Monthly Archives: July 2009

Free Movie Tonight In Mar Vista Park: E.T. The Extra Terrestrial

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et-movieBring your blankets and beach chairs and come on out for a summer movie experience! The show starts at dusk, which is around 8:00pm, so it’s best to arrive a little earlier to get a good spot.

Factoid: The movie came out 27 years ago, and in the original version, during the famous bike chase scene, the “government agents” who are chasing the kids are brandishing weapons, like big shotguns, at the little kids. But those weapons have been magically, digitally removed from the version you’ll see tonight at the park — or the one you may rent from Blockbuster. Apparently it was deemed inappropriate for our times. If anyone knows what year they were taken out, I would love to hear about it in the comments!

Mar Vista Community Council Elects New Chair

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Albert and RobTuesday night, July 14, at the council’s monthly board meeting, Albert Olson, left, was duly elected as chairman of the board, replacing Rob Kadota, right.

The council decides many issues each month, and it’s worth your time as a community member to check it out once in a while. This month, issues like these were before the board: funding the LAPD Pacific Division’s Explorers program, honoring volunteers who’ve worked on community prjects like the Green Garden Showcase and the Fire Station 62 clean-up, funding Grand View school’s computer lab, and establishing funding guidelines going forward for other worthy projects. Representatives from the offices of City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, U.S. Representative Jane Harman, State Assembly member Ted Lieu, and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass were on hand to make reports, among others. Agendas for upcoming meetings are posted on their website, Mar Vista Community Council.

Plus if you come to a meeting, you might get some cookies, like these, homemade by Lorraine Wells. cookiesLorraine

Just be aware of the seating arrangements. The metal folding chairs can really get uncomfortable after a couple of hours of meaty community deliberations. Some people come prepared.chair pads

Mar Vista’s Going Solar with Open Mar Vista and SolarCity!

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SolarpanelsEver think about installing solar panels on your roof? This being sunny Southern California, I can’t imagine it hasn’t crossed all of our minds on multiple occasions. But there’s a lot to consider, and the hefty price tag has always been a stumbling block for many homeowners. (Me included)

Well, there’s a new era in solar now. Instead of buying the panels yourself, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars, the trend is toward leasing the panels long-term instead. This saves on upfront costs and, so the theory goes, provides ongoing savings as well, since the rate gets locked in, even though energy costs will most likely go up.

Luckily for us in Mar Vista, Open Mar Vista has been focusing on solar energy for some time and has partnered with SolarCity, which will be offering special pricing and affordable financing options on both residential and commercial solar systems to those who participate in the GoSolar Mar Vista community program.sc-logo-color-sample

James Brennan, co-founder of Open Mar Vista, points out that there are state and federal incentives for solar, as well as tax rebates, which all help make this an affordable way to get clean energy.  Open Mar Vista has a stated goal of reaching 100% clean energy in Mar Vista by 2018, which was inspired by Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection and its RePower America campaign.

GoSolar Mar Vista participants are eligible for discounts of $500 off the retail price of installation, if they buy the panels, or three free months if they were to choose the leasing option from SolarCity. You can sign up for the GoSolar Mar Vista program here, and I encourage you to do so. Don’t worry, you’re not committing to anything just by signing up; you’re just on the list to get more info. But you must sign up by October 25th, 2009 to be eligible, so don’t wait too long.

In addition, SolarCity is offering free rooftop Wi-Fi antennas as part of the Open Mar Vista Community Wi-Fi network, which is an AWESOME extra benefit. At this rate, Mar Vista will be the most connected and cleanest-running neighborhood in the state in no time!

John Ayers, Open Mar Vista‘s other co-founder, has invited us all to the GoSolar Mar Vista Launch event, on Saturday, July 25th at 6:00pm, at 12024 Venice Blvd. RSVP at GoSolar Mar Vista. This will be a town hall meeting with lots of information available, and there will be delicious food provided by The Curious Palate. Sounds like a party this Mar Vista resident won’t be missing! Hope to see you there.

