GLOWing or GLOWering?

Yes, the Militant was one of the 45,000 or so people who packed the Santa Monica pier area on Saturday night for GLOW. He was there between 1 to 3 a.m., and though he seriously considered riding his bike there (he's biked from his compound to the coast more than once before), he hopped in the car, which was a nice ride up until right by the Lincoln Ave exit on the 10, where he was a few feet away being rear-ended.

Yes, parking in Santa Monica was nucking futs on Saturday night, even at 12:30 a.m. He finally found the open lot at Santa Monica College's Madison Campus on Santa Monica and 11th Street which was openly accessible to the boulevard yet only had about a dozed cars parked in it. Serenipitously, the Militant saw an approaching Metro Local Line 4 bus right away, and, armed with his TAP card, hopped aboard for a quick ride to the Promenade area.

The automobile traffic was really nothing compared to the pedestrian traffic, as the intersection of 2nd and Colorado had over a hundred pedestrians at all four corners, anxiously awaiting clearance by a traffic cop. Yet, that was still nothing compared to the multitudes stuffed on the Pier itself (pictured left), which was closed off to people entering it at around 1 a.m. The sound of emergency vehicles entering the Pier wasn't encouraging at all, and the cautious Militant wondered at the potential loss of human life in the event of a sudden stampede. If you were a terrorist plotting to set damage to the Pier, you would have had a total field day on this night. So the Militant got his camo-covered ass out of there and onto the way less-congested Palisades Park.

Other blog accounts will talk about the art and the experience. The Militant conservatively estimates that perhaps 20% of the entire crowd, most of whom are between age 20 and 40, has their own blog of some form. That's about 900 blog posts on this event, and you've probably read 20% of that already by now. So the Militant will take another angle.

Standing on the cliffs of Palisades Park, looking out into the beach area, and wanting to reach the exhibits and events there, he noticed that Pacific Coast Highway formed an inaccessible moat where the only nearby entry points were the Pier and the PCH pedestrian bridge, also experiencing heavy foot traffic (ironically, it seemed the easiest way to reach the seaside activities were by swimming there). The Militant was eventually able to reach the beach, and likened the whole experience to Grad Night at Disneyland, where a familiar place normally visited during the daytime takes on a whole new context in the early morning hours.

The success of the event was also its inherent failure -- the limitations of automobile transport. The existing parking infrastructure was too burdened that it eventually became an inconvenience to go to as well. The only transit modes there -- Metro and Santa Monica Big Blue buses -- were at the mercy of their infrequent late night schedules (though the buses coincidentally came when the Militant needed them that night) as well as the fact that they, too, can also be stuck in traffic. Also, in this era of $4+ gas, looking around for parking also burns fuel you could have used for more worthwhile uses.

Case in point: The Songkran Thai New Year Festival this past April in Thai Town had even more attendees -- over 50,000 in fact, in a slightly smaller time frame, yet because of the adjacent Hollywood/Western subway station being, like right there, a large number of them took the (M) Red Line to that event. And though that created problems of its own, it still did not substantively impact street and freeway traffic in the same manner that GLOW did.

So perhaps the City of SaMo and the Santa Monica Arts Foundation should consider the following for future GLOW events:

• A satellite parking/shuttle bus system a la Hollywood Bowl
• Implementing a water ferry system from other beach cities to Santa Monica
  
• Moving the whole damn event to the nearest Metro station (Washington/National Expo Line station in Culver City? Blue Line/Downtown Long Beach?)
• Postponing the next one until the Exposition Line reaches Santa Monica (because you know that Subway To The Sea thing is gonna take a while...)

Despite the whining and grumbling, the Militant took interest inj this event because it sounded like a clever deviation from the norm -- the beach open all night, this amazing (over?) use of public space, the visual impact of it all -- and even for that the Militant thought it was a great event. Besides, randomly running into some of his operatives there was rather rewarding as well (those things usually happen if you grew up here, or lived here for a very long time...). But yes, crowd control and planning do make for everything.

The Militant looks forward to the next GLOW, and for that one, he's gonna remember to ride the bike there.

NEWSFLASH! They're Baaaaaack!

The train schedule info on the Metro Rail TransitVue screens hath returned. Looks like those little numbers ended their little strike and decided to go back to work this morning. An operative who works at Metro (Thanks, M.B.!) provided the Militant with this photo (pictured left). As you can see, it's in a more civilian-friendly time format, and they not only show the next train but the subsequent train as well. The Militant will hop on the (M) this afternoon to see it with his own eyes. Here's hoping the little numbers grew some more thicker skin this time around!

