WEDNESDAY: Michel Gondry Book Launch and Signing

Tomorrow night the uber-cool "curated bookstore" Family on Fairfax will play host to filmmaker Michel Gondry, as he launches two new books -- one a do-it-yourself semi-memoir inspired in part by his film Be Kind Rewind, called You Like This Film Because You're in It; the other a comic book written and drawn by Gondry titled We Lost the War But Not the Battle, which Family describes as an "action-packed comic book [which] tells the story of four friends, the French army, and a beautifully horrifying conspiracy to take over the world. This one has it all: guns, girls, death, friendship, Mia Farrow, and so much more." The launch will be followed by a signing and a live DJ set from J-Lep.

For those in need of a brief refresher course in the sparkling hallows of Mr. Gondry's imagination, Tragically Hipster is once again pleased to oblige:


"Fell in Love With a Girl" (music video)


"Les Callioux" (music video)


"If You Rescue Me" (from The Science of Sleep)
WHERE: Family on Fairfax
WHEN: Wednesday, October 22nd 2008 @ 7:30p.m.
COST: Free, but you should probably buy something and support cool local businesses.
MORE INFO:Family website.

Special Note for Sarah Treem: Meredith Monk at REDCAT

A few months back I took in a performance of Sarah Treem's play A Feminine Ending at South Coast Repertory. Though it was by and large an enjoyable piece, the music lover in me couldn't help but be irked when the main character -- a young wannabe composer with the aggravating name of Amanda Blue -- monologued at length about how she had searched extensively but had yet to discover a single major female composer. Sitting in my seat, I could think of at least three, and the fact that the character couldn't meant either that she was remarkably uneducated in her chosen field or that the playwright who created her had deliberately skimped in her research, probably for thematic expediency's sake.

All of which is a roundabout way of getting to the point, which is that next week the Los Angeles REDCAT center will host the area premier of Songs of Ascension by Meredith Monk and Ann Hamilton.


Songs of Ascension Preview
The REDCAT website, ever willing to reduce its hyperbole to the merest whisper, describes the performance thusly: "Soaring to a grand scale of artistic gesture and ambition, this major new multimedia work reunites two of the most influential artists in the United States today. Monk’s signature form of incantatory music-theater finds an uncanny match in Hamilton’s sensuous visual artistry as the full-evening piece channels an exploration of the spiritual, vocal, and physical notions of ascension across geography and time."

Future Amanda Blues of our readership would do well to check out Peter Greenaway's documentary on Ms. Monk, thoughtfully broken up into component parts and posted for all of the internet to enjoy on the ever-useful YouTube:


(Further segments of the documentary can be found here.)

WHERE: The REDCAT theater in Los Angeles.
WHEN: October 28th through November 2nd, 2008.
COST: $30-$35 general admission, $24-$28 students
MORE INFO: REDCAT Website

THIS WEEKEND: All-Night Horror Show at the New Beverly

Because nothing says "Halloween's Coming" quite like severe eye trauma gags, the New Beverly Cinema is having a twelve-hour all-night horror-thon this weekend, screening a half-dozen disturbing, disgusting, but otherwise distinguished films over Saturday night/early Sunday morning. Tickets are but a scant $20, all films play in "glorious" 35mm (as opposed to the lackluster kind), and all proceeds go to benefit retrofits at the New Beverly (which could frankly use a couple of them oh-so-lovely leather couches that grace the Silent Movie Theater just down the way).

Set to play: Creepers (featuring a teenaged Jennifer Connelly who can talk to bugs); The House on Sorority Row (about the recondite perils of college hazing ritual-interuptus via slashing); In the Wall (a short film so hip and now that we've never even heard of it before!); Zombie (Lucio Fulci's loving undead tribute to amateur enucleation); a "top-secret surprise movie" (which will hopefully literally be Top Secret); The Power (in which Aztec dolls do the kind of damage that only Aztec dolls can); Teenage Mother (chronicling the life of a... wait for it... teenage mother); and wrapping things up with a double-plus-good early-morning screening of Raw Force (which eatmybrains.com describes as "a bikini kung-fu zombie action car crash of a movie," and then goes on to mumble something about a place called "Warrior Island" and how a lot of the footage has actually been pirated from Roger Corman. And are you really going to question the taste of a site called EatMyBrains.com?).

