Venice (Where Art Meets Eviction) - Updated Shirts For Now

My friend Gallo made a classic Venice shirt a bunch of years back, that everyone had/has ... Venice (Where Art Meets Crime). It was funny, because it was true. We all knew it, we all lived with it, we all tried to make the art supersede the crime. Well, now Gallo has an updated version of the shirt to better reflect our current events ... Introducing the Venice (Where Art Meets Eviction) shirt!

Only this time it's not funny, because it's true. And you think it's never going to happen to you - until it does. I was literally blind-sided by my situation, and now find out that my landlord super unlawfully filed my name on the eviction of my psycho roommate in order to get us both out faster ... so now she gets to go to court. And I get to keep looking for a new home in the town that I love that seems to be losing its cool. Money doesn't make a place cool - obviously. The people do. The art does. The traditions do. The beloved spots do (and on that note, Roosterfish re-opens this weekend for a pop-up party before undergoing a little spiff-up to really re-open. Awesome.). Tech companies, big ugly boxes, trendy hipsters, chain stores, overpriced billboard shops, over-hyped restaurants, and all that smack only serve to turn once edgy, awesome places into lame douchebag magnets. Venice is better than that.

Let's all work together to make damn sure that the art always wins over both crime and eviction - which is really the same thing.

Get yours HERE, because you continue to be awesome in spite of it all. TO spite it all.

Say NO To The Abbot Kinney Hotel - Please Sign The Petition TODAY!

UPDATE!

In another shady Developer move, the hearing for this project was rescheduled in the 11th hour, and will now be held on SEPTEMBER 22! PLEASE keep the petition going until then, and I sure hope you're not there right now, all mad and disappointed. Mark the 22nd and continue to Fight The Power! Thank you.

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Man. I thought the proposed hotel for Abbot Kinney Boulevard stupid project had gone away (read about the original story in 2013 HERE), but it's rearing its head again, and there will be a meeting to oppose it tomorrow. Ugh.

It's hard for a lot of people to make it as it's during the day and there's that work thing, but if you can't attend, PLEASE PLEASE sign this petition TODAY to make your voice heard.

https://www.change.org/p/mike-bonin-stop-the-venice-place-hotel?recruiter=7562865&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=mob-xs-share_petition-reason_msg

PLEASE. The petition tells you all about how dumb and not well thought out the plan is, and how poorly it will affect the surrounding neighborhoods. The school across the street. The already way too narrow Electric Avenue. The traffic on Abbot Kinney already making it hard for bikers and skaters in a biker skater town. The even more douchebags it will bring to our streets. It's just dumb, greedy, gentrifying b.s. and no one that has any idea of how great Venice is/was before the selfishness came in could possibly be for this mess.

So please don't let it happen. Sign this TODAY or attend the meeting TOMORROW.

Thank you, Venice! Let's keep it real.

High Five For Truth!

I'm often contemplating the state of the world when on my morning constitutional - both mine and the one at large - and today the sidewalk seemed to echo my thoughts precisely ...

Seriously. I don't even like to acknowledge the man's existence, but as it's being choked down our throats every day this week, I thought I could at least return the high five.

Fight the power!