Having participated  in Bike Week going back to its beginnings in the mid-1990s, it’s good to see how far the events have come from such humble origins. But one thing that’s always perplexed me through those years is how big the collective emphasis is on biking “to” work, with pretty much a total divorce from that whole “from” part.

Though the Law of Commuting states, “What goes out, must come back,” year in and year out Bike Week organizers ignore that all-important second part. On the designated “Bike To Work Day” that “To” part is taken literally. Mornings are chock full of strategic events and pitstops and various freebies, sprinkled with the occasional councilpersons who’ll don helmets and grins and pedal under an MTA sign and past a camera pool. And if you’re in the right place as you pedal, you might find a few scattered Starbucks that’d give up a free drip coffee if you rolled there before 9 a.m.

But pretty much after that hour things are broken down and packed up and put away — which is literally half-assed; a willingly missed opportunity to keep the good vibrations and awareness going on for that integral return trip. Well, with this coming edition of Bike Week (May 16-20; with Bike To Work Day on May 19) I’m pleased to report some progress has been made. Not by the city or the county or Metro, but rather by the LA County Bicycle Coalition who for better or worse is gonna help returning cyclists get their drink on.

Read the rest of this entry →

Among the reasons you don’t want to get sent home from work early on a Monday morning are that someone packed a suitcase, brought it to the back entrance of your office building, sat down on it, and proceeded to put a bullet in his head something like 50 feet from your desk.

That’s what just happened to my friend who sent me this picture from his office building in Downey. People at his work speculated that it was a disgruntled ex-employee [update: there are indications he most likely was not], but there’s no real information. [Further update: this definitely wasn't a disgruntled employee incident, and the address of the building has been redacted due to a request by the occupant.] I’m using the occasion to remind the rest of you that there are resources available should you feel desperate enough to contemplate suicide. You can call the National Suicide Prevention lifeline: 800-273-8255 or use LA Counties’ Department of Mental Health site to find a provider near you. Regardless of your insurance status, if you walk into the emergency room of any hospital and tell them that you want to kill yourself, you will get treatment. However limited our public health options may be, they are preferable to the “permanent solution to a temporary problem” that is suicide. Hang in there, people. Whatever you’re dealing with, it will eventually change, and killing yourself will break the hearts of the people who love you.

Meet Evan Cook, the Monrovia Association of Fine Art’s Student Artist of the Year.  I have to admit the funnest part of being in MAFA is to find young talent and help recognize them and foster their interest in creating art.  Watching Evan grow into his art the last few years has been fun and certainly he has grown tremendously under the mentoring of his teacher at MHS, Sal Perez, and his employer Lisa Barrios of the Paint n Play Art Studio and Gallery.  At Paint n Play Evan both shows his work and gives lessons on the potters wheel and ceramics.

More about him in the Fine Art Trekkin’ Monrovia blog post by Ginger Van Hook.  (She also made this interview video with Evan). Read the rest of this entry →

Driving down Sunset today (I got the Sad Foot, by the way, and indeed:), I saw that Uncle Jer’s, that little shop of curiousities and knicknacks and randomness across the street from the Vista Theater, was having an “End of an Era” sale.  I got home and checked: yup, sadly, Uncle Jer’s will be closing after 10 years.  Owners Rob and Cassandra simply say they want to spend more time with their two young sons and so it was time to move on.  There is a storewide 20% clearance sale from now until they close their doors at the end of the month.  They plan to have some sort of online presence after they close the shop, but those are tentative for now.

Sorry to see this little shop go – it was always such a delightful way to kill some time before catching a movie across the street.  Oh, sad foot.

Photo courtesy Lush Bunny and used under a Creative Commons license.

[Sorry, too angry to dig for a CC photo]

I realize the world will end anyway on May 21st, but The Hollywood Reporter is, well, reporting that Grauman’s Chinese Theater is being sold and we should Expect Some Changes once their deal closes on May 20th.

Bull SHIT, sez me!

There’s a Facebook page to save it but everybody knows what that’s worth.

I’m not completely clear if they’re only getting the Mann Chinese 6 at Hollywood and Highland, or if the rumor that the developers are “considering turning the theater, which has 1,152 seats, into a nightclub,” is anything more than that, but still.

