Just today I discovered a new favorite blog: REFERENCE LIBRARY aka Andy's Blog. Andy likes to do what I like to do. We both scour the Internet for interesting vintage items, covet antique school furniture and modern toys, and get outbid on eBay all the time. Andy doesn't provide a lot of explanation but I'm still just as inspired by all this cool stuff as I would if each item was written up in some glossy magazine.

Labels: design, random, shopping, www.internet.com

Meet comic book artists John Pham. Video gamer girls love him and you can too. His superbly hip drawings have been seen in his fan favorite Epoxy. While John has not updated his online portfolio since 1995 he has been working on a new sketchbook-style collection called Sublife. Pre-release copies will be available at Secret Headquarters tonight and John Pham might sign it when he stops by around 8:00pm. His original work will hang on the walls until July 15th. It wouldn't be a Secret Headquarters party without the beer and ChaShaw so get your drink on and your browsing on in our hood's finest comic shop. I've named the 4100 Bar for the unofficial afterparty.


Friday, Jun. 15 8:00-10:00pm
John Pham reception
Secret Headquarters
3817 Sunset Blvd.
Silver Lake, 90026

Labels: bars, comics, events

Night Hawks presents it's monthly late night art extravaganza this Monday, June 18th. This month the theme involves technology and experimentations with artificial and/or mechanical elements. Like always, Night Hawks showcases its theme across genres and art. Basically this Monday will be a techno dance party like none other. And there will be video games. Don't miss these emerging artists:


Night Hawks is honored to bring to the party Laura Escude (Los Angeles) - A classically trained violinist who works with a variety of software, all controlled by MIDI devices such as the UC-33e and a MIDI glove. Found sounds, sampling, and the violin affected by different types of hardware all make up her body of work going back 20 years.


Organ Music of the Organ Corporation (San Francisco) - The music collective takes their name from a 1970s organ manufacturer and draws from the traditions of free jazz and musique concrete. Night Hawks' plan to showcase their noise elements and abstractions of frequencies in the unique Bootleg ambiance.


DSS Improv (Los Angeles) is a trio of improvisational electro-acoustic musicians. FM transmitters tie together their mixer feedback sessions, DIY circuitry, amplified viola and audience involvement all "to diffuse the notion of control amongst the group and audience". I can't picture a better setting for this experimentation than the high-caliber crowds Night Hawks draws in.

[image from art-rash.com]


Orgone Resonator by Samuel Partal and Damien Johanson (San Francisco) is an installation in which audience members may be inserted into the resonating chamber to experience the musical performance as part of the sculpture. Partal and Johanson both multimedia artists explore the controversial theories of Wilhelm Reich. (I had to wikipedia that one.) The notion of Orgones - a theorized energy source responsible for neuroses, rain and sexuality - is quite intriguing.


"Burlap I-IV" by Philip Stearns - Another Cal Arts alumni makes his mark on the circuit-bending community by continuing his installation. Burlap combines sculpture and circuitry where each piece produces tones, sequencers, and dynamically behaving oscillators. The natural element of the burlap material is a beautiful contradiction to the notion of circuitry as something cold and calculated.


Electroacoustic Installation by Cooper Baker - Straight from the Cal Arts faculty, Baker currently manages the school's Music Technology department. Circuit Bending fans have probably seen his work at REDCAT and the LA Circuit Bending Festival. Cooper brings his diverse background and knowledge from software writing to photography to the Bootleg for this one night only where he'll creates a sound-art installation/ multimedia work of art.


Aaron Myers, a recent USC grad, has always been fascinated with video games, including information visualization, artificial life and generative image-making. TorrentRaiders was his MFA project - an arcade stylization of bit-torrent waves. You can also go play his live action video game Mobzombies before the arcade madness hits Monday. He'll be showing a new 2-D piece with light patterns that react and self-generate.

[image from Flickr]





Volum (UK, Berlin, Detroit, Los Angeles) of the world renowned electro duo Volsoc brings his proclaimed "breakdance music for aliens". Playing the night's DJ will be Jean-Paul Bondy rocking robot beats and a slew of surprises. See jbondy.com - the man's also quite the accomplished animator.

[image from properlychilled.com]


Night Hawks presents Hawktronics
Monday, Jun. 18th 10:00pm
Bootleg Theater
2220 Beverly (Just West of Alvarado)
Echo Park, 90057
$10 cash only

Labels: art, events, music, Nighthawks, performances

One of the perks of my little day job involves advance screenings and I was fortunate enough to attend the first episode of HBO's brand new John From Cincinatti. It premieres this Sunday on HBO following The Sopranos finale. The show is about surfing, drama in a dysfunctional family, San Diego border town politics, and paranormal activity thrown in. I was anxious before to see what this show was really about and now one word sums up my feelings: Stoked.

