Reinventing Tesla is the first-person account of the life of the inventor and engineer who contributed so greatly to the fields of electricity and magnetism. Nikola Tesla’s tireless theoretical and pratical work formed the basis for modern alternating current power systems, as well as wireless communication used in radio.

In this one-man show,  actor Frank Tabbita gives an intriguing portrayal of the passionate, eccentric genius, who is responsible for far more of our current day electronic world than most people know. The stage is minimally dressed with old fashioned trunks and a lamp used to set the scene. Some multimedia assists in illustrating the narrative. Since it’s mentioned in the program, I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that there is a  functioning Tesla Coil at one point. I won’t say how it arrives on stage and exactly what it does.

Click through to read more and for show details

An L.A. City College student is suing the school after an anti-gay marriage speech he was giving in a public speaking class was cut off by his professor, who objected to the content, labeled him a “fascistbastard ” and then refused to give him credit.

Jonathan Lopez, who is working on his associate of arts degree at Los Angeles City College, quoted a dictionary definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman and cited several Bible verses during a public speaking class in late November, his suit says. His professor, John Matteson, interrupted, called Lopez a “fascist bastard” and refused to let him finish his address, according to the suit.

The professor also refused to give Lopez a grade for the speech, telling him to “ask God” for his mark, the suit alleges. And when Lopez complained to college officials, Matteson threatened to have him expelled, the suit says. [from LA Now]

If true, we have a professor who not only believes it’s okay to mock someone’s religious beliefs while censoring speech, but also abuses their authority when a student tries to report such behavior? Can someone at Fox News please get Professor Matteson a talk show? He’d fit right in.

(to be fair, though, the very unscientific site “RateMyProfessor.com” gives a largely favorable impression of Matteson, with the most common critique being that he’s crazy “in a good way.”)

I really don’t even know what to say about this…

I encountered Famima several years ago when I was writing for a local publication.  It’s a new breed of convenience store out of Japan for people on the go who want better options.  At the time, I thought it was a great concept and loved my visit to the one out on Hollywood Blvd but that was the extent of my experience.

Recently, my routine has changed to involve regular trips out to LA Live.  As chance would have it, I walk right by a Famima located on Flower Street.  In the position of a consumer with a sophisticated sense of what I’d like while on the go, I have a new appreciation for the concept behind Famima.  It’s quickly becoming my savior during crazier days.

Famima is clean, brightly lit, stylish and easy to navigate.  What struck me once more is the variety.  I have an overwhelming number of choices.  I can have a freshly made Italian Panini, a curry chicken sandwich, sushi or one of three different kinds of Chinese steamy buns.  On a day when I’m lusting after chocolate therapy, I can grab some Godiva – something you cannot do at any other convenience store.

I’m passing up the corner store across the street from me now in lieu of Famima when I head out to LA Live.  If you travel by one during your day, I cannot recommend it enough for a quick gourmet lunch or to satisfy your more complicated cravings.  Convenience can have some style and still be affordable.

BMW Art Car by Roy Lichtenstein

The BMW Art Cars exhibit opened at LACMA on Thursday on the new outdoor Grand Entrance plaza, a free-admission area of the museum. The cars will only be on view for two weeks, until February 24th, so you have to move quickly if you want to see them.

Conceived in 1975 by French racecar driver Hervé Poulain, the list of artists who used the cars as canvases reads like a who’s who of contemporary art. In addition to the four now at LACMA by Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Robert Rauschenberg and Roy Lichtenstein, cars have been painted by twelve other artists, including Alexander Calder, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, A. R. Penck and Sandro Chia.

BMW and an international panel of judges will soon announce their choice for the 17th artist to participate.

On a side note, there were a few people looking at the Art Cars today, but going into the Broad building to see the enormous, engrossing Art of Two Germanys/Cold War Cultures exhibit, we found large crowds taking it in. Whether it was an economic Valentine’s Day date for hundreds or a love of art, or both, it was an encouraging sign to see so many spectators at the financially troubled museum.

Click through for more Art Car photos. Read the rest of this entry →

A new opiate for the people?

