I don’t know if this is at all connected to Koga’s post below but when I passed Sunset & Silverlake about an hour ago there was definitely something going on. What I don’t know because all I could see was that sunset was blocked off starting at Parkman and headed south for several blocks. There were cones and flares and cops like you can see in this photo but what you can’t see are several more police cruisers parked sideways blocking the road headed down for several blocks. Anyone know the scoop?

UPDATE: As noted in the comments, the LAPD News Dept has the report:

” On Tuesday evening, a man was shot several times in the Silver Lake Area.

On January 31, 2006 at about 5:58 p.m., LAPD Officers were dispatched to an Ambulance Shooting call in the 2800 Block of West Sunset Boulevard. Officers found the victim, a 27-year-old, male Hispanic with several gunshot wounds.

The victim died at the scene. The victim’s identity is being withheld until his family has been notified.

This is an ongoing investigation and the motive for this shooting appears to be gang related.

A coworker just called me warning me that traffic on Highland and Cahuenga is really bad right now, so I checked my go-to website for street-level traffic and sure enough, there’s an event going on:

Title of Event: State of Emergency–Drown out the Lies, Bush Step Down
Event Date: 1-31-2006
Start Time: 5:00 PM
End Time: 9:00 PM

LAPD Permit: Hollywood & Highland, NW corner (assembly area); Sunset & Cahuenga, in front of CNN, SW corner (disbanding area); route: E/B on Hollywood Blvd. (in E/B lane) to Cahuenga Blvd.; S/B on Cahuenga to Sunset Blvd., in front of CNN news station (SW corner). (Will not require the use of the entire street.)

The march will be contained in the eastbound lanes on Hollywood from Highland to Cahuenga. The march will then proceed south on Cahuenga to Sunset Bl and disbands in front of the CNN building on Sunset between Cahuenga and Wilcox. The march is scheduled to begin at approximately 6:15 PM and disband at 10 PM. Please expect multiple closures in the area. Traffic will be very heavy.

Some of you old timers might remember one of our original authors who goes by the name Jessica Gao. Or Sizzle if your nasty. One day back in October ought four we (yes, everyone on the entire blog) came home from work to find that all her stuff was moved out and she’d left us this good bye note. She blamed it on being a crappy blogger. So we had that skank deported. But since we sent her to London, and her family is from China it didn’t stick and she came back. Which was ok because we missed her tons and and she started writing a new blog which turns out is actually pretty amusing from time to time. Like today. Over on Viva Trash! the Sizz has tried to explain La Canada to some inquiring minds:

“La Canada is nestled smugly north of Pasadena and south of nothingness. It is full of total nutjobs. These are all facts.

I don’t know what it is. The water? The bad air quality? A comfortably bland upper-middle class suburban life? I’ve never heard of another city where it’s ten out of ten crazies every time.

The first time I ever experienced the La Canada was in my senior year of high school. I started taking a figure drawing class at Art Center that was especially for high school students. Most of the class was comprised of high schoolers from La Canada and they were all nuts. Sometimes, when I use the word ‘nuts’, I actually mean ‘fucking obnoxious’, just so you know.”

There’s more, much more where that came from.

A large banner was recently hung outside The Broadway building on the southwest corner of Hollywood and Vine in Hollywood.

As scenic as that view looks, am I the only one wondering when pervy Capitol Records employees will be checking out, with binoculars and telescopes, the people sunning themselves on the rooftop pool?

I’ve got a question mark on that subject because I can’t find the decesion online anywhere right now but an e-mail I just got from Eric Carcetti’s office leads me to believe that is the case. This morning we heard ( from KTLA and LA Times) that:

“Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton has concluded that the officer who shot 13-year-old Devin Brown last year acted appropriately ‚Äî a decision that sets up a potential high-profile conflict with the city’s civilian Police Commission, which plans to debate the matter today.”

So we knows the Chiefs position, but I just got Council President Eric Garcetti’s statement on the police commission decision which says:

“The violent tragedy that led to the loss of a young man’s life forces us to look inward as a city. Trust between law enforcement and citizens is vital. It is earned in hundreds of hours of quiet, unheralded work and it can be destroyed in an instant. We must now seek a way forward to restore that trust. Anger and sorrow should each have their voice. Hard work lies ahead of us.

I have deep admiration for both Chief Bratton and the members of the Police Commission. While I greatly respect the Chief’s unique insight and vast knowledge of police work, I believe that the Police Commission has come to an appropriate decision. The Commission’s action is one part of serving justice; now, together, we must walk down the hard road of restoring trust.”

So I’m guessing that the Comission disagreed with Chief Bratton on the subject. As soon as I find a link backing that up I’ll post it. Assuming that is the case, I think it’s great that the Commission is standing up like that. I’ve made my feelings on this kind of thing pretty open in the past, Law Enforecement is there because we put trust in them and we give them the authority to do their jobs. This is something that it seems is often forgotten or overlooked.

