I recently posted about CERT training in LA and here’s a gentle reminder that now’s the time to get started. There are a ton of classes starting up this week. Actually for some places Monday was the first class but my Google Alert got piled in a bunch of emails so hey, better late than never eh? If you missed the first class you can make it up later so no reason to not jump in. I’m going to be going to the Woodland Hills training so if anyone reading this can make it, say hello! The online calendar is a little out of date so I contacted them this morning and they sent me the up to date full class schedule.

This homemade ad appeared on the wall of my building’s mail room today. It’s for a “Small Entertainment Center : Holds a 32′ TV”. My first thought upon reading the ad was, “wow, if that’s the size of the tv that goes on a small entertainment center, I’d love to see the tv that sits on the large entertainment center.” My second thought was, “this is another Los Angeles ‘This Is Spinal Tap’ moment, only in reverse.”

1951 Ford F-1

I spotted this largely untouched survivor the other night whilst checking out a local Art Bear (post to follow).  This gem was “flamed” with a can of krylon for a blessing of the cars some 20 years ago, its been allowed to just gain a patina of age all on its own.  The owner debates whether to allow it to continue to gather patina or give it a fancy paint job.  If he does the latter he fears that he’ll be afraid to drive it and chance being in an accident.

Pic by me and it does get bigger with a click.

An adorable future hot dog. Photo by Flickr usr be_khe.

I saw one a day or so ago, in Hollywood, and was baffled, because I hadn’t yet heard the news that the famed NYC hot dog merchant was opening up a restaurant here in town. Now I wish I had snapped a picture, but alas, my phone sucks anyway. A quick tl;dr for those too lazy to click the link: There’s a Papaya King opening up in Hollywood later this year, and they’re starting the party early by tooling around town in a food truck.

As a fan of mechanically-separated beef and pork sausages this excites me; as a native Philadelphian who thinks LA kicks NYC’s ass in every possible regard while barely breaking a sweat (sorry, Travis), I’m a little dismayed. What, Pink’s extra-salty tube steaks don’t satisfy anymore? Skooby’s can’t slake your thirst for hot, glistening wieners? A thick, hot, West Hollywood-style pork dachshund slapped between two warm and willing buns at the Sunset Strip Carney’s just doesn’t do it for you anymore? Fine, LA. Turn to the New Yorkers. See if I care.

Ah, who am I kidding? I’ll try it and I’ll probably like it. Unless the casing is thick. My girlfriend is a New Jerseyan who thinks that hot dogs are best when they snap when you bite them. She is beautiful, and I love her, but she is woefully wrong. We’ll see how these Papaya people measure up.

So, anyone seen the truck? Readers with pics of the truck can post links, or give me permission and I’ll post one here.

Like my Blogging.la compatriot Burns!, I too ventured forth yesterday to avail myself of the free ice cream offered by the @BenJerrysWest truck parked on Vermont Avenue at Hollywood Boulevard — and it was scrumptious.

And like my other Blogging.la compatriot Frazgo, I love finding old and/or unique vehicles on the road, or in this case at the head of the Sunset-Hollywood used car lot, appropriately named because it sits literally right there at the vortex of Sunset and Hollywood Boulevard. Here she is snapped by my bikecam, as I found her returning home from my mid-day snack:

A little further down the road I also had to stop to pixelize this well-lighted fellow on Sanborn just south of Sunset:

Both are enlargifiable if clickulated.

Actor, author, artist, auteur…provocateur John Waters is coming to Los Angeles this week. On Wednesday evening he’ll be at Largo at the Coronet, in conversation with Jeff Garlin.

Waters, the legendary filmmaker (Pink Flamingos, Hairspray, Cry-Baby, Pecker, among others) is on a book tour promoting the paperback release of Role Models, his essays about people he finds inspiring. Subjects range from Tennessee Williams and Johnny Mathis to Manson Family member Leslie Van Houten.

This is bound to be a fascinating (and funny) evening. Get your tickets now, and I’ll see you there.

What: John Waters in conversation with Jeff Garlin.
Where: Largo at the Coronet, 366 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles
When: Wednesday, 4 May 2011. 8:00pm.
Tickets available online.

Arrive early. You don’t want to miss a moment. By the way, if you’ve never been to Largo, it’s important to remember the rules; they’re pretty strict about them. No late entry, no cell phones/texting, no photos, no talking. Break the rules and you’ll likely be given the boot. Follow the rules and you’ll likely have a delightful evening.

Congratulations are in order for outgoing Curbed Los Angeles editor Dakota Smith.

Dakota took over the LA edition of the popular real estate and development blog when it was barely in the terrible 2′s. After a 4-year run, she heads to the Valley to report for the Daily News.

We look forward to reading her take on the always amusing 818. Maybe she can help us get the trains rolling.

Skylight Books Sign in Los Feliz

I’m not one of those Angelinos who will claim that our literary culture rivals that of New York (sorry people, it just doesn’t–we can still love LA and concede secondary status on pizza and publishers). Nonetheless, we do have a pretty vibrant community of writers and readers. I’ve written about Chaparral and What Books Press here before, and I’m always happy to see news of a new journal or press.

On that note, The Rattling Wall is set to launch this month, and the inaugural issue looks delightful with offerings from Albert Reyes, Tony Hoagland, James Frey, and Neal Pollack, among others. They’re having a release party at the Hammer a week from tomorrow. If Hoagland were reading, I’d be there in a heartbeat, but alas he is not. Nonetheless,the slate is full of talent: Joseph Mattson, Michelle Meyering, James Greer, Neal Pollack, Allison Burnett, Stacey Waite, Eloise Klein Healy, Sam Dunn, Matthew Zapruder, Lou Mathews. It should be a great reading.

