'Gangnam' Bangin'

It seems like the totally random viral hit song "Gangnam Style" by South Korean rapper PSY has taken the entire world by storm. Of course, in the city with the largest number of Koreans outside of Korea, we're representin' this meme in full force!

The artist made a surprise Dance-Cam cameo at a recent Dodgers game, with Dodger fans doing the video's trademark horse-riding dance in the stands while PSY himself did his thang, and the crowd made more noise than a Matt Kemp solo homer.

The infectious dance hit about a 30-something dude diggin' on younger, materialistic, coffee-sippin' sexy ladies in Seoul has spawned a bevy of parody videos, but this one made The Militant proud. It's called "K-Town Style"(done as a promo for an upcoming K-1 martial arts match event) and, as you guessed it, is filmed entirely in Los Angeles' Koreatown district. You'll see some familiar places, like Seoul International Park, the Solair building and the (M) Purple Line standing in for the subway scene (That's gotta be The Militant's favorite part!). The parody song (performed in English) is kinda awkward, but the video is pretty epic!

And After All...You're My Paywall...

Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Times initiated a paywall to their website, requiring users to pay a fee starting at 99 cents a month to read any content beyond 15 articles and the main page.

Well you could assume that didn't go over well. The entire city scoffed, and while a few thought the 99-cent fee was reasonable, The Militant doesn't think the Times deserves even a penny as long as it's controlled by its Chicago slavemasters.

A newspaper dwindling in content and soul (Okay so they signed on The J-Gold, but what else have they got now?), it was especially, and most embarrassingly shameful that even The New York Times, of all things, had much better coverage of the LACMA Rock's arrival than our hometown rag did (and it pains The Militant so much to even admit that).

Ugh...let The Militant rest for a bit. That was too heart-wrenching.

[Breathes Deeply, drinks a glass of water]

Okay. Anyways, early Wednesday evening, after innocently clicking on a Twitter link, The Militant hit the much-feared Paywall and got the "Become a member to keep on reading" pop-up. Hmmm. He didn't even think he went through 15 articles thus far...So he clicked on the "No Thanks" at the bottom.

Now, The Militant surfs with two web browsers: One for himself, and the other for his mild-mannered alter-ego, named [Ahahahaaa, you thought he'd go there, did you?].

But The Militant pulled up the other web browser, went to latimes.com and even searched for the article that was blocked from him. He was able to read it in its entirety. He was even able to read another one!

He also tried deleting the "latimes.com" and "lat.ms" cookies from his main web browser and went back to the Times' website. But he got another Paywall warning (Update: Deleting ALL cookies, rather than selectively deleting latimes.com cookies, will work! Go for it!)

So there you go...if you want to circumvent Le Paywall, just clean out your cookies regularly and have your Firefox, your Chrome, your Internet Explorer, your Opera and your Safari browsers installed and handy. Among all those, you can read up to 75 articles for free! And if you got a mobile or tablet device, let the good times roll!

Of course, you l33t h4xx0r types can use an IP faker under one browser, but The Militant didn't tell you that.

So enjoy your freeeee latimes.com content, paywall jumpers!

(Unm)ask A Chola

A chola she definitely is NOT...She still cute though.

The local blogger/vlogger/Tweeter/internet personality world rocked with an earthquake the past few days as the formerly unspecified Ask A Chola's identity was revealed.

Not only was she not a chola (fairly obvious though), but she was someone who wasn't even Latina - she is revealed to be a Greek American named Chloe Michalopolous. and not "Soledad from East Los" as previously puported. And the stinger? She ain't even from the Eastside. She ain't even from the fake Eastside! She's from Orange County!

ORANGE COUNTY?!?

Get the rope.

Of course, there are actual cholas from the O.C. (which does not stand for "Original Chola"), and though she hardly resembled any of the heavily-makeup'd, gravity-defying oversprayed hair-bang chicks the Militant remembered from his Jr. High and High School days, he probably chalked her up as a pocha who similarly went to school or lived in close proximity to cholas. But nawwww!

