If you’ve ever wanted to get fit, tour Culver City and/or talk turkey with the mayor, here’s your opportunity.

The Culver City Bicycle Coalition together with Mayor Micheal O’Leary have come together to create a Mondays with the Mayor morning community bike ride.

According to the coalition’s blog, every Monday morning those interested can hop on their bikes and take a tour of the city while discussing community issues with the mayor, including how to improve bike conditions in the city.

Barring inclement weather, cyclists will meet every Monday morning at 8 a.m. Syd Kronenthal Park at the east end of the Ballona Creek Bike Path, 3459 McManus Avenue, Culver City, 90232 beneath the canopies near the community room.

Cyclists should be ready to leave by 8:10 a.m. and the coalition promises that the ride will be an easy one.

Be sure to like Culver City Patch on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. 

The very rich, of course, do things in whatever order they want. So here's the scenario involving Grazer: He plopped down $12.5 million on a 12-year-old house in Santa Monica in early December and then withdrew his 6,000-square-foot Malibu Colony house from the market on Dec. 28. When last listed, the Malibu place was for sale at $19.5 million.

Sometimes celebrities withdraw their homes from the active listings when they have a signed contract and expect to close escrow. Maybe that happened here, maybe not. The Colony house is a leftover from his marriage to Gigi Levangie Grazer, the ex who wrote "The Starter Wife." The couple bought it in 2003 and used it as a getaway from their other home, which was a couple of miles up the road in Pacific Palisades.

Grazer, an Oscar-winning film and TV producer, is expected to remodel the newly purchased 10,000-square-foot Spanish-style home in Santa Monica. The home has six bedrooms and nine bathrooms, and agents speculate that he may be hanging on to the Malibu place until the new one is finished to his liking.

Grazer co-founded Imagine Entertainment with Ron Howard and will be producing the 84th Annual Academy Awards next month.

Photos courtesy of Realtor.com.

The shooting took place at the Pink Pepper, a Thai restaurant in the 1600 block of North La Brea Avenue, about 10:15 p.m., said Norma Eisenman, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department.

The victims have been taken to a hospital but their conditions were unknown, she said.

There is no information yet about the shooter, Eisenman said.

No other details were immediately available.

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Silicon Beach, the burgeoning tech start-up scene that’s taken root in Santa Monica and the surrounding area, continues to gain traction.

On Thursday, the city devoted much of its annual State of the City address to promoting the tech community, with Mayor Richard Bloom declaring: "Today we are not just Santa Monica, but Silicon Beach and the Tech Coast." (In an unofficial vote later, hundreds in attendance overwhelmingly threw their support to the Silicon Beach name.)

"Our technology-qualified workforce, creative workplaces and leading broadband infrastructure will keep our economy well-positioned for future growth," Bloom said. 

After the mayor's address and a short video touting the rise of tech companies in Santa Monica, Jason Nazar, who is chief executive and co-founder of local start-up Docstoc.com and has become one of the main boosters of Silicon Beach, moderated a panel of people connected to the tech scene.

The group -- Paige Craig, CEO of start-up BetterWorks; David Travers of venture capital firm Rustic Canyon Partners; Chui Tsang, president of Santa Monica College and Keith Klein of law firm Bryan Cave -– discussed the region's success so far and what needs to happen here in order for the tech community to thrive, such as partnerships with local schools, financial resources and other incentives.

Travers said the "critical issue" was getting a future tech powerhouse to stay put in Santa Monica and “be the tent pole around which many other companies will blossom."

"The next Facebook or Amazon or Google or what have you -- the next multibillion-dollar great company needs to not only come out of here but needs to be able to stay here," he said. "Once a company starts getting big it needs a larger campus, you have a lot of MBAs sitting around thinking about how to optimize tax policy…. Santa Monica needs to be ready for when one of these companies takes off."

Tsang said he hoped tech employers would be "a little more active, a little more pushy with us in letting us know what it is they’re looking for" so the college can make sure its curriculum is relevant.

And despite the Silicon Beach name, the region needs to develop its own tech identity, Travers said. 

"We compare ourselves a lot to Silicon Valley. I think we have to stop obsessively benchmarking ourselves against that," he said. "We need to stop acting like the little brother who’s always comparing themselves and just be ourselves."

