Help Keep Juice Magazine Alive - Pools, Pipes, And Punk Rock!

Juice Magazine is arguably the very heart and soul of Venice, California. They have been documenting the skate, surf, and music scenes around the world since 1993, and a lot of the town's cool can be easily traced back to Juice. Publisher/Editor/Owner, Terri Craft, and Assistant Editor, Dan Levy, have been bringing everyone the Juice for over 26 years, and now it's time to return the favor.

With the Covid-19 crisis, magazine shipments have been put on hold, which means the Juice lifeblood (money) has also been on hold. With a looming line of credit that must be repaid, there is a very real threat that the magazine would have to shutter without the means to continue publishing. We, as a global and local community of skaters, surfers, musicians, and artists (and those who love them), now need to step up to provide some assistance in order to keep them going. And we will.

A Go Fund Me has been set up for just this purpose, and you may donate HERE to help this excellent-  and vital - publication keep on trucking long into the future. All one has to do is glance at the beloved Venice Skatepark currently all filled in with sand to visualize what a (temporary) loss that is, and what the loss of Juice would be. Juice Magazine is pretty much the Bible to so many in the skate world, not only in Venice, but around the world ... Venice just gets to call them our own.

SO many awesome times have originated with Juice ... from skate contests to ragers at the Juice headquarters, from epic art exhibitions like Beyond The Streets to little art shows in local galleries.

From collaborations with the California Locos and Shepard Fairey (and a new print for Juice is coming very soon by Fairey in another effort to fundraise - how cool!) to showcasing the work of local and coming up artists - and bands and writers and everyone who gets and appreciates the Juice vibe - and who doesn't? Lizzo knows ... Blame it on my Juice!

My brother Paul and I have had the true pleasure of covering things for Juice, and are honored to call them our friends ... our Venice family. The Go Fund Me tells the whole story of the Juice origins up to now, as well as all of their accomplishments and credits, which are a great many. They were fundamental in helping to get the Venice Skatepark built, as well as getting the documentary about it made - Made In Venice is crucial viewing for anyone who cares about skating and/or Venice.

I know how hard it is to ask for help for these friends, because I'm a lot like that myself. More than happy to step in and help anyone, but super hard to put yourself out there to let people know that you are in need. That's when you hope that your friends will do it for you ... so here we are.

PLEASE kick in whatever little bit (or massive, some of you bands and pro skaters and artists that have been featured in Juice!) you can, because we want to help keep alive the only skate publication used by the Smithsonian Institute - it's that legit.

And Juice really needs your help NOW. We have already lost so much from this awful virus, don't let it happen to one of the very best things about Venice/the skate/surf/art/music world. I miss being in Venice so much right now, and the Juice family is one of the things I miss the very most. PLEASE let it still be there when I get back. PLEASE let us now have their back.

One more time, you may donate HERE. THANK YOU SO MUCH for helping to bring so many more awesome times to us all! You're awesome too.

LONG LIVE JUICE!


*Photo of Terri Craft by Dan Levy.
*Photo of Dan Levy by Pep Williams.
*Photo of sandy Skatepark by Twistedsifter.com

An Punk Rock Art And Music Weekend In Venice

With heavy things continuing to go down practically every day in the world, last weekend made clear that people were again in the mood to blow off some steam.

The weekend was also book-ended by tacos. After some Friday night hijinks, we finally got to try the excellent tacos at El Primo tacos, the little taco set up on Lincoln Boulevard by the old aquarium building. There was still a line after 11 p.m., and once we had a bite, we knew why. YUM. Get yourself there for some street tacos ... you will be happy.

Saturday was all about art. I picked up my pals at In Heroes We Trust, and we made our way over to San Juan and Main, where they were having a party with a virtual reality situation, set up to show new ways of advertising.

There was quite a line for the v.r. thing, so after admiring Matthew Heller's new First Amendment mural on the wall outside, we made our way over to the C.A.V. E. Gallery for the opening of the Still Screaming punk rock photography show.

The walls were covered with shots that do a great job at summing up that time period that was ruled by punk rock. My favorites were by our local photographer, Josh "Bagel" Klassman, whose black and whites greeted the opening goers right inside the door.

C.A.V.E. was packed with people in their Suicidal Tendencies sweatshirts and otherwise black clothing. It had been announced that Black Flag's Keith Morris was going to be there to spin the punk tunes, but he did not show due to a diabetic situation, we were told. Healing wishes to Mr. Morris!

This Is Why I'm Such A Mess took over the back room was decked out with the whimsical works of Amanda "Mando" Marie & The Lost Object (AKA XO), with her little girls and ghosts beguiling the crowd.

I also very much liked the wooden pieces that named beaches of Southern California, though Venice was missing, curiously. That would have sold for sure.

