Are you like me?  Do you like the Loteria Grill at the Farmers Market but wish they had a second location where you could get your drink on?

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had this wish for years.  Sure, I could order at Loteria and then get a beer from the bar that is 10 feet away but I’m incredibly lazy and I like one stop shopping, or in this case, one stop eating and drinking.  So short of margarita flask (it’s hard to get the lime in) I’ve been out of luck when it comes to getting a drink with my Sunday morning huevos rancheros in one smooth transaction.

Good news everyone, the always awesome Eater LA reports that my dream of more convenient drinks has come true:  The long awaited second Loteria Grill is now open for business and this one is serving alcohol.

You’ll find the new Loteria at 6227 Hollywood Blvd, just west of Cherokee.   For those of you keeping score at home, they’ll be open until 3 am on the weekends.  Now you’ll have somewhere to go after stumbling out of Boardner’s.

Of all of the reminders that the price of gas is crazy fucking expensive, none have hit me harder than this one. Today I went to get gas and whoever used the pump before me bought $5 worth of gas…

… and got 1.077 gallons for their troubles. That just ain’t right.

Who among us hasn’t put $5 in the tank to keep it on the road until payday, or given a friend $5 for gas after driving you to the airport? If I offered a friend that much for gas today they’d ask me if I was joking or if I lost my job because that much gas won’t even get you across town and back. Plus, the knowledge that $5 could maybe get me to work and back hurt more than the fact that I paid ten times that amount to fill my tank.

These are sad days.

Allow me to introduce you to Daisy J. Dog, my 8 year old pitbull. Daisy has two primary responsibilities, to be good and to love me and she does them both very well. In return, I am responsible for her health and safety. Most of the time this is no problem: a few walks, two bowls of food, water and some love is all she needs. However, Daisy, like most household pets, requires some extra care when the weather gets hot.

If you’ve got pets or know someone who does, I recommend checking out LA Unleashed, the LA Times pet blog. They recently posted some basic tips on taking care of your pet in hot weather. It’s mostly common sense stuff (don’t leave your pet in the car, keep them cool, lots of water, etc…) but there are also some helpful tips on grooming and skin care.

Check it out, your pet will thank you for it.

Special tip of the hat to Jodi, who shared the LA Times blog post with me.

Los Angeles, I’ve come up with a plan that will solve three of our biggest problems.

Are you tired of traffic, pollution and the high price of gas? Get ready, I’m going to solve them all with one brilliant idea. Before I get into the details of my idea I should admit that I have a reader of LA Metblogs to thank for the inspiration. Last night, the esteemed David Markland shared his thoughts on a recent LA Times article about mass transit and in the comments a reader left the following response:

I don’t know why more people don’t make an effort to live close to where they work. I’ll be moving in the fall and you can be sure I’m going to be living in the best neighborhood I can find within 3(ish) miles of where I work.

At first I thought that the suggestion was completely impractical as there are many reasons why you wouldn’t or couldn’t live close to your job. But then the idea hit me.

Find out more after the jump.

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A few weeks ago I posted something about a favorite pastime of transplants from the East Coast (and elsewhere)  called “Everything Was Better Where I Came From” (you can read it here).  The game is simple, someone moves to Los Angeles and then pines for food from wherever city they came from.  I have played this game but I rarely do it any more because after nine plus years LA feels more like home than anywhere else.

As  I pointed out in the earlier post, this game can work both ways.   I’m sure that if I was ever forced at gunpoint to leave Los Angeles (because that is what it would take) I would lie awake in some other city missing the food, especially the tacos.  I’ve been to many cites and tasted many dishes but there’s nothing I enjoy quite like a taco in Los Angeles and I know I’m not the only one who feels this way.

