You may have missed a story in yesterday’s Times about a woman named Wanda Dunn in Pasadena that set her house on fire and shot herself because she was being evicted due to foreclosure.

This follows the earlier tragedy from just a week ago, where Karthik Rajaram of Porter Ranch, distraught over finances, killed his entire family before turning the gun on himself.

They are both heartbreaking stories that are becoming more common as the foundation of our global economy continues to crumble. Stories like these should serve as a wake-up call to all of us, as friends, as co-workers, as neighbors. We have an obligation as Americans – as humans, to help each other in a time of need. It could be an earthquake, a fire, a hurricane, or a foreclosure.

It’s too late to help Wanda Dunn or the Rajaram family. I can’t help but think we all failed them when they needed us most.

If you or someone you know is facing foreclosure, start by calling the Los Angeles County hotline at 2-1-1.

CBS2 has a list of contact numbers for foreclosure prevention resources at six area WorkSource Centers. I re-posted them after the jump.

Read more

0

A user of Downtown’s LA Life’s Yahoo! Group recently shared an experience at Little Tokyo’s Weiland’s Brewery in which they claimed “Sexism is alive and well and working at Weilands Brewery:”

It’s not often that I will get on my soapbox and vent my anger and frustration to the world. I’m not a blogger or a rabble rouser and quite to the contrary, I prefer to read these types of stories rather than author them. But this incident, in my opinion, is one that I cannot keep quiet.

Recently, a very dear friend of mine walked into Weilands Brewery in Little Tokyo to apply for a job. He was looking for a bartender role or waitperson role- either one as he needed some work.

After dropping off his resume and talking with the manager, he was told that “…everyone here knows his place. The men work behind the bar and the women serve the food.” Since there weren’t any bartending positions available, and even though there were waitstaff positions available, he was told that he couldn’t be hired “because he was a man.” The manager went on to say “….this is a very macho environment and men don’t serve the food”. Umm, when did Little Tokyo become a “macho environment” and when did Weilands become a testosterone headquarters where customers are so uncomfortable with a man serving food, that they have to set up hiring rules preventing this from happening?…

More to the story and another experience after the jump. Read more

3

Rick Castro’s second monthly Fetish Film Nights is this Friday evening at the Egyptian Theater– but this time, due to the overflow crowd last month for the first FFN in the small Spielberg Theater, he’s moving into the 616-seat Rigler Theater for a screening of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s raunchy classic, Salo, 120 Days of Sodom.

Be prepared, Salo is not for the squeamish or the weak of heart as it tours with cold, in-your-face precision through a deluge  of sexual and psychological atrocities rained upon a group of young men and women held hostage in a stunning villa by a group of depraved nobles at the end of WWII. Think sumptuous locales, haute couture costume design and complete sexual madness and kinky abandon.

Castro, owner and curator of Antebellum Gallery, the fetish art emporium on Las Palmas around the corner from the Egyptian, will lead a discussion after the film.

Last month’s Fetish Film Nights screening of Maitresse saw a spirited talk about BDSM culture. This Friday will probably play along the same lines, like another titillating night out at the movies. Bring a date– or even find one there.

Salo, 120 Days of Sodom;  Friday Oct. 17th, 7:30 PM; at the Egyptian Theater, 6712 Hollywood Blvd. at Las Palmas, Los Angeles 90028

1

Yeah? Well she’s playing at the Orpheum this Saturday night, October 18th.  And she’s always been pretty cool in my book.  The first real modern dance piece I ever saw in NYC was done to her song, “Gloria” So damn this recession, go nab a ticket!

Now if you’re really broke… or even if you’re not, you can win a copy of her latest CD, “little wild one” by writing us an email explaining how listening to Patti Smith makes you feel.

Best two entries win!  And please use your real email when you register, so we can actually get you the loot!

