You can see more robots during the Wired Nextfest starting this Friday at the LA Convention Center. I’m going to be covering Nextfest for Wired. You can check out more of my photos from the Wired Nextfest Kickoff Party on eecue or flickr.

The neon atop the Rosslyn hotel was temporarily lit last night during the filming of Life on Mars. Oddly enough, the neon wasn’t connected to the DWP mains that once powered it, but to the production company’s generators. I wrote a bit more about the history of the Rosslyn’s neon on blogdowntown.

Of course, I wasn’t the first or only person to shoot the temporarily lit sign, Jim Winstead, Bert Green and Sha In LA also shot and blogged about the sign. You can see more of the photos I took on flickr or eecue.com.

Also of note (and with robot) is the Spoon show featuring Keepon the super-cute and funky-head-bobbing yellow robot, whom my wife described as a “dancing twinkie.” The show is a benefit for one my favorite things, Creative Commons (all my photos and writing are licensed under CC). You can read more about the show and buy tickets here.

I will be attending and shooting photos of the event, so keep an eye out for them on blogging.la, blogdowntown, flickr, eecue and possibly on Wired, boingboing, Laughing Squid and MAKE.

Wired Nextfest takes place September 13th through the 16th in the South Hall of the LA Convention Center. Tickets will run you $20 if you’re and adult, $15 with a student ID, and kids 2-12 are $5.

[Full Disclosure: I may possibly be shooting the event for Wired for pay, but that doesn't play a factor in me being excited about the robots!]

Yesterday I was driving to work after meeting my mom for lunch and I spotted a location that I needed to shoot for a project I’m working on. I stopped and grabbed the shot, which required a short hike. I actually first stopped at a concert venue and asked for directions at the ticket window. Crazy enough, the girl in the booth asked “Are you eecue?” I guess she somehow recognized me from the internets. Anyhow, as pointed out in an early thread, this idea of “Guess Where LA” was stolen from the Guess Where LA flickr group which was stolen from the Guess Where NYC flickr group. If you guess where this photo was taken from you win an invisible and worthless prize…. actually there is no prize.

There is no charge for the training or the meals, the only thing you need to bring is your thinking cap and note-taking supplies.

Please be sure to RSVP to cert@eecue.com with your full name and phone number if you are planning on coming.

A couple more shots after the jump, and even more on flickr or eecue.com.

Last year’s Detour Festival in Downtown Los Angeles was well attended and quite fun, if I may say so myself. This year’s festival has just been announced along with the partial lineup. I am looking forward to the full lineup, hopefully with more bands that I’m in to, and with some more hip-hop, but I’m sure folks who are more hip than me will be very excited about the lineup. The tickets are on sale here for $35.50.

More photos from last year’s Detour festival can be found on flickr and eecue.com. The full map and press release can be found after the jump:

SECOND ANNUAL “LA WEEKLY DETOUR MUSIC FESTIVAL”
RETURNS TO THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6;

BLOC PARTY, JUSTICE, SATELLITE PARTY, KINKY,
AND OTHERS
ROUND OUT PERFORMANCES FROM MORE THAN 20
ACTS AT DAYLONG EXTRAVAGANZA

Following a successful launch in 2006 with the first annual LA WEEKLY DETOUR MUSIC FESTIVAL, LA Weekly and Goldenvoice have again collaborated to produce the second annual daylong, all-ages, live music festival set amidst the backdrop of downtown Los Angeles. It’s set for Saturday, October 6.

Confirmed performers for the multi-stage event include Bloc Party, Justice, Satellite Party, Kinky, Comedians of Comedy, Turbonegro, Teddybears, Moving Units, The Raveonettes, Shout Out Louds, Autolux, Celebrity Skin, The Aliens, The Aggrolites, Busy P, DJ Mehdi, Sebastian, Kavinsky, So Me, Noisettes, Cool Kids, The Deadly Syndrome, Scissors for Lefty, Johnossi, Augie March, Nico Vega, Franki Chan, Travis Keller and Bruce Perdew. Other acts are TBA in the weeks leading up to the festival.

