I'm not sure how obsessed any of you are about Famima!!, but they had me at the the double exclamation point.  As a rule, I love any thing that demands me to shout, such as Orange Bang!  With Famima!!, it not only demands it, but gives you license to do it Julie Andrews style on some Austrian mountain top.

So far, I'm a fan of their turkey with brie and cranberry sandwich.  Nothing like a few slices of brie to class up a sandwich.  And you can even get a Pom LycheeTea too!  I've been looking all over for this stuff.

Now to try a rice ball!! or a katsu sandwich!!  or some bao!! using double exclaimations is fun!!--Shane Redsar

 

Apparently, an apartment above the Downbeat Cafe erupted in flames Saturday, rudely and smokily interrupting Jed Berk's blimp building workshop at Machine Project. The boutique La Dita and the Downbeat have some serious water damage going on, so they're closed for repairs! Craptastic! 

I just rang up the Downbeat and a defeated-sounding Dan Drozdenko picked up, and told us that the iconic cafe did indeed suffer sog. His primary concern is having the repairs done "safely, legally and properly," so no date of re-open is set. He sounds like he needs a hug.

Machine Project is fine, but sent out a notice saying:

"Enjoy Machine while you can - we're always teetering on the edge of disaster!...That's all for now, we'll send an update when the plague of locust arrive."

If the block has a peanut butter cookie sale as a benefit, I think they'd do just fine. Even if I were the only one attending.  

 

Poor Charlie Lew has the worst luck when it comes to water disasters. Two years ago, rain washed out his New Year's Eve party at the Paramount Lot (so much time and money lost!) and, just months after opening his upscale sports bar Trifecta, the kitchen flooded—on a day he was to show the bar to some very important people, no less. (Charlie plans on opening Trifecta locations all over the country.)

Nevertheless, Trifecta has not closed down. For the time being, it’s open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and for special events. In fact, football star Reggie Bush (pictured) just had his birthday party here. Once the plumbing situation gets resolved, the place will reopen in the evenings. 

Photo credit: Wally Skalij

 

Oh glorious Thursday: Mister Doug Jones is performing his "People Mover" at the Upright Citizen's Brigade . I wish to be in attendance. 

 

Doug is lean, boyish chap with a dry sense of humor, and his show apparently follows one bloke on his quest to work.   Being that I spend approx 14 hours per week of work-mandated ass-flattening behind the wheel of a Subaru, I'm fully down for some commute commiseration. Oh, the misery! (And no, cleverpants, I do not live in Norwalk or Bellflower- the Eastside to Westside commute is just That. Awful.)

 

 

How do I love thee, Target? Let me count the ways:

 

1. For carrying Hellman's Mayonnaise—not its inferior, less-awesomely-named, west coast counterpart Best Foods. The only other place I've seen Hellman's mayo in L.A. is Barney's Greengrass, and there it's like 15 euros a jar.

2. For boldly offering a new, bite-size candy sensation modeled after The King's favorite sandwich (fried peanut butter and banana). Yes, the new Reese's Peanut Butter & Banana Candy is being marketed as an Elvis-approved 'Collector Edition' treat. The big guy is either spinning in his grave, or trying to eat his way out.

3. For teaching me to reach for the sky, but keeping my feet planted firmly on the ground.

 

I don't know how to quit you, Target.

You. Complete. Me.

 

--Amir Kenan 

The 10 freeway officially sucks. Because of this perpetually-jammed stretch of evil concrete, I was stuck in my un-air conditioned car while while Hollywood got its designer vintage kicks at the re-opening of Decadestwo , one of the world's premier designer vintage re-sale boutiques.

Luckily, Metromix intern Lauren Fields, who works at Decades, was there. Here's her full report. 

So how was it Lauren? 

It was so awesome--Access Hollywood was there so I was on Access Hollywood, I guess.

What did you say?

I don't know. We were just talking about Decades. I just kinda nodded and smiled. Then Elle magazine took pictures of my mom and I. And then I got to usher Jared Leto in.

How was Jared Leto?

Oh, he's really hot. I was dying. I talked to him. He was really nice. I asked him if he wanted a drink and he said "no, thank you".

What was he wearing?

He was wearing a Morphine Generation long-sleeved thing, one of those long things...you know, they keep you warm...a thermal! And black really tight jeans and a pair of ankle-high Nikes and aviators.

What other celebrities did you see?

Alyson Hannigan from "American Pie", the one with the red hair who was in band camp. She was gorgeous. She was wearing a beautiful white Louis Vuitton dress. She was very pretty.

So what has changed at Decades II?

We have expanded into the building next to us so now we have the entire brown art deco building. There used to be a bookstore there, but it closed down. Now the store is much bigger. The store has been completely remerchandised, so everyone was shopping. There is some really great stuff in there right now. My mom bought an orange Versace clutch.

So what was the highlight of the evening for you?

I was just dying over Jared Leto. And all the other girls were too.

 

Holy peace signs - a new H&M is opening at Westfield Topanga on July 19. The first 100 customers will get complimentary H&M t-shirt and gift cards worth up to $200. The store will carry women's and men's collection, and will have a lingerie section too. H&M is a corporate brand and therefore doesn't necessarily fit in with the whole hippie Devendra Banhart vibe of the hood, but we're sure you'll find more than a few ladies of the canyon wafting up and down the aisles at H&M, looking to score some bargain flower-power dresses.

 

I know I'm sort of the long-winded type, so I'll keep this one short. There's nothing quite like a Polyphonic Spree show. It's akin to getting run over by an 18-wheeled love truck. All of that feel-good energy eminating from the stage is kind of amazing. Even after a long, crappy day where I found out that one of my dear friends back home was held up at gunpoint by some random thugs, the Spree gave me "the feeling" and made me smile - a lot.

They essentially played two shows in one - the first as the dark-lit, militaristic "Fragile Army" and the second as the robe-wearing, spirit-rocking peace posse we know and love. There were a myriad of emotions, from dark and sad to all-out elation.

The band is brilliant, but for me the power comes from the choir, a gang of women filling the room with so much vocal sound that it can overwhelm you. I swear I would marry every single one of them. 

Lucky for you it's late (the band played for well over two hours, thank you very much) and I'm running out of steam, because I could go on about this one all day. But I will say that their version of Nirvana's "Lithium" blew the roof off the place. And big props to Tim DeLaughter for coming offstage and hanging with the fans long after the show ended. 

You'll probably hear more about it later though. In the meantime, take care of yourselves and each other. Ultimately, it's all we've really got.