1

This will be entirely uninteresting to all the McCain, Nader, Ron Paul, Bob Barr, Cynthia McKiney and, if they’re not in the same class as the fictitious leprechaun, Alan Keyes supporters in the audience, but one of my favorite places in the city is Los Feliz’s Fresh Pressed, and this Friday night they’re hosting a fundraiser for Barack Obama:

We’ve teamed with local artists who’ve contributed pro-Obama designs for live screen-printing of shirts, garments, and posters. Artists include Max Erdenberger, Jimm Lasser, Jessica Louise, Megan McGinley, Lenny Mesina, Keith Scharwath, and more! PROCEEDS WILL GO STRAIGHT TO THE OBAMA/BIDEN CAMPAIGN TO CONTINUE RAISING AWARENESS IN THE REMAINING SWING STATES . Pricing for goods will go as follows:

$20 shirt/garment
$10 B.Y.O.T. (bring your own T or other printable garment)
$10 poster on French paper

In addition to designs, drinks, and djs, the good folks who put on the Obama Bake Sale Fundraiser will also be in attendance to fill your appetites for change!

If you’d like to contribute but can’t make it, please help us reach our fundraising goal by visiting our webpage and making a donation.

They’re also looking for people to donate to the bake sale and volunteers to work shifts at the event. Interested parties should contact Nikki Braendlin at nikkibraendlin@gmail.com. And regardless of your political affilliation, I still recommend everyone stop by Fresh Pressed’s unique shop and print your own one-of-a-kind garment the next time you’re in the neighborhood. Kids, especially, seem to the chance to turn their drawings into a t-shirt.

1

Pamela Lang writes in the Burbank Leader that there should be a speed limit on the Chandler Bikeway. Because people on bikes and roller blades and distracted runners go really fast, and they are mean.

You see, Pamela goes for morning walks along the bikeway. She recently witnessed an accident involving 2 bicyclists and 1 blader. So, she wants going really fast to be against the law.

The city of Burbank needs to impose and post a speed limit for bicyclists and those using roller blades, skateboards or any other vehicle on wheels. I have personally witnessed those on bikes passing me at an alarmingly fast speed.

Now, I’m not sure about your skateboard or your roller blades, but my Trek mountain bike did not come with a speedometer. However, I did find one for under $5 here. And one for skates here. They even make them for skateboards. Although, this one appears to be discontinued. Shucks.

Anyhoo.. I have a few questions that I’d like you to consider as you trudge through the rest of the day:

1. Should bikeways be off-limits to bikes?
2. Should there be posted speed limits?
3. What should that speed limit be?
4. Will there be use of radar technology to enforce said speed limit?
5. What about minimum speeds?
6. Will dogs and squirrels be exempt?

Discuss.

9

Only women are featured on a new Christmas CD.

Fiona Apple singing “Frosty the Snowman?!” That’s about as believable as Cindy McCain sharing her brownie recipe. But Apple is indeed one of the females-only singer songwriters on the Hotel Cafe’s new holiday album, Winter Songs, released this week. It distinguishes itself with a mix of standards and original holiday songs from a slew of artists who have performed at the intimate Hollywood venue.

Since its opening in 2000, Hotel Cafe has grown in size and stature, doubling in size from the original narrow coffee shop footprint it originally occupied on Cahuenga, as well as distinguishing itself as  one of the premier singer songwriter venues in the country.

Apple’s “Frosty,” aside from being frosty,  is more Maria McKee than Doris Day, no real surprise. While Sara Bareilles’ and Ingrid Michaelson’s opening “Winter Song” is exquisite and sad, Lenka  delivers  her Feist-like “All My Bells Are Ringing” as if it’s xmas year round, and I mean that in a not-scary way. Katy Perry (yes, she of “I Kissed a Girl”) sings a boozy “White Christmas” like it’s the end of the night in the loneliest bar in LA and Meika’s “Maybe Next Year” could fit into year round chill playlists– something attested to by her inclusion in two recent Grey’s Anatomy episodes.

The original songs’ moods and styles balance the old stand-bys, all of which have hand-tailored arrangements– a good thing if you’re like me and equate most versions of Christmas carols with fingernails scraping on a blackboard.

