Most folks know me around here because of what’s between my legs. And by that irresistible attention-getter of an opening line I am of course talking about the BICYCLE I so often ride around town.

Anyway and ahem, while group bike rides, such as last weekend’s “8 Presidents Ride,” are something I enjoy organizing and doing, I’m occasionally known to get in touch with my pedestrian side and go for some pretty monumentally long walks — these in addition to Franklin Avenue blogger Mike Schneider’s always awesome Great LA Walks.

In 2006 with Don and Lisl, two other intrepid and  like-minded LA Metblog-reading crazies, I set out from Union Station and walked Sunset Boulevard 25 miles all the way to where it ends at Gladstone’s on Pacific Coast Highway

Then in October 2008 I was joined by friend and fellow Metblogger Julia, along with friends David, Jeff and Amanda and walked the 28 miles of Western Avenue from its beginning in Hollywood to its end at the San Pedro cliffs overlooking the sea.

So I told you all that to tell you that my next in a semi-irregular mostly biannual series of silly walks is scheduled to take place on the sixth day of the appropriately named month of March — and will be a far less WTF-inducing distance of 15 miles (tentative route map) that starts and ends at Hoover and Jefferson and whose route will stick primarily to Jefferson and Adams boulevards across the interesting neighborhoods they traverse and will include an ascent to take in the spectacular panoramic views afforded by the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook State Park.

Even better: since the shorter distance means we don’t have to get stepping at the crackadawn, the walk will get moving at a far more civilized hour of 10 a.m. Hope you can join me.

Occasionally — not as often as I’d like — I do some volunteering with the SPCALA, southern California’s very own Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. I’m a humane education volunteer, which means that I don’t spend as much time cleaning up dog poo as I do interacting with kids. Your feelings on this may vary depending on your tolerance for animal scat and other people’s children.

This spring the SPCALA is running Friends for Life, a week-long camp where kids can learn the basics of pet care, interacting with animals, and even a bit of dog training. When I volunteered at Friends for Life a couple of years ago, the kids were sorted into smallish teams; each team was paired with a dog, and under the supervision of camp staff, the kids taught the dog a variety of obedience commands (sit, heel, come, et cetera) and agility tricks like running through a tunnel.

The benefit to the kids is obvious; they learn the basics of a valuable skill set, but they’re also able to develop traits like patience and responsibility. For the dogs, the benefits might be even better: A well-trained dog that’s proven to be good with kids is more likely to be adopted. (Parents experiencing any trepidation at this point should note that the dogs themselves undergo a strict screening process before being allowed to take part in the camp.)

The kids, of course, may also be asked to help clean up after their dogs. Trust me: Picking up dog poop is a valuable skill. I wish more people in my neighborhood had it.

Camp runs from March 29 to April 2, then again from April 5 to April 9. More details are at the SPCALA website.

Amazing mixed media Artist Dave McKean is doing a signing this Friday, followed by a display of new work, opening Saturday.

He’s responsible for all of the covers of the comic book Sandman, as well as The Vertigo Tarot. A long time collaborator with author Neil Gaimen, and the director of Mirrormask.

He’s seriously one of my all time favorite artists, and, the couple of times I’ve been honored enough to meet him, one of the nicest guys ever. According to his Twitter he’ll sign whatever you bring to the signing Friday night at Wacko. (I mean “La Luz de Jesus.” Which is the Gallery in the back of Wacko. Whatever. Details below.)

Signing on Friday, February 12, 6 pm – 9 pm,
LA LUZ DE JESUS GALLERY,
4633 Hollywood Blvd. LA. 90027

“New Works Inspired by Early Cinema”
Exhibition: February 13, 2010 – March 6, 2010
BILLY SHIRE FINE ARTS GALLERY
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 13th, 7-10 pm
5790 Washington Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90232

“I don’t think there’s anything Dave McKean cannot do as an artist..” – Neil Gaiman

Trader Joe's in Silver Lake. Photo courtesy of Yelp.com

I have been shopping at the same Trader Joe’s in Silver Lake for years and somehow never knew about their weekly drawing for a $25 gift card.

All you have to do is bring your own bag, or basically not use their paper or disposable bags when you check out, and the cashier will give you a raffle ticket that enters you into their weekly drawing. I’m not sure if every Trader Joe’s offers this or just my local Silver Lake store, but now that I know, I’m going to be sure to bring my own bag from now on.

Do you know of any other stores offering a similar incentive? Drop a comment here and let us know.

Queen Skittles upon her trusty steed 2009 Doo Dah Parade.

Have you always wanted to be Queen, ride in a parade and “wave to your loyal subjects” as you go by on a float? The Rose Parade too rich for your tastes? You prefer to have fun rather than behave at official functions? Afraid to try out as you aren’t the “right” gender (yes, a dude was queen one year)? If you answered “yes” to just one of these then get your royal-wanna-be-self  over to the American Legion Hall this Saturday. First 20 queens hopefuls to arrive are admitted free-of-charge! $5.00 for all at the door. Food, pitchers of beer and well drinks at nominal (really cheap according to reigning Queen Skittles) prices!

