National Night Out Pictures

Hana Grill @ The Galleria

Funny, I always passed this place and rubbed it off as a bad mall Asian diner. Then I was in a hurry and I braved it. For what it is, it's damn good. The free fire cucumbers are worth it alone (and better than PF Chang's cucumber dish). miso soup, edaname and veggie sushi rolls are more than just decent (nothing beats Bizen though).

Though, they really need to train the young girl at the front counter what soup base/broth is. I kept on asking if the udon soup was made with a chicken, beef or veggie broth and she was extremely confused. I settled safely with miso.

Of Couches & Ponies

A couch for the fall. A pony for the summer.

Photo: Allott & Moorpark

National Night Out

Tomorrow night is National Night Out. As far as I know, there are about four block parties happening around Sherman Oaks, but I won't list them since they are really for the neighbors on those specific street.

But the one public one is open at the Sherman Oaks Galleria which begins at 7 p.m. Park and go to the front of the mall where the fountains are. If you want free validated parking, LAPD Senior Lead Office, Geroge Aguilar, will have 100 or so passes. But you're going to eat dinner there anyway, right?

Our Tree Fell Today

An olive tree got top heavy and fell from LA River property into our garden apartment's parking lot. The backlot was blocked, my car in the frontside was not. Too bad I rode my bike around anyway today.

Upon calling 311 a few times, we found out that this was happening all over the city today. But I realized I should probably call the county since it is really their deal. Being jaded about the county, I thought no one would pick up and this issue would not be resolved anytime soon.

But the county slowly is turning my head around. With around 90,000 employees, today was quite an efficient and satisfying experience. I called, they called back, they came, it was done. All within a hour.

"We do more by 9 a.m. than the city does the whole week."
~ Anonymous County Employee

Brogin v. Kovacevich: The Basketball Hoop Story

Sherman Oaks in the spotlight over an old and obscure 1936 ordinance of no fun in the streets or parks. I'm looking more into this, but in the meantime, I wrote about this on LAist.

Photo of the actual basketball hoop taken be me

I Bought A Bike Rack For My Car Today

And it's thrilling. And it's no offense to Sherman Oaks, but sometimes I just want to ride on the beach and I rather not bike the Sepulveda Pass or deal with it on a long bus ride. One of the other main reasons I wanted to get it now was that I am itching to join the Midnight Ridazz on their next ride over the hill.

But really, shouldn't the Valley get a Midnight Ridazz event? I'll slowly start to rally for it and probably get banned in the process, hehe.

Speaking of biking, when this heat gets a little less insane, I need to check out the Orange Line Bike Trail.

Photo: "Midnight Ridazz" by PangPang

The Light Was Beautiful Today

Despite the heat, the light reminded me of a hot summer evening in Chicago where I grew up.

The Ghetto of Bel Air

Photographer and Bel Air resident Rebecca Fenning talks about her cul-de-sac:

Technically Bel Air, but only because it's graded higher than Mulholland Drive, or some such nonsense -- Sherman Oaks is only about 5 feet away on the opposite side of the street. This cul-de-sac is the place for illicit drug deals, sketchy backseat liasons and the setting-on-fire of stolen cars. My family lives here, in the ghetto of pseudo-Bel Air.

Coldwater Canyon: Jay Leno's City Raceway

I had a meeting in Culver City that ended at 6:00 p.m. I was not too hip on being in rush hour 405 traffic back to the Valley, so I decided to side street it back up to Sherman Oaks via Robertson - Santa Monica - Doheny - Sunset - Rexford - Beverly Dr. - Coldwater Cyn. Dr, which turns into Coldwater Cyn. Ave after Mulholland.

Yeah, I know, it's a convoluted route. Scenic, nonetheless.

And who do I see, as usual, on Coldwater Canyon? Jay Leno. This time sporting something that looks like his tank car. I've come to the conclusion that he owns this street since he is always driving up and down, to and from work, showing off his fancy ass cars. I've even seen him race down it at 2 a.m. after my friend's driving skills one night scarred him off.

