1980 was the year I turned 15. Reagan was elected to his first term. The Preppy Handbook was published. People were playing Pac-man and watching The Empire Strikes Back. I went to high school in a bourgie suburb of Washington, D.C. where I was surrounded by excessively privileged teenagers sporting pink espadrilles and bright green corduroys with whales printed all over them. While everyone else was watching Caddyshack I was watching Mad Max. I was the consummate alienated adolescent. And then I discovered punk rock, and I was like “Oh! I’m not depressed–I’m angry!”

1980 also happens to be the year that Dischord Records released their first EP. The growing D.C. punk scene made the Reagan regime bearable for some of us among the few Washingtonians at odds with Joseph Giordano’s assertion, “Today we are all Republicans.” Read the rest of this entry →

I’m always on the lookout for new music, so Los Angeles-based Dangerbird Records, newly ensconsed in their Sunset Junction headquarters in Silver Lake, is right on time with their new, free MP3 sampler download available on their site. (Look for the mixtape link.) Tracks from Silversun Pickups, Eulogies, The Dears, Darker My Love and The One AM Radio are on the five-track EP.

One thing I love about our hometown Los Angeles Derby Dolls (LADD) is their DIY attitude and unique approach to athleticism, which is punctuated by the fact that the Dolls are now hosting Punk Rope every Wednesday, led by Janis Choplin, captain of the Fight Crew.

To clarify, the Dolls did not invent “Punk Rope,” it was originally designed by Tim Haft, who certifies trainers like LADD’s Janis Choplin to teach the class. “Choppy” also coaches a Punk Rope class in Silver Lake on Tuesdays. This week’s Tuesday Punk Rope class was a trip back in time to the 1960′s and Wednesday’s class will be a tribute to the Buzzcocks.

Check out an LA Metblogs EXCLUSIVE interview with Choppy about the class:

MB: What exactly is Punk Rope?

JC: It’s a fun blend of recess and boot camp, combining creative calisthenics, games, group activities and rope jumping. Read the rest of this entry →

Recently, Los Angeles Magazine has taken it upon themselves to crown Tom LaBonge, “Mr. Los Angeles.” No offense, to my City Councilman, but while I’d whole heartedly support him being called “Mayor of Hollywood,” I don’t believe he represents L.A. as a whole.

Apparently, the folks at the magazine had second thoughts, and have now decided to poll their readers on who deserves the “Mr. Los Angeles” title. Unfortunately, while they have a couple of worthy choices, there is at least one glaring omission, but even more WTFs?!

First up, LA Observed’s Kevin Roderick. Indeed, K-Rod, as some of us at Metblogs like to call him, is a blogging God. My daily read of his “Morning Buzz” supplanted my browsing the L.A. Times a few years ago. And he clearly has a love of the city. I’d even call him, “The King of Los Angeles New Media,” or “The Mayor of Wilshire Blvd., ” but not Mr. Los Angeles.

But largest WTF on the list is Wolfgang Puck. Do I even need to explain this? Heck, Bob Baker, of Marionette Theatre fame, a Los Angeles institution, deserves the title 10x more…. and even then doesn’t come close. Read the rest of this entry →

@LAMetblogs Or would he, like @ghidorah76 and many others, find the fastest means to literary poverty is writing in 140 characters or less?

@LAMetblogs Do you think Bandini could get as many followers as @aplusk or @britneyspears or @johncmayer?

@LAMetblogs Imagine what Fante’s literary alter ego Arturo Bandini could have accomplished if only he had signed up for a Twitter account.

@LAMetblogs Wonder how many aspiring writers will be at the Fante event tonight? How many who just can’t resist that siren call of poverty?

@LAMetblogs 3 years ago, Slate ran a great piece on Fante when Towne’s adaptation of “Ask the Dust” hit theaters. http://tinyurl.com/d5dmnt

@LAMetblogs Fante was not recognized in his day. He’s barely recognized now. Charles Bukowski was a fan. Ditto for film scribe Robert Towne.

@LAMetblogs Fante’s work explored poverty, the immigrant experience, and the harsh reality that aspiring writers will face in our city.

@LAMetblogs Tomorrow is LA writer John Fante’s 100th birthday. Tonight, Zocalo at the Hammer will celebrate. http://tinyurl.com/d8lc8b

@LAMetblogs “So fuck you, Los Angeles, fuck your palm trees, and your highassed women, and your fancy streets, for I am going home.” – Fante

Image: Author John Fante and the Fail Whale.

