July 2012
Monthly Archive
July 26, 2012
Kick Up Your Heels….
It’s the Janis Joplin part of summer right now.
Memorial Day is a barely relaxed preview of fun-in-the-sun. July 4th is all about the sis-boom-bah. And Labor Day is a last desperate gasp of summer.
But now, the living really is easy.
The days are soft. The nights are cool. Your daddy’s rich
and your mamma’s good lookin’. (Fingers crossed.)
Not to mention, ’tis the season to drink liquor from a mason jar without feeling like you should be dating your cousin.
The livin’ doesn’t get much easier than that.
Murder and Puppets
Ms. Go Go loves her a murder ballad and REDCAT is happy to oblige her morbid obsession. The first week of The New Original Works Festival kicks off tonight with Poor Dog Group‘s The Murder Ballad based on “Jelly Roll Morton’s legendary 1938 recording…[o]riginally performed in the brothels of New Orleans’ steamy Storyville district.”
Opera Povera wants YOU to come to the New Original Works Festival.
Yeah, baby.
Also on the bill — each week of the three-week fest features a trio of new works performed every night — is Opera Povera with the astonishing Julianna Snapper singing Pauline Oliveros’s To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of their Desperation and Susan Simpson‘s Exhibit A, which uses puppets to tell tales of 1950′s Silverlake.
This weekend, go for the bold.
THE NEW ORIGINAL WORKS FESTIVAL — Thurs – Sat, July 26 – Aug 11 @ 8:30 pm; $10-$18 — REDCAT, 631 W 2nd St, DTLA, 90012, http://www.redcat.org/event/new-original-works-festival-2012-week-one
And a bottle of rum.
Yo Ho Ho Dance
How do you swing this summer? At a Retro Dance Party in a pirate bar with people singing about cheese ‘n crackers, holy ghosts, and devil birds. Natch.
Put on your summer frocks and seersucker suits and head downtown to the Redwood Bar this Friday for swampy, sultry, spooky swing from some of Ms. Go Go’s fave musical finaglers: Two Man Gentleman Band, Dustbowl Revival, and Whiskerman.
There will be dancing. There will be songs about drinking. There will be actual drinking. There will be sweat and sway.
Consider it your summertime sweet spot.
RETRO DANCE PARTY — Fri, July 27 @ 9pm; $5/21+ — The Redwood Bar, 316 W 2nd St, DTLA, http://www.theredwoodbar.com/2012/calendar.html
Your food porn Saturday.
Artistic Pickles
Beautiful food — a constant source of inspiration for artists over the millenia — is now available for looking and eating .
This Saturday, foodie experts Krista Simmons (Top Chef Masters/LAist), Shawna Dawson (Artisanal LA) and Michaele Musel (The Secret Fork) pick the prettiest plate-fillers in the City of Angels for a one-day food biennial pop-up presented by ForYourArt. Twelve food crafters like Edward Belden of Peddler’s Creamery, who churns his ice creams on the back of his beach cruiser, will join the sustainable spirit makers of GreenBar Collective to provide samples and sell products. Put all your goodies in special edition tote bags by Brian Roettinger.
Pretend you won’t eat it all on the way home.
NEW. ARTISAN. NOW. – Sat, July 28, noon-6pm; FREE — ForYourArt, 6020 Wilshire Blvd, LA, http://foryourart.com/2012/07/fya-at-6020-wilshire-blvd-new-artisanal-now/
Your new red light district.
It’s Chinatown, Jake
Just when summer couldn’t get any more fun, this Saturday is the first of the Chinatown Summer Nights. There are bands on the L.A. Weekly stage, there are KCRW DJs, there is food, there is art, but here are the absolutely crucial components:
Beer garden and Punk Rock Pillow Fights
The suds are curated by Eagle Rock Brewery and also include craft brews from Golden Road Brewery and El Segundo Brewery. The winners of the pillow fights get bragging rights, a tote bag of goodies, and are invited to the next Summer Night.
No fair stuffing your tote bag to use in upcoming fights.
CHINATOWN SUMMER NIGHTS — Sat, July 28 (also Aug 8 & 25); 5pm-midnight — Chinatown, 943 – 951 N Broadway, DTLA 90012 (Central and West Plazas); http://chinatownsummernights.com/
Ready? U Know U Want 2 Go Go….
July 19, 2012
Chung King Road: white-hot heart of performance art on Saturday, July 21.
Yes, it rained in L.A. in July. Global warming or sign of the imminent Apocalypse? You be the judge.
