Top 40 station KIIS FM has been knocked off its perch as L.A.’s most listened to radio station by K-Earth 101.1, the “classic hits station.” [LA Times]

While K-Earth’s program director Jhani Kaye is taking credit for “expanding” the station’s music lineup – by adding 80s tunes to its rotation of 50s, 60s, and 70s music – it seems to this blogger that various other factors likely play the predominant role.

Mainly, “Top 40″ music listeners don’t listen to the radio anymore – they use mp3 players, cell phones, MySpace, etc. for their music fix. Additionally, “Top 40,” a cornucopia of musical styles, has become irrelevent for fans specific to one type of music – why wait through a number of dance and boy band songs when you can simply create an online radio channel specific to hip-hop?

It could also easily be argued that Top 40 music pretty much sucks nowadays, but that argument has been made for years, and the few decent songs that do make it on air will eventually be played on “classic hits” stations in a few decades.

As for me, I stopped listening to FM entirely around the time Indie 103.1 began sounding a lot like KROQ… and then a few months later, Indie shut down. And even then, it would usually only be when I was in a car I couldn’t plug my iPod into. Now, its traffic and news on AM, if anything – deejays and radio commercials between subpar music depresses me.

What about you, blog readin’ Angeleno? What are you listening to these days, and when?

Remember the bad ass two night benefit show I mentioned a couple weeks ago, headlined by members of the Pixies, Michael Penn, Flea, Tim & Eric, and more?

Well, it just got a whole lot badder asser.

Now added to Tuesday, December 8th rock lineup: Tenacious D, members of OK GO, and The Muff’s Kim Shattuck.

And some inside bits on the evening’s set list: “Weird Al will be performing ‘I Bleed’ from (the Pixies album) “Doolittle” with member of the Pixies and Flea on bass. David and Kevin from Love & Rockets will perform ‘All In My Mind’ with Black Francis (as featured on the recent Love & Rockets tribute album).”

To repeat, all male members of the Pixies (Black Francis, Dave Lovering, Joey Santiago), Tenacious D (Jack Black and Kyle Gass), Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Love & Rockets, She Wants Revenge, Weird Al Yankovic, and Grand Duchy (Black Francis and Violet Clark), all on one stage, December 8th, 7pm… for only $20!

And for $35, get the above AND the following night of comedy on December 9th at 7pm (or $20 separately): Tim and Eric (music set), Bob Odenkirk, Brian Posehn, and Dave Lovering (drummer of the Pixies performing his mad science teacher magic act).

The whole thing is a benefit for the family of 8 1/2 month old Winston Bertrand, who was born with Lymphatic and Venous Malformations, two rare, life threatening conditions requiring the constant care of his parents and a heavy financial toll.

Violet Clark, wife of Black Francis as well as his Grand Duchy collaborator, established Winston’s Village to assist the Bertrand family with aid for the lil chap. (You can also catch Grand Duchy one night before the benefit as a special guest at the Mere Mortals show at Spaceland on Monday, December 7th, kicking off the Mere Mortals monthlong residency there.)

TMZ has a sad example of irresponsible reporting up in the form of this post showing what they allege is Governor Schwarzenegger parking in a red zone in Beverly Hills. But take a close look at that pic – it certainly doesn’t look like a street at all. Instead, this appears to be some sort of parking lot.

However, while TMZ negligently cites the wrong parking violation, they totally overlook the fact that the Porsche Schwarzenegger is driving lacks a front license plate, as required by the California Vehicle Code. I know, the sleek front of that $100,000 beauty would be marred by an unsightly license plate, and that Arnold can afford any ticket that will probably never come his way, but heck, even his wife can’t follow the hands free cell phone laws he passed, so blame it on her bad influence.

Or, maybe he reads LA Metblogs, and remembers this post about how removing your front license plate might actually save you money.

Photo by Ramey from TMZ, text and arrow added by me.

Are you a narcissitic drama queen? Do you want free rent? Then read on!

A CraigsList ad is asking for potential “new roommates” to apply for “The Real World’s” 24th season.

