January ’07

HEADS UP
Buy your very own signed and numbered Hancock Park David from Youngwood Court at an upcoming estate sale! (via Curbed)

NOTE: The future of the official Y Que Hancock Park t-shirt line remains unclear at the time of this writing.

We’ve had a lot of fun with this house over the years – shared a few emails with its owner – and taken plenty of photos, as evidenced. Best of luck to Norwood with the next chapter. Click through for a couple of holiday shots.

»continue reading Buy Your Very Own David Statue At The Youngwood Court Estate Sale (RIP House of Davids)

Apparently Barney’s was on the agenda this morning over at the Office of Zoning Administration. (So much about ZONING going on these days! ZOMG!)

Did crotchety Westwood property-owning NIMBYs come out and voice concerns about BB’s becoming yet ANOTHER place for students to purchase alcoholic beverages since the repeal of prohibition? Did UCLA dudes and dudettes counter them by coming out in force to state their case for having a nice place where they can get loaded AND eat alcohol-absorbing pancakes? We eagerly await the outcome.

Amusingly, one of the zone rules on the books for this spot that Barney’s wants to nix is the rule that no alcohol be served without a food purchase. It seems they are anticipating that people will want to go there and just drink. Another interesting tidbit from the notice is that the upstairs mezzanine apparently will only accommodate 14 people. Seems kind of low. Wonder how that will wind up actually working out in practice.
 

Exclusive: A Chat With The Doors And A Stroll to Barney’s Beanery on Jim Morrison’s 65th Birthday
Jim Morrison’s 65th Birthday Party Presented by KLOS 95.5 FM Starring Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Barney’s Beanery, December 8, 2008

Nearly one year after I first dropped the word of a pending Westwood Village Barney’s Beanery back in December 2008, a “Coming Soon!” sign has finally been hung on the former Good Earth, former Straton’s spot (and about 150 feet from the Westwood C.P.K.). Year-long delays, along with unexplained sudden shutterings, are unsurprising when it comes to the fickle zoning and real estate winds in the Village. Let’s hope that a) Barney’s can take root and stick around for a while; and b) that the village idiots will stick to O’Hara’s and not ruin the vibe at Barney’s.

Olympic Gold Medalist and ten-time World Champion Fighter Oscar de la Hoya officially cut the ribbon on the Oscar de la Hoya Ánimo Charter High School in Boyle Heights today, the first public high school built in Boyle Heights in 80 years. The school is situated at the location of de la Hoya’s former boxing gym. Big congrats and thanks to Oscar; full press release and more photos by Nicholas Alan Cope after the jump.

»continue reading De La Hoya Cuts Ribbon on Namesake Boyle Heights Charter High School

Hey, Kids! It’s Music Blog Demographic Gut-Check Departmental Survey Time! Today’s polling background from over Curbed way:

Just a month ago, the Lofts at Cherokee Studios, a 12-unit Pugh + Scarpa-designed building launched its official web site, floorplans and all. Now the building, built on the site of the old Cherokee Studios (where Sinatra and Bowie recorded), has launched its blog and announced it’s creating a “Platinum Showcase.” Developer REthink has partnered with four architects to each create a loft that will pay homage to the musicians who recorded on that site. Rogerio Carvalheiro will design a loft that honors David Bowie, interior designers Kristin Casey and Rick Rifle will design for Frank Sinatra, Lori Dennis & Brook Casey will pay tribute to Alice Cooper, and Jennifer Siegel’s Office of Mobile Design and Sandra Sharma are designing a penthouse suite in homage to 30 Seconds to Mars. Wait, huh? How did 30 Seconds to Mars sneak in there with Sinatra, Bowie and Cooper?

Beatles producer George Martin once called Cherokee Studios the best recording studio in America. The recording alumni list published by the studio itself reads like a who’s who of late 20th century music…Devo, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Public Enemy, Stevie Wonder, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Who…with all those guys waiting in the wings, why exactly in hell the 30 Secs To Mars Hot Topic-suffused Penthouse design again, guys? Has Jared Leto already signed on to purchase the goddamned thing? We understand they helped raise some money for Habitat – and no fooling, that’s great – but seriously, the penthouse alongside Sinatra? User poll time! This is your chance to passively tell owner Bruce Robb and designers Jennifer Siegel and Sandra Sharma, by way of a random pointless music blog poll, which artist you’d really like to see that Legendary Cherokee Studios penthouse paying tribute to come October. Don’t snooze.

