Tomorrow night, September 4, walking will be encouraged in Los Angeles.

A group of businesses has gotten together to create an evening of “Shopping, Walking And Giving” (SWAG) to benefit the Saban Clinic (formerly the LA Free Clinic).  All along Beverly, between La Cienega and Crescent Heights, from 6 – 9 pm businesses will be open with prize giveaways, discounts, raffles and some yummy free tastings from UV Vodka, Pane e Vino, Mandarette and other restaurants.  10% of money spent that night will got to the clinic.  The more you shop, the more they get!

For more info, please click into the SWAG site.

(Found this tip via Thrillist.)

Belgian artist/designer Chase’s “Awareness Geezers” at Melrose and Orange is starting to look a little tattered these days.

The Belgium-to-Culver City transplant’s distinct style looks out on LA area environs from walls, vehicles and his fashion line, 614. For me, what sets Chase’s work apart from other recognizable street art is the pointedly positive messages it sends, devoid of any irony.

Before I’d even sat down, my stylist asked me for my number. I was taken aback, not because she wasn’t my type or anything – a motherly Russian lady with hairy arms – butin my 30 plus years of having my hair cut, I’d never been asked to give my number.

Not that I never wanted them to ask for my number. Especially Janet, who worked at Freddy & Liana’s in Westwood. She was a ringer for Winona Ryder, making me a repeat customer. It didn’t hurt that she continued to give me the college student discount after I finally fessed up that I wasn’t a UCLA student. (I’m kind of a cheap bastard, and while I never said I was a student, I’d mention that I’d walked over “from campus,” where I’d do story research at the library and visit the student union arcade). I digress…

Truth be told, Aunt Olga at Fantastic Sams wasn’t asking for my phone number, she wanted to know which clipper she should use. I was still offended – has a cheap haircut come down to something as personal as this? What happened to, “how would you like your hair cut?”

It turned out I was a “3,” which Olga reminded me as I took a last look at the finished product. All that and only $15. I was in the chair for less than five minutes. I was tempted to tip her $2, and tell her that was her number, but I gave her $5 to make my total bill an even $20.

Since I’m at a loss for a better closing sentence, any suggestions for cheap haircuts with hot stylists around Los Angeles?

Guys – hate the heat, but hate shorts even more? One suggestion presented by a likeminded Metafilter are “man-pris… Capri pants for dudes.” Sure. I bet they go well with your “manties,”  “man-purse,” and “bro-zeere.”

As spurred by the question on Metafilter:

I’m a huge baby. Southern California in the summer is too hot for me. I own two pairs of pants. Both are black denim. Are those tactical 511 pants very cool? I don’t wear shorts. What do they wear in the desert? I’m looking for something really cool, really comfortable; not really concerned with fashion -except I hate baggy pants. I’m about 6 feet tall and skinny.

Suggestions so far include:

• “Hiking pants, typically made of really lightweight nylon or polyester,”
• “Linen, linen blends, thin cotton (like madras and crinkle cotton) are your friends.”
• “Yoga pants.”
• “Natural High (2400 Main Street, Santa Monica) sells these amazing hemp/cotton pants.”
• And finally: “What about man-pris? Capri pants for dudes.”

Can anyone else help a brother out before he starts seeking out “man-pris?”

I was reading about KNBC weathercaster Elita Loresca in an article in LA Weekly about our local weather folks.

The article mentions a blog (“Elita Loresca, Elita’s Closet”) which is devoted to her fashion choices while she was doing the weather in Miami.

Written by a gay guy named Brian who watched her and critiqued her choice in clothing on a daily basis, the blog featured detailed descriptions of what she was wearing, commentary on her hair, as well as occasional screen shots.

Here’s an example:

Friday, October 12, 2007
It looks like a hot pink hot air balloon has deflated and landed on our beautiful storm tracker.

If a gust of wind had blown through the studio would Elita have become airborne like that fat kid in Willy Wonka?

The blog has not been updated since Elita left Miami to “come home to California” and I’m wondering if there is a good-hearted Angeleno who wants to pick up where Brian left off?

BOTTOMFEEDERS GUIDE TO LA: Paul Mitchell’s $10 Haircut

Brought up in the DIY tradition, I know that the real bottomfeeders’ haircut is the one you give yourself with a pair of clippers in your apartment bathroom. I did not darken the door of a salon from the age of 15 until I was 30. Over the course of those 15 years I developed a pretty fearless attitude toward haircuts. There were many failed experiments–there was the “artichoke cut,” for instance, which resulted from trying to fix a mistake and then trying to fix the fix, and so on–and there was the time I tried for ink blue and got pastel periwinkle instead–think Easter egg and you’re there.

I am a far lazier person now than I was in my edgier youth, but one of my mottos remains, “If you can’t change your life, you can at least change your hair,” so how perfect that I can get a $10 haircut at the Paul Mitchell School in Sherman Oaks. It’s not a quick process, but it’s cheap as hell and it assuages my DIY guilt that I’m helping someone else learn. Pictured here is the result of my latest excursion, which put me back far more than $10 ($40!) because of the two-toned dye job. Nonetheless, I would have paid at least three times that a mile down the road where my friends go and I still got to lay around in a salon chair like an upscale flounder while other people did the work. So if you’re an adventurous bottomfeeder (is there any other kind?) and you have some hours free, check it out. Worst case scenario you get that buzz you’ve always wanted.

This Saturday, don’t be gripped by last-minute Mother’s Day Panic, head to the Poketo Warehouse!

For the first-time ever, the Poketo Warehouse will open its doors for a massive spring cleaning sale to make room for a new season of goodies. Great Poketo products, including wallets, t-shirts, plates, stationery, and even some one-off and archived items, will be on sale from $5-10.

