I love this wall off Fairfax. After our meeting the other morning I pointed it out to Jason. He snapped a shot, and next thing you know… new image for the header! I completely support this. LA Pride.

Posted without comment. Be afraid.

As Will mentioned this weekend the meadow on the north eastern side of the Silver Lake Reservoir was finally opened to the public. Threats of it’s opening have been floating around for years, so when I confirmed this was legit I scooped up the family and ran over to check it out. The meadow itself is pretty fantastic actually. It’s a wide open and the grass is thick and lush – fun to roll around in and stuff.

For the moment anyway – while there are signs posted at every entrance stating that no dogs are allowed at any point (and the actual dag park is just a few steps away on the southern tip of the reservoir) people are either not noticing them or just outright ignoring them. We were there for about half hour, maybe 45 minutes and during that time there was an endless stream of people and their dogs walking through the meadow. Actually, just a few walking through – most of them were running around in the grass and pooping and peeing and generally dogging the place up. I give it a week or two until all the grass is dead and there are poop lamdmines every 5 feet.

This is why we can’t have nice things.

Photographer J Bennett Fitts has a pretty fantastic series of images called “No Lifeguard On Duty” depicting abandoned pools around the country, many of which are in SoCal (above is from the Inland Empire). I find these image both haunting and captivating – forgotten dreams in many ways. Especially since so many of these appear to be at closed hotels, you can imagine families going on vacation and being excited to stay at a hotel with a pool – and what’s become of those now. I love these.

I swear about 2 million people have e-mailed me this image in the past month. I’m posting it because it’s amusing and hopefully that will announce to the world that I’ve seen it and don’t need it e-mailed to me again.

Why yes, we did. We’re launching so new crap, and it’s rolling out in stages. Things might be a little goofy for a few days as we get everything in place. One really cool thing we’ll have will be groups for neighborhood, one not so cool thing is that we (and you) have to set these up one by one by hand. So if you want your neighborhood getting in there sooner rather than later, you can add it yourself by clicking the “groups” tag there in the upper right. We’ll explain more of the new stuff once we know it’s not going to break. Wooo Shiny!

“people have a right to ride a bicycle in the City of Los Angeles”

A soon to be law makes harassing (previously only assaulting was a crime) a cyclist illegal. Which opens the doors to civil suits for those convicted of harassing someone simply for riding a bike. Any cyclist in Los Angeles will tell you harassment is an almost daily event which makes this news huge. Much more info about this over on the LA DOT Bike Blog but needless to say, this is a fantastic step in the right direction towards making LA a better city for everyone.

There appears to be some kind of rodent chewing on wires and pooping in the magic sauce that keeps this site running. There might be some missing posts or misplaced comments because of it. We’re trying to smoke the bastard out, but in the meantime, please hang tight…

CicLAvia (the group organizing bike days in LA which we’ve covered many, many times here) is trying to raise some cash to help with future events. They are hoping to raise $5,000 and right now have just under $1,000 pledged. They have a page on kickstarter that makes donating easy. If you enjoyed the last cicLAvia and want to see more, go toss them a few bucks. I’m going to do it right now myself.

If you’ve been following the matter of the MOCA mural that was commissioned, painted and then promptly painted over – it seems there is now an official statement as to why. DailyDuJour reports that Jeffery Deitch has responded to public criticism about the whitewashing noting that he felt the mural was inappropriate, but also that the museum didn’t receive any complaints about it before the decision to remove it was made.

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.

This morning these little flyers were taped on walls and telephone poles around Sunset Junction. I snapped a quick picture of one on a short walk to get coffee thinking I’d count how many I saw on the walk back, but within the hour they seem to have all been pulled down. Anyone know anything about this? The lack of contact information or anyone taking credit for the flyer seems a little suspicious.

32% of all collisions in Los Angeles are hit and run, and the penalties for getting caught really don’t discourage this. Recently Celine Mahdavi, the women who clobbered Louis Deliz into 49 days of hospitalization and likely a lifetime a pain and suffering, then fled the scene, was given no jail time, no suspension of license, only 90 days of community service. This is insane. If you you someone with your car and then drive away leaving them for dead, at the very least your license should be pulled. The folks over at Bikeside are initiating the “Life Before License” campaign to fix the law and put some value back on human life. They are proposing the following:

-A hit and run which results in fatality will result in the loss of driving privileges for 10 years.
-A hit and run which results in permanent disability, or causes a life threatening injury will result in the loss of driving privileges for 5 years.
-A hit and run which results in injury, but which does not lead to permanent disability or a life threatening injury, will result in the loss of driving privileges for 2 years.
-A hit and run which results in the damage of property only will result in the loss of driving privileges for 1 year.

But more than just proposing, they are actually trying to make this happen. On Sunday, 10/17, at the Hollywood Adventist Church at 1711 N. Van Ness Ave from 1pm to 3pm there will be an organizational meeting to plan and assign next steps. This is important and it’s worth your attention.

If you read that headline and thought to yourself “FOK!” then this post is totally for you. If you didn’t, you are clearly missing out on life. As you should know Die Antwoord is the most zef rave rap crew from South Afrika ever, hell the world ever, maybe the only rave rap crew even. It’s seriously next level. That shit got mega huge on the web earlier this year, and their first album ‘$O$’ just came out today. I’d say it looks awesome, but since I designed it that *might* sound a little self serving. Anyway, if this is still all news to you, or if you remember seeing their stuff a few months ago but haven’t heard anything recently, check this video that just came out for ‘Evil Boy’ which is off this album. Warning, it’s sorta NSFW. Maybe. Depending on where you work.

OK, all that aside they are playing Sunday, October 17th at The Music Box and I’ve got a few tickets to give away. You want them? Post a comment and tell me why you deserve the tickets. (What’s that you say, you promise to dress up like Ninja or Yolandi? That’s a pretty good reason.) At 10 PM today I’ll consider the responses and pick whoever impresses me most. So whatchu got?!