Everyone’s favorite deposed king of morning indie-rock radio, Dickie Barrett, returns triumphantly to a frigid LA this Friday with his awesome ska outfit, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Now, I am not a ska fan, but these guys are fan-freaking-tastic. It’s one of Jimmy Kimmel’s mini concerts, and it’s free–you can sign up for tickets here. Show is at 5:45pm. A little birdie told me so I thought I’d let you guys know, too.

Reporting live from the Silver Lake Meteorological Substation / Regional Civic Precipitation Division Headquarters. Total rainfall measured from whenever the hell it started raining December 7 to whenever the hell it ended: 1.40625 1.21562 inches (3.10007 cm):

If you follow Cesar Millan’s tweets, you know that his maxims are like the Tao of Pooch: easier said than done.  Southern California dog owners who are struggling to establish themselves as pack leaders, and agree with Cesar’s methods and theories of dog rehabilitation, are invited to head out to Doggie Avenue in Burbank between 1 and 2 on TUESDAY to audition themselves for Cesar’s National Geographic show, The Dog Whisperer. The producers seem to be looking for pretty much any problem behavior that needs rectifying: unusual phobias; obsessions, fearful behavior; and aggression.  For their extra-special Valentine’s Day episode, the producers also are looking for couples on the brink of breaking up because of the dog, so be sure to act extra catty during the audition.

Check out the guidelines for full details on what you will need to bring, and legal forms you will have to sign, for the audition. Basically, you’ll need to bring a videotape of your dog behaving badly, with the caveat that you don’t put yourself, the dog, or other innocents in harm’s way while you do it.  For example, if you would like to show Cesar just how aggressive Pookie is when s/he sees another dog, you better not have Pookie off-leash when I’m in your ‘hood walking my dog.  Actually, you better not have Pookie off-leash ever.  Good luck!!

Photo courtesy of East of West LA via the Metblogs Flickr pool.

I think LA would pretty much be a perfect city if it weren’t for the cars and the air quality (I work in Chatsworth–cough, cough). So Matt Logue’s Empty LA (via Urban Daddy) comes across like porn to me–something approaching post-apocalyptic porn, admittedly, but I am pretty sympathetic to the “hell is other people” school of thought so there you go. Logue’s vision of LA’s streets and beaches emptied of people and cars and all signs of life is exhilarating and kind of terrifying. The book comes in cloth and paper, in two format sizes–13 x 11 and 10 x 8. It’s marvelous.

On the other end of the fantasy LA spectrum are the amazing panoramic photos of ca. 1899 downtown LA–Bunker Hill–posted on Shorpy (see Chris Conkle’s comment for specifics about location) It’s an amazing testimony to this city’s ability to shed its skin. LA is a city that razes and rebuilds. While this opens us for the inevitable “why can’t we be more like San Francisco” criticism that we deny our history, at the same time, it’s part of the fantastic optimism (denial of reality even) of a verdant city in the middle of a desert, populated with folks who come here to recreate themselves. LA is where America arrived at the end of the imperative to “go west.” With no more frontier, we level and recreate this city over and over again.

I work in Burbank above the 134 Freeway & noticed golden sunlight streaming in our 3rd-floor windows just a few minutes ago. I ran up to the roof to see if there was a rainbow, and lo and behold, right over Forest Lawn/Griffith Park:

Yeah, yeah, I know it’s not cutting-edge news or anything, but I thought it was nice.

Took a little video of it, behind the cut. You can hear the freeway really loudly, which I think is cool because it sounds for all the world like a massive river.

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Yes, it’s that time folks: STORMWATCH 2009!!!! While many of us have a tendency to mock LA’s shock and awe response to a drizzle, this looks to be more than a misting we’re facing. If you live in a spot in danger of flooding, you should know that there a bunch of spots to pick up free sandbag supplies in the valley. The Daily News has a list of locations here.

Barring that, there’s always the ark option.

Be careful out there, people, according to CHP (via the LA Times blog), there were close to triple the number of accidents during this morning’s commute as compared to last Monday (132 crashes from 5 to 8 a.m. versus 45 crashes last week). Try to be nice to each other out there.