Photo: OneSecondFilm via Flickr. (side note: I was there for all of the movie's shenanigans over at CalArts and even witnessed the world premiere)

Hate Crimes on the Rise

Fortuna Ippoliti of the Mayor's office spoke of the Tarzana Temple blaze at the last SONC meeting, but I was sketchy on some details, so I didn't feel good posting about it. LAFD's blog clarifies:

On Friday, July 7, 2006 at 8:04 AM, two Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters and four LAFD Arson Investigators responded to an Incendiary Fire at 'Temple Beith David' located at 18648 Clark Street in Tarzana.

Summoned but once by a neighbor who had grown weary of hearing alarm bells ringing at the building for more than two hours, Neighborhood Firefighters arrived quickly to discover burnt debris piled against rear doors of the Jewish Temple amidst obvious signs of criminal vandalism.

In accordance with Los Angeles Fire Department protocol, the House of Worship Arson Task Force (HOWATF) was requested as Firefighters cordoned off the area and confirmed that Fire Sprinklers located under the eaves of the recently refurbished building had indeed fully extinguished the flames.

continue reading "Sprinklers Snuff Arson Fire at Tarzana Temple" + $55,000 Reward Offered

Photo: Mean Banana

Lindsay Lohan is in town

If you've been seeing these movie set directional signs around, it's been for Georgia Rule, directed by Gary Marshall, and stars Lindsay Lohan, Jane Fonda and Felicity Huffman.

And hey, it's Lindsay Lohan. Can we say gawker gossip?

It Didn't Feel That Hot

Despite the warning, Sherman Oaks got pretty lucky in my eyes. I went to the Emergency Preparedness Fair on Saturday and while it was hot, it was not unbearable.

My apartment is a 1950's heat trap and I did not melt as usual. Yet, it is still hot and the LAFD Blog continues to be a great source of info for the heat wave:

Wildfire Danger in Southern California
Cooling Centers Open During L.A. Heat Wave
Firefighters Warn of Heat-Wave Dangers
Children, Hot Weather & Cars = Danger!
Wildfire 101: Plan For Wildfire

Photo of illegal dumping and what looks like Valleyheart, West of Woodman, by Ian Broyles

Be Careful in the Hills and in General

Via LAObserved (and then I looked at EDIS myself). Please protect yourself:

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA
954 AM PDT SAT JUL 15 2006

...DANGEROUS HEAT EXPECTED TODAY ACROSS THE VALLEYS AND LOWER
MOUNTAIN ELEVATIONS OF SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA...

.VERY HOT TEMPERATURES WILL AFFECT THE VALLEYS AND LOWER MOUNTAIN
ELEVATIONS TODAY. HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE FORECAST TO REACH 100 TO 110 IN MOST VALLEY LOCATIONS...WITH THE HOTTEST AREAS AS HIGH AS 112 DEGREES. HIGH TEMPERATURES OF 95 TO 105 CAN BE EXPECTED AT LOWER ELEVATIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS. THE HIGH HEAT COMBINED WITH INCREASING HUMIDITY LEVELS TODAY SHOULD PRODUCE DANGEROUSLY HIGH HEAT INDEX VALUES ACROSS THE REGION

Photo: Los Angeles Fire Department

Bizen: Neighborhood's Best Sushi

To this date, this is my favourite sushi place in Sherman Oaks. Consistent readers of this site probably have figured by now that I'm a vegetarian, but my roommate, who definitely eats meat and spent a year in Japan, considers this his favourite too. He even has a good friend who drives up from Silver Lake to eat here.

Bizen is a narrow sushi and Japanese cuisine restaurant that is easy to pass by on Ventura Blvd. (it's between Sunnyslope and Greenbush). For vegetarians, there is no inari, but they serve oshinko rolls, sweet zucchini, and one fresh and colourful vegetable roll (filled with the zucchini, tomato, finely chopped carrots, mushroom, eggplant). Drop down, the best veggie roll I've ever had. Additionally, the best vegetable tempura roll as well.

For fish eaters, make sure to ask the chef what's good and fresh today. Oh, this sushi place consistently has an A rating (well, except that one time, but that shot right back up soon after).

Bizen
13447 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423

Vegan Plate

I've recently become obsessed with Vegan Plate in Studio City. The service is a little hard sometimes, but the food is worth it: chicken nuggets, satay tofu, thai food, curries, salads and much more. By the end of this year, I should have had every item off the extremely large menu.

