I got a bottle of the excellent Marie Johnston Clan Red last weekend at Whole Foods, where it’s marked down from $18 to $8.99. According to the wine guy, the distributor wanted to move it and cut a sweet deal with WF, which means supplies are limited.

It’s a non-vintage blend of an ’05 Syrah and an ’04 Cabernet Franc and lucky me, when I went back for more today, I found out that WF is running a Valentine promotion: If you buy six bottles of any wine, you get a 20% discount, but only today, Feb. 12th, through Sat. Feb. 14th– which makes this a wine deal you want to move on now. Stock up!

My approach to politics has always been, “If you don’t like what’s going on in your government, THROW THE BUMS OUT.”

Sure, it’s simplistic and may not be ultra-effective, but a big part of why our entire government is FUBAR is because these jerks get in there, get comfy, get corrupted, get busy SCREWING US, and NEVER LEAVE.

Even without weeks of time to research the individual scumbags (face it, who else wants to get into government?), one very effective tool is still THROW THE BUMS OUT. And if we do it for every election, we’re bound to get a good one. Or a less horrible one. Or at least a different one. (Yes, term limits are the lazy man’s method, but they sometimes take too long to go into effect.)

Don’t care much for those electronic billboards? I did a post about the one in Silver Lake and got lots of complaints about a lot of other ones.

Wanna know who just voted AGAINST banning them?

Richard Alarcon
Tony Cardenas
Bernard Parks
Ed Reyes

Up for re-election: Reyes and Alarcon.

VOTE AGAINST THEM and while you’re at it call their offices and tell them why. This really makes them crazy.

Oh and PLEASE don’t forget the biggest bum of them all: Antonio Villaraigosa – on the job a full ELEVEN PERCENT of the time he’s been in office, and really that was just to get his picture taken.

I mean it – THROW THE BUMS OUT!

Little-known fact: Voter turnout for these elections is so alarmingly low that even a few hundred votes can swing an entire election. Let’s keep the momentum from last November – VOTE!

Classic Eats #3 is scheduled for Saturday February 28th. Classic Eats #2 was a blast with about 18 people gathering at Union Station then heading over to Phillipe’s for a bite to eat. Join us for the next one. “Where” you say? You get to decide-Vote:

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Hot Dogs and French Polynesia were the runners up on the last poll. Voting is open until February 23rd. Once the locations are decided, time and details will be announced. We usually schedule the spots for later in the afternoon so your Saturday evenings are open.

Click on through to read more details about all the contestants.

Read the rest of this entry →

While it may not glide as gracefully as Will’s blue heron below, this was still an interesting find as I made my late evening travels around the city.

That's a big wiener.

It was about 11:30pm on Monterey Road on the very western edge of South Pasadena.  Seeing the Wienermobile parked on the curb caught me by surprise, though in retrospect I’m not sure why. I mean, it has to be somewhere, right?

Now the question is, what was it doing there? Late night promotion at a hot dog house party? Does the driver just live in this neighborhood? Did the wienerman have a booty call?  Please feel free to deposit your own theories in the comment section. (Wiener jokes encouraged.)

Spend a couple hours along the banks of the Los Angeles River through Atwater Village and Elysian Valley and the chances are pretty dang good you’ll see a great blue heron either in the water or in the air. Same goes for bodies of water like the reservoir of Silver Lake and the lake of Echo Park.

The Miracle Mile area of town? Not so much, until this morning. Turning westward onto 8th Street from Cochran I was veritably buzzed by the low-flying big bird coming eastward about 30 feet off the deck who looked like it was searching for a landing pad — and it did just that coming to rest atop the roof tiles of the catholic school at the corner I just turned on.

Being that I was on my bike I was 1) able to notice/marvel at the gracefully gliding creature, and 2) execute a u-turn to come back to it where it stood around just long enough for me to detach my cam from its ever-present handlebar mount and get this one shot before deciding it didn’t like the attention and continued eastward, hopefully to a more feathered-friendlier destination.

