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| | | 05/08/2008 - LOS ANGELES DANCE by Kelly Hargraves: Do you dream of performing on stage with a dance company? Come to a performance of Louise Reichlin & Dancers and you might get your chance. "The Reality Series" is an interactive dance/multimedia work based on parts of our lives that we often don't pay too much attention to. Each will use members of the audience either as volunteers, or to propel the work as it unfolds on stage. "The Shampoo": asks the audience, "Who wouldn't mind getting their hair wet?" as hairdresser Lynn Campbell stands by
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| | | 05/05/2008 - LOS ANGELES EVENTS by Editor: Don't forget Sunday is Mother's Day. Why not take her out for an experience rather than just a meal this year? Nix the bouquet, think big, take her to a garden. Go drumming this Saturday at the Music Center and then tour the urban garden at Disney Hall. The Getty, Exposition Park, Huntington Library, to name a few, offer exhibitions plus beautiful gardens this time of year. Or gather a picnic and head to the annual Mother's Day Blues & Jazz Extravaganza at the Ford Amphitheatre on Sunday. Mom's
...... | THIS WEEK IN L.A. - MOTHER'S DAY!
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| | | 05/02/2008 - SAN GABRIEL VALLEY DINING by Abby Abanes: Unassuming on the outside, I wasn't really expecting much from Flappy Jack's Pancake House in Glendora. All I was hoping for was a good breakfast from a place I have never set foot in before. Imagine my surprise when I got a little or actually a lot of Route 66 along with my omelet and pancakes that morning. Granted, the shape of the restaurant sign should have given me a hint of what was to come, especially since Flappy Jack's is on historic Route 66, but I remained completely clueless until I
...... | A SIDE OF ROUTE 66 WITH MY OMELET
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| | | 05/02/2008 - LOS ANGELES HISTORY by CHARLES PHOENIX: The mid-morning sky is moody blue with high clouds. The Ranch Kitchen Coffee Shop looks like a ranch house complete with a front porch and shuttered windows. The signage is friendly, casual and very inviting. Dining room and kitchen quality and cleanliness are insured by the AAA logo. A not-so-weeping weeping willow matches the leafy and shady green tones of the oh-so-proud poser’s short sleeved and straight skirted plaid dress. She beams with contentment and joy as she holds the door handle o
...... | RED FORD AT THE RANCH HOUSE, SOMEWHERE, CA, 1962
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| | | 05/01/2008 - LOS ANGELES DANCE by Kelly Hargraves: HOWL LIKE YOUR MEG WOLFE!! LA choreographer Meg Wolfe was just given “The Lester Horton Award for Service to Our Dance Community" for “freely giving of herself with the clear-eyed intention of helping the local dance community as a whole without any immediate reward.” Over the last five years Meg has given her time, creative inspiration, and energy as the local coordinator for DanceUSA; as Project Coordinator for the pilot program of CHIME (Choreographers in Mentorship Exchange) in Southern
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| | | 04/25/2008 - GRIFFITH PARK GRILLED CHEESE INVITATIONAL by Abby Abanes: Yes, as the title suggests, there was lots of screaming for cheese, specifically oooey-gooey grilled cheese sandwiches. So where was all this yelling and carousing happening? Well, at the The 1st 6th Annual National Grilled Cheese Invitational, which was held at Griffith Park this past Saturday. And why were people yelling and carousing? More on that later, but first, let's start our tale with a little bit of background. Since 2003, organizers from the Burning Man festival have been organizing
...... | I SCREAM. YOU SCREAM. WE ALL SCREAM...FOR CHEESE?
