Literacy & Longing in L.A., errr, Sherman Oaks

Young & Restless' Christian LeBlanc reads poetry at the June 13th Sherman Oaks stop of the book's tour in California at Borders Books and Music. You can see co-author Karen Mack on the left.

SOHA Goes 2.0?

As evident by their 1995 looking website (and look at their title tag, yikes!), SOHA hasn't really hit the 2.0 thing yet. But now the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association (SOHA) is "international." By that, they mean LA36 online.

But hey, if you are YouTube, are you a hip HOA? Nah, the video doesn't make much sense out of context. Next time SOHA, next time...

Metro Rapid Sherman Oaks

The Bus Riders Union's Lisa Adler gave SONC's Parking, Traffic & Transportation Committee a visit on Wednesday evening to reach out and gather support as I explain on LAist. Next month, the MTA will present their side to the committee.

Adler Donna Gooley, a BRU organizer who showed up at earlier SONC meetings has reported that the 156 Line (Hollywood to Van Nuys Orange Line Station) that hits the edge of Sherman Oaks at Woodman/Burbank will be shortened. Adler reports that Metro Rapid 761's headways may not be reduced anytime soon. The 761 runs on Van Nuys Blvd. through Sherman Oaks to Westwood.


The big Sherman Oaks news in regards to MTA is the 734 Metro Rapid running up and down Sepulveda Blvd. between Sherman Oaks and Sylmar. MetroRiderLA gives it a test run:

Close to Ventura Boulevard, Sepulveda turns to apartments, and the bus turns around via Magnolia Boulevard, Kester Avenue and Ventura Boulevard to layover across from the Sherman Oaks Galleria. The trip was reasonably quick. The entire route took about 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, the other two Sherman Oaks Rapid's will see larger buses:

• Metro Rapid Line 761 (Van Nuys Blvd.) "will see new 60-foot articulated buses"


• Metro Rapid Line 750 (Ventura Blvd.) will have new 45-foot high capacity buses

Of Note: Anatomy of an L.A. activist

La Fogata

Cuisine: Mexican
Translation: The Bonfire
Likeness: An independent mom-and-pop Baja Fresh
Where: 5142 Van Nuys Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
91403-1401. Corner of Van Nuys Blvd. & Hartsook (one street south of Magnolia)



Review: Sick of El Torito? Need a break from the hip factor at Casa Vega and Mexicali? After eating at La Fogata, I'm stuffed. Despite no black beans or vegetarian refried pinto beans, the vegetarian fajita was extremely tasty. Chips & salsa equal excellence. Carnivores need not to worry here. I can't wait to go back.

Annoying...

I'm not even going link to the site. Carolyn at LAist pointed this out earlier this year and John Sibley in Las Vegas actually decided to go through the ropes and see what happens when you sign up:

She goes over the features of their top dating package with you, and eventually reveals the price: $5495. I burst out laughing. She continued: the price is about to go up to $6100+ after the first of the month, but just for today they're having a special sale price and she can offer me the package for the bargain price of $2750. That price was only good for that day, of course - if I left the office I'd have to pay the full price.

Playfood Update

Since it's in the top 5 of ways people find this blog via Google, I feel I should put up an update about Playfood. I think E! or some Hollywood show must keep on rerunning the episode where Taran Noah Smith is talking about his vegan "fast food" restaurant - Playfood.

If you don't know Smith, you probably do. He was the little tyke, the third youngest brother on Home Improvement with Tim Allen. He also lives in Sherman Oaks. More importantly, his restaurant is at 11118 Ventura Blvd. in Studio City. Problem is, it's still not open yet. We're talking maybe 2 years to get this restaurant open.

Unless someone can correct me here, the latest I'm hearing is that Playfood is set to open up this fall. Then we can all bask at 3 a.m. with vegan cheese nachos and ice cream in The Valley.

Jinky's Cafe

I feel a little embarrassed to say, but I went to Jinky's Cafe for the first time this week. Even though it has 2 other restaurants in Los Angeles (Santa Monica, West Hollywood), it is talked about as a Sherman Oaks classic.

Although I had a little rant about my "naughty food," Cheese Fries, on LAist, I am Vegetarian who tries to be "Vegan Conscious" (obviously, not this week after running the Mud Run). But Jinky's had a tasty vegan breakfast item called viva las vegan.

And yes... Damn good.

I Finally Took the Orange Line*

I really have no use for it since the Metro Rapid 750 is my closest line, but since I was showing my uncle L.A., why not start with that? The Sepulveda parking lot holds around 1157 cars. Since there were only about 75 cars in the lot, we had red carpet parking.

I was especially impressed with the next bus will be approaching in X minutes feature along with "A bus is approaching" on the intercom (The Red Line could really use this) Of course, I found if a bus were behind schedule, "A bus is approaching" would still air when a bus should be approaching, but no bus in sight.

It's was definitely fun and I wish I lived near it, but that would take me to the very Northeast corner of Sherman Oaks. And who can give up this view of the L.A. River?

The highlight of the trip was seeing someone blatantly run a red light. Too bad, no Sheriff was around.

*Update 11:07 a.m.: Kevin talks about all the Orange Line blogging happening today.

Goodbye In-N-Out Burger!!!

At some point, I'll have to share my story about my encounter with In-n-Out customer service about a dispute over the definition of a Veggie Burger, but the Sherman Oaks news is that In-n-Out Burger at Moorpark and Van Nuys Blvd is going away.

When I say going away, I mean it's probably going away, like in that 99.9% chance of going away. Last night at the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council, the Watergardens Project, a proposed mix-use pedestrian oriented development of some sort on the In-n-Out strip mall, took another step in being approved through the city structure.

Bye In-n-Out Burger! Many will miss you!

Condo Bandit Strikes Again

Once again, but this time on Moorpark. I didn't get a good picture of the mattresses as they stood prominently along Moorpark Westbound, but tons of people saw these. Then someone tipped them over and thus, this shot: