From my perspective, LaFayette Park, bordered by Wishire Boulevard to the south and Commonwealth to the west is famous for two things — no, three: 1) The 2-on-2 tournament from “White Men Can’t Jump” was filmed on its basketball courts; 2) The south side of the adjoining Felipe de Neve branch of the LA Public Library (a former substation for the IAAL•MAF) is fenced off and inaccessible from the park itself; 3) It never really took a whole lot of rain to turn the inadequately drained, below-street-level southwest corner of the place into a lake often left standing and stagnant for days on end.

Which obviously makes that section the perfect place for the City of Los Angeles Dept. of Recreation and Parks  to put a skatepark that I biked by this morning and snapped through the bars of the locked gates that didn’t prevent several truant shenanigonians from enjoying the as-yet-completed zone officially dubbed by those kooky-krazee city types as DESIGNATED SKATE PARK (click the image to biggify and familiarize yourself with the inevitable rules before the sign gets tagged all to hell).

Though this design seems a little lacking in skate amenities — especially when compared to the Culver City Skate Park on Jefferson Boulevard that opened in 2007, which in turn gets totally blown out by the under-construction 16,000-square-foot Venice  Sk8travaganza — the fact is I’m just old and jealous. Back in the day when I bombed the hills of Hollywood and with every issue of Skateboarder magazine further mythologized the likes of the sport’s pioneers carving up the copings  all over the mythological realm of Dogtown, if I wanted to get me some official skatepark action I had to truck myself out to Reseda or West Covina and pay for the privilege.

We’ve definitely come a long way, baby. But we’ve got a ways to go if  “Designated Skate Park” is the best name the city could drop.

Classic Eats #4 is on the 4th — April 4th. Where shall we meet? That is up to you!

Our intrepid tech-meisters are still working on the Metblogs internal polls, so for now please click here to vote for C.E. #4. As before, the time will be determined once a location is chosen. We tend to try and time the event early on a Saturday evening so you can come to Classic Eats then move on to your main evening event.

Click through past the jump for details on all candidates on the ballot.

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Miiiiissssssssstah Croooowleeeeeey,
What went down in your head?
Ohhhh, Miiiiisssssstahhh Croooowleeeeeey,
Did you talk to the dead?

Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was writing a post.

This Thursday night, the Hammer is presenting a free lecture called Do What Thou Wilt: Kenneth Anger on Aleister Crowley and the Occult. Apparently the avant-garde filmmaker once dabbled in Crowley’s Thelema religion, and many of his films actually reference the occult.

This event complements the Hammer’s Houseguest series, which invites artists to curate a show based on the diverse collections of the University of California, Los Angeles. This time around, LA-based artist Francesca Gabbiani gave it a whirl and wound up exploring sorcery and witchcraft.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a serious air-guitar solo to get back to.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Randy Rhoads!

Scooting down Hyperion after work I noticed a pizza joint I have never seen before called “Tomato Pie.” Hungry from ritual starvation, I pulled up their web site as soon as I got home. After impatiently scanning the online menu, bombarded with more options than I expected, my stomach began to groan with anticipation. Tomato Pie’s menu boasts “east coast flavor” pizzas, pastas (hot and cold), salads, subs, desserts, there is really so much to choose from that I couldn’t decide so I called them up to ask what they suggest.

The Grandma from Tomato Pie

Another surprise. I totally expected the phone to be answered by an apathetic clock puncher who would be openly annoyed with all of my questions. However, the guy who took my call was friendly and helpful, taking his time to assist me with my virgin Tomato Pie experience. I later found out that his name is Freddy and, along with partner Garrett, runs the joint.

ME: “What do you think is the best thing on the menu?”

FREDDY: “Our most popular item by far is the Grandma.”

The Grandma is a pizza topped with crushed marinated tomatoes over an olive oil base with fresh garlic, basil, oregano, light whole milk Read the rest of this entry →

(Metblogs, Los Angeles, CA) —  This past Saturday, a few Hollywood neighborhoods were struck by a series of mail thefts. Video below shows the suspect who is believed to have stolen mail from numerous homes and apartment.

(In my case, she is suspected to have ripped open and removed contents from packages left inside the building I live in.)

• If you believe you know the identity of this woman, or may have been the victim of one of these mail thefts, contact the United States Post Office in Hollywood at 323-464-1714.
• If you know the current whereabouts of this woman contact the Hollywood Police Department at 213-972-2971 and ask for Officer Ralph Sanchez. (If you see any crime in progress, of course call 911).

Note: If you receive the message “We’re sorry, this video is no longer available” when attempting to view, try opening this page or the video in a different browser (Firefox instead of Safari, for example).

Click to read more details of the serial mail thievery!!!

While stopped at a red light in Playa today, I spotted this bumper sticker on the back of a typical suburban Volvo XC90.  The bumper sticker, located on the lower right rear portion of the hatch, read:

PASSING IS NOT ALLOWED
AMERICAN CONVOY AHEAD

Did this vehicle just come from some military theater?  Or is the sticker supposed to be a joke, an edgier version of the Yosemite Sam “Back Off!” truck mud flaps?  Because if it was supposed to be funny, I didn’t think it was.

President Barack Obama will be in southern California on Wednesday and Thursday this week.

OC Metblogs has the scoop on his Wednesday appearance in Costa Mesa.

Thursday he will be in Los Angeles for a town hall meeting at Downtown’s Miguel Contreras Learning Complex. He will also be in Burbank for an appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, billed as the first appearance on that show by a sitting president.

Subliminal Projects, Shepard Fairey’s gallery in Echo Park, will host a poster signing and walk-through conversation this Saturday by artist, illustrator and designer John Van Hamersveld about his Post-Future exhibit. The exhibit opened last week and continues through April 4th.

Hamersveld, who lives in Santa Monica, created some of the most enduring pop culture art of the ’60s and ’70s, among them the poster for the 1966 surf documentary, The Endless Summer; as well as the album cover art for the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour and the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St.

He’ll talk about his adventures in the psychedelic ’60s and how he created his iconic works, perhaps even his enduring contribution to the LA landscape, the logo he designed for the Fatburger chain.

Saturday, March 21st, signing at 1:00 PM, walk-through conversation at 3:30 PM; Subliminal Projects, 1331 W Sunset Blvd LA 90026.

Saw this on my morning walk the other day and it impressed and inspired me. I love that a funky little patch of curbside dirt can become a veggie garden. This weekend I think I’ll go and find some tomato seedlings and get planting!

Anyone else proud of their green thumbs? I do great with tomatoes in my backyard, as well as some herbs. I got a lot of zuchinis last year, but there were too many so this year I’m trying swiss chard. What are you planting in LA this spring?

I spotted this sign outside of one of those beachy bars on Washington in Venice Beach and all I can say is WTF. Clearly the bar owners have some bias against recently fat people who spent all their hard earned money on a miracle weight loss program and haven’t been able to afford a new wardrobe yet. And what’s up with the bandannas thing? Look, every one of us feels bad for dogs who have hippes and beach bums for owners who think tying a banadanna around their neck is cute, but it’s not the dogs fault! Sure it looks like hell and makes you want to just rip the thing off yourself but the dog didn’t pick that out, the owner is to blame. They should ban anyone who thinks that bandannas as dog collars are a good idea, don’t punish the dogs for something they have no control over. That said I can totally support the sweat suits thing, anyone who leaves the house wearing one should be ostracized and made to feel as uncomfortable by society as possible until they run home and change into something less stupid.

As I eagerly await for my firm to finally stop threatening us and lay off whomever it is going to lay off (yay, capitalism!), I’m seeing so many others being “let go,” “asked to leave,” “[insert business-friendly euphemism for 'You produce less than your cost' here].”  With Forbes’s national layoff tracker looking like a twisted version of the Battlestar Galactica survivor count and the mainstream media’s frustratingly skewed coverage of the recession, I thought it would be interestingly sad to visualize unemployment rates close to home.  Using the California Employment Development Department’s statistics for LA County-area unemployment rates in January 2009, I did my best to geomap the relevant data with ZeeMap’s awesome mapping service.  The green markers represent cities where the unemployment rate is less than 5%; the yellow represent rates of 5-10%; the red represents 11-15%; and the grey represents cities with the most depressing statistic:  greater than 15% of its population unemployed.  Clicking on any marker in the legend removes that particular data set from the map.

I have two caveats about this.  First, I’m a complete novice at this geomapping thing, so I’m sure there are mistakes.  I used an online batch geocoder to obtain longitude and latitude data and spot-checked any cities that seemed off.  That said, I still may have missed some.  Second, this map is just a means of representing the EDD’s statistics.   As such, this map shares the same limitations as the original data.  These limitations are more thoroughly explained at the bottom of this page.

One thing I would like to do is to  add historical data from January 2007 or 2008.  Seeing the change in rates may more useful than the above map to fully appreciate the depth of the current crisis.  I’ll do this when I get a bit more time – for example, if and when I get laid off…

coffee and pi

Saturday, as you may know, was formally declared Pi Day by the US House Representatives.  In unwitting celebration of the day, I went to brunch at the Four N 20 in Valley Village with Metblogs’ own Lulu of the Lotus Eaters. (The celebration was unwitting because it had been so long since I visited there, I remembered it merely as the “4 & 20 Diner” and sort of forgot the emphasis on pies and the fact that the servers’ shirts are embroidered “4 n 20 π.”)

The point, though, is not about pi or pie, per se; the point is about lox. Lulu ordered lox and eggs and onions, and then proceeded to annoint the melange with hot sauce. WTF?

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I’ve got free tickets to Tokyo!, and you won’t even need a passport. No, not that Tokyo. I’m talking about the new movie from directors Michel Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind,”) Leos Carax (“Lovers On The Bridge,”) and Bong Joon-Ho (“The Host.”)

Last week I was invited to a VIP screening of Tokyo! at the Egyptian theater in Hollywood. I should say right here that my motivation for attending wasn’t that Sapporo was sponsoring the event. Well, not my sole motivation. I was looking forward to seeing the movie, and an opportunity to chat with Michel Gondry, who was also in attendance.

Tokyo! is a triptych (the whole is comprised of three separate shorts,) each director offering his own surreal interpretation of life in that huge, bustling city. Gondry’s “Interior Design” follows a young woman who experiences a transformation. In Carax’s “Merde,” a bizarre man spreads panic in the streets of the city. Bong’s “Shaking Tokyo” is the story of a hikikomori, a shut-in, who falls in love.

Beyond the cut you’ll find my thoughts on the movie and how you can win your very own tickets to see Tokyo! when it begins it’s limited engagement at the Nuart on Friday, March 20. Click it!

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Get ready to be hung over tomorrow. Tonight’s rock shows in LA will keep you WOOOOOO!!!!-ing in the audience into the wee hours.

Primal Scream brings their iconic rock’n'roll to Club Nokia with supporting local act the Brian Jonestown Massacre, and nu-dance electro-rock act Simian Mobile Disco should get the Fonda bumpin’.

Wanna go? Leave a comment below telling me which show you wanna see & why. We’ll randomly pick a few winners.

Ken Garduno’s Channels exhibit opened on Saturday at Black Maria Gallery in Atwater Village. That’s him in the first photo. When asked which piece he wanted to be photographed next to, he gestured to a somber work called “Widow,” saying, “Let’s use this one, since I usually don’t work large.” Read the rest of this entry →