Lina LecaroL.A. bleeds blue
Twitter is obviously having a lot of success selling its branded hashtag emojis, and they appear to be good marketing. We’re used to seeing the tiny icons during awards season (a gold Oscar statue or Grammy victrola when the awards are hashtagged, for example), but they’ve been getting decidedly more interesting lately. If you tweet about Jordan Peele’s Us with the hashtag #UsMovie, for example, a tiny pair of gold scissors follows the word. Then, of course, there’s Game of Thrones, which debuted 20 new emojis for the upcoming season, which pop up when you hashtag different characters. On Thursday, March 28, Twitter scored a hashtaggy home run with baseball fans. As the 2019 Major League Baseball season began, the league released a slew of new emojis and revamped hashtags. Out of the 30, new ones include Arizona (#RattleOn), Cincinnati (#BornToBaseball), Detroit (#MotorOn), Houston (#TakeItBack) and many more. As in past years, if you tweet #LABleedsBlue, you’ll see a cute little blue “LA” logo pop up on your feed, which everybody — baseball fan or not — seemed to be doing this week. See the full Dodgers schedule here. Echo Park and Silver Lake residents, or anyone who takes Sunset Boulevard to Cesar Chavez to get downtown, should be studying the home game schedule to avoid getting stuck in the notorious blue backup!
Cesar Chavez; Credit: The Cesar Chavez Foundation
Cesar Chavez Day
Speaking of Mr. Chavez, on Sunday, March 31, we honor the birth and legacy of the labor rights activist. It will be observed Monday, April 1, by LAUSD schools, which will be out of session; state offices also will be closed. Hard to believe it’s only five years since the day was dedicated to the co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association (later changed to United Farm Workers Union). The Mexican-American icon helped galvanize farm workers and their struggles, ultimately forcing growers to recognize the union and implement more humane and fair treatment for many immigrants to this country from Mexico. So yeah, Trump probably won’t be tweeting about it. But thanks to President Barack Obama for making it a national holiday to begin with! Los Angeles Daily News has a list of what’s closed for Chavez Day here.
Credit: Courtesy Lenora Claire
Adam Schiff is more than OK
It’s been a strange week in politics — the anticlimactic Mueller report release, the Trump administration's moves to destroy the Affordable Care Act, etc. Liberals haven’t had much to feel hopeful about. That is, until Thursday, when California's own Rep. Adam B. Schiff spewed some serious truths about how just about everything to do with Trump and the Russians is “not OK,” in an epic, sermonlike rant. Delivered after Trump and GOP members of the Intelligence panel demanded Schiff step down as chairman of the House Intel Committee, Schiff's badass moment even began trending on Twitter locally. In response, the president resorted to name-calling (again) and even came up with a new nickname (“little pencil-neck”).
Whatever you think about the Democrat's personal motivations where the White House is concerned, L.A. Weekly contributor Lenora Claire says her experience with the rep has been nothing but wonderful. As she wrote about here, Claire has been an anti-stalking activist since she dealt with it herself a few years ago. In addition to doing the talk show circuit, she sought help from our local government, and Schiff not only recognized the need to address the problem but passed local legislation to do so, helping fund Glendale's Regional Crime Lab so that it can more quickly process DNA evidence, including rape kits. Says Claire, “From the grant he wrote to all the time he spent working on anti-stalking legislation with me, I'm constantly blown away by how much Congressman Schiff contributes to the vulnerable and victimized.”
Credit: Courtesy Disneyland
Disney bans smoking
Leave your vapes at home if you're heading to the happiest place on earth. Walt Disney World and Disneyland recently announced some changes beginning May 1: There will no longer be designated smoking areas at any of the Disney parks, and this includes the Downtown Disney shopping center. Disney says there will still be smoking areas outside of the entrances to these destinations, but that’s it. Disney also announced some changes to its stroller guidelines, including size restrictions (they cannot be larger than 31 inches wide and 52 inches long). The stroller changes are due, in part, to the soon-to-open Star Wars attraction, Galaxy's Edge, which is surely going to make Disneyland more crowded than ever. Those extra inches will matter. See Disney’s blog post about the changes here.
Rock & roll circus
Update 3/30: The Rolling Stones just announced they will be postponing their upcoming tour due to issues with Mick Jagger's health: “Mick has been advised by doctors that he cannot go on tour at this time, as he needs medical treatment,” reads a statement from the band posted early Saturday morning on Twitter. Jagger apologized to fans via his own social media as well. We wish our favorite rock star a speedy recovery! Thankfully, we still have this event to look forward to:
The Stones and ABKCO Films, in collaboration with Screenvision Media, just announced special screenings for The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, arguably the band's most joyful and jovial turns onscreen. Theatrical screenings for the 1968 program will take place April 1, 3, 4, and 5 nationwide. According to the press release, “Restoration has been sourced from the 35mm internegative and will be presented in both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos sound,” delivering “captivating color that more closely matches what the human eye can see,” while the Dolby Atmos sound system is supposed to “make audiences feel they are truly attending The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus.” Wow. The show, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, was originally conceived as a BBC-TV special and filmed before a live London audience in 1968, with The Who, Jethro Tull, John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Tony Iommi, Jethro Tull, Marianne Faithfull, Billy Preston and a shrieking Yoko Ono all turning in performances. It was said to have been shelved because Mick Jagger didn't feel the Stones did a good enough job in comparison with The Who and Lennon, but clearly he got over that years later, as the movie has been available on DVD and for streaming for several years now. For more information on the film or to purchase tickets go to rockandrollcircusthefilm.com.
Credit: Kelly Lee
Movies live at Hollywood Forever
More cinema news: Cinespia announced the 18th season of its outdoor screening series and summer kickoff this week, and it all begins with that lovable ghoul Beetlejuice on May 11. “We are honored to continue our run as L.A.’s longest-running outdoor screening series and are incredibly grateful to our fans who come out to support us year after year,” said founder John Wyatt of the enduring movie nights, which have obviously seen copycat events attempting to conjure similar al fresco film vibes. “We have a fantastic season planned for you and can’t wait to see you all for another summer under the stars.” The schedule is as follows:
Saturday, May 11: Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice (1988)
Saturday, May 18: Keanu Reeves in The Matrix (1999)
Saturday, May 25: Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde (2001)
Sunday, May 26: Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954)
Hollywood Forever, 6000 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Tickets ($18) are now available at cinespia.org.
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