La Brea’s Car-Eating Trench

(Flickr pic by Daryl Furr.)

Car-eating trench on La Brea? Franklin Avenue reader Gerry emails:

For a week or so the city has been digging on La Brea, and today they removed the large metal plates and unveiled their masterpiece: a car-destroying trench. I drive a compact Toyota and I thought my car was being turned into rubble. Maybe someone else drove down La Brea and also almost had their car compacted? Let the city know what a great job they did!

Have any of you encountered the La Brea Trench?

Los Angeles Forgets Its Own Birthday

Every year around the anniversary of Los Angeles’ Sept. 4, 1781, founding, a group of die-hard Angelenos and descendants of the city’s original residents reenact the nine-mile hike that L.A.’s 44 pobladores (settlers) took from the San Gabriel Mission to El Rio de Nuestra Señora La Reina de Los Angeles de Porciúncula.

Here we were, all set to finally take part in the Los Pobladores Walk this year. But it was too late to register by mail, so I took the advice of the flyer and checked out L.A.’s 227th anniversary birthday page at www.lacity.org/227. Nothing.

No one bothered to upload the page, despite the city referencing it in its brochure. Strangely, the city’s 226th birthday website — www.lacity.org/226 — is still up there.

I hope they get their act together by 2009… or at least I get my act together and mail in a form.

POSTSCRIPT: I can’t be too laudatory about last year’s 226th birthday site. Check out how the city spells its own name:

Yep, “City of Angles.” Go L.A.!

Dedicating "Langer’s Square" — What About "Pastrami Park"?

Via View from a Loft: In honor of late founder Al Langer, the city will dedicate the corner of 7th and Alvarado today as “Langer’s Square.”

1st District Councilmember Ed Reyes will dedicate the corner right before lunch. According to the release:

“Langer’s deli has been an institution in my community for decades,” said Councilmember Reyes. “Al Langer was known for his personal interactions with customers, even through economic hardships. He served up sandwiches with a smile for generations and generations of families, and helped revitalize the MacArthur Park area.”

The decidication takes place Thursday, January 24, 2008, at 11 a.m. (7th and Alvarado).

Attention DWP: Ban Cars From the Holiday Light Festival. Now.

I know, I was just ranting the other day about how overrated the DWP Holiday Light Festival at Griffith Park is. But we went ahead and walked it on Friday evening, taking advantage of the ban on cars through Nov. 25. And I gotta say, it’s a 100% more pleasurable experience than driving it, or even walking the route while cars are driving through.

Not only is walking the light festival better exercise (not to mention a better environmental move), but it also gives you a chance to actually take in the lights without rushing through. (The canopy of lights at both ends is especially impressive while walking, vs. less spectacular when speeding under it.) Plus, there’s a real community vibe to walking the street with hundreds of other Angelenos — and that easily tops sitting in a car for two hours, stuck in the never-ending line of cars waiting to get in.

What’s more, Blogger Toddler and his cousin had a particularly great time, dancing to the holiday music and pointing at the lights. They wouldn’t have had that experience in the car.

Of course, that’s all now over, as cars are allowed back into the DWP Holiday Light Festival beginning tonight. But let’s hope the city realizes what a success the pedestrian-only light festival was, and moves to permanently ban cars next year.

More pics from Friday night:

Canopy of lights — much cooler when viewed on foot.

City Hall.

My favorite: LAX, and the Theme Building.

150 Years of William Mulholland. There it is. Take it.

Live shot on KABC.

Attention DWP: Ban Cars From the Holiday Light Festival. Now.

I know, I was just ranting the other day about how overrated the DWP Holiday Light Festival at Griffith Park is. But we went ahead and walked it on Friday evening, taking advantage of the ban on cars through Nov. 25. And I gotta say, it’s a 100% more pleasurable experience than driving it, or even walking the route while cars are driving through.

Not only is walking the light festival better exercise (not to mention a better environmental move), but it also gives you a chance to actually take in the lights without rushing through. (The canopy of lights at both ends is especially impressive while walking, vs. less spectacular when speeding under it.) Plus, there’s a real community vibe to walking the street with hundreds of other Angelenos — and that easily tops sitting in a car for two hours, stuck in the never-ending line of cars waiting to get in.

