Zeppelin by Jitze

Airship Ventures is in town offering various L.A. tours by Zeppelin through this coming Tuesday, November 24th. The Bay Area-based company operates the only sightseeing airship in the United States and for the past year and a half, they have flown over the San Francisco Bay, the Monterey Coast, and L.A. At this past week’s Mindshare, one of company’s founders, Alexandra Hall said that due to the growing popularity of the Long Beach to Hollywood tours, Airship Ventures plans to spend nearly half of 2010 in Southern California. I’m really tempted to book a flight.

You don’t have to worry about another Hindenburg disaster as the Zeppelin is filled with non-flammable helium, not hydrogen. (Yes, all helium is non-flammable, but the company has to state the obvious for the general masses). You can read all about the specs of the ship, available tours, and the journey of getting this venture in the air at the company’s site.

Ticket are a little out of my price range, but imagine what an amazing journey you’d be taking. Booking information can be found here.

Admission price is $5 before 3pm; after 3pm, it’s free.  See you at 3.

Though it’s entirely possible that the above things are true, we don’t actually guarantee them. However, Metblogs is a pretty fun place to write. It’s the largest network of locally focused blogs on the web, covering almost 60 cities around the world, and we’re looking to add a few new bloggers/writers/authors (or whatever you want your title to be, except King of the World) to this fine site. If you wanna know more about us, check out this wikipedia entry but even reading that is not a requirement. If you wanna write for us, here’s the scoop:

• All author positions are volunteer. That means you don’t get paid.
• You must live or work in (or very near, and spend a lot of time in) the city you plan to write about.
• Anything you post must relate to the city somehow. That means you shouldn’t post a movie review, but talking about going to see a movie at a local theater is fine.
• There’s no requirement for how much you can or should write, but we ask that if we set you up as an author you make about 3 posts a week.
• You can post about things you love, you can post about things you hate. You can even drop f-bombs. It’s entirely up to you.

Additionally, because of our global network, there are plenty of options for things you write to be read by people all over the world. New posts are posted on both our local Twitter account and the Metblogs network Twitter account. Interested? Want more details? Post a comment and we’ll be in touch!

Thanks to the Georgia Aquarium and my multiple blogs, I received invitations to “Planet Shark Blogger Day” this afternoon.  I magnanimously forwarded the invite to a “mommy blogger” friend to see if the display was kid-friendly (because I certainly wasn’t going to bring my 3-year-old around a bunch of flesh eaters).  We both thought the shark displays a bit intense for tiny ones, but the information given was interesting.  For instance:

• “galeophobia” and “selachophobia” are both terms used to identify excessive fear of sharks (”prudence” is the term for an appropriate level of fear of sharks).
• in the U.S., you are 200 times more likely to die from a deer attack than a shark attack (this is why my father shoots deer and not sharks).
• you are 700 times more likely to die in a plane crash than a shark attack (this is why pilots are paid more than marine biologists).
• the world’s largest fish is the whale shark, which can weigh 13 tons and measure 50 feet (luckily it doesn’t have to compete with the whale whale, its being a mammal and all).

The children and adults enjoyed seeing Nemo and other colorful swimming fish, and petting miniature versions of the creatures that killed Steve Irwin is always an enjoyable way to spend a half hour.

I did, however, see a preschooler get her head stuck between the bars in a shark cage on display.  I assume this is why preschoolers are not encouraged to drop beneath boats in the Pacific to film swimming sharks, right?

The verdict?  A good place to bring the family on a weekday.  I haven’t been on a weekend, but I assume there are significantly more crowds than I saw today.  But on a Friday at 2pm?  We could molest all the starfish we could find.  Ditto for the sea anemones.

And who wants to be the guy who’s never touched a sea anemone?  Not this guy.

But every so often I get into a taxi that has something this on the screen, and it makes me giggle a little.

*After seeing what’s onscreen in the photo, I have reason to suspect the latter.

Taxi TV fail

Here’s some information I ripped from the event’s Facebook page:

Camera Assassins is the newest Wise Guys Events game! Play in teams of 2: that’s right, teams of 2! Get your future Amazing Race partner in on the action. It’s part photo scavenger hunt, part Assassin. You and your partner are racing to complete as many of the photo challenges as you can. The catch is, you can’t do them without the help of the other teams, and one of the other players is aiming to kill you. Unless your partner is.

Camera Assassins, the amazing game of double exposure! RSVP on their Facebook event page to play.

The cost is $20 per team, to be collected on game day.

Saturday, November 21, 2009
1:00p – 4:00p
Westwood Park – Meet at the Picnic Benches
1300 Veteran Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90024

Faiz Ahmad Faiz (1911 - 1984)

Faiz Ahmad Faiz is an inspiration to millions who admire him for his revolutionary poetry and literature. Considering the depth, vision and universal relevance of his writings, Faiz is undoubtedly considered the greatest Urdu poet after Allama Muhammad Iqbal.

