I pride myself on an encyclopedic knowledge of rock bands, so I’m stunned to find a fantastic one I don’t know–but there you have it. Biffy Clyro had to drop their fifth album before I heard of them–ghettoized amongst many a fantastic British-Isles band, I presume–but these unprepossessing Scots are so good I may go out to the Troubadour to see them tonight, even though I have a freelance article due tomorrow I’ve only half-finished and even though they’re not headlining (they’re opening for Manchester Orchestra). They swung by my work today to record a live session & play for some fans–they’ve got a very sturdy fan base–and it was such a pleasure to hear some refreshing new music.

Consider this a tip-off: if you like Red House Painters/Sun Kil Moon, Idlewild, People In Planes, early Keane, Snow Patrol or Jimmy Eat World, you’ll love these guys. There you go: something to do tonight.

PS: They’ve been known to do some hilarious covers, including Beyonce’s “All The Single Ladies” and Ciara’s “Love Sex Magic” featuring Justin Timberlake. Besides, look at them. They’re freaking adorable.

This has been a great, great season for revival shows. The Damned and Scream played last month. The Specials are playing next month. And this Friday, the Adolescents are playing at the El Rey. Word. Doors are at 7:00. Show is at 8:00. Youth Brigade is opening (as are The Crowd and Blockage). I am super excited. I don’t need to tell you guys how awesome the Adolescents are do I? I mean, if you know punk rock at all you’re already a huge fan, and if you don’t know punk rock you won’t like the show.

As for the whole “adolescent” thing, the humor is not  lost on us. Who would have guessed we’d all live this long? In fact, I believe Frank Agnew’s son is part of the touring line up. Oh the irony. Punk’s not dead; it’s just long in the tooth. Adolescence is a state of mind, I figure. And in that spirit, if you want tickets, leave a comment telling us the most adolescent thing about you. Winners will be chosen randomly. We have one pair to give away. And of course, if you don’t supply an email address, I have no way of contacting you, so um…supply an email address.

To the men and women of the city and all ships at sea! The American Diabetes Association (ADA) has announced its 2010 Tour de Cure Ship-To-Shore Bike Ride will take place May 2, providing cyclists the opportunity for reportedly only the second time in the history of the world as we know it to pedal across the famed 6,060-foot-long Vincent Thomas and the 5,134-foot-long Gerald Desmond bridges to raise crucial fundage for the ADA in its fight against diabetes.

The Ship-To-Shore rides begin and end at the Queen Mary and offer five distinct routes from 8 to 61 miles in length, including a 10-miler where cyclists will return to post-ride festivities via a harbor cruise. Each route will feature fully supported rest stops with food and refreshments. To participate, individuals must raise a minimum of $150.

As a fan of taking my bike (most of the time legally) where it’s usually not allowed, you know I’ll be raising the money so that I can cross those bridges when I come to them! Hope you will, too.

fried chicken, greens and mac and cheese.

Okay, really I actually hate okra, but it’s a sort of acid test for whether a place is a real soul food restaurant, in my book. If there is no fried okra and no cobbler, well…it may be good, but it’s not really soul food. Anyone who knows LA well knows that Soul Food Kitchen is pretty much the sina qua non of soul food, but for those of us in the far reaches of the Valley (Chatsworth to be exact…here be dragons) Inglewood might as well be Savannah.

Oh happy day! Now we have our own soul food place in Northridge. Today I finally checked out Amelia’s on Nordhoff (behind the Guitar Center across from Bev Mo). OMFG. The fried chicken was unbelievably good (see the picture for evidence–can you make out the packets of Tapatio and honey? nice). First of all that was one obese foul, ladies and gentleman. It was not cheap for take out, but it was literally enough food for three meals for me. The entree came with a sizeable wing and a breast the size of my head, thank you very much, as well as two sides. The greens were good. The mac and cheese was slammin’. The fried chicken was pretty damn amazing. I ate until I was stuffed like a tick.

They also have a new weekly meal service delivery option they are offering. In case you know anyone who needs fattening up.

Amelia’s: 19520-4 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91324, Phone:  818-717-8782

At least three of my friends, possibly more now, have entered this year’s Warrior Dash and I plan to be there to cheer them on, April 11 in Lake Elsinore, CA.

About an hour’s drive from Los Angeles, the event will take place over two days, April 10 and 11. Warriors will dash, leap and climb over 12 hellish obstacles stretched out over three miles. They will jump over flames, wade through a bog, scramble under barbed wire and more.

