LAPoliticalArt

Humanity is Toxic, but who isn't?

2007-07-01T07:59:00.000-07:00

Can you take comfort in a nihilistic universe?
There is no GOD. These nervous organisms know they are doomed,
and in the grand scale of things everything is annihilated, through stellar furnaces.
That's the universe's way of recycling, because nothing is ever lost,
all is conserved and mutable, and so flows your joy.
Why not live in the happy bubble, as all organisms seek.
Lay in the shade and lick each other. Pop, you're dead.

Everything Steals

2007-05-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

The projects pile up. Everything steals from everything else. May brain bouncing around contexts like so many handballs. Good shit, but high on stress crinks the neck. Virtual revolutionaries turn out to be corporate agent provocateurs. Honest progressives hawking good agendas out on their own. Iraq meatgrinder gone wild.

http://tellusthemission.org/ from Brave New Foundation - Robert Greenwald
Check out the number of views Roy is getting on YouTube RoyZimmerman

Yes, we have an Ashgrove Project, 2 nites April 2008 at Royce Hall.
I can't show you the movie yet, but I will just namedrop...Ry Cooder, Dave Alvin, Taj Mahal.

The Fight Against War and Fascism in Second Life.

2007-01-31T20:10:00.000-08:00

My obsession for Second Life started out guiltily enough. Tours of dungeons, fairylands, and the shemale sex palace. Real life matters and domestic debris piling up. It quickly devolved into a fight against neo-nazis, where I'd be right now if god hadn't taken the servers down.

Second Life is a 3D designers playground, sound and movies included, filling up with the old as the new content evolved, adventure games included. You can go ahead and put virtual in front of every word from here on, because none of this exists except in the minds of millions of people. People will pay for that, just like the movies, and here you're the center of the action, the makeup, the plastic surgery, the fashion, the cause, the camera.

I set up Sponto Gallery on the boardwalk of Venice Beach and filled it with my photos of Venice Art. The Landlord of Venice Beach even gave me $2500 to get started. I teleported from place to place to admire the works of talented designers. I dove into the scripting libraries for special effects and animation. There were people of conscience working here. Camp Darfur, AIDS awareness, Breast Cancer Awareness, CODEPINK! I joined CODEPINK because i am in love with them. The sight of courageous outrageous performance art tearing up patriarchial groupthink just makes me so happy. The people I met at the CODEPINK meetings were wonderful activists from across the US. I soon became a woman. My Pinky would be the CODEPINK poster girl, a big tall Irish 18 year old with flaming red-blond hair. She would fall to the earth and utterly transform it, to a punk metal anthem.

After the November election RootsCamp held a number of campaign debriefings, with real life activists and technology specialists from campaigns. I learned what content management systems and private web based applications people were finding useful. We planned to do an anti-war protest to roughly coincide with the January 27 2007 protests in Washington. Avatars Against the War. We sought out all the other progressive groups. Greenpeace, ACLU, Forward Together, Imagine Peace, Leftist Beatnik Revolutionaries, Not On Our Watch, Red Faction, SL Left Unity, and the Anti-fnsl, who have now split into two groups, one on a path of violence and one on a path of non-violence. We put together a large antiwar Peace Party and demonstration at the Capitol.
By large I mean about 120 people in two sims. A sim holds about 80 people before it
refuses entry.

My Photos
RubyJi's photos
An Article by Scarlett Qi
A blog and movie by Rik Riel

Searching the databases for progressives I found the Conscious Lounge, run by a lesbian performance artist from San Francisco. She played lovely lyrical and abstruse piano, quite modern. She was hanging out with a lot of Euros, particularly French people who had come into Second Life to protest the opening of an office for Le Pen, the presidential candidate of the National Front of France. Segolene Royal, the candidate of the Socialist Party of France also has an office. There were constant disruptions at the Le Pen office, as both sides switched tactics. Pushing, shooting, naked passive resistance, image bombs, annoying chatbots, these are all techniques of what is called griefing. Second Life has a set of anti-griefing tools. If you own land, you can expel and ban people, and there are even degriefers for hire to help get rid of griefers. Griefing is against the Second Life Terms of Service. Yet in civil disobedience there is a basic intention to disrupt the corrupt. The Anti Fascists managed to force the Le Pen office to move from it's first location, and kept up the pressure on the new location. However there is one problem with fighting neo-fascists, they love it, it is how they have sex.

It also helps them band together because soon into the fray comes Thor Forte, whose profile links to the National Vanguard, a white separatist hate group as certified by the Anti-Defamation League. Their website could have been written by the Onion. "We can have a clean, orderly, progressive, safe, and incomparably richer and more beautiful nation if it becomes a proud White nation again." They can't use "supremacist" and more but they'd like it if all the non-white people went back to where they came from, so the "True Americans" can get their country back. Christ is far to namby-pamby for these neo-nazis, they are Pagans. I could tell it hurt when I told my daughter that. So Thor starts showing up at the National Front office heckling the demonstrators, and spying on the left wing organizations. I meet with the ACLU and a degriefer, who suggests that people have a right to hate anybody they want. As for spying, don't think for a minute that everything you do on the internet isn't visible to someone. Get over it and make your brazen dreams in public, the world loves an exhibitionist, that's why there is an entertainment industry. Have nothing to hide, or confess, that can play well.

After the demonstration i go by the Le Pen HQ to see what's goin on. It appears that Thor Forte has handed out enormous penises to the National Front of France guys. They immediately use them on an unwelcome guest. The Video. The Photos. NSFW I felt like a photographer at a gay porn shoot.

Second Life was created by Linden Labs of San Francisco and we all know that in this world they are god. While they do have terms of service, violations of which can get your account suspended or terminated, they would prefer not to be involved in the disputes of mortals, such as the banning of hate groups. Some residents hope to launch self-government, where the residents have the ability to legislate. But all real world governments have police and army to back them up, and regions in SL may be able to opt out. War may be required for residents to take self-government seriously, but physical war in SL is an orgy of violent imagery, with no permanent damage.

The lawless mercenary is the hero of the militarist genre of video games. Legions of young boys jerking off with their remotes. You'd think it would be a militarist's bonanza of recruits but army life ain't nuthin like the video game for a grunt. However those who view themselves as an elite find theselves able to simulate military operations as training exercises, in Second Life too. All the hostility gives them something to fight for. So I suggested to the Anti-Fascists that we read Umberto Eco's article "14 Ways to tell a Blackshirt" which is about Ur-Fascism, the commonalities of fascist ideas thru the ages. I also suggested that we campaign against them with surrealistic psychic disruption. For the Ur-fascist, the weapon is the penis, and vice versa. No one seems to be going for my plan of counterattacking with giant vaginas, and getting Larry Flint to sponsor the film. Instead we are making Le Pun, a little chatbot who says "Death is Life!", "Le Pun loves his little boys!", "Take orders and obey!", and worse.

U.S.: The White Supremacist Movement's Metamorphosis
The National Vanguard
The National Front Of France
Umberto Eco - Eternal Fascism: Fourteen Ways of Looking at a Blackshirt

I was a racist little kid, despite having relatively liberal parents. My brothers friends were neo-nazi ROTC who marched across Fairfax High in Nazi drag. I wanted to be a Marine and go to Annapolis, at least until I discussed all this in first grade with teacher, Mrs. Gurowitz. I think the first crack in my armor was when I could see how a sweet jewish girl in my class was hurt by my words. I felt some sympathy now for those inside militaristic hate cults. We discussed how the neo-nazis held many self-loathing closeted gays. We are reading the Art of War and the Art of Peace. The most powerful weapon of war and peace is the human mind.

Fascists in Second Life

2007-01-17T12:11:00.000-08:00

Yes the F word is overused, however in the case of the National Front of France calling them fascist is not hyperbole. They are Holocaust denying, homophobic, militaristic and anti-immigrant. Le Pen is their presidential candidate. Supporter of Le Pen recently opened an office in the MMORPG Second Life. They were quickly overwhelmed with protesters. It would appear that the office was a project of some young gamers. The met the protesters with pushing, firearms, and ran them over with vehicles, and banned and ejected the protesters from their land. This led to an escalation of griefing, and the use of anti-push attachments. Of course no one is really killed or injured in Second Life, and griefing is the term used for actions which cause someone grief. It may be unwelcome speech, it may be automated virtual object that spew text or images or sounds into the environment of the begrieved. Pushing, shooting, and other aggresive behaviors are prohibited by the Second Life Term of Service. There may have been some antifa (Anti-Fascist, Anti-Le Pen) who also performed aggressive behavior, but mostly they were performing non-violent disobediance like sitting naked in front of the SL (Second Life) Le Pen HQ. Recordings of Punk anthems against the NF (National Front) were broadcasted in the vicinity, and image bombs, were also used. Large signs were placed on neighboring property.
The antifa are mostly French, and most of the in-world chat taking place around the Le Pen HQ was in French. A Second Life Left Unity group was formed, as well as an antifa group, so information could be shared. As word spread of the situation spread, activists and concerned avatars from around the world showed up at the protest site. What has now developed is a lot of dialog since bullying ends up as a waste of time. The physical battle in the streets that may accompany many real life demonstrations around the world was being repeated here in SL, but has evolved into a bilingual chat stream as Le Pen supporters, Antifa, and other interested avatars showed up and debated and discussed.

Militaristic and agressive roleplaying video games dominate the market. I am concerned that these would make it easier for old school rightists like Le Pen to use social networking to recruit youth into their cause. Take a look at one SL Le Pen Supporter, Simon Au. Odd thing about Simon. He's a Libyan Arab, Lives in England, and is 17. (Must be 18 to play SL, this is a violation the the SL TOS.) Here's his Myspace page.
Militarists succeed by dehumanizing an enemy, making them an evil to be eliminated.
Social networks can empower a humanizing dialog, around the world.

Moved to Blogger Beta

2006-09-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

I am posting over here now.

Code Pink at Camp Casey

2006-08-25T00:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends

Tomorrow is Day 22 of my Fast for Peace.

Last week I went to Camp Casey with Codepink to plant a memorial peace garden and remember the innocent lives lost throughout the Middle East.

When we arrived on Wednesday, the plot of land we were to plant was raw dirt. And for those of you who’ve never had the pleasure of visiting Crawford, raw dirt, baking in the 105 degree Texas sun, is hard and dry. The rototiller arrived at about 5 p.m. And by the time the sun had set, we had finished rototilling (is that a verb?) and had decided on the placement for the big plants, the bench, the birdbath and the tree. After we stopped working for the day, there was a beautiful ceremony officially welcoming the vets to Camp Casey.

The next morning we got started again early in the morning — some of us were planting like crazy, while others picked up the bench, the birdbath and more flowers — and at 11 a.m. we presented the amazingly pink garden to Cindy and the residents of Camp Casey. There is a mound of children’s shoes at the front of the garden, representing the innocent lives lost in Iraq, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine.

Here’s a picture of the codepink gals with Cindy in the garden — note the pink flamingo. You can see more pictures at: http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=1176

The ceremony was intimate and unbelievably moving. Jodie Evans spoke of Cindy’s courage and sacrifice. Cindy talked about her upcoming surgery and the strength she got from seeing flowers blooming in Camp Casey. A veteran of Operation Desert Storm talked about her participation in the action known as the Highway to Hell, where American forces surrounded and attacked Iraqi forces retreating from Kuwait City and from al Jahra. Some estimate as many as 25,000 Iraqi were killed. She said many women and children were trapped in the slaughter and that seeing the pile of shoes “brings me right back there. And I need to go there. It is the worst thing I ever did.” Then the mother of a veteran spoke, “I guess I’m lucky, my son made it back alive. But I keep feeling like I’m just minutes away from becoming a Gold Star Mother. He is so tortured by what he did and what he saw. There have been suicide attempts...” This is the war we don’t see on the nightly news. Embedded journalists don’t show this side of war, any war.

Camp Casey is smaller this year and had to start up early when W changed his vacation plans. His guys obviously learned something from last year. When he’s in Crawford, the press covers Cindy. When he’s not at the ranch, the national press corps is not in town, so she doesn’t get as much coverage. I would never say Cindy drove him out of town, but...

As you drive into Crawford there’s a big billboard proclaiming: “Welcome to Crawford, Home of President Geo. W. Bush.” Outside Camp Casey there’s another sign, “Welcome to Crawford, Home of Cindy Sheehan.” Guess the town wasn’t big enough for both of them.

I returned from the trip full of feelings, nourished by the strength and commitment of the band of sisters and brothers camping out on Cindy’s land. Some of you have sent moving, supportive emails. Thank you. I hope my fast encourages you to act for peace. If you are so moved, you can contribute to codepink’s Let Peace Live campaign at: https://secure.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/codepink/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=1733&t=F.dwt

Love and peace (now!!), Susan

P.s. Cindy had a hysterectomy today — no cancer!! She will be in the hospital, Providence Health Center in Waco, for the next several days.
P.s. I’ve decided to end my juice fast for peace September 1. I will have fasted for a month.

The Real News is Hiring

2006-08-25T00:12:00.000-07:00

IWT - The Real News is hiring!

This fall we begin an exciting new phase of The Real News. As you know, our
business plan calls for the creation of a pilot for our nightly news show "The Real
News", several short documentaries and a new weekly show examining media
coverage of top stories called "The Real Story".

The first step in this process is a world-wide talent search and we're hoping
you can help. We're looking for smart and savvy on-camera hosts. If you, or
someone you know, is interested in applying, please go to
www.iwtnews.com/host

Please stay tuned for news of further employment opportunities at The Real
News. With your support we are continuing to grow and achieve our goals. We
couldn't do it without your monthly membership support. To all who have
signed up, our heartfelt gratitude.

Best wishes,

Paul Jay, Chair
The Real News (IWT)
www.TheRealNews.com

PARLOR PERFORMANCES presents PARLOR-PALOOZA!!

2006-08-24T15:13:00.000-07:00

Sunday, Sept. 10 * Complete Shows at 2pm & 6pm * �Insomniac�s Delight� @
10pm!! * $25 (cash/check)
RSVP & Info: jeannine@fankentertainment.com * (310) 471-3979, Steinway Hall * 12121 W. Pico Bl.(one door w/ of Bundy Dr. under Fields Pianos - level P2) in West L.A.

To kick off it's 17th season, Parlor Performance producer Jeannine Frank is offering the public a sampling of some of LA's favorite comedy, cabaret and solo artists (from the historical to the hysterical!) on Sunday, September 10th. PARLOR-PALOOZA will feature continuous performances from 2pm - 5:30 and again from 6pm - 10pm. At 10pm, Frank hopes to cap the festivities with "Insomniac's Delight" -- a late-night hour of political satire, comedy and cabaret. Featured artists include monologists Ann Randolph (Squeeze Box), Vicki Juditz, Annie Korzen, and Marc Maron; cabaret favorites Ray Jessel and Marie Cain; singing satirist Roy Zimmerman and several others.

