This weekend, the LA 3-D Club (Stereo Club of Southern California) is hosting the 8th Annual LA 3-D Movie Festival at the Downtown Independent Theater. The festivities begin at 1pm on Saturday with two blocks of short film competitions, followed by an evening feature screening. On Sunday, you can attend free 3-D demos and presentations and see local student 3-D films. The festival wraps up with an award ceremony and screening, followed by a rooftop reception.

If you buy a pass to the festival, you could be the lucky winner of a FujiFilm FinePix REAL 3D W3 digital camera. A Festival Pass is $30 and gets you into all screenings and events during the weekend and enters you into a drawing to be held at the awards ceremony on Sunday night.

Come out and support a great local organization, a fantastic independent theater and see some amazing indie 3-D films and music videos from all over the world.

The 8th Annual LA 3-D Movie Festival
May 14th and 15th, 2011
Downtown Independent Theater
251 S. Main Street, Los Angeles 90012

Actually, its more like two-and-a-half days as the parade doesn’t start until 7PM on Thursday, but the next two days will be busy in Old Town Monrovia.  We’re celebrating our 125th birthday and all are welcome to attend…its a folksy-homey-small-towny kind of event.  All the information you could want is on the city web HERE, with a special section for the 3.5 mile “Fountain to the Falls Walk/Run” HERE.  Map of center of Old Town HERE.  Seriously, it is all a lot of fun, especially if you have kids, I certainly will be around for most of it. Read the rest of this entry →

So Saturday, we did venture out to Unique LA, as we commented that we might. My friend Roberta said Monstertrocity was her favorite booth, and it was certainly among mine.

I remember when Kat was selling wares off her bike in front of Bazaar Bizarre and I loved her stuff then and I do now. If you missed it, fear not, Unique LA is adding a summer show so you can go buy cool monster stuff or all kinds of other wonderful things. More pictures from the show after the break. Read the rest of this entry →

Meet Evan Cook, the Monrovia Association of Fine Art’s Student Artist of the Year.  I have to admit the funnest part of being in MAFA is to find young talent and help recognize them and foster their interest in creating art.  Watching Evan grow into his art the last few years has been fun and certainly he has grown tremendously under the mentoring of his teacher at MHS, Sal Perez, and his employer Lisa Barrios of the Paint n Play Art Studio and Gallery.  At Paint n Play Evan both shows his work and gives lessons on the potters wheel and ceramics.

More about him in the Fine Art Trekkin’ Monrovia blog post by Ginger Van Hook.  (She also made this interview video with Evan). Read the rest of this entry →

Should you either be an Echo Park-area resident or find yourself in the vicinity looking for something unique to do tonight, there’s a great fundraiser happening between 4 – 8 p.m.  for/at Elysian Heights Elementary School (1562 Baxter Street) put together by the Echo Park Improvement Association and the Friends of Elysian Heights that will feature somewhere around a score of storytellers sharing their Echo Park experiences.

But be warned: I’m one of the regalers who’ll fight off my public speaking phobia to mount the auditorium stage and share with the assemblage a personal tale from waaaaay back when I was but a lad of 15 that for wont of a better title I call “How Not To Eat A Tamale.”

The event, which will also include live music, a kids’ art showcase and silent auction, is free; the enchilada plates are $5 and proceeds go to cultivating the Elysian Heights Elementary School garden.

So many things to celebrate this weekend: local design, lesbians, comic books, trains, your mother.  Better get a move on.

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One of the great things about living in LA is the wonderful variety of high- to low-brow movie theaters and special screenings that take place constantly. Coming up beginning next week, Angelenos have an opportunity to catch what could possibly be the only US theater run ever for Love Exposure, a four-hour Japanese movie that Cinefamily describes in the following manner:

Ask yourself this question: when was the last time a movie really mattered to you, and shattered your world? Every so often, a film comes screaming out of the ether that magically reveals a larger truth about this thing we stumble through called life, and the latest cinematic salve is the unforgettable, uncategorizable, unmissable Love Exposure, the brand-new behemoth from Sion Sono (Suicide Club, Strange Circus) that gleefully tackles life’s biggest issues: love, death, sex, revenge, religion and up-skirt panty photography.

I had the privilege of joining some friends for recent Cinefamily screenings of Stake Land and Rammbock, and hearing Cinefamily head programmer Hadrian Belove promote it before each of those screenings has helped me overcome any apprehensions I might have had about sitting through a four-hour movie. The way he describes it, when the 237 minutes has elapsed the main feeling that will remain is a longing for even more.

There will only be seven screenings of this movie here in LA, once daily from next Friday the 13th to the following Thursday the 19th, so if you’re short on kung-fu up-skirt in your life you should get your tickets ASAP. (The youtube trailer is available by following that link.)

Since 2002, the first Saturday of May has been a special day for comic book fans everywhere. Free Comic Book Day is a worldwide event in which participating independent comic book specialty shops do what the name implies and give you free comic books. No, this does not mean that you can take any book off the shelf. There are designated titles up for grabs. Some locations also have special guests, signing, giveaways and other activities throughout the day. Not surprisingly, food trucks seem to be a popular addition this year!

There are many participating comic book shops in Los Angeles and surrounding cities. A few of my personal favorites are:

House of Secrets, 1930 W Olive St. Burbank, CA 91506. Appearances by Tom Kenny and Walter Koenig.

Meltdown Comics, 7522 Sunset Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90046. Original statues from The Dark Crystal will be on display and The Grilled Cheese Truck will be making a special appearance.

