Local son Dan Finnerty and his Dan Band have become a celebrated comedy band, with their dude-ish covers of female power ballads (like “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in the movie Old School and “Fame” in The Hangover) keeping crowds laughing around the world. Well done, Dan.

I’m sure you’d love to go see this show. It will be fun.

If you want to win a pair of tickets, leave a comment telling me what song YOU’D like to see Dan & his men cover. For me, I’d like to see him do “Cornflake Girl” by Tori Amos or Sarah McLachlan’s “Silence.” That would be dope.

Info on the show, at Club Nokia, is here.

Scion, the Toyota automobile brand based in Torrance, aims its vehicles at hipsters and those who fancy themselves as such. During a recession, I don’t know if hipsters have more money to spend than other demographics, but they love an open bar.

This Saturday evening they’ll find one at Scion Space, the car company’s Culver City gallery where Installation Five, an exhibition of artist self-portraits, opens. It’s the last stop in a cross country tour (in its fifth year) that started in Detroit and traveled to Miami, Phoenix, Minneapolis, New York, San Jose, Philadelphia and Portland, Oregon before rolling into Los Angeles this weekend.

The roster of artists, most of them drawn from the design and illustration world, includes many who are from or based in Los Angeles. (List after jump.)

The self-portraits will be auctioned, at the gallery as well as online (at Artnet.com,) beginning September 12th to benefit Creative Capitol, a non-profit arts philanthropy started in 1999 that funds  “artists pursuing adventurous and imaginative work in the performing and visual arts, film/video, innovative literature, and emerging fields,” according to its website. Read the rest of this entry →

I admit, before visiting Madame Tussaud’s this past Monday, I’d never heard of the “uncanny valley,” but my friend Colin explained that’s exactly why the place is so damned creepy. Tussaud’s, which insists upon being called an “attraction” rather than a “wax museum,” is in fact, an attraction filled with wax figures. (Some might call that a “wax museum,” but hey.) I had been to Tussaud’s in London about a thousand years ago as a teenager on a family trip, but I didn’t know they’d opened a Hollywood branch until Goldstar was offering “free” (with a $6 service charge) tickets. I bit. I’m always up for free kitsch. And it was well worth the price of admission. (Note, Goldstar’s tickets, as of today, are $9-12.50.)

We took the red line from the very canny San Fernando Valley. Tussaud’s is right next to Grauman’s Theater and, as such, is focused on red carpet wax folk. Joan Rivers greets you at the entrance and everyone from James Dean to Justin Timberlake is hanging around inside. The place is undeniably spooky in a bright lights/big city kind of way. If you’ve seen enough horror movies, the effect is, needless to say, even worse. Tussaud’s figures are just lifelike enough to make you want to shy away from them. There weren’t a lot of visitors when we were there and that made it seem more than a little like Elton John was going to come to life and start chasing us around trying to choke us with a boa.

Read the rest of this entry →

Summer Fun Time Society (SFTS), a group who has been “slappin’ the shit out of boredom since oh eight,” is putting on fantastic event tomorrow night called ROBOsoup 3.1-Technology & The Future at the Downtown Independent. This is the third installment of their “Art Soup” series which brings creatives together into a forum “in which they can gain exposure in an art arena that isn’t bound by the bureaucracy of the L.A. art scene.”

What will you get with your $5 admission to this happening? Well, there will be screenings of Bronx Executioner, a 1989 cyborg flick, and Metropolis, the classic 1927 silent film starring its iconic robot, Maria, in the gorgeous remodeled theater, 8-bit music, a DJ party on roof, planetariums, 3-D photography, a photo booth and more!

Click through for more robotic details

I didn’t really give these billboards much notice – I’m pretty jaded to advertising – so it took a complaint by my friend Rodleen’s on Facebook to grab my attention.

To promote the newest season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” HBO has posted numerous billboards around LA showing the victim of suicide by hanging above the show’s star, Larry David, asking via text, “Is it me?”

It’s humor befitting of the show. But is it appropriate to post all over the city?

Rodleen’s take: “I understand humor can be dark, but a poster depicting suicide is truly brutal to the heart.  It has the potential to drive someone to the edge.”

While I haven’t heard much about these billboards, today in the LA Times Steve Lopez writes about how a billboard depicting a vagina for an Absolut vodka ad in Los Angeles remains up, while another one critical of Mercury Insurance, purchased by a consumer watchdog group, was removed after a complaint by Mercury. Read the rest of this entry →

I’ve beaten the dead horse about the things you can find when you give yourself the chance to look at the city out from behind a windshield. One of my passions is the “streetfiti” I discover either on my bike or my feet — most of it rather happenstance, such as this amazing one I found today. I’ve passed the bus stop on the west side of La Brea at Wilshire hundreds of times, but it was only on this morning’s bike commute that I happened to be stopped behind enough cars at the red light to be immediately adjacent to it. And looked down.