And might I add, there are only 70 shopping days until…

2

Of late, there’s increasingly becoming greater reason why I’ve added a dog collar, leash and some treats to all the other crap I shlepp in my backpack with me on my crosstown bike rides to/from work: abandonment issues. No, not mine.

It seems that with all the foreclosures going on four-leggers are getting left behind as financially strapped families relocate. While I’m not personally eyewitnessing this trend in epic proportions, today I pedaled past a wary and haggard pooch padding along on Fairfax toward Venice near a house sporting signage that too proudly pronounced it a “Bank Repo.” And last week during my hellish Morning Commute Of The Four Flat Tires With The Much Gnashing & Cursing I encountered two strays — neither of which wanted a hand or even a hand-out. They just wanted to go home, and there was little else I could do but wish them well and say a little prayer in hopes it might help get them there.

Which brings me to Spice, pictured at right (click the image for slight biggenability). Spice is a shepherd mix who needs some permanent sugar. She was liberated from the home of Mr. and Mrs. Callous Bastard at 666 Cruella Way where she was kept in a severely malnourished state — and as if that’s not bad enough had apparently spent most of her life tied to a tree. Presently fostered by Kelly, who rescued her and who works with my wife Susan, she says Spice is a total sweetheart if somewhat cautious — and don’t tell me you wouldn’t be if you’d spent your days starving and tethered out in the yard. Hell, I’d be the Angriest Dog in the World.

Kelly says Spice is far from furious: “She is a great guard dog, but not the type to bark every time someone knocks or rings the bell. She has been great with our two cats, but please do not give her too many commands at once, she gets confused. We have been working with Spice’s trainer and she says Spice is a thumbs-up for anyone who is willing to give her a forever home. She loves company and we have new beds and lots of new toys to donate to her new home.”

If you’re interested in making Spice a member of your family, drop Kelly an email. Or if you know someone who might be, please pass this post along to them.

3

Beginning this Thursday and running through Saturday, Trade&Row is presenting “We, the People,” a documentary film festival showcasing portraits of American culture, from Thursday, October 16, 2008 to Saturday, October 18, 2008:

In the year of a presidential election, it is important to think about the magnitude of what Americans are asking one person to represent to the world. Who are we? How do we come together? What do we, the people, stand for?

Over the course of three evenings, We, the People will showcase films that go beyond generalities to inform Americans about the economic and social issues that may uplift or immobilize certain areas, and show how they can extrapolate to other parts of the country.

Three distinct venues have been selected in hopes of bringing people together to promote multiple perspectives: Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock, Echo Park Film Center and Self Help Graphics. In addition, Trade&Row will facilitate dialogue and ask audience members to comment on the film or films of each evening that had the most impact.

This event looks well worth a visit as there is a ton of really intriguing stuff being shown. I’m particularly interested in night number one’s Lost Colony, described as “A short documentary following a few days in the lives of residents of Crusoe Island, North Carolina, who are known for suspicion of outsiders and subsistence living along the Waccamaw River.”

Full schedule and film synopses after the jump. Read more

0

That awesome, almost-indescribable band Ghostland Observatory is returning to LA this week and I’m really hoping I won’t miss this show–because I keep mising them every time they’re in town. You shouldn’t miss them, either. To ensure you don’t, I’d suggest you enter to win tickets right here. Ayup.

To win, I want you to think up a cool band name with the word “ghost” in it. Because “ghost” is a cool word.

Annnnd….go!

(To ensure you get tix rather than hoping you win, you can buy ‘em here).

9

For the second time in two months, former TV Superman Dean Cain outed himself as a McCain supporter on Larry King Live. Appearing last night in a segment opposite nascent liberal blogger Sheryl Crowe, Cain  went on about how much he loves Crowe’s music but said they can have a political disagreement because *yawn* “that’s what makes America great.” In a brief of flash of clarity about the mortal damage he was inflicting on his career, he then  stammered, “But I’m pro-choice!”