Tickets for the LA WEEKLY DETOUR MUSIC FESTIVAL go on sale this Thursday, August 30 at 12:00 PM (PT) via all Ticketmaster outlets, charge by phone at 213-480-3232 or 714-740-2000; or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets are $35.50 with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Tree People (http://www.treepeople.org). Note: this show is rain or shine and the lineup is subject to change.

The LA WEEKLY DETOUR MUSIC FESTIVAL brings a diverse assortment of musical talent to the heart of Los Angeles at Main & 1st Streets. More than 15,000 music fans gathered for last year’s inaugural event, with initial press for the 2006 festival including these quotes:

LOS ANGELES TIMES (10-9-06): “…the general smoothness of the nine-hour affair and a strong turnout of about 15,000 people were good omens for future fests.”

YAHOO (10-9-06): “The ultimate message of Detourfest this year? After a long dormancy, downtown L.A. is hip again.”

This year, the LA Weekly Detour Music Festival presents LOCALS ONLY, a readers-choice contest for the best indie band in Los Angeles. The award-winning editors at LA Weekly have selected a top-ten list of LA’s finest independent bands to be featured on exclusive listening page at LAWeekly.com/LOCALSONLY. Readers can log-on, listen to tracks and vote for their favorite–sending one lucky band to the stage to play at the festival.

For more information on the LA WEEKLY DETOUR MUSIC FESTIVAL, go to: WWW.LAWEEKLY.COM/DETOUR or the DETOUR MYSPACE page at www.myspace.com/laweeklydetourfestival.
###

About LA Weekly:
For over 29 years, LA WEEKLY has provided Los Angeles with award-winning coverage on News, Politics, Arts & Entertainment. With a weekly circulation of 200,000, LA WEEKLY reaches 749,000 readers who look to the paper for the most up to date information on where to go and what to do. LA WEEKLY has served as the virtual pulse of the city and is an essential component of the Los Angeles experience. LA WEEKLY is part of Village Voice Media.

About Goldenvoice:
Goldenvoice, creator of Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, has carved out a special niche for itself, setting an example of how concert promoters can keep their street level integrity while charting a course toward market dominance. Beginning as a small punk rock promoter in the late 1980s, Goldenvoice grew to be the dominant alternative promoter in Southern California by leveraging such venues as the El Rey Theatre with its strong artist and industry relationships. Goldenvoice promotes over 400 concerts a year in California, Nevada, Alaska, Arizona and Hawaii.

About Tree People:
TreePeople’s mission is to inspire the people of Los Angeles to take personal responsibility for the urban forest–educating, training and supporting them as they plant and care for trees and improve the neighborhoods in which they live, learn, work and play. This work also brings neighbors together, revitalizes inner-city communities, cools and greens campuses, and address serious urban issues including water and energy conservation, flood prevention and storm water pollution. Their T.R.E.E.S. project is changing the nation’s approach to urban watershed management, motivating other cities to adopt “best management practices” and follow their lead. Every week TreePeople works with community members to make Los Angeles a healthier place to live, work and play. Their vision is for a new kind of city–one that works for everyone.

KCRW Presents
7/29 Guru w/ Jazzmatazz @ the El Rey
http://www.myspace.com/gurusjazzmatazz
Featuring: Superproducer Solar,Dj Doo Wop and The 7 Grand Band

UPDATE Oops guess it would help if the comments were open!

This Friday Os Mutantes are playing at the El Rey, along with Busdriver (as seen in the photo above, taken by me at Coachealla a few months ago). Os Mutantes is a rocking Brazilian band that’s been around for over 30 years. I actually know more about Busdriver, and so that’s what the question for the giveaway will be related to, so here goes: What music scene, other than hip-hop, was Busdriver frequently found MC’ing in over the last 8 years or so? To win a pair of tickets, email your answer to: os_mutantes_giveaway@eecue.com. The winner will be selected at random. My friends and family are not eligible for this giveaway.