What a great way to celebrate the 18th birthday of the Metro Rail system! Now that it's old enough to vote, maybe it'll support the proposed sales tax increase this November to expand itself!

A Great Day At The 2008 Lotus Festival

It was a nice day to chill on a relatively muggy Summer Saturday in Echo Park at the 31st Lotus Festival. The Militant rode in on his bike and cleverly circumvented the traffic hassle that usually blossoms around the lake's perimeter annually.

What didn't blossom, as we all know, is the normally-flowering Lotus bed, the largest outside of Asia. Last year the Militant lamented its truncated bloom, but this year, not a single lotus hath flotus.

The City did, however, put up a little kiosk right by the short of the lotus bed area that explained this year's loss. Apparently an engineering and environmental consulting firm called Black and Veatch (be very careful mentioning that to people) was hired to find out what was going on, and they had posterboards bearing PowerPoint slides discussing the cuprit, and a planned, winter's-long process to get the lotuses back.

According to the display:

"Sediment accumulation has over-insulated the plant roots, keeping them too cool and resulting in decreased vigor of the plants...Sediment (metals) and water conditions (nutirents, pH and depth) may be reducing vigor...clonal population may be becoming senescent and losing vigor. likely no sexual reproduction (from seed) of new individuals."

So, basically, junk in the water has made them plants lose their mojo, and they need a prescription of some lotus viagra.

Well, the treatment won't quite go that way, it would involve collecting dormant rhizomes (stems), cultivating them outside the lake with a little T.L.C., cleaning up the lake and re-planting them by March. So hopefully, you can has lotus again next year (that is, if the Lotus Festival will go on next year...operative sources report to the Militant that due to City budget cuts, the event will go on hiatus in '09 and bring it back in 2010 (don't worry, it's happened before...)).

Lotus or not, the Militant still enjoyed himself, having him some Japanese yakisoba noodles and Hawaiian shave ice, as right during sundown, throngs of people settled in around the lake for a vantage point for the 9:00 p.m. fireworks show. With the Downtown Los Angeles skyline as the backdrop, and a half-moon hanging overhead, the crowd's second dose of July pyrotechnics shot up the lake courtesy of Pyro Spectaculars of Rialto and echo'ed about the namesake lake. Kinda like this:

Where In The World...We Has A Winnah!

Militant congrats to reader Joey Terrill of Downtown, who successfully identified the Militant's "location" (for play's sake, not the location of his actual compound) in Tuesday's "Where In The World Is Militant Angeleno?" contest!

The location pictured above is in the community of...(drum roll)...West Adams! The scene pictured is on a little curvy street called Gramercy Park, near the corner of Adams Blvd. and Gramercy Place, just south of the 10 and west of Western Avenue. SOUTH LOS ANGELES REPRESENT!

Other guesses included the Cameron Woods neighborhood of Van Nuys (Deke Babamoto) and Country Club Park (Bert Green). Good gueses, but you oughtta know better! The Militant like totally threw you a curve there! The whole point was to show that the Southside is much more than just "da ghetto."

Joey wins a booklet published the City of Los Angeles entitled Your Government At A Glance, a 40-page primer on City government. It'll fuel Joey's militant knowledge on things like the meaning of the Los Angeles City Seal or the names and functions of all of the city's 42 departments and bureaus!

Congrats again, Joey and thanks for playing, gumshoes!

Doo wa, de-de-doo-day-ooo-wa...

Three Recommendations For A Militant Weekend!

It's Friday. What to do? The Militant will show you! And in true Militant fashion, he'll show you how to get there without all that gas/parking hassle!

The 2008 Lotus Festival, Echo Park: So there may or may not be any flowering lotuses (loti?) on the lake this year, but don't let that stop you from enjoying one of the City's best cultural festivals, with Angelenos from all over just enjoying themselves. The real reason for the festival is to celebrate Los Angeles' Asian and Pacific Islander cultures, and Echo Park's proximity to the City's Little Tokyo, Chinatown, Historic Filipinotown, Koreatown and Thai Town neighborhoods made it a prime location for this festival, which has been a local institution for over 30 years. Last year, the Militant covered all three days of the festival, which includes food, entertainment and a Saturday night fireworks show that will make Echo Park live up to its name.

