Dorian Wood. Voice like a big ole angel.

I am, on occasion, wrong. This is not something that happens frequently nor that we like to talk about for too long. So, in brief. Last week, I told y'all about the Slake LA reading which happened last night. But I neglected to include in my note that there would be musical interludes by a Dorian Wood. It seemed a trivial point to mention and a silly act to include in a reading--this was not cabaret night after all.

Please, please, please forgive me for negligence. At last night's reading (which was great, thanks talented Slake writers), Dorian Wood's performance was not only noteworthy, it was the highlight [for me, that is].

Wood's vocals are like Coco Rosie and maybe Etta James' gorgeous love child (let's not get too wrapped up in the impossibility of this metaphor, k). And they're met by his skillful piano stylings to create this awesome, riveting performance. It's not just music. It's live art.

If you missed Wood last night (sorry again), you can catch the LA based performer this coming month right here in Downtown LA.

February 21, 2011

Dorian Wood
Bordello
901 East 1st Street
Los Angeles, CA

S'muffins. Your memory haunts me. (& more from LA Art Show's Saturday soiree.)

Last night, my partner in crime D and I headed downtown to check out the LA Art Show's party with the Cooper Design Space. First of all, I should clarify that the 'crime' we partnered in was nothing more than a VeeV cocktail, a little dessert and a return to Hollywood before 11 pm. Second of all, I need to introduce you to a culinary discovery I only myself made last night.

New [to LA] mozzarella bar Obika was catering the event. And while I was hardly interested in cheese after earlier overindulgence, I was interested--very interested--in these:

D, who is far better informed than I on the subject of trendy desserts, let me know that these puppies are known as s'muffins. See, I just would have called them Mounds Of Heaven That Fit In My Hand. But s'muffins is indeed a much catchier name. They're a cross, if you haven't sorted it out for yourself already, between a s'more and a muffin. The bottom layer is graham cracker cake. The middle-a bit of chocolate goo. And the top-a perfectly toasted marshmallow. It's bakery Gotta Have S'more that actually introduced the confection to the market I believe. And while Obika's version was alright, it's really the concept that gets me. It's--in a word--Genius. In two words--highly desirable.

Clearly it's moved me enough to pen this lengthy blog post. One that you might have suspected would actually have been about art, rather than marshmallows.

So, lest I ignore the real focus of last night's celebration of the arts, let me briefly introduce you to the Steben Twins who performed, most impressively, at the party. These ladies (twin ladies. obviously.) did things on rope and with each other (no, not sexual things. they're twins for godsake.) that I will never even dream of achieving in my lifetime. Not, I might add, that I have any particular desire to achieve such things with rope.

I would imagine that the Steben Twins do not indulge in s'muffins.

To see the twins' incredible, acrobatic feats, you can catch them in this old Cirque footage.

Duty calls in a large waiting room in Downtown LA.

I'd like to make it clear that jury duty in Downtown LA looks absolutely nothing like the above stock photo.

Jury duty at the LA County Metropolitan Branch Court House looks like dozens of average looking people slumped in couches, eating chips and Cheetos for breakfast--some of them reading less than quality novels, another disproportionate number reading what I think from this distance may be gay bondage magazines.

And we are all sitting underneath Jury Service promotional ads featuring has-been actors and decorations like this which may have been on sale at the 99 Cent store. I know I would not have paid the full dollar for this poor attempt at a feeling of patriotism.

Serj Tankian's new album & the origins of hummus.

Last night Serj Tankian (System of a Down) celebrated his new solo album, Imperfect Harmonies, with a preview hosted by Logitech at Downtown's Watermarke Tower. Up in the penthouse suite, Serj, his band, and about 50 guests enjoyed an intimate listen to the new tunes.

Sure, we think Tankian's music is amazing, but the real reasons we love the artist...

* He's political. In addition to the many organizations Serj stands behind, he and fellow musician Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine) founded their own, Axis of Justice, to fight for social justice.

* Tankian's concern for others knows no species-defined boundaries. He's a vegetarian.

* He's well groomed. In pictures, videos, and certainly last night, Tankian's facial hair is always styled just so. And we can't help but to respect a man who respects himself and his goatee.

Things that defined the party...

* A view that inspired even the fearful to step onto the small ledge for a look at the city below.

* Military cut jackets. Serj was sporting a beautifully cut one himself and some guests followed suit. No pun intended. Okay, maybe a little bit intended.

* Multinationalism. Serj is Lebonese, born to Armenian parents who fled the genocide, and moved the family to Los Angeles in the '70s. His band hails from Armenia, Italy, and Indiana. His security is from Brazil via the UK. I am from Long Island. The list goes on.

* A recurring conversation about the cuisine of Armenia. Okay, to be fair, this wasn't necessarily organic conversation. I kept bringing this one back up. To everyone I talked to. Why, I asked, is hummus served by Armenians, Russians Greeks, Lebanese, and Israelis?! I would not give up on the quest for truth at the party as I figured--if not here amongst so many Lebanese and Armenian, where would I ever learn the answer to the most pressing culinary question I've ever almost cared a lot about!? As it turns out, at least according to one guest who spoke with the semblance of great authority, hummus originated in Lebanon. The proof? The word 'hummus' is actually Arabic. And according to Serj's brother, the best Lebanese food in LA is to be found at Carousel in Hollywood and Skaf's in Glendale. You're welcome.

* A look at the new Ultimate Ears by Logitech custom in-ear monitors. These rad earbuds are saving musicians' hearing by creating molds customized for each user. An audiologist was even on hand last night to take custom measures of guests' ears. And for those of us who don't need the $1000+ models, UE has now launched a series of earbuds for consumer use, starting at just $19. Count me in please.

To order Serj Tankian's album, Imperfect Harmonies, click here.

[This post orginally appeared on Stuff I Like]

Tonight: Full Bleed Photography Exhibition

Thanks to my pal Jesse for reminding me about this great one. I can't go, but please everyone--go for me. Take snaps of all the hipsters in a 15 mile of Downtown for me as they'll surely all be swarming this warehouse tonight. But, in earnest, the show should be cool.

FULL BLEED
Celebrating 30 Years of skateboarding photography from the new VICE Books release

Saturday, August 28, 2010
PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION
6 - 10 p

6th Street Warehouse
E. 6th St.
Los Angeles, CA

art in LA (and beyond): Gronk's hotness in black & white.

If you missed the closing night of Mondo Gronk at the CB1 Gallery in Downtown LA this past weekend, the exhibition travels next to Madrid. After that, you can catch Gronk's sexy black and whites on exhibit back at LACMA come 2011. Yum.

The RSVP Line: CITY LABS Community Service Fair

You want to do good. You intend to do good. But most of the time, you end up sitting on your ass, catching up on Snooki's adventures on The Jersey Shore. So, for once, get your butt in gear and find out how to do better. This Saturday, head on over to Downtown's California Market Center for City Labs.

Come to this fun one-day fair to browse, discover and connect with 50 local non-profits -- organizations doing great things who need your support to maintain sustainability.

$5 suggested entrance donation = free drink ticket + raffle ticket!

Aside from roaming the 50 non-profits, check out cool offerings:

* Free Workshops :: including 'Going green without breaking the budget' w/YourDailyThread.com, and Create Your Own Story Book w/826LA

* 'Craft for a Cause' area presented by Causecast :: pack and assemble food boxes for the city's hungry

* Pop-Up Tiara Café

Find out more at www.city-labs.org.

Food Find: Nickel Diner serves up diner fare with flare.

Nickel Diner is located on Main Street in Downtown Los Angeles. And how appropriate that a diner that makes old [fashioned] new again should be housed in a neighborhood that's rapidly transitioning from dingy and dirty to hip and reborn.

The waitstaff is tatted. The menu showcases tofu alongside diner standards like grilled cheese and the Nickel Burger. And the dessert tray is rich and sugary and high in calories, but hosts a vegan tapioca. It is truly a diner for a new generation--a hungry one that likes its organic quinoa and its fried onion rings in equal parts.

P.S. To the bottom left of the dessert tray you'll notice what our waitress called a 'Cher Cupcake.' She couldn't tell us why it's called that--that we'd have to try it to find out. We, instead, ordered the Salt Peanut Cake [with potato chips]. So, I beseech you to go in, order the cupcake, eat it, and report back.

P.P.S. House specialties include the Smac & Cheese and the Maple Glazed Bacon Donut. Though I don't eat bacon, both looked pretty, pretty, pretty good.

Food Find: Big Man Bakes [cupcakes].

Call me a hormone-crazed female blogger, but it's clearly a dessert kind of day over here in overcast Los Angeles. Though I had Aussie treats on the mind this morning, my focus has shifted to sweets that are a little closer to home. Just down the street in fact. Just a few blocks away from my Downtown office has recently opened Big Man Bakes, a cupcake eatery which I'm confident will rival the bigger boutique cupcake chainlets which have sprouted over the last year or 2 (ala Crumbs). The bakery's proprietor, William 'Chip' Brown, is indeed a big man. But for those of us who are trying to stay a bit...well...not so big, he kindly makes a smaller version of his sugary goodness. And he'll sell you 6 of 'em for just $5.

