The Month of Photography – Los Angeles is in full swing and there are a ton of cool events and openings coming up. These are a few that caught my eye. Especially the LA Times Pop-Up Gallery happening tonight. Check out the full list of events for more info on what’s happening for the second half of the month.

April 14th, 2011

Los Angeles Times Photo: Pop-Up Gallery at Downtown Art Walk

Where: Los Angeles Times, 145 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
When: 6pm-10pm
Cost: Free

In association with MOPLA, Los Angeles Times Photo and Video is presenting a special, one-night-only pop-up gallery during Downtown Art Walk from 6pm-10pm. The exhibit will celebrate the power and explore the craft of visual storytelling through a curated collection of recent work from Times photojournalists. The multimedia-savvy crew will also give a nod to its history with a chronological array of images, spanning from the present back through the decades. Join Los Angeles Times’ award-winning staff for this ephemeral event and block party, outside The Times iconic building on the corner of 2nd & Spring. Sounds by Big Sonic Heaven’s Darren Revell. Refreshments by 213 Nightlife.

More Info:
http://latimesframeworkparty.eventbrite.com/
http://www.latimes.com/frameworkevent

Pints and Pixels: The Cell Phone Edition

Where: Julia Dean, 755 Seward St, Los Angeles, CA 90038
When: 7pm-10pm
Cost: General $10, Students $5

ASMP Los Angeles and MOPLA present the second annual projection event Pints and Pixels: The Cell Phone Edition. The event showcases projections of cell phone images from competition finalists. A book printed by A&I with the featured photographs will be sold as well and the proceeds will be donated to SnapShop — a photography workshop series for at-risk high school students.

More Info:
http://www.asmpla.org

More events after the jump

Break out your old BMX  and pedal on over to the Hammer for a fun evening of bike culture.  Artist Lisa Anne Auerbach is hosting the bike related fun.  Along with vegan munchies, bicycle portraits and balloon races (honest I didn’t make up the last one) there will be a showing of the classic BMX bike movie from 1986-RAD.

DEETS Thursday April 14, 2011, Hammer Museum 10899 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90024. There will be monitored parking.

Tip o’ the hat to reader Gabriele who saw this and thought of all the bike riders here.

Yesterday’s CicLAvia was mindblowing and mindblowingly well-attended, and to documemmorate it differently than the forward-facing handlebar perspective with which I timelapsed the inaugural CicLAvia last October, I bolted the cam to the seat tube and pointed it out over the rear wheel — the better to look back at the event, both figuratively and literally:

From East Hollywood’s “Bicycle District” to Boyle Heights’ Hollenbeck Park:

And back from Boyle Heights to East Hollywood:

Here are the direct links if the above embeds fail: East Hollywood Out, and Boyle Heights Back.

UPDATED (5:39pm): Lost in the video translation are some of the details that can be found chosen from the mass of higher-resolution stills used to make the timelapse — no, not via the thumbnail farm below (though it slightly bigable), but via this Flickr photoset:

Between GOOD Magazine’s launch party for its LA issue and CicLAvia, there’s a whole lot of community spirit this weekend.  Go on, make your neighborhood a friendly place.

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This may or may not be the biggest thing since Banksy brought an elephant to a Downtown warehouse: starting Saturday, UK street/pop culture/etc artist D*Face will be showing off a “multi-media vault of aPOPcalyptic new works” in a solo exhibit at the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City.  D*Face has quite a portfolio – from the above street art that graced downtown in 2009 to the cover of a Christina Aguilera album to a (solicited) portrait of the pope.  For his “Going Nowhere Fast” exhibit, he’ll showcase new works more or less connected to theme of celebrity and our fascination with it.  Charlie Sheen’s 1 million+ Twitter followers, are you listening?

There also will be an installation entitled “Flutterflies”, in which actual bugs meet spray can caps.  Tying everything together, D*Face told Brand X that they’ll try to resurrect “three celebrities from the grave in a séance before the opening reception.”  Whether or not those specific celebrities are resurrected, I’m guessing there will be a ghost of someone floating around throughout the night.  Maybe the dead bugs will buzz back in to see how their bodies are now being used, kind of like how I imagine the spirits haunt the Body Worlds exhibits.  Anyway, the exhibit runs until April 27, but – and fair warning – the seance seems to be a one-time only deal.

