For a few years in a past life I put my community college journalism degree to use in part getting forty bucks a review as a wide-ranging theater critic for a local weekly paper. My only qualifications for the job were negligible: an even more distant period in which I studied acting and did a handful of plays, coupled to a lifetime’s enthusiasm and love for the stage.

Long back being a civilian theatergoer I just don’t see many shows nowadays. To get me into a seat it’s gotta be something compelling — especially when it comes to musicals, the last major one I saw being “Mamma Mia!” and that’s pretty much why. The genre has just become too much wafer-thin glitz. Sure production values are high and the talent is strong and the entertainment is there, but it all just seems to be less and less about pushing the artform’s boundaries and instead more and more about giving the people what they want.

By its ironically cheery title alone “Parade,”  now playing at the Mark Taper Forum through November 15, might sound like it is, but it is not what the people want. And by that I mean those masses who get excited by news of  “Footloose: The Musical” coming to town.

Because it’s dark — no I mean really. Based on the unconscionable tragedy of Leo Frank, “Parade” promenades  past the audience, taking it on a descent into a particularly evil episode in this country’s history — and it does so with song. And dance.

At all times “Parade” is an inspired and committed production rich with talent whose every aspect is flawlessly executed. But at turns it is chilling, shocking, harrowing, horrifying, and always unrepentant and unapologetic in its telling of such a perfect storm of  injustice.

Given that  several patrons didn’t return to their seats after the intermission, clearly it was repelling to some who were perhaps expecting a far more frivolous and forgettable evening. But for me it is some of the bravest and most riveting and important theater I have ever had the privilege to see.

The annual Pumpkin Festival at Cal Poly Pomona opened today. I grew up going to the pumpkin patch at Cal Poly, but haven’t been there since ’97. Things have changed in the past 12 years and only for the better.

The festival has stuff for kids, such as face-painting and pony rides. Besides, you can’t beat $5 pumpkins. Granted, it was a bit hot today and they could have used more shaded areas, but I’m sure funnel cakes, roasted corn and $1 bottles of ice cold water will make up for that.

You can also hit up the Kellogg Farm Store for larger ($7) or smaller ($3) pumpkins. Make sure you bring a wagon or wheelbarrow. It’s a hike back to the parking lot. You can see more photos here.

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There is also an Insect Fair going on at the Student Center (see photos).  So be sure to check that out too. Entrance to the Insect Fair is $6 adults, $4 students and children 3-12 years, 2 and under are free.

Parking: FREE
Admission to Pumpkin Festival: FREE
Pumpkins from the patch: $5 each ( beach ball size) or 5/$20
Insect Fair: $6 adults; $4 students and children 3-12 years; 2 and under are free!
Petting Zoo $1/person, $.50 for cup of food for the critters

Bob Hope Patriotic Hall is one of those odd, old downtown buildings south of the 10 Freeway that seem to belong to an era that never quite happened. It ‘s one of a scattering of big  structures, pioneers of some long ago developmental lunge preempted in the `50s by the I-10′s construction. Its ornate top story, with pitched roof and classical details, surmounts an overdecorated, underutilized 10-floor stub of 1926 masonry. It has a great arched lobby, like something our of a Venetian palace.  Its grabber detail, though, is its north-facing outside mural of  the “Spirit of 1776″– you know:  the drummer, the fifer and the other Revolutionary War guy, all in a perpetual stalled march up Figueroa Street toward Staples Center.

A few weeks ago, Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina announced a $45 million renovation of this memorial to the nearly-extinct doughboy veterans of WW I. (God bless them all–my own late father-in-law included.) I’d hoped her plans would include some suggestions for more and better use of this handsome but obsolete facility, but not so…. Read the rest of this entry →

I’m in Northern Ireland for work reasons and spent last weekend driving up the Causeway Coastal Route. In a little village called Carnlough, I saw this sign and it made me laugh. I was tempted to make an appointment so I could feel closer to home.

Motörhead rocked my ass off. As they’ve done for the last 34 years, Motörhead hit the road with one thing in mind: Everything Louder Than Everything Else. Well done, boys.

Motörhead headlined Club Nokia at LA Live last Friday night in front of a packed house. Nashville Pussy and the Reverend Horton Heat opened the show and started to build the energy in the room, but when Motörhead took the stage the crowd exploded.

LA MetBlogs gave away tickets to the show, and invited the ticket winners to write about their experiences. Their accounts and more photos after the break.