Coming soon! Ray Jessel (Sat. Sept. 16 @ 8pm) * Jay Leonhart's "The Bass
Lesson" (Thu., Oct. 26 @ 8pm)

****************************
MORE INFO! SHOW LINE-UP & DESCRIPTIONS
12-minute mini-showcases * Sunday at 2:00pm  & repeated at 6:00pm
* ANN RANDOLPH's LA & NY hit �SQUEEZE BOX� (LA Critics Award * Best Solo
Show!)
* KRES MERSKY's "THE LIFE & TIMES of A. EINSTEIN"
* VICKI JUDITZ (LA Ovations-winner! Think David Sedaris & Sarah Vowell)
* STEPHANIE SATIE's "REFUGEES" & �COMING to AMERICA: Transformations�
* JOHN CROWTHER�s "F.LL.W.: The Tragedies & Triumphs of Frank Lloyd
Wright" & "MEET MR. WRIGHT"
* CARLA ZILBERSMITH's "WEDDING SINGER BLUES" (spot-on characterizations
recall Lily Tomlin. LA Times)
* Singing Satirist ROY ZIMMERMAN (a latter-day Tom Lehrer. LA Times)
* AMANDA ABEL (Cabaret artist, Broadway & off-Broadway veteran)
* Sr. Citizen Cabaret Darling RAY JESSEL ("the millennium Noel Coward!"
Michael Feinstein)
* Comedienne & Cabaret Diva SHELLY GOLDSTEIN
* NPR Humorist & Seinfeld veteran ANNIE KORZEN's "YENTA UNPLUGGED"
* MARIE CAIN�s one-woman musical comedy �BABY BLOOMER: Is There Life
After 50?�
* Exquisitely neurotic, acerbic (and oddly lovable) radio host/comedian
MARC MARON

10:00-???  �INSOMNIAC�S DELIGHT!!�  Grab Bag of Comedy & Cabaret! !
The room is paid for � why stop? Exhausted artists perform for fun -- new
stuff, anything goes! Surprise guests!

Venice Music Festival

2006-08-24T15:11:00.000-07:00

Venice Music Festival and Jazz at Palms Court Champagne Brunch September 17, 2006

Save the Date! VCHC's annual fundraiser is Sunday, September 17th this year. As usual, the event will kick off at the beautiful Palms Court (733 Palms Boulevard in Venice), where brunch guests will begin their Sunday enjoying delicious fare prepared by Venice's own Off the Wall Catering. Brunch attendees will enjoy the smooth jazz of the Richard Glaser Band. This Champagne Brunch is always sold out, so make your reservations early.

In celebration of the diversity of Venice that makes our community so special, this year's musical festival will feature music selections from around the world.The Venice Music Festival will begin at 1:00 and continue until 6:00 in an expanded performance space around the Palms Court. Kwanza Jones and the Global Groove Collective will kick-off the afternoon with their Rock-N-Worldbeats, followed by L.A.'s Premier Afrobeat Ensemble, Afrobeat Down. Argentinean rockers Los Pinguos were such a hit last year that we've invited them back, and they will be sure to have the audience dancing- vivacious and infectious, the sound of Los Pinguos has claimed fans worldwide.

Delicious food and beverages will be offered throughout the Venice Music Festival at bargain rates. Champagne Brunch tickets are $100, which also includes admission to the Music Festival in the afternoon. A suggested donation of $20 is requested for the Music Festival only.

To order tickets or for additional information call Kristen Laskaris at 310-399-4100 ext. 106.

Venice Music Festival MySpace Page!

Dave Rovics at Peace and Freedom Center

2006-08-24T15:07:00.000-07:00

DAVID ROVICS - Coming Sept 9

That's right! America's Number 1 Protest Singer is coming to the Peace and
Freedom Center for his only appearance in Los Angeles as part of his
Halliburton Boardroom Massacre tour. If you don't know his music, go to
www.DavidRovics.com

Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now, had this to say about David Rovics:
"David Rovics is the musical version of Democracy Now!"

Gold Star Mother Cindy Sheehan: "David Rovics is the peace poet and
troubadour for our time."

Tickets for DAVID ROVICS appearance are on sale now

Advance tickets are $15, or $20 at the door. There is limited seating, so
get your tickets now! Call 310-399-2215 for information.
Check out Rebecca Lynn's music and website.



And please join us at a weekly peace vigil 5PM every Friday at the Venice
Circle (1 block from our Center).
[OUT NOW • STOP GLOBAL WARMING]
James Smith for Congress • www.votesmithforcongress.org Karl Abrams for
Assembly • www.AbramsforAssembly.org
--------------------------------------
email: jsmith@igc.orgphone: 310-399-2215 web:
http://www.VenicePeaceandFreedom.org

Marijuana Policy Project Ads

2006-08-24T15:04:00.000-07:00

MPP's latest radio ad debunks myths about marijuana — explaining, for example, how government-funded research has shown that marijuana doesn't cause cancer. The new spot will debut on Jim Hightower's syndicated "Common Sense Commentaries" and the "Downsize D.C." radio show the first week of September. Listen to MPP's new radio commercial here.

Pigmobile

2006-08-24T15:02:00.000-07:00

Polls show most people don't want half their tax money going to the Pentagon, once they see the facts. So we've got a 5,000-pound rolling political message about Pentagon pork and underfunded domestic priorities, called the Pigmobile. It's on the road this summer drawing all kinds of attention to our plan for shifting some of that wasted money into human needs programs where it could do some good.

Pianism

2006-08-24T14:52:00.000-07:00

This is a collection of Piano improvisations I made, on Jamendo, a free Creative Commons license music site. Purely abstract music, no propaganda. link is in title.

Wonderful Europe

2006-08-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos I took in Europe, they are among the over 700
photos the link above leads to.

My Video of Venice, Italy

2006-08-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

I went out one early morning in Venice Italy to capture some ambience.

AND NOW FOR INTERESTING AND FUN LINKS

2006-07-13T12:15:00.000-07:00

http://www.royalsapien.com/pop1/
http://www.freeinla.blogspot.com/ - free events blog
http://www.infomindsolutions.com/photogallery1/natphoto/index.html - public domain photo collections
http://www.jacksonpollock.org/ - make your own.
Free Summer Concerts in Santa Monica http://www.twilightdance.org/
& Culver City http://www.culvercitymusic.org/
http://www.sirnosir.com/ - the GI movement to end the Vietnam War
http://leftcoastconversions.com/ - Electric Vehicle Conversions - in Culver City
http://shakemovie.caltech.edu/ - Incident specific earthquake animations
http://www.downtownartwalk.com.
http://www.freevenice.org/Beachhead/July2006/July2006.html
My Road Trip 2006 http://www.flickr.com/photos/venicevandal/187052523/in/set-72157594195264881/

Art Behind Bars

2006-07-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

We thought you might be interested to know what Margie's been up to since Midnight Special closed. When last we saw her she was putting on a show at the bookstore called "Art Behind Bars," drawings and writings by prisoners incarcerated at the SHU in Pelican Bay. She has continued putting on these shows in San Francisco, Eureka, and now Highland Park. Here's the info:

August 12-October 12, 2006

@ Jackie Goldberg's office

106 N. Ave 56 @ Figueroa

(take the Gold Line to Ave 57 Highland Park station)

(323) 258-0450

The opening reception will be on Saturday, August 12 from 6-9 pm, and will be part of NELAart's Second Saturday Gallery Night (kind of like an "art walk" where you can walk around to see different art exhibits).

Please stop by and say "hi." And if you can't make it to the reception, then please go out to Jackie's office at your convenience and see the show. Even if you saw it at Midnight Special, you still might want to take a look -- different and more drawings will be exhibited.

Looking forward to seeing you,

Lorraine Suzuki and Margie Ghiz

P.O. Box 1495

Santa Monica, CA 90406

310.403.9277

www.artrelease.org

Blight at the End of the Funnel

2006-06-20T10:36:00.000-07:00

Edward Colver’s exhibition and book titled, Blight at the End of the Funnel, are epic explorations. The 200-page book and the exhibition examine the artist’s creative life from his many years documenting the punk music scene in Southern California, to his edgy, witty, poignant assemblages. The exhibition will feature 20 selected photographs and 15 assemblage works in the Grand Central Main Gallery and, in the Grand Central Project Room, Colver will assemble an original installation. The 200-page book, co-published by Last Gasp Press (San Francisco) and Grand Central Press (Santa Ana), will be printed in both hard and soft cover editions and feature more than 300 black-and-white and color images. Mick Farren, Mat Gleason, Larry Reid, and Jocko Weyland contributed essays for the book.

Planning a Iraq war sim in Second Life

2006-06-03T07:54:00.000-07:00

I recently attended a meeting to plan a 3-D art exhibit about the Iraq war. No one drove their car to the meeting, we all sat our avatars down together in the virtual world of Second Life, a massive multi-player online world simulation created by it's participants. It is a multi-media playground for artists, with streaming music and movies. People can create entire fantasy islands here...and they do...you name it. There are community standards though, and people get suspended or expelled for being hateful. There is a police blotter.

So here I am going to brainstorm some ideas that I think might make some interesting performance art pieces for a virtual world.

1. Visit Iraq
Visitors are queued up to go on a tour of a small Iraqi town. They all must register and recieve passports, with RFID tags spewing their personal infos. They must also put on traditional Iraqi costumes. Guards will not let them past a checkpoint into the sim until they have reviewed their passport. Inside the sim the visitors are given instructions from an Officer, about what to expect, and there is cynical humor and implied danger, but may be told that if they are killed they will be teleported back to the queueing area. The Officer also introduces the seargeant and privates who will accompany the visitors, giving some background info on each, to build empathy, get the visitors to laugh at them for their humanity. The visitors are asked to board a military transport vehicle to ride to the village. Their passports are collected as they climb aboard the bus. It's a rough ride and then a roadside bomb goes off. Many are killed, and all the soldiers are killed except for the soldier who just arrived yesterday from Nebraska. The visitors can take cover behind the overturned vehicle, while the one soldier returns sniper fire. After a short while, the near paniced soldier ties a brave charge at the snipers, but he is also wounded and lies dying nearby and tells the visitors to hang tight until another bus comes, and that he has called in air cover. RPGs explode on the opposite side of the overturned bus. The visitors must decide what to do. In a short while a helicopter battles the snipers, and may tell the visitors to proceed to the village, down the road. The road is mined and there are more roadside bombs. Alternately they can wait for another bus.

When they arrive in town (it might take a few tries) they are unloaded from the bus. It is windy and dusty. An extremely officious officer reprimands them for even wanting to be there and lays the resposibility for the death of the other soldiers on their meddling desire to investigate matters which are better left to professional soldiers. SOme passports are returned. Behind the officer a old Iraqi man has been shuffling up the street. He explodes and the officer and his bodyguards take off down another street where they say it is safe. Here there are a few bodies lying in the street. The officer takes off in his helicopter, the soldiers hold the rear, returning sniper fire.

The visitors are then left to their own devices to wander among scenes of wanton murder of civilians. Eventually another military patrol arrives and surrounds and corrals the visitors.
The visitors must all lie on the ground quickly or they are shot. They are asked for their passports, but only some have recovered them. Those people with passports are separated from the rest. The others are taken to Abu Ghraib. There they are put into cells with imprisoned Iraqis who talk to them(maybe notecards) about why they are there and what their feelings about the war are. One of the visitors, maybe a plant, is horribly loudly tortured in front of all the cells. Relief guards come in, and after the other shift leaves, they lecture everyone about how much they hate Iraq and how many of their friends have been killed, then they machine gun everyone. Restart for these visitors. The other group of visitors, who had recovered their passports, is taken thru a checkpoint into an upper class enclave, which is completely beautiful safe zone and there they can meet and listen to Iraqi politicians, diplomats, carpetbaggers, religious spokespeople, Haliburton Office, US Embassy. It could be possible for people to recover passports for their friends who were taken to Abu Ghirab, and to go back and get them out of prison. Visitors can leave thru a checkpoint which leads to a village dedicated to the beauty and history of Iraqi culture, including a completely respectful Mosque dedicated to Moslem culture. This historical area can be entered without going thru the bus ride
if you have a passport.

2.Meet an Iraqi - a nightclub of modern middle eastern pop music where real young Iraqis are available for people to come meet and talk to. They may need protected identities.
A balance of viewpoints may be strived for.

3. Scales of Injustice - various scales piled with dead bodies, money, arms, starving children, a showcase for shocking and gruesome 3-D statistical display techniques.

4. Virtual Sex for Real Peace - that's right, lets get all those virtual sexworkers of all persuasion together for a pay for a peace orgy. Proceeds to moveon.org? or....?

Venice Arts Council News

2006-05-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

Art or not Art? Political or not Political? You Decide.

Endangered Art Fund
Photos of Endangered Art
Clean Money Meeting Tuesday
Re-opening of Venice Pier
Protest Loss of Affordable Housing
March for a Dog Beach
Inconvenient Truth Trailer
Artists supporting Marcy Winograd
beyondbaroque - Small Press Festival Monday
venicearts - Exploring Gentrification in Venice - Photos
electriclodge - Organic Orchestra
7 Dudley Cinema - Arthur Lipsett
Roy Zimmerman and Paul Krassner at Parlor Performances.
Badma Khanda Concerts
Juliet Annerino's Memorial Day Performance
Street Tech
Monsters in Fine Art
Zoom Forever
In Memory of Douglas Adams
Poetry wall in Virtual World
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Endangered Art Fund Committee:

The Venice Arts Council (VAC) is launching the Endangered Art Fund to restore and protect public art in Venice. The Council decided to start with public art along the Ocean Front Walk beginning with graffiti removal and restoring the Endangered Species mural. Muralist and VAC Chair Emily Winters, in consultation with Debra Padilla, Executive Director at SPARC is preparing a budget, time line and crew. Emily is in communication with Glen Freeman, property manager for the building where her mural is located, who is delighted to see the mural restored and is willing to contribute funds towards the repairs.

Below you will find a link to photos of murals and poetry walls along the Ocean Front Walk taken by Eric Ahlberg.
Fred Dewey, Executive Director at Beyond Baroque is checking with the City of Los Angeles to see if the work on the Poetry Walls is guaranteed. If not, he will investigate contractors and solicit bids to repair the walls and prepare a plan to restore the Poetry walls at the LAPD substation and restroom exterior walls.

In addition, Laura Ferre from Venice High School Alumni Association is working to repair and re-install the Myrna Loy statue at Venice High School. The Association has raised $15,000 towards the $120,000 budget. She will be forwarding photos and information on their campaign to restore the statue.