Given the aforementioned possible portent of doom, it’s fitting that this weekend, it’s all about celebrating the old old school…
…while you still can.
Reading and Drinking and Diving
The King Eddy is Skid Row’s last great dive bar and a seminal stop on any literary tour of L.A. John Fante, the peerless L.A. novelist and unwitting chronicler of long-lost Bunker Hill, knew the King Eddy; his hapless anti-hero Arturo Bandini blew his first royalty check on the floozies of the King Eddy’s (now-closed) basement speakeasy. James M. Cain came to the King Eddy, once a solid, blue collar joint, to hone the brittle dialect of The Postman Always Rings Twice, his tale of the Southern-California-dream-gone-wrong.
You know the feeling.
Dive into the King Eddy Litfest on Thursday, July 19th.
Recently, Downtown’s last, gritty watering hole, which has been owned by three generations of the Croick family, was sold along with the King Edward Hotel in which it resides.
To honor the King Eddy’s place in L.A.’s literary history, Richard Schave, co-founder of Esotouric Tours and The Los Angeles Visionaries Association, has organized tonight’s King Eddy Litfest with local writers Dan Fante (John’s son), Ruben Ortega, and Jonathan Shaw.
There will be prose. There will be poetry. There will be drinking.
Your favorite dive bar trifecta.
LIT FEST AT THE KING EDDY — Thurs, July 19, 8-9pm; FREE/21+ — King Eddy Saloon, 31 E 5th St, DTLA 90013. For further info, including how to sign up, click here.
Further Fests
Speaking of dive bars, aficionados of the late, lamented Al’s Bar will want to dig out the safety-pinned leather jackets and pogo down to the Arts District this Saturday for Bloomfest L.A. where one of the three stages will have a mosh-pit-worthy lineup that includes Mike Watt and the Missingmen, the Gears, Carnage Asada, Sukia, Saccharine Trust with Joe Baiza, Downtown Devil Dogs, etc.
Add in the beer garden and you’ll be able to recreate your misspent youth of perpetual stagger and sneer.
Named after late community activist Joel Bloom, the fest also features more family friendly fare such as guided art tours, food, and an eco-zone.
KY-jellied hair? Your call.
BLOOMFEST L.A. — Sat, July 21, 2-10 pm; FREE/all ages – Downtown Arts District, Third Street & Traction Avenue, DTLA., bloomfestla.com
In another nod to the glory days of down-and-dirty art, Karen Finley, she of the infamous NEA Four, will do her first L.A. show in 14 years at Perform Chinatown: a one-night-only performance art gathering that will feature 40+ performers and 30+ ”actions, installations, manifestations and interventions” at various Chung King Road galleries in Chinatown.
Luckily, you’re no stranger to infamous manifestations.
PERFORM CHINATOWN — Sat, July 21, 4 p.m.-midnight; FREE — Various Chung King Road locations, Chinatown, DTLA, 90012 performchinatown.com Contact: info@cjamesgallery.com
More Love for Old Things. Plus…Fizzy Things
Rain notwithstanding, SoCal temperatures are creeping up. Luckily, Northeast L.A.’s “King of Pop” John Nese, the proprietor of Galco’s Soda Pop Stop, is holding Summer Soda Tasting 2 this Sunday.
Just in the nick of time for your next co-ed Marco Polo pool tournament….
Helping to cement Galco’s reputation as the “Amusement Park of Soda”, pop culture historian Charles Phoenix will serve kid-friendly “Poptails” and Seven Layer Soda Pop Rock Cake created with goodies from Galco’s shelves of nostalgic candy in the Charles Phoenix Test Kitchen.
Oh to be a fly on that wall.
There will be new soda pop flavors from the Dublin Bottling Works and Galco’s own White Rose line; proceeds from White Rose sales and Summer Soda Tasting 2 will benefit the Friends of the Southwest Museum. Continuing the weekendd’s “back in the day” theme, local entertainment includes Don & Bunk: original members of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention.
Which begs the question, “What soda goes best with a Burnt Weeny Sandwich?”
Your soda sample choices include: Old Dominion Root Beer based on a historical recipe from the Library of Congress (You’re stocking up in case Obama stops by on his upcoming birthday); Mr. Q Cumber, which is the Soda of the Year winner and first distributed at Galco’s (You can’t resist sodas with a James Bond-sounding “Q” in the title); and Volcanic Mineral Refresher, which is “better for athletes than Gatorade and also helps hangovers/headaches.”
And with the latter 2-in-1 miracle, your Marco Polo tournament supplies are complete.
