French Girl With Mother By Venice's Norman Ollestad

I'm all excited because there is a new book by my friend Norman Ollestad coming out this coming Tuesday (October 11th)! French Girl With Mother is Ollestad's first fictional novel, after becoming a New York Times best seller with his incredible memoir Crazy For The Storm.

Most writers will tell you that they write from what they know, and for Ollestad, his decades of travel informed his latest book. He had been thinking about a torrid love affair he'd had with a French girl in his 20's, and the "shadow life" that he could have almost had ... like what if I'd gotten on that train? What if I had helped that friend hide money all over Europe? What if, what if, what if ... and the story just unfolded in his mind from there.

Ollestad has always held a fascination for art and artists, hence his main character is an artist who finds his muses in a French mother and daughter who he wants to create portraits of ... and it all takes off from there in what Booklist is calling "A unique, atmospheric literary thriller". Ollestad told me today (over coffee at the French Market) that French Girl With Mother continues his theme from his other books that if you want to find out about yourself or become a better person in your life, you have to go into the guts of a storm, whatever your storm is. To generate whatever you're trying to generate (a book, music, art ...), you can't shy away from the things that will test you or be intense, because that's how you find out about yourself, and what you're capable of. And that's why I can't wait to read this one!

We have to wait until Tuesday to get our copy of French Girl With Mother ... UNLESS you come to Venice and visit Small World Books, where it's available right now. And where I'm headed right now.

Ollestad will be reading from his latest book and holding a book signing at Diesel Books in Brentwood on Sunday, October 16th at 3:00 pm.

The Last Bookstore

Book stores have always been some of my favorite places in the world. When I got my allowance, it was to the book store I sped. I couldn't wait for those order forms to go around for the Book Days at school, and when your order finally arrived, how exciting that was! I just love how many ideas and stories and information swirls around in book stores, though I almost start to panic when I think I'll never be able to read them ALL.

So, last weekend when it was cloudy at the beach and I was all about field tripping, I added The Last Bookstore to my list of stops on our downtown L.A. adventure. I'd been meaning to get there for a couple of years, but it just never worked out. But now it was a cloudy day, we'd just had our minds blown by the spheres at MacArthur Park, and now it was time to blow our minds even further in an awesome book store. Perfect.

The place is huge. It's spread out over two levels, and the amount of writing contained in these walls is just short of overwhelming. There are books everywhere. There are sculptures made from books.

It really is a labyrinth, with new surprises around every corner. I love the way the books are displayed, not in just your standard rows, but sometimes horizontal, sometimes by color, making every aisle interesting and appealing to the eye. There is a vault containing the mystery and science books, that looks very genre-appropriate.

There is a tunnel made from gravity-defying books, giving it all a very Alice In Wonderland vibe, as indeed most of the day had felt (only more so when we stopped for macarons at Bottega Louie after!).

Once outside of the upstairs maze, you come upon a long hallway full of art and galleries and little indie Etsy type shop stalls. There was a lot to see, and a lot to covet, like this piece from Patrick Haemmerlein that I will be back for. Books! Art! Cute stuff! I was loving it.

The Last Bookstore hosts events and readings all the time, and now that I've been there,  I intend to go to them all. It feels good in there.

There were a lot of books I wanted right then and there, but as much as I enjoyed The Last Bookstore, I LOVE my local book store, Small World Books, the most. I want them to be around for a long time in my neighborhood, so when I want books to own, I get them there. To thank The Last Bookstore for their time and for just still being there, I did get a card though, and am now telling everyone to go there, because it's great.

It's called The Last Bookstore because this kind of place is an endangered species. They are treasures to get lost in for an afternoon, and to be inspired by for a lifetime. Support them all, so this one will never truly be the last.


The Last Bookstore
453 South Spring Street
Ground Floor
Downtown L.A. 90013
#213-488-0599
www.lastbookstorela.com

A Blind Date At Small World Books

Small World Books is not my favorite bookstore in Los Angeles for nothing. I wandered in off the Boardwalk last weekend to get the new title in my friend and I's perpetual book club (because I was 758th in line to reserve it at the Venice Library!), and, as usual, spent way too long inside of there on a sunny day. You can't help it. After I found my book, I turned the corner to see this fun idea, a blind date with a book!

You pick one based off the clever introductions written on the brown paper, and see what you get. Unlike the dating world, here you cannot go wrong. Small World Books (owned and operated by awesome women) has tremendous taste, a super informative staff, and a perpetual sense of fun that probably comes from spending its entire tenure right off the Boardwalk and Sidewalk Cafe. I love it.

As for my blind date with the politically radical surfer, I do not kiss and tell ... but it was well worth it.

