Ira Glass! 3 Acts, 2 Dancers, 1 Radio Host

I finally got a chance to see my intellectual crush, Ira Glass, live last weekend, and he has now been upgraded to regular, straight up crush. Glass brought his creative, smart, fun show 3 Acts, 2 Dancers, 1 Radio Host to downtown L.A.'s Ace Hotel Theater, and further embedded himself in my heart.

I've long been a fan of This American Life, the NPR radio show hosted by Mr. Glass that has regularly aired since 1995, was a tv show for two seasons on Showtime, is THE most popular podcast out there, and has one every major broadcasting award there is. Because it's awesome.

As is this live show. The program -like its title - is broken up into three acts, with the two wonderful dancers, Monica Bill Barnes (also the director and choreographer) and Anna Bass, illustrating the stories from Glass both live and pre-recorded from the radio show. It's kind of hard to describe to someone who wasn't there, but it's kind of like the A Prairie Home Companion live show, if that helps. That is also very high praise from me. (Yeah, I've got the NPR/KCRW T-shirts, and so did everyone in attendance at The Ace on this night).

Act One is about the job of being a performer, and the dark stage was lit only at the podium where Glass arrived (to thunderous applause) and a little puppet theater/changing station from which the dancers would emerge in new get-ups. Glass told a story about a troupe of Riverdancers (including Barnes) who fully believed they were going to win the lottery. The dancers would stomp around acting out the story, as Glass drily pointed out that, "You are looking at two people living their dreams." It got laughs, but for me, this would absolutely be a living dream to be a part of.

A great soundtrack (Dean Martin, Elvis, Nina Simone, James Brown, Nat King Cole) provided the music to dance to, and I'm here to tell you that Ira Glass can DANCE. It's funny to see, because you think of him as a sort of not creepy Woody Allen mixed with Fred Armisen (a friend whom I love and again is high praise) that wouldn't really dance, but he can. Not like the fabulous ladies, but he definitely holds his own in his professional dance debut.

Act Two was all about love, falling into it and staying in it. The stories were about a middle school dance, and the dancers had members of the audience join them on the stage to recreate a gym dance, complete with a big rainbow arch of balloons for the newly anointed dance King and Queen to waltz under, while Glass spoke about "Heavy petting" and how no one ever knew what that even meant.

Another story was about how a man would try to market himself to a woman as a candidate for marriage, to "increase his brand loyalty" and was hilarious. Glass shared that every woman that's ever been on his show is convinced her husband has Asperger's Syndrome (and how they're probably not wrong). This merged into a tale about love and dying, with the dancers beautifully depicting the letting go of a true love. I could cry now about it again.

On that note, Act Three was about losing things that you love, or how nothing lasts forever. It was "radio lighting", which meant almost pitch dark apart from Glass and the dancers, and told about how a dancer only wanted to be in A Chorus Line since she was nine, it was her whole life, but what would she do when her body would no longer allow her to dance? What do people do when they no longer have all they ever wanted? These are the kind of questions This American Life asks, and answers with such creativity and humanity, that there really is nothing else quite like it. Or this fabulous show.

KCRW was the first station outside of Chicago to air This American Life, and as the confetti flew and Glass and his dancers twirled batons in the big slam-bang finish, all we listeners celebrated together. Celebrated NPR, celebrated KCRW, celebrated Glass, Bill Barnes, and Bass, but most of all celebrated the beautiful stories happening all over this America.

3 Acts, 2 Dancers, 1 Radio Host is a complete delight. Catch it in your American town if you can.

*photos were not permitted so these great ones are courtesy of the artists.

Thanks For Sharing Your Heart

Sometimes just walking around town, you come across the sweetest things. I saw this little sign on a post on Electric Avenue, and my own heart was warmed. Hi, Thanks for sharing your heart.

I gather that it was first just a heart, and then someone came along and thanked them for it. I love this exchange between, I assume, strangers, and just that someone would take the time for either action.

Good job, humanity! Thank you for your hearts.

Ollie - The Skate Art Of Oliver Bell

I love art and I love the surf and skate culture, so it was with true excitement and anticipation that I went to see Ollie, the new show by Oliver Bell at the ETC Art Gallery (Every. Thing. Changes.) in the old Zephyr Surf shop space at 2009 Main Street in Santa Monica. This is a great example of the new and old schools of both art and skating coming together, as the Bell is the son of prolific Venice artist, Larry Bell, and the space where the show is being held used to house the most legendary of all surf and skate shops in Zephyr.

Bell was born and raised in New Mexico, but  from the age of six weeks visited Venice each year with his father, and loved it. He was always more into skating than art, and his annual trips to Venice were more than enough to seal that deal, with skate icons and legendary skate spots were everywhere. "To me, skating in Venice was heaven, even with piss on the ground." Bell loved it all.

Back in New Mexico, Bell and his boys were skater outlaws, and as all skaters do, they made videos of themselves skating. Bell got really good at them, and soon was going to school for video production at Santa Barbara Community College. Bell's "Skating just to skate" led to creating skate videos for others. Though Bell had kind of avoided the art world due to it being his Father's realm, he soon found himself making video projects for art galleries, and the art world liked what he was doing.