SUMMER SODA TASTING 2 — Sun, July 22, 5 – 8 p.m; $12 advance/$15 @ the door/all ages — Galco’s Soda Pop Stop, 5702 York Blvd, Highland Park,Los Angeles 90042.
Tickets are available at Galco’s or online at www.friendsofthesouthwestmuseum.com/
Ready? U Know U Want 2 Go Go….
July 12, 2012
“Funky Pussy” by Arthure “Art” Moore
Summer. It’s not for clock-watching.
There are certain events, however, for which calendar watching is a must.
Anniversaries. Birthdays. Biennials. Revolutions.
Especially when sunscreen, musical legends, cancan, and cuteness are involved.
Go on, Go Go’ers. Circle some days in red.
Live All Nine Lives
Venice Beach. You’ve ogled bodybuilders, bladed in a bathing suit, and baked in the sun (in more ways than one….) This weekend, the funky and the fine art meet when the Hammer Museum’s Venice Beach Biennial — a “Made in L.A.” affiliated, tongue-in-cheek play on the venerable Venice (Italy) Bienniele — invades the Boardwalk.
Which was not otherwise deserted.
Cara Faye Earl will sell miniature sculptures inspired by popular Mexican saint figurines, which she has created in the guise of the world’s most wanted terrorists. (You’ve been looking for St. The Jackal.)
Veteran Boardwalk artists Albert Culbertson and Indira Burgos make paintings and boxes with imagery burned into wood using a magnifying glass and sunlight. (Watching your mother-in-law burn? Priceless!)
Carter Mull will set up a photo booth on the boardwalk in which visitors may have their photo taken in the manner of obituary photographs. (In other words, play dead.)
The event, which features 90+ artists, is free (natch) and runs Friday, July 13th through Sunday, July 15th.
Funnel cakes still available on demand.
VENICE BEACH BIENNIAL — Fri, July 13 & Sat, July 14, 11am – Sunset; Sun, July 15, 11am-6pm; Free/all ages — Venice Boardwalk, Ocean Front Walk btwn 19th Ave and Rose Ave, Venice
Fun for Summer when Wonderland turns 2!
Wonderland Turns Two + More Fun
True fact. Whenever Ms. Go Go wears a piece of jewelry from Leanna Lin’s Wonderland, she gets stopped in the street.
In a good way!
Another true fact: everyone who’s fun loves this palace of playtime, which is why the must-stop pop shop — and you! — will be celebrating its second birthday this Saturday, July 14th with the Summerland Fun show during NELA 2nd Saturday Gallery Night.
Expect a plethora of plush (plus a raffle!) from sponsor Crowded Teeth, lots of must-have-now goodies from the likes of 64 Colors, Melissa Contreras and more, liquid/music sustenance from local faves Eagle Rock Brewery, Swork Coffee, and DJ LamInLove, plus Mugshots Photo Booth, Auntie’s Fry Bread, and Wonderland goodie bags.
Bask in the birthday love.
SUMMERLAND FUN- Sat, July14, 6-10pm; free/all ages — Leanna Lin’s Wonderland, 5024 Eagle Rock Blvd, LA 90041, 323.550.1332. http://leannalinswonderland.com/artgallery.html
Other Go Go Must Sees in the NELA 2nd Saturday Gallery Walk: Missed Perceptions at Future Gallery, Dancer and the Dance at Cactus Gallery, and Espejos and Revolving Landscape at Avenue 50 Studio.
Vive la vin et cancan.
Viva la French Things
When the French Consulate says, “Let them eat…crepes”, they mean manger at the French Tuesdays Bastille Day Celebration at Caffe Primo and Sunset Plaza this Saturday, July 14th.
Ms. Go Go always consults with the consulate about crepes.
Also, cancan.
The day-of celebration of all things revolutionary and guillotine-y includes cancan dancers (naturellement!), French singers, sweet and savory crepes, Medoc wines from France’s Bordeaux region, Bastille Day party favors (which, sadly, probably won’t involve the cancan dancers) and a whole lot of ooh la la.
Which is exactly the amount of ooh la la you like….
FRENCH TUESDAYS BASTILLE DAY CELEBRATION — Sat, July 14, 7pm – 1am; $20-$25 (entry only) $75 (VIP: entry/dinner/wine); 21+ – Caffe Primo & adjacent Sunset Plaza Courtyard, 8590 W Sunset, LA 90069. For tix/info: http://www.frenchtuesdays.com/events/la071412/
Weekend of Woody
Woody Turns 100 (In Spiritu)
Go Go’ers, Woody Guthrie made damn well sure that you knew this land is your land and for that, he deserves a Woodypalooza.