Reviews:
Vegetarians in Paradise
Happy Cow

Location:
11943 Ventura Blvd.
Studio City, CA 91604

Phone: 818-506-9015
Hours: 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily

SONC July Parks Ad Hoc Committee Meeting

Tonight was the monthly Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council (SONC) Parks Ad Hoc Committee (which has been quite an effective committee in the community). Here are interesting factoids from tonight's meeting:

• If you've putted around at the Sherman Oaks Castle Park lately, you may have noticed the miniature golf carpet is getting a little old. Not for long. Well, not for long in government speak that is.
• Back in March or April, an 83 year old woman didn't see a metal gate on the Authorized Vehicles Only driveway as she slowly unhitched it with her car at 5 mph and dragged it 500 feet. She realized when she parked and went into the Parks Office going "Oops!" Thing is, here we are in July and the gate is still not fixed.
• Supposedly, on the Fourth of July, Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks (VNSO) Park was "crazy and insane." Fireworks, overcrowding and lots of garbage.
  
• VNSO is not a "reservation park." Therefore, picnic permits for large groups do not exist. But park staffing is limited and it is an uncontrollable factor.
  
• 3 Weeks ago on the first day of Summer Day Camps, many of the park's buildings woke up with a lot of graffiti. The head of Day Camps (I forgot her name) got creative and covered up all the graffiti temporarily with HUGE paper signs telling where parents to go. The graffiti was not seen. Kudos to this particular staff member!
  

Universally Accessible Playground

Flyer Distributed:

Help Us Design a Universally Accessible Playground for Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks Park

Help create a magical, full-accessible playground for ALL the children in your community!

When: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Where: Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks Recreation Center

Why: Children with disabilities are routinely excluded from playgrounds - and the incredible social, physical, and emotional benefits that play provides. You have the power to change that. Help the LA Department of Recreation and Parks and Shane's Inspiration design a Universally Accessible Playground in your community. This remarkable play space will offer accessible and sensory-rich equipment that will enchant and delight children with and without disabilities.

RSVP to Marjorie Stark at 818-752-5676
Space is Limited

Photo: LeRamz

Studio City's Union 76: The Ball

In a 1,000 years, will Union 76 balls be museum items?

St. Francis de Sales

7/11 Celebrates Birthday

I celebrated at Fulton & Moorpark. Where did you go?

Photo of the Week: Mel's Drive-in, Ventura Blvd.

Photo by Rebecca Fenning, a.k.a. Rutabegabunny.

Mel's Drive-in (it's not really a drive-in)
4846 Ventura Blvd
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-3453

(818) 990-6357
Cross Street: Kester Avenue

Emergency Preparedness Fair this Weekend

An e-mail forwarded to me that I give to you...

A friendly reminder of Councilman Tony Cardenas and the Los Angeles
Emergency Preparedness Department's upcoming Emergency Preparedness Fair scheduled for Saturday, July 15, 2006 at the Braude Center located at 6262 Van Nuys Boulevard from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

We have included in this year's program special presentations on Pandemic Flu and Anti Terrorist Awareness. Hope that you can make it and learn how to better prepare for an emergency. We will be giving away emergency kits to the first 300 attendees. Please feel free to distribute this information to your e-mail contacts.


If you have any questions please contact Arturo Gonzalez.

Thank you


Arturo Gonzalez
District Director
Councilmember Tony Cardenas
Council District Six
14410 Sylvan St. Suite 215
Van Nuys, CA 91401
(818) 778-4999
Fax: (818) 778-4998

Photo from the LAFD Flickr Page

Pagliacci's: Pizza As Big As My Face

Does it taste like New York? I have no idea. It is a culinary delight? Not really. Is it good greasy pizza? Hell yeah.

You can add ingredients on before they warm your slice up, you can get sandwiches, have yogurt or ice cream. Not a bad place. Though on a hot summer day, it's freaking hot in there. But for a relatively quick slice of pizza before you hop on the freeway, here is your spot.

Pagliacci's
4366 Coldwater Canyon
Studio City 91604, CA

Cross Street: Moorpark St.
818-506-4111

Want to be on the Neighborhood Council?

The first Candidate Information Meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 11, 2006, at the Sherman Oaks Elementary School Library (14755 Greenleaf, Sherman Oaks).

All stakeholders who may have an interest in running for a Neighborhood Council seat in Areas 1, 3, 5, or 7 in the September 11, 2006 election are encouraged to attend. For more information, including a map of the areas, please visit the SONC web site at www.shermanoaksnc.org, or call 818/503-2399.