Those who participate in the Dash will receive an official fuzzy, horned Warrior helmet, free beer and many other spoils. If you think you have what it takes to be a Warrior, there is still time to enter, just visit their web site at warriordash.com. The cost to participate is $75. After March 15 it will cost you $85, until April 5 when registration officially closes.

Apparently,  a lot.  I was making my way through James Ellroy‘s “The Big Nowhere,” and, not too far in, Howard Hughes appears, along with his head of security, a crooked retired cop named Turner “Buzz” Meeks.  Meeks works at Hughes Aircraft, and it takes him an hour to drive to Studio City for some dirty work in pre-405 1950.  Trying to do the math, I recalled the giant Playa Vista residential development just a few miles from my house.

A couple of years ago, I took some dogs walking down the Westchester Bluffs on the South side of the Playa Vista property.  There were a couple of long drab buildings at the base of the bluffs, as well as a narrow service road.  Someone told me the buildings were film studios.  Another person told me they were part of Hughes Aircraft.

So I did some research and found this amazing website.  The gist of it is, this property was not only the headquarters for Hughes Aircraft, it was also Howard Hughes’ private airport. Howard Hughes buys our backyard, after the jump

The following trailer probably is not safe for work – depending on where you work.

To paraphrase Han Solo, putting together a great burlesque show ain’t like dusting crops (boy!).  Like all great performers, Courtney Cruz – producer and star of Devil’s Playground (LA Weekly‘s Best Burlesque Club of 2009) – understands and appreciates the origins of her craft.  In this case, it’s the historical use of burlesque as means to satire and parody everything from class strife to gender politics to intergalactic warfare. That’s right – this Friday, Devil’s Playground will take Princess Leia’s slave outfit to its logical conclusion and perform a Star Wars-themed burlesque show.

This show actually is Devil’s Playground’s second Star Wars performance.  The  first was a few months ago, at a little place called the Bordello Bar in a random spot on 1st Street downtown (my best friend and I once swung by and asked the bouncer what was going on inside.  He got real close and whispered real intently: “It’s a lesbian bar!” Heh heh.).  Their interpretation of Star Wars as post-modern-future seduction, American-style, was so wildly popular – the show must have tapped into everyone’s collective  Princess-Leia-as-Slave(-how-disturbing-for-a-PG-rated-film) wet fantasy – that Courtney Cruz decided to give us a bigger, grander sequel on the scale of The Empire Strikes Back.  In addition to Princess Leia, everyone from Stormtroopers to Jabba the Hut to your friendly neighborhood X-Wing droid will be burlesque’d.  Judging from the flyers, the show is going to make your spaceship make the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, for sure.

Devil’s Playground presents Star Wars Burlesque and Cabaret is this Friday, March 12 at the Music Box at the Henry Fonda.  Tickets are $20 plus a very minimal service fee (read: not Ticketmaster – yeah!) here on wantickets.com.

I didn’t want to like these guys, with their snotty Brit swagger and their line, “These girls fall like dominoes…” I mean, come on, fuc*er.  You already know you’re in a band and you’re gonna get a lot of groupies. But is it classy at all to brag about it?

So it’s a testament to their talent that this cynical broad, who’s been dumped by many a jaded rocker, ACTUALLY came around and can admit I LOVE THESE SONGS. They’re great. Moody, lush, layered, swirling expansive rock. So I’m actually going to attend this show, although hoo boy, if any of those rocker boys come up to me I’m gonna deck ‘em.

Screw you guys, I’m gonna learn to play my own music. I think I’ll going to abscond with my mom’s old accordion and take lessons…

Wanna go to the show? Tell me YOUR favorite band that you love to hate. Please leave an email contact where you can be reached promptly…I’ve contacted winners before only to have them get back to me far after deadline with a “Sorry! I don’t check this email during the day!” You snooze, you lose.

Show info from Goldenvoice here.

Did you know that March is Women’s History Month?  I did not know this until today!  And did you know that March 8^th is International Women’s Day?  I knew that much, at least.  I think that observing Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day remains extremely important – even though we’ve made great strides towards gender equality, we aren’t there yet by any means, and these kinds of observances acknowledge the really great, important

Votes for women! Courtesy of Bobster855.

work that has been done, but also reminds us of how much is left to do.  Luckily, Los Angeles is home to a number of really great organizations that are doing amazing work for women and girls, and since it’s Women’s History Month, it strikes me that now might be a good time to think about donating some money or time to help out.  Here’s a very short little list of some of my favorite, local, lady-related organizations.  This list is obviously by no means comprehensive, so please comment and let me know about any other worthy groups!