D*Face’s “Going Nowhere Fast” opening night reception, Saturday April 9 from 7:30pm to 10pm at the Corey Helford Gallery, 8522 Washington Boulevard, Culver City. The exhibit runs until April 27.

Photo courtesy Lord Jim via the Blogging LA Flickr pool.

This weekend: a bake sale for Japan, a pillow fight downtown, and Quidditch.  Yeup, Quidditch.

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Queen Skittles queen of the 32nd Doo Dah Parade.

Love a parade but have a nice wide irreverent streak?  Wanna be queen of the Doo Dah Parade (or a dude and make it a Dood Dah Queen again) then you need to head on over to the Pasadena American Legion hall on Saturday.  This is an incredibly fun evening of music and silliness as they go about the serious business of picking out the new Queen for the 34th Doo Dah Parade which will take place 4/30 (more on that to come).  Entry Form and more info can be found on the Doo Dah Web.  They even have a nifty Facebook invite.

Deets.  Admission $5. American Legion Bar 179 North Vinedo St Pasadena, CA   Saturday April 2, 2PM doors open with music and stuff.  4PM Queen hopefuls check in.  5PM the Queen Try outs begin. MAP HERE

Image is courtesy of Julie Klima, aka Queen Skittles and used with her permission.  More of her work can be seen at her Web Site.

If you were a member of the Los Angeles Conservancy like me, you’d already be squaring away seats to screenings of the classic motion pictures to be shown at some of Broadway’s most historic movie palaces during the upcoming 25th-Annual Last Remaining Seats film series between May 25 – June 29. But if you’re not, you’ll just have to sit tight until they become available to the public on April 13.

Here’s hoping there are some tickets left over for you then, because the classics lined up by the conservancy this year is nothing short of gotta-go: Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” (May 25) and Harold Lloyd’s “Safety Last” (June 29) at the Orpheum Theater, “The Music Man” (June 1) and “King Kong” (June 15) at the Los Angeles Theater, “Captain Blood”  (June 8) and “Zoot Suit” (June 22) at the Million Dollar Theater, and “Sunset Boulevard” (June 29) at the Palace Theater.

Why the very idea of seeing some of these masterpieces on the big screens of such sacred houses of movie worship has my inner movie buff shouting OMG!

Advance tickets are $16 each and available now to conservancy members, and $20 each for the general public (beginning April 13). Any remaining tickets will be sold at the door for $20 each on the night of the event starting at 7 p.m.

Get more info here.

This weekend: wine, tomatoes, doing good.  Like every weekend, right?

SATURDAY

• The folks behind Wine Riot tell us they’re under 30, so a typical wine tasting room in Santa Barbara this is not: over 250 different wines will be available for your sipping, slurping, and optional spitting at this not-your-retired-grandfather’s wine festival.  The event also features a pretty spiffy Second Glass Mobile App, which you can use to log your favorite wines throughout the day.  Writing general notes on a napkin you’ll misplace later is so 1997.  $50.  Choose your time: 1 to 5pm or 7pm to 11pm at Santa Monica Place in Santa Monica,
• I had my first real tomato when I was 18? 19?, a very, very sad fact, I know.  Don’t let this happen to your kids: head out to Tapia Brothers’ Farm Stand in Encino to pick up some tomato seedlings as part of the great big heirloom tomato seedling celebration known as Tomatomania!  There will be nearly 300 tomato varieties for your green thumb, the largest of the Tomatomania! sales in the area.  Save those supermarket tomatoes for throwing.  Saturday and Sunday at the Tapia Brothers’ Farm Stand, 5251 Hayvenhurst Ave. in Encino.
• Some people don’t see the great benefits of 3D, others call those people Luddites and tell them to join us in the 21st century.  If you’re in the latter group and want to learn how to try to convert the former group, check out the Echo Park Film Center’s two-day workshop on how to shoot in 3D.  Bolex cameras with 3D lenses will be available for your experimentation.  There’s nothing in here about how to write a good story with great characters, but presumably, you’ve got that covered.  $100 non-members/$80 members.  1 to 5pm Saturday and Sunday at the Echo Park Film Center, 1200 N. Alvarado St. in Echo Park.
• Some of the best movies are children’s movies, because, I think, we grow up, get into complicated messes, and forget that things really can be so simple.  The Redcat International Children’s Film Festival kicks off this weekend, with different themes from now until April 17.  $5 for each screening.  Check the website for exact movies and showtimes.

