newsbyte: Postopolis in LA

Great news, LA!  Postopolis LA starts tonight on the roof of the Standard downtown.  A martini-infused marathon of back-to-back discussions, panel talks, slideshows, films, and parties, Postopolis LA brings six leading bloggers together from different cities around the urban world to curate five days of idea-generating, mind-blowing conversation.  Hosted by For Your Art in conjunction with LA Art Weekend, this impromptu creative summit promises to be exhausting and exhilarating.  

This year, the hot slate of presenters was curated by:

Arch Daily/Plataforma Arquitectura - David Basulto (Santiago, Chile)

BLDGBLOG - Geoff Manaugh (San Francisco, CA)

City of Sound - Dan Hill (Sydney, Australia)

Subtopia - Brian Finoki (San Francisco, CA)

Mudd Up! - Jace Clayton (New York, NY)

We Make Money Not Art - Regina Debatty (Paris, France)

The programs are free and open the public from 5pm to 11pm every evening from March 31st to April 4th.

Transplanted to LA from New York (where it initially started in 2007), the sophomore Postopolis blogathon extravaganza promises to include art, film, music and good stuff of more international scope in addition to voices from the fields of architecture, urban design, and landscape design. Check the site for a full schedule.  More news to come from the roof of the Standard!

greenbyte: Green Guerilla Propaganda

If I'd known earlier (and didn't have a day job), I would TOTALLY have been down to do this.  What a brilliant idea: green guerilla propaganda!

Don't forget, it's lights out tonight between 8:30pm and 9:30pm.  Turning off the lights for Earth Hour a simple gesture with big meaning.  Whether you choose to dine by candlelight or go check out the festivities at LA Live, this is your chance to connect with the rest of the world and VOTE EARTH.

realbyte: An Evening at Chez Jay

As a resident on the 'right' side of town (the East side of LA -- not to be confused with East L.A.), I often (jokingly) slander the West side.  This weekend our friends showed us such a true gem that I'm almost ready to eat my words.  Almost.  But not quite.  After a wholly satisfying, well-priced meal of good Cal-Italian fare and a free slice of killer lemon cake at Fritto Misto, we headed to Chez Jay.

Walking in to Chez Jay's is like going back in time, as is the case with any good dive bar worth its salt, or in this case, peanuts.  The walls are plastered with memorabilia from owner Jay Fiondella's adventures as a treasure hunter, actor, competitive hot air balloonist, participant on an archeological dig in the Arabian desert, and, oh yeah,  a pirate ship owner.  There's tons of lore about all the celebrities who have passed through the joint as well - Marlon Brando, Henry Kissinger, Leonard Nimoy (Jay's old roommate), the entire cast of NYPD Blue...

Still today, peanut shells litter the floor.  Beer flows.  Sinatra croons on the juke box.  The booths are perfect for spending hours shooting the sh*t with friends. It's just unpretentious and chill.  Not necessarily the easiest thing to find anywhere in LA.

Unfortunately, Jay died late last year and Rand seems to have leveled all the land around it. Being a visitor to those parts, I'm not sure what lies in the peanut shells for Jay's.  I'm just glad we got a chance to visit before it becomes condos, a mall, or a TGIF.

greenbyte: Earth Hour 2009, 8 Days and Counting

Earth Hour 2009 is scheduled for Saturday, March 28th from 8.30pm to 9.30pm (PST).  People are asked to turn off their lights for one simple hour as their way of showing support for, well, the Earth.  This year, Los Angeles is expecting to participate big time.  Besides the main event, a concert at LA Live with Mayor Villaraigosa, LA landmarks such as the Griffith Observatory, the LAX pylons, Getty Center, STAPLES Center, and even (my gastrointestinal favorite) Pink's will be turning off their lights.  Local entertainment venues like Groundlings, Amoeba, and The Comedy Store will host "dark performances."  If you'd rather romance your date at the same time as voting for earth, several local restaurants will be offering dinner by candlelight.  Check out Open Table for a full list of Dine by Candlelight participants and make a reservation.  There are also rumored to be viewing parties in-the-planning as well.  Check Earth Hour's LA site for a full list of activities.

  

Gina Rene will be singing downtown at the LA Live Concert.

 

Watch on a jumbotron as large swaths of the city go dark.

Shepard Fairey's VOTE EARTH poster.  Come on.  Turn your lights out.  You don't want to be the one who votes "global warming."

designbyte: Loop Leaf Love at First Sight

Ok, I admit it.  I'm an Etsy addict.  So rather than bankrupt myself, I'll use these little design bytes as placebo fix.  This week, I'm totally in love with Megan Auman's Loop Leaf table/ottoman/stool/objet d'art.  One day when I have a house befitting of it, I would love to put one of these lovelies close to my favorite chair.

Made from laser-cut, powder-coated steel, the Loop Leaf ottoman comes in black and white.   With very manageable dimensions, rounded edges, and rubber feet, it's perfect as an ottoman, bedside table, mobile stool for guests, really anything you want to make it.  Technically, you could even use it outdoors, but at $750 a pop (not including shipping), that's probably not a good idea.  Me wants. 

If someone else buys this before I get the chance to, shut up.  I don't want to know.

Byte Me

This blog is going nowhere unless I get organized so if anyone actually reads this, here's the low down.  Saturnfly Report information shall heretofore be presented in bytes, because as a publicist, that's all my weak mind can handle.  Wee newsbytes of things that I like, covet, ate, bought, ran over, read, did, etc.

designbytes - self explanatory.

newsbytes - probably little stories that I've written or things that came about from that.

greenbytes - since I write about green design, I figure I must know something on the subject by now, at least enough to have some interesting thoughts from time to time.

travelbytes - because sooner or later will run away.  And then come back to write about it.

realbytes - all things food, rediscovered recession recipes, anything to do with ingestion.

oddbytes - stuff that doesn't really fit in with anything else.

These bytes don't sting.  And they definitely don't itch.  And you probably won't get them all that regularly.