Per this article the Los Angeles Times, the city of San Francisco may or may not attempt to simultaneously belt out a rendition of Tony Bennett’s “San Francisco” – the city’s official song – at noon today, a sort of citywide flash mob to honor the 50th anniversary of Bennet singing the song for the first time at the Fairmont Hotel.  Maybe more interestingly, the article notes in a parenthetical that our fair City of Angels doesn’t have an official song (though oddly enough, LAX has one).  Which of course prompts at least one Angeleno to wonder: what would be our official song?

Way back when, we did a nifty series called “Songs About Los Angeles,” any of which would be worthy contenders.  Randy Newman’s “I Love LA” seems to be the obvious choice, though there are others: “Los Angeles” by X was the most popular song in our series, according to Franklin Avenue’s post-series poll.  Or, how about “Pico And Sepulveda” by Felix Figueroa And His Orchestra?  “Straight Outta Compton” by NWA?  Others?  Votes?

Courtesy sjd52878 via the BloggingLA Flickr pool

This is not the first time I’ve written here about supporting your local library, nor will it be the last.  I say this because this post might sound a little repetitive now, and it really will be a grand day when we all can move on to other things because this problem has been solved, its coffers full.  But it’s unsolved and the treasure chest remains empty and looted, so here, again, is just another two cents about why it is you should care about the continued existence of local institutions that make you smarter with or without you knowing it.  Or, at the very least, keep you entertained.

One of the best gifts I ever received for Christmas was a book.  The Missing Piece, specifically.  I first read at the library when I was a kid, the whole thing, in the children’s section, S aisle.  I checked it out, then again, then again again, so many times that my mom eventually just got it for me for Christmas.  That book made my soul smarter, and I likely wouldn’t have read it otherwise.  Certainly not at the bookstore – partly because we didn’t go to bookstores very often, and partly because I was afraid of new books.  Too new.  Too nice.  We had nice things, but not very often new things.  So, the old, used ones in the library were more approachable.  I read those.  Everyone read those.

But everyone has a Kindle or other fancy tablet in which we read the words that used to be exclusively bound between two hard covers, you say?  What good is the library to me now, you say some more?  Answers: It’s true, and lots, respectively.  I give you the LA Public Library’s E-Library, where you can check out books for your Kindle.  That’s right.  Free books in whatever platform you desire.

Beyond these free things are other wonderful events that the library curates: the ALOUD speaker series, for example, is one of a handful of defenses we Angelenos have when New Yorkers accuse us of lacking in cultural arts.  This year, the series has brought everyone from Michael Chabon to the late Christopher Hitchens to Annie Leibovitz to Richard effin’ Feynman to Carrie Fisher and John Waters in conversation with one another to town to talk about the great things they do, and to inspire us in turn.

If giving to the library isn’t on your list this season, I’ll make one more plug for them: the Central Library’s Library Store is a great place for gifts.  You’ll find “Reading is Sexy” bumper stickers, kitschy tote bags, eclectic holiday cards, and other delightfully random things for that delightfully random person in your life.

Convinced?  Hopefully, yes.  The Library Foundation of Los Angeles has all the information you need to donate to support the LPLA; for those outside LA, your local branch surely would point you in the right direction.  Happy holidays, everyone.

This post is part of the Blogging.LA Holiday Giving series.

To kick off the series, Cornerstone is hosting “Creative Seeds: An Exploration of Hunger,” a two-week event starting November 7 and stuffed full of panels, discussions, art events, workshops, and demonstrations with Farmers, chefs, artists, performers, and food writers.  On the 10th, for example, popular organic peach farmer David Mas Masumoto will be part of a “Who’s Your Farmer?” roundtable (if you haven’t read his Epitaph for a Peach, go and get it, now), and on the 15th, our homegrown Jonathan Gold will part of a “Food Critics” panel discussing what “different generations of food critics hunger for.”  And, because this is a theater company after all, there will be an evening of one-minute plays for those whose attention lasts as long as their (in)ability to compose an wildly interesting 140-character tweet

The panel discussions are free, and most of the other events request just a modest donation.  See the full schedule here, and reserve your tickets here. And, if you want to start your food drive contributions straight away, you can donate non-perishable food items at all Creative Seeds events.  This looks like a good one, guys.  Go on. Five years will be here and gone before you know it.