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| | | 04/25/2008 - LOS ANGELES HISTORY by CHARLES PHOENIX: A mommy, daddy and daughter are professionally posed in a photographer’s studio. Of course they’re all dressed up. Mommy and Missy have just been to the beauty parlor. Each sports a stylish variation of the poodle do and both have fuchsia pink painted lips. And there is a pearly white theme happening here. Mommy’s pearl button earrings match Missy’s pearly cat eyes glasses and front teeth. And in case you didn’t notice, the pearly white accordion too. How gorgeous is that! Together with mo
...... | FAMILY TRIO - ACCORDION DUET, SOMEWHERE, USA, 1962
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| | | 04/24/2008 - LOS ANGELES DANCE by Kelly Hargraves: LACDC's MODERN MYTHS AND MONSTERS brings the youthful up-and-coming company's work to the small stage. The vibrant, fresh-faced group of dancers stay true to their technique while taking on emotional and dramatic characters. There are moments of real connection in these works, but it still feels ‘not ready for primetime’. LACDC has the energy on and off stage to build it’s company to great heights, but at this point, the choreographers are still working out their own monsters. The three piec
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| | | 04/24/2008 - SANTA MONICA ACTIVITY by Nancy Mills: It was one of those fantastic California days. The weather was in the 90's. The sand was crunchy and hot. The breeze gentle. And the Pacific Ocean spilled cresting waves of aqua marine blue. Nirvana. There we were. Fifteen spirited women. Dressed in our hats, flip flops, shorts and sunglasses, sitting on huge beach towels atop colorful mats, our water bottles ready to drink, with our multi-colored bags sprinkled about. We had all come this idyllic afternoon to do our first Reiki Circle together
...... | REIKI CIRCLE AT THE SANTA MONICA BEACH
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| | | 04/23/2008 - DOWNTOWN LA PLACES TO GO by Editor: It's Spring on Spring at the New LATC (Los Angeles Theatre Center). I'm happy to report there's more than fresh paint at this historic old bank that was repurposed as a multiplex performance theater quite a few years ago. Now it has a new management team, a newly renovated interior and a new season of events. If the kick off event, Fresh Paint, last Friday is any indication, this could end up being the cultural performance space that it always promised to be. Downtown L.A., and the LATC along w
...... | FRESH PAINT AT THE NEW LATC
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| | | 04/22/2008 - LOS ANGELES THINGS TO DO by Editor: May is a big month of festivals, Cinco de Mayo, Mothers Day and the Memorial Day holiday weekend that kicks off the summer season in L.A. At El Pueblo downtown you can celebrate Cinco de Mayo and then the following week go back for TaiwanFest and celebrate Asian Pacific Month. Get some giggles and head to Santa Monica for World Laugh Day. Go on a Downtown L.A. Scavenger Hunt to seek out hidden gems. Or head to Woodley Park for WorldFest 2008. And this is just the first 10 days of May. AND THER
...... | EYE SPY LA MAY EVENT GUIDE
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| | | 04/19/2008 - LOS ANGELES HISTORY by CHARLES PHOENIX: Three palms on one side, two on the other and an almost-centered flagless flagpole compliment one of Southern California’s least known architectural treasures. According to the legend the builder of the Angeles Abbey Memorial Park sent two architects to India in 1922 for inspiration. Two years later this Byzantine-Moorish-Spanish hybrid style Castle-esque mausoleum, was standing in stark contrast in the middle of a patchwork quilt homes and of small farms in one of Los Angeles oldest suburban
...... | ANGELES ABBEY, COMPTON, CA, 1955
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| | | 04/17/2008 - LOS ANGELES THINGS TO DO by Editor: Earth, our very own cosmic speck that we rely on to sustain us in an inhospitable universe, has sustained quite a bit of damage fulfilling that mission. So what can we do? We can strive towards a sustainable future by sustaining ourselves with less excess. In honor of Earth Day (April 22), I hereby nominate "sustain" and all its overused, yet important to understand variations, as the word of the month. I also vow to point out as often as possible events and activities that sustain sustainabili
...... | THIS WEEK IN L.A.