June's Venice Art Crawl - All Mapped Out

Thursday was the June edition of the Venice Art Crawl, and it was as much fun as ever. It was also - as ever - nearly impossible to see it all, though I did keep on trucking enough to get a good bit in before just giving in to the party of it all.

It was not even dark out yet when I hit the information booth to pick up my map and they were already all gone. This is either bad planning or so wildly popular they ran out even before nightfall. Probably both, but VAC, you need more maps. The various map locations should have stacks of them too - none did. This makes it hard to know where to go ... luckily, I cajoled one from a couple that could share. The very last one. The volunteers were a little snippy about it too, saying to me, "Take a picture (of the map), it will last longer", and to another person, "It's not my job to give out information." Um, yes. It is. Anyway, it was good that I made new friends sharing my map and pointing people where to go, but a map would have been way better for them. Next time ...

I hit the Art Walls first, as there was a group called the "Setting The Pace Foundation" painting on the walls for the Art Crawl. It was cool, and the sunset is always a wonderful backdrop.

I always have to swing by the skatepark to see what's going down, so I did.

Small World Books is right there, so I went in to check out the new works by Deb Loucks, get a new book ...

... and say hi to the artist, enjoying friends and family at The Sidewalk Cafe.

 The sunset was now threatening to outshine all the art, so it's good that it all carried on after dark.

I headed over to "Emerged at Alpha," a space on Market Street that had girls selling flower crowns, live music and a whole bunch of art. It was cool, but I didn't recognize anybody.

It was fun to see a great mix of people, once again coming together all because of art.

I knew there was a Venice Symphony Orchestra fundraiser going on over at Horizon, with a group show curated by Jules Muck behind the house with her mural on it.

What I did not know was that the Orchestra wasn't really playing (only a 3 piece could make it this night), but there were naked ladies getting body painted in there, so that seemed to satisfy all who strolled through looking for some classical music.

It looked kind of fun. I may volunteer next time (for being painted on, not handing out maps).

I always enjoy chatting with the artists that set up in the parking lot next to Hama Sushi, but I always feel bad for them because it is almost pitch dark in there, nearly impossible to see the work. We need to get some lighting in there for them next time. Arist Niciforos had little tiny painting that had 3D waves coming off the beach scenes ... I got one for $5, and was happy to see that it can be a magnet on the fridge art piece.

Set up next to him was a very smart guy whose name I lost, but whose art reminded me of Gaudi. In fact, he told me all about the church in Spain designed by Gaudi that has taken 100 years to build and it still isn't. The conversation was enlightening, even though I could barely see them.

Set up outside the parking lot, getting some street light on the subject, was a guy who said his name was Ant, who had some "controversial" pieces. I just found them to be true. Another good conversation was had, and then I was late to meet friends at The Townhouse.

After some catching up and refreshments, we had more ground to cover. I wanted to see the "Skate The Sky" pieces at Venice Originals, but the place was all locked up tight, so I stopped by the packed Lightning Bolt shop, where people were crammed in listening to Kathleen Myers, but too full to really see the art. Next it was Gotta Have It, who featured work by Theresa Flowers and music by the ever-ready Paul Chesne.

We watched Chesne's set from up in the new little nook gallery overlooking the shop, which was great.

It became kind of our own headquarters that we could shout out the window from to people on the sidewalk to come up and join us.

As always happens, we'd again forgotten to eat, and that had to happen before anymore art (or drinks) could be had). As happens while you look at the art, kitchens tend to close, so we looked at more art anyway. The guys that set up out in front of The Bank Of Venice were doing cool stuff with spray paint...

But this guy (whose card I also lost) was on a new level, with a laser pen thing that colored in the images as a black light showed it appear. It was trippy, and I'm always a sucker for live painting.

There was SO much to see and do, that it was funny when I met a reader of mine (Hi!), who asked if I would see more this time than I did last, since I'd mentioned in that article the difficulty of getting around to it all when you keep bumping into friends to catch up with and stuff. The answer was that I believe I saw even less this time, but had even more fun! After a quick bite at Hal's (where they launched their new gallery), we went all the way over to West Adams, but still kind of Venice, as we visited the Mid City Yacht Club, owned and operated by Commodore Noah Farrell (of Abbot's Habit). Venice is a feeling ... of people being free and expressing themselves through their art, whichever medium it takes shape with. And you can take it with you.

Another whole night of art and expression, wound up with all Venice people all the way across the city, but that feeling carried with us the whole way. And next time ... I promise to see way more. With the help of the ample maps that I'm sure will be available to all.  Thanks again, VAC!

