Case Twittered about Neuwaste Business Recycling’s collection event for electronic waste on February 28th in beautiful Downtown Los Angeles.

A list of accepted items… right after the break.

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As an Angeleno and huge fan of designer and illustrator Marian Bantjes (who is, unfortunately, Canadian), I’m thrilled to see that her beautifully hand drawn cover for the September 2008 issue of Los Angeles magazine was number eight on Time magazine’s list of Top 10 Magazine Covers in 2008. Bantjes is currently bouncing around CA in preparation for the opening of her gallery show at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. You can catch her in Los Angeles tomorrow night:

Art Center College of Design
Hillside Campus
Ahmanson Auditorium
Tuesday, Jan 13
7:00pm

Rick Castro, owner/curator of Antebellum Gallery in Hollywood, continues his monthly movie series, Fetish Film Fridays, at the Egyptian Theater this week. This Friday’s feature, Inserts, is a local tale– a story of Los Angeles in a state of flux as the movie industry ditched silent films and moved onto making talkies, while the city was condemning and demolishing properties to make way for the Hollywood Freeway.

Inserts, which, by the way, was rated X, stars a young (pre-Jaws) Richard Dreyfuss as Boy Wonder, a washed-up silent movie director who, unable to make the transition to talkies in the 1930s, turns to making cheap, silent sex films with a desperate actress named Miss Cake (Jessica Harper.)

Veronica Cartwright, who also stars in the movie, will appear with Castro at the screening.

Says Castro, “It’s like an X-rated version of Sunset Boulevard.”

Inserts, Friday, Jan. 16th at 7:30 PM; Egyptian Theater 6712 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles 90028 Reservations recommended, 323-466-3456. Trailer here.

Kicking off an insanely ambitious US tour, The Delta Spirit start with a show at the El Rey this Friday. Dig their jangly, alt-country-inflected indie pop? Or maybe you’re a fan of Everest‘s Elliot Smith-meets-Neil Young thang. Or both. Either way you can check ‘em out by telling me your biggest classic Americana influence. The Byrds? The Burritos? Let a girl know.

Wanna try to buy tickets (I expect this show to sell out by the day of the event)? Go here for more info.

You’ve made it through the holidays and the inevitable mayhem of the first week back at work after the new year.  You’ve settled back into your routine, but now you’re looking for some fun (and you need a drink.)  Something to get you out of the house, maybe even involve a little social interaction.  I’ve got just the thing for you.

On Tuesday, 13 January, Booze Clues returns to Cuba Libre in Los Feliz.  Booze Clues is a monthly pub trivia night that has built a dedicated following.  The evening’s hosts, Dave & Pauline and Dan, do a great job not only creating a fun quiz, but also keeping the event organized and moving, engaging the crowd, and making the whole thing feel like you’re hanging out with 50 or 60 friends.

There are more details and a bonus, so make with the clicky and follow me past the jump…

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Is the L.A. crime rate really at its lowest point in years? I’m just wondering, because there seems to be a rash of vandalism and burglaries in the 818.

• Someone broke into my co-worker’s car in a gated parking garage in Sherman Oaks about 5 months ago.
• Someone broke into my car in a gated parking garage in Studio City on December 23.
• Someone broke into my other co-worker’s car in a gated parking garage in North Hollywood on January 11.
• Then, there’s the well-mannered Knock Knock Bandits, who have the courtesy to knock on your door before relieving you of all your prized possessions. They’ve politely hit 40 homes since last Summer.

Are these incidents gang-related? Is the economy to blame? Is LAPD doing enough to protect citizens?

How safe is your neighborhood these days?