It's Coming...

You're gonna have to wait until Tuesday for this. But The Militant promises it's going to be pretty big (Such a tease, he knows...).

What's New On The Metro

This month, our 87.8-mile Metro Rail system turned 22 years old. Now that it's firmly in its adulthood, The Militant commands you, from now on, whenever you hear a Los Angeles county resident say, "Duh, I didn't know we have a subway, nyuck nyuck," to smack them upside the head.

In addition to boasting six distinct rail lines (one of which just opened this year), there's some new additions already on the system, which you may or may not already know of:

The Late, Late Show: Come this Friday night, as you already heard, all Metro Rail lines: Blue, Red, Green, Purple, Gold and Expo (as well as that bus line in the Valley that wants to be a rail line), will now run until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, making it one of only four rail transit systems in the US (NYC, Chicago and Washington DC the other three) to offer service past the midnight hour. We even run later than SF's BART system (Another way you can stick it to your hyphy Bay Area friends). Even the stately London Underground doesn't run that late (though it will have 24-hour service on the first and last days of the 2012 Olympics). So leave your car at home and do more bar-hopping this weekend and every weekend (apparently, it's a pilot program which depends on ridership success, so if you want to see the trains stay running late, ya gotta ride them!). Just hope we don't get to see too much of this on the floors of our trains:

:O*****

Twenty-two years ago, the Blue Line only operated between 5:30 a.m. and 7 p.m., believe it or not!  You've come a long way, baby!

New Train Destination Screens: The 'Train Arriving' notices on the MetroVue video screens in the subway stations, which have been in operation since June of 2008, get a long-overdue update. When an approaching train arrives at each station, instead of the big yellow screen with the subway train icon, you get a yellow and black sign that shows the name of the line, the line color and the terminus station (Union Station, North Hollywood or Wilshire/Western), with a different train icon in the background. At long last the Purple Line gets some recognition.

Although apparently the new screen notices are only activated on the outbound tracks (away from Union Station), and not yet active on the other direction. Looks like some software updates are in the works.

I Screen, You Screen, We All Screen For Transit Information:  And speaking of those MetroVue screens, it looks like at 7th Street/Metro Center, they're installing dual video screens, or adding a 32:9 aspect ratio ratio ultra-widescreen monitor there (to view football games, of course). But it looks more like the former, with one screen presumably showing Red/Purple train arrival times and the other Blue/Expo arrival times. Ultra cool, but is there any reason why they can't have one screen and scroll the arrival info for all four lines that use the station?

Take The "E" Train:  Speaking of 7th Street/Metro Center, have you noticed these wayfinding signs? Apparently Metro realized that the unspecified color designated to the (M) Expo Line can be too close to blue. No word on whether the "E" will appear uniformly on all station signage, etc., or is just there for wayfinding purposes. You don't suppose people will call it the "E" line (Though the "Easy-E" line might not be too bad...)?

So there you has it. Remember, we're only three years away from the Gold Line to Azusa and four years to the Easy-E line to Santa Monica. And between now and then, we may or may not see cool things like cellular/Wi-Fi coverage in the subway tunnels (so subway riders won't have to rely on the signal anomaly at Wilshire/Vermont).

The Militant will now leave you with a candid pic of transit gadfly John Walsh riding his favorite mode of transport, the Red Line:

Delayed Expo-sure

"The Metro Expo Line may or may not open this Spring."

That was not a mere trademark Militant Angelenoism™, but a statement of fact, as The Light Rail Line That Has No Actual Opening Date has endured delay after delay after delay. It was probably assumed that the Phase 2 segment from Culver City to Santa Monica would open up even before the first part.

The time to worry has ended at long last, as Metro took a bunch of politicos on the train on Friday and announced that, yes, Virginia, The First Metro Rail Line Not Named After A Color is finally opening on Saturday, April 28, 2012.

Phew.

Transit fans will pop open bottles of champagne, Libertarians and Bus Riders Union-types alike will roll their eyes and curious Angelenos from East to West will take to the rails a little over a month from now.

It's a pity, nay, a DAMN SHAME though that the trains for The Other Blue Line won't even be open for the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC, with the Expo Park/USC station, virtually ready-for-business, standing just yards from the nearest booth like some sort of cocktease. Visitors will no doubt grumble at not just paying the $20 parking fee, but spending a long-ass time queuing to find it. But maybe that was all intentional...

Maybe Metro should run express preview trains from the 7th St/Metro Center and La Cienega stations only during festival hours to USC. What a concept, huh?

Surely that won't happen, since such an idea is too Militant for any local body to fathom. Sigh, oh well.

Speaking of gripes, whatup with the Expo Line's promo campaign?

"Explore." With a coloring-book drawing of some of the line's nearby landmark icons as drawn by a middle school art student. Um, wow. Dude, the Metro Gold Line's "Discover Gold" campaign was waaaay slicker. This is probably the most-anticipated light rail line in the entire system and this is what Metro is using to try to get people to ride it?

But who is The Militant kidding, Metro could use a picture of a cow turd and he'll still be riding the thing.