(click for the bigger picture)

Unlike most of the concrete hand-scrawlings I find that feature a name and maybe a year, this one provides both and in greater detail: it’s signed “G.I. Shoes” (or at least “Shoes” is my best guess) and posts a definitive date of “5-12-44.” But in conjunction with the date and name, it also offers some rare and compelling (if misspelled) biographical information “Returned from Itay” (Italy is my guess). Given the date and the “G.I.” it all points to the writer being a soldier who arrived back in Los Angeles after serving his country during World War II and felt compelled to immortalize his homecoming in some fresh concrete. Sixty-five years later, it’s still there.

Where was this taken? This was taken here.

Previous snapshots:
Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook • Inter Here • Stunflower •
Dueling Coyotes • Restoration Era • The Domain Of The Green Lynx •
Why Is This Alligator Lizard Smiling? • Bearing Witness •
Right Thing • Street Art Drive-Bys •

Aw, free days at the museum are meant for pictures like these.

The recession has created at least two things: 1) a lot of people with idle time and no money; and 2)  a cry for art to adequately reflect our discontent, anger, and haplessness.  Ok, the second one is not readily apparent, or maybe it’s not true (it should be true); nonetheless, during the first weekend in October, 22 museums will swing open their doors and let the idle masses stampede their way into their halls, a la the early days of the White House, and contemplate their existence or whatever else pops into one’s head when staring at purple walls.  Museums participating in “Museums Free for All” on October 2 and 3 will offer free general admission to the mostly unemployed public on one or both days (you’ll still have to pay for any special ticketed exhibits).  Participating museums include the California Science Center, the Grammy Museum, MOCA, and the Natural History Museum.  (Note also that the Getty is “participating” on both days, but message to Los Angeles: the Getty is free all the time.)

The full list is here.  Stampede away.

“BB & The Bear” photo courtesy moeberg via the Metblogs flickr pool.

I can’t even begin to tell you how stoked I am for this show. I keep missing their Campout festivals in Pioneertown, so a chance to see both Cracker & CVB in one night is some level beyond getting your chocolate in my peanut butter & my peanut butter in your chocolate. Also, one of my cats’ names is Cracker, which is nice.

Wanna go? Summarize your fave Cracker or Camper Van Beethoven song in a haiku. We’ll pick a few winners to go enjoy the show.

I’ll go first:

Where the hell is Bill / Looked everywhere, but he’s got / Better shit to do

Ta-dah! Info & tickets can be had here.

LA County Fair

It’s that time of year again. The 2009 LA County Fair took advantage of the Labor Day weekend to open its doors. Opening Day is always exciting because you get to see everything so fresh. The fair will run until October 4th, so you have plenty of time to pick the best day to visit.

The Fair is offering $1 admission Sept. 5 – 7 between 10am and 1pm.  That means, tomorrow is your last chance to take advantage of this deal. Throughout the park, there are other cost-saving deals for the Labor Day Weekend, such as $1 fountain drinks between 1pm and 4pm and $1 carnival rides between 4pm and 7pm.

This year, we spent a lot less time eating and drinking and more time walking the fairgrounds. I’ve only missed 3 years since 1984, and used to go up to 3 times a week in college. This was the first time I had realized that there is an NHRA museum and a train museum run by the LA chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society on site. Be sure to check them out. The NHRA museum has  $1 entrance and with so much to look at, including the original Batmobile from the 1966 Batman TV show, it’s well worth it.

Also, worth catching is the Jursassic Planet exhibit (I have video in my Flickr photos linked below). It’s educational and just plain cool watching the dinosaurs move. If you have young ones, they may want to stay outside the hall. My three year old did not enjoy being in there and most little kids did a lot of screaming. As always, the new baby animals are a treat as are all the wonderful insects and reptiles on display in three different sections of the fairgrounds this year. The Home & Garden theme this year is Gateway to Africa and even I have to admit to being impressed. This is the first year in a long, long time that the theme was unified and tight, from the greenhouse all the way to the top of the hill.

So, wear some comfy shoes, get some sunscreen and have fun at the Fair. If you want to live vicariously for the moment, you can visit my flickr set.

LA Country Fair
1101 W. McKinley Ave.,
Pomona, CA 91768

That would be Venice, CA (to my hidden disappointment)…but I’m not disappointed we’ll all be meeting up over demitasse cups at Intelligentsia Coffee Bar in that boho little seaside town. Because Intelligentsia has the best espresso I’ve enjoyed since I was…well, since I was in Venice, Italy.

Come on out & say hi at 4pm this afternoon! Bonner has hooked us up with the intelligentsia of Intelligentsia, who will be firing up the legendary 1972 La Marzocco machine just for us.

