In case you didn’t get a chance to ogle tonight’s not-quite-full moon, here she is as seen from my Silver Lake backyard with my point-and-shoot cam pressed up against the eyepiece of my 60x spotting scope (biggable if clicked):

The actual full sphere arrives Monday night, but I snapped its almostness tonight just in case the weather conditions become decidedly less cleartastic.

Yeah, Trader Joe’s has an annex and it’s in my kitchen. In a burst of New Year organizational energy, I tackled the depths of my main kitchen cupboard. After an hour of stacking organizing and grouping I was amazed. From the depths of my shelves, my cupboard is built really deep into the wall…came can after can of the same stuff! I’m nothing if not consistent.
Looking at the bounty, I realized, I may never have to shop again for any foodstuffs other than fresh vegies and the occasional piece of animal protein.

I was mortified at the number of unused Roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce jars I had (6), jars of Hearts of Palms (5), cans of organic black beans (6) and containers of olives I had (can’t even count em).
Forget about tallying up the gross amounts and varieties of pasta, rice, and quinoa stacked in my cupboard. It’s as if I expected that the world was gonna end and I had to have a stockpile of food to hold me over until spring vegetables could grow.
So now, part of my New Year’s agenda is to make every meal use some of the canned, jarred, dried or packaged food I have lurking in my cupboards. I should be able to cook til April.
I googled Trader Joes Recipes and found some on their site, chow hound and several more. Any ideas welcomed!

I’m also planning a trip to a shelter to share some of this discovered bounty!
I guess getting out the old broom is good every once in a while cuz we all win!

It wasn’t that long ago that I was biking 6,000-plus miles a year across this city. Then came the opportunity to work from home in 2010 and all that mileage evaporated. Case in point, with the close of 2011 I’d tallied only a few miles over the 700 mark. But I kicked off however comparitively little I’ll be riding this new year on the right note, with a 20-mile ride today that started in the pre-dawn, included a meet-up with the sunrise about nine miles in and then got me home via Chinatown in time to watch the Rose Parade. Here’s that 83 minutes of pedaling condensed down to a four-minute timelapse:

In case you are planning to attend, or occupy, the 2012 Rose Parade , you might want to take note that it’s being held on Monday, January 2nd, 2012 instead of on New Year’s Day. You don’t want to camp out a day early. The Tournament of Roses site explains the “Never on Sunday” rule the event follows:

“The Tournament of Roses is a tradition full of traditions, one of which is our “Never on Sunday” policy. In 1893, officials decided to move the parade to Monday, January 2 to avoid frightening horses tethered outside local churches and thus interfering with worship services. As a result of this reverent gesture, speculation abounds as to the rare instances of rainfall on New Year’s Day (only ten times in Rose Parade history), prompting some to ask the Tournament about its special pact with a “friend upstairs.” Also as a result of this tradition, other collegiate bowl organizations have instituted similar procedures.”

City of Burbank float 2009 by Jodi

I’m planning to check out the  Rose Parade this year, thanks to a friend who lives just off the route. Are you planning on going? If you’ve been in the past and have any tips, feel free to share in the comments.

Found this vintage mid-century motoring gem courtesy Ed Padgett on his Los Angeles Times Pressmens’ Blog.

Try describing Beats Antique to someone that hasn’t experienced them and you end up talking about a kaleidoscope of styles.
It’s Electronica, No! it’s Middle Eastern, wait, it’s Down-tempo, maybe Afro-Beat? There’s an amazing bellydancer and her team, there’s sometimes a crazy Marching Band, occasionally a wild explosion of live puppet dancers, jazz. What the hell is it?

Divine. Going to a Beats Antique concert is always an experience, kind of psychedelic, kinda dreamy…always fun.
If you want to get in on the action for FREE just give us your description of what describes their vibe onstage. Best four descriptions get free tickets for this Friday nights show on the 30th at the Club Nokia.
Do it now, cuz we have to make a decision and give these tickets away! Make sure when you sign in you leave us your email so we can contact you if you win (it’s not published!)

If you don’t win, you can buy tickets here.
Along with Beats Antique, Emancipator, Random Rab and Lynx are hitting the stage.
Beats Antique was formed by two rad musicians Tommy “Sidecar” Cappeland, David Satori and a hip-hop belly dancer named Zoe Jakes. Their performances defy description! But give it your best shot!

Marina Harbor with Burton Chace Park, a prime viewing location, on the far side

Good news for many area residents: the annual Marina del Rey New Year’s Eve fireworks show is a go.