So here we go. You know the drill: The system maps in the trains and stations get changed, and come 4/28, loooooooong-ass lines will be forming in the 7th Street/Metro Center and La Cienega stations. There will be live music, booths with Metro swag and the inevitable free shuttle bus that will carry passengers who don't want to wait in Disneyland-like lines for their train ride back. And The Militant may or may be there, just like he has for every Metro Rail line and extension opening since The Metro Blue Line opened nearly 22 years ago. It's that time again, folks. He's glad to see it all unfold before his very eyes.

Mystery Missile Explained!

All of So Cal has been abuzz with news on this seemingly unexplained missile that was launched off the coast of Los Angeles on Monday evening. What was it? An airplane? A military test? An expensive promotional gimmick for Conan O'Brien's new TBS late-night talk show?

The Military has no explanation for it. Conspiracy theorists have their own hypotheses on it. People have been Tweeting about it.

The Militant Angeleno, the expert on all things Los Angeles and vicinity, actually knows. Thanks to operatives of operatives of operatives, the Militant was able gain exclusive access to a picture captured from the missile's onboard launch camera. In light of recent events, the picture makes a whole lot of sense:

The Northridge Earthquake Turns 16

Today is January 17, 2010. Do you remember what happened 16 years ago today? Of course you do (unless you just arrived on the Greyhound within the past 15 years). That's when Angelenos woke up in the middle of the night to some violent shakin'.

The Militant wrote his memories of the 6.7 temblor back in 2008, check it out if you haven't read it.

Today is also five days since the 7.0 temblor in Haiti - a quake of slightly larger magnitude, yet thousands of times more devastating in terms of structural damage and human casualties.

Though we're living in tough economic times, and our state and City are in a budget crisis, our problems are extremely miniscule compared to what the folks in Port-Au-Prince are going through, so consider helping them out in any way possible. Google has set up a site listing various reputable charities and aid organizations already delivering assistance and relief. Locally, one of the most well-known Hatian restaurants in town, TiGeorges' Chicken located in the Historic Filipinotown district, is gathering donations and relief supplies to send over to owner George Laguerre's homeland, so do help out (and do order a lunch or dinner there, it's awesomely good food BTW). However you decided to help, it doesn't matter as long as you do.

MA Pays His Respects To MJ

As mentioned yesterday, the Militant was one of some 21,000 people able to witness the huge Michael Jackson Memorial event on Tuesday at Staples Center.

After a quick Red Line ride to Downtown, he got off at 7th Street/Metro Center, met up with one of his operatives, and walked down Figueroa, past the slew of vendors and onlookers (but not as big of a slew as people anticipated). Once we crossed the demilitarized zone (i.e. Olympic Blvd) and produced our wristbands, we were in the clear.

But right after rounding the ESPN Zone corner and onto Chick Hearn Court, there it was, the big-ass media circus, set up in LA Live's courtyard, and farther west down CHC. It was a visually crazy scene, but as for the folks, it was no different than lining up for a concert here, even though it was 9:30 in the morning.

Inside, the sounds of Michael Jackson's mellower tunes echoed through the arena, which set a somber, respectful mood. After a 40-minute delay due to waiting for the Jackson family to arrive, as well as a minor audio problem, the program began.

The Militant never saw Staples Center so full, yet so silent. Even the expected conversations between thousands of guests were muted murmurs that didn't even sum into any audible roar. The Militant was impressed, and in awe.

The Militant needn't reiterate what happened. You all saw it, on TV, online, and repeated hundreds of times in clips afterward. We heard from a Queen and a pair of Kings. There was a congresswoman and a Mayer. There were Michael's Motown bretheren (as well as the label's patriarch), and of course his biological bretheren. Many of the speeches and eulogies quoted MJ's universally-familiar lyrics and song titles.

There was laughter, there were tears, there was music -- the way life should be.

And of course, there was that moment:

The musical performances were wonderful, especially hearing Jackson's own material, sung by his pop star peers. The only thing better would have been to hear The King of Pop sing them himself...

...And it was then the Militant realized that Michael Jackson was actually gone.

The crowd left quietly, in a relaxed manner. Many of them stuck around at the few LA Live establishments that remained open. Some went back to their offices nearby. A few were instantly hounded by the media circus to get their soundbite reaction. Some international media waved or draped their respective country's flags to identify themselves.

Up above, a skywriter attempted to draw a heart in the sky, with the letters "MJ" inside. And nearly a dozen helicopters hovered like mosquitoes in the cloudless blue Summer sky.

The Grammy Museum, which the Militant visited earlier this year, showed any and all previous Grammy Show footage with Michael Jackson in it. They are also featuring an exhibit of his Grammy show wardrobe, and have also reduced their adult admission to $10 until September 30.

Outsize the demilitarized zone, there was still a crush of people, reporters in front of cameras, pointing their logo-adorned microphones at soundbite donors, and there were people selling items, mostly cheaply-screened Michael Jackson t-shirts, on the sidewalk. A few sold framed portraits, one even sold an iconic glittered glove.

Of course, with the executors of his estate still yet to be finalized, none of this money will be going towards the singer's massive $400 million debt. The Militant also has very mixed feelings on people trying to profit off someone's death. Come on now (though, admittedly, a $10 glitter glove was rather tempting).