If you are between the ages of 18 and 24 then email us at rwcasting@bunim-murray.com with the following information: Name, Age, Phone number, A brief bio, Two recent photos

In the subject line write: “[your city] Recruiting”

Think you have what it takes? Feel free to include a copy of your cover letter in the comments below. For shits n giggles.

While the Upright Citizens Brigade, aka the UCB, is pretty well known, I still consider it one of L.A.’s best kept secrets. Shows sell out fast, but for only $5 you’ll often be treated to standup, improv, or sketch comedy by the funniest talent out there… and let me clarify this: not necessarily the most famous, but the funniest people out there.

Certainly, it’s pretty common to go see Tuesday night’s Comedy Death Ray and have surprise appearances by the likes of Sarah Silverman or Louis C.K., but even the lesser knowns are comedians who you can bet will soon enough be appearing on Comedy Central or SNL (before they binge out on coke, OD, and live on forever through “underground” YouTube videos).

On Wednesday night, again, for only $5, Lindy Gomez will be performing her new one woman piece, “Will That Be All?” mocking race and minimum wage jobs. Or so the synopsis leads me to believe:

Have you slapped your cell phone shut after a heated one-on-one with a East Indian customer service operator and thought, maybe I’ll order Indian tonight? Or accepted a towel from a spicy Mexican bathroom attendant and thought, maybe later I should download some Manu Chao? Or better yet, gotten a basket of spicy fries from a desperate L.A. waitress and thought, thank god I have my SAG card. These are the invisible people who keep your passable existence moving from day-to-day. And they demand you attention…for a solid 28 minutes until you troll next door for a dirty martini.

While you may not recognize her, it doesn’t matter – she’s hot. Just look at the picture!

However, you’ll recognize the the director of the show as the aloof and smarmy lady from the 1-800-DENTIST commercials. Suzi Barret was also recently featured on Los Angeles blogs with her video, “I Hate L.A.” Also hot.

Also on the evening’s bill: The Apple Sisters in “Thanks for Stuffing.” Again, all for $5! Show begins at 8pm.

Reservations and info.
Upright Citizens Brigade, 5919 Franklin Ave., Los Angeles

The photographer “Discarted” has gone done it again and threatened national security by violating the laws of the MTA and taking photos of the Los Angeles subway system that he could very likely end up selling to Al Qaeda. Seems perfectly reasonable that he be detained by LA Sheriffs, right?

Except that there is no rule prohibiting public photography in Los Angeles subway systems. And any detainment would require a reasonable suspicion of the subject having committed a crime… which may have occurred, but the only unusual activity the Sheriff ever cites is Discarted’s act of taking photos.

After handcuffing Discarted, the sheriff doing most of the talking, Officer Richard Gylfie, is heard threating threatening to put him the FBI’s “hit list” and will be flagged and detained before boarding planes, trains, or other forms of transportation where an ID is checked. And why? Apparently for not shivering in fear to Gylfie’s demands to tell him why he’s taking photos… or maybe I’m missing something.

As if it needs repeating, photography is allowed in public spaces, including the subway system. Its a shame that the same people who we pay to enforce our laws are blatantly ignorant of this, and instead abuse the power that we bestow upon them to harass and intimidate.

Feel free to leave your thoughts here, or at Discarted’s blog.

photo by Mc-Q, used under a Creative Commons license

December 8th at the Echoplex. Only $20. Can you beat that friggin’ lineup?

I’d say its impossible, but on December 9th at the adjacent Echo, you’ll have Black Francis with Bob Oedenkirk, Tim & Eric, Dave Lovering, Brian Posehn, and more. Again, for only $20… or $35 for both nights.

Now that I have your attention, let me tell you what its all about: a benefit for the now 8 1/2 month old baby Winston Bertrand.