After L.A. County canceled this year’s July 4 fireworks show at the Marina due to budget tightening, private interests stepped up to assist with funding to put on the New Year’s Eve display. That’s cause for a double celebration.

The fireworks show gets warmed up at 11:55 p.m., but, given the public parking and traffic challenges during Marina del Rey events, I’d plan to get there quite a bit earlier.

I know the above portrait of our local raccoon from my Silver Lake frontyard webcam is from last night and not Christmas Eve, but to me it still succeeds in debunking that whole “Not a creature was stirring” argument.

Hope everyone’s Christmas Day was full of merriment.

gift bags for the neighbors all loaded and ready for delivery

Over the course of the last week or so we’ve given you ideas for Holiday giving.  These represented a variety of ways to give to charities and causes near and dear to us.

A list of those ways to give back a little of yourself to L.A.:

• FixNation
• Foothill Unity Center
• Cri-Help Treatment Centers
• Occupy L.A.
• Five Acres 
• The Library
• Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles
• Chihuahua Rescue

Of course it is never too late to chime in with you own ideas for giving back to the community in the comments here.

Was a brand spanking new Laemmle theater with seven screens. Santa delivered! Wednesday night the NoHo 7 theater, newest addition to LA’s awesome “we’re not afraid of subtitles” Laemmle chain.

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There are a lot of homeless pets, and rescue organizations who are trying to help them, who can use help around the holidays and year-round. There are many fantastic groups, but one I am familiar with is Chihuahua Rescue, located in Burbank. While they care for mostly Chihuahuas and Chihuahua mixes, the no-kill, no-turn away volunteer-run shelter takes in other, primarily small, breeds as well. Many people are having to give up their pets due to the state of the economy and the shelters and rescue groups are quite full. Chihuahua Rescue is no different.

Honey, rescued Chihuahua mix

Besides adopting one of the available dogs, there are many other ways to give. You can sponsor a dog, make a one-time monetary donation, give goods and supplies such as food and blankets, or volunteer your time (as I’ve done in the past). Click here to learn more about donating to Chihuahua Rescue.

(Honey is a Chihuahua mix I rescued from an Orange County group last year).

This post is part of the Blogging.LA Holiday Giving series.

As I’ve mentioned here in the past, it’s a fine tradition of my people to celebrate the 25th of December with Chinese food and a movie. This year, I’ll be in Tucson, but were I in LA, I’d be at Cinefamily washing down the General Tsao’s chicken with a big heaping glass of Japanese teenager bloodlust. Yes, that’s right, Battle Royale is screening at the Cinefamily December 24 through January 2, in what is, apparently, its first ever North American theatrical run.

Shalom.

Image from Creative Tools on Flickr, used via Creative Commons license

Metro will offer free fare rates on the Eves of both Christmas and New Years. Here is some information from the press release, as found at Metro’s The Source blog:

The free fare program will be in effect between the hours of 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. on the nights and early mornings hours of December 24-25 and December 31-January 1.

Patrons boarding a Metro Bus, including the Metro Orange Line, or the Metro Red, Purple, Blue, Green or Gold rail lines during the hours designated will receive a free ride to their destination.

Have fun; be safe. Happy Holidays!

I’m going for the obvious here, but I don’t care.

Kids. Sick kids and their families.

Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and Orange County are pretty much tops at what they do. And what they do is help sick kids, not just to feel better, but to feel like they can and will grow into normal, healthy adults, instead of some outcast, freakshow survivor of childhood illness. And that last part is worth a lot.

Go to www.chla.org for more info.

I just learned that on the ninth day into the fourth month of his thirty-ninth year as a pressman at the Los Angeles Times, Ed Padgett was fired. Fired as a result of some sort of clandestine investigation conducted by human resources for reasons he’s not at liberty to divulge at this point. Fired over the fucking phone.

I was unsuccessful in an attempt to leave a comment of support or of use on his blog. I was swinging too severely between outrage and sadness. Still am. So I came here. To tell you a little something about Ed — which isn’t much, but it’s better than me cursing or crying.

Probably about five or six or so years ago we first met online here at Blogging.la. In January 2007  I posted an open invite for any and all fellow lunatics to join me in making good on a long-time resolution to walk the entire 24-mile length of Sunset Boulevard from Union Station to the sea. Ed commented that he was interested but had other plans. When the fateful day came in February I was joined by another B.la reader Don Hosek and USC grad student Lisl Walsh and off we went.

After the jump, Ed magically appears around Mile No. 23.

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