SUNDAY

• “Crafty women of the world unite” sounds a bit like Lady MacBeth’s rallying cry, but, no, we’re talking about a different kind of crafty: it’s time for the The Third Annual Pink Parlour Festival, featuring crafts and other artwork by women.  About 150 vendors will be on hand to show and sell their works.  $5.  11am to 7pm at the Santa Anita Race Track in Arcadia.
• The “Do Good Bus” is exactly what it sounds like: a bus that transports you to do some good twice a month.  Except this time, it’s more like the “Do Good Bicycle” as the organizers invites bikers to bring their own two wheels and bike out to do some good.  The exact nature of the activity is not disclosed yet, but they will provide a meal.  That’s all you need to know, right?  $20 to cover costs; RSVP required.  Meet at 1pm at a Hollywood location disclosed to you when they confirm your reservation.
• We all can’t be so lucky as to have Henry Louis Gates, Jr. trace our family lineage, so you might as well learn how to do it yourself.  The California African American Museum hosts a workshop led by a Daniel Bartosz, a professional genealogist, that will teach you how to construct your family tree, with a few tips from the professional.  Free.  2pm at the California African American Museum in Exposition Park.

“Mural” by East of West LA via the Blogging LA Flickr pool.

The motley crew of bloggers at the 2008 Picnic.

Come rain, quake or fallout the picnic will go forward Saturday at Farnsworth Park in Altadena.  This will be something like the 5th Bloggers Picnic since we started this in 2007.  Its open to all bloggers, blog readers, fans and stalkers who would like to attend.  We’ve even had bloggers from the LA area appear at prior events so it truly is open to everyone.

Timothy Rutt of the Altadena Blog took over organizing a few years ago.  I don’t have a complete list of everyone that will be there, but I can tell you that West Coast Grrlie Blather, Pasadena PIO and the Pasadena Daily Photo will be there to get things started.  The gawds of blogging overruled kid’s sports gawds this weekend so even I can make it for a while on Saturday morning (I’m bringing “Browned Butter Brownies” as my contribution).

This is true potluck style.  Bring your favorite dish to share.  Blog it to share with others if you can.

DEETS: Saturday March 19, 11AM-5PM, General Charles S Farnsworth Park, Altadena CA.  MAP HERE.

This weekend: Baja Night 2.0, post-St. Patrick’s Day beer-ing, and a little running.  Or not.

SATURDAY

• The last time Ricky (of Ricky’s Fish Tacos) and Mexicali Taco Company teamed up at a parking lot downtown for Baja Night, everyone from families to foodies came together to nosh on giant lobster tacos (courtesy Ricky) and generous cachetadas (courtesy Mexicali).  The second edition of Baja Night (Baja Night 2.0) is on Saturday night, and Ricky promises more lobster tacos and a secret dish that he told me about here.  Eating Ensenada-style fish and meat tacos in a parking lot under the warm glow of the downtown skyline and the biggest, brightest moon since 1983.  If that’s not eating in LA, I don’t know what is.  $Pay as you go.  The night starts at 6pm at the parking lot on 1st and Beaudry.
• My dog is not the only one celebrating a birthday on Saturday – The Egyptian Theater also is celebrating what would have been Sid Grauman’s 132nd birfday. Grauman found a few of the most iconic theaters in LA, including The Egyptian and the Chinese Theater.  There will be a lecture about his life and career, a birthday cake, and a screening of Forever Hollywood, a documentary about – guess! – Hollywood.  $9-11.  The party starts at 2pm at The Egyptian in Hollywood.
• Beer is the new wine.  Finally.  Cases in point: not one, but three, events focused on the suds are scheduled for Saturday.  First, Angel City Brewery officially opens its doors downtown.  There will be beer, of course, and food trucks, of course.  Second, Bakelab and The Surly Goat will host a Beer & Pretzels Lab in which you will learn how to bake pretzels and how to pair said pretzels with beer.  And third, City Sip hosts a How to Home Brew class in which you will learn how to make an IPA.  Gives new meaning to BYOB.  Angel City Brewery’s party starts at noon at its new digs at 216 S. Alameda in the Arts District Downtown. $75 for Bakelab + Surly Goat’s class, which goes from noon to 3pm at Bakelab’s kitchen at 705 Vesta St., Inglewood. $50 for City Sip’s class, which starts at 1 at City Sip, 2150 Sunset Blvd. in Echo Park.
• Descanso Gardens hosts the annual Cherry Blossom Festival.  There will be Japanese tea ceremonies, cherry trees on sale, and guided walks through the beautiful grounds.  Given everything that’s happened, this event will likely take a somewhat somber tone.  :(  $3 children, $6 seniors/students, $8 adults.  From 10am to 5pm both Saturday and Sunday at the Descanso Gardens, 1418 Descanso Drive in La Cañada Flintridge.
• Snow in LA?  No, I’m not talking about a few weeks ago.  Long Beach is having a Snow Day, hauling in 10 tons of fresh snow to a park for you and the kids.  Make snow art, go sledding, and pretend you won the lotto.  Free.  11am to 3pm at Whaley Park, 5620 Atherton Street in Long Beach.
• MEN.  Make music.  Genderfucking.  $12.  8:30pm at the Echoplex in Echo Park.