The Militant feels a little disillusioned right now. He feels like burning all his Ask A Chola merchandise. Okay, he has none, but maybe he'll delete her site from his web browser's bookmark list. Admittedly, and as you can see from the Militant's lovely photo, Ask A Chola was a quasi-semi-part inspiration for the Militant Angeleno, and now he feels like a 10-year-old who was informed that there is no Santa Claus.

The Militant actually spotted Ask A Chola (or is that Ask A Chloe?) this past August in Chinatown hanging out in the Chinatown central square for the Chinatown Summer Nights program. She was sitting on a bench, wearing a retro-style yellow dress, and she definitely fit the description. Besides, she just tweeted she was there, and she was typing away on her smart phone.

The Militant was soooo tempted to snap a pic of her and reveal her to the world, but Blogger's Honor prevailed (he would get pissed if one of his peers ratted him out!) so the Militant just let it go. Of course, who would have known she was a phony? The transplants love to say "L.A. people are all phony" - Of course, this particular phony is from The O.C.!

Now that the damage has been done, the Militant wants to let you, a person who may or may not be a regular reader of this here blog, know that the Militant Angeleno is not a phony. He is who he says he is: A native Los Angeleno who has long been pissed off about people's general ignorance about Los Angeles, and efforts by transplants and the East Coast media hegemony to perpetrate that ignorance. The Militant never made any claims about his ethnic heritage, other than that his parents immigrated from an unspecified Third World country. All of the above was, is and will always be TRUE. The Militant is The Real Deal. Believe it!

And if you don't here's a scan of part of the Militant's actual birth certificate (click to enlarge):
Okay, any and all identifying information has been pixelated out...but the pertinent information is there: 1) It is a document from the State of California; 2) The Militant was born in Los Angeles County; 3) The Militant was born in the City of Los Angeles and 4) He was born inside the city limits. Not merely a So Cal native but a Los Angeles native! Buhleedat!

The Militant should take this opportunity to reach out to all the fellow disillusioned Ask A Chola fans out there: Here's a masked person who walks the walk, talks the talk and even bikes the bike. Sure he won't talk about UFOs that much, but you'll learn craploads about this City, researched and written from the perspective of a real Angeleno who grew up on its real streets. Besides, she hasn't updated her blog since February 2009! (And you though thought the Militant is slacking!) If you're looking for your new masked hero, The Militant Is It!

Despite the Militant's little prank earlier this Spring, the Militant remains anonymous. Sure, some think they know who he is. But the Militant can never confirm or deny such hypotheses. Even if he is revealed, he may no longer be anonymous and unspecified, but he will still very much be...a Militant Angeleno.

Huell Takes A Trip

If you thought yesterday's sunset was a trip, get a load of this. Just had to share this with y'all.

On Los Angeles' 229th Birthday, A Look Back Through Postcards

In the early 1990s, a younger, curious proto-Militant Angeleno used to look intently at the post card displays at the local Thrifty Drug & Discount Store (now, sadly, part of East Coast megaconglomerate Rite Aid). Usually the post cards are there for the interest of tourists to send home to loved ones, (usually to make them jealous). But this native local had a different reason for perusing them: During that time, the postcards, for the first time, depicted a new Los Angeles skyline, topped by the then-brand-new 73-story Library Tower smack dab in the middle. This was now a different-looking City than the one he knew as a kid.

Yes, postcards are unintentional historical markers. The Militant recently stumbled on YesterdayLA.com: A Tour of LA Through Vintage Postcards. The very simple HTML site shows scanned postcards of Los Angeles and its environs from the 1930s to the 1990s (though unfortunately none of the postcards are demarcated by year).

