OK Go's suits from their "This Too Shall Pass" Rube-Goldberg Machine video. Photo by Jodi.

Three Pairs of Tickets! OK Go at Club Nokia on Saturday, November 27th!

You probably know OK Go for their sensational music videos. The band is seriously much more than just their videos and they put on a really energetic, fun live show. I just went to their concert at UCSB this past weekend and it was a blast!

An OK Go show is never just four guys on stage playing their songs. There’s confetti, LOTS of confetti, 3-D glasses, and several more fun surprises. Not to mention the solid musical performance they give. So much fun!

YOU MUST ACT NOW! The first three (3) people to comment will win a pair of tickets. OK Go will be performing at Club Nokia on Saturday, November 27th with A Fine Frenzy and Summer Darling. This is a show not to be missed, so comment now!

And just because it’s super fun, check out  OK Go’s video for their song “White Knuckles.”

Special thanks to Goldenvoice for making this ticket giveaway possible.

Next Wednesday, December 1, Help A Mother Out is having a diaper drive in Glendale and you can join in the fun and give help to those parents and kids in need. At 10am there will be a morning social to kick off a two week diaper drive. The sponsors of the drive – the Glendale Domestic Violence Task Force, Glendale Rotary Club at Noon, and PATH/Achieve Glendale – will be on hand to tell you more about how diaper needs affect the community. Here are some tough facts to start:

• Nearly 4,000 families in Glendale earn less than $10,000 per year and it can cost up to $1,100 per year to diaper a baby.
• Diapers are not covered under food stamps or WIC. Babies left in dirty diapers face great risk for diaper rash, staph, and urinary tract infections.
• At any given point there are 42 women and children in Glendale homeless due to domestic violence. Homeless families in crisis need diapers.

You can get your free ticket to the morning event here. Please make sure to get your ticket so that the organizers know how many people will be on hand. Please also bring a package of diapers and/or wipes to the event. There will be additional drop off sites around Glendale (and I’ll follow up with more info on that in a post next week.) Or if you can’t make it but would still like to donate diapers, you can donate to PATH Achieve Glendale right here. For more info on Help A Mother Out, click here.

HAMO Glendale Diaper Drive
Glendale Police Station
Wednesday December 1, 10:00am
131 North Isabel Street
Glendale, CA 91206

Please do what you can to help families in need. I will post more info about this diaper drive next week!

To all my busty sisters out there! Jenette Bras is having a HUGE sale this coming Friday. She’s calling it “Black Bra Friday” and you must go.

From 10am to 6pm everything black in the store is on sale – bras, panties, camis, slips, corsets, you name it. Discounts range from 20 to 40% off. If you have been waiting to buy some gorgeous support for your gorgeous rack, head on over to Jenette’s.  While others will be muscling through crowds to get the latest electronics, you will be shaping up nicely in a beautiful new bra, aided by the expert care of Jenette and her crew.

Gents! Don’t think you aren’t invited. If you have a lovely busty gal in your life, gift certificates are 20% this Friday as well.

Black Bra Friday
Jenette Bras
Friday, November 26
10am – 6pm

“Where the Alphabet Starts at D!”

Whoa! Super crazy visual just now in the sky. I was just walking the dog 15 minutes ago (about 12:10 am) and I glanced up at the sky to see a HUGE green ball of fire drop straight down from the sky over LA. I’m up in the hills, so I got a great view. I suppose it was a meteorite, very bright, with a long tail, lasted about three seconds. It dropped straight down, rather than across the sky. And it was definitely green!

The weird thing is that about six months ago, I was driving down from San Francisco and was on the 5 in the middle of the state, seriously in the middle of nowhere, and saw something really similar. It was so big and bright that I was sure it had to be a big news event, but try as I might to find out what it was the next day, I didn’t read a single thing about it. Then a couple of weeks later a friend who lives out in the country outside of Santa Barbara told me he had seen the very same image that night at the same time. Both of these were almost too big to be a simple falling star or even any meteor I’ve ever seen!
Did anyone else see this amazing green flash light up the sky last night?