»continue reading Which Cherokee Studios Music-Themed Penthouse Do You Crave The Most?

Beloved sub sandwich shack, Roll Inn Sandwich, frequently affectionately referred to by UCLA undergrads as “Buck Fiddy” for its one-time $1.50 (pre-tax) sandwiches was found dead today on Gayley Avenue in Westwood Village, a “For Lease” sign hanging it its window.

As a reliable late night purveyor of alcohol-sopping subs to stumbling drunkards emerging from nearby Maloney’s after last call, the Roll Inn maintained a foothold in the area even as their prices gradually crept upwards from the 12-bit offerings of their glory days. It upgraded its exterior facade to a White Stripesy candy cane theme, added catering service, and expanded its menu, adding even a bulgogi beef sub. They even installed some of those needles you put on the roof to deter pigeons from landing and shitting you. Even with these improvements, its ramshackle shack sprit was in its bones, kind of like a girl that loses a lot of weight but you can still sort of see the fat girl in them.

For a local business that has hung on in the historically difficult retail climate of Westwood Village for upwards of a decade, the passing may come as a shock. Pending an autopsy, the precise date and cause of its demise was not known.

»continue reading UCLA Westwood Village’s Roll Inn Sandwich a.k.a. “Buck Fiddy” Found Dead

I could be wrong, but I don’t think we’ve done a straight-ahead bar review on these pages since June 2006, back when wayward contributor Annie mouthed off about the Spotlight and Bar 107. Drumroll, new bar just opened, here goes nothing.

WHAT I AM WRITING ABOUT
Stinkers Truck Stop

WHY IT IS NOTEWORTHY
Stinkaz (can I get informal here?) is themed as a truck stop, and it “soft opened” (hold – how does a bar “soft open” again? Further, isn’t liquor by definition “hard” ? .. ) last Thursday. Stinkahs has mounted skunk asses on the walls. The asses spray mist on your head while you drink. Stinkezs also has a CB apparatus and a terribly loud truck horn (warning). Apparently Stinkuz also has Stinkers Ale (or similar) but they were out when we visited last Monday. Stinkers is brought to you by the man behind Bigfoot Lodge, Little Cave and Saints and Sinners. You know…theme bars. Stinkers has also been Thrillisted, Eaten and Metromixed in the last week or two so I will be brief.

WHAT I AM WATCHING WHILE I AM WRITING THIS
The Replacements on HBOHD featuring Keanu Reeves, Pat Summerall and Gene Holy Jesus Would You Look At That Juicy Mustache Hackman. Exactly how in the Christ do movies like this get made!? More pressing, why am I all of 70 minutes deep?

»continue reading Five Second Bar Review: Stinkers (Silver Lake)

»continue reading Beverly Boulevard Transplant “Kowboyz” Western Shack On New Life In Santa Fe

Thou Shalt Enjoy Live Music in Santa Monica Confines No Longer…

Temple Bar shuts its door end of September, further bolstering Santa Monica’s longstanding general disapproval of quality live music. Whether or not all of the acts previously booked on the west side will continue to crowd Little Temple (Silverlake; same owners) remains to be seen.

TEMPLE BAR: THE FINAL OFFERINGS
» The Soul of John Black Mon 9/29
» Farewell party w/Seneca; hosted by Carlos Niño (Dublab; KPFK Spaceways radio, Build an Ark, etc) with “Very Special Guests” Tues 9/30

» Myspace: The Soul of John Black
» Myspace: Fill The Heart Shaped Cup (Carlos Niño; Miguel Atwood-Ferguson)

The sign itself is modest, muted behind tinted glass, belying the certain impact the contents of its message are soon to reak upon a neighborhood and retail district. It is a simple banner, somewhere between the sort you might make at Kinko’s for a birthday party and one you might hang over an aircraft carrier deck to celebrate the victorious end of the Iraq war, bearing four words in happy fonts that simultaneously elicit giddy anticipation from prospective shoppers while striking the fear of God into the very hearts of Westwood Village food and drug retailers: Trader. Joe’s. Coming. Soon.

