A few weeks ago a friend tipped me off to the Get Busy Committee and he usually never leads me astray so I checked it out. First of all it sounds really good, like, there hasn’t been a Hip Hop record I’ve enjoyed this much in a while good. Secondly, they have a great sense of humor about what they are doing and are clearly having a good time. Thirdly they never shut up about Los Angeles, which ranks really high in my book. But fourthly, and perhaps coolest of all is that they did this all themselves and are taking some very fun and new approaches to releasing a record. For instance, you can buy the record and download it, or have it sent to you on a UZI shaped USB stick. If you pass it on to some friends with twitter or facebook you get a huge discount, etc. Now I already got the thing as a promo for free weeks ago so this isn’t a post to scam that, but it’s a super fun record about LA from an LA band that if you dig hip hop you’ll probably get a kick out of. That’s all I’m saying. Moar pix after the jumps. Read the rest of this entry →

No idea when this was taken, or if there was any followup, but the video at Shabooty.com is insane nonetheless. A few kids on what appears to be an LA subway train are teasing a large woman (referred to in the video title as a crackhead hooker) for about five minutes, who seems to be egging them on. A little over halfway through this clip, she pulls what is assumed to be pepperspray from her purse and sprays it at one of the kid’s eyes.

(unable to embed here – click here to watch)

A letter by Oscar winning Paul Haggis (Crash) wherein he renounces the  Church of Scientology, of which he’s been a  member for 25 years,  is making the rounds on various websites.

In summary, Haggis’ initial frustration arose from the San Diego branch’s support of Proposition 8, and, in spite of his appeals, the Church’s inaction over condemning the support of the anti-gay legislation.

“I told you I could not, in good conscience, be a member of an organization where gay-bashing was tolerated,” Haggis writes.

Haggis goes on to verify and condemn that the Church used private information gathered during an auditing session to smear a Church defector, a tactic the Church has long denied ever using.

“So, I am now painfully aware that you might see this an attack and just as easily use things I have confessed over the years to smear my name.”

The letter ends, “I hereby resign my membership in the Church of Scientology.”

But one thing he never does is recant any of the core teaching or beliefs of Scientology. His bone lies only with how the Church is run. Read the rest of this entry →

Coffee geeks know that the Geisha from Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama is one bad ass cup of coffee. So bad ass that if you are lucky enough to find it for sale, you can expect to pay upwards of $100 a pound for the beans. A single cup is over $10. If you’ve tasted it, you know it’s totally worth it. If you haven’t, well tomorrow if your lucky day! Both Intelligentsia locations (Silver Lake and Venice) will be doing a free tasting that if you like coffee, you really really don’t want to miss. Swing through Venice between 4-6pm, or Silver Lake anytime after 1pm to have a cup and talk to Devin or Chris, resident experts who can tell you all about this super rare coffee. More details on the Intelligentsia blog.

One! Day! Only! MASSIVE BLOWOUT SALE! Bad credit?! No credit?! NO PROBLEM! We take your junky tickets NO QUESTIONS ASKED! Come on down to LA Metblogs Ticket Lot and find yourself the new or used tickets that are just right for you!

…Thanks, Cal Worthington. Lucinda here. That up there in italics…that was my old pal Cal Worthington and his dog Spot letting you know that we only have one day to CLEAR OUR LOT of tickets here at LA Metblogs. Tomorrow night at Club Nokia you could see nu-pop-rock bands Boys Like Girls, Cobra Starship, The Maine and A Rocket To The Moon. Our low-pressure salespeople are here to help you find the ticket that’s right for you.

Wanna win? Just leave a comment telling me the funniest/silliest/downright best thing you’ve ever seen in a local ad. They can be for TV superstores, used cars, furniture…or epic stuff like this. Or this.

Info on the show is here.

By Halloween party of course I mean rock show. Thursday, October 29th at the Center for the Arts in Eagle Rock The Night Marchers will be playing with Jail Weddings, SeaSpin, Night Horse and a bunch of other random halloween themed spooky shit. This is being put on by the folks at Buddyhead and FYF Fest and while most people have to pay to get in, I’ve got 2 pair of tickets to give away. They could be yours. Want them? Usually I’d come up with some witty trivia or something but you would probably just google it and then try to pretend like you already knew it which would just be a bummer for everyone involved so forget that. Use the comments to tell me why you should get the tickets, I’ll pick two people who either convince me or at random if everyone has lame reasons. I’m not setting a deadline either, but since this is happening Thursday night I’ll probably pick them soon so don’t sit around trying to think of something super crafty to write and then miss out. Go!