The occasional Doo Dah Parade is set for May 1, 2o10. I can’t think of a better May Day celebration in all of LA and the lucky winner of Saturday’s try outs will be riding her own float for the world to bask in their Royal Glory!

Deets: Saturday Feb 13 2PM doors open, try outs at 3PM. American Legion, 179 N. Vinedo in Pasadena. 626-792-9938

Classic Eats #9 is scheduled for Saturday, February 27. Where shall it be?

Our three options:

Hot Hollywood Night: Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles and Boardner’s

Burbank Bonanza: The Smokehouse

Westside Alka-Seltzer Fest: Tito’s Tacos and Johnnie’s Pastrami

As ever, we’ll start around 5pm so you can stop in then move on to the rest of your Saturday evening events. Or stay all night!

Click here to vote!

Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

Read the rest of this entry →

The only sentence I love more than “Half-Priced Penis Puppetry” is “Vintage Fashion Expo this weekend,” so can you imagine my absolute delight having the rare opportunity to utter both of these magical sentences in the same week?

If you are like me, then you have a swanky Mad Men themed party to attend in a couple of weeks, and if you know me, then you know with utmost certainty that I have been searching for the perfect outfit every day for the past two weeks, scanning etsy, modcloth and every vintage clothing shop within walking distance of my apartment. Sadly, nothing has caught my attention yet, but I am hoping that is all about to change when the Vintage Fashion Expo hits Santa Monica this weekend.

Taking temporary residence at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium February 6 and 7, the Vintage Fashion Expo will present more than 85 vintage dealers offering the best in vintage clothing and accessories for men and women. The expo will feature women’s hats, gloves, purses, dresses, shoes, costume and estate jewelry, men’s vintage shoes, ties, hats and suits and more. You will also find great vintage eyewear for men and women.

Early admission is $20 and begins Saturday from 9:00 – 10:30 am. Regular admission is $10 and begins Read the rest of this entry →

Mink's feral cat photo used through Creative Commons

This weekend, Saturday and Sunday, the Stray Cat Alliance is having a giant indoor “yard” sale at 2201 Westwood (the site of the former Hollywood Video store on the corner of Olympic). The sale runs Saturday (Caturday as some would have it) 30 January from 8am to 3pm and Sunday 31 January from 9am to noon. The Stray Cat Alliance are those folks who care for strays, trying to match them with people, neuter and spay where needed and generally do what they can to work toward a “no kill nation.” So yeah, come buy things and help save the wild kittehs

To donate items, please email: info@StrayCatAlliance.org or call (310) 281-6973

To volunteer the week before or during the sale, email: SCAVolunteers@gmail.com

Last August, the L.A. 3-D Club participated in the Downtown Film Festival and presented an international program of 3-D shorts. Since then, the organization has worked on forming a partnership with the Downtown Independent Theater to provide a venue to show independent 3-D movies. Thanks to a generous silver screen donation from USC and the club’s recent acquisition of a pair of large venue projectors, the theater is fully outfitted for 3-D.

Tonight, the L.A. 3-D Club’s Movie Division is holding an “Open Screen 3-D Movie Night.” Anyone is invited to bring their stereoscopic video content to add to the mix. The club will continue to curate monthly public screenings at the Downtown Independent. By the way, if you haven’t checked out this theater yet, you are missing out. It’s gorgeous and has a fun vibe.

LA3D Movie Division “Open Screen 3-D Movie Night” is TONIGHT!
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010, 8-11pm
Downtown Independent Theater
251 S. Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90012

Admission to the event is $10 at the theater box-office, free with USC Student ID. Paid parking is available at many lots in the area. The theater is about a 10 minute walk from the Pershing Square Red Line station.

See the event page on Facebook for details such as file formats if you’d like to submit material to screen.

Stop by Home Ec. in Silver Lake this Sunday, January 24 for a bake sale to benefit Doctors Without Borders and their efforts to help the scores of devastated earthquake victims in Haiti. The bake sale will run from from 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM, or until they sell out.

I contacted the ultra sweet and talented owner of Home Ec., Jenny Ryan about Sunday’s event and she said,  “Prices will probably vary from $1.00 to $5.00, depending on the treat, and we’ll have beverages on hand too.”

There will also be vegan friendly baked goods available from Vegan Bake Sale.

100% of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to Doctors Without Borders. For more details on the bake sale, go here or click on the pretty pink flyer to your right.

Speaking of baked things, if you want to ensure that your craving for cupcakes is operating at peak performance, may I suggest Mr. Greens medical marijuana collective just around the corner from Home Ec.?

In 1995, one of the most shocking cases of modern day slavery unfolded in Los Angeles’ backyard. 72 garment workers were discovered in an El Monte compound living in captivity and under squalid conditions, producing clothing for such major labels as Anchor Blue, Clio, and B.U.M. A majority of these garment workers were of Thai descent.