The Budget Committee, Executive Committee, Art Committee Chair and Ocean Front Walk Committee of the Grass Roots Venice Neighborhood Council have all been approached for support in the amount of $5,000 to kick start the fund. Daniel Samakow and James Evans of James Beach, Canal Club and soon to be Danny's Venice Beach Deli have agreed to help raise funds. Ben Schonbrun of Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow Harris & Hoffman is willing to hold a fundraiser at his office located on Park and OFW, directly across from the mural. So once we have budgets and a fundraising plan, we can get started on the repairs.

Fred, Emily and I will be meeting on Tuesday morning to coordinate efforts and plan for a meeting with all of you. We welcome your suggestions and ideas, especially identifying potential funding sources.
------------------------------------------------
Photos about Venice Boardwalk Murals and Poetry and Grafitti: I have taken a large number of photographs to illustrate a number of issues in our community. Topics are: 1. grafitti on murals 2. grafitti and grafitti cleaning are obscuring the Boardwalk Poetry 3. usage of Venice Blvd adjacent public property. Please add comments.

These at http://www.flickr.com/photos/venicevandal
There are a number of collections there.
You'll also find Bill Tompkins wonderful paintings of Venice Boardwalk Characters...and some photos from the Artwalk.
---------------------------
Please join Los Angeles City Councilmembers Bill Rosendahl, Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel
for a TOWN HALL on CLEAN MONEY How does it work? What could it mean for Los Angeles?
WHEN: Tuesday, May 30, 2006 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Venice High School 13000 Venice Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90066
WHY: To raise public awareness & understanding of Clean Money programs and give you an opportunity to weigh in with your thoughts and ideas.
--------------------------------------------------
Come Celebrate the reopening of the Venice Pier
Friday night at 5:15 PM, come to the pier at the end of Washington to celebrate the reopening.
---------------------------
Join us on Lincoln Blvd. Protest the Loss of Affordable Housing in Venice and Los Angeles.
Sunday, May 28th 4-6 PM Lincoln Blvd. and California
--------------------------------------------------------------

This Sunday, May 28 at 3 pm -- on the grassy area of Jocelyn Park, west of dog park.

ALL dog lovers are invited to a preliminary planning meeting to plan the dog parade/media event in June.
MARCH FOR A DOG BEACH

-------------------------------------
An Inconvenient Truth - You can check out the trailer here.
------------------------------------------------------
Artists supporting Marcy Winograd:

Impeach Team Commercial

Currently running on Air America.

W.I.N.O.G.R.A.D.

Campaign song for Marcy, written and performed by hip hop artist Wil B.

Beat Jane

Parody song by Leon Rubenhold, to the tune of Sweet Jane.

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

beyondbaroque

29 May, Monday — 10 AM -6 PM

SMALL PRESS FESTIVAL & CONVENTION
@ the Church in Ocean Park
235 Hill Street
Santa Monica
(Accessible to wheelchairs & on
Big Blue Buses #1, #2, & #8 - & MTA #33.)

SCHEDULE:

10-10:45 AM: The history & contributions of the small press in LA.
10:45 AM: RED HEN PRESS
w/ Charles Harper Webb, Rex Wilder, Sholeh Wolpe
11:30 AM: LUMMOX PRESS
w/ Raindog
12:15 PM: SYBARITIC PRESS
w/ Steve Goldman, Marie Lecrivain
1 PM: CAHUENGA PRESS
w/ James Cushing, Harry Northup, Holly Prado
1:45 PM: SACRED BEVERAGE PRESS
w/ Amelie Frank
2:30 PM: METROPOLIS HOPPER BOOKS
w/ Randall Fleming, Teka-Lark
3:15 PM: GATSBY MAGAZINE
4 PM: BEYOND BAROQUE BOOKS
w/ Simone Forti, Eric Priestley, Pablo Capra
4:45 PM: The Great American Poetry Show
w/ Larry Ziman

Join us for readings, refreshments, and an enlightening day of learning about the significance of small presses to the history of Los Angeles. Publishers will have their books on display. Everyone is welcome but a DONATION IS SUGGESTED. Proceeds go toward the social justice work of the Church in Ocean Park. For more info contact FRED WHITLOCK, (310) 578-6030.

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

Venice Arts: In Neighborhoods

Exploring gentrification in Venice

The Intermediate/Advanced Black & White Photography Class spent several weeks in the winter of 2006 exploring the idea of gentrification in Venice.

Students photographed the community and conducted interviews to document perspectives on change.

Click on the links to view a selection of student photographic work and listen to their interviews with community members.

----------------------------------------------------
electriclodge

ORGANIC ORCHESTRA

Wednesday-Sunday, May 24-June 4, 8:00 pm – Wed-Thurs, $15; Fri-Sat-Sun, $20; $50 for 10-night pass (no advance reservations; cash at the door)

Electric Lodge resident music artist, composer and performer Adam Rudolph has constructed music using innovative and experimental means without the use of western music notation, using music/letter grids, language themes, Indian Ragas and song forms to create the moods, movement and sonic gestures. The Orchestra is made up of many of Los Angeles leading performers as well as young developing musicians. Each of the 10 performances will feature between 12 and 48 performers—each night will be unique, featuring a different combination of artists who will improvisationally interpret the compositions in a creative ritual of the now.

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7 Dudley Cinema

------------------------------------------------------
Parlor Performances

*** Sat., June 3 @ 8:30pm * $25 * Investigative satirist PAUL KRASSNER &
Singing satirist ROY ZIMMERMAN 

About Krassner... Over the years, Paul Krassner has built up a cult
following that has steadily been edging into mainstream awareness. The
New York Times calls him "... an expert at ferreting out hypocrisy and
absurdism from the more solemn crannies of American culture."  The Los
Angeles Times says Krassner "...has the uncanny ability to alter your
perceptions permanently."  And the San Francisco Examiner declared that
"Krassner is absolutely compelling.  He has lived on the edge so long he
gets his mail delivered there."

About Zimmerman... What's funny about war, poverty, ignorance, bigotry,
neo-conservatism, homophobia, greed, lust and fear? Ask Roy Zimmerman.
He's been  writing satirical songs for 20 years. Zimmerman founded and
wrote all the material for the comedy folk quartet The Foremen
(Warner/Reprise artists)  who toured extensively, opening for Bill Maher,
Dennis Miller, and even for President Bill Clinton. The Los Angeles Times
noted Roy's "�lacerating wit and keen awareness of society's foibles...a
latter-day Tom Lehrer." Roy's fans include Joni Mitchell and Tom Lehrer!

PARLOR PERFORMANCES@STEINWAY HALL * 12121 W. Pico Bl. (one door w. of
Bundy under Fields Pianos, Level P2) * Park Free in Lot! *  Pay by
cash/check only -- save $5 with RSVP 7 days or more in advance * RSVP &
Info: (310) 471-3979 or e-mail frankent1@juno.com

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

Badma Khanda
U.S TOUR 2006
MASTERS OF TRADITIONAL
MONGOLIAN MUSIC & THROAT SINGING

Sunday, May 28th 6pm
BUDDHIST TEMPLE
Koreatown, Los Angeles 4279 West 3rd Street 90020
Contact: Patrick Bathuya 213-446-1757
Hosted by California Mongolian Community
Association, Los Angeles Tickets $10

Wednesday, May 31st n 8pm
KEHILLAT ISRAEL Pacific Palisades
16019 Sunset Blvd. 90272
Public is invited! Tickets $20 at the door

--------------------------------------------
from Juliet Annerino
Memorial Day. No doubt, you will BBQ. You will drink beer. You may fraternize
with friends and loved ones. After all, you are an American!

But wait... Aren't we almost forgetting something here, People?
Something REALLY important???

Something majestic and colourful, something that involves
sacrifice, good will toward your fellow man (and woman), a fan dancer
wearing pasties and sequins, a performance poet in a white top hat, a
torch singer in chainmail, a man hanging out in a bar claiming to be
Jesus, a Jewish straight woman in love with a bi-sexual man, a couple
in bondage wear, the man also a singer, the woman a
trumpet-player...YES! AND CAN YOU BELIEVE YOU ALMOST FORGOT
THAT?! This Sunday, Ladies and Gentlemen, proud and patriotic citizens,
let us join together and raise our drinks at King King (6555
hollywood Blvd., at Whitley), where "The Lord's Lover" will be held at 8pm
sharp until about 9:15pm and experience together the glory that is
this great country of ours! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

OK, I'm getting a little teared up now...just go here for some
half-price (or free) tix, will you?
http://www.goldstarevents.com/events/event/7877.html
LitLoveLivesLarge, Juliet http://www.TheLordsLover.com
---------------------------------------------

Street Tech - Hardware beyond the hype - http://www.streettech.com/index.php
Monsters in Fine Art http://www.worth1000.com/cache/contest/contestcache.asp?contest_id=10374&display=photoshop#entries
Zoom forever http://interact10ways.com/usa/information_interactive.htm
In Memory of Douglas Adams, Today..is (was) towel day. http://www.towelday.kojv.net/

--

the Venice Poetry Wall in Second Life
Eric Ahlberg
www.veniceartscouncil.org
www.myspace.com/b91s
lapoliticalart.blogspot.com
www.flickr/photos/venicevandal

The Skirball Cultural Center presents RWANDA: AFTER DARFUR: NOW

2006-05-18T20:45:00.000-07:00

The Skirball Cultural Center presents
RWANDA: AFTER
DARFUR: NOW
Photographs by Michal Ronnen Safdie
May 24 – October 1, 2006

Skirball Cultural Center
2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90049 (Exit Skirball Center Drive off the 405)
(310) 440-4500, fax (310) 440-4595
Contact: Stacy Lieberman (310) 440-4578, or Mia Carino (310) 440-4544
Email, communications@skirball.org
Web site, http://www.skirball.org
Please direct e-mail inquiries about the exhibition to the Center's address (above); DO NOT use “Reply” button, it will send to ArtScene.
To view formatted version of this announcement online:
http://artscenecal.com/Announcements/0506/Skirball0506.html

Michal Ronnen Safdie, “Orphaned Child with Grandmother, Bahai Refugee Camp”, 2004.

Los Angeles—The Skirball Cultural Center will present Rwanda/After, Darfur/ Now: Photographs by Michal Ronnen Safdie, featuring nearly forty color and black-and-white photographs from the Central African countries of Rwanda and Chad. In October of 2002, Ronnen Safdie traveled to post-genocide Rwanda with Samantha Power, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “A Problem from Hell”: America and the Age of Genocide, to witness and document the pilot phase of a traditional, citizen-based tribunal process known as the Gacaca (pronounced ga-CHA-cha). In September of 2004, she traveled to the Bahai refugee camp, a desolate site on the Chadian border of Sudan, where she documented the hardships of refugees who have fled the ongoing genocide in Darfur. Rwanda/After, Darfur/Now: Photographs by Michal Ronnen Safdie will be on view from May 24 through October 1, 2006.

The exhibition, which is presented during a season of New Photography exhibitions at the Skirball, including The Jewish Identity Project: New American Photography and L.A. River Reborn, will be accompanied by a variety of public programs, including evenings with well-known authors Samantha Power and Gabriel Meyer, African music concerts and additional film and drama presentations.

Born in Jerusalem in 1951, Michal Ronnen Safdie is known for contemporary art photography highlighting the anthropomorphic and abstract qualities of nature. As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, Ronnen Safdie’s trip to Rwanda in 2002 evoked suppressed memories of her childhood. Though her mother shared few details of her experience, Ronnen Safdie always felt the presence of that “unspoken and unanswerable question of the capacity of humanity to do evil.” By depicting the humanity of genocide survivors in the face of the atrocities they were subjected to by their own neighbors and governments, she hopes to “arouse us out of our opacity as bystanders.”

Ronnen Safdie’s Rwanda photographs, taken eight years after a horrifying genocide left 800,000 dead and over 100,000 in prison, depict the country’s efforts to provide justice, truth and national reconciliation to its citizens. Her images of the Gacaca courts expose the emotionally-charged quality of this process as prisoners confess to their crimes and ask for forgiveness, while onlookers and victims offer evidence. Photographs of neatly arranged skulls and sacks full of bones in the Ntarama church accentuate the harsh reality of human cruelty. Her work is a photographic testimony to a population still struggling with the legacy of genocide.

With her images of the Bahai camp, framed matter-of-factly against the stark, barren environment the refugees have been forced into, she challenges the viewer to look at the consequences of violence. The vast, treeless desert devoid of even the most basic resources necessary to sustain life was home to 18,000 Darfurian refugees in 2004—most of them women and children—who were the survivors of genocide, the so-called “lucky ones,” who now face starvation, disease, the threat of attack and the possibility of never again returning to their homes. The passive gazes of survivors in Ronnen Safdie’s photographs reflect their shock at the horror they witnessed.

Safdie’s photographs quietly reveal the unavoidable truth that violence occurs under a full sun and in plain view. Her focus on human beings, both those trying to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of genocide and those who struggle daily to eke out a life when robbed of everything important to them, underscores the tragic lack of attention the rest of the world gave and gives to these people.

“With her photographs, Michal Ronnen Safdie will not allow us to forget. If we averted our gaze during the genocide, she has insisted that we fix our gaze on its aftermath,” says Luis Moreno Ocampo, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. “If we needed any reminder of the human lives at stake in this endeavor, [she] has offered it. And for that, we are all very grateful.”

The Skirball Cultural Center presents Rwanda/After, Darfur/Now as part of the series “The World Now: Global Understanding through Arts and Culture.”

“Genocide impacts each of us,” comments Uri D. Herscher, Founding President and CEO, Skirball Cultural Center. “By passive observation of the murder of defenseless millions of men, women and children, we ourselves become accomplices. We are impelled to search our hearts and ask how such events are to be prevented, stopped when they have not been prevented and civility restored once they have been stopped. Our hope in presenting this exhibition is to inspire visitors to help secure a world in which everyone is safe and can feel at home.”

Michal Ronnen Safdie is author of The Western Wall (1997), a book of photographs with an introduction by Yehuda Amichai, which also took the form of an international traveling exhibition. Her work has been exhibited at Salander-O’Reilly Galleries in New York, Robert Klein Gallery in Boston, and Tel Aviv University Art Gallery. Her photographs are included in museum and private collections, including George Eastman House in Rochester, New York, and The Jewish Museum in New York.

