I finally had a chance to spend some time getting up to speed with the aid and relief efforts in China and Burma. It's a tragedy that I could not even begin to comprehend or put into perspective. It is heart-wrenching to think that people who had very little to begin with now suffer an even greater loss. And now they struggle to find their families and rebuild their lives, amid the repercussions like disease and hunger that have only just begun.
Moveon.org is a co-founder of Avaaz.org, a "global web movement with a simple democratic mission: to close the gap between the world we have, and the world most people everywhere want."
Check out these two sites for specific information for evaluating not-for-profits: guidestar.org - provides detailed performance reports on not-for-profits Charity Navigator - evaluates and ranks (most American) charities.
Ton's of good stuff going on here this weekend...none of which I will be around to partake in since I will be with the Jamaican Bay to Breakers Bobsled TEAM mon! Off the top of my head...
(Untitled) Gallery: A great gallery downtown in the Toy Lofts. I stopped in after I went to the Dress Right event a few weeks ago (read: hipster parade-off). They had two great Wesley Willis pieces in there. The guys who own it seemed super nice.
Untitled (Gallery) is pleased to present their inaugural show, Simon Haas’ Drawings, on Saturday, May 17, 2008. The reception will be from 7-11pm at the gallery. There will be an open vodka & champagne bar courtesy of Sixth Street Bar & Grill. Untitled (Gallery) 1855 Industrial Street, #109 LA, CA 90021 310-980-0905/213-415-1822 http://www.untitledgallery.net/
Planet Blue and Only Hearts on Montana Ave in Santa Monica are having biiiiggg sales (viacarolineoncrack and dailycandy).
"Full House" Reunion Show at UCB. I wanted to see this the other night, but I couldn't make it happen. I'm assuming it was great as they added another show.
Explore artists’ studios, bid on original art, tour spectacular homes, sample great food, drink, dance, watch, and enjoy – all proceeds benefit Venice Family Clinic, providing free, quality health care to people in need.
Like I said, I'll be at ZERO of these events. I have my own prom in SF tonight and a bobsled race to win on Sunday. And some retox. Soooo anybody out there, report back and let me know.
As usual, I am very distracted and unfocused. Here's what I do know:
ArtSeen 3 kicks off with their opening party tomorrow night downtown on Gallery Row. The galleries will be open from 6-10 and showcasing special exhibits for ArtSeen 3, all part of AIDS Research Alliance's effort to raise money for AIDS research. While the event is free, it sounds like many pieces will be up for auction. Oh, and Absolut Vodka is sponsoring an open bar. And the Standard Downtown will be hosting the after party. With more Absolut.
More art this weekend...the LACMA's Mid-Wilshire ArtWalk is happening on Saturday followed by an after party at the LACMA.
My Bloody Valentine is on sale now. They are playing at the SM Civic Auditorium October 1st and 2nd. I don't think they have played in the US in 17 years. Yeah, kind of a big deal.
Bay-to-Breakers is this weekend in SF. I'm quite excited for this wonderful gathering. It sounds like a bigger, badder and legal-er Urban Iditorad. Times a million. Geoffrey, Hubert, Gerkin and Diane von Hoodman.
Pinkberry has crack in it and it's deliciously addictive. "$5 for a small yogurt with one topping? Well of course, here is my money!" Today I discovered Yogurtberry at Wilshire and Western. They let you create your own fro-yo novelty. Then they weigh it. I'm glad I have more ways to waste my money. But it's just so good. Seriously, who am I?
