MetroRiderLA

Image courtesy of Punky Reggae Party.

After a two-week hiatus, Transit Oriented Weekends is back! Check out all these transit accessible events happening this weekend! This week there’s two awesome Metro related art events that sound really cool, “Concentric Circles” and “Ah CA va bien”. If you have an event that you think should be included in next weeks T.O.W., email us at metrorider@elhay.net.

Tonight

• WHAT’S HOT: Concentric Circles: Metro L.A. Revealed
  WHERE: Beady Minces Gallery
  WHEN: 11:00am - 6:00pm (also on Saturday)
  WHY: A photography exhibit and catalog, is the result of a special collaboration between the LMGA and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). Thirty-three location scouts and managers scoured the Los Angeles Metro system and surrounding areas, moving out in concentric circles. Rather than merely documenting our city, their photography is a discovery of unaccustomed views, a celebration of ordinary places viewed through discerning eyes.
  HOW MUCH: FREE
  HOW TO GET THERE: Transit Map of 1311 Abbot Kinney Boulevard. You can also check the Metro Trip Planner for the best route from your location.
• WHAT’S HOT: Ah CA va bien
  WHERE: MAK Center Los Angeles
  WHEN: 11:00am - 6:00pm (also on Saturday, Sunday)
  WHY: Interested in metropolitan transportation and its role in the production of public space, Theresa Krenn and Bernhard Eder will investigate the underrepresented bus-system in Los Angeles. Krenn and Eder will create alternative route-maps of existing bus lines. Each map will contain a narrative which is characterized by its location in the city and which mixes historical contents, contemporary reality and fictional narratives. For the exhibition, Krenn and Eder will present a map of their tour as well as the narrative bus-maps. Copies of these maps will be available to exhibition visitors and the experience of riding the bus will be conveyed by sound mappings the architects have made on their own journey through Los Angeles.
  HOW MUCH: General $7, Students/Seniors $6, Children Under 12 FREE, FREE for everyone on Friday between 4:00pm-6:00pm
  HOW TO GET THERE: Transit Map of 835 North Kings Road, West Hollywood, CA 90069. You can also check the Metro Trip Planner for the best route from your location.
• WHAT’S HOT: First Fridays
  WHERE: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
  WHEN: 5:30pm - 10:00pm
  WHY: Can we build machines with minds? Can evolutionary theory explain religious thought and morality? Do we really have free will? Throughout his career, Daniel Dennett has tackled some of the most controversial issues in the philosophy of mind. Join us as he explores another frontier – how cultures evolve, how this evolution explains human consciousness, and how it separates the minds of humans and animals. Discussion followed by performances by WHY? and Yacht with DJ set by dublab.
  HOW MUCH: Adults $9, Students (w/ ID) $6.50, Members FREE
  HOW TO GET THERE: Transit Map of 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007. You can also check the Metro Trip Planner for the best route from your location.
• WHAT’S HOT: Punky Reggae Party
  WHERE: La Cita Bar
  WHEN: 9:00pm - 2:00am
  WHY: Punk, reggae, ska and anything else with that rocksteady beat.
  HOW MUCH: FREE
  HOW TO GET THERE: Transit Map of 336 S Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90013 . You can also check the Metro Trip Planner for the best route from your location.

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“I and You” Art Show at the Abacot Gallery on Saturday night.

Lot’s of exciting stuff going on this weekend, all accessible without a car! In Los Angeles no less! Go out and have yourself some fun.

Tonight

WHAT’S HOT: Stephen Elliott, Jonathan Ames, Jerry Stahl, Erick Orner, & Keith Knight Talk about Sex for America: Politically Inspired Erotica
WHERE: Skylight Books
WHEN: 7:30pm
WHY: “Whether you’re having intense primary urges or feeling like you have no control over upcoming elections, this event is for you. Join Stephen Elliot and contributors Jonathan Ames, Jerry Stahl, Eric Orner, and Keith Knight, who all have a taste for the politically erect.” In other words, some awesome authors talk about some awesome stuff.
HOW MUCH: FREE
HOW TO GET THERE:

Skylight Books is located at 1818 N. Vermont Avenue and is served by bus and rail. Click the above map for nearby transit stops from Public Routes. You can also check the Metro Trip Planner for the best route from your location.

WHAT’S HOT: Cable Untangling Championship
WHERE: Machine Project
WHEN: 8pm
WHY: The name says it all. Someone invented a sport called speedcabling and the goal is to unravel a bundle of wires as fast as possible. I wouldn’t want to live life without seeing this at least once.
HOW MUCH: FREE
HOW TO GET THERE:

The Machine Project is located at 1200 D North Alvarado Street and is served by bus. Click the above map for nearby transit stops from Public Routes. You can also check the Metro Trip Planner for the best route from your location.

