Just wanted to let you know about an awesome scavenger hunt game on the west side tomorrow afternoon, hosted by Wise Guys Events. It’s designed for teams of two and combines elements of a photo scavenger hunt and the spy game, Assassin. It’s super cheap for a few hours of fun and will be over in plenty of time for you to head to your evening plans.

Here’s some information I ripped from the event’s Facebook page:

Camera Assassins is the newest Wise Guys Events game! Play in teams of 2: that’s right, teams of 2! Get your future Amazing Race partner in on the action. It’s part photo scavenger hunt, part Assassin. You and your partner are racing to complete as many of the photo challenges as you can. The catch is, you can’t do them without the help of the other teams, and one of the other players is aiming to kill you. Unless your partner is.

Camera Assassins, the amazing game of double exposure! RSVP on their Facebook event page to play.

The cost is $20 per team, to be collected on game day.

Saturday, November 21, 2009
1:00p – 4:00p
Westwood Park – Meet at the Picnic Benches
1300 Veteran Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90024

Venice Beach

Ok, Metbloggers and Metblogs readers, get off your bikes and get ready for the Great Los Angeles Walk 2009 this Saturday, November 21.  This annual walk to celebrate Los Angeles has been taking place since 2006.  Here’s Will Campbell’s preview of last year’s walk. This year, over 300 feet are expected to join in.

Who
Great Los Angeles Walk is the brainchild of Mike and Maria, purveyors of the Franklin Avenue blog, and no doubt passionate readers of Los Angeles Metblogs.

What

A 13.5 mile walk from the Shrine Auditorium to Venice Beach, taking in the sights along Figueroa, Adams, Washington, the Mid-City, and Culver City on the way.
(more…)

VerdElf at SantaCon 2008 (Photo courtesy of Colin Young-Wolff and the LA Times)

Details about the annual Santa Conference (SantaCon) is usually unavailable this early in the year and the veracity of any information that does become available is often in question due to Santa’s propensity for pranking. What we do know is this, the annual conference is coordinated by a shadowy figure known only as “Santa” and while he sometimes tolerates elves at his annual gathering,  he will do anything it takes to keep those damn clowns from ruining his jolly good time.

While specific details about SantaCon are never revealed until it is actually happening, I just received some intel regarding this year’s event that may be helpful for those of you who are looking to either participate or avoid it altogether. My sources have informed me that this year’s event will take place on Saturday, December 12.

I am also told that Santa is likely to be traveling on foot instead of bus this year, which means a $5 Metro Day Pass is all you’re going to need to hurl your cheer onto every street corner.

Last year, Santa merged at Echo Park Lake to begin the conference. So far, no one has revealed the exact starting location of this year’s event, but to me downtown seems like an obvious choice. Then, you never really know with Santa.

Ho, ho, ho.

Learn how to make Tamales at Tarascos on Nov. 17

For those of you who like to know how to make stuff, my favorite Mexican joint in Silver Lake, Tarascos is hosting a Tamale Class on Tuesday, November 17 at 10:00 am and 7:00 pm. The class is only $15.00, which includes all of the  materials you will need to make a small batch of your very own tamales from scratch.

Students will have the option to take their tamales home to bake on their own or Tarascos will bake the tamales for you and let you pick them up later (tamales take about 4 hours to bake).  Students will learn how to make chicken, cheese and vegetarian tamales.

To sign up, call Tarascos at 323.669.3300. Click here to follow Tarascos on twitter for their daily specials.

MOCA is celebrating their collection of Post War art in Collection: Thirty Years of MOCA by offering free Museum admission November 15th through the 20th.

The installation will showcase art work from over 200 artists with the years 1940 – 1980 displayed at MOCA Grand Avenue and 1980 to the present at The Geffen Contemporary gallery.

On November 19th, you can hear Two Artists Perspectives of Los Angeles in the 70s.

Join William Leavitt and Allen Ruppersberg, both of whom are featured in Collection: MOCA’s First Thirty Years, for a conversation with independent curator Carole Ann Klonarides about the experience of making and presenting work in the 1970s. This event is hosted by X-TRA, Los Angeles’s longest running contemporary art journal.

The talk is free to attend.