At the very least.
The Grand Ole Guthrie would have turned 100 this month and on Sunday, July 15th, a Weekend of Woody culminates with a late afternoon centennial celebration in the Echoplex parking lot.
Starting at 4pm, a slew of Woody-lovin’ artistes like co-sponsor Walter Spencer & friends will sing the Dust Bowl Troubadour’s songs culminating in a “This Land is Your Land” sing-a-long. Fellow co-sponsor Grand Ole Echo kicks off at 5:30pm inside the Echoplex with Son Ark, Rod Melancon, and Triple Chicken Foot.
But wait, there’s plenty more to this palooza.
The Woody love begins on Friday, July 13 with the Origami Records in store music event. The Guthrie fest continues on Saturday with a literary/musical event at co-sponsor Stories Books and Cafe and a picnic and concert at El Centro de Pueblo. There’s a travelling Woody Guthrie museum and a commemorative t-shirt and vintage duds for sale from co-sponsor Cactus Tree Vintage.
This weekend, woot for Woody!
WOODY GUTHRIE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION — Sun, July 15 from 3-9pm; free/all ages — Echoplex Parking Lot, 1154 Glendale Blvd, LA, 90026, http://www.thegrandoleecho.com/woodyguthrie
Ready? U Know U Want 2 Go Go….
July 6, 2012
When good men go bad….
The fireworks were good. The Independence Day BBQ great. Your signature, patriotic, red-white-and-blue cocktails? Spectacular.
Now that you’ve got your fun momentum going, you can hit the weekend running.
Hey, one more patriotic cocktail and you’ll REALLY hit your stride.
Bad to the Bone
It’s a tale as old as time. Noble doc fights evil and becomes a mean man who frequents prostitutes.
Actually, you overheard a variation of that story over martinis the other day but never mind.
You’ve also undoubtedly heard of Robert Louis Stevenson’s tale of the ultimate split personality but unless you’re a Broadway baby, book/lyricist Leslie Bricusse and composer Frank Wildhorn’s Tony-nominated Jekyll & Hyde, the Musical, with its sexy, gothic score, will be a revelation.
Assuming you like sexy and/or gothic.
Presented by the DOMA Theater Company and opening Friday, July 6th at the intimate Met Theatre, the ultimate tale of good and evil is directed by DOMA Artistic Director Marco Gomez with choreography by Angela Todaro and musical direction by 21-year-old prodigy Chris Raymond who’s utilizing “Gothic choir, pop and rock influences” for this production.
Your preferred influences for Victorian murder and mayhem.
JEKYLL AND HYDE – Fri, July 6 – Sun, July 29; Fri & Sat @ 8pm; Sun @ 3pm –The MET Theatre, 1089 N. Oxford Ave., LA 90029. For info/tix, call (323) 802-4990 or go to www.DomaTheatre.com.
Art, Science, Music, Comedy, Roller Derby + you
Wheel Science: Where Science meets Skaters…and Strippers
Right off the bat, you gotta love an event that has a hula hoop artist and a rocket scientist on the same bill.
Coincidentally, you share the talents of both.
Add Lucha Va Voom burlesquers, Cirque Berzerk-ers, Sock Puppet SitCom Theater, insects, a knockdown drag-out grudge match between the L.A. Derby Dolls and the San Diego Derby Dolls (you love revenge) and much, much more and you have TwentyWonder — “A Carnival of the Mind”.
Your preferred kind of carnival, natch.
The mind-boggling tossed salad of art, science, music, comedy, and “weird geeky stuff” takes place Saturday, July 7th, from 6pm to midnight at the Doll Factory in L.A. and benefits Down Syndrome Association Los Angeles.
As if that weren’t enough, the Munsters’ hot rod coffin Drag-u-la will be in attendance.
You can’t wait to bask in the greatness.
TWENTYWONDER – CARNIVAL OF THE MIND — Sat, July 7, 6pm-midnight; $40-$150/21+ — The Doll Factory, 910 W Temple St, LA 90026. For info/tix: www.twentywonder.org
They won’t drop into your soup.
Americana Eccentric
By Monday, Independence Day will feel SO far away.
If you want one last traipse through Americana and the good ole days before you get groovy with summer, don your vintage duds this Sunday, July 8th for Moonshine Jamboree, a circus supper under the stars.
Big tops are so overrated.
