Mark di Suvero at L.A. Louver

From the LATIMES

Mark di Suvero walks up to one of his elephantine steel sculptures and gives it a good whack with a rubber-headed mallet. A sound like a Tibetan gong reverberates through L.A. Louver Gallery in Venice. "It sounds different depending on where you hit it," he says, and demonstrates the point furiously with a few more bangs. Then he gives a shove to the huge, rusted steel arabesque, and it twirls atop its steel base like a child's toy. ....
...Di Suvero has long been an outspoken political activist, and that was not the first time his sculpture had been the locus of such an event. In 1966, he erected his 55-foot-tall Peace Tower on a vacant lot on the corner of Sunset and Crescent Heights boulevards. A protest against the Vietnam War, it was designed with a platform that would hold hundreds of 2-by-2-foot paintings sent by artists wanting to join the protest, including such well-known figures as Robert Motherwell, Donald Judd and Roy Lichtenstein. (The works later were auctioned to raise money to fund the protest.)

Designism

What is Designism? The Podcast
Milton Glaser's Designism work.
More Glaser
George Lois's Work.
Mark Vallen Discusses it.
Social Design Notes

JAMMIN' THE JAMMERS- As an agitprop archaeologist, Gerry Fialka

For immediate release Contact: Gerry Fialka 310-306-7330 pfsuzy@aol.com

BEYOND BAROQUE (681 Venice Blvd, 310-822-3006) on Thursday, April 3, 7:00pm proudly presents MESS (Media Ecology Soul Sessions) - JAMMIN THE JAMMERS. beyondbaroque.org Special music openers - The Rondo Hatton Experience - tumultuously tweekin' experimentalism. Suggested donation $7, no one will be turned away due to lack of funds.

JAMMIN' THE JAMMERS- As an agitprop archaeologist, Gerry Fialka
(Bio-http://www.venicewake.org/About/About_Gerry.html) screens rare film clips and probes how the 50's music/comedy icons John Cage (noise as music, side effects in silence), Korla Pandit (the Hammond Organ as drum, fake identity), Lenny Bruce (speech as jazz, grievance), Ernie Kovacs (visual effects as Surrealism, Menippean tactic of the "fourth wall") and Lord Buckley (narrative as living organism, elevation not put-down) laid the groundwork for contemporary culture jammers. They reinvented Beckett's "Nothing is funnier than unhappiness," and Steve Allen's "Behind every joke there's a grievance." Fialka will be joined by:

*Music for Nimrods' Reverend Dan http://www.geocities.com/musicfornimrods/rd.htm
*Writer Michael Simmons http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-simmons/
*Writer Marc Herbst co-editor of www.joaap.org"

By rechanneling "effects preceding causes," and the writings of Mike Kelley on pratfalls, Fialka and this unique panel of modern thinkers probe how these visionaries elevated self-realization to uncover the ambiguity and complexity of consumerism culture. This MESS (Media Ecology Soul Sessions) provides new critical perspectives with surprise, humor and the thrill of transgression along with agitprop examination of the motives and consequences of the jammers collaboration with the jammee. When Sputnik went up 50 years ago, McLuhan upgraded the global village to the global theater, and we all became actors. Visit- venicewake.org

“A put-on is not necessarily a put-down. I liken what I do sometimes to a life game, as an adventure in absurdity, an adult fairytale in which I engage people emotionally and intellectually. The audience gets involved and has to decide for itself what’s going on and what’s to be learned from the experience. Everybody is a participant." - Alan Abel.

The MESS reinvigorates and mirrors how these visionaries elevated self-irony to uncover the ambiguity and complexity of ecstasy and numbness. "The audience is the employer." - Marshall McLuhan. "I find TV very educational. Every time someone turns on a set I go in the other room and read a book." - Groucho Marx. "When you are laughing, you're learning." - Robert Dobbs. "Satire is tragedy plus time" - Lenny Bruce.

Their reappearance offers new questions:
- Did the electric environment kill or save humanity?
- Did television renew the art museum?
- Why did James Joyce make TV the hidden ground in his 1939 book FINNEGANS WAKE?
- Can the banality of satellite-speed-up cause epiphanies?
- What have we forgotten about social amnesia?
- Who is jamming the jammers?

