Joe the Plumber May Not Want to Visit Atwater Village

CALIFORNIA'S Contractors State License Board nabbed 27 unlicensed contractors in a 2-day sting at a house in Atwater Village. Investigators posed as homeowners here Wednesday and Thursday. Developing: Unlicensed contractors busted in sting [ABC7] 27 arrested in LA unlicensed contractor sting [AP] Unlicensed Contractors Nabbed In Sting Operation [CBS2] 27 fake contractors arrested in So. Cal. sting [KPCC]

On Election Night, Eat Like the French

roast chicken, originally uploaded by calamity_hane.

FROM A RELIABLE source, the shes-krafty diary, come deets on Election Night haps at Canele, 3219 Glendale Blvd. Election Day Special Menu at Canele Romaine with blue cheese and cherry tomatoes Meatloaf or roast 1/2 chicken with mashers and vegetables Apple pie and ice cream $22 prix fixe (does not include beverage, tax, gratuity) This will be the entire menu Nov. 4, 2008, and Chef Corina promises live election coverage on a TV rented for the occasion.

It Rained for 30 Seconds in Glendale This Morning

AND EVERYONE at work stood up and looked out the window.

Confirmed! Prius Parking Still Free at LA City Meters

Free?, originally uploaded by rasputina2.

THOUGH WE HAVEN'T PAID (and haven't been ticketed) when our Toyota Prius is parked at City of Los Angeles street meters, we remain skeptical. As we wondered earlier, are hybrid vehicles really able to park for free? Or will we eventually stop getting lucky? Don't worry, replies LA City Councilman Eric Garcetti's office: Hybrid Vehicles are exempt from Meter violations (listed below) ... [Tickets] can be administratively dismissed upon proof that the vehicle cited is a hybrid vehicle. Hybrid vehicle is defined as the Toyota Prius, Honda Insight, Honda Civic Hybrid, and the Ford Escape Hybrid. CODE / DESCRIPTION 88.13b / Meter Overtime 80.35.5 / No Coin Deposited Too bad this doesn't apply to street-sweeping rules. Next: What other Southern California cities let hybrids keep their coin? We're looking at you, Glendale.

Plans for Black Friday Morning in Atwater Village?

OUR NEIGHBORHOOD Best Buy store (2909 Los Feliz Blvd.) wants you the day after Thanksgiving. Its Black Friday VIP program selects early-birds to arrive in a limo, 4:30 a.m., Friday Nov. 28, to beat the crowds to "doorbuster" deals. Willing victims can enter the Best Buy competition by "explaining why Black Friday is an important tradition for you." Seriously? Apparently. The full story at Gizmodo.

Stay Assy, Atwater Village

NORMALLY I WOULD say sure, kids, go ahead and play with the neighbor's toilet. It's on the curb nearly 3 weeks now. Must be some kind of semi-permanent city-endorsed play structure. (Perhaps some neighborhood chamber funds went down it.) But with this particular porcelain privy, I must protest. It sits in front of that alleged meth house on Sunnynook Drive in Atwater Village. You know, that bungalow "raided" and "soon to be condemned" back in August? (That would be August 2007.) So I'm sorry, children. Even though we can't be certain this commode comes from said den of iniquity, let's all stay away. We don't want to lose the babies with the meth water.

Today: Trick or Treat on the Boo-levard

Trick-or-Treat on the BOOlevard, originally uploaded by Luis Lopez.

THE RETURN OF Atwater Village's family-friendly Halloween event is today, Friday Oct. 24, 4:00pm to 5:30pm in the 3100 Block of Glendale Blvd. Next year, Mrs. Newbie's thinking, they should call it Bat-water Village.

City Tests 'Induction' Street Lights in Atwater Village

THE CITY OF Los Angeles is testing 2 "induction lighting" street lamps in the 3700 block of Valleybrink Road in Atwater Village. From our neighborly Pamela Burgess:

"The color of the light is blue, as compared to the warm glow of 'High Pressure Sodium Lamps' that we have now throughout the neighborhood. The test lamps will soon be removed and installed elsewhere in the city."

The City's testing for cost savings, but Pamela expresses a valid aesthetic concern, one unlikely to be measured, about "the quality, color and look of the light, and how it reflects 'the feeling of our neighborhood.'"

I already notice a difference between the new blues and old ambers. The new lights throw harsher shadows, but they do seem brighter and, theoretically, safer for passersby. (Could also be they're testing them away from trees.)

I doubt those perps who rifled through my Honda under the old, dim amber lights would've had so much time and leeway under these bright new blues.

Atwater Chatter: Workers in the Neighborhood Edition

NEWS ABOUT SOME of the people who engage in various commercial activities for pay in Atwater Village: Bobby Green, owner of Bigfoot Lodge, opens Stinkers Truck Stop in Silver Lake [Metromix] Matt Beville, chef at Canele, rebuilds his flooded Burbank home [LA Times] Excellent housekeeper has availability [AV Forum]

Obama Now Leads by 36% (of Cookies)

THIS JUST IN from lunch at Porto's Bakery in Burbank: the donkey cookie leads the elephant cookie by a whopping 36 percent. Barack Obama: 1,695 donkey cookies, 68% John McCain: 796 elephant cookies, 32% Even the undecideds win, as they walk away with at least a mango smoothie and perhaps a media noche sandwich.  Do we smell a fresh-baked mandate?

Someone Explain Why Atwater Village is 'Cool'

ANOTHER NEWBIE to Los Angeles, hailing from northern CA and now "working and living near the 10 and the 110," wants to know what's so cool about Atwater Village. "I went to a party in Atwater Village this weekend and then checked out a few of the furniture stores in Silver Lake. So, I don’t get it. Can someone explain to me why these areas are 'cool' and my neighborhood is not?" Silver Lake, perhaps, but Atwater Village as "cool?" Maybe "solid," "interesting," "stable," "friendly" and "convenient" before "cool." UPDATE: Curbed LA weighs in on cool-uncool debate.

Newbie Endorsement: Church and State

Church & State at Biscuit Company Lofts, originally uploaded by fridayinla.

WE VENTURED DOWNTOWN recently for dinner at the new French bistro Church & State (1850 Industrial Street). Our $130 dinner for 2 included appetizer, wine, shared entree, shared dessert, tax & tip. May seem pricy, but some LA places have you at $100 before they've even unfolded your napkin. Everything was tasty. Buttery. (French.) The made-in-house caramel is worth the trip. And worth saving your appetite for dessert. Parking's easy. Only $4, attended lot. And even though it's Skid Row-adjacent, the restaurant sits on a precious downtown corner, a Hugh Grant movie set waiting to happen across from Toy Factory Lofts and Royal Clayton's pub. Just add cobblestone. Church and State's website is MIA, but we reserved on OpenTable.com.

Metrolink Successfully Crosses Chevy Chase Drive

ON PHOTO SAFARI through Griffith Park last Friday, my camera spotted this northbound Metrolink commuter train navigating the crossing at Chevy Chase Drive in Atwater Village. With all the dangers (fires, Jeeps) at this crossing it seems right to celebrate even everyday successes.

Atwater Chatter: Sights and Smells Edition

NEWS AND VIEWS from around the Webospheres: friday, saturday. - "we were off to enjoy a meal at the french restaurant in the atwater village (i'm obviously quite fond of this place). we got there and found it to be terribly busy so we waited on the sidewalk, along with one of the dudes from lost." [matt, liz and madeline] Blah Blah Ditty Bitty Blah - "There is also a point along the freeway and I think that it's before Los Feliz, but not any further than Atwater Village that smells like dog shit. I had the displeasure to find this out one day when it wasn't so hot that I had to engage my a/c unit on my car immediately and so cold that I needed to have the heater on. Oh my God, what is that stench???" [My Life in Orange County] bags with holes in them - "I miss Silverlake Bikram Yoga. That place was the best. If anyone actually reads this, and lives anywhere near Atwater Village, you should check it out." [The Circumstances Are Against Us]

One Less Sign of Gang Activity in Northeast LA

THREE DAYS AGO I posted this photo of a construction fence on an Atwater Village residential scrape. The green fence screen, for at least 6 months, had been decorated with the widely-seen trademark of our neighborhood's multi-level youth-oriented outdoor marketing organization, The Rascals.  Alas, this morning, the green screen was clean. The TRS, wiped out. At least for this one property. UPDATE: Actually, depends on the light. Some times of day you can still see the faint TRS on the fence screen. Looks like it may have been rubbed down, but not out.

Glendale's Palate is One of Esquire's Best New Restaurants

THE ONLY LOS ANGELES County nod in Esquire's list of Best New Restaurants 2008 is Glendale's Palate Food + Wine (933 S. Brand Blvd.). Just a mile from Atwater Village, Palate is "worth the trip" to Brand Boulevard, even though the magazine's John Mariani "had never seen so many car dealerships in my life." "Palate hits every point of hospitality," Esquire continues in the November 2008 print edition (not yet on the magazine website), "in a year when it was hard to stifle a yawn over the new restaurants in LA." And after raving how the most expensive menu item is $19, the magazine concludes: "Whatever you spend on gas to get to Glendale, you'll save on the food and wines here and go home very happy." We really need to try that place.

'Politics Happen, Even in a Small Place Like Atwater'

THIS WELL-RESEARCHED ARTICLE in The Los Feliz Ledger captures the drama of the last couple of years of our Atwater Village Neighborhood Council Atwater Village Chamber of Commerce. Turns out it started with a Christmas tree lighting. Go figure. Find out how the new guard ousted the old guard: Los Feliz Ledger's current home page Los Feliz Ledger's October PDF edition (Note: Annoying PDF format means you have to find the article at the bottom of page 1 and continue it on page 18 of the PDF.)

Legion Lane Gets Lit

ANYONE PASSING through the neighborhood along Los Feliz Blvd. must have noticed the tower of light. Someone is filming something in the 3900 block of Legion Lane. And the lights, as of 11:30 p.m. as of 1:30 a.m., continue to flood central Atwater Village. See more photos from the very bright night.

Atwater Village's Woof Boutique Wins Best of LA

OPEN SINCE SUMMER 2007, Atwater Village's Woof Boutique (3172 Glendale Blvd.) has caught the eye of LA Weekly editors for Best of LA 2008. Woof wins in the category, Best Splurges for Your Doggy BFF: Treat drama-queen dogs to a fashion adventure at Woof in Atwater Village, where their wildest costume dreams will be fulfilled... "Having a boutique is an art form," says owner Diane Serafino, who takes pride in delivering products to the "underprivileged" dogs of the Eastside.