(event flyer is after the jump) Read the rest of this entry →

Cinematic Titanic! 5 NIGHTS/5 MOVIES at LARGO at the CORONET!

I was too busy celebrating my birthday to get my act together in time to post so you could get to tonight’s showing of “LEGACY OF BLOOD,” but look at it this way: Now you’re even more motivated to go see the other four movies.

What the heck am I even talking about, say ye? Well gather round and I’ll tell ye about the latest Joel (Mystery Science Theater) Hodgson and his gang, doing their now famous schtick-along to some classic film offerings.

MONDAY OCT. 26th,  7:30pm –  “DANGER ON TIKI ISLAND”
Living on an island near a nuclear testing zone has its downsides – i.e. being terrorized by one of the worst movie monsters ever!

TUESDAY OCT. 27th ,  7:30pm – “SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS”
See the fully re-riffed version of an MST3K classic… Read the rest of this entry →

On Tuesday (tomorrow) night this week, Booze Clues is making its monthly appearance at Agave Tequila House y Cantina (formerly Cuba Libre) in Los Feliz. Sometimes life gets in the way, and I haven’t been able to make it to Booze Clues for a few months, so I’m there tomorrow night. Who’s with me?

MetBlogs teams have won big at Booze Clues in the past. Well, technically we’ve placed somewhere near the middle of the pack, but with fun people, good drinks, and a moderate showing in the contest, aren’t we all really winners? Plus, when the game ends, the games begin. All are welcome to join me across the street at the Dresden Room to see the legendary Marty & Elayne.

We’ll arrive at Agave Tequila House y Cantina about 7:30pm, game starts at 8:00pm. We’ve got a couple of MetBlogs readers and authors already confirmed, but we can always use more brains packed with useless (yet interesting) knowledge. Even if you think you’re not good at trivia contests, come anyway. You never know when you’ll have the one answer the puts the team over the top. Join in and help us dominate the trivia world. Leave a note in the comments to let me know you’re coming, and I’ll make sure we’ve got enough seats reserved for everyone.

I am constantly in a state of delight living in Los Angeles.  We have glorious weather, groovy people to hang with, an open minded populace and pretty much the completely fun urban experience.

Still, it’s nice to get off the grid sometimes.  In fact, I’ve decided that about once a week, I need a sojourn into the wild to keep my sanity intact. So this past weekend, Dan the man and I packed up some supplies and hit the road to Joshua Tree National Park for a little stargazing.

We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect weekend.  New Moon situation, so the starlight was blasting in full force.  Warm, balmy weather, so even at that high altitude it only got nippy at 4am or so.  But, oh!  The STARS!!!!! We discovered a whole new universe.. or many of them, exploding up there.  Seriously, there were more meteor showers than I could ever count. Either that or we have some crazy UFO’s doing light shows up there.

You couldn’t look up for more than a minute before catching a cascade of swirling light.  And the cool part…. on new moon weekends, they have actual star parties in Joshua Tree.  Astronomy societies come up there with big ass telescopes, and other ardent star gazers contribute their scopes.  So everyone parties and looks at the amazing sky.  But even without the telescopes it’s awesome!  I highly recommend checking it out.  It’s completely free (okay, there’s a $15 admittance fee to the park, but well worth it) and it’s ridiculously beautiful.  And romantic.  And calming.  And the dawn is absolutely stunning too!  Just sayin’.  We are lucky to live in LA next to such a treasure.

The Cirque du Soleil may be in Santa Monica, but tomorrow (Sunday, October 25), another circus comes to town.  The Tea Party Express protesters (who are often referred to, with or without irony, as the “teabaggers”) arrive in Los Angeles tomorrow to hold a protest in Griffith Park.  They promise to bring along their Lipton tea bags, stars & stripes clothing, and badly misspelled signs.  What are they protesting?  You can ask, but don’t expect a coherent answer.  Instead, you can come and join the counter-protest organized by the Courage Campaign, RENWL, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

The tea party protest takes place at 4:30 p.m. at the Pad D – Crystal Springs picnic area in the park (the address listed is simply the park’s main address, 4730 Crystal Springs Road), and the counter-protest gathers at the same location at 4 p.m. for a preemptive rally.  Whatever side you’re on, this promises to be quite the entertaining event.