Lahore Metblogs misses Faiz and remembers him by quoting some of his famous verses:

Koi Nahi Hai...

More on Faiz Ahmad Faiz:

- Pakistaniat
- Wikipedia

How sweet is this?  On Monday, LA DOT started a public beta for receiving live tracking information of your friendly neighborhood DASH service.  If you go to http://dtdash.com on your computer or phone, LADOT has provided four equally convenient ways for you to get your bus information:  1) you can live track your downtown DASH using Google Maps; 2) for the minimalists, you can simply use drop down menus to plug in your route and stop to get expected arrival times; 3) for those of us without Internet-equipped phones, call (213) 785-3858 and navigate the phone menu to hear arrival information; and 4) for those of us who don’t like talking to machines, but don’t mind texting one, figure out your stop number, and send a text to dtdash[stop number] to 414111.

Now, if we can get this set up for the MTA, that would be awesome.

Sunday at SIFF is A Single Man, based on a Christopher Isherwood novel about a closeted gay college professor in the 1960s whose grief from the loss of his love and frustration at having to stay “invisible” leads him to consider suicide until his best girlfriend and a charming young man make him think twice.

Cory McAbee is the writer, director and lead actor of The American Astronaut and he’s followed that well received film with another for which he’s the writer, director and lead actor. Stingray Sam makes its Seattle debut at NW Film Forum with McAbee in person for the Friday night screenings of his six episode musical western mini-series that takes place in outer space.

Also screening Friday night at NWFF and playing through the week: Ingmar Bergman’s The Passion of Anna, the tale of two men and two women struggling with their own troubled selves and their complicated relationships with each other on the small Swedish island of Fårö.

Saturday night at NWFF: Silence is Golden. NWFF has a quarterly film challenge for local filmmakers; this fall’s was to come up with a five-minute short devoid of dialogue. Participants are allowed to use music to drive a story, but not one single spoken word. Sunday night at NWFF: Money Driven Medicine: “a behind-the-scenes look at how our 2.6 trillion dollar a year healthcare system went so terribly wrong and what it will take to fix it.”

Love 80s movies? Head to Central Cinema Friday night for the 80s movies anthem singalong with the themes from such “classic” flicks as “The Goonies” and “Ghostbuster”, featuring songs by Madonna, Prince, David Bowie, Tina Turner, Phil Collins, The Ramones, Kenny Loggins, Peter Gabriel, the Go-Gos, Huey Lewis & the News, and many more. Starting Saturday, Central Cinema screens Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game through November 25. Coincidentally, I just happened to rent this movie myself so I can attest to the merits of this 1939 satire of upper-class French society just before the start of WWII. Condemned by the Parisian crowd who saw its original debut–probably because it hit just a little too close to home–and later banned by the French government, this film has since rightly become known as one of the best films made.

The Grand Illusion hosts the Burning Fuse Film Festival. Six provocative documentaries examine topics including environment deregulation under President Bush, a stripper’s conversion to evangelical Christianity, conscientious objector soldiers, surfers in war-torn Liberia, vooting booth conspiracies tied to the 2004 national elections, and the story of Fauborg Treme, the section of New Orleans that is probably the oldest black neighborhood in America and is the birthplace of the civil rights movement as well as the home of jazz.

Somewhat–no, very much less serious is Grand Illusion’s late night weekend feature Gums, a 1976 Jaws parody featuring a fellatio-mad mermaid intent on terrorizing the seaside.

Besides turning out a very long list of chart-topping albums and singles and inspiring musicians for generations even now still to come, The Beatles managed to make a few good films. The Fab Four were never more charming than in Richard Lester’s adorable A Hard Day’s Night, a comedy that takes a clever look at the madness surrounding what was then the world’s biggest band. A fun movie filled with some of The Beatles’ best songs and definitely worth a watch.

A bounced cheque is criminal offence punishable under UAE law 401. jail for period between 1 month to 8 years on discretion of Judge.

A post dated cheque (PDC) is to be certified by the bank means that bank will be holding the amount to certify it for processing at a later date.

As the prosecution began its case in the War Crimes Trials at Nuremberg, 3000 G.I.s were back home, waiting in line for Thanksgiving Dinner at Castle Steak House. They were guests of the Los Angeles Herald-Express.

The year was 1945.

Photo from the Los Angeles Public Library

There were a total of 4 short one act plays in the 1 1/2 hours.   They dealt with contemporary issues in a humorous sort of way.   The plays were all original material written by either Benjamin Epstein or Gary Kluger.   They write entirely new plays for each performance night. They weren’t always perfect, at times a little contrived or trite, but they kept me smiling throughout the performances.

