The Annual Venice Oceanarium Moby Dick-A-Thon - Plus

It sure was a beautiful weekend in Venice, highlighted by the annual reading of Moby Dick on the sand at the Breakwater. It's an all day/all evening affair put on by the Venice Oceanarium each year on the sand.

There are maritime props set up like a whale bone and a harpoon next to the chair and microphone for the readers. Listeners post up in the sand, and there's something just so lovely and mellow about lying on the sand and being read to as the sun sets.

It all got even lovelier as the sun sank below the horizon, when the kind folks from Enterprise Fish Company showed up with their donated delicious clam chowder and warm bread from Bay Cities. As the evening had turned chilly in the sea air, this was a most welcome warm up.

Several young students were sprawled across the sand, probably to get extra credit for a class, but it was nice to see all of them so eager to participate in a quintessentially Venice tradition. All read with gusto, and most likely also created themselves a wonderful memory. I know I did. Thanks always to the Oceanarium's Tim Rudnick for being such an advocate of the sea, and for putting this on each year.

I had a birthday party to get to, but along the way there was something I wanted to check out in the Canals. I'd seen on Facebook that there was to be an interactive tap dance light show at a house on the canals, and everyone was invited. Of course, I was there.

A gracious host called Hilary invited us in to his gorgeous home (bedecked with a big Jules Muck cat portrait on the side), offered us libations, and introduced us to the friends gathered for the performance by Laura Kriefman of the Guerilla Dance  Project. They brought out a bunch of containers of dry ice to create a smoky stage outside, then Kriefman tap danced in an LED light dress that changed colors as she danced. The music was controlled by the tap shoes and the lights were controlled by the music. It was interesting and cool and the kind of out there experimentation that I love to see continuing to thrive in Venice. Thank you to Hilary for his true kindness and generosity in opening his home to a bunch of stranger Venetians. That's how we all build bridges. I loved it.

Sunday finally brought sorely-needed rain to Venice, and a farewell to Danny's Deli closing party that I totally blew it by missing. I had in my head that it was a night-time affair, but it ended at 4. Shoot. I'm so sad to have missed the chance to celebrate all the good memories created in those walls over the years. We're all very sad to go, and can only hope and pray that whatever replaces this Venice institution will do right by it and honor its history. Please.

Thanks to everyone for another classic Venice weekend! We can all use all the fun we can get these days ... keep up the good work!

Big Thursday

I think it might be nice to all stop and take a moment to just appreciate the power of nature, which really does trump everything else. The waves are BIG (and The Eddie is all the way ON in Hawai'i!), so fun to watch, and far more interesting and good for you than anything in the media now. 

This is from the packed Breakwater this morning. Enjoy it out there!

A Venice Summer Solstice Go Skate Neptune Festival Father's Day

If you wanted to show off Venice to someone new, yesterday was the perfect day to do it. The sun was shining brightly from the very beginning of the day - no June Gloom for the Summer Solstice! This put everyone in a festive mood from the get-go, so the whole town was coursing with a party atmosphere ... Summer was officially here! Well ... not officially until King Neptune said so.

It was Go Skate Day 2015, so the Venice Skatepark was going off all day long. Booths were set up for merch, raffle tickets were being sold, and everyone and their brother and sister were out skating.

The day was jam packed with fun stuff to do, but you can get sucked in pretty easily when there's so much good skating and people watching to do. It was good to see a bunch of girls and women getting into the mix in the bowl, with one gal showing how it's done wearing only a bikini. Brave.

There were giveaways all day, music pumping, and prizes given out for best tricks. It didn't seem like anyone really cared who won, because we were all winning by just being alive on such a perfect Summer Sunday.

I watched the skating and chatted with friends as long as I could before I had to race over to The Townhouse to meet friends for long overdue drinks, and did that for as long as I could before I had to zip on over to The Sidewalk Cafe for their Solstice Party and to meet up with The Neptune Festival partiers.

King Neptune Masao Miyashiro and Queen Dakota Rayfield led their royal court (and anyone who cared to join) in a procession from The Sidewalk Cafe to the Breakwater, where they would emerge from the sea to declare it officially the start of Summer.

The chant of "Hail The King! Hail The Queen! Hail Summer! Hail Venice! Hail Yes!" was repeated over and over as the costumed revelers brought the party out on the sand.

We all stopped at the Skatepark to blow the conch shell at the skaters and pick up more people to head to the water with us. Cameras were everywhere as tourists were pleasantly surprised at this perfect Venice spectacle passing by in a big cacophony of fun.

Mermaids and pirates and hula hoopers and drummers whooped it up and encouraged everyone to join in the infectious fun, as royal pages carried the Venice sign across the sand.

Once at the water's edge, the King and Queen got into the water where they then emerged shouting the proclamation that NOW it was indeed Summer.

This news was met with hearty cheers, and you could plainly see the delight on the faces of every single face that shared in the festivities. This is exactly the kind of tradition that makes Venice so fun, and the community so stoked to call it home.

I had to bid farewell to the Neptune Festival goers and skip the after-party back at The Sidewalk because it was also Father's Day, and the friends were gathering to celebrate the Dads in our gang.

The kids put on a dance show ...

We all played a good old fashioned game of cards ...

Brats were grilled, icy cold beers were consumed, and the longest day of the year ended with great friends talking and laughing around a fire.

And THAT is how you kick off Summer in Venice, California! May it be the very best one yet for everyone, wherever you may be.