Go Go’ers, the new year is inching into the fun zone.  Food.  Film.  Buildings made of cans.

Somehow, you knew there’d be cans.

Can Do, Can Do

The monthly Downtown Art Walk is equal parts street party, bar hop and culture crawl.  The year’s first downtown hoedown adds a charitable component  with CanStructionLA , which is making its first, brief visit to L.A.   For the exhibit, architects, engineers, and designers create whimsical and complex structures, sculptures and landscapes using canned edibles.

Clearly, no one told them not to play with their food.

The designs are judged for Jurors’ Favorite, Best Use of Labels. Structural Integrity, and Best Meal and will compete nationally. The cans are subsequently donated to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.  Catch the exhibit before it leaves Friday evening…

…thereby giving new meaning to the phrase “meals on wheels”.

CanStruction LA— Thurs, Jan 10, noon – 10pm & Fri, Jan 11, 11am – 7pm; FREE — Farmers and Merchants Bank Bldg, 401 So Main, DTLA 90013  www.canstructionla.com   To donate $10 directly to the Food Bank, text FEEDLA to 80888.

Ladies With Lenses

Peeved that Kathryn Bigelow didn’t get an Oscar nod for Zero Dark Thirty?   Come support other women behind the camera at American Cinematheque’s  8th Annual Focus on Female Directors. Tonight’s slate of short films — many of them award-winning — by helmers such as Julie Delpy, Brie Larson, and documentarian Ondi Timoner features subjects as diverse as day laborers, Reddit, animals, clocks and herbs.

Go Go’ers, no word on what kind of herbs but you’ll be able to get the answer to that and other questions at the reception and Q&A with the fabulous filministas.

Vive les femmes indeed.

8TH ANNUAL FOCUS ON FEMALE DIRECTORS — Thurs, Jan 10 @ 7:30 pm; $7 – $11 — American Cinematheque, Egyptian Theater, 6712 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood 90028.  Tickets

How Tweet It Is….

Ms. Go Go knows you’re a giver.  Also, a canny art shopper.  The two are not mutually exclusive especially at the #twitter art exhibit, which opens this Saturday at the Exhale Unlimited Gallery in Chinatown.

Coincidentally, Chinatown is one of your fave spots to multitask.

Artists from around the world are contacted via Twitter social media and asked to donate postcard-sized art, which they mail to local curators who exhibit and sell the work with proceeds going to a local charity.  Nat George and Virginia Arce curate the L.A. installation; postcards sell for $35 with proceeds going to Art Division: a non-profit org that helps underserved young adults (18 – 25) prepare for careers in the visual arts.

Give generously.  Decorate wisely.

#TWITTER ART EXHIBIT: LOS ANGELES — Sat, Jan 12, 7 – 10pm; show runs through Feb 10; FREE — Exhale Unlimited (E.U.) Gallery, 953 Chung King Rd, L. A. 90012  #twitterartexhibit

Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger

Go Go’ers, you’re two weeks into the new year and undoubtedly, you’ve shaved off any minor weight gain with rigorous exercise and absolute abstention from cocktails and chocolate.

Or…not.

Whether you’re in fighting trim (or fighting to trim), you’ll want to honor Lionel Sternberger who, in 1924, created one of America’s most iconic culinary creations — the cheeseburger — at the Rite Spot Cafe in Pasadena.   The city where cheese met chuck is celebrating the aptly named Sternberger’s contribution to diners and drive-ins everywhere with Cheeseburger Week, which runs from noon on Sunday, January 13 through Friday, January 18 at 11:30 pm.

Thirty-six Rose City restos will step up to the blue plate special with offerings ranging from  the Black and Bleu (cheese + bacon + aioli) Burger from BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse to the Bison Burger (carmelized onions, burrata, arugula, herb lemon dressing) at Vertical Wine Bistro.

Veg heads — or those still recovering from 2012 excesses — can still eat virtuously but well.  Among the many establishments with meatless option, standouts include Umami Burger‘s Earth Burger (mushroom and edamame patty, white soy aioli, truffle ricotta, cippollini onions and slow-roasted tomato) and the Roasted Portobello and Brie on Focaccia at a/k/a An American Bistro.

Gather a group for max consumption at one of the ten suggested Cheeseburger Crawls, which include Traditional, Beer and Burger, and White Table Cloth, then weigh in on your  favorite Wagyu with the Cheeseburger Challenge survey .

Somewhere, Lionel Sternberger is happy you’re here.

PASADENA CHEESEBURGER WEEK — Sun, Jan 13 @ noon through Fri, Jan 18 @11:30 pm.

Click HERE for a list of participating restaurants, suggested Cheeseburger Crawls and the Cheeseburger Challenge.

Ready?  U Know U Want 2 Go Go….