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Photo: (Left to right) David Travers, Paige Craig, Chui Tsang, Keith Klein and Jason Nazar discuss Santa Monica's tech start-up scene during a panel discussion. Credit: Andrea Chang / Los Angeles Times

Some of the cast of the hit Bravo reality show "Flipping Out" were spotted Thursday in Venice at Lemonade. Home designer Jeff Lewis and his executive assistant Jenni Pulos along with an unidentified person are shown at the counter of the popular Abbot Kinney Boulevard eatery.

Have you snapped any celebrity photographs recently in Venice? If so, share your inner paparazzi with the community.

Students enrolled in the Mandarin Immersion Program at Broadway Elementary School in Venice celebrated Chinese New Year on Tuesday. An assembly was held on the playground and featured students enrolled in the largest Los Angeles Unified School District Mandarin Immersion Program on the Westside.
 
Broadway Mandarin Immersion students will participate in a myriad of Chinese events throughout the week, from food fun-stations consisting of Chinese dumplings, fried noodles and rice cakes, to a Lion Dance parade through the school.
 
The school and classrooms have been decorated with lanterns and other student-made crafts to celebrate the Year of the Dragon.

Despite the rain, scores of people turned out at the Culver City teen center between 10 a.m. and noon on Saturday morning to help Rep. Karen Bass kick off her reelection campaign for the 37th Congressional District. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also attended the event.

In order to qualify for the June primary ballot, Bass needs to collect 3,000 signatures from voters in the newly drawn district. 

Patch caught up with Rep. Bass late Saturday afternoon when she came to speak at Jim Clarke’s kick-off event for the Culver City Council elections, which will be held April. 10.

Rep. Bass told Patch she was pleased with the turnout. “We already have 1700 of the 3,000 signatures needed for the June ballot,” she said.

Asked why she chose to launch her kick-off campaign in Culver City, Rep. Bass said, “I do most of my events in Culver City and the Veterans Memorial is a wonderful venue. It’s smack dab in the middle of the district.”

She added she had to keep reminding herself that it’s now the 37^th – not the 33^rd district she hopes to represent.

Rep. Bass flew in from Washington D.C. on Friday, but was headed back on Sunday, she said.

Be sure to like Culver City Patch on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. 

If you hate Will Rogers State Beach for some reason, or just love watching LA get fake-destroyed (guilty), then you will definitely be into this supercreepy video made by a surfer and shot mostly at Sunset Point in Pacific Palisades (he writes on YouTube that there are also bits from Pitas Point and C Street in Ventura). The filmmaker says it took him about a year to make the whole thing because he was learning the software ("The effects were done in Maya, motion tracking in Mocha, and compositing in After Effects") and here's what he imagined is going on: "The machines in the distance are oil rigs, their cylindrical legs allow them to walk/float anywhere in the ocean and have sucked the Earth dry like locusts. The airships aren't an invading force, but a massive evacuation by other humans trying in vain to escape the meteor hellstorm raining down. The surfers decided to stay behind and if this is their last day alive, they're going to die doing what they love. If they live through it, they'll be the custodians of a new earth."

· Apocalypse Later, Surf Now [YouTube]

There’s no better opportunity to green up a home than during a remodeling project, and working with eco-savvy architects, designers and contractors can ensure you make the most of green alternatives.

For a remodel of a 1953 bungalow in Venice, California, architects Todd Erlandson and Nori Fukuda worked hand in hand with contractor 44 West Construction and Bridgid Coulter Design to transform the dwelling, inside and out, into an attractive, energy-efficient home. Landscaping by Annie Wright of Hollyhawk also focused on green alternatives.

Budgeting for Green

A home remodeling project always begins by establishing a realistic budget, and budgets are typically driven by design goals. The primary goal of the bungalow project was to create a feeling of spaciousness within the 1,297 square-foot home, without sacrificing energy efficiency.

The decision was made to alter the line of the roof to add cathedral ceilings to the home’s interiors. Clerestory windows were installed, both to bathe the rooms in natural light and provide energy-saving air circulation. The cathedral ceilings not only enhanced the interior design of the home, but angled the roof into a good position for solar panels.

While a residential solar photovoltaic system wasn’t in the current budget, the team thought ahead for a future installation. They further tilted one portion of the roof, in anticipation of solar panels, and incorporated it into a striking architectural design.

To assess your own home for solar, or for pricing, click here.

