Photography by Phil Holland

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.

Read the rest of this entry →

One of my favorite Europeans is giving a talk tonight at one of my favorite art/tech/supercenters right here in LA. Johannes Grenzfurthner, of monochrom fame, will be talking at Machine Project about, well… about failing. Here’s an academic description of the talk but really the description isn’t going to sell you – you are either the kind of person who knows that any talk Johannes gives is endlessly entertaining and worth driving hours to see, or you aren’t. So, see you there?

MAFA "Featured Artist" Rouzanna Berberian

Art is the word in the SGV this weekend. Specifically FREE Art shows and receptions in Pasadena and Monrovia starting Friday night running through Sunday. Pasadena will kick it off with ARTNight on Friday and host its ARTWalk on Saturday.  Saturday is the first day of the Monrovia Association of Fine Arts (MAFA) 46th Annual “Celebrate the Arts” that runs all weekend.

The featured artist at this years Celebrate the Arts is Rouzanna Berberian. I’ve enjoyed her art since I saw her first exhibition a couple of years ago. She uses very bold, expressive brush strokes with equally powerful colors in her paintings to stir some deep emotional connections. She can be found in space 6 in Monrovia’s Library Park located in Old Town Monrovia at 312 S Myrtle Ave.

In conjunction with MAFA the folks at NuVein will be hosting a Comic Con at the Monrovia Library on Saturday only. Additionally NuVein has numerous musicians scheduled to play through out Old Town Monrovia as well as Library Park adding to the overall festivities of the weekend.

Both the Pasadena ARTWalk and the Celebrate the Arts will have numerous kid friendly venues where they can can learn about art as well as create their own art. Read the rest of this entry →

I’m still not convinced there even IS a future for journalism, at least not as we’ve known it (and heck I have a degree in it). Further, I won’t exactly miss what it’s become. But that’s not the point -

Should you wish to witness a spirited and entertaining discourse on this very subject, however, why not head out to The Warehouse in Marina Del Rey on Saturday, and catch The Lowdown?

Here’s what your host Jeff Norman has to say about it:

The Lowdown is a bold cultural revival fueled by unique collaborations between world-class artists, authors, activists and other public-spirited leaders. Presenters and performers connect the dots between media, government, national security, sustainability, psychology and the arts. By confronting disinformation, promoting civic engagement and having fun in the process, we help people cope with life in America.

The Warehouse Restaurant
4499 Admiralty Way
Marina del Rey, CA 90292
Hosted by JEFF NORMAN and featuring performances and a discussion with

music by I SEE HAWKS IN L.A. (Full set at 5 PM)
Author PETER RICHARDSON
Journalist ROBERT SCHEER
LA Weekly founder JAY LEVIN
Comedian ED CRASNICK
Musician-satirist GARY GORDON
Drinks and appetizers available – no minimum required.
Happy hour discounts from 5 to 6!
FREE admission
Seating is first come, first served.
The evening will conclude with a book sale and signing by Peter Richardson, author of A Bomb in Every Issue: How the Short, Unruly Life of Ramparts Magazine Changed America, hosted by Book Soup.

(Ow, my linking hand!)

This is happening in the hills above Calabasas, in the West Valley, so I have a soft spot for this new Halloween attraction. Plus, they incorporate actual real-life ghost storytelling into the event, which is crazy cool.

Looks spooky already: Gillette Ranch from above.

The Haunted Hayride was started by a couple gals who were transplants from the midwest & east coast, and who missed the Halloween hayrides they’d had in their childhoods. In addition to being super spooky ’cause it’s, well, in the woods and all, it has your standard scares and scream-inducing surprises. It also has readings of ghost stories, a carnival sideshow,  cider & candy apples, so I’m sold.

They’re getting well-known names to do the ghost story sessions, and it looks like Amy Smart will be doing this Friday’s reading.

They’ve given me a discount to pass on to you, our loyal Metblogs readers. When you buy your tix online, you’ll have the option to enter a promotional code: type in “Metblogs” for five bucks off! You’re welcome.

As mentioned yesterday by Lucinda, the Pee-Wee Herman Show originally scheduled to run this November at the Music Box has since been moved to Club Nokia in November.

Press releases cite the move was made due to “popular demand,” and promised those with existing tickets would be able to call Ticketmaster and to make arrangements to switch their purchase to comparable seats.

Alas, Twitter is all abuzz today (as are the comments of yesterday’s post) with tales of people being stuck on hold for hours with Ticketmaster, then when connected being told to call back later, or, perhaps worse of all, finding out “comparable” seats meant “comparably priced” seats, and that they’d have to pay extra to be as close to the stage or in as prime a spot as before. Numerous out of towners are upset that they’d booked airfare and hotels for a show they can now no longer attend.

Are you among the Pee-Wee fans who has been inconvenienced by this switcheroo? Let us know your story in the comments… were you able to get through to Ticketmaster? How long were you on hold? What were your original seats compared to the new ones?