WriteGirl – WriteGirl pairs high-school-aged girls with mentors who are professional women writers, helping them to develop both their writing skills and their self-confidence.  I think this is all kinds of awesome!  Their students also contribute to a group blog, and they regularly publish anthologies of their work.  So cool.  I wish I’d had this when I was in high school.

Read the rest of this entry →

OK Go performing at USC Conquest 11/21/09 Photo by Jodi

If you’ve been anywhere near the internet this week, you’ve probably seen the new, innovative video from local band OK Go. The group is well-known for its viral one-take creations, most notably “The Treadmill Video,” in which the guys did a fairly complicated routine on four treadmills for their song “Here It Goes Again.”

To promote their third studio album Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky, which is a fantastic, Prince-inspired record, OK Go has pushed the DIY music video to a new level. Teaming up with L.A.-based creative powerhouse, Synn Labs, the band’s ambitious concept involving a massive Rube Goldberg machine was brought to life.

The engineers were tasked with creating the device with the requirements “that it had to be interesting, not “overbuilt” or too technology-heavy, and easy to follow.  The machine also had to be built on a shoestring budget, synchronize with beats and lyrics in the music and end on time over a 3.5 minute song, play a part of the song, and be filmed in one shot.  To make things more challenging still, the space chosen was divided into two floors and the machine would use both.” The geniuses of Synn Labs spent a few months in a warehouse in Echo Park creating a physical manifestation of the band’s vision.

Click through for details on tonight’s video release party in L.A and more

Photo courtesy of Morocks.

Bring the family, come join the fun! There will be 15 exhibitors, member display cases, geode cracking, kid’s corner, grag bags, treasure wheel, raffle prizes, free tumbled stone and much more! Admission to the show free. You only pay the price of the Arboretum admission. $8 for adults $6 students and seniors $3 kids 5-12.

Details. March 6 and 7, 2010 9AM-4:30PM, LA Arboretum, 301 N. Baldwin Ave, Arcadia CA.

With weather.com telling me that there is a 100% chance of rain for March 6 and several TV-based weather folk concurring with that assessment, I’m officially throwing in the towel and canceling Saturday’s planned walk from USC to Baldwin Hills and back and rescheduling it to Saturday March 27.

It’s not very often you pedal past the surreal Toontown incongruity of a life-sized Bugs Bunny dangling haplessly from the barrier between Ballona Creek and the Mar Vista Gardens projects as if there’s no place he’d rather be. But when you do, the headline writes itself before you get your camera out of its holster.

This morning, I was greeted by news cameras at my kid’s school. There was a podium set up near the drop off location with people giving speeches about the $18 billion cut in education funding by Sacramento. This was all a lead-in for today’s planned statewide rallies protesting these cuts.

There are many rallies happening throughout Southern California, should you wish to lend your voice in support:

LOS ANGELES REGIONAL MARCH/RALLY
4 pm Assemble at Pershing Square (5th & Hill) in downtown L.A. March to the Governor’s office (300 Spring St.) for 5 pm Rally.  Contact: Marla Edy (UTLA) 213-305-9310 or Blanca Castaneda (CFA) 626-379-7380.

“Unite for Public Education: Stop Layoffs, Fee Hikes, Cuts to Education & Community Services.”
3:45 pm gather at CSU Northridge Sierra Quad • 4:15 pm March • 5 pm Hands around CSUN • 5:30 pm Rally at Sierra Quad.

LONG BEACH – “Long Beach Unite for Education” rally, 4:15 pm at Wilson High School Gymnasium, 4400 E. 10th St., Long Beach. Speakers from CFA, Teachers Association of Long Beach (K-12), Long Beach City College. Music by Tom Morello, The Nightwatchman.

CSU NORTHRIDGE — CFA faculty plus student groups will host a regional march. 3:45-5 pm. Sierra Quad. See details in regional listing above.

UCLA – 4:30pm Rally at Bruin Plaza

Organizers also ask that you call your state legistlator (1-888-268-4334) to voice your concerns about these budget cuts

It started with a shrill shriek of a hunting hawk and a quick look to where their nest is to spot one of the nesting pair has returned.  That means contrary to the wintry forecast for the weekend the critters have decided spring has sprung and its time to rebuild their nest.  I hope this year the feral parrots don’t destroy the hawk’s nest and eggs like they did last year.

Pick by me.  It does get bigger with a click.