First thing you need to know: the posters around town do not lie. That is not some sort of transcendental metaphor. Mitch Yost, paterfamilia of the legendary Yost surfing clan, based on real-life surfing family the Fletchers, really does levitate. He doesn't know why at first, and neither will you. It's a convenient hook and even more convenient is Mitch doesn't have a lot of time to investigate his new quirk when he's got his family to deal with. Mainly the madness comes from his ex-celebrity surfer son, Butchie Yost and Butchie's smack addiction. Both men feel victimized by the world of professional surfing that made them legends and then spit them out. Butchie's son, Shaun Yost, played by real-life surfing phenom Greyson Fletcher, sets the conflict in motion when he tried to go pro at 13 years old. Shaun, no longer fit to be parented by Butchie, has been adopted by his grandparents. Granny Yost, Cissy (Rebecca De Mornay) runs the local surf shop and could not be more proud or supportive of Shaun's talents. But Mitch and Butchie couldn't argue more about the matter and spend the majority of the episode forbidding Shaun from entering his first big surf contest in Huntington. And there's a slew of misfits in the supporting cast to give Shaun their two-cents including a delusional ex-cop, the family attorney who's also a surfer-groupie, Ramon the flea bag motel manager, and Vietnam Joe the border smuggler. With the eccentric characters running around Imperial Beach like it's their own nightmare-scape no wonder they easily accept the stranger who appears rather mysteriously the same day as the surf contest. That's John Monad and he might be from Cincinnati. John is the blank slate, literally. He cannot act or talk unless he learns it from someone else. Everything from opening a car door to cussing out Butchie he picks up like a trained sponge. He's come with two messages which he prophetically repeats at key moments -- "Mitch Yost has got to get back in the game" and the ever-popular "The End is Near". We assume he's here to save the Yost family and the game is surfing. How that game is played is what we're staying tuned to find out.

David Milch created John along with "surf-noir" writer/Pomona native Kem Nunn. Like Milch's previous HBO success Deadwood, I tuned in first for the subject matter and then continued to get sucked in week by week by cryptic, practically biblical language, and bizarre character choices. Last time it was the Wild West, this time it's a chapter from my own history, the San Diego surfing scene. When little Shaun Yost busts out his "Sponsor Me" DVD I re-call the days of video-taping my brother shredding on his Gravity skateboard down our bougainvillea-lined street and listening for just the right NOFX song to use as the background music. Our high school AV Club was full of kids editing their surf/skate reels surrounded by success stories of the kids who were sent around the world by the sandal, sunglasses, board and wax companies. There's also plenty of typical moments thrown into John apart from the obvious surfer-lingo and locations. Milch actually shoots the exteriors in Imperial Beach which is refreshing for any coastal Californian who knows the beach breaks look different even from Silver Strand to Redondo. I was particularly moved by a moment at Butchie's squat, the Snug Harbor Motel, when Ramon Gaviota (Luis Guzman) with the help of lawyer/surfer Meyer Dickstein (Willie Garson) sells his interest to a lottery winner from Azusa. The lottery winner steps right into the middle of San Diego stereotypes: Yuppies, Mexicans and Surfers.

Then the surprises start happening at a rapid fire pace. It's ultimately comedic and you should feel free to laugh at the outlandishness of it all. John himself is awfully funny and touching at the same time, much like Johnny-5 from Short Circuit. Seeing his transformation will be especially entertaining and meaningful. The last moments of the episode include him on his new board on a curling wave with the golden sunset behind him and it's beautiful.

Second thing you need to know: TV fans will gasp "that's Dylan McKay!" in the show's first shot and then later "That's Al Bundy!". Luke Perry and Ed O'Neill both get their dramatic reckoning here. You'll also reacquaint yourself with Deadwood favorites Jim Beaver and Austin Nichols as John. I'm positive more HBO alums will step foot on Imperial Beach's shores and they will bring with them the unparallelled level of television fans have come to expect. Fans are also expecting a big hit to replace their dearly departed Sopranos and Fisher family. I predict John will be a sleeper but the sleeper hit creeping up on you is what will be the most fun to watch along with all those surfing shots. After the screening all I wanted to do was head to the beach.

Labels: reviews, television

This Saturday night it's like an old fashioned ice cream social except with beer and bruise stories and probably the majority of the peeps will be on skates. It's still as good time as ever to get up close and personal with your favorite Dolls, especially since the league schedule is on hiatus. Not only is it the break in the Derby season but the LA Dolls have recently lost their track space at the Little Tokyo Mall. After every event had hastles with city code inspectors, the man has finally shut them down. They're still looking for partners to come in and help especially those of the deep pockets and real estate know-how. Please come out and bring your Daddy Warbucks. Have no fear, the first match of the season will resume July 21 no matter what. Rain, shine, or inner-city council bullshit, the Dolls will get their bruise on this summer. See the LA Derby Dolls website for official messages and updates.