Here's some video of the memorabilia vendor circus along Figueroa Street:



In contrast, there was also a humble street musician who played a simplified rendition of the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There" on his guitar and harmonica:




Then of course was the question of Who Was Gonna Pay For All This. The Militant certainly hopes that enough tourist revenue will be spent in this City to make up for the cost in this Budget-Cutting era (And if you are a tourist from outside Los Angeles reading this, please look at the Militant's Michael Jackson Los Angeles map and visit some of these sites, and spend your tourist dollars generously!).

All in all, the Militant was proud to witness another page of Los Angeles HIStory.

More pics:

Fox 11's Jane Yamamoto interviews Memorial attendees.

Media Circus at LA Live.

The camera's eye and hearts in the sky.

Viva El Rey de Musica Popular!

They just can't stop loving him.

Michael Jackson Memorial - The Militant WILL Be There!

The Militant woke up this morning and got the email.

No not that email. He already got the one that read:

Thank you for your registration.


Sorry, we regret to inform you that your registration to attend the Public Memorial Service for Michael Jackson was not selected.


Hundreds of thousands registered, but only a few can be in attendance.

No, this was a different email. One from an operative, who asked if the Militant wanted to go to the big Michael Jackson Memorial on Tuesday at Staples Center. "Of course!" The Militant replied. The operative, though, could not retrieve the tickets between the 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. pickup time at Dodger Stadium. So the operative forwarded the voucher (pictured left) to the Militant, who printed it out, and he volunteered to retrieve them at The Stadium.

Knowing it may or may not be a traffic snafu there, the Militant rode on his bike and was able to get in and out in a flash (if you saw a bike riding though the Dodger Stadium parking lot - it may or may not be the Militant himself)!

After riding in the main Sunset Gate where is voucher was scanned, he followed the auto traffic to a spot at Dodger Stadium Lot 3 near the Golden State Gate, where he ran into a section of the lot divided into several lanes by traffic cones. The first person he met asked to see his voucher and put a golden wristband on his arm. Yes, he has to wear this thing for the next 19 hours and use it to gain entry into the cordoned-off area surrounding Staples Center. A second wristband was handed over to him.

He was ready to leave, assuming they were the "tickets," when he decided to take more pictures of the goings-on. A few newsvans and police officers in cruisers and bikes (really, did there need to be that many?)were also in the house. Then he noticed staff handing out paper tickets and he wanted to know what was up.

Duh. So the Militant rode his bike to the end of the lane, where they took his voucher printout, tore it up, discarded it in a recycling bin and handed him a pair of purple tickets for the event.

Score! (Seat location and barcode pixelated out to maintain the Militant's anonymity in top picture)

As a long queue of cars waited to exit the Golden State Gate, the Militant rode on through on his bike, unencumbered. So long, suckas!

Now, the Militant knows what you're all thinking. "What's the deal with MJ, MA? It's soooo mainstream. Have you sold out?"

The Militant admits Michael Jackson is as far from the Militant as one can get (well, actually, not quite). He's never been to a Michael Jackson concert, never had a glitter glove, never had Michael Jackson posters in his room, never owned a red zipper jacket.

But the Militant, in his 30somethingness, can't deny MJ played a large role in his '80s music memories. He does own three unspecified Michael Jackson albums, two of them are on vinyl LP (You can pretty much take a wild guess at what one of them is). And the day the "Thriller" video came out, it was nonetheless a cultural event the day the Militant's dad came home from The Wherehouse and popped the tape into the old Betamax (The Militant certainly hopes no pictures of a 12 year-old Militant in a red zipper jacket ever surface).

But in the interest of Militancy, the Militant sees it this way: On Tuesday, July 7, 2009, the entire world's eyes will be focused on Los Angeles. At least for a few hours (again). we can lay claim to being the center of the world. In an age where collective consciousness is splintered into various niches, thanks to the Internet and specialized media, it's a rare sight to see such a major cultural event take place, the Militant will be there to witness it, and it's right here in our backyards.

The Militant will, of course, either be riding his bike or riding the (M)etro there. If you're going to the memorial at Staples Center Tuesday and don't, not only will you suck, but you're gonna make millions of other people's lives suck as well. The Militant can never suck!

The Militant will be Twittering (depending on signal quality) from Staples Center! Follow him at http://twitter.com/militantangleno!

Wacko For Jacko: How A City Reacts To A Pop Icon's Death

It was hard to escape the news of the death of pop star Michael Jackson on Thursday. After all, it happened right here in Los Angeles. From Twitter tweets to Facebook updates to web sites to TV news coverage, what people heard from all corners of the world unfolded right here in our backyard.

The Militant even caught sight of the Sheriff's Department helicopter that carried Jackson's corpse from UCLA Medical Center in the Westside to the Coroner's Office in the Eastside. He even snapped a picture of it (pictured left) from the Militant Compound as it flew in the skies over Koreatown at about 6:45 p.m.

Prior to that, a crowd gathered in Westwood, outside the Medical Center to either stand vigil, find out news, pay their tributes or offer prayers (The Militant was also at that point praying that there would be no Michael Jackson-related rioting...hey, prayers answered).

Then later in the evening, fans gathered on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where a sidewalk star bearing Michael Jackson's name was found on Vine Street between Sunset and Selma, and soon flowers, cards and candles found their place there.

