California cemented its position as a leader this year by granting marriage rights to same-sex couples. When the Board of Education mandated last week that all eighth graders be tested in algebra, the state set another milestone, but this time it might not be such good news.

Junior high schools have been given three years to prepare, at which time all eighth graders will be required to take an algebra proficiency test before entering high school. The idea is that students should be better prepared for the higher math they will encounter in high school, and that simply penalizing schools for every student who does not take the test has not been a strong enough incentive.

This decision seems to fit in perfectly with the trend of educational reform led by the No Child Left Behind Act, rooted in the belief that more testing is always the answer. And I think that’s the problem. Forcing students to take the algebra test may help some kids who just need that extra push from their teachers to make it through, but there are many more who won’t get by on a little nudge. It seems all too likely that low-performing students will be thrust into math classes they can’t handle just so they can take a test, meaning they’ll get lost in the fray even more than is already the case.

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Ever been pulled over by a cop and said one of the following: “I’m so sorry, I normally always stop there,” “I promise I’ll never do it again,” or simply teared up and said “my _____ is going to be so mad at me!” But, what you were really thinking was something much, much worse? Well ladies and gentlemen, there is now a place where can say whatever you want without being hit by a club or taken to jail, visit RateMyCop.com!

A Culver City couple, started a database with over 120,000 policemen in over 1,000 departments nationwide, designed so users can give cringing, anonymous appraisals of individual officer performance. All you have to do is, get the name and badge number the next time you inevitably have a run in with a police officer. Then go to the site, select a state, the department, and then find your officer! You can answer a brief questionnaire and give them a rating of 1-5 from “Callous/Cold” to “Exceptional/Good” (Don’t know how many times the latter will get selected) and then leave a brief comment.

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While I was crossing the street, I realized the Democratic Presidential Debate was on the t.v. at the downtown Hilton Checkers. Obama! Hillary! Some announcer people whose names I don’t know!

They said the same old stuff and I am sure you’ll find hundreds of places to go that will give you better coverage than I can. What caught my attention was how hard it was to hear the debate because everyone was drinking and yapping!

I wanted to jump on top of the bar and declare, “Why are you ungrateful drunks not paying attention to a debate between the two leading Democratic candidates for the U.S. Presidency?! Is there too much freedom in this world?? Do you think democracies grow on trees??

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The place to be on Friday night was the beautiful Wiltern Theater, for a wonderful show by Kid Koala and Cut Chemist vs DJ Shadow.

If you’ll remember, I interviewed Kid Koala about his upcoming performance a few weeks back, and I have to say, he delivered in full.

The show brought out quite a mix of people: from aging hipsters to a couple of 14-year old kids,there was really quite an eclectic bunch.

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GENTRIFICATION!!! WOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!

Gentrification carries a negative connotation when someone disgustedly drops it into the conversation. I’ll squeeze out a convincing chuckle and then take a nervous sip of my Shiraz, hoping no one notices that my husband (pictured right … bison with wings! is that wicker?!) and I are gentrifs.

In all honesty, I have some questions. This week, I talked to two real estate developers and someone who knows a fair amount about the LA real estate market:

How do people interpret the term “gentrification?”

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Holy geez, folks.

This year is finally giving us something worth getting excited about. This week alone is probably the best week of the year for music lovers…

The biggest news, of course, is the Hard Sell coming to our fair city of quartz (tickets are still for sale!!!!). The Hard Sell being Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow, with none other than Kid Koala opening for the duo. Check out Cityzine’s exclusive interview with Kid Koala about the upcoming show and other musings….

But what else does the week have in store for us?

• 02/12: Jill Scott @ The Grove of Anaheim
• 02/12: Common @ House of Blues (Sunset strip)
• 02/13: Styx @ House of Blues (Sunset strip) (holy shit! Styx!!!)
• 02/14: Hard Sell @ House of Blues (Anaheim)
• 02/14: Jill Scott @ Gibson Amphitheater
• 02/14: DJ Vadim & Abstract Rude @ Root Down
• 02/15: Styx @ H.O.B. (Anaheim)
• 02/15: Siouxsie Sioux / Rasputina @ Henry Fonda / Music Box
• 02/15: Hard Sell @ The Wiltern (!!! Check back for our review !!!)
• 02/15: St. Vincent @ Echoplex
• 02/16: Siouxsie Sioux / Rasputina @ Henry Fonda /Music Box

Photo by ghindo via Flickr

You think you have me beat. You think you have experienced the loudest cell phone talker in the world. Unless you know AAAAAAAA!!! you are wrong. It would be impossible to be a more powerful phone fob than the boy/guy/man (couldn’t tell) I call AAAAAAAA!!!