Many related programs accompany Rwanda/After, Darfur/Now. On Monday, May 22, author and Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government professor Samantha Power will discuss “Genocide Sixty Years After the Holocaust: Have We Moved Beyond Remorse?” In conjunction with Town Hall Los Angeles, award-winning journalist Gabriel Meyer, author of War and Faith in Sudan, will lecture on Tuesday, June 20. ThongJieng will perform in concert on Thursday, July 6 and The Refugee All Stars of Sierra Leone will perform on Thursday, July 20, as part of the free Sunset Concert series. A documentary film about the group will be screened on Wednesday, July 19 and from August 16–19, the U.K.’s Unlimited Theatre presents the U.S. premiere of “Static,” a satiric play by Chris Thorpe addressing television news coverage of tragic events. Finally, on September 7, a slide lecture, “Hungry Planet with Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio,” will explore the effects of conflict, poverty and globalization on family nourishment. Please see attached for further details on all of the exhibition-related programs.

In conjunction with the exhibition, Audrey’s Museum Store will be selling “Save a Child, Save the World” t-shirts to help create global awareness. In-kind support has been provided by American Apparel, with all proceeds directly supporting elementary school education in Darfur.

This exhibition has been fully supported by seven anonymous donors.

Visiting the Skirball: The Skirball Cultural Center is located at 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA (exit Skirball Center Drive off the 405). Museum Hours: Tuesday through Saturday 12–5 p.m., Thursday until 9 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.–5 p.m.; closed Monday. Gallery admission prices: $8 General, $6 Seniors. Free for Skirball Members, Students and Children under 12. Ruby Gallery exhibitions are free to the public. Admission to all exhibitions is free to the public on Thursday. Parking is free, except on Thursday evenings during the Sunset Concerts series from July 20 through August 24, 2006. For general information, the public may call (310) 440-4500 or visit http://www.skirball.org.

The Skirball is also home to Zeidler’s Café, which serves innovative California cuisine in an elegant setting, and Audrey’s Museum Store, which sells books, contemporary art, music and more.

About the Skirball: The Skirball Cultural Center is dedicated to exploring the connections between 4,000 years of Jewish heritage and the vitality of American democratic ideals. It welcomes and seeks to inspire people of every ethnic and cultural identity. Guided by our respective memories and experiences, together we aspire to build a society in which all of us can feel at home. The Skirball Cultural Center achieves its mission through educational programs that explore literary, visual, and performing arts from around the world; through the display and interpretation of its permanent collections and changing exhibitions; through scholarship in American Jewish history and related publications; and through outreach to the community.

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

Venice Art Walk

2006-05-18T12:33:00.000-07:00

Venice Art Walk & Auctions, May 20 & 21, 2006
Note: New date and location for Silent Art Auction

Tickets:
See individual events, below

For tickets and additional information:
310.392.9255
Web site, http://www.veniceartwalk.info
E-mail, info@venicefamilyclinic.org
Please direct e-mail inquiries about the event to the Art Walk’s address (above); DO NOT use “Reply” button, it will send to ArtScene.
To view formatted version of this announcement online:
http://artscenecal.com/Announcements/0506/VeniceArtWalk0506.html

That’s right, this year’s Venice Art Walk & Auctions is a TWO-DAY event! If you’ve never experienced it, then you’re in for one of the great contemporary art events in America. And if you’ve walked the Walk before, you’re going to love what’s new for 2006. Either way, you’ll enjoy knowing that all proceeds benefit Venice Family Clinic, the largest free clinic in the country, providing health care to more than 21,000 low-income and uninsured patients per year.

Auction Party- New Event!
Saturday, May 20, 6:00 to 10:00 pm
Located at Berman/Turner Projects and Track 16 at Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica
Tickets:
$50 per person advance purchase by May 18; $75 at the door
$130 per person Art Walk Weekender includes all Saturday and Sunday events
Tickets and additional information at http://www.veniceartwalk.info or 310.392.9255

Featuring a Live Auction from 7:00 to 8:00 pm of works by:
Carlos Almaraz, Chuck Arnoldi, Larry Bell, Robbie Conal, Laddie John Dill, Doug Edge, Ron English, Po Shun Leong, Kim McCarty, Ed Moses, Raymond Pettibon, Astrid Preston, Ed Ruscha, Judy Stabile, Robert Weingarten

…and a Silent Art Auction of nearly 400 pieces by world-renowned LA-area artists from 6:00 to 8:45 pm. (Free preview and proxy bidding from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.)

Plus:
- Fabulous food by Upstairs 2
- Divine drink by Sauza Hornitos, Tres Generaciones, and Pom Wonderful
- Magical music by Washington Prep

Architecture as Art
Saturday, May 20, Noon to 4 pm
Begin at Westminster School, 1010 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice
Tickets
$50 per person
$130 per person Art Walk Weekender includes all Saturday and Sunday events
Tickets and additional information at http://www.veniceartwalk.info or 310.392.9255

Experience an inside-out view of the beach and beyond from the fabulous homes on Ocean Front Walk in Venice. Speak to the designers and architects about their concepts, influences and view unique sculpture and art created and collected by the homeowners. Let our docents guide you through the fabulous homes available for viewing.

Homes by:
Dennis Gibbens, CC Partners, Paul Bailey, Antoine Predock, Miguel Angelo Flores, Lenny Steinberg Design Associates

Venice Art Walk Day
Sunday, May 21, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm
Westminster School, 1010 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice
Registration opens at 10:30 am; studios and exhibitions open 11:30 am to 4:30 pm

The Venice Art Walk Studio Tours include more than 60 private artists’ studios, homes and special exhibits! Free shuttle buses run continuously throughout the day and will be there to help you cover more ground and see more art.

Plus:
- 150-piece Focus on Photography Silent Auction - New Event!
- Deals & Steals Silent Auction
- Food Faire & live music

Tickets
$50 per person
$130 per person Art Walk Weekender includes all Saturday and Sunday events
Tickets and additional information at http://www.veniceartwalk.info or 310.392.9255

“Arte de Alta California” Exhibit at Carlotta's Passion Fine Art

2006-05-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

“Arte de Alta California” Exhibit at Carlotta's Passion Fine Art, May 20 – June 25

Mr. Cheech Marin is a serious man when it comes to Chicano art. His major collection is touring museums throughout the United States as a show entitled “Chicano Visions”. Per Mr. Marin, “…the Chicano School of Painting has always been about reinterpreting a culture. That culture has been shown to be diverse yet unified, profane and spiritual, traditional and avant-garde… While other “schools” of painting have been defined overwhelmingly by stylistic concerns, the Chicano School combines stylistic innovation with elements of tradition. The blending of Mexican popular and religious iconography with modern images of urban angst reflects the continually evolving role of Mexican Americans, or Chicanos, within the larger American society. This mix of sophistication and naiveté, combined with a socio-political overlay, has produced a uniquely American school of painting based on Chicano content that is at the same time universal in its aesthetics of the human condition.”

Carlotta's Passion Fine Art is proud to host “Arte de Alta California”, an exhibit of works by Chicano and so-called “Latin American” artists who reside and work in Southern California.

“Arte de Alta California” includes works by some the most highly visible artists in the Chicano art scene, as well those by rising stars.

This exhibit offers works by Cynthia Alarcon, Vibiana Aparicio-Chamberlin, Olivia Barrionuevo, Alfredo de Batuc, Guillermo Bejarano, David Botello, Carlos Bueno, Mari Cardenas, David Flury, Margaret Garcia, Jesús M. Mena Garza, Yolanda Gonzalez, GRONK, Wayne Healy, Sergio Hernandez, Katia Karloff, Leo Limon, Gilbert "Magu" Lujan, Andres Montoya, Roberto Munguia, Omar Ramirez, Frank Romero, Hector Silva, Rudy Torres, and Patssi Valdez.

“Arte de Alta California” runs from May 20 – June 25.

Please join us for the opening reception of this five-star visual fiesta on Saturday, May 20^th, from 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm.

Bob Squires

Director/Owner

Carlotta's Passion Fine Art

2012 Colorado Blvd. (The cross street is Maywood Avenue)

Los Angeles, CA 90041 (Eagle Rock)

Tel: 323.259.1563

Hours: Wednesday - Sunday, 12:00 - 9:00 p.m. Open by appointment only on Monday and Tuesday.

Code Pink Declares Peace at the White House on Mother's Day

2006-05-18T11:58:00.000-07:00

May 18, 2006

Dear suzanne,

This past weekend, CODEPINK transformed the park in front of the White House. The lawn became a magical space filled with families reclaiming the historical origin of Mother's Day as a time to work for peace. Cindy Sheehan, Susan Sarandon, Patch Adams, Dick Gregory and Iraqi and Iranian women added their voices and talents to our 24-hour peace vigil.

We literally put our bodies on the line to create a beautiful aerial image spelling "Mom Says NO WAR." We held teach-ins on Iraq, Iran, immigrant rights, Katrina and more. We cried with moms who lost their children; we prayed with Native American healers; we read letters to Laura Bush; we sang and danced and created a powerful and compassionate community. At the close of the 24 hours, we tied roses with names of the dead onto the White House fence, and as we chanted "No More War, No More War", the rain that was predicted for both days suddenly burst forth as if cleansing our nation's soul. You can see photos at our virtual vigil here. A dedicated group of CODEPINK women took inspiration from the weekend and decided to stay in DC for a month, taking action at Congress every day to demand an end to war. Click here to read more about their action plans.

The words of one of the attendees, Ruth Gordon, speak to the transformative power of this weekend:

"I spent Mother's Day weekend with CODEPINK in front of the White House and it changed my life! I had been in a downward spiral of loneliness, separating myself from others in order to avoid pain. I met wonderful men and women that weekend and experienced a connection based on mutual respect, love and compassion. I had forgotten what it felt like to feel joy and purpose. I had forgotten that life lies outside of work, TV, and sleep and instead lies in purposeful direction and focus. I will never forget Spice's ecstatic dancing, Patch's hug, Cindy's impassioned speech, the chants, the songs, the beautiful faces, the children, the beaming pregnant woman with the belly peace sign... Once home, I wrote a letter to the editor (printed!), bought more peace paraphernalia, took my walk singing peace songs instead of listening to FM, and spoke with friends about my experience.
I WILL NOT STOP!!!! The next part of my life has begun..."

While the entire weekend was filled with magical moments, one stood out. Comedian and civil rights leader Dick Gregory -- legendary for fasting against the Vietnam War -- was in Cleveland en route to California when he saw the CODEPINK vigil on CNN, and immediately changed planes to join us in DC. There he met environmentalist/author and CODEPINK cofounder Diane Wilson, who earlier had called all of us to up our commitment and join her in a hunger strike. The two of them joined together and called us to a long-term fast to bring the troops home. Cindy Sheehan, CODEPINK members, military families and Iraqi vets have already agreed to join.

On July 4, we will launch an historic hunger strike called TROOPS HOME FAST. While many Americans will be expressing their patriotism via barbeques and fireworks, we'll be fasting in memory of the dead and wounded, and calling for our nation to be the democracy it was created to be, not an empire. We're inviting people around the world to show their support for this open-ended fast by committing to fast for one day -- July 4 -- plus as many more days as you can handle. Please sign here to join us and encourage your friends to do the same. Together, we can bring our troops home.

With love from your tired but elated CODEPINK gals,
Allison, Dana, Farida, Gael, Jodie, Medea, Nancy, Rae and Tiffany

P.S. Check out all the other ways you can join with CODEPINK this summer.

To unsubscribe click here

Dixie Chicks - Not Ready to Make Nice

2006-05-18T11:54:00.000-07:00

Following in the bootsteps of other Nashville renegades who eventually outgrew country radio, the Dixie Chicks answer their critics with the unapologetic Taking the Long Way. Their seventh studio album embraces the depth and fury of classic rock while remaining true to the trio's Texas roots. Rather than try to forget about singer Natalie Maines' anti-Bush remarks of 2003 -- which landed them in hot water with a lot of station program directors -- the threesome declares it's still "Not Ready to Make Nice" and employs Semisonic guy Dan Wilson, Jayhawk Gary Louris and other unlikely contributors to help write hooks as strong as their own sentiments. Producer Rick Rubin enlists Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench and guitarist Mike Campbell to supply thick and gritty accompaniment that raises the urgency level of the album. If you've dismissed the Chicks or need a new reason to love them, the epic, howling longing of "Voice Inside My Head" will blow your expectations.

http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/_/id/10193414/rid/10203846/

Angel City Chorale

2006-05-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 3 June 2006 - 7:30 P.M.
Sunday, 4 June 2006 - 7:00 P.M.

Wilshire United Methodist Church

4350 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90010
Between Highland and Wilton, large parking lot

ANGEL CITY CHORALE presents a stunning musical tribute to rebuilding New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. From Zydeco, Cajun, and moving spirituals to the music of New Orleans musicians Alain Toussaint, Randy Newman, and Moses Hogan, a story of a unique city in loss and rebirth emerges. To make the concert even more meaningful and allow all of us to have a personal impact, Angel City Chorale has adopted the New Orleans Children’s Chorus. This season, your purchase of a ticket will provide more than a night of great music. A portion of our ticket proceeds will be donated to help keep music in the lives of these children who have lost so much.

ANGEL CITY CHORALE IN ITS 13TH YEAR! Founded at world famous McCabe’s Guitar Shop in 1993 by renowned artistic director Sue Fink, ACC has grown into an extraordinary multi-cultural group of 125 men and women that truly reflects the spirit of Los Angeles, the city it calls home. Acclaimed for its broad repertoire and talented soloists, ACC has become LA’s most exciting vocal ensemble to see live. Among ACC's appearances are the Staples Center, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Kodak Theater, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and the Anaheim Convention Center.

News - 5/11/06

2006-05-11T23:49:00.000-07:00

CONTEnTS

Calendar dates
Venice Art Walk
7 Dudley Cinema Events
Tim Miller: 1001 Beds
Sir, No Sir! at Laemmle Santa Monica
Keeping Faith - at Pacific Resident Theatre
Balonna Stewards Workday
Venice Artists in New York Show
Princess Bean's Messy World - Electric Lodge
Women in Prison - CSPG - at Watts Towers
Student Journalism Conference - by The Nation Magazine - Washington DC
Scene Bites at Edgemar
Wounded at Powerhouse Theatre
Miscellany

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

Mark Your Calendars:
Venice Art Walk - May 20-21
June 2nd - Coeur D'Alene Ave Elementary Bazaar, with Canaligators Band
June 17th - VOC Party
July 4th VCA Party and another Party in the Canals
September 17 - VCHC Venice World Music Festival
September 24th - Abbot Kinney Festival
September 30th - SPARC's 30th Birthday
------------------------------------------
Venice Art Walk & Auctions, May 20 & 21, 2006

Note: New date and location for Silent Art Auction

That’s right, this year’s Venice Art Walk & Auctions is a TWO-DAY event! If you’ve never experienced it, then you’re in for one of the great contemporary art events in America. And if you’ve walked the Walk before, you’re going to love what’s new for 2006. Either way, you’ll enjoy knowing that all proceeds benefit Venice Family Clinic, the largest free clinic in the country, providing health care to more than 21,000 low-income and uninsured patients per year.

