This is an LA of space aliens, government conspiracies, stoned parents, evangelists,  lobotomies, repo men, debt, “Dioretix: Science of Matter of Mind,” rebellious youth, armed robbery, and most significantly some would argue, punk rock. Repo Man is the story of Otto Maddox (Emelio Estevez), an 18 year-old punk whose parents spend all day smoking weed and sending money they don’t have to a televangelist who preaches, “I want your money, because God wants it. So go out and mortgage that home, and sell that car, and send me your money. You don’t need that car.” Otto gets a job as a repo man, where Bud (Harry Dean Stanton) schools him (“Ordinary fucking people, I hate ‘em.”) and the local  crazy shaman bum Miller (Tracey Walter) philosophizes (“There’s like this lattice of coincidence laid on top of everything”). Meanwhile, Otto meets Leila who is being tailed by creepy blonde government agents because she knows too much about a lobotomized scientist and his trunk full of aliens. Ultimately, everyone in the movie is looking for the same thing. Love? Salvation? Nope. A ’64 Chevy Malibu.

And here’s how LA this movie is: According to IMDB, a couple of days into filming, the Chevy Malibu was stolen. They located a replacement, and then the police found the original stolen vehicle and returned it unharmed, which was lucky since one of the actors subsequently wrecked the replacement car. Now that’s LA, ladies and gentlemen.

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And all of it very much alive, well… except for that last  shot of the awesome prehistoric fossilized water creature* we literally chanced to find embedded in the Racetrack Playa bed, which hasn’t been fully underwater for something like two brazillion years.

Anyway, we’re  back from an amazing weekend camping out Death Valley way — our first time there so early in the spring –  and I wanted to check in and share these pix of the variety of wildflowers and wildlives encountered: 15 colorful species of flora and the following fauna: two species of lizard, 1 roadrunner, 1 species of ladybug, 1 species of flying petal-dwelling insect with what looks to be a huge probiscus (don’t go there because I already have), 1 species of spider, and of course that fosillized krill looking thingy from back in an era that probably ended on a Z to the O-I-C. *

Check out the photos on Flickr here.

* This is not based on any scientific fact, just our own kooky konjecture. Check it out at and tell me what you think it is.

(This post is part of the series LA Plays Itself in the Movies – a big thanks to Julia for organizing!)

“Riot on the Sunset Strip” is a masterwork of the teen exploitation genre. Released in 1967, the film was made within six weeks of the infamous curfew riots that took place on the Strip protesting the closure of Pandora’s Box, a club that was then a huge part of the music scene.  The plot (and, as much as I love this movie, I will be the first to admit that there isn’t much of one) follows Andi (who was just seventeen, if you know what I mean) and her friends, who really, really just want to have a good time, but have to put up with flack from hapless authority figures, including a duo of local businessmen, who come off as a live action version of the Muppets’ Waldorf and Statler, and Andi’s estranged father, the head of the Hollywood division of the police department. The storyline plays pretty fast and loose with facts, giving a totally sensationalized representation of the Strip in its heyday as an unincorporated nightlife hub, full of crazy, drug-addled longhairs (that’s totally-square-1960s-grownup-speak for “teenagers”).  Basically, it’s the Los Angeles of middle-America’s worst nightmares.

I first saw the film about three years ago, shortly after I’d moved to the city.  I was mostly interested in the totally awesome musical cameos it features, from bands like the Standells and the Chocolate Watchband, and, at the time, I was really fascinated by the history of that part of town. As I become increasingly cynical (I now ride the bus along Sunset almost every day, and let me tell you, nothing will strip a place of its potential to fascinate like being stuck in the middle of it on a hot, smelly bus, for far longer than any human should be on a hot, smelly bus), I find myself appreciating the naivety of movies like “Riot on the Sunset Strip” more and more.  The movie is just so ridiculous and, at times, earnest, that I just can’t resist it.

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I’m not even into metal and this looks awesome.

I always thought Slash was some iconic silent untouchable rock god, like in the song “Slash From Guns & Roses” by I See Hawks In LA. Never did I expect that when I actually met him he’d be approachable, down to earth, humble and not only articulate, but chatty and outgoing. So I’m doubly stoked to have a chance to give these tickets away. Here’s the deets (link for tix &  more info):

• It’s at Club Nokia on Thursday, April 8 and will air on VH1 Classic on May 22
  
• Slash will open the show with several numbers from his upcoming debut solo album, Slash. Natch.
  
• Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother and Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge, who appear on his album, will be his special guests.
• Lemmy will team up with Slash and Dave Grohl to perform the Motörhead classic “Ace of Spades.”
  
• Ozzy Osbourne will present the Metal Blade Golden God Award to Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford.
• Later in the evening, Grohl will be on hand to present Lemmy with the Revolver Golden Gods Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Rob Zombie will be joined for the first time by new touring drummer Slipknot’s Joey Jordison. Two songs from the group’s live set will air on ABC-TV’s Jimmy Kimmel Live Friday, April 23.
  
