Gingerbread Wonderland At Norway House - Virtually, Because 2020.

Oh, 2020. You've really been something else. This holiday season will be like none other ever, and we're all having to get creative to keep it special and magical. One of the beloved newer traditions in Minneapolis is the Gingerbread Wonderland show held each year at Norway House, and this year's production was truly outstanding ... until it had to close down for another Covid lockdown. I feel really bad that there are so many wonderful gingerbread creations that are now stuck inside with no one to appreciate them, so I thought I'd share some of my favorites here in an attempt to spread some Christmas cheer ... starting with the sheer marvel by Maggie Karschnia MVP most crowd pleaser in the bunch before the doors had to be shut - Holidays at Hogwar's! WHAT?!?! That's pepperkake?! Incredible, truly. 

There are so many gingerbread houses in the gallery that it smells like gingerbread is currently baking, but it's just the sheer volume of cake in there! 

The blue facade of Norway House greets you as the first gingerbread house, and it only gets better from there. 

It's kind of hard to shoot photos in the gallery because it's dark and there's black light going on, which makes it all rather enchanting in person, but tough to capture. This delightful carousel by Renee and Kirsten Poppenhagen (great name!) was very impressive because it really rotated. Pretty awesome. 

I can't believe I STILL haven't been to Norway, being 100% Norwegian, but here we are. The Munch Museum has always been on my sights to see in Oslo, and the Norway House has it depicted in gingerbread. Takk! 

Even the very traditional gingerbread homes were impressive, and made you want to actually live inside of them. Like this one ... 

Bakers tend to create places that are either Norwegian or local Minnesota places is they're not doing the traditional gingerbread vibe, and it's always fun to see someone's interpretation of a local landmark. The Witch's Hat by Paula Gilbertson was one such cool one, and I learned that it had been designed by a Norwegian architect, Fredrick William Cappelen. Who knew? 

There's no place like Gnome, and those popular little guys populate the adorable house done by Pati Kachel from my own Mom's Daughters of Norway Pauline Fjelde Lodge #51 in Minneapolis! Great job, Pati! Skol! 

The downtown Minneapolis Milwaukee Road train depot is there in gingerbread, looking an awful lot like the real place - only maybe better. 

Mindekirken, the Norwegian American Lutheran Church located across the parking lot from Norway House is there, looking all ready for Christmas Eve (and who's service we will very much miss attending in person this year!). It even has edible stained glass windows!

Another local favorite is represented at Gingerbread Wonderland with a little replica of Bogart's Donuts! I don't know if they offer ginger donuts in real life, but they do at this location! Cute. 

A Minneapolis Mercado by Sharon Born reflects both a big part of the ethnicity of the Franklin neighborhood of Norway House, and also the uprising here this Summer after the murder of George Floyd by Minnepolis Police. Maybe not the first thing you think of when thinking gingerbread houses, but you know what? We can NEVER FORGET. SAY HIS NAME!!!

One of my very favorites was the beautiful depiction of the All My Relations Gallery right up the street from Norway House. Bright and colorful, and it really looks just like the fantastic cultural center. LOVE.

Minnesota is there in its entirety in a flat creation by Shannon Schaaf and Etta Fuhrman showing the entire state, even the Spam Museum! People were definitely getting creative this year, and no two entries are alike.  

I love an A-frame, and this was another house by Liz Mullen and The "Chowgirls Team" that I would actually like to live in. Yay for the Chalet! 

When we were kids my Mom would have us play "Little Red School House" on long road trips - really just a game of who could be the most quiet for the longest. It wasn't that fun, but it did give me a little kick of nostalgia to see this little red gingerbread Skole. 

An EverGreen House - with skylights! 

A fanciful Peppermint House! 

An adorable Barn! 

Another Barn with a cool silhouette barn dancing couple!

A beautiful Snowy House! 

A folky Clocktower by Shaynah Whitmore (age 14)! 

A Norwegian waffle tower by Nordic Waffles! 

A red sauna done by one of my best friend in the world's daughters, Inga Wilhoit! 

I think my absolute favorite was the gingerbread version of the Edvard Grieg house, Troldhaugen, in Bergen, Norway. It's an exact replica of the famous Norwegian composer's home, but the great thing about it is that the creator, Jay'd Hagberg, put a little miniature piano on the roof! 

I heard a little girl say that her favorite one was the "one with the piano on the roof", and you could see in her eyes that it had made an impression. I would not be surprised to hear that she grew up to have a piano on her own roof - and now I want one too. What a treat for everyone! Especially if it was Grieg. 

