I just got a call from Ruth666 tipping me off to some chaos in Silver Lake – she’s got no power so unable to blog it herself. If you are familiar with the intersection of Glendale Blvd and Fletcher Ave then you know the (nor dormant) 76 Station on the corner. Apparently someone just plowed their car into a power line knocking down the pole and taking another with it, in turn blacking out several blocks around it. She said it’s a mess of wires and cops and utility workers at the moment. More info when we have it…

Everything about you is fake. Your watch is fake. Your fur coat is fake. Even your hair is fake.

Well, don’t worry. The New Beverly has a film festival that’s right up your alley. Curated by Brick director Riann Johnson, the “Festival of Fakery” begins tonight with a double feature of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) and Johnson’s own upcoming film The Brothers Bloom.

Other films being screened include: a double feature of David Mamet’s House of Games (1987) and The Spanish Prisoner (1997); a double bill of The Sting (1973) and The Man Who Would Be King (1975); a double dose of Orson Welles’ F for Fake (1974) with Fellini’s 8 1/2 (1963); and a double whammy of Preston Sturges’ The Lady Eve (1941) and Terry Giliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988).

Now get back to pretending to do whatever you were pretending to be doing.

Image: Fake news from the Weekly World News.

It was reported an hour ago by LAFD, but here’s an update. If you’re not following LAFD’s Twitter feed, why the heck not?!

LAFD *UPDATE: 125 W. 4th St.* Confirmed vault explosion, w/ significant power disruption in area. 4 bldg’s have been evac’d. No inj’s rpt’d.

*UPDATE: 125 W. 4th St.* Spring Str. shut down frm 3rd to 5th Str. All traffic diverted between Broadway & Main also frm 3rd to 5th Str.

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Lesley Herring - missing

In all my life this is the closest I’ve been (thankfully) to knowing a “missing person.”

I got the email about Lesley and Lyle Herring from a friend and wanted to post it here in case anyone may have seen either of them.

Here‘s the link to the blogger page with more photos and info – please contact the Hollywood police station (213-972-2971) if you’ve seeing either Lesley or Lyle. Their families are worried out of their minds.

Long before Battlestar Galactica’s Cavil and Ellen Tigh entertained us with arguments over the vagaries of sentient existence and free will, humanity looked to the ancient Greek tragedians to divert our minds from daily ills. That is, if you consider tales of matricide, patricide, fratricide, filicide and the occasional act of forced cannibalism a diversion.

You see, this cat Aeschylus was a bad mother … (Shut your mouth!) … but I’m talkin’ about the father of tragedy! Aeschylus’s The Oresteia trilogy–Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides–still rattles nerves to this day. And Angelenos who like their nerves rattled have it good, because thanks in part to the Getty Villa’s theater program, an Aeschylus tragedy is never more than a few months away.

This Friday through Sunday, the Getty’s Villa Theater Lab is presenting Ghost Road Company’s Orestes, the third part of their Home, Siege, Home trilogy, the multimedia theater ensemble’s own unique take on The Oresteia. In this chapter, “Orestes is tormented by his memories of having killed his mother; the Furies seek revenge for their fallen leader; and the Gods Apollo and Athena struggle to exact some peace and justice from the rubble.”

Wait a second? Apollo? Athena? Where have I heard those names before?

Image: Ghost Road Company’s Orestes. Courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Trust.

I stumbled upon the Knights of Monte Carlo quite by accident this past Summer while attending a concert featuring my wickedly talented friend Esza Kaye and the L.A. rock meets cirque sensation Powder at the Key Club.   They were the last band on, which is always a crap shoot.  All the same, we ordered coffee after having enjoyed dinner and gave them a shot.

Unexpectedly, this 1970′s lounge lizard meets Jimmy Buffet-on-a-beach vibe assembled itself on stage.  I braced for an onslaught of cheese.  Instead, I was blown away by incredible musicianship with only the most subtle hint of humor tossed into the mix.   It was so good that if I closed my eyes I was certain Steely Dan was on the stage.  I was instantly a fan along with most everyone else who had remained in the club.

