After 10 years of planning and development theAnnenberg Community Beach Housein Santa Monica will finally open its doors to the public on Sunday, April 26. No membership required! The pool will be open starting weekends in May.
To celebrate the grand opening, the Annenberg Community Beach House is hosting a grand opening celebration on Saturday, April 25 featuring a performance by O™ from Cirque du Soleil and tons of other activities including the unveiling of the 36 x 27 Stories of Santa Monica Beach photo exhibit.Read the rest of this entry →
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom officially announced what we already knew – he is running for Governor of California.
So, what about Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa?
Publicly, we’ve only seen him smile for the camera and tell us how much he loves the job he has. He’s kind of like that girlfriend you once had that was already sleeping with someone else while still living in your house. Bitch.
Give it to us straight, Tony. Are you running or not? We kinda need to plan for our city’s future, with or without you. Thanks.
Photo by heathervescent, used under Creative Commons
Are you a geek? Do you like meeting and hanging out with other geeks? If so, there’s no time like tonight to come out and celebrate L.A. Geek Dinner‘s 3rd Anniversary. This event was started, and continuously championed, by heathervescent, who has a background in the tech industry, among many, many other awesome things.
I spoke with heathervescent recently about the origins of and her vision for L.A. Geek Dinner. It all kept coming back to community building. Geek Dinner brings people with a passion for technology and the internet together over a meal where conversations happen, friendships form, and collaborations on various projects occur. L.A. Geek Dinner is an inclusive event. I’ve attended a few and even though I perhaps didn’t feel like I was geeky enough, I felt welcome and met some cool people. And I just might have discovered that I’m a little bit geekier than I thought.
3rd Anniversary L.A. Geek Dinner, Tuesday, April 21st, 8pm at uWink, 6801 Hollywood Boulevard (Hollywood & Highland). uWink is a fun, technology and interactive entertainment based restaurant where you can order food and play games on a touch screen monitor at your table. RSVP here.
Last night, FriendFeed user Live4Soccer posted a photo of carne asada fries. After wiping the drool from my face, I realized that I hadn’t had carne asada fries in probably 7 years. Today, I had a goal to rectify that problem. For lunch today, we hopped in the car and drive over to Chano’s in Lincoln Heights. Now, I’m not generally impressed by Chano’s food overall, but they’re close to us.
I ordered my carne asada fries with no substitutions just to see what came on it. It was carne asada, guacamole, refried beans, tomatoes and grated cheese. I’m used to having it with pico de gallo, lettuce, sour cream and no beans. Since I was starving, I dug in eagerly. Very tasty, despite the beans, but defintely needed more spice, lettuce and sour cream. I got the last two items on the side and mama was happy, though I could have also used more cheese. The order was $6.75, but I could only eat about half of it before I was stuffed.
Now my mission is to remember which place in Echo Park had it with the crinkle fries because that was memorable.
Chano’s 3309 N Mission Rd Los Angeles, CA 90031 (323) 276-7981
As I hinted on on my work blog a week or so ago, Lykke Li WILL be playing a super-exclusive set at Hollywood Forever‘s Masonic Hall at 9pm on May 29th. This should be amazing–the hall’s stern and stoic architecture a fascinating foil to Lykke’s bubbly Euro-inflected electrofolkpopwhatever.
There are a VERY limited amount of tickets for this event, with a strict 2 ticket limit (per household). The venue is small and won’t fit many people, so hop to it if you want in. Tickets go on sale at noon on Thursday, April 23 through this link.
This show WILL sell out so be prepared to queue up (electronically) around 11:58 or so on Thursday.
Back in 1997 when artists Francois Bardol, Lucy Blake-Elahi, and Lori Escalera (together with Culver City Middle School students) painted the mural “Postcards from Ballona” just west of Overland Avenue along the entrance of the Ballona Creek Bikeway behind the Julian Dixon County Library branch, the wonderful work of art was intended as a beautification project that featured a film strip and postcards depicting images of Culver City’s landscape, film studio history, Ballona Creek wildlife, and local vegetation. An unintended consequence was the magnetic draw it had on taggers who defaced it practically to oblivion over the years.
Biking by this morning I was at first saddened to see the entire eyesore painted out, only to be pleasantly surprised to see the scene above: a start-from-scratch project undertaken by Escalera together with community volunteers working to return the magnificent mural back to its original pristine state.
Work, which began yesterday, is scheduled to be completed Wednesday, with one of the goals being to increase public awareness in hopes of better protecting the mural from future damage.
Thankfully we have only another day or so of scorching in the Valleys before we cool down. Until then, remember the pets. Especially the outdoor pets. Leave them extra water. If you’re a little fotp* like me, jury-rig some shade with a card table and pull out the inflatable pool so poochy has a place to cool off.