March Venice Art Crawl - Fresh Air, Fresh Art

Last night was the March Venice Art Crawl, and it was great. It kind of felt like First Fridays used to feel, where you saw a lot of locals and neighbors, and places served up free booze and music. The Art Crawl is actually better than First Fridays used to be, because the whole point is to appreciate local art ... the very reason Venice became cool in the first place.

Cool doesn't begin to describe how excellent it was to approach the Venice Skatepark just after sunset, seeing it all lit up, with a DJ blasting out good jams over the entire Boardwalk. They built a little entrance ramp so that people could go down in the snake run of the park, where the art of Mark Farina was hung.

It was a party, seeing all sorts of familiar Venice faces and catching up, all while checking out the brightly colored and highly political pieces from Farina.

These are the kind of original, fun ideas that make Venice special, and the kind of things we NEED - to show the world that they can keep their corporate chain stores and hum drum sameness.

WE have art openings IN skateparks. Bam.

There was a lot to see and do, so I had to crack the whip and keep us moving along ... to Small World Books next.

Among all the zillions of books I covet every time I walk in the best book store in the West, I now also want one of the pieces by Christina Mills showing at Small World.

Her work feaures the typical Venice scenes, with surfers and the Venice sign type images, with scads of tweets from Venice 311 behind them ... truly an example of "Where Art Meets Crime."

 

On to The Gallery on Market Street, where we saw the gorgeous photography (featuring a bunch of Venice neighbors - Tawney! Shawn!) of Nicol Ragland.

The sign said, "A photographic exhibit raising questions about our ability to access primal and immaterial forces within the commercial ethos of western industrial society. The images stir a vital and confrontational animism by juxtaposing taxidermied wild animals in the arms of domestic U.S. citizens provokingly situated in the iconic centers of mass commerce." Phew. That's weighty stuff ... but the photos sure were lovely.

We stopped in to see my girls at Kiki Designs (and spied even more cool rings we all wanted) and raise a glass, then did same at Gotta Have It, where the lovely Venice native, Mattea Perrotta, was showing her work. I knew almost everyone I saw, making it such a delight to be out and about, among friends.

Art was everywhere, and it was hard to take it all in when there was also so much socializing to be done. We did pretty well, but did get to Shulamit Gallery a bit too late to fully enjoy it, since they were kicking people out.

James Beach had Shark Toof and Tom French work featured - always a pleasure - and across the street at the Canal Club, owner Danny Samakow showed his very Venice paintings, that he was auctioning off for his upcoming AIDS Lifecycle Bike-A-Thon. We drank champagne with "Team Venice" and I soon found myself being the person that drew the raffle tickets for the lucky winners of Danny Samakow originals. We had a blast with the boys, even more so knowing that it was all going for such a good cause (that you can still donate to. Contact Danny.)

We covered a lot, but we didn't cover it all ... so there will be a lot to look forward to when the next Art Crawl rolls around June 20th. The night was starry as we strolled back home, way later than I had planned. We passed underneath the Venice sign again, and I smiled to myself that I get to live here, where there are still staunch preservationists of what is truly cool, proven by nights like this.

I love you, Venice. (We say that a lot here)

October's Venice Art Crawl

The Venice Art Crawl for October was last night, and my friend Francie and I hit all the spots. Which wasn't hard to do, as there weren't very many locations this month for some reason, but they were all a good time, that's for sure.

We began, as one should, with some whiskey at The Townhouse. Down the hatch, fortified, we went to see some acid trip looking pieces by D. Castro upstairs at Danny's Deli. We kind of did the Clark Griswold nod on that, and headed down the misty Boardwalk to my favorite bookstore in this city, or perhaps any, Small World Books.

There were two cool artists showing at Small World, and both were highlights of the whole deal this month. David Jensen (DavidJensenArt.com) had three large Obama pieces all made out of scraps of Hawai'ian fabric. We have to get one to the President, I think he'd love them. Maybe as a congratulatory gift for his second term! From my fingers typing to God's ears ...

Also showing at Small World Books was Kathleen Gaudet with her Zombie pieces. Great and hilarious, and you can even get Zombie snow globes as extra original gifts for the low zombie price of $15! Get there before they're all eaten alive.

There was a guy, Lenny Felix, set up outside of Cairo Cowboy on Windward, selling (I hope) his Day of The Dead inspired pieces, along with some Rasta and Jack Daniels ones, so clearly we became friends quickly. He has no web site or online way to get his work, which is rootsy, and I like it better for it. I'm old school like that. You have to email him - Felixtat2@yahoo.com  Again, great gifts.

