Calling all dykes, queer women – cis, trans and enbies – and friends/allies! Help support the June 10 Dyke Day LA in the Park event by attending this Saturday’s fundraiser at the Eagle LA in Silver Lake.
From the Dyke Day LA IG page: “On our queer agenda: babes. bootblacking. djs. domme. dancing. daddies. mommies. hankies. spankies. And as always…RADICAL RAFFLE, MEGA NEW MERCH, Super HOT lineup.”
Saturday, April 29: Dyke Day LA Beer Bust Fundraiser at the Eagle LA, 4219 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles (Silver Lake), 90029; 3p-8p, $10 suggested donation, street parking only, must be 21+.
Becky Ebenkamp will be DJing this Friday night, April 21 at Gold Diggers, 5632 Santa Monica Blvd in Hollywood) along with Lenny Kaye from The Patti Smith Group (and compiler of NUGGETS for Elektra Records in 1972). The occasion? It’s the Golden Anniversary release of NUGGETS with a new box set compiled by Lenny; this is a kick-off to other celebrations that will be going on around town in the coming weeks. Starting at 9 p.m. this Friday at Gold Diggers (according to Lenny’s site) “there will be a hallucinogenic light show by Stranger Liquids, Atomikitty and Suzi Creemcheese will Go Go and The Velvet Minefield will play some volumetric Nuggets. I will join them for a bit o’ the glorious ‘Gloria.’ Mind Expansion encouraged.” So please be there, friends, this will be fun… – Domenic Priore
I Like Pie at the 2023 Masters of Taste event. Photo by Elise Thompson.
Masters of Taste, the annual fundraiser for Union Station Homeless Services, categorizes its participants into various types of Masters, and their “Sweet Masters,” always delight. Who doesn’t love dessert? Here are a few of our favorites from this year’s Rose Bowl celebration.
I Like Pie absolutely stole the show with a dazzling array of little pies, a classic Dutch Apple with a little shortbread cookie topper, plus a strawberry rhubarb and a mixed berry, which were almost perfect, but we really need vanilla ice cream with fruit pie, and it just wasn’t feasible. Oh, I just remembered there was an ice cream truck! Missed opportunities, sigh. Let’s hope they return next year.
Nothing Bundt Cakes is our go-to cake for office parties. If you ever showed up without one, you’d probably get called in to HR. The texture is a perfect middle ground between light and dense, and the subtle but not cloying sweetness make it a winner.
Mi Piaci’s Blackberry Press at the 2023 Masters of Taste event. Photo by Elise Thompson.
Written with Karin E. Baker
Masters of Taste, our favorite local fundraiser, takes its beverages as seriously as the cuisine. At the 2023 strolling event at the Rose Bowl, they offered beer from the likes of Tarantula Hills Brewing Company, Macleod Ale, and the San Fernando Brewing Company. One of our favorite beers was from Arts District Brewing Company: Kindling Smoked Helles Lager, which was awarded Best in Show at the 2023 Brewers Cup of California. Their Tiger Lily Wood-Aged Golden Sour was another crowd-pleaser.
Participating vineyards included The Hitching Post, Woodford Reserve, Moraga Bel Air, Navarro Vineyards, and Paul Warson, whose 2018 GSM Blend 1102 (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre), with grapes from the Santa Ynez Valley, was a real standout.
Masters of Taste always hosts the most skilled mixologists in Los Angeles. One of the best cocktails of the day was the Blackberry Press from Mi Piace, a white-tablecloth Italian restaurant in Pasadena (Try the short rib ravioli!). Both of their cocktails featured Suntory Haku Vodka, a longtime favorite of ours. The Blackberry Press was made with Suntory Haku Vodka, Ventura Spirits Limoncello, a house-made blackberry-mint syrup, and lemon juice. Also on the menu was The Orange Grove, a mix of Suntory Haku Vodka, Campari, house-made basil syrup, grapefruit juice and lemon juice.
“The Night of the Iguana” (1964, Warner Archives Collection) Sin and redemption (but mostly sin) in Puerto Vallarta, with Richard Burton as a defrocked priest leading American tours in Mexico and Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr, and Sue Lyon as various women with carnal designs on him. John Huston’s adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play is perhaps best remembered for its high profile cast (though the major award noms went to Gardner, Grayson Hall as Lyon’s closeted lesbian aunt and Cyril Delvanti as Kerr’s aging father); Huston swings for the fences and reworks Williams’ ending, but any shortcomings are negated by the leads’ fine, full-bore work. Warner Archives’ Blu-ray restores the luster of Gabriel Figueroa’s Oscar-nominated cinematography and bundles two vintage featurettes – a 2006 overview with Huston biographer Donald Spoto, among others, detailing the director, playwright, and film, and a 1964 promo short with lots of location footage and scenes of Elizabeth Taylor visiting Burton on the set, which drew considerable media attention.
Do you wanna rock? Do you really wanna rock??? If you regret not being around for LA’s great music scenes during the 80s and 90s, here’s your chance to hear some historic shit! If you were lucky enough to be around, come relive the golden years and enjoy a raucus reunion. Many of the LA scene’s veteran musicians will appear this Saturday at the Redwood Bar & Grill downtown in support of Education Through Music – Los Angeles and their mission to bring music education into LA public schools.
There will be an all-ages afternoon show from 3pm-7 with 1990s Silverlake Scene reunions from Popdefect and 3-D Picnic, as well as Quazar and The Bamboozled, who have remained active since their Spaceland-era debut. In case you didn’t know, just the Popdefect reunion alone is a BFD, not to mention 3-D Picnic! Quazar and the Bamboozled puts on one helluva show, with a big, fun, costumed spectacle. With dancing! A large collection of records and CDs from the period has been donated by area artists, labels and DJs for sale and auction.