SUNDAY

• Runners will be taking their mark around 6am; the rest of us slackers will be sleeping and wake up to this interactive Google Mapped version to see what the runners have been doing all morning.  The LA Marathon runs (heh) from Dodger Stadium to Santa Monica; check out the road closures and plan to sleep in accordingly.  Running from one side of town to another?  I guess that’s one way to save gas.
• Non-runners, forget your guilt about being not being able to run one mile, much less 26.2, and just head over to Domaine LA’s Anti-Marathon tasting.  The wine shop will have a tasting, and the Get Your Lardon truck will be on hand with the bacon.  I wouldn’t be surprised if a few unexpected guests with their own bibs happened to show up on their way to the ocean.  1pm to 4pm at Domaine LA, 6801 Melrose Ave.
• As it is the first day of spring, Griffith Observatory will hold two “Spring Equinox” events, one at precisely 1:01pm and another at 7:05pm.  I’m not sure what exactly these events will entail, but does it really matter?  A day at the observatory for any reason is a great day.  Free at the Griffith Observatory.
• Sammy Hagar, the Van Halen frontman who defined rock for the ages, wrote a memoir.  It’s only fitting, then, that Hagar shows up on the Sunset Strip at Book Soup to sign copies of his rock odyssey, Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock.  Note that this book is the only thing he’ll sign, so leave the pieces to your smashed axe at home.  5pm at Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood.
• The Museum of Latin American Art celebrates the contributions of women in art with its annual Women’s Day Festival.  There will be workshops, food, music, poetry readings, and a spotlight on artisan female jewelry designers from Brazil and Mexico.  Best of all, the event is part of Target Free Sundays, meaning you get admission to the museum on Target’s dime.  Free.  1 to 4pm at the Museum of Latin American Art, 628 Alamitos Avenue in Long Beach.

“Early Morning, Santa Monica” by Renee Rendler-Kaplan via the Blogging LA Flickr pool.

2010 L.A. Marathon finish line

The 2011 Los Angeles Marathon takes place this Sunday, largely repeating 2010′s “Stadium to the Sea” route.  Last year’s route successfully highlighted various Los Angeles area landmarks, including Dodgers Stadium, Rodeo Drive, and the Santa Monica Pier near the finish line.  However, I was at the finish line last year, and the popularity of the Marathon made things very tough on spectators there.  For example, it was nearly impossible to walk across Ocean Avenue even at points well beyond the finish line.  Additionally, the sidewalk on the East Side of Ocean Ave. was so jammed that it looked hazardous to be there.  I wondered whether it would be feasible to construct a temporary pedestrian foot bridge over Ocean using the same scaffolding materials that were used for the finish line itself (see photo at top).

The good news is that the Marathon planners apparently have taken a stab at trying to ameliorate some of the crowd congestion and pedestrian street access problems that occurred last year.  Specifically, in addition to better access for runners getting to the starting line, the finish line has been moved several blocks North down Ocean Ave.  Hopefully, this will allow for a real pedestrian crossing zone on Ocean well past the finish line, which would not interfere with the recuperating runners who have just finished the race.

If that’s the case, then I’m looking forward to an even more successful Marathon finish line party this year.

Head over to the Downtown Independent this Wednesday night for a unique comedy experience. The Man With F.E.E.E.T. is described as a “new comedy-adventure for View-Master viewers” by Eric Drysdale, an Emmy-winning comedian and writer (The Daily Show, The Colbert Report). The “view-along” staged reading will feature a live soundtrack as audience members follow the action in their own View-Master viewers, which are included in the ticket price. The show will be narrated by Ron Lynch and feature Matt Walsh, Adam Felber, Eddie Pepitone, Amber Nelson and Andree Vermeulen. Alex Burke will improvise a live musical score.