Where: Echo Park (as in the park), Glendale Blvd. and Park Ave., Echo Park (duh).

When: Friday, July 11, 5-9 p.m. (evening jazz concert); Saturday, July 12, 12-9 p.m.; Sunday, July 13, 12-8:30 p.m.

Get There: Ride your bike on the Sunset Blvd. bike lane to Echo Park or ride Metro Bus lines 2/302, 4 and 704 (Echo Park Ave stop); 92 (Park Ave stop). Or ride the (M) Red Line (Westlake/MacArthur Park station), transfer to Metro Local line 200 northbound (Sunset Blvd. stop) and walk three blocks to the park.

Grand Opening of the San Bernardino History and Railroad Museum, San Bernardino: You all know by now that the Militant digs history and thinks trains are cool, so he may or may not check out this event out in San Berdoo to soak in some more SoCal history. The event takes place at that city's historic, Moorish-style Santa Fe station - once the largest train station west of the Mississippi River - which also celebrates its 90th anniversary. And what better way to get there than to ditch the car (or at the very least park it at a station) and take da Link!

Where: 1170 W. Third Street, San Bernardino.

When: Saturday, July 12, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Get There: Metrolink's San Bernardino Line to the San Bernardino station takes you, like, RIGHT THERE!


BBQ Adventures In Thai Town, Thai Town: The organization LA Commons have been doing some great events called Trekking LA, teaching people how to explore the real Los Angeles through its ethnic and arts communities. This year they explore the various communities' approaches to barbecue. On Saturday, Thai-American Chef (and native Angeleno) Jet Tila (pictured right) will explore the cuisine of his northern Thai heritage, and provide some culinary demonstrations as well. It costs $20 per person, but the Militant has been on one of their food tours before and trust him, the price is more than worth it.

Where: Various restaurants in Thai Town in East Hollywood. Meet at Thailand Plaza Restaurant, 5321 Hollywood Blvd., at 4 p.m.

When: Saturday 4-8 p.m.

Get There: (M) Red Line (Hollywood/Western station).

Good Old L.A. (Farmer's Market)

Most transplants incorrectly assume (as usual) that our local farmer's markets are merely beacons of trendy upscale neighborhoods, but in reality they are part of a local tradition (yes, we actually do have traditions here, thank you) that harkens back to this City's agricultural heritage, when the only things sprawling were the orchards, the groves and the vineyards that once flourished across the Southland. After all, a famous local attraction consists of one such marketplace, in permanent form.

But the weekly farmers markets in our various communities create an energy that turns even the most mundane parking lots into valuable public spaces. The Militant recently stumbled upon one such event in Highland Park, called the Old L.A. Farmer's Market, which reference's Highland Parks as the City's first designated community (annexed in 1895) located outside of the Downtown area. Every Tuesday from 3 - 8 p.m., right in front of the (M) Gold Line Highland Park station (the mere sight of the marketplace alone made the Militant spontaneously get off the train just to check it out) , vendors sell fresh, mostly-organic produce, small antiques, used books and food, while street performers sing, play or dance.

It's even a family-friendly environment, as child-sized seats are brought out in the dining area. Locals sit at a table and engage in neighborhood gossip, as a trio of young women play Mexican folk songs (pictured right) while a Gold Line train darts in the background. Neighborhood folks push strollers, pull leashes and, especially in these warm summer evenings - just hang.

The Militant got to check out this nice little spot a few weeks ago, hanging out with one of his siblings, who may or may not live nearby, and just basked in the simple beauty of it all as the summer sun still lingered in the sky, seemingly longer than it had to. A vendor sold big-ass tamales for about $3 each and the Militant went for it. What a great spot for a farmer's market! And what a place to be.

And hey, would you look at that, it's Tuesday today...maybe you too can hop on the Gold Line and find something new in Old L.A.

The Old L.A. Certified Farmers Market is on every Tuesday from 3 - 8 p.m. along Avenue 58 and Marmion Way, next to the (M) Gold Line Highland Park Station. The Militant may or may not be there today - but you oughtta be!

Contest: Where In The World Is Militant Angeleno?

Sing along, will ya?