• Black Label Society leader Zakk Wylde will be on hand to perform a very special metal version of the national anthem.
• The show is hosted by Andrew W.K. and Chris Jericho
• See performances by Fear Factory (their first LA appearance ever with their new line-up), As I Lay Dying, The Devil Wears Prada and last year’s host, Brian Posehn, with an all-star band featuring Scott Ian, Brendon Small, John Tempesta, Brett Anderson and Joey Vera.

To win a pair of tickets to what’s sure to be an epic show, tell me in the comments–what’s the most METAL thing you’ve ever done! I can’t wait to hear your stories. Whether you make ‘em up or they really happened, bonus points for evidence.

- Magnitude 5.1 – SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA – 2010 April 04 23:15:20 UTC (1 mile south/southwest of Imperial, Calif)

- Magnitude 4.5 – BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO – 2010 April 04 23:09:49 UTC (32 miles west/southwest of Mexicali)

UPDATE: Revisions below:

-Magnitude 4.8 – BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO – 2010 April 04 23:09:38 UTC

-Magnitude 5.2 – BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO – 2010 April 04 23:15:14 UTC

-Magnitude 5.4 – BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO – 2010 April 04 23:25:09 UTC

-Magnitude 4.7 – BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO – 2010 April 04 23:37:32 UTC

-Magnitude 5.1 – SONORA, MEXICO – 2010 April 05 00:07:11 UTC

L.A. folks, did you feel the 6.9 7.2 quake?

-According to @ABC7: Disneyland security reports that all rides are shut down and some people are trapped in elevators after the quake.. UPDATE: Disneyland rides still shut down but no one stuck in elevators as initially reported http://bit.ly/aa4Nci

-On-air and live streaming coverage on ABC7

Here’s an updated quake map/screenshot as of Sunday, April 4, 2010 at 06:34:26 PM (PDT) – Pacific

Felt it here in L.A. as a slow shaking. (I was busy playing Wii and didn’t realize there was a quake until Yoshi told me twice that the building was shaking. And it wasn’t until I stopped playing and stood up that I realized that we were STILL swaying.)

You?

Screenshot taken from USGS:

UPDATE: USGS Upgraded the quake from 6.9 to 7.2
Here is the preliminary quake info:
Magnitude 6.9 7.2 – BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO

Magnitude 6.9 7.2
Date-Time

* Sunday, April 04, 2010 at 22:40:39 UTC
* Sunday, April 04, 2010 at 03:40:39 PM at epicenter

Location 32.093°N, 115.249°W 32.128°N, 115.303°W
Depth 32.3 km (20.1 miles) 10 km (6.2 miles) (poorly constrained)
Region BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO

Distances
* 26 km (16 miles) SSW (211°) (225°) from Guadalupe Victoria, Baja California, Mexico
* 6160 km (38 miles) SW (227°) (165°) from San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, Mexico
* 6462 (40 38 miles) SW (225°) (233°) from San Luis, AZ
* 173 167 km (108 104 miles) ESE (106°) 105° from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico

Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 5.8 km (3.6 miles); depth +/- 21.1 km (13.1 miles) horizontal +/- 2.4 km (1.5 miles); depth +/- 31.6 km (19.6 miles)

As always, here’s the shake map and intensity map for this event and don’t forget to fill out the survey if you felt it.

A quick reminder for anyone (anyone who doesn’t celebrate Easter, that is) looking for something to do tomorrow: April 4 is the local celebration of Songkran, the Thai New Year.

Outside of Thailand itself, LA is home to the largest collection of Thai people in the world. Each year the Songkran festival is held in Thai Town, along Hollywood Boulevard between Western and Normandie — the only Thai Town in the world. It takes place between 8 AM and 9 PM, and includes a pretty huge variety of food, entertainment, shopping and drinking. But why listen to what I have to say when you can read the English version of the official Thai New Year website:

It is exciting time when you will have experience in all aspects of Thai such as, ancient crafts and arts, remarkable culture, Thai heritage and ancient-unique traditions, delicious Thai food, apparel, martial arts, the world-class beautiful tourist attractions, Thai sophisticated manners, warm hospitality, and friendliness of Thai people.

So: Have fun at Songkran. And watch the peripheral traffic on Sunset and Franklin if you’re driving through Hollywood or Los Feliz.

Yes, slow news day. And its been a while since a reader complained our banal parking complaints. But we know some of you love this stuff, so here you go. Happy Easter!

Found at Ralphs on Hawthorne Boulevard in Rancho Palos Verdes.

If you haven’t been to Galco’s Soda Pop Stop (located at 5702 York Blvd. in Highland Park), you’d better have a really good excuse.  The place is nothing short of wondrous.  Housed in a nondescript building that used to be an ordinary grocery store, Galco’s is home to more amazing, marvellous things than I had ever dreamt of, in the form of 450 different kinds of soda pop.  They have cucumber soda, and celery soda, and espresso soda, and almost any other flavour of soda pop you could think of, all served up in old-timey glass bottles.

