I took a trip over to Intelligentsia get some Black Cat with @seanbonner yesterday and took a few snaps on the walk. What the hell was up with the 101 yesterday and what GENIUS decided to close a lane on the 134/101 interchange? It took me an hour and a half to get from the valley to the west side. It was totally worth it for the Black Cat though ;-)

For the love of god, get thee to a Gelson’s (or a Mayfair), and get a hold of about the only yummy thing on the Seder plate!

Don’t just use it for that though – put it in your oatmeal – an excuse to have wine for breakfast!

In observance of the 30th anniversary of NASA’s shuttle program, the announcement has finally been made. Space Shuttle Endeavour will spend her retirement in Southern California, on display in the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

Are we worthy of such a gift?

Endeavour, also known as OV-105, will launch into space on April 29th for its final mission. STS-134 will deliver the  Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier to the International Space Station. This, in addition to STS-135 is considered to be a bonus flight, as the shuttle program was scheduled to be retired from service after STS-133.

Godspeed, Endeavour. We’ll see you soon.

It includes:

– the reality show celebrity/mom telling her little kids about the “lady with a face like plastic”;

– the actor from “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”;

– the music producer-looking guy with the very long grey pouffy hair and dark sunglasses (yeah, that guy);

– the flight attendant asking you if you’re a particular actor, and then threatening to check the passenger manifest when you say “no”; and

– the Lady with the Face like Plastic.  It really was, and I guess I’m really back home.

Break out your old BMX  and pedal on over to the Hammer for a fun evening of bike culture.  Artist Lisa Anne Auerbach is hosting the bike related fun.  Along with vegan munchies, bicycle portraits and balloon races (honest I didn’t make up the last one) there will be a showing of the classic BMX bike movie from 1986-RAD.

DEETS Thursday April 14, 2011, Hammer Museum 10899 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90024. There will be monitored parking.

Tip o’ the hat to reader Gabriele who saw this and thought of all the bike riders here.

After a 2 year hiatus BarCamp, the premier ad-hoc technology conference returns to LA Sunday April 30th through Sunday May 1st. The event will be held this year at Mt Washington Elementary at 3981 San Rafael Avenue. Tickets are $35 right now for the whole weekend and there are student and group discounts available.

If you’ve never been to one I have to say that BarCamps are more like a weekend at tech camp than a conference. Anyone can give a presentation (but make sure you’re there early to get the prime spot) and the topics can vary wildly but they’re almost always fun and insightful. I’ll definitely be there!

Get tickets early because it’s definitely going to get sold out fast. Not to mention you can skip the Procrastinator edition tickets which are an extra $20 if you just get them now.

http://barcampla.org/ on the web
@BarCampLA on Twitter
Facebook

Yesterday’s CicLAvia was mindblowing and mindblowingly well-attended, and to documemmorate it differently than the forward-facing handlebar perspective with which I timelapsed the inaugural CicLAvia last October, I bolted the cam to the seat tube and pointed it out over the rear wheel — the better to look back at the event, both figuratively and literally:

From East Hollywood’s “Bicycle District” to Boyle Heights’ Hollenbeck Park:

And back from Boyle Heights to East Hollywood:

Here are the direct links if the above embeds fail: East Hollywood Out, and Boyle Heights Back.

UPDATED (5:39pm): Lost in the video translation are some of the details that can be found chosen from the mass of higher-resolution stills used to make the timelapse — no, not via the thumbnail farm below (though it slightly bigable), but via this Flickr photoset:

CicLAvia Shot From srd515's Flickr Stream

I’ve added CicLAvia to my list of Favorite Things To Do in L.A. If you missed the first two, I suggest you get your bike/skates/shoes ready for the next one on 7/10/11.

Here are 8 Ways CicLAvia can be even better:

1. Longer hours. Make it an all day party. Something like 8-6, or later. Imagine enjoying a Southern California sunset with 150,000 of your closest friends.

2. Extend the route. Let’s get this thing into the heart of Hollywood, take it over Cahuenga, and into the Valley. Close off Ventura Boulevard. Shop owners might be surprised how much walk-up business they would get.

3. More destinations. Set up entertainment stages along the route. Schedule local bands and performance groups. Establish a food truck zone. Farmer’s Market. Arts & crafts vendors.

4. Better traffic mitigation. LAPD needs to learn that you cannot throw up your hand and shout for 100 cyclists to stop on a dime. Maybe smile a little. People on bikes are not necessarily criminals.

5. Eliminate some of the current street crossings, like Grand, Olive, and Broadway. If you’re Downtown, you should be on foot anyway. Close Broadway to traffic and include it as part of CicLAvia. Get Bringing Back Broadway involved. What better way to raise awareness of that initiative?

6. Encourage local restaurants to be open along the route. More curbside tables and booths along the way. Set up sidewalk dining.

7. Pave the route. Pave the route. Pave the entire route, right now.

8. Make this happen every Sunday. Permanently.

Disco Pinto click to embiggen

I’m a huge fan of art cars.  Its like the anit-HOA thingy, its about not staying in the lines and making a statement.  I’ve heard of the “Disco Pinto” running around here for a while. I actually spotted it behind the Orange Curtain earlier this morning at a car show.  I give it my “Best of Show” award at the Fabulous Fords Forever show that is running down there this afternoon.  Anyone else seen this car?  If not what is your favorite “art car” out there?

