Make up artist Robert Greene says he was asked by Bidoun, an art and culture magazine from the Middle East, to paint someone’s face to look like Shepard Fairey’s Obama Hope poster. No word on whether AP lawyers have been sniffing around this one.

Angels Flight was operating at Third and Hill as The World’s Shortest Railway. And one didn’t have too far to go to find a good vegetarian cafeteria.

The year was 1910.

Photo from USC Digital Archive

So I guess I have one less reason to hate on LA. A little piece of NYC is setting up shop in Echo Park: Two Boots Pizza, a NYC institution, opens tonight on Sunset, practically cheek-to-cheek with the Echo. And people, it’s a place where you can order by the slice if you want– essential to pizza lovers.

As another NYC institution, Liz Lemon, would say, “I want to go to there.”

During my time here, I’ve managed to scout out other worthy pizza joints, in the same mold and even in the same general area. Nicky D.’s on Rowena in Silver Lake is one of them. Their wood-fire oven has provided me with many a tasty pie.

And then there’s Cheech’s on Hillhurst in Los Feliz, where I’ve been rewarding myself with innumerable slices after making the trek by bike up to Griffith Park Observatory. Walking into this little gem of a pizza parlor is like stepping back in time– which is why Cheech’s needs to rethink (and remove) that large flat panel TV they recently bolted to the wall, oddly encased in Plexiglass. Read the rest of this entry →

Yellow flag alert remains in effect for LA County due to expected rains this afternoon and evening.

I heard last night from a friend up in Sierra Madre that the areas adjacent to last springs wild fires that the heavy rains yesterday evening were causing some minor debris flows in their area.  

I visited Sierra Madre up on Skyland Dr near Orange Ave.  The roads overall were in good condition.  I came across only a few spots where the muck, gravel and debris made it difficult to get some traction.  I stopped near one of the sharp spots as the debris, possibly 2-3 inches thick was deeper than I wanted to brave in my little car.  

For those of you in the Sierra Madre your city Web has info on the streets affected by the potential for mud flows and street closures.  

All pics by me.  The do get bigger with a click.  You’ll need to make the jump for a few more. Read the rest of this entry →

Remember that little thing yesterday with the Associated Press claiming infringement on Shepard Fairey’s Obama image? You know the one where Shepard drew a picture of a small piece of a photo and the AP somehow thinks that isn’t fair use? The one where the photographer who took the photo the illustration is based on, Mannie Garcia, said:

“I’ve been on the campaign for twenty something months, so I would see the artwork, I would photograph it, and think what is with this image? But it didn’t snap. It never occurred to me it was my picture. I thought, ‘that’s familiar.’ I would see it and say that’s cool, but it did keep sticking in my head. I know artists like to look at things; they see things and they make stuff. It’s a really cool piece of work.”

Yeah you know what I’m talking about now right? The image that the Washington Post looked at in May 2008 and explained in detail how much work Shepard put into making the noteworthy and standout imagery from a random photo. You know what’s funny? Two weeks ago Reuters thought it was inspired by one of their photos – and the photographer Jim Young said he was “honored” that Fairey chose his photo to work from. Of course the Associated Press is no stranger to trying to redefine Fair Use, you might recall last year when they tried to sue bloggers for quoting their articles. (They’ve even targeted me at one point.) Anyway, the amusing thing about all of this is that it isn’t news at all and artists regularly appropriate imagery to make new and interesting works of art. Warhol & Lichtenstein are two mentioned prominently in this Supertouch article “THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE: SHEPARD FAIREY AND THE ART OF APPROPRIATION”. If anything, all this ruckus just makes Shepard’s work that much more noteworthy.

Because if you are… shit, you are hating life.

Even though I’m an East-sider, I have frequented the Bikerowave fairly often. I did a couple Cubcamp rides and the now-infamous CubCamp Extra Credits Ride (Santa Barbara to Silverlake), which left from the Bikerowave. And in a world of ever-increasing capitalistic endeavors in our bicycle scene, it’s nice to know that there’s still a not-for-profit bicycle collective that exists solely to help people get on bicycles, regardless of how much money they have. (Props, of course, to both the Bicycle Kitchen and the Bike Oven, too!)

Workin' on bikes at the Bikerowave (Photo credit: Alex Thompson, licensed through Creative Commons.)

  Read the rest of this entry →

Westfield – Fashion Square mall. Sherman Oaks.

Thursday. 4:28pm. One week before Valentine’s Day.

And it’s raining.

A flurry of high profile copyright infringement cases– why now?

One of the big stories being passed around now in Blogland is happening here in Los Angeles, where Associated Press is going after Shepard Fairey for appropriating one of their photos for his Obama Hope poster. In fact, as I type this, there is a story about it airing on NPR.

But Los Angeles could soon be the setting for another high profile copyright infringement battle. And two  more are playing out in NYC– one in the theater world, the other in the art world.

In LA, next week the focus may shift to Coldplay and guitarist Joe Satriani’s plagiarism charges against the group, claiming they lifted the tune for their hit “Viva La Vida” from his song “If I Could Fly.”

The band issued a denial on their website but, not having been in LA lately, they have avoided being served court papers by Satriani or his reps. But Coldplay will be in Los Angeles for next week’s Grammy Awards ceremony at the Staples Center. And here’s the fun part: Satriani’s lawyers say they will be stalking the group with a camera crew (!) seeking to serve them with court papers.