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| | | 04/16/2008 - ARCADIA DINING by Abby Abanes: I'm a carnivore through and through. The smell of grilling meat is like the best French perfume to me; however, I also love my veggies and after my less than successful foray into Raw Cuisine last year, I can definitely say that cooked veggies is the way to go. I've been driving past Bean Sprout Cafe, a vegetarian/vegan restaurant, for a couple of years now and although I've been curious about it, I was never really motivated to check it out. One day, after a heavily-meat based dinner the night
...... | TAIWANESE-VEGGIE GOODNESS AT BEAN SPROUT CAFE
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| | | 04/11/2008 - LOS ANGELES HISTORY by CHARLES PHOENIX: An upper-class suburban-scale picture window diffused with shears provides a warm backdrop for a bespectacled Andy Griffith wannabe and a lovely young lady that proves how well plaid stands out against yards of floral upholstery fabric. Her black bow-tied puritan collar on that short-sleeved shift is a stark contrast to that sassy Vidal Sassoon inspired hair-do. A smart red bag and matching shoes complete her good-girl-gone-mod look. Their legs are crossed in opposite directions and they don’t
...... | AMERICANA LIVING ROOM, SOMEWHERE, USA, 1967
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| | | 04/10/2008 - LOS ANGELES DANCE by Kelly Hargraves: It’s Spring and It’s Heating Up!!! They’re Hot and You’re Not (as Hot)...They are Complexions Contemporary Ballet and man, if you ever want to feel the heat of a body moving, see them live. They are a modern based company with the pizazz of New York’s Broadway or LA’s “America’s Best Crew/So You think You Can/Wanna be Super/With a star” dance generation—or whatever the heck all that TV dance is called. Using pop music and celebrity actors as choreographers (Taye Diggs) , the lovely, s
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| | | 04/04/2008 - LOS ANGELES HISTORY by CHARLES PHOENIX: Saturday May 17, 2008 - 8 pm & Sunday May 18, 2008 - 3pm
At the classic Moonlight Rollerway, freeway close in Glendale, CA
Several weeks ago I went to the Moonlight Rollerway to have a meeting with the rink organist and owner, Dominic Cangilosi. I walked in the door and my eyes almost bugged out of my head. About 16 skaters were practicing a synchronized skating routine. I was mesmerized. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as Synchronized skating. But there they were skating in perfect
...... | CHARLES PHOENIX PRESENTS... THE MOONLIGHT ROLLERWAY JUBILEE!
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| | | 04/02/2008 - LOS ANGELES THINGS TO DO by Editor: Some of the best things in life are free, so they say... and from art to music and from lectures to festivals, Eye Spy LA usually has quite a few listed on the Free page. Some highlights of what's free this week plus other things that look interesting: FREE: Friday Night Jazz at LACMA opens this week (4th) with Ernie Andrews. The Brewery Spring Artwalk downtown Saturday & Sunday. And the Adventures Continue Ann Howley's wildlife photography Sunday afternoon at Peach Tree Pottery in Mar Vista.
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| | | 04/02/2008 - LOS ANGELES DANCE by Kelly Hargraves: La La La in LA LA LAND and more to go west for! LA LA LA Human Steps brings Edouard Lock’s “Amjad” To UCLA’s Royce Hall along with two other great dance/movemet shows in the next few weeks... Notorious world wide for high-energy punkish cool, demanding technique and speed—often on pointe—Montreal’s La La La Human Steps, returns to Royce Hall with “Amjad,” yet another deconstruction of a romantic ballets à la “Swan Lake” and “Sleeping Beauty,” probes the schism between classical an
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| | | 03/28/2008 - LOS ANGELES HISTORY by CHARLES PHOENIX: OK, I always say, “This is one of my all-time favorite vintage slides…but this one REALLY is!”
