Thursday, December 28, 2006

Thanks...

...to those who responded to the last couple of posts, and for the offers of help. The thing is, I don't run Encino; just this blog. This blog is my voice, at least for now, but the idea is that we all work on this stuff together. There don't need to be Indians and chiefs; we can all be either or both at any time.

So - who has an idea?

Monday, December 25, 2006

My Christmas present to you...

I've deleted the link to Eddie Bernard's site. The site was open only by registration; there was no useful content that was publicly accessible, so it kinda looks, to me anyway, like a vehicle for harvesting email addresses for pitching.

The thing is, I like Eddie and he definitely has the best houses in the village in his inventory. I'd have no problem working with him on either side of a transaction, and he seems to have a good rep. I just don't like boilerplate sites that add to the advertising jungle.

And it's my blog so I can do what I want to do.

Well, that was then - a half-hour ago. This is now, and the link table was pretty much swallowed by the new template design. About that - I was mucking around with the HTML of the site this morning. I'm a big fan of web-designer and author Dan Cederholm and I noticed that Blogger has some templates he designed in their new collection, and so - the new look of Electric Encino. I'll have to rebuild the links table, so if anyone has any links they think should be included, let me know. Keep in mind that I'm looking for community-based sites, not ads. If you want to build your own site or blog to promote your biz (and you should), go for it.

Any thoughts on the re-design are welcome also.

Sunday, December 24, 2006

You should be reading LA Observed.com

Thanks to those who thanked me for the "It's A Wonderful Life" post, but you really should thank Kevin Roderick by making LA Observed.com part of you daily reading, especially if you're into doings at the rapidly downsizing and deteriorating LA Times. Roderick always has the inside scoop.

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Every time a bell rings...

The film's mythical Bedford Falls covered four acres of the ranch north of Burbank Boulevard between Balboa and Louise. The trees lining the streets? Encino oaks, transplanted for the film. For the autumn scenes the leaves were knocked off, and for the winter scenes where Stewart stumbles through the snowy town, the trees were coated with white plaster...

What film? Why, none other than "It's A Wonderful Life," Frank Capra's postwar postcard and wakeup call to America. Turns out the Village was once the RKO backlot. We're treading where James Stewart, Donna Reed and Ward Bond once worked. This info from Kevin Roderick's essential LA Observed blog, which is the encinoblogger's first read each morning and frequent diversion during the day. You'll learn more about what's really going on in the city from this site and the sites it links to than anywhere else I've found. Also lots of valley-specific history and info at Valley Observed. Roderick's a local boy and collects a lot of valleyana there. I'm not, but I've learned a lot from this site and Roderick's SF Valley book. Check them out.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

The blog is alive; it's Encino that's dead...

A few people have asked me lately what's going on with this space and the various efforts to spiff up the neighborhood. This space is alive, though I've been busy with work and various other things for a few months; it's the will to move on with things in the neighborhood that's (apparently) dead. The intention here was to have a means of communication; there's been little of note about the Village to communicate.

The main thing for me is that there has been very little response to either this blog or the various flyers that the encinodogger and I put on doors last summer, and it gets tiring, all this crying out in the wilderness. Most of the email addresses I got at the meeting last February are garbage. They're either not valid, or so spam-blocked that my emails won't go through, so it's hard to know who's actually reading this. A place to begin: email to me your (valid and not-spam-blocked please) email address. Also, as you can see, there aren't a lot of comments on the blog, let alone people interested in posting here. BTW, commenting is easy; you don't have to be a geek to do it, so give it a try. You can also email me here.

I never saw any action or offers that were acted on about landscaping the Louise strip, or any of the other beautification efforts, so I'm assuming there's no enthusiasm for any of that. These changes can't happen without expertise, money and stuff - trees, dirt, tools, planning. Got any of that? If so, let's do it. By this, I mean actually get it done.
I know that there are people who'd love to get involved with projects. I think we're just having trouble getting the ball rolling.

There was a Neighborhood Watch meeting last night (Tuesday 12/5), which I could not attend. Barbara at encinowatch.com is still doing a great job of keeping that channel open, and our SLO, officer Trulick remains helpful and responsive.

One positive: The petition to limit parking on Louise is with the city. How long that may take to turn around is anyone's guess.

Meanwhile, enjoy this time of the year. Kiss your children and hold them close; call your old friends and wish them well. Sing the songs and eat the foods that go with whatever holiday you may celebrate.

Any ideas on how to get things happening are welcome. Email me at encinoblogger@gmail.com.