Everyone was having a grand - and very safe and very distanced - time taking in Gingerbread Wonderland as one of the very few things we could do this super weird holiday season, and then it all shut down on November 20th, and it doesn't look like it will reopen during the run of the show. It's a real shame, among many shames this year, but I hope you will enjoy these photographs, and maybe do the virtual tour via Norway House's website. It costs $5 to view, but this event is THE major fundraiser for Norway House each year, and it would be great to help them out. I made my own first ever gingerbread house this year, having been inspired by all of these greats ... but this is the only place you'll see it unless you come over to my Mom's, which you can't because she's at risk, so here you go - The Love Shack! 

 

I've been out of my mind crazy busy, and apologize for so long between stories, but I just know that this next year HAS to be better for us all, and that there will be so many great new stories to tell that it's all I'll have time for. Right? So ... enjoy this holiday season as much as you possibly can. Be inspired. Get creative. Know that there is still beauty and fun and magic in this world, and it's all right there if you really look for it. I send love and my Merriest Christmas wishes to one and all around the world! 

SKOL!!!

Jail Guitar Doors - Rock Out 5!

My welcome back to L.A. was extra great after having been gone since last May, as I got to go racing from LAX straight across town just in time to make it for the 5th annual Jail Guitar Doors ("The loudest charity on Planet Earth!") fundraiser show starring Moby and Wayne Kramer at the Ford Amphitheater!

My friends Brother Wayne and Margaret Kramer have been putting on this event every year to raise money for Jail Guitar Doors, and their exceptional programs that bring music to inmates in prison. After checking out the merch (there's even JGD coffee now!), and greeting several other annual JGD show fans, my brother Paul and I took our seats in the front row, ready to take in another great night of music put on by great people for an absolutely great cause.

A recording played to announce that we were sitting on what was once Tongva native lands, and then Brother Wayne came bounding down the steps to the stage, punching the air and riling up the crowd right off the bat. I was SO happy to see him looking so healthy and hale after he endured cancer treatment this last year, like he was way more energetic than just about everyone else the whole night. Phew. Kramer  thanked Dr. Bronner's (the soap people) for underwriting Jail Guitar Doors being able to provide programs for young people to get them into activities that will PREVENT them from ever entering the criminal justice system ... because once in, it's pretty damn hard to get out and resume a regular life. And then the world is better for everyone.

The evening was hosted by the Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, Luis Rodriguez, who sits on the board of Jail Guitar Doors. Rodriguez has done time, as did his father and son, and he wants that cycle ended. "I'm an O.G. when it comes to this work," he said, before sharing a beautiful poem that had the excellent line, "Use your given gifts. They are not stone." YES.

Rodriguez introduced the Soledad Jazz Workshop, a jazzy quintet founded at the Soledad State Prison in California. Mr. Jack Bowers was their teacher, and everyone playing so beautifully had also done time. Ron Melvin (alto sax) spoke after their first number, saying that, "Jail Guitar Doors believed in me until I could believe in myself." He added the important truth that, "Beauty can come from anywhere."

Trombone legend, Phil Ranelin, was featured on the song "All The Things We Are", and said it was written the same year he was born, 1939. He can still blow with the best of them, and we also got  the Miles Davis classic "All Blues". It was all really, really good, and the only reason I can think of that some people don't like jazz is that the songs are so long, and you start to feel left out of the jam conversation that the musicians have going together. So, you just close your eyes, listen, and it's all good. Real good.

Rodriguez came back out to recite a poem called "The Calling". He told of how he had turned his life around through poetry in jail, and said that, "You can't throw people away ... everyone is worth helping." That's really the point of the whole JGD organization. The poem gave me chills, and also the gratitude and relief that there really still are really good people out there. Thank God.

Rodriguez introduced Wayne Kramer and Friends, and Kramer ran back on stage, this time with his legendary Star Spangled guitar, yelling, "Alright, now we're gonna rock!" and he and his band went on to do just exactly that. "Shining Mr. Lincoln's Shoes" had Kramer running around extra-animated while Carl Restivo held things down on bass, Brock Avery kept the drum beat, and Benmont Tench (yes, from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Benmont Tench!) on the keys.

"Back When Dogs Could Talk" featured Kramer doing the funky chicken and also shouting out to all the workers of the world ... "My steel workers, my food service workers, my auto workers, my teachers ... you have earned the right to be known as the salt of the Earth! You are somebody!" It was awesome, and a fine example of why Kramer rules as a human being AND as a rock star both.