As it was pretty hot and crowded inside, a gang of us hung outside on the sidewalk, swapping tales and shooting the breeze. That was probably my favorite part, as you don't always get the chance to really stand around and talk with the homies at these events. We really slowed it down and talked, and remembered what we love about Venice ... exactly nights like these. Friends coming together for art and communion, and on this night we even got an extra big full moon to compliment it all. Dreamy. This show is on through July 3rd.

Sunday was the now annual Booze/Bands/Boil at The Cinema Bar, put on by my good friend, Matt Ellis. It was a gorgeous day, and after a fiery set by Chief White Lightning, we took it out back to the patio to indulge in the wonderful crawfish boil put out by our friends at Hatchet Hall.

It's a very messy proceeding, but one that is always fun, always delicious, and once again, designed to bring about a communal vibe. Everyone is in the same boat, ripping off crawfish heads and sucking them down, with juice all over their faces. What a great time!

Lacey Kay Cowden was at her boot-stomping best, with her full band bringing it just as hard. The sunshine steamed in the windows, and her cinematic songs gave us all a bit of an escape ... not that we needed one. Things were perfectly great right where we were.

By now a whole lot of my friends had shown up, so it was back to the patio to do some laughing and catching up, but not before I caught a bunch of good songs by Kat Myer & The Buzzards, who I'd never seen before, but will now certainly keep an eye out for. They were great.

Golden hour found us laughing our heads off, and boy, was that needed. These escapism afternoons are pretty much the only things holding us together these days, and I was full of gratitude for all the great people and vibes. It really is what this life is all about.

Matt Ellis and his full band were in excellent form to headline the proceedings, and we were all in there singing and dancing along the whole time. Any woes that had been brought along this afternoon were soon forgotten, as friends belted out their friend's songs with abandon.

"They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To" is the Matt Ellis/Paul Chesne duet that finds that title absolutely true ... they sure don't make 'em like these guys anymore. Make sure you get out to see them play - it's always a great time, and they play a lot. Lucky us!

The Cinema's little stage is so small that bass player, Dustin Bookatz, stood on the floor along with the crowd. Each player (also Fern Sanchez, Josh Norton, and Tim Walker - all awesome) in Ellis' ensemble is so good, I always find myself getting distracted by watching one of them riff, and then snap myself back to the whole. Ellis ended his high-energy set with his "Hey, Mister" song, that we all again sang along to, reminding the Misters of now that we are not down with what's going on. Music for the People.

By now, the People were hungry again, and that meant Tito's Tacos. The line was insane, but the tacos were well worth it, as ever. It was again communally fun, as all the people in line chatted and mingled, and made even a long line fun.

Back to the Ellis Ranch, for more tunes and more fun, and more denial that the weekend was coming to a close. One that had been great, and jam packed with all the things that make being in Venice (and its adjacent zones) so dang great ... especially in the Summer - which it's just now starting to feel like. I'll see you out there, everyone! Have fun, People!

Ed And Exene - L.A. Art At Bergamot Station

This past weekend was all about ART in all its many shapes and forms. It was also about parties, and a good one that combined both went down Saturday evening at Bergamot Station, where there were receptions for Ed Moses at the William Tuner Gallery, and Exene Cervenka at Sloan Projects.

It was a beautiful night, and the place was packed. The crowd outside Sloan Projects was decidedly more punk rock in appearance, fittingly for a show celebrating Cervenka, the front woman of the seminal L.A. band, X.

The Dust Of Sunlight showcases work in journals and collage from 1974 - 2015. I love journals, and I love collage, so this show was right up my alley. Cervenka herself was there, meeting fans and signing copies of her show book that contains many images of her collage work - and that I now own. Cool.

Her images are made up of sweet story book images mixed with her drawing and musings, cut-outs and ephemera gathered along the road during rock tours. I loved every piece, and the quote in the press release from Cervenka that says, "I didn't make the fucking reality on the planet ... but I can make art out of it." That's right. We all can.

We enjoyed some cocktails and a groovy band set up in the parking lot, loving the fact that we kept bumping into old school Venice people, all out in the name of art.

Over at William Turner, it was another packed house of folks squeezing in to see the latest work from Ed Moses. At 89, it was impressive to see both the sheer size and number of new pieces in the Now And Then show, but also what seems like a new direction for Moses.

The works were much darker and a bit vampiric to me, lots of blacks and whites and reds, shot through with jolts of neon color. Coming off his rose wallpaper pieces (always prominently displayed at our now sadly gone Hal's), this appears to be a brand new direction for the ever-evolving Moses.

The crowd skewed older at the Moses show, with many of the artist's contemporaries in attendance, but right when I was thinking that, I caught a tiny little girl standing mesmerized in front of one of the big paintings. It is never too young to teach them to appreciate art.

