GIGA GRANADA HILLS

Follow me at @GigaGranadaHils (Only room for one "L" in there).

Sure, you could send flowers, but wouldn't it be a lot more stylish -- and longer lasting -- to send jewelry? How about organic beauty products, stationery, or chocolates? And sure, you could buy from Wal -Mart, but wouldn't it help our local economy to buy products that are not only American-made, but made right here in the Valley? Check out my friend Gail Lara's new site, MadeInTheValley .net . There you'll find a lovely selection of products, all handmade by local Valley entrepreneurs. It's like a Valley Girls' version of Etsy ! Best of all, the prices are reasonable and a portion of proceeds go to support local charities like The Valley Food Bank, San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission, Arts in Education Aid Council, Tree People, and Pet Orphans. Gail's site reminds us that "You can strengthen the quality of life in your neighborhood and the economic vitality of the greater San Fernando Valley, considering the positive impact you have when you buy ...

This weekend, The Los Angeles Times ran not one, but two mentions of Buford Furrow, the racist Aryan Nazi nutjob who shot up Granada Hills' North Valley Jewish Community Center in August of 1999. Both stories seem a testament to the failure of Furrow's hate-filled ideology and actions and the failure of white supremacist thought to make any lasting or meaningful impact on American culture. Saturday's story , " Once Home To Aryan Nations, Northern Idaho Makes Progress" Sunday's Steve Lopez column about one of the young victims: Courage Sustains A Hate Crime Survivor *This post was edited in response to this August 2, 2009 story, " The Free Ride That's Killing The News Business "

"I've never watched a pornographic movie in my life," says Bobi, genial lab tech at the modest, quiet office of AIM Health Care on shady White Oak Avenue. When I press her, incredulous that someone who works in a health care office that caters to the needs of adult film actors has never been exposed to that industry's primary product, she sticks by her story. "They did have one on at my bachelorette party, but I didn't really look at it, and now you couldn't pay me to watch one. I know everyone in the industry, and it would almost be like watching a video of my kids having sex. I wouldn't want to do that." When she puts it that way, it makes sense. Bobi tells me that some clients of the clinic even refer to her as "Mom," and when I overhear her soothing a nervous patient on the phone ("Don't worry honey; chlamydia is a bacterial infection and it can be cured with medicines") I understand why. It's actually rathe...

Is this vandalism, or political commentary? While I generally agree with the sentiment behind GHSNC's "Banning Billboards Resolution," passed over a year ago, I think the wording is a bit softball and the focus is misplaced. Here's the text of the resolution: Banning Billboards Resolution Whereas billboards in the Granada Hills South Neighborhood Council area have become a site of continual graffiti and vandalism; Whereas billboard operators and owners in the GHSNC area have not fulfilled their stewardship in maintaining aesthetic ally pleasing billboard signs, allowing their property to wallow in the stains of graffiti thus forcing our stakeholders to be over-exposed to continual vandalism and encouraging blight in our community; We, the Granada Hills South Neighborhood Council strongly request the Los Angeles City Council and the city of Los Angeles to pass legislation which bans and removes, at the owners’ expense, all billboards in our boundaries within ...

Both the Granada Hills South and Granada Hills North Neighborhood Councils have passed resolutions condemning billboards, which must have felt good. And I plan to spend a lot of blog space ranting about how much I hate billboards and why, because it makes me feel good too, for about a minute. But if you want to keep feeling good about the war on billboards, stop reading right here. Still here? You must be a glutton for punishment. If you want to do more reading, I recommend this award-winning L.A. Wee kly article , but if you're more the video type, this KCET "SoCal Connected" special (click the photo at right) on the billboard issue in L.A. can't be beat. The bitter little pill: no one can do anything to stop the billboard industry. Los Angeles City Council members have tried and rolled over in the face of jillions of dollars in campaign contributions and/or threatened lawsuits, and you're not on the city council. You're just some little guy who do...

The famed Kogi Taco truck will be in... no, not Granada Hills, but Northridge this Saturday. Saturday, July 25, 2009 10:30PM-1AM@Northridge - Devonshire and Reseda Again, I ask: why does Northridge have all the fun? I say we start an email campaign to get Kogi to the corner of San Fernando Mission and Balboa...