Please attend and find out how you can be a leader in your community.

Related LAist Posts

It's time to update this blog with some posts I've done over at LAist that deal with The Valley or Sherman Oaks:

• I always see trucks in the L.A. River, but never caught them on tape until one day.
• I reviewed Down in the Valley starring Edward Norton, Evan Rachel Wood, David Morse & Rory Culkin.
• Starbucks on Ventura Blvd., west of Kester, stays open really late.
• I had a little rant about the state of cheese fries in L.A. QT's Chicago Dogs doesn't serve them....grrrr
• My lede was terrible and this post got pretty much no attention despite some pretty interesting stuff about Planning and Transportation in the city.
• The Bus Riders Union visited a Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council committee meeting and I took a video that got a ton of discussion in the comments section.
• I haven't smelled it in our water yet. Have you?
• I'm pretty much an obsessed vegetarian. Like I have on this blog, I talk about Leaf Cuisine. This time in a little more detail.

Photo of Stansbury Ave. near Jinky's Cafe

New York Hot Bagels

So these bagels are not totally New York. However, they are hot when you ask for them toasted. Though, I once ate here with a true New Yorker who said they were pretty close, at least for L.A.

I really like this little neighborhood bagel shop and deli. The best part about the place is that there are three or four tables in the middle that are connected, so you end up eating with everyone else.

The bagel and cream cheese choices are plenty. I would say they match what Panera has to offer.

4373 Woodman Ave
Sherman Oaks 91423

Cross Street: Moorpark St
818-986-0366

July SONC Meeting Notes

With summer comes vacation. With vacation comes council members not at tonight's meeting. No quorum tonight, but not a total waste either. Lots of learning and talk to be had. Here are some of the more fun items discussed:

• Casa Vega, run by councilmember Ray Vega, has been in business for 50 years! Congrats Ray!
  
• The Cedros/Dickens parking lot is finally getting cleaned up. Locks have been installed on the gates so it can be locked at night.
  
• Wendy Greuel's annual Community Picnic will be on Saturday, September 9th at Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks Park. It goes from 11 am - 2 pm
  
• Fortuna Ippoliti talked about the Mayor School takeover and compared it to the LAPD being under the Mayor. Villaraigosa knows as much about the police as he does about the schools. The department head and staff are the experts. And they are accountable up the food chain to the Mayor. I agree. Mayor should have control over the schools.

Photo of Sherman Oaks by DrBrian via Flickr

Koretz Goes Bird Flu

Sherman Oaks' Paul Koretz (42nd District) is at it again with his town hall style panels. This time the topic is the Bird Flu:

Join Assembly member Paul Koretz and state and local health care and emergency experts to answer the question:

Are you prepared if the bird flu arrives in the U.S.?

Get important information on what you should be doing to protect yourself and your family, just in case bird flu ever does come to America, and hear from key governmental agencies on the emergency response plans that will be activated

The panel takes place on Wednesday July 26th from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Beverly Garland's Holiday Inn. Of course it's free, you just have to RSVP (818-902-0521 or 310-285-5490).

Photo by peppers4 via flickr

Laurel Canyon The Book

I recently added Laurel Canyon The Book to my blog list on the right. At the same time, I added a link to Turn Here's Los Angeles homepage.

What's next? Adrienne at LAist points me towards the Laurel Canyon blog's TurnHere video. I love how things just come together like that.

I haven't read the book yet, but I am excited to learn about Frank Zappa and other 60's/70's rock stars and how they lived off Laurel Canyon.

Project Rabbit Is Upon Us

I noticed last weekend that Project Rabbit has hit Sherman Oaks. This particular photo is at the corner of Woodman and the Southbound 101 Exit. By City definition, this is graffiti. But honestly, I find this a bit more pleasant than the "public art" that is found at The Village at Sherman Oaks.

The Village has been facing a lot of increased graffiti (by that I mean, tagging... and I'm sure some street art too) and one of the tactics was to put the icons (that you see on the left hand side of various pages on their website) on traffic control boxes and whatnot. I would rather see them doing something a little more creative and engaging like this traffic control box I saw in Emeryville (outside of San Francisco) because..."uhhh... what is that" conversations can beget from it. And more importantly, I really like that shade of yellow.