Terrifying! But ecologically important. Photo by Bilby.

UPDATE: If you’re interested in learning more about bees and colony collapse disorder, you should head to one of the Laemmle Theaters this weekend to see VANISHING OF THE BEES, a new documentary on that very subject. It’s narrated by Ellen Page, who I’m pretty sure I saw in Whole Foods once, so I have a personal interest in this film.

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Let’s face it: Honeybees are jerks. They fly around your face, buzzing and buzzing, trying to get you to swat them so they have a legally bulletproof excuse to sting you. They’re the Nelson Muntzes of the animal kingdom. If they were bigger than us and had hands, they’d constantly be imploring us to Stop Hitting Ourselves. So when you find a beehive on your property, your first reaction might be to call in Seal Team Six.

But wait. Little snots that they are, honeybees play a valuable role in the natural environment. They provide free, natural pollination to commercial crops, valued in the billions of dollars. They also produce honey, without which we would not have the hilarious adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh. So it’s important to maintain the bee population, particularly in light of their recent decline in population.

Fortunately, the Backwards Beekeepers are here to help.

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Last Friday my friend took me out to a fantastic little place for Happy Hour nestled next to the Van Nuys Airport called The 94th Aero Squadron. As we’re driving through an industrial park to get there I’m a little leery but when we pull into the parking lot there’s a bi-plane parked in the front yard of a beautiful ivy covered building. Completely out of place from were we’ve just been driving and totally takes me off-guard. We walk into the place and it’s covered in old war paraphernalia like a TGIF out of the middle of a World War. When you walk up to the bar there are giant windows overlooking the runway. And by that I mean you’re about 100 feet from the planes taking off and landing. Sadly it was a super windy day ad the planes were taking off from the opposite end of the field. My friend said she got totally star-struck when Larry Flynt’s plane taxi’d by their table the week before ;-) I saw a few Coast Guard Blackhawk’s taking of and what looked to be a Russian Mig rolling around.

Like I said it was Happy Hour so we dug into the free noshables and ordered the GIANT appetizer sampler platter while we downed our cabernets and margaritas. There were just 3 of us total and it completely filled us all up to stuffing. OMG, the coconut shrimp were AMAZING! After a few glasses of wine my friend went over and chatted up an old guy at the “Pilot’s Only” table, which turns out actually is for pilots only. The staff was great and the vibe was chill. Before we left our waitress told me to go check out the banquet room which was made up like a blown out house overlooking the back patio where a band was just getting settled in for a long night of cover tunes. I’ll be going back there quite a bit I for-see. Definitely a hidden gem in the valley.

Years ago we bought a corner hutch that has to go for a variety of reasons.  Primary is its ugly and doesn’t fit with our current style.  We’ve looked all over for a suitable cabinet, bookshelf or table to put there and have had no luck.  Putting in plant material doesn’ interest us for that corner.  We’ve been all over in furniture stores in the SGV and even went out as far as Ontario looking and found NOTHING.

I am looking for a furniture/cabinet maker that can make a simple 4 legged round table about 4 feet tall to put into the corner.  It would need to have the feel of  something like the 40′s modern look-clean lines no ornamentation.  We’d want it in a dark wood color.  It would not be big as the corner is 2 foot by 2 foot.  Does anyone have anyone they can recommend for such a job? If so leave me a note and I’ll get back to you for their contact info or have them contact me direct at frazgo at mail dot com.  Thanks in advance for your help.

Suddenly I see this is where I want to be… right here in the front row of KT Tunstall’s ** The Solo Show ** with Charlie Mars & Miggs (**Update, Meiko has been added to the line-up!) at the El Rey on Monday May 9th.

Clearly the anthem for any working girl that’s dealt with her own Devil in Prada, I know I had her song in every single one of my playlists. Plus I’ve heard “black horse and the cherry tree” is something that can only truly be appreciated live. And now’s your chance to see her! Thanks to our friends at Goldenvoice, I’ve got a pair of tickets for some lucky Blogging.LA readers.

So leave a note in the comment section below with your favorite Devil Wears Prada moment and I’ll pick a reader at random to get a pair of tickets for Monday’s show! The contest ends Friday May 6th at noon PST. Tickets are gone!

You can also buy tickets HERE at Goldenvoice!

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Hat tip to LA Weekly for this one: tickets to the Tim Burton exhibit at LACMA just went on sale. The exhibit runs from May 29 through October 31, but heads up, people: Tim Burton will be at LACMA on Saturday, May 28 to sign copies of the exhibit catalogue and his book, Art of Tim Burton.  To get a feel for the exhibit, check out Burton’s nifty website here.

General admission tickets are $20 and, if the avalanche of people at a similar MoMA exhibit is any indication, this one will be crowded.  Good luck trying to see past all the Goth kids.

Photo of LACMA by pink_fish13 via the Blogging LA Flickr pool.

You never know what you’ll find in the free section of Craigslist. For the first-time home buyer, this may be right up your alley. It’s a free house near 7th and Garland in City West.

You just can’t have the land that it’s on. So, bring a truck and a couple friends, ’cause this sucker’s gotta go.

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Photo by me, while nomming delicious -free- ice cream.

Though I’m not getting the scoop on anyone (see what I did there?,) I thought it important to let b.LA readers know that Ben & Jerry are in town. Well, at least their truck is.

As noted around the Intertubes, Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Truck is in Los Angeles. They arrived today, and will be here for the next six weeks passing out free scoops all over town.

I’m headed over to Hollywood Blvd. & Vermont, where they will be until 1:00pm, but you can find them wherever they may be by following them on Twitter.

I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream!