http://blogs-losangeles.metromix.com/47/ 2007-07-03 13:07:24 http://blogs-losangeles.metromix.com/47/post/775/ For tonight, I highly reccomend getting your booty in a chair to see Worst Laid Plans...It ran a few weeks ago, I got a big gushy crush on it, and now they've returned for a two-night stand tonight and Sept 21 at Upright Citizens Brigade. Now, Saturday. Let's talk. I'm having a mild anxiety attack about all the events I won't be able to get to&mdash;and the fact that I've been sleeping on a mattress without sheets for two days because I have no time to breathe, let alone launder linens. This is no way for a metropolitan biznatch to live. But...lobsters. What do you expect me to do? I HAVE to go. Saturday has: 1. The Run Hit Remix 5 mile Nike run (show some support y'alls! And see Naughty by Nature.) 2. Lobster Fest in San Pedro (Seriously. We're baffled by the Awesome.) 3. Elevate Festival of Film and Music at the Kodak theater (Filmmakers get 48 hours to make a short! Gad!) 4. One year anniversary at Tiny Creatures Gallery 5. David Hochbaum opens his "To the Winds" show at Corey Helford in Culver City (Radness.) 6. Tom Neely opens his Self Indulgent Werewolf at Black Maria in Atwater Village (More radness.) 6a. Check out the side-by-side date itineraries we've so helpfully arranged for the above two shows. 7. UltraLuxx at the Mountain Bar with DJs, live art and all sorts ofcoolness. 8. Journey to Dollywood opens, if you're in the mood for some theater about waitressin, Dolly Parton, and maybe some puns about boobs. As for Sunday, I'll be cleaning my house and renting a tape on Zen meditataion from the library. Please, comrades, I urge you to rock on to the best of your abilities. Don't hurt yourselves. Lovingly yours, The Ward (who has earned herself a stalker, which is almost as good as having a cat or a husband. ) 2007-09-14 11:35:00 none <bloguser@vmix.com> http://blogs-losangeles.metromix.com/47/post/770/ First off, apologies for the absence. Our blog software was throwing some sort of coding tantrum, but we bizntach-slapped it back. Onward! I mentioned in an earlier post sumfin' about getting a t-shirt screened, and it being boss. Well comrades, grab a blank shirt from home, or take yours off and head to Cha Cha tonight, as Colin Burns from Goldmine Shithouse will be setting up to silkscreen for "5 or 10 bucks" (we're not sure which, but whatever.) Jake Manny of Streetfight and Kevin Willis will be on hand too, with 6 screens to choose from. Also, for you early drunks, happy hour goes until 9pm, and Knob Creek Bourbon is $5 all night long. Hello! (below: Colin Burns, no shirt.) Can I get a w00t? See you there, The Ward 2007-09-12 13:32:00 none <bloguser@vmix.com> http://blogs-losangeles.metromix.com/47/post/546/ My weekend started with a bang, then a wilt, then a bang, then a stall. Then I dug through garbage. Friday, I bolted out of work for the 8 o'clock show of Modelogues, a new play at the Complex. After two intermissionless hours of model-related sketches, my comrade and I emerged glassy-eyed and unable to speak. I'm sure they had the best of intentions, but homophobia and whining about rejection can only go so far. And by so far, I mean, less than two full hours without an intermission. A high point, however, was the cabaret sequence about insecurity. Grandma always said: you can never go wrong with fishnets and choreography... or can you? Saturday: I grabbed a bag of cheddar Ruffles and hightailed it downtown with a few girly comrades for the Angel City Drive-In&mdash;(yep, it was called the "Million Dollar Drive in" a few weeks ago, but they just changed the name). We picnic-ed the beejesus out of "Pee Wee's Big Adventure," split a bottle of wine and whooped it up at the good parts ("Let's talk about your big butt, Simone...") Folks dressed as P.W. got in at a discount, and we sycophantically stalked them and took pictures. Then I lost my keys and a homeless man attacked me with a shopping cart. After needlessly searching through a trash bin downtown and dodging cockroaches like a jog through a minefield, I finally reunited with my lost keys in the bathroom of the parking garage. Way to go, Ward. So... Newly energized from the key victory and running on homeless-man-attack adrenaline, we hit a soiree in the courtyard of some lofts on Beverly, caught a howling set by Wake Up