Courtesy of Stephen O'Gara and Geocaching.com

Stephen O'Gara of Team Ventura Kids geocaching in South Hills Park, in Glendora

In La La Land, the home of movie magic, we're used to our surroundings being not quite what they seem. But did you know, at this very moment, you are surrounded by thousands of tiny containers of various shapes and sizes, camouflaged in bushes, hidden in fake electrical boxes, attached by magnet to the bottoms of bar stools and perched atop stop-signs? You might need an ultra-violet light to discover the final clue to find them or wait for low tide to wade out to a cave at the beach, but they're there. That creepy guy at the bus stop who keeps looking around suspiciously might be totally nuts...or he might be a geocacher.

Geocaching is a worldwide treasure hunt that began in May 2000 when the U.S. government gave up "selective availability" and allowed civilians to use GPS devices with almost perfect accuracy for the first time. Computer consultant David Ulmer was one of many GPS enthusiasts brainstorming how this newly available technology could be used. The day after "selective availability" was lifted, Ulmer decided to hide a bucket in the woods near his home in Beavercreek, Oregon filled with prizes and post the coordinates online for anyone to find. He called it "The Great American GPS Stash Hunt" and its one rule was, "Take some stuff; leave some stuff."

Within three days, two readers had found Ulmer's bucket using personal GPS devices, and more readers had begun to hide boxes and post coordinates online. By September 2000, there were 75 caches across the country. Now there are 2 million around the world. One hundred seventeen thousand of those are in California and over 300 are within a 5 mile radius of our own 90012.

Today, Geocaching.com is the hub of all things geocache and the place to find the coordinates of caches around the world. Geocachers can use the gps on their smart phones and download an app that identifies the caches closest to them at any given time. The app provides maps, comments from fellow finders and clues. Even though the coordinates lead you to the cache's location, the real trick is is finding the camoed pillbox hanging in a nearby tree or knowing which sprinkler head is actually a hidden geocache filled with booty.

Los Angeles has become a world hotspot for geocaching, partly because of our year-round mild climate, partially because of our tech savvy population and partially because of our varied and intriguing terrain. "Whatever geocaching experience you're looking for, you can find it in L.A.," claimed real estate broker and geocacher Andy Perkins in a phone interview. "On the same day, you can be digging for boxes at the beach, grab easy urban caches through the city, then head up to the mountains or out to the desert."

Jena Ardell

Tina Fey and Steve Martin at Live Talks Los Angeles in 2011

Habte-Gabr produces Live Talk Los Angeles, a series of events that pair interesting names -- often of the literary world -- for sit-down interviews in front of hundreds of people. His first event featured acclaimed novelist Jane Smiley interviewing Habte-Gabr's friend, a columnist and guy who "writes booger jokes," Dave Barry. He's since had Christopher and Anne Rice, Harry Belafonte and Tim Robbins and, perhaps his biggest attention-grabber, Tina Fey and Steve Martin. (The also-successful Live Talks Business Forums have included Whole Foods' John Mackey with Mandalay Entertainment's Peter Guber and Chris Anderson, then Wired's editor-in-chief).

LTLA turns three today, so in honor of that, Habte-Gabr and the L.A. Weekly had a conversation of our own -- albeit a more intimate one at a Larchmont-area coffee shop. We recorded some bits of it to share with you as well.

Valley Girl is screening...at LACMA?

5. 50 Shades of Convention
Ten years might seem like a lifetime for anyone to be involved in any lifestyle, much less one involving whips, chains and the occasional golden shower, but the 10th annual DomCon L.A. proves that BDSM is still as much fun as ever. Mistress Cyan, a Pro Domme since 1996, has lent her considerable acumen to producing the convention all this time, in the process crafting an exhaustive event that unveils the leather, fetish and D/s subcultures to a larger audience, including both seasoned professionals and those just starting out. Expect Latex and Pro Domme Socials, 10,000 square feet of exhibitor space, a fetish ball, the International Mr. & Ms. Olympus Leather Contest, the DomCon Pet Awards and more -- all happening over three sprawling days of adventure, surprise and a ghastly welt or two. Los Angeles Hilton Hotel LAX, 5711 W. Century Blvd., Westchester; Fri., May 10 -Sun., May 12, 11 a.m., $25 & $115. (310) 410-4000, domconla.com. --David Cotner

Photo courtesy of the artist

Work by Sean Starwars is up at Coagula Curatorial this week in celebration of International Star Wars Day.

Tired of frequenting the same routine haunts for entertainment? Suffer no longer with these fantastically quirky events, from Kathy Griffin's outspoken stand up at a benefit concert featuring Ozzy Osbourne to a festival where you can witness the awesomeness of an arcade game strapped to a human's back. Kiss that forgettable night out goodbye.