WHERE: The New Beverly Cinema
WHEN: This Saturday, October 18, 2008, at 7:30pm
COST: $20 + $1 service fee (if tickets are ordered online)
MORE INFO: New Beverly Midnights (MySpace page)

Haunted Hollywood Scavenger Hunt

Did you know that Los Angeles is in the top ten most haunted cities in the US? Murders Suicides, Burned Alive- These tortured souls still haunt Hollywood Blvd. Come discover which ghosts still prowl the area as you participate in a Haunted Hollywood Scavenger Hunt. Form your team up to 6 people and reserve your spot today! Prizes to the winning teams.

*5:30-8:00pm October 25th, 26th, and 31st
*No prior ghost hunting knowledge is needed,
Flashlight helpful
*$25 per person
*RSVP at info@outoftheboxevents.net or call 3237991374
*meeting place will be sent to you upon registering

TONIGHT -- Hitchcock-esque Burlesque

...featuring many fine and wonderful ladies, including friend-of-the-blog Dahlia DeLust (A.K.A. Lacy Bottom, A.K.A. Voodoo Dahlia).

The New Beverly and Seth Green Unleash a CAVALCADE OF HORRORS Tonight

The New Beverly Cinema's latest guest-programmer festival starts tonight with a double-feature of Robocop and Die Hard, introduced by Seth Green. If you've somehow managed to live a full and complete life without ever having seen the latter film -- and really, what are the chances? -- we'll point you to an early review by the Outlaw Vern, the internet's resident expert on Badass Cinema:

[In Die Hard] Bruce Willis is a conflicted type hero very much of the '80s movie heritage of which he is most definitely a part. Coming to LA to spend christmas with his wife and kid, it is revealed he lives in a different city than his wife and right away gets in an argument with her, knowing all along that he is fucking things up. Before he can even say I'M SORRY three times fast the gal is held hostage by a group of germans who take over the building and plan to steal all the money. Bruce sneaks off with his little cop pistol and the rest of the film tells the story of how one man can kill all of the terrorists by himself using makeshift weapons and detective work -- all so he can make up with his wife.

Now especially at christmas time a motherfucker that watches this movie may very well believe it is meant as a jesus type story. The part of Jesus is played of course by Bruce, who sacrifices himself to save the other people in the building. The disciples include the cop Bruce talks to over the walky talky, who follows his teachings even while the commanding officers and fbi don't believe in Bruce and even hope to get him out of the way. I don't know maybe the other 11 are the guys he mentions from his squad who are taking bets on Bruce. Also judas is played by the smarmy fucking yuppy cokehead who pretends to be bruce's friend but turns him in to the evil king Hans Grueber.

Festival programmer Seth Green is best known, depending on your circle of geekery, either for his role as Oz on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for playing the part of "the wacky geek kid" in any number of second-rate action-comedies, or as the co-creator of the amazing series Robot Chicken:


"Seth Green's Cavalcade of Horrors" as it has been dubbed will continue for the next two weeks and feature, amongst others, Albert Brook's hilarious Defending Your Life and a Phil Joanou double bill of Three O'Clock High and State of Grace.


WHERE: The New Beverly Cinema
WHEN: September 3 through 15, at 7pm
COST: $7 gets you in to both films.
MORE INFO: The New Beverly's MySpace Blog

Thursday at the Largo -- HUMAN GIANT

Everybody's favorite latter-day MTV comedy trio Human Giant -- Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel, and Paul Scheer -- will be performing live at the Largo this Thursday night. Wikipedia claims that they're also a staple of the New York stand-up scene, and since we're loathe to question the veracity of mob-oriented reference works we'll assume that must be the case. Hopefully, this means they'll be every bit as funny in person as they are the small screen.

If you've yet to see a Human Giant episode then I can but pity you, and direct you forthwith to the YouTube clips embedded within this very article.


Need another reason to go? How about guest appearances from Mindy Kaling (Kelly from The Office) and Thomas Lennon (of The State and Reno 911 fame). Also "very special guests," which tends to be stand-up comedy-speak for "people you've never heard of but who are friends of the guys on stage so why not invite them up and maybe they'll be funny too."


