July 4th’s 300 person Holiday Ride ended badly for the 2 cyclists taken out by a road ragin’ motorist who objected to their presence on Mandeville Canyon and cut them off, slamming on his brakes and causing one cyclist to careen through the air crashing to the road in front of the car while the other cyclist crashed into the car putting his head through the back window.

Within hours of the incident, the cycling community had mobilized and rumors were chased down and the cyclists were located. (They had been transported to two different hospitals) Press access to the Police and Fire Departments was used to confirm information on the incident and the status of the driver, the cyclists and the investigation.

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The “” series, featuring the picture from each Academy Awards year that received the most nominations without winning the Best Picture award, continues its fifth and final season with three titles in July, then concludes in August.

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The 704 Rapid rolled east on Santa Monica approaching Sunset Boulevard and stopped just short of Sanborn. The first person off the bus was Operator 28196 who then turned and helped a little old lady off the bus. She paused and turned and he got back on the bus.

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In the grand scheme of things, fighting to ensure that cyclists have full access to the 2008 Griffith Park Festival of Lights may seem like a low priority battle with little to gain, especially if you’ve ever spent much time sucking the fumes from the middle of the gridlocked environmental nightmare.

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Erik Knutzen of Homegrown Evolution is the only person who we invited to write for us here at illuminateLA. We are honored to have had a couple posts written by him, before he got too busy with his own book.

Almost a year has gone by and Erik and his wife Kelly have been working around the clock to write their book “Urban Homestead - Your guide to self-sufficient living in the heart of the city.”

A wonderful book that is not only a fun read but you can actually put their practices into use even if you don’t have a house and a big yard. [Read more →]

Ha! You probably thought that I’m expressing Motherhood. Oh, no! Not me! However, Lindsay contacted me a couple of months ago because she is a Mother and she wanted to get some outreach for her play “Expressing Motherhood.”

I don’t promote anything that I don’t see myself with one exception: if an event promotes the use of a bike as transportation solution, then I have to spread the word and give them the thumbs up.

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I saw String Theory a few years ago Downtown in some art gallery and I was immediately a fan. Long musical strings were stretched across the room and a couple leather gloves were sitting near by.

Anybody could pick up the gloves, put them on, and glide their fingers across the stings and make music. The music vibrated not only through my fingers, but throughout my entire body and the entire gallery and the building. It was an out of the world experience.

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What are the benefits or riding? Amongst other things:

• Less pollution - Every gallon of gasoline we burn creates about 20 pounds of climate change-causing CO2.
• Shaping up - Casual biking burns about 173 calories per hour.
• Saving your money - A typical U.S. family spends nearly $8,000 per year operating a car, while a bike might cost $50 for an annual tune-up.

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May 12-16, 2008 is celebrated around the country as Bike to Work Week and on Thursday, May 15, 2008, local cyclists will converge on Hollywood and Western in a demonstration of cycling solidarity.

The Hollywood and Western Pit Stop is hosted by illuminateLA and will offer refreshments, swag and encouragement to cyclists from 6 am to 9:00 am followed by a ride to City Hall.

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The information on this page is from materials created by the Emergency Survival Program (ESP) in 2006, and based on “The Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety” in the handbook, Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country.

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