Most striking is that of Downtown Los Angeles. One picture (pictured right) shows a circa-1968 skyline, or lack thereof. The tallest building, which is under construction, is the 42-story 611 Place tower, then known as the Crocker Bank Tower, and later the AT&T Building. It was the tallest in the City until the ARCO Plaza twin towers were built in 1971. As you can also tell by the picture, smog was much worse back then and even back in 1968, the 101 Freeway was constantly jammed during evening rush hour.

But other aspects of Los Angeles haven't changed, or have hardly changed, like this postcard of the plaza at Union Station, or the Chinatown Central Plaza.

This view of MacArthur Park (listed in the site's "Westside LA" section, heh heh), is only slightly more verdant than the view we see today, albeit lacking the shimmering view of the modern skyline reflected in the lake.

And speaking of "Westside," apparently Westwood gets its own separate section on this site (perhaps the site was made by a proud Bruin alum). This 1930s-era view of Westwood Village resembles an early 20th-century World's Fair site.

You can spend the whole day looking at these photos, and when you're done, you can look at even more on this Old Los Angeles Postcards Flickr site. Like the saying goes, you don't know where you're going unless you know where you've been. An appropriate activity to do on our fine City's 229th birthday (in addition to a few previously mentioned...). Happy Birthday, Los Angeles!

Facebook Vs. The Militant

So the Militant logs into his Facebook page and gets this:
"Account Disabled."

WTF?

So he logged in again, but got the same results:

"Account Disabled."

There was a link that offered an explanation, so he clicked on that.

It read:

Why was my account disabled?
Your account was disabled because the name it was registered under was fake. We do not allow users to register with fake names, to impersonate any person or entity, or to falsely state or otherwise misrepresent themselves or their affiliations. In addition, Facebook accounts are intended for use by single individuals, so groups, clubs, businesses, or other types of organizations are not permitted to maintain accounts.

Fake?

FAKE?!

Excuse the Militant, but the Militant Angeleno is as real as it gets. After doing some research, the Militant discovers that Facebook.com is based in Palo Alto, CA - in the Bay Area - and that it was founded in Cambridge, MA.

Which only means one thing:

Facebook hates Angelenos.

The Militant, who proudly embodies everything Los Angeles, is viewed by people in the Bay Area and the East Coast as "fake." Because they unfairly stereotype everything in Los Angeles as "fake." So for them, Los Angeles is a "fake" place, and surely someone who represents Los Angeles to such militant extremes has got to be "super fake."

This made the Militant fume with fury.

He has never felt so insulted in his life.

Then again, as wrong as those Bay Area and East Coast haters think about this City, it must be an honor though to be considered a true representative of Los Angeles, despite their disingenuous notions.

Not a good week for the Militant as far as the Internet. First YouTurd refuses to accept the Militant's recent Gold Line Opening Day Vlogstyle Episode, now Facebook denies the Militant entry because it believe all Angelenos are fake. Just a warning to all you other Angelenos out there, if you seem to have problems with Facebook.

So a big F-You to F-Book!

KCET Reveals 'Infinitely More' About The Militant

It's not every day that the Militant gets to toot his own horn (or even blog, yes, guilty, guilty...) but a few weeks ago Yoli Martinez from KCET's website dared to do what has never been done before:

Interview the Militant.

It's not like the Militant is off-limits for interviews; you can ask him anything you'd like - it's just that he may or may not give you the exact answer you're looking for.

But there it is, as part of their "Better Know A SoCal Blogger" series (which has previously interviewed folks like Loteria Chicana and Green LA Girl) on their new KCET local site (Blatant cross-promotion, no?).

Oh yeah, in case you're wondering, the interview was conducted via the anonymous guise of electronic mail, which means that any attempt to pester Ms. Martinez (or any other KCET staff member) on any information as to the Militant's phenotypical appearance or true identity will get you nowhere! So don't bother, fool!

Honestly, the Militant doesn't know where this newfound spike in notoriety might lead. Perhaps the Militant needs an agent, or an entourage of his own. Well he kinda sorta already does. Or not. Success may or may not spoil him - we shall see!

