This past Saturday was Designer Con 2009 in Pasadena, where toys, art, a lot of Japanese anime influence, and a distinct smell of BO (c’mon boys, hygiene is not hard) converged.  There were plenty of pretty rad vinyl toys, super kawaaii t-shirts and posters, and I was super excited about checking out Christopher Lee’s new (ad)venture, The Birds and the Beasts – but nevermind all that.  The coolest things on display were formerly naked 3″ Yoka bears (above) distributed by adFuncture and provided to a little more than 150 individual artists.  These artists went all the way and back in customizing the little bears to their creative hearts’ desires.  I wish I could post a picture of them all – and while we’re wishing upon shooting stars, I also wish my camera didn’t crap out and lose a bunch of the pictures I took there – but here’s the next best thing:  a few of my favorites that survived the Casio Exlim Crash of 2009 follow after the jump.  Hopefully someone over at DCon will post the entire collection online, because the variety of Yokas was mind boggling.

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Nope, it was a plea by the popcorn vendor at yesterdays UCLA game at the Rose Bowl.  He was next to the ATM machine and was having a tough time making change.   Pic by me with the trusty cell cam.

Ever seen Los Angeles by Zeppelin? Me neither, but how cool does that sound? If you’ve been trying to find something fun and different to do in the next few days, this just might do the trick.

Zeppelin by Jitze

Airship Ventures is in town offering various L.A. tours by Zeppelin through this coming Tuesday, November 24th. The Bay Area-based company operates the only sightseeing airship in the United States and for the past year and a half, they have flown over the San Francisco Bay, the Monterey Coast, and L.A. At this past week’s Mindshare, one of company’s founders, Alexandra Hall said that due to the growing popularity of the Long Beach to Hollywood tours, Airship Ventures plans to spend nearly half of 2010 in Southern California. I’m really tempted to book a flight.

You don’t have to worry about another Hindenburg disaster as the Zeppelin is filled with non-flammable helium, not hydrogen. (Yes, all helium is non-flammable, but the company has to state the obvious for the general masses). You can read all about the specs of the ship, available tours, and the journey of getting this venture in the air at the company’s site.

Ticket are a little out of my price range, but imagine what an amazing journey you’d be taking. Booking information can be found here.

Apologies for the late-ish notice, but heads up if your afternoon is free:  Designer Con 2009 is up and running until 5pm today at the Pasadena Convention Center.  Designer art, apparel, and slick toys will be on display and for sale.  Their attitude is to “expand the scope of ‘that which is design.’”  Artists defining and expanding the scope of design include Amanda Visell, Christopher Lee, Tim Biskup, and Buff Monster (!).  If you follow Buff Monster on Twitter, you’ll see he’s made an exclusive t-shirt for the event.  And, though it’s not nearly as kawaii as watching the shiba inu puppies grow, ToyBreak also is using Ustream to stream live from the floor of the show.

Admission price is $5 before 3pm; after 3pm, it’s free.  See you at 3.

Just wanted to let you know about an awesome scavenger hunt game on the west side tomorrow afternoon, hosted by Wise Guys Events. It’s designed for teams of two and combines elements of a photo scavenger hunt and the spy game, Assassin. It’s super cheap for a few hours of fun and will be over in plenty of time for you to head to your evening plans.

Here’s some information I ripped from the event’s Facebook page:

Camera Assassins is the newest Wise Guys Events game! Play in teams of 2: that’s right, teams of 2! Get your future Amazing Race partner in on the action. It’s part photo scavenger hunt, part Assassin. You and your partner are racing to complete as many of the photo challenges as you can. The catch is, you can’t do them without the help of the other teams, and one of the other players is aiming to kill you. Unless your partner is.

Camera Assassins, the amazing game of double exposure! RSVP on their Facebook event page to play.

The cost is $20 per team, to be collected on game day.

Saturday, November 21, 2009
1:00p – 4:00p
Westwood Park – Meet at the Picnic Benches
1300 Veteran Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90024

How sweet is this?  On Monday, LA DOT started a public beta for receiving live tracking information of your friendly neighborhood DASH service.  If you go to http://dtdash.com on your computer or phone, LADOT has provided four equally convenient ways for you to get your bus information:  1) you can live track your downtown DASH using Google Maps; 2) for the minimalists, you can simply use drop down menus to plug in your route and stop to get expected arrival times; 3) for those of us without Internet-equipped phones, call (213) 785-3858 and navigate the phone menu to hear arrival information; and 4) for those of us who don’t like talking to machines, but don’t mind texting one, figure out your stop number, and send a text to dtdash[stop number] to 414111.

Now, if we can get this set up for the MTA, that would be awesome.

As the prosecution began its case in the War Crimes Trials at Nuremberg, 3000 G.I.s were back home, waiting in line for Thanksgiving Dinner at Castle Steak House. They were guests of the Los Angeles Herald-Express.

The year was 1945.

Photo from the Los Angeles Public Library

Tucked away in the nether regions between the two Valley’s lies the Black Box Theatre in the city of Montrose.   Black Box Theatre is the result of the talented efforts of the La Canada Theatre organization headed up by Al Pugliese.   They hold performances every third Thursday in a church in Montrose and I made last nights event.  It was most enjoyable!

There were a total of 4 short one act plays in the 1 1/2 hours.   They dealt with contemporary issues in a humorous sort of way.   The plays were all original material written by either Benjamin Epstein or Gary Kluger.   They write entirely new plays for each performance night. They weren’t always perfect, at times a little contrived or trite, but they kept me smiling throughout the performances.