The Man With F.E.E.E.T. LA Launch Event  will be at the Downtown Independent Theater at 251 S. Main Street on Wednesday, March 16th at 8pm and 9:30pm. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased here. Read more information about the show here.

People often ask me if Tina Fey is gay.  This is because, I think, and unfortunately for me, I’m the only gay person they know, and they assume that we all know who the others are, like Cylons or something.  The larger takeaway, though, is the implication behind the question: that very few women can have the strength of her talents, defy as many conventions, and not talk incessantly about how she should be defined as a mother first, unless she were a lesbian.  There’s a whole lot wrapped up in that implication, too much to deconstruct here, so I’ll just say: that is a terrible work of fiction that no one wants to read but for some reason keeps getting checked out.

For those of you (gay, straight, boy, girl, in between, on the fringe) looking for a little inspiration a la Fey, Live Talks LA is hosting the writer/producer/actress/comedian at the Nokia Theater on Tuesday, April 19.  Fey will discuss her upcoming memoir, Bossypants, with Steve Martin.  Tickets just went on sale on Friday; get them here.  My guess is that these will sell out, soon, so you better get on it, now.

For those curious about Fey’s essaying abilities (because being head writer at SNL, the creator/writer of 30 Rock, and the writer of Mean Girls isn’t quite enough), check out the last few issues of The New Yorker. An essay  first appears in the same issue as the fantastic article on Scientology, about “juggling” her career and her – blahblah – family (“What is the rudest question you can ask a woman? ‘How old are you?’ ‘What do you weigh?’ ‘When you and your twin sister are alone with Mr. Hefner, do you have to pretend to be lesbians?’  No, the worst question is: ‘How do you juggle it all?’”).

The second essay, in this week’s issue, is on the lessons she learned from Lorne Michaels (“Never tell a crazy person he’s crazy.” – I’m assuming she’s talking about Tracy Morgan here, but I may be projecting).  I hope Tina Fey and Rudy Giuliani do a book exchange, BossyPants for Leadership, just to compare and contrast styles.  If you have nothing going on – and, heck, even if you do – go to the newsstand, flip to page 22, and just read it.  It’s great.  It makes you want to buy the book or e-book.  And, yes, see her live from Los Angeles, on a Tuesday night.

An Evening with Tina Fey in Conversation with Steve Martin, Tuesday, April 19 at 8:00pm at the Nokia Theatre. Tickets are $29 (seat only)/$49 (premier seating plus Fey’s book)/$119 (prime seating plus Fey and Martin’s books). A signing will follow the talk.

Interacting with the "Dreams Deferred" exhibit at the Chinese American Museum.

If your plans this weekend were to stay in and clean your apartment and tend to the garden and teach the dog to sit for more than 10 seconds and all that homebody stuff – do all that next weekend.  This weekend, there’s an absurd amount of things to do, from walking Whittier Blvd. with our own Will Campbell to a Victorian ball to Jonathan Gold’s annual food fest.  You can be anti-social later.  Trust me.