Kramer brought out my friend Jason Heath (lead JGD teacher and leader of The Greedy Souls) as well as the rapper Matre to join he and the band for a fired up version of "Jail Guitar Doors", the namesake song by The Clash. Everyone was feeling it, and frankly, their set was over way too soon, but it sure got the party going!

Mr. Rodriguez came back and we did a call and response poem together, saying "Make this poem cry!" It did its job, because I definitely got choked up. No time for tears, however, as Rodriguez said, "And now, Moby!" and Moby came out with his band and back-up singers, who launched right into his great song, "Extreme Ways". Dressed casually in jeans and a hoodie, Moby rather resembled a much smaller Billy Corgan with a "Vegan For Life" neck tattoo.

The crowd loved the song, and let the band know. Moby said that he'd driven by the Ford Theater a thousand times, but had never been and didn't know it was so beautiful. "This is the most beautiful outdoor theater in Los Angeles, and that's saying something." We were all already feeling lucky for being there, but that jacked that sentiment up even more. A truly stunningly gorgeous evening, as the stage looked like an enchanted forest and beautiful letters from prisoners and photos were projected on the interior walls.

Moby said that the only thing he had in common with Jimi Hendrix was that they had both only had one #1 song in the U.S. ... then proceeded to play his. "South Side" sounded as good and as fresh as it ever did, and I have to admit, I didn't ever really know how good a guitar player Moby is. I always associate him with synthy sounding orchestral super produced tunes, and it was cool to see him pretty stripped down and really going for it live on guitar. He said he was a punk rock kid, "So I fetishize cover songs," and they did mostly covers from thereon out. Mindy James took lead vocals for a re-working of The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" that she absolutely belted out, and Moby shredded out the guitar solo.

Moby loves John Lee Hooker, so next we got "A Dark Cloud Is Coming" which was inspired by Hooker, and was very dark, bluesy, ominous, and pretty heavy. It felt right for a night about prison ... but then the next one was "20th Century Boy" from T. Rex ... and the whole band was smiling and clearly enjoying themselves while they played, so it felt like hope again. Benmont Tench was back to be Moby's keys player too, and you could tell he was having fun. There was a dude/douche next to me who kept making lame GIFs during the show, then nudging me to look at them. Don't do that. Thanks.

Neil Young's "Helpless" was dedicated to Moby's Mom, who he lost 15 years ago after a life of food stamps and welfare as a single mother. Laura Dawn took lead vocals, and I got choked up again thinking about my own Mom back home.  Moby's "L.A. song about astrophysics and weird celebrities" was next up, and "We Are All Made Of Stars" happened. I love that dang song, and his great "Natural Blues" was next, again featuring Mindy Jones in rad voice. A cover of Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" found us witnessing a "primal, libidinous battle" between Jones and guitarist/backup singer, Daron Murphy on harmonica. Jones and Murphy traded licks, while Moby laid down on the stage to enjoy it, and an older woman danced like no one was watching in the aisle next to me. Good for her.

Next up was "The Mount Olympus of cover songs, the mother of all cover songs, we need you to come to Valhalla with us on this one" ... and it was "Stairway To Heaven". Murphy took lead vocals while the band whipped the audience into a frenzy - and an older man had now joined the dancing woman, and they were both going off, spins and all, until "We drank vegan grogg from the skulls of our enemies!" proclaimed Moby. And you better believe we DID.

The All Star finale brought everyone back out together, and we all sang "The Perfect Life" together - and loudly. It was super celebratory, meaningful, and again, hopeful. At one point in the song, they brought it all down to a whisper with every single performer flat on their backs on the stage, which brought the whole house rushing down to the front to try to see them.

Then they brought it all back up to a joyous conclusion, and the hope that a more perfect life might be within the grasp of both everyone there, and everyone that they were helping by being there. There was no Kicking Out The Jams this year, which I missed, but this finale was so good that you could let it slide. Another fantastic night of music for Jail Guitar Doors was complete ... but the work continues all year.

Please get involved however and whenever you can ... donate, volunteer, teach, spread the word! Jail Guitar Doors is changing lives for the much better, and we're all better for it. Thanks and LOVE to all involved with this exceptional organization!

All photos by Paul Gronner Photography

Thank You, Venice! - The 90291: Venice Unzipped Lantern House Fundraiser!

Oh, Venice. How great are you?! We had one big shindig at the Lantern House on Saturday night to raise funds for our upcoming documentary 90291: Venice Unzipped. It was awesome, and I'm still beaming over it.

