When Caryn and I got home last night we heard a band playing outside somewhere. Actually at first we thought it was some cats fighting and then when it was followed by applause we realized it wasn’t cats but people making that sound. We ate dinner and watched a movie and kept hearing this sound coming from outside. Now, living on a hill in Silver Lake if some dude down the block has a party the sound travels and we know it, which is what we figured this was. Until we turned off the movie and listened for a minute. Caryn spotted it first - “is that the same song they were playing before?” she asked. Yes. Yes it was. And when it was over, they played it again. And again. That was the one song they had been playing since before 8pm, and it was now past 10. And they were still playing it. That one same song, and then people would cheer. And that’s about when we put the pieces together and figured out that it wasn’t a party, but someone filming some dumb rock video. And it was echoing all through our house. Of course, now that we knew what it was and what was going on there was no way to avoid it. TV on, music on, no matter what we did we could still hear the racket and the following applause. Crap. Finally just before 11 it all came to a sudden stop and we were able to go on with our lives.

This morning I noticed a half a block or so several streets away from us with “no parking, filming” signs up and down the street so that’s where this must have come from. I can only hope they got all the shots they needed yesterday. We were talking about how completely annoying it was on the way in to the gallery this morning when we hit tons of traffic on the 110 just south of the 101. What was the cause of the traffic? Oh, the 4th street exit ramp was blocked off because some bullshit was being filmed on the overpass. Awesome.

Thanks to The Wireless Weblog for pointing to a report by the MayorÔøΩs WiFi & Beyond Executive Advisory Panel on the future of WiFi in LA. Much of it is bureaucratic “encouraging” and “survey conducting” and whatnot (necessarily, I suppose), but it’s good to see something on the horizon. Here’s the mission statement from the report PDF:

We believe the City of Los Angeles, within the next five years, should ensure that high speed access to the Internet is available and affordable for any one who wants it anywhere in the City. In addition, we believe it is possible to implement strategies to accomplish that mission in ways that address the MayorÔøΩs goals of:

• Helping to close the digital divide,
• Accelerating economic development, and
• Making our CityÔøΩs government more efficient and accessible.

Granted, it’s not exactly “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth” but it’ll do for now. :)

I’ll be posting cam phone images to my flickr account from the Tiger launch at The Apple Store at The Grove. Good times.

Today’s absolutely mind blowing Star Wars Nerds / Line news is that at some point in the last 24 hours it seems that some of the waiters-in-line has started asking “What’s the point of the line?” Opinions are still rolling in by the minute but so far The Line itself seems to be the most popular reason for the line, followed by the charity thing, with only a few linesters even considering Star Wars as a reason for their waitingness! So, at this point, is it even safe to say these are Star Wars fans waiting for the movie? Or is it a bunch of loiterers-for-charity?

But wait! There’s more!!

The Nerd called “Obi Geewhyen” has made a heartfelt posting claiming that the line is dead to him. OK, he didn’t say that exactly, but you can tell that’s what he means. He says…

“It never felt like the line to me, because -with the movie not playing at the Chinese- it is my sole and personal opinion that the event on Hollywood Boulevard is NOT the Star Wars line.

“It’s a great charity fund-raiser, and a helluva party that’s so darn fine line-themed it could be a ride at Disneyland. But, with apologies to anyone who may be offended by my personal opinion, staying on Hollywood Bouelvard because Star Wars played there HALF the time is very convenient bullshit. Home of Star Wars and Star Wars Mecca and Where the Movie Should Be just don’t add up to the Star Wars line for me. I’ve lined up for Star Wars at the Chinese and I’ve lined up for Star Wars not at the Chinese … and the lineup for Star Wars should, imho, be at a theater where Star Wars will be playing.

“I understand the reasons and the rationale for not moving the line. But it’s beyond all of our control. With the “line” not moved, what you have is not the line. You can call it what you will, you can (most importantly) have just as much fun as if it were … but - to me - what’s going on there is not the line. I guess it’s the place where everybody is waiting around for Star Wars to happen somewhere else. And it’s got a certain rebel coolness that the waiting place is where the movie’s not.

“But, to me, the refusal to be adaptable, the inability or unwillingness to change entrenched plans to match realworld cirumstances, means that there simply is no Star Wars line this time.”

I don’t even know what else to say at this point. Nor do I have time to think of something since I’m headed out the door to go wait outside the Apple Store for the release of Tiger (which will in fact be available at the Apple Store). Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.

UPDATE: The Nerds now have their own blog!!!

[full blogging.la star wars line coverage]

Since art.blogging.la is the art-loving sister to blogging.la, we are now going to post a brief wrap-up every Friday here with links to what went down on abLA. Here’s some of the things that happened this week…

ïArt Events this weekend :: Can of Montage opens tonight at LACE and for tomorrow Under Fire book launch and gallery receptions.
ïReview of Chinatown galleries Jack Hanley and Acuna-Hansen by Valerie.
ïMy Fecal Face interview with Pirate Cat - meow.
ïPost-its celebrates 25 years.
ïNew York gallerist Zach Feurer teams up with LA dealer Neils Kantor to create Kantor/Feurer gallery.
ïJerry Saltz on Artforum.com’s Diary
ïBig announcement.

Image: Katie Pratt (reception @ Kontainer Gallery tomorrow night from 6-8pm)

Everyone is talking about Coachella. Coachella this, Coachella that. Are you going to Coachella? What do you want to see at Coachella? How excited are you about Coachella? LAist even has some suggestions on things to keep in mind while enjoying the show. Since more than a few people have mentioned it to me, I decided to put up a list of my own suggestions for people who want to have a good time at Coachella, here they go, I hope they help.

1. Don’t go.
2. No, really. Don’t go.
3. If you decide to ignore the first two tips, be sure to smuggle in some razorblades which you’ll need to have access to in order to slit your own wrists a few hours in to the ordeal.
4. If #3 sounds too harsh, refer to numbers 1 & 2

There you have it. I mean, if being stuck in the middle of the satanically hot desert with a billion sweaty dirty people who are packed in so close to you that you can’t move and you have to buy water and eat sand and generally get roasted alive while having your ears pounded by crappy music because you can’t get anywhere near the good stuff sounds like fun they have at it but otherwise stay the hell away. Music festivals in their own right rank high on my “never go anywhere near” list but I can’t think of anything I’d rather do less than go to a music festival in the middle of the desert. I’d rather drink shards of glass.

Just heard a caller on the radio saying there’s some kind of chaos going down at LAX. Cars jumping fences, money blowing down the street, and bodies cut in half. Callers are saying a cop is dead and this might have started as a robery turned hit and run. More soon.

More details are up at ABC Local and Officer.com and a slideshow of images is up on NBC4.

I’m not usually one to point to a CafePress store item, but this one is actually pretty cool, and the person is as well. From Chef JoAnna, LA caterer and blogger comes this restaurant rating shirt. Now if we could only require the B and C rating people to wear theirs, life would be a lot easier. Oh, and the people who fail the inspection would have to stay home until they get their shit together.

As always, be sure to read the small print.

Flickrís krazydad was referenced in a previous post, but in addition to his work with squaredcircle and the creation of his Experimental Colr Pickr, heís also got a really good selection of traditional LA photography.

Some favorites? Sun Valley Cherry Pickers, Sun Valley electrical tower sign (create-a-caption), and something called the LA Bunny Hop.

(potentially more information on that bunny hop thing here or about the bunny hop and that couch you threw out last weekend here)