The Heritage Square Museum at night.

This weekend: Halloween.  And no, take it from the misanthropic me: you can’t seem to get away from it even if you try.

SATURDAY

• Do you like scary movies?  For you, then, Halloween.  And American Cinematheque’s Sixth Annual Dusk-to-Dawn Horrorthon: that’s right, scary movies, all-night, from dusk to dawn.  Pet Sematary and Just Before Dawn will be screened to scare you witless.  Fun times.  $20.  Screaming starts at 7:30pm at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica.
• So it’s not that Comic-Con, but the Long Beach Comic Con still has a stellar line-up.  John Carpenter will be there signing all sorts of merch, and there will be a panel exclusively about The Simpsons‘ “Treehouse of Horror” annual Halloween episodes.  Better than going to San Diego, for sure.  $25. All day Saturday and Sunday at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach.  
• While you’re down in Long Beach anyway, why not join the Long Beach Zombie Walk?  Not just any zombie walk: this one, the organizers hope, will set the Guinness World Record for world’s largest zombie gathering and world’s largest choreographed “Thriller” Mass Dance.  No, I don’t know who makes up these categories either.  Free.  Festivities start at 2pm at the Promenade in Downtown Long Beach.
• Totally over Halloween already?  Go, then, to the Green Festival, where you can avoid those stubbornly eco-unfriendly haunted houses, toxic makeup, and plastic costumes and instead trick and treat yourself with environmentally designs and technology.  I know, it’s not easy being green.  $10.  11am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday at the Convention Center in Downtown.

This weekend: beer, pumpkins, and space.  Not necessarily all at once.

SATURDAY

• The whole beer float trend was all too short-lived, I think, quickly replaced by other things like bacon in everything and hand pies.  Meh.  Thankfully, Josh Lurie (Food GPS) brings it all back with his third annual Beer Float Showdown.  Five chefs partner with five breweries to create the ultimate dessert  Your ticket includes tastings, of course, and you’ll be tasked to judge each concoction based on originality, flavor, and presentation.  In other words, whatever floats your boat.  $35.  1pm to 4pm at Eagle Rock Brewery in Eagle Rock.
• If you’re not already in the Halloween mood, then this ought to do it: the annual Calabasas Pumpkin Festival will have everything pumpkin, including food and a pumpkin pie eating contest.  Boo.  $5.  10am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday at Juan Bautista de Anza Park in Calabasas.
• I don’t know about this one, guys, but maybe you do.  Charles Phoenix hosts Home Movie Day, a “celebration of amateur films and filmmaking.”  You’re invited to share and screen your home movies, which may be far more interesting to you than to others, like your 1,000 Flickr’d photos of your trip to Europe.  But, maybe not.  Everyone likes a good drama.  Free.  Bring in your films starting at 11am; screenings go from noon to 4pm at the Linwood Dunn Theater, 1313 Vine St. in Hollywood.
• It’s National Plug-In Day in Santa Monica.  Parade your plug-and-play cars for funsies; Matt Mason has all the details here.