A 1955 Ford Pick-Up crosses the intersection in front of a colorful corner lot full of chromy, two-toned cars. The art deco style Valley National Bank in the background wears its sky-high sign like a cherry on top of an ice cream sundae. Bold car lot signage tells us the goods are “USED.” I can just hear those plastic pennants flapping in the breeze. And that land-of-the-giants scale FORD emblem
...... | FORD ON A POLE, PHOENIX, AZ, 1960
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| | | 03/26/2008 - SANTA BARBARA CA ACTIVITY by Editor: Santa Barbara, the sunny scenic seaside town, has lots to see and do and has been a Sunday drive favorite since I was a kid. This time I decided to take the train. I've always wanted to take a ride on a train along the coast, but for some reason I've just never gotten around to it until recently. Amtrak has daily train service from the L.A. area to Santa Barbara on the Pacific Surfliner. This train makes quite a few stops and you can board the train at any of them and pay your fare to the condu
...... | RIDING THE RAILS TO SANTA BARBARA
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| | | 03/26/2008 - LOS ANGELES DANCE by Kelly Hargraves: THEY”RE GIVING IT AWAY DOWNTOWN!!! There are several FREE ways to see dance over the next month. Here's a sample! On Sunday March 30th, it’s the Improvisation Duo of percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani and Oguri at Farmlab. Nakatani from Osaka, Japan has created his own instrumentation, effectively inventing many instruments and extended techniques with a drum set, bowed gongs, cymbals, singing bowls, metal objects, bells, and various sticks and bows to create an intense, organic music that based
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| | | 03/21/2008 - LOS ANGELES HISTORY by CHARLES PHOENIX: A young man wearing a smart plaid shirt stands before a white washed fence holding a pink duck in a turquoise laundry basket. Several years ago after one of my slide shows a guy in the audience came up to me and said, “I want to give you my family slides.” I said “Are you sure?” He said, “Yes I’m sure.” So I said ok fine, thank you very much and took them. After I got home and went through them all and found this one. Since pink ducks don’t occur in nature I called the guy up and said,
...... | PINK EASTER DUCK, SAN PEDRO, CA, 1957
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| | | 03/20/2008 - LOS ANGELES DANCE by Kelly Hargraves: THIS WEEK AT HIGHWAYS, "Women and War", a program curated by Samantha Giron and featuring the work of Los Angeles and San Francisco-based dance companies and choreographers, including Sri Susilowati, Mary Armentrout Dance Theater, lean-to-productions (Rachel Lincoln and Leslie Seiters), Rebecca Pappas, Samantha Giron Dance Project, and a reprise of "Pavane for an Iraqi Girl" choreographed by Sarah Swenson. War is often viewed as the work (or play) of culture’s men: the brave heroes. Women and
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| | | 03/18/2008 - SANTA MONICA THEATER REVIEW by Sheelagh O'Connor: LIBERATING JESUS! Not just a play, but an event in consciousness at the Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica. The stage was set! It resembled a mortuary or perhaps an altar. There were three large vases of random multi-colored flowers. Two tall candles flickered gently, encased in glass and metal. Lights were dimmed and haunting music flowed through this dark cave. “Jesus” walked onto the stage quietly, dressed in brown and blue neatly pressed clothes. He had a frail physique, he was t
...... | LIBERATING JESUS! NOT JUST A PLAY, BUT AN EVENT IN CONSCIOUSNESS!
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| | | 03/13/2008 - CHINATOWN ACTIVITY by Nancy Mills: Spring is upon us. It is the propitious year of the Rat. And things in Chinatown are hopping. For those in the know, Los Angeles's Chinatown has become a tres hip scene. A place where artists thrive, foodies buy everything from chickens to special herbs in exotic shops (such as Essential Chinese Herbs on Spring Street), and new galleries are popping up as fast as you can say, "pass the chopsticks." Today's Chinatown is an adventure. A bustling community founded in 1938, it now offers a new se
...... | CELEBRATE SPRING ON A CHINATOWN ADVENTURE
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| | | 03/13/2008 - LOS ANGELES THINGS TO DO by Editor: Go Green. Shamrocks have been hung near the barstools with care in hopes that the Irish soon will be there. Everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day - look for crowds any place remotely resembling an Irish pub throughout the weekend. There will be a St. Patrick's Day Parade in Downtown L.A. on Monday and a celebration afterward with the Young Dubliners performing at Pershing Square. Friday night fill an empty bowl so others won't go hungry at the annual Glendora Empty Bowls benefit. Local potters
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| | | 03/12/2008 - HOLLYWOOD THEATER REVIEW by Editor: Haunting intrigue, illusion and disillusion make an entertaining evening at the Complex in Hollywood. And yes, there is magic. This four sided twisted triangle revolves around Great (Brett Schneider), a magician with more than props in his baggage, Egypt (Martina Lotun), a former assistant and lover and now a rival on a mission, Trilby (Elizabeth V. Newman), a waitress who wants to be a magician and Henrietta (Ann Moller), a blast from the past. Throw them all into a top hat, toss in some secre
...... | ORANGE LEMON EGG CANARY: A MAGIC TRICK IN FOUR ACTS
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| | | 03/07/2008 - LOS ANGELES HISTORY by CHARLES PHOENIX: Many people smoke in bed but few are photographed doing it. Few smoke with a another in such perfect harmony. The synergy between these two summer pajama-clad women is amazing. And the standing-on-the bed-view of them is inspired to say the least. But the crowning touch is that bellybutton balanced ashtray complete with a butt sitting in a bed of its own ashes. This is very favorite smoking slide ever! NEW DATE! - APRIL 6, 2008 CHARLES PHOENIX’'S “DISNEYLAND” TOUR OF DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES Sun
...... | SMOKING IN BED, 1960
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| | | 03/06/2008 - LOS ANGELES DANCE by Kelly Hargraves: LOSS WEEKEND - Loss. Desperation. Overcoming obstacles. These were the themes of life last weekend, as I witnessed it on Los Angeles dance stages while seeing the Georgia State Ballet at UCLA, Diana Szeinblum at REDCAT and Liz Hoefner’s FEAR OF DROWING/FEAR OF FLYING at DIAVOLO’s DANCE SPACE. It all sounds a bit heavy on paper, but thanks to the evocative form of dance, each choreographer’s take on the issues could be light and airy and/or heavy and deep, owing to the very different dance s
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| | | 03/06/2008 - HOLLYWOOD THEATER REVIEW by Mark Share: Starving artist Winston is satisfied with a romantic life of one-night stands - a “little adventure” and getting away “scot-free” – and an indefinite five-year wait for his paintings to improve and for him to be recognized, until his roommate Jamie, manic and suicidal at the same time, hits upon a plan to counterfeit a lost painting by the (fictional) artist Credeaux and sell it for a fortune to Tess, a society matron and arts patron with a thing for Credeaux and misplaced confidence in Ja
...... | THE CREDEAUX CANVAS AT THE STAGES THEATRE CENTER
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| | | 03/06/2008 - LOS ANGELES THINGS TO DO by Editor: Nice weather continues. It isn't too cool or too hot and is a great time for hiking, biking and just doing stuff outside. You can find lots of things to do, not just events, if you carefully explore this site using tools like the neighborhood and topic keyword searches. To help make it easier to find some of these non-dated activities we've compiled an "Outdoor Activities Guide". It puts many of these activities and events on the same page, so they're easier to find. I snagged this shot recentl
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| | | 02/29/2008 - OTHER PLACES HISTORY by CHARLES PHOENIX: There are family portraits and then there is this family portrait taken in front of cloud-reflecting plate glass windows of a modern suburban strip mall supermarket somewhere in New York in 1957. This has to be, in no uncertain terms, an all-time favorite find. It’s not because Howdy Doody and his big brother are dressed alike in tweed suits; not because daddy-o remembered the movie camera but forgot his dress socks; not because little Miss “Bobby Socks” has a bee-themed board game called Bu
...... | FAMILY VALUE, NEW YORK, 1957
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| | | 02/25/2008 - HOLLYWOOD THEATER REVIEW by Editor: Set in 1929 Harlem, music and melodrama ensue when Lindsey, a rich white girl (played by Aynsley Bubbico) sets her sights on Georgia, a black blues singer (played by Sweet Baby J'ai). The exceptional orginal music (by Michele Weiss), choreography, lighting and costumes all enhance the overall experience. Highly Recommended. This is a completely enjoyable small theatre outing with a very talented cast and production team. The Stella Adler is a comfortable theatre in a great location - there is
...... | PROVE IT ON ME IS STELLAR AT THE STELLA ADLER
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| | | 02/21/2008 - DOWNTOWN LA HISTORY by CHARLES PHOENIX: LA’s legendary Clifton’s Cafeteria is a local landmark of the highest order. It’s also my all-time favorite place to have a stuffed moose stare at me as I enjoy a tasty turkey dinner and Jell-O beside a waterfall overlooking the redwood forest mural. After I finish eating I step inside the tiny chapel and push the button to hear the prayer. After that its up to the third floor “VIP Room” to enjoy the Clifton’s memorabilia on display. Among the array of amazing artifacts on display is this
...... | VINTAGE POSTER, CLIFTON'S CAFETERIA, DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES, 2008
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