If I were Staples (the office supply megastore chain that paid big $$ for the naming rights to the venue,) I would wire Satriani with a microphone, send him dancing onto the stage during Coldplay’s scheduled performance on the live Grammy telecast to serve the band with court papers, and then have him turn to the camera and scream, “THAT WAS EASY!” Read the rest of this entry →

Whoever wins these tickets is LU-KEE. ‘Cuz everyone and their hipster formerly-grunge mama is gonna want tix to see the former frontman of Stone Temple Pilots & Velvet Revolver. (show info here)

I am not going to make this easy for you. (muahahaha)

Some of the tracks on Weiland’s latest solo album were recorded by a guy who’s a big musical hero of mine.

Tell me the name of a song that guy wrote.

Don’t feel bad. This is the hardest question I’ve ever asked, ‘cuz you’d have to either know something about me or make a good educated guess, plus be a music geek. But like I said, I wanted to make this a toughie.

Last week I went to lunch with a friend at the News Cafe on Robertson.  I like the place because it’s one of the few places where I can go to get a fresh squeezed carrot/ginger/apple/lime juice, an organic steak sandwich that rocks and an espresso all under one roof.  I’m a freak for organic food and I don’t have steak more than every couple of months, so it’s really hard to eat one out… most places simply don’t have organic grain fed meat.

However, the whole experience was ruined by two Britney wannabe types smoking at the table in front of me.  Yes, I did sit on the patio, but it was enclosed by an awning and those plastic zip up sides, so in effect, we were surrounded by toxic smoke.

I couldn’t BELIEVE that anyone in this day and age would be so insensitive…. or that a restaurant that prides themselves on healthy food would even allow smoking.  Not to mention, it seems to be against the law.

Read the rest of this entry →

Picture it, after running around in circles all afternoon and finally home getting dinner on the table, my wife checks the answering machine.  It caused a mighty sphincter wink…damn that is all I need was my thought as she told me about the message:

Good afternoon this is your (garbled) bank fraud center.  Your debit card and linked accounts have been deactivated due to a fraudulent use of your card.  Please call XXX-XXX-XXXX immediately to review the activity and reopen your accounts.  Again this is your bank fraud center, your debit card and linked accounts have been deactivated.  Please call XXX-XXX-XXXX immediately to review the activity and reopen your accounts. Read the rest of this entry →

This is another, sadly daily reminder to keep an eye out for your surroundings, especially late at night while walking to and from your car, regardless of neighborhood.

My neighborhood Senior Lead Officer for the LAPD, Officer Ralph Sanchez,  relayed to me the story of a recent noontime mugging near Sunset and Ogden. The victim was jogging while wearing an iPod, which the thieves asked for at gunpoint along with his wallet… fortunately, in part because the jogger was able to give a good description the perps, they were apprehended almost soon thereafter.

While the guy wasn’t harmed, Officer Sanchez pointed out, “The victim said he was unaware he was being followed due to his Ipod turned up.”

The image added to this post was found across from the Celebrity Center, reporting of another armed robbery last Saturday. Full text after the jump.

It’s possible that 70 years from now historians will praise Paul Blart, Mall Cop as an example of the type of popular entertainment that buoyed America’s spirit during tumultuous economic times.

Fortunately, we’ll all be dead by then. In the meantime, we can enjoy the American Cinematheque’s Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? Great Films of the Great Depression at the Aero Theatre, a film series designed to showcase the “funniest, scariest and most romantic movies of an era a little too close to our own for comfort.”

But the real kicker for this series is that the Cinematheque is offering the screenings for FREE to anybody who brings their January or February EDD benefits check.

The series starts tonight with a Boris Karloff double feature of Frankenstein (1931) and The Mummy (1932) and continues tomorrow night with a double bill of Laurel and Hardy’s Sons of the Desert (1933) and W.C. Fields’ It’s a Gift (1934). On Saturday, we get two Fred Estaire and Ginger Rogers musicals with Roberta (1935) and the nautical-themed Follow the Fleet (1936). And on Sunday, the series concludes with a screening of the Cary Grant and Constance Bennett supernatural comedy Topper (1937) followed by George Cukor’s noncomformist romantic comedy Holiday (1938), starring Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn.

You may want to get to the theater early. Judging from the latest reports, these screenings could end up being standing room only.

Image: W.C. Fields and Charles Sellon in It’s a Gift (1934).

Photo courtesy of Gary Stevens (www.garysworld.net)

On the evening of Saturday January 31st hundreds of revelers descended upon the decaying Tower Theater in Downtown Los Angeles for an evening of art, music and creative fashion.  The very first Edwardian Ball had landed in Southern California.  The response was both enthusiastic and unforgettable.

Even at the very start of the night the venue was already over flowing with a sea of people in costumes ranging from the Victorian era to Burning Man types with glow in the dark accessories.  It was hands down one of the most eclectic crowds to ever gather in such a setting, sporting a very healthy representation from all the generations presently dwelling in the City of Angels.

This was not the typical glam scene with nothing but pretty young kids.  It was a crowd marked by character faces from youthful scenesters to the WWII generation, making for some of the greatest people watching I’ve had in at least a decade.  What was equally significant was how respectful everyone behaved with regard to sharing space for a night.  There was no ageism, scene hauteur or other negativity often played out in the darkness of a Los Angeles night.  I have no idea if that was due to people taking up the spirit of a time when people had manners or if it was sheer communal joy for a shared passion.  Either way, it was beautiful and set the tone for the night.

Read the rest of this entry →