Really? The Chinese Theater? It’s not IT enough for you?

The Chinese is on all the historic registries, but developers (and Samaha in particular) are notorious for moving forward with their nefarious agendas and hoping no one will notice until it’s too late (Yes I Mean You out there bulldozing Johnnie’s Broiler).

Let’s not let this get swept under the rug, Angelenos!

NBCLA reports animal activists are upset with the promo for what is reportedly a new taco joint in Culver City set to open in June.  ”Pink Taco’s” painted a donkey pink and paraded it around the city and made this video as part of their marketing.  I’m really not offended by it but do get it that some were.  I’m actually more surprised by the gratuitous inclusion of little people flopping about in the video than I am of the painted donkey.  Paint washes off after all.  (Sorry I have no snazzy photo and the video won’t embed for some reason).

What say you on the painted donkey?  On the double entendre of Pink Taco, better name for a food joint or a strip joint?

Corner of Franklin and Vermont about 12:15AM, 4/29/11

Someone was Lighting a String of Trashcan Fires late Thursday Night / Early Friday Morning

I took the picture to the right myself. Firetrucks were already on the way, and in fact, already in the area, as this was at least the third trashcan fire lit.

I felt slightly guilty snapping the pic, like I should have done something more, but my Android doesn’t have a “Fire Extinguisher” App, and I really didn’t have that much water on me at the time.

“I.C.M.E.” indeed. Eyewitness account after the jump.

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KCET just confirmed that they are selling their production facility on Sunset between Los Feliz and Silver Lake to the Church of Scientology for “an undisclosed amount” that undoubtedly has many, many 0′s.  According to the LA Times’ article about potential deal, the Church now gets to add around 4.5 acres of property to its march towards taking over the world, one stress test at a time.

According to KCET’s official statement, the now-independently owned public television station plans to expand their programmingblahblah and currently are looking to relocate to other facilities.  After KCET officially vacates the premises, up to a year from now, will the Church repaint the buildings to movie set blue, like the giant building on Hollywood (above)?  Will you be asked if you would like to be outfitted with contraptions that look like they were pulled out of the The Twilight Zone‘s circa-1960s prop department in a box labelled “Space-y Looking Things” every time you try to go to Rudy’s for a haircut or to Tiki Bar for a tiki drink?  My answers: hopefully yes, and hopefully no.  In that order.

Update:  Thanks to the comments below for pointing me to the Church of Scientology’s news release on this.  They say the KCET facility ” is a perfect fit, in both size and location, for the expansion of the Church of Scientology’s production of religious and social betterment audiovisual properties, and we welcomed the unexpected opportunity to acquire it.”

Photo courtesy jasmined and used under a Creative Commons license.

Permit me, with a photo my wife Susan took of him a couple months before he passed,  to recall one of Silver Lake’s beloved cast of street characters — El Circo Loco (né Antonio Ruiz) — whose death was five years ago today.

What I wrote on the one-year anniversary still covers how I feel:

Every time I’ve since passed the corners of Golden Gate and Sunset Boulevard where I most often saw him living his life out loud and leading his one-man parades, I still look for him and I still can’t believe he and his colorful extravagance now live only in the hearts and memories of those who miss him so, like me.

Viva El Circo Loco! Viva Antonio Ruiz!

In January the city council told the LA Police Commission to report back on the effectiveness of red light cameras and what to do about them.  Its been reported that the commission voted 3-2 in favor of keeping them.  FULL REPORT HERE.

They did this even noting that 75% of the tickets were for rights on red, they claimed they were rolling rights on red, that don’t come into play with the fatal intersection T-boners that they claim they want to reduce.  The report does show that the awareness factor coupled with the cameras has reduced those kinds of intersection accidents with a commensurate reduction in fatalities.  Hard to argue the results stats, but I still question the right on red tickets.  I’d argue the drop in fatalities is due to stronger safety standards on cars.

What say you on the continuation?  I hate the damn things myself, if I screw up I prefer to get the ticket in person not anonymously in the mail long after the fact where I never knew it happened or could even argue that it had.