But the Militant is insanely humbled at the fact that the online home of The Huell has taken an interest in the Militant and allowed him this rare opportunity to share a little bit more about himself to the online world. Militant Thanks, Yoli, Gary and KCET!

And for those of you who clicked on over from the KCET.org interview wondering, "WTF?" the Militant invites you to catch up on the Militant Archives, to read up on his previous posts. Most notably, posts dispelling various Los Angeles myths/stereotypes and writing the be-all, end-all statement on the stupid "Eastside/Westside" boundary debate. You can also follow the Militant on Twitter. Enjoy and, if you are doing so already... Stay Militant!

BREAKING NEWS: Google Transit Is Now Operational, Angelenos!

People have complained/campaigned for it, and more recently, were anticipating it, and it looks like it's finally arrived: Metro rail and bus trips are finally functional in Google Maps!

It's exciting, but not perfect; The Militant plotted a hypothetical route from Hollywood and Western in Los Angeles' Thai Town going to Marine and Inglewood avenues in Hawthorne. What was assumed as a Red/Blue/Green trip with a possible bus transfer or walk turns out to be a trip on the Red Line, the Harbor Freeway Transitway (Metro Express Line 450), the Green Line and Metro Local Line 40. Okaaaaay, then. There's still some bugs to iron out, or at the very least, a "rail only" option as is found in Metro's Trip Planner. But you heard it here first from the Militant! So far, so good, Google -- the Militant looks forward to more!

The Militant Twitters!!!

Not to sound like a bandwagon jumper or anything, but the Militant has long resisited the microblogging phenomenon known as Twitter for the mere fact that he wasn't such a fan of people knowing the Militant's whereabouts. After all, the Militant operates in secret, right?

But instead, the Militant has come to grips with the thing and discovered it could be an advantage after all. The Militant keeps a busy and hectic Militant schedule, which may or may not (usually may not...) afford him enough bloggering time. So maybe a few lines texting here and there would drive the point in!

We shall see. Maybe it will be a total disaster - or worse - some enterprising and nosy reader will put two and two together and pinpoint the Militant's exact location and expose him once and for all (perish the thought!). But the Militant, none the stranger to risk-taking, is at least hopeful it will open a new avenue for him. Maybe a year from now you can only find him on Twitter?
As for right now, you can see his Twitters towards the lower right hand corner of this page, just above the "Rival Guerrilla Factions" links.

So, follow him now!

A Dog-Gone Kinda Situation

There's been a lot going around town lately, most notably some high-profile political event in Hollywood on Thursday evening, but most of the Militant's adventures had to be put on the shelf this week for one reason:

The Militant's K-9 unit - a frequent companion of some of the Militant's pedestrian adventures - was missing.

The Militant last saw his K-9 unit this past weekend during the big rain storms. The dog frequently finds its way outside of the compound, only later to show up at the front porch the next morning, returned by an observant neighbor or being caught by the Militant a few blocks from the compound.

But this time was different.

On Monday evening, while the Militant was performing some highly classified duties, one of the Militant's siblings visited the compound, hoping to spend time with the K-9 unit, and texted the Militant asking whether the K-9 unit was taken for a walk.

"Negative," the Militant replied, somewhat concerned.

The next day, no K-9 unit at the front step, no observant neighbor and no sight of the K-9 unit anywhere.

The Militant had grown more concerned.

The day after, the Militant went on a search and rescue mission on his bike on several streets in the vicinity of the compound.

The search turned up fruitless (forgive the pun, but the Militant was barking up the wrong tree).

At this point, the Militant felt like singing a popular childhood nursery rhyme that dealt with a missing dog. You can say the Militant had a ruff, er, rough week, as he paused for the cause of the paws.

The Militant scoured Craigslist's 'Lost and Found' listings, hoping someone nearby might have found the Militant's mutt. One person who lived in an adjacent community posted the picture of a dog that bore a similar likeness to the Militant's K-9 unit, and the Militant replied, but he learned the posted pooch was of the opposite gender.

But ever the resourceful Angeleno, the Militant recalled that the City of Los Angeles' Animal Services department has several animal shelters (now PC-ized as "Care Centers") around the City. Before he planned a trip to visit one of them, he discovered that the City's animal Care Centers have an awesome website where one can search for their missing pets, filling in descriptive parameters and coming up with search results containing a photo and description of the animal, as well as which shelter it is located in.

The Militant went to the site of his local shelter, the North Central Care Center and searched for his K-9 unit. There was one that resembled Militant Mutt somewhat, but the Militant wasn't quite sure. The breed and estimated age in the description were way off.

By chance he tried his luck with some of the other regional shelters in the City. Just in case. Who knows.

He went to the West Los Angeles Care Center's site and searched for his K-9 unit there.

After looking through two pages of results, one dog comes up -- Hello, what's this? The correct gender, the correct breed, age somewhat close, been at the shelter since...January 28...The photo was a very close match...can this be?

On Thursday afternoon the Militant canceled his coverage of the presidential debate and rally in Hollywood to visit the West Los Angeles Cere Center with his sibling to settle this once and for all. Armed with several pictures of the K-9 unit, they arrived at the shelter on Missouri Avenue near the FOX11 TV studios and...

...They had moved a mile or so away on Pico. D'oh.

Shortly after arriving at the brand-spanking new shelter on Pico and Pontius, just west of the 405, and visiting the front desk, the Militant was told to go to the kennels to ID his missing K-9 unit.

It wasn't before long when they spotted the dog. It was most definitely the K-9 unit, absolutely positively.

There is a dog!

The K-9 unit sounded overwhelmed and traumatized, as the shelter staff reported to the Militant that it was discovered roaming the streets around the Beverly Center -- some six miles from the compound, most likely disoriented by its usual scent references having been washed out by last weekend's rain. Besides, the K-9 unit is simply not used to life in a sterile concrete cell, accompanied by the cacophony of several other K-9 units - likewise just as traumatized - barking in such close proximity.

After paying a fee covering vet care, food and boarding, a City dog license and, yes, getting the K-9 unit fixed (hasn't yet been done out of procrastination), the Militant will pick up his trusty, yet wayward, K-9 unit on Friday for its return to the compound.

The Militant does not know whether to punish the K-9 or grant it gratefulness like a reunited prodigal scion of Biblical lore. Regardless, the Militant is thankful his K-9 unit did not suffer the fate of being roadkill, and that our City has such a great online resource that allows people to search for their lost pets online without wasting time, money, gas and hassle.

Facing The Facebook

Some of you bloggers might have found it already, but the jig is up; The Militant Angeleno is on Facebook. Wheee. Add him. Add him now. But don't confuse him with all these crazy applications. He isn't that ADD-riddled. He can't seem to find anything else to talk about today, so...

Macarther Parc Iz Melltyng In Thuh Darc

Hai evreebodee. I'tz thu Millitunt agen. He jusst wantid tu sho yu sumthing he ubzurvd wen he whent tu tha Gmapz Pudomiter sight. Thu Millitunt notisd dat, wyle luking at thu innersexshun ov Wilshur an Alrvacado thay misssspelllld tha naym of Macarther Park, witch is weard sincs tha naym of thu Mettro stayshun iz speld korektlee. Alsow da aktual Guggle Mapz webbsight haz da naym ov thuh parck speld korecttlee. FUNY HUH?

Cool Like Dat(eh)

On a hot summer's day where most Angelenos were focused on either the too-big-for-its-britches Sunset Junction Festival, the Los Angeles Tofu Festival or Nisei Week festivities, the Militant had a million things to do all over town on Saturday. The day concluded with a visit to Santa Monica's Temple Bar, where the Militant and one of his trusty musically-inclined Militia members checked out everyone's favorite "violin player of the hip-hop music genre," Paul Dateh. The Militant, without any monetary compensation (yo, that would be sooo un-militant anyway), has extolled the virtues of this Angeleno musician from the Westside on this here blog, so it was time to see if he's the real deal.

Dateh played to a well-packed house (a diverse crowd which seemed equally represented by close friends and new Internet fans), backed by a 4-piece band called The Live Movement, singing some tunes in the soul/funk music vein, and dropped in a set with his YouTube partner- in-crime, DJ inka one. The two pretty much performed a live version of their famous YouTube video, which now boasts over a hundred thousand views, and Dateh even mentioned that he will be featured this coming Tuesday night on ABC's "iCaught" Internet culture-focused television show. He even performed a few inka one-backed songs on sung vocals. He finished off his live set with a spirited cover of Jill Scott's "It's Love" and a latin-flavored tune to close (Dateh joked about the irony of a Japanese American like himself teaching the crowd to chant the song's Spanish-language chorus).

The Militant may or may not have chatted with Dateh after his show to give him props (Sorry Paul, that's just S.O.P. - hope you understand).

But yes, dude was the real deal. Check him out sometime before he blows up.

The Militant Takes a "Rain" Check

The Militant leads a busy life, edumacating people on Los Angeles, culture, Los Angeles culture, as well as the cultures of Los Angeles. He was all set last night (the Militant usually goes into writing mode at around midnight and goes live an our or so later) to detail his neighborhood council adventure and hanging out chatting with a local bar owner who attended that meeting about the community, but the Militant was way too fatigued.

In the mean time, the Militant will fill you in, if you're not filled in already, on the internet phenom known as Tay Zonday (pictured above). When the Militant went to the Apple store on Carusoville's Main Street a few weeks ago and touched an iPhone for the very first time (with your heart beat next to mine?), the very first video he saw in that slick little newfangled contraption was something called Chocolate Rain. It featured some nerdy-looking kid on the mic singing in some deep baritone in a song seemingly devoid of structure. Watching that video later on a more conventional desktop computer on yielded momentary laughter and disbelief. But by the third listen, he found something deeper. More, dare the Militant say...militant? Dig the lyrics.

Zonday, the nom d'etage (or nom de guerre?) of a certain 25-year old Minneapolis-based grad school student named Adam, staged the perfect media coup: By using the homemade medium of YouTube, posting something seemingly goofy on the surface, but delivering a dry message on the effects of institutionalized racism literally in between the lines - in the process reeling in the attention of early 21st century pop culture and crossing into traditional forms of media such as Late Show with David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel Live! (where Zonday performed over the past few days). But wait, there's more. dig one of his interviews. Sanjaya he is definitely not. This is some pretty deep stuff here.

In 1984, the Twin Cities gave us "Purple Rain." In 2007, they now give us "Chocolate Rain."

On A Serious Note
The Militant is known for mixing activism with humor, but he would like to seriously acknowledge the loss of two Angelenos this week: Hal Fishman and Bryan Padgett.

Fishman, as many Angelenos know was KTLA's News at Ten. It's hard for the Militant to say other than what's already been said about the legendary news anchor other than local TV news in Los Angeles has not only lost an anchor, it has lost an entire era.

Padgett was the son of one of the Militant's most loyal readers, Edward Padgett, who is also a fellow local blogger. The younger Padgett was killed in a car accident in Azusa early Wednesday. Please drive more carefully and responsibly, people, so others - including people you care about - won't have to suffer the same fate.

The Militant knew neither of these Angelenos in person, but it is not only human tradition but human nature to create bonds and connections between people during times of loss -- that's when they're needed the most.

Rest in peace, Hal and Bryan.