A fair amount of cool things have come across my desk for this weekend…

Friday: DineLA Restaurant Week
Be warned: Restaurant Week’s low prices do NOT apply on the weekends. So Thursday & Friday’s your last chance to nab reservations to some of LA’s hottest joints like Chaya, Mr. Chow, Akasha, Arroyo Chop House, BLT Steak, even Royal/T (pretty much every place you wanna eat is participating…check here). Prices for these special price-fixe lunches & dinners top out at $44 per person at even the most snooty of steakhouses, so dash on over & make reservations asap!

Saturday: 26th Annual Hollywood Forever Cemetery Tour
The Art Deco Society presents its yearly tour of that star of the cinema scene, Hollywood Forever Cemetery.  It’s a one-day-only event, but tours depart every 20 minutes or so from 10am to noon. It’s a walkthru not only of Hollywood history–many of the stars of the Golden Era of cinema are interred here–but architectural styles as well, with gorgeous mausoleums & monuments.

Friday thru Sunday: The Bead Show
Attention, crafty people and my mom! Time to geek out on beads at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. If you’re like me, you’ll go, ooh and ahh over amazing beads, buy them, and then never do anything with them. But if you’re not like me, I can’t wait to see what you create!

Sunday: LA Luxury Chocolate Salon
Thousands of opportunities to sample chocolate, plus an art-meets-chocolate smackdown as top students from the California School of Culinary Arts attempt to create masterworks of fine art with chocolate. There will be a cocktail bar as well, with chocolate-based apéritifs.

Sunday: Part Time Punks Festival at The Echo
From 2pm to 2am these savants of all things musical and underground will be parading a veritable smorgasbord of awesome across the stage at the Echo.  Check out a DJ set from Gang Of Four, and music from Savage Republic, Abe Vigoda, Viv Albertine of The Slits, Rainbow/\Arabia, Brendan Mullen of The Masque, and gobs more.

Monday: Wumpskate at World on Wheels
It’s that time again:  The spookiest month of the year and goth roller skating collide for Wumpskate’s annual Halloween-themed skate night.  Costumes are, of course, mandatory insomuch as you will be totally scorned if you show up without one.  These goths don’t take themselves too seriously, though (who can, when they’re on a pair of tan-and-orange quad skates from 1982?), so prepare to have some serious fun.

Hat tip to Our Pal Dave Share from OC Metblogs for noticing this: Pee Wee Herman’s facebook page for his stage show announced that his show will be extended, due to popular demand, to Club Nokia!

The run will be from January 12th to February 2nd, and tickets go on sale this Thursday! If you are holding tix to his Music Box shows, you can exchange tickets by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-653-8000.

Man, am I bummed I’m gonna be missing this one. But my vacation calls! You’ll have to go for me. Lucent Dossier’s cirque-meets-vaudeville-meets-Moulin Rouge-meets-Weimar-meets-Wonderland vibe is unlike any other, and it’s not just onstage: to go to one of their shows is to step into a 360-degree performance where the show happens all around you.

Wanna go? Tell me, in the comments, about a trippy experience you had or a bizarre show you attended. Maybe this one will show it up.

Info on the show is here.

Beyond Eden, the second annual multi-gallery exhibit celebrating contemporary art in Los Angeles, will return to Barnsdall Park in Los Feliz this weekend, October 9 through 11.

Last year, when the event was called East of Eden, it was a collaboration between galleries in Silver Lake, Atwater Village and points east, focusing attention on spaces that were outside of the  West Side “white box” circuit in sensibility and price range. Their place in the art world hierarchy is crucial as a proving ground for new, young talent as well as for new collectors not swimming in money but eager to get their feet wet in the collecting world.

Three thousand people showed up for the three-day event last fall, held in Barnsdall’s cavernous Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Owing to its success, this time the EOE organizers opted for an evolved name and roster of galleries, drawing on those flung across Los Angeles, including La Luz de Jesus, Subliminal Projects, Black Maria, Synchronicity Space, Billy Shire Fine Arts, LeBasse Projects, Crewest and others.

Friday evening is invitation only, but Saturday’s MOCA’s membership drive event at 7 PM and the opening gala starting at 8 PM are both free and open to the public. An “artists village” will include artists who will be “live painting;” PUMA Project will be doing on-site screen printing; and Cannibal Flower will present performance art. Read the rest of this entry →

Motörhead by Mark Marek Photography, used under Creative Commons.

Motörhead and special guest Reverend Horton Heat are coming to Club Nokia in downtown L.A. on Friday, October 9. Also on the bill are Nashville Pussy and Chelsea Girls. Best of all, LA MetBlogs has your tickets to the show.

Motörhead is one of my favorite hard rock bands. After 34 years on the road, Lemmy & co. still rock harder than most bands half their age. The influence they’ve had on rock & roll is undeniable. Ask any latter-day hard rock or speed metal band who taught them how to rock, and if they’re honest, the first name on the list will be Motörhead.

