A Scattered Life

It was 158 years ago Friday that the city of Los Angeles (pop. 1,610) was incorporated beneath blue skies and golden sunshine. But when you blow out candles, you get smoke, so it makes sense to mark the anniversary by seeing Franco Rossi’s “Smog.” The 1962 classic follows a stranded Italian lawyer as he discovers L.A. to be beautiful, shallow, indulgent and distracted. Strange how things change, isn’t it? It’s playing at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Hammer Museum ([310] 206-8013)… . Happy birthday today to the righteous Mike Ness of Social Distortion. I hear the O.C. stalwarts may release an album next year. Meantime, Ness will bring his grits-and-gravel sound to the Stagecoach Festival in Indio, where he plays May 1… . Jack & Jill? “Jules et Jim”? No, it’s “Jill & Julia,” a show teaming singer-songwriter Jill Sobule with comedian-actress Julia Sweeney for sly digressions on life, love and the pursuit of happiness. It’s Friday and Saturday at the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center (1125 N. McCadden Place, [323] 860-7393)… . So, back in 1850, L.A. beat San Francisco to the punch by incorporating 11 days earlier. After watching the Dodgers manhandle the Giants on opening day, it doesn’t look like the Bay Area has caught up much. To celebrate, take someone special to Chavez Ravine at least once during the Dodgers’ golden anniversary in L.A.

– Geoff.Boucher

@latimes.com