Across the country people are voicing their concerns for the Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) scanners recently implemented by the TSA. This is not surprising given the fact that the radiation used in the scanners has about 1 in 30 million chance of giving you cancer – the same odds of you being involved in any terrorist attack, and if you choose to opt-out of that scan, the alternative is basically a violation of your fourth amendment rights. The TSA is facing heavy questions about why they continually under represent the amount of radiation these scanners use, as well as their ability to store the naked images of you that they capture. This is such an issue that the Chairman of Homeland Security has asked the TSA to reconsider the policy, Congressman Mica, soon to be head of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is reminding airports that using the TSA is optional and they can kick them out – and airports in New York and Orlando are already taking steps to do just that.

Very clearly people are upset, and their elected officials are stepping up to address these concerns. Well, in other places they are anyway, here in LA it’s almost like Mayor Villaraigosa is mocking them. In this climate of concern, the mayor is bragging about installing the tech at LAX. Lawsuits are being filed against the DHS, several nationwide protests are being organized (National Opt Out Day, We Won’t Fly, Opt Out on Twitter), people are collecting horror stories online and there is question if the scanners would have even detected the underwear bomber that apparently set this all into motion (Dear TSA, thanks for always being one step behind) - And here’s our Mayor clearly siding against all reason. This single act pretty much determined how I’ll vote at the next mayoral elections.

Just a friendly reminder/nag that we’re still taking your suggestions on which Angeleno should be B.LA-listed on our first annual Naughty and Nice List.  We’ve had a couple great ideas so far: Meg Whitman for the Naughty list for spending a gazillion dollars on her campaign (after spending more than $100 million on her run for governor, it really was besides the point whether she won or lost); I’ll add Lakers fans to that same list for being asshats during the post-championship victory celebration-turned-riot.  For the Nice list, a few wonderful non-profits (i.e., the Foothill Unity Center and Help a Mother Out) have been nominated.  And  Mayor V has the dubious distinction of being nominated for both the Naughty and Nice lists.  Way to be tops in every category, Mayor.

Who or what else you got, LA?

Photo courtesy dugm2 via the Blogging LA Flickr pool.

Spotted on Sunset near Silver Lake Blvd. yesterday. It just made me laugh. I wish I’d had time to see what kind of good shit they had!

There were many amazing spectacles to behold while walking the entire length of Wilshire Boulevard from downtown to Ocean Avenue yesterday as part of the 5th Great LA Walk, but none moreso than the King of Kings riding shotgun in a slick Benz through Beverly Hills (click to biblically proportionify):

My wife Susan thinks it’s Black Crowes’ singer Chris Robinson, and indeed there is something of a resemblance, but it’s Jesus dammit.

Bonus salvation points for the peace sign he flashed me as I went all ‘razzo on the sonofagod.

My entire photoset is viewable here on Flickr, and the combined Great LA Walk 2010 group set can be seen here.

Damian Kulash & Tim Nordwind of OK Go

Maybe not everyone loves a parade, but if you are like me and do, Los Angeles is a great place for one. Not only do we have the annual Rose Parade, but the city is also known for its Doo-Dah Parade, Hollywood Christmas Parade, those Lakers parades whenever they win championships and many, many more.

This past Wednesday, the band OK Go teamed up with Range Rover for an amazing event called “Dance Through Your City.” Essentially, they held a parade for many hours through the streets of the Los Feliz/Hollywood area. Using GPS, the route spelled out the band’s name, which could be visualized on the Range Rover Pulse of the City app. A mobile, musical work of art utilizing the streets and people of Los Angeles. How cool is that?

When I first heard about this event, I was saddened to know I’d be at work and not able to participate. What I didn’t know was that this parade was planned to go on for HOURS, meaning that I did get to take part in the evening. Since the route wasn’t published ahead of time, I was also surprised to learn it was going right by my workplace. I heard it go by, yet failed at finding a good excuse to run outside.