Unfortunately, it was for the other Michael Jackson. Oops.

The recently deceased pop icon's star is on Hollywood Boulevard, right by the equally iconic Mann's Chinese Theatre, which was cordoned off for the already-planned premiere festivities of the Sacha Baron Cohen movie, Bruno.

But that didn't stop fans from gathering there, and the media from flocking there to cover the gathering. The Militant, en route to a planned activity elsewhere in Hollywood, dropped by to see what was going on. There were reporters, cameras, bright lights, and crowds with people offering quotes. There was even one dude in an '80s zipper jacket, with a "Bad" tour t-shirt underneath.

The Militant also had a chat with KTTV Channel 11 reporter Hal Eisner and another onlooker regarding the "wrong star" fiasco. Eisner said "It doesn't really matter where people want to show their feelings [for Michael Jackson], as long as the personal emotion is there." He also said that the fans who built the makeshift memorial "Probably just saw his name and decided to make a memorial there." But he noted that it probably didn't really matter to the fans whether it was the correct star or not.

The Militant made a comment about people having the need for some symbolic location with a connection to the deceased, but Eisner recalled that when John Lennon died in 1980, there was no such gathering at the Beatles' star in front of the Capitol Records building up the street (The Militant will not specify whether this exchange with Eisner was made on- or off- camera).

The Militant also asked Eisner whether the living Michael Jackson could be asked to comment on the "wrong star" issue. He said "That might be a touchy subject."

Fortunately, the living Jackson, on his website today, offered a heartfelt tribute to the deceased Jackson, from one MJ to another, and said of the "wrong star" fiasco: "The fans have gathered and placed mounds of flowers to pay respects to him at my star. I am willingly loan [sic] it to him and, if it would bring him back, he can have it. He was a real star."

As we have seen in the past few weeks, the people of Los Angeles are hungry for proper gathering spaces, whether it's to celebrate a sports championship or to mourn the passing of a celebrity icon. Whether to share elation or sadness, it's for the purpose of connecting with each other. By not having proper public gathering spaces, people will either take them over by brute force, or naive misunderstanding.

Obama Is Coming -- Look Busy!

Los Angeles is all abuzz with the arrival of the Commander-In-Chief. Certainly the guy has been here before (pictured left at Los Angeles Trade Tech College in January 2008), lived here even. But that was back when he was Barry, the Senator or the candidate...now it's POTUS time.

Air Force One (no, not that one) is scheduled to land at Long Beach Airport at around 3 p.m. today, where operatives have already reported sightings of curiously-shaped olive-green helicopters, namely one like this one, which will whisk President Obama far above our region's traffic, soon followed by a town hall appearance at Costa Mesa's Orange County Fairgrounds (4 p.m.).

On Thursday, he will make another town hall appearance at Miguel Contreras Learning Complex
in Downtown Los Angeles, visit an Edison International electric vehicle plant in Pomona and later be on some TV show in Burbank.

That we all know. But what exactly will he do in between?

If you contact the White House staff, his whereabouts in between are so far unspecified. Which means the Militant will have an excellent chance to do a terrorist Militant fist-bump with Da Prez!

The White House staff and the Secret Service will never confirm (or deny) any of this, but the Militant may or may not take Barack on a militant tour of the city on Thursday.

First of all, the prez has to go incognito. No problem. The Militant has an Obama-sized camo outfit for him to wear, complete with matching camo bandana mask. How will he get around? Well, everyone will assume he will ride the chopper or roam the streets in a motorcade. But (and this may or may not happen due to security concerns), the motorcade can just be a front while the Militant rides around with Barack. After all, it's not like he's never ridden a bike before. Next, the Militant may or may not show The Prez his favorite taco trucks. Or Thai restaurant. Or burger joint. Just as long as he doesn't get the president angry. The Militant is not at liberty to reveal his exact itinerary for hosting El Presidente, of course, but if indeed there is a window in the president's schedule where nothing is publicly accounted for, you'll know exactly who's showing him around town.

Is This Any Way To Go?

The Militant usually doesn't talk about high-speed (or even the lower velocity ones, as what happened) car chases that give law-breaking, pedal-flooring attention whores a great deal of their 15 minutes of fame.

But on Monday night, as a Bentley covered much of a Thomas Guide's worth of roadage, 27 year old Pakistani immigrant Mustafa Mustafa, after doing his best Chris Brown impression (and we're not talking about singing here...) and leading Jon and Ponch on a 5-hour chase, ended his life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Lankershim Boulevard, just yards north of the Los Angeles River. Apparently, he lamented the loss of his business.

This is not the first time someone decided to react radically to their financial situation. Just days ago, a Wilmington man offed his entire family and himself after losing his job at a Kaiser Permanente Medical Center.

As the economic situation grows more weary, expect more of these headlines.

The Militant, though, can't help but shake his head in disbelief.

Is that the last thing you want to do on this Earth? Drive your car around for five hours? Why not live it up a bit? Rent a limo, no a helicopter. Buy some expensive booze. Pick up some high-priced call girls. After all, you won't have to worry about debt for that much longer.