Recently, one of our own packed up and moved to New York.  I’m not sure why they did this, but I’m sure they had a very good reason.  Whatever the reason, they discovered something very important when they arrived: New York City has many wonderful dining options but very few of them involve tacos.   Now if this happened to you or I, we might just quietly dream of tacos and wait for a chance to get back home, but this person decided to take action and create:

Lost Taco – Searching For A Decent Taco in NYC 

Since the beginning of the month they have been traveling the New York City looking for tacos.  So far they have had mixed results but they say they will keep trying until they find THE BEST taco that town has to offer.  I admire their courage, plus they get bonus points for their shout out to The Great Taco Hunt.

On behalf of LA Metblogs and the city of Los Angeles I wish Lost Taco good luck.

(Photo steak taco from King Taco courtesy of Biggest Menu.com) 

You guys may not have heard about this but gas prices are like, really high. Since I’m not fabulously wealthy I’ve had to make changes to my habits to compensate for the increased fuel costs. For starters, I’m carpooling, but I’ve also stopped drinking gasoline.

Those aren’t the only changes I’ve made. The high price of gas means I’ve also officially retired my ages old practice of sleep disorder driving. It’s something I haven’t done in a while, but until recently I’ve always considered it an option.

You’ve probably never heard of sleep disorder driving so I’ll explain. I used to have terrible sleep problems, which kept me awake for days at a time. Many nights I would find myself lying awake in bed wondering if I’d ever get to sleep. My worst fear at the time was that I would die but still not get any rest. I’d be found dead, but in a cruel twist of fate I’d still be wide awake with all of my annoying qualities intact…a zombie that rises from the grave to criticize your record collection and talk about movies you haven’t seen. There’s nothing worse than a smug zombie.

When I couldn’t bear the thought of an afterlife as the insecure undead, I’d get in my car and drive until I felt better. On most nights I’d make my way downtown to the Second Street Tunnel, which gets a notable mention in Raymond Chandler’s “The Big Sleep”:

“Mars flicked the Luger out again and pointed it at my chest. “Open the door.”

The knob rattled and a voice called out. I didn’t move. The muzzle of the Luger looked like the mouth of the Second Street tunnel, but I didn’t move. Not being bullet proof is an idea I had had to get used to.”

The Second Street Tunnel is not only in “The Big Sleep”, it’s also featured in Blade Runner, so in my head it’s somewhere in between the past noir of Chandler and future noir of Phillip K. Dick. The contrasting images of old LA and the city yet to come play out as you approach and enter the tunnel. I’d roll the windows down as the gray exterior gave way to the light inside and stop worrying for as long as it took to get to the other end. By the time I made it through I usually felt good enough to head for home to try and get some sleep.

In the last few years I’ve had fewer and fewer sleepless nights and so I’ve had very few reasons to get behind the wheel in the middle of the night but I’ve always kept the option in my back pocket, just in case. I suppose that the price of gas is as good a reason to put this to rest as anything else I can think of, I’d feel guilty about wasting gas. Next time I’ll ride a bike.

Sean O’ Neal of the outstanding Onion AV Club posted a loving obituary to the King Kong section of the the Universal Studios theme park tour here in Los Angeles. As you’ve heard, the Kong from the back lot ride was severely damaged in last week’s fire at Universal and officials announced that the King Kong would not be returning.

With the exception of Mr. O’Neal, I don’t expect many tears are being shed for the King Kong. While it had been operating for more than two decades it never was a beloved fixture at the park. Actually, there’s little at Universal that can be described as beloved. If I had friends in from out of town, I’d only take them to Universal if I never wanted them to come back. But I digress.

There are two surprising things about the ride, to me at least: the first is that it lasted as long as it did. If you’ve been on it, you know it sucked. The second is that when it opened it didn’t seem at all odd that the park was adding a feature based on with a character from a movie that opened more than 50 years earlier.

Let’s assume for a minute that we we’re going to replace that part of ride with a new one, based on a movie from the 50’s. What would it be?

My list of suggestions starts and ends with The Day The Earth Stood Still but beyond that I’m at a loss. A Touch of Evil The Ride? Ride 9 From Outer Space?

Conversely, what movie from this decade could you see becoming a ride in 2060? Will there be a Roller Coaster of the Traveling Pants?