Doo wa, de-de-doo-day-ooo-wa
Doo wa, de-de-doo-day-ooo-wa
Well he sneaks around the town from Pico to Parthenia
He's an unspecified blogger from Brentwood to Boyle Heights
He'll take you for a ride on his bike in Pasadena
Tell me where in the world is Militant Angeleno?

Steal their Seoul in Koreatown, to an Allesandro alley
From Palms to Magnolia they'll just be all up a tree
He takes the Metro from San Pedro to the San Fernando Valley
Tell me where in the world is Militant Angeleno?

He'll go from Northridge to South Gate, from West Hills to East Los
Compton to Rancho Cucamonga -- and back!

Well he'll mow down your Lawndale and water your Gardena
Then turn on the power of Watts and set a Firestone
From down in Redondo to up in Altadena
Tell me where in the world is Militant Angeleno?
Tell me where in the world is Militant Angeleno?

Alright gumshoes, time to find the Militant! Well, he's hard to find actually, but you can at least find out where he's been. The photo above shows an unspecified location in an unspecified part of town. Your job, gumshoes, it to specify it!

The first person to correctly identify the community/neighborhood in the photo above wins a prize!* Email your answer to: militantangeleno at gmail dot com.

Here's a clue: It may not be in Central Los Angeles!

Now get to work, gumshoes!

*Only emailed entries will be considered. If you have won a contest from the Militant before, you are not eligible (Sorry, Will Campbell and Robert Joyner, gotta give other people a chance this time...). Residents of IA, MD, SD and AR are not eligible (for no reason really, the Militant just picked those states at random...but then again most readers of the Militant Angeleno most likely do not live there anyway).

Ve-Nice To Yourself

The Militant, having consumed mass quantities of barbecued animal carcasses (Ooops, there goes the Militant's vegan readership...) and just plain mass quantities of food, period on July 4 during his operative's annual bash at an unspecified part of NELA, decided to spend his July 5 proactively working off his holiday NOM'ming....with a bike ride.

As mentioned last year, the Militant doesn't consider it Summer until he's visited the beach. And though he's already visited a beach within the past several weeks (Memorial Day), alas, he did not get there on his bike.

And so the weight loss-conscious Militant decided to embark on a 30 something-mile roundtrip ride from his compound to Venice Beach and back (actual start and end points omitted for security reasons, but add on another 1-3 miles...). He'd biked to the beach before, without the aid of a car or bus, back in 2002, but used primarily major streets, including a close bristle with a Metro Bus on Wilshire and Santa Monica.

This time, more route-smart, the ride utilized a combination of bike-friendly streets and established bike lanes. The Militant started on an unspecified route from his secret compound to Oxford Avenue and veered west on 4th Street, riding over burnt-out firecracker and sparkler shells littering the street (who cleans that up, anyway? Do they just expect the street sweepers tu push it into the gutter and have it wash into the Los Angeles River and on to the sea?). Then right after Wilton, Koreatown gave way to the tony neighborhoodness of Han Kook Hancock Park.

The Militant headed south on Mansfield Avenue, where he saw every lawn outfitted with an American flag (pictured left). How patriotic for an entire neighborhood to do that - until upon closer inspection, it seems the local realtor decided to place them there as a marketing move. Ah, capitalism.

Why Mansfield? Well, any excuse to stop on over by the Miracle Mile Red Mango on Wilshire...(hey, a Militant's gotta reward himself somehow).

After finishing off his medium original creamy froyo treat with strawberries, mango and granola, he continued down Mansfield onto Olympic, where he turned west for a couple blocks and then headed south onto La Brea and a quick diversion onto Redondo Ave, and then meeting the grand bike lane at Venice Blvd.

While heading due west on Venice, the street reminded him of the grand, wide, landscaped radial boulevards in many cities of the world, wondering about a possible future vision for that thoroughfare (the Militant is all about vision).

The iconic Helms Bakery sign told him he was already approaching the Culver City area and that he had nearly reached 2/3rds of his way towards his destination.

On past Palms to Mar Vista, he passed by a flood control channel (pictured right) that he had never seen (or really noticed) before. It's the Sepulveda Channel, which runs from Westwood onto Ballona Creek, and runs largely under McLaughlin Ave. south of Venice.

After passing Lincoln Blvd., the Militant was in the home stretch, with the shadows growing longer and the air getting cooler, he knew he was close to the coast.

