Showing posts with label Los Angeles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Los Angeles. Show all posts
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Photos: Carmageddon 2011 in Los Angeles
20 photos from Carmageddon in Los Angeles. For those of you who don't know, the weekend closing of the 405 freeway in Los Angeles (July 16,17) is being referred to in the media as "Carmageddon" because of the severe impact it will have on traffic on L.A.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
News: Food Truck to Become Subject of Ron Jeremy Porn Movie
I guess it was only a matter of time. I see the Flying Pig food truck every day, by the way, but I've never once seen Ron Jeremy in it.
See also:
Racist food truck
The Great L.A. Food Truck War of 2010
See also:
Racist food truck
The Great L.A. Food Truck War of 2010
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Photo: Breaking L.A.
If only...
Adios L.A. is a visual goodbye to the city by artist Jon Jackson who is moving to New York. Look for the following billboards around L.A. until January 15th.
Adios L.A. is a visual goodbye to the city by artist Jon Jackson who is moving to New York. Look for the following billboards around L.A. until January 15th.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Video: El Rey (California is a Place)
Part of a series of videos called California is a Place. "El Rey" shows the life of a mariachi player in Los Angeles.
"I don't have a throne or a queen, or anyone who understands me...but I'm still the king."
The whole series is excellent and extremely engrossing. There is one on the creator of the Real Doll (NSFW). Another one shows the current state of the economy and the housing crisis from the point of view of skateboarders who use abandoned swimming pools. Another video shows the lives of a couple of private border patrollers.
"I don't have a throne or a queen, or anyone who understands me...but I'm still the king."
The whole series is excellent and extremely engrossing. There is one on the creator of the Real Doll (NSFW). Another one shows the current state of the economy and the housing crisis from the point of view of skateboarders who use abandoned swimming pools. Another video shows the lives of a couple of private border patrollers.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The Joys of Apartment Living in L.A.
Last night was fun, in the sort of "re-examine the choices I've made in life" kind of way. I had to call security on my thoughtful neighbor from upstairs because the thumping from his subwoofer was rattling the walls and preventing my kids from being able to sleep. Then at about 12:45am somebody in the apartment complex (coincidence?) pulled the fire alarm, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate and scaring the living shit out of my kids. It took them about 1/2 hour to confirm it was a false alarm, and by the time the kids had calmed down and fallen asleep again, it was probably 2:30am in the morning. Oh, and what was the first thing my upstairs neighbor did after we were allowed to return to our apartment? You guessed it! Bring on the drum and bass techno music. Why not? Everybody is awake anyways, right? God, what a douchebag. I can tell you this - if I wasn't stuck in a 1 year lease, I'd move out this weekend. As soon as my lease is up, I'm renting a house in Burbank.
Monday, October 11, 2010
The Great L.A. Food Truck War of 2010
A battle has been raging right in front of my work building on the Miracle Mile of Wilshire Boulevard for the better part of this year. It is a battle between the food trucks that park along the street in front of the high-rise offices, and the restaurant owners and landlords that have brick and mortar businesses at the same location.
A little background: about this same time last year and for the six years prior to that that I've worked here, there was one lone food truck that made a regular stop in front of the Museum Square on Wilshire. It was what I would call a "traditional" food truck - lovingly referred to as the "roach coach." It served a wide array of sandwiches and mexican food - it seemed to do all right, but nothing crazy.
Then a couple of things happened. This is information I've gleaned from the food truck owners themselves. First, the economic downturn caused a lot of film and TV production to shut down. Lots of food trucks that had formerly serviced the entertainment industry were left in a lurch. As a result, these trucks began to search for alternative methods of staying in business, which included serving food to the general public. Somebody figured out that there were large office buildings on the Miracle Mile that had insufficient restaurant options for lunch. People were begging for more lunch options than the handful that were within walking distance. Thus, supply met demand, and an explosion of food trucks appeared outside the office buildings.
Now these food trucks were not the typical "roach-coaches" people were used to. This was high-quality, gourmet food, that was delicious and relatively cheap. And more importantly, there was a huge amount of variety: Korean BBQ, Dim Sum Sushi, southern BBQ, hot dogs and hamburgers, ice cream, cupcakes, Italian, Jamaican, etc., etc.
It was a dream come true for the people who worked in the office buildings here. They flocked to the food trucks in droves. And the brick-and-mortar restaurants that everyone had grown tired of long ago but had previously been forced to eat at sat relatively empty. In about six-months, two restaurants had gone under (out of about 8 or so within walking distance). The remaining restaurant owners were screaming bloody murder to the city and to their landlords that these trucks were putting them out of business. The city, apparently sensing their property taxes were at risk, responded.