UPDATE: LA Observed has the news and found a link on KFWB. Looks like they decided that Officer Steven Garcia’s actions up to and including drawing him weapon were justified, but that he was in the wrong by actually fireing and killing unarmed 13 year old Devon Brown. In case you missed this - last summer an LAPD re-enactment showed that Devon was not in any way driving the car towards officers when he was shot.

Lucha Va Voom has three upcoming shows on February 14th-16th at the Mayan Theatre, but it’s interesting to see that the rumors I had heard about the organization coming to fruition, starting with this blog post by a burlesque dancer named Miss Satanica who has worked for them before:

Lucha Va Voom is as bad as Suicide Girls- No WORSE!!! YOU ARE EXPLOITED SEX WORKERS!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello to all of my grand burlesque friends. I know a lot of you are doing the Valentine’s Day Lucha show and I would indeed be very happy for you if you were getting paid. But, as we know, most of you are not, even though you are using your sexuality to make money for Rita D’Albert and Liz Fairbarn. Perhaps you are showing your tits, too. This would make you an EXPLOITED SEX WORKER- do you realize this?

You are in no better a situation than a street walker with a nasty pimp.

More after the jump.
(more…)

After the recent posts on our lovely smog, it sure is refreshing to find out that somtimes up to a quarter of it blew over from China. From the NY Times, via BoingBoing:

China is already the world’s second-biggest producer of greenhouse gas emissions and is expected to surpass the United States as the biggest. Roughly a third of China is exposed to acid rain. A recent study by a Chinese research institute found that 400,000 people die prematurely every year in China from diseases linked to air pollution.

Nor does China’s air pollution respect borders: on certain days almost 25 percent of the particulate matter clotting the skies above Los Angeles can be traced to China, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental experts in California predict that China could eventually account for roughly a third of the state’s air pollution.

Recycled water pumped back into California aquifers has been found to contain trace amounts of prescription drugs including “antibiotics, antipsychotics, birth-control hormones, Viagra and Valium.” Although the drugs have been found only in very small amounts, scientists are still unsure of possible health effects. The question remains, does Britta filter out Viagra?

A while back I read a fact: that something like 95% of the donut stores in Los Angeles are owned by Cambodians. I remember that it had something to do with a few Cambodians who came to Los Angeles in the seventies, and by doing so they were able to teach that business and trade to new arrivals from Cambodia in the years following. Eventually, they were able to get a strong corner on the market.

Anyways, I recently decided to investigate this idea again and found a few different links talking about this phenomenon. From Asianweek:

The notion that California’s donut stores are predominantly owned by Cambodians may seem bizarre. “Our customers are mostly Caucasians. It is odd that Cambodians are doing this work—considering that most Asians don’t eat donuts and prefer noodles or other Asian foods,” Lee said while making a customer’s latte at the Happy Café, Lee’s donut cafe on Powell Street. But the attraction is clearly there. Cambodian-owned donut stores began proliferating in Southern California back in 1976.

Also, I found a good video from KCET regarding this same topic, interviewing a Cambodian family running a donut shop in LA. (It’s the first video on the linked page).

It looks like this one might even be official. Let the hating commence! (I’m so sick I can’t even read the whole list, but some of this stuff looks fun. . .right?)

Saturday, April 29th
Depeche Mode (headlining), Franz Ferdinand, Sigur Ros, Common, Damian Marley, Atmosphere, Carl Cox, My Morning Jacket, Ladytron , Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Tosca, Cat Power, Animal Collective, HARD-fi, Derrick Carter, Devendra Banhart, She Wants Revenge, The Walkmen, The Juan Maclean, Audio Bullys, Imogen Heap, Lady Sovereign, Deerhoof, The Duke Spirit, Editors, stellastarr*, Lyrics Born, Matt Costa, The New Amsterdams, The Zutons, Platinum Piped Pipers, White Rose Movement, Chris Liberator, Colette, Joey Beltram, Hybrid, Wolfmother, The Like, Living Things, Nine Black Alps, The Section Quartet, Infadels, Youth Group, Shy FX & T Power, Infusion.

Sunday, April 30th
Tool (headlining), Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bloc Party, Paul Oakenfold, Scissor Sisters, Matisyahu, James Blunt, TV on the Radio, Sleater-Kinney , Mogwai, Coheed and Cambria, Gnarls Barkley, Coldcut, Phoenix, Digable Planets, Amadou & Mariam, Little Louie Vega, Mylo (DJ Set), Seu Jorge, Wolf Parade, The Go! Team, Kaskade, Metric, Art Brut, Dungen, The Dears, Jamie Lidell, The Magic Numbers, Los Amigos Invisibles, Jazzanova, Michael Mayer, Mates of State, Gilles Peterson, Gabriel & Dresden, The Subways, Minus the Bear, Be Your Own Pet, Giant Drag, Kristina Sky, The Octopus Project.