Paseo Spring Fest Post Card click to embiggen

I’m not a fan of malls, but I am a sucker for a good fine art event.  At least Paseo Colorado is a semi-open mall.   Paseo Spring Fest promises to be among the better ones as it is a juried event, meaning the artists have to be reviewed by a jury panel to ensure they are accomplished at what they do.

During your time at the art show if you need a break and feel the need for a little libations do stop in at the Bodega Wine Bar.

Parking is fairly good at the Paseo.  It is about 6 blocks, an easy walk from the Gold Line Memorial Park Station which is a pretty good option if you are mass transit enabled.

Details: Sat 10AM-6PM, Sun 11AM-6PM, 280 E. Colorado Blvd.Pasadena, CA MAP HERE

pay dragon logo

It launched this morning.  PayDragon is a free app for your iphone or android.  It hooks you up with a participating food truck or restaurant, lets you order and prepay cutting down the hassle of lines and worry if you have cash on hand.  Actually it does quite a bit of nifty stuff for you…

• QR reader: scan codes with participating PayDragon merchants to instantly begin a transaction
• A discover tab: locate nearby participating merchants
• A game layer: earn points toward incentives from merchants
• Exclusive deals: take merchants up on sales and food deals
• Facebook integration: tell your friends about the great meal you just enjoyed
• Receipts for transactions: keep track of purchase activity
• Notifications: receive alerts when an order or item is ready to pick up

Participating vendors include the sweets chain Beard Papa and a number of LA-based food trucks such as The Bun Truck, CambalaCHE’s,Auntie’s Fry Bread, Chunk n Chip, The Grill Sergeant, The Wien, and Rounds Premium Burgers.

You can get your free download for your iphone HERE and your Android HERE.  I’ve been told by the good folks that other formats…Blackberry and Windows are being worked on.

Pasadena Earth and Arts Festival poster, click to embiggen

You’d think I live in Pasadena given how often I post about the place, I don’t, but they always have something of interest going on.  This Saturday its the 10th Annual Pasadena Earth and Arts Festival to be held in and around the Armory Center for the Arts across from Memorial Park.  Here’s the run down of things that will be at this FREE festival:

• huge eco-market place with exhibitors private and public helping you to live green
• The Green Truck and Coolhaus food trucks for sustainable noshing
• First ever sustainable beer garden with a biodegradable “little red cup” featuring the beer from Craftsman Brewing Company and Eagle Rock Brewery
• Fallen Fruit will be there with its jam making wisdom.  Feel free to bring in your found fruit from public spaces or your own back yard.

For gawds sake take public transpo to the Gold Line and exit Memorial Park Station…you’ll be right at the park and only a very short walk to the Armory Center.  Show your metro pass or ticket at the Transportation Booth and they will have a gift for you…well a gift as long as the supply lasts.  Beats the difficulty in finding parking in the area which can be expensive when you do find a space and don’t forget that PPD does patrol hard for scofflaws.

Details:Saturday April 14, 2012 11AM-5PM, 145 Raymond Street, Pasadena CA, MAP HERE

It isn’t often I get jazzed about a press release’s contents but this event sounds too cool to pass up.  A tradition in some Asian countries is a night market wherein streets become giant markets for the night. That is is exactly what is happening this Saturday night in Pasadena on Oakland Avenue between Union and Colorado.  The event promises to be filled with music, food and merchandise all with an Asian flare to it.  Admission is FREE!

Parking is tough (and expensive and extensively patrolled for scofflaws) in that area.  I strongly suggest that if you are mass transit enabled do so and get yourself onto the Gold Line and take it to the Memorial Station and walk the couple of blocks it takes to get there.

Details: April 14, 2012, 5-11:30PM, Oakland Avenue, Pasadena  MAP HERE. 626 Night Market Web Site.

Full press release after the break. Read the rest of this entry →

This is a novel way to get rid of that suspect, as in “is it really pink slime or not” stuff you have in the freezer or fridge that you haven’t already tossed out in disgust.

Today, Wednesday 3/28 bring that suspect package from another store to any Fresh and Easy and swap it out for their ground beef.  You can read all about the swap in the Pasadena Star News, their web or blog or just take it from me that its really happening.

There are a couple of caveats. You are limited to up to 2 lbs of their 80/20 stuff.  IT is only good as long as supplies last…maybe call ahead to verify they are still doing it at your local Fresh & Easy.  They have a handy store locator  HERE.

Marci of Co-op 28 and her counter of books

Me, I’d rather stick pins in my eyes than go to a mall the week before Christmas. I prefer to do most of my holiday shopping at places like Unique LA or Handmade, so how happy was I to hear about Co-op 28 in Los Feliz.

Behind a fairly unassuming store front, Co-op 28 houses a gallery and what a more pretentious blogger might call a “curated” gift shop/boutique. The shop hasn’t been open long, but it has the feel of a place that should become a neighborhood staple. You’ll recognize some of the artists/designers from Unique LA if you go there, but of course, Co-op 28 is open every day and doesn’t cost $10 at the door. Not that it’s cheap–I easily spent far more than I intended–but most things are priced as you’d expect for handmade, one-of-a-kind items. The owner Marci Siegel has put together a great collection–a rack of clothes, a table of bath items including eucalyptus bombs that steam up your shower, fun and fancy jewelry, guitar straps, clocks made from old pulp fiction novels and Dr. Seuss books, purses . . . even a selection of classic candies. Because who doesn’t want a handful of bit-o-honeys to go with that lomography print?

