Clare Rojas at the Prism Gallery.

Sometimes I work on events that I have the distinct pleasure to be able to invite you to. And so it is with the opening of the incredible Clare Rojas exhibit at the Prism Gallery next week. Please join me there. It's going to be a rock rolling, radical, amaze-balls good time.

PRISM invites you to the opening reception for Inside Bleak, the gallery’s first solo presentation of painter and filmmaker Clare Rojas.

As part of Inside Bleak’s opening, Rojas – under her stage name of Peggy Honeywell – will debut several new songs written over the past two years.

February 26, 2011
7 - 10 p
Peggy Honeywell Performance - 9 p

Prism Gallery
8746 W. Sunset Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA

RSVP Essential: prism@nadinejohnson.com

art in LA: Barry McGee and Philip Frost 'mindthegap'

Last night I had the great pleasure of working at the opening of West Hollywood's new Prism Gallery. The gallery is the artsy baby of young [like, really, really young] fellow PC Valmorbida. With ties to Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld (yes, as in French Vogue Editor's Carine Roitfeld's son) and other fabulous young art fiends from both coasts and abroad, the gallery is intended to bring a little bit of New York's young, but sophisticated art culture to LA.

The show that opened the new space last night (to much celebrity, skater, and fashiony fanfare) is 'mindthegap.' Curated by RVCA founder PM Tenore, it features San Fran's Barry McGee (who had an awesome show at LA's REDCAT just last year) and NYC's Phil Frost.

My favorite part of the show? The eery mannequin who quietly and slowly graffittied allllll night long at the show's entrance. Yes, I almost talked to him several times. No, I had not been drinking.

mindthegap will be open to the public from November 20, 2000 - February 20, 2010. Go check it out.

Prism Gallery
8746 West Sunset Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA

Life in clubLAnd: the gays cum out to Fubar + a Flip exclusive!

Whenever my friend J comes to town, I somehow end up at places I could never possibly have imagined ending up at. Example No. 1 - Santa Monica after sunset. (Uchhh--I shudder.) Example No. 2 - gay bars in Weho at last call.

Last night's cavorting across town ended up with us at Fubar. Never been to Fubar? Take another look at the picture above. Now imagine the fellow with a sheen of sweat upon his torso and his shorts a lot lower down the totem pole, so to speak. To illustrate the absolute funk of the place, let me share with you this true story. At one point, between gawking at hard penises and the gays who love them, and dancing to pop music like the fag hags we must have appeared to be, I spotted a quarter on the floor. I didn't give that 25 cents a second thought. I left it on the floor. I know that doesn't sound impressive. But I'm an underpaid 20-something. I pick up quarters. Heck, I pick up pennies. But not there. Not at Fubar. You don't pick up anything at Fubar unless you're looking for some up close and personal exposure to human secretions.

Not gonna lie though. I'd go back. Despite the watered down drinks and wall to wall smell of sex, there was better people watching there than we'd found earlier at Hollywood's latest gathering spot for all things tacky, Guys and Dolls.

I'll leave you with this--one of my first hard-hitting interviews shot on the new Flip camera. I ask J the questions that really matter. Are ghosts real? Has your Hollywood dream come true? All this plus a shot of newlyweds John and Jane Doe as they exit the Loews Santa Hotel...



[Image Credit - Shadowscene via Fubar]

Customer service at Best Buy. A dramatic [but not exaggerated] reinterpretation.

Best Buy: You've reached Best Buy West Hollywood. What?

Customer: I'd like to order an air conditioner unit. I am hot. And I have cash. This should be simple, yes?

BB: It should be. But you called Best Buy. Let me just place you on hold for an indefinite amount of time while I go ask my manager how I can best service you. I'll be back in a few moments with what will likely be incorrect information.

5 minutes, 47 seconds, and 26 repetitions of the same piano melody later...

BB: Let's go ahead and schedule that installation for you. The next few days will go like this. We'll set up a time that doesn't exactly work for you. The morning of, once you've already cleared an obscenely large window of time for us, we'll call you to tell you we're not coming. Because we've made a mistake. We do that often. You'll angrily call the customer service line. They'll ask you if you're calling about a delivery. You'll say 'well, if you can call it that.' We'll say 'oops--we can't find your order.' And we'll tell you someone will call you back in the morning.

Customer: Great.

BB: Not so fast. We'll tell you that someone will call you back in the morning. But no one will. Cause that's how we roll.

Customer: Oh.

BB: You'll have to call us back. You'll be pissed. We'll have some sweet woman in consumer relations who you just can't stay mad at calm you down. You'll want to cancel your order and show us who's boss. But there's nowhere left in Los Angeles that will actually install an appliance for you as our competition's all gone out of business. So you'll huff. And you'll puff. And you'll agree to reschedule.

Custmer: I think I understand.

BB: Excellent. I didn't understand a thing.