“In California” (listen to it on last.fm) is a song about searching but not finding; about disillusionment; about being lost.

In California I dream of snow
And all the places we used to go
With the night falling down
With the night falling down
Now I’m living in Korea Town
Waking to the sound of car alarms

Neko Case didn’t write this song, although I first heard this melancholic track off her album Canadian Amp while virtually thumbing through iTunes’ Neko collection. Philistine that I was, for years I believed it to have been penned by the Western-noir fox confessor of Americana herself. Instead, it was actually written by a woman named Lisa Marr, who fronted a band called Cub, and who played off and on with Neko in the 90s.

Was “In California” autobiographical? Or was it, as it is with many songwriters, a case of a musician crafting a narrative around an imaginary life?

So while this post was originally supposed to be about a song and a city, I now find myself drawn into a search for a woman, and her story…

Read the rest of this entry →

A couple weeks ago, the lovely Mrs. Lulu had the chance to find her own little niche in our charming global depression. Below is a guest commentary:

Wednesday March 25th, 11 am in LA. The line of people hoping to sell their family treasures stretches around the corner onto Sunset Blvd. I am at Bonhams & Butterfields‘ monthly free appraisal event in West Hollywood. I am here to get an appraisal for three Salvador Dali lithographs that my father gave me for my seventeenth birthday. I’ve loved them, displayed them, kept them through decades, carried them through several moves, but now, as one of the 10.5% LA unemployed, I’m ready to sacrifice them for the sake of more basic needs. [...] Read the rest of this entry →

My absolute favorite magazine Monocle just opened their second retail location right here in LA (the first one is in London, where they are headquartered). The shop is located in Brentwood and carried most of the same things you can find on their online store including back issues of the magazine (which are all worth picking up if you can afford them), other Monocle prints and publications as well as the collaborative products they’ve released with brands such as Comme des Garçons, Orlebar and Porter. I stopped by the grand opening event tonight to check it out and was delighted to see a pretty good crowd there welcoming them to LA. It’s a small shop, but great if you wanted to see some of these things in person before actually dropping the loot for them. I still don’t know how to describe Monocle to friends other than to hand them an issue and watch as they flip through the pages in awe and mumble something about how cool and unique it is. The shop definitely captures that aesthetic. That said, I don’t know if I understand the choice to put the shop in Brentwood instead of the handful of locations that make much more sense right off the top of my head, but maybe that’s the point.

In spite of the fact that I’ve eaten way more than my fair share of Cadbury Crème Eggs over the past however-long-it’s-been since Easter candy hit the shelves, the holiday itself kind of snuck up on me. Since I don’t really partake in the religious aspect of Easter, for me it means a copious amount of sugar ingestion. Aside from all of the scrumptious sweets, fluffy bunnies and cute baby chicks are everywhere. I’m sure someone is also shopping for the perfect bonnet to wear to church or the annual egg hunt. Unfortunately, others are planning to purchase real live versions of the animals that have become symbolic of this springtime celebration…bunnies.

The idea sounds cute enough, right? An actual Easter Bunny in the basket on Sunday morning. Honestly, no, it doesn’t. Much like the overabundance of giving Dalmation puppies to kids as Christmas gifts after the1996 remake of the film 101 Dalmations, some people think it’s festive to buy live bunnies, in addition to the chocolate ones. Many of those folks don’t understand that this is not a good idea and most of the rabbits given on Easter end up in shelters, much like the spotted pups did.

Two Los Angeles based organizations, Found Animal Foundation and PetSave Foundation have teamed up to provide education about rabbits and what it entails to own one. They also promote adopting as opposed to buying a bunny. Rabbits can, and often do, make wonderful pets. Like with any animal you might decide to bring into your home, a little education first goes a long way in terms of making the lifelong commitment your new four-legged family member deserves.

Click to learn more about rabbits and for the link to the live streaming BUNNY CAM!

Over on his blog Eric Garcetti is asking for your help with the Federal Stimulus money that LA is receiving and hopes to receive – which according to the post might be up to $1 Billion. No pinky in mouth needed for that. Eric is talking about the recently formed Los Angeles City Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Economic Recovery and Reinvestment committee and says:

This committee will make sure we leave no stone unturned when it comes to identifying and winning federal stimulus dollars and will be working closely with the Mayor’s Office and City Departments to coordinate our efforts to bring badly needed federal money to Los Angeles…

As I work to make Los Angeles a model for quick, effective and accountable implementation of stimulus dollars, I’d welcome your input. What projects would you like to see us target? Where can we get the most bang for the buck and how else can cities lead the way toward economic recovery?