Now that I have your attention, let me point out it’s not happening in Los Angeles. It’s Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, in the run up to elections this summer, who is making free Viagra available to poor men over the age of 60 as a way of, according to today’s NY Times, “making life more livable for the people of this sprawling metropolis, which finds itself clogged with traffic, overwhelmed by smog, prowled by criminals and reeling from the global financial crisis.”

Yes, I see how inducing an erection that will last for hours can be a way of “making life more liveable;” and I’ve heard of respecting your elders, but will they respect themselves the next morning?

I’m not sure what voter turnout is in Mexico City, but I know here in LA for the mayoral election, stupidly held on the first Tuesday in March instead of the first Tuesday in November, it will be typically, dismally low. So why not try to lure voters of all ages and incomes to the polls with something other than the vague promise of a tax cut or an “I Voted” sticker? Read the rest of this entry →

Like a cold splash of water in the face of David Beckham’s dream to escape from Los Angeles, The Galaxy is announcing that he will return next month after his two-month stint with AC Milan ends, “despite his wish to stay in Italy.”

According to The AP, Tim Leiweke, president of Galaxy parent AEG, said,

“I know David is emotionally invested, but I don’t think Milan really was that interested in spending the money we would have had to receive to compensate us for our losses.”

The Galaxy had turned down Milan’s only offer to buy out Beckham’s contract. Hearing nothing further from Milan by Friday’s deadline imposed by MLS commissioner Don Garber to resolve the conflict, the team will hold on to Beckham for the foreseeable future. However, he has an option in his contract to leave The Galaxy at the end of this year.

That Conan O’Brien will soon relocate from New York City to Los Angeles to take over Jay Leno’s chair on The Tonight Show would, in itself, be an interesting subject for Los Angeles Metblogs.  But last night, Conan, with guest Alec Baldwin, also touched on a Metbloggy sore point subject by raising the N.Y.C. vs. L.A. comparison.  The discussion takes place in part 1 of the video (h/t to The Huffington Post).

O’Brien and Baldwin are the perfect pair to discuss the New York City/Los Angeles comparison.  While O’Brien is on his way from N.Y.C. to L.A., Baldwin, who grew up in New York and has spent much of his adult life making movies in Los Angeles, is now back in New York working on the “30 Rock” television program.

If you watch to the end of part 2, you’ll get another East Coast/West Coast bonus, straight from New Jersey.

Seeing as how without your elaborate and primarily gelatinous IAAL•MAF (of which I am a most(ly) humble member) stepped up large and on short notice to eliminate the very real possibility of there not being a Fifth Anniversary Midnight Ridazz ride happening tonight, I’d be both remiss and in flagrant violation of its bylaws if I didn’t do a bit o’ the pimpin’ of it here. We’re calling it the Take The Fifth Ride.

We’ve got kickass spokecards and congenial dispositions and a route that starts and ends at the Echo Park Lake boathouse, paying homage along the way to a number of Midnight Ridazz landmarks real and imagined such as Boyle Heights’ Mariachi Plaza, the 6th Street Bridge, the 2nd Street Tunnel, and the Bicycle District before doing a run up to  Hollywood. It’s slated for 20-21 miles but  the midpoint comes back close to Echo Park so there’s a halfsies option if your so inclined to cut short the most fun you’ll ever have on a bike.

“But Will, it’s gonna be cold and it might rain!”

So? Sure there’s a chill in the air and a chance of showers, but I’ve been doing an anti-rain dance on my lunch hour and state-mandated 15-minute breaks and it appears to have worked. But even if skies open up on us at some point t’ll just make a night out biking the streets of Los Angeles with those who choose to roll with us that much more unique.

Join us, won’t you? The ride gathers at 9:30 and departs at 10. You’ll find a bit more info here at midnightridazz.com.

Sorry to be so birdbrained, what with my previous post being about a great blue heron spotted in the Miracle Mile area yesterday, but I can’t help it if I keep encountering awesome avians on my bike rides to work. This morning while on Redondo Boulevard approaching 12th Street I was alerted to the immediate proximity of a Cooper’s hawk by its telltale alarm call, sounding very much like a staccato laugh.

Sure enough in a nearby tree on 12th there it sat all loud and proud. Given the difficulty I’ve had trying to photograph the flighty and elusive Cooper’s I’ve encountered around my house in Silver Lake, I was pleasantly surprised that this magnificent specimen had absolutely no issues with me getting all up under its business and snapping a few frames, like the one above.