He passed by the Venice civic center between Oakwood and Shell avenue, which boasted an active fire station (LAFD Station #63), the old Venice city hall (which was politically decomissioned since 1925 when Abbot Kinney's Venice of America resort town got annexed into Los Angeles) and the former LAPD station (pictured left), now home of the Social and Public Art Resource Center, responsible for many of the area's murals.

Though the police station has since moved to Culver and Centinela and operates as the Pacific Division, the "Division 14" still rings true today as a passing LAPD cruiser bears the number 14 on its rear trunk.

Just mere blocks from the beach, the Militant stumbled onto Venice of America Centennial Park, built in the boulevard's large median, with the Venice branch library on the west end and a pocket park with native bushes and three paved paths with steel railroad track outlines stamped onto them. Of course, the large median of Venice was once the Venice Short Line of the Pacific Electric Red Cars, and the long-gone trolley system was instrumental in bringing Southern Californians to Venice of America, which just had its 103rd birthday on July 4.

The Militant decided to pay homage to the old railway when he happened upon a trio of ducks there (Duck-to-English subtitles added):



After the quackery, the Militant drifted a few blocks west and finally reached the beach (pictured right). He locked his bike and walked knee-deep into the Pacific, as part of his annual summer ritual. Summer, definitely, at long last.

Incidentally, the Militant did a bicyclist count in a similar manner as he did when he rode to the Americana at Brand last month. Only this time, his count was for the one-way trip to Venice Beach. The count? 65. Yes, 65 bicyclists in 15 miles (and no, he did not count the bicyclists on the South Bay beach bike path). That's about 4.3 bicyclists per mile!

On his way back, the Militant spent a few minutes looking at the awesomeness that is the Venice Canals (pictured left), as it's the first time in years since he's been there.

On his way back, he heard the sound of a live band playing the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want." Clune Avenue was blocked off for a neighborhood block party, though the Militant kept a safe distance...he looked rather out of place (if you know what the Militant means...) furthermore, a sign on the blocked-off street barriers warned people that only people with wristbands would be allowed in. Uh-huh. You can't always get what you want, indeed.

As darkness fell, he found his way to Washington Blvd (near where another local blogger ended his long-ass bike ride on July 4), and then on to Lincoln near the Marina, then on to Maxella and Glencoe where he found Culver Blvd (the site of another former Red Car median, now turned into a bike path) and shot through to Culver City, then back to Venice and back the same way via Redondo to the compound.

Riding a bike a night offers a totally different experience, not just visually, but aurally - the sound of buzzing electric power lines along Culver, and the chirping of crickets in various pitches along tree-lined 4th street. It was almost 11 p.m. when he pulled up to the compound. What a way to work off all that food on the 4th. And what a way to spend his Independence Day weekend (come to think of it, we're in for 4th of July 3-day weekends for the next three years).

Some more pics of interest from Venice Beach:

We gonna rock on to...and then we'll take it higher!
No, not the Eddy Grant song, but a former Red Car right-of-way (hence the name).

You got surf'd.

Self-Portrait!

The choice is yours.

Hmm, looks like a certain Harbor UCLA patient just couldn't wait to get to the beach...

Eye Ronic

The Militant couldn't resist sharing this scene caught during his July 5 ride to Venice Beach. Apparently someone may or may (k)not be selling a boat on Venice Blvd, just east of Fairfax Avenue.

Happy 4oJ From The Militant!

The Militant was gonna catch up on a few days of Militancy but he realized this is a holiday and shouldn't really be blogging. So he looks forward to spending Independence Day with a bunch of operatives at a house party/BBQ at an unspecified location in NELA, where he has a vantage point of at least four major public fireworks displays, in addition to the undocumented neighborhood displays.

If you want to check out a fireworks display for free, Metromix Los Angeles has an article on "Fireworks for Cheaters" - how to watch the displays without dealing with the crowds (or the high ticket prices, in some cases). Anything cheap but good is Militant-Approved, but he still objects to the "Eastside" definition as indicated in the article. The ignorance still continues...but all the more need for the Militant to engage in combat!

In the meantime, if you wanna hear a Militant's 4th of July story, check out the one he did last year (wow, it's come to this, the Militant can simply direct readers to the archives...) about visiting Watts one afternoon. And if you've always wanted to see what a Militant Angeleno post looks like when written in the (gasp) first person, you better check it out!

"The Militant was gonna catch up on a few days of Militancy but he realized this is a holiday and shouldn't really be blogging."

Umm, yeah, right.