MESS (Media Ecology Super Sessions), produced by Gerry Fialka since 1997, is based on the Marshall McLuhan insight: "If you don't study the effects of technology, you become its slave." The word "technology" refers to anything humans invent, from language to computers, from philosophy to books, from toothpicks to bulldozers. In dialogues with modern thinkers, MESS provides a forum to probe both form and content of media with suspended judgment, and comprehensively survey its services and disservices, avoiding point of view. MESS is percept-plunder for the recent future.

In his book "I, Fellini," Federico Fellini wrote, "I don't mind speaking autobiographically because I reveal less of myself talking about my real life than I do if I talk about the layer underneath, the one of my fantasies, dreams and imagination." MESS peers into the portals of discovering this layer. MESS seeks what lies beyond this layer.

Participants (including writers, artists, filmmakers, musicians and activists) are the early radar systems and the rearview mirrors detecting how the major transformations in technology affect us. Since we live in a MESS-age, this interactive series hoicks up the importance of questions by shaking people out of their regular agendas and reality tunnels. MESS promotes mapmakers who are searching for new lands and new data. MESS seeks meticulous understanding of everything we see, hear, feel, taste, and smell, passionately needling the somnambulists and proving learning can be fun. "How are you to argue with people who insist on sticking their heads in the invisible teeth of technology, calling the whole thing freedom?" - McLuhan. "Technologies are not mere exterior ads but also interior transformations of consciousness." -Walter Ong. "Simply to meet face-to-face is already an action against the forces that oppress us by isolation, by loneliness, by the trance of media." -Hakim Bey, Immediatism. "If it works, it's obsolete." -McLuhan. "Another fine MESS." -Random Lengths News.

"Gerry Fialka is very special, well prepared and ready to take risks - I learned about my self! My kind of interviewer." -Martin Perlich, author THE ART OF THE INTERVIEW.

"I am very impressed by Gerry Fialka's energy in bringing together groups of people to think about ideas. That is very much in the McLuhan spirit to create and foster interdisiplinary, living, educational projects in which people can talk about ideas. He creates forums that bring together a plurality of critical perspectives into one multivalent conversation. " - Janine Marchessault, author of MARSHAL McLUHAN: COSMIC MEDIA.

"Gerry Fialka is willing to enter in new discussions even if they go against his current views. Fialka's multilayered delivery of ideas encourages the search for new questions and new paradigms that extend beyond. He is well-informed, off-beat and articulate - one of the most fascinating people I've met." - Keith Jeffries, Ascalon Films

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Parlor Performances presents hilarious New Zealand comic Deb Filler & Ann Randolph's Squeeze Box! !

Smart, sophisticated New Zealand comedian Deb Filler touches down at Steinway Hall on Monday, March 17. Please help me welcome Deb with a full the house (a good St. Patrick's Day alternative)! Early discounts, group rates available -- please forward to friends and colleagues!

 

Be among the next ten people to RSVP and come free when you agree to bring a party of 3 or more at the early bird price of $20! 

 

 

Take an additional $5 off Deb Filler's show by reserving before March 1st!

 

PARLOR PERFORMANCES @ STEINWAY HALL presents...

An Evening with New Zealand's Funniest Jewish Export!  

DEB FILLER

 

Monday, March 17th at 8pm

 

"Magnificent... hilarious... to miss her would be madness." New Zealand Herald

"Consistently clever...extraordinary...tour de force." Philadelphia Enquirer

"I was laughing, crying, thinking, feeling...magnificent!" Boston Globe

 

Hilarous New Zealand comic actor, Deb Filler, makes a brief stop in LA -- and we've got her at Steinway Hall! She has been described alternatively as warm, gifted, funny, a consummate performer on every level, a complete chameleon, remarkable, quietly sensational, inspiring and brilliant. The New York Times says, "Ms. Filler has turned to theatre, to writing, to art, in an effort to sort through the experience of growing up in a family with memories too terrible to speak of."  Think Tracy Ullman meets Jackie Mason!

 

 

Don't forget!!!