Auction pARTy
Architecture as Art
Venice Art Walk Day
Tickets and Merchandise

venicearts Presents: Living with HIV: Photography by South African Women

May 21 , 2006 All day at the Venice Art Walk

Westminster Elementary School site; open to the public.

-----------------------------------------------------------
7 Dudley Cinema:

THURSDAY, May 25. PXL THIS 15 toy camera fest at EchoParkFilmCenter.org Also visit: indiespace.com/pxlthis "The irresistible irony of the PXL is that the camera's ease-of-use and affordability, which entirely democratizes movie-making, has inspired the creation of some of the most visionary, avant and luminous film of our time." -Steve Schneider, New York Times.

TUESDAY, May 30. ARTHUR LIPSETT REVIVAL: Archivist Johannes Auvinen will be present to screen legendary Canadian avant-gardist Arthur Lipsett's FREE FALL ('64,9m), 21-87 ('64, 10m), A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE ('65, 13m), FLUXES ('64, 24m) and VERY NICE, VERY NICE ('61, 7m), described by Stanley Kubrick as "one of the most imaginative and brilliant uses of the movie screen and soundtrack that I have ever seen." George Lucas called him "one of the best abstract filmmakers." Discussion will connect Lipsett's intense critiques of dehumaization in industrial society with the ideas of Erich Fromm, Marshall McLuhan, and the Situationists. Preshow 7pm: Hear newly released vinyl pressings of the Lipsett collage soundtracks. Lipsett is to film what Glen Gould is to music.
------------------------------------
Inside Out Community Arts School Project 2006 proudly presents
"what's on our minds"
Los Angeles Middle School Youth have something to say!
730 pm May 26th Bovard Auditorium, USC, free!
9 short plays created and performed by students.
-------------------------------------
Hope you can come by my new show 1001 BEDS in LA May 12-13 and 19-20! Did you get the postcard? Please come see my show at Highways. If you can try to come the first weekend May 12-13. Bring sOME FUN F0OLKS. This show ends with the overthrow of Bush! Alistair will be there on Friday.

--------------------------------------
From: David Zeiger, Displaced Films--Sir! No Sir!: displaced@mindspring.com

Dear Friends,

"Sir! No Sir!" is a Must See Film for anyone in the Peace Movement or who is against the war in Iraq. I saw it again last night in Santa Monica. I give this movie my highest rating! You can meet director David Zeiger tonight (Saturday) at the 7:20 PM screening in Santa Monica at the Laemmle Monica 4-Plex Theater.

Frank Dorrel

Sir! No Sir! Opens May 5th at Theaters in the Los Angeles Area!

Click here to watch the trailer!

www.sirnosir.com

The critics love it, you'll love it.

There's no better time than this weekend for you to see Sir! No Sir!

Join us for special Q&As with director, crew and vets featured in the film THIS FRIDAY & SATURDAY nights after the 7:20pm show and before the 9:55 show in Santa Monica and THIS SUNDAY after the 2:45pm show, and before and after the 5:35pm in Pasadena!

Check out the Review in today's Los Angeles Times

and both the Feature Story and the Review in this week's edition of the L.A. Weekly!

_________________________

LAEMMLE MONICA 4
1332 2ND STREET
SANTA MONICA, CA
(310) 394-9741

www.laemmle.com

SHOWTIMES FOR THE FIRST WEEK:

12:45, 2:50, 5:05, 7:20 & 9:55.

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

Pacific Resident Theatre Presents

KEEPING FAITH
A World Premiere
Written and performed by Alex Peabody

Directed by Elizabeth Hyer Rose
Original Music and Sound design by Robert Rose
Lighting Designer Tim Swiss
Produced by Andrew Ebert

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE!
Special Bonus Summer Show
1/2 Price ($10) to 21st Season Subscribers

This funny and beautifully written original work will delight anyone (male or female) who has ever wanted to become a parent!

May12th - June 11th
Fri & Sat 8pm; Sun 3 pm $18 to $20
Reservations: (310) 822-8392
705-1/2 Venice Blvd in Venice 4 Blocks West of Lincoln

www.PacificResidentTheatre.com

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


Ballona Stewards Workday

Come Join Us!

Links

Donate or Become a Member!

Details

It’s rewarding work with good people out on the land.
We will be removing non-native plants and picking up trash and recyclables. The work we do is an integral part of the wetlands restoration process.

Do not miss this weekend's clean up! The Ballona Wetlands Ecosystem is truly alive during this season and well worth visiting.

Community Clean-up and Restoration

DATE: Saturday, May 13th

TIME: 7am-4pm

LOCATION: Ballona Wetlands Northeast
Along the Ballona Creek bike path just east of Lincoln Blvd

Directions & Further Information

Please Bring: water, snacks and/or food (depending on how long you plan to stay), gloves, protective attire (pants, long-sleeve shirt), and sun protection. Feel free to call the Ballona Wetlands Land Trust office if you have any questions.

Best,

Amanda Goeke

Ballona Wetlands Land Trust

email: landtrust@ballona.org

phone: 310-264-9468

web: http://www.ballona.org

-------------------------------------------
Venice Artists showing in New York: Deborah Krall wrote: Here's the info on the show, "The Drop", that Laura & I are in. You won't find our names listed on the web site because we are using the name of our collective of 6 women, The Artists Formerly Known As Women.

Exit Art
475 Tenth Avenue
New York, NY 10018
212.966.7745
http://www.exitart.org
April 8-June 10, 2006
-------------------------------------------

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

News & Updates from
Center for the Study of Political Graphics

HIP HOP is Not a CRIME!

June 4
Watts Towers Arts Center
11am - 3pm

Sunday Film Series at
Watts Towers Arts Center:
Women in Prison

May 14, 2006, 1:00 - 3:30pm
Watts Towers Arts Center
1727 E. 107th Street
Los Angeles, CA

Butterflies on Razor Wire Women in Prison
featuring films on women in prison for Mother’s Day

The Films listed below will be presented by Gloria Killian, Executive Director of the Action Committee for Women in Prison (ACWIP) Gloria Killian was released from prison on 8/8/02 after serving more than 16 years on a sentence of 32 years to life for a crime that she did not commit. Throughout her trial and incarceration she always maintained her innocence. In March 2002 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that her conviction was based solely on perjured testimony and overturned her conviction. Since her release, Ms. Killian has been tirelessly advocating for the humane treatment and release of the women that she left behind.

Films have been provided by Women Make Movies www.wmm.com

Troop 1500: Girl Scouts Beyond Bars
A film by Ellen Spiro & Karen Bernstein
2004, VHS/DVD

Their mothers may be convicted thieves, murderers and drug dealers, but the girls of Troop 1500 want to be doctors, social workers and marine biologists. With meetings once a month at Hilltop Prison in Gatesville, Texas, this innovative Girl Scout program brings daughters together with their inmate mothers, offering them a chance to rebuild their broken relationships. Intimately involved with the troop for several years, the directors took their cameras far beyond meetings to explore the painful context of broken families. Powerful insight comes from interviews shot by the girls themselves, which reveal their conflicted feelings of anger and joy, abandonment and intimacy—as well as the deep influence their mothers still have on them.

An estimated 1.5 million children have incarcerated parents and 90 percent of female inmates are single parents. Their daughters are six times more likely to land in the juvenile justice system. TROOP 1500 poignantly reveals how an inspired yet controversial effort by the more than 90-year old Girl Scouts organization is working to help these at-risk young girls deal with their unique circumstances and break the cycle of crime within families.

Blind Spot: Murder by Women
A film by Irving Saraf, Allie Light and Julia Hilder
2000, 87 minutes, Color, VHS

Because murder by women is still relatively rare--only one out of eight murders in the United States is committed by a woman--women's own stories provide unique insights into the circumstances leading to these violent acts. In this absorbing documentary, intimate one-on-one interviews with six women murderers are combined with re-enactments of their background experience and visual re-creations of their interior lives. Sharing and reflecting on their memories, fantasies, dreams, and anger, the six women candidly describe their actions as perpetrators in detail and address the issue of having taken a life. Interspersed between their separate stories are their individual reflections on coping strategies, and life and relationships in prison. From the Academy and Emmy-award winning filmmakers responsible for DIALOGUES WITH MADWOMEN, BLIND SPOT is a provocative and riveting encounter with throw- away children, out-of-control adults, and the emotional, psychological and spiritual consequences of murder.

Women in Struggle
A film by Buthina Canaan Khoury
Palestine, 2004, 56 minutes, Color, VHS/DVD
Arabic, Subtitled

WOMEN IN STRUGGLE presents rare testimony from four female Palestinian ex-detainees who disclose their experiences during their years of imprisonment in Israeli jails and the effect it has had on their present lives and future outlooks. Once content in their lives as sisters, wives and mothers, each of the women became active members for the national fight for Palestinian independence, but their “crimes” differed markedly–one woman was detained in a peaceful protest while another was arrested for her participation in a bombing.

Their painful recollections provide a fascinating personal perspective on their motives for political involvement, reveal their struggles in prison, and define the difficulties they have faced readjusting to life in Palestinian society. Though the women are now free, they continue to feel imprisoned by the current climate of the Intifada, by the “war on terror” and by the recently built “security” wall. With horrifying stories of torture suffered while in Israeli detention, the film brings to the forefront the hot-button issue of human rights abuses in prisons—and its particular implications for women prisoners. It also grapples with timely and difficult questions—what politicizes an individual? Are people born to fight, or do their circumstances force them to do so?

Presented without narration, WOMEN IN STRUGGLE does not categorize its subjects as heroes or criminals, instead letting the women’s voices stand on their own to add another layer to the complex discourse on Israel.

900 Women
A film by Laleh Khadivi
2000, 72 minutes, Color, VHS

“The Louisiana Correctional Institute is located in the swamps of southern Louisiana in the small town of St. Gabriel. Built in 1970 to house an increasing population of female convicts, today it houses the state's most dangerous female prisoners and often exceeds its population capacity of 900. 75% of these are mothers and one fourth of them are serving sentences of fifteen years or more. The prison compound has a surreal quality; there are no searchlight-capped towers or barbed wire fences.

Filmmaker Khadivi delivers a striking, sensitive portrait of life in this deceptively peaceful atmosphere, which is filled with stories of life on the streets, abuse, freedom, childbirth and motherhood. Six women - a grandmother, a young high school student, a pregnant woman, a recovering heroin addict, a prison guard, and the only woman on death row - were brave enough to share their frustrations and hopes. Produced by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Jonathan Stack (THE FARM).” Human Rights Watch Film Festival Catalogue

Films have been provided by Women Make Movies

Prison Nation: Posters on the Prison Industrial Complex

PRISON NATION: Posters on the Prison Industrial Complex...From the archives of Center for the Study of Political Graphics!

March 19, - June 4, 2006
Watts Towers Arts Center
1727 E. 107th Street
Los Angeles, CA

Gallery Hours: Tues-Sat: 10-4pm & Sun: 12- 4pm

Powerful posters from artists, designers, activists, and organizations around the country and the world, cry out against the devastating nature of the rapidly growing prison system in the United States.

Take the Blue Line!
Parking on Avalon (directly behind Watts towers & on Graham (east of the towers) Extra parking at the Metro Station on 103rd & Graham

PRISON NATION was funded in part by the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles.

SAVE THE DATE!!

Join CSPG's 2006 pARTy AuCTion

This year's extraordinary honorees:

Historian of the Lions Award: Moctesuma Esparza
Art as a Hammer Award: Emory Douglas
Culture of Liberation Award: Cynthia Anderson- Barker & Tim Barker

VOLUNTEER for CSPG!

CSPG needs committed volunteers to help out with numerous administrative tasks, event planning, and website maintenance.

Please contact Mary Sutton at 323 653.4662 or email msutton2@politicalgraphics.org

email: cspg@politicalgraphics.org

phone: 323-653-4662

web: http://www.politicalgraphics.org

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

Dear EmailNation Subscriber,

One Last Notice: Time is running out to sign up for The Nation/Campus Progress Student Journalism Conference in Washington, DC on Friday, June 2. Student writers will have the opportunity to come together for a day of conversations, workshops, panels, and parties featuring numerous Nation editors and writers, including Katrina Vanden Heuvel, David Corn, John Nichols, Eric Alterman, Liza Featherstone, Laura Flanders, William Greider, Ari Berman, Victor Navasky, and many more.

Click here for details and to apply. The conference is free of charge. A limited number of travel stipends are available. Both undergraduates and graduate students welcome. The application deadline is May 15.

Please pass this note on to anyone you think might be interested. Thanks for your help and don't forget to check out StudentNation for the latest info on student-related articles, events and resources.
-----------------------------------------------------

It's that time of year again!

COME EXPERIENCE AN EVENING OF UNIQUE MULTIMEDIA ENTERTAINMENT!
May 17th, 18th, & 25th @ 7:30pm

Featuring scenes from comedy to drama.
Join us for the cocktail and hors d'oeuvres reception that follows the show.

RSVP is Required
310-392-7327
Tickets $15

Featuring performances by students of
Michelle Danner
at
Edgemar Center for the Arts.

DIRECTED BY Michelle Danner

Complimentary tickets for industry professionals
General Admission $15

RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED 310-392-7327

Edgemar Center for the Arts is a state-of-the-art two-theatre and art gallery complex in Frank Gehry's architectural landmark building in Santa Monica.

Check out www.edgemarcenter.org for upcoming classes, events, shows, and ways to help out.

------------------------------------------
The Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble
& The Powerhouse Theatre Company
present the American Premiere of

Wounded
the war isn't over...

a play by The Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble
directed by Tom Burmester

“A powerful…drama about wounded American soldiers rehabilitating post-Iraq, this compelling play appropriates real veterans' testimony. The duties of US imperialism are argued strongly by the soldiers, but so are their families' counter-arguments. The strains between the two groups are grippingly captured” - The Scotsman

“Emotionally truthful…A harrowing glimpse of our soldiers' experiences that explores the rift in experience between those who have been at war and those getting on with the day-to-day grind back in the States.”- The Davis Enterprise

“The best thing we have seen this year at the main or fringe festival in Edinburgh, and is perhaps the best I have seen in many years…anything that moves one to tears from beginning to end has to be a product of thoughtful writing and excellent direction… What a pity this did not get a centre-stage production…One can only wish the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble Godspeed with this superb production that left this reviewer so moved as to be unable to face seeing anything else for the rest of the day or evening.”- Current Viewpoint

5 Stars (out of 5) - EDFRINGE.COM

Opens Memorial Day Weekend (May 26) for a limited engagement
Fridays & Saturdays @ 8pm
Fridays & Saturdays- $20/adults, $15/students & veterans
Sunday, June 11, Pay What You Can (suggested donation $20)
Reservations- 310-396-3680 x 3
or BUY TICKETS ONLINE

Wheelchair access is limited. If you require wheelchair access, please contact us first before purchasing tickets.