What’s more, Blogger Toddler and his cousin had a particularly great time, dancing to the holiday music and pointing at the lights. They wouldn’t have had that experience in the car.

Of course, that’s all now over, as cars are allowed back into the DWP Holiday Light Festival beginning tonight. But let’s hope the city realizes what a success the pedestrian-only light festival was, and moves to permanently ban cars next year.

More pics from Friday night:

Canopy of lights — much cooler when viewed on foot.

City Hall.

My favorite: LAX, and the Theme Building.

150 Years of William Mulholland. There it is. Take it.

Live shot on KABC.

Fact Checking Sunday Night’s "Entourage"

I’m still enjoying HBO’s “Entourage,” even if critics are a bit more harsh on the show this season. Part of our appreciation for the show comes from “Entourage’s” love letter to Los Angeles.

But sometimes the show makes some sacrifices in the name of plot that only an Angeleno would notice.

For example, in Sunday’s episode:

– When their flight is delayed for three hours at LAX, Eric, Vince and Billy agree to meet Anna Faris — at The Little Door restaurant on 3rd. Yeah, that would provide a bit of a time crunch.

– At LAX, the boys are planning to fly fictional “France Airlines” to Cannes. The international carrier is seen in terminal 2 — even though we all know those types of flights are actually based out of the Tom Bradley International terminal.

See any others?

Saving the Wat Thai Buddhist Temple Food Court

Last year we took you to the Wat Thai Buddhist Temple in the Valley, where a row of food vendors serve up cheap and tasty grinds. Unfortunately, the food court is now threatened, and may have already even served its last dish.

The Militant Angeleno headed to the Wat Thai this weekend to do some research — and indeed, it looks like the food court is in trouble. He snapped this shot:

and learned, via one of his “reputable operatives in the Thai community,” that several factors are working against the food court:

First, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has recently made their annual inspection and will shut down the food court due to its findings. But the Militant’s operative said such closures are normally only temporary…

The second issue was general complaints from the neighborhood regarding noise, traffic and loitering, which is interesting since Van Noord Ave., the residential cul-de-sac directly behind the temple, is home to not only temple members, but most of the temple’s monks. The Militant’s operative said that Wat Thai has worked hard to address the complaints of the neighborhood…

The third issue was not directly related to the food court, but did make P.R. matters much worse for the temple, obviously attributed to bad timing. The Militant’s operative also mentioned that the LAPD is currently investigating allegations by children at the temple of sexual abuse directed at a male volunteer (none of the temple’s monks were named), who is a married undocumented immigrant (and could thusly face deportation regardless of whether the charges stand or not).

The Militant said it sounded like last weekend’s food court may have been the last for a while… here’s hoping it makes a return as these issues are sorted out.

Angelenos of the Week: Yvonne Burke and Victor Taracena

Burke (left) and Taracena. (Pics by the L.A. Times.)

The summer of scandal continues in Los Angeles, where we’re giving other municipalities a run for their money. While the Rocky and Mayor Tony V broohahas continue to percolate, two more surfaced this week.

Let’s start with Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Burke. Burke represents a huge, huge swath of L.A. county, including some upscale neighborhoods. Yet she just couldn’t bring herself to live within her district. That’s an obvious no-no.

As the L.A. Times reported this week (doing a good-ol’ fashioned stake out), Burke keeps a condo in Mar Vista — where she spends about five minutes a day. Instead, she lives and sleeps in a gated Brentwood house with her husband:

In an interview with The Times two weeks ago, Burke said it was only on weekends and special occasions that she used her Brentwood home — a 4,000-square-foot residence with a swimming pool and tennis court that she and her husband have long owned. She said she lived at a 1,200-square-foot townhouse in Mar Vista, on a busy street just inside the border of her district.

But over a three-week period in which she was observed by Times reporters, Burke spent every weekday evening at her Brentwood house, in the district of Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. When confronted by reporters Wednesday, Burke changed her story and acknowledged that she has rarely slept in the Mar Vista townhouse, which she has declared as her primary residence since she purchased it more than a year ago.

Asked whether voters would consider her primary residence as the place where she sleeps, Burke replied: “So I’ll start sleeping here if that’ll make you happy.”

Snippy, snippy! Burke then contradicted herself again, sending out a press release claiming that she did indeed live within the district.