Saturday, March 15th at 8pm * $25/$20

 

Ann Randolph's compelling & comical award-winning solo play

SQUEEZE BOX

"Revolutionary... Whitmanesque....a gem of a show." Entertainment Weekly
"She's a wickedly funny cross of David Sedaris and Carol Burnett!" Frontiers
"I haven't seen so much talent in one person since I married Anne Bancroft." Mel Brooks (reported by NY One TV)

 
With pathos and humor, Randolph skillfully weaves together stories about working in a women�s homeless shelter, classical music, backpacking and internet romance. Her painfully funny portraits of the shelter�s residents, and hilarious account of her hiking trip with cyber-beau Harold, are beautifully drawn in this poignant tale about finding dignity and grace in unusual places. Often compared to the late Gilda Radner, Randolph uses her elastic face, acrobatic voice, and attuned body language to play male and female, young and old. She has been featured on NPR and on PBS.  SQUEEZE BOX enjoyed successful runs in Los Angeles, winning the L.A. Times Ovation Award and the LA Weekly Award for "Best Solo Show� -- and in New York where the show was produced by Mel Brooks and the late, great Anne Bancroft!  

 

 

 

 

STEINWAY HALL @ FIELDS PIANOS * 12121 W. Pico Bl. (one door w. of Bundy * Level P2) * Park free in lot! * $25/$20

RSVP & Information: Reply  to this e-mail or call (310) 471-3979 or e-mail  jeannine@frankentertainment.com

 

KAMAU DAAOOD at Venice Grind Feb 22 2008

THE GREATEST LIVING POET IN LOS ANGELES
IS
KAMAU DAAOOD...
HE WILL BE PERFORMING AN EXTENDED
SET ON FEBRUARY 22, 2008
@ THE VENETIAN COSMOS...
HOSTED BY
JAVIS THE BRAVEST &
MIKE THE POET...

@ THE VENICE GRIND GALLERY..
12222 VENICE BLVD...
Venice & Centinela
in the Mar Vista neighborhood..
Friday
FEBRUARY 22, 2008, 7PM...
$5 suggested Donation...
No one will be turned away though for
lack of funds... First & foremost, come hear one of the greatest
poets alive...
OTHER POETS PERFORMING Are
AK TONEY, BUSSTOP PROPHET,
JARED COX, TRUTH I & A FEW OTHERS...

MUSIC BY FREEWILL of the LUMINARIES & JEWELZ DA GOD

DJ DOESHA on the 1's and 2's
***Plus live painting by Lynn "Lynnix" (its her birthday so give some
love!)***

IF YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD KAMAU DAAOOD
COME HERE HIM, HE IS AMAZING..
He will be the featured artist...
HIS BIO IS BELOW..
Kamau Daaood is a giant. Literally and figuratively. He stands close
to six feet five inches. The impact of his great words is only
multiplied by his size. A major pioneer in the spoken word scene.
He's shared the stage with legends like Gil Scott Heron and Amiri
Baraka. Along with jazz legend Billy Higgins, he is the co-founder
of the WORLD STAGE in LEIMERT PARK. To many he is better known as
the "Word Musican." A legendary movie was made about him with the
title Word Musician in 1985. Back in the late 60s when he was 18, he
was asked to move to New York and join the Last Poets. Following in
the footsteps of his mentor Horace Tapscott, he chose to stay in Los
Angeles and act locally. Daaood performed for over three decades
with the PAN AFRIKAN PEOPLES Ark and around the community in
churches, schools, prisons, wherever duty called him.
In 2005, Kamau Daaood's book The Language of Saxophones was
published by City Lights. The collection contains his greatest poems
from four decades. It includes several tribute poems to people like
Higgins, Tapscott, Bob Kaufman, Hendrix, Bird Parker, his children.
He is a master of Imagery and emotion. He's political without being
obvious. Skilled with metaphor, rhythm & pure language. Work that
flows on the page or the stage. His CD is titled Leimert Park. It is
a brilliant album. 12 poems over just the right music. Pieces for
Coltrane, Art Blakey, Billie Holiday, his wife & family. Recorded in
1997 he has legendary Leimert Park musicians like Higgins, Tapscott,
pianist Nate Morgan and superstar vocalist Dwight Trible on the
recording. Daaood crushes poetry with precision. His delivery is
impeccable. The production on his disc is timeless like the poems.
Postmodern Jazz. Laid back hard bop. Recently he has done work with
Carlos Nino's project Ammon Contact.
After over 35 years of bringing the word, he explains why he never
pursued the limelight. Daaood told Erin Aubry Kaplan in the LA.
Weekly, "My poetry is more aligned with African tradition, and
African tradition has an artist who has a role in the community — a
djali — who has a purpose," he explains. "It's not to get rich and
make records, but to heal situations for some greater purpose.
Djalis are kind of like secular priests. When people run to open
mikes these days, it's mostly about ego — getting 15 minutes, and
maybe 15 million. I saw it as a jam session, swapping ideas, getting
inspiration from other people." It's no coincidence Daaood's musical
group is called "An Army of Healers."
Come check this legend, he is an inspiration in a real way

