L.A.moment: Wild cats in Weller Court, Little Tokyo

L.A.moment: Hawt cholo cars

Toy District: You can get me out of Anaheim but you can't get the Anaheim out of me...(photo taken and sent via mobile phone)...

L.A.passing: Sherman Torgan of the New Beverly Cinema

Sherman Torgan, the owner of the last remaining L.A. revival movie theatre, the New Beverly, made his transition from this world July 18th. Cause of passing was due to a heart attack. As you can see from the memorial photos (credit: C. Hunt), the New Beverly's marquee says it in the bittersweetest way possible...

For more, read the L.A. Weekly's coverage HERE

The Los Angeles Times obituary for Sherman Torgan is HERE

L.A.culture: Hookah smoking @ Stars Cafe, Little Armenia/Silver Lake

New owners and now outdoor seating so that we had a great view of the Griffith Observatory, Wendy's and the Union 76 station while drinking great tea! (Photo taken and sent via mobile phone)...

L.A.chain: Famima!

This Japanese-based chain of convenience stores is perfect for us Pacific Rim-centric Southern Californians...(photo taken and sent via mobile phone)...

L.A.experience: Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store, Hollywood

A surprisingly choiceless menu in terms of "real" food, every employee is super happy in that way that is super off-putting...(photo taken and sent via mobile phone)...

L.A.resource: What's the walkability score of your neighborhood?

Out of a 100 points, my section of Boyle Heights scored a 64. Which isn't so great in my opinion.

In my neighborhood, there aren't a lot of businesses like stores or restaurants but REGARDLESS, see how your neighborhood scores at Walkscore.com calculates the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc.

L.A.changes: Metro Goldline extension

Is it late 2009 yet? (taken and sent via mobile phone).

L.A.culture: ¡Ask A Chola!

¡Lookit! "Ask A Chola" has all the answers you not thought you needed...check it:



¡y oye! Hay mas respuestas aquí, buey...

L.A.event: Jalisco's Thursday Nite Show

Women singing who are not women but more of a woman than I am a apparently a man...(taken and sent via mobile phone)...

L.A.moment: The Moon over Los Ángeles...

Did anyone catch the crescent moon last night?

L.A.moment: King Eddy's

This is what 'Saturday at 12' looks like to my Navajo friend...(Photo taken and sent via mobile phone)...

L.A.history: Dutch documentary recreates the Culver City of 1920's Hal Roach films...

Ugh, if anyone out there speaks Dutch and can create a transcript, it'd be much appreciated. This documentary follows pop culture historian, Piet Schreuders, as he researches and recreates via computer rendering the 1920's era Culver City that we've seen in the Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang and other Hal Roach films.

L.A.event: Grand Performances

Summer is here and so it's time for the Grand Performances concert at California Plaza...(photo taken and sent via mobile phone)...

L.A.event: Downtown Art Walk

The Downtown Art Walk unfolds in the Old Bank District every 2nd Thursday of the month. What I love is that each gallery has its own unique personality, standing out separately and equally from one another. Last night's attendance seemed bigger than last time and there was a number of works that I perversely coveted...

L.A.event: El Ten Eleven @ The Bordello

Went out to the Bordello for El Ten Eleven, 2 guys (a drummer and a guitarist) with the invisible power of pedals and electronics always surprise first timers with their deep and full sound. (Too bad the pictures kinda' look like caca--I hate using flash on photos, yet do not have the needed stillness a tripod would). Also caught The Harmony Brothers/Charlie Wadhams (different bands, same people) and Broken Remotes. Loved the Zombies-like sound of The Harmony Brothers/Charlie Wadhams. I got to meet Charlie afterwards (like, the nicest most sincere guy in the world) and am looking forward to playing some tracks of his on the killradio.org show I co-DJ, "Hear, Here". Broken Remotes were a surprise, beautiful sound, beautiful harmonies--I could go on but don't want to sound so uber-gushy...BUT, wow we were batting 3 for 3 last night--haha!!

L.A.moment: Downtown

I need to go more places in L.A...(taken and sent via mobile phone).

L.A.resource: USGS/Cal-Tech earthquake meter

Non-SoCal natives don't believe me when I say that we pretty much have an earthquake everyday here in Southern California. So here's a site that can let us better understand this bit of trivia: Cal Tech has a seismic graph that shows the past earthquakes that happened during the past hour, the day before and the previous week. Go there to see if any happened in your neck of the woods. Don't go there if you'd rather not know...

L.A.event: Sunday, July 15th @ Lost Souls Cafe

O.k., shameful plug for the "Hear, Here" fund raiser for the non-profit and non-commercial L.A.-based internet radio station, killradio.org. Come for the bands and stay for the after party at Bar 107...remember, for some, it's all about the after party...



