New Angeles Monthly

M o n t h l y

NO

03

AU G.

07

... on dissonance, Silver lake and the benefits of musical accidents

A monthly magazine devoted to the revival of downtown and the “new� Eastside H photograph by Maura Lanahan

pg. 20

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CONTENTS

Features: 14: FATHER KNOWS BEST Father Greg Boyle’s Homeboy Industries moves to Chinatown

16: CUTTING THE CRAP Artist Tm Gratkowski turns the refuse of print media against itself

20: GAZE ANATOMY Silver Lake shoegazers Autolux dissect the effects of musical accidents

23: FOR THE BIRD

★ ★ ★

Tuesday night 2nd Street Jazz jam sessions carry on the Charlie Parker tradition

35: EULOGY Joel Bloom: A pioneer community loses a voice

Columns: 8: SNAPSHOTS

Lotus Festival, Giant Village’s Summer in the City, Downtown Art Walk DASH celebration

12: BLUEPRINT Nonprofit housing developer Livable Places brings luxury amenities to a mixed-income crowd

18: INNERVIEW Author Lisa See on Chinatown, storytelling and the famous “China burger”

25: WARES Pull My Daisy keeps it real in Silver Lake

26: CALENDAR

★

We were so impressed with photographer Maura Lanahan’s cover photo of Jerry Stahl for last month’s issue, we sent her out again this month to Silver Lake’s Metro Gallery to shoot local band Autolux, who are playing this year’s Sunset Junction. The focal point is Maura’s capture of drummer Carla Azar’s seductive magnetism. Check out Maura's portfolio at www.slidebite.com.

Selected events for August

36: FOODSTUFF The Los Angeles Tofu Festival attracts vegetarians and carnivores alike

EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER CHARLES N. GERENCSER ★ EDITOR NIKKI BAZAR Art Director Matt Ansoorian ★ Advertising Director Joe Cloninger Advertising Art Director Sandy Wachs ★ Production Manager Meghan Quinn Ad Designer Bryan Van Gorder ★ Calendar Editor Julie Rasmussen ★ Contributing Editor Donnell Alexander ★ Food Editor Steve Coulter ★ Copy Editor John Seeley ★ Contributing Writers Teena Apeles, Maxwell Harwitt, Leah Lehmbeck, Joshua Lurie, Michael Saltzman, Kirk Silsbee, John Stephens, Chuck Wilson ★ Photographers Maura Lanahan, Gary Leonard, Noé Montes, Christopher Rainone, Beth Reider ★ Account Executives Jon Bookatz, Spencer Cooper, Michael DeFilippo, Anthony Faure, Sarah Fink, Todd Nagelvoort, Nick Phelps, Verity Grover ★ Accounting Raquel Pena ★ Circulation Manager Andrew Jackson SOUTHLAND PUBLISHING, INC. Group Publisher David Comden ★ Vice President Sales Charles N. Gerencser Controller Michael Nagami ★ Human Resources Manager Andrea Baker Accounting Manager ★ Angela Wang CONTACT US Advertising: charlesg@newangelesmonthly.com • Editorial: nikkib@newangelesmonthly.com P: 323-938-1700 F:323-938-1771 • 5209 Wilshire Boulevard ★ Los Angeles , CA 90036 www.NewAngelesMonthly.com

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EDITORIAL

Editor’s NOTE hen you tell someone who lives elsewhere you live in L.A., you quickly find that their impression of the city is some jumble of assumptions derived from movies, sporadic visiting and other people’s impressions. Usually, you find yourself nodding along to snide comments about the smog, the traffic, the plastic surgery. Why argue? The treasures of L.A. are secrets reserved for those who live here, numerous enough so that we each have our own set. Mine are: the Pasadena flea market, Farmers Market, Zócalo panels, burrito joints, the Brewery Arts Complex, Griffith Park, the Museum of Jurassic Technology, Zuma beach, MAK Center, flashlight tours of the La Brea Tar Pits, Freakbeat Records, movies in the Hollywood Forever cemetery, the smell of Jacaranda trees, Francine Dancer, Machine Projects, flash storms, ALOUD at the Central Library, Esotouric bus adventures, always wondering if you just felt an earthquake, the lotus festival, First Fridays at the Natural History Museum, helicopters, the Silver Lake reservoir, Shakespeare in Barnsdall Park, Olvera Street, gyoza in Little Tokyo, Farmlab, Out of the Closet, LAObserved.com, REDCAT, the Robertson skater, the Leimert Park jazz scene, Dangerous Curve, Chinatown … and the list goes on.