The art was exciting, and so was the atmosphere. As the openings only went until 8 pm, we decided to carry on the party over at Wabi Sabi, which has now kind of become our default Hal's as one of the few places left on Abbot Kinney that you can get a stiff drink, and actually still see people that you know.

We weren't disappointed there, as one after another of the old friends we'd run into over at Bergamot were now showing up at Wabi Sabi, with none of us saying so to each other at the galleries! It was like group think of the very best kind. Drinks flowed as people mingled between their tables, and we all raised our glasses to art ... and to the Venice we love.

The Dust Of Sunlight is on now through July 4, 2015 at Sloan Projects.

Now and Then is on now through August 8, 2015 at William Turner Gallery.

Pixie Ink Tattoos - Created In Venice

I always get excited when my friend Ali Jenkins tells me about her new endeavors, because they're always real cool. Like the time she had a vintage store (Wayward Debutante) in a hippie bus on Lincoln Boulevard. Or the time she had her own p.r. company. Or styling gorgeous people gorgeously for photo shoots or special events. Or launching a brand new temporary tattoo company called Pixie Ink, conceived of and created in Venice.

Jenkins and her brother, Joe, were hanging out after he joined her on the West coast last year, brainstorming about ideas for a company together. Both siblings are very creative, and wanted to do something that would pass that creativity along.

Something that would allow people to be their own designers, and express themselves in their own - and fun - way. With flash tattoos flying off the shelves, and their own backgrounds to draw inspiration from, the Jenkins family created Pixie Ink Tattoos.

There are four collections in their debut line, each a tribute to influences and loves of Ali and Joe's lives. There's the "Shooter" collection (named for my old pal Shooter Jennings!), with symbols of the West, a more bohemian, Americana rock group of tattoos, like guns, cacti, and Johnny Cash.

Then there's the "Notorious" group, born out of Joe's (DJ "Dust Juice Joey") love of hip hop and rap, featuring things like chains, boom boxes, gold teardrops, 40's and "Thug Life" knuckle tats.

I said, "Oh, like when Run DMC met Aerosmith!" They were more thinking Gucci Mane when coming up with this batch, and that's just what you get. Plus, as Pixie Ink says, "Temporary Tattoos - Permanent Cool". Word.

The "Vicious" collection contains all things punk or glam rock. Named for Sid, and his Nancy, this pack is all about safety pins, guitars, David Bowie, and general anarchy. My favorite is the chains and padlock that allow you to make a great version of the necklace Chanel hasn't been able to keep in stock. Super extra cute.

"Wonderland" is for the whimsical people of all ages, but this is also the one geared toward kids. Sparkling mushrooms, sprinkled doughnuts, flamingos, and friendship bracelets all give the kids (or you) that cool edge that they can't get for real until they roll past 18. I brought packs of the Pixie Ink to the tweens in my life back in Minnesota, and they are all over it.

But it's not at all just for kids. I wore a steer skull tattoo next to my cleavage for New Year's Eve, and that was pretty much all any of the ladies at the party wanted to talk about, after their resolutions. A big hit.

When coming up with ideas for a company, Ali and Joe wanted it to have to do with high fashion and street style. Both have their own great personal style. They wanted to capitalize on that, and love what they were going to do. Fashion changes so quickly, and often high fashion is prohibitively expensive, so why not make something affordable for the masses, that is temporary (like changing fashion trends), travel-friendly (so you can pack narrow sheets in a bag and not a whole jewelry box when you travel!) and allows people to be creative and expressive? Bam - temporary tattoos!

The Jenkins brother-sister act did years of research, considering their lives have been all about music and fashion, and came up with a great product that celebrates the various scenes they've been involved in. It's a great collaboration between them, but also between them and the scenes. They're in talks to do band merch tattoos, VIP pass tattoos, tattoos included in CDs, tattoos with fashion labels, tattoos for fashion and video shoots ... all that good stuff that goes on in music and fashion.

The packets are $25, and come with four sheets of different tattoos that you can cut out and put together in your own style. They feature black, silver, gold and turquoise metallics, and are so eye-catching, I can't tell you how many times I was stopped and complimented when wearing them. Ok, I can. A lot.

Pixie Ink is named for Ali's Pomeranian, Pixie, who is also the C.E.O. of the company. The tattoos are available on their website - Pixieinktattoos.com -  and at Principessa in Venice, with more retail outlets coming soon. These are hot off the presses, so you'll be among the first to sport this ink, which I can tell you are already out in front of the pack with their much cooler, much more real street fashion collection than any others on the market.

Pixie Ink ... Permanently cool.

*Photos by Alexa Miller Gallo

Instagram: @Pixieinktattoos
                  @Alexaphoto