Hot Time (Too Hot) at Artwater Festival

Artwater Rappers, originally uploaded by Atwater Village Newbie.

NEXT TIME, how about more tents?

Finally! Moleskine's City Notebook for Los Angeles

Found! City Notebook for LA, originally uploaded by Atwater Village Newbie.

ANGELENOS HAVE BEEN promised their own version of the Moleskine City Notebook, with street and Metro maps, and plenty of blank and tabbed pages to create "your guide to Los Angeles," since late 2006. At first, LA's version was promised spring 2007. Then fall 2007. Now it's spring 2008, and this is the first time I've seen the LA City Notebook. Yesterday, Atwater Village's Amelia Fitzwater gift shop had 4 of them in stock. (Fewer than they had ordered. Then again, even Amazon only has 5.) Now they have 3.

City Notebook includes "select" zone maps of LA, environs

Latest on the Atwater Village Forum

CHATTER, NEWS, GOSSIP, and lost and found. Found it: Siamese mix cat Found it: Young golden mix male dog Love it: 55 Degrees Wine is awesome Leave it: 55 Degrees Wine is burglarized Shout it: Crazy guy yelling in megaphone

Countdown: 3 Days Till Artwater

Lips #1, originally uploaded by theturningman.

THE ARTISTS TAKE OVER Glendale Boulevard, between Brunswick and Glenfeliz, in Atwater Village this Saturday, 2:00pm to 10:00pm: More than 40 local Artisan vendors John Marshall High School artists 3 stages with 19 local bands Dance performances by Dance Garden and Heartbeat House Flavors With Love BBQ New Belgium Beer 55 Degrees Wine Function Drinks Create Your Own Succulent Garden hosted by Bittersweet Butterfly Rock Painting hosted by Los Angeles Parents Union Silk screening by Think Organic Short film screening by R3 Productions (8pm) Receptions at Little Bird, jFerrari and other art galleries The Artwater Music and Art Festival benefits Sonic Muze, raising funds for musical instruments and art supplies for Atwater Village, Los Feliz, Glassell Park and Silver Lake area schools.

Hugo's Tacos Moving Into Longs Realty Shack

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HAILING ALL THE WAY from Studio City, an "organic-friendly fast-food place," Hugo's Tacos, is opening a second location in Atwater Village this summer. It looks like they'll be taking over the Longs Realty building at 3300 Glendale Blvd., the one with the giant chalkboard advertising available properties with mostly legible scrawl that rarely seems to plan ahead for the right edge of the board. The LA Times found Hugo's burritos "yummy" and the the menu tops out at $6. Could Hugo's give neighborhood fave Tacos Villa Corona a run for the money?

Atwater Chatter: Keeping up with the Times Edition

NEW NEWS FROM in and around this little slice of Los Angeles that may or may not be better than Beverly Hills: Los Angeles Times: "When Laurel Canyon native Noah Stone went looking for a place to call his own last year, his thoughts first turned to Silver Lake and Atwater Village." But then he moved downtown... New York Times News Service: "Cole Massie of Atwater Village only has to travel a few blocks to enjoy the Shane's Inspiration playground at Griffith Park." And he's not the only one...

Putting the LA in Lazy: Restaurant Delivery from LAbite.com

WE WANTED STEAK and eggs. It was dinner time. But we didn't have steak and eggs in the house. And we didn't really want to leave the house. LAbite.com, the delivery service, said Home Restaurant in Los Feliz would send steak and eggs anywhere in 90039. Fine, bring it: Breakfast Steak & Eggs $12.95 Jalapeno Poppers 6.95 Yummy In My Tummy Warm Spinach Salad 10.95 Restaurant Total $30.85 Delivery Fee $5.99 Conv. Fee 1.47 Sales Tax 2.55 Order Total $40.86 Driver Tip (15%) $6.13 Grand Total 46.99 Considering we'd pay tax and tip had we gone to the restaurant, the difference tonight was delivery and convenience fees. So was it worth $7.46 to avoid getting properly dressed, loading into the car, driving 5 miles round trip and finding a place to park on a busy Friday night? For now, mostly due to the one hour wait, it's a definite maybe. Ask again when gas hits $5 a gallon.

Some Love for The Griffin

The Griffin sign, originally uploaded by Caroline on Crack.

PEOPLE COME FROM far and wide - OK, maybe from Silver Lake - to bask under the neon lion-eagle at The Griffin, 3000 Los Feliz Blvd. in Atwater Village. Caroline on Crack: "My new favorite bar? The Griffin in Atwater Village. Friendly staff (even the bouncer chatted with me and smiled nonetheless), great drinks, lots of seating areas, a jukebox! and tater tots." loves cereal: "The Griffin is this cool little hangout with a fireplace and lots of good seating inside. They even have a juke box." See more than 100 reviews at Yelp, too,

Rent a House in the 'Beverly Hills' of Atwater Village

I RECENTLY LEARNED OF 2 rental properties available on Valleybrink Road, once described to me as the "Beverly Hills of Atwater Village." (I'd like to include Griffith View Drive in that distinction, though there's one particular house around the corner on Sunnynook Drive that should be de-annexed entirely.) From their Craigslist ads: 3675 Valleybrink Rd., 90039 $3,100/month $3,100 deposit 2 bedrooms 1 bathroom 1-year lease minimum Cats and dogs OK 3752 Valleybrink Rd., 90039 $3,000/month Deposit unspecified 3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms Central air/heat Keep in mind that these properties, like most single-family homes in Atwater Village, won't offer nearly as much real estate as you'd find in the real Beverly Hills. The average Atwater residence was built 80 years ago and is about 1,100 square feet.

In the Midwest, They Call It Frito Pie

Chilaquiles!, originally uploaded by Michael A. Brown.

ANGELENOS SOMETIMES ARGUE about where to get the best chilaquiles. Mt. Washington? Santa Monica? The office cafeteria? They bicker as if this dish is something unique to LA, something gringos wouldn't understand. Well, I've been the midwestern United States, people, and I think they've caught on: Chilaquiles are corn tortillas, cut in quarters and fried until golden, Next, green or red salsa, or even mole, is poured over the the crispy tortilla triangles. The dish is topped with cheese and/or sour cream. A Frito pie is Frito corn chips, with a cup of chili poured over the top, usually finished up with grated cheese or onions and jalapeños and sour cream. Other than spice, they basically have the same flavors and textures, too.

Atwater Village's Farmers Market 'Less Sceney' Than Silver Lake's

FROM A BLOGGER who gets her veggies on both sides of the river: i've been addicted to farmers market's lately. we go to the silverlake market saturday mornings and the atwater village market on sundays. i like picking flowers for the house and vegetables for cooking dinner. i prefer the atwater village market to the silverlake market because the people are less sceney at the atwater village market.

Artwater Festival Returns April 26

EASILY THE MOST colorful annual event in Atwater Village, the Artwater music and art fest returns Saturday, April 26, 2:00 to 10:00pm along Glendale Blvd. As a warmup to the 2008 version, see The Turning Man's excellent photo gallery of last year's event.

Busy Day at Brewery Art Walk

Beer Left, Food Right, originally uploaded by Atwater Village Newbie.

FOR THREE YEARS I've wanted to attend the Brewery Art Walk but for one reason or another haven't gone till now. And now that I have been, I really wish I had started attending three years ago. Too much to see in a day. Too much to see in a weekend, really. Too much art. Too many hipsters. (Generations of them, hipster moms with hipster daughters.) To be continued. Next year.