I was crossing the street from the library (my favorite downtown hangout…seriously, have you visited the rotunda on the 2nd floor?…what about the children’s section?) and I heard him … long before I saw him. A lanky lad, he had wavy brown hair and a flamingo-esque stride. I couldn’t catch a glimpse of his face. Maybe he didn’t have one. Nothing would surprise me when it comes to AAAAAAAA!!!

AAAAAAAA!!! was exiting the library while bellowing to some poor sucker. What would it be like to answer that phone call? You’d want your first step to be a significant receiver volume reduction. Mute would likely be your best bet. I don’t think mute could hold him though, so you’d also want to put the receiver down on the ground. At the end of the driveway. Several doors down. Then, walk two blocks west or to a point where the amplification no longer nauseates you.

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I have been meaning to go to a Zòcalo event for a long time.  I finally got my butt in gear last night and drove through the rain to Culver City to the NPR West Studio, where the event was hosted this week.  The subject matter is something mulled over at many the dinner party lately, and I was interested on what two experts (experts being people payed to think about this stuff.. you know, professionally) had to say on the matter - the matter being The Next American Century: Can the U.S. Thrive in a New Era of Big Powers?

The event was really a discussion between moderator Kal Raustiala and former Clinton staff members and authors Nina Hachigian and Mona Sutphen with a Q&A session following. [ Read The Full Story -> ]

The Deadly Syndrome
The Ortolan
Dim Mak Records
2007

The Ortolan is a small European bird. In France, there was a tradition (just recently banned) of eating them in an almost unspeakably fucked-up way: The bird was caught in the wild, caged and force-fed until it was morbidly obese. When it was time to eat it, it was drowned alive in Armagnac (a type of brandy), put in the oven very briefly, and then brought to the table. Once there, a napkin was draped over the head of the person eating it. Then they pop the bird in their mouth, feathers, beak and all, and eat it whole.

A pretty brutal title for something that is quite the opposite.

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If you would’ve asked me 6 weeks ago whether or not a Manning would be playing quarterback in Super Bowl 42, I would have said YES. But, I don’t think anyone thought it would be Eli Manning and his New York Giants, facing Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. The Giants gave New England the best they could in the last game of the regular season, some would say they played a better overall game then the Patriots, but Tom Brady and the boys somehow managed to sneak by.

This afternoon in Green Bay the Giants played a hell of a football game upsetting Brett Farve and the Packers 23-20. The stage has been set, and Tom Petty will be performing the halftime show. I must say Petty has some pretty big shoes to fill. Prince blew-out last years Super Bowl halftime show, it was awesome, and certainly the best one I’ve ever seen to date. He closed out the set with Purple Rain, and literally, it was raining, purple lights were shining through the rain, holy shit, it was great. I personally am not looking forward to a powerhouse rendition of Refugee, but I’ll give the old Heartbreakers the benefit of the doubt.

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Oh. My. God.

Ever felt like dining at, say, Chinois on Main or Crustacean or perhaps Sushi Roku, but just can’t quite justify spending that much on it?

Yeah, me too.

Well thank God for dineLA’s upcoming restaurant week! Wrap your mind around this amazing news, if you can:

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As we sit upon eve of the New Hampshire primaries, I am forced to ask if any of these folks could actually be telling the truth. If you set aside all the hype that has so far entangled the presidential race, whether it’s the possibility of a minority president, or the political crumbling of the Republican Party, we’ve all had quite a bit to talk about over the past several months. What I want to know is who’s going to actually solve some of these catastrophic problems that currently have our great nation in a strangle hold.

I’m not going to run down the laundry list of all the shit that needs to be cleaned up around town, because we’ve all heard it a million times, hell we’ve seen documentaries, and heard speeches, people have won awards, but what the fuck has changed?

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