My friend Kiki just opened her new and GORGEOUS jewelry store at 100 Market Street (really on Pacific, by Mao's) and the party was ON in celebration. We'll be doing a story on her soon, as it's a good one. Her jewels are just one of kind, so pretty it kind of hurts to look at, and I want nearly every thing in there. It doesn't hurt that the entire floor is gold glitter, so it all feels like you just landed in a good fantasy. I love her. I love her work. And these are the GREATEST gifts you could possibly give someone. Anyone. (For the record, I'm deeply in love with the fuschia agate ring that covers like three fingers. Love.)

Canal Club had some celebs with animals photos by Charles Bush that we breezed through, and then hit James Beach to see cool works by Shark Toof and Ryan Graeff. Both were excellent.

By then it was time to book-end our night back at The Townhouse. We discussed what we saw over a night capper, and then biked off into the night (in our dresses and heels, of course) before we'd REALLY have to crawl - home.

Good times.

Leon Hendrix Reading at Small World Books

It was one of those nights when there's just too much going on, and you have to make some choices. I was cool to juggle some stuff, but what I knew I did not want to miss was Leon Hendrix reading from his new book, Jimi Hendrix - A Brother's Story at Small World Books on the Venice Boardwalk last night. I raced over there before the sun even set, and found myself a chair in the little back area of my very favorite book store. Mr. Hendrix was still at The Sidewalk Cafe next door, having a little happy hour, so it was very relaxed and no rush ... appropriate for the location, for sure.

I chatted with some local folks I know, and then Leon Hendrix walked up, held out his hand and asked my name. In his silky black shirt and lots of jewelry, he was pretty smooth at 64. Maybe even more so by his clear groove, as I gleaned from the aroma that there had been a recent sharing of a j on the Boardwalk prior to his entrance. Smooth.

It was standing room only left as Hendrix proclaimed that this was his very first book reading and signing ever! Here in Venice ... I love that. He got right to it and read a passage from a chapter called "Vagabond Gypsy Boys". It felt like he was more comfortable just talking and sharing anecdotes than exactly reading from the book. This turned out to be a treat, as he said that some of the stories he shared weren't in the book, so bonus. Jimi was always called "Buster" as a boy, we were told, as his real name was Johnny Alan Hendrix, but Johnny was the name of their Mom's new boyfriend, so their Dad made him change his name to Jimmy Marshall Hendrix. He couldn't get used to that, so he made everyone call him "Buster", after the Flash Gordon actor he loved, Buster Crabbe. Buster!

Hendrix spoke about how he and Jimi ate horse meat hamburgers and they were the best in the world, and it's a shame you can't get them anymore. He said that Jimi played music with Tommy Chong ("Who had a band before his pot career ..."), and that his first gig ever was with Ray Charles, because at 16, he was the best guitarist in Seattle for the job. That his first recording job ever was some striptease music for Jayne Mansfield in Louisiana.

Someone asked what books Jimi liked or was influenced by, and Leon said he'd never seen Jimi read a book ... "He just seemed to know that stuff already".  The whole time he was talking, you could really see in him a little kid that deeply looked up to and missed his big brother. He seemed happy and haunted at the same time, if that makes sense.

Someone else asked if it was true that Jimi started out playing on a broom. This was true, but more as an air guitar play thing that he'd sing along to. He first PLAYED on a ukulele from someone's garage sale that had only one string. He found he could make different sounds by loosening or tightening the tuner on that one string, and that was how he learned to bend each string to do so, so much.

He was a leftie, and his Dad thought left handedness was from the Devil ..."Which was funny, considering he had 6 fingers!" That was laugh out loud. He went on to say that Dad would tie string around his extra appendage until it would shrivel up and fall off after tightening it for about 6 months ... but then they would grow back!! Freak out. Jimi and Leon would wait until their Dad fell asleep drunk and bring in the neighbor kids to terrify them with the extra fingers on their Dad. While funny, I almost wish I didn't know this stuff existed. Shivvvvvvvver.  ANYway ... when Dad would come in, Jimi would flip the guitar over to play right handed so he wouldn't get yelled at for being the Devil. So he could play left, right, upside down, backwards ... "He was a genius," Leon said, with a shrug of pure fact.

He read one more small paragraph, squinting without his glasses ("This guy didn't write the book good.") and then shut it and said, "Anyway, that's enough. Read the book." He's pretty funny, Leon. I get the feeling he'd be fun to hang out with. He was itching to get to the just hang out part of the event, you could tell. Then someone asked why it took him so long to write this book. Leon replied that he realized that in all the other books on Jimi Hendrix out there, all the best quotes were his, so he decided to write his own book. "And it will be the last book on Jimi." Said firmly.

With that, the line formed to get books signed and take pictures and ask more questions. Through it all, and in looking him in the eye while talking, you can see how much pride and pain live in this man who so clearly loved - and loves - his brother.

I can't wait to read all these stories, especially now that I saw the heart of where they came from.

Smooth.