Warhol meets American Gothic. Click to embiggen.

Saturday was one of those how-can-you-not-love-this-city days for me. The afternoon and early evening were spent with some of my Metblog pals and company shooting guns and eating enchiladas. At night I journeyed back to the valley (aka the inferno) for a friend’s birthday party. The invites had what seemed to be an after-thought-ish line at the end that said “by the way there’s a superhero theme,” and while I will admit I conjure up images of Lynda Carter when I’m in a bind and need to pretend I’m more than I actually am, I didn’t really pay any attention to the theme. Nor did anyone else apparently. Except my friends, L & N, who came dressed as a superhero banana and villain banana (the latter complete with drawn-on tattoos that said things like “wild bunch” and “nana”). Read the rest of this entry →

Pete Handelman aka blogger Pedro Pete asked that very question this past Sunday at Dodger Stadium. I go with kid who put up Whoopie Goldberg to play Manny. That could be very funny.  Your choice?

Breakaway by Elizabeth Herndon, used under Creative Commons.

Yesterday Queequeg wrote about the 2009 Echo Park Lake Paddle Boat Regatta. I’d like to expand upon that a bit, including how you can get involved from the cool comfort your own internet connection.

I have entered a team in the regatta, and I would like to encourage everyone to join me in supporting Team Flotsam & Jetsam (so named for the floating debris after a shipwreck.) Follow that link to the sponsor page and make a donation to help my team raise the most money for 826LA. Any amount is greatly appreciated and will help 826LA provide free services for local kids. I know the economy is tough for everyone right now, but non-profits and charitable organizations have been hit particularly hard. They need our help now more than ever.

Follow me past the jump to learn why 826LA is my favorite non-profit. Read the rest of this entry →

Also, he's easy on the eyes.

So, my day job is at a radio station, and Eric Hutchinson’s coming in tomorrow to play a little live show in our in-studio performance space–and the viewing is so full that we’ve all been told there’s no more room. That’s the buzz on this guy–this show will sell out, and he’ll be playing way bigger venues in the future. (Haven’t heard him yet? Listen here.)

Then, totally unrelated to my work, Goldenvoice gave Metblogs some tickets to his concert Thursday, to give away! Lucky you!

A mellow evening of piano- and melodic-driven singer-songwriteriness, for fans of The Fray, Dave Matthews Band, the aforementioned Mayer, Jason Mraz, or Jack Johnson.

More info on the show can be found here.

To win tickets just leave a comment telling me why you want to see the show. We’ll randomly pick a few winners.

Photo of Francesca Zappitelli by Marc Smith

From the insane minds behind Lucha VaVoom–the unholiest marriage of Mexican lucha wrestling and burlesque ever imagined–comes the Girlie Girl Catfight Show, this Saturday the 25th at the El Rey Theatre.

Villainous vixens and sultry sirens battle it out in the ring, and this time the theme is 60s spies–you know, like Emma Peel, Pussy Galore and Holly Goodhead. (Last time the theme was “pirates.”) And it’s not sleazy or trashy like most female wrestling; well, it is sleazy and trashy, but in a very playful and self-aware way. Like the burlesque revival & roller derby, the Girly Girl Catfight Show is about taking back something that had been objectifying and exploitative, and making it a body-positive, playful, bad-ass empowering grrrrrrl experience.

Wanna see these fierce females battle for supremacy? Tell me what YOUR spy name would be. Boy, girl, it doesn’t matter; just tell me your ideal spy name. The best thing about this show? Every single one of these Bond girls could kick that sexist spy’s ass any day.

Even if you don’t win tix from us, you should still totally go. You can buy tickets here.

Rapids and flood control break.

Not that I care, as it’s just a side bar to the river running for a change. Most of this year the river has been bone dry but miraculously it appeared today. Nice to have it running during one of our hottest days in the SGV so far this summer. So nice I HAD to go for a walk and just soak in the sounds of the rushing water.

The San Gabriel River, unlike the LA River, maintains a natural bed along with berms and stuff for flood control. The natural bed allows for the recharging for the local aquifers as well as flood control as needed during significant storms.

The San Gabriel River Bike Trail runs along the river from Azusa Canyon to the sea. For you bicyclists who are early risers you can park at the Foothill Ave “Lario Park” entrance as early as 6AM to take in the glories of this river while it is full and running. If you are a hiker, added bonus is that there are trails that will take you to waters’ edge with thickets where you can just hang and enjoy the solitude. Note: the Lario Park entrance closes at 6:30PM sharp with a lock by the LA Sheriff Dept.

There are a few more pics after the jump from my little meander this afternoon. Read the rest of this entry →

"I’m a blogosphere virgin. I don’t read blogs. Blogs feel like they’re a dime a bushel. They’re endless. Like cockroaches..."

Out, gay-as-a-picnic-basket, proud, loud, blog-challenged and, by all accounts, liberal director Todd Holland inadvertently got sucked on to the Hollywood Liberal Shit List last week. However, the move looks to be temporary in light of his good-natured and at times bitchy response, in addition to being nominated this year for a directing Emmy for 30 Rock, the sitcom starring über-liberals Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey. His placement on the HLSL was further complicated by the fact that he got legally married to his partner last year before Proposition 8 was passed.

How it happened: At a panel discussion about gay Hollywood, Holland answered a question about whether he would advise gay actors in Hollywood to come out. Leave it to some nasty bloggers to take his response and “twist or warp” his words into anti-gay remarks.

The panel discussion took place at Outfest, the Los Angeles gay film festival held each July at The Directors Guild (a.k.a. Hollywood Liberal World Headquarters.)

