Need an 8-minute frivolous diversion?

With my camera rigged up to the eyepiece of my spotting scope (with duct tape and adhesive putty), from my backyard I pointed it at Sunset Boulevard between Descanso (just out of view at the bottom) and the Maltman bend in Silver Lake (at the top) to timelapse capture the afternoon traffic flow.

The number of versions of “Blade Runner“, which had already jumped the shark, has now jumped the Loch Ness Monster: director Ridley Scott plans to make yet another “Blade Runner” movie. It is not yet known whether the new “Blade Runner” will be a sequel, prequel, reboot, or otherwise. Either way, what can Angelenos expect if the new “Blade Runner” is again set in Los Angeles?
Read the rest of this entry →

Image by WatchCaddy via a creative commons licence on flickr.

I was catching up on my blog reading and spotted this bit on Truth About Cars.  The maximum fine for driving and using a cell phone is increasing to a maximum of $528.  Bicyclists are being included for the first time as well though their fines are only a maximum of $50.  I think they should be on parity with each other but what the heck at least the disparity is being addressed now.

Link to the senate proposal HERE in pdf format.  Pages 2 and 3 are where the good stuff concerning the changes to the cell phone and driving proposals can be found.

I for one am glad to see some stiffer penalites coming for using the phone while driving.  What say you?

Some of the RVs and campers along 3rd Avenue in Venice

Consider this a parting shot from homeless advocates who have lost the latest battle in the long-running Venice parking war: the National Coalition for the Homeless has named Venice’s “oversize” vehicle nighttime parking restriction one of The 10 Most Ridiculous Anti-Homeless Laws in America.

Read the rest of this entry →

Yahoo…it may happen and it won’t be a minute too soon in my book.  A commission has looked at the red light cameras as decided they cost more than they get in revenue and too many drivers are getting nailed with tickets even while making a legal right on red turn.  According to the report they could go away as early as this weekend if the city council approves…call your councilman and give them the nudge.  OF course we still have to hear from the camera owners who reap in the bulk of the money from these cameras who probably won’t be too happy to see them go away.  It will be interesting to see what they do to coerce convince the council to keep them in operation.

Hat tip to KTLA for greeting me with this wonderful news when I turned on the tube for news this morning.  Their news bit HERE.

The cars were about this jammed in Santa Monica

After last weekend’s Carmageddon threat, which drove hordes of Los Angeles drivers off the roads and away from the local beaches, today was a different story. It was back to normal in Santa Monica and Venice, meaning tons of cars jamming up the east-west roads like Washington Blvd. and the 10 Freeway, trying to get to the beach. Then, in the late afternoon, the jam reversed direction. In fact, the 10 was bumper to bumper in both directions at about 4:45 p.m. today, as viewed from the 11th Street overpass in Santa Monica.

Welcome back to summer weekends by the beach in L.A. I kind of miss Carmageddon.

From the Skirball Bridge (click for embiggification), taken at the midway point of today’s 47-mile Autocalypse Now Ride.

Its so weird I can’t even make it up.  Jet Blue is offering flights Saturday only between Burbank and Long Beach for $4 each way.  Details HERE.  Why its almost as cheap as the train or a bus.  Could be an interesting way to kill some time Saturday if you have no plans and “rack” up some air miles too.

Hat tip to the NBCLA folks for finding this story first.

That makes my most bizarre finding on the topic yet today.  What strangeness to avoid the 405 mess this weekend have you found?

DMV Special Notice about sending registration renewal notices at the last minute

I checked mine randomly the other day, and saw that it was about to expire. I hadn’t received a notice from the DMV. I called them and they said (very nice and helpful on the phone, by the way) that they had just mailed me a renewal notice. I received it two days before the expiration date. Then I had to scramble to get the renewal done, and when I tried to do so online, the DMV servers weren’t working for quite a few hours.

On top of that, the renewal form and enclosed separate “Special Notice” (see above) seem to disagree about the consequences of late registration. Read the rest of this entry →

Love the drifters out there though I have to admit I don’t like it when they do it around me.  Scary stuff if you don’t stay in the lines and put others at risk.  Imagine the consequences of not staying in the line for this drifter high atop the US Bank Building in L.A.

I doubt anyone has seen drifting that outrageous outside a publicity stunt.  My most outrageous was a knucklehead who did it in front of me on the 210/605 interchange.  What is your most interesting drifting you have witnessed?

As you may already have heard, the 405 freeway will be shut down between the 10 and the 101 on July 16 and 17.  The MTA is so excited about this closure that it has given us a fabulous “I-405: Countdown to the Closure” clock that tells us exactly how many days, hours, minutes, and seconds we have until Carmageddon 2011.  When you’re not watching the seconds of your life flipping past your very eyes, check out the information on the closure, alternate routes, and general advice from officials to just stay away from the Westside (as if you needed a reason) (oh, snap) during that weekend.

Yellow HOV sticker

The party is over in the HOV (Carpool lanes) 7/1/11 for those using the yellow HOV sticker and riding single.  This blogger for one is glad to see it come to an end and move them to the regular lanes where us that have a full car don’t have to be stuck behind them while they putz along hypermiling in the carpool lane.  There is a movement afoot to try and extend it, but according to this DMV press release the party is over.

embiggen with a click

Sigh…one really can’t win at my kids ortho for parking in the tiny lot.  It doesn’t help when some douche in a giant SUV takes up two spaces.  What you can’t see as it is hid by the shadow is the demarcation line dividing the two spots ol’ lard ass hogged up.

Pic with my trusty cell phone…gets bigger with a click.

This sign will soon be on the 405

Get ready, L.A. LADOT and other area transportation agencies are putting out the word in advance that a busy stretch of the 405 Freeway will be shut down for the entire weekend of July 16-17. The 405 closure includes the Northbound 10-mile segment between the 10 and the 101, and a 4-mile Southbound 405 segment between the 101 and Getty Center Drive. According to LADOT’s announcement (click on “I-405 Closure” link in yellow box on upper left of above linked page), if motorists “do not have a critical need to be in or near the vicinity of the closure, they are being asked to avoid the area.” The announcement does, however, contain alternate route information.

Read the rest of this entry →

View from Mt. Wilson just off Angeles Crest Highway

Last Friday, Caltrans announced that the portion of California State Route 2 known as the Angeles Crest Highway is now open over its full 66-mile length from La Canada Flintridge to Wrightwood (see June 3 press release on this page). This has been a long time coming for Los Angeles area sports car and sport bike enthusiasts, as well as hikers and others who have discovered this nearby escape route over the years. Unfortunately, the Highway has had more destructive disasters than the castle in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”.
Read the rest of this entry →