The Orca (Killer Whale) pod known as K-Pod is heading south. They were spotted off of San Francisco both near the Farallon Islands and off Half Moon Bay.

K-Pod is a resident Orca group up in Washington’s Puget Sound and though Orcas are not that uncommon in California waters, the resident groups (K-Pod, J-Pod, L-Pod, et al) are known as tight-knit groups that pretty much stick to their territories in the Puget Sound waters. They eat fish, unlike the transient variety of Orcas that eat other marine mammals.

Scientists believe the whales have moved south due to the collapse of the salmon populations in the area and they are in search of food. It’s not known if they’ll stay in the San Francisco area or keep moving south. The furthest south any of the resident populations have been reliably sighted is Monterey.

It’s extremely unlikely that the resident whales would travel as far south as Santa Monica Bay (and maybe we wouldn’t want them eating our DDT infused fish). But it makes me pretty eager to get on a boat this weekend just in case. More reading here, here and here.

Photo above via Flickr by orcagirl who has some other phenomenal shots as her name would promise.

Every local news channel I put on has BREAKING NEWS! about “suspicious packages” found all over Boston that are shutting down half the town. This would be interesting to watch if they were actually something noteworthy, and not simply an advertising campaign for Adult Swim. Yep, all the details are in that link, and here’s more photos of the “devices”. Heckova Job There, Boston!

Los Angeles cannot get enough Tim Hawkinson! In March the Getty will be presenting Hawkinson’s newly commissioned works in Zoopsia: New Works, curated by Peggy Fogelman, in their new “special” gallery on the Terrace Level of the West Pavillian. The artist’s √úberorgan will be shown concurrently in the Getty’s Entrance Hall. And yes, this is contemporary art at the Getty - they say that “the exhibition marks the beginning of a new program of exhibitions at the Getty Museum focused on contemporary art and its relevance to the Museum’s collection and mission.”…continue reading

While this is a National Holiday, I’m pretty positive that the GSPH (Gorilla Suits Per Household) ratio in LA is higher than anywhere else so I’m expecting National Gorilla Suit Day to be celebrated whole heartedly here in town. If you are reading this then I’m guessing you already have some big plans, so what are they? [via BoingBoing]

In follow up to yesterday’s post about Brandy potentially facing Manslaughter charges for the freeway wreck she caused which took a young mother’s life, turns out that lady’s family is now suing Brandy for $50 Million. The Superficial cuts to the chase:

“This just isn’t Brandy’s week. Later today she’s probably gonna find out she has AIDS and then when she sees her doctor she’s gonna get her arm bitten off because turns out her doctor is really just an alligator disguised in a long white coat.”

This car was parked outside of our SiFi apartment a few weeks ago. The boyfriend and I looked upon it in disbelief, but weren’t able to get a photo. Then a friend forwarded me an email with this picture in it. Apparently, the car was part of an LV themed wedding somewhere, and I suppose now it is just rampaging around L.A. At least this photo proves it wasn’t just a Sunday-morning hallucination. Has anyone else seen it?

I often marvel at how small the art world can be - or in this case infectious…

Tonight at dinner on Sunset (near the east-side) a group of four people who I do not know sat down at the table next to us and talked about the LA art scene…continue reading

Pictured (top): Ben Messelbeck, Juliette Commagere & Jared Smith

Last night, Hello Stranger (fka Vagenius, MySpace) performed at The Viper Room in West Hollywood.

Two photos after the jump.
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I just received an email from the LAPD under the guise of the E-Police Newsletter I signed up for a while back. As I’ve mentioned before, I haven’t been receiving many notices from them, even though I know that others in farther off communities have.

However, I just received my first email from them in nearly one month: an ad for Wells Fargo Bank’s “Hands on Banking Program”, encouraging children how to save, with Wells Fargo’s help, of course. (click the image for full sized readability).

Sure, there’s a lame mention at the top that the LAPD will be offering free fingerprinting for kids as part of an event Wells Fargo is having at their Hollywood office… but its less than 5% of the rest of the ad. Quite simply - SPAM.

Even worse, this may be in violation of the law.

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 “establishes requirements for those who send commercial email, spells out penalties for spammers and companies whose products are advertised in spam if they violate the law, and gives consumers the right to ask emailers to stop spamming them.”

Here’s a few rules that the law requires e-mailers to follow, that the LAPD neglected:
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Sometimes I like looking at old video footage of LA. Sometimes that footage has Eazy-E in it. If Wikipedia is accurate, we know the following about Eazy-E: He was 5′5″ tall. He lived in the same house in Compton his entire life. He used to drive a red Suzuki Samurai. The Mayor of Compton announced an Eazy-E day to be held every year in the City of Compton. He is known for his visit to the White House and having dinner with George H.W. Bush.