If it’s proven that Burke doesn’t live in her district, she’ll lose her chair (which she’s retiring from next year anyway.)

Meanwhile, Victor Taracena was recently fired from his high-level managaer job at the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles after he sent nearly $800,000 in contracts to his brothers and three politically connected firms.

The L.A. Times writes that Taracena sent over 150 contracts to companies run by his brothers, which more going to pals of his:

These firms — all with ties to current or former Los Angeles City Council members from the Eastside — won their contracts in bidding processes fraught with irregularities. In one case, a losing bid was submitted by a nonexistent company. Other such bids came from actual companies which, when contacted by The Times, said they were surprised to learn that bids had been submitted in their names.

How sloppy was this? According to the paper, some of the fake bidders didn’t correctly spell their own names.

And the Summer of Scandal rolls on…

Angelenos of the Week: Yvonne Burke and Victor Taracena

Burke (left) and Taracena. (Pics by the L.A. Times.)

The summer of scandal continues in Los Angeles, where we’re giving other municipalities a run for their money. While the Rocky and Mayor Tony V broohahas continue to percolate, two more surfaced this week.

Let’s start with Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Burke. Burke represents a huge, huge swath of L.A. county, including some upscale neighborhoods. Yet she just couldn’t bring herself to live within her district. That’s an obvious no-no.

As the L.A. Times reported this week (doing a good-ol’ fashioned stake out), Burke keeps a condo in Mar Vista — where she spends about five minutes a day. Instead, she lives and sleeps in a gated Brentwood house with her husband:

In an interview with The Times two weeks ago, Burke said it was only on weekends and special occasions that she used her Brentwood home — a 4,000-square-foot residence with a swimming pool and tennis court that she and her husband have long owned. She said she lived at a 1,200-square-foot townhouse in Mar Vista, on a busy street just inside the border of her district.

But over a three-week period in which she was observed by Times reporters, Burke spent every weekday evening at her Brentwood house, in the district of Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. When confronted by reporters Wednesday, Burke changed her story and acknowledged that she has rarely slept in the Mar Vista townhouse, which she has declared as her primary residence since she purchased it more than a year ago.

Asked whether voters would consider her primary residence as the place where she sleeps, Burke replied: “So I’ll start sleeping here if that’ll make you happy.”

Snippy, snippy! Burke then contradicted herself again, sending out a press release claiming that she did indeed live within the district.

If it’s proven that Burke doesn’t live in her district, she’ll lose her chair (which she’s retiring from next year anyway.)

Meanwhile, Victor Taracena was recently fired from his high-level managaer job at the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles after he sent nearly $800,000 in contracts to his brothers and three politically connected firms.

The L.A. Times writes that Taracena sent over 150 contracts to companies run by his brothers, which more going to pals of his:

These firms — all with ties to current or former Los Angeles City Council members from the Eastside — won their contracts in bidding processes fraught with irregularities. In one case, a losing bid was submitted by a nonexistent company. Other such bids came from actual companies which, when contacted by The Times, said they were surprised to learn that bids had been submitted in their names.

How sloppy was this? According to the paper, some of the fake bidders didn’t correctly spell their own names.

And the Summer of Scandal rolls on…

It’s Not Quite "I Love L.A.," But It’s a Start

Not quite ready to profess your love for our fine town? Thrillist points to the I [Stomach] L.A. shirt as one way to show that you still don’t quite get your adopted home… but you’re trying.

Thankfully, the I Stomach shirt folks are equal opportunity offenders: They also sell a “I [Stomach] N.Y.” shirt as well. From their website:

What’s that? You don’t “heart” hanging out in your car for hours on the 10 and/or 405 and/or 101? Or you don’t “heart” paying $1500 for your crappy studio in Murray Hill? Or maybe you’re not “hearting” that one homeless guy who yells horrible things at you when you walk by in the morning? We here at Twee Shirts™ know and want to say, “Hey, it’s OK to just stomach your city sometimes!”. And at least now, when you’re sitting in traffic or writing the rent check, you can be wearing an adorable, printed American Apparel t-shirt that expresses that feeling!

Coming soon, again as equal opportunity shirts: “I [Smell] Vernon” and “I [Smell] Jersey.”