God only knows what wonders and/or horrors will be unleashed when CERN restarts their Large Hadron Collider this September. But whatever a peek into the 4th dimension reveals, I can’t imagine it will be any more mind-boggling than this Sunday’s performance by Paper Rad artist Jacob Ciocci and San Diego’s Fortress of Amplitude at the Silent Movie Theatre.

Seriously, just take a look at any of the above epilepsy-inducing websites and see if you can figure out what these rapscallions are up to. No fair peeking at the press kit!

Having said that, Sunday’s performance entitled 2 Blessed 2 B Stressed should be quite the eye-opener and a good way to forget how much money you spent the day before on your special valentine.

According to the Silent Movie Theatre’s Web site, the evening with Jacob Ciocci will include: “a new 20-minute mix of original videos and animation; a performance of “I Let My Nightmares Go,” which uses a projector and live dance moves to grapple with inner demons; Web 2.0; GOD; 21st-century breakdown; real lies and fake truths; cartoon violence; and awareness bracelets.” Electro-sci-fi metal act Fortress of Amplitude will also be on hand to convince us that there is no spoon.

And lest I come off as aloof, the Theatre’s site also says that Ciocci’s work is “concerned with the relationships between popular culture, technology and notions of transcendence, all mixed inside a frenzied cartoon universe that is simultaneously celebratory and critical.”

So there!

Image: I’m sure it’ll all make sense on Sunday. Courtesy of the Silent Movie Theatre.

During a late dinner last night I caught on one of the local news channels that there was a turf war raging on Hollywood Blvd between the costumed characters and guys selling their hip hop CDs.  It’s a very one-sided war with violence being executed strictly by one group upon the other.

It seems that the music vendors think the characters are cutting into their profits when they roam around that small stretch of Hollywood Blvd rather than sticking to the area directly in front of the Chinese Theater.  In response, they have doled out some brutal beatings, including one that ended an actor up in the hospital with a skull fracture.  Reportedly, there have been around 6 of these incidents in the last few months.

The celebrity impersonators have asked the city for some form of protection or security.  They’ve even proposed the idea of everyone performing on Hollywood Blvd being licensed and creating a set of rules for street vendors.

Either way, it’s baffling.  I can’t for the life of me figure out how a guy in a Spiderman costume who makes $1 for every picture he poses in can be a threat to someone selling a hip hop CD.

Tonight in Hollywood the ArcLight, in association with the American Film Institute, will be screening (in my humble opinion) one of the greatest films of all time: Casablanca. I’ve seen Casablanca countless times, but this is the first opportunity I’ve ever had to see it on a big screen. There are a few tickets still available, so snap ‘em up while you can.

There are revival houses around town playing classic films, but none of those theaters are quite as nice as the ArcLight, if you ask me. Great projection and sound, comfortable seats, and although it’s a bit pricey (average $12-$14,) I tend to believe that the slightly higher prices deter most of the riff-raff. Stop talking and texting and kicking my seat and get offa my lawn!…wait, that’s a rant for another time.

So, join me tonight at the ArcLight on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood. You’ll see one of the best movies ever, and if you find me at the lobby bar before the screening I may even buy you a drink. I’ve always wanted to toast someone with “Here’s looking at you, kid” with some bit of context.

Everybody’s fave local-band-making-good hits the stage at the Fonda tomorrow night for what’s sure to be a fantastic hometown show. Want free tickets? The Event is well-known for promoting the Silver Lake music scene and often name-checks their other favorite local bands when they’re performing. Which is admirable and if you’re in a band you should do it too, because nothing gives you more cred than giving cred where cred is due. So tell me your favorite local bands who you think should hit the big time, and we’ll randomly pick some winners to get pairs of tix gratis.  Info on the show is here.

Post-romance movement, anyone?

Plush smiley heart for your true love, anyone?

If Valentine’s Day jewelry, “special menus” and similar ploys to prey on your better nature leave you cold and feeling used, try scouting for a gift from Under the Table, the next-door store of Black Maria Gallery in Atwater Village that sells artist-designed goods– and trust me, these you won’t find at Hallmark. (Everything is 20% off Feb. 11, 12 and 13.)