5. Escape From the D-List
Kathy Griffin's gays gasped last month when they found out that Bravo had canceled her late-night talk show, Kathy -- the TMI funny lady has been a fixture on the network since Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, which ran for six seasons. But fear not, fans. Though you'll be hard-pressed to find another talk-show host who'll allow a guest to motorboat her breasts, Griffin -- to quote her many stand-up specials -- has "balls of steel," and "she'll cut a bitch." Word has it Griffin and her BFF, silver fox Anderson Cooper, recently shot a test pilot for a show for CNN. And on May 18, she'll be emceeing An Evening With Women, a benefit for the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, produced by rocker Linda Perry and featuring performances by Ozzy Osbourne, Natasha Bedingfield and Sia. In the meantime, make sure to catch tonight's performance. Part of Griffin's current stand-up tour, it undoubtedly will feature the fearless redhead revisiting her favorite topics: The Real Housewives franchise, celebrity screwups and her boozing mom. Dolby Theatre, 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Hlywd.; Sat., May 4, 8 p.m.; $50-$110. (323) 308-6300, dolbytheatre.com. -- Siran Babayan

Courtesy of Jemima Wyman

Artist Jemima Wyman's Black Bloc Egypt Duo

For those constantly churning minds looking for inspirational artists and events, this week proves a treasure trove of creative happenings. From a pop-up Etsy shop to a wacky parade to a musician playing an instrument her husband built, these offbeat events prove that if there's any place to let your imagination roam free it's L.A.

5. Half-Pipe, With a Twist
In 1984, two Montreal street performers took their popular combination of performance and acrobatics onto a global stage, and so began Cirque du Soleil's conquest of the world. Two decades later, Cirque du Soleil alums launched a new generation of nouveau circus performers under the title Seven Fingers or Les 7 Doigts du Main. That ensemble has in turn spawned Traces, a septet of multitalented performers who whiz through thrillingly choreographed episodes that weave acrobatics with activities like skateboarding, basketball and other sports, with a soundtrack by Radiohead, VAST and Blackalicious. Traces arrives with glowing reviews from Montreal and New York; Time listed it as one of the year's top 10 plays and musicals. The name Les 7 Doigts du Main is a play on a French idiom that references separate things that are so closely knit they work as one. There may be no comparable English idiom, but given the rave reviews the troupe garners, nothing appears to get lost in translation. Catch a video preview at tracesusa.com/sights/videos. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Music Center, 135 N. Grand Ave., dwntwn.; Fri.-Sat., April 26-27, 7:30 p.m., Sun., April 28, 2 p.m.; $25-$70. musiccenter.org. -- Ann Haskins

Gary Leonard

CicLAvia

In an effort to make the biggest cycling event in L.A. even more badass, the organizers of CicLAvia this year have extended the route to an unprecedented distance. Taking place tomorrow, April 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., CicLAvia will now stretch from downtown to Venice Beach. That means 15 miles free of cars for everyone from adults to kids to roam on their bikes.

It might sound like a nightmare to drivers or an impossible feat for a city, but the new route actually came up due to Mayor Villaraigosa's full support. CicLAvia executive director Aaron Paley recalls that around November 2012 the mayor gave the organization the go-ahead to execute the longer route. Paley initially thought it would prove too big of a task for LAPD and the city but once CicLAvia got the okay, plans began to unfold.

The biggest challenge was just making the event happen in such a short amount of time. The organization worked on its first route, in 2010, for two years and planned about 12 months in advanced before the next route. The "very sudden" decision to undertake this new route meant putting extra effort not only into organization but convincing people and businesses. Yet Paley counts the reactions as mostly positive.

Markus Alias

Burlesque meets science fiction in Flying Saucers Over Burlesque!

It's good to step back from the present-day and look back on the city's -- or your own -- history once a while and this week lets you do just that with events ranging from bizarre to nostalgic.

Check out a mid-career retrospective from artist Gary Baseman, an Esoutoric program exploring Tom Waits' haunts in L.A. and even a spoof of the 1936 anti-weed movie Reefer Madness.

5. Stories From His Life
It's rare that an artist reaches the heights in such disparate worlds as gritty independent comics and British psychedelic music, but Oxnard-born cartoonist Gilbert "Beto" Hernandez has for more than 30 years taken his experiences from life and punk rock and distilled them into an ever-evolving universe that readers ignore at their peril. The co-creator of the nigh-unto-perennial Love & Rockets comic book tonight presents his memoir ,Marble Season (Drawn and Quarterly) -- and, as a special bonus, will present the slideshow "From Funnybooks to Graphic Novels," which shines a light on the childhood comic books that fueled his growing confidence and vision. The main character Huey, based on the artist, is the middle child in an extended family making its way in the SoCal suburbs of the '60s. Illustrator Howard Chaykin once observed, "What's the Golden Age of comics? Twelve!" -- and Hernandez is no stranger to the truth of this particular quip, his adolescence shot through with an unfolding imagination that moves readers the world over, far from the strawberry fields of beautiful downtown Oxnard. Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Feliz; Wed., April 24, 7:30 p.m.; free, book is $21.95. (323) 660-1175, skylightbooks.com. -- David Cotner