Soda pop as far as the eye can see! Photo courtesy of Nick Sherman

And also, there are at least 34 different varieties of rootbeer available at Galco’s, which is an important fact that I learned last weekend.  I was having some of my esteemed colleagues over for a rootbeer tasting party (all the cool kids are doing it) so we headed up to Galco’s the day before to stock up, thinking that maybe there would be a dozen or so different rootbeers, at most, and instead came home with 34.  John Nese, the owner of Galco’s, was a total gentleman and insisted on helping us haul our spoils out to the car, and made sure that we’d picked up a bottle of Red Ribbon, one of the hardest rootbeers to find because it’s made with a process that somehow involves dry ice (sounds like mad science to me).

Nese is a fascinating guy who really believes in the importance of small businesses – you can see an interview with him here.  And I really recommend going to the Soda Pop Stop as soon as you can – and you should totally try the cucumber soda because it’s amazing.  As for the rootbeer tasting party, we only got through eight different varieties before we succumbed to sugar comas, so we’re gearing up for round two this weekend.

Fixnation, the fantastic organization that helps me spay & neuter the feral cats in my ‘hood is now offering monthly vaccine clinics for pups ‘n’ kitties. You can get vaccines for distempter for $8, rabies for $12, and even microchip the little scamps for $25(!). Do right by your best friend! If only we could innoculate our human friends similarly, and with such ease.

Fixnation is located in north Burbank near the airport at 7680 Clybourn Avenue, south of San Fernando. Times, dates of future events, & more here.

photo by Colin Remas Brown

Tough looking nine-year-old girls yell, “We love Smack,” and I’m not surprised, I’m at the all ages Baby Doll Brawl.

Inside the Doll Factory, a cavernous Echo Park warehouse, the Black Diamonds are battling the Rotten Candy. These rookie L.A. Derby Dolls are eager and mean, obviously they have something to prove. For many this is their first bout and they want to impress the pack.

I’m here to document my friend Rhiannon kicking some Rotten Candy(ass), and she did. The stars on her helmet let you know that she’s the jammer, the point scorer for this one minute period in the game.

While I’m trying get at least a couple photos in focus I hear “Fleetwood Smack,” Rhiannon’s derby name, incessantly repeated over the PA system and screamed by her new fans.

When the game’s over it’s Black Diamond’s… 106 to 96.

You know LA plays a role when you see the Bonaventure...

Starting on Monday (April 5) your LA Metblog authors are starting a new series of posts called: LA Plays Itself In The Movies. (Similar to our series last year called Songs About Los Angeles.) We’ll write about favorite movies in which LA is not just a backdrop or a random location or even doubling for somewhere else, but in which the city plays a role. These are movies that could not have been made anywhere else other than our awesome city.

As with last year’s song series, this is not a “Best Of” or “Top 25″ list, it is more fun and personal to each author. The series will last about three weeks and we encourage you to tell us about your favorite movie in which LA is a star!

(The photo is my own.)

Click past the jump to see the full list of posts in this series.

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Seriously, Umami Burger: I usually don’t like to complain.

But two days ago when I was walking past your newish location at 4655 Hollywood Boulevard, you had a chalkboard sign out, right there on the sidewalk, advertising a “late night happy hour” at 10 PM. At this late night happy hour, the sign promised, I would be treated to $4 beer and wine and, for only $6.99, something called a “69er Burger.”

Usually I giggle uncontrollably at any mention of the number 69, but this is no time for merriment. I saw the sign at about 4:00, when I was on my way to the Vista Theater for the 4:20 (STOP GIGGLING DAMMIT) showing of Hot Tub Time Machine (which was reasonably awesome). So I text-messaged my girlfriend and asked her if she’d be awake enough for a burger and beer at 10 PM on a Wednesday night. She said yes, possibly with several exclamation points. There’s no time to check my inbox, Umami Burger, because I’m not finished being pissed at you.

More on why Umami Burger at 4655 Hollywood Boulevard totally sucks after the jump.

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For all you fankids out their who cried for weeks when you found out the Wave Goodbye tour was the last tour Nine Inch Nails would ever see (or, conversely, who rolled their eyes and turned back to their Jhonen Vasquez comics), boy do we have a nifty surprise for you.

By working together, the Nine Inch Nails fan community have created “This One’s On Us: Another Version of the Truth” — bringing together scads (dark, brooding scads) of editors, designers, and web programmers to create a professional digital film, big enough to take up three discs. And on April 11 you can catch it in all its light-strobing, blaring, bombastic growly glory when it gets a screening at the Echoplex, where the sound system and the lighting should help do justice to the film’s great sounds & visuals.

So apparently, Nine Inch Nails released “The Slip” for free via their website on 5th May, 2008, as a gift to their fans. Or as Trent Reznor put it: “This one’s on me.”

The footage for “This One’s On Us: Another Version of the Truth” was gathered when on Dec. 13th, 2008, dozens of Nine Inch Nails fans recorded the last show of the Lights In The Sky tour in Las Vegas. Then, just about a month later, on Jan. 7th, 2009, over 400Gb of video from the Victoria, Portland and Sacramento shows from the same tour were unofficially released by the band.

Info & tickets here. I expect this to sell out.