And since I’ll be leaving L.A. and moving to Portland early this month, I’ll also miss two of my favorite annual Los Angeles events: the L.A. Tofu Festival in Little Tokyo and the Sunset Junction street festival. Laugh if you will at my loving the mere existence of the tofu fest, but as a vegan, I’m excited by a two-day long celebration of my best buddy: the versatile soybean. We’ve asked our food editor Steve Coulter to give you a preview of this year’s gala.

In honor of Sunset Junction, we sent Lisa Brenner, music editor at LAist.com, to interview local band Autolux, who will be playing at the music festival along with some other local favorites like Pity Party and Eskimo Hunter. The Autolux photos, brilliantly shot (as usual) by Maura Lanahan, were taken at Silver Lake’s Metro Gallery, also the host of Tm Gratkowski’s “Pattern Language and Paper Cuts” exhibit running through Aug. 18. It fell to writer John Stephens to dissect Gratkowski’s labyrinthine work, which, at the very least, allowed Stephens to ponder our “inundated psyches.”

Also inside: Kirk Silsbee visits the 2nd Street Jazz jam sessions; Steve Coulter does double duty and talks to Father Greg Boyle as he prepares to move his Homeboy Industries operation to Chinatown; Teena Apeles visits Silver Lake boutique Pull My Daisy; and the always-astute Maxwell Harwitt considers condo-building in Lincoln Heights.

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Many thanks to Southland Publishing for all the opportunities over the years. I pass the baton over to writer Donnell Alexander, who will assume editorship of New Angeles starting next month.

I’m sure future issues will reveal how clever, knowledgeable and open-minded Donnell is; I know he has a lot of ideas about how to keep the magazine growing. And I imagine he will share his own L.A. secrets with you …

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7 ★ August 2007 ★ NEW ANGELES

SNAPSHOTS

LOTUS FESTIVAL Photos by Gary Leonard

Though the Echo Park lotuses were less in bloom than usual, this year’s lotus festival ⎯ held July 13-15 ⎯ did not disappoint, offering food, fireworks and the ever-popular dragon boat races. The city’s Department of Recreation and Parks pulled out all the stops with a wide array of arts and crafts for children and their families.

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On July 14, Giant Village hosted its open-air block party, Summer in the City, which included an eight-hour set by dance and trance DJ Armin van Buuren. Also spinning were KCRW’s Jason Bentley, progressive and house DJ Desyn Masiello and Dutch duo 16Bit Lolitas.

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M I X I N G ★

★

★

It’s not often that one sees the concepts of mixed-use zoning and nonprofit working together, yet this is the new goal for nonprofit housing developer and policy advocate Livable Places, the organization behind the Fuller Lofts project in Lincoln Heights, scheduled to open later this year. The project involves the restoration and expansion of the W.P. Fuller Paint Building, a 1920s-era warehouse that sits on San Fernando Road bordered by Avenue 21 and Humboldt and Barranca streets, near where the 110 freeway separates Lincoln Heights from Cypress Park. The building will house live/work lofts, creative work areas and retail space, equipped with a number of amenities more frequently seen in Downtown developments to the south.

Downtown and the Wilshire Corridor aside, L.A. is somewhat lacking in large structures suitable for condo conversion. Most of the tall buildings in those two areas ⎯ as well as in Hollywood ⎯ have already been or are in the process of being converted into expensive homes, while others are used as commercial office spaces. For the Fuller Lofts project, Livable Places chose the building for its size (131,000 square feet) and location within a working-class community, as well as its proximity to Downtown and the Metro Rail Gold Line, which connects to the city’s other rail lines by way of Union Station.

The main purpose of the development is to provide mixed-income housing with amenities such as cement floors and granite countertops, high ceilings (up to 22 feet in some units), steel appliances, and so on.

BY MAXWELL HARWITT ★ Maxwell Harwitt maintains a blog at www.city-space.blogspot.com.