Golden Apple, 7018 Melrose Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90038. Lots of special guests, sales, giveaways, free food and even a bounce house for the kids.

Check out the Free Comic Book Day Store Locator to find out if your favorite shop is participating. Insider tip: Go early if you want to choose from a good selection of books.

Rumors of CicLAvia‘s cancellation are flying on Twitter. Just saw this update from organizer @JoeLinton:

I’m hoping what has quickly become a very popular biking/walking/whatever event will go on as planned. I guess we’ll know more in the next week.

UniqueLA

Fretting over finding that last minute, yet oh so perfect gift for your mother?  Or perhaps you’re tired of going to the standard Mom-osa filled brunch & want to try something new…  Well you’re in luck, this weekend the wonderful Sonja Rasula is putting in another installment of the coolest independent design & shopping show in the country, Unique LA.

With over 300 designers & artists showcasing their wares over the course of two-days of fun filled shopping this is truly an event not to be missed.  I know I always come home with armfuls of amazing finds, from jewelry, to purses, to ironic t-shirts for my boyfriend & one-of-a-kind “omg where did you FIND that” outfits for me.  It’s also a great way to meet a ton of local designers, many of whom are right here in Los Angeles!  Plus there are a ton of workshops & food vendors peddling all sorts of yummy treats camped out at the event.  You can even check out a preview of some of the awesome clothes in their new catalog!

Your $10 admission includes…

• Free drinks & a hosted bar (IZZE, Honest Tea, Bear Flag wine, Hendrick’s cocktails, and Numi Tea)
• Unlimited re-entry for both days
• Your very own collectible tote bag, exclusive to each show!
• Free DIY workshops and handmade Mother’s Day cards all weekend
• Plush lounge seating area hosted by H.D. Buttercup
• Access to giveaways and door prizes all weekend long
• Souvenir copy of the Vendor Directory + Mini Magazine

Unique LA
May 7th & 8th (11am – 6pm)

California Market Center’s Penthouse
110 E 9th St # A727
Los Angeles, CA 90079-1727
http://uniquela.com/

Buy tickets HERE.

The point is, it would be great if we knew where our food comes from, and how it got onto our plate.

Oh dear piggies.  Tasted quite delicious.  Cochon 555′s inaugural Los Angeles event on Sunday feasted and feted all things pork, with five heritage pigs prepared head to curly tail by five fine chefs in a friendly competition dedicated to educating the (monied) public about sustainable farming practices and the wonders of the resulting pork.  Ah, if only industrialized factory farming could fall out of favor!  In the end, Mozza’s Chad Colby won with his assorted cold and hot porky plates won, sending the other four chefs up the swiney river.  Eater LA has a nice recap of what went on in the judging room.

For those who missed the sold-out event, there will be an All-Star competition on July 24th at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, with ten chefs and four “star butchers” (because I guess that’s a thing now) who, between the 14 of them, will prepare 14 different heritage breed pigs.  Tickets are available now ($150 general admission/$200 VIP).  If there was ever a time to show a client a great time on your boss’s dime, this would be it.  Most people I talked to at the event on Sunday completely thought it was worth the price of admission, if that kind of money is a drop in the bucket for you; these are, after all, high quality ingredients prepared by pretty great chefs.  One day, young grasshopper, McDonald’s will demand that all its meat come from farms that sustainably and humanely raise its animals and, on that day, things will change and quality meat will be accessible to most.  For our sake, though, I hope events like this convince the public before McDonald’s does.

More photos from the event after the jump.

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Actor, author, artist, auteur…provocateur John Waters is coming to Los Angeles this week. On Wednesday evening he’ll be at Largo at the Coronet, in conversation with Jeff Garlin.

Waters, the legendary filmmaker (Pink Flamingos, Hairspray, Cry-Baby, Pecker, among others) is on a book tour promoting the paperback release of Role Models, his essays about people he finds inspiring. Subjects range from Tennessee Williams and Johnny Mathis to Manson Family member Leslie Van Houten.

This is bound to be a fascinating (and funny) evening. Get your tickets now, and I’ll see you there.

What: John Waters in conversation with Jeff Garlin.
Where: Largo at the Coronet, 366 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles
When: Wednesday, 4 May 2011. 8:00pm.
Tickets available online.

Arrive early. You don’t want to miss a moment. By the way, if you’ve never been to Largo, it’s important to remember the rules; they’re pretty strict about them. No late entry, no cell phones/texting, no photos, no talking. Break the rules and you’ll likely be given the boot. Follow the rules and you’ll likely have a delightful evening.

Hat tip to LA Weekly for this one: tickets to the Tim Burton exhibit at LACMA just went on sale. The exhibit runs from May 29 through October 31, but heads up, people: Tim Burton will be at LACMA on Saturday, May 28 to sign copies of the exhibit catalogue and his book, Art of Tim Burton.  To get a feel for the exhibit, check out Burton’s nifty website here.

General admission tickets are $20 and, if the avalanche of people at a similar MoMA exhibit is any indication, this one will be crowded.  Good luck trying to see past all the Goth kids.

Photo of LACMA by pink_fish13 via the Blogging LA Flickr pool.

This weekend: a few festivals  (books, Asian Pacific film, Franklin Village) and a few notable personalities (Carl Dix, Leonard Nimoy, Lois Lane Teri Hatcher).

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The lineup for the Los Angeles Film Festival will be announced next week, on May 3. To celebrate, organizers are hosting a special free screening of Pretty in Pink that night in the Nokia Plaza at L.A. Live.

Do I need to say more? Jump for details.

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