Photo by Twylo, used under Creative Commons.

Last week I wrote about the 826LA Echo Park Lake Paddle Boat Regatta. Thanks to LA MetBlogs readers, authors, and other friends my team (Team Flotsam & Jetsam) finished in the upper third in funds raised among all 43 teams. More importantly, 826LA raised over $25,000 to be used in continuing to offer FREE tutoring programs to L.A. kids ages 6-18. It’s not too late to get involved. Contact 826LA to make a donation or to volunteer to tutor.

826 also offers an adult writing seminar series, and next week there is one that is perfect for nearly every adult resident of Los Angeles. Everyone in L.A. is working on their screenplay, right? This seminar is going to take you to the next level.

The 826LA Adult Screenwriting Seminar will feature a panel of award winning and Oscar nominated screenwriters, discussing how they got started, going from story to screenplay, as well as the business side of “the Business.” All the details you need are here.

Tickets are only $35, and proceeds benefit 826LA. Space is limited and going fast, so reserve your seat now.

What: 826LA Adult Writing Seminar – Screenwriting
When: Thursday, 6 August 2009, 7:30-9:00pm
Where: 826LA West, 685 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA

A friend forwarded me an email from someone at the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition indicating that the LACBC will conduct an L.A. bicycle and pedestrian count this September.

According to the email, “[w]e hope to use the data from this fun and civic-participatory event to furnish evidence for the need for more urban planning integrating mass transit, cycling, and walking.  Bicycle counts are basic city planning tools that help change policy to encourage cycling.  Most major US and European cities have them.  This will be LA’s first, and we plan to do it right while having a good time.”

Some of our local biker/bloggers may have further insight into this issue.  Otherwise, this sounds like a worthwhile endeavor to me.  If you would like to have some influence in choosing the intersections to be included in the census, click here. And count me in for two bikes and a pair of feet!

Imagine going really fast in this thing.

I can’t remember the last time I went paddle boating.  I can’t remember if I’ve ever been paddle boating.  I think the first time I saw a paddle boat was when I saw an illustration of one in “The Trumpet of the Swan,” just like how I read about tractors in books years before I actually saw one on a farm (which, incidentally, was also the first time I saw a farm).  As if to rectify this glaring gap of childhood experience, 826LA invites me, you, and everyone else to put the paddle to the metal in its 2nd Annual Echo Park Lake Paddle Boat Regatta on Sunday afternoon in Echo Park.  Check out the daunting slalom course and sign up (up to 4 paddlers per boat).  The more money a team raises prior the race, the closer they are to the finish line.  Think of this as paying to win – if it works for politicians, surely it must work for paddlers as well.

An Echo Park paddle boat courtesy Carmyarmyofme via Metblogs’ Flickr pool.

As someone who works in a hospital, I’m quite familiar with Teleflora’s annual Make Someone Smile Week. This July 19-26, thousands of Teleflora florists nationwide will deliver over 40,000 of their signature Be Happy® Bouquets to hospital patients, children in foster care, nursing home residents and many other people who do not usually receive flowers, but whose day will be brighter because of this surprise gift. It’s a really cool event.

Teleflora is hosting its first-ever Tweet-up tomorrow, Sunday, July 19^th to kick-off to the week long celebration  They will be giving away 100 Be Happy® bouquets for free to LA tweeps.  You can keep the arrangement for yourself or give it as to someone who might need a pick-me-up.

For more event details and to RSVP, click on the twtvite.

The LA Make Someone Smile Tweet-up happens tomorrow, Sunday, July 19th, 2009 from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm at Teleflora Plaza, 11444 Olympic Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA  90064.

Follow @teleflora on twitter and the hashtag #smile to keep tabs on the event.

Five people just descended into my office to look outside my windows.  Apparently, LAPD and/or other police squads have shut down portions of Avenue of the Stars, Santa Monica Boulevard, and the alley behind my building (in case you were thinking of using it as an inconvenient shortcut).  Traffic is piling up, so good luck to those of you headed to or from Century City.   I couldn’t find any information about this anywhere; anyone know what’s going on?