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Party at the Natural History Museum tonight!

It’s the first weekend of a new month and MetroRiderLA is here to make sure you start February off on a good note. We present to you our top picks for hot Metro Accessible things-to-do this weekend.

Tonight

• WHAT’S HOT: First Fridays
  WHERE: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County [MAP]
  WHEN: 5:30pm - 10:00pm
  WHY: I gotta say, this sounds really cool. The Natural History museum stays open late once a month for dinner, discussion, music, and more. Tonight’s theme is “Discovery in the Age of Mammals: Building Brains and Making Minds” and will feature a discussion with six scholars, writers, and speakers on the brains and minds of mammals. At 5:30pm there will be a tour in the Discover Center and at 6:30pm there will be a discussion about elephants and their capability to communicate. But what makes this more than just a nerdy Friday night at a science museum is that from 7pm-10pm there’s gonna be music from indie club sensations A-Trak and Kid Sister as well as DJ sets from frosty and Take of Dublab. Who knew natural history could be so fun?
  HOW MUCH: Adults $9, Students (w/ ID) $6.50, Members FREE
  HOW TO GET THERE: Metro 40, 42, 81, 102, 200, 204, 381, 550; Metro Rapid 740, 754. Check the Metro Trip Planner or Public Routes for the best route from your location. Props to the Natural History Museum for having some transit access information on their website.

Saturday

• WHAT’S HOT: Queen Mary Brazilian Carnaval 2008
  WHERE: The Queen Mary in Long Beach [MAP]
  WHEN: 8pm - 2am
  WHY: Saturday night head down to The Queen Mary for a Brazilian Carnaval that’s sure to be wild. Be prepared for music, food, dancing, and a simulcast of Rio De Janeiro’s Carnaval broadcast throughout the event. Oh, and apparently this year’s Carnaval is “green”, so make it really green by getting there car-free.
  HOW MUCH: General Admission $38 ($48 at the door), Reserved Table Seats $55 ($65 at the door)
  HOW TO GET THERE: Blue Line via Transit Mall Station; Metro 60, 232, 360; Commuter Express 142; Long Beach Transit 21, 22, 23, 46, 53, 81, 111, 112, 172, 173, 174, 190’s; Long Beach Passport A, C, D; Long Beach Pine Avenue Link; The Aquabus. Check the Metro Trip Planner or Public Routes for the best route from your location. No props to The Queen Mary for their lack of transit access information on their website.

Sunday

• WHAT’S HOT: Super Bowl Sunday
  WHERE: Whatever sports bar, backyard, or couch the party’s at.
  WHY: Impress all the “guys” with your awesome ability to get to the Super Bowl party without using a car. Chug more beers and eat more dip because you don’t gotta drive and your transit oriented lifestyle has you in better shape than those car-culture fools. Score an extra point by convincing your friends to leave their cars at home.
  HOW MUCH: Depends on what you’re gonna do.
  HOW TO GET THERE: Check the Metro Trip Planner or Public Routes for the best route from your location.

Transit Oriented Weekend is a new weekly feature we’re introducing here on MetroRiderLA where every Friday we plan on sharing some things to do over the weekend and how to get to them… Metro style of course.

It looks like the inaugural T.O.W. is going to be like the week the preceded it: cold and soggy. Despite the less than ideal weather we recommend you grab a Metro umbrella, bundle up, wield your Metro Pass and check out some of these events this weekend.

Tonight

Movies are always a good option on rainy days. “There Will Be Blood” starring Daniel Day Lewis is getting stellar reviews and is playing at the Vista in Los Feliz (one of my favorite theaters), just a 4-minute walk from the Vermont/Sunset Red Line Station. I can also highly recommend “Cloverfield” if you’re ready to get your nerves jangled and perhaps get a little motion sick in the theater. You can check it out at the Mann Chinese 6 directly adjacent to the Hollywood/Highland Red Line Station.

• “There Will Be Blood” at the Vista Theater
  Showtimes: 5:00pm, 8:45pm
  Transit Access: Red Line via Vermont/Sunset Station, Metro 2, 26, 175, 204, 217, 302, Metro Rapid 754, 780
• “Cloverfield” at the Mann Chinese 6
  Showtimes: 7:00pm, 9:30pm, 11:45pm
  Metro Accessible: Red Line via Hollywood Highland Station; Metro 2, 156, 217, 212, 302, 312, 656; Metro Rapid 780

And of course, check the Metro Trip Planner for transit directions to theaters in your local area.

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