Click the link for more…

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Shepard Fairey has released a statement and updated his filing in his fair use case with the AP. He writes:

“Throughout the case, there has been a question as to which Mannie Garcia photo I used as a reference to design the HOPE image. The AP claimed it was one photo, and I claimed it was another.

The new filings state for the record that the AP is correct about which photo I used as a reference and that I was mistaken. While I initially believed that the photo I referenced was a different one, I discovered early on in the case that I was wrong.

In an attempt to conceal my mistake I submitted false images and deleted other images. I sincerely apologize for my lapse in judgment and I take full responsibility for my actions which were mine alone. I am taking every step to correct the information and I regret I did not come forward sooner.

I am very sorry to have hurt and disappointed colleagues, friends, and family who have supported me in this difficult case and trying time in my life.”

There is more to the statement which he has posted on his site.

It’s no secret that Shepard is a personal friend of mine and I’ve been very vocal about my support him and this case. My support has not been based on the fact that we are friends, but because I really do believe in the principals and importance of fair use, and feel this issue strikes at the heart of it. I think it’s in the financial interest of the AP to limit fair use, and I think it’s in the best interest of creatives, both professional and amateur alike, for fair use to upheld. I say that as a career publisher who has worked with and for musicians, visual artists, photographers and writers for the last 16 years. This statement by Shepard is obviously shocking and disappointing, but what will be more disappointing is if this takes focus away from the real issues the case brings up. I’ve always felt that the question of which photo was used was a footnote and I fear this now threatens to overshadow the much larger, and much more important discussion.

Thursday night of last week saw the return of Lucent Dossier to its home town for a night of music and play at the El Rey Theatre called Ravenous Rouge.  The reverently restored venue was a perfect backdrop for the unique brand of theatrical whimsy that has made Lucent Dossier beloved all over the world.

I attended the event solo, entering very close to the moment the doors opened to the public. Unlike my forays into Lucent Dossier’s world in the past, I was an observer rather than a participant. I selected an unmolested little corner of the bar to sip on my wine and witness what unfolded before me with a sense of awe.

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Only two weeks ago the long planned Venice Skatepark finally opened. It’s been getting amazing reviews from locals and every time I’ve walked past it’s been packed with skaters of all ages and passers by of even more all ages. But there’s already trouble in paradise, Yo Venice! reports that the LAPD has informed the Venice Surf and Skate Association (who built the park) that they can no longer provide security when the park is closed, which has instantly resulted in the homeless population of the surrounding area moving into the park. The face value problems this poses are obvious, but on a larger scale this is the kind of thing that could cause the city to decide the park is more trouble than it’s worth a pull the plug on it. Yo Venice! explains how you can help. The park is really amazing and it would be a shame to lose it so quickly due to a few short sighted decisions. Image via Yo Venice!

Oh we love our fast cars here in LA.  This near pristine Cobra 427 was spotted at Kaiser Pasadena during the lunch hour today.  Nice to see the old car being used, and on the streets no less instead of restricted to the odd track event or horrors…trailered to car shows.

The Cobra 427 was Carrol Shelby’s effort to get an A/C Cobra homologated for racing and have something that could beat the Corvette of the era. (Homologation is the process of producing enough cars for road use so they can be used as a “stock” road car for track use).   Though he missed getting homologation completed in time for the 1965 racing season, it was eventually was and became a terror of the race tracks even into the 1970′s by private racing teams.

A couple of more pics after the jump. Read the rest of this entry →

It’s not like Bill Watterson coming out of the woodwork, but it’s somewhat close:  first uncelebrated, now celebrated  Robert Crumb is making a rare public appearance at UCLA’s Royce Hall on October 29.  He’ll be here to discuss his life’s work, up to and including his latest endeavor, The Book of Genesis.  This foray into John Milton territory recently was hailed as an “honest, powerful violent rendering of the Bible’s first book” by the Los Angeles Times this past Sunday.  Francoise Mouly will lead the discussion.  (Francoise Mouly is the former cartoon editor and current art director at The New Yorker, introduced readers to an excerpt of The Book of Genesis earlier this summer in the magazine, and, incidentally, is married to Maus author Art Spiegelman) (I mention this only because you can now rest assured that this appearance won’t be one of those Charlie Rose type ordeals in which the moderator has no relevant background or knowledge about the interview subject’s expertise and so verbally flails about during the interview that he appears, at best, like a sycophant and, at worst like a fanboy).  Tickets are $18 for UCLA students; for us out-of-school-ers, the cultural tuition fee is hiked up to somewhere between $36 to $60, depending on how close you need to get to the chalkboard.

