🎢 Avatar, earthquakes, digital IDs, and food waste.

Welcome to your weekly Valley update! Today is Thursday, August 15, 2024.

In today’s NoHo Nick:

• 🎢 A new Disney ride

• ⛰️ Earthquakes

• 🏖️ Dustin Hoffman saves a beach

• 🍔 Smash burgers

• 🎾 Free pickleball

Do you have an earthquake emergency kit?

I don’t. Less than 50% of people do.

But after this week’s earthquake and our ongoing summer of earthquakes, I’m getting one.

You should have enough supplies for 72 hours just in case essential services go down.

You can buy a starter kit for $35 on Amazon (not an affiliate link). Or, build your own:

• 🚰 Water: Every person needs 1 gallon per day for 3 days. Polar seltzers don’t count.

• 🥫 Food: A stash of non-perishable food—cans, protein bars, and dried food. And Trader Joe’s elote chips.

• 📱 Cell Phone: Plus, an extra charger and battery backup. Download offline maps and House of the Dragon. 

• 🆘 Whistle: To call for help. You can use the one from your Ted Lasso Halloween costume.

• ⛑️ First Aid: Band-aids, alcohol wipes, antibiotic ointment.

• 🚽 Hygiene: Wipes, garbage bags, and zip ties to throw away your waste if plumbing fails…Yep.

• 💊 Medicine: Prescriptions, eyeglasses, vitamins.

• 👶 Baby: Formula, diapers, wipes.

• 📄 Documents: Driver’s license, birth certificate, and insurance papers. Step one, find them.

• 🛠️ Tools: Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities. Just like Bob the Builder.

Here’s what’s happening this week:

Sponsored by Too Good to Go

♻️ Help reduce food waste. Pick up uneaten food and meals before they get thrown away.

LA restaurants, grocery stores, and food outlets offer discounts if you pick up their prepared food, pastries, and unwanted groceries at the end of the day.

e.g. I got 3 pastries for the price of 1 at La Rochelle Bakery through the app.

News

🚌 Metro buses are getting serious about people parking in bus lanes. Thanks to AI-powered cameras on the front of buses, cars blocking the bus lane will automatically receive a $293 ticket. Repeat offenders? $406. Can they do this for people blocking my driveway? [KTLA]

🥩 Higher prices at Ralphs may be coming soon. Kroger, Ralphs’ parent company, could implement surge pricing. Like during busy shopping times or bad weather. Some Senators worry that new electronic price tags would lead to unfair price increases when people need things the most. [Food and Wine]

🚝 The LAX monorail is back on track to open in December 2025. An extra $400 million got the project moving again after legal delays. The $3 billion people mover will add 2 miles of track, linking terminals, parking, and metro stations. Remember when Springfield got a monorail? [ABC7]

📱 Digital driver’s licenses are coming to California this year. Soon, Android users will be able to add their California ID to Google Wallet, with Apple support following close behind. California might set the stage for a nationwide rollout of digital IDs. As goes California, so goes the nation. [9to5 Google]

🎢 Disneyland is getting an Avatar-themed land in late 2024. Explore Pandora’s oceans, natural wonders, and hidden dangers. The lines will be 3 hours long, just like the sequels. [Deadline]

🛣️ Griffith Park is stepping up its road safety. Griffith Park Drive, Crystal Springs Drive, and Zoo Drive are getting new protected bike lanes, better crosswalks, and fresh pavement. This was announced in April, but is new to me. [CBS]

Poll

Food and Drinks

🍷 Cozy wine bar (North Hollywood) with $9 happy hours, tasty snacks, and a rotating wine list at Tabula Rasa Bar. Monthly DJ nights and pop-up events. Perfect for a date night. Sip wines from around the world or grab a bottle to take home. It's "hi-brow, low-brow." 2 PM to 12 AM daily.

🥪 Mouthwatering deli (Woodland Hills) with legendary pastrami sandwiches at Dan’s Super Subs—pastrami, provolone, bacon, onions, mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, jalapeños, and Baja sauce. 40+ years in the Valley. One of the best sandwiches in LA. 9 AM to 5 PM daily.

🍔 Smash burgers (Canoga Park) every weekend at Howie’s pop up. Wagyu beef patties, beef bacon jam, onion rings, and cookies. All homemade. Get them while they last. Saturday and Sunday. 4 PM to 8 PM.

Things to Do

🎾 Free tennis and pickleball (Los Angeles) at select public courts. The courts have nets. All you need is your own racket and balls. Preregistration required. Most other courts are about $15/hr.

🇯🇵 Japanese cultural festival (Downtown LA), Nisei Week, brings food, parades, car shows, bonsai exhibits, calligraphy, and more. Celebrating Japanese heritage and its LA impact. Free and Paid. Saturday, August 10 to Sunday, August 18.

🎤 Open mic (Calabasas) to share your music, poetry, comedy, or stories. The City of Calabasas hosts a Listening Lounge during the summer. Let your voice be heard in your community. Everyone’s welcome. Preregistration encouraged. Free. Tuesday, August 20 at 7 PM.

📚️ Book sale (Woodland Hills) to raise money for the library. The Woodland Hills Library is hosting its annual Friends of the Library book sale. They’re selling old library books to fund community projects. You can also donate your own gently used books. Thursday, August 22. 3 PM to 7 PM.

🎮️ Super Smash Bros weekly tournament (Toluca Lake) at Trustworthy Brewing. Every Monday. Seasonal beers, classic bar food, and dog-friendly. Dominate at Smash. Free to play. Buy a beer. Don’t pick Kirby.

💃 La La Land in concert (Downtown LA). Screening of the movie with the film's composer, Justin Hurwitz, conducting a 53-piece orchestra and jazz band performing the music live. Food trucks and picnics. $50 to $150. September 14 and 15 at 7:30 PM.

⛳️ Mini golf at Castle Park (Sherman Oaks). Mini golf course and arcade operated by LA Parks. Windmills, waterfalls, and tricky corners. Become the putt putt champion. $12 per person. Open daily until 11 PM.

🚴 Cycling calendar of all the cycling meetups in Los Angeles. Join a group of passionate cyclists and explore LA on two wheels with other locals. Free.

🦢 Swan boats (Lake Balboa) near the Van Nuys airport. Go out on a romantic date night or race your friends with these fun swan boats. Paddle with your feet. Watch the planes landing and taking off. $12 per boat per hour.

LA By the Numbers

🏖️ $31 million - The cost to repair and prevent sand erosion on a Malibu beach. Paid for by Dustin Hoffman, Ray Romano, and Pierce Brosnan. Now, a billionaire is accused of stealing the sand.

🏢 530,000 square feet - The size of a new Apple office building being built near Culver City. Part of Apple’s plan to grow its LA footprint to 3,000 employees by 2026.

Random

🏄️ Surf’s up, but not for the Lunada Bay Boys. The infamous surf gang landed the city of Palos Verdes Estates in court. The Lunada Bay Boys threw rocks and insults at out-of-towners to scare them away from surfing spots. The city turned a blind eye. Now, found guilty, most of the gang has agreed to stay off the beach for a year and pay up to $90,000 in fines. Reminder: There are no private beaches in California. [Courthouse News]

See you next week!

NoHo Nick

P.S. My email address is fixed! Last week, some of you tried replying to me and the emails bounced back. [email protected] 

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