By the way, if you see graffiti in Sherman Oaks, call 311 to report it. Or do it online.

Open Letter to the Sherman Oaks Sun

Dear Sherman Oaks Sun,

We, the renters and tenants within apartment buildings, are missing out. The Sun does not get delivered to us and we don't always have the chance to pick it up at various locations when we are out and about on the town. PDF versions on the website are one step, but really do not suffice (because reading a PDF is really not that fun).

Please make The Sun available to all by going beyond having a website that is a holding pen for downloads. We realize the operations and human resources may not afford this or it be the most upfront economical choice, but I would like to think so in the long-term (think more advertising, e-mail marketing, blogs etc).

All the best,

in the oaks...

Sherman Oaks: 1 Mile South

This sign off of the 101 Southbound Exit onto Woodman says that Sherman Oaks is 1 mile to the right.

Problem #1: You are already in Sherman Oaks. Maybe it is referring to Ventura Blvd. as a Sherman Oaks "center," yet still that's still less than a half mile away.

Problem #2: If you go one mile from that exact intersection, where are you? In the hills. Still in Sherman Oaks, but in obscurity.


Who really cares anyway? But my dorky tendancies led me to investigate this because it seemed silly.

Fashion Square Hummer

BloggingLA spots a hummer in four spots at Fashion Square. This is worse than when I saw Geena Davis last October at Pagliaccis on Coldwater Canyon with her yellow hummer (it might have been one of her friend's, I'm not sure.) They were at least parked within the lines as best as they could.

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:

Rye Street Condo Conversions

Condo conversions are hot hot hot. But they also very unpopular with the renters who get kicked out. This renter got creative with what was on the street:





I'm sure there will be some heated debate at the next Monday night's Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council Land Use & Planning Committee. Chair, Rick Mayer, said this project was going to be an important one for Sherman Oaks.

May SONC Notes...very tired version

It's been awhile since I last posted, but I went to tonight's extremely long Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council Meeting. It went from 6:30 p.m. to about 10:00 p.m. The Land Use & Planning Committee (the equivalent a City Planning Commission) was the usual suspect. Sherman Oaks residents are passionate about development in the community and how it effects them. Hence, the savvy folks at SOHA.

As part of the Public Safety Committee, I'm taking a field trip with Jack Weiss' office down to the Hollywood Police Station to get a behind the scenes tour of Hollywood Boulevard's security camera system. I'll be sure to post something on LAist after the tour, which is a couple of weeks away.

The reason for the tour is to see if this is something that Ventura Blvd. needs. Being the fiscal conservative I am, I'm not sure Ventura Blvd. is the place for it. Jason at LAist thought Victory and Sepulveda was more appropriate.

The pool at Sherman Oaks/Van Nuys Park will be closed for two weeks in the summer for some cleaning of some sort. Perfect timing really. No, not really, but whatever kind of cleaning this is (which I forgot the technical term) is the type of cleaning that cannot be planned on (no, not the Chevy Chase version either).

Marlene Goodman of the Animal Committee (which is under SONC and the Directors of Welfare) prepared a really massive and informative folder on pets, especially in regards to emergency preperation for your pet (have you stored enough water for them too?)

One of the more interesting notes of the meeting was in Jill Barad Bank's summary of her lunch with SOHA's Ellen Vukovich. It seemed to be a healthy conversation where they agreed to disagree on somethings and partner on others. It makes sense. SONC's mandate is different than SOHA's. Ahhh...tense moments are good.

All in all, good meeting but wayyyyyyy long.

Immigration Bill & Los Angeles

I unfortunately was not present at L.A.'s half million person protest on Saturday. But there is something in the air this week in Los Angeles. And I really felt it when I saw this young girl today while driving home from the DMV in the Van Nuys area (click to enlarge)...

Running Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks Park

I finally did it! No City official could tell me the distance of the full course around the park. So I took a measuring stick and measured both the trail and "track" at Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks Park.

Here are the results:

The Trail (the large one that covers the park)
One Loops = 6888 ft (about 1.3 miles)

The Track (near Hazeltine Parking lot, circle 4 baseball diamonds)
2600 ft (40 ft. shy of 1/2 mile)

What's additionally rad about this?
1 Trail Loop (1.3.) + 1 Trail Loop (1.3) + 1 Track Loop = 5K (3.1 miles)
For a 10K, just double all of it.