Recommended for Mature Audiences.
------------------------------------------
a cornicopia of free jazz videos.. http://www.dailymotion.com/alternativa
Redneck stuff: http://www.lilligren.com/Redneck/
Suzy Williams Video - Version 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ-GrEQsEKA
Vinnie Caggiano Eclectic Guitarist T H I S F R I D A Y N I G H T ! !
May 12th 8:00-10:00 pm The Talking Stick Coffee Lounge 1630 Ocean Park Boulevard

Miriam says maybe Carnivale in October!?
--
Eric Ahlberg
www.veniceartscouncil.org

Tim Miller

2006-05-08T14:14:00.000-07:00

Tim Miller Performs in L.A. May 12-20 NEW SHOW "1001 BEDS"

Hi SoCal Folks!

I'll be performing in L.A. my new show 1001 BEDS! It's based on my brand new book of the same name. I'll be performing in LA at Highways May 12-20. 1001 BEDS is a raucous and rowdy exploration of my queer adventures in a performer's life fiercely lived in travels through love, politics, sex and art. 1001 Beds makes its Los Angeles premiere at Highways, Fridays + Saturdays, May 12 + 13 and May 19 + 20 at 8:30 PM. Highways Performance Space is located at 1651 18th Street in Santa Monica. Tickets are $20. For reservations call (310) 315-1459. Only FOUR performances. Call for tix right away.

"Tim Miller sings that song of the self which interrogates, with explosive, exploding, subversive joy and freedom, the constitution and borderlines of selfhood. . . . You think you don't need to hear such singing? You do! You must!"
-Tony Kushner, playwright of Angels in America

>From a gay teen's head-on collision with life in a sleazy hotel across the street from the Hollywood Bowl to an ecstatic vision of a sex-positive future on a mattress in a police holding cell, the show is a kinky and funny journey thru the beds and hotels and life on the road as a traveling salesman- oops I mean a performance artist! I was doing the math recently and I figured that if I continue to tour as a performer for another twenty years, I will end up sleeping in at least 1000 hotel beds in my lifetime on the road. For maximum poetic oomph, let's say 1001 beds! Yikes!

The book "1001 BEDS" came out THIS MONTH and is a collection of my essays, performances, manifestos, performance touring stories from Tokyo to Chattanooga and my journals. The performance 1001 BEDS is a fiercely funny, sexy and inspiring story based on excerpts from the book about the transforming power of art and the richness of gay identity lived out loud. Here's a little spiel from my blog.
http://timmillerperfomer.blogspot.com/

Here's the cover. Followed by a foto of Bed #1! Great review from Chicago Tribune after that!
best, Tim
http://hometown.aol.com/millertale/timmiller.html
http://timmillerperfomer.blogspot.com/
My new book of essays & performances 1001 BEDS!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0299216942/sr=8-1/qid=1142957127/ref=sr_1_1/103-0241494-4217438?%5Fencoding=UTF8

TIM MILLER
1001 BEDS

Tim Miller "1001 Beds", based on his brand new book of performances and essays of the same name (University of Wisconsin Press), is a raucous and rowdy exploration of Miller's adventures in a performer's life fiercely lived in his travels through love, politics and art.

Tim Miller has worked at the intersection of performance, politics, and identity, using his personal experiences to create entertaining but pointed explorations of life as a gay American man-from the perils and joys of sex and relationships to the struggles of political disenfranchisement and artistic censorship. 1001 BEDS, this intimate autobiographical performance collage of Miller's professional and personal life, reveals one of the celebrated creators of a crucial contemporary art form and a tireless advocate for the American dream of political equality for all citizens.

TIM MILLER is an internationally acclaimed solo performer. Hailed for its humor and passion, Miller's solo theater works have delighted and emboldened audiences all over the world at such prestigious venues as Yale Repertory Theatre, the Institute of Contemporary Art (London), the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He is the author of the books SHIRTS & SKI and BODY BLOWS and his solo performance works have been published in the play collections O Solo Homo and Sharing the Delirium. Miller's newest book 1001 BEDS, an anthology of his essays and performances was recently published by University Of Wisconsin Press in 2006.

Miller has taught performance in the theater department at NYU and UCLA. He is a founder of the two most influential performance spaces in the United States: Performance Space 122 on Manhattan's Lower East Side and Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica, CA. For more information go to his website: http://hometown.aol.com/millertale/timmiller.html

Tim Miller's solo show 1001 BEDS a vision of gay America

By Kerry Reid
Chicago Tribune
Published March 18, 2006

"Every time you check into a hotel, you're checking into the hotel from `The Shining,'" says Tim Miller. By Miller's estimate, his career as the traveling troubadour of gay performance art means that he will end up logging time in 1,000 hotel beds: "For maximum poetic oomph, let's say 1,001 beds."

Hence the title of his newest solo show (and newly published collection of essays and performance pieces), ending a three-night stand at the Bailiwick Repertory on Saturday night.

It's still a work in progress, but Miller's wily wordplay uses the metaphor of the bed as the stage for the beginning and end of life, and the site of the most important human experience in between -- love (or perhaps its simulacrum). Throughout the piece, Miller explores the drive for sexual and romantic connection as a force for personal and social change in a series of vignettes.

Running away from a funny/sad encounter in a sleazy Hollywood Boulevard hotel, the teenage Miller finds himself in the Hollywood Bowl, mesmerized by Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde" and the transformative power of art. In "Civil Disobedience Weekend," Miller (one of the famous "NEA Four" artists who fought a battle over censorship and funding all the way to the Supreme Court) spins an NC-17 fantasia about gay art activists arrested at a protest who turn their holding cell into a lurid "Boys Gone Wild" affair. And in the most emotionally affecting narrative thread, Miller re-creates the shabby London hotel room where he and his partner of 12 years, Alistair McCartney, first came together.

Miller's performance style, which manages to synthesize incantatory segments with looser sections that feel almost improvisational, lends itself well to tracing the ups and downs of someone whose life and loves have often been shoved into the margins of society -- and have also provided the key to his art. Miller and McCartney's problems with U.S. immigration (the latter is Australian) remain thorny, and Miller's anger at the government's refusal to recognize their relationship is stirring -- and has also become a cause of even greater magnitude than his NEA fight. At the end of the night, Miller observes "The truth is, each time I pry myself out of our home to hit the highway and raise awareness about the human rights violations gay Americans face, it is really a tribute to the depth of love I feel for Alistair and the longing I have for home."

His travels for justice, art and personal revelation have led Miller into a lot of strange beds, but like most of us, what he wants most is one safe haven to share with one other simpatico soul.

Squatter City

2006-05-08T12:40:00.000-07:00

"I'm a writer who spent two years living in squatter communities in four continents. These neighborhoods--which dominate most of the cities of the developing world--are vibrant and energetic, but horribly misunderstood. My new book, Shadow Cities, is an attempt to humanize these maligned settlements. My articles on cities, politics, and economic issues have appeared in many publications, including The Nation, The Village Voice, Newsday, The New York Times, Metropolis, and City Limits. Before becoming a reporter, I worked as a community organizer and studied philosophy. I live in New York City."

Venice Arts Council News

2006-05-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

The present day artist refuses to die! - Varese

Judy Baca in LA Weekly
New Suzy Video
Venice Garden Tour
Tales of Enchantment: Voice in the Well @ Robins Garden
Beyond Baroque
Pacific Resident Theatre
Electric Lodge
Sponto Gallery - Funk Fest
7 Dudley Cinema
Robert Greenwald - Iraq For Sale update
Joselyn Wilkinson Drum Workshops
VeniceArts Summer Workshops
Saturday is Free Comic Day
CSPG
Culture Clash
Museum of Bad Art
Atomic Biscuit
Godlorica
Roy Zimmerman @ Museum of Left Wing Lunacy
Colbert rips Bush

---------------------------------------------
Did you see that Venice's own Judy Baca is one of LA Weekly's 100
http://www.laweekly.com/la-people-2006/writing-on-the-walls/13247/
---------------------------
We put a fun Video of Suzy Williams and her Solid Senders up on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-WkY6l__4U
or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCUOldZyPAQ

Do You have edited Venice Related Videos?
I would like to help you put them up on the net!
--------------------------------------------------------------

12th Annual Venice Garden and Home Tour

Saturday May 6, 2006 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

This annual event is a self-guided walking tour of Venice homes and gardens. Since the Tour was launched twelve years ago, Venice has become one of the hottest residential, recreational and entertainment areas in Los Angeles. The Tour offers a rare opportunity to see up close what all the buzz is about. It's a tour like no other - a giant one-day neighborhood open house, showcasing approximately thirty exceptional, sometimes iconoclastic gardens.

Venice has always been a Petri dish for lifestyle experiments; it's where some of the most innovative architects and landscapers in the country live and work. In this foray into old and new Venice, the Tour will wander through the charming neighborhoods near Abbot Kinney Boulevard, visit gardens and peek into homes that range from witty and playful, to sensuously lush and exotic, to sleek and sculptural.

As this year marks the 12th annual Garden Tour, it is especially significant because it is also the 100th Anniversary of the Neighborhood Youth Association, an historic milestone for the organization and cause for celebration. Founded by local landscape wizard Jay Griffith, activist Linda Lucks and businesswoman Jan Brilliot, the Tour provides support for NYA's Las Doradas Children's Center. The Center offers at-risk children in Venice the care and guidance they need to become productive, fulfilled members of the community.

Start Location: Las Doradas Children's Center

804 Broadway, Venice, CA 90291
(corner of Broadway & Pleasantview, 1 block west of Lincoln Blvd)
When: Saturday, May 6, 2006, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Parking: Free on-street parking is available, or pay $3 to park at Broadway Elementary School, entrance on Broadway between Lincoln and Pleasantview (all proceeds will benefit the school)

from 12pm to 3:30 catch me and my friends jamming at 607 1/2 San Juan.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

�Tales of Enchantment�

Actors:

William H. Bassett,

Jeffrey Van der Byl,

Christina Linhardt

&

Aarti Mann as "Scheherazade"

The Book of the Thousand Nights

And A Night.

William Bassett presents Hafiz poem:

�Cupping My Hands

Like A Mountain Valley�

Catherine de la Casas,

Silvia Spross & Robert Miano

in David Ives comedy:

Arabian Nights

Musicians:

Malek Vossough

with Mystic Movement

Christina Linhardt sings "Steam" & Homage to Hafiz

Produced & Hosted

by Eric Vollmer

*****

Sunday, May 7, 2006 at 5:30pm

Robin�s Sculpture Garden

1632 Abbot Kinney Bl, Venice 90291

* $ 10 Door Donation *

P.S. Bring along a comfortable pillow

Thanks to Robin Murez

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beyond baroque

7 May, Sunday — 5 PM

PAUL KOENIG and LESLIE MARYANN NEAL

PAUL KOENIG’s poems have appeared in The Occidental Review, FTS, VCP Anthology, Poetry in the Windows V, and his chapbook is Miscellaneous Histories (Inevitable). LESLIE MARYANN NEAL’s poetry has been published in Laughing Dog, Poeticdiversity and unlikelystories. Her chapbooks and CDs include Paper-Thin Hearts and Mermaid. Co-hosted by SARAH MACLAY & LYNNE THOMPSON. Sign-up 4:45 PM. FREE.
there must be more than this...i have an old schedule
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific Resident Theatre
703 Venice Blvd.
Venice, California 90291

Shakespeare's RICHARD THE SECOND
3 actors 75 minutes!

adapted by Tom Beyer
directed by Tony Pasqualini
with: Molly Schaffer, Alexander Enberg, Tom Beyer

May 6, 2006 - May 21, 2006

Opening weekend: May 6th (Sat) 8PM May 7th (Sun) 3PM
Then two more weekends (May 11-21):
Thurs, Fri, Sat at 8PM Sat at 5PM (bonus matinees!)
Sun 3PM, Closes May 21 (Sun)
-------------------------------------------

Electric Lodge

BRIGHT BOY: THE PASSION OF ROBERT McNAMARA

April 7-May 7 - Friday-Saturday 8 pm; Sunday 7 pm

By Katy Hickman
Directed by James Eckhouse

Can America learn from history? Robert McNamara, Kennedy's Secretary of
Defense, grapples with the major decisions of his life with moving and often
hilarious results in this world premiere performed by LA's award-winning
Ensemble Studio Theatre.

For reservations or further info: call 213-368-9552

* * *

Joel Shapiro especially reccomends:
PRINCESS BEAN’S MESSY WORLD

April 29 – May 28 - Saturdays & Sundays, 2 pm (no shows on Sat.-Sun., May 20-21) - $10

By Rachel Resnikoff and Eric Stephens
Directed by Clare Carey

Rock out with your kids at this award-winning rock-and-roll show/musical comedy about an “imperfect” princess who follows her heart rather than the rules. Full of funk, rock-and-roll, and powerful messages of self-esteem and self-celebration. For more info, visit www.princessbean.com

For reservations, call 310-823-0710 and press 3#
-----------------------------------------

SPONTO GALLERY proudly presents JAZZ FUNK FEST on Saturday, May 6 at 7pm at 7 Dudley Ave, Venice, 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, the live improvisational collective known as BLACK SHOE POLISH retrieves the astral mood pieces of Sun Ra, Keith Jarrett, Ray Charles, Cecil Taylor & Professor Longhair with a piano summit featuring various keyboardists.

At 8pm, FREDDY GINNS & ZEBRA PARTY (with the exotic and passionate roots music of Jean Paul, singing in French, Spanish and Creole) provide original witty lyrics to their jazzy blues ala Mose Allison.

At 9pm, THE VAMPORS (with lyrical multi-instrumentalist ERIC AHLBERG) recall the explorations of The Art Ensemble of Chicago and John Coltrane with tasty world beat tangents.