Intelligentsia Coffee Bar of Venice, CA, aka Intellivenice: website | map

Jesus may have walked on water, but, during the next few days, you can walk — or ride — over it. First, the Marina Del Rey Water Bus ends its summer run on Labor Day, September 7.  I took the Bus across the Marina Harbor on July 4th, with an actual destination, but it’s a total and picturesque blast just to get on it and buzz around the Harbor.  We saw and waved (local hipsters, if such people exist in the Marina, flash the peace sign.  horizontal like.  from outside in) at a bunch of people partying on their docked boats.  We even saw seals basking on the docks!  And the Water Bus only costs a buck each way!  You can get on and off at a bunch of stops (see website).  In fact, you could even take the Water Bus on Sunday afternoon, and then walk down Abbott Kinney (about a mile) and meet up with the L.A. Metbloggers and friends for coffee at Intelligentsia! I may do just that.  So forget those pricey, snooty cruise boats that go to Catalina or into the Bay or whatever where you have to get dressed up and drink Chardonnay and listen to lite jazz.  The Water Bus is where it’s at baby!
Click for more wet fun

SEIU-ULTCW’s “Healthy Works Fair + Film + Action” event is taking place Labor Day (9/7) with the centerpiece of the day being marathon screenings of “SICKO.”

If you missed this 2007 documentary by Michael Moore, you should absolutely catch it. Extremely timely and relevant with the raging debates over Healthcare Reform, the film investigates the American health care system, focusing on its health insurance and pharmaceutical industry. It also compares the for-profit, non-universal U.S. system with the non-profit universal health care systems of Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Cuba. After each movie screening, a panel discussion is scheduled with a variety of influential and engaged folks including Laphonza Butler, Congresswoman Judy Chu, Dr. Paul Song, Jose Gonzales, Dr. Toni Lews, Jack Dannibale, Assemblymember Mike Eng, Dr. Rishi Manchanda, Councilwoman Jaque Robinson, Dr. Rishi Manchanda, and more.

Aside from the movie, you can also check out free health screenings/care, rooftop DJs, free stuff, games, and other activities… in an air conditioned venue!

As Congress heads back to DC on Tuesday to continue engaging in a debate on Healthcare Reform that has been erupting fires among citizens all across the country, you owe it to yourself to get informed. If you’re confused about the issues — and let’s face it — there is a lot of information and MISinformation out there, why not take this opportunity to get active in communicating with our leaders before they go?

SEIU-ULTCW’s “Healthy Works Fair + Film + Action” event
Sept. 07.09. 10AM – 6PM
@ Downtown Independent Theater
251 S. Main Street, Los Angeles, California 90012

SICKO screens at 10AM, 12:30PM, and 3:00PM

What you are looking at above is a piece by Los Angeles graffiti artist Saber. But it’s not just any piece, it’s a massive an insanely famous piece. In fact, it holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for being the largest “wild style” piece in the world. Painted in 1997, it took 35 nights and over 125 gallons of latex paint to create. It’s visible on Google Maps and in the world of well know graffiti pieces this is always one of the first mentioned. And now it’s gone.

The piece used to be located on a stretch of the LA Rive in the southeast corner of downtown, arguably a boring, plain, even ugly and run down part of the city. The piece was almost impossible to see without actually climbing into the river bed (I know, I went there specifically to see it a few years ago) and was like a bright, colorful hidden treasure in a bleak and gray part of town. And suddenly for unexplained reasons someone in the city felt it was a justifiable expense (in this economy!) to pay city workers to destroy it. As shocking as this is, it’s not the first time world renowned public works of art in LA have been destroyed with no explanation. You see, this is why we can’t have anything nice.

Not to be a fashionably-late party pooper, but I don’t get the ongoing cinematic kerfuffle concerning LACMA’s weekend film series. LACMA canned their program due to a shrinking audience, and then thousands of individuals, including director Martin Scorcese, expressed dismay at the decision by the County-run museum to slight its hometown’s heritage. I understand that argument on a symbolic level, and I’m glad the museum plans to relaunch a revived series, but even without LACMA, Los Angeles would still have a plethora of venues to see screen gems, rarities and oddities. Which may partly account for some of that shrinking audience.

Some of my favorite venues include the UCLA Film & Television Archive, the Silent Movie Theatre, the New Beverly Cinema and the American Cinematheque (which is screening the any-self-respecting-Angeleno-and-cinema-lover-must-see Los Angeles Plays Itself this weekend at the Aero Theatre, with director Thom Anderson in person on Sunday). People literally line up around the block to see screenings at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. And let’s not forget the screenings that the American Film Institute, the Academy, the Los Angeles Film Festival and heck, even the Natural History Museum (which is screening Reptilicus this Sunday as the final film in its B-Movies and Bad Science summer series) offer every year.

Images: Title screen of Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003) and a poster (detail) for Repticilus (1961).

Spotted in Little Tokyo:

I guess the store discovered that credit cards, kids, and unaccompanied men spelled t-r-o-u-b-l-e, or, at least, l-e-s-s  p-r-o-f-i-t.