I was able to join up with paraders when they had stopped for a dinner break. The band changed from the brightly colored suits they wore during the day to the black suits covered with changing-color LEDs. Others were wrapping drums, trombones, guitars and themselves with electroluminescent wire. Everyone was encouraged to accessorize with glow sticks and all sorts of other blinking objects.

The experience of parading through the L.A. streets after dark, singing and dancing with other enthusiastic people is something I highly recommend. Part of the fun was the various folks running out of their houses, shops, etc. with quizzical looks or cameras. Some people shook their head, some people danced, and a few even joined in the parade. We saw lots of kids in pajamas. As I marched along, I couldn’t help but think that this was exactly the kind of experience that makes me love L.A.

For more parade goodness, check out the write-ups at LAist and Billboard.com.

Bouncing Cats q&a panel. Photo by Burns!

This week I attended a screening at the Downtown Independent for a new film by L.A. filmmaker/photographer Nabil Elderkin. The film, Bouncing Cats, has been winning awards on the festival circuit, and rightly so. It was at once entertaining, heartbreaking and inspiring.

The documentary tells the story of Abraham “Abramz” Tekya, a Ugandan b-boy who was orphaned at age 7 when both of his parents died of HIV. Abramz started Breakdance Project Uganda in 2006 in hopes of using hip-hop and dance to create positive social change in a region that has been brutalized by civil war and extreme poverty for the last 20 years. Abramz invited Crazy Legs of the Rock Steady Crew to go to Uganda, and the film follows them on a mission to  empower and inspire the youth in a country that UNICEF called “pretty much the worst place on earth to be a child.”

The film is finishing up its tour on the festival circuit, and unfortunately does not have  a distribution deal yet, though the producers tell me they are exploring different opportunities for getting Bouncing Cats to a wider audience.

Although it may be difficult to see the film in the short term, you can learn more about Breakdance Project Uganda by clicking through from the Bouncing Cats site. There you can donate to BPU and get a limited edition Bouncing Cats t-shirt, with all proceeds going to Breakdance Project Uganda. You can also join Breakdance Project Uganda on Facebook.

After the screening, there was a Q&A panel with the film’s producer and director, as well as three who were featured in the film; Abramz, Crazy Legs, and Jolly Grace Okot, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee who was among the first wave of children abducted at the beginning of Uganda’s civil war and forced to be a child soldier.

Following the Q&A, I went up to the roof of the Downtown Independent, where the afterparty was in full swing. There was a hip-hop DJ, and members of the Rock Steady Crew were breaking on the roof. Cocktails were provided by Red Bull (Red Bull Media House financed the production of Bouncing Cats.) I even had an opportunity for a brief conversation with Jolly Grace Okot.

Over all, a pretty fantastic evening. An inspiring documentary, the Rock Steady Crew break dancing on the roof, I heard Andy Summers of The Police was there, and I chatted with a Nobel Peace Prize nominee. Also, free cocktails. Only in L.A.

Abramz on Main, downtown L.A. Photo by Carlo Cruz.

Driving the Future and it looks pretty cool.

Mitsubishi MiEV has its moment of fame with the press

The day started off with the announcement of the Green Car of the Year award. It went to the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt. Mayor Antonio V gave a speech, in short LA is poised to be the electric car capital of the world. Not a bad goal as it will help us clean up our air more than simple emissions control has already done. Of course, its just shifting the emissions and CO2 out to the desert where the fossil fuel plants are that generate our juice that recharges them, but that’s another issue for another time.

Day 2 of the Auto Show is a tough one. The premiere car press conferences and unveiling continue non-stop and a dozen green cars, mostly Electrical cars (EV) are available to the press to test drive.  Its tough to do both and involves a lot of running between the various events one chooses and their scheduled drives.

I suppose this is the part where I should apologize to LA for the added traffic along the route caused by the press. If you were on the loop that was Venice to Hoover, to Alvarado, to Pico, then Figueroa back into a parking garage, I’m sorry if you got stuck in the mess. Half the press there wasn’t used to driving on our side of the road, or on the left and side of a car, and most importantly realize that pedestrians have the ultimate right of way in LA. I don’t know who was more scared the manufacturer chaperones or the motoring public in general as some of the press were just that bad. Sorry.