The Militant kids here...No really folks, it's just money. WTF people! The Militant has fallen on financial hard times before...and some of that was the greatest moments of his life. If a squatter in Calcutta can get by for years, how then can't a family living in the convenient trappings of America? You got hot running water and flushing toilets. And now you wanna end your life? Really now. Life is all about ebb and flow. Just as things can turn towards the worst in a short amount of time, they can likewise get better. Ya just got to ride the wave, duuuude.

Maybe it's because of his extensive Mililtant survivalist training, but The Militant doesn't really mind this recession thing, really. If anything, maybe it'll give people new perspective. There's nothing wrong with being rich, but excess is mothafuggin excess. It's nice to have a lot of money, but once you become so rich that you're not able to control it yourself, and require hiring others to handle it for you...then it's not so fun anymore.

The Militant also has no outstanding debt (outside of a car payment, which is more paid off than not), so even if this financial situation gets worse, he just might become rich by default.

Maybe the Militant will start a new career as a financial advisor...okay maybe not. But the moral to this story is perspective. No matter what your situation is, there's always someone out there who's better off than you...and tons more people who's much, much worse off than you. Hang in there, folks.

You Get Less For More These Days

The Militant awoke from hiw winter hibernation a little earlier than expected -- he thought from the nice, warm, sunny weather it was April already but was surprised to know it's still only mid-January. So he decided to take a little stroll down an unspecified east-west thoroughfare when he took a peek at a newsstand to find out what's going on in the world and exactly what day it was today.

Then he noticed it.

Los Angeles Times...Daily: 75 cents!

Okay time out, let's let that sink in.

SEVENTY-FIVE FREAKING CENTS?!?!?

The Militant is well aware of some of the recent changes to the paper, the shrinking physical mass (and local coverage) notwithstanding. As mentioned before, the Militant still digs reading a physical paper, as it's a nice way to pass the time riding the (M)etro or sitting on the can (even one of these). And the Militant loves seeing the rear page of the Sports or Business sections to see what's on sale at Fry's this week for the latest high-tech gadgetry to blow his Militant income on. And surely people will mob and claw at each other in a Black Friday-like frenzy over copies of the January 21st edition of the Times...or any newspaper, for that matter.

But...75 cents?

Zell, please!

I Can Feel It Coughing In The Air Tonight

The Milita(cough, cough, cough) wildfires this weekend in three corners of the Southlan(cough, cough, cough) n't be able to go out and ride his bicy(cough, cough, cough). The sky looks as if we have more than one thing (cough, wheeze) in common with Beijin(cough, cough, cough, hack, cough). Except this time, there are more homes bur(cough, cough, cough, hack, wheeze, cough). From his compound he can(cough, cough, cough, wheeze, cough, cough, hock...spit). The Militant can't (cough, cough) wait until all this (cough, cough, cough, wheeze, cough, cough, hoccccccccck, ptui!) the air and (hack, cough, cough, ack, cough, cough, cough, wheeze, wheeze, cogh, cough)...

Oh, forget i(cough, cough, cough, wheeze, hock...).

The Times, They Are A-Changin'

Call the Militant old-school, but he still likes to read the good ol' newspaper (once in a while). It's light, it's portable, it's a good way to kill time while riding on the Metro, sitting at the doctor's office, queuing at the bank, or sitting in the can.

Yeah, nowadays we got websites, news tickers, text updates, Twitter and, you know, those blog thingies. But the traditionalist in the Militant still believes there's still something to the printed word. After all, his trademark long-winded, word-count-heavy posts are testament to that.

Word? Word.

So while walking down an unspecified major thoroughfare on Tuesday, he happened upon a Los Angeles Times newsstand - a common sight - and did a "Hello, what's this?"

The display copy was partially obscured by a wraparound, with an uncharacteristically Wall Street Journal-esque illustration of the Times' editor (the Militant keeps up with local happenings, but he admits that he's never heard of "Russ Stanton" before, although it seems the Times changes editors these days with nearly the same turnover rate as Japan changes prime ministers). It appears that the Times got itself (yet another) facelift, its third in the past decade. And so the big ed sez:

"Today we're introducing changes designed to better match our coverage to your lifestyles and reading habits."

Uh-oh.

While the state of the traditional newspaper in the 21st century is a surprise to none, the Militant took to these "UI" changes with much skepticism. "Lifestyles?" You already know how much the Militant hates being stereotyped as an Angeleno.

So here we go, comparing today's Times with last week's paper (October 14):

The Nameplate: The most obvious change. Good to know the Los Angeles Times logo banner is still in that good ol' gothic typeface, but now its...SO MUCH BIGGER. And what's with the 3-D shadow? The date has moved from the bottom center of the nameplate to the upper-left. The price, moved to the other end. In the lower right: "latimes.com" There is a reason for that.

The Headline: Looks the same as previous, though a sample front page rendering inside the wraparound shows one of those column-spanning "OMG NO WAI THIS IS IN ALL CAPS" -type headlines. Expect the November 5 edition to herald the announcement of our 44th president in that fashion.

Graphs and Illustrations: The graphic on healtchare costs looks a bit more USA Today. Of course, ever since McNewspaper debuted in 1982 with them boffo color pictures, all of the black-and-white-and-read-all-overs gradually followed suit. Over a quarter century later, that influence is still happening.

