Pair of Chevy Volts at 2011 Alt Car Expo in Santa Monica

Santa Monica is a Ground Zero for hybrid, electric, and other alternative fuel vehicles in the U.S. It’s nearly impossible to open your eyes while there and not notice at least a Prius or two. Therefore, it’s not surprising that the flagship event for this Sunday‘s National Plug-In Day will be a gathering and parade of electric and plug-in vehicles in Santa Monica.

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Back of Whole Foods

Los Angeles area folks do not have a reputation for subtlety. Perhaps that’s one reason why this mural which doubles as a pictogram, hiding in plain sight on the back of the Venice Whole Foods, is none too subtle. Hint: the Whole Foods is at the corner of Lincoln … and Rose … get it?

Bonus points if you look weaker than a small child.

A lot of people in LA are looking for jobs, and today Jezebel picked up on an opportunity right here in our own back yard for any anorexics seeking gainful employment. Well, not “intentional” anorexics, according to the ad. But you know, if you just happened to stumble into your eating disorder by chance, then maybe this gig’s for you.

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The Dining Deck at Santa Monica Place

Now through October 26, Santa Monica Place is screening classic “Movies on the Deck” on Wednesday nights outside on the upper dining level. Of particular interest next Wednesday night, Oct. 5, Sixties sex bomb Dyan Cannon, who has a new book out about her life with former husband Cary Grant, will make an appearance in connection with the screening of “North By Northwest”, one of Grant’s (or anyone’s) best.

The shows start at 7 p.m. Bring your beach chairs, food, & beverages, or take out from one of the many eateries at the Place. And don’t forget those layers — due to the proximity to the beach and the time of year, it may be like Hollywood Forever/Cinespia, only chillier.

The Shelby Car Show last Saturday on the Santa Monica Pier was just about the greatest thing ever. But instead of gushing about it in words, I’ll show you more photos after the jump.

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Courtesy nailmaker via the Blogging LA Flickr pool

Per CBS, President Obama will make fundraising pit stops in West Hollywood on Monday evening, first at the House of Blues, then off to dinner at Fig & Olive.  As with his usual habit to arrive just around rush hour, he’s scheduled to arrive at the House of Blues at 5pm.  Unless you can afford to go – it’s anywhere from $250 general admission to the House of Blues to a year’s salary for a couple to attend the Fig & Olive dinner- you probably just need to know this information so you know to pretty much avoid West Hollywood completely on Monday.  If you live in WeHo, best of luck getting home.

Shelby on the Pier, 2008

Car nuts will have a treat this Saturday, as the Seventh Annual Los Angeles Shelby American Automobile Club Car Show arrives at the Santa Monica Pier.

The history of Carroll Shelby is too lengthy to recite here, but suffice it to say he’s the man behind the development and/or perfection of some of the most famous cars in performance and racing car history, including the AC Cobra, the Shelby Mustang GT 350, and the Ford GT40, as well as the Sunbeam Tiger. Moreover, Shelby worked much of his magic within a short tire-screeching drive of the Pier. Plenty of examples of these cars, as well as newer models given the Shelby treatment, will be on hand Saturday, along with their owners. It’s one of the largest collections of Shelbys you’ll see anywhere, and it’s free!

The Shelby show runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with numerous awards to be given, including Best of Show, starting at 2. I’ll be the one holding a camera and drooling.

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 →

Intelligentsia Coffee in Venice

Although I work mostly from home, a large residential construction project next door this summer has pile-driven me out of the house. Therefore, I’ve been searching for the perfect West Side coffee shop in which to work. While this subject has been picked before, and others have their own considerations, I have a challenging qualification to add to the  basic requirements of tasty coffee and free WiFi: the place has to be kind of quiet.

Before you ask, I’ll answer: (1) Yes, I’ve tried local libraries. Have you  been to one lately? Loud talking and even cell phone chatting is now standard practice. (2) Yes, I own noise-cancelling headphones, and use them frequently. (3) Yes, I realize that coffee houses have a long history as places of lively conversation. (4) A real office or shared workspace? Yes, I’ve thought about it. But how’s their coffee?

Here’s what I’ve tried so far:
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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.

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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.

Bathroom Etiquette

Bathroom etiquette takes many forms.  Yesterday I was in a high-falutin office complex in Santa Monica and spotted this sign in the mens room.  It made me laugh, then it made me wonder what the hell happened that made them post the warning.  They not only ask you to clean up after yourself but then enumerate the steps to do so.

The image is kinda crappy as it was done with a cell phone.  To save you the squinting eye strain here are the steps in short.  Flush more than once to leave a clean bowl, make sure the ass gasket is flushed completely, make sure the seat is dry and lastly wash your hands.

Granted it made for a really nice clean restroom and there are plenty of others in the city that could use similar instructions.  Where is your favorite potty stop in the city?  Least favorite?

Pic does get bigger with a click.

You Should Like This

Before The Event That Never Was, I wrote about the need for a rail line along the 405 corridor. I exchanged a few emails with Bart Reed of the Transit Coalition, who shared some insight as to how to get such an important piece of the transit puzzle off the ground (or rather, under.) He said they have been in talks with Los Angeles Council Districts 6 and 11, and that they would begin promoting through social media sites.

The Valley-Westside Rail project is now up on Facebook. You should like it.

I asked Bart how people could get more involved. He said that we need to start by garnering support from neighborhood councils. So, that’s where I began, with a few emails of my own:

This past weekend, the closure of the 405 and the media attention it received resulted in a ripple effect on the entire freeway system. Drivers got lucky. Businesses did not. This further illustrates the need for viable transportation alternatives. Specifically, a more comprehensive regional rail network.

As a contributing author for Blogging.LA, I wanted to get your input on a newly envisioned Metro rail line from the Valley to the Westside, by way of the 405 corridor.

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

Trees are a big deal in Santa Monica. Sometimes they get manicured. Sometimes they get cut down and cause a controversy. In this case, on 11th Street near Santa Monica Blvd., a lone protester has made a stand on a tree stump. The handwritten note taped to the traffic cone on top of the stump reads:

R.I.P. *Here remains what was once a beautiful TREE cut down under our very noses. When will [our] city cease this action?

Hopefully, the city had a good reason to cut down the tree, i.e., that it was dead or dying, rather than just some form of aesthetic tree gentrification. I did see some newly planted trees nearby on the same block, so perhaps that is what will happen here too.