Event: Cherry Blossom Festival of Southern California - April 4 & 5

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Cherry Blossom Festival of Southern California

The event celebrates spring with the cherry blossoms and the diverse Japanese American culturet hrough entertainment, vendors, food, a large children’s craft area, and a fun zone with inflatable games. The festival also includes a kimono fashion show featuring a Japanese wedding ceremony and a runway fashion show.

WHEN: April 4 & 5, 11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
SITE: Streets of Little Tokyo District, Downtown Los Angeles
COST: Free
SPONSOR: Cherry Blossom Festival Committee
INFO: 626-643-405-8809, www.cherryblossomfestivalsocal.org

From the Department of Cultural Affairs 2009 Festival Guide

The Forest at Machine Project

The Forest at Machine Project

The Forest at Machine Project

LA Friday Coffee with Johnathan attired for later Steampunk meetup

LA Friday Coffee #lafc

Event: WARNER BROS. ANIMATION CELEBRATION - April 7, 2009

WARNER BROS. ANIMATION CELEBRATION

WHEN: Tuesday, April 7, 2009
6:00–6:30 p.m.: Media and Guest Arrivals
7:00 p.m.: Entertainment Program Begins
7:20 p.m. (approx.): Billboard Reveal

WHERE: Warner Bros. Studios
Animation Plaza – Gate 2 (Guest Parking at Gate 3 Structure)
4301 W. Olive Avenue
Burbank, CA 91522

WHAT: Warner Bros. Animation is hosting a celebration of nearly 80 years of classic animation with the public unveiling of the new Warner Bros. Animation billboard (the first such update in 15 years), featuring beloved characters from Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera and DC Comics.

The evening festival event will feature entertainment, prizes and fun, for families and fans.

WHO: Live, special performance by the Beat Freaks, the phenomenal all-girl dance crew from the 2009 edition of “America’s Best Dance Crew”

HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
Come dressed as your favorite DC Comic super hero (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, etc.) or other Looney Tunes or Hanna-Barbera character

Many prize giveaways, including tickets to the Warner Bros. Studios VIP Tour, as well as DVDs, toys and more

Meet Bruce Timm, James Tucker and Glen Murakami, the creative team who bring your favorite super heroes to life. Learn from our team of animators how to draw your favorite characters.

· Refreshments will be provided
· And much more…

PARKING: Visitor check-in is located at Warner Bros. Gate 3 (Parking Structure), across from the Gate 2 entrance to the Studio lot. Everyone attending the show must have a valid photo ID available for security purposes.

At the ball field on a grey day

LA Friday Coffee at Gelato Bar

Gelato Bar, Tujunga Village

Gelato Bar, Tujunga Village

Cappucino and espresso at Gelato Bar, Tujunga Village

Figs in the sun 2

Figs in the sun

We've moved

Walking and taking photos

Event: LA Friday Coffee at Gelato Bar, Studio City - Mar 20, 2009 - 7 pm

RSVP Via Upcoming.org - Click Here

Gelato Bar
4342 1/2 Tujunga Blvd
Studio City, California 91604

Join us for coffee and casual conversation each Friday at locations around LA.

Website: http://lafridaycoffee.com

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Qik Video: Dinner at uWink

iPod Ready Video

Upcoming events from the Theodore Payne Native Plant Foundation

45 home gardens reveal the beauty of California native plants -and how to save water

Discover the beauty of California native plants and learn how to save water at the Theodore Payne Native Garden Tour on Saturday and Sunday, April 4 and 5, 2009 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $20. To buy tickets or for information: visit www.theodorepayne.org/Tour/ or call (818) 768-1802.

Forty five home gardens throughout the Los Angeles Basin are featured, including Sherman Oaks, Encino, Sun Valley, Tujunga, North Hollywood Granada Hills, Woodland Hills, Culver City, Torrance, Hawthorne, Redondo Beach, Long Beach, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Santa Monica, Topanga, La Canada Flintridge, Pasadena, South Pasadena, Altadena, Monrovia, Glendale, Echo Park, Eagle Rock, Highland Park and Atwater Village.

FREE LECTURE: Indulging Our Senses in the Native Garden
Saturday, April 4, 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood 90027

Join Carol Bornstein, director of nursery operations and horticultural outreach at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden for an inspiring evening about gardening with natives. Discover the visual delights of gardening with natives, as well as the tactile, audio, olfactory and even gustatory pleasures! Ms. Bornstein is also the co-author of California Native Plants for the Garden! A book-signing follows the talk. The lecture, sponsored by the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants, is held in conjunction with the organization?s annual native plant garden tour.

California Wildflower Hotline will bloom March to May 2008

Twenty-four hours a day, March 6 through May, anyone can call the hotline at Theodore Payne Wildflower Hotline at (818) 768-3533 or visit www.theodorepayne.org to find the best places to view wildflowers in Southern and Central California. The hotline message is narrated by Emmy Award-winning actor Joe Spano (Hill Street Blues, Apollo 13, NYPD Blue) and is updated every Thursday evening with new information on wildflower sites throughout Central and Southern California. The web site www.theodorepayne.org/hotline.html also features weekly reports covering the same areas. The site also provides web links to more than 50 flower-watching destinations and lists both the common and botanical name of each flower mentioned, and where and when it is blooming.

Video: Arduino + Chumby = Fun! with Brian O'Connor

Brian O'Connor presents at DorkBot SoCal on March 8, 2009. His project combines a homemade moisture sensor, Arduino computer and the Chumby to monitor the health of his plants. Hardware and programming details are included.

iPod Ready Video

Making Risotto - A Qik Video from the iPhone

A quick sample of recording a Qik.com video from the iPhone.