On November 14, 15 and 16, locals will have the opportunity to check out Nissan’s first ever zero-emissions electric car, the LEAF. This will be the first public unveiling of the LEAF in North America. You can check it out this weekend at the following locations:

Nissan's New Electric Car Debuts in LA this Weekend

November 14, 2009 10am – 9pm
Third Street Promenade
1351 3rd Street Promenade
Santa Monica, CA

November 15, 2009 11am – 8pm
Americana at Brand
233 S. Brand Blvd.
Glendale, CA

November 16, 2009 9am – 5pm
University Southern California
3501 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, CA

According to Nissan, the LEAF handles and accelerates like a V6 and has a top speed of up to 90mph. It will have an average range of 100 miles per charge and the battery will charge in 4-8 hours on a 220V home charging unit. At quick-charge stations, it will charge to 80% in about 26 minutes. Although Nissan has not released exact information on pricing, they say that they are “targeting a price in the range of other typical family sedans.” The LEAF will be on the road in some states in 2010, with mass-production beginning in 2012.

To attend one of the unveiling events this weekend, register on their website here.

I finally got over to the Hello Kitty celebration, Three Apples, that I told you about a few weeks ago. I really had a great time and recommend it for any fans. Even those of you who don’t care so much about the little cartoon cat, may want to check out the art exhibit featuring very creative, and in some cases downright disturbing, homages to Miss Kitty by over 80 artists. Fantastic stuff. I also got a kick out of seeing the variety of products available in Japan, from toys to elaborate tea sets emblazaned with her image.  Other showcases include everything from kitchen appliances to school supplies to an entire Hello Kitty bathroom. The vintage items featured are sure to stir some childhood memories.

I met up with a group of friends and we waited in line for about an hour for brunch in the café. It gave us time to look at some of the surrounding displays. While you could order from the regular menu, there was also a special Hello Kitty menu, of course, featuring a high tea and character shaped pancakes and waffles. Guess what we chose to order. There was no way we could pass up a combo of yummy and cute!

This is the last week of the event and I predict that it will be quite crowded this coming weekend as folks realize it’s their last chance. I’ve heard that it’s not so bad during the week, so that may be the way to go if your schedule allows. I plan to go back just for the store as the line to get in yesterday was incredibly long.

Three Apples runs through Sunday, November 15th at Royal/T in Culver City, 10am-10pm. There is no admission fee, but you might have to wait to get into the shop or be seated in the café.

Buttermilk Truck's Red Velvet Cupcakes

With the explosion of specialty food trucks on the LA food scene over the past year or so, fueled in part by the immense popularity of Kogi BBQ, the undisputed monarch of motorized food purveyors, announcements of new food trucks were becoming somewhat noisy and commonplace. Sipping a cocktail at a bar one night, I overheard a couple gush about The Grilled Cheese Truck. Getting a pedicure, I witnessed the entire staff at the nail salon go nuts over the Nom Nom Truck. Just as I my inner cynic began to roll her eyes and slap a jumped shark sticker on the bumper of the food truck craze, someone said two magical words that snapped me right out of it, like a plunge into an ice cold bath.

“Buttermilk Truck.” I could almost smell the warm vanilla in the air when I heard those words.

Buttermilk Truck, scheduled to launch this Wednesday, November 11 at The Brig in Venice, is a “breakfast diner on wheels,” boasting chicken and cinnamon waffles, red velvet cupcakes, Hawaiian bread breakfast sliders and more. They make their pastries from scratch and even offer a late night menu – because we all know the best time to have breakfast is before the sun rises.

Hawaiian Bread Breakfast Sliders

Like many of LA’s nouveau gourmet food trucks, you can follow Buttermilk Truck on twitter to keep up with where they are going to park their truck next. Also, LAist has compiled a rather comprehensive twitter list of just about every food truck in town. <——– Just click there to access the list.

I may not be able to make it to Buttermilk Truck’s launch this Wednesday, but you can guarantee that I will be the first in line when they drop by Silver Lake.

For more information on Buttermilk Truck and to check out their complete menu, visit them at http://buttermilktruck.com/.

There are four million stories in the City of Angels (ten million in the County), and a bunch of them will be told at the 8th Annual L.A. Storytelling Festival. The Festival, which takes place on Saturday, November 14 at the Culver-Palms UMC Complex in Culver City, will feature stories, tales, concerts, workshops, and more.  Information about the Storytelling Festival, including the lineup of workshops, registration instructions, ticket prices, and directions, can be found at the event’s website here.

What’s the difference between a story and a tale?  Head to the Festival and find out!

LADWP is offering its customers free landscape classes focused on using ideal vegetation for our climate. The California Friendly Landscape Workshop will show you how to choose the right plants and conserve water in Southern California.

Class sizes are limited, so you must RSVP immediately.