This fast and this close:

According to this tweet from LAFD Arson at least they are…

LAFD Arson tweet

I’ll admit it: Even after making the 90-minute drive up to Navitat Canopy Adventures in Wrightwood, and even when I was being strapped into the 12 pounds of harness gear, and eeeeeven when I stared down the length of that first zipline while breathing air so clean it hurt my lungs, there was a part of me that was ready to wuss out.

Fact is, I am pretty much terra firma’s bitch — exxxxtra-terrestrial, so to speak, in that my life-long crush on my physical, foot-planted connection to our earth is practically boundless. Suffice it to say the ground and me, we’re close. Really close. As such it is not often but always with trepidation whenever I intentionally leave its embrace –  but certainly not to seek various thrills such as diving into the sky out of a perfectly good airplane, or bungee jumping off a perfectly good bridge. Ziplining though? Hmmmm, now that was something I didn’t immediately have so adamant an adverse reaction to and therefore might be open to consider doing. At least in theory. Some day.

Ready to roll at zipline No. 1. Did Will stay or did he go now?

Which turned out to be March 24 when, despite my doubts about turning that theory into action, I took Navitat up on its gracious invitation and went up into that wild forested yonder in the San Gabriel Mountains about 75-miles northeast of Los Angeles and about 7,000 or so feet above sea level. Upon my arrival I was warmly welcomed by Caley Bowman, Navitat’s marketing manager, and soon after signed the requisite waiver absolving her company of all responsibility should I break a nail or a neck.

Soon after, among an assembled group of five other fellow blogger invitees (Andrea, Christine, Debi, Nicole and Bob), we were all harnessed and helmeted and venturing via 4×4 van up a steep and winding and narrow old logging road to eventually stand before that first zipline, where I wasn’t surprised at all to find that earth-bound part of me still looking for the chicken exit. But did I make like a tree and leave? Did I “bough” out ungracefully? Oh hell no. Me and my inner adrenaline junkie clipped in and went up, up and away for the ziplining rides of my life.

Read the rest of this entry →

Urbandaddy recently tipped us off to this fascinating new type of recreation facility: the indoor trampoline park. According to the Sky Zone website, they are planning to leap right into the southland (sorry) with over a half-dozen SoCal locations open or planned, including Covina, Glendale, Anaheim, the San Fernando Valley, and more.

According to the Urbandaddy post, the Gardena location was set for a soft opening this past Saturday. Anyone make it out there?

Proof that I can be two places at once, I bring you two perspectives of yesterday’s Los Angeles Marathon. This first is my obligatory timelapse of the thundering herd at the race’s seventh mile on Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake, as seen weirdly from a low-res cam literally duct-taped to the eyepiece of a 20X spotting scope:

Next I captured the street-level perspective of the event having gone down  to cheer my neighbor Dean on who was running the race in support of and to raise awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project. When I got down there with my wife Susan I found another neighbor Ralph had brought his drum (and a killer St. Patty’s Day-green dye job to his goatee), so Susan went back and got my drum and together we banged on them as the parade of participants pranced past:

The Clippers – one of LA’s favorite sportsball teams.

It’s time to strap up, square off, and challenge yourself and your friends in an epic obstacle/adventure run experience! Dan Clark aka Nitro, from the original American Gladiators, is putting on the Gladiator Rock’n Run one-day challenge in Pasadena’s world famous Rose Bowl on October 1st.  Gladiator Rock’ n Run is a muddy, gritty, ultimate-test-of-wills event!  At the end of the run is the “Rock’n Rumble Pit” where you can square off against your friends and others, in Pugil Mayhem, Mud Tug-O-War, and other battle-hardened games, just like the old-school. Ages 14-and-up can participate, and racers are encouraged to form teams, wear over-the-top costumes, and get down and dirty! Plenty of freebies for finishers, including t-shirts from Affliction, and prizes for the top 3.

After the games are done, there’s 3 kickin’ bands ready to turn it up for the party,with food and free beer for race challenge participants (21+). Enjoy the event knowing that proceeds will go to benefit the charity TACA: (Talk About Curing Autism) Bring friends, family, and gawkers; it’ll be a muddy, wild, and awesome time, all for a good cause!More details can be found at their Web Site.  Contest info deets after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry →

2 bikes that weren't in the Tour of California

You’re pardoned if you didn’t know that a world-class sports competition, featuring many of its top athletes, wrapped up yesterday in Thousand Oaks. It was the Amgen Tour of California bike race, and is seen as a lead-in to the Tour de France in July.

The Tour of California covered 8 stages, beginning at Lake Tahoe. It included many of the world’s best cyclists, including California resident Levi Leipheimer, who placed second to fellow American Chris Horner. In Europe, where bike racing is as popular as soccer and Formula One auto racing, many racers are household names. In the U.S., bike racing has more of a cult status, even among the many commuter biking enthusiasts at blogging.la.

However, the Tour of California could change that. Cult members showed up along the route, or followed the action on the Versus cable channel or website. The weather was excellent, and the route showcased much of the beauty of Central and Southern California. In particular, on Saturday, the riders climbed more than 6,000 feet up Mt. Baldy (i.e., Mt. San Antonio), the 10,000+ foot highest peak in the San Gabriel Mountains that border the Los Angeles area, and the snow-capped biggie that many of us see outside our windows. The “Mt. Baldy” climb could become an iconic staple of the Tour of California the way the infamous Alpe D’Huez has for the Tour de France.