Nonprofit housing developer Livable Places brings luxury amenities to a mixedincome crowd

NEW ANGELES ★ August 2007 ★ 12

The center of the building has been cored in order to allow for a sunlit courtyard, and an ambitious two-story addition has been added to the structure, allowing space for penthouse units, as well as a rooftop deck that will provide views of the surrounding mountains and Downtown skyline. “Creative workshop spaces” will be available in the basement of the building, and a two-story parking garage is being constructed over the original parking lot behind the building. The project will also include a landscaped paseo and ground-floor retail space.

While the building itself will have modern features, the site and surrounding neighborhood present a somewhat challenging milieu. The project sits adjacent to the non-operative Lincoln Heights Jail (currently used for a number of small community organizations, as well as film shoots) and a large fenced-off field owned by the city. A recycling treatment facility lies just west of the building, along with several lightindustrial workspaces. There is little sidewalk space around the project (none at all on Humboldt) and several streets in the area are laced by abandoned railway tracks.

But Livable Places is optimistic about beautifying the area. “Barranca Street could be a paseo, a narrow

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pedestrian-friendly street,” says Joe Linton, a policy associate with Livable Places, “so that you have a nice walking district. The project will also add trees and sidewalk space to the area surrounding the project.”

Despite its many issues, the location is quite convenient to Downtown, Chinatown, Highland Park and the rest of Lincoln Heights; and Pasadena’s easily accessible a few miles up the freeway. The 5, 10 and 110 freeways are all close by, and for those who wish to avoid traffic, the Gold Line is within walking distance. And though there are some homes along Avenue 21, residential tenants and those interested in late-night workspaces will find the area mostly quiet by nightfall.

The Fuller building, originally designed in 1925 by the firm of Morgan, Walls and Clements (responsible for many of L.A.’s iconic deco works), will gain two extra floors as part of the conversion, as well as a probable LEED rating ⎯ sustainable design is one of Livable Places’ primary missions. The expansion itself is being designed by Pugh + Scarpa, the architectural firm of Lawrence Scarpa, one of the founders of Livable Places. The unfinished project has already earned accolades on the L.A. architectural scene, and was featured in the

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“Enlightened Development” exhibit at the Architecture and Design museum earlier this year.

Lincoln Heights may not be a bastion of luxury condo stock, but Livable Places hopes to integrate a new sort of development and a new type of homeowner into the existing community. It’s a definite gamble, but the group seems to be keeping an open mind to the needs of its future inhabitants. In fact, few projects in the city seem as genuinely interested in how their occupants will interpret and give meaning to a project.

The developers seem eager to work with buyers and encourage social integration and variety, predicting that the project will appeal to both longtime Lincoln Heights residents and new arrivals to the area. With the loft craze in L.A. being what it is, it’s refreshing to see a more humanist investment in the trend. NA

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13 â&#x2DC;&#x2026; August 2007 â&#x2DC;&#x2026; NEW ANGELES

NEWS FEATURE

BY STEVE COULTER ★ Steve Coulter is a freelance journalist living in Los Angeles. He is not a foodie. • Photos by Noé Montes • www.noemontes.com

FATHER KNOWS BEST FATHER GREG BOYLE’S HOMEBOY INDUSTRIES WILL CONTINUE ITS INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO GANG REHABILITATION AT A MASSIVE NEW CHINATOWN COMPLEX

“I’ve just been kissed on the forehead by a very large gang member with lots of tattoos.”

It’s an early Monday morning in July and Father Greg Boyle is in the middle of giving an interview about Homeboy Industries’ new 21,000square-foot facility in Chinatown. He is thrilled about moving into the new complex in August, but noticeably distracted by the constant buzz of activity around him. Every few minutes Boyle has to ask me to hold on so that he can graciously receive another greeting, another hug, another kiss on the forehead.

At one point during the conversation, the soft-spoken Homeboy Industries founder and executive director disappears for an extended period of time to address an “emergency” at one of the businesses the nonprofit organization operates. When he returns, he is clearly exasperated  the way a father might be after helping his child with difficult math homework. “I need to invest in boxes of the book The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” he explains with a laugh. “They call with their hair on fire and always claim it’s urgent. And it never is.”

Such is a day in the life of this remarkable Jesuit priest who has spent more than 20 years providing hope to some of the Southland’s most disenfranchised citizens, a man affectionately

NEW ANGELES ★ August 2007 ★ 14

referred to as ‘G-Dawg’ by many former gang members. “I never said, ‘I think I’ll work with gangs.’ I just found myself burying kids. That was the reality,” he says.

A Los Angeles native who joined the Society of Jesus 35 years ago, Boyle began working with gangs soon after he became pastor of Dolores Mission in Boyle Heights during the late 1980s.

The poorest congregation in the Archdiocese of L.A., the parish encompassed two public housing developments that at the time were home to eight of the region’s most active and violent gangs. He buried his first gang member in 1988.

Boyle quickly discovered that members of the local community were more comfortable turning their backs on gang members than confronting the growing problem. Dissatisfied with this approach, he began to reach out to the gangs  at first as a sort of one-man United Nations, and eventually as a beacon of hope and support.

“In the old days I used to do peace treaties and summits and cease-fires, and I will never do it again. This is not about legitimate demands, so you don’t want to validate or serve the cohesion of a group that needs to disintegrate and disappear. In order to have peacemaking you have to have conflict, and there really is no conflict in gang violence,” says Boyle. “I don’t want these

gangs to get along; I want them to not exist.”

It wasn’t long before Boyle hit upon a groundbreaking approach that became the foundation for Homeboy Industries. Careful to avoid demonizing gang members while at the same time refusing to romanticize gang life, Boyle shifted his focus from hardcore gang bangers to the at-risk youth and former gang members who were actively seeking a better way of life. According to Boyle, it all began with a simple question: “What do they need?”

Boyle’s first line of attack was the dire educational situation. His initial step was the establishment of the Dolores Mission Alternative School.

That was followed by the creation of a job-placement service dubbed ‘Jobs For a Future.’ Finding willing employers was difficult, so the service decided to create an economic development arm and form its own businesses.

The first two enterprises were Homeboy Bakery  opened in 1992 but closed by an electrical fire in 1999  followed by Homeboy Tortillas. With two businesses under its belt, Jobs For a Future officially gave birth to Homeboy Industries. Homeboy Silkscreen and Embroidery, Homeboy Merchandise, Homeboy Maintenance and the popular Homegirl Café and Catering developed over the years to address specific

needs within the community.

“Nothing’s ever been ‘long-term,’ it’s always been evolving. One thing will lead to another,” says Boyle.

“People started to come in droves and they had their faces covered in alarming tattoos, so we tried to get somebody to remove them. Next thing you know we have two laser machines, 10 volunteer doctors and 4,000 treatments a year.”

Homeboy Industries moved into its current location on East 1st Street in Boyle Heights in 2000, and went from working almost exclusively with gangs in the Hollenbeck Police Precinct to serving 1,000 people a month  from Long Beach to Lancaster. These days Boyle and company, which includes a board of directors and a huge team of volunteers, provide counseling, education and support to youth in or leaving almost 600 gangs countywide.

The new $5 million Homeboy headquarters is located at the intersection of Bruno and North Alameda streets, adjacent to the Chinatown Gold Line station. The concrete, tilt-up industrial building was designed to maximize space and functionality while keeping operating expenses low. Homeboy Industries will begin moving its offices to the new facility at the beginning of this month, with plans for a grand opening sometime in the fall.

The completion of the Alameda headquarters will mark the first time that all the Homeboy busi-

nesses will be located under one roof. Homegirl Café will occupy a prominent street-front space on the first floor, while the reborn bakery will be housed in a 10,000-square-foot facility in the complex. A notable addition to the Homeboy brand will be a retail store for merchandise previously sold only at special events and online.

Other additions include more classroom and meeting spaces, a sizable computer lab, and muchneeded expansion of the counseling and tattooremoval programs. As an indication of the number of people that Homeboy Industries regularly assists, the tattoo clinic currently has a 1,500 person waiting list.

“This new place will reflect more of what we have become. People think it’s about Boyle Heights. It stopped being about Boyle Heights 10 years ago,” says Boyle.