The legendary stage director Charlie Brown once asked, “Is there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?”

Well, sure, Charlie Brown. The answer can be found in the window display at Madison on 3rd Street, where you’ll find the Virgin Mary dressed in some fashion autrocity, her bare legs spread, and baby Jesus in her lap.

The three Wise Men standby with gifts for the newborn child, appropriately hidden in Madison shopping bags.

The true meaning of Christmas is eroticizing a sacred, virginal religious icon for commercial gain.

CNN iReporter “Pixel” has a brief report.

Tonight at 6pm, MobMov.org and Hollywood MobMov are presenting a FREE sneak preview drive-in screening of the Discovery Channel’s new show Clash of the Dinosaurs.

Clash of the Dinosaurs takes a new look at the greatest beasts to ever walk the Earth. Cinematic photo-real 3D graphics are joined with cutting-edge paleontology to reveal the unique inner workings of these prehistoric survival machines.

This early evening event, which will run about an hour, is perfect to bring the whole family to and then still have time to get on with other Saturday night festivities. Hollywood MobMov is truly the “drive in that drives in.” The show is projected onto a wall from a car while you, the audience, relax in your own vehicle and tune in you FM radio for the audio. It really is a lot of fun!

The drive-in is at 6pm tonight in the parking lot of the Steve Allen Theater in Hollywood, located at the Center for Inquiry – West, 4773 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90027. Enter the parking lot off of Berendo St., just north of Hollywood Blvd. Did I mention it’s FREE?

That is usually the quiet walkway part of Ocean Front Walk near 25th Street. Right now it’s under a few inches water thanks to this:

Yes, that is a Uhaul parked on top of a huge blast of water shooting out of the ground where a fire hydrant used to be. This happened around 10:30am today and it took almost an hour for the water to be turned off. Apparently it’s trial and error to find the right turn off valve, and then once the fire dept did find it it was unfortunately under the Uhaul which they couldn’t move because then the water would shoot up on to the roofs of neighboring houses and likely cause even more damage. It all got sorted out though thanks to the hard work of the LAFD. Also, the dude who hit it was totally embarrassed. More pics and video can be found here.

Growing up, we used to go roller skating every Saturday morning, easily until I was 17 or 18. I don’t know when I stopped going roller skating, but I did. Attempts to get friends to reclaim a lost activity didn’t end well. In other words, most people flaked rather than join me for a session at World on Wheels.

What I’m saying, is that it had been eons since I’ve hit the boards. I took my family on the Friday after Thanksgiving. To this day, I’m still trying to figure out how that happened. All I know is that I was having a nice conversation with my 6 year old daughter and next thing I heard coming from my mouth was, “So, we should go skating tomorrow.” Wait? Why did I say that? What the hell were we talking about?

Unfortunately, my daughter can fixate on a ‘maybe’ or a ‘should’ like nobody’s business. Yes. That meant we were definitely going. Fine. I could use the exercise. Right?

Well, we went and while I was still rusty; not trusting myself to skate backwards like I used to, it was a ton of fun. I got home, still sweaty and exhilarated and posted to Facebook something like, “OMGOMGOMG I just went roller skating and it was, like, totally a lot of fun. WOW!”

Most of the people who responded to my post went to school with me. We all grew up in La Puente, Walnut or West Covina. We all remember our days spent at Skate Junction. It was imperative we relive that as soon as possible. So a meetup with quickly cobbled together.
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Oh man, I can not resist a good pun: this Sunday at 6, Healthy Spot is having its second annual “Howliday” party in its “barking lot.”  Bring your pup out to join in on the festivities:  vendors giving out free samples, a raffle, and even a “doggie” bag.  Now, about that doggie bag: we’re not talking paltry samples of Milkbones here.  No, these are the best free bags of swag this side of the Oscars.  At their “Howl-ween” party, for example, the doggie bag was stuffed with full-sized bags of Souplements and a full-size bag of organic Stella & Chewy’s duck treats.  Full-sized. That’s at least a $10 value.

Their free swag is generally consistent with their philosophy of giving your pet healthy, grain-free food, to the extent that you can afford it.  This actually is my neighborhood pet store; I come in a few times a month, sometimes for no reason other than the fact that my dog drags me there on our walks.  I mean, she yanked me in there even after she got a full bath from their grooming salon (yet she still won’t set paw in our bathroom, where we usually bathe her.  Maddening.).  The owners – Andrew and Mark – are exceptionally friendly, exceptionally accessible, exceptionally knowledgeable about dog food and health, and exceptionally gracious when my dog decides to ram into Healthy Spot’s resident boxer Lucky for no reason other than the fact that my dog thinks she’s five times bigger than she actually is.

If you can’t make it out on Sunday, try next Sunday, when Healthy Spot joins Shifting Gears to host Scooby-Roo’s Rescue Ride, a biking/fundraiser for Fuzzy Rescue.  Bikers are to meet at Healthy Spot at 8; those of us who don’t ride can drop by at 10am to join in on the post-ride party, complete with free food and drinks for humans and canines alike.

For those of you who can not/adamantly will not go west of Western, Healthy Spot just launched their online store.  Pretty soon, Idgie will be sniffing them out on the Internet too, I just know it.

Healthy Spot
1110 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90401

Head over to 2500 Strongs Drive today at 11AM to celebrate the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Venice Beach-Venice Canals Coastal Access Path.

The proposal was put forth in late 2006 by the Coastal Conservancy to fund this $100,000 project and to be run by the Venice Canals Foundation. The path will go through two city-owned properties, one located between 2420 and 2500 Pacific Avenue and one between 2420 and 2500-2502 Strongs Drive.

Today the path between the beach and canals is fairly unsafe with uneven ground and debris and isn’t wheelchair accessible.

As a resident I hope that they also work on the crosswalk to get across Pacific Avenue because that becomes quite busy.

UPDATE: I attended the groundbreaking ceremony. This proposal took five long years and there were a lot of dedicated folks involved including the City of Los Angeles, Venice Canals Foundation, and Coastal Conservancy. I asked about the crosswalk and a request has been put in to move it from Pacific and 26th to Pacific and 25th.

On the first Friday evening of every month, the retailers on Abbot Kinney in Venice host “First Fridays”. The idea is for patrons to stroll along the sidewalks with a glass of wine, chat it up with strangers, and patronize the businesses.

I have gone a few times now and last night I was in shock. I didn’t do an official count, but there had to have been at least 20 Food Trucks lining both sides of the boulevard and even a makeup truck! Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of the gourmet LA Food Trucks and eat at them often, but I saw more people checking out the trucks and lining up for food than actually walking into the stores which were pretty empty. I can also imagine being a store owner and cringing as someone with a greasy samosa or dripping philly cheese steak came into my store and started fingering my wares.

The street wasn’t very crowded now that we are past the tourist season, so I wonder if the trucks are more of a draw than the businesses, which is a good thing if it’s just getting people to the event.

I’d love to hear what others that go to the event think and especially Abbot Kinney retailers.

Seeing as it’s that most wonderful time of the year and throughout it I get the opportunity to bike home to Silver Lake from Westchester in the dark across a variety of neighborhoods and communities passing a wide variety of homes festively festooned, I figured why not stop and snap some of ‘em and then post a weekly selection of those I encounter and enjoy each Friday of December. Tis the season, and all that jazz.

So without further to-do, here’s the inaugural quartet, one for each of the first four days of the month. Left to right and top to bottom: East Hollywood, Lexington & Madison; Faircrest neighborhood, Guthrie & Crescent Heights; Culver City, Duquesne between Lucerne & Farragut; Crestview neighborhood, Corning north of Cattaraugus. Click each to enlargify.

PS. If you’re goofy like me and compiling/posting your own collection, link to where they can be seen in the comments. Or if you know of one somewhere nearby my nightly commute from work that you think’s worth a bike-by, lay the location on me and I’ll do my best.

Because during the holidays, it could hit at any moment. Suddenly, you NEEDED that Milk of Magnesia.

The Sargent Prescription Pharmacy delivered it to your home, free of charge. The year was 1933.

Photo from the Los Angeles Public Library