It was an exciting race, and a great chance to show off our neck of the woods to the world, and, hopefully, to some Americans too.

Apparently, the recent takesies-backsies of the Los Angeles Dodgers by Major League Baseball has quiet a few suits talking. Their discussions are starting to get interesting. Yahoo Sports takes a look at how the baseball power struggle may help L.A.’s bid for an NFL franchise.

In short, the Dodgers could move to a new baseball stadium downtown on the site of the currently proposed new NFL stadium. A new football facility would go up in place of Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine. Stadium swap.

It’s a fascinating idea. Football fans would now be able to tailgate outside a brand new stadium, as opposed to the downtown site. It would also provide an opportunity to correct an injustice done decades ago – a new stadium could be situated to face Downtown Los Angeles instead of turning its back on the heart of the city. The new Dodger Stadium could also boast DTLA as a dramatic backdrop. Baseball would become more a part of the urban fabric of the city.

Take the subway to a ballgame? In Los Angeles?

What do you think?

The Once and Futile King (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

When news broke that Major League Baseball was assuming day-to-day control of the Los Angeles Dodgers, most of the internet reacted with a sense of “about damn time.”

Local politicians? Well, they’re just flabbergasted. Blindsided by something that none of them ever saw coming during the reign of The McCourts. How could this be? Why is this happening to our beloved boys in blue? We have never had any reason to believe something like this would happen, aside from The Divorce, Manny, gang shenanigans, fan beatings, IRS investigations, and endless seasons of The Great NL West Race to .500. We’re stunned. STUNNED!!!

Perhaps the most ridiculous statement to come out of City Hall yet belongs to Wendy Greuel:

As a lifelong Angeleno and a Dodgers fan, I would hope there would be stability so the Dodgers can focus on winning the World Series.

Follow the game much, Wendy?

That’s right folks, it’s that time of the year again. Time for gasoline and sunshine….and beer. The 37th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will make it’s way through the streets of Long Beach this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There’s a schedule of events you can check out but I suggest that you do NOT mis the celebrity race on Saturday afternoon as well as the ALMS race immediately after. Sunday will be the main Indy Car race and the culmination of what is to be a great weekend.

It looks like the weather will be perfect too. Sunny and warm, but not hot. I’ll be wearing my sunscreen. If you’ve never been, check out a post I did a couple years ago for OC Metblogs. It gives you a good idea of what to expect each day. I highly suggest you check it out. You can get Friday/Saturday tickets super cheap. Doooo it!

Dodger Stadium From Praveen31's Flickr Stream

In a swift response to the March 31st beating of Giants fan Bryan Stow at Dodger Stadium, LAPD chief Charlie Beck has announced that a zero-tolerance policy will go into effect immediately. Starting with the next game. For reals this time.

In the short term, there will be more police officers – paid for by the Dodgers. In the long-term, they plan to “look at technology, observation posts, lighting, environmental studies and increased community outreach.”

Microchips? Armed guards on a wall? I particularly enjoy the “environmental studies.” Can you imagine: After further review, Chavez Ravine is not an appropriate location for a sports venue. Sorry about evicting all the people that lived there.

The entire announcement is best summed up in the ESPN comment thread by Stark10547:

What could possibly be coolest school in the world opened in LA last week. It’s called the ‘Tempest Freerunning Academy‘. If you don’t know what Freerunning is here’s the definition from Wikipedia:

Free running or freerunning is a form of urban acrobatics in which participants, known as free runners, use the city and rural landscape to perform movements through its structures. It incorporates efficient movements from parkour, adds aesthetic vaults and other acrobatics, such as tricking and street stunts, creating an athletic and aesthetically pleasing way of moving. It is commonly practiced at gymnasiums and in urban areas (such as cities or towns) that are cluttered with obstacles.

Freerunnung reminds me of skateboarders ripping through a city on a day they forgot to bring their boards with them. It can be beautiful and terrifying and if I was 25 years younger with working knees I’d be signing up for classes immediately!

Their 7,000 sqft facility was designed by famed ramp builder Nate Wessel and looks like a dream world where Mario Brothers, Tony Hawk Pro Skater and an Olympic training facility had a weird 3-way. It has built in foam pits, trampolines, a spring floor and my personal favorite… a 14ft warped wall right out of Sasuke!

They offer classes from beginner up to advanced (although the advanced classes are by invite only) but if you just want to go and play on their gear they have an un-monitored open gym for the adults and a monitored open gym for the kids.

Check out their amazing trailer video after the jump.

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.

So last week Farmers Insurance based in Simi Valley bought the naming rights to an NFL stadium to be built in downtown LA.  Pretty cool, right?  Well the folks out in the City of Industry haven’t given up on an NFL stadium out there and can one up the Downtown LA Folks, their preliminary draft Environmental Report has gotten approval.  The Pasadena Star News is running a poll and as of Sunday afternoon voting is 2 to1 in favor of City of Industry.

Of course its all contingent on getting a NFL team to plunk in a stadium and for that there are no commitments. Personally I think it would be pretty cool to be Downtown if only because it would be mass transit accessible for more folks as opposed to the transit starved C of I.

Where would you put a stadium?  Sound off in the comments and vote over at the Pasadena Star News HERE.