So now the LA Times, LA Weekly and those spiteful, overly-sensitive gay blogs manned by (to use Holland’s word) “cockroaches” are tripping over themselves as he trips over himself to clarify and over-explain what he really meant or really meant to say– or more likely wishes he hadn’t said at all in the first place.

A condensed version of what played out… Read the rest of this entry →

Tom LaBonge is taking the credit for negotiating with local church’s to return the LA Marathon to a Sunday next year, when the route will take runners from Dodger Stadium to the Pacific Ocean.

Pressure from assorted houses of worship caused the Los Angeles Marathon to move to Memorial Day this year, as church’s complained that marathon related road closures resulted in reduced attendance.

While the return to Sunday during a cooler period will bring unanimous satisfaction to L.A.’s diverse running community, the new route may not. But what do you think?

Last Saturday was Classic Eats #6 at El Cholo on Western. It was a quiet affair, just nine of us in attendance, but we got some new Classic Eaters initiated and there was lots of fun discussion about upcoming possible locations for Classic Eats #7 and beyond. The margaritas, the nachos, the green corn tamales, the conversation and the company were all top drawer!

Classic Eats #7 will be in August and I’m going to bet it will be hot. Help me with suggestions about some outdoor, shaded, chill-out classic place we can all congregate to. Lucy’s El Adobe has a great covered patio, so I’ll keep it on the vote list for next time. Please put your suggestions in the comments. Remember, it needs to be Classic LA, old school, been around for ages, historical in some way.

Thanks again to all who attended and we’ll see you next time!

One more pic after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry →

Imagine going really fast in this thing.

I can’t remember the last time I went paddle boating.  I can’t remember if I’ve ever been paddle boating.  I think the first time I saw a paddle boat was when I saw an illustration of one in “The Trumpet of the Swan,” just like how I read about tractors in books years before I actually saw one on a farm (which, incidentally, was also the first time I saw a farm).  As if to rectify this glaring gap of childhood experience, 826LA invites me, you, and everyone else to put the paddle to the metal in its 2nd Annual Echo Park Lake Paddle Boat Regatta on Sunday afternoon in Echo Park.  Check out the daunting slalom course and sign up (up to 4 paddlers per boat).  The more money a team raises prior the race, the closer they are to the finish line.  Think of this as paying to win – if it works for politicians, surely it must work for paddlers as well.

An Echo Park paddle boat courtesy Carmyarmyofme via Metblogs’ Flickr pool.

Last year, Jason showed us a sneak preview of the recently commissioned North Hollywood Gateway. Well, on July 9th the installation was unveiled. I’d forgotten about this and was driving along Lankershim a few days later and was taken by surprise. And then I drove around the block to get another look.

The Gateway to NoHo by Peter Shire (Photo by Jodi)

From the NoHo Arts District website:

As part of our mission to revitalize the communities we work in, the CRA/LA works to include arts and culture in our redevelopment plans. The NoHo Gateway has been created to span Lankershim Boulevard and welcome visitors to the arts district. The Gateway will complement other public improvements and visually enhance the overall street character by focusing on NoHo’s unique identity as a destination where people can experience all art forms.

Click through to see the gateway at night!

New Zealander comic Rhys Darby, who plays the band manager for Flight of the Conchords, will be bringing his bubbly and goofball live show to the Fonda on Thursday. Wanna go? Tell me all about your favorite FOTC episode, or your favorite thing you’ve seen Rhys do, in the comments. A few lucky winners will randomly be selected to go!

Info on the show is here; if you wanna see some youtube spots of Rhys in action, go here.

In one of Chal Pivik’s posts on the efforts to repeal Prop 8 I chimed in the comments that I’d post specifics of things that are happening in the SGV to move the project along.  For those of you not keeping count Prop 8 passed easily in my corner of LA despite the efforts of many to encourage a “no” vote.

My wife and I will again be talking with the neighbors regarding the need to have Equal Marriage rights.  Our first chance is coming up this weekend as Equality California is having a canvas of Glendale and Pasadena this weekend (Sunday July 26).  The canvas will involve going door to door talking with people regarding the need for Marriage Equality.  They need more volunteers to be able to saturate the area.

Deets: Occidental College, 1600 Campus Road, Los Angeles Sunday, July 26 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The full press release letter after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry →

Welcome to the first in what will be a random and sporadic series of posts celebrating the “Anti-HOA yard of the day”.  HOA, as in Home Owner’s Associations that control and dictate how your property looks to maintain that banal cookie cutter sameness.  It stifles the little silliness like this mail box.

The lack of HOA’s in most of LA’s neighborhoods is one of the things I love about this city.  Every neighborhood has its own character yet there is an individuality to each home that makes it special.  It is this freedom that needs to be celebrated.  It certainly better than making sure you have the right Stevenson Ranch Rose or Brookstone Beige when the time comes to repaint your home.  This will be a little celebration of the “yard art” or entire homes that uniquely set themselves apart from their neighbors.

I do need to give a hat tip to our own Lucinda Michele for the inspiration for this series.  Her series “Random yard of the valley” always is charming when they pop up and certainly one I enjoy.

Pic by me from a recent meander and it does get bigger with a clickaroo.

Let the puns begin.

According to NPR via the AP, a Westchester dispensary lit up this morning.

A fire has damaged a Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensary but no injuries are reported.

Fire Capt. Steve Ruda says the fire was reported at about 5:30 a.m. Monday at the Westchester Collective on the second floor of a two-story commercial building in the Westchester area. The building also houses several other businesses.

It took 69 firefighters an hour to extinguish the blaze.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

How many firefighters? This was obviously written by Beavis and/or Butthead.

Drew’s theory: Joint ember into pizza grease.

What do you think?