Documentaries take money to make, so that was the impetus for the affair, but really, it was all about our community and how much we all love our Venice. Our film is going to examine income inequality in the United States, with a zoom lens on Venice as an extreme example. When you have 6 million dollar homes with a tent city in the alleys behind them (or in their yards), something is wrong. We are going to talk about it, and try to come up with some solutions together, as we celebrate what is really the last beach community of color. 

If you've never been to an event at the Lantern House, you really should try. It's so perfectly Venice, with art everywhere, and an eclectic vibe that really feels like what we're about. The chandeliers in the trees, and the several little bungalows making up the whole space transport you into a magical scene that truly was perfect. Eternal thanks to Scott Mayers - and his gargoyles - for opening up his home to share with us.

The event at the Lantern House was hosted by myself and my co-producers on the film, Colin Keith Gray and Megan Raney Aarons ("The Sibs") from Grainey Pictures. The wonderful women of Fiore Designs handled the floral decor and the food, and it was all just gorgeous. 

Spirits were donated by Venice Duck Brewery and Jim Robb, while desserts were provided by local artisan chocolatier, Chocolate Wonder Love and Erewhon. All were excellent, and so good that they vanished before I could even get any, but I was fine with that.

It truly was an event by and for the community. Local businesses donated super cool stuff for our silent auction, from beautiful photography to dinners at local restaurants to clothing to hotel stays to classes to even a basket full of Ruby's Doobies! All were extremely appreciated, and beyond generous to our cause. 

D.J. Rick spun the tunes, and our first musical guest was my dear friend, Lacey Kay Cowden, who entranced the revelers, even under the challenging circumstances of being in the time slot when people were still arriving, and highly vocal during her set. She is a pro, and a treasure. Thank you, Lacey!

People mixed and mingled, and then we gathered them all up to hear an introduction from our host, Scott Mayers, who is the owner of The Lantern House, and a true raconteur. He told stories of when he first moved in, and had to duck bullets in his shower ... how things change - and stay the same.

Colin and Megan gave speeches about our film, and our hopes for making it a true community project. We asked for help in casting our families that we will be following over the next year, and if you have any suggestions to that end, they may be given to Andrea McHugh HERE. 

We showed a trailer of our film, and if you were not able to be in attendance on Saturday, you can watch it HERE. It should give you a good idea of what we're trying to do, and the conversation that we're trying to have. 

I gave a little spiel about how I've been telling the real stories of real Venice for over a decade now through the Free Venice Beachhead, and right here at Blogtown, and how people should know by now how much this town and its denizens mean to me. And how much I value being a part of this community that embraced me - and I, it - when I moved here over 20 years ago now. I didn't move here to live on a corporate campus ... I moved here to live in one of the most uniquely cool places on Earth. 

And I"ll fight to keep it that way ... as will pretty much everyone who was there, I'm sure. I also got to introduce my wonderful friend, Michael Dorman, as our next musical guest. He stars in the excellent Patriot on Amazon Prime (one of my favorite shows!), and who is also one of my very favorite musicians. He gifted us with a short set that featured the awesome - and appropriate - "I Ain't No VIP!" My little friend Mia (age 8) said, "He's like Bob Dylan, but better." She's not wrong. See:

I'm so SO grateful to all the local businesses and artists who donated to our silent auction. To everyone who shared our invitation to the event on social media. To everyone who donated to our fund to make this film ... and you can continue to do that HERE (THANK YOU!!!) pretty much until it premieres. 

To everyone who showed up to this super fun party. To everyone who ever supports anything I do. I looked around the entire evening and knew that this is the community where I belong, and my eternal thanks to everyone who makes me feel like that. If you couldn't for whatever reason do any of the above (?), you still can. And you'll feel good about it, and will also be thanked effusively. Try it! Helping others feels good, and that's the point of this entire endeavor. Community. 

After the speeches and performances, it was time to get down and party - and that we did. In fact, Mr. Mayers (our hero) graciously agreed to extend the party hours, and we all just went for it. The silent auction winners were announced, and many people went home with extra cool things that all really do define Venice. I especially loved the happy trio that got the Juice Magazine swag they wanted!

I also need to shout out to my brother, Paul, both for donating a gorgeous photo to our silent auction, and for always supporting me in everything I do. Love you, Pablito! 

And now we'll set off on the journey of actually making this film - and we'll continue to need your help and your input, to make it a project that really, truly reflects ALL of Venice. Please join us on this trip, follow along with our progress, and know how very, very grateful we are to everyone for your involvement. 

Wow, Venice. You really are the best.