I opted to drive a mix of cars as the immediate future include just that a mix of traditional gas, hybrid, EV’s and in the near future more fuel cells. After driving them all I can see where the hybrid will have its place, particularly in the mid-size to large car categories. EV’s are in their infancy and have limitations that currently will keep them in the urban commuter category with their limited range and depending on the model, long recharging times.

Fuel Cell’s vehicles too are in their infancy with only a few cars coming to market in very limited production and even more limited infrastructure to support them. Currently the only fuel cell available to us is a leased Honda FCX Clarity. There are a total of 4 hydrogen fueling stations in So CA, with the one in Santa Monica the only one providing clean hydrogen via water and solar energy to remove the hydrogen. (Others are cracking natural gas which leaves nasty CO2 to be dealt with). Seriously, the fuel cell coupled with a hybrid drive is what in my not so humble opinion be the major player in our future. You give up nothing in terms of range, fueling time to a gas engined car and literally your exhaust is water vapor. With the help of CARB grants the infrastructure is going to improve to a dozen fuel stations in the LA Area by 2015 according to the Daimler rep I spoke with.

I started with what is the current state of the art offerings and worked my way into the future. As I had kid duty in the AM I missed getting into the line to sign up for the driving portion and many cars were booked solid by the time I got to the sign in station, cars like the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf that I was very curious to test were gone.

Absent from the list was the Wheego LiFE that is going on sale soon here but has been in Europe for a few years. From the rumblings in the line I was able to gather that Wheego hand picked which press would be given access to the car in advance of the LA Auto Show. Could be sour grapes but I overheard an interesting exchange with some of the world press regarding this car. It went along these lines “I drove the car in London and there it was limited to 25 and it scared me. I understand its been reprogrammed to have a top speed of 65 and wonder how scary it will be now”. I wonder too. Seriously, though most of our freeway driving is during the commute hours you won’t see much more than a crawl so the top speed shouldn’t be an issue.

On to the driving impressions which are just my opinion and observations. They aren’t reflective of blogging.la as a whole, just my own  not so humble opinions and snarks.

Traditional Gas powered clean cars included the only nominee on the Green Car of the Year for this year. The Ford Fiesta. It is a nice little subcompact. It has electronic toys like Sync that others in its class don’t have yet. Compared to the European spec model I drove a year ago I can say nothing was lost in the translation to the US Market. Actually there was a gain, they 1.6L engine standard in our cars lent a noticeable difference in quickness compared to the 1.4L powered European prototype. With EPA ratings of up to 40 mpg on the highway it makes a good representation of the class for now and into the future.

41 mpg city, Lincoln MKZ Hybrid

Hybrids, specifically the Green Car of the Year nominee the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid was what I drove. Nice, very nice car with the luxury goodies one expects in the class. Good performance, not as stellar as the large v6 models in the class, but an acceptable trade off for the gains in fuel economy (epa city rated 41).  With no increase in base price to get into the hybrid version of the MKZ your return on investment from fuel savings is immediate.

EV’s and there was a boat load of them, some manufacture built others aftermarket conversions. I focused on the manufacturer built as, well those are the ones that will have the dealer network in place to support them. They also were the ones that had ample cars that I was able to get on the drive list. The one common theme that they all had a way of addressing was a) home charging and b)range anxiety.

Cooper Mini-E electric vehicle.

Cooper Mini-E. This is the slot car of the bunch. In many ways it actually drove like one too. The usual Cooper Mini ride was softened a bit with the weight of the battery pack but still handled like you expect a Mini to handle. It did have a short learning curve to get used to driving it as it has a very sharp cut off to regenerative braking, like down shiftin’ more than a gear if you abruptly remove your foot from the brake. Once you get the hang of driving with the electronic drive, it is very much like driving a regular car, IE you give up nothing to the experience. Currently the car is available only for lease as a test with a few large corporations and power company’s.  We’ll see a refined EV using the technology developed for this car in future BMW EV’s.