To make the whole thing irresistible, the shop is on Vermont right off of Prospect, which is to say, next door to Paradis, the amazing Danish ice cream shop that earns my wholehearted love for periodically featuring licorice ice cream. So go, finish your shopping, have an ice cream, chat with Marci, and avoid the mall. Merry whatever-it-is-you-celebrate.

It’s become our custom at b.la to share some ideas about how to help those in need during the holidays. We’ve been posting about places or organizations where you can volunteer your time or donate your money and truly participate in the spirit of giving this holiday season. But I know what some of you are thinking: All this helping-the-less-fortunate is well and good but what about the 1%? What to get them this holiday season? Thanks to a Thrillist email a few days ago, I have the answer for you. Read the rest of this entry →

I love businesses that support the art. I even like them better when they give up space to showcase new and emerging artists.  That is exactly what South Bay Lexus in Torrance has done.  They have donated space on their lot for a bunch of pods to be set up as pop up gallery spaces.  There are over 50 pods, over 400 artists, curators, museums, galleries and fun, one-stop shopping for art.

More information on the art and artists can be found on Fine Art Trekkin’ Torrance and Fine Art Trekkin’ South Bay.

Deets: 9/3 & 9/4/11Saturday and Sunday Sept 3, 4 noon-6pm. South Bay Lexus.24777 Crenshaw Blvd. Torrance, California 90505

Tent City at Venice Beach

Yesterday was my annual pilgrimage to Venice Beach with the kids for their end o’ summer/back to school field trip.  (I celebrate the latter).

It is so sad to see the changes going on in Venice right now.  Where the sidewalk was once lined with artists and musicians it is now packed with EZ-up tents selling mostly swap meet type crap.  To even get to the tent city one has to wade through a gauntlet of a dozen or so “independent musicians” hawking their latest CD in a very aggressive in your face manner.

I can count on my hand the number artists left on the sidewalk of Venice Beach.  It was sad to see so few of them left.  It was even sadder to see the number musicians has dwindled to less than a handful.  I miss them all, they were the heart and soul of the Venice Beach that I have come to love over my years here. Read the rest of this entry →

Coming around a corner at the Atwater Village Costco yesterday, I discovered that the middle of freaking August is never too early to start thinking about the holidays:

the runway at thread

Let me start with a confession: I’ve never been to THREAD. In fact, I’d actually not even heard of it until after I posted about Unique LA and one of the vendors asked me if I were going. But don’t judge the event by my ignorance; I’ve never pretended to be a real fashionista. I can’t walk in high heels and I don’t own a purse that costs more than $20. I’ve spent most of my life in graduate school or working for nonprofits so I favor a bottom feeder aesthetic myself (you can see the whole pond from down here).  All that said, THREAD sounds super fun and I’m going.

The show travels from city to city and showcases 100 independent designers. It’s taking place Saturday June 12 at the Cooper Design Center, which is a nice space, and there will be djs, art, a photo booth, a clothing swap, spots to get manicures and shoulder rubs, and even a “man cave” with beer and darts and “entertainment for male shoppers” (one fears to think). According to the website FAQ, goods are priced $15-$200 so even those of us on a budget should be plenty happy. I love to support independent designers, and an event with music and free stuff and snacks sounds perfect. Admission is cheap ($10 or $5 with an rsvp), but even better, I’ve got pairs of passes to give away. What’s better than something for nothing? Just leave me a comment below telling me what’s on your fashion wish-list, and winners will be selected randomly by June 8.  

When: Sunday June 12, noon-6

Where: Cooper Design Space, 860 South Los Angeles Street, 11th floor

(VIP entry 11-noon is  available for $25 to the first 300 in line and includes a swag bag and a free cocktail. We’re giving away a regular entry, not a VIP pass.)

Honestly.

I saw This Person shopping at a Santa Monica Ralph’s last week, fully without irony.

She and her friends were not looking to see if anyone would notice the robe, nor were they in any sort of Dude-like good humor.

I would have been willing to Consider giving her a pass if she at least bought milk and/or Kahlua, but all they bought was a few bags of Doritos.

They wandered the store, jabbering in a language I failed to identify (and I’m pretty good at that), and exuding general bitchiness.

Ugh.

No thank you.

(No, I don’t show her face. And neither should she.)

That crazy 99 Cent Chef is at it again.  With some Jacaranda blooming  just a tad earlier than usual he celebrates their arrival with a quick video tour and ends it all with a recipe for eggplant hummus.  If you dig purple food this will be for  you.  You can follow more of his adventures in and around LA in the 99 cent stores creating more fun food on his Blog.

So Saturday, we did venture out to Unique LA, as we commented that we might. My friend Roberta said Monstertrocity was her favorite booth, and it was certainly among mine.

I remember when Kat was selling wares off her bike in front of Bazaar Bizarre and I loved her stuff then and I do now. If you missed it, fear not, Unique LA is adding a summer show so you can go buy cool monster stuff or all kinds of other wonderful things. More pictures from the show after the break. Read the rest of this entry →

“Hey Boss, want to buy a home theater?” That’s what the man behind the wheel of the white van parked in my local West Side shopping center asked me the other day. I smiled and said “no”, remembering the old days back in the DC area where one or more of these white vans would cruise around my local shopping center, selling speakers.  It was always a white van.

I remember the speaker guys back then saying that their products were “extra inventory”.  At the time, I had also read that, in additional to their questionable provenance, the speakers were really crappy, and would break after a bit of regular use.

Nowadays, we have online retailers competing with brick-and-mortar stores, we have Amazon, we have near-instant research ability to find a good home theater in a box for a reasonable price, possibly with no sales tax.  From our phone.

The white van, however, looks pretty much the same.