In 2013, Bell got an email out of the blue inviting him to participate in the Robert Rauschenberg Residency for six weeks in Captiva, Florida. This was huge for Bell, but also for his family, as Rauschenberg had been a mentor and a friend to the Bells, and he was now providing an opportunity for Bell's artwork to grow. Bell said it was maybe like only the second time he'd ever seen his Mother tear up, so he knew it was a big deal, and he knew that he was going to make the most of his time in Captiva.

Bell drove to Florida from New Mexico, and upon his arrival at sunset, he saw the green flash as the sun set in the ocean, and he knew that to be a particularly great omen. The program in Florida helped Bell grow enormously, both as a man, and as an artist. He was the only one of the ten artists in residence who didn't already have "a thing", like a set kind of art or way of expression, so he was more free to explore and see what happened. "It was a dream come true," says Bell of his time in Captiva. His Dad sent out a bunch of art supplies, and Bell just got to work using any and everything, from watercolors to oil to photographs to whatever. The namesake work in the show is called "Ollie" and is an image created by Bell actually rolling his skateboard through ink across paper while doing an Ollie as his victory lap for the program. This piece was done the very last night of his residency at the Rauschenberg Foundation, and set him on his way.

ETC Art Gallery has been open in the Dogtown Realty offices for the last year, and curators Leslie Heinze and Jeremy Ryan have created a home for local artists, often from the surf and skate genre that the landmark space helped to originate. Thus, it's fitting that they would be the ones to host Bell's first solo show in the area.

Photographs, paintings, video installations and mixed media make up the show that clearly reflects Bell's true love of skateboarding. "It's like when I opened a skate magazine as a kid and it blew my mind, that's how I feel about skateboarding and art ... you can always blow your mind."

Bell took a photo of a mural that he loved of the Venice skate pit in 1999 when he was 16 years old. He recently found out the mural had been done by street artist Mear One, and the full circle was completed when Mear One came to his art opening and saw that long ago photo of his mural. Perfect.

My favorite piece in the show is an homage to his inspirations and skating, a board filled with photographs, skate decks (one colored by his baby nephew), and other ephemera all depicting a life of skating and art.

Another great photograph is called "Burlesque" ...

and I'll let Bell's caption describe why.

Classic. And true, in my experience.

We talked about Venice, with Bell saying about recent changes, "Change is both good and bad, but it's a huge bummer to see people being displace by money ... I love that skateboarding is embraced, though I liked it better when we were outlaws ... now we're all good guys with art shows." That's pretty true, as is the fact that "People like Block at Venice Originals and artists like my Pops are still keeping Venice, Venice." ... And we need them now more than ever, as we do shows like this that show our both our history and a way of making the future still be cool.

Asked if Bell wanted to add anything to his story, he shrugged and simply said, "I love Venice dearly."

And that's why you will love this show, and the art of Oliver Bell.

Ollie is up through December 5th
ETC Art Gallery
2009 Main Street
Santa Monica

Tommy Guerrero - Perpetual Release At The Townhouse

After growing up with Tommy Guerrero always on our t.v. in the Bones Brigade skate videos, I got the chance to see him play his music live last night at The Townhouse (a mere stone's throw from the Venice Skatepark), and I was as super impressed with his jams as I always was with his skating.

The Del Monte Speakeasy in the basement was packed with skaters (like Jeff Ho and the usual band of brothers) and fans, and we got there just in time to hear Carlos make the band's heartfelt introduction. Guerrero's tunes are all instrumental, and reminded me a bit of a more modern Dick Dale ... super expansive, transportive music that makes you feel like you're on vacation. A real cool vacation. In my hand was a vacation style cocktail The Townhouse's Dorian invented for me ... ask him for the "CJ Sour". Yum.

My brother was the reason those videos were always on our t.v. growing up, so he was extra happy to meet one of the heroes of his youth. And they're both still skating.

The occasion for the show was the release of Guerrero's brand new - and awesome - album, Perpetual. The music we were listening to live was so good that I wound up buying two c.d.s, one for me and one for a present to spread the good vibes ever wider.

Perpetual is going to be on the Venice soundtrack for a good long while, for sure. You probably want to get your hands on your own copy pretty soon, so you'll be down with it too. So good, so fun, thanks to all for the great music and the great night on the town at The Townie.

A Dia De Los Muertos Party To Cherish

Rose Portillo has spent her whole life creating her beautiful, colorful home in Silver Lake, and each year opens its doors to friends and family, both living and gone for her annual Dia de los Muertos gathering. The celebration had a couple year hiatus due to logistics and health issues with Rose's dear husband, Roger, so it was with actual joy and excitement that we got in the car to drive across town in 6 p.m. Los Angeles traffic - in the rain.

When we arrived in Silver Lake two hours later, the joy and excitement were remarkably intact, if helped along by the now richly deserved red wine we cracked the moment we walked in the brightly lit jewel box of a home.

