If you are looking for something cool to do this afternoon or evening, I highly recommend checking out L.A. Noir, a two-day art event in Echo Park. I went last night and really enjoyed the experience, where I picked up a piece of handcrafted jewelry.

The show is described as “the dark side of sunny California” and does not disappoint. The displays, all for sale, include paintings, photographs, jewelry, sculpture and more. Much of it is dark, some a bit twisted, and many pieces serve as love letters to Los Angeles, in particular Echo Park. The fact that the “gallery” is actually a gorgeous Craftsman home in the hills adds to the beauty and uniqueness of the event.

L.A. Noir continues today from 3pm-9pm at 1918 Lemoyne Street, Los Angeles 90026. You can also call 323.664.5043. Click here for a partial list of the 30+ participating artists.

In March 2010, the US Census will conduct its dicennial survey of the who’s, what’s, and where’s of the American population.  For those of us who are gay, lesbian, trans, or any orientation not strictly heterosexual, the survey always has been a bit of a conundrum: while some of us would like to define our partners as our spouses, the census survey, as a policy, will not.  In fact, according to this WSJ article, just two surveys ago in 1990, when an individual classified that the same sex “roommate” s/he was living with as a spouse, the census taker would non-surgically edit the roommate’s sex to reflect that s/he was the anatomical opposite of the census taker.  The 2000 version of the census gave gay couples the “option” to classify their relationship, whether it was young and uncertain or mature and committed, as an unmarried partnership. This was supposedly the more enlightened approach, yet there was still data scrubbing: for those LGBT couples who insisted that they were married and checked the appropriate box, homophobic legal definitions be damned, they were nonetheless clumped into the “unmarried partners” category.

The 2010 survey will continue the 2000 recoding policy, but in 2011, for the first time, the federal agency will release the raw, unedited state-by-state data.  LGBT advocates hope that the raw data will more accurately reflect the number of LGBT couples who define their commitment as something more than an unmarried partnership.  And, on a more macro level, I’d say that we hope to de-heterosexualize definitions of relationships and force the US to finally recognize that yes, it’s gayer than it would like to think, or project.

TONIGHT at 6:30 (late notice, but I ), the LA Gay and Lesbian Center will host a volunteer recruitment/teaching session for those who want to help educate the LGBT community about the census and how it will affect them and the Family.  Speakers will include a noted LGBT demographer and a representative from the Census Bureau.  Other opportunities will likely come again between now and March.  In the meantime, check out the FAQ from the national census advocacy group, Our Families Count.

A memorable scene from Roman Polanski’s 1976 masterpiece, The Tenant.

zombies on the loose

Picture it hundreds of zombies parading down Hollywood Blvd 6:15 PM Wednesday 9/30. Wanna participate but can’t do the make-up right yourself?  Be at Grauman’s Chinese at 4PM for a free zombie make over.  Yes, free, zip, nada, zilch no money outta your pocket for this one.

Also, if you really want to do the night up right there is a free screening (don’t you just love the word free???) of Zombieland immediately following the zombie march.  To get in all you need to do is rsvp to zombielandla@gmail.com before the 30th.  If you want to learn more about the movie “Zombieland” that this is all in promo for check out the trailer here.  This should be a great publicity stunt to partake in.  Consider it your pre-Halloween warm up and have some fun!

Deets: Zombie Walks LA,  Grauman’s Chinese, 6925 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood CA 90028

Pic by Vickie S a metblogs reader from the San Diego Zombie march.

Reports are tweeting in about a blackout Downtown. Any word on the status where YOU are, dear reader? Let us know.

The brainchild of Meric Long, The alterna-folk Dodos are known for their creative instrumentation (Logan Kroeber has no bass drum in his drum kit and Keaton Snyder, the newest Dodo, plays vibraphone). This Sunday they’ll be playing the El Rey with fellow indy rockers, The Ruby Suns, whose latest album, Sea Lion, includes ukulele and pots and pans, along with some more conventional instruments. Rounding out the trio of fun is the really lovely Sian Alice Group, who are described variously as “art rock,” “avante-garde,” and “post-rock.” It’s a show you’ll want to be on time for. All three bands are great. And you’re in luck, we have a pair of tickets we’re dying to give away. Just tell us in the comments what unconventional instrument you’d play in your fantasy band.

Get details on the show and purchase tickets here.

Theresa Thompson's picture used through Creative Commons

Tammara inspired me to chime in about the election for the 2nd District City Council seat, not because I favor her candidate so much (I don’t–I think I’m for Sanchez, myself) but because it is an important election and I know the turn out will be low and that always makes me sad. Here’s how the City Clerk’s site explains the job of the city council:

The Council is the governing body of the City, except as otherwise provided in the Charter, and enacts ordinances subject to the approval or veto of the Mayor. It orders elections, levies taxes, authorizes public improvements, approves contracts, and adopts traffic regulations. The Council adopts or modifies the budget proposed by the Mayor and provides the necessary funds, equipment, and supplies for the budgetary departments. The Council confirms or rejects appointments proposed by the Mayor and prescribes duties of boards and officers not defined by Charter.