For those who miss the talk, you don’t have to miss the art:  UCLA will host a related exhibit in the Hammer Museum.  “The Bible Illuminated: R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis” will be on view from October 24 to February 7.  For future reference, Thursdays are free!

I have fond memories of the boxy Volvo’s I used to own.  And probably less fond ones of seeing the Playboy sticker outlines on truck mudflaps.  Somehow I wouldn’t have thought to combine the two.

I guess it’s the neighborhood.  I am not sure whether the driver ahead of me on La Cienega was heading to the vegan Real Food Daily restaurant, or perhaps to the Live Nude Girls Girls Girls strip club, since they are right across the street from each other.

TMZ, I love you.  I never thought I’d say that.  But that was my reaction after being pointed by the Los Angeles Times Local section online to these photos at TMZ.com purportedly catching First Lady Maria Shriver Schwarzenegger in the act.  No, not an adulterous sex romp, but rather, two cell phone-in-hand chatting sessions while driving, at least one of which reportedly takes place in Los Angeles.  Yeah, it was her husband Arnold who signed  the law that Maria clearly appears to be breaking.

I can’t wait for Maria’s top five excuses:

5.  I was stopped at a red light.
4.  I was stopped in traffic.
3.  The pics are Photoshop phonies.
2.  It wasn’t me, it was Mariel Hemingway (top photo).
1.  It wasn’t me, it was Amy Irving (bottom photo).

This once, I hope a TMZ celebrity story makes front page news and stays there.  Maybe it will save some lives.

Yes, I know it’s raining and that means a stay-at-home night for some number of residents who harbor an overwhelming fear of precipitation. For those of you among the more adventurous, however, this is a great literary night. Michael Chabon, author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, and more recently of Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son,  is giving a talk at the Central Library, and noir genius James Ellroy is presenting and signing his new novel, Blood’s a Rover, at Skylight. If that just whets your literary appetite, there’s more wordy goodness on Thursday when Wallace Shawn, who cowrote My Dinner with Andre and has just authored Essays, a book which promises to be more exciting than its title, talks with Bruce Wagner at Hammer and Jane Smiley signs her latest, her first novel for young readers, The Georges and the Jewels, at Borders Northridge. I admit I’m a first line fetishist, and Smiley’s novel satisfies. It begins like this, “Sometimes when you fall off your horse, you just don’t want to get right back on.” Amen, Jane.

With the threat of a heavy rains putting STROMWARTCH ’09 back in full effect and  the U.S. Geological Survey coming out with an interactive neighborhood mudslide risk map for the communities that reside along the base of the San Gabriels so thoroughly denuded by the Station Fire last month, I reckon it might not be a bad time to go back to a post I made in April as part of LA Metblogs “Songs About Los Angeles” compendium, focusing on Woody Guthrie’s ballad “The New Year’s Flood,” which chronicled the disasterous deluge of January 1, 1934 (also preceded and aided by a wildfire) that sent debris flows through the communities of Tujunga, La Crescenta, Montrose, Glendale, Burbank and more destroying an estimated 600 homes and killing anywhere from 25 to 100 people (or more), depending on the source.

Here’s hoping hard that history doesn’t repeat itself.

As I’ve mentioned previously, 826LA is my favorite non-profit organization. There may not be any profit, but it still takes a lot of money to do all the great work they do. Thus, there are occasional fund-raisers and benefits. 826 benefits are always win-win situations, though, because while they get the money, you get top-notch entertainment for a relative bargain price.

There are a couple of great 826LA benefits happening this week, starting with a very special show tonight at the EchoPlex featuring the spectacularly funny Eddie Izzard! This show was just announced, and as of this writing some tickets are still available for only $20 (plus a reasonable, non-TicketBastard service charge.) Race to get them at TicketWeb HERE. Izzard’s L.A. shows have historically sold out very quickly (with higher ticket prices,) so don’t wait.

On Friday night, M Bar Supper Club in Hollywood is the place to be for “Behind the Smoggy Veil: Tinseltown Tales.” This evening of comedy features (among others) Taylor Negron, and is hosted by my old friend, the very funny Sarah Taylor. Given the title, I’m going to guess it will be an evening of funny stories about life in Hollywood. This promises to be a great show as well, so call the number at the link above and make a table reservation now.

One week. Two benefits for 826LA. Two evenings full of laughter. You’re welcome.