Rainin' Presidents

Hi all,

There's be an encore performance of It's Rainin' Presidents at the Peace & Freedom Party HQ (2617 S. Hauser) this Sunday at 7pm.

 

Performers include: Lee Boek, James Tripp, Heidi Swedburg, Tad Daley, Phil Van Tee, Gary Gordon, and special guests Steve Goodie (all the way from Nashville) and The Gary Gordon Band (Leon Rubenhold, Deanna Hurst, Jace Kent, Goodie, and Gordon).

 

Further details are on the attached flyer.

 

Hope you can make it.

 

Gary

 

 

This week on Venice The Menace

Take a KK-tion Whether she's getting strangled in the hit movie "Halloween" directed by Rob Zombie, or crying her eyes out in the VTM short "To Be Continued," Venice actress Kristina Klebe ("KK" to her friends and fans) rarely has an easy day at the office... So when the work is done, it's time to take a KK-tion— and now you can join her on her travels from the shores of St. Barths to the German Alps... Play Episode Send to a Friend KK-tion Episode 1 MEET KRISTINA Watch Episode Boardwalkin' Episode 2 STUCK IN A CAVE Watch Episode Venice Rocks! Venice Rocks presents live music at Air Conditioned Supper Club on Lincoln Ave— and VTM is there, up close in HD... Aloha State Join VTM for a visit to the magical island of Kauai, featuring the stunning scenery, surf and wildlife of Hanalei Bay... More Viewers Help us spread the Menace by forwarding this week's video to your friends! Home | Login | Register | About Us | Contact VTM All rights reserved by Venice the Menace, Inc. Click here to unsubscribe

Flower of the Season |Solo Dance | OGURI| Body Weather Laboratory

  Body Weather Laboratory Presents
 Flower of the Season
 Weekend-1
 Solo dances
 Danced by
 Jesske Hume, Magali Gajan, Heyward Bracey, Eric Losoya and Asher Woodworth
 Sound score by
 Obakesan featuring Arnie Saiki, Robert Scott, Roger Park, Jay Villanueva and Joe Berardi
                 
 PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

  Friday, February 15th 8pm
  Jesske Hume “So long Red”
 Magali Gajan “The art of the spot”  
  Heyward Bracey “Dew”
 Eric Losoya “Fruit of the Earth”

  Saturday, February 16th 3pm
  Asher Woodworth “After Birth”
 Heyward Bracey “Dew”
 Jesske Hume “So long Red”
 Magali Gajan “The art of the spot”

  Saturday, February 16th 8pm
  Asher Woodworth “After Birth”
 Magali Gajan “The art of the spot”
 Jesske Hume “So long Red”
 Eric Losoya “Fruit of the Earth”

  Sunday, February 17th 3pm
  Jesske Hume “So long Red”
 Asher Woodworth “After Birth”
 Eric Losoya “Fruit of the Earth”
 Heyward Bracey “Dew”

  Sunday, February 17th 8pm
  Asher Woodworth “After Birth”
 Eric Losoya “Fruit of the Earth”
 Heyward Bracey “Dew”
 Magali Gajan “The art of the spot”

  Weekend-2
 Improvisation collaborations

  Myra Melford (piano), Roxanne Steinberg (dance), Oguri (dance)
  and Special guest on Sunday Alex Cline (percussion)
 
  Friday, February 22nd 8pm, Saturday, February 23rd 8pm, Sunday, February 24th 3pm
 
  $ 15 General, $ 12 Students, Seniors. Children under 18 Free
Electric Lodge
 1416 Electric Ave. Venice CA 90291   info:310.823.0710
  Free parking at the Electric Lodge
http://www.lightningshadow.com/Flower.html
The creation and production of Flower of the Season was made possible by a grant from the City of Los Angeles,
  Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles County Arts Commission and the Electric Lodge.
  
