Update on Cole Massie, Neighborhood Superkid

JUST BECAUSE HIS EPISODE of TLC's "My Life As a Child" has already aired doesn't mean we've seen the last of this cable-ready Atwater Village youngster. Here's an update: I thought I should let you know Cole was nominated (by me) and has been entered to Karate Angel's 2007 Karate Kids Hall of Fame. You can read the entry here. There has been much talk about him on fightingarts.com and judoforum.com. His entry by me to Karate Angels Kids Hall of Fame has granted me Sensei of the Month and Club of the Month on their site. Althought I think I was just doing my job pointing out a very inspiring kid to the world, I most humbly accept that award. I do hope news of his award reaches him some day, as I really don't know if they contact the winners or not. In any case it's a good update to add to your blog. He is a wonderful kid and an inspiration to all... I know he wants to be just another kid... But I hope he knows to so many he is so much more. - Richard Favinger Jr., Youth Instructor, Webmaster, Pottstown Judo Club TLC has also added a post-filming update from Cole here.

Neighborhood Signs A to Z

LA CITY NERD IS CALLING FOR photographs of all 178 Los Angeles neighborhood signs and has a Flickr group dedicated to the cause. I already submitted this photo of an Atwater Village sign on Glendale Blvd., and placed it on the Flickr map. The challenge is on.

Atwater Chatter - Spring Cleaning Edition

JUST A SAMPLE OF WHAT people on the Internets are saying about Atwater Village, also known as Baja Glendale, also known as the neighborhood formerly adjacent to Tropico. Next Atwater Village neighborhood cleanup is Saturday April 14, 8:00am Lee Wochner admits to being one of our district delegates to the California Democratic State Party Convention The new album from The Front, "Smiles and Handshakes," now available at Amoeba Records, was "personally made out of my apartment in Atwater Village" by using "silkscreen stamp, loads of yerba mate, and a whole lot of love" Getting fat on donuts and cornbeef hash and going to Best Buy New blog in the hood: East of the 5 Rent check! $900 $1,100 $1,800 $2,150

Maybe She Knows Silver Lake Is No Good

COULD ROCK CHANTEUSE Amy Winehouse not get a decent restaurant recommendation in Silver Lake for tonight? Why else would her Spaceland show, as LAist and Losanjealous report, get canceled mere hours in advance? Attention venue managers! For future reference, page 4 of Winehouse's tour rider clearly demands "recommendations of GOOD QUALITY restaurants... Chinese, Mexican, grill... Anything good really..." Surely there must be something in these parts. I guess we'll see if she makes it to Jimmy Kimmel Live tomorrow. Listen to Amy Winehouse - You Know I'm No Good

Back on TiVo Bandwagon

THIS TAKES SOME OF the sting out of committing to a three-year subscription on my new dual-tuner TiVo. This morning I rented "Idiocracy" online from Amazon Unbox for $3.99. By noon the movie was waiting on my TiVo. It will stay there up to 30 days. When I hit play, I have 24 hours to finish it. Fair enough, TiVo. Fair enough.

Only 25 Days Till Great Termite Swarm of 2007

WITH ALARMING SPECIFICITY, this Terminix brochure arrived in the mail. "According to our experts," it warns, "homes in the 90039 area are 2 times more likely to suffer a termite infestation that the average home nationwide." How do they know? Footnote: "Infestation calculation is based on an algorithm using data from the EEA and Terminix International." Right. Who's the EEA? In any event, this Termite Infestation Probability Map shows Terminix may be right. I mean, California is at least twice as dark as, say, Idaho. They go on: "And now, with termite swarm season predicted to start on 4/14/2007, it's even more critical to know that your home has Ultimate Protection." It's a Biblical plague, Los Angeles, right between Easter and Tax Day. Again, how do they know? "Swarm predictions based on historical data." Right. Just like Easter.

One Year Later, Still a Newbie

ONE YEAR AND THREE DAYS to be precise since my first Atwater Village Newbie post. Thanks for having us, Los Angeles!

How Trendy Can We Get

LAST YEAR WE MOVED HERE to Los Angeles. We weren't the only ones. What helped the city cross the 4 million population mark in 2006, Curbed LA reports, was U-Haul. LA was the number one destination for U-Haul moves. And since #47, Van Nuys, is a district within a region within the city of Los Angeles, it makes the lead over Houston, of all places, that much greater. We're Number One Plus! U-Haul Top 50 U.S. Destination Cities January - December 2006 1. LOS ANGELES, Calif. 26. WASHINGTON, D.C. 2. HOUSTON, Texas 27. ANAHEIM, Calif. 3. ATLANTA, Ga. 28. KANSAS CITY, Mo. 4. CHICAGO, Ill. 29. SAN ANTONIO, Texas 5. SACRAMENTO, Calif. 30. NASHVILLE, Tenn. 6. ORLANDO, Fla. 31. COLUMBUS, Ohio 7. PHOENIX, Ariz. 32. FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. 8. DALLAS, Texas 33. INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. 9. BALTIMORE, Md. 34. NEW ORLEANS, La. 10. TAMPA, Fla. 35. BOSTON, Mass. 11. DENVER, Colo. 36. SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. 12. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. 37. PITTSBURGH, Pa. 13. DETROIT, Mich. 38. RALEIGH, N.C. 14. PHILADELPHIA, Pa. 39. BROOKLYN, N.Y. 15. LAS VEGAS, Nev. 40. OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. 16. SEATTLE, Wash. 41. MANHATTAN, N.Y. 17. MIAMI, Fla. 42. CINCINNATI, Ohio 18. SAN DIEGO, Calif. 43. FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. 19. PORTLAND, Ore. 44. TUCSON, Ariz. 20. SAN JOSE, Calif. 45. RIVERSIDE, Calif. 21. FALLS CHURCH, Va. 46. FREDERICKSBURG, Va. 22. FORT WORTH, Texas 47. VAN NUYS, Calif. 23. AUSTIN, Texas 48. MEMPHIS, Tenn. 24. CHARLOTTE, N.C. 49. NORFOLK, Va. 25. RICHMOND, Va. 50. SAINT LOUIS, Mo. Of course we didn't rent a U-Haul to move from #11 to #1. We used Budget Rentals. And our truck broke down three times. Let that be a lesson.

German Documentarian Substance War: LA 1, NY 0

FROM HIS HOME IN THE Hollywood Hills, filmmaker Werner Herzog gets grizzly in the April 2007 Esquire: "Los Angeles is the city with the most substance in the United States - cultural substance. There is a competition between New York and Los Angeles, but New York only consumes culture and borrows it from Europe. Things get done in Los Angeles." Imagine him saying it in the sharp German accent that narrated Grizzly Man. Then imagine him bitch-slapping Carrie Bradshaw. First Maher, now Herzog. It's on, Big Apple.

Arthur Magazine Might Be Unfucked After All

THOUGH ATWATER VILLAGE-BASED Arthur Magazine seemed to meet its untimely demise in late February, now comes an update from editor Jay Babcock via LA City Beat: "As of early March, however, new developments may mean there's still hope for Arthur. "'It looks like we may have found a way to save the magazine,' Babcock says. 'That's all I can say.' "He could only acknowledge that, if the new plans went through, he would still be in charge of editorial content, adding, 'Something very, very, very unexpected happened.' "'I wouldn't write a eulogy just yet.'" So much for Babcock's earlier assessment that "the magazine can't be restarted" and "the situation can't be unfucked." Funeral arrangements on hold till further notice.

Rentslicer Slices Out Atwater Village

ONE OF THE HANDIEST housing tools is Rentslicer. This Craigslist mashup maps available rentals and average rents. I relied on it when we moved to Atwater Village last year. It was the easiest way to find Los Angeles neighborhoods and learn how much they cost. Now Rentslicer has expanded from LA to hundreds of US cities, thousands of neighborhoods. And it dropped Atwater Village. Today Craigslist has 16 Atwater Village rentals. But where are they on Rentslicer? Did we get wrapped into another neighborhood - or another city? Man, first FOX11 tosses us out of LA. Then Urbanspoon annexes us to Glendale. Now Rentslicer drops us off the map altogether. Atwater Village: the Rodney Dangerfield of LA neighborhoods.