Sustainable Bones

A renovation that requires structural changes gives homeowners the opportunity to work sustainable and energy-smart features into the walls and flooring. The bungalow projects included new energy-efficient window replacement and a radiant heating system installed beneath bamboo flooring. The fireplace uses clean ethanol fuel.

Contractor 44 West Construction, a company that has been routinely including green alternatives in their projects for over 30 years, includes solar options for all their projects, preparing each home for solar electric and solar hot water applications, whether they are installed immediately or not. For the exterior of the home, the team installed sustainable siding.

Eco Features

Energy Star appliances were installed in the kitchen, but the green options didn’t stop there. The kitchen cabinets were constructed with materials certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. The countertops are Greenguard certified. The team even used fume-free paints and glues.

Greening Up the Landscape

Whenever possible in the bungalow project, the team recycled construction materials. The landscaper used wood reclaimed from the pallets that carried the exterior siding, creating planters for raised vegetable gardening. Concrete from the old driveway were cut into square concrete pavers for the paths and patio. Drought-resistant plants were used, and a drip irrigation system was installed throughout the landscaping.

The takeaway from the Venice bungalow project? Plan ahead for green options like home solar power. While plans are still on the drawing board, consider future opportunities to go green, particularly options like home solar that will add green to your wallet, and work those options into the architectural and interior design.

More photos available via LA Times

Sherri Akers, “almost 60,” moved to Mar Vista from the Hollywood hills a little over a decade ago at a time when she says, she and her husband were “becoming much more focused on sustainability.”  In fact, “it became a bit of a competition between us,” Akers said, “to achieve our personal best” at conserving energy and reducing their environmental impact.

As Akers grew in her environmental commitment, she found that continuing her 30-year career in the garment industry was “too at odds with my personal values.” “The idea that my professional work was so toxic was really dissatisfying,” she said.

Akers left her full-time job and started work as a consultant. That transition gave her more time and, she said, “the best opportunity for community involvement” she’d ever had.

Akers seized that opportunity, when, looking to expand on her personal commitment to sustainable living, she met Jeanne Kuntz at the Mar Vista Farmers’ Market. Kuntz was there with a booth promoting wellness and she and Akers agreed that they’d like to get Mar Vista engaged in broader environmental work.

Kuntz said of Akers, “Sheri is incredibly good at getting things done and also incredibly naïve.” Akers, said Kuntz, “ really believes she can save the planet if she just keeps at it.”

It was Kuntz who brought Akers to the Mar Vista Community Council, which Akers didn’t know existed, to help start a “green committee.”

Akers said it was rough sailing in the beginning. “For the first few meetings, it seemed like we were not getting much accomplished,” but Akers said, “Jeanne told me not to give up.”

“We kidnapped a quarterly stakeholder meeting” in the fall of 2008, Akers said. The green committee hosted the meeting and invited a number of environmental activists and city employees working on green initiatives to present. 

Paula Daniels spoke about the city’s “Green Streets” initiative, James Brennan and John Ayers presented on solar power, Christy Wilhelmi talked about composting and Rob Kadota spoke about recycling.

“We were blown away by the response,” Akers said. The meeting was packed with Mar Vistans eager to participate in local environmentalism. “We realized we had a vibrant community focused on sustainability. What we needed,” Akers said, “was a way to connect.”

The committee was invited by Diana Rodgers, manager of the Mar Vista Farmers’ Market to take a booth at the market every Sunday, where they now host master gardeners, school garden groups, sustainability and solar information experts who have a chance to meet locals right in the neighborhood.

Flashing forward, Akers can point with pride to a record of collaborating with the Mar Vista Community Council and her partners in the Green Committee, Kuntz, Wilhelmi, Laura Bodensteiner, Melissa Stoller, Christopher McKinnon, Joseph Treves and newer additions like Lynda Hammersmith.

Together they’ve begun to develop a reputation for Mar Vista as a hub of environmentalism within Los Angeles, what Akers calls, “ a little bit of Portland on the Westside.”

City Council Member Bill Rosendahl told Patch, “Sherri's contributions to the Mar Vista Green Committee have helped make the organization a city-wide leader on sustainability issues.” 

Sharon Commins, MVCC chair echoed that sentiment, saying, Akers “has helped establish ‘brand’ Mar Vista as a forward-thinking community when it comes to conservation issues.”