  If you would like to be removed from BWL news letter list,  please reply with “remove” in the subject line. <oguribwl@earthlink.net>

Venice Arts Council News

Community Improvement Projects

The Venice NC is taking applications to fund community improvement projects. There is $40,000 total available to fund projects up to $5,000 per project. Applications are due MARCH 1, 2008 .

• Application

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beyond baroque

10 February, Sunday — 7:30
Philly-LA Jazz & Poetry with Heat Press: ELLIOTT LEVIN, ERIC PRIESTLEY, CHARLES BIVINS and works of the late WILL PERKINS
A night of poetry and jazz. ELLIOTT LEVIN, a Philly-based saxophonist and poet, has played with avant-gardists Cecil Taylor, Odean Pope, and members of the Sun Ra Arkestra. ERIC PRIESTLEY (Abracadabra) was a founding member of the Watts Writers Workshop and is author of Raw Dog (Holloway). CHARLES BIVINS (Music in Silence) is the subject of a short documentary, Savage Rose, by Linda Janakos. Texts of the late Philly performance poet WILL PERKINS (!Scat) will be read by editor C. Natale Peditto.

15 February, Friday — 7:30 PM
JAMES P. LENFESTEY, CHARLOTTE INNES, and JACKSON WHEELER
Founder of the Ojai Poetry Festival, JAMES P. LENFESTEY’s collections include A Cartload of Scrolls: 100 Poems in the Manner of T’ang Dynasty Poet Han-Shan (Holy Cow!). CHARLOTTE INNES’s poetry has appeared in The Best American Spiritual Writing 2006, The Hudson Review, The Sewanee Review and Speechless Magazine. She writes for The Los Angeles Times and The Nation. JACKSON WHEELER is author of Swimming Past Iceland, and is contributor to A Near Country: Poems of Loss with Glenna Luschei and David Oliveira; and What Needs to Be Said (SOLO Café #3).

16 February, Saturday — 7:30 PM
Spirit of Southern California Poetry Series: SUZANNE LUMMIS
Come celebrate as Beyond Baroque continues its series featuring the leading lights of SoCal poetry. SUZANNE LUMMIS is teacher, author, founder of the Los Angeles Poetry Festival, editor behind Speechless on the web, a Nearly Fatal Woman, and her books include Falling Short of Heaven (Pennywhistle), Idiosyncrasies: Poems and Spreading the Word (both Red Wind), and In Danger (Roundhouse). She was also co-editor of one of the great SoCal poetry anthologies, with Charles Webb, Grand Passion. “If L.A. has anything like a poetry ‘community’ these days, I think it is in large part owing to the presence of Suzanne Lummis—one of L.A.'s major poetic voices, a highly influential teacher, keeper of the dark flame of L.A. noir, and one of the leading graduates of the historically important Fresno poetry scene. May she thrive, and may L.A. poetry thrive with her.”—B.H. Fairchild. Tonight’s celebrants include MARY ARMSTRONG, LAUREL ANN BOGEN, LARRY COLKER, LIZ GONZALEZ, BILL MOHR, CATHIE SANDSTROM, CHARLES WEBB, CECLILIA WOLOCH, SUNG YI, and special guest poet and editor ROBERT MEZEY. With RECEPTION. Hosted by G. Murray Thomas and Amélie Frank.

22 February, Friday — 7:30 PM
ELLEN BASS and ELOISE KLEIN HEALY
ELLEN BASS’s poetry books include The Human Line (Copper Canyon) and Mules of Love (BOA Editions). Her poems have been published in The Atlantic Monthly, The Kenyon Review, American Poetry Review and other journals. ELOISE KLEIN HEALY's latest collection of poems is The Islands Project: Poems For Sappho. Her previous books include Building Some Changes (Beyond Baroque); A Packet Beating Like a Heart (Books Of A Feather); Ordinary Wisdom (Paradise/Red Hen); Artemis In Echo Park (Firebrand); and Passing (Red Hen). She is founding editor of ARKTOI BOOKS, an imprint of Red Hen Press.

23 February, Saturday – 7:30 PM
The Collected Poems of PHILIP WHALEN
Tonight features poets celebrating the release of The Collected Poems of Philip Whalen (Wesleyan), edited by MICHAEL ROTHENBERG. Poet PHILIP WHALEN was a key figure in the San Francisco Renaissance and the author of the collections Overtime: Selected Poems; Canoeing up Cabarga Creek: Buddhist Poems 1955-1986; Enough Said, 1974-1979; and Heavy Breathing: Poems 1967-1980. Whalen’s influence extends across beat culture to contemporary language poets and beyond. Guests and readers include DAVID MELTZER, CLARK COOLIDGE, TERRI CARRION, ARAM SAROYAN, LEWIS MACADAMS, PAUL VANGELISTI, PHOEBE OZUNA, NEELI CHERKOVSKI, and editor MICHAEL ROTHENBERG.

24 February, Sunday — 7 PM
BEYOND MUSIC and PROJECT ROOM Show: PARTY PEOPLE, TOBIAS JELINEK, SEA OTTER, GENEVA JACUZZI, JASON YATES and Special Guests
Join us for an evening of experimental audio-visual collaborative works. Improvisational sound artists, PARTY PEOPLE have recently performed at New Image Art and ArtShare LA. SEA OTTER creates sonic, visual solo laptop and video projection performance pieces. His work has been exhibited worldwide, most recently at The Lab 101 Gallery. His CDs include Swim Team (Vol. 1). TOBIAS JELINEK, co-owner of Young & Jelinek boutique/event space, has created film and video installations with curators from the Whitney and Guggenheim, choreographer Cori Olinghouse and filmmaker Bill Brand. Musician GENEVA JACUZZI (aka Geneva Garvin) has worked under the aliases Pregnant, Hot Pajamas, and Sex Carpet. She currently performs with Bubonic Plague. Visual artist JASON YATES creates work with Fast Friends Inc. He has collaborated with George Clinton and Ariel Pink.

In THE PROJECT ROOM: “One Chord Wonders”
A show focusing on ideas about collaboration at the intersection of art and music. The group show will feature work by Ariel Rosenburg, Keith Knittel, Jason Yates, Matthew Salata, David Aron, Toni Young, Megan Whitmarsh, Rich Gaccione and more.

28 February, Thursday — 7:30 PM
BEYOND MUSIC: THOMAS ANKERSMIT, MITCHELL BROWN, PHILL NIBLOCK, and TOM RECCHION
THOMAS ANKERSMIT (The Netherlands) works with saxophone, synthesizer and computer music independently and with other artists such as Tony Conrad, Borbetomagus and Alvin Lucier since 1998. MITCHELL BROWN employs electro-acoustics, interactives, psychoactives, and improvisation. Filmmaker and composer PHILL NIBLOCK makes thick, loud drones of music filled with microtones of instrumental timbres which generate many other tones in the performance space. TOM RECCHION, artist and composer in Southern California since the '70s, co-created the Los Angeles Free Music Society (LAFMS), and uses record manipulation, live tape loops, and free improvisation in his work. SPECIAL ADMISSION: $12.

29 February, Friday — 7:30 PM
SHARON DOUBIAGO and LENORE WEISS
SHARON DOUBIAGO is author of Hard Country (West End), South America Mi Hija (University of Pittsburgh), and the story collections, El Nino (Lost Roads), and The Book of Seeing With One’s Own Eyes (Graywolf). Her other titles include The Husband Arcane: The Arcane of O (Gorda Plate); Psyche Drives the Coast (Empty Bowl), Body and Soul (Cedar Hill), and Greatest Hits, 1976-2003 (Pudding House). Her Love on the Streets, Selected and New Poems is forthcoming from Pittsburgh. LENORE WEISS’s poetry has been published in Bridges: A Jewish Feminist Journal, Paterson Literary Review, and Exquisite Corpse. Her latest chapbook is Sh’ma Yis’rael (Hear, Oh Israel). Hosted by Richard Modiano and Carlye Archibeque.

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Venice Art Walls Open Presidents' Day!

The Venice Art Walls will be open for painting on Monday, February 18th, in observance of Presidents' Day. The Art Walls are open on all City of Los Angeles holidays. Come down and paint!

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Venice Art Walk - Plan Ahead

May 17-18, 2008

Venice Art Walk & Auctions is an annual celebration of art, architecture, music and fine cuisine benefiting Venice Family Clinic. If you’ve never experienced it, then you’re in for one of the great contemporary art events on the West Coast.