Like most city streets, the parking spots along the Miracle Mile are metered. The trucks had to park at the meters in order to be close to their customers. The meters, however, have a 2-hour time limit. The food trucks are large and take up every last bit of space (some a little more) in the spots. In order to be able to get a good parking spot, and insure that they could actually get IN the spot, the trucks arrived early and stayed well over the time limit. In response, the city started aggressively ticketing the trucks to get them to leave. However, the trucks were making more than enough money to cover the cost of the multiple parking tickets they received, so the truck owners ended up just treating the tickets as another cost of business.
Enter L.A. city council member Tom LaBonge.
LaBonge proposed two motions to the city council aimed at figuring out a way to prohibit food trucks from parking in public spaces for any length of time over 20 minutes.
At the same time, the landlords began to take matters into their own hands by allegedly paying employees to park at the metered spots, so the food trucks would be unable to do so. These cars were similarly parking beyond the stated limit; however, the parking tickets that the food trucks were subjected to around the clock had magically disappeared now that it was the landlords parking in the spaces. Below is a video purportedly of a landlord's employee feeding the parking meters for the employees' cars.
At times things have gotten tense. See the video below of a man getting assaulted by a landlord's employee because he saw he was being filmed.
In the latest development, the majority of the food trucks have compromised and moved a 1/4 mile down the street. In return, the city seems to have backed off a little with the ticketing.
I personally love the food trucks, and based upon the business they do, so do most of the people who live and work around here. For years, there was just a handful of choices within walking distance. Now the possibilities are unlimited. Whatever happens, there's no going back to the way things were, now that people have had a "taste" of freedom. (Sorry).
A little background: about this same time last year and for the six years prior to that that I've worked here, there was one lone food truck that made a regular stop in front of the Museum Square on Wilshire. It was what I would call a "traditional" food truck - lovingly referred to as the "roach coach." It served a wide array of sandwiches and mexican food - it seemed to do all right, but nothing crazy.
Then a couple of things happened. This is information I've gleaned from the food truck owners themselves. First, the economic downturn caused a lot of film and TV production to shut down. Lots of food trucks that had formerly serviced the entertainment industry were left in a lurch. As a result, these trucks began to search for alternative methods of staying in business, which included serving food to the general public. Somebody figured out that there were large office buildings on the Miracle Mile that had insufficient restaurant options for lunch. People were begging for more lunch options than the handful that were within walking distance. Thus, supply met demand, and an explosion of food trucks appeared outside the office buildings.
Now these food trucks were not the typical "roach-coaches" people were used to. This was high-quality, gourmet food, that was delicious and relatively cheap. And more importantly, there was a huge amount of variety: Korean BBQ, Dim Sum Sushi, southern BBQ, hot dogs and hamburgers, ice cream, cupcakes, Italian, Jamaican, etc., etc.
It was a dream come true for the people who worked in the office buildings here. They flocked to the food trucks in droves. And the brick-and-mortar restaurants that everyone had grown tired of long ago but had previously been forced to eat at sat relatively empty. In about six-months, two restaurants had gone under (out of about 8 or so within walking distance). The remaining restaurant owners were screaming bloody murder to the city and to their landlords that these trucks were putting them out of business. The city, apparently sensing their property taxes were at risk, responded.
Like most city streets, the parking spots along the Miracle Mile are metered. The trucks had to park at the meters in order to be close to their customers. The meters, however, have a 2-hour time limit. The food trucks are large and take up every last bit of space (some a little more) in the spots. In order to be able to get a good parking spot, and insure that they could actually get IN the spot, the trucks arrived early and stayed well over the time limit. In response, the city started aggressively ticketing the trucks to get them to leave. However, the trucks were making more than enough money to cover the cost of the multiple parking tickets they received, so the truck owners ended up just treating the tickets as another cost of business.
Enter L.A. city council member Tom LaBonge.
LaBonge proposed two motions to the city council aimed at figuring out a way to prohibit food trucks from parking in public spaces for any length of time over 20 minutes.
At the same time, the landlords began to take matters into their own hands by allegedly paying employees to park at the metered spots, so the food trucks would be unable to do so. These cars were similarly parking beyond the stated limit; however, the parking tickets that the food trucks were subjected to around the clock had magically disappeared now that it was the landlords parking in the spaces. Below is a video purportedly of a landlord's employee feeding the parking meters for the employees' cars.