In 2003 Boyle was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Although the cancer is incurable, it is currently in remission, leaving Boyle more time to continue his life’s work  including spreading the word about his unique philosophies on gang-member rehabilitation. These days, Boyle spends the majority of his time at 25 different detention facilities, including juvenile halls, youth authority facilities and probation camps.

Citing the 12-step model employed by so many substance abuse programs, Boyle believes that it is

only possible to help the willing. For that reason, operating under the motto “Nothing Stops a Bullet Like a Job,” Boyle spends more time on meeting people halfway than on intervention. The results, he says, speak for themselves.

“People ask me how successful we are. My answer is, ‘100 percent successful.’ It’s 100 percent successful for the people who work the program.

There are thousands of stories of people who have gotten on with their lives.” NA

IN

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www.homeboy-industries.org

15 ★ August 2007 ★ NEW ANGELES

ART FEATURE

Artist Tm Gratkowski turns the refuse of print media against itself

This summer’s edition of Artforum bears a strikingly simple cover photograph of four props from a 1981 Guy de Cointet installation titled “A New Life,” on view last year in a French exhibition on “Making Things With Words.” In the photo, an oddly shaped bookof-a-thing asking “Are You Confused?” is shadowed by similar props bearing words such as “Heine” and “Genghis Khan.”

Indeed, Guy, with so little to work with, we certainly are. But a deeper tour into de Cointet’s work reveals connections between those few words and the rich, narrative imagery they conjure, revealing that the artist did indeed have some specific intentions — subject, as always, to our own interpretations.

So it is with Tm Gratkowski’s “Pattern Language and Paper Cuts,” currently hanging on the walls of Silver Lake’s Metro Gallery.

The work features scraps of paper the artist found discarded on the sidewalk or in the newspaper: collages of stories and sayings expressing the artist’s intimate relationship between himself and the words, colors and textures he’s discovered. The exhibit is a conscientiously fashioned reflection of the “media-saturated world” that speaks to and for our inundated psyches held heavy with words, often to the point of confusion.

Thus, an experience of the media as seen through a Gratkowski-tinged looking glass, skewed by his own experiences yet still subject to the viewer’s own judgments and assumptions. As with de Cointet, the work doesn’t force-feed ideas, rather leaving itself wide open. “I’ve even gone so far as to change the name of a piece based on what an observer said might work better,” says

Gratkowski, who is rumored to have lost the “i” in his first name due to a birth certificate typo. “It is like a relationship; the more time you spend with it, the more you’re able to take with you.”

Clipping and tearing, resizing, layering and pasting, covering and destroying — these gerundive halftruths only begin to describe the work, which is influenced by the work of James Joyce, William Burroughs and the Marquis de Sade, often recycling their very words. And surely Burroughs wouldn’t object, having once written, “The Word is divided into units which be all in one piece and should be so taken, but the pieces can be had in any order being tied up back and forth in and out fore and aft like an innaresting sex arrangement.”

In some of Gratkowski’s pieces, resonant imagery serves to generate collective rather than subjective opinion, as in “Religious Evolution,” a poster-sized exploration of light versus darkness — a recurring theme in the installment — dominated by a cross comprised of printed fragments of Christian mythology. “These are all images that we see in media,” explains Gratkowski. “When you really look, you begin to see that the celebrated and the hidden share the same basic color. It’s a cacophony of themes to play with; it’s limitless.”

Gratkowski began his artistic studies in painting and drawing at the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, and received an M.A. from the Southern California Institute of Architecture here in L.A. His resume, as typifies the modern artist, ranges from designing a series of collages for the music video for Moby’s “Spiders” to

NEW ANGELES ★ August 2007 ★ 16

BY JOHN STEPHENS ★ John Stephens has a degree in Faustian Economics from the University of Georgia and does not have a Southern accent. Reach him at jbstephens@gmail.com.

CUTTING THE CRAP

~ (TOP TO BOTTOM) “CONSUME,” AND DETAILS OF “MEDIALESSWORDS,” “556 VEILS” AND “SEPTEMBER”

~

a stint working under renowned architect Frank Gehry. He eventually left architecture (and the 90-hour weeks that came with it), but still designs or remodels the occasional building. His resume includes the Pro Arts Gallery in Oakland’s Jack London Square and homes on Sunset Boulevard and in Puerto Rico.