Too late, Man of Steel.

Displaying a Palin-esque acuity when asked by King what question he would most like to hear both presidential candidates answer (”Oh, gee, I don’t know. Uh, foreign policy is big with me,”) he deep-soul kissed his line of work good-bye as doors could be heard slamming shut across Tinseltown.

16

As seen dropping below the trees of the Micheltorena ridge from my porch in Silver Lake this morning at 5:52 a.m.

1

A quarter of a million dollars is raised to fight the proposed anti-gay amendment.

Sunday night at the Mondrian Hotel’s Skybar brought out a sizeable chunk of gay Hollywood and those who love them (and also recognize their power.) The filled-to-capacity event raised close to $250,000 to benefit  Equality California and Love Honor Cherish, two key organizations that have mobilized to defeat Proposition 8, which would amend the California state constitution to eliminate marriage rights for same sex couples.

Chad Allen, Heather Tom, Eric McCormack, Dana Delaney, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Thomas Roberts, Katherine Joosten, Eduardo Xo and Loni Anderson  were some of the boldface names in attendance.

But it was Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the true star of the evening, who wowed the crowd not only with his announcement of his $25,000 donation to the campaign to defeat Proposition 8, but also with his passionate speech that embraced the gay community and took aim at the backers of prop 8, calling their intent “bigotry.”

Villariagosa linked the cause to defeat prop 8 to the civil rights movement, recalling his outsider status as a Latino who had to fight his way into a city politic dominated by a white world. He cajoled and coaxed the crowd into giving more than they already had given; in this case $100 was the minimum donation to attend the event. The mayor also made light of the whiplash nature of his evening, having come directly from a function at the Reagan Presidential Library prior to the Mondrian fundraiser.

A silent auction was an aspect of the benefit, with everything from a Gus Van Zant-signed script of his forthcoming film, Milk, (about Harvey Milk, the gay San Francisco council member who was gunned down because of his championing of gay rights legislation) to a noninvasive  “lipo-smoothing” session ( I don’t even want to know what that is) to a wedding cake with same sex “toppers.”

Somehow, I didn’t fall into the pool in the dizzying swirl of elites. But in an election season where the future of the country is at stake, the point was also made that my future as a gay man in California is  also up for grabs.

More coverage at Out in Hollywood.

10

Indie-emo-folky songstress Canucks Tegan & Sara visit our smoky city of LA for a couple shows this week, playing the Fonda on the 16th along with City & Colour (who are rad) and Girl In A Coma. And we’ve got a few pairs of tix (plus CDs!) to give away to a few lucky winners! Ta dah! The catch? You gotta write me a haiku. Ayup. The misses Tegan & Sara bust their asses getting all wordsmithy for us–the least you can do is reciprocate. Write me the cleverest (is that even a word?) haiku you can imagine in the comments below. Best haiku win tickets. Simple as that!

Here, I’ll start:

Haiku are real neat
But sometimes they make no sense
Refrigerator

6

Forging a bond between the creative pursuits of established visual artists and young writers, Poketo, a Los Angeles design company specializing in limited edition, affordable art products, teamed up with 826LA, a non-profit organization that teaches writing skills to students ages 6 to 18, to create a special series of artist wallets.

826LA held a writing workshop called When Wallets Eat Words, where students developed short stories to line the inside of the artist wallets. Each wallet was then illustrated with a Poketo artists’ interpretation of the stories. The series was conceived when Poketo approached 826LA with an offer to curate a project for the organization.

Started by McSweeney’s Quarterly founder David Eggers, 826 has grown into a nationwide network, with two facilities in Los Angeles (Echo Park and Venice,) as well as branches in San Francisco, Seattle, Ann Arbor, Chicago, Boston and Brooklyn.

The wallets are available for $20 on the Poketo site , as well as at the Echo Park Time Travel Mart, 1714 W. Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles 90026. Proceeds benefit student writing programs at 826LA.

Wallet designed by Martha Rich.

2