Who even knew there was a director’s cut of Betty Blue? I didn’t. In fact, I’ll go so far as to admit I didn’t realize that’s what I’d bought a ticket to see Monday night at the Nuart, until at some point there was one too many moments where I thought “I don’t remember this part…” As it turns out, the director’s cut is a full hour longer than the original theatrical release, clocking in at 185 minutes (the 1986 release was 120 minutes). It was sort of a surreal experience to rewatch a movie after decades and have it be so memorable and yet also new.  If you haven’t seen Betty Blue, you have two more nights–tonight and tomorrow–to catch it at the Nuart. If you have seen it, do yourself a favor and go anyway. This is the first time the director’s cut has been released in the US and it’s just as great a movie as you remember. (More on the surreal-ness of Monday night and the greatness of Beineix after the jump.)

Read the rest of this entry →

At first I thought I had found ways around car-choked areas in Los Angeles by finally learning alternate routes. Wrong. As it turns out, rising unemployment coupled with businesses closing  has led to an easing in traffic congestion, according to a new study by the Texas Transportation Institute.

Don’t get too happy about this. The study also notes the Los Angeles area still has the suckiest traffic in the nation. But if you continue to apply the when-life-hands-you-lemons-make-lemonade logic, that means we’re still number one!

This week’s featured rescue dog comes to us from Karma Rescue. Kit is a stunning and rare, one-year old Dogue de Bordeaux (French Mastiff) mix. He’s a lover, not a fighter for sure. Kit was found walking the streets of Las Vegas, feeling down on his luck, presumably after losing a bad bet. We can only assume that’s how this poor guy lost two of his toes – but that doesn’t seem to bother him at all.

This beautiful Dogue de Bordeaux needs a home

Kit is learning proper puppy manners from his big foster sister. He also gets along with all the dogs at the park and beach and walks nicely on a leash.

Summer nights make me happy.  And Thursday nights are a super special treat in Santa Monica with the Twilight Dance Series happening once again on the pier.  It’s the 25th anniversary of this summer event, so the city is really doing it up this year!  And best of all it’s FREE!!!!

I discovered this gem last summer when we were staying in Venice for a couple of months.  Every Thursday night my loverman Dan and I would hop on the bikes and tool down the beach to the pier to dance.  Sometimes we’d pack a bottle of wine and some good eats and make a picnic of the event.

It’s a real scene. Hundreds of people hanging on the beach with their friends near the pier, candles glowing.  Another hundred or so up on the pier grooving to the music.  It was a blast.  And the cool thing was the music…. as in all types.

This year it runs the gamut from Joan Baez (this Thursday night, July 9th) to Salsamuffin and Global Grooves.  It all starts at 7pm and goes til around 10ish.  You can take your bike and the city has a place right in front of the pier with free bike valets!  Very fun.

Astronomical Clock by simpologist, used under Creative Commons.

Los Angeles (and, well, everywhere else,) tomorrow you have a chance to witness a moment in time that has never happened before in most of our lifetimes, and will never probably not happen again (in our natural lives.) Intrigued?

At exactly five minutes and six seconds past 4:00am Wednesday morning, the time and date will be 04:05:06 07/08/09.

Not going to be up at four o’clock in the morning to witness this amazing alignment of clock and calendar? Fear not, as the far more interesting (to me,) yet perhaps not quite as symmetrical, convergence will happen later in the day.

At exactly 34 minutes and 56 seconds past noon, not quite 12:35pm, the time and date will be 12:34:56 07/08/09.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9! The world may be scheduled to end with the Mayan calendar in 2012, but this has got to somehow be significant, too. No?

Maybe it’s just the old softy in me, but this makes me think that this is a single event that we, all of us, all over the world, will experience at the same time.We may not all experience it the same way; hell, most probably won’t even take notice. But if we can all do this together, think of what else we can collaborate on.