Just so you guys know, I will be closing the Phish contest early next week–probably Monday–and contacting winners. Your stories in the comments have broken my heart and / or left me afraid for my safety, so I have appealed to the promo gods for more tickets. We shall see.

A little art never hurt anyone, not even Tom Bradley.

The LA Times just highlighted this study by a group called Priority Pass that lists LAX as the third worst airport – in the world, behind Heathrow in London and Charles de Gaulle in Paris.  I’m a bit skeptical – after all, this group is comprised of frequent business travelers who probably expect foot massages when they land.  Personally, I think there are other domestic airports that are worse (Houston’s comes to mind, and not because it’s in Texas).  Nonetheless, we all know that our home port could use a little (a lot) of improvement.  The airport has received over a billion recession dollars to improve and upgrade its facilities, and the LA Times has some ideas on how to use this money (some are blatantly silly, others are more serious).  My top gripes are after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry →

Sixth and Hope was the birthplace of Biola University. Back then, it was still called the Bible Institute of Los Angeles.

The year was 1926.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

Hello Kitty and Jodi @ Japan LA in 2006

For the next three weeks, Los Angeles area Hello Kitty fans can take part in celebrating her 35th anniversary! Three Apples is an exhibition event that Sanrio is hosting at Royal/T, a unique café/shop/art space in Culver City. It’s starting tonight with a VIP grand opening, and running through November 15th.

When I first received an announcement for Three Apples, I thought it was just another art show. Not only will art be on display, but you will get a chance to see unique products and designs, shop in a pop-up store, and attend various events celebrating that adorable cat-with-no-mouth, who many of us have loved since she adorned our pencil cases when we were kids. Some of us have never grown up out of our love for all things Hello Kitty. Three Apples is for us!

Local purveyor of all things kawaii, Japan LA, is curating an art exhibition featuring over 80 contemporary artists’ interpretations of Hello Kitty. Gary Baseman, Luke Chueh, and Buff Monster are a few of the artists whose work will be on display and for sale. A portion of the proceeds will benefit L.A. Works.

In addition to seeing one-of-a-kind artist creations, you can gaze into a mock apartment, filled wall to wall with Hello Kitty items. This may sound like a dream come true or a nightmare to you, but worth checking out either way. Another gallery will provide a retrospective of products from 1974 to present day that feature Hello Kitty, including some things only found in Japan. You be able to visit the on-site store featuring never- before-seen merchandise and also participate in an array of parties and workshops. Take a look at the calendar of events, which will continue to be updated with details for the various happenings.

The Three Apples Hello Kitty exhibition runs Friday, October 23rd through Sunday, November 15th. The FREE event is being held at Royal/T, located at 8910 Washington Blvd, Culver City 90232.

…and all weekend. LA Weekly photog-about-town and now LA Metblogs correspondent CuriousJosh has a list of stuff for you to do for the next four days. Pound a triple espresso and get on your dancing shoes…you’ll need ‘em both. Mr. Curious, take it away:

Hello Los Angeles,
Are you looking for something new and interesting?

I’m CuriousJosh, happily here on loan courtesy of LA Weekly. As a photographer covering underground culture, each week I’ll let you in on a few upcoming offbeat, fun, and weird events that truly make LA interesting. Then after the weekend, I’ll return with photo selections from a few of the events featured here, and even some of the secret events I habituate throughout LA’s underground nightlife.

A taste of the events we’ll be visiting can be seen in the photos on my website, and in this week’s LA Weekly CuriousJosh Column.

Read on for eclectic music, thousands of people doing the Thriller dance, puppets of all sizes, various celebratory skeletons, and at least one ape driving an ambulance!

Thursday: The Do Lab presents Beats Antique.
The Do Lab combines creative environment fabrication, with an ability to showcase music and artists. Known for Coachella’s Misting Oasis, outlandish event facades, and enormous art installations, The Do Lab has recently expanded to featuring artists in above ground Los Angeles venues.

Note: Apparently presale tickets have sold out for Thursday’s Beats Antique show, with guests Deru and Jupiter. There are a few tickets available at the door, so here’s your tip to arrive very early to attempt purchasing one of the few remaining door tickets. Avoid missing the next show by joining The Do Lab’s mailing list.

The Wandering Marionettes

Thursday: Kabinet Theater with the Wandering Marionettes.
Life-size interactive puppet personae, DJs, and dance performances highlight this monthly residency by Cirque Berzerk alumni, The Wandering Marionettes…. Read the rest of this entry →