Nervous Gender Reloaded, an off-shoot of the original legendary Nervous Gender LA punk synth band, plays this Friday night in Tarzana, with The Robot Uprising and Suburban John. If you are weird, you are welcome there! But no creeps!
Friday, June 2: Nervous Gender Reloaded at the Corbin Bowl, 19616 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana, CA 91335, 8:00p, all ages, free parking.
Stories Bookstore and The Wrinkle Room host the book launch of “I Could Not Believe It: The 1979 Teenage Diaries of Sean DeLear” this Thursday, June 1. The long anticipated and just released explicit diaries of our homegrown punk, queer, drag diva, Glue-front person and performance artist Sean DeLear, have been published this month by Semiotext(e), six years after they passed away much too young. The launch will include a panel discussion about Sean and the book. Through this book, Sean lives!
Thursday, June 1: “I Could Not Believe It: The 1979 Teenage Diaries of Sean DeLear” book launch, Stories Bookstore, 1716 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026 (Echo Park); 7:00p, street parking or public parking lot behind the store.
The Gilmore Heritage Auto Show returns to one of LA’s most iconic places, the Original Farmers Market, on Saturday, June 3.
Now in its 27th year, this annual vintage auto showcase is open to the public. “Wonderful wagons: a tribute to woodies and all the great family haulers” is this year’s theme. Station wagons and the like are historically significant: they brought a new freedom to explore the open road and delve into places once difficult to explore. Almost 100 classic American vehicles – hot rods, low riders, customs, trucks, and more, in addition to wagons – will be on display throughout the Farmers Market.
The auto show goes from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and you can get 90 minutes of free parking with merchant purchase validation. The Original Farmers Market is located at 6333 Third Street.
“V/H/S/99” (2022, RLJE Films) Fifth entry in the found footage horror anthology franchise is set in 1999 (the tail end of the VHS era, it should be noted), which is echoed, somewhat opaquely at times, in the subject matter of its five stories: professional prankster-rockers a la CKY (“Shredding”), hyperactive, Nickelodeon-style kids’ programming (“Ozzy’s Dungeon”), teen-oriented horror (“Suicide Bid”), sex comedies (“The Gawkers”), and Y2K fears (“To Hell and Back”). As with the other entries in the “V/H/S” universe, “99” is hit-and-miss: “Shredding” and “Gawkers” are essentially extended gross gags, while Flying Lotus’s “Dungeon” and Vanessa & Joseph Winter’s “Hell and Back,” manage to showcase coal-black humor and impressive and elaborate set designs amidst gallons of bodily fluids (“Suicide Bid” is notable for star Ally Ioannides’s ability to withstand real spiders on her face while in a coffin filling with water). The chief selling point of the “V/H/S/” films is their nihilistic, no-way-out aesthetic – everyone comes to a bad end in these films – and in that regard, “99” delivers as well as or better than any of its predecessors. RLJE’s steelbook Blu-ray includes a cast and crew panel interview, deleted scenes, storyboard and rehearsal footage and a behind-the-scenes look at the impressive makeup for “Gawkers.”
First of all, you want to clean the hell out of your grill. It’s a good idea to do this at the beginning of summer anyways. Then get plenty of aluminum foil. Sure, you won’t get the cool grill-marks, but it is vegan etiquette for everyone to cook their big, beefy burgers and tofu dogs on separate pieces of aluminum foil. Luckily, with the profusion of veggie hot dog, burger and even bratwurst substitutes, main courses aren’t much of a challenge. Just double-check to make sure the buns are vegan. There are a number of websites listing vegan products, including Peta.org. Remember, there are often hidden animal products in food that are not that obvious, and gelatin is everywhere, so if someone is really strict, it’s best to check.
After the grill is taken care of, the second most important component of a barbecue is the ice chest. Luckily, most beer is vegan, with the notable exception of honey beers and Guinness. But some beers and wines are filtered with isinglass, a fish product. With liquors, you want to watch out for red food coloring #4, cochineal, also known as carmine or carminic acid (trust me, you really don’t want to know). It is most notably found in Campari. If you want to double-check, here is a vegan beer and wine guide.