Event: Local Media for Social Change - A Southern California Regional Summit - March 21

Local Media for Social Change
A Southern California Regional Summit

How happy are you with your local news? How are the issues you care about being covered? If you are concerned that our democracy and your community are being underserved by the state of today's media, then you should join us for this informative half-day summit.

Saturday, March 21, 2009
Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA
11:00am to 5:15pm, with reception to follow

Compete information available on the web site

Dorkbot Socal Meeting

Dorkbot SoCal Meeting

Dorkbot SoCal Meeting

Event: Count Butterflies at Debs Park! - March 28

Learn all about Butterflies at the Audubon Center at Debs Park!

Tim Bonebrake started volunteering with the Audubon Center at Debs Park about nine years ago when he was in high school. The Tujunga native helped monitor birds, reptiles and amphibians in Debs Park. Since then, he has studied parrots in Venezuela, and has received a degree in Environmental Sciences at UC Berkeley. More recently, Tim has been working towards his Ph.D. in Biology at Stanford University, studying butterflies in places like Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica.

On March 6th at 7:00 pm, Tim will return to the Audubon Center to give a talk and slideshow about the unique diversity of butterfly life in the Mesoamerican tropics. He will also discuss some of the links and comparisons to our own butterfly communities here in the Los Angeles area. Both English and Spanish speakers are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Then, on March 21st, the Audubon Center will conduct its first Annual Butterfly Census in Debs Park. Volunteers are invited to drop by the Audubon Center, anytime between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm, to search the park to count the 13 known butterfly species that have been spotted within the park’s borders. No experience is needed. The Center will also host arts and crafts activities and Butterfly Story Time, which will be held at 10 am, 12 noon and 2 pm.


The Audubon Center at Debs Park is located at
4700 N. Griffin Avenue
Los Angeles, 90031.

Admission to the park is free.

Please visit the Audubon Center’s website http://ca.audubon.org/debs_park.php for more information.

The Audubon Center at Debs Park is celebrating its 5th Anniversary this year!

"This too shall pass"

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I was doing some research tonight for this week's Career Opportunities column and podcast, and found the story below. I wanted to share it with you because I think it has a near perfect resonance for today's situation.

I often have used the hopeful sounding "This too shall pass" when faced with adversity, but I had never thought about the melancholy meaning that might be applied to it when you are in the midst of good times. Bad things pass away, but so do the good -- a very important message to remember.

That said, I think this is a perfect time for using the phrase, "This too shall pass." Times may be tough now, but they will get better. Even the Great Depression came to an end eventually -- and this rough period will, too.

You can read my entire column, and listen to the podcast, Time to turn of the news and get something done, on Career Opportunities sometime tomorrow, Friday, March 6, 2009.

Now, the story...

One day Solomon decided to humble Benaiah Ben Yehoyada, his most trusted minister. He said to him,

"Benaiah, there is a certain ring that I want you to bring to me. I wish to wear it for Sukkot which gives you six months to find it."

"If it exists anywhere on earth, your majesty," replied Benaiah, "I will find it and bring it to you, but what makes the ring so special?"

"It has magic powers," answered the king. "If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy."

Solomon knew that no such ring existed in the world, but he wished to give his minister a little taste of humility. Spring passed and then summer, and still Benaiah had no idea where he could find the ring. On the night before Sukkot, he decided to take a walk in one of the poorest quarters of Jerusalem. He passed by a merchant who had begun to set out the day's wares on a shabby carpet.

"Have you by any chance heard of a magic ring that makes the happy wearer forget his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows?" asked Benaiah.

He watched the grandfather take a plain gold ring from his carpet and engrave something on it. When Benaiah read the words on the ring, his face broke out in a wide smile.

That night the entire city welcomed in the holiday of Sukkot with great festivity.

"Well, my friend," said Solomon, "have you found what I sent you after?" All the ministers laughed and Solomon himself smiled. To everyone's surprise, Benaiah held up a small gold ring and declared,

"Here it is, your majesty!"

As soon as Solomon read the inscription, the smile vanished from his face. The jeweler had written three Hebrew letters on the gold band: gimel, zayin, yud, which began the words "Gam zeh ya'avor" -- "This too shall pass." At that moment Solomon realized that all his wisdom and fabulous wealth and tremendous power were but fleeting things, for one day he would be nothing but dust.

Blue Clouds Over The Valley

Captured using my iPhone while I was on my afternoon walk

Click for larger versions

Front yard vegetable garden

California poppies in a vacant lot

Doug's Neat Friends: Kim Sudhalter of Urban Legend PR

I meet a lot of great people in my work and I always like to highlight them here, when I can.

Kim Sudhalter is the owner/operator of Urban Legend PR here in Los Angeles. She is "good people" as they say and can help you gain the notice you, your business or your non-profit need to survive.


Rather than try to describe her work, I will quote from her web site and let her speak for herself.

If you need PR assistance, please give her a call or drop her an email and let her know you heard about her via my blog.

Urban Legend PR is a full-service public relations, branding and marketing company. Our focus is on promoting businesses that are working to improve the quality of life in Los Angeles and other major cities. Examples include:

• Historic districts & building developers
• Boutique restaurants & hotels
• Community events
• Non-profits

With a strong background in corporate entertainment and consumer product marketing, we utilize "big business" branding techniques to market any type of company. In addition to providing strong media relations support, we offer strategic counsel, media training, speech writing, event planning, product positioning and destination marketing services.

Link: Urban Legend PR