GIGA GRANADA HILLS

Lackluster Blockbuster, 17945 Chatsworth St., (near Zelzah), is having a midnight release party for The Beatles Rock Band tonight.

Two glossy new CSUN Performing Arts mailers arrived in my mailbox last week, and although I'm sure the new Valley Performing Arts Center will be the biggest thing to hit Northridge since the quake, most of this season's Plaza Del Sol offerings skew way too lemon party for my taste . When the Tom Waits'-written musical The Black Rider came to the Ahmanson a couple of years ago, the Ahmanson's directors were exited that it brought in a rare and desirable demographic: the young theatergoer. But a look at CSUN's schedule this season proves that despite being right in the middle of a college campus, they've no interest in drawing an audience that isn't drawing Social Security. I'd be surprised if anyone under the age of 60 would be terribly interested in going to shows like The Count Basie Orchestra, Maureen McGovern: A Long And Winding Road, The Capitol Steps, or Debbie Reynolds . When CSUN recently hosted a talk by John Waters, it gave me hope that...

The following email from Granada Hills South Neighborhood council landed in my inbox last week, and I've got to say they've got a damn good point. These low-lying FiOS boxes are wack -- and whack, too -- as in you could easily whack yourself into one on a bike or skateboard. Granada Hills doesn't have much in the way of bike lanes, so we cyclists often use the sidewalks -- which is perfectly legal by the way, if you're not biking "in a manner that shows blatant disregard for pedestrian safety," which I don't. But the needlessly low placement of these boxes is quite the screw you, pedestrians and bikers! move on Verizon's part. Verizon's people need to get their lazy asses some ladders and move these things up higher on the pole, but they're probably not going to do it unless we make some noise. Don't get me wrong, I loves me some FiOS, and I'm using it right now, but jeez, Verizon, give us some room. If you're a bum like me who ...

Whittier Daily News story .

I'm a Buddhist. Can't help it really, since half my family is Asian and growing up, it was the only "religion" I had around. Anyhoo, you may or may not have noticed that there's a lot more churches in G.H. than Buddhist temples, so we Buddhists usually just go hang out at each other's houses. The nice thing about that is after we're done doing our Buddhist-y things, we can do stuff like swim in the pool or raid the refrigerator or pick fruit off each other's trees. That's good, because meditation always makes me hungry. Scanning Meetup.com , I found some more local Buddhists who were kind enough to host a gathering in their home. They also promised bagels and a potluck brunch afterwards, so I was sold. When I rang the doorbell, I was greeted by a man wearing a flowing, saffon-colored Lakers T-shirt named Bill. Here, the practice was Nichiren Buddhism , which, unlike Vipassana , involves chanting . Bill told me that he got involved in Buddhi...

Joy in Mudville Granada Hills tonight. Click photo for story on Jon Garland, formerly of Kennedy High School.

Thanks to quick action by LAFD, we dodged a bullet. Fifty-seven presumably hot firefighters were deployed to stamp out the blaze that broke out today at 12:48 p.m., and they did it in just 29 minutes. Thanks, guys. Links: LAist.com's Report LAFD Alert Page