Beverly @ Stanley 4/8/09

Times are so tough even Sign Bandit is strapped for cash. Won’t you give a Wolverine’s Daughter comic book-owning, gigantic ass-loving Michael-Jackson-alike some dough today? He likes Marley, yo.

PREVIOUSLY IN CRIES FOR HELP AND ATTENTION
» That Goofball With The Hand-Lettered Melrose Signs Is At It Again
» For Sale on Melrose: Wolverine’s Daughter, 2 Books, Taco Bell, Thundercats, Movies, Money…My Heart

FRIDAY APRIL 17
TICKETS

A Place To Bury Strangers, Alberta Cross, Bajofondo, Beirut, Buraka Som Sistema, Cage the Elephant, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Craze and Klever, Crystal Castles, Dear and the Headlights, Felix da Housecat, Franz Ferdinand, Genghis Tron, Ghostland Observatory, Girl Talk, Gui Boratto, Leonard Cohen, Los Campesinos!, M. Ward, Molotov, Morrissey, N.A.S.A., Noah and the Whale, Patton & Rahzel , Paul McCartney, Peanut Butter Wolf, People Under the Stairs, Ryan Bingham, Silversun Pickups, Steve Aoki, Switch, The Crystal Method, The Aggrolites, The Airborne Toxic Event, The Black Keys, The Bug, The Courteeners, The Hold Steady, The Knux, The Presets, The Ting Tings, We Are Scientists, White Lies

SATURDAY APRIL 18
TICKETS

Amanda Palmer, Amy Winehouse, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Atmosphere, Band Of Horses, Billy Talent, Blitzen Trapper, Bob Mould Band, Booker T, Calexico, Cloud Cult, Crookers, Dr. Dog, Drive By Truckers, Drop The Lime, Electric Touch, Fleet Foxes, Gang Gang Dance, Glass Candy, Glasvegas, Henry Rollins, Hercules and Love Affair, Ida Maria, James Morrison, Liars, Mastodon, Michael Franti & Spearhead, MSTRKRFT, Surkin, Para One (Live), Superchunk, The Bloody Beetroots, The Killers, Thenewno2, Thievery Corporation, Tinariwen, TRAV$DJ-AM, Turbonegro, TV On The Radio, Zane Lowe, Zizek

SUNDAY APRIL 19
TICKETS

Antony and the Johnsons, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Christopher Lawrence, Clipse, Friendly Fires, Fucked Up, Gaslight Anthem, Groove Armada (DJ Set), Jenny Lewis, Junior Boys, K’naan, Late of the Pier, Lupe Fiasco, Lykke Li, M.A.N.D.Y., Marshall Barnes, Mexican Institute of Sound, My Bloody Valentine, No Age, Okkervil River, Paolo Nutini, Paul Weller, Perry Farrell, Peter Bjorn and John, Public Enemy, Roni Size, Sebastien Tellier, Shepard Fairey, Supermayer, The Cure, The Horrors, The Kills, The Night Marchers, Themselves, Throbbing Gristle, Vivian Girls, X, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

3-DAY PASS TICKETS

CAMPING TICKETS

Official Festival Site

You just have to admire the DIY ethic. At first I thought this guy took the whole “give the computer the finger” motif so far that he hand-lettered each of these ridiculous signs (commonly posted paired with a second sign, each with a separate message and separate phone number). Closer scrutiny, however, reveals disappointing evidence of photocopier play. Let us hope that, given the central Melrose location of these posted adverts, they are not the handiwork of Mr Brainwash inexplicably finally getting something right for a change. Fear not, way too subtle. Too “thinky.” So who’s the salesperson here…Are these Korendian by origin? We crosschecked the phone numbers with what we currently have on file for David Liebe Hart. Neither number matched, but it could be he’s upgraded after hitting the big time with Tim and Eric. Sigh. Anybody call these numbers or have a story to share regarding these hand-lettered ads? We’re all ears.

»continue reading For Sale on Melrose: Wolverine’s Daughter, 2 Books, Taco Bell, Thundercats, Movies, Money…My Heart

Those Thomas Guides work well when you’re trying to wend your way through LA, but they sure aren’t as pretty as the Los Angeles typographical map designed by Jenny Beorkrem, founder of Ork Posters. “It is a poster, and less so a map,” Beorkrem says.