Mar Vista Farmer’s Market Wrap-Up

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Today’s shoppers are Judy and Stephen Schiller, our Mar Vista neighbors. They are going to cook with this squash, which is very pumpkin-like, and is called a Kabocha, also known as a Calabasa in the Philippines.Judy and KabochaStephen and Kabocha

The dish they are making is a pork and pumpkin stew. Start by peeling the squash (which is a bit of a toughy, so it’s always Stephen’s job to do that), then cutting into cubes. Take pork chops, and brown them in oil with chopped garlic and onions. Add a big tomato that you have chopped coarsely, then the squash cubes and some green beans. Then add a little water, salt and pepper and let it cook. Pork Calabasa.

By the way, Stephen Schiller is a mortgage broker, so if you’re in the market for a mortgage or a re-fi, email him for more info. He may help you peel your squash, but I’m not promising.  MrHandyMan@aol.com

School Fund-raising Opportunity In The Summer

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Mar Vista Mom wants to see all schools get all the funding they need, especially public schools, since that’s where my heart lies. But since most schools are always looking for money, I am always looking for easy ways to raise it.

BTFElogoAnd it doesn’t get much easier than Box Tops 4 Education, General Mills’ cardboard cut-out program.

Normally you cut out the little rectangles on top of the Bisquick, or from the bottoms of Kleenex boxes (or from about 150 other products), and you give them to your school’s Box Tops collector (in my case, Me), and they get turned in twice a year for a lovely check each time. Thanks, General Mills!

Well now they have a fantastic promo running where you don’t even have to cut anything out! Click on The Big Clip and you can enter to win the Grand Prize of 500,000 Box Tops — a $50,000 value!  $50,000 would buy a lot of pencils, or footballs, or computers, for that matter. And there are 2 First Prizes of 250,000 Box Tops, which are each worth $25,000. Not too shabby.

Here’s the COOLEST part of this very cool opportunity: you can enter online — once a day — every day — until October 31st, 2009. So tell all your friends!

And if you don’t have a school you already support, please consider supporting a school in Mar Vista — and my favorite is the one my kids go to: Grand View Elementary. (Just make sure you pick the Grand View in 90066, not the Grand View in Manhattan Beach.) And thanks!!!

Open Mar Vista: Have You Joined?

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Open Mar VistaThis is a great resource for our neighborhood – it’s a virtual space to connect with others in our community, since we can’t always get together IRL (or, In Real Life).

James Brennan and John Ayers created Open Mar Vista, and they’re helping to make Mar Vista a place on the cutting edge, what with our free Wi-Fi and the Solar project. Join today and see what you’ll learn about the neighborhood!

Got an interest in Solar? Crafts? Animals? Wellness? Music? There are groups for all of them! Check it out.

OpenMarVista.net

Mar Vista Farmer’s Market Wrap-Up

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Today, Rebecca Liu will be making sauteed oyster mushrooms in mirin sauce.Rebecca Liu

She starts with these gorgeous fungi, from Cynthia Rogers at Tradewinds Mushrooms, Cynthia Rogers from Tradewinds mushroomsslices them up, and sautes them in very hot olive oil for a few minutes until they’re browned and heated through. When they’re almost finished cooking, she adds a splash of mirin sauce, some sliced green onions and salt, right at the end. Sounds super easy and delicious! Thanks, Rebecca!

Mar Vista’s On The Cutting Edge

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Picture 1Community access to Wi-Fi. FREE community access to Wi-Fi. How many ways can I say it? Dude, Mar Vista gives away wireless internet access. For Free. 

It may sound like I’m going overboard, but I can’t help myself: how awesome is it to have free access to the internet? It’s extremely awesome.

Wi-fi is present in many places, but not often for free. Airports have networks that charge by the minute, as do Starbucks and other cafes. I’ve recently found a few free hot spots, including the food court at the Westside Pavilion, and yes, Culver City does offer free wi-fi in the downtown district. But what’s so cool about the Mar Vista wi-fi is that it’s a Citizen’s Initiative.

Started by James Brennan and John Ayers, the Open Mar Vista Wi-Fi project aims to provide access to the entire community by having sponsors provide the Meraki antennas and the Verizon Fios fiber optics with 500 – 1000′ ranges spreading the internet love around. So far, sponsors have been mainly the businesses along Venice Blvd., between Centinela and Inglewood, and there’s a cluster around Beethoven school, but there are a handful of residential sponsors, and Mar Vista Mom has recently – and proudly – joined the movement, and so a little bit more of the Mar Vista community is now covered.

Access For All, I say! 

By the way, check out Open Mar Vista — it’s another great way to stay connected to our community.