Color-Coded Sections: Speaking of color, the section flags are now symbolically color-coded: California is a dark orange/dark gold color; Sports is dark blue; Business is dark green; Calendar and Classified are red. Not that necessary, but if you wanna save on black ink in these tight economic times, might as well.

Sub-Sections: In the A section of the paper, the various subsections (i.e. World, Nation, Opinion, etc.) are presented in white on grey blocks to stand out. Okay, so much for saving on that black ink, then. But it does emphasize the sub-sections more.

Web-Exclusive: In an era where the Web is king, the new-look Times has ramped up the "web-teaser" sections, inviting readers to stories and features, such as Steve Hymon's popular Bottleneck Blog, and having readers continue their Times reading experience from newsprint to computer screen.

Other Changes: There's a bunch of other subtle, though interesting changes to the various sections. Each section now seems to feature a larger photo towards the top of the page. In terms of Tuesday's Sports section, there's one photo of the USC football team nearly half the size of the page. Speaking of whihc, Chris Dufresne's accompanying article directly below it leads off D1, filling much of the bottom half with oversized typefaces and paragraph symbols. What's disturbing is seeing the colloquial word, "Duh!" written in that oversized typeface, referencing the Trojans' single upset blemish to their season. Dunno..."Duh!" is fine for a blog, an email exchange or a text message, but in the lede of a newspaper article? Oh well.

"Change" is a big buzzord this year. Obviously the traditional newspaper has to keep up with technology and attitudes towards alternate news sources. So, yes, change is inevitable. On the other thand, the changes weren't as radical as what the Times seemed to make them out to be. Of course, if the gothic Los Angeles Times logo got changed to, say, a modern sans-serif font, then, well we might have anothe riot on our streets. Okay, maybe not. Or just a nerdy kinda riot.
So though the Militant might not be too crazy with this new Times look, it's not that bad either. Still, as long as the Times is under the wrath of Zell, and remains a mere outpost property for its Chicago-based colonist operation, the Militant still fears a day when he opens up the Times, and it looks and reads like a different city's paper. With the way things are these days, who knows?

KNBC Shows A Little Censor-tivity

The Militant doesn't talk about television all that much, as he doesn't really watch that much television. In fact, this bike-riding Militant spends more time driving a car than watching TV (and that's really saying a lot). He would much rather write about real-life Angeleno adventures than stuff on the boob tube.

But check this out: While the Militant watched NBC's Late Night With Conan O'Brien on Monday night, at about 12:45 a.m., the host sets up a comedic bit about the recently-activated (and more recently-shelved) particle-smashing Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. O'Brien then exclaims, "Let's see what other things we can collide..."

Just then, the screen instantly cuts to the KNBC4 Los Angeles "Special Report" graphics, with viewers no doubt watching with a confused, "WTF is going on here?" sentiment and anchorwoman Colleen Williams greeting the viewers with this:

"We are live here at the news desk and we will return to Late Night shortly. Right now, Conan is showing a comedy sketch about trains crashing, and in light of recent events, we feel it's inappropriate to show it to you..."

Then she proceeds with a quick update story on the presidential race, a quick weather segment and a couple minor local stories before returning to Conan.

The Militant was like, "Whoa!" that's kind of different. For people watching in the Southern California area, memories of the September 12 Metrolink accident still linger.

Admittedly, it seemed a little bit of an overreaction; the Militant is probably sure the comedy skit might have lasted all but a few seconds, and that the offending trains resembling nothing like the rolling stock that 48,000 Southern Californians commute on daily.

But still, 26 people no longer have their lives, and over a hundred more are lying in hospital beds either recuperating or fighting for their life.

Of course, appropriateness rules supreme in these crisis-filled times. No doubt the Scorpions' '80s hit "Rock You Like A Hurricane" isn't getting any airplay right now in the Gulf Coast of Texas.

So did KNBC overreact? Or was it a justified show of sensitivity for the victims of Metrolink 111 and their families?

FEEL IT! FEEL IT!! FEEL THE VIBRATIONS!!!

Yep. 5.8 5.4, Chino Hills/Diamond Bar (Epicenter here), 11:42 a.m. No reports of serious damage, and none of the 2,347 shopping centers in the Inland Empire anchored by a Target and a Home Depot suffered any damage. The Militant was in an unspecified location in the San Gabriel Valley at the time (it rolled for quite a bit), he instantly knew what was up. Reports say the quake was felt as far away as Las Vegas.

And to all the new transplants: WELCOME TO CALIFORNIA! (Wait...moving back already? Okay! Here's to lower housing prices/rent!)

MILITANT EMERGENCY TIP! BTW, to everyone hogging up the cellphone lines, take note: Local calls are hard to make but you CAN make out-of-state calls. The Militant recommends you designate an out-of-state friend or relative to be an emergency Single Point of Contact in the event of an earthquake, flood, wildfire, riot, alien invasion or zombie attack, and have your family members or social circle contact that person next time these things come round.

You're welcome.

The Militant's Take On The Writer's Strike

So the Militant was going through his blogroll this morning and found a nice alternate viewpoint on the WGA Strike on Blogging.la. The Militant was so inspired he was gonna comment, but decided to put his statements on his own space.