»continue reading New Trader Joe’s Taking Shape in UCLA Westwood Village Area

As it turns out most people just want coffee, without a side of smaller coffee. Prime square footage on Western, spitting distance from both the Wiltern and the city’s kookiest KFC. Still available at press time! What should the next business call itself? Choose from the list below or throw your choice into the comments…

• Coffee & Coffee (& Coffee)
• Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee
• Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee, & Coffee & Coffee
• Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee & Coffee
• Just Fucking Coffee
• Sears
• AutoZone
• 1 and 2
• 1, 2 and 3
• All of the above
• None of the above

Above: A forgettable shithole on Melrose seemingly remodels itself following months of unnoticed downtime

While you were busy not giving a shit, The Gig (7302 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, CA 90046) quietly (assumed) folded its doors some time ago. Last updated in December, the venue’s online calendar shows the dreaded tell-tale smattering of “TBA” slots in those final days, with the last confirmed rock act listed being Shaka Buku. Congrats, Shaka Buku! You may yet in fact become the last band in history to have erroneously believed that playing a gig at the venerable surprisingly longstanding Melrose hellhole loosely, if not longingly, dubbed “The Gig” could potentially further your career in some capacity.

We blame you not for failing to notice the venue’s closure (it took us six months). Hell, Wikipedia lists the last time in history anybody gave a shit about something taking place at The Gig as being March 10, 1988. (Let’s be fair, the aforementioned passage requires citation and the club has only been around since 1998 or so.) The venue’s official myspace page is unfortunately of little help at present, advising that “front patio” renovations should be completed prior to March 2008. (Is that what’s going on inside there?)

All snarkiness aside, the closure is bound to have a negative impact on the local music scene and, broader, the city at large, as bands who were previously booked no questions asked just bring some friends at The Gig diligently and painfully find the booking policies considerably more rigid at competing clubs and, as a result, the respective band members become severely embittered, directly translating into poor attitudes at day jobs, ultimately translating into somebody getting short-shrifted out of an espresso shot by a pissed-off member of Shaka Buku behind the counter over at Starbucks Hollywood. After the jump, our recommendation for the new Melrose public facing.
»continue reading Gig Gutted

The Great Book of Los Angeles Locksmith Shacks is nearing completion, but our photography is still lacking. You can help! Have a photo of a Los Angeles-based locksmith shack to share? Send it to me, or upload it to the Los Angeles Locksmith Shack group on Flickr today. My five favorite submissions within the next two weeks will all receive one random, all-new cd (nothing cruddy – scout’s honor) from the Losanjealous music library. You will also be notified of compensation options, should your submission eventually be chosen for offline publication. Godspeed.

» What is a Locksmith Shack?
» Where might I find a Locksmith Shack?
» Locksmith Shacks: Are they dangerous?

Coachella Prince-inclusive poster watching. I’m in the thick of it, man. I’m waist deep in that shit. When Prince was first announced we had the gaping hole. Next, we had the hole shored up with a loaded Prince symbol pointing at the Johnson. Today, the third official Prince-inclusive Coachella poster spotted over at Coachella.com has all three headliners right up there at the top, where they belong. But wait! What’s this? Prince gets his unpronouncable-in-any-tongue symbol, Roger gets a “Dark Side of the Moon” preface, yet Jack gets diddly-squat above his name? I’m Jack Johnson, I’m laid back, no preface needed? Say it isn’t so. I would like to see a tiny pair of reversed white cartoon flip-flops above the name, please. That, or “Playing His Hit Songs from the Curious George Soundtrack” would look mighty fine up top as well. Your choice and you still have time to squeeze out one more poster before Friday, guys. Let’s do this. (BONUS TIP: Jack goes to the left. The other two headliners rotate to the right and then you have all three headliners actually under their respective performance dates…)

» DEVELOPING: Coachella Poster-Makers Shore Up Gaping Hole
» Coachella Website Unveils New Lineup Poster With Prince, Gaping Hole

My thanks to Sung, whose eagle eye found today’s iteration