If the sudden spike in purple and gold flags on cars hasn’t given it away, The Lakers are playing the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. The series tips off tonight but if you plan on going bring your wallet.

According to the LA Times, ticket scalpers…I mean legitimate ticket brokers are charging over $27,000 for the best seats in the house. According to Stubhub.com, the average ticket to a game at the Staples Center for this series will run you around $775.

There does not appear to be a shortage of suckers buyers.

For the record, it’s not just ticket prices that have skyrocketed. In 1987 when these two teams last met in the finals, gas was less than a dollar per gallon and it was still acceptable for players to wear those really short shorts. Those were the days.

For the record, the official 8 Track Kid prediction is Lakers in 6.

You know me already, even though you probably don’t realize it.  I’m that guy at work who doesn’t really talk to other people.  It’s not that I dislike anyone, I just like to get in, do my job and go home.  I’m the guy who doesn’t eat in the lunchroom and doesn’t go to happy hour.  This system has served me well for years and I’ve had no reason to change it, until recently…when I went to fill my gas tank and it cost me $50.  The time had come to make a change and do something I should have done a long time ago…it was time to carpool.

More on becoming an environmentally responsible social butterfly after the jump.

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There’s a popular game played here in Los Angeles that drives native residents crazy. The game is called “Everything Was Better Where I Came From” and it frequently involves food and an east coast city.*

Most transplants (myself included) have played this game and I’ll admit that it’s annoying. Well I’ve got good news, this game can work both ways, at least as far as my hometown is concerned.

My father told me that a Fatburger recently opened up in Massapequa Park, NY, which is about ten minutes from where I was grew up. This is the first one in the area so I made sure to tell him that Fatburger was way better than any stupid Long Island burger joint and he should go there immediately. He told me I had no idea what I was talking about (but not exactly in those words).

Now when I go home to see my family I can take them to Fatburger and while we’re there I can talk about how awesome the food is in Los Angeles. When they ask: “If you love LA so much, why don’t you go back there?” I can assure them that I will do just that.

*As Militant Angeleno will tell you, the idea that the your hometown is a culinary wonderland is pure nostalgic bullshit.

I don’t know where you stand on the issue of gay marriage but I’m all for it. I believe that people enjoying equal rights is a good thing.

I recently spotted a sign that shares my beliefs, but also leaves me confused. Take a look for yourself:

This sign brings up some questions that I can’t answer:

1. Is “congratulations” the right word to use in this case? Have you ever told someone; “Congratulations on no longer being discriminated against”? I rarely ever say that.
2. It says “Gay Nuptial” as in one marriage. Are the people who own this florist only happy for one gay couple? Or do they know a woman named Gay Nuptial who is getting married soon?
3. Isn’t it just a wee bit crass to take a landmark court decision that grants citizens basic human rights and use it as a marketing initiative?

With the Pacific Theaters at the Grove showing blockbusters and The New Beverly Theater doing their usual outstanding job with revival double features, the movie theater at Fairfax and Beverly is sort of the forgotten movie house in my neighborhood. This probably has something to do with it’s identify crisis. When I first moved into the neighborhood it was the place where you could see recent hits on the big screen for next to no bucks; this was awesome while I was unemployed, depressed or both. A few years later the theater had a new owner and switched to art house fare; this was great for my brain but not my wallet. Not too long ago the space taken over by Regency Theaters who have brought some life back to the place by combining the best elements of the previous two owners. The Regency has been showing independent and art house films for prices so low you’ll think it’s 1988.

Just look at these prices: $3.50 for all showings before 6PM! Only $6.00 after 6PM! Now you don’t have to choose between seeing a movie and putting gas in your car.

Plus, as LA Metblogs own Julia Frey pointed out here last summer, they are running Insomniac Cinema on Fridays at midnight and you don’t even have to get high to enjoy them (although you can if that’s your thing). Tonight’s midnight selection is Enter the Dragon and next week they are showing Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece, Dr. Strangelove. The midnight shows will cost you $8.00 but you’ll still have enough money left over to walk down to Canters for a 2 am snack.

