‘Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain’ is a Moving Tribute to a True Iconoclast

Posted on July 8, 2021 by Karin E. Baker

Image from ‘Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain’ courtesy of Focus Features.

Though Anthony Bourdain’s history of depression and substance abuse was well-documented, his talent for joyfully sucking all the marrow out of life made his 2018 suicide a shock.

The globetrotting iconoclast’s sharp wit, incisive writing style, and authenticity made him globally beloved and admired. Bourdain was aware his life appeared enviable, telling The Guardian in 2017, “I have the best job in the world.” Reality, however, never quite lived up to his romantic ideals. “He was always going to set himself up for disappointment,” laments his friend and producer of many years, Helen Cho, in the new documentary “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain.”

“Roadrunner” is directed by Morgan Neville, who beautifully explored the life and legacy of Mr. Rogers in “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and fixed his lens on Iggy and the Stooges for the doc “Search and Destroy” in 2010.

“Roadrunner” truly comes into focus around the time of the publication of “Kitchen Confidential,” which resulted in the upending of Bourdain’s life as he knew it. Bourdain marveled at his success, ruminating, “One minute I was standing next to a deep fryer, the next I was watching the sunset over the Sahara. What am I doing here?”

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LA Beat Interview – Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto of King Crimson

Posted on July 7, 2021 by Bob Lee

King Crimson’s 2021 touring lineup: Jakko Jakszyk, Pat Mastelotto, Robert Fripp, Gavin Harrison, Tony Levin, Mel Collins and Jeremy Stacy. Photo by Dean Stockings, used with permission.

As Los Angeles rubs its collective eyes, crawls out into the sun and tries to put the prior era of unpleasantness into the rear view mirror, it feels like a particularly good time to scream. The last year has left a lot of crap strewn across our collective emotional landscape, and it’s necessary to issue the barbaric yawp every now and again. Just let everything come out at once, and scream like the guy on the King Crimson album cover is screaming.

You know the album I’m talking about. It became iconic because the music inside sounded like the cover. Some of it was pretty and artful, but some of it was screaming like that guy was screaming. As they grew and changed, the palette changed a lot, but the band’s potential for both great beauty and great horror has remained part of their act.

Time hasn’t exactly softened the King Crimson lineup that tours today. With a front line of three drummers, it’s a multi-headed screamer par excellence, but it has a new capacity – the ability to play music from across its career, in addition to its new music.  Attentive listeners can find and hear this current stuff on the band’s website, DGMLive, but they don’t really release “albums” in the conventional sense any more. I suspect that casting off the practices of the traditional recording industry is something bandleader Robert Fripp does with giddy enthusiasm, normally reserved for the insane, spirit-lifting Sunday Lunch videos he makes with wife Toyah and neighbor Sidney Jake.

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Dio Cancer Fund To Celebrate Ronnie James Dio’s Birthday With Virtual Fundraiser

Posted on July 5, 2021 by Ed Simon

The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund was established to honor one of the top heavy metal rock vocalists of all time. He tragically lost his fight with stomach cancer on May 16, 2010. On Saturday, July 10, 2021, a Virtual Event Fundraiser will be held online to celebrate Ronnie’s birthday. The Stand Up and Shout for Ronnie James Dio’s Birthday Virtual Fundraiser benefitting the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund, features a staggering array of artists. Some will be performing their music; some will be paying tribute to Ronnie and his influence on rock; while others, who played in bands with him will tell about their memories of Ronnie James Dio.

Ronnie James Dio started singing and playing in bands in 1957. By 1960 he was instrumental in forming a group called Ronnie and the Prophets. The band went through several changes, finally changing their name to Elf in 1972. By that time Ronnie James Dio was becoming noted for his powerful voice and commanding presence on the stage. Shortly thereafter, they began regularly opening for Deep Purple, one of the major groups of the 1970s. When Ritchie Blackmore, the guitarist for Deep Purple left the band, he invited Ronnie James Dio to form Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow. By this time, Ronnie James Dio was gaining serious praise for his songwriting as well as his singing.

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watt’s picture of the week – sunday, july 4, 2021

Posted on July 4, 2021 by Mike Watt

happy fourth everyone!

photo by mike watt

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mike watt’s hoot page

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Movies Till Dawn: TV Party 2021

Posted on July 2, 2021 by Paul Gaita

“Beverly Hills 90210: The Ultimate Collection” (1990-2000, 2019, CBS Home Video/Paramount Home Video) Being the adventures of the Walsh siblings (Jason Priestley and Shannen Doherty), Midwesterners who relocate with their parents to Beverly Hills, California (played, at various times, by Van Nuys, Altadena, Santa Monica, Eagle Rock, and Torrance), and become enmeshed with its complicated teenage flora and fauna. Juggernaut youthquake series from Darren Star (“Sex and the City”) and Aaron Spelling, which dominated the attention of teen audiences and their media observers throughout the 1990s, and spawned a flurry of programming that drew on the primetime soap paradigm (“Melrose Place,” etc.). No effort will be spent to defend or defame “90210” – the show’s popcorn qualities remain intact, as do its hopelessly overwrought plotlines (echoed at times by the cast’s own lives), and it’s likely that if you enjoyed the show during its original network run, you’ll regard this massive box set in the same way as you might a long-forgotten denim jacket or concert t-shirt, bought in a flurry of high school impulse, found at the back of your closet. If the show did nothing for you in the ’90s, it’s unlikely to turn your head now, and if it’s your first dance with the program, you’ll find much to amuse you (good grief, the clothes and hair) as it tempts you with its high-wattage, high-camp drama. Oh, and the Cramps and Flaming Lips both perform in individual episodes. The Ultimate Collection bundles the entire original series and the six-episode meta-show “BH90210” in a staggering 74-disc (!) set, and adds a mountain of extras, including commentary by Star and writers Charles and Karen Rosin (on two episodes), multiple making-of featurettes, reunion segments, gag reels, season recaps, and interviews.