Winston Bertrand was born on February 20, 2009 with a double whammy of two extremely rare and life-threatening conditions. Winston was born with two rare complex malformations called Lymphatic and Venous Malformations. Lymphatic malformations are varying sized cystic abnormalities of the lymphatic system occurring in perhaps 1 in 10,000 births. His parents, Jennifer and Chris Bertrand have had to practically abandon their business to assist in around-the-clock in-home medical care for baby.

The Pixies’ Black Francis and his badass wife Violet Clark have taken up the cause of spreading the word about Winston and encouraging people to help the Bertrands cover their astronomical medical costs.

And thus the two nights of sheer awesomeness that rival the original Band Aid lineup (although a group performance of “Feed the World/Do They Know Its Christmastime?” would be epic).

Night 1, Tuesday, December 8th, 7pm at the Echoplex: Rockin’ performances by Black Francis w/ Flea, members of the Pixies, Love & Rockets, She Wants Revenge, Weird Al Yankovic, Michael Penn, David J (Love and Rockets/Bauhaus), Grand Duchy (feat: Black Francis & Violet Clark), The 88s. Tickets and more info.

Night 2, Wednesday, December 9th, 7pm at the Echo: An evening of the ‘ol comedy hosted by Black Francis… on stage: Tim and Eric (music set), Bob Odenkirk, Brian Posehn, and Dave Lovering (drummer of the Pixies performing his mad science teacher magic act). Tickets and more info.

No idea when this was taken, or if there was any followup, but the video at Shabooty.com is insane nonetheless. A few kids on what appears to be an LA subway train are teasing a large woman (referred to in the video title as a crackhead hooker) for about five minutes, who seems to be egging them on. A little over halfway through this clip, she pulls what is assumed to be pepperspray from her purse and sprays it at one of the kid’s eyes.

(unable to embed here – click here to watch)

A letter by Oscar winning Paul Haggis (Crash) wherein he renounces the  Church of Scientology, of which he’s been a  member for 25 years,  is making the rounds on various websites.

In summary, Haggis’ initial frustration arose from the San Diego branch’s support of Proposition 8, and, in spite of his appeals, the Church’s inaction over condemning the support of the anti-gay legislation.

“I told you I could not, in good conscience, be a member of an organization where gay-bashing was tolerated,” Haggis writes.

Haggis goes on to verify and condemn that the Church used private information gathered during an auditing session to smear a Church defector, a tactic the Church has long denied ever using.

“So, I am now painfully aware that you might see this an attack and just as easily use things I have confessed over the years to smear my name.”

The letter ends, “I hereby resign my membership in the Church of Scientology.”

But one thing he never does is recant any of the core teaching or beliefs of Scientology. His bone lies only with how the Church is run. Read the rest of this entry →

Really early rendering of attack on the moon.

Have a decent sized telescope? Turn it toward the moon Friday morning at about 4:30am, when NASA will crash a pair of orbiters into the south pole, and you may be able to see the resulting plumes of dust.

The NASA exercise is intended to determine is water is contained in the moon’s soil.

Of course, Griffith Park Observatory will be closed at that hour. Because, y’know, its so darn early.

No Public Viewing of Moon Impact from Observatory
NASA’s LCROSS mission, searching for water ice, will culminate with two lunar impacts near the Moon’s south pole at approximately 4:30 a.m. PDT on Friday, October 9. The impacts may be visible with a telescope. However, due to the very early hour, neither Griffith Park nor the Observatory will be open for public viewing.

The attack on the moon will also be televised.

As mentioned yesterday by Lucinda, the Pee-Wee Herman Show originally scheduled to run this November at the Music Box has since been moved to Club Nokia in November.

Press releases cite the move was made due to “popular demand,” and promised those with existing tickets would be able to call Ticketmaster and to make arrangements to switch their purchase to comparable seats.

Alas, Twitter is all abuzz today (as are the comments of yesterday’s post) with tales of people being stuck on hold for hours with Ticketmaster, then when connected being told to call back later, or, perhaps worse of all, finding out “comparable” seats meant “comparably priced” seats, and that they’d have to pay extra to be as close to the stage or in as prime a spot as before. Numerous out of towners are upset that they’d booked airfare and hotels for a show they can now no longer attend.

Are you among the Pee-Wee fans who has been inconvenienced by this switcheroo? Let us know your story in the comments… were you able to get through to Ticketmaster? How long were you on hold? What were your original seats compared to the new ones?

“I am not going to stand here and let corporate America decide what language I’m going to speak,” an Inland Empire resident told KABC, in reference to a Wells Fargo billboard written in Spanish. (Apparently, he protested by refusing to purchase an English/Spanish dictionary or using Google Translator in an effort to keep the bank from tricking him into learning a few foreign words.)

I’ve never understood why anyone would care one bit what language a sign used. Without a doubt, dealing with cashiers or any sort of customer service types who don’t speak English can be frustrating, but not in a “get out of my country” sort of way – just in a, “if a business is going to repeatedly screw up my order because they hire a staff that can’t understand me, I’ll shop elsewhere,” sort of way. That’s capitalism.

“I think they should be in English as well as Spanish, because there are Korean signs down there and I don’t understand that gibberish,” said another Hesperia resident speaking at the city council meeting.

I’d call this out as racist, but there’s no reason to not believe residents would also complain if the signs were in French or German, so to be fair, I’ll just label it xenophobic.

More importantly, this issue raises an alarming issue: clearly Inland Empire really love to read billboards, otherwise why would they care? Finally, a win for outdoor advertising!

For some apparantely unsubtantiated reason, Manhattan Beach city officials are considering clamping down on personal trainers in city parks after they’ve allegedly found gym equipment left behind. NBC Los Angeles, who covered the story, spoke with a number of frequent park visitors, none of whom could recall an issue with gym equipment.

City officials hope to pass a ban on such dangerous equipment as yoga mats and exercise balls, but in the meantime point out existing city code that they believe already prohibits personal trainers from bringing clients to parks:

12.48.070 Commercial activities.
Commercial activities, including, but not limited to vendors, caterers, and peddlers, including vendors, caterers and commercial enterprises associated with permitted, organized groups, shall be prohibited in all City parks unless a permit is obtained from the Director of Parks and Recreation. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the Director of Parks and Recreation from awarding a franchise for special events to a particular caterer or vendor.

I’m not a lawyer, so correct me if I’m wrong, but if they’re going to use this to charge personal trainers with a misdemeanor, wouldn’t this also apply to nannies or babysitters?

Actual flyer. Please print, copy, and post wherever coyotes may see it!

A coyote snatched Jessica Simpson’s dog before her very eyes, per a tweet she sent Monday evening.

@jessicasimpson: http://twitpic.com/hrudr – My heart is broken because a coyote took my precious Daisy right in front of our eyes. HORROR! We are searching. Hoping. Please help!

Clearly, this is incredibly urgent. Coyotes aren’t known to keep malti-poos as pets for very long, and according to urban legend, will often sell these dogs to NFL players to be used as “playthings” for their rottweillers and pitbulls.

“Mommy” Jessica Simpson is offering a reward for Daisy’s safe return, NO QUESTIONS ASKED.

In case this turns out badly, I’m asking all Metblog readers to chip in with me for a gift that will help protect any of Jessica’s future canine pals: a leash.

I didn’t really give these billboards much notice – I’m pretty jaded to advertising – so it took a complaint by my friend Rodleen’s on Facebook to grab my attention.

To promote the newest season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” HBO has posted numerous billboards around LA showing the victim of suicide by hanging above the show’s star, Larry David, asking via text, “Is it me?”

It’s humor befitting of the show. But is it appropriate to post all over the city?

Rodleen’s take: “I understand humor can be dark, but a poster depicting suicide is truly brutal to the heart.  It has the potential to drive someone to the edge.”

While I haven’t heard much about these billboards, today in the LA Times Steve Lopez writes about how a billboard depicting a vagina for an Absolut vodka ad in Los Angeles remains up, while another one critical of Mercury Insurance, purchased by a consumer watchdog group, was removed after a complaint by Mercury. Read the rest of this entry →