I’m not going to lie, friends. At 2pm: I drove around the block. Things were getting sticky. At 3pm: Again I drove around the block. Things were getting hairy. At present, the 7/03 Evening CommuteScale® Level is:

[4pm Pacific Standard time]. This is, as it turns out, completely unsurprising given the fact that July 3 is the second deadliest driving day of the year*. The alleys are your friends. Know them intimately or stay in the minor leagues and be home by 11pm.

*[Fatality stats courtesy Taco via blogging.LA]

»continue reading Battles @ Troubadour, 6/30/07

Finn Andrews’ of The Veils has that essential desperation and threadbare look of an early Rough Trade B&W promo shot. Think early Smiths, Scritti. You hear it on the record and see it from the moment he steps on stage. He’s slim as a hat rack in his big jacket and cuts a visage that is somewhere in the overlap of a Venn diagram between Joe Strummer and Jeff Buckley, pleading eyebrows and spastic choking of his guitar neck. The man feels it. Even the gaggles of oblivious industry underlings out in force tonight at Spaceland tonight, fresh faced Blackberrying D-girls and junior publicist types barnacled at the bar side of the room, surely must notice that he is feeling it. Then again, some guy is showing off his glowing iPhone, so who knows.
»continue reading The Veils @ Spaceland, 6/29/07

July 2: Canada Day Hangover

Expect the ratio of sleepy, hungover Canadians rising to greet the evening to be in direct proportion to those still sleeping it off. As a result, the 7/02 Evening CommuteScale® Level is:

The alleys are your friends. Know them intimately or stay in the minor leagues and be home by 830pm.

Evening CommuteScale® Key after jump
»continue reading Eye on Traffic: Hungover Canadians To Make No Fucking Difference Whatsoever To Commute

LOSANJEALOUS (Losanjealous) :: Losanjealous is in immediate need of one half-dozen Southern California-Canadian bloggers for an undisclosed project. If you, your father, your grandfather, your mother, your grandmother, your aunt, your uncle, one of your nieces, your cousin or your neighbor hails from Canada as an active blogger based in Southern California, we’d like to talk to you/him/her.

This opportunity is ideal for Canadiandidates who enjoy seeing the results of their creative work as much as they enjoy the creative process. The ideal Canadiandidates are self-motivated and productive; individuals who continually seek to expand their California-Canadian skillsets; desire a team atmosphere, and enjoy a fast-paced and rewarding work experience.
»continue reading CANADIAN BLOGGERS NEEDED

PICK OF THE WEEK

THE DECEMBERISTS, BAND OF HORSES AND ANDREW BIRD
@ Hollywood Bowl
(Summertime + Hollywood Bowl)² *
(The Decemberists + LA Philharmonic) ÷
√(Band of Horses + Andrew Bird)
= Pick of the Week
 

HOOTENANNY
Oak Canyon Ranch
Irvine
Saturday
7/7/07
Contest closed — Winners TBA
 

ROCCO DE LUCA
w/ The Last Goodnight & Sara Bareilles
Henry Fonda Theater
Friday
July 6
Contest closed — Winners TBA
[BUY TICKETS]

NEIL HAMBURGER
America’s Funnyman
@ Spaceland
Sunday
July 8
Contest closed — Winners TBA
 

MARK RONSON
CD prize pack
Contest closed — Winners TBA
[MARK RONSON - VERSION]
 
Please include your full name when entering.

The Bravery @ The Wiltern Thu 9/13
Gruff Rhys @ Jensen Rec Center (Super Furry Animals man) Wed 10/3
M.I.A. @ Union Station Wed 8/1
Built to Spill @ Henry Fonda Fri 9/14
Built to Spill @ Henry Fonda Thu 9/13
The Slits @ El Rey Fri 8/3
Editors @ Jimmy Kimmel Thu 7/26
The 1990s w/ Robbers on High Street @ Troubadour Tue 8/7
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah @ Troubadour Thu 9/20
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah @ Troubadour Wed 9/19
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah @ Troubadour Tue 9/18
Arcade Fire w/ LCD Soundsystem @ Hollywood Bowl (Pre-sale 6/27 10 am) Thu 9/20
Editors @ The Wiltern Mon 9/24
Beastie Boys @ Greek Theatre (on sale 6/28) Mon 8/20
Mountain Goats @ Rhino Records (5 pm, free) Sun 7/22

THURSDAY
Great Northern w/ Foreign Born @ Hammer Museum

SATURDAY
Decemberists, Band of Horses, Andrew Bird @ Hollywood Bowl (w/ LA Philharmonic)
The Rentals, Goldenboy @ Spaceland
Hootenanny @ Oak Cayon Ranch, Irvine

SUNDAY
Neil Hamburger @ Spaceland

Not to be outdone in the marketing blitz department, Los Angeles hogs the 7-Eleven-turned- Kwik-E-Mart concept with two stores — one in Burbank (shown here), the other on the Westside. Poor Middle America. Poor Springfields of the world. They won’t be able to breeze past Marge Simpson and Comic Book Guy on their way to buy a 6-pack of “Buzz Cola” for $3.99. They will have to use the powers of their own imagination to see the freezer geezer on their way to buy ice. They’ll never know the true taste of a real, live, three-dimensional Squishee (tastes cartoony) — and they’ll never have an Indian gentleman at the cash register warn them against brain freeze at the purchase of said Squishee. Yes, that really happened.

Now they’ll never see the movie.

To promote “The Simpsons Movie,” 7-Eleven is turning 12 of its stores into Kwik-E-Marts. This is the Burbank installment at 1611 W. Olive Ave. More photos after the jump.

»continue reading A Good Day For A Squishee