7 Dudley Cinema

TUESDAY, May 9. NINE SHORT FILMS BY TONY GAULT - Utilizing evocative color saturation and image mutation, Gault's optically printed films reveal psychosomatic illnesses of American culture. Including PICTURE #4 ('93, 6m) "a wry appropriation from his psychotherapist's Thematic Apperception Test"-Village Voice, HOUSESITTING ('99, 16m), whose "drift of images pulls the viewer along at a phantomlike remove from personal and cultural connection"-L.A. Weekly, and NOT TOO MUCH REMEMBER ('04,11m) "at once sublime and frightening, this found footage masterpiece illustrates the perverse means by which narrative shapes our consciousness"-Slant Magazine. Gault, who will be present for Q&A, creates "a cinematic poetry of paranoia as a higher state of consciousness"-Film Threat. Plus: IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU ('05, 8m) Elizabeth Henry's "intriguing statement about the human psyche that borders on David Lynch land" -Spokane Review. Plus: MR. VINEGAR & the CROSSWORD ('06, 8m) Venetian Peter Elbing's fun take on the dominant technology of our times. Plus 7pm preshow TBA.

WED, May 10. OH, WHAT A BLOW THAT PHANTOM GAVE ME ('03, 58m) John Bishop screens his riveting look at Edmund Carpenter's pioneering role in the development of visual anthropology and media ecology, resurrecting his unique 1969 New Guinea tribal initiation film in which crocodile skin patterns are cut into the skin of Papua initiates. He astutely spotlights Carpenter's deep friendship with McLuhan. OSS OSS WEE OSS (1951, 17m) Alan Lomax's rare music doc about an ancient Celtic rite in Cornwall. OSS TALES: THE PADSTOW MAYDAY ('06, 22m) Bishop's and Sabina Magliocco's take on the Lomax film fifty years later. PLACE FOR JAZZ ('93, 70m) Richard Broadman and John Bishop's compelling portrait of Boston's indie jazz club 1369 with Archie Sheep, Henry Threadgill, Steve Lacy, Lonnie Smith, Joe Lovano, Jimmy Giuffre, Richard Hollyday, Ricky Ford, Rebecca Parris, and more. Plus 7pm: rare Marshall McLuhan films.

THURSDAY, May 25. PXL THIS 15 toy camera fest at EchoParkFilmCenter.org Also visit: indiespace.com/pxlthis "The irresistible irony of the PXL is that the camera's ease-of-use and affordability, which entirely democratizes movie-making, has inspired the creation of some of the most visionary, avant and luminous film of our time." -Steve Schneider, New York Times.

A big thank you to everyone who has donated to "Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers." To see the credit list on the website grow longer and longer, the 2000 names, the soldiers honored, it's all just incredibly inspiring. Without all of you this film would not be possible. Thank you!!

We're about $80,000 short of our $300,000 goal and time is running out. It's critical that filming start next week so we can begin editing in June and have the film ready before the mid-term elections. We can definitely get there... with your help.

Please give $50 to make this film a reality. We'll put your name (or that of a loved one) up on the big screen, to forever stand as a testament to the thousands of people coming together to expose the war profiteers.

http://iraqforsale.org/

If you missed Jim's earlier note with the specifics on what we're doing, you can find it here:

http://iraqforsale.org/why_donate.php

All of us at Brave New Films and everyone working on IRAQ FOR SALE, including dozens of volunteer field producers, are poised to give this our all.

With grateful appreciation,
Robert Greenwald

P.S. Thank you for the tips. They are invaluable, so please keep them coming to tips@iraqforsale.org.

------------------------------------
Joselyn Wilkinson

Happy Spring - get your May groove on!
I'm sending you a quick reminder about the drum class next Saturday. We really hope to see you there!

Saturday, May 6th, 2006
Holy Nativity Church
Drum Workshop - Come and Play! - 2-3:30pm
6700 W. 83rd Street, Westchester CA
Price: $10, or $5 for children
Drum Workshop with Joselyn, founder of ADAAWE, focusing on African Djembe drum technique, rhythm and improvisation. Call 310-967-4426 to reserve. Repeats on the 1st Saturday of each month. We had a wonderful full session last time. Please come and join in - bring a drum if you have one!

"ADAAWE is 7 women strong of the drum & voice, who perform an uplifting fusion of African rhythm, Gospel & original funk."
www.adaawemusic.com

www.joselynwilkinson.com
------------------------------------

VeniceArts Summer Classes: http://www.venice-arts.org/programs/schedule.html
-----------------------------------
Saturday is Free Comic Book Day -
DREAM WORLD COMICS
12400 W WASHINGTON BLVD
LOS ANGELES, CA
(310) 390-9413
HI DE HO #1
525 SANTA MONICA BLVD
SANTA MONICA, CA
(310) 394-2820

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

News & Updates from
Center for the Study of Political Graphics

Sunday Film Series at
Watts Towers Arts Center:
Fighting for Our Civil Liberties

May 7, 2006, 1:00 - 3:30pm
Watts Towers Arts Center
1727 E. 107th Street
Los Angeles, CA

Judy Branfman, producer of The Land of Orange Groves & Jails and Fred Samia, associate producer of Voices in Exile will present the following films:

The Land of Orange Groves & Jails
12 minute sample video • 2005
producer/director Judy Branfman

The director's reluctant 94-year-old aunt finally tells her tale of teenage activism in 1920s Los Angeles: She provoked the wrath of LA's anti-union leaders by flying a red flag at a summer camp - resulting in a ten-year prison sentence and the US Supreme Court's first victory for free speech. The film uses booming a Los Angeles as a lens to bring focus onto a piece of our nation’s history that is especially relevant today.

Voices in Exile: Immigrants and the First Amendment
30 min • 1992
Joan Mandell and Laura Hayes

Do immigrants have the same rights as citizens under the U.S. Constitution? This chilling documentary follows dramatic changes in immigration law through the 1989 deportation case of seven Palestinians and one Kenyan (The LA 8), targeted first as Communists and later as "alien terrorists". The ACLU and Center for Constitutional Rights take on the FBI, INS and Justice Department in a courtroom battle over whether non-citizen residents are entitled to First Amendment rights.

Of Civil Wrongs and Rightsbr> 60 minutes • 2000
producer/director • Eric Paul Fournier

Fred Korematsu resisted, then challenged in court, the forced internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. This film tells the history of the 40-year legal fight to vindicate Korematsu one that finally turned a civil injustice into a civil rights victory.

Prison Nation: Posters on the Prison Industrial Complex

email: cspg@politicalgraphics.org

phone: 323-653-4662

web: http://www.politicalgraphics.org

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

GOT JALAPEÑOS?

Add some spice to your life and join your favorite Latinos in supporting
22 years of Culture Clash.

Saturday, June 24, 2006 Westin Bonaventure Hotel

*Featuring monologues with:

JIMMY SMITS - Latino President of the United States
HECTOR ELIZONDO - Puerto Rican and Golden Globe nominee for his role in Pretty Woman
TONY PLANA - Cuban American who was in a movie about JFK
EDWARD JAMES OLMOS - Higher approval rating than President Bush
and many more...

The event will be hosted by Fox TV's TONY VALDEZ and EVALINA FERNANDEZ with the Latino Theatre Company.

Special Golden Jalapeño Awards will be given to:

BUDD SCHULBERG, Founder of the Watts Writers Workshop; Screenwriter, On the Waterfront
CORINA VILLARAIGOSA, First Lady of Los Angeles

Directed by JOSÉ LUIS VALENZUELA

*Subject to change

Proceeds from this event will benefit Culture Clash Writers Portal Project and
Center Theatre Group.

For more information or call Charity Wu at (213) 972-3139.

--------------------------------------
Misc Links
The Museum Of Bad Art (MOBA) is the world's only museum dedicated to the collection, preservation, exhibition and celebration of bad art in all its forms. http://www.museumofbadart.org/
Atomic Biscuit image creator http://bokstavskex.framtid.nu/agi.asp
Godlorica "Breaking News on God and Other Higher Beings in this World and the World to Come" http://godlorica.blogspot.com/
Roy Zimmerman featured at http://www.museumofleftwinglunacy.com/archives/2005/11/have_yourself_a.html
See Steven Colbert rip President Bush http://www.c-span.org/
Synergy Lounge Calendar: http://synergy.xtremeintruders.net/synergycafe/month.php
Unurban Cafe Events: http://www.unurban.com/action/nightly
The Talking Stick: http://www.thetalkingstick.net/
http://www.virtualvenice.info/index.htm

--
Eric Ahlberg
www.veniceartscouncil.org

Judy Baca is in the LA Weekly's LA People

2006-05-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

www.sparcmurals.org also

Nation Magazine Article on Songs of Protest

2006-05-02T09:44:00.000-07:00

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060515/editors
Songs of Protest

2006-05-01T11:07:00.000-07:00

Neil Young streams new anti-war album for free online

Neil Young's new record "Living With War" was made available Friday for streaming in entirety online. Link. - from boingboing.net

A Collection of Art Events

2006-04-27T20:51:00.000-07:00

Venice Arts Council Meeting May 2 SPARC 685 Venice Bl. 7pm

CONTENTS:
Spring Fling @ Lincoln Place Sunday 12-8 lotsa music
3 Cool events at Beyond Baroque
Leon Rubenhold @ Unurban Cafe Saturday 7pm
Art of War for the Anti War Sunday 5-8 Venice United Methodist Church
Robert Greenwald: "Iraq for Sale, the War Profiteers"
"I'm gonna kill the President"
Mort Sahl, Marie Cain, Vicki Juditz, Roy Zimmerman, Paul Krassner, Parlor Performances
Tactical Ice Cream Unit
How to operate your Brain Wed. 5/3/6 Sponto Gallery
Vessie Mink at the Mint, May 6
Concert to support South Central Farm Saturday Downtown
Interesting Links
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Application for Abbot Kinney Festival: http://www.abbotkinney.org/akda2006app.pdf

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

You'll find me here on Sunday, doing sound, maybe playing bass:
My favorite kind of event is the neighborhood party.
You can meet your neighbors and showcase your neighborhood art.

Second Annual Venice Spring Fling @ Lincoln Place, Elkgrove Circle

Sunday April 30th, 2006

The Second Annual Spring Fling at Lincoln Place will be a celebration of new
life, new resolutions and hopefully a big welcome home to current and former
tenants.

On April 30th, 15 days past the deadline for mediation, let us gather
together the fragmented yet bonded for life community of tenants, friends,
family and have ourselves a much deserved good time!

An eclectic mix of artists and musicians will be present for an unforgettably joyful event. In the heart of Lincoln Place, the Elkgrove Circle displays the Spring infused gardens beautifully complimenting the Modern architecture of the buildings.
The many artists of Lincoln Place will have paintings, photography and
sculpture on display. There will be a silent auction of donated items. The
musicians from Lincoln Place will include Spike Marlin, The Trees, Electric
Brown and more from the Venice and LA communities.

The end of the evening will culminate with a screening of the documentary about Lincoln Place named "Venice Lobotomy" for the aerial view of the 35 acre property. The garden style community and Post War Development has become the antithesis of the current socio-political and economic environment. In-fill development has taken precedent over quality of life and human interaction with nature which go hand in hand. For a city starved of parks and overflowing with
grid-locked streets and jammed freeways this green, modern gem-like oasis of
Lincoln Place is a part of World history worth fighting for.

Thanks to Bill Rosendahl, Sheila Bernard and many others, Lincoln Place may have a chance. By April 30th, a more definite fate should be known but keep in mind this destiny has been elusive for two decades. The seniors who have been there through the entire battle remain strong but anxious to finally have the
peace they deserve while living in the most diverse community in the most
eclectic and interesting part of Los Angeles: Venice.

For more information please contact:

Erin Grayson eg@eringrayson.com www.eringrayson.com
----------------------------------------------------------------

beyond baroque

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27 April, Thursday — 7:30 PM

M.E.S.S. (Media Ecology Super Sessions) SUPERECOLOGY SESSION:
Dialogue with ANN MAGNUSON

ANN MAGNUSON, actress, writer, singer, and part-time performance artist, from the '80s NY Downtown scene to singing a 5 hour Tribute to Muzak in the Whitney Museum elevator, The Luv Show, and many roles for the Big Screen, to her new CD, Pretty Songs & Ugly Stories, Magnuson delivers biting satire. She writes a monthly column called LA WOMAN in Paper Magazine. MAGNUSON will be interviewed by GERRY FIALKA.

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28 April, Friday — 7:30 PM

Mothers and Daughters:
ANNIE FINCH, MARGARET ROCKWELL, and BARBARA BAIN

An evening of poetry dedicated to the theme of mothers and daughters. ANNIE FINCH is author of four volumes of poetry and translations and seven books of poetics. Her recent works include The Encyclopedia of Scotland (Salt Press, 2004); Calendars (Tupelo, 2004), and The Body of Poetry (Michigan, 2005). She directs the Stonecoast grad writing program at the University of Southern Maine. MARGARET ROCKWELL is author of Davys Lake: A Hundred and One Poems (Caribou). She has published in Saturday Review, American Weave, Poems of War Resistance, Gnosis, the Christian Century, the Oregonian, and Christian Science Monitor. BARBARA BAIN is a three-time Emmy Award winning actress; her stage work includes Kopit’s Wings, O'Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Ionesco’s The Chairs, and Beckett’s Happy Days, among others. She was founder of the SAG Foundation’s nationwide Book Pals program. Her favorite quote: “We are what we hand down.” (Saroyan)

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29 April, Saturday — 7:30 PM

RE/SEARCH presents:
THE '70S PUNK REVOLUTION, with GERALD CASALE, GRAEME REVELL, V. VALE, and RARE FILMS

Tonight, BB features the screening of rare, ‘70s Punk films (mostly not on video) and a panel discussion of "The '70s Punk Rock Cultural Revolution" featuring DEVO founding theorist GERALD V. CASALE, and GRAEME REVELL, founding mastermind behind '70s punk/industrial pioneers SPK, and V. VALE, founder of RE/Search Publications. A Q&A will follow. Anyone interested in Punk Rock, RE/Search Publications' 30-year-history, and cultural subversion in general, is urged to attend. Hard-to-find RE/Search Publications will be available for sale, and can be autographed by Mr. Casale, Mr. Revell, and V. Vale. Also for sale will be original issues of Search & Destroy, the 1977-79 Punk Rock magazine which V. Vale edited and published from San Francisco, and other publications which feature Mr. Casale and Mr. Revell. The Project Room will feature photographs and blow-ups from the '70s Punk era, plus images from the RE/Search publishing history.

