The Olive Motel

By Ann Magnuson

After getting a nice compliment on my Dan Attoe blog from one MySpace pal named Jesse I decided to check out his art as well. I enjoyed what I saw (see some below and more of it here) but it was his snapshot in front of Silver Lake's infamous Olive Motel that really caught my eye.

I've never stayed there nor have I known anyone who has but I've passed by this relic for years wondering when Andre Balazs was gonna snatch it up and turn it into a rich-hipster's paradise. Fortunately Jesse agreed to send me his account of staying at The Olive. I do hope it remains untouched by gentrification and stands as a reminder of a Los Angeles that is disappearing all too fast!

Posted Oct. 11, 2007,

MC Hammer: Not Dead

By David Hershkovits

Appparently this post on the PAPER magazine http://www.myspace.com/papermagazine">MySpace page isn't true: "MC Hammer ( Kirk Burrell), Pop Rap icon of the 90's, passed away today in a Baltimore hospital room outside a Tribe Called Quest show in New Jersey last night, the singer was struck by a car passing by the front of the Ventura Theatre. Brunswick police say that the driver allegedly stopped, but then fled the scene. There is now a police investigation underway.

"Hammer was rushed to St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, where he was pronounced dead this morning at 6am. This is a tragedy for the underground music as a whole and we need to stand together at this time of loss."

Instead yahoo news reports

"MC Hammer is not dead, his representatives have insisted, after reports of the star's untimely demise swept the media.
"The well-being of the infamous '80s pop singer turned rapper has been the subject of some speculation in recent days.

However, it has now been confirmed that the recent death of a man with the same name -- Stanley Burrell -- has prompted the uncertainty.

A spokesperson for Hammer, who enjoyed little chart success after his breakthrough debut single, "U Can't Touch This," has insisted he is very much alive and well.

He is apparently set to make a new stab at fame with an internet project called DanceJam, which will see him judging videos of people dancing."

Posted Oct. 10, 2007,

Eight Items or Less: Mr. Mickey's Kylie-Tastic Birthday, Wasteful Phone Books and Balazs' $350,000 Terrace

By Gary Pini

1. It's Mr. Mickey's birthday so we'll begin with a little present: Kylie Minogue's new video for "2 Hearts." Have fun tonight, Mickey!

2. General Motors is running an ad campaign touting fuel efficiency, ethanol etc. that includes tips to save the planet taken from a book called The Green Book. These caught our attention: Telephone books make up almost 10 percent of waste at dump sites. ATM receipts are one of the top sources of litter on the planet. Commercial car washes use up to 100 less gallons of water to wash a car then doing it yourself.

3. In the stacks of flyers at a gallery in Chelsea, we spotted one for Michael Alan's Draw-A-Thon. The event, held every Saturday in October at 64 East Fourth Street, features 20 nude models in a 2,000 square foot, multi level space with live music and costs $24 for a full day pass or $15 for half. All are invited to draw, paint or just "think and be influenced... by models giving emotion and energy."

4. We noticed a cool new store -- actually two stores -- while walking on Smith Street in Brooklyn. Both are called Homage and one feature "100 percent organic snacks" and the other sells skateboard decks, wheels etc.

5. According to Comscore Inc., Facebook users were up 33 percent in August while MySpace was down 7.4 percent.

6. Somebody is selling a 342-square-foot cabana on the terrace of Andre Balazs' new Jean Nouvel desiged building on Broadway for $350,000. You have to already own a condo there, however, to be eligible to buy.

7. From the London Times re: the demise of the music business: "A revealing story doing the rounds in America tells of a young rock band who decided to stop selling their CDs at gigs after they discovered that by offering their CDs for $10 they were cannibalising sales of their $20 T-shirts. The truth now is that a rudimentary cotton garment with a band logo stamped across it that has probably been manufactured for pennies in a Third World sweatshop costs about twice as much as an album recorded in a state-of-the-art western studio. And even at that price, recorded music isn’t selling."

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