The town square social features genteel dining, games, dancing, a kissing booth (you’ll do your duty if called upon), a palm reader (you might want to consult her before the kissing booth) and an old-fashioned portrait camera. Musicians, stilt walkers, cabaret and fire dancers, trapeze artists, and a ukelele playing lion tamer entertain.
Rumor has it, elephant tamers prefer the kazoo.
MOONSHINE JAMBOREE – Sun, July 8th, 7pm-midnight; $20-$45; all ages — 4133 & 4137 Chase Ave, LA (Mar Vista) 90066. Vintage attire highly encourged! For info/tix: http://www.facebook.com/events/257588564354241/
Ready? U Know U Want 2 Go Go….
July 3, 2012
Ms. Go Go blushes! Please note the correct link to The Park’s Finest and check out Johneric’s to-die-for cocoanut beef and cornbread bibingka at the L.A. Street Food Fest this Saturday, July 21st at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Apologies to The Park’s Finest!
How to have a hot 4th of July
Here’s the problem with the 4th of July. Fireworks are swell; the fireworks events — not so much. The crowds, the kids, the traffic.
The general ban on boozy fun.
Ms. Go Go’s tip? Find an elevated perch to survey multiple fireworks across the city — think panoramic Blade Runner spouts of flame rather than “bombs bursting in air” blowout — and celebrate your freedom from the expected with a cocktail. Also a cornhole competition.
Read on, revolutionary.
Pre-Fourth Fun
You appreciate tradition. Really you do. But if you’re the kind of rebel thinker who believes Independence deserves more than one celebratory day, you’ll want to head to Seven Grand on Tuesday, July 3rd for a new set of traditions.
Traditions that include Maker’s Mark. And Cornhole.
It’s always a party at the downtown drinkery but Seven Grand is throwing a sequel shindig that you’ll want to make a yearly habit. At the 2nd Annual Maker’s Mark 3rd of July Cornhole Championship, you’ll enjoy a BBQ buffet and free live music plus all-night-long Maker’s Mark drink specials and prizes for the winners of the Cornhole Competition: think bean bag toss meets horseshoes.
But seriously, why say “bean bag toss” when you can say “cornhole”?
2ND ANNUAL MAKER’S MARK 3RD OF JULY CORNHOLE CHAMPIONSHIP — Tues, July 3rd @ 5pm-2am,Wed, July 4th; 21+ — Seven Grand, 515 W 7th St,2nd Fl, DTLA 90014, 213.614.0737, http://www.sevengrand.la Register here
Nothing Says 4th of July like Cornbread Bibingka
Make it a melting pot Independence Day; head to Koreatown where craft beer bar Beer Belly teams up with Echo Park comfort food fave The Park’s Finest for a backyard BBQ that includes pulled pork, hot links, cocoanut beef, chicken, cornbread bibingka and fixins’ like rice and veggies. Of course, there will be beer — a bucket of four cans of craft beer will set you back $12, which is the kind of (financial) freedom that our ancestors fought for, dammit.
There will also be boogie. Which no one really fought for but you’re excited about anyway.
Woot for the right to boogie.
4TH OF JULY BACKYARD BOOGIE — Wed, July 4th; Noon-5 pm — Beer Belly, 532 S Western Ave., LA, 213.387.2337. beerbellyla.com
Who wants you to have a good time?
Freedom to Crawl
In 1778, George Washington celebrated the 2nd anniversary of Independence Day by giving his soldiers a double ration of rum. Accordingly, Ms. Go Go thinks the first Prez would consider Santa Monica’s Red, White and Brew Pub Crawl and Main Street July 4th BBQ Bash kind of a patriotic duty.
Love that George.
The til-2:00 a.m. Crawl features over half-dozen venues all along Main Street with deals ranging from $3 Beers to 2-for-1 Mixed Drinks to $5 shots of Jack with a bonus after-party at the Circle Bar. The Bash is a BBQ/beer garden/all-day dance-athon that ends at midnight.
Have your Valley Forge pumpkin waiting.
A $20 early bird ticket gets you into both Independence Day events with a percentage of the proceeds going to the ocean-protecting Surfrider Foundation.
And that really is patriotic, player.
RED, WHITE AND BREW PUB CRAWL — Wed, July 4th, 3pm to July 5th, 2am — but you must check in no later than 10pm. Event details/tickets – Areal, 2820 Main St, Santa Monica, 90405
MAIN STREET JULY 4th BBQ BASH — Wed, July 4th, 3pm to midnight Event details/tickets – Areal, 2820 Main St, Santa Monica, 90405
Ready? U Know U Want 2 Go Go….