Chow Meets Chow

The Militant showed his face on Tuesday night at a live meetup of foodies from the Chowhound Los Angeles Area message boards. It was the first time the Militant did one of these "meets" in a long time. The Militant is old enough to have engaged in a now-archaic form of online communication called a Bulletin Board System during his college days (think of it as a dialup local text-only version of the net...okay, you probably can't even fathom such a thing, but they existed) where they would have regular "meets" off-line where people would meet each other in person. The fact that Chowhound also employed the term "handle" instead of "username" or "screenname" was an added nostalgic bonus.

The Chowhounders met up at the chic taqueria Malo in Silver_Lake where we got to dig into the restaurant's trademark ground beef and pickle fried tacos, in addition to some other modernized Mexican fare. Pretty good (despite the consensus of the online Chowhounders), and not just because the food and drinks were on the house. The Chow.com organizers (who work for CNET) even gave away free Chowhound swag in the form of t-shirts (from that silky American Apparel stock) and some canvas bags.

But far surpassing the food was that the Militant got to meet some really cool Chowhounders there (for the sake of fairness and privacy, the Militant will not identify in this blog who he met - and he expects any other Chowhounder reading this to observe the mutual hush-hush, if you know what I'm sayin'), which was totally contrary to what he initially thought they would be, having closed down the browser window in disgust after reading one too many overtly snobbish reviews, especially from NY immigrants who somehow believe Chinese food was invented in Manhattan.

Most of the Chowhounders there appeared to be in their mid-30s and older and of upper-middle income and higher. More than half were white, with a considerable number of Asians, and a small number of Latinos. Only one person there appeared to be of African American heritage.
A couple people were retired and that being a foodie was their "hobby" while a few actually worked in the culinary/restaurant industry. Surprisingly, very few 20-somethings and and even fewer hipster-types (Oh, they're easy to spot, trust me) were there.

But overall everyone seemed to be pleased to be in each other's company. The easy icebreaker was the revelation of people's handles through nametags (i.e. "Oh, you're Chowzilla? I thought you were a dude! Nice to finally meet you!") and though most of the talk gravitated towards eateries (the event became a live, in-person iteration of the message board), people inevitably wanted to get to know about the lives of each other.

The Anonymous Militant can feel the pangs of irony when he says that the Internet really needs that frequent "personal feel" where people of like minds or at least similar interests can meet face-to-face as actual human beings. And in this era of flame.wars and the like, events where internet users can see each other as not only as real living personalities, but any sort of negative objectification on the part of certain people beforehand would likely be greatly diminished.

So will there be a Militant Angeleno meetup anytime soon?

The answer is LOL.

The Roof, The Roof, The Roof Is On Fire...
After the Militant's foodie meetup, he happened to see a towering column of thick smoke near his next destination, looming above the 10 Freeway. It was a warehouse fire on Adams and La Brea in the Mid-City area just below The 10. No homes were in danger, but no fewer than five Los Angeles Fire Department ladder companies were at the scene as Adams Blvd. was shut down at La Brea. The building on fire was a business called P.C. Sets, which according to one local, builds props and sets for film and TV studios. Another neighborhood local told the Militant that several nondescript buildings in the neighborhood without even so much as a sign outside are companies that build props or supply equipment to the studios in Hollywood, The Valley or Culver City. They are located in the Mid-City area for their lower lease rates. The cause of the fire was not yet known, but arson investigators were on the scene. No occupant was known to have been killed or injured but an LAFD firefighter who was on the roof fell through and suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns as well as broken bones after an intense rescue operation by his fellow firefighters. He is recovering at Cedars-Sinai.

For those of you who have never witnessed a firefighting scene, the LAFD operates like clockwork and the amount of diligent and spontaneous teamwork demonstrated is something that just has to be seen to be believed.

That entire stretch of the north side of Adams Blvd. from La Brea Ave. to Redondo Ave. is slated to be redeveloped into a large retail development with a public open space element. It is part of the City of Los Angeles' Community Redevelopment Agency Mid-City Recovery Redevelopment Project.