All proceeds benefit Venice Family Clinic, the largest free clinic in the country, providing free, quality health care to people in need.

Click here for information about 2008 Art Walk and here to view an archive of 2007 Art Walk information.

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Annual Venice Garden & Home Tour 2008

Saturday, May 3, 2008, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Annual Venice Architectural Tour 2008

Saturday, April 26, 2008, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
FOR MAJOR SPONSORS ONLY

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Powerhouse Theatre

3116 2nd Street  Santa Monica, CA 90405
Phone: 310.396.3680   Fax: 310.360.3415

Robots Vs. Fake Robots

February 14 - March 15, 2008

By David Largman Murray
Directed by Emily Weisberg


It's the year 6000. Robots rule the world, and humans are despised second-class citizens. A young man named Joe abandons his human world in a quest to transform himself into a robot. A dark comedy that asks the question: What does it mean to be human? And what are you willing to sacrifice to fulfill your deepest desire?

Show Times:
Pay-What-You-Can Previews: Thur. Feb. 14 & Fri. Feb. 15, 8pm

Fridays, 8pm / Saturdays 8pm / Sundays 7pm
Special Late Night Performances: Saturdays- 2/23, 3/1, 3/8- 10:30 pm

General Admission: $20
Students/Seniors/Groups (8 or more): $15

Reservations: 310-396-3680 x3 or buy tickets online.

Featuring Steve Connell, Greg Crooks, Ida Darvish, Andy Fitzgerald, Taleia Gilliam, Daniel Vincent Gordh, Briana Louis, Elizabeth Maxwell, Xander Saide, Sarah Scott, Devin Sidell, Sarah Sido and Damien Wigfall
Produced by Christine Mantilla

-----------------------------------------------------

For immediate release 
Contact: Gerry Fialka 310-306-7330 pfsuzy@aol.com 
 
SPONTO GALLERY proudly presents JAZZ FUNK FEST on Saturday, Feb 16 at 7pm at SPONTO Gallery, 7 Dudley Ave, Venice, CA, 310-306-7330, free admission. In the tradition of the Venice West Cafe (the legendary Beat hang-out which is now known as Sponto Gallery), local Venice musicians will celebrate the rebellious liberation of tuneful creativity. 
 
At 7pm, BLACK SHOE POLISH. Within the free collective BSP, words that should never be said collide with notes that should never be played. Fiery poetic painters Theresa Hulme and Rex Butters slap sense into words through multi-dimensional discourse. Gerry Fialka, Rex and 7 year old Miles Butters stir keyboards, demented music boxes, guitars, slide whistles, harmonicas, and bass whistle in a cauldron of creative chaos, creating ink stained improvisational interplay. Spoken Word and Free Improvisation as it was never meant to be, Black Shoe Polish reconvenes the Inconceivable.  

At 8pm, FREDDY GINNS & ZEBRA PARTY provide original witty lyrics to their jazzy blues ala Mose Allison and Detroit funk keyboardist Lyman Woodard. 

At 9pm Lyrical multi-instrumentalist ERIC AHLBERG'S JAZZ WORKSHOP recall the explorations of Public Enemy, The Art Ensemble of Chicago and John Coltrane with tasty world beat tangents.

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SUZY WILLIAMS and HER SOLID SENDERS play LIVE SWING JAZZ and JUMP BLUES on every fourth Tuesday: Feb 26, March 25, April 22, May 27, June 24, July 22, Aug 26, Sept 23, Oct 28 & Nov 25  at TEMPLE BAR, 1026 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA, 90401, 310-393-6607, templebarlive.com, doors open at 8:00pm (two sets at 8:30 & 9:30 pm). Admission is $10. More info:310-306-7330 pfsuzy@aol.com Visit: http://www.puddingbench.com/suzy.htm Bring your dancing shoes for the hottest ticket in town. Jitterbug Janet gives free swing dance lessons at 8:15 & 9:15 every show.
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Greetings,
We have a great evening of satire and thoughtfulness planned
as a personal cure for Presidential Fever and Super Tuesday Madness!
Come & Join
Our Merry Literary Cabaret Show
at Warszawa Restaurant Attic
on Wednesday, Feb 13th from 7:30-9:45pm!
Just Added - Special Guest Performers - Will also include:
Writer Tad Daley perorates on the presidential process in a riff he calls "Dis-Enfranchised, Again"
Songwriter & Solo Traveler Fred Starner sings his original Hobo Blues for the occasion
Poet Theresa Hulme presents her lyrical thoughts on Other Precedents Altogether

