Dear Readers!

For years we’ve tried to make it very hard for you to give suggest things for us to blog about. We’ve had secret handshakes, high priced bribe fees, and a new cryptic e-mail address every day. Those days are in the past and we now have a handy form that takes all the guesswork out of sending us tips. This form (which is specific to Los Angeles) can be found via a link right there on the right side under our “search” option. Or by clicking that link. Now you can all quit e-mailing me at sixspace trying to get plugs here and use the form like normal people that I’ve never met and I can blame not posting about your stuff on all the other blogging.la authors. w00t!

One of my artists, Seonna Hong, informed me about an upcoming silent art auction at Cartoon Network for a four year old named Fyn Stec who was diagnosed with liver cancer on March 17, 2006…continue reading

Weather permitting, Vandenberg Air Force Base will launch another Minotaur missile this evening, bearing a payload of the most advanced orbital mind control lasers:

Liftoff of the Minotaur rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California is scheduled for 5:10 p.m. PDT (8:10 p.m. EDT; 0010 GMT), the opening of a three-hour launch window. But meteorologists are predicting an 80 percent chance of violating the launch weather rules.

Maybe you caught the last Minotaur launch in September, which was pretty spectacular(see more photos from all along the Cali/Baja coast in the Flickr ‘minotaur’ cluster). I don’t know if tonights would be as bold, since I expect that the sky may not be as dark as it was then. Maybe it will. Either way I will be watching and waiting with my camera.

[Thanks Echo_29!]

It’s taken more than two years at the cost of thousands of dollars and millions of braincells but the bureaucratic nightmare saga of Safari Sam’s is finally ending. Opening night is tonight with Tex and the Horseheads headlining.

Just wanted to take a moment and send a quick “hope everyone is OK” to our friends at Metroblogging Karachi. Looks like there was just a suicide bombing in the middle of a large gathering in a public park that killed upwards of 50 people and injured many more. Stay safe everyone, we’re thinking of you.

While the protests in LA haven’t quite started yet, they are already going down all over the country. It looks like Washington DC was huge, and Portland didn’t get rained out. You can follow the coverage on those and other metroblogging cities using this search on technorati. A wider search for “immigration” will also give you a ton of coverage from just about everywhere.

Dance Camera West will be hosting the screening of two of The Holy Body Tattoo’s films at the Los Angeles Center For Digital Art this Thursday, April 13th at 6 – 9 PM.

Here’s the schedule.

Both films are directed by William Morrison. Full details below.

P.S. Don’t forget about The Holy Body Tattoo’s performance of ‘monumental’ at UCLA’s Royce Hall on the 21st and 22nd.
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I’m up in San Francisco for the weekend and just sawthis cool post by Phillip Torrone about the recently launched GarbageScout SF, the San Francisco version of New York’s Gartbage Scout. Basically from your phone, you can email a picture of something you see on the street being thrown away that someone might want to “street@garbagescout.com” and in the body of the email type a description @ location. (for example: monitor @ 1000 Sepulveda) and it will googlemap the location to the site. Although the FAQ. seems specific to NYC, it looks like GarbageScout LA is functional just without any posts yet. I’m not sure how to send something in to specify Los Angeles, but I’m hoping to see more there about it soon.

TOTALLY cannibalized from an email I got:

If you haven’t already heard about it, Councilmember Tom LaBonge’s office sent out this invitation for the April 6th Fourth Council District Community Congress on Land Use and Planning, featuring a keynote by Gail Goldberg, Director of Los Angeles City Planning. “Ms. Goldberg will discuss her vision for Los Angeles and her prior experience in San Diego encouraging villages within the bigger city. Outgoing Interim Director Mark Winogrond will also make remarks.” RCV supporters are encouraged to attend, and learn more about zoning and potential development in our neighborhood. You can download the invite HERE. The event will be held at the Los Angeles Zoo, Witherbee Foundation Auditorium. Light dinner will be served from 5:30-6:30, with the program to follow. RSVP to (213) 978-2616.

You can take a look at the proposed zoning changes for CD4 HERE or on the Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council website.

There’s a bit of upzoning, a bit of downzoning, and a bit of “other type of change” specifically for the Rowena Corridor and Hyperion. Please take this opportunity to get involved, get informed, and have an impact on the future of your community. All are welcome to attend.

The city has posted the street closure plans for tomorrows funeral service for Deputy Sheriff Maria Rosa. Looks like Hill and Temple will be the main closures with traffic diverted around them. If you need to be in that area tomorrow for reasons other than the service, be sure to check this map and plan an alternate route.

[Thanks to Brian Humphrey for the tip]

UPDATE Please not that this was posted on Monday, April 3rd, and is in reference to Tuesday, April 4th. If you saw this post this morning (Tuesday) and thought I was tomorrow and are now stuck in traffic, I’m sorry about that. I’ll try and be more clear about what day I’m referencing in the future.

Our next and newest and 45th destination on Metroblogging’s rocksteady global tour is Bangalore, India. Go say namaskar, won’t you?

Once again Brian Humphrey and the folks at the Los Angeles Fire Department put their blog to wonderful use. In a post this morning called Storm Activity and Road Closures in Los Angeles they address how the weather effects traffic in the city and the best places to check to make sure your planned route isn’t underwater (it’s not the LAFD):

We encourage motorists to listen to local radio stations – especially AM news stations with frequent traffic updates. Public Safety and municipal agencies strive to keep these broadcasters informed with the most current information.

For those who happen to be near a computer, Los Angeles regional traffic resources are almost too numerous to mention. Here are some links you may wish to e-mail to a friend or bookmark:

Los Angeles Real-Time Street Traffic Map

Los Angeles Known Street Closures

Los Angeles Special Event Street Closures

Los Angeles County Road Closures

State Highway Road Closures – or call 1-800-427-ROAD

Los Angeles Freeway Incident Information

Los Angeles Real-Time Freeway Traffic Map

Los Angeles Planned Freeway Lane Closures

I’m surfacing from underneath all of my boxes long enough to write this post…

As big as my apartment is for a one-bedroom and as much as I love it, all of our crap we’ve acquired over the years is starting to add up. Unfortunately, this is crap we don’t want to get rid of so I am in need of some advice for local storage units, either in the Silver Lake or Culver City areas. So please, if you have any suggestions based on personal experience (and please, no info I can find by just Googling “storage unit”), I would be eternally grateful.

Thanks in advance!

… is You Gotta Talk About Felt Club!

This ain’t no ordinary craft fair – it’s a place where all manner of hipsters and nerds can come together in the pursuit of superfantastic handmade goodies.

Felt Club is Hollywood’s spanking-new monthly craft fair, sponsored by Sew Darn Cute and Meltdown Comics.

The website is live with a full list of vendors, and the debut event is Saturday, May 13th. If you miss it (or can’t get enough), FELT CLUB happens on the second Saturday of every month thereafter.

Address is 7522 Sunset Blvd. (at Gardner, sort of across from Toi). Meltdown’s phone is 323/668-1212.

Holy Crap -

Outside of the Bletchley Park Post Office I’d never expect to be able to see AN ENIGMA MACHINE in the flesh (so to speak).

But due to yet another Internet Miracle, here’s one on eBay!

The other pictures in the auction are amazing.

What’s an Enigma Machine? Read and find out.
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