SATURDAY

• Last year, a bunch of brave folks walked all 15.8 miles of Wilshire Boulevard, in the rain, from Downtown to the sea.  Saturday’s weather is supposed to be sunny and clear, perfect for Will Campbell’s second annual March March.  This year, he’s taking a 12ish mile urban hike across East LA.   Starting from Union Station, Will and company will take the Gold Line eastward ho, make their way to Whittier Boulevard, and go back to their starting point via the Arts District.  “A guided tour this ain’t,” Will says, which is his nice way of saying to you A-type folks: relax for once and let yourself figure it out once you get there.  $Enough to cover costs of transportation + snacks.  Meet at Union Station at 10am.
• Angel City Brewery, the oldest brewery in Southern California, will open its new downtown digs on or around March 17th.  To pre-celebrate, the brewery opens its beer garden and invites you to its weekend-long party.  Bottled beers will be for sale (nothing on tap just yet); food trucks will be there to wash it all down.  For all of you participating in the March March, this probably wouldn’t be a bad pit stop.
  Saturday and Sunday from noon to 1am (yeup, you read that right) at 216 S. Alameda in the downtown Arts District.
• Officially, my favorite cheese is Abbaye de Belloc, but, really, get me a brick of Tillamook Sharp Cheddar Cheese, and I’m a very happy camper.  The Oregon cheese company has a cute little “Loafster” car that will tour the Southern California area in March as part of its Love Loaf Tour.  Where the Loafster goes, happiness follows: take, for example, Saturday’s free admission to Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific.  The first 100 people wearing orange will receive free entry; everyone gets coupons, recipes, samples, and, dear Lords of Kobol, please, please convince them to hand out tubs of their divine ice-cream.  Free entry for the first 100 orange-d fans starting at 9am at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.
• We all love CicLAvia.  There are three events this year, but why stop at three?  GOOD Magazine is throwing a fundraiser for CicLAvia to support the organization.  For the price of the ticket, you’ll support a great community cause, have open access to Fat Tire beer, the chance to sample a variety of food trucks, and a possible back left position in a dodgeball game. This is how the adults play.  $20+.  Fun goes from 2pm to 7pm at Atwater Crossing, 3229 Casitas Ave. in Atwater Village.
• That you can find Edward Gorey’s macabre illustrations plastered on wall calendars, greeting cards, and books available at your local Wal-Mart is a little funny and a lot reassuring.  Celebrate the glory that is Gorey at the Edwardian Ball; it is Victorian-themed, so depending on what side of the gender spectrum you decide to fall on that night, take out that lacy, overflowing dress and/or that skinny tie, silver vest with monocle pocket, and top hat.   Jane Austen-types best look away.  $28+.  The party starts at 8pm at the Music Box at the Fonda in Hollywood.
• The Chinese American Museum celebrates its 10th anniversary with its Annual Lantern Festival.  You and the kids can take this opportunity to really learn how to make a proper kite, lantern, and/or paper crane.  Other festivities include “abacus-making”, martial art performances, and shadow puppetry.  Don’t forget to wander inside the museum as well - “Dreams Deferred” is a timely, thought-provoking exhibit on immigration reform.  Free.  From noon to 7pm at the Chinese American Museum, 425 N. Los Angeles Street downtown.

SUNDAY

• So excited for this: Jonathan Gold brings together 40 of his favorite restaurants and eateries that define LA in food and culture – AOC, A-Frame, Chichen Itza, Jitlada, among others – for his third annual Gold Standard event at the Petersen Automotive Museum.  A portion of the proceeds will benefit Heal the Bay.  $60.  From 1pm to 5pm at the Petersen Auto Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd.
• Could it really be that LA finally – finally! – is starting to appreciate coffee?  Hopefully, the turnout at the Southwest Barista Regional Competition will indicate yes.  The event runs all weekend, but Sunday is the final round of competition: the best of the best from the southwestern US will be evaluated on the fine points of coffee making, including whether the crema on the espresso is the right color and whether the art on the cappuccino is sufficiently visually appealing.  I don’t think the best in show will parade their drink around the ring in front of an adoring judge and audience, but who knows – after all that caffeine, anything can happen.  Free.  The competition is on Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 6pm at Siren Studios in Hollywood.
• Jane Espenson, who wrote and produced several stellar episodes of Battlestar Galactica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Torchwood, is the type of person you wish you could talk to and/or be when you grow up.  I can’t help you with the latter, but the former may be arranged: in every part of the four-part TV Writing series, a handful of television writers, including Espenson, Rob Roy Thomas, and Jeff Greenstein, will discuss the Business, offer sage advice, and generally encourage you to pursue your small screen dreams.  If you attend these seminars and end up writing Charlie Sheen’s inevitable reality show, though, I will never forgive myself for pointing you here.  Neither will you.  $12 for each discussion; if you know you’ll attend all four discussions (held every Sunday in March), get the full series ticket at $36.  The discussion starts at 7pm at Meltdown Comics in Silver Lake.
• I don’t know which one of who is to blame for spreading nasty propaganda about how it is an American right to be dumb, and that defending that right should go so far as attacking teachers and shutting down libraries, so I will just blame both Bush and Obama and everyone in between.  Measure L, which would give city libraries some much-needed funding after it was stripped of much of it a few years ago, is up for vote on Tuesday.  A “Keep the Magic of Libraries Alive” rally will be held to support the measure.  In keeping with the theme, there will be a magic show as well.  Of course.  The rally is from 10am to 11:30am in front of the Memorial Branch Library, 4625 W. Olympic Blvd.