Leave me a comment to tell me how you will spend that second. How will you memorialize this unique moment in human history our lifetimes? Will you take note, so as to one day tell your grandchildren (“You know, I remember where I was at 12:34:56 07/08/09…?”) How often does anyone know ahead of time that they are about to experience a moment in their lifetime, in history, that is totally unique and will never be repeated (as long as they live?) Do something special! And tell me about it; I’m curious like that.

image from Roadsidepictures, used under Creative Commons

You won’t need to register online for a slim chance to get in, and the City of Los Angeles won’t be footing the bill on this one (but you may need to pay over $10 to park), as Universal Citywalk transforms itself into Universal Moonwalk for a free public tribute to Michael Jackson on Thursday night at 7pm.

“The Wiz” and “Thriller” will be screened, and a live dance retrospective will be performed, chronicling his career from his days with the Jackson 5 through his modern successes.

Details here.

Locals tip: Instead of paying $10 for parking, take the subway up from Hollywood & Highland, where you can also pay tribute to Michael Jackson’s Walk of Fame Star in front of Mann’s Chinese Theatre.

Shameless plug: Anyone else see the video, that appeared live on CNN, of what may be a ghost inside Neverland Ranch? If not, its up at CreepyLA.

For everyone in L.A. who has complained about taxpayer money going toward the Michael Jackson Memorial, Mayor Villaraigosa has officially resorted to begging for money. (I’ve seen people on Twitter asking how a bankrupt state like California can afford this. It can’t, but California is not footing the bill, the City of Los Angeles is. And no, L.A. can’t afford it either.)

As an L.A. resident, I, for one, am totally OK with that (the begging, not the footing of the bill). Since us L.A. folks have basically already paid for this, I’d ESPECIALLY love it if non-Angelenos would step up and pitch in. That’s right… not only can you honor the King of Pop, your donations are also tax-deductible! (Click here for the PayPal link)

Want to snail mail your check in?

Donations are being accepted to help defray the costs of providing public safety, traffic control and related costs associated with the Michael Jackson Memorial at the Staples Center. Please submit your donations by check payable to: “City of Los Angeles”.
Donation Mailing Address:
Room 255, City Hall
200 North Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Donations of any amount will be gratefully accepted. All donations are tax-deductible.

If you’re a Michael fan, consider giving a small donation to help us celebrate his extraordinary life and music.

PS – Jackson Family, my sincerest condolences for your loss, but please step forward to help foot some of these bills. That goes for you, too, AEG — you stand to make a ton with all the footage from those rehearsal videos at Staples Center, as well as any tribute concerts that are yet to come. Seriously, help a financially strapped city out. It’s not just the right thing to do, but it makes good business sense, as well.

Well as you can see from the front page of CNN.com right now, those days are long gone:

On the bright side, I guess it’s not just everyone in LA getting hoodwinked by this sham. Misery loves company right? Right??

My A-List is either too busy or too unresponsive. It’s a short list, too. My wife can’t get off work tomorrow and my daughter’s not responding to my text messages inviting her. So the bottom line is I’m going solo to tomorrow’s Michael Jackson Memorial Service at Staples Center, which means I have this extra ticket and wristband:

Now, I’m totally averse to putting such a coveted item so grossly up for sale to the highest bidder, but I’m not averse to a little fun ‘n friendly competition in the form of my own private lottery.

So here’s the deal, short and sweet: To enter, you need to give me a haiku on anything Michael Jackson, either posted in the comments or sent via email to me, along with a valid email address. The cut-off will be either 20 submissions or 10 p.m. whichever comes first. I’ll review them and pick my favorite and announce the winner. It will then be that person’s responsibility to meet me at a location near downtown at 8:30 a.m. sharp tomorrow morning where the ticket and wristband will then be awarded.

Readysetgo.