I filled up my little 2 door Ford Focus this morning and my jaw dropped when the bill was over $40. I haven’t driven very much since I got back to LA so it was quite a shock and I’m sure most of you already knew this but I tend to lead a very sheltered life ;-) So as soon as I got home I went for a bike ride since I can guarantee I’ll be doing a lot more of that until prices come down but I also went on the hunt for a price finder. Low and behold on the first try I found losangelesgasprices.com which is basically a sub-site of gasbuddy.com which tracks gas prices nation wide. They’ve got a free mobile app so you can check out the cheapest gas prices while you’re out and about. I just tried it and if I’d have had it this morning I could have saved about $5. So if you’re a commuter with a mobile phone (that’s roughly 99.999% of LA) go get this thing. It’s free and it’ll save you a bunch of dough.

Having heard it through the gearchain that a certain seven-time Tour de France winner had previously tweeted his interest and enthusiasm and participation in tomorrow’s CicLAvia, on something of a lark I queried the good sir earlier this eve to see if that was indeed to be the case. I’m pleased as punch to confirm that indeed, it is:

PS. Only his really close friends get to call him Mr. Armstrong.

bowl o-lemons waiting their fate tomorrow.

The extra rain we endured coupled with a warmer than usual February has given us a bounty of citrus in the L.A. area this year.  The huge bounty is showing up in everyones back yards as well as farmers markets.  I have to admit I have one little lemon tree that makes more lemons than I can handle.  Or so I think.

Sunday is limoncello making day at my house, with Ruth666.  After the rinds have been zested off the remaining lemons will be used to make plus perfect lemonade.  After that a few batches of righteous lemon bars…a recipe I’ll never give up.  Some will be used for roasting off stuffed up a chicken’s butt, others I need help with, what to do with them.  Ideas?

Of course, if you don’t have your own tree its entirely likely that you know someone with a tree who would gladly share their bounty.  Heaven knows my neighbors will be getting plenty of lemons, oranges and grapefruits off of me.

Today is the Transmedia, Hollywood 2: Visual Culture and Design Conference being held at UCLA. Our very own Tara Brown is attending and announced the launch of her new Transmedia (yes, no one has a definition for what that is yet) and it’s called Alive in Silverlake. On her kick off blog post today she described it as:

This project is for the people of Silver Lake and surrounding neighborhoods. This is for anyone that likes to read stories and uncover easter eggs. This is for people that are interested in weird, unexplainable things. This is for the experimenters out there that have an idea and are unsure if it’s stupid or if it will take off.

This “experiment” has no real beginning and an indefinite end.

I am using everything in my arsenal that I have accumulated over the last 15 years of my career: software development, social media, community building, local blogging, fiction writing, crowdsourcing, interactive media, and my big old imagination.

I’ve always been a big fan of Alternate Reality Games and stories using the broad swath of as many mediums as possible so I’m excited to see what she does with it. So start following along now so you’re not left behind. And how can you not be a fan of the teaser…

Five Rockband roomies in Silver Lake (Los, Angeles, CA) solve eerie mysteries involving ghosts, zombies, and other unearthly phenomena between gigs at the local bars and their day jobs.

Follow along at http://aliveinsilverlake.com/ and on Twitter at @alivesilverlake

Dodger Stadium From Praveen31's Flickr Stream

In a swift response to the March 31st beating of Giants fan Bryan Stow at Dodger Stadium, LAPD chief Charlie Beck has announced that a zero-tolerance policy will go into effect immediately. Starting with the next game. For reals this time.

In the short term, there will be more police officers – paid for by the Dodgers. In the long-term, they plan to “look at technology, observation posts, lighting, environmental studies and increased community outreach.”

Microchips? Armed guards on a wall? I particularly enjoy the “environmental studies.” Can you imagine: After further review, Chavez Ravine is not an appropriate location for a sports venue. Sorry about evicting all the people that lived there.

The entire announcement is best summed up in the ESPN comment thread by Stark10547:

If you love Art and Music… game on for this Saturday night as Create:Fixate throws down “RISE” and celebrates nine years of putting on events for LA. The theme of ‘RISE’ was chosen to celebrate our entry into Spring (yay!) and creative renewal.

The night starts at 7pm with an eclectic array of Art in the Optical Lounge and goes on til 2am with music lighting up the night. Painting, Photography and all types of visual Artists are represented in this show.
In the ‘Audio Lab’, DJ Garth Trinidad will be spinning his magic along with Pumpkin and Felix Bloxsom aka Plastic Plates.

Garth is one of the acclaimed DJ’s and and culture monsters on KCRW. He weaves awesome tapestries of sound and whether it’s electronic music or jazz… he always rocks the house. He is joined by Felix Bloxsom who comes all the way from Australia and has played Coachella as well as many other events. Pumpkin is the force behind the Wandering Marionettes and is sure to get your groove on! He’s known to inspire love, lust and laughter… always a good mix for Saturday nights!

There’s lots of other music/performance acts on hand.. including a special “Leisure Listening Lounge” hosted by SuperTall Paul Newman. He’s 6’6” (hence the name) and is known for his improvisational music/magician/street performance soul and will bring it to an intimate, interactive, headphone lounge.

The event is at the Premiere Events Center located at 613 Imperial St., Los Angeles, CA 90021. Tickets are $15 if you buy them before 9pm and $20 after.