Here’s your chance to see these legends (and the other great acts on the bill) with Lucinda Michele & me!  Well, we’ll give you the tickets; whether you hang with us is up to you.

Tell me via comment below which band(s) you want to see and why. Or tell me about your favorite Motörhead song. Really, just tell me something that will convey how much you want, need, demand to be at this show. Winners will be chosen at my whim and notified via email, so make sure you enter yours correctly. Complete show info is here.

Bonus: My all-time favorite photo of Lemmy is here.

UPDATE: First, ticket winners have all been notified and confirmed. All the responses were great, and I wish I could take everyone to the show. If you didn’t win, buy tickets at the link above and meet us at the show. This is going to be an unforgettable concert!

Second, I just got off the telephone with Motorhead’s manager. He wanted to let everyone know that Motorhead will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live tomorrow (Thursday) night, so stay up late.

Finally, for those going to the show (which should be everyone,) doors open at 7:30pm, show starts at 8:00. Reverend Horton Heat goes on at 9:40, and Motorhead hits the stage at 11:00pm. Get there early to see Chelsea Girls and Nashville Pussy, and get ready for Motorhead to rock your ass off. Also, bring earplugs. Safety first.

See you at the show!

For some reason, publicity on this is skimpy, but The Argonaut, the Venice Surf and Skate Association, and City Council Member Bill Rosendahl’s website are reporting that Venice Beach’s long-awaited skate park will have its grand opening this Saturday, October 3.  The park was built by skate park masters Wormhoudt Inc.

Skater boyz and girlz have lobbied for and have reportedly been waiting for at least 10 years for this park, and it promises to be an exciting addition to the neighborhood.  Given that Venice and the nearby area is often considered the birthplace and mecca of skateboarding, it’s about time they got it.

What happened to the freakin’ week? I meant to post about this days ago so just in case you haven’t read about it elsewhere, and have even the slightest interest in pedaling around this place we call home here’s what’s happening October 2 at 8 p.m. at Little Tokyo’s Aratani/Japanese American Theater (244 S. San Pedro St.):

The Library Foundation of Los Angeles, as part of its ALOUD series of lectures, readings, performances, and discussions is presenting “Cities, Bicycles and the Future of Getting Around” featuring musician and author of “Bicycle Diaries” David Byrne and guests Bicycle Kitchen Co-Founder Jimmy Lizama, UCLA Professor of Urban Planning Donald Shoup, along with LADOT Senior Bicycle Coordinator LADOT Senior Bicycle Coordinator (or as I like to call her: Fully Assimilated Bureaucratician) Michelle Mowery. She’s absolutely FAB-ulous.

Be a part of what I expect will be a spirited conversation on how we can shape this city into a more bike-friendly place and less car-adoring like Audi insultingly did in this Los Angeles-filmed ad currently spoiling the airwaves:

Tickets are $25 and proceeeds will go to support ALOUD’s free programs at the Central Library. Bicycle valet parking provided by the L.A. County Bike Coalition.

This weekend LA artists such as Audrey Kawasaki, Shepard Fairey, Mr. Brainwash and others will team up at REVO LA to help raise funds and raise awareness for projects going on with education in Indonesia. From their site:

“Our goal at this time is to put on an art show this Spring (2009) that will heighten awareness of West Papua, Indonesia’s broken school system. The money raised by this event will help fund “Sekolah Dasar Balem Wamena” (SDBW), a model school, which has recently become a light of HOPE in the corrupt regions of West Papua.

Through REVO LA, SDBW will be able to offer these children much better learning material, as well as provide them with larger teaching grounds, so even more students can attend. Most of all, with SDBW in place, students are less likely to fall into the hands of abusive teachers”

The event takes place Sunday, Oct 4th at 7pm at UCLA ACKERMAN Grand Ballrooom. It’s $10 to get in. For more info, check out this video.

Watch the Derby Dolls from the comfort of your own Intertube.

Tonight at 6:30, the Los Angeles Derby Dolls are taking the excitement of high-speed all-female banked track roller derby out of the Doll Factory in Historic Filipinotown and bringing it live to the entire planet via the World Wide Web.

Varsity Brawlers (the pretty team) will take on Tough Cookies (last year’s champs) in a full-length exhibition game streamed live to your very own home, office, or car (if you’re on your laptop, parked down the street stealing WiFi.)

Now how much would you pay? But wait! There’s more!…

Have you seen the trailer for Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut, “Whip It?” I can’t wait to see it when it’s released this weekend. Barrymore, Ellen Page (“Juno,”) Juliette Lewis (“Old School,”) and other stars from the movie will be at the event for a post-bout Q&A. I’m told you can submit your questions online, too. There will also be a live half-time concert by Landon Pigg.

All for the low, low price of…FREE. That’s right! All you have to do is log in to www.derbydolls.tv at 6:30pm and it will all stream right out of the internets and into your eyeballs and ear holes.

I’m kind of excited about this, so there’s even more. Click the link and follow me… Read the rest of this entry →