The Green Committee organizes the “Mar Vista Green Garden Tour,” now in its fourth year. The tour, held in April began with 40 gardens in the neighborhood that use water sparingly, feature native plants, edibles or pollinator-friendly landscaping. The idea was to inspire people to remake their own yards and ditch the grass, the watering, the mowing, the fertilizers and pesticides that waste resources and pollute the ocean. Akers estimates this year’s tour will include 80 gardens and more than 2,000 visitors.

The MVCC Green Committee were pioneers on the city’s rain barrel distribution program, ensuring that the neighborhood has more of the rain collection tubs than any other part of the city. They have become advocates for urban bee keeping, first in Mar Vista and then citywide. Recently, they’ve taken up the cause of replacing the lawn at City Hall with a sustainable garden.

These city-wide initiatives are where Akers is dedicating much of her energy these days, because she says, Kuntz, Stoller and others have much of the local Mar Vista work so well in hand.

Using the MVCC Green Committee as a starting point, Akers has now made connections with environmental groups like the National Resources Defense Council, Heal the Bay and the Sierra Club and with many of the city’s other neighborhood councils who are also interested in sustainability.

Akers said, “Everything cross-pollinates. Now we have relationships we can call on with other neighborhood councils. Because of the Green Committee we have a platform.”

Akers said the access she has gained to local officials and real decision-making by building those alliances has been the greatest surprise of her work. She can call Councilmember Rosendahl’s office and “be on the phone brainstorming with him in just a few hours” and that the mayor’s staff are also very responsive to her calls.“It’s truly astonishing,” she said, that “as an average citizen I have that kind of access.”

“I think people don’t realize that this is possible.”

Her activism, Akers said, has “given me so much more that I’ve given it. It’s made Mar Vista into a small town for me.” “Truly,” she said, “It’s the most satisfying thing I do.”

A 28-year-old stand-up comedian from Venice will be among the 18 competitors vying for a $1 million prize on "Survivor: One World."

Bill Posley will be on the popular CBS reality show when it returns Feb. 15 for its 24th season. The 18 castaways will be divided into two tribes: the Manono Tribe for the nine men and the Samoa tribe with nine women.

Posley told the network that he wanted to be on the show "to push my mind and body to the limit."

The comedian also said he thinks he'll survive because of his athleticism and former military experience.

A car fire briefly threatened an apartment building in the Mar Vista area this afternoon.

Nearly three dozen firefighters were called to 12756 W. Venice Blvd. at 4:10 p.m., said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey.

Venice Boulevard was closed in both directions between Centinela Avenue and Beethoven Street while firefighters concentrated on dousing the vehicle fire before it could extend into the apartment complex.

It took 14 minutes to extinguish the blaze, with no structural damage or injuries reported.

Brace, Sunset Junction, there is a gamechanger in the works that'll cover quite a bit of the Sunset/Santa Monica Blvd. area. Developer Frost/Chaddock has filed paperwork to start the environmental review process for a project that would include the demolition of the 4100 Bar and the much-loathed Bates Motel, and the development of mixed-use rental housing. Frost/Chaddock already knocked down a little row of shops in September (rather by surprise) on the south side of Santa Monica Blvd., right by Sunset. The project planned for that site is "by right," meaning it won't need any zoning variances that would require City Council approval; a source in the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council tells us all the rest of the planned projects are also by right. The source adds that Frost/Chaddock is not required to put together an environmental impact *report (not review as previously written), but is doing one voluntarily.

According to the filing regarding the environmental impact review, F/C's project covers three sites. Site one includes 4000-4038 Santa Monica Blvd. (the former home of the shops), 1069 Sanborn Ave. (behind the shops), and land on Manzanita, to the west down Santa Monica. Site two includes 4100 Sunset Blvd. and other land on Manzanita around the 4100 Bar. Site three covers the Bates Motel (actually called the Sunset Pacific) and adjacent property on Effie St.

According to the EIR filing, Frost/Chaddock plans to "remove all existing structures on 3 sites and develop a cumulative total of 311 apartment units with 16,303 sf. retail and restaurant space. We hear there are renderings already and have a call into F/C's project rep for more.
· Sunset Junction Vintage Shops Making Way for Mixed-Use [Curbed LA]
· Creepy-Looking Bates Motel in Silver Lake For Sale [Curbed LA]