At times things have gotten tense. See the video below of a man getting assaulted by a landlord's employee because he saw he was being filmed.
In the latest development, the majority of the food trucks have compromised and moved a 1/4 mile down the street. In return, the city seems to have backed off a little with the ticketing.
I personally love the food trucks, and based upon the business they do, so do most of the people who live and work around here. For years, there was just a handful of choices within walking distance. Now the possibilities are unlimited. Whatever happens, there's no going back to the way things were, now that people have had a "taste" of freedom. (Sorry).
L.A. News - Cyclists Take Over L.A. Streets for One Day
I had not heard anything about this, but apparently the City of L.A. blocked off several streets downtown yesterday (10/10/10) to allow pedestrians and cyclists free reign. I wish I would have known about this - it would have been great fun for the kids to get to actually ride in the streets. Hopefully they will do this again next year.
Via
Via
Friday, October 8, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
A Common Sight in L.A. - Together But Alone
I have to say, though, usually its the women I see with their faces buried in their smartphone. Either that or talking on it.
Friday, October 1, 2010
An Open Letter to My "Good Neighbor" Upstairs
Hi there! Let me introduce myself. I'm your neighbor downstairs - the one who lives below you. You do realize that there is somebody living under your second floor apartment? We've never met before, and I've never seen you, but I'm guessing that you're a young man, early twenties. Either that or a fairly large woman. The way that I know this is by how you go lumbering around your apartment like Sasquatch at all hours of the night.
Speaking of all hours of the night, what is it you do exactly? For a living I mean. I know what you do while you're home (coke/speed?) - crank up the subwoofer on your stereo while you listen to bass heavy music (rap or techno?) and tromp back and forth, back and forth, back and forth on my ceiling. I hear you from the moment I get home from work (7pm), when I go to bed and try to get to sleep (11pm), when I'm awakened throughout the night by your floor gymnastic routine (2am, 4am, 6am), and when I leave for work (7:45am). Do you ever sleep? Do you go to school or work? If not, how can you afford the high rent? I have so many questions.
I'm guessing that this is your first apartment out of the dormitory. Can I let you in on a secret? You're living amongst the grownups now. These people (myself included) are adults - adults with jobs and young children. Believe me - I would love to crank up my stereo and party all night. But I don't because I know the people who live around me, my neighbors, wouldn't necessarily appreciate hearing me blast Tool at three in the morning.
Anyway, I'm glad we had this little chat. In the future, don't be a "good neighbor." Or I might have to send you a love letter - straight from my heart. Just kidding! Toodles!
Speaking of all hours of the night, what is it you do exactly? For a living I mean. I know what you do while you're home (coke/speed?) - crank up the subwoofer on your stereo while you listen to bass heavy music (rap or techno?) and tromp back and forth, back and forth, back and forth on my ceiling. I hear you from the moment I get home from work (7pm), when I go to bed and try to get to sleep (11pm), when I'm awakened throughout the night by your floor gymnastic routine (2am, 4am, 6am), and when I leave for work (7:45am). Do you ever sleep? Do you go to school or work? If not, how can you afford the high rent? I have so many questions.
I'm guessing that this is your first apartment out of the dormitory. Can I let you in on a secret? You're living amongst the grownups now. These people (myself included) are adults - adults with jobs and young children. Believe me - I would love to crank up my stereo and party all night. But I don't because I know the people who live around me, my neighbors, wouldn't necessarily appreciate hearing me blast Tool at three in the morning.
Anyway, I'm glad we had this little chat. In the future, don't be a "good neighbor." Or I might have to send you a love letter - straight from my heart. Just kidding! Toodles!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Record Heat in Los Angeles
It's a little after noon right now, and it is 106 degrees in L.A. This is our moderate summer karma coming around to bite us in the ass now that it's fall.
Update: CNN is reporting we hit 112 at 12:30pm. New record, you ask? Well, duh!
Update 2: Okay, now The Weather Channel is saying we hit 113 degrees today making it the hottest temperature recorded in L.A. since 1877. The temperature has only gone over 110 degrees 3 times since they've been keeping track.
Update: CNN is reporting we hit 112 at 12:30pm. New record, you ask? Well, duh!
Update 2: Okay, now The Weather Channel is saying we hit 113 degrees today making it the hottest temperature recorded in L.A. since 1877. The temperature has only gone over 110 degrees 3 times since they've been keeping track.
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