The actors come out of the La Canada workshops. Some of the actors were really good at what they did and their performances were what really held the entire play together.   In particular I enjoyed the performances of Lanell Scott as the crusty PE instructor in “Teachers” and Deb Snyder as “Inga” in “Mad Scientist”. Read the rest of this entry →

click for a full view with map

The LAAA is having its annual Aurora Holiday Art Sale Saturday only 11/21.  There is a preview sale that includes complimentary champagne starting at 6pm that will cost you 25 bones.  Its free after 7PM but no free booze.   (Their flier does get bigger with a click for all the details you could ever want).

The best part of this show is that it is all about affordable art for collectors and exposing them to up-and-coming artists.  Artists like my friend Ginger Van Hook who was picked up after the jurists viewed her work at last weekends Inglewood Art Walk.

Are you a narcissitic drama queen? Do you want free rent? Then read on!

A CraigsList ad is asking for potential “new roommates” to apply for “The Real World’s” 24th season.

If you are between the ages of 18 and 24 then email us at rwcasting@bunim-murray.com with the following information: Name, Age, Phone number, A brief bio, Two recent photos

In the subject line write: “[your city] Recruiting”

Think you have what it takes? Feel free to include a copy of your cover letter in the comments below. For shits n giggles.

I’ve just learned from Griffith Park Wayist that two ranger-led hikes to the Hollywood Sign are planned for Thanksgiving weekend, and if I wasn’t going to be in Death Valley climbing sand dunes and biking some bad roads between craters and playas then I most certainly wouldn’t miss such a rare opportunity to do something I did tons of times as a punk growing up in the shadow of the landmark.

Seriously, the last time was maybe 25 years ago, long before they fenced everything in and made it a felony to do so. I’d scramble up from Mulholland Highway with some snacks and perhaps Pink Floyd or some Dvorak on my walkman, and I’d just chill beneath a 50-foot letter of my choosing, marveling at the spectacular views and working out all sorts of bullshit up there on Mt. Lee.

Led by Park Ranger Ernie Ybarra, the four- to six-mile intermediate hikes are scheduled for November 27 and 28, from 8 – 11 a.m. Meet at the Griffith Park Visitor Center next to the Ranger Station at 4730 Crystal Springs Drive (map).

Additional information: 323/644-6661 x1549; ernie.ybarra@lacity.org

This Saturday is the 10-year-anniversary of the formation of the Swedish band known as Peter Bjorn & John–named after the band members, bless their little Swede souls–and they’re celebrating with surprise guests, rare songs, even a whistling contest. We’ve got your tickets! To win, you’ll have to humor me and leave a comment below containing something you hate most about The Kids. Because every time I hear the words “Young Folks,” all I think is “Get off my lawn!” For example [clears throat]: “I hate your f***ing acid-washed skinny jeans.” See? You know you can do this. Everybody can do this.  Show info is here.

We’ve got another couple pairs of tickets to give to you lucky people to see Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas in his residency at the Downtown Palace Theatre tomorrow night. Wanna go? Leave a comment below telling me why you deserve, more than anyone else, to see this show. Be ruthless.

Show info is here, if you’d like to read a bit more about it.

Public Eyebrow Groomer as seen on a Metro Bus

Since I began my adventures in public transportation earlier this year, I have seen a lot of rude, inappropriate and often strange behavior from my fellow carbon-based life forms. I have seen people carelessly put their shoes on bus seats.  I have seen someone leave a half-eaten sandwich on the floor of the train. I have seen a perfectly nice looking middle-aged woman forcibly push her way to the front of a line of people boarding a bus, just to be the first one on. I have shared personal space with people emitting body odors that would make a mortician gag. Yes my friends, I have been to hell and back and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.

While annoying, I have grown to accept many of these acts of humanness as part of the deal when taking public transportation. Still, when I see something like today’s featured Metro rider, I can’t help but make a public mockery of it.

Today, while making my connection to the Metro Red Line, I sat across from this girl who was plucking her eyebrows. Maybe some of you think this is OK, but let me tell you, YOU ARE WRONG. Some personal grooming is acceptable on public transportation I would say. Like powdering your nose or putting on lipstick. However, anything involving body hair is an absolute disgusting DON’T. You wouldn’t shave your armpits on the bus, would you? Would she? I don’t know. Fortunately, I made my connection before I had to find out.

The fine folks behind the wheel and grill of Buttermilk Truck tweeted their arrival to Melrose Avenue near Orlando just as I was about to hop on my bike and head in to work. And while their location this morning would require a decent deviation from my normal Silver Lake-to-Westchester route, it was an offer me and my hunger pangs couldn’t refuse. So I tweeted back for them to keep an eye out for a drooling cyclist and away I went West Hollywood-ward, crossing my fingers that I wouldn’t roll up on the recently launched vehicle to find the kind of crazy appetite-killing crowds these portable eateries are prone to attract.

Hallelujah! Rounding the corner from Kings Road onto Melrose I found the truck open for business at the curb and was relieved to take my place in a short queue that tripled in size within mintues of my arrival. Within a few more minutes of ordering and confirming to owner Gigi Pascual that I was indeed the drool-prone cyclist who tweeted (I hope my helmet gave it away and not any excessive salivations), my tastebuds were transported to Awesometown, taken there by their decadent Red Velvet & Chocolate Chips Pancake Bites ($5), and savory Buttermilk Biscuit Breakfast Sammich with applewood smoked bacon and a side patty of rosemary & garlic hashbrowns ($4), pictured at right.

Needless to say, I’ll be back and I highly recommend you check them out.

On the web: Buttermilk Inc.
Twitter: @ButtermilkTruck