“If I can just make it to the show on time,” I told myself as I got ready this past Wednesday evening in Los Angeles, “if I can just make it to the show on time!”
I charged my batteries and packed my no-frills camera, mildly scared that I’d be told at the door, “no filming allowed” and have my camera confiscated. I was even more anxious as the hour grew later, that the sold-out show at the Whisky would be too packed for me to get to the front of the stage.
So much chaos before I could even leave the house! Soon I was telling myself, if I can just get to the show at all. For even just one song. Because one song is better than no song for fans of Fanny, one of the first all-female rock bands ever. I don’t even have to tape it, I just have to be there.
Sisters June and Jean Millington had played music since they were kids in the Philippines. After they moved to America in the early 1960s, they formed a band in high school which by the late 1960s became Fanny.
Gin Rummy cocktail for four. Photo credit: Phillip Guerette.
Memorial Day Weekend is almost here. Traditionally launching the summer season, this long weekend is a great time to unwind, socialize, and get out of the house. See our list below for some ideas on places to pretend you’re in Key West, savor the burger The Los Angeles Times called The Best in LA, hang out by a gorgeous pool, go on a culinary walking tour, simply lounge, or get plant-based food without leaving the car/paying delivery fees.
Gin Rummy, a new island-inspired bar, opens on the border of Venice and Marina del Rey on May 26. Embracing both South Pacific and nautical themes, Gin Rummy’s decor features vintage, island-evoking pinball machines, tropical plants, jungle paintings, and much more. Among the libations served here: classic Tiki drinks, frozen rummys, Trader Vic’s-inspired cocktails-for-four, and booze-free drinks. More info
Enjoy drinks at a poolside bar when Sunday Fundays return to the lively Marina Del Rey Hotel. From the kickoff event this Sunday, May 28, and every Sunday through September 4, you can enjoy the sun and marina views while imbibing delicious cocktails, listening to live DJs, and savoring delicious bites. Daybeds, cabanas, and loveseats are all rentable options. Tickets and more info
Taste the hamburger that The Los Angeles Times crowned “best burger” in “Best of the Southland 2022” at a special price this weekend. Hank’s in Pacific Palisades is offering a Burger Combo Deal from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. this Sunday, May 28. Savor one of Hank’s burgers, like the Double Diamond Burger, along with a draft beer and your choice of side, for $25. More about Hank’s
This Sunday, Rudy Bleu Garcia presents a screening of UNIDAD: Gay & Lesbian Latinos Unidos (2022), a documentary that focuses on GLLU, a community organization which existed in the 1980s for queer-identified Los Angeles-based Latin@.
Director Gregorio Davila and punk photographer, artist and ex-GLLU member Louis Jacinto will be on hand to talk about the organization and film following the screening.
Sunday, May 28: UNIDAD: Gay & Lesbian Latinos Unidos, at Whammy Analogue Media Microcinema, 2514 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, 90026, enter Whammy! through the rear parking lot off of side street Rampart Blvd., doors 7:30p, screening at 8:00p; $10 general admission, $9 for Whammy! members.
Front row:Rachel Willis-Sorenson, left, Morris Robinson and Russell Thomas in Otello. Photo by Cory Weaver, used by permission.
The production of Otello currently playing at the LA Opera is somewhat unconventionally staged on a platform that resembles the inside of a ship, an obvious metaphor for the vessel that the titular character can command to victory with ease, while the boat that floats his own life can be sunk with just a few poisonous words. With Russell Thomas as Otello, Rachel Willis-Sorenson as his angelic bride Desdemona and Igor Golovatenko as the black-hearted Iago, and conductor James Conlon leading the orchestra, it’s a descent into the horror of human nature, the music adding deadly force to the hand twisting the knife. Continue reading →