WHERE: The Largo at the Coronet Theater
WHEN: Thursday, August 26 2008 @ 9pm
PRICE: $25
MORE INFO: Largo Website

TONIGHT -- 2-for-1 Tickets to Worst Date Movie Ever

In a move of either subversive brilliance or perverse deviance -- or hell, why not both? -- the Cinefamily is offering a two-for-one deal on tickets to confrontational auteuriste Catherine Breillat's Fat Girl tonight as part of their "Female Gaze" series. Breillat has long had a reputation for making films dealing with sexuality and gender power-dynamics that are in the words of the Cinefamily's website "shocking masterpiece[s] of provocation," or what the rest of us might call "fucked up." If you've never seen one of her films -- and really, what's wrong with you? -- Fat Girl is an excellent place to start... but maybe not the best choice for a first date.

Quoth the Cinefamily website: "Anaïs is the eponymous 12-year-old lead, a would-be Cyrano whose stifled sexual awakening coincides with her beautiful sister Elena's first experiences with desire and seduction. Subtle tension escalates between the sisters as they navigate Breillat's signature sexual terrain, an ominous landscape fraught with the constant potential for delusion, deception, violence, and tragedy. Not surprising that Breillat was a best-selling novelist by the age of 17 -- the storytelling in Fat Girl decimates the conventions of teen dramas in favor of a daring explication of lust and loyalty, with an ending that famously shocked and polarized international audiences."

(Afterward, if your relationship is still intact, you can hang around for Fuego!, a film which appears both less serious and more entertainingly misogynistic than Fat Girl:)


"The authentic story of a real person,
told with integrity and stark candor."
WHERE: The Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax
WHEN: Tonight, Friday August 22, 2008 @ 7:30pm
COST: $10 for two tickets
MORE INFO: The Cinefamily
Fat Girl Criterion Collection DVD

Live / Free / Tonight -- DUSTY RHODES AND THE RIVER BAND

Dusty Rhodes and the River Band, arguably the best live band currently on the local scene, will be playing a free show tonight at Detroit bar in Costa Mesa.

If you haven't yet picked up their debut album "First You Live," then I feel equal parts pity and revulsion towards you. Perhaps you should look at tonight's gig as a chance to build up some much-needed Hipster karma for yourself, as well as, you know, an opportunity to see an incendiary live band at the top of their game. If that's the sort of thing you're into.

WHERE: Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa
WHEN: Tonight, Monday August 18th. Dusty Rhodes hit the stage at 10pm.
COST: Free
MORE INFO: Dusty Rhodes' MySpace Profile

THIS WEEKEND -- Belletristic Bibliophile Burlesquers

This weekend sees the return of the Orange County Underground Burlesque Society, a secret coven of burlesque artisans who, despite their name, practice their craft in an above-ground well-lit performance space, readily accessible to the public.

Their current show, "Once Upon a Corset... A Tale of Two Pasties," is billed as a loving tribute to all things bookish in nature. Via sexy dancing. Which is, frankly, a method of commendation that I feel should be more widely practiced in the literary community (New York Times Review of Books, please take note).

And no, the show doesn't feature any nudity. Pervert.

(Disclosure: Tragically Hipster's very own MEG is OCUBS' founding, er, father. We would have featured it here anyway, though, because it's awesome.)

WHERE: The Hunger Artists Theater in Anaheim
WHEN: This Friday and Saturday, August 15 and 16, 2008, @ 11pm.
COST: 15 smackers.
RESERVATIONS (heavily recommended): (714) 680-6803
MORE INFO: OCUBS Web Site
OCUBS Official MySpace Page

Free / Tonight -- COILHOUSE Launch Party / Group Art Exhibit

COILHOUSE is launching its real-world print version tonight in Los Angeles, with a group show featuring work from Zoetica Ebb, Roxy Contin, Hans Haveron, and others. Promised events include:

• Art, photography & fashion exhibit
• Refreshments, with Mer’s “special” Electric Lemonade
• Incredibly strange music
• Photo booth with weird medical props, straight from Zo’s cave
• Wall projections of Issue 01 art
• Your first glimpse at the actual magazine!