Those of you who are observant and/or quick with math will notice that the picture above shows only 5 cupcakes. Well, there may or may not be even less remaining in the box now. Don't judge.

Big Man Bakes
413 S Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013

Food Find: Shojin offers organic + vegan...sushi?!

Thanks to good pal Renee, I discovered Shojin Restaurant this afternoon. It's organic and natural. It's vegan. It's...Japanese?!

A totally strange concept, but a delicious one.

Amongst the many things I'd thought might belong in sushi, I had never considered barbeque seitan. But I'm into it.

The prices are reasonable. The food is fresh. And it's housed on the 3rd floor of a rad Little Tokyo shopping center. Which means you can get fed and get a tour through Japanese shopping culture.

And if you're not booked for Thanksgiving, neither are they. Make a reservation now for your vegan faux-Turkey Day meal.

Shojin
333 S. Alameda Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013

Food Find: Yogurtland (with a splash of Japanese design culture)

For those of you who aren't yet familiar with Yogurtland, it's like a Pinkberry 2.0 for Americans who prefer a shot of sugar with their tart frozen yogurt. Amongst the celebrated Angelenos who heart the fro yo chain include Lauren Conrad, Lindsay Lohan, and now, well, me. I didn't get it before. You make your own dessert. You put on your own toppings. Great. There's a frozen yogurt machine in the cafeteria. I can deal without Yogurtland...I thought.

Turns out that Yogurtland takes making your own dessert to new levels of awesome with yogurt flavors like Peanut Butter, Pumpkin Pie, NY Cheesecake, and Double Cookies & Cream. Toppings range from the healthy (I opted for fruit on today's adventure) to the decadent (cookie dough, Heath bar, and the list goes on).

 

And as an added bonus, tokidoki, the colorful Japanese design house [brought to the US via an Italian] is in stores right now to brighten up the already cheery yogurt experience. Cause everyone likes colorfully creepy bears, cats and kids with their non-fat frozen yogurt.

The busiest location I've passed by is on La Brea. For a quicker, quieter Yogurtland experience, try the Downtown spot.

Yogurtland - Little Tokyo
1670 South Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Sounds: TV on The Radio's Kyp Malone goes solo.

I like TV on the Radio. I like Kyp Malone's facial hair. I think I like this song from his new solo endeavor. I love that this video was filmed in Downtown LA at Gehry's magnificent metal rose.


RAIN MACHINE aka Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio (dublab VisionVersion) from dublab on Vimeo.

[via Flavorwire]

art in LA: Christina M. Felice. Tonight.

Tonight's opening reception at the Edgar Varela Fine Art gallery in Downtown LA features not one, but two of LA's finest females. The show will feature new work from the lovely Christina Felice. It's collage. (And if you didn't know, now you'll know--I love collage. If I could stay home for my remaining years, cut things out, and put them back together in collage form, I would.) And as an added bonus, DJ Valida will provide tunes. Because two beautiful ladies [and their respective talents] are better than one.

Christina M. Felice
Patterned Spaces - Opening Reception
September 19, 6 – 11pm
Sponsored by Scion, Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum
Music provided by DJ Valida

Edgar Varela Fine Art
542 S. Alameda, 2nd Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90013

LAPD pretties up its new home in Downtown.

The LAPD has been building its new home in Downtown for months already. And it seems the fences are now down and the project finally near completion. I've watched the project unfold from the Times building across the street and have been eagerly anticipating the perks that will come with the LAPD's relocation--the safety of having LA's finest so close by and, of course, the hoardes of cute, uniformed dudes that will now join us corporate suits at the Downtown Farmers Market on Thursdays.

But what a nice surprise today to find that the foliage on the grounds of the courtyard is as fine as we hope the cops will be.

We Like to Party: M.I.A. makes a [late] splash in Downtown LA.

Last night, M.I.A. hit the stage at Downtown LA's Lot 613 warehouse. Mind you--doors were an hour late. Mind you--she didn't actually hit the stage til after 1 am. After what seemed like hours and hours (and hours) of openers, including Pase Rock, Blaqstar, and much beloved local DJ acts like Them Jeans. And mind you--this is as close as I personally got to the singer...

(For those of you who are thinking--why, that looks like mere projections on a wall outside of the main venue--you'd be correct.)

But all in all, I'm not mad at last night. The crowd was not 14 years old. The lines for the bathroom weren't too long (which can make or break a party for me). I got to see firsthand that M.I.A. lost the baby weight. And I discovered that Monster makes water--that's right, just plain water--in a can. Rockin.

Thanks to my amazingly hip friends at Dance Right for bringing cool (and me) to DTLA.