Pic by me of the temp gauge in the City of Industry a bit ago. Yes, it was freaking 108 before 2PM.
People in Los Angeles often talk of the city having no center. “Sunset People” ignores that opinion. A simple song about a cultural Gordian knot of a place, almost cartoon-like in its depiction of the fabled Sunset Strip, “Sunset People” (written by Peter Bellotte, Harold Faltermyer and Keith Forsey; produced by Giorgio Moroder) was the last track on Donna Summer’s smash hit album Bad Girls, a dark collection of songs released in 1979 that was an inescapable part of the pop culture landscape as one decade gave way to another.
“Hot Stuff” and the title song were chart-topping hits and “Dim All the Lights” went to number two, but “Sunset People” remained an album track. That didn’t stop it from becoming one of Summer’s most popular songs, owing to it’s (re-)embrace of electronic dance music that had already been good to her and Moroder, giving them a huge international hit two years earlier with “I Feel Love”– the song that practically invented electronica, trance and techno in one fell, Kraftwerk-fueled swoop.
Today, “Sunset People” sounds cheesy at first, but the urgency of the thumping music rubbing against Summer’s deadpan delivery of lyrics about a type of life above, below and on The Strip somehow makes it work.
Summer sings, “Foreign cars full of stars, tinted glass to hide the scars from Sunset;” exposing the tacky, shattered dreams and starry-eyed fantasies of its denizens that may read like a list of clichés to some, but anyone familiar with the legendary boulevard’s ’70s and ’80s heyday may recognize glimmers of truth poking through.
I first heard “Sunset People” during my early days in NYC, when it was a sometimes dangerous, thorny-to-navigate and relentlessly exciting place– not the soul-less corporate-retail bazaar it’s been reduced to today. Long before I lived in Los Angeles and so doubted its capacity for duality, “Sunset People” made me think again, as it hinted at a fast, dark domain lurking in the shadows of a languid, sunny world.
I tend to notice that there are two kinds of Weezer fans. The first group, which I consider myself a member of, gets the joke, appreciates the sarcasm, and sees that most of their songs are laced with a bit of disgust fueled by another group of people who happen to comprise most of the second group. These folks don’t get the joke, miss all the attacks, and just think the songs rock. There’s also a third group, though I don’t consider them fans – these are people who hate them because they have catchy songs and write them off as being superficial and never looked to see what was just below the level.
A fantastic example of that is their song Beverly Hills, the chorus of that which sings “Beverly Hills, that’s where I want to be..” and then follows up with a few catchy lines that lend themselves perfectly to commercials. When that came out I remember so many insanely expensive cars blasting it. It was endlessly amusing to see clearly rich as hell fashion obsessed people singing along to lines like this:
Where I come from isn’t all that great
My automobile is a piece of crap
My fashion sense is a little whack
And my friends are just as screwy as me
There’s something kind of magical about selling insults directly to the people you are insulting and Weezer has been pulling that off since they began fantasticly. Of course this fits right in with my view of Los Angeles. Everyone not from here thinks it’s this big fake mecca, where as everyone from knows it’s one of the most honest places on the planet, even about the fake stuff. We aren’t laughing with you, we’re laughing at you. Weezer took that attitude and attached them to catchy beats. Weezer captures that with Beverly Hills, not by aspiring to be something else but by being entirely comfortable with what they are even knowing full well it’s not what other people think they should be comfortable with.
The truth is…I don’t stand a chance
Its something that you’re born into…
And I just don’t belong…
No I don’t – I’m just a no class, beat down fool
And I will always be that way
I might as well enjoy my life
And watch the stars play
Andrew Walker’s hypnotic time-lapse films of Los Angeles, which I stumbled upon recently on Youtube, provide a conflict of sorts. As the time in the frame zips by, there’s a great stillness that washes over you as you watch them. His films show images such as traffic flowing in a torrential blur like side-by-side raging rivers of white and red light, or gorgeously backlit clouds rapidly mutating behind the silhouetted towers of Downtown. You also notice other lights flickering; office lights blinking on and off, aircraft zipping by, an exterior elevator bouncing up and down like a spastic yo-yo on the side of a distant building. And yet there’s that stillness.
Walker’s company, 599 Productions, makes time-lapse films for a variety of projects– TV and indie film productions and music videos, as well as for corporate clients.
From Placerville, a small town midway between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe, Walker didn’t go the usual route, through a traditional film school, to get into The Industry. After playing around with a camcorder in high school and editing skate films together for fun, he got a job at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank as a projectionist, which served as his on-the-job training. (Interview with Walker after the click.) Read the rest of this entry →
As per tradition, this morning’s L.A. Times contains a fold out, full page schedule of the newspaper’s annual Festival of Books, being held next weekend at UCLA (or check out the sked online). Without fail, the weekend itself always falls among other events that I have to choose between, such as The Cowboy Festival’s, but the book fest’s numerous free panels with authors and experts of assorted interests tends to always win out. But the bigger challenge is deciding which of the multi-track panels to pick among others scheduled at the same time.