Don’t get me wrong. There are tame, thoughtful, even beautiful handmade gifts, some of them perfect lovely; but if plush toys in very poor taste and something called “angry panties” are your way of screaming out “I loooove youuu!!!” then this is for you too.

Also, while we’re on the subject, Thrillist tipped me off to these Awkward Valentines written and designed by an obviously embittered, relationship-scarred LA duo. How nice that they’ve managed to turn lemons into sour, mean and nasty lemonade.

Traditional and nontraditional gift ideas from Under the Table after the clicky. Read the rest of this entry →

Spotted this gem of a conversion bus parked at Lario Park in Duarte.  It has Washingtoon plates so its a snow bird doing its annual migration to the Mohave.  Given its current choice of parking best guess is it will eventually arrive in the Salton Sea area, not Palm Springs.  Just a guess, but not a wag… I’ve been to the Salton Sea before.

Pic by me with the trusty phone cam, it does get bigger with a click.

Want to ramp up your Friday night watching LL Cool J get down with his bad self at Club Nokia?  It’s easy, just tell the world why you love this guy and want to see the show.  And that’s an easy one, hint:

He’s a multi-talented performer, jumping from rap to love songs in a heartbeat.  He’s a movie star. He continues to put out music that the vibrates in the hip-hop world and he works with talent as diverse as 50 cent and Wyclef Jean on his latest release, Exit 13.

If you want to join in the fun, we’re giving away 4 pairs of tickets… get to it baby!

He’s performing this Friday night, Feb 13 at Club Nokia.  If you don’t win tickets or want more info, check it out here.

With facebook I get a lot of “Josh invited you…”  This one is good, it has the information for our local “Freedom to Marry Day” As well as all over the nation.  The full national list can be found HERE.  (Someone poke Jozjozjoz…they even have an Alaskan date noted.)  You can also RSVP and more details on the facebook Invite HERE.

The most interesting of the marches will be the one in Beverly Hills.  Why you may ask?  Because the plaintiffs Robin Tyler and Diane Olson in the key suit being argued in the Supreme Court will be there.  Rabbi Denise L Eger will be there to help them repeat their vows.  Their attorney Gloria Allred will be there and you can be assured she will open her mouth and speak out.

Beverly Hills and the LA Location deets are after the jump. Read the rest of this entry →

Just a friendly reminder about what promises to be a pretty cool event this coming Thursday night in downtown Los Angeles. Twestival L.A. is joining cities all over the world to raise money for charity:water. With a donation as little as $10, you will be treated to live comedy, musical performances, special appearances by various internet celebrities, raffle prizes and more.

The party was completely organized and will be run by volunteers. 100% of all donations go directly to charity:water and will help bring clean, safe drinking water to the developing world. Check out the main Twestival page or L.A.’s spiffy new website for more details and to purchase tickets.

Follow @twestival_la and help spread the word. Feel free to leave a comment with your Twitter username if you are planning to attend. You might just run into one or more of your friendly neighborhood Metbloggers.

Twestival L.A., Thursday, February 12th, 8pm-2am @ Club 740, 753 S. Spring St., 21 and Over

Brand-new "vault lights," as those sidewalk grids of mini glass panes are called. Click the photo for more info.

So I was having dessert with a friend the other night and we got onto this great riff talking about the hidden parts of LA we’d love to explore, all the places we’re intrigued by.

For example, I want to explore the swap meet that’s across Broadway from the Orpheum. It clearly used to be some big old theater, but now all you see is a little glimpse of baroque architecture hidden behind the dropped ceilings of the subdivided knockoff-t-shirts booths.

Or the grids of thick glass squares on the sidewalk in downtown: when I was a little girl my family was taking a touristy tour through downtown Seattle and those glass grids were actually the skylights in the old town’s “underground.”

So those are the things I want to explore, but I bet each & every one of you knows a place that’s always intrigued you. Now’s your turn to tell me your dream urban archaeology trip! Have you ever wanted to explore the dark cobwebbed skeletons of L.A.’s past? You know, original things are disappearing all over our city every day. Maybe we should think about exploring these traces before they become permanent history.