(This image used under the Creative Commons Share-Alike License, by Joe Ravi, under a license CC-BY-SA 3.0.)

flier gets bigger with a click

Free is the magic word for this event, including the parking. They have some great presentations lined up to provide you with Strategies for Success in Today’s Economy. Some of the topics include Business Marketing, SBA Loan Programs and Services, Important Sales and Use Tax Updates, and much more. In addition, you’ll have the opportunity to speak with experts from various agencies that specialize in helping small businesses grow and succeed. It is brought to us by Jerome E Horton (Chairman of the State Board of Equalization), Roger Hernandez (Assembly member 57th district) and the city of West Covina.

You do need to register online, for free with the BOE and can do so at This Link.  Or you can call to reserve a spot at 888-847-9652

Deets: Friday May 6, 2011 9AM – noon. 1444 West Garvey Ave (city hall) West Covina CA 91790  MAP HERE

Murder Suspect Sought in Studio City (via ktla.com)

UPDATE: My bad, I had to walk the dog and forgot to hit post when this was relevant. *Doh!* Please go about your day. The suspect is now in custody.

According to coverage at KTLA:

Three schools were placed on lock down Friday as police search for a murder suspect in Studio City.

Police say the suspect was last seen just east of the Carpenter Ave. Elementary school campus where he fled after being recognized by North Hollywood detectives.

Authorities are searching the area near Laurel Canyon and Maxwellton.

The suspect may be armed and is dangerous, officer Diana Figueroa said.

Read the full story at KTLA.com

I’ve come to consider last October’s inaugural CicLAvia something of the Los Angeles cycling community’s Woodstock, both in the fact that it was a defining and shining moment for our city and also because as the years go by I get the feeling that a lot more people are going to say they were there than actually were.

Whether you were or you weren’t a part that street party spanning between East Hollywood and Boyle Heights, your chance to get out and enjoy the second CicLAvia is imminent. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. this Sunday, April 10, the same 7.5-mile route as the first one will be closed to vehicular traffic and open to all manner of self-propellers. Be it bike, skateboard or just your feet you really should set aside some time to soak up what is such a unique and sensational experience.

Here’s a slightly remodeled version (higher res with an original soundlayer I created with the iPhone Bloom app) of the timelapse I made during part of my CicLAvia’ings from Boyle Heights back to East Hollywood:

Because I’d've forfeited yesterday’s and every damn game going forward until the apprehension of the suspects wanted in the post opening-game beating that put a Santa Cruz paramedic and father of two into the hospital in critical condition. Plus I’d put up $100,000 in team money as a reward for their arrest and conviction.

But nothing so extreme and outrageous and defiantly zero tolerance occurred to the the Dodgers who instead give us a front office spokesperson who gives us this: “It is extremely unfortunate that this incident took place on what was otherwise a great day at Dodger Stadium for tens of thousands of fans.”

Really?

Sure, I understand the show must go on and the  game must be played. But I also understand that doctors are trying to decide whether or not to remove a part of the victim’s brain.

From the Daily News:

Bryan Stow, 41, is in a medically-induced coma today with brain injuries delivered by two Dodgers fans. Stow, wearing San Francisco Giants apparel, was jumped, knocked to the ground and repeatedly kicked in the head after Thursday night’s game, his relatives said.

According to police the attackers are 18-25 years old, were wearing Dodgers attire and had shaved heads and thin mustaches. One had a small goatee, and the other had numerous tattoos on his neck, said Detective Percy Morris at a news conference Friday. A female reportedly drove the getaway car the suspects got into after the assault.

Police urge anyone with information on the attack to call police at the Northeast Station at 213/485-2563.

(click it to enlargify)

I stood as near to the edge of the Silver Lake Reservoir as I was allowed and snapped the above panorama on April 21, 2007, the day the long-locked open space was opened to the public for the first time in decades and hundreds gathered on the green expanse to hear the nimbys rail and the politicians regale about the would-be park planned.

Roughly three weeks shy of four years later (and much to my disbelief), the Silver Lake Meadow is scheduled to “soft open”  tomorrow, according to The Eastsider LA and Curbed LA.

Honest.