Have any suggestions?

Beverly Hills, century city
everything’s so nice and pretty
All the people look the same
don’t they know they’re so damn lame

I heard those lyrics for the first time when a friend gave a cassette he’d copied of punk stuff that was supposed to be good to skate to. It was the mid 80′s and I was living just outside Dallas, Texas and I blame them for being one of the first “LA must suck” thoughts that was burned into my head at very young age. I figured that seeing as how Circle Jerks were from LA they had to know if it sucked or not, right? Of course all these years later I know that LA not only doesn’t suck, but is pretty much the greatest place on the planet. It’s just Beverly Hills and Century City that suck.

I looked all over to find a video of this song, and the best one I could find is this live one from ’85 at a show they played in New Jersey. It’s actually two songs back to back, “I Just Want Some Skank” followed up by “Beverly Hills” so you’ll have to skip ahead if you only want to hear the latter. On the upside, this might be the only band in this series that will allow 2 songs to be posted in a video that is under a minute and a half long. Enjoy!

I want to live in Los Angeles
Not the one in Los Angeles
No, not the one in South California
They got one in South Patagonia

The lyrics don’t seem to make sense, and songwriter Frank Black himself said, “I was under the influence of a lot of coffee when I wrote this song, so I don’t really remember what it’s about, but I think it’s about linguistics.” 

But I can’t help think its a personal statement about how Los Angeles, a city where people come to realize their dreams, isn’t always what people want it be. Even longtime residents have an image of what Los Angeles is, or should be, that they have yet to find. Its the “grass is always greener” concept, but that life would be so much different on the other side of the hills, further or closer to the coast.

Whether or not this is the case overlooks that a number of Black’s other song’s make more direct references to Los Angeles in, usually, more tangible ways.

More, including the music video…

For this edition of LA Law, I’m going to focus on renters’ rights via an open letter to one of my neighbors.  Thanks for bearing with me.

Dear Crazy Lady:

You yelled at me yesterday for making too much noise.  When I started laughing, making you even angrier, I realized that you totally failed to see the irony of all this.  Let me explain.

My girlfriend and I, as the tenants right above your unit, are easy targets for you.  For example, you drunkenly jaunt up the stairs at midnight to pound on our windows and doors while you rant about something that happened three months ago.  If we ask you to leave, you yell and scream about how awful we are, and, more importantly, will not leave.  You corner us, at all hours, with random questions.  For once and for all:

• No, we will not help you look for your cell phone.  I do not know where it is.
• Yes, I know you love animals.  Yes, your cat really does have fleas.
• No, we do not think you are beautiful.  No, the reason we are having problems with you has nothing to do with how jealous we are, or are not, of your beauty.
• Corollary to above: Please do not leave your apartment wearing only your teddy.  Ever.

The Notice to Evict posted on your door, and where you can get free legal help, after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry →

The top 10 favorite blogging moments as a Metblogs contributor

Allow me to indulge my reminiscing to celebrate this, my 1000th post with Los Angeles Metblogs. In no particular order:

 

#10: Moments with Barack.
After seeing him speak at the 2004 Democratic Convention, I had a gut feeling about that guy. So I was pretty excited when my first official press pass was for his  first L.A. appearance after announcing his intention to run for the White House. Nearly one year later, in January 2008, I was granted media access to the CNN Democratic Debate at the Kodak (posts here, here, here, here, and here) where my running coverage was even mentioned live on CNN… and then managed to sneak in with the photographers pool as Obama and Hillary Clinton hit the stage. Bringing things full circle, I was proud to be issued a White House Press Pool credential to attend Obama’s first Los Angeles appearance since becoming President at last month’s Town Hall event.
On a related political note, I thought I snagged some decent shots of then Presidential candidate John Edwards as he shook hands with Writers Guild protestors outside of NBC Studios in Burbank to be on the Tonight Show.

Read the rest of my personal greatest hits.

For naught did I study hermeneutics. Traffic signs are shrouded.  On the other hand, the parking signs are still far more opaque to me overall.  The omission of a district, however, at least lets me roll my eyes immediately; unlike those collections of 4 or more rules about just when I might park, none of which seem quite possible to reconcile with each other.

Note to readers: The form of the quotation “An enigma wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in mystery” seems more mellifluous to me, as well as more familiar.  However, the attribution to Winston Churchill of the title form seems convincing, and surprisingly modern.