Eaton/Mitsubishi MiEV quick charge in action.

Mitsubishi MiEV is another EV that I drove. This one was more like your typical compact car, except it had really useable room in the back for two real passengers. Nice leg room and driving it you gave up nothing to a gas car. (It was right hand drive so that was an experience getting used to as even the turn signal stalk was in reversed position and every time I went to signal I hit the wipers instead…apologies to anyone behind me that got short notice of intent to turn). Mitsubishi has a novel approach to the range anxiety.

Mitsubishi teamed up with Eaton and Best Buy to set up “quick charge stations” that are either at the Best Buy stores or mobile to assist should you run low on charge. The system is capable of bring the battery pack to 85% of charge in 15 minutes. They will even have 20 mobile “quick Charge” trucks set up near key freeway interchanges or be able to move to large concert/sporing events to take care of their customers to help relieve their “range anxiety”. They will even have an iPhone app that will show on a map where you are and where the nearest Quick Charge station is located. This sort of infrastructure change is moving fastest for the EV’s and will make it possible to get a larger fleet of them on our streets than any other alternative fuel technology we have coming at us at the moment.

Volvo C30 DRIVe prototype test mule.

Volvo C30 DRIVe. This car I have to be fair with is just a prototype, chassis #2 to be precise so it wasn’t as refined as the others I drove. Refined as in battery capacity, not fit and finish. The drive itself was very much like that of the regular C30. It is indicative of the direction Volvo intends to take in the future, rather than purpose built EV’s it will be conversions of existing models. Its programming was more like a typical hybrid with a good “sail mode” or coasting without abrupt regenerative braking like the Mini-E. An impressive car in terms of what Volvo will give us in terms of a safe luxury EV in the future. One common comment made by the press was in regards to the position of the charge in the front grill. What happens if you break it when you bump someone and can’t get repaired right away. Interesting design feature or flaw, you decide.

The last and final car was the Mercedes. F-Cell. It’s a hydrogen fuel cell that when filled with hydrogen from a solar conversion plant produces zero emissions at point of use as well as zero emissions at energy conversion source. It is based on the “B” class Mercedes that is not sold in this country. Size wise think of it has a half scale minivan with some nice luxury toys tossed in by Mercedes. It gives nothing up to a traditional gas car in terms of the driving experience and has a refueling time as fast as filling your tank now. I was impressed with the amount of immediate torque and the silence of the car. Giving up nothing to driving experience and no need to learn a new way of driving and thinking will make the fuel cell the easiest conversion for the US market.

There you go…what the final day of the Press Days at the LA Auto Show entailed for me. Fun driving cars (I am a car guy after all) and getting a first hand glimpse into what the future holds in store for us. This is just a sampling of the nearly 30 alternative fuel and EV’s at the LA Auto Show. Definitely change coming, for the better and it will be easy to adapt as well.

This post also includes the last set of tickets I have to give away for the LA Auto Show. I have just 4 tickets to give left to 4 lucky winners, that is one ticket each. Make sure you have a legit email address so I can contact you for the info to pass on to the LA Auto Show folks so they can have your tickets waiting for you at will call.

All pics by me and will get bigger with a click. More in my flickr 2010 LA Auto Show Set.

Did you tell us who you think should be on LA’s naughty and nice lists?  No?  That’s first on your GTD list.  And then:

SATURDAY

• It seems like LA Beer Week was just yesterday – it was wonderful while it lasted, and over much too soon.  For those nostalgic for the yeasty times of yesteryear, hit up the First Annual Harvest Beer Fest at the Echoplex.  There will be autumnal brews from over 50 West Coast and national breweries, there will be food trucks to complement the drinks, and there will be bands.  $30, which includes unlimited sample sized pours – but please don’t abuse your privileges, because there’s nothing worse than going to a beer festival and ending up at a frat party.  21+ only. From noon to 7:00pm at the Echoplex, 1154 Glendale Blvd.
• Friends who move to LA from giant metropolises often bitch about how LA doesn’t feel like a proper city because you can’t walk and feel the city through your shoes.  And, except for the tonier parts of town, they’re sort of right.  Right?  Maybe not right.  The fourth annual Great LA Walk will bring people from all walks of life (ha ha) in a epic, day-long trek across the city.  Starting at Pershing Square, you’ll urban hike 15.6 miles down Wilshire to the ocean.  Sure, it may rain, but don’t let that stop you.  Angelenos may not know how to drive in the rain, but walking?  Is something we can do.  …Right?  Free, but lunch is on you.  Don’t eat and run!
• On the other hand, if you’re anti-walking, check out your options at the LA Auto Show.  Pretty and electric cars are on display from now until November 28th.  Frazgo has the full details here.
• Apparently, the cupcake craze is one that will not die, ever.  Case in point: the city of Los Angeles issued an official proclamation recognizing Cupcake Camp LA, a giant gathering of cupcakes and the girls who love (to fight over) them.  The city’s proclamation makes all sorts of lofty declarations, like “Cupcakes evoke fond memories of childhood, family gatherings and other good things in life” and “The variety of [cupcakeries] and the cupcakes they offer is as diverse as the city itself.”  Fifteen city councilmembers signed the proclamation; the largest John Hancock belongs to one Jan Perry.  Think she was trying to tell King George that he can’t have his cupcake and eat it too?  $15 in advance/$25 at the door.  The cupcake wars begin at noon and end at 5pm at the Music Box in Hollywood.
• I don’t understand chili.  Is it a sauce?  A stew?  A topping?  All of the above?  How do people eat it without any starch?  I am very confused, which is why, I suppose, chili cook-offs exist in places outside Texas.  Like at La Cita downtown where the Derby Dolls will attempt to raise money to buy new wheels (for their skates) (they roller skate) (on a banked track) (it is a game they play) with their chili cook-off.  Decide who makes the best chili, then explain this distinctly Southwest American phenom to me.  Me, I’ll be in the valley slurping my pho.  $10 to eat/$20 to compete.  From 3pm to 6pm at La Cita, 336 S. Hill Street.
• DesignerCon is sort of like walking into the bedroom you wished you had as a kid: amazing toys, creative knicknacks, rad comics.  This year’s installment will feature artist Bwana Spoons’ Spoonful of Star Wars art exhibit and exclusive creations from, among others, Mr. Toast and Buff Monster.  $5/free after 3pm.  From 10am to 5pm at the Pasadena Convention Center.

SUNDAY

• It started on Friday, but you had so much to do on Friday and Saturday (see above) that you couldn’t get to this until now: a friggin’ TRON pop-up shop at Royal-T Cafe in Culver City.  It’s a total marketing ploy from the fine folks at Disney, but for this amount of coolness, I’ll play along.  There will be TRON-inspired gear, art, and even food.  Damn you Disney, capitalism suits you too well.  10am to 6pm from now until December 23rd at Royal-T, 8910 Washington Blvd. in Culver City.  TRON opens in theaters nationwide on December 17th (<– Dear Mr. Disney, I did that for you.  Please give me $$$$.  Thank you!  $$, qq.)
• Walter L. Williams “draws on the insights found about ancient religions to suggest a new direction for gay and transgender people in the new era of human existence now dawning” in a lecture entitled “The Role of Gay and Transgender People for the 21st Century” at the ONE Archives near USC.  That’s a lot of high falutin’, academic, and unnecessarily dramatic phrasing; I sympathize and am intrigued at the same time.  Free.  2pm at the ONE Archives, 909 W. Adams
• Everyone seemed to hitch their food truck dreams onto Kogi’s exhaust pipe at the same time, so it’s not surprising that everyone’s birthdays are coming up all at once.  First up: Frysmith, which will celebrate its one year birthday at Verdugo Bar.  On the birthday menu: a five-course fry meal of the very best of their specials, including breakfast fries; enchilada fries; and red wine and bacon poutine.  Wash it all down with Verdugo’s optional beer pairings.  $11 in advance for the fry menu.  Party goes from 7 to 9pm at Verdugo Bar in Glassell Park.
• It’s not even Thanksgiving yet, people, but trees are being lighted already.   Mario Lopez, along with a very random line-up of special guests Wilson Philips, David Archuleta, and Jesse McCartney, will play host to the Grove’s tree lighting ceremony at 7:30pm.