Modern day slavery and trafficking fuels an underground economy that goes unnoticed to many. Victims generally labor in the garment, toy manufacturing, agricultural, and sex industries as well as serve in households cleaning homes or providing childcare to the families of their slaveholders. Every year, at least 17,000 people are trafficked in the U.S., with the majority of victims consisting of women and children. Los Angeles serves as one of three main points of entry.

As part of an effort to utilize the arts to raise awareness about this seldom discussed issue in the Asian Pacific Islander American community, East West Players (EWP) and the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) are presenting a special event this Thursday evening that is free and open to the public:

Excerpts from: THE GIRLS FROM AFAR by Libby Emmons, a staged reading directed by Jeff Liu

Featuring:
Dante Basco (Hook, Take the Lead)
Fran de Leon (Dogeaters at the Kirk Douglas Theatre)
James Kyson Lee (NBC’s Heroes)
Camille Mana (UPN’s One on One)
Tamlyn Tomita (The Karate Kid II, The Joy Luck Club).

Thursday, January 21, 2010
7:30 PM – show
Panel Discussion & Reception to follow
Tateuchi Democracy Forum in the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy
(Across the parking lot at East West Players next to the Japanese American National Museum)
111 N. Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012
RSVP to (213) 625-7000 or on Facebook

This is just one of several events for CAST’s monthlong “From Slavery to Freedom” campaign.

Natural Mind's Vertical Garden in Silver Lake

An update on Natural Mind, the new salon that is moving into the former Video Market space at 3607 Sunset Blvd in Silver Lake. As you can see in the photos here, a vertical garden has begun to sprout all over the walls of the building. This project has been in the works for months and months and months. Living nearly on top of this building, my neighbors and I have been watching and waiting patiently for this perpetual mess to transform into the oasis that owner, Arnaud Ozharun claims it will be. Now that the garden is beginning to take shape, I am hopeful.

Slated to open in September last year, the salon finally appears to be coming together. When I walked by yesterday, I could see product on the shelves and furniture in place. However, the salon still looks to be at least a few weeks from opening. I for one am very much looking forward to living next to a lush, vertical garden rather than the piles of construction waste and dust filled air that we’ve had to tolerate for so many months.

I’ll be sure to keep you posted as the project progresses. More pictures after the jump. Read the rest of this entry →

Below is a copy of the storm alert that was distributed by U.S. Geological Survey/Pacific Science Center. You gotta love a guy who closes a lengthy memo like this with, “In short,” (thanks to Karineh for the attachment):

“Currently, the strong El Nino is reaching its peak in the Eastern Pacific, and now finally appears to be exerting an influence on our weather.

The strong jet has been apparent for quite some time out over the open water, but the persistent block had prevented it from reaching the coast.  Now that the block has dissolved completely, a 200+ kt jet is barreling towards us.

Multiple large and powerful storm systems are expected to slam into CA from the west and northwest over the coming two weeks, all riding this extremely powerful jet stream directly into the state.

The jet will itself provide tremendous dynamic lift, in addition to directing numerous disturbances right at the state and supplying them with an ample oceanic moisture source. The jet will be at quite a low latitude over much of the Pacific, so these storms will be quite cold, at least initially. Read the rest of this entry →

Alongside the headlines of the horrific devastation of the Haitian earthquake are the headlines about how “digital fundraising” is providing a rapid flow of dollars, showing the importance of technology in providing new avenues for relief efforts.

For anyone who is technologically-minded, and even those who are not, if you want to lend your hand to a good cause, you should check out CrisisCamp Haiti in LA tomorrow at USC. CrisisCamps are hosted in a barcamp style where great minds come together to share their knowledge and expertise for social good.

This Saturday, the USC Annenberg School will be hosting CrisisCampHaiti Los Angeles to bring together volunteers to collaborate on technology projects which aim to assist in Haiti’s relief efforts by providing data, information, maps and technical assistance to NGOs, relief agencies and the public. Chad Catacchio will be leading up a team.

Project Proposals for CrisisCamp Haiti
1. Base layer map for Port Au Prince: This project would create a new collection of imagery and a new base map for NGOs and relief agencies. Post available imagery to share with the public for open source applications.
2. Family locator systems: Uniting efforts of interested technologists, developers and communications experts to provide technical assistance.
3. Tech Volunteer Skill Matrix/Volunteers: Create a role of volunteer as well as
4. Managing News Aggregator: Provide content channel management to coordinate data feeds
5. Defining the Collective: Create what we are and why we are doing this. Coordinate and post historical timeline/archive for the CrisisCamp efforts.

This will also been happening in London, Washington D.C., Denver, and Northern California.

h/t: Browyn on the BarCampLA list

I want to invite y’all to click over & check out all the winners of the LA Weekly’s “Web Awards.” No, we didn’t win anything this year, but we’re a little hard to define as LA weblogs go. Congrats to the eminently deserving LAist, Caroline on Crack, LA Taco, Top of the Ticket & all the other great LA blogs & bloggers, plus our very own Queequeg for her hernameisjanelynch.com fansite and Metblogs alum Wil Wheaton. If you don’t know them already, you should.