This year, I’m looking right at the fest’s panels beginning Saturday’s 3 o’clock hour. I’m torn between “History: Unknown Los Angeles,” including panelist D.J. Waldie, and “The Future of News” with Times editor Russ Stanton. Also in the same hour: a California mystery novelist panel with Robert Crais, T. Jefferson Park, and Joseph Wambaugh, and another called “Humor & Race” with Lalo Alcaraz, moderated by Tod Goldberg. Again, all begining at either 3 or 3:30. Decisions, decisions!
Earlier in the day, scheduling picks are little easier, but still some sacrifices need to be made. “Status Update: Social Networking & New Media” at 10:30am is a no brainer – heck, Wil Wheaton is a panelist. ‘Nuff said. Even though it will run through ”Future of Power & Partisanship” panel with Mickey Kaus beginning at 11:30am.
Fortunately, this still leaves enough gap in my schedule to head over to a “Broken Government” panel pitting Amy Goodman against Hugh Hewitt.
Sunday appears to have less challenges, but your mileage will vary depending on your own interests. (Mine tend to be: 1. The future or current state of news, 2. Anything to do with Southern California, 3. Current issues/politics.) For my heartbreaking Sunday choices, click here to read more.
Sweating isn’t my thing, so despite many opportunities in past years, I’ve never ventured out to endure the heat of Coachella. (Funny though, the blaze of Burning Man seems minor by comparison).
This year I couldn’t avoid it. All signs of synchronicity were pointing to me being there. First, our friend Michael Christian, an amazing metal sculptor from Oakland, who is known for his rad pieces at Burning Man, was doing an art installation there. That insured easy backstage access and an adventure in camping in the Coachella Art colony area with all our friends from up north. Then in another stroke of coincidence, a friend practically gifted us with tickets and VIP passes 2 minutes after I put up an ad on Craigslist looking for last minute tickets. The final lure…. Paul McCartney was playing Friday night.
Now, I’ve always loved the Beatles, they define classic. But I’ve never been chomping at the bit to see McCartney live. My better half Dan, however, reminded me that this might be a historic event. We shouldn’t miss it. He was right. Read the rest of this entry →
Kabuki Japanese Restaurant has announced a new Happy Hour at all ten of its California locations. (I frequent the one on Vine Street in Hollywood just around the corner from the ArcLight.)
Kabuki Japanese Restaurant announces the addition of a new Happy Hour menu available at all 10 Southern California locations. Starting April 16, guests can head to Kabuki to find a lower priced menu of sushi, salads, appetizers, and cocktails from Executive Chef Masa Kurihara and Master Sake Sommelier Yuji Matusmoto, available every afternoon, Sunday through Thursday. The menu offers sushi and specialty rolls starting at $2.50, as well as appetizers—including Gyoza Dumplings, Mozzarella Tempura and the Fire Cracker (Spicy Tuna with Chopped Tomato served with Egg Roll Chips)—starting at $3.95. Salads include Spicy Tuna, Seaweed, and a Wafu Salad (Napa Cabbage, Green Leaf Lettuce, Corn, and Wakame with Sesame Dressing) starting at $3.95. Cocktails on the Happy Hour menu include the Ki Bomb (Kirin draft and a small hot sake) for $3.75, and Sake Sangria for $3.75 a glass or $12.50 for a carafe. An assortment of sake is available starting at $1.95; wine is also offered by the glass for $2.95; and draft beer starts at $1.95 a mug.
Of all the Happy Hour menus I have perused lately, this one is by far the most affordable. The Kabuki Happy Hour is Monday through Friday from 3 pm to 6 pm.
20th Century Fox has announced that Hugh Jackman, the Australian triple threat performer, will be honored with the hand and foot print ceremony in front of the Grauman ‘s Chinese Theater on April 21st at 11 am. Unlike the stars on the Walk of Fame, the hand and footprint nod is reserved for legends. It seems to have created a bit of a stir among movie lovers as they debate whether or not Mr. Jackman has demonstrated enough talent to deserve the place in history. Many seem to think it’s a studio backed stunt timed for the release of the upcoming Wolverine movie. I’m a little less cynical. But then, I tend to know that actors don’t come out of nowhere to become blockbuster superstars.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom 
Last night, FriendFeed user 
As I hinted on on my 
Sweating isn’t my thing, so despite many opportunities in past years, I’ve never ventured out to endure the heat of 
Kabuki Japanese Restaurant
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