It’s the governing body of the city, people, and this is one of only 15 seats. Read the rest of this entry →

In case you didn’t know, tomorrow is a special election day if you live in the valley and vote in City Council District 2.  The seat was left vacant by Wendy Gruel getting elected to City Comptroller and tomorrow 10 people are up for the post.  The area spans from Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills to Sherman Oaks, Valley Village, Verdugo Hills, North Hollywood to Tujunga.

I’ve only met one of the contenders… Frank Sheftel… a down to earth guy who was born and raised in the Valley and has run several businesses there his whole life, and I like him for several reasons.

Read the rest of this entry →

Did you see the sky tonight at dusk? It made me think of David Lynch’s description of LA.

I arrived in L.A. at night, so it wasn’t until the next morning, when I stepped out of a small apartment on San Vicente Boulevard, that I saw this light. And it thrilled my soul. I feel lucky to live with that light. . . .

Even with smog, there’s something about that light that’s not harsh, but bright and smooth. It fills me with the feeling that all possibilities are available. I don’t know why. It’s different from the light in other places.

From Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity. You can buy it here

Aw, free days at the museum are meant for pictures like these.

The recession has created at least two things: 1) a lot of people with idle time and no money; and 2)  a cry for art to adequately reflect our discontent, anger, and haplessness.  Ok, the second one is not readily apparent, or maybe it’s not true (it should be true); nonetheless, during the first weekend in October, 22 museums will swing open their doors and let the idle masses stampede their way into their halls, a la the early days of the White House, and contemplate their existence or whatever else pops into one’s head when staring at purple walls.  Museums participating in “Museums Free for All” on October 2 and 3 will offer free general admission to the mostly unemployed public on one or both days (you’ll still have to pay for any special ticketed exhibits).  Participating museums include the California Science Center, the Grammy Museum, MOCA, and the Natural History Museum.  (Note also that the Getty is “participating” on both days, but message to Los Angeles: the Getty is free all the time.)

The full list is here.  Stampede away.

“BB & The Bear” photo courtesy moeberg via the Metblogs flickr pool.

Not to be a fashionably-late party pooper, but I don’t get the ongoing cinematic kerfuffle concerning LACMA’s weekend film series. LACMA canned their program due to a shrinking audience, and then thousands of individuals, including director Martin Scorcese, expressed dismay at the decision by the County-run museum to slight its hometown’s heritage. I understand that argument on a symbolic level, and I’m glad the museum plans to relaunch a revived series, but even without LACMA, Los Angeles would still have a plethora of venues to see screen gems, rarities and oddities. Which may partly account for some of that shrinking audience.

Some of my favorite venues include the UCLA Film & Television Archive, the Silent Movie Theatre, the New Beverly Cinema and the American Cinematheque (which is screening the any-self-respecting-Angeleno-and-cinema-lover-must-see Los Angeles Plays Itself this weekend at the Aero Theatre, with director Thom Anderson in person on Sunday). People literally line up around the block to see screenings at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. And let’s not forget the screenings that the American Film Institute, the Academy, the Los Angeles Film Festival and heck, even the Natural History Museum (which is screening Reptilicus this Sunday as the final film in its B-Movies and Bad Science summer series) offer every year.

Images: Title screen of Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003) and a poster (detail) for Repticilus (1961).

Spotted in Little Tokyo:

I guess the store discovered that credit cards, kids, and unaccompanied men spelled t-r-o-u-b-l-e, or, at least, l-e-s-s  p-r-o-f-i-t.

… as captured by NASA’s Pasadena-based Jet Propulsion Laboratory mid-morning August 30th.  The area covered by the below capture is 152 miles wide.

EDIT: Also: -New evacuation orders have been issued for between Haines Canyon and Alpine Village in the area bounded on the south by Apperson Street, on the west by Sevenhills Dr. and on the east by Glory Dr. Both sides of Glory Dr.

Advisory, Station Fire-Evacuations, URGENT CNS Network Advisory

The Los Angeles Fire Department has announced mandatory evacuations for residents of the following streets in Sunland-Tujunga:

Click for full map

Seven Hills Drive;

Hillhaven Avenue;

Lonzo Street;

Dos Rios Drive;

Deliban Avenue;

Curland Avenue;

Terecita Road;

Terecita Place;

Samoa Avenue;

Samoa Place;

Parsons Trail;

Grenoble Street;

Hillrose Street;

Pinyon Avenue;

Fairgrove Avenue;

Glory Avenue;

Bellclaire Street.

The evacuations involve between 200 and 300 homes.

Took a quick look out the window from my office at the Howard Hughes Center in Westchester as I was leaving and whoa (click for enlargification):

Looks to be the San Gabriel Canyon fire north of Azusa.