Actor Taylor Nichols joins Heidi Swedberg as a sympathetic Angel trying to cope with "Laura Bush"

A VOICE IN THE WELL WORDPLAY PRODUCTION
ELV (310)489-0299
Door Donation $5.00
(No one turned Away)
- Light Refreshments also available upstairs By Donation -

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Anna Baltzer Presents:

LIFE IN OCCUPIED PALESTINE: EYEWITNESS STORIES & PHOTOS 

 Sunday, February 17th  ~ 10:15 - 11:45 AM Presentation 

The Church In Ocean Park - 235 Hill Street, Santa Monica 90405  (NE corner 2^nd & Hill) 

Noon Potluck Lunch, DVD & Discussion

Book signing, DVD, ethnic arts & crafts for sale.

For information: Church office, 310-399-1631

 www.annainthemiddleeast.com  

Anna Baltzer, a Jewish American Columbia graduate, Fulbright scholar, granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, and volunteer with the International Women's Peace Service, is touring the United States with her acclaimed presentation and book describing her experiences documenting human rights abuses in the West Bank and supporting Palestinian-led nonviolent resistance to the Occupation

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Brave New Films

Dear activists, colleagues, and friends,

Now is not the time for progressives to be silent. With Clinton and Obama battling each other we MUST start telling the story of McCain and his support for war.

We have been barraged with folks asking us to take action. And we have.

In less than a week, Jason, Leda, Philip and Lissette put together these two fantastic short videos. And we have a major BNF strategic campaign to reach hearts and minds.

Watch the videos: http://LessJobsMoreWars.com/?utm_source=rgemail

We need $100,000 immediately (like in the next week), so we can continue making these high impact videos, full-time, around the clock.

Can you chip in $50? We've got to start now. http://LessJobsMoreWars.com/donate.php?utm_source=rgemail

More wars: http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/28347?utm_source=rgemail
100 years in Iraq: http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/23346?utm_source=rgemail
The original Scarborough clip: http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/27089?utm_source=rgemail

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Francisco Letelier Cuentos/Stories

February 4th thru March 2 2008
Reception February 16 7-10pm
Avenue 50 Studio Inc.
131 No. Avenue 50
Highland Park, CA 90042
323-258-1435
www.avenue50studio.com

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Thursday, February 14th, at 7:30 PM    

 Panel discussion with Ray Boudreaux and Hank Jones,  

 former Black Panthers and now defendants in the San Francisco 8 case.    

  Moderated by Jim Lafferty and Mary Sutton  

 

 Pacific Design Center Branch of the Museum of Contemporary Art -       

 8687 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood 90069 

  

 Preceded at 7:00 PM   

 by a guided tour of the exhibition  

 Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas  

  

 Co-sponsors include:   

 The Center for the Study of Political Graphics, the National Lawyers Guild,  

 and the Southern California Library

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An Evening with Huayucaltia at Lima Peruvian Cuisine & Lounge www.limacuisine.com  19540 Ventura Blvd. Tarzana, CA 91356  February 16, 2008 Show at 7:00 p.m. Dinner at 6:00 p.m.  Cover Charge $15 Info & Reservations 818 578-3902 or 818 758-3902  www.huayucaltia.com

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ah the holidays hit me like a load of jet fuel
caroling at the bridge lighting
Beachhead party
more caroling
jet to paris
3rd day lumbago codeine starts
6th day knives in my eyes
movies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lwc6tsJyI8   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NR4ieHVIok
back new years eve playing Bass with Suzy Williams.
then that flu knocks me down for, well I'm still dragging.
but the show goes on www.ashgrovemusic.com

My daughter watches a lot of America's Next Top Model
but at least she's not watching The Bad Girls Club
HuckabeeGirl:  http://www.superdeluxe.com/sd/contentDetail.do?id=D81F2344BF5AC7BBF10D89679C1B620A014D35576FA505B0