What began as a small-scale project of turning her homebase, Chicago, into a map for her own walls has turned into a popular way to show city pride for urbanites throughout the country. Beorkrem has also designed typographical maps of Brooklyn, Manhattan, Boston, and San Francisco. Then came Los Angeles.

“Every Ork poster is restricted to city limits, but with the case of LA I decided to include the separate cities that were wholly within the LA city limits for aesthetic reasons,” explained Beorkrem, “to avoid a bunch of holes in the design.” And even with the inclusion of cities such as Culver City and Beverly Hills closing up the gaps, there’s still a long tail of city heading from South Los Angeles to San Pedro. “The shape of the city in and of itself is pretty, well I guess goofy.” And it’s difficult to disagree.

So how did Beorkrem determine the boundaries of LA neighborhoods and separate cities surrounded by LA? »continue reading Typography/Topography: Ork Posters Tackles Los Angeles

As a non-subtle reminder Losanjealous constantly mines, sorts and processes the cruddiest cell phone photos ever taken, weekly, for your cheap enjoyment. Friday, the week’s most egregious is bestowed the honor CRAPTASTIC CELL PHONE PHOTO OF THE WEEK.

This week’s winner comes from our very own Jeannette, as she travels abroad:

Unbeatable Chingrish…Katrina M found this. She cameraphone’d it to me. It’s on a tub of glue….and try as I might for the rest of my life, I don’t think I can ever beat this.

After the jump, photo submission instructions and two incredibly shitty cell phone photos taken by yours truly at last night’s Hammer Museum concert featuring Foreign Born & Great Northern. ARE YOU IN THE PHOTO? …
»continue reading Craptastic Cell Phone Photo of the Week: The New Generation Is High To Glue To Fuck The Type Quickly

News comes today from Kellie Schmitt for The Recorder:

Dickstein Shapiro, based in Washington, D.C., has brought on four attorneys from Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner’s shrinking Los Angeles office, which has seen more than a dozen departures since its fall merger.

Dickstein added partners James Turken and Amy Rubinfeld, as well as two associates from Thelen’s commercial litigation group, part of its plan to grow its 20-lawyer office in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, “Thelen is going through changes with the merger, and this got me to the Westside,” said Turken, who lives in Manhattan Beach, which is closer to Dickstein’s Century City office. “Anytime you merge cultures, things are going to change.”

In January, the firm moved into Century City’s Twin Towers which gave it space for 40 lawyers — space firm leaders hope to quickly fill.

“We were pretty landlocked in terms of growth,” said Linda Kornfeld, the managing partner of Dickstein’s Los Angeles office, “but now there’s definitely room to grow.”

Peter Ocko, a recruiter with Major, Lindsey & Africa in Los Angeles, attributes some of the departures to a merger that wasn’t the best fit.

“Sometimes firms take a look at everyone else getting together, and it seems like a good idea, but on a micro level, it doesn’t work as well as it sounds in the press release,” he said.

Where is the juice? The juice is on Melrose Hill. It drains westward, down the hill, eventually pooling into the most exquisitely glistening coagulations in the cracks here at Western and Melrose. It’s true. Believe it! I’ve seen it.

Goudy! Times-Roman-alike with yon diamond-studded i’s!

Goudy! Preferred font of wedding invitations worldwide!

Goudy! Nowhere to be seen on the above Goudy Billboard!

Excluding the ‘VistaMedia’ branding, there are six distinct fonts on the Goudy billboard, and nary a one of them is Goudy. Where is the justice in this cruel, cruel world. Let’s take a closer look, then, shall we? We shall:
»continue reading Fontwatch: When Goudy Shuns Its Namesake

Sandwiched between the Blu Monkey an an adult video store touting PRIVATE BOOTHS just west of Western on Hollywood Blvd,

Club & Music

suffers from identity crisis. Is it actually R E L A X P U B? The verbiage on the canopy is a recent addition, this much we do know. Mayhap the owner awoke one day and thought, “Club & Music? Fuck that! Why limit ourselves when we could also be a PUB!”

Each time I stumble into Relax, something hilarious is happening on stage. You’ve pretty much got to turn out in person to see what I’m talking about, because I’m not sure I can properly lay down the concept of shadow-drumming in words. On to the font! Top sign, squashed Brush Script. You take your Brush Script Standard (Robert E. Smith, 1942), squash it to 70% vertical, throw a second layer behind it, offset second layer a couple pixels at 120 degree angle and call it a day. Relax! It’s just Brush Script. Why they chose to go reverse-on-black makes no real sense, but who’s arguing. From Adobe:
»continue reading Fontwatch: Relax! It’s Just Brush Script

Situated at the notorious mindfuck loosely dubbed an intersection at Fairfax, Olympic and San Vicente,

You Are My King

is truly a sight to behold. We’ve all been there. You lose balance after a while! You can’t stay hanging on your peg! There are many reasons to embrace Helvetica (Max Miedinger, 1957), but of all of them, I embrace Helvetica solely for the fact that it knows when it is simply time to get Shitfaced Balls Drunk. We are looking at a textbook Helvetica Neue Standard Black in today’s installment. Basically take your Helv Standard Black, squeeze horizontal scale 90%, crank vertical scale +110%. Done. Call it a day and go home.

Adobe tells us:
»continue reading Fontwatch: You Are My King LIQUOR (The ‘R’ Is Balls Drunk): When Helvetica Is On The Line

Situated just off the Virgil/Silverlake/Temple/Beverly mindfuck, has wisely chosen a reversed, all-caps bold on its brown façade. Specifically, they’ve opted for Lithos Black for the English speakers. You may recall Lithos, designed by the inimitable Carol Twombly (yes that Carol Twombly…Myriad, anyone?) for Adobe in 1989, as being the system font widely misunderstood (and misused) as Something Junglish throughout the 1990s.

Lithos = Jungle Safari? This is simply not the case, font lovers. The font is as Greek as they come. So why is it considered a jungle font? Blame Universal Studios’ Jurassic Park vessel, if you want to start pointing fingers. This is Lithos. And this is Neuland, a very similar typeface with very similar Grecian overtones. The 1993 marketing blitz for Jurassic Park plastered the movie’s name in Neuland onto every possible item that wasn’t nailed down, if you’ll recall, and the aftermath of said brand pummelling found poor Lithos lumped in with the Neuland crowd, for good. For all its noble beginnings Lithos was, frankly, too damned similar to Neuland to be discerned as a separate face by the layman.
»continue reading Fontwatch: Coffee Garden (Symbols) Sanjang: A Lithos Discussion (In Brief)

As part of the great lead-up to Project Pico (thanks for your feedback — keep it coming), we proudly present yet another section of the Boulevard of Pico Dreams in today’s installment of Fontwatch…

Unfortunately for the Outlet the oft-overused Arial Black, while exceptionally heavy, is largely lost within the confines of the background colors, most notably in the poor red-on-pink decision. Worse, at an average velocity of 22mph only the sharpest, most astute eye will be able to rise above the heavy red font for the Backpack º Luggage pitch, a bit of an amalgamation of Copperplate and something John Baldessari might have done on commission while bored. (Hey, it’s entirely plausible.)

Shortcomings aside we have no choice but to commend for its Starburst color scheme which, we hope, is effective in the battle for attention on the Boulevard – particularly in this jocund din of a stretch. The juice truly is loose. Pico OUTLET: We salute you!

O! What a tangled “J” we script. Typographers, Fontographers, and Fontyperaphers alike should delight in the “J façade” refresh recently afforded GAR, Suzanne Tracht’s chophouse situated at 8225 Beverly. In the past, drivers unfamiliar with the acclaimed establishment would phonetically vocalize for blocks, varying between GAR and JAR until one was eventually favored over other. Said drivers will now take comfort in the fact that the muddy water has been substiantally filtered with the recent J Refresh. Indeed, the establishment’s name is no longer a question in the mind of the casual driver: WELCOME TO SAR, acclaimed chophouse of chef Suzanne Tracht!

The Gar Sar Jar
8225 Beverly

Special Bloggy Shoutout to My Culinary Adventures for having the foresight to have captured historic “J=G” script