Incinerate (below) and considered getting a taco from the truck hired just for the party. Yes, I'm proud to report that we kicked Saturday's arse. Last words of wisdom: Carry hand santizer. If you need to dig through trash, you'll be protected. And if the keg runs out, you can probably huff it. Over/out, 2007-09-10 02:33:00 none <bloguser@vmix.com> http://blogs-losangeles.metromix.com/47/post/537/ You may have encountered David Hochbaum before: he's the guy with the chin scruff and silk screens that comes out to L.A. with his buddies from the Goldmine Shithouse art collective. I met him last when they took over a portion of the New Image Art Gallery and he sent me home with a freshly screened T-shirt with goat heads on it. I still have it. It's boss. Hochbaum just flew into L.A. this week to take over the Corey Helford Gallery, setting up for his solo show "To the Winds." He left the silk screens at home this time, opting for a new crop of delightfully anachronistic photo collages and a Tower of Babel constructed of over 100 ladders. I popped by last night to see how the building was going, ride a cherry picker, and eat some leftover carrot cake. Ahh, progress A piece awaiting a frame Tools of the trade After his long day of building ladders, and my not building ladders, we decided to meet up with pals at the Cha Cha for a few well-earned Stellas. Ever lovely comrade Georgia joined, and at the end of the night, hunger came a-calling, so we hit the Brite Spot for some ridiculous cupcake action. That top layer is some sort of peanut butter blanket. Not bad for a Wednesday. 2007-09-06 22:18:00 none <bloguser@vmix.com> http://blogs-losangeles.metromix.com/47/post/529/ I know, I know. You're always reading about these hecka rad art openings and thinking: "When do I get to wear a beret and stand aloofly in the corner surveying people surveying my work?" Artistes, the time is now. Maybe. The Hive Gallery downtown is looking to line up some new artists. Go to their myspace and if you're not already a pal of the Hive, befriend them, and leave a comment with a picture of your finest work. Even if they don't offer you a solo show (hey, crushed beer cans painted gold ARE art... don't listen to them) &mdash; you'll get your work seen by the gloriously creative underground art community. Which ain't too shabby an accomplishment for a Wednesday afternoon. In other news, I have consumed enough caffeine to cause seizures in large mammals and am thisclose to Ebaying a tranquilizer gun to bring me back down. Palpitationally yours, Ward 2007-09-05 17:03:49 none <bloguser@vmix.com> http://blogs-losangeles.metromix.com/47/post/522/ Hey, what'd you do this weekend? Oh, sweated a lot and wished you were dead? Oh em gee, me too! Moving on to the week ahead: I don't know about you, but I'm growing my goatee out. This week is SO artsy, you're going to be left with a beret cocked to the side and a face permanently distored into an expression of bemused evaluation. Like this man: I'm genuinely hyper about these shows coming up: Wednesday: Learn to build a mini park the size of a parking spot in preparation for this awesome day Thursdsay: Luke Chueh bloodies bunnies Naked crotches covered in cake sprinkles A stone-faced homage to deadpan comedy Friday Get Wacko and praise (La Luz de) Jesus with Miles Thompson Saturday: Photorealistic anti-war work about magnificent bastards Chango's art steps it up a notch Buy a little bird for $100 bones Pick up the pieces with some medical illustration collage Also, my dear comrade and right-coaster David Hochbaum is in from NY installing his Sept 15 solo show at Corey Helford. If you email him, he might even want your help. He says he's "making a 15 foot high tower of babel out of ladders and need anyone who knows their way around power tools, chop saw, nail guns, drills.. I also could use a hand on some of the wall installation and hanging the 461 birds." Um, okay. Looking forward to that, whatever the hell it is. Now, back to the post-holiday work load. Not that anyone cares at all, but I came into work early to find that they serve oatmeal in a huge cauldron in the LA Times' cafeteria in the mornings. It was awesome. 