Typographical Error: Sweet Undy's

Typos and grammatical errors really get my metaphorical goat (which, if I had one in real life, they could gladly have). Misspelling a word, using the wrong 'there,' or punctuating erroneously is like telling me you either don't care or can't afford one of these newfangled computers with spell check. But when stores actually pay money to have signs and menus and billboards produced for the world to see, still sporting a typo, anger turns to pity. And I can have a laugh with (or at) these unfortunate businesses.

Spotted in Downtown LA yesterday on Los Angeles Street: 'Sweet Undy's.'

There are a couple of possibilities here...

1. Undy is a person. A person with a really, really awful name. She is sweet. And this is her store. That coincidentally does sell undies.

2. It's the undies inside which are sweet. And someone at 766 Los Angeles Street did not complete 4th grade.

LA, a goat-laden wasteland.

Sometimes, when you think you've seen all that you could possibly see in the wildest city on Earth--the homeless and the trannies, the Hollywood stars and the celebrity car chases--you see a herd of goats in Downtown Los Angeles.

And you realize that, oh, there's more to see. Cause now there are barnyard animals at the corner of 3rd and Hill. And you're not really that surprised to see them there.


[And yes, the goats are no strangers to city life. They made an appearance last year as well. Via LA Times]

The RSVP Line (Weekend Edition): Poketo Karaoke + Echo Park Fest + Renegade Crafts

T-G-I-[the mother f++king]-Weekend. Pardon the potty mouthed intro, but this week could not end soon enough. And the next few days are jam-packed with awesome free and fun activities. Because, apparently, the party Gods knew we needed a [mother f++king] break.

Tonight (Friday)! Get down with your local art community, care of Poketo at their Karaoke Dance Party. The party goes from 8 p - 1 a at Royal/T and offers something for everyone. For those who like to sing [badly], there is (duh) the karaoke. For those who prefer to shake a tail feather, there's (duh) dance. For those who get down with visuals, there's the Poketo pop-up to check out as well as the amazing collection housed by cafe-meets-gallery, Royal/T. Quick! RSVP here.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Echo Park Community Festival will be taking over what used to be the Lotus Festival (Lotus ran out of funds, so I've heard). The fest will take place in [where else] Echo Park. Though the website's art features dragons and ducks, I'm not promising either one. I just know there will be music and probably a lot of hipsters.

Also on both Saturday and Sunday is the Renegade Craft Fair, arriving in LA for the very first time. As we all know East Siders love to craft, I expected this to be held in Silverlake or somewhere equally artsy, but the fair makes its debut in Downtown LA at the California Market Center.

And if and when you do make it to Downtown, I highly recommend you stop by the sample sale going on over the weekend at Guy Baxter's studio (117 W. 9th Street, LA). I stopped by and spotted lots of great deals from $15 and up.

Happy weekend!! xoxo

We Like to Party: En Tu Ciudad (or, a white girl learns to shake her boot-ay)

Last night, I went out with mi three amigos to the LA pit-stop of My Space Latino's En Tu Ciudad tour (which I painstakingly translated--for your sake, of course--to mean 'in your city'). In response to my RSVP, I had been emailed back with a secret password to enter the party. While password-protected parties usually make me want to hurl, I was excited as this password was so much fun to say--'Paloma.' (Try it--say it aloud--it's fun, I promise!) And apparently 'Palomas' would also be the featured drink special for the evening. Needing translation for this word as well, I asked my Latino coworker for assistance. He claimed 'Paloma' meant bird--something between a dove and a pigeon. Not satisfied with this definition, I googled it. 'Paloma,' it turns out, is also a tequila cocktail. I much preferred this translation.

At the party, after enjoying one or two (ok, perhaps three) Palomas, another of my Mexican cohorts explained that a Paloma is made with Tequila and Squirt. Well, after my initial shock...and then disgust...I settled on delight. Yes, I like Squirt cocktails--it's true!

My buddies in Wait. Think. Fast. performed an awesome set.

And I learned that there is such a thing as a cute accordion player.

I'm old and needed to get to bed before my coach turned into a pumpkin and/or I crashed my Jetta from too many Palomas. But the crowd continued to party on long after I did. Because, as it turns out, Latinos (not blondes) have much, much more fun.

Shop: a Sample Sale we're excited for.

And when I say we, I mean me. Obvs.

One of Downtown's fashion hubs, the California Market Center, hosts a sample sale next Friday, June 26th. The showrooms, normally reserved for industry pros, opens its doors to you, the eager and adoring public. So go forth, shop, and pick something up for me por favor (I'm a size 6, but I'll squeeze into whatever you manage to scrounge up, thank you very much).