The COILHOUSE website -- already home to the COILHOUSE blog, soon to be purveyors of the COILHOUSE magazine -- describes its mission thusly: "COILHOUSE is a love letter to alternative culture, written in an era when alternative culture no longer exists. And because it no longer exists, we take from yesterday and tomorrow, from the mainstream and from the underground, to construct our own version. We cover art, fashion, technology, music and film to create an alternative culture that we would like to live in, as opposed to the one that’s being sold or handed down to us."

(Coilhouse is also active in producing reader-submitted content, for those of you who spend your time doing more interesting things than writing blogs about other people's parties.)

WHEN: Tonight (Saturday, August 9, 2008) @ 8pm.
WHERE: Hans Haveron Studios, 122 Glendale Blvd. LA, 90026.
PRICE: Free.
MORE INFO: Coilhouse.net.

Art for a cause...

Prestes Maia
The photography of Tatiana Cardeal

Opening Reception
Including Food and Refreshments
August 9th from 6pm to 8pm

The Salvation Army Alegria | Art for Shelter
2737 W Sunset Blvd Los Angeles CA 90026
T:323.454.4201 F:323-454-4226

www.salvationarmy-alegria.org
www.artforshelter.org

Great art... great cause!

Matt Wignall will be exhibiting some INCREDIBLE PHOTOS from his series in support of Water Wells for Africa. This exhibition will be hosted at DDR Projects in Long Beach. The opening is on August 1st and will feature DJ Pete Deeble spinning wax.

For more about Matt Wignall - go see MattWignall.com
For more about the gallery - go see DDRProjects.com
For more about the cause - go see WaterWellsForAfrica.com
And for more about DJ Pete Deeble.... well... just take my word for it!

Some of you may also know Matt Wignall as the local Long Beach music scene trailblazer: from Scouts of Saint Sebastian, Matt Death and the New Intellectuals, and Havalina; man behind the mix for many a local record made at his "Tackyland" studio; and man behind the cameras for Long Beach music stars the Cold War Kids. He is also co-founder of Matte Black clothing designs. And when he's not mastering art, music, or fashion... he is quitely plotting to conquer the world!

Cold War Kids secret show!

Cold War Kids play a secret show at The Prospector!

"Where the heck is The Prospector?!" - you ask. Well, its a tiny bar in Long Beach, that is hot with the locals. But it doesn't matter cause the show was last Friday night! So... HA! You missed it!
(that's OK... I missed it too...)

I got word of it after I already had tickets for Batman (see previous post), and I rushed over just to arrive as they finished the set... Oh well.

But the word at the bar was that they played all new material from their forthcoming album, and while it still showcases thier distictive rythmic sound, it is a little further from folk and a little closer to punk this time around. Go see their website for more info.

This would be a good thing! And that I can verify personally, I was at a show in March at the OC Performing Arts Center... They played a couple of new songs at that show, along with the following excellent cover of Fugazi's "Furniture". Enjoy!

GLOW - "compelling, enchanting and effervescent"

Glow is a major all-night public art event taking place this Saturday evening throughout downtown Santa Monica and around the Santa Monica Pier. Running from 7pm-7am the website promises that it will be "compelling, enchanting and effervescent" among other things.

Now I don't know about you, but I've never experienced an "effervescent" art installation... So, I'm in! ;)

Besides... it can't be all bad...
The event has some great art-event funders behind it like KCRW, the NEA, The Peter Norton Foundation, The Durfee Foundation, and Starbucks (...of course)!

See more details at glowsantamonica.org.

(RAR) The Happy Show, Spitting Images, and something special

I received an invite for a show called "The Happy Show" at Grand Central Art Center in Santa Ana. A friend of mine, Jaime Uretsky (who's work I really respect and enjoy), was included in the show and so I was interested in going to check it out if for no other reason than to encourage and support her... so I visited the GCAC website to find out details...

Well... I happened to know several other people exhibiting in The Happy Show, as well as some artists showing in a concurrent exhibition ("Spitting Images") in their main gallery! And the project room installation looked REALLY EXCITING! (Note: "Spitting Images" is the correct title for the show despite the typo on their website)

So now I had to go... and I did.

It was all enjoyable, and worth the trip...
But nothing turned out quite the way I expected.



On display: July 5 - July 27, 2008
I generally found The Happy Show... not so happy (with notable exceptions).