Kirk Pedersen

Kirk Pedersen's Tool District Wall, China, 2008, is part of Month of Photography Los Angeles

See also:
*Our Calendar Section, Listing More Great Things to Do in L.A.
*5 Artsy Things to Do in L.A. This Week

5. See What Develops
If it's April, it's the Month of Photography Los Angeles. MOPLA has fast become a highlight of the annual art calendar, combining the concentration of a fair with the sprawl of the city, and involving both lengthy and one-night exhibitions at proper galleries and intriguing pop-ups all over the geographical and stylistic map. One of the most anticipated is the weeklong pop-up presenting Kirk Pedersen: Urban Asia and Susan Swihart: Passing/Outdoors With Jamie Burris. Swihart's color-rich, surrealistic chronicling of a performance work by Burris combines interpretive shooting with documentary intention; Pedersen's takes up the age-old tradition of the wandering street photographer but gives it a decidedly modern twist by examining the visually overwhelming urban environment. (Stalking the world's walls also inspired Pedersen's love of street art and his founding of the acclaimed street- and photo-centric Zero+ Publishing.) The Asian metropolises explored through Pedersen's lens are not the only cities in the world blanketed in thick layers of advertising, commercial signage and expressively aging architecture; but for western audiences, the foreignness of language and cultural vernacular adds to the wonderment -- and the satisfaction of ferreting out the familiar. MOPLA Pop-Up Gallery, 725 S. Los Angeles St., dwntwn.; Sat., April 13, 6-9 p.m.; runs through April 19; free. mopla.org/programs. -- Shana Nys Dambrot

Photo courtesy of Kevin Vast

Roof Piece in the Trisha Brown Retrospective

Fans of a good laugh, Tom Sizemore and the realm of the fantastic need not break their wallets this week. Check out these free offerings that make even the dullest weekday interesting, from the folks in our calendar section.

5. Three Men and a Giant Robot
Giant Robot's GR2 Gallery is a beloved staple of avant-garde cartoon culture in L.A., combining art, publications and events into a sort of vortex where retro-futuristic, plastic and nostalgic, Asian-influenced and expressively fine-art smart sets of visual culture meet and mesh. Its latest exhibition is "Facial Recognition," in which three artists -- James Kochalka, Matt Furie and Mark Todd -- join forces to show off their achievements in painting, illustration, indie publishing and the expanding universe of alt-comics. Matt Furie makes graphically crisp, chromatically vibrating images that feature original yet familiar-seeming characters and creatures in hilari-ous and vaguely threatening congress. Kochalka is the cartoonist laureate (yes, that is a real thing) of his home state of Vermont, and his comic book art and sometime rock musicianship are known for their cheeky melding of puckish humor and whimsically real-istic style. Todd is perhaps the most overt in referencing classic comic lore in his contemporary illustration, even as he breaks down the visual components into a deconstructed homage. Each man also will show new and classic selections of their comics, chaps and editions -- a cross-platform formula that's something of a Giant Robot specialty. GR2, 2062 Sawtelle Blvd., W.L.A.; Sat., April 6, 6:30-10 p.m.; runs through April 24; Wed.-Fri., noon-6 p.m.; Sat., noon-8 p.m.; Sun., noon-7 p.m.; free. (310) 445-9276, gr2.net. -- Shana Nys Dambrot

YouTube/HarajukuMonae

A performance at Burn Club

See also:
*5 Artsy Things to Do in L.A. This Week
*10 Best L.A. Art Galleries For Partying

The L.A. fire artist known as Tedward saw police lights flashing out of the corner of his eye just before filling his mouth with fuel. Police cruise Culver City Park after dark sometimes and flash their lights to make their presence known, so he didn't think much of it. But then he heard voices warning him not to move. He turned to see two cops with guns drawn — rookies whose superiors had neglected to tell them to expect fire on the park's basketball courts.

Tedward had a full mouth, fuel in one hand and a torch in the other. He couldn't speak, so he stood staring for a drawn-out moment. Bystanders tried to explain, but the cops didn't understand. So Tedward made an executive decision: He turned around and breathed out a rush of flames.

"Do it again!" one rookie exclaimed.

When Tedward tells this story, he's quick to point out it happened a long time ago and that it's not indicative of a strained relationship between Burn Club, the group he started in 2004 for fire practice, and Culver City law enforcement. They're on good terms, actually, and Tedward meets with L.A. fire marshals routinely.