After the jump, a few facts about the raptor, courtesy Whatbird.com.

• Read the rest of this entry →

Photo by amateur astronomer Jack Newton from his backyard in Arizona

On Monday February 16 and again on Tuesday February 24, if you are very lucky, there are no clouds and you are up before dawn (I’m looking at you Will Campbell), you may be able to see the Green Comet in the southwest sky. A telescope and/or binoculars might be a big help.

Comet Lulin (or Comet C/2007 N3 for you sticklers), discovered in 2007 by 19 year old student Quanzhi Ye in Taiwan, is green and might not be quite visible to the naked eye and there is a chance the bright LA basin will make it even harder to detect, but to see a green comet? Might be worth a go.

Read more about on Nasa’s Green Comet page.

Jump past the comet’s tail to see sky maps for both those pre-dawns.

Read the rest of this entry →

If you’ve been following the Shepard Fairey VS. The Associated Press RE: Obama HOPE poster thingy then you are either locked into one side or the other. Either that or you are confused as hell. Assuming the later,
Stephen Colbert has a breakdown of the issues at hand and lays it out pretty clearly. Definitely worth calling everyone in your office over into your cube to huddle around your monitor for a few minutes to watch.

Remember when the threat of the pink slip was strictly a lower-to-middle class concern?  Ah, those were the days.  Now that everyone from the factory worker to the law firm associate is ducking the corporate knife, we all can collectively and finally acknowledge that yes, we are in a recession and yes, capitalism means no one’s job is safe.  So, what do you do when you or someone you know is laid off?  First, don’t burn your bridges too badly on the way out.  Second, know your rights.

There are a number of legal aid organizations in Los Angeles that offer free to low-cost legal services to qualified individuals with a variety of unemployment and employment issues. If you meet their income requirements (i.e., you didn’t make so much money that everyone is wondering why you don’t get your own lawyer), attorneys at these organizations can offer you assistance with your EDD paperwork and provide legal counsel for your employment problems. Even if your income or asset level is too high to qualify for direct legal services, many are happy to direct you to other resources or can answer your basic questions.

From walk-in clinics to self-help centers, here is a handy little resource guide that you hopefully will not need anytime soon.

Yes Magenta, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is still around.  See it while you can before those a-holes at MTV “remake” it.  The ultimate straight, bi, gay, trannSEXual, space alien love and lust quadrangle is playing on Valentines Day in Claremont.  

Laemmle 5 in Claremont is holding a special showing on Valentines Day at midnight.  Just for VDay the “Creatures of the Night” will have a new pre-show they promise will delight and titillate. 

The show will cost $10 to get in and can be purchased in advance.  NO PROPS.  They will also hold to the No One under 17 admitted unless with a parent as it is Rated R.

Now if you can’t make the show because your significant other would just roll their eyes at the thought of attending (like mine) you have some make up dates.  It will be playing again on February 28th and again on March 14th.  (Hint…remember if you are super nice to your significant other on 2/14 and don’t press the issue, with luck you can roll it into your “Steak and BJ Day” activites on March 14th).

DEETS:  Laemmle’s Claremont 5, 450 W 2nd St, Claremont, CA 91711 909-621-5500. MAP. Read the rest of this entry →

Looking for something to do this Valentine’s Weekend as an alternative to buying overpriced, unnecessary gifts, candies, flowers, and meals? Not that there is anything wrong with all of that, if that’s what you’re into. However, if you’re looking to spend your pennies on something that’s possibly more meaningful and will also bring some love into your life, you might want to check out The Bill Foundation’s “Have a Heart“ dog adoption on Sunday.

The Bill Foundation is responsible for saving the lives of thousands of dogs in L.A. since its inception in 1998. It is a non-profit organization that is solely run by the tireless work of volunteers. This weekend’s event will highlight some of their “harder-to-place and special needs dogs,” who so very desperately need the care and safety of a forever home. Through my own personal experience with a troubled former street turned shelter dog, I can tell you that there is something really special and unique about rescuing this type of pet. The unconditional love and gratitude are both palpable and oh so worth it.

Read on for more event information