Photo courtesy sneakypeteiii via the Blogging LA Flickr pool.

Chevrolet premiered its new Camaro Convertible at the show yesterday.  Among the things set up is this cool photo booth, but not just any photo booth, but one with something like 4 dozen cameras lined up in an arc that increases in height. You jump, the flashes go off and you are captured frozen in flight.  The entire set of images is strung together with a 3d”ish” video of you frozen in flight with the Camaro.  Very cool and very fun.  I predict that this will be hands down the most used interactive display at the show this year.  Its that cool.  When done you can facebook it, twitter it or email it to yourself.  How cool is that?

I have a ticket for 4 lucky winners with this post, but only 4 can win.  Please be sure to include a legit email addy so I can write you for the particulars so your ticket will available for you at will call.

After a tiring but exhilarating day today covering the L.A. Auto Show, I wanted to stop for some local quick food.  However, it was getting near rush hour, so I decided to leave Downtown and head back to the West Side.  On the way, I remembered that I had never been to Hamburger Habit, and, with its location at the intersection of National and Sepulveda Blvds., it was more or less on the way home.  A bit of Thomas Guiding later, and I passed under the neon sign and into the red, white, and chrome burger joint about which I had heard good things.

The man who took my order was the owner, Frank Pezeshki.  With his mustache, open-necked shirt, and gold Star of David, Frank is a character.  He reminds me of character actor Lou Jacobi. However, to make a point, Frank doesn’t raise his low voice.  Rather, he reaches across the counter to touch you on the arm.  Then, when he sees an extra drop of drink on the outside of your cup, he reaches across the counter again, grabs the cup, and wipes it clean with a cloth.  It’s certainly personal, hands-on service.

We had a good conversation, and Frank said the Habit has been in business for over four decades, formerly located on Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood.  When I told him that I might want to hold the sauce on my #3 cheeseburger, he said “if you don’t like it, bring it back.”  When I told him I had heard his burgers were really good, he said, “if you don’t like, it bring it back.”

I didn’t bring it back.  I took off with the food in my car, and, after sitting behind the wheel of new cars with that new car smell all day, I now had an even more pleasant aroma wafting in the front seat of my not-so-new car.  Of course, I ate the fries while driving, with a stick shift (professional driver/closed course/don’t try this at home kids), but waited until I reached a safer destination before unwrapping the burger.  The fries were thick, crunchy outside, fluffy inside, old school style, and very tasty.

And the burger? At $ 4.60 for the basic cheeseburger and with a less harried, mom-and-pop atmosphere, Hamburger Habit is not directly comparable to cheaper old standby In-N-Out.  It’s more comparable to slightly upscale fast food burger joints like Five Guys, which is one of my favorites.  However, the Habit’s burger was different from Five Guys’.  It was so soft, so tender, so fresh.  It tasted like it had been made with loving care.  (According to the Habit’s website, the burgers are made with ground chuck steak, which is delivered fresh daily). It actually tasted better with every bite, which I don’t think I have experienced in a burger before.  Perhaps the ultimate compliment is that I finished my burger very, very quickly.

I’m not saying I’m quitting on Five Guys.  I still like them very much.  But Hamburger Habit is located much closer to me.  I drive by there regularly.  There’s a good chance that, next time I do so, I’ll get a pleasantly twitchy feeling in my stomach.

Perhaps it should be called Hamburger Jones.

Range Rover Evoque...sexiest new car at the show.

Press days at the LA Auto Show are something to experience. There are so many debuts that the press conferences for each manufacturer are limited literally to 20 minutes. The press folks develop a herd mentality and move en mass from exhibit to exhibit arriving just in time to catch the start of the new show. Except for me. I tend to meander about photographing the exhibits and attend only the few debuts that interest me the most. I absolutely love seeing the show this way.