UPDATED (10:26 p.m.): Thanks to everyone for entering. The winner is “Maximoo,” with

fallen rhinestone glove
final moonwalk to heaven
with t-shirts for sale

Runners-up after the jump

Read the rest of this entry →

Where you should not be tomorrow - click to biggify

I think it’s pretty much a given that, unless you’re Will or anyone else who won a ticket to Michael Jackson’s memorial service downtown tomorrow morning, you ought to absolutely, completely, totally, and definitively avoid going downtown at all costs tomorrow.  If you still need convincing, the LAPD reports that it will barricade the Staples Center and the Nokia Theater within a large perimeter bounded by Olympic, Flower, Pico and Blaine.  The MTA plans to detour over 20 bus lines that serve the downtown area; the big list is over here.  For those of you still hoping to get tickets, eBay is purportedly removing profit-seeking scalpers listing their winnings, though for a cool $10 plus shipping, you can buy a photo of MJ plus an email informing someone that they did not win the raffle.  Geesh, everyone’s out to make a buck these days.

Up and down the coast line there are miles and miles of paved bike path. It’s there to give cyclists a safe place to ride along the beach without getting in the way of the pedestrians and other beach goers. I know this because of two things – on this path every 50 feet or so the words “BIKES ONLY” are printed in giant 4 ft block letters, sometimes accompanied by a “no walking people” icon; and because on every other pathway along the beach “No Bicycles” in posted clearly. You might think this would create a clear segregation that would be safer and more enjoyable for everyone. Yeah… not so much. Here are a few things I’ve seen on the “bikes only” bike path in the last week or so:

• People walking 4 abreast taking up the entire path.
• People pushing strollers and stopping every 5 feet to make sure the wind isn’t blowing sand on their kid.
• Roller bladers skating down the middle and weaving back and forth making passing unsafe.
• People walking their dogs, and letting their dogs take giant poos on the path.
• A family of 5 with rented 3 wheelers taking up both lanes and stopping constantly to chat with each other.
• People standing still in the middle of the path looking at the beach.
• People sitting down on the path, possibly to enjoy a picnic lunch.
• Surfers standing and talking in the middle of the path, holding surfboards in such a way as to block the entire path.

Read the rest of this entry →

Looks like I couldn’t have chosen a better couple days to take off from work!

Having the good fortune to be one of the 8,750 out of a million-plus who requested tix, I just got back from biking over to Dodger Stadium running the tight gauntlet of police and stadium personnel from Sunset Boulevard up Elysian Park Avenue across Stadium Way and into “Dodgertown” to pick up the necessary ornamentation and documentation to permit me entry to and attendance at the Michael Jackson Public Memorial Service tomorrow at Staples Center.

It is pretty safe to say from the looks I got pedaling up to the ballpark that I will be the only one who claims their keys to the Kingdom of Jackopalooza via such an alien mode of transportation. Certainly my bike as well as the early hour helped me avoid any press gathered outside the Scott Avenue exit gate into Elysian Park.

Saturday July 18 is Classic Eats #6 and the votes are rolling in!

Currently Roscoe’s is ahead with 34% of the votes, El Cholo is next at 24% of the vote.

Click here to vote. The voting ends July 13.

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

Read the rest of this entry →

Better than the other way around!

Gotta admit, I submitted my request to attend the Michael Jackson Memorial at Staples Center tomorrow far more to just bear witness to the public spectacle than to publicly bare any grief at his passing.

And when yesterday came and went without getting confirmation — especially with the news that I was literally among a million-plus vying to be one of the 8,750 bestowed with tickets — I shrugged and moved on.

Then I checked my email this morning — and there were two in my inbox from Staples Center. I opened, the second one first, delivered at 12:10 a.m. this morning, which advised:

Thank you for your registration.

Sorry, we regret to inform you that your registration to attend the Public Memorial Service for Michael Jackson was not selected.

Hundreds of thousands registered, but only a few can be in attendance.

And I shrugged again, thinking it was at least nice of Staples not to leave anyone hanging.

Figuring it was just a repeat I opened the second email, which was datestamped earlier, at 10 p.m. yesterday. Whoa, it was the exact opposite:

Read the rest of this entry →

I was pleasantly shocked to stumble upon this parked car with the California license plate “4OF JULY” yesterday while taking a shortcut on foot through a Marina del Rey yacht club parking lot. Maybe the driver only takes the car out one day a year? Maybe it’s also the birthday of a loved one? Or maybe this Infiniti driver just likes to remind us every day of a very important American anniversary.