Have you ever had a job that made you feel so awful that you’d do anything to get out of it for just one day? Many of us have had terrible jobs at some point and I’m no exception. My last truly awful job was several years ago but I was reminded of it this morning when I woke up with the worst toothache I’ve ever had. At five this morning I was in serious pain, it was the broken tooth with infected nerve kind of pain. The “I need an emergency dentist” kind of pain. Two things came to mind in the first few moments after waking up: 1) I wished I went to the dentist regularly like normal people who pay for dental insurance and 2) I’m going to have to call that awful place for help.

Some background on those two points. First I’ve got a spotty dental history and second, my worst job ever involved dentistry.

More on terrible jobs and dentistry plus a little about growing pot after the break.

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Looking for something to do on a Saturday night that involves music, an old cemetery and some of the best movies ever made? Well thanks to the folks at Cinespia you needn’t look any further because they’ve announced their first two screenings of the year at The Hollywood Forever Cemetery. For several years now Cinespia has, on spring and summer Saturday nights, turned the Hollywood Forever Cemetery into a film lovers spooky paradise by screening classic films and cult favorites under the stars.

To kick off this year Cinespia has chosen to show the appropriately dark Ace In The Hole on Saturday May 24th. Long considered Billy Wilder’s lost classic, Ace in the Hole stars Kirk Douglas as an ambitious but down on his luck reporter who stumbles upon the story of a lifetime; a story so big it will take him back to the top, as long as he can keep it going…and he keeps it going no matter the consequences. While it was panned after it’s 1951 release as being too dark that may be due to the fact that it says more about some of the ugly aspects of human nature than we care to admit to. Ace in the Hole is Billy Wilder at his darkly satirical best and I highly recommend heading out to this screening because it’s an experience (and a film) you wont soon forget.

If you can’t make to Ace in the Hole, Cinespia will be back a week later on May 31st with The Party, a Blake Edwards comedy starring Peter Sellers from 1968. It’s the only non Pink Panther collaboration between Sellers and Edwards and it also features a pre Love Boat Gavin MacLeod, a baby elephant and many cultural artifacts that scream; “Hey, this was made in 1968″.

Here’s all you’ll need to know about Cinespia Cemetery Screenings 2008:

• The Hollywood Forever Cemetery is at 600 Santa Monica Blvd (at Gower).
• It’s a $10 donation to get in.
• Parking on the cemetery grounds is free but it fills up fast, parking elsewhere will cost you a few bucks. Some street parking is available in the area but as always look at the signs (do I have to tell you this?).
• Music before and after the movie.
• Bring a picnic and blankets but no barbecues and no tall chairs.
• You can bring booze but not your pets.

Check out Cinespia.org to learn more. Hope to see you at the cemetery sometime soon.

So it’s officially gotten hot here in LA but I’m not complaining. Seeing as how it’s gotten warm at some point almost every year since the last ice age it’s best to just accept it and find a way to beat the heat. All I ask is that when you see me on the street you please stop telling me how hot it is. I live here so I’m aware of the temperature but more importantly it’s not THAT bad. Yeah we get a few hot spells but the average summer day high temp downtown is still in the low to mid 80′s with little humidity, we can make it. If it is too hot you can always move but why would you do that?

To beat the heat at my place I’ve finally, after nine years without one, gotten an air conditioner. I was convinced to get one after last year’s hot spells when my poor dog could barely take the heat (the dog had moved in earlier in the year). While I had managed to sweat through several years with fans and cold drinks I wasn’t about to ask my pup or my new bride to do the same (plus my wife can’t walk around shirtless like I can thanks to a peeping neighbor). However, I can’t help but feel a little guilty about it, after all my portable AC unit is hardly energy efficient, but a more efficient unit is not an option for me (thanks to my 60 year old window frames). Am I the only person who’s ever felt guilty about staying cool? Should I just relax and enjoy the AC? My wife and the dog sure seem to like it and they’re probably both smarter than me.