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

Leon Rubenhold Saturday at the Unurban
Hi ya'll,

Gonna be doing a set this Saturday evening with my friend David Raven
at the Unurban Cafe. We'll be performing rousing duo acoustic versions of
our tunes. It's free and early so make it your first stop on your evening
schedule. Hope to see you there, thanks.
Leon

What: Leon Rubenhold with David Raven- original acoustic Blues/Rock-Funk
Where: The Unurban Cafe
       3301 Pico Blvd. Santa Monica Ca
(just W. of Centinela Ave. corner of Urban)
        310-315-0056
When: 7pm Sat. 4/29/06

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

U.S. Tour of Duty's Real Intelligence Project presents

THE ART OF WAR FOR THE ANTI-WAR
Winning Strategies for a New Peace Movement

Keynote address by SCOTT RITTER
Former UN Weapons Inspector

Plus special guest YVONNE LATTY
Author of "IN CONFLICT: Iraq Veterans Speak Out About Duty, Loss and the Fight to Stay Alive"

VEGETARIAN DINNER BY FOOD NOT BOMBS

Sunday, April 30, 5:00 to 8:00 PM
Venice United Methodist Church
1020 Victoria Avenue, Venice (one block north of Venice Blvd. at Lincoln)
Suggested donation: $10 (includes dinner)

"The anti-war movement, first and foremost, needs to develop a laser-like focus on being nothing more or less than anti-war...It needs to start thinking like a warrior would, in full recognition that we as a nation are engaged in a life-or-death struggle of competing ideologies with those who promote war as an American value and virtue." - Scott Ritter

For more information call 310.842.8794 or visit www.ustourofduty.org

"In Conflict" (www.p3books.com) and the "Neo-CONNED!" set (www.neoconned.info) will be on sale at the event, and Yvonne Latty and Scott Ritter will be available to sign copies of these books.

Co-sponsored by PoliPointPress, Light in the Darkness Publications, Venice United Methodist Church and Food Not Bombs

-------------------------------------------------------------
Robert Greenwald latest project:

Hello friends and brave new supporters,

Some exciting news at Brave New Films. We're ready to start production on Robert's new documentary: "Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers." Over the last few months we've recruited a core team, and with the help of our volunteer field producers, have uncovered some devastating and powerful material that hasn't been seen before. We need your help to make it, more about that in a minute.

We can't tell you anything more specific about the film yet, but I can assure you it will have an enormous impact when it comes out shortly before the elections this November.

War time is about sacrificing for the common good. So many soldiers and families have paid unimaginable sacrifices, and for some to profit OBSCENELY from that sacrifice is one of the worst crimes possible. It's a crime against all of us, not just as Americans, but as human beings.

IRAQ FOR SALE: The War Profiteers will hold these corporations accountable for crimes against humanity. Watch the teaser trailer and a message from Robert here:

http://iraqforsale.org/

To start shooting, we need money. Overall, the film will cost about $750,000. We can expect about $450,000 of it to be offset by DVD sales, selling foreign rights, and an advance from our retail store distributor, but we still need $300,000.

A generous donor just stepped up and will contribute $100,000 if we can match it with $200,000 from someone else.

That someone else is you! 4000 people giving $50 each. We'll put everyone's name in the credits. You can give these donations as gifts in someone's name or in memory of a loved one if you'd like.

http://iraqforsale.org/donate.php

Imagine that. 4000 names scrolling by at the end of the film. Almost as many people as in the Lord of the Rings credits!

More importantly, this is people standing up to corporations. It's a clear message... a beautiful thing and exactly what the film is about. Every newspaper article written will talk about how IRAQ FOR SALE was funded by YOU.

Fundraising has been a constant challenge for us. What Brave New Films does is unique, so we don't fit into a neat little box for the suits with the cash. Aside from a few generous individuals, much of the money for each film has come from Robert taking out loans from the bank. DVD sales help offset this, but it can't go on forever. When Robert sees that next film in his head, there's nothing stopping him from getting to work. It's our job -- yours and mine -- to make sure that continues.

For me, this is also about what Brave New Films can be. If we don't have to rely on the handful of big donors out there, or heaven help us, the Hollywood studios, we can tackle any subject no matter how entrenched or powerful the people involved might be. No one can hide from the camera.

People Powered Film.

It's my dream...and I hope yours. Let's make it happen.

Jim Gilliam
and the entire Brave New Films crew. Rick, Lisa, Sarah, Jesse, Tracy, Paris, Devin, and Robert.

To donate or see the teaser trailer go to: http://iraqforsale.org/ ... and spread the word!

---
You are receiving this message because you either purchased one of our films, attended a screening, or otherwise signed up to receive it. If you wish to unsubscribe reply with "unsubscribe" in the subject, and you will be removed immediately. Brave New Films is located at 10510 Culver Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232 or info@bravenewfilms.org.

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

PARLOR PERFORMANCES at STEINWAY HALL CALENDAR...
** Sat. April 29 @ 7:00 & 9:15pm * MORT SAHL plus musical comedian MARIE
CAIN to open!
** Sat., May 20th @ 8pm * Award-winning monologists VICKI JUDITZ and
SCOTT CARTER
** Wed., May 24 @ 8pm * KAREN BENJAMIN & ALAN CHAPMAN's Cole Porter show!
** Sat., June 3rd @ 8:30pm * Singing Political Satirist Roy Zimmerman &
Investigative Satirist PAUL KRASSNER!
PARLOR PERFORMANCES@STEINWAY HALL * 12121 W. Pico Bl. (one door w. of
Bundy under Fields Pianos, Level P2) * Park Free in Lot! *  Pay by
cash/check only -- save $5 with RSVP 7 days or more in advance * RSVP &
Info: (310) 471-3979 or e-mail frankent1@juno.com

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

WHAT: "I'm Gonna Kill the President!" A Federal Offense

WHO:  The Imagination Liberation Front
WHEN:  April 28 - May 20; for show times, call 888 475 6181 for reservations
WHERE:  Various secret locations; call 888 475 6181 for instructions
HOW MUCH:  $15; $10 for seniors and students with ID

"I'm Gonna Kill the President!" A Federal Offense was the #1 production of
2005! --L.A. Weekly

What a long, strange tour it was.  Yes, we played 13 shows in 17 nights.  We
liberated the imaginations of the Bay Area, the Midwest, and the Southwest,
all from the back of our van.  Yes, we were infiltrated by a cop
provocateur, who was promptly sent on a Greyhound back to Pig Headquarters.
Since then, we have totally revamped our screening system - "are you
available?" is no longer good enough.

And now, fresh from picking up our award at the LA Weekly awards show
(R.I.P., H.B.), we're settling down in southern California.  Didn't catch us
last time?  No sweat.  Here's your chance.  Oh, you saw us last time?
Surely you must have ten or fifty close friends who didn't.  Say what?  You
don't live anywhere near L.A. and you're not sure why you're receiving this
email?  Awesome!  You have our permission to forward this email to anyone
around L.A. who might be interested.  They'll thank you.  Remember, we still
don't have a national advertising budget.  We rely on do-gooders like you to
help let the world know about this really great show.

We open this Friday, April 28.  We will perform at secret locations around
L.A. on Fridays and Saturdays from April 28 to May 20.  Tickets are $15
general, $10 for seniors, students with ID, and posses of ten or more.  For
instructions and reservations, call our hotline: 888 475 6181.

For the protection of everyone involved, use the following procedures:
* Be at the meeting place by 8:30pm
* Make sure you are not followed
* Spread this information to any trustworthy souls, then destroy it

¡Viva la imaginácion!


The ILF on Fox News: http://homepage.mac.com/ryansturt/iMovieTheater17.html

PRAISE for "I'm Gonna Kill the President!" A Federal Offense :

"It has been over 24 hours since I left the theater and my nerves still
haven't settled down.  Now that's revolutionary."  -Helen Shaw, New York Sun

"Imagine a cross between Billionaires for Bush and the San Francisco Mime
Troupe, only more juvenile and sweet...it's a triumph of what 20 years ago
was called performance art...blurring the line between an event and
experience by shattering theatrical conventions and leaving
them on the sidewalk."   -Steven Leigh Morris, L.A. Weekly

"The sign of the times isn't the play itself, uproarious as it is. It's the
fact that the one might have to worry about having seen it." -Michelle
Goldberg, Salon.com

"The highly inventive comedy mixes soapbox speechifying, slapstick, cheesy
sight gags and equal-opportunity lampooning (paranoid conservatives and lame
lefties are both shellacked) into a smart and relevant commentary."  -David
Cote, TimeOut New York

"This is an example of the lunatic left wing that makes mainstream leftists
like me look bad." -Alan Colmes, Fox News Radio

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

From boingboing.net

The Tactical Ice Cream Unit coming to Los Angeles

The Machine Project in Los Angeles is presenting Aaron Gach's Tactical Ice Cream Unit on Friday, April 28, at 8pm.

The Tactical Ice Cream Unit (TICU) rolls through the city in an act of intervention that replaces cold stares with frosty treats and nourishing knowledge. Combining a number of successful activist strategies (Food-Not-Bombs, Copwatch, Indymedia, infoshops, etc) into one mega-mobile, the TICU is the Voltron-like alter-ego of the cops' mobile command center. Although the TICU appears to be a mild-mannered vending vehicle, it harbors a host of high-tech surveillance devices including a 12-camera video surveillance system, acoustic amplifiers, GPS, satellite internet, a media transmission studio capable of disseminating live audio/video, and of course, ice cream. With every free ice cream handed out, the sweet-toothed citizenry also receives printed information developed by local progressive groups. Thus, the TICU serves as a mobile nexus for community activities while providing frosty treats and food-for-thought.
Mr Gach will be answering questions, discussing the various activities of the Center for Tactical Magic, and offering a close up view and tour of the Tactical Ice Cream Unit.

Link

-------------------------------------------------
WED, May 3. HOW TO OPERATE YOUR BRAIN ('94,30m) Timothy Leary's phantasmagorical guide to expanding your consciousness, co-directors Chris Graves & Joey Cavella of Retina Logic will do Q&A & show a preview of WHY NOT? their new Leary doc. REPUTATIONS: TIMOTHY LEARY ('00, 50m) comprehensive BBC documentary on the counter-culture icon and author of 33 books. DRAGNET's The Prophet ('68, 20m) Friday and Gannon discover that faux Leary-Brother William's Temple of the Expanded Mind is mainly concerned with legalizing marijuana and LSD. GONZO UTOPIA ('06, 6m) Lance Miccio's psychedelic journey with hippie icons Wavy Gravy, Paul Krassner, Peter Coyote and more. Plus 7pm live Mamas & Papas music by THE BACKBONERS -back by popular demand. Sponto Gallery 7 Dudley Ave.
-------------------------------------------------

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

“Gente y Tierra”

Fundraising Opening & Concert: Saturday, April 29, 2006 7-10 pm

Donation: $20.00

This fundraiser is in support of preserving the South Central Farm.
For a $20 donation you will enjoy:
An exhibit and sale of photographs by Fernando Flores, Don Normark and Don Rogers;
paintings by Pola Lopez and Raoul De la Sota,
and a floor mandala by Linda Vallejo

Live jarocho music of Emilio Amaya’s SON REAL

And

Freshly prepared food cooked by the women's cooperative of the South Central Farm:

Blue corn pupusas; sopes and empanadas; squash blossom and mushroom quesadillas; fresh salsa,
nopal and chayote salad and natural fruit juices of hibiscus and agua de limon.

(Other refreshments and wine will also be served)

The South Central Community Farm is located at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles. The Farm has served the community for 14 years since the land was given and dedicated to the community by the city for the use of urban gardens. Throughout its history it has held outreach programs in indigenous farming, indigenous culture, gardening techniques and natural health education. It has also fed 350 families who tend to the land and the thousands who come to our weekly farmers markets.

For the last three years, Angelenos, friends and organization,s both local and abroad, have been working diligently to keep this valuable urban farm operating. There as an eviction in hand to remove the farmers and destroy the 14 acre oasis, but an opportunity has been given to the South Central Farmers and the community to fundraise to secure the farm for generations to come.

Help save The Farm by attending this wonderful event!!!

To learn more about the struggles of the South Central Farmers, go to www.southcentralfarmers.com.

When: Fundraising Opening & Concert: Saturday, April 29, 2006 7-10 pm

Where: Avenue 50 Studio (a 501(c)(3) non-profit art space), 131 No. Avenue 50, Los Angeles, CA 90042 (323) 258-1435

Donation: $20.00

Duration of art exhibition: April 29, 2006 through May 21, 2006

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_steven_l_060422_bush_impeachment___t.htm

www.cirohurtado.com

http://cdbaby.com/cd/cirohurtado1

http://cdbaby.com/cd/cirohurtado2

42 IS the answer - http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/2006/03/prime_numbers_get_hitched.php?page=1
www.secondlife.com - Virtual Venetians meet up at Venice Speedway.
A New Beat Generation Venice Salon, 3rd Thursday, The Talking Stick
Great Books Online, Free http://www.bartleby.com/

----------------------------------------
Eric Ahlberg
www.veniceartscouncil.org

LAPoliticalArt

Humanity is Toxic, but who isn't?

Everything Steals

The Fight Against War and Fascism in Second Life.

Fascists in Second Life

Moved to Blogger Beta

Code Pink at Camp Casey

The Real News is Hiring

PARLOR PERFORMANCES presents PARLOR-PALOOZA!!

Venice Music Festival

Dave Rovics at Peace and Freedom Center

Marijuana Policy Project Ads

Pigmobile

Pianism

Wonderful Europe

My Video of Venice, Italy

AND NOW FOR INTERESTING AND FUN LINKS

Art Behind Bars

Blight at the End of the Funnel

Planning a Iraq war sim in Second Life

Venice Arts Council News

The Skirball Cultural Center presents RWANDA: AFTER DARFUR: NOW

Venice Art Walk

“Arte de Alta California” Exhibit at Carlotta's Passion Fine Art

“Arte de Alta California” Exhibit at Carlotta's Passion Fine Art, May 20 – June 25

Code Pink Declares Peace at the White House on Mother's Day

Dixie Chicks - Not Ready to Make Nice

Angel City Chorale

Saturday, 3 June 2006 - 7:30 P.M.Sunday, 4 June 2006 - 7:00 P.M.

Wilshire United Methodist Church

4350 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90010Between Highland and Wilton, large parking lot

News - 5/11/06

Tim Miller

Squatter City

Venice Arts Council News

12th Annual Venice Garden and Home Tour

Malek Vossough

with Mystic Movement

Christina Linhardt sings "Steam" & Homage to Hafiz

Produced & Hosted

by Eric Vollmer

*****

Sunday, May 7, 2006 at 5:30pm

Robin�s Sculpture Garden

1632 Abbot Kinney Bl, Venice 90291

Judy Baca is in the LA Weekly's LA People

Nation Magazine Article on Songs of Protest

Neil Young streams new anti-war album for free online

A Collection of Art Events

Second Annual Venice Spring Fling @ Lincoln Place, Elkgrove Circle

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WHAT: "I'm Gonna Kill the President!" A Federal Offense

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From boingboing.net

The Tactical Ice Cream Unit coming to Los Angeles

Saturday, 3 June 2006 - 7:30 P.M.
Sunday, 4 June 2006 - 7:00 P.M.

4350 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90010
Between Highland and Wilton, large parking lot