GIGA GRANADA HILLS

Tonight, L.A. Pizza hosts Diffuse The Reign, Alive & Amplified and A Crooked Shore. For audio & video of all three bands, visit www.reverbnation.com .

Editor's Note: Received this apropos story from a friend and GGH reader, Mr. Charles Danek, just today. Ain't life grand? I Love My Vacuum Cleaner by Charles Danek When we bought our 1964 Eichler house three years ago, we needed to upgrade our vacuum cleaner. I was dreading this purchase, as I have pretty much hated every lame machine I had ever bought from Lowes or wherever... just as I was having these thoughts, while driving through my new neighborhood, I happened to pass a store that sold only vacuum cleaners... hmmm... maybe I should check out this place, and see if they have any better options? It turns out that the store not only sold vacuum cleaners, but just one brand: Kirby vacuum cleaners. The owner of the shop, a guy named John, was very knowledgeable about all things Kirby, and within 10 minutes I was convinced that we needed one of his machines... the only problem was that a new Kirby costs about $1000, which was far more than my budget. John then suggested I...

Is this a tough job? Tiring? No. Not really. How long are you out here every day? About five hours. It's not too bad. Do you do the sign spinning thing? No, just hold it. Do you ever feel any compunction about the degradation of one of our nation's most resonant symbols? Nah. Can I get your name? I'd rather not. Liberty Tax Service is located on the corner of Chatsworth and Woodley next to Smart & Final.

SafeKIDS workshop: Self Defense & Anti bullying This class is for boys and girls ages 5-12. Increase confidence and empower yourself! Led by Lee Lavi Ramirez, 4th degree black belt This is a hands-on and informative two-hour class that will cover the following subjects: • Use of voice • Awareness to place, distance and intent • Simple tools for self defense (drills/hands on practice) • Anti-bullying education • General child safety Sunday, April 17 3-5 pm Fee: $20 Pre-registration available on our website via PayPal: http://www.northvalleyaikikai.org North Valley Aikikai 16901 San Fernando Mission Blvd. Granada Hills 91344 phone 818 652.5025

In the early days of this blog, I made it one of my first missions to go to this house, take pictures, knock on the door, and drop off my business card, asking for an interview. No dice; I never heard back. Apparently, ApartmentTherapy.com had no better luck than I did -- but they do take nicer photos. Writer Gregory Han, a Valley native, had this to say of the house in its Granada Hills context: "like Paris Hilton at an Amish gathering, it was obvious one person had something completely different in mind." Apartment Therapy's sources said of the homeowner, "his neighbors began converting their post war 1950's single story home into a Victorian 'eyesore' over the years because his wife had always dreamt of living in one as a child. So the husband spent years converting and adding architectural elements, initially all by himself." Read the full article here .

Got this in the inbox today: Hello - my name is Alexa and I am a new resident of Granada Hills. I live on San Fernando Mission Blvd at the corner of Shoshonee. Today I found 2 dogs that were in the middle of the busy street and so I brought them up and put them in my backyard to keep them safe. Unfortunately, one of the walls of my yard is short and so they would be able to get out so i was unable to keep them here and had to take them to the pound. I spoke to my neighbors and no one recognizes the dogs. One of my neighbors gave me your website address and told me to contact you and possibly you could put the information in your blog so that we can find the owners. The pound checked and neither dog was chipped. Thank you for your help. I have attached a few photos of the dogs.