Tweet Me Like a Newbie

SOME STORIES are so small they don't make it onto the Atwater Village Newbie blog; they fit better into the 140-character updates on my Twitter feed. Some recent samples:

• 14 pictures from last week's Atwater Village Summer Nights street festival ... dancers, babies, balloon hats
• Bottega Louie today; could go every week! Working through Jonathan Gold's 99 essential LA restaurants & here's the map
  
• Philip Lumbang “Hug Life” Warehouse Pop-Up Show, September 12, 8:00pm ... 3333 N. San Fernando Rd.

Follow me at twitter.com/atwatervillage.

Thursday: Jackson Burial Takes Over South Glendale

View Street Closures for Michael Jackson Burial Service in a larger map

THIS THURSDAY watch for swarms of media vehicles around Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, just across the tracks from Atwater Village. The private burial service for Michael Jackson is September 3, 2009, 7:00pm.

• Media parking: 1600 and 1700 block of S. Glendale Avenue
• Crew parking: 1400 to 1600 blocks of S. Glendale Avenue
• Media camp: Cerritos Park (restrooms, tables, rest area)
• Streets closed: Laurel, Eulalia and Cerritos (except for school dropoff) between Brand and Glendale

Assume afternoon and evening backups along surrounding streets like San Fernando Road and Brand Boulevard. So, fellow Atwater Villagers, you may need to find another Thursday commute home.

Wind Shift: Smokier Sunday Morning

THE WINDS YESTERDAY, when this gas station photo was shot, seemed to carry smoke from the mountainous Station Fire safely up and away from Atwater Village and northeast LA neighborhoods.

But Sunday morning, no such luck. LA Times confirms winds shifted down-canyon overnight, pushing the 35,000-acre, 4-day-old blaze toward residential areas. And just after sunrise in Atwater Village, about 10 miles southwest of the fire (Google map), the sky turned dull orange and smoky smells began to pour through open windows.

South Coast Air Quality Management District has sage advice (stay inside, close windows, recirculate cleaner indoor air) for anyone in "areas where residents can see or smell smoke." That's us, Villagers.

Get Hourly Updates on La Canada Flintridge "Station Fire"

SINCE THE "Station Fire" in La Canada Flintridge falls outside the City of Los Angeles, we can't rely on the Los Angeles Fire Department's excellent blog and tweet updates; it's out of their jurisdiction. But as the flames and smoke fill the sky over Atwater Village and the rest of northeast Los Angeles, the City of La Canada Flintridge is providing its own hourly updates:

• Fire update Friday, August 28 at 6:00am
• The rest of the City's hourly updates

Return of Summer Nights on the Boulevard

Summer Nights on the Blvd - Atwater Village, originally uploaded by Luis Lopez.

IT'S BACK: For the second time this summer, Atwater Village shops and restaurants are spilling out onto the sidewalks of Glendale Blvd. for another Summer Nights event. Expect sidewalk sales, live music, art and fashion in this LA version of a retail block party. It starts tonight, Aug. 27, 6:00pm, up and down both sides of Glendale Blvd., north from Glenfeliz Blvd.

Tonight: Silverton, Pressman are Guest Chefs at Canele

AS A PREVIEW of Grass Burger, their upcoming restaurant at the Farmers Market on Fairfax, Nancy Silverton (Pizzeria Mozza, Osteria Mozza) and Amy Pressman (Pasadena's Old Town Bakery) are guest chefs at Atwater Village's Canele, 3219 Glendale Blvd., tonight, August 25, 5:30pm to 10:30pm. No reservations. The 3-course, $36 prix fixe menu:

• Weiser Farms melon salad
• choice of Sonoma grass-fed beef cheeseburger or Sonoma grass-fed beef burger topped with fried egg and frisee
• fig-milk-chocolate-bourbon ice cream dessert

More from the LA Times.

Tomorrow: Neighborhood Cleanup at Red Car River Park

THE NEXT Atwater Village neighborhood cleanup project is at Red Car River Park (Ferncroft Rd. and Glendale Blvd.) on Saturday Aug. 22, 9:30am to noon. Friends of Atwater Village and USC Student Volunteers are pitching in and seeking volunteers to spruce up this access point to the Los Angeles River.

A Job (Well, an Internship) in Atwater Village

STREET AGENCY Attack! Marketing & Promotions, 3191 Casitas Ave., is hiring a marketing intern for college credit plus $25/day, 2 to 5 days a week. Could it end the recession? Unlikely. But could be fun.

Oops! Dyslexic Marketing Survey from Americana

FROM A 10-question marketing survey by The Americana at Brand in Glendale, question number 5 asks what radio stations I listen to. I think by KCRW 83.9FM they really meant KPCC 89.3FM. I picked "other" and put in the correct ID for the public radio station in Pasadena. I hope the Glendale mall ends up sponsoring the right station.

Welcome, All My Children

TECHNICALLY THEY'LL be working in the neighboring neighborhood of Glassell Park, but chances are cast and crew of All My Children could find themselves enjoying the nearby amenities of Atwater Village, conveniently located on the way to work from whatever westside and/or Los Feliz housing accommodations they may have.

The soap opera moves production out of New York City and into northeast Los Angeles at Andrita Studios, 3030 Andrita St., starting January 2010. Here are a few tips to help Susan Lucci and friends adjust to the NELA lifestyle:

• Early-morning carb load? Potato breakfast burritos at Tacos Villa Corona, 1.4 miles from the studio.
• Your go-to lunch dish: arroz con pollo at Baracoa Cuban Cafe, just 1.5 miles away.
• Sweat it off a block up at Bikram Yoga Silver Lake.
• Car need work? Have your PA drop it with Luis Lopez Automotive, just half a mile down Fletcher Drive.
• Dinner? Canele. Duh. 1.3 miles. Take the community table up front and wait for TMZ.
• After-work "script meetings," basement at 55 Degree Wine, 1.8 miles, free parking.
• After-work unwinding, dive-bar style, Club Tee Gee.
• After-work unwinding, vampire style, The Griffin.
• Late-night munchies, tacos at Fletcher and Larga.

Lots more to see and do, but we'll ease you into it over time. (That one actor from Heroes, for example, he likes Hugo's Tacos.) All in all, All My Children, this is to say, welcome!

More about AMC's move from Franklin Avenue.

More Movie Nights at Golf Course: Aug. 21, Sept. 18

TWO MORE FREE outdoor movie nights are scheduled this summer for the Los Feliz Municipal Golf Course, 3207 Los Feliz Blvd., in Atwater Village. Saturday August 21 is Ghostbusters and September 18 is The Princess Bride. Blankets and picnics on the green are encouraged. Chairs and pets, not so much. This will make 3 movie nights this summer, and might just make the beginning of a monthly summer tradition for the AV. Kudos to the neighborhood council and the (long list of) community sponsors. Here come the Marshmallow Man and the Dread Pirate Roberts!

Thursday Night's Fatal Crash at I-5 and Colorado Blvd.

LAST NIGHT Robert Vardanyan, 21, and Tina Uguryan, 18, both from Glendale, died when their vehicle crashed into a tree in Atwater Village, on the Colorado Street offramp from southbound I-5. Officials said their Nissan was speeding and had just cut off another vehicle before crashing. More from Glendale News-Press. Mangled car photo from KTLA.

Garcetti's New Emphasis on North Atwater Village

FOLLOWING THE successful Toonerville gang raids in July, City Councilman Eric Garcetti has been focusing all kinds of love on North Atwater Village. This Wednesday was a "job readiness" workshop at Chevy Chase Park helping citizens figure out how to get construction jobs. And last Saturday morning saw a neighborhood walk where Garcetti's roving gang was repeatedly thanked for LAPD efforts to crack down on other less desirable roving gangs.

Oops! LA Times Forgets Reason It Has Website

IN THIS WEEK's heralded redesign of the LA Times website, one thing's forgotten: deep links. In its new design the paper neglected to keep old URLs, like the ones for articles blogs like mine link to all the time. In fact it seems the paper seems to have retired the latimesblogs.latimes.com address and its accompanying LA Now blog, perhaps the Times' best online news effort. No redirects, either. Aren't inbound links still important, LAT? Isn't this one of the top reasons news organizations have websites in the first place? So next time you see a "host not accessible" blank page when clicking through from my blog to an old LA Times article, you know whom to blame...

UPDATE: The LA Times blogs seem to be coming and going. After I wrote this, they were back up. Today, they're back down.

What's a Walking Mom To Do (in Atwater Village)?

FROM A READER: "I was wondering if you know of any mother's groups or baby friendly spots in Atwater. My bub is 6 months old and we plan to do a bit of walking..." Good question. Any ideas? Comment here or email me and I'll pass them along.

What's That Odd Little Building by the Post Office?

>I WAS SUSPICIOUS of the window sign, "iced hempaccino," on the building next to our neighborhood post office. Was this yet another new business hanging off the quickly-departing caboose of the medical marijuana gravy train in Atwater Village?

Not exactly. The Yoga Lab, 3362 Glendale Blvd., is a yoga studio, health shop and juice bar rolled into one black-and-white brick box. Blog reader and band member of Silver Phial reports: "I stopped in to the Yoga Lab last week and really enjoyed their selection of drinks and their extensive knowledge of nutrition. Really friendly folks and they have a beautiful sit-down counter."

As for that iced hempaccino? It's purified water, organic coffee infused with herbal extracts, vanilla hemp milk and agave. No prescription required.

Korean BBQ Truck Sorta Gets Near Atwater Village

TONIGHT JUST a couple of neighborhoods over in Eagle Rock arriveth the Kogi Korean BBQ truck, 6:00pm to 9:00pm, 4372 Eagle Rock Blvd.

LAPD Dubs Atwater Village "Very Clear"

FROM THE LATEST Northeast LAPD crime update, Captain Bill Murphy says Atwater Village "continues to be very clear ... especially since the Toonerville gang takedown."

Dtox Day Spa: 3 Years and Counting

WHILE WE SADLY bid adieu to a fave gift shop in the neighborhood, we can still treat our pains at another local hot spot. Dtox Day Spa, 3206 Los Feliz Blvd., is celebrating its third anniversary. Save a receipt from a treatment in August, get $20 coupon for September. And the spa's Happy Hour Friday is Aug. 21, this time a detox/retox partnership with Bigfoot Lodge across the street. Soak it in, just like Lorelai Gilmore!

Food Porn: Beekeeper Takes Over Canele Bistro

FIND OUT WHAT you missed back on June 30 when Amy Seidenwurm of the Backwards Beekeepers took over the kitchen at Atwater Village's Canele Bistro. See the delicious photos and essay in LA Times Magazine.