Ever the gracious hostess, Rose immediately set us up with tamales and other traditional Latin American delights, and the traffic was forgotten in an instant. The rain stopped just in time for the party, and Rose pointed me outside to the new bar installation added this year. A friend created a bar that you look down into to see the faces of those dearly departed lit up within by glowing skulls. It was awesome, and let you know who you were toasting even as you were pouring (including a little extra out on the ground for them).

The main altar inside the living room is truly something to behold. Years of friends have added to the creation with photos of loved ones, bottles of their favorite booze, candy, flowers, funeral announcements, jewelry, candles, and all the ever-present little skeleton people that traditionally decorate this holiday. It's truly just so beautiful, and also emotional, as you contemplate all those dear and lovely souls no longer physically with us.

The wind and rain leant a bit of a spirit-filled vibe to the already wide open portals we had open for them, should they like to show themselves. I'd like to think they were there with us, or could at least see the fun we were having in their names.

There was an empty bridal gown floating over the proceedings, with a skeleton groom flying across the other side of the room. It was both haunting and great.

There was so much to look at for the little kids, it must kind of blow their little minds. My friend Beckett was going a mile a minute looking at everything, most of the night with little bird watching goggles (though the pet bird, Courage, didn't really dig his watching).

The house got more and more packed with revelers as the night went on, many in full Dia de los Muertos regalia, blurring the lines between the living and the dead in the most lovely way possible.

The best part of celebrating the dead is always the deep realization that YOU are LIVING, and lucky to be doing so. Anytime things get you down, you just remember that a lot of people don't GET to be here anymore for things to get them down, so even in your down moments, you're lucky. SO lucky.

Lucky to have wonderful people like these in the world, that know the importance of life, and of coming together to cherish and celebrate exactly that.

VIVA VIDA!!!

Thank you always to Rose and Roger. All I can really say every time is "Wow!" And MUCHAS GRACIAS!!! XXX.

A Very Venice Halloween

Venice was really the place to be this Halloween, with fun and activities going down from one end of town to the other. Trick or Treaters were all over the place, from the traffic jams of kids on the Walk Streets all the way to the beach. Suzy Williams did a Halloween show at the Townhouse, there were house parties left and right, and one could find ghosty fun pretty much anywhere you went.

The real Halloween crown jewel of Venice is Rialto, though. All the neighbors get in on it, decorating their houses and themselves all the way over the top.

This year featured a new Haunted House, and as I recently overcame my childhood fear of those things (via a legit squad of Zombie Killers at Knott's Scary Farm), and dove right in.

It was impressive for a neighborhood thing, with a scary soundtrack, and spooky things popping out around every corner.

The hardest part to go through was a room of hanging severed heads ... because ... come on.

There was a mystical green light to go through, which blinded you for the next round of things popping out. Awesome.

As ghoulish as it was, it was still an attraction for all ages, all the way down to tiny new baby, Winslow, hanging out here with his new puppy friend, Boots.

Things glowed in the dark, strobe lights flickered, and everyone ate it all up.

I caught my neighbor Russ while still getting ready. It was so fun at their house because they had a huge makeup table, a big box of wigs and costumes and accessories, so anybody winding up at their house had exactly no excuse not to get in the Halloween spirit.

As for myself, I slapped something together to walk around in, and lost my hat band (black leather with pink and orange pompom if anyone finds it in the Haunted House!), like you do at any good party. I loved seeing all my friends and neighbors (and people that may have been them, but I couldn't tell through their awesome costumes) out and about having fun so much that I didn't really mind losing it. (But feel free to send it over if found!)

One house had a Star Wars theme, the next was all orangey and traditional O.G. Halloween style.

My very favorite part of the entire holiday is seeing what the little kids are dressed as, and this year did not disappoint. I think the best one was a little Lego boy, but by that time my camera didn't have any more room on it!

I don't think I've ever seen bigger bowls of candy than this year, and watching the kids struggling down the sidewalks with their stuffed pillow cases full of sweets, I'm pretty sure that's right. Whoa.

I'm always happy to see the fire-breathing dragon house, and consider it the centerpiece of the whole Rialto shindig every year. This year there were a few Mother of Dragon Khaleesi's running around, so it was even better.

All I've heard was that everyone having a total blast, so I hope Halloween was crazy and fun and safe for you all, and that all that candy is being doled out responsibly today. Ha.

Thanks for all the fun, Venice ... Until next year, Goblins!

Venice Does Fall

It's always kind of hard to tell what time of year it is in Southern California. You have to really pay attention to the sunlight, the evening air, what blossom's fragrance is wafting over everything ... it's subtle. This year has been especially tough to discern where in the calendar we are, with record heat still blasting us at the tail end of November. That's when you have to go by the Venice sign.

Our banner over Windward Avenue is all decked out in orange and white for the Fall season, and under the still almost full moon last night, it looked appropriately down for Halloween.

I went along with my homies in National Anthem to their gig at The Townhouse downstairs in the Del Monte Speakeasy last night, and as we walked along under the sign, it finally kind of felt like Autumn.

Then they rocked so hard it was right back to Summer down there. And we were all fine with it.

Happy Halloween to one and all from Venice!
(where it's so hot it blew my idea of wearing a bubble wrap suit)