Don’t get me wrong the debuts themselves are worthy of a Hollywood block buster, often with stunt men. To get the attention of the ever more jaded press as the day wears on you need to have some sparkle and wow in a debut or it gets lost in the shuffle. The best debuts in the past has been orchestrated by the folks at Scion, Honda, Mercedes Benz and Ford in my not so humble opinion. This year did not disappoint with Fiat and Ford giving the best shows today. I really, really wanted to get into look at the Porsche 911 Speedster reveal but alas that room was packed beyond standing room only. Tomorrow is another day for that car.

The first thing I did was make tracks to check out the Green Car of the Year Nominees. The final 5 are the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, and the Nissan LEAF. This award from Green Car has become a fixture of the LA Auto Show and has gained importance for the manufacturers. Note of the 5 only 1 is a traditional gas engine, the rest are hybrids this year. If I were to hazard a guess as to which car will win I’d prolly put money down on the Chevy Volt because of inspite of all its marketing hype and expense, it is a remarkable piece of engineering and an indication of what our cars in the future will be like. (Snark alert…anyone else read the recent editorial that labeled hybrids as a novelty like “tail fins” that won’t be around much longer?)

Chevy Volt, Green Car of the year nominee.

Nissan Leaf EV...green car of the year nominee

Food. The press travel on their stomachs. And why “buy” lunch when its free? The best by far has been the Audi free lunch with wifi if you can bear the lines to get in. What you get is gourmet treats and a cozy “cafe” set up upstairs at their display. Want great coffee and a pissy bistro atmosphere for a quick recharge? Porsche always does that part up right, though Range Rover’s open bar gave them a run for their money this year. Of course neither are there for the public days, but imagine the mayhem if there was free food then too?

Premiers, whether “World” or “North American” are up significantly this year. In the World Premiere category there is the Acura TSX, Cadillac ULV (Who knows what it means), Chevy Camaro Convertible, Chrysler 200 (rehashed Sebring), Honda EV Concept, Kia Optima Hybrid, Mazda Shinari, Merc’s CLS63 AMG, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Nissan Murano Cross Cabriolet (fancy for convertible), Nissan Quest, Range Rover Evoque, SAAB 9-4X, Subaru Imprezza, Toyota Rav4 EV, Volkswagon Eos, and finally a Wheego LiFE. Not a single traditional monster SUV in the mix and 5 “green” cars that are either EV or hybrid which is a good sign of things to come. The sexy standout in this line up of debuts was the Evoque, even though I’m a car guy, that one is going to get the reech beeches in the city lining up for one.

The list for North American debuts is bigger but with a lot more large cars and crossover type vehicles in the list. The “green” vehicles in the mix is promising as it covers a nice variety of sizes as well as price points. Audi A7 Sportback,Audi A8L, BMW 6 Series Concept, BMW X3, Coda Sedan, Dodge Charger, Dodge Durango, Fiat 500 Cinquecento,Fisker Karma, Hyundai Elantra, Infiniti M35 Hybrid, Jaguar C-X75 Concept, KIA Pop Concept, Lotus Elan Concept,Lotus Elise Concept, Lotus Elite Concept, Lotus Esprit Concept, Lotus Eterne Concept, Lotus Evora S & IPS, Lotus Exige RGB Edition, Mazda 5,Nissan GT-R, Porsche 911 Carrera GTS and finally the Porsche 911 Speedster.




The Bad news…No Lambo Maserati OR Ferrari at this years show. There are however some tricked out models down in Kenetia hall that are interesting.  It is just plain weird not seeing them in the center concourse putting on a dog and pony show for us as we walked through. I miss not being able to sit in those dream cars and imagine what it would be like to own and drive one.

I have some more tickets to give away for the LA Auto Show. I have 4 tickets to give away, one ticket each to the first 4 commenters. Bear with me if you don’t get an immediate response as I won’t be near a ‘puter all day tomorrow but I will get back to you.

All Pics and vid by me. Pics do get bigger with a click. More pics are in my flickr 2010 LA Auto Show set.