View a Google Map of Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks Park

Shameless Self Promotion - ArtFilmsNow.com

I've been wanting to do something like this for awhile now. And here it is: ArtFilmsNow.com.

I've not found one good single place that aggregates the indie, foreign, art house, animation, festival, documentary movies that I can see in theatres. I feel I really have to search it out sometimes. So here's my thing: It's an e-mail list, not a website. If you want the 411, you gotta sign up. Simple. Hope to see you there!

www.ArtFilmsNow.com.

The Sherman Oaks Documentary

See, Sherman Oaks is cool! Director Farah Z. Khalid goes out to prove the Valley has some spunk. LAist points towards the new upload-your-video-into-a-flash-movie site - Turn Here: Short Films. Cool Places.

The the short doc leads you to some classic movie star homes and peaks into the uniqueness of Ventura Blvd. All we need now is a few more live theatres, clubs, and the Ventura Blvd. Subway. Oh yeah, can we bring the farmer's market back?

WATCH THAT VIDEO BY CLICKING RIGHT HERE

Other Notable Docs:

L.A. Without a Car
North Hollywood
Atwater Village

Auto Vs. Pedestrian: Surreal

I was sore to begin with. A post holiday run at the Pacific Shoreline Marathon 5K on Sunday did that to me. Now I'm really going to need to rest.

Today while crossing the street at Valencia Blvd. and Citrus Ave in Santa Clarita on my way to City Hall, out of the corner of my eye I saw something move toward me. Then I was on top of that thing. Then I was on the ground staring at the driver. Then I was pointing to the parking lot for her to pull over and talk. Then she drove away.

I was shocked as it was. But when the car drove away, leaving me in the crosswalk, I was stunned - "Is this for real? Am I really in a hit-and-run?"

I'm lucky I was on top of the car rather than below. I'm lucky she didn't drive through me. I'm lucky I was able to stand up and walk. I'm lucky I got her license plate number.

Today was a red flag day, so when the police and ambulance came to City Hall, so did the fire department water truck.

I'm thankful for all the support I got from city staff who stayed with me through this. Even the Assistant City Manager gave a visit in the E.R. to check up on me. An all staff e-mail went out because rumours were spreading fast. It's all one surreal experience and I'm sure no one will ever want to park in the Citrus Lot for another few weeks (The Citrus Lot is our rotating overflow lot across the street).

Self defense mode must have kicked into gear fast because I wrote down her license plate down correctly. Sheriff's found the maybe octogenarian at her house where she apparently thought my pointing to pull over was a "No worries! I'm all good! Have a great day!" She must have been a little shocked too. How often do you make a left turn and all of the sudden someone is on your hood? Nevertheless, you hit someone, you pull over. Pedestrians don't win, even if I was crossing legally.

Weird thing is, I'm a pretty damn conscientious pedestrian. Traffic safety is one of my "things." I cross this street 5 days a week. I always keep an eye on "turn on red" drivers making eye contact with them. And when there is car that is going to make a left hand turn, I'll keep an eye on them. This time, there was no car waiting to turn left when the light turned green. I wasn't that far from the other side when I got struck. She must have caught the green and rode on through. I'll never cross a street the same.

After a long time in the E.R. at Henry Mayo Newhall hospital, I was released and drove back home. I'll have a check up with a doctor very soon. I'm still in more shock than pain at the moment, but a friend from LAist warned me: "I had a really good friend who was in an accident like yours and unfort. in like two-three days you're going to probably feel a lot worse than you do now." Alright! I can't wait. Bring it on!

So that's that. I have to give City of Santa Clarita employees props. It's truly a great City to work for. I can't imagine a better place to be hit outside of.

OOPS! M.I.A.

Well, I must apologize to my reader base which is probably all gone by now. After the New Year, I took too long of a break. Way toooooo long. For those of you who read many of L.A.'s blogs, you may have noticed that I am now writing for LAist.com. You can read all my posts as of so far. in the oaks has been focused mainly on Sherman Oaks (and a little beyond) politics and civics, but my degree is in music, so LAist fits my art side very well and I'm having a blast! I'm so blog happy, I'm trying to start a few a work.

But not to worry, in the oaks is back! I promise! Stay tuned...