The actors come out of the La Canada workshops. Some of the actors were really good at what they did and their performances were what really held the entire play together.   In particular I enjoyed the performances of Lanell Scott as the crusty PE instructor in “Teachers” and Deb Snyder as “Inga” in “Mad Scientist”.

click for a full view with map

The LAAA is having its annual Aurora Holiday Art Sale Saturday only 11/21.  There is a preview sale that includes complimentary champagne starting at 6pm that will cost you 25 bones.  Its free after 7PM but no free booze.   (Their flier does get bigger with a click for all the details you could ever want).

The best part of this show is that it is all about affordable art for collectors and exposing them to up-and-coming artists.  Artists like my friend Ginger Van Hook who was picked up after the jurists viewed her work at last weekends Inglewood Art Walk.

As the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake duke it out for supremacy, fans can snack on the Galaxy Dog which features two strips of applewood smoked bacon, nacho cheese sauce, red onion and diced tomatoes and is available, naturally, at Seattle Dogs. Ciao Down will offer the Galaxy Pizza, topped with ground buffalo, caramelized red onions, thick cut bacon, and pepper-jack cheese. Real Salt Lake is represented by Grill 12’s Salt Lake Burger topped with caramelized red onion jam, apple wood smoked bacon, blue cheese, and black cherry barbeque sauce.

The FSN Lounge will be honoring the world’s love for the beautiful game with an assortment of internationally-inspired dishes like Dungeness crab macaroni and Cheese (England), Pissaladiere baked puff pastry with olives, grape tomatoes, caramelized onions and triple cream brie (Spain), Mama’s meatballs (Italy), Bossa Nova chicken sandwich (Brazil) and more.

Everybody loves pretzels, or nearly everyone enough to ensure that pretzels have long been a staple item at sporting events. Since the MLS Cup is a big event, it makes sense that this game has available a big pretzel–the Victory Knot is a two-pound pretzel topped with sea salt and served with three dipping sauces (spicy mustard, beer cheese and sweet vanilla cream). This pretzel is so big that it is served in a full-size pizza box.

Finally, no matter who wins the game, everyone can celebrate the day with MLS cupcakes – cupcakes decorated with the MLS and team logos.

Kick off for the MLS cup is at 5:30 pm on Sunday, November 22, but there are plenty of events to occupy you until game time. On Friday, November 20, MLS players will go toss a fish at the Pike Place Market at 3pm. Fado Irish Pub hosts a Meet and Greet and Silent Auction from 6 – 8 pm with happy hour drink specials all night long, appearances by Sounders FC players Sébastien Le Toux and Taylor Graham, and a silent auction to raise money for Seattle Children’s Hospital.

The 2009 Supporters Summit happens at Qwest Field on Saturday, November 21, featuring a State of the League speech by MLS Commissioner Don Garber, Supporters Shield history and presentation by Sam Perron, Kansas City Wizards, a raffle and an officiating and technical discussion panel with Joe Machnick and Alfonso Mondelo.

Saturday night features the Sounders End of Season party at The Baltic Room and a Pioneer Square Supporters Social at Elysian Fields.

On Sunday, get psyched for the game in the morning at the FIFA 2010 Tournament at Fado, sponsored by Gorilla FC, in which teams of players compete to find out who is the best FIFA10 XBOX player, winning great Sounders prizes and raising money for the victims of Black October in Bolivia.

Sunday afternoon there’s a Pre-Game Spaghetti Feed at Fuel and then at 3:45 soccer fans meet up at Occidental Square for the traditional March to the Match, accompanied by Sounders FC owners, players, coaches and MLS Commissioner Don Garber.

Here’s a couple of reviews of the taping that were posted right after it happened from Austin 360 and TwoFeetThick along with an outtakes addendum from Austin360 as well.

Speaking of ACL tapings, if you’re a fan of Pearl Jam, set your calendars for February 13th when the Them Crooked Vultures taping will air.

A CraigsList ad is asking for potential “new roommates” to apply for “The Real World’s” 24th season.

If you are between the ages of 18 and 24 then email us at rwcasting@bunim-murray.com with the following information: Name, Age, Phone number, A brief bio, Two recent photos

In the subject line write: “[your city] Recruiting”

Think you have what it takes? Feel free to include a copy of your cover letter in the comments below. For shits n giggles.

1. To celebrate this Unicorn Gallery has organized an exhibition on 20 and 21 November featuring photographs taken around Karachi by Street kids. Kids have taken photos for the first time, trained under Arif Mehmood. Timings of the gallery are 11 am – 8 pm. Reasonably priced, beautiful photos. Proceeds go directly to the kids.

For more: www.initiator.org and www.unicorngallery.net

2. Some of my independent work regarding children photography in the form of slideshow: Fairies and Angels

3. The Nation Story