UPDATE:  According to my building’s people, a suspicious package was found in the 10100 Santa Monica building.  All tenants were evacuated and traffic in the immediate area is closed off.

From Noah Korda’s blog:

The final update for now. 7/12 11:55pm

Thank you everyone.
Noah Korda

The Renegade Craft Fair, which started in Chicago in 2003, is holding its first ever event in Los Angeles this weekend, July 11th and 12th in downtown Los Angeles. Over 200 artists will be selling their handmade wares from the 13th penthouse floor of the California Market Center, surrounded by a 360-degree city view.

Local community crafts organizations will representing at the show. Silver Lake’s Reform School will be giving linoleum block printing workshops on both days and Santa Monica-based The Urban Craft Center will offer zine-making and needle-felting classes on Saturday. Swap-O-Rama-Rama will also participate on Saturday. Bring clothes you no longer want and transform them, or others’ discarded threads, into a recycled outfit.

A good majority of the vendors are also L.A.-based, so this is a great opportunity to support, and be inspired by, your neighbors. One I’d highly recommend checking out is my good friend’s shop justJENN Designs, for an assortment of customized stationary and notepads, as well as greeting cards, buttons, and other fun items. Her products are unique, affordable and make great gifts.

The Renegade Craft Fair runs from 11am-7pm on both Saturday and Sunday and is FREE to enter. The California Market Center is located at 110 E. Ninth St. Click here for directions and parking information.

I’m not trying to be a fear monger, but it’s not a bad thing to be informed about what’s going on in the arena of public health. Sure, the big “swine flu” scare has seemed to have died down some, but according to the Department of Public Health, there is an increasing number of novel Influenza A (H1N1) cases across L.A. County.

Maybe it’s because I work in health care and get frequent alerts (and probable exposures) that I keep up on it. While the WHO (World Health Organization) has deemed the outbreak a pandemic, the illnesses have been relatively mild and the total number of deaths worldwide are a fairly small percentage of confirmed cases. However, the public health watchdogs aren’t forgetting the 1918 (Spanish) flu pandemic, which killed millions around the world.

I’m not panicking and you shouldn’t either. Just be smart. Wash your hands, cover your cough, avoid going to work or crowded public spaces if you have any influenza-like symptoms (fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue). You don’t have to become a full-on germaphobe, but these measures can keep you from getting other icky things too.

More recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are here. In case you’re wondering, they are not endorsing “swine flu parties,” so attend those at your own risk.

I was a little grumpy because I haven’t been invited to any 4th of July shindigs (and am too lazy to host my own). Once again, Machine Project comes to the rescue!  Tonight, at 6pm, you can participate in “The Porch of July: Folk Americana Group Sing with an Open Porchestra,”  a free acoustic celebration and sing-a-long of American folk music, led by head balladeers Daniel Brummel and Laura Steenberge. Oh, and there will also be popcorn carts. I don’t know if there is anything more patriotic than that!

Prior to the sing-a-long, Machine is hosting an exclusive, members only Freeze-B-Q  at 4pm. It is a super secret event of which I can not divulge the details. I think that’s a good incentive for those of you who have been meaning to become a member but just haven’t gotten around to it.

Machine Project is located @ 1200 North Alvarado in Echo Park, 90026, between the Downbeat Cafe and the Echo Park Film Center. You’ll know where to find me starting at 4pm. I’ll be the one freezing pudding.

For those of you who would like to join 17,499 others in releasing your angst over Michael Jackson’s death, organizers of his memorial service will be  raffling off tickets for those who register at the Staples Center website by 6 p.m. TODAY, July 4th.  Tickets either will be for the official service at Staples Center, or at the live screening of the service across the street at the Nokia Center.  Winners will be notified on Sunday.  Of course, if you don’t win, you likely, sadly, can try eBay…

Radar is reporting the memorial service for Michael Jackson will be held on July 7th at 10 AM at the Staples Center. Price for entry is $25.