In general, I expected something very uplifting and whimiscal... but this seemed in short supply. One of the notable exceptions, from Jon Ginnaty and Diana Donaldson, was a rack of about 25 small ceramic puppies (as seen in the promo image above), each with a tag around its neck that reads "I will love you forever." This little installation with so many little puppy faces begging for attention, each with a promise of affection, was definitely a "Happy" highlight. Also, worthy of your time is a whimsical painting by Alyssa Cordova, and a very fun little animation/video piece by Jaime Uretsky (You'll have to look for this new work from Jaime in the front window facing the street).



On display: July 5 - August 24, 2008

Spitting Images was proclaimed to explore "unique interpretations of the photo-making process within a group dynamic"... but it seemed surprisingly traditional. Though not as unique as promised, I still felt this was over all a pretty strong showing of work by photographers and printmakers.

The real standout work of the show were a series of digital images from Neil Sharum. Utilizing his unique images (originating from clubs that cater to teens) as source material, he then uses digital imaging technology to merges images together, create the illusion of a seamless continuous space where his "cast" of very real characters appear to be interacting with one another in narratives of his own devising. In this process Neil becomes a story teller or director of sorts, creating cinematic narratives and building relationships into scenes that in truth do not exist.

Elsewhere in the show... Mark Chamberlain, Chris Moore, Sandra Green, and Mayra Alford all had strong showings of work that seemed to involve fairly traditional methods of image making. Not ground breaking, but strong nonetheless. (The work of Scott Angus could also fit into this category, but the 2 small pieces on display do not do adequate justice to his greater body of work.)

There were a few people who seemed to be genuinely bucking tradition and working in new or hybrid ways, including Janelle Morte and Leonard Correa, but I didn't necessarily find that work particularly engaging. Elizabeth Tobias as a possible exception had beautiful large scale and colorful visual representations of music... but they were at root fairly straight forward depictions of audio waveforms... (for a more innovative approach to visualizing music go see the "Sound!" work of Andy Carey, currently on display at Open Bookstore in Long Beach).

p.s. - I hate to be negative, but people need to stop exhibiting the work of Robbie Miller! His self portraits are thin on concept (sorely lacking, derivatives of Cindy Sherman and others), and from a photo craftsmanship-quality standpoint they are poorly executed prints. Yet somehow I have found his work exhibited in numerous small So-Cal galleries. (Someone has to stand up and say "NO!" when bad stuff is catching on.) STOP IT PEOPLE!



On display: July 5 - August 24, 2008
Lastly, the project room's installation ("This used to be real estate, now it's only fields and trees")... WAS EVEN BETTER THAN EXPECTED!

I can't really describe this installation by Amy Caterina. You have to experience it for yourself. Suffice it to say that it is an all-encompassing experience, very much enjoyed, and an excellent pairing to The Happy Show (or rather the whimisical intent of The Happy Show). You need to see this!

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS at The Largo -- Definitely / Maybe

New Zealand's fourth most popular novelty-folk duo are set to make a live appearance on the July 26th edition of the Greg Proops Chat Show at the Largo, in its new location at the Coronet theater. That show is, predictably, sold out.

But the Largo will also be hosting "The 1st National International New Zealand Day" on August 2nd. No schedule for the event has been posted online yet, but considering that the Conchords and the Largo have a lengthy history together, it wouldn't be a surprise if they made an appearance.

Tickets are still available, at $30 apiece.

More info: http://www.largo-la.com

Got kids?

If you have kids and you are struggling to teach them the fashionable way of the hipster...

You might have some help this weekend...

Harvey's (of the seatbelt handbag fame) is throwing a party to celebrate their new line of kid sized handbags... and while the thought of getting your kid a $100 handbag induces certain convulsions... There is some other great kid stuff going on at the party!

So you and your chil'en should go get all hipstered up.

Mark & Angie Rebennack of The Outfit will be there hocking their uniquely hip brand of kid fashions, as will Kait Emerson Designs, and Christina Vejar of Modern Frill Photography will be on hand raffling off a free photo sitting!

Lots of stuff... So get stocked up on cool stuff for the kids!


p.s. - For those of you who think you don't know what a Harvey's seatbelt bag is... it's made out of seatbelts... woven together to make a handbag...

I promise that you've seen this: