Still wondering what this mysterious Machine Project you’ve heard people mention is all about? Not convinced that they do some really cool stuff there and that you might be missing out? Personally, I’ve been entertained, amused, educated, enlightened, and occasionally even bewildered by events at the little gallery in Echo Park. Outside of their ongoing variety of events, I’ve participated in competitions, taken classes, and donated money. I really can’t think of any other place where art, technology, pirate songs, craft, gatherings of dorks, and deep fried foods all come together so brilliantly.

For the month of April, Machine Project is undertaking what promises to be its most impressive installation yet. Artists Christy McCaffrey and Sara Newey will be turning Machine into a forest. The Magic Forest “will evolve, getting spookier and spookier as the weeks pass, until at the end of the month it is a totally scary haunted forest…A regular schedule of lectures, readings and performances will also continue to take place in Machine Project throughout the month, staged inside the forest.” How awesome does that sound?

Read on to find out how you can help build the forest

Get a great edumation at CSUN

(Thanks to Chris for the shot. Please excuse the funkiness of the contrast)

I must have browsed inside ReForm School in Silver Lake countless times before I noticed that the store is focused on sustainable design and green living. With unique and functional accessories for the home and impeccably designed masterpieces (and no sign of hemp or tie dye anywhere!) on every shelf in the store, it’s hard to believe that my shopping habit is also saving the world.

You’re welcome, world. I also didn’t know that ReForm School offers a slate of fun evening classes designed for for adults. What better way is there to recycle my money than by feeding it back into my brain? You’re welcome, brain.

This month’s ReForm School class roster includes “Embroidery 101,” “Needlefelting 101,” “Sewing 101,” and lots of other courses that will teach you how to make such things as your own succulent terrarium, papier-mache bracelet, or even vintage charm jewelry. The best part is, you get to take home whatever it is you learn how to make. ReForm School also offers kid-friendly courses, see their web site for details.

I signed up for the Succulent Terrarium class on March 16, which teaches you how to re-purpose glass containers and plastic toys to make a diorama-style habitat for your succulent (all materials provided). Space is limited, so if you want to join me you better go online and sign up now. You can enroll and pay for all classes via Paypal or credit card here: Read the rest of this entry →

This driver not only straddled the line and took up two spaces, the space on the right is clearly marked “10 Minute Customer Parking,” so if (s)he parked for more than 10 minutes, then bing! bing!, they committed a second violation and can move onto our bonus parking ‘tard round. Actually, “‘tard” is an inaccurate and too charitable term for these folks. I suggest we change it to reflect the deliberate awareness of their actions. How about “asshole?” Or “dickhead?” Maybe “PMLALP” (Person who Makes Life in Los Angeles Less Pleasant)? Any other suggestions?

This morning, the sheriff came to serve eviction papers to my neighbor. She’d been expecting them. She is a photographer and hasn’t been getting enough work to pay her rent. She has been planning to move back to the east coast and live with family. In the meantime, she’s been waiting out the sheriff, selling what she can, and putting the rest of her things in storage. My building has fifteen units and this is the third such eviction in six months.

Less than an hour later, thanks to @jasonburns Twitter feed, I was reading about the 1 in 50 US kids who are homeless as of 2006. Certainly those numbers are far worse now. I know I pass more and more homeless people camped under the bridges on my way to work every week. On my way to the polls on election day in September, I passed a couple transporting all their worldy goods in two shopping carts down the side of Nordhoff Street, each of them held a child’s hand as they carefully wheeled their two brimming carts down the sidewalkless stretch of road. No one is bailing them out.  Read the rest of this entry →

The Valley has seen its fair share of crime during the current recession. Car break-ins. Knock-knock bandits. And now, armed robbery with semi-automatic weapons.

Just last night, a woman was robbed at one of the busiest and most public intersections in the Valley, at Ventura Boulevard and Laurel Canyon. At 9:30.

Are you paying attention, Mr. Mayor? While you continue to play coy about your intentions to run for Governor, the city of Los Angeles is spiraling out of control. Do something, before citizens begin arming themselves for their own protection.

As for Erin Muir, he is her entire email account of what happened last night, posted with her permission:
Read the rest of this entry →

Local craft goddess Cathy of California is slated to appear on Martha Stewart on Wednesday, March 11th.

She’ll be extolling the virtues of none other than Lily Pulitzer, in honor of Lily’s 50th anniversary.

Cathy will be wearing vintage Lily, and making some vintage inspired flowers on a flower loom as well as talking about 60s – 70s crafts.

Check your local listings on Martha.com!

Things are tough.  Kinko’s Fed Ex knows it, today only they are offering up to 25 FREE copies xeroxed of your resume to help with the job search.  Nice to see a few of our bigger corporate players give some back to the community of job seekers.  A little hat tip to Fox11 for breaking the story this morning.

Today over at LAist, Zach tells of LASD teaming with DHS and ramping up random bag checks on L.A.’s metro rail lines. Apparently this practice started nine months ago, but due to an influx of federal funding, the program will be increasing in frequency.

I have nothing factual to add to this story, but I certainly have an opinion. That opinion is, “God. dammit!” Now a Metro system that was already of limited usefulness to me just became a little less palatable.

I am so f’ing tired of bag checks, taking off my shoes at the airport, cavity searches at the car wash…wait. Everyone else gets those too, right? Just me? Gotta stop asking for the “Deluxe Wash.”

Seriously, though, I don’t think I’m overreacting here. In case you hadn’t noticed, the terrorists have won. A terrorist’s objective is not to kill a few people; it is to cause terror among the masses. They have achieved their goal. They have caused us to abandon life as we knew it, and allow ourselves and our actions to be governed by fear. There are far too many people who are far too comfortable with the idea of opening up their bags anytime someone with a badge asks, in the name of “security.” That oft-used quote by Ben Franklin is true; those willing to give up liberty for security deserve neither.

What about it, Los Angeles? Are you as tired of this as I am? Or, am I way off base? Are you more than happy to submit to strip searches, as long as it means imagined back-pack bombs don’t get on the train with you? Here’s your chance to sound off.

(As an aside, I think it’s ironic that if you click on that DHS link above you’ll go to the Department of Homeland Security’s homepage, which features the tag line “Preserving Our Freedoms, Protecting America.” Italics mine.)

Since I’ve moved to Los Angeles–two “winters”, so called, so far–I’ve been overwhelmed by the creeping inability to withstand any actual weather that afflicts Angelenos. The “storms” this December drove in this observation. Partially via the rather breathless newscasters excitedly proclaiming the few inches of snow in some nearby mountains and slightly coolish temperature in Los Angeles and environs themselves, coming during some pleasantly mild rains. But really the observation strikes me hardest among my own friends and acquaintances.

I can understand well enough how natives to the area would be inexperienced with things like water coming from the sky, or temperatures falling to actual button-your-jacket levels. For that matter, the immigrants from similar or warmer climes, are equally excused of the corruption of this rant… Read the rest of this entry →

That’s right kids, we’ve got tix for two nights of music from Cut Copy, Matt & Kim, and some faaaabulous DJ action! If you wanna check out this great bill at the Fonda, leave a message in the comments telling me why YOU, and only YOU, deserve the tickets!

Now, I have one pair of tickets for each night. Let me know, along with you’re “I’m soooooo deserving” comment, which night you can make it to (hopefully both).

Last July I posted about newly installed signage announcing the closure until February 2009 of the Ballona Creek Bikeway from its inland-most terminus beside McManus Park at National Boulevard to Duquesne Street in Culver City.

Well of course that seven-month timeframe came and went and has now entered its eighth month, and seeing as the closure is tied in to continuing work on the Metro Expo Line bridge passing over the creek, it’s no surprise that section of bikeway is still off limits. At the same time I figured we might be getting close to a re-opening, mightn’t we?

Not even. Upon entering the bikeway at Duquesne for my westward creekside stretch across it to Inglewood Avenue  I found that someone presumably with the MTA had spun the deadline slot machine and the new date for the next revised closure date renewed access is (image is clickably embiggenable if required):

That’s right folks, November 2011 is apparently the next month and year we’ll be able to ride that entirely unremarkable section of the bikeway. At only 32 months beyond the eight it’s been closed already, I’d say the MTA only missed it by thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat much.

One of the best things about Los Angeles is that we have such a diverse pool of creative people here.  It seems that people from all over the country, in fact all over the world, come here to get their creative groove on. Whether it is the actor who comes here to follow his or her dream of “making it” in Hollywood, or even just the average Joe whose creative streak runs a little too wide for middle America and moves to L.A. so as to no longer be viewed as “weird.” We tend to be fairly accepting of all manner of creative types. Our motto could easily be, “Los Angeles: Come here and let your freak flag fly!”

I was in Burbank the other day and came across this piece of automotive expressionism. Wow! Someone clearly took a lot of time with this one. Take a look at that flock of birds flying down the driver’s side. Although I didn’t get a close up of all of those bumper stickers, as far as you know one of them may read, “My other car is the Partridge Family bus.”

But wait. There’s more! Follow me past the jump to see another car that I also found in Burbank the following day.

Read the rest of this entry →

Whilst certain Metbloggers who shall remain namelessSeanBonner had to resort to renegade tactics involving  media credentials and ride crashing, some of us far less skilled in shenanigans managed to legitimately participate in the Nike-sponsored Hope Rides Again ride across Hollywood with Lance Armstrong and its subsequent after-party at the Ricardo Montalban Theater on Vine Street — all of it to promote the seven-time Tour de France champion’s LiveStrong Foundation and his efforts to find a cure for cancer.

Once home after the event  I found that I’d lost my digicam’s memory card, but on a hunch and a prayer returned to the theater today and somewhat miraculously found it on the floor by the seat I’d occupied. Hope does indeed Ride Again, and so does another of my infamous thumbnail collages above (substantially biggifiable if clicked), as well as my handlbarcam timelapse of the 2-mile bike ride from Childrens Hospital at Sunset and Vermont to the Montalban at Ivar Selma and Vine, below:

I won’t belabor this post with what an awesome experience it was other than to say what an awesome experience it was. The Flickr photoset is here. And after the jump is another  YouTube embed of part of the speech Lance gave after being introduced by comedian Ben Stiller. Artist Shepard Fairey, who put up a fantastic mural of Lance iconography on the south wall of the theater, came out onstage for a chat with Lance, and the musical guest was Ben Harper.

Read the rest of this entry →

Even if you didn’t get a free CFL for recycling a Christmas tree, you might still be in luck. The DWP is going door-to-door to its L.A. residential customers to give out compact fluorescent light bulbs. CFLs reduce energy costs while giving off the same amount of light as traditional incandescents. They last longer and use less fossil fuel produced electricity, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

I already use several of these in my home and will happily accept two more for free. My biggest complaint about the ones I have is that they take several seconds to “warm up” and emit their full light. I’ve read that some can take up to 3 minutes, but you can get CFLs now that have an “instant on” feature.

One other important note is that like all fluorescent bulbs, these do contain a small amount of mercury, so special care needs to go into disposal and clean up if one breaks. Both the City and County of Los Angeles offer hazardous materials recycling. If it’s more convenient, you can take them to any Home Depot.

I’m still waiting. Have you received your free compact fluorescents yet?