Also,

T-shirts that were going to be sold on Michael’s upcoming “This Is It” tour will not go to waste. They will be sold outside Staples to people entering the service.

Classy.

[UPDATE: From CNN: "Fans wishing to attend singer Michael Jackson's memorial service next week will have to register for the 11,000 free tickets, organizers said Thursday. The 20,000-seat Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, will host the memorial service on Tuesday."]

A “best” artist contest to be new reality show

Even fine art can be tacky, if Bravo TV’s planned reality show for visual artists is any indication. The network that was known for its cultural programming before it nosedived into middle-brow reality series is partnering with Sarah Jessica Parker to produce “an art-related reality competition show” to be broadcast sometime next year, according to today’s NY Times.

An open casting call for artists will be held in Los Angeles on July 11th and 12th. At this point, no details are available on bravotv.com but I assume they will be forthcoming before long.

Bravo says the competing artists will be judged “by a panel of top art world figures, including fellow artists, gallerists, collectors, curators and critics.” Gallerists? The winner will receive a gallery exhibit, a cash prize and a sponsored museum tour.

Although I’m not holding out for any art that is truly challenging or controversial, I do hope aloof self-absorption will be a category of competition.

Saturday July 18 is Classic Eats #6. Time to decide where it will be and I’m keeping it simple with one location for each vote (except for the Giant Donuts…).  As you may recall, the event location will be up to you and your votes. The actual time will be determined by the where we will be going. Generally, we plan the events in the early evening (between 5 and 6) so there is time to move on to other events you may have planned for Saturday night.

Click here to vote. The voting ends July 13.

Click through past the jump for details on all candidates on the ballot.

Read the rest of this entry →

Film reels @ EPFC by noway

For the next few hours you can get some great deals on old film and video gear, while at the same time supporting an important community organization. Today, Echo Park Film Center is holding their annual rummage sale with all proceeds going toward the free filmmaking classes they offer to kids in the neighborhood.

Besides youth classes, EPFC also offers no-cost classes for seniors. Other workshops are very reasonably priced. In addition to media arts education, the film center offers a variety of things from microcinema screenings to equipment rental to digital editing facilities and more.

Echo Park Film Center is a Los Angeles treasure and has much to offer to the city. Why not stop in and see if you can help them out by purchasing something they’ve cleared from the closets? If you aren’t in the market for some used film gear, there are other ways to get involved.

The rummage sale runs until 5pm today. I have it on good authority that you can get some really good deals today and that there is still plenty of equipment available.

Echo Park Film Center is located at 1200 N. Alvarado Street @ Sunset Blvd, next to Machine Project.

Photo by Blake Gardner, used with kind permission.

Looking for something interesting to do tonight in L.A.? Take in some culture, a lot of culture, at Create:Fixate‘s art space at the Premiere Events Center in downtown Los Angeles.

Back in March I told you about Create:Fixate’s first event of this year, “Wisdom Within Us.” Tonight they return with their new show, “Build.” I had a great time at Wisdom, and I’m really looking forward to the new show.

Tonight’s event will follow a similar format to the one in the Spring, with a new theme. There will be many different artists showing in a huge three-room gallery, live music & DJs, cocktails and dancing. It’ll be like that party at your friends house, but cooler. Much, much cooler.

What: Create:Fixate’s “Build” – Exploring Art, Architecture & Design
When: Tonight, Saturday 6/27, from 7:00pm-3:00am.
Where: Premiere Events Center, 613 Imperial Street, Los Angeles

So tonight join me early at the Doll Factory for the LA Derby Dolls All-Star game, then follow me over to Create:Fixate and we’ll make it a high-brow after-party. For complete details on tonight’s event, see Create:Fixate’s website.