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This 100% Organic Flavored Vodka Was Inspired by Wellness Shots

Posted on June 30, 2021 by Karin E. Baker

Frankly Organic Apple Vodka. Photos by Karin E. Baker for The LA Beat.

Merging natural living with a bit of indulgence, Frankly Organic Vodka bears little resemblance to the vodkas you’ve sipped before. With flavored varieties inspired by wellness shots, this Austin-made corn vodka is 100% organic, non-GMO, made with all-natural ingredients, and contains anti-inflammatories like turmeric, digestive-soothing ginger root, and adaptogens like maca.

Though vodka isn’t my favorite spirit, this stuff is something special. The flavored vodkas I’ve tried before were often cloying and artificial, but these five varieties — pomegranate, strawberry, grapefruit, apple, and original — boast clean, sophisticated flavors that aren’t overly sweet.

I didn’t expect the apple variety to be all that exciting, but it truly is. Ginger, cherry bark, and a bit of cayenne meld with apples to make a lightly sweet spirit with a bite that’s perfect on its own or on the rocks. It’s also the basis for a tasty Apple Sangria (recipe at bottom of page) and a variation on the classic Moscow Mule.

Frankly Organics strawberry variety, balanced with lemon, turmeric, and ginger, is easy to sip on its own. It also mixes well with limoncello and is the centerpiece of a White Summer Sangria. The pomegranate variety didn’t work on its own for me, but is tasty topped with soda water or in a cocktail like a Pom-tini or a Pomegranate Flower.

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Los Angeles Times Food Bowl Celebrates Anthony Bourdain – and Roti!

Posted on June 29, 2021 by Elise Thompson

Wanderlust. Photo by Elise Thompson.

Food events are making a comeback after more than a year of struggling with Zoom panels and delivery. Saturday night, the LA Times Food Bowl’s Night Market Cinema welcomed us to a screening of “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain.” The expansive lawn in front of the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park was scattered with blankets and lawn chairs, laid out in front of a theater-sized screen. They handed out popcorn and blankets at the entrance, which was a really nice touch.

The thing that I was the most excited about was the food! There were booths representing several international cuisines, with a meal and a drink included with your ticket. Jon & Vinny’s offered their “White Lightning” pizza with pickled jalapenos. A’s BBQ brought Brisket, Link Slices, Cochinita, a side of Mac and Rajas from Chef Alan Cruz, a young Chicano schooled in central Texas traditions. You can try his grub here. Tacos 1986 brought their Tijuana-style tacos de adobada, pollo asada, carne asada and hongos with homemade tortillas. They all sounded amazing, but I was just thrilled that Bridgetown’s rotis would be there!

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Fighting to Preserve the Googie Architectural Features of Covina Bowl

Posted on June 28, 2021 by Deb Smith

Photo by Chris Nichols. Used with permission.

Preservation of our historic buildings, including Googie-style buildings from the mid-century, can be a huge challenge/ The need for housing in Los Angeles may also worsen the problem. If it were not for architectural preservationists like Adriene Biondo, who has worked successfully on many of these projects, most of these iconic buildings would have been lost forever. In this case, Trumark Homes, the project applicant, is adaptively reusing a portion of the Covina Bowl Building. The company will be incorporating 132 multi-family townhomes with commercial/retail/office uses in the former bowling alley.
In March 2021, the Covina City Council approved their redevelopment, and demo and construction have begun.

Although the bowling alley itself has been razed, key architectural elements will remain. According to Adriene Biondo, adaptive re-use of these elements will include: a full restoration of Covina Bowl’s neon sign, a reproduction of the 1955 neon script lettering that originally read “Covina,” which will replace the backlit plastic boomerang ‘C’ that was added in the 60s, restoration of the pyramid entry and coffee shop, and adding a lawn bowling feature as a nod to the bowling lanes that were there for over six decades.

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Queer Communion: Ron Athey – A Richly Transgressive Career on View at The ICA LA

Posted on June 26, 2021 by Judy Ornelas Sisneros

A retrospective look at the fascinating and prolific career of LA-based performance artist Ron Athey through film & videos, writings, portraits, props, costumes, photographs and more! Curated by USC Roski School of Art and Design’s Amelia Jones, taking place at The ICA LA. On exhibit June 19 – September 5, by Appointment only via website: The ICA LA

Queer Communion: Ron Athey at The ICA LA, 1717 E. 7th Street, Los Angeles, CA  90021. always free, street parking only, by appointment (they are letting several people in during specific time segments).

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Celebrate National Food Truck Day & Week This Weekend

Posted on June 25, 2021 by Karin E. Baker

Today is National Food Truck Day! Food trucks across LA (and the entire US) are celebrating with promotions, discounts, and BOGO deals.

The deals continue throughout National Food Truck Week, concluding this Sunday, June 27.

As LA continues to reopen, it’s a perfect time to salute the entrepreneurial spirit of those who help make LA such a vibrant, unique food city. You can help support the cause by eating at a local food truck, then sharing a photo of your meal on social media with the hashtag #NationalFoodTruckDay.

Roaming Hunger, formed in 2009, helped organize this sixth annual celebration of food truck owners. To find participating food trucks, click here.

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