SUNDAY

• Whatever it is about this year that’s turning this city into a bona fide coffee and beer town, let’s keep it going, shall we?  On the latter front, Tony Yanow of the excellent Tony’s Darts Away and the perpetually crowded Mohawk Bend keeps the kegs rolling with the grand opening of his Golden Road Brewing – that’s right, another damn fine brewery in town to keep everyone nice and sudsy.  Your ticket gets you three pour tickets and a collectible 12oz Golden Road Brewing glass.  Beer me, and you.  $20 (presale)/$25 (door).  2pm to 7pm at Golden Road Brewing, 5430 West San Fernando Rd.
• If you were a liberal arts major, you probably read Jack Halberstam.  If you were or are a lesbian, you must have read Jack Halberstam.  If you’re none of the above, you have some making up to do.  And, conveniently for all of the above, Halberstom, along with Wayne Koestenbaum and Maggie Nelson, will be at REDCAT as part of its “Ugly Feelings” event.  Each will read selections from their books, “inviting us to examine, name, and even revel in the ‘ugly feelings’ that fuel the culture of our time.”  Our love for, and fascination with, those Uglydolls must come from somewhere, right?  $10 (general)/$5 (students).  7pm at REDCAT in Downtown.
• The Pasadena Museum of California Art partners up with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to present A Day of Discovery [links to PDF], a free day of enough science and space events to make even Scully happy. The day will be full of speakers from the JPL, as well as family-friendly activities like a demo of how comets are made.  The truth is out there.  Free.  Noon to 5pm at the Pasadena Museum for California Art in Pasadena.

Courtesy communicatrix via the Blogging LA Flickr pool.

Rocket Video, the independent video store on La Brea, closed at the end of September after three decades of supplying esoteric and hard-to-find films to amateur and professional film buffs alike.  The reasons probably are obvious – the Amazon of independent video shops, Netflix, ate up a huge chunk of its customers, plus the shitty economy – so, in a way, it’s a little surprising that it managed to survive as long as it did.  Manager Jeffrey Miller penned a lovely tribute to his store over on Zocalo, recalling a few fond memories about his great customers:

My favorite was Faye Dunaway. Certainly, she could be a little demanding. The first time I encountered her, she bounded through the doors of the store and yelled, “Quick, I need Reservoir Dogs right now! I’m double parked on La Brea!” Another time, when we called to tell her a certain title had come in, she was livid. “What are you doing calling me?” she yelled into the receiver. “I am trying to write! Don’t you know I have to answer my own phone?”

He also ruminates on the nature of the video store as a proxy for a community water cooler, wondering what fountains, if any, will fill the gap:

Hollywood is a tough place. Landmarks get demolished. The Brown Derby is gone. The Tail o’ the Pup hot dog stand is in some warehouse in Torrance. In traffic, drivers swerve manically and cut you off, as if to signal they have to get there before you. In a culture so inward-looking and self-centered, focused only on the next big thing, we easily forget the paths and paving stones that led us to where we are. Film history is important to Los Angeles. A sense of community is scarce. Rocket Video offered both those things. I don’t know if Angelenos will miss a place like Rocket right away, but I think they will eventually. I know I already do.

Rocket Video is out of my zip code, so it’s not a place I regularly visited.  That said, the loss of idea of Rocket Video resonates: not only is Hollywood a tough place, it can be an awfully lonely one if you let the sprawl get to you and forget what human interaction outside the freeway and the workplace feels like.  In other words, you’re enormously lucky if you do have your own version of  Cheers where everybody knows your name and you know theirs.  No doubt the community will gather again – it always does – but for now, the rocket is grounded, its passengers lost in space.

Festive times at Hawaii Supermarket

This weekend: October, already.  A few non-food related festivals (thank God) and a lot of art (thank God).  Oh, and a blessing of the animals (thank the Gods).

SATURDAY

• Still smarting over the loss of Sunset Junction?  Head just a little further east to the 13th Annual Eagle Rock Rock Music Festival, which will feature a great number of great local bands, including Rooney and Flying Lotus.  Hosted by the Center for the Arts, this actually is an independent music fair that, you know, supports the community.  Sunset what?  $5 (suggested).  4pm to 11pm on Colorado Blvd. between Argus St and Eagle Rock Blvd.
• Get to know your ‘hood with the Found LA Festival, where local residents will show you around on a little tour.  Eric Garcetti leads the tour through Atwater Village (aw); other residents take you through Highland Park, Inglewood, Koreatown, the LA River, among others.  Yeah, there goes the neighborhood.  Free.  9am to the 5pm in your local ‘hood.
• Not only is it already October, it’s already time for The Brewery’s ArtWalk, a twice annual weekend event at what they call the “world’s largest art complex.”  Over 100 resident artists will show off their work, and you’ll have a chance to talk to the artists and buy their art.  If you miss this chance, you’ll have to wait for another six months to fly by.  Free.  11am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday at The Brewery, 2100 N. Main Street near Downtown.
• I don’t think this coffee-fueled car is going to be at the AltCar Expo, which is a shame, but there will be other alternative-fuel vehicles there: the Nissan Leaf, the Prius you plug in, and so on.  I still want that coffee car, though.  Free.  10am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica.
• When the guys over at Mexicali Taco & Co. announced that they lost their space in a downtown parking lot, thereby depriving us all of wonderful Baja-style meat tacos, quesadillas, and other wonderful concoctions, it was a sad day indeed.  Happily, Mexicali will pop up at The Daily Dose for a night to make up for lost time.  That vampiro is mine.  6pm at The Daily Dose, 1820 Industrial Street in Downtown.

SUNDAY

• For the next six months – just in time for the next Brewery ArtWalk – over sixty museums and cultural institutions will participate in the Getty-sponsored Pacific Standard Time.  Each of the participants will have their own unique contribution to celebrate the birth of the city’s art scene, covering every major movement from 1945 to 1980.  It starts on Saturday, but on Sunday, you can see everything for free.  See the website for participating locations.
• At the West Hollywood Book Fair, you can not only check out all the books, you can literally check out all the books: located right outside the city’s gorgeous new library, you can catch Meredith Baxter, Julie Newmar, and Kevin Sorbo talk about their respective books at the fair, then head into the library to view it in all its glory.  Free.  10am to 6pm at the West Hollywood Library and West Hollywood Park, 647 N. San Vicente Blvd. in West Hollywood.
• I’m not a church person, but who doesn’t love a good animal blessing?  All Saints Church in Pasadena holds its Blessing of the Animals Day in which your dog, your cat, your turtle, a photograph of any of the above, or a representative stuffed animal will be blessed enmasse.  Cesar can’t fix everything, you know.  Free.  Arrive by 8:45am to participate in the procession.
• For a completely different type of procession, see the Trespass Parade, a “galavanting merry band of artists, eclectic musicians, and jack-knifed dancers” that will “literally float through Downtown.”  It’s supposed to be an artistic thing, a “timely display for free speech.”  Yeah, I’m scared too.  Free.  11am starting at Broadway and Washington Downtown.

We’ve been on a concert tear lately at Blogging LA with our ticket contests to see Jane Lynch, Blondie — and now Peter, Bjorn & John.  They are, of course, known for that whistling song, but they’ve done so much more that is just as great.  The band is on their “All You Can Eat” tour now, and we have tickets to give away for their October 5th show at the El Rey.  To enter, simply leave a comment with your favorite Peter Bjorn & John song other than “Young Folks“ and I’ll pick a winner by Friday at noon.

Chances are, you were a fan of Jane Lynch before she was on Glee, even if you didn’t know her by name.  She has, after all, been in literally hundreds of television shows (Fraiser, NewsRadio, Friends, The X-Files), movies (The Fugitive, Best in Show, Talladega Nights), commercials, parodies, web series, cartoons, and so on and so on and so on, paying her dues for some two decades before finally – finally – earning the recognition she deserves in Glee.  Lynch just published a memoir, Happy Accidents, that follows her journey from thespian to lesbian to comedienne; ultimately, it’s a life lesson on trusting yourself, your decisions, and your life path.  Inspirational, right?

On Sunday, Live Talks LA hosts Lynch in conversation with her former Party Down co-star Adam Scott at 7pm at Club Nokia downtown.  And we have tickets to give away!  To win, leave a comment with your favorite Jane Lynch role.  I’ll choose a winner at random on Thursday morning.  Good luck!!