I co-DJ "Hear, Here" with DJ Jon Hershfield and we webcast on Mondays from 2pm - 4pm Pacific Time @ killradio.org...it's an all submissions show where bands from all over the country and the world send us their CDs and mp3s and we play it with no hesitation...

L.A.resource: UCLA digital photo archive

UCLA's digital photo library is addictive...visit at your own risk...

L.A.location: L.A. River

Continued walking home to Boyle Heights and the dismal nature of the L.A. River was more apparent than ever before...even the Cesar Chavez Bridge was a picture of decayed beauty, inherited by people who no longer appreciate it...

L.A.moment: Union Station

Homeward bound via the concourse at Union Station...(taken and sent via mobile phone)...

L.A.moment: Red Line to Union Station...

Here comes the train at Beverly/Vermont...(photo taken and sent via mobile phone).

L.A.moment: Union Station

Close up of the gates inside the Station...(taken and sent via mobile phone)

L.A.moment: Union Station

Passing through...(taken and sent via mobile phone)

L.A.past - Commercials from the 70's and 80's

After posting the Zody's commercial (see L.A.moment: killradio.org fund raiser @ Safari Sam's July 2nd), I got hawt and bothered for the local L.A. commercials from whence I was but a wee one:


CONTROL DATA INSTITUTE





THE FEDERATED SUPERSTORES





I can't find my favorite though, an anti-drinking and driving p.s.a. where I distinctly remember the wife chasing her drunk husband out of the house pleading, "Don't take the car, you'll kill yoursel--!"

L.A.moment: Sunday afternoon @ Lost Souls Cafe

It's Sunday afternoon, hot out...what better to incline oneself to drink iced coffee @ Lost Souls Cafe downtown...

L.A.event- RIDE-Arc July

First time I had ever taken part in SCI-Arc's RIDE-Arc. For July, this architectural and urban anthropological tour of downtown Los Angeles looked at Homelessness, Gentrification and Incarceration. From SCI-Arc's L.A. River adjacent location, about 200 of us biked south to an area between the 4th and 6th Street bridges where the homeless of L.A. were sweeped up by the LAPD, then we traveled further south to the Biscuit Company Lofts for a surprising dose of gentrification. (The whole downtown loft explosion is exciting but I wouldn't want to live so far from downtown, Metro Red Line, etc. while having a gazillion factory and manufacturing buildings as neighbors), next we traveled west into Skid Row. Although our numbers caused some attention and concern from the area's residents we had a great informational lecture in front of the Midnight Mission from the night manager and a current resident. Someone asked the resident how long he had been living there and after he yelled back that he'd been there since October, he got applause from everyone which I thought was touching and beautiful. We biked east to the Hart Hotel, an SRO upstairs that has a non-profit clean needle exchange program on the street level. Since the sweeps of homeless people downtown, these non-profit clean needle exchange groups have a harder time helping those people wishing to exchange old needles for new ones. Because of this, the clientèle has shifted to middle class people coming from the suburbs wishing to exchange old needles for new ones rather than from the homeless population.

We then continued west up 3rd Street to Hill Street where we drove past the backside of Grand Central Market, the hopefully someday will be resurrected Angels Flight and ended up in the South Park neighborhood at the soon to open Ralph's. Our numbers in front of this yet to open supermarket made both the store's security guards as well as the neighbors in the balconies across the street question everything.

From there we rode into the Civic Center all the while reclaiming streets from cars to end up across from the new jail opening next door to the LAPD's Parker Center. Finally we ended up at the Twin Towers Men's Jail adjacent to the MTA Building.

I have to share that this was a powerful experience to bike throughout my favorite neighborhood of downtown L.A. But also there was a sense of responsibility I felt I had to learn about what one might think are 3 separate issues that actually overlap considerably...

(photos to come...!)

L.A.moment: 4th of July in Boyle Heights

After a barbecue in Eagle Rock it was back home to the 4th of July war zone of Boyle Heights...it reminded me of being a kid when fireworks were (albeit oddly when you think about it) LEGAL.

L.A.moment: killradio.org fund raiser @ Safari Sam's

The relatively new Safari Sam's in the shopping center where the 99 Cents Only Store used to be a Zody's and the Safari Sam's used to be a strip club. Non-profit and non-commercial L.A. based internet radio station, killradio.org, with the help of Valerie of The Ghost Lullaby, raised a pretty pretty penny. Thanks to all the bands: Ready The Jet, Jessie Deluxe, Peach Fuzz, The Ghost Lullaby and The Dirges!