But OMG Picket lines! Stop the world! Oh, the horror! THERE'S NOTHING TO WATCH ON TV! No more Desperate Housewives! (at least Filipino people can rest easy now that the show won't make any insensitive remarks towards them for the time being).

The Militant will keep this quick, after all, it's nothing he needs to be overtly concerned with.

So the writers want a fair share of their work...so they can continue to stereotype and disregard people - people who actually watch their dreck - so they can live comfortably in a nice Sherman Oaks townhouse. Uh-huh (The Militant doesn't at all dispute the fact that the producers are greedy, of course.)

The Militant cares absolutely nothing about this strike, as there are other people in this city who are struggling even more (an unbeknownst to the writers, producers, or anyone else in the entertainment industry, yes, there are other industries in Los Angeles (the health care industry is actually the largest in Southern California) this is not a "one- industry town" as those transplanted industry types constantly mumble through their culture-shocked generalizing mantras and likewise drill that point in our heads through their so-called "work"). Of course the real people (and yes there are real-down-to earth people in the City, though the industry refuses to acknowledge that) struggling in this City are people the entertainment industry purposely ignores and overlooks, simply because they don't consider them "people" in the first place.

Have fun out there, writers. After all, this is the only chance you'll get to "walk in L.A.," right? At least the weather is nice...just the way you like it!

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

The Militant is not one who easily jumps on the bandwagon, nor follows the crowd. In fact, his very existence on the Los Angeles Blogosphere is specifically because there are perspectives, views, events, people and places that are largely ignored, if not misunderstood, so the Militant naturally goes against the grain to bring those things to you on this here blog.

The Militant didn't want to write about these fires mainly because not only do the mainstream news sources already have it covered, but the local Blogosphere seems to have it covered as well.

But when the Militant started to feel somewhat lethargic this afternoon and almost felt a shortness of breath, that's all he can stands and he can't stands no more...
...okay, other than spending the next few days in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, there's nothing more he can do, except...

BLOG!!! (cough, cough, cough)

Damn, that didn't turn out so good.

But yeah, even though the Militant isn't exactly the only blogger feeling the weird-ass effects of inhaling cremated homes, trees and dry brush from our suburbs and exurbs, perhaps ranting on a Blogger.com Create Post window can be cathartic. After all, he can't ride his bike (well, technically, the Militant still can, it's just that his lungs would protest), take long walks around the vicinity of his compound, or the like. For some reason, this was much worse than the Griffith Park Fire, which was much more closer in proximity, but the smoke and ash didn't linger for as long.

Speaking of proximity, we all know that, aside from the environmental and visual impact, us city folks are largely spared from the effects of this fire (count yer blessings). But the constant media bombardment of "CALIFORNIA FIRE!!!" (cough, cough, cough) on newscasts and headlines, would probably make people Out East think the entire Golden State - all 158, 302 square miles of it - is conflagrated (to either their delight or chagrin). Yesterday evening, the Militant got a call from his cousin in Queens, NY who was wondering if all her Los Angeles-based relatives were okay. The Militant assured her that all the fires were burning miles away in outlying areas and that the only effects were the aforementioned smoke-related ones.

Of course, the Militant wasn't immune from the hype either; a few hours earlier, after learning that SD's Jack Murph, er, Qualcomm Stadium was being used as an evacuation center, the Militant called his Daygo-based operatives, who likewise assured them that they were just fine, and in fact people who fled the fire-ravaged areas sought refuge in their part of town. After all, they had already suffered their own inferno four years ago.

This all started with some wild Santa Anas, right? As a great native Angeleno songwriter once expressed in song, the blow hot from the north. The Militant considers the winds themselves to be a stunningly beautiful thing, almost romantic even. At least to this Militant, they bring back fond memories of a time years ago in his college days when he was dating someone who went to an unspecified California State University and had to trek through the parking lot, hand in hand with her, as the winds seemingly beat the two young lovers like a raging storm while they sought refuge in her dorm.

But that was then. These days, the Santa Anas are weather pr0n that give arsonists hard-ons, and now these domestic ter'rists are public enemy #1. Can America try to allocate more money into institutionalizing and taking care of its mentally ill so they aren't out there playing with fire in dry brush, resulting in people losing their homes and lives? Oh yeah, the US government has priorities (cough, cough, cough). Uh-huh.

Some have likened the fires to be "Our Katrina." Uh, not even close. Maybe when The Big One comes. But perhaps events like these test the resilience of people - transplants and natives alike - and weed out the ones who only come here for "The Weather" (that makes about 95.3% of all East Coast and Midwestern transplants, right?) - perhaps certainly a semiarid Mediterranean climate with a relatively low annual rainfall has its downsides, after all, so run along), and make for a stronger, thicker-skinned populace.

In the meantime, GO AWAY SMOKE (cough, cough, hack, hack, cough)!!!! The Militant wants his normal smog back.

Goodness Gracious Great Broadway Fire!

Terrorism? Plane crash? Tanker truck explosion? Like many in the Southland, the Militant saw a large, dark plume of smoke, stretching for miles, emanating off the side of the Harbor Freeway on Saturday evening. While heading back to his compound from San Pedro in a carpool with his operatives, the Militant, sitting in the rear passenger seat, was able to snap these pictures of the conflagration (pictured left) from the 110..

According to news reports, an 85-year old two story industrial building caught ablaze at the corner of 57th St. and South Broadway (near Slauson Ave.) in South Los Angeles, just a block east of the 110. The cause of the fire is still not yet known. Over 100 LAFD firefighters were on the scene to fight the blaze, which emitted a huge dark grey plume of smoke spreading for several miles eastward and was visible from nearly everywhere in the Los Angeles Basin (pictured right). The number of injuries and/or casualties from the fire is not yet known.

Militant Update: Flammable materials stored too close to fluorescent lighting fixtures started the fire in a carpet and tile store. The fire caused nearly $4 million in damages. Aside from non-life-threatening injuries to the carpet store owner, no one was hurt.

Auf Wiedersehen, Lowenbrou Keller

Word has gotten around in blogdom that the ornate Lowenbrou Keller on Beverly Blvd in the Historic Filipinotown area - not "Silver Lake-ish" as other sources say (why do hipsters insist that anything midway between Downtown and Hollywood is all "Silverlake, CA" [sic]? Answer: Hipsters like to pretend that ethnic communities don't exist) - is closing down, so the Militant and one of his operatives decided to bid auf wiedersehen to the establishment on Thursday evening with a dinner and some beers (Spaten Munich, baby -- there was once a time when the Militant did not like beer...until he visited Germany).

The Militant parked his bike in the restaurant's lot, which was unusually full. Though it wasn't packed, it had perhaps eight times more people than there were the first time the Militant ate there when he used to work nearby.

The restaurant, which was supposed to close down on Friday, is staying open a little longer -- "until the food runs out." For those of you planning to bid them a final guten nacht, please make dinner reservations in advance or come in a small group. A group of about seven people got turned away.

There was no menu, but instead the waitress gave us the choice of either the Farmer's Plate (smoked porkchop, ham and sausage), the Chicken Schnitzel, Bratwurst or Hungarian Sausage. I opted for the Farmer's Plate (pictured right), the operative had the Schnitzel.

The food took a while, but the kitchen staff of two people were already overburdened. The Militant didn't really care for the porkchop and the ham, but the sausage was great and so was the schnitzel. The grilled potatoes were a nice bonus, as well as the sauerkraut.

A photographer for a major area newspaper dropped in and snapped photos of the ornate, Teutonic-themed interior, a quasi-kitschy collection of woodcarved beer barrels, elk busts, stuffed birds, armored knights, cherub statues and travel posters promoting Bayern (das ist Deutsch für "Bavaria") designed by movie set designer George Eder, who opened the restaurant 40 years ago. His widow, Renate Eder, the owner, urged the photog, "No more photos!" and even offered him a free pint of beer to make him stop -- apparently the sudden surge of word-of-mouth publicity has been too much for them to take.

Much has been discussed about the fate of the restaurant and its surrounding land parcel, which is being sold to its new Korean owners (trust the Militant, they are not "Chinese," as other blogs have reported). Word is that the decor will remain, but that the place will reportedly be renamed "Medusa Lounge." For those of you worried about the name, fear not, it will most likely change its name after six months of opening (a well-known secret in the expatriate Korean business community timed in accordance with the terms of small business loans and the expiration of B-1 visas). Whether the new incarnation of Lowenbrau Keller will be a publicly-accessible bar/lounge or a private-membership club remains to be seen.

The Militant is fully aware that the near future will see a land-grab war in the gentro-vulnerable west-of-Downtown area which encompasses Historic Filipinotown, Westlake and parts of Pico-Union. White hipsters seek to see an expansion of all that is "Silverlake" and expatriate Korean investors seek an expansion of all that is "Koreatown" (and operate under an entirely different set of rules than celebrated Korean American entrepreneurs like Pinkberry's Sherry Hwang or ice cream guru Tai Kim of SCOOPS fame - both of which have built their respective successes through a more mainstream clientele). The Militant takes no sides, of course, but would just [sarcasm mode: on] love [sarcasm mode: off] to see how this battle turns out.

McCourt Reveals This Year's Offseason Stadium Improvements

Are things that bad that we're talking about next season already? Well, here's one thing for sure in the Dodgers' 50th anniversary season in Los Angeles which the organization just announced today: The Field level will sport remodeled and expanded concession stands and restrooms.

The over-$60 million renovation will have state-of-the-art ergonomically-designed kitchens in the concession stands which would HOPEFULLY speed up food transactions and best of all: all field level concession stands will have grilled Dodger Dogs. The restrooms will reportedly sport waterless urinals, which management says will save up to 2.4 million gallons each year in the field level alone. Whether the notorious troughs will remain, who knows. The restrooms will also have hand dryers.

There will also be new club seating for season ticket holders in the Field level on the first and third base sides, which include buffet dining, a fuill-service bar and private restrooms.

Renovations will also include a high-tech cooling system for The Stadium which consists of a centralized chilled-water system which is designed to be integrated with the concession kitchens.

What about all us Loge, Reserve and Top Deck folks? Guess we'll have to wait till the next off-season.

Speaking of which, the Militant will be in Top Deck tonight...GO BLUE!