2007-09-04 13:51:00 none <bloguser@vmix.com> http://blogs-losangeles.metromix.com/47/post/517/ Summer should be ducking quietly out the back door, but instead it's flopped on the couch, burping, and won't leave. It's hella sweaty out there, bro. Some locals may have chosen to fly to Hoboken to hang in their aunt's doughboy, but if you're left stranded in LA, looking for a way to say goodbye to summer with a ferocious kick in its pants or perhaps a soft kiss on its scorching cheek, I suggest: Friday Rock Insider's night of gloriously indie LA music at Pehrspace Chromatics at White Slave Trade- some place behind the Bob Barker puppet theater in beautiful Historic Filipinotown (122 Glendale Blvd--enter in alley off Colton). Guy's Guys is closing at Gallery 1988 Spend the night on the roof at Thank Tank, then wake up for a weekend of radtastic seminars about art and transportation and karaoke Saturday Jonathan Edle-something's (fine, Edelhuber) shows his effing weird, cool anachronistic paintings at Carmichael Gallery "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane" at Hollywood Forever As for Sunday, I'll be chillin' on a roof or sneaking into your neighbor's yard to chillax in their hammock, resting up for the Happy Hallows show at the Echo on Monday. Huzzah! See you near the big bucket of ice and sodas, or over a grill of dead chickens. Laborically yours, 2007-08-31 18:17:00 none <bloguser@vmix.com> http://blogs-losangeles.metromix.com/47/post/511/ Any lovah of independent publishing may have mourned this year's untimely demise of Arthur Magazine. We sobbed and sopped up our tears on its pages of excellent essays, and there was even a wake held at the darling book nook Family. Well look who durn rose from the dead! Arthur Magazine scraped together funds, did a lil' restructuring and its newly minted pages were recently delivered to Jay Babcock at his Atwater digs by some dude named George (below). Catch the new Arthurs on newsstands this weekend, and hop on down to Lilttle Joy for the death-defying celebration tonight. The DJ line-up is as follows, from the mouth of The Babcock himself: 9:30 Ashland Mines deejays 11 Peter Alberts deejays 12:30 who knows deejays (George) I might see you down there, once I'm done interviewing midget chicken wrestlers at Lucha Va Voom. Another day on the job, 2007-08-30 11:00:00 none <bloguser@vmix.com> http://blogs-losangeles.metromix.com/47/post/510/ = The first question is: do people in L.A. like NASCAR? The second question is: why the hell does Kodak care? In a PR release almost as bizarre as the one I received about an OJ Simpson manuscript being auctioned online, I just opened an email from Kodak alerting the press that the first 75 people to hit the Kodak Theater on September 1 from 11 am-3pm with their dusty old printers will get free NASCAR passes for the September 2nd race. I myself have a printer wedged behind snowboots in my hall closet, and the thought of tossing it in a landfill makes me weep. I'm no fan of drunk racecar watchin' but the fact that I could send it off to be recycled, AND scalp some NASCAR tickets to buy new shoes makes me warm inside. Or maybe I'll actually go. Do they have corndogs there? Yes? I'm in. 2007-08-29 16:14:00 none <bloguser@vmix.com> http://blogs-losangeles.metromix.com/47/post/502/ Hello peeps! Here's hoping you had a friendly Monday. I would have blogged about the weekend's goings-on (told tales of road trips and mosh pits, etc.) but I was face down on my carpet wishing I were dead. Scientists have recently discovered that migraine headaches are categorically not fun. My experience supports that theory. So yesterday was a day of leisure lost, but a lesson learned to drink more water or goat blood or whatever else could possibly make me never, ever have one of those again. As for tonight: for the theatrically adventurous, you may want to consider scoring a ticket to Junk: A Rock Opera at the Lyric Theater. Full band, tales of love, naive pride and woe. Sounds like my prom! (Hey, Junk- thanks for letting us borrow this from your myspace. ) If you desire a more "free admission" evening, hit the Sierra Stage in WeHo for Tuesday Night Thunder, starring L.A.'s sharpest comedy nerds. Among them are improv troupe the Fiffle Foofers, including the one and only Chad Fogland (below) who has caused new wrinkles on my face with his improv. I love and loathe him for that. Fare thee well. Get out there and show Tuesday exactly who is boss.* *Note: you are boss. 2007-08-28 09:56:00 none <bloguser@vmix.com>