For the last few months, I've been getting these messages on Facebook from some dude who evidently is the "man" when it comes to the Hollywood club and party scene. I'm not sure how I ended up on his list. Just as I was ready to figure out how to make the messages stop coming, I decided to read one and it turns out they are extremely entertaining. At least I think so. Here are some excerpts:
What a week we have coming up.Tonight: Villa (the last few Monday nights have been off the charts hot) "Quality over Quantity" - see ya tonight. Tuesday: Grand Opening of STK's "Coco Deville Lounge" super tight list to get inside. see ya tomorrow kids Wednesday: Crown Bar has been killing it. Thursday: Foxtail - that's SBE celeb night (every table sold out) Friday: Les Deux everyone called & texted me telling me that they were there. ***THIS SATURDAY NIGHT....The most exclusive event this year....at an undisclose location...open bar all night...GUEST LIST ONLY: THE WHITE PARTY. *You MUST wear all white in order to get in and the location has been rented out. They are being extremely tight at the door this saturday night.If you got the text a few hours ago...you know this party is going to be one for the record books (until my summertime kick party lol).Hit me for deals.See you at Villa tonight.~ p.s.,The Grand Opening tomorrow night...is going to be packed with celebs and the list is going to be tight....please don't get pissed at me if you don't make it inside ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday night in Hollywood blew major chunks...translation...it straight-up sucked!!! Went to Les Deux for a red carpet event there last night...very urban there on Tuesday nights now. Bartabz.com was there taking photos.. you be the judge folks. Left Les Deux and headed over to Crimson only to find out..it was a special Opera/Crimson "French Tuesday" night...yuck! French Tuesday events are for those who are 45 yrs old and can't get into a regular club on any given night...the worst looking people ever. If you don't believe me go take a look at the pics they post of their events in LA...see for yourself. Left Opera/Crimson and went to S Bar (Dean May's going away party)..it was cool..(if people would have came by...aka..it was D.E.A.D..and I stayed until 12:05am). Bounced from there and went to Area..I figured..after Kanye& Common killed it last week it had to be poppin off this week. Drove up...no one out front waiting to get in...but the lot was packed with cars. Walked up and walked right inside...it was cool..it wasn't packed, but it was cool...Sam Ronson was DJing in the middle of the dance floor. Walked around the corner to Villa and I have to tell yeah...they are straight letting anyone and everyone in the door at Villa because it looked worst than the French Tuesday crowd at Opera/Crimson..we did an aboutface and left after 5 mins. Villa is now a C-List venue to me. Left Villa and went to Hyde..walked inside and there was 15 people there..yikes!!! Talked to my door peeps and bounced. Winston's...now I must admit...Richie Summer's did a good job last night..it was sexy, but it was kinda light..but in all fairness we walked in the door at 1:15ish. But it was the best place by far last night. From now on...stay home Tuesday nights folks. If you were out in Hollywood last night...let me know what your experiences were. ~A
So there. Now you know where to go and what to do for some off-the-charts HOT. Don't thank me...really.
It did not take me long to figure out I would be a huge fan of The Duke Spirit when I listened to Neptune for the first time. This London based band's hypnotic, dramatic tone haunted and captivated me. Their sound reminds me of something similar to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs meshed with The Kills and Sonic Youth, perhaps deeply inspired by the Patti Smith Group and Velvet Undergound. I'd been trying to branch into more strong, female-led, contemporary music and here I'd found it.
It was a blessing to be able to see them at such an intimate venue such as the Troubadour, where I could just easily walk right up to the front of the stage and be right in front of the beautiful Liela Moss.
She just absorbed the energy of the crowd and sent it straight back with her expressive face and animated movements. I couldn't get a wide enough shot of the entire band but what was striking is how much she contrasts with the rest of the band. Sure the lead singer will often stand out but here she was, the only female among the group and the only one with startlingly blond hair while the rest of the group consists of similar looking guys with brown hair.
So even though I consider myself primarily a fan of male-centric, Los Angeles based punk rock, I can confidently throw The Duke Spirit high up on my list of favorite bands, perhaps my very favorite among modern-day female-fronted bands. I left with the impression that in the near future I'd be bragging about getting to see this band at a smaller venue for really not that much money.
This was an excellent start of a series of about 10 more concerts I got coming up, most of them being with the primary author of this wonderful blog. Apparently we first attended an epic National concert at the same time at the Wiltern in October of 2007 before we even met, then later we meet at work and eventually see Cat Power in February 2008 and from then we meet another die-hard concert goer and before I know it most of all my income seems to goes to Ticketmaster.com. While I don't exactly love Ticketmaster, I don't think I'll be regretting any of these awesome experiences and I will keep at until I'm on the brink of bankruptcy.
Next concert coming up for me: REM with The National and Modest Mouse on 5/29 at the Bowl.
Your host, Emily, has vanished, lost in an abyss between CPA exam crash course and a trip out of town. Oh no! Who will tell you out there what crazy stuff is going on in Los Angeles now! Don't worry, TG will step in and fix this. My Monday became amazing as I jump-started my week with an evening of the Tim and Eric Awesome Tour at the Echoplex.The first thing I am thinking as I am waiting in line is how horrifying it is to be around so many fans of Tim and Eric’s avant-garde humor.It is scary enough if I meet someone who is a bigger fan of the show than I am, so I was quite terrified at being at a venue packed full of them.Want me to describe it or place it into context for you?I can’t, there is no such thing as context for Tim and Eric humor.Any of you who are fans of the show would understand exactly what I mean by this, if you love the Tim and Eric Awesome Show you are probably quite an unstable individual.This is both speaking from my own self-awareness and by observing other fans.