Here's a recent promo video from the Dolls of last season's Greatest "Hits":





Host bar for the 1970s themed event, The Airliner seems like quite the party space. Sports fans will appreciate their wide selection of TV sets near the multiple bars. They haven't updated their calendar since March, so I don't know if we should expect their usual line-up of classic rock inspired hip-hop house bands. I expect hot wings and PBR served by tattooed. Try to dress up.


Saturday, Jun. 9 8:30pm
Derby Dolls Sleazy '70s Social
18 over show, $12 cover
The Airliner
2419 N. Broadway
Lincoln Heights, 90031

Labels: bars, events

Not super original I know to feature youtube videos, but MTV doesn't air music videos anymore so none of my friends know what I'm talking about when I say I can't get this song out of my head. Plus the t-shirts on the skinny boy torsos remind me of Sunset & Echo Park Blvd. on a Saturday night.





You know who also does great videos of the day? Onetokenblackguy of LastNightADJSavedMyLife - one of my favorite bloggers with a knack for old school jams and new instant classics.

"You are such a PYT!" Loving it.

Labels: music, videos, www.internet.com

One can't really say that filmmaker Guy Maddin has burst onto the mainstream scene. His work still falls heavily in the esoteric film club category. Every once in a while chances pop up for the general public to be awed by his one-of-a-kind work. In 2000 critics took notice when his short film Heart of The World, actually a promo for the Toronto Film Festival, preceded the film festival screenings.




I was introduced to his work in film school with the unparalleled Careful. Like all of Maddin's films, Careful was shot on a single sound stage in his native Winnepeg, Canada. It hearkens back to the days of early European films. Maddin still uses silent film techniques, like tableau style acting, in-camera effects, forced perspective, and hand colors the film. An homage to the German Mountain Film genre of the 1920s, Careful veers off its narrative track into a much more dark place examining censorship, sexual repression, and incest. The color scheme is haunting, the faces of the actors unforgettable; in fact every film of Maddin I've seen I've walked away with several strong images in my mind and been unable to shake them. I dare anyone to copy the vampire's kiss in Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary (2002) or Isabella Rosellini's beer filled glass legs from The Saddest Music in The World (2003).




Now Maddin has a new masterpiece, and his first film shot outside of Winnipeg. Taking liberties with his own childhood, Maddin has re-created a silent film era spectacle. Brand Upon the Brain is meant to be a live show, with a narrator, full orchestra, and Foley artist all on stage while the movie plays along. The show comes to the Egyptian Cinematheque this weekend. So far two celebrity narrators have jumped on board: cult -fave '60s vampire babe Barbara Steele on Friday and Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snickett) on Saturday. More will be announced soon on the Brand Upon The Brain myspace page. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity as DVDs don't do these films the justice. Abstract and antique, melodramatic for sure, messy and meticulous all at once; once you've seen a Guy Maddin film you won't really be the same, or at least not have the same affinity for color talkies.


Brand on The Brain Live Show
Egyptian Cinematheque
6712 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, 90028
Advance Tickets: $25
General Admission at the door: $30, $22 Students & Seniors

Friday, Jun. 8 7:30pm - Narrated by Barbara Steele

Saturday, Jun. 9 7:30pm - Narrated by Daniel Handler
10:00pm - Narrator TBA

Sunday, Jun. 10 7:30pm - Narrator TBA

Monday, Jun. 11 7:30pm - Narrator TBA

Labels: events, film

A couple years ago my dorkiness reached incredible heights when I saw the Lost Buildings Tour, a live radio show by Ira Glass of This American Life with a slide show by meticulous-is-an-understatement- for-this-comic artist/genius Chris Ware. All of my favorite daydream topics (comics, architecture, antiques, preservation, storytelling) came together in a very touching story of a young man and his mentor's quest to save the original Louis Sullivan buildings of Chicago. Under the golden glow of UCLA's Royce Hall Ira Glass was a maestro in his element as he engineered each sound cue live with a flourish. I assume he does that each week on his radio show. Ware created a companion PowerPoint presentation with detailed drawings of buildings accented by sentimental cartoon characters projected onto a giant vertical screen. This achieved the scale of these buildings and payed homage to the lost art of facade decoration pioneered by architect Louis Sullivan. I became a KPCC Public Radio donor that year just to get a copy of the slide show on DVD, designed by Chris Ware.

Now on This American Life's online store you can purchase the Lost Buildings DVD as well as some of the most beloved episodes of the radio show on CD with covers designed by Ware. They're all quite lovely and a must for any Ware collector. I especially like the The Secret Decoder Program from 2000, where a group of radio serials have secret messages encoded at the end of each story. They'll bring out the dork in all of us in that lovable Ralphie Parker sort of way. If you got that movie reference you deserve a decoder ring of your very own, you geek.

Labels: design, shopping