The Knights Of Monte Carlo have since gone on to make believers out of hundreds of other Angelenos, establishing themselves as one of the best live music acts that must be experienced on a regular basis.  (Just don’t call them a cover band!)  Playing the ‘hard core soft rock’ of the 70′s with a country club ambiance, they have taken up residency once a month at the King King Hollywood with the Hollywood Yacht Club.

The next show is tomorrow night at 10 pm.  It’s a $10 cover with the doors opening at 9 pm.  Country club attire is encouraged so have fun with it!  As a side note, Carson Daly will be filming this particular evening so if you want to avoid that you can check them out on March 18th.

*Insider Tip*  Affordable parking available two blocks away at Hollywood and Wilcox.

Hollywood Bowl Fireworks by Jodi

Nights at the Hollywood Bowl practically define my summers in L.A, so I got really excited when I received a mailing the other day announcing their subscription series for 2009. The entire calendar is not published yet, but you can purchase various ticket packages for classical, jazz, world music, spectaculars (which often feature amazing fireworks, and special events. Becoming a subscriber has a lot of benefits such as early choice of seats, a discount at the Bowl Store, and advanced sales for other shows. If you place an order by March 2nd, you also get a free bottle of wine.

I actually wait until individual tickets go on sale, which starts in March if buying for 5 or more shows. Otherwise, you have to wait until May 2nd and line up with hundreds of other people at the box office, which can be a fairly miserable experience. Since I do attend a fair number of the concerts, I get the cheapest seats still available. I’ve never seen the venue sold out for a week night classical show, so it’s easy to move down two or three sections closer to the stage.

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The poll is still open to decide on where Classic Eats #3 will happen. February 28th is the date, but you still get to decide the places. Last I looked French Polynesia was ahead.

Please click to the original post to vote and read all the details for each contestant. Poll closes February 23.

UPDATE: Sorry, we are having poll issues within our blog posts. Our technicians are working to solve the problem.  Please check back!

We here at Los Angeles Metblogs would love to extend a warm welcome to our newest blogging brethren in San Diego. This launch marks the 57th Metblogs city, the 6th California city, and the 3rd right here in SoCal. It’s super exciting, and we can’t wait to see what they have going on. Woo hoo!!!

Earlier this month e-mails were circulating about a string of assaults in Silver Lake followed up by a community meeting on the topic. I heard through the grapevine that some suspects were arrested and all was right with the world. Or something. Anyway, I just received an e-policing newsletter about a robbery in my neighborhood 2 days ago which says it’s not known if it’s related to the earlier attacks. The e-mail is after the jump, but it gives a few tips:

• At night, walk in groups of two or more.
• Park in well lit areas.
• Do not carry an excess amount of cash or credit cards.
• Avoid distractions. Do not walk while talking on a cell phone or listening to MP3 players.
• If approached, comply with their demands. It will help preveny[sp] possible injury.
• If you become a victim, immediately call 911.

The first 4 are obvious and fairly good advice but I really have to take issue with sending out e-mails telling people basically to be good victims. Telling people not to resist makes it easier for criminals to function – the less resistance they have the better. I mean seriously, pretend you are a criminal and tell me which sounds more appealing to you? Option A) tell someone to give you their wallet and they do and you walk away with all their cash, credit cards and whatever else they have in there or B) tell someone to give you their wallet and before you finish your sentence they hit you with something and run away. Criminals rob people because they think they can get away with it and telling people to comply only fosters that idea. I’m venting here but honestly I’d rather live in a neighborhood where people weren’t afraid to stand up for themselves than one where they are sending e-mails around about how scared they are. I’m not saying fighting back solves it, but at least it gives you a chance and some self respect. Complying without any resistance is just giving up. I’m not just making this up, when I lived in Chicago I was mugged twice. Once I gave up everything in my pockets and the guys got away, the second time I fought back and kept everything and watched the guy get arrested. Guess which time left me feeling better about myself?