The show opens with DJ Dogg Pound, a self-parody of all things DJ who spouts of Neil Hamburger style jokes and then “remixes” them.He spastically warms up the crowd and then we find out apparently the Awesome Tour has been cancelled.A crew member at the Echoplex comes out to humbly apologize that Tim and Eric ditched the show.Of course the audience can’t take this Echoplex staff seriously because he is Bob Odenkirk, and he then suggests that a special Tim and Eric audience chant might revive the Awesome Tour – and the audience chant was apparently successful.
The rest of the show was a horrifyingly entertaining blur of recognizable characters from the Awesome Show, including (but not limited to) David Liebe Hardt and his horrifying puppets, Pierre who reminds all of us to keep our meat ice cold, James Quall and his enchanting singing and charming stand up-routine, pizza, hotdogs, and merchandise thrown forcefully at the audience, and impossibly deranged sketch comedy.
I could have stopped going outside for at least the whole week and considered myself satisfied, but Tuesday followed up with Comedy Death Ray at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Hollywood.I was expecting to see Dana Gould of The Simpson’s, Ed Helms of The Office, Andrew Daly, and other hilarious people and UCB delivered – except they also unexpectedly threw in a David Cross!I’d seen Helms and Gould’s acts before at various other UCB nights, and they were as great as before but what stole the show for me Andy Daly’s caricature comedian.I’d seen Andrew Daly countless times at Asscat, the Saturday improve show at UCB, but here he pulled off this hilarious bit part of a comedian who never quite gets to the punchline.How could that be funny?Again, don’t ask me to place it into context!Go to the next Comedy Death Ray yourself and find out.
David Cross blew me away too; I’d seen every episode of Mr. Show, every episode of Arrested Development, and even some of the horrible movies he’s been in (Scary Movie 2, Run Ronnie Run) and some of the better movies (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind).Let’s not forget his role as a hardcore, gadget-expert nerd in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.And here he was live, unannounced, and right before me.
Having seen both Bob Odenkirk and David Cross unplanned, unannounced, one night after another, at completely different venues for completely unrelated events really made my week.It was only Tuesday and I was hit hard with the feeling that my week simply can not possibly get any better… but perhaps it will because I am seeing The Duke Spirit at the Troubador on Saturday.
There’s room for the following week to be on par with awesomeness too as there is the Crank Mob bicycle ride on the following Saturday, plus whatever inevitable craziness comes my way.Let’s pray I get a chance to fix the rear bicycle wheel I destroyed on my last Ride-Arc before 5/17.On the topic of bicycling, don’t forget to check out the Bikerowave in Santa Monica.Just $5 an hour and the awesome volunteer bike specialists will happily advise you on how to fix your bike and show you what to do so in the end, you end up fixing your bike cheaply and while learning a ton about your bike.I’ve been there twice last week and with all I learned about truing a wheel, adjusting brakes, and removing a non-quick-release rear wheel I considered the bike problem to be a blessing in disguise.
That’s all for now but perhaps I’ll return because this blog will not write itself, nor will Emily because of the horrific CPA exam she has around the corner that has held her hostage from her continued Los Angeles adventures.
(I neither own nor took any of these pictures in this post).
My friend Todd had a fantastic week that included some great comedy and biking...doing lots of stuff I would have enjoyed had things not been so hectic.
I decided that he should be the first special guest contributor on retox. Stay tuned...
I came across this blog, Scribeskidrow, a month or two ago. The "scribe", Walter Melton blogs about his experiences living on Skid Row for the last year, his battle to overcome a drug addiction, the people he has encountered on the way that have helped him grow and develop as a person as well as many other things. He is a talented writer who offers intelligent and thought-provoking insight. For the last year-and-a-half or so he has posted almost every day, if not more, taking the time to reflect on a tough, uphill battle. It is definitely worth a read. Here is an excerpt from his intro:
Living in downtown Los Angeles on a new adventure, I landed on Skid Row in the month of February,2007, shell shocked and traumatized by the events of the previous months. I entered a world full of many contrasts. Kind, caring supportive individuals. Cruel, blood sucking predators. Men and women who walk the streets with courageous dignity and those whose job it is to strip them of that dignity every day. A place of quaint warmth and beauty, and at the same time a harsh, cold and vicious jungle. I have experienced the toughest streets of Philadelphia and Harlem, New York as well as the shanty towns and favelas of Brazil. Yet nothing compares to what you feel when you are in Skid Row. Social Scientists from around the world come here to study it. Every social illness has its place in Skid Row. They come to learn about its effect on people. They leave learning more about themselves- their prejudices and the fear of what they do not know. There is nothing like it. This journal is about my experiences at the University of Skid Row.
I just found another similar site, Central City East: "Living and Writing from the heart of skid row since 1999. Blogging since 2004", which has been around for a bit longer. Written by Don Garza, this is definitely worth a read as well.
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