If the cool stuff and dirt-cheap prices don’t get you, they will be serving up cupcakes, tunes and discounted goodies. And for those of you who missed the First Editions Prints Show, here’s your second chance to check it out!

** FIRST 50 SHOPPERS GET A GIFT BAG **

Poketo $5-$10 Warehouse Sale / Cupcake Social
May 10, 2008 10am – 5pm
Poketo Studio – 510 S. Hewitt Street #506
Los Angeles, CA 90013

I tend to run with the artsy fartsy crowd, so when I heard two weeks ago that Lucent Dossier was performing Wednesday the 23rd (or was it the 16th? it all blurs) of April down at The Edison, I was bummed to miss it. Having a real-life day job has put a serious crimp on my nights out. Yes, I have money now, but I never spend it anymore because I never leave the house after 8pm.

Luckily the Lucent + Edison pairing seems to be an ongoing thing. I went to take in the show last Wednesday. Apparently I was there along with LAist Editor Zach Behrens, LAist News Editor Andy Sternberg, and Caroline on Crack, but as I am a blogger who primarily communicates via screen, I haven’t the faintest what they look like. Checking Caroline’s pics from that night, I think I remember seeing them. But everyone was dressed very alike, very glam-roaring 20s-clubby, so I could be completely wrong.

Click through for Miss Lucinda’s Wild Ride. :P Pics by Caroline on Crack for LAist.

Read the rest of this entry →

These two messages caught my eye at Saturday’s L.A. Times Festival of Books at UCLA:

1. A man with a t-shirt featuring George Bush and Dick Cheney that read: “War Criminals” and “Impeach.”  The man also wore an orange ribbon on his t-shirt.  Of the many meanings his ribbon could symbolize, I suspect his intent was to call for closing the Guantanamo Bay prison facility.

2. A bumper sticker in a car’s rear window that read: “When Jesus said ‘Love your enemies,’ I think he probably meant don’t kill them.”

I looked for but never did find the third message to complete the thought: “Who Would Jesus Impeach?”

On my way home from work this afternoon, this fine specimen of an Impala pulled up next to me in the left-hand turn lane. I was eastbound on Imperial Highway at the intersection of Avalon Boulevard.

The green was the perfect shade of tennis ball felt, and the white details made me want to put on a headband and grab my racket.

click to embiggen, taken with the camera iphone

Gabba Gabba Hey!  Spotted these puppies at Action Footwear my most favorite shoe shop when you have kids.  The memories came flooding back.  The Ramones, small clubs on Sunset…sigh.  Makes me wanna spike my hair and tint it purple again.

Then my middle child reminded me those are “old school”.  Damn I hate it when they remind me I am getting old!  The only thing worse is hearing the songs from high-school relegated to being muzak at the grocery store.  Youth is highly over rated.  Snarky kid wants texting after that?

Action Footwear if you need a pair to call your own: 420S Myrtle Ave, Old Town Monrovia 91016 (I just got the connection with the address and the shoes, the dayquil is finally wearing off)

Pic by me with the trust phone cam.  It doesn’t get any bigger. Read the rest of this entry →

My favorite line of exercise clothes, Lululemon, has launched a brand new garment for men: the Mansy (click photo for detail). It’s designed for use in yoga practice but this sweet baby can really go anywhere.

Quantities are limited and sales begin today.

Locations in Pasadena, Santa Monica, and Beverly Hills.

See you in yoga class!

Only the lamest airplane airline evar!

Um okay, so like these girls? Nisreen Swedberg and Sarah Williams? They are like 18 year old students from Tampa? And they came to Los Angeles on Valentine’s Day for a vacation? But their flight was like totally lame and they were fully discriminated against by the airline–I mean totally!!11! And just because they are young and pretty? And now they can’t ever fly on Southwest again? Well who would want to after hearing their story??!

Here’s Sarah’s totally correct explanation about the whole deal:

“I think they were just discriminating against because we were young decent-looking girls. I mean, nobody else on the plane looked like us except us,” she said. “[The flight attendants] were like older ladies. We were younger. Who knows, they could have been just jealous of us because we were younger.”

Okay so I’m like supposed to tell both sides to the story? But I’m going to make you click through to the next part to read the rest, okay? Don’t be lame, just do it!! It’s totally worth it because you can see a rad video of Nisreen (!!!) and Sarah and see how hot they totally are!!
Read the rest of this entry →

The brand spankin’ new Qio boutique and gallery, which features casual and street couture with a Japanese flair, underground brands from Tokyo, and an art space that hosts local artists (deep breath) is having a party, and you’re invited! All kinds of free goodies will be given away, as will a raffle with prizes from Hysteric Glamour, Kunna, and Orthodox. The event is being sponsored by Asahi, so there will be lots of free beer, as well as mixed drinks. My friend the Rameniac, a co-owner of Qio, will be DJing, so put your party pants on and get ready to groove to the sounds of the 60s and 70s.

Mark your calendars: It’s all happening this Thursday, Dec. 20, from 7-11 P.M. at Qio: 11614 W. Pico Blvd., 90064. Click on the flyer and it’ll get Bigger.

One of my favorite designers…. and okay, she’s also a swell friend, is Calleen Cordero. I loved her shoes, belts and bags way before we met at Burning Man one year and hit it off. And yes, it’s a great perk to be friends with someone who has the inside scoop on fashion and who ALSO has an amazing eye for her own designs.

Anyway, she’s having a crazy once in a lifetime blow-out sale tomorrow, December 1st at her Beverly Blvd. store. They’re bringing all the stuff over from the warehouse and discounting it between 50-90%.

She does beautiful leather work; shoes, belts, bags and other assorted items. Starts at 12, 7384 Beverly Blvd. Check out the web-site for a peek at her stuff.