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The last time I played Street Fighter, it was a decade ago, in a dirty but awesome arcade called The Reagan Years in Fullerton.  I was beat, handily in two rounds, by some sassy 6 year old who demanded a buck in quarters and a pack of gum from the vending machine as tribute.

I hope that sassy 6 year old was at the Geffen Contemporary on Thursday night.  As frazgo the awesome Mike Winder mentioned earlier this month, Capcom rented out the otherwise closed Geffen Contemporary to host a huge party launching the release of Street Fighter IV and to commemorate the 20th anniversary of its highly influential fighting series.

When we rolled up around 8:30, there was a line blocks long.  At first, we thought everyone was there for the Kogi truck, at its usual Thursday night stop in front of the Japanese American National Museum … but, no.  An estimated 4000 people showed up; many were rejected, marshaled out by the fire department, though had they returned a few hours later, like we did after grabbing some sausages and beer at nearby Wurstkuche, they would have been able to get in and experience some serious Street Fighting.  Some choice pics follow:

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In what may be a sign of how crowded county prisons have become, one of the men who plead no contest in a fatal stabbing late last summer has been sentenced to one year in the pen and three years probation. A second man, who also plead no contest in the killing has been allowed to walk free until his March 20th sentencing. He is expected to serve 4 years in prison… all in, a total of 5 years for “involuntary manslaughter” following a bar fight.

For a bit of context, keep in mind that tagger Buket was sentenced to 10 months in county and five years probation. Because, you know, vandalism is almost as bad as killing someone.

More at the LA Times.

Talk about beating a man when he’s down!

In an era when even President Barack Obama speaks warmly about Ronald Reagan, you’ve got to admire the cajones of journalist William Kleinknecht, who will be speaking about his new book, The Man Who Sold the World: Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street America, tonight at 7:00 pm at Book Soup.

According to the book’s blurb:

So much that has gone wrong in America — including the subprime mortgage crisis and the meltdown of the financial sector — can be traced directly to Reagan’s policies. The financial deregulation launched in the 1980s freed banks and securities firms to squander hundreds of billions of dollars and make a shambles of the economy.

For his follow-up book, Kleinknecht will blame Reagan for Octomom, the lack of cut-and-paste on the iPhone, and the undying popularity of Dancing with the Stars.

Oh, and for those of you who didn’t benefit from Reaganomics, a majority of the book can be found online for free here. Legally, even!

Image: The Gipper and Danny Chang in Hong Kong (1952).

The rain moved into the area hard and heavy about an hour ago here in the Foothill Cities.  I”m about 2 miles east of Sierra Madre and we have had about 1″ of rain since it started raining around 4AM.  Sierra Madre has issued Red Flag alerts with voluntary evacuation.  All the info needed on the evacuations can be found on the Sierra Madre city web.  

The exact verbage on the warning from their web:

RED FLAG ALERT
The City’s state of emergency level is now at the Stage 3 – RED FLAG. This was activated with an LA County Phase 2 or 3 forecast. Phase 2 includes moderate debris and mudflows at more widespread locations. Phase 3—the potential exists for significant debris and mudflows to be widespread. Affected residents should get SET to leave their homes and may choose to voluntarily evacuate. Vehicles should not be parked on the streets.

Inside locali

Have you checked out locali on Franklin Ave. in Hollywood?  I only recently found out about this store and had to visit.  Reading on the website, it read like a green 7 – 11.  Funny thing, that’s exactly what it is and then some.   Want a slushie? They have yummy ginger tonic slushies in a couple of flavors.  There are vegan and vegetarian burritos available along with salads, soups and other ready-to-eat items.  Fresh organic coffee is for sale and quite delicious.

locali has pretty much everything you, but with a green twist.  There are environmentally sound household & hygiene items and a rather large selection of beers and wines that are Certified Organic, biodynamic and/or come from sustainable farms, including gluten-free beers!  Toward the rear of the store is a well stocked frozen section along with healthy snacks for kids and a deli section.  The big draw of this area is the emphasis on vegan and gluten-free foods, making it easy for those who follow these diets to grab a quick bite on the go.  Read the rest of this entry →