Though he has managed to avoid the daily grind of a necktie profession, Gratkowski is no stranger to routine. For “One,” arguably the exhibition’s flagship piece, he used the discard and refuse of his larger works to create one three-inch-square wood block each day for an entire year. The result is 365 unique portraits of days in the life of Tm Gratkowski: testaments to the structure and discipline necessary to a working artist’s routine. “It’s about accumulation and patience,” says the artist of his work and profession.

Artists often strive to keep their inspirations mysterious or distance themselves from distinguishable cultural influences; Gratkowski’s work embraces these things instead — finding its own brand of esotericism in its delightfully gluttonous take on media as a whole.

“My art at first appears chaotic, but as you move closer you discover the layered order I’ve presented, allowing the viewer enough time to slow down and focus on what hidden agendas I have expressed,” says Gratkowski. “If it doesn’t have that meaning and those references that allow me to make it more personal, then to me it’s really just fluff.” NA

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“Pattern Language and Paper Cuts” runs through Aug. 18 at Metro Gallery, 1835 Hyperion Ave., Silver Lake • (323) 663-2787 or www.metrogallery.org

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17 ★ August 2007 ★ NEW ANGELES

INNERVIEW

Illustration by Antony Hare, siteway.com

Lisa See grew up in different places around L.A., but spending time with her family in Chinatown was a constant for her. For her first book, On Gold Mountain, See — who is part Chinese — traced the journey of her great-grandfather, who in his time was known as “Godfather” of Chinatown. She has also designed a walking tour of Chinatown and is an L.A. city commissioner on the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Monument Authority. Nikki Bazar got together with See to discuss her new book, Peony in Love, based on the true story of three women in 17th-century China who were married to the same man one right after the other.

Together, they wrote commentary on Tang Xianzu’s opera The Peony Pavilion — known to drive women to lovesickness and self-starvation. The Three Wives’ Commentary was the first book of its kind to be written and published by women. Visit her website www.lisasee.com.

INTERVIEWED BY NIKKI BAZAR ★

L I S A

NA: Tell me about the walking tour of Chinatown you devised.

LS: Angels Walk designed walks in association with the MTA for particular subway stops — I think there’s six of them now. I was asked to do one for the opening of the Chinatown stop on the Gold Line. You may have seen these things Downtown: a little stanchion like a kiosk, and they have photographs of that place as it looked 50 or 100 years ago and the history of that place. On my Chinatown walk, there are 15 of those stanchions. There’s also a [companion] guide book that tells you what’s there today. … It’s not just the history of what’s there; it also looks at public art, food, culture, traditions, shopping, where to go to get a good roast duck, that sort of thing.

NA: Do you uncover any hidden secrets? There was some public art I didn’t know existed. One piece I just loved was a gate that’s behind the parking lot to what was the French Hospital and is now called the Pacific Alliance Hospital. The gate is made out of shovels and picks and all of NEW ANGELES ★ August 2007 ★ 18

those things used during the gold rush and the building of the transcontinental railroad. The artist also did these etchings on metal of historic photographs. You would really have to know where that was to find it. The other thing that really surprised me, which I hadn’t known about as a kid, is that the oldest Croatian church in the city is there in Chinatown.

NA: What sparked the idea for Peony in Love? [In 2000] when I was doing an article about a production of The Peony Pavilion at Lincoln Center, that was the first time I came across the lovesick maidens. And I thought, ‘Girls who waste away and die because they read an opera? What’s up with that?’ And I sort of had it in the back of my mind. And then when I was working on [my last book] Snow Flower, I was doing all this research about women and writing in China, and as I was looking at that secret language that women invented and used that I wrote about for that book, I kept coming across not only the lovesick maidens, but this whole other larger phenomenon that there were more women writers in this one area of China in the 17th century who were being published than in all the rest of the world. … This idea, and The Three Wives Commentary in particular, was so interesting. And I love Chinese opera.

NA: In your research for this book and your last, you visited small towns in China, some of which you describe in your author’s note as seeming to have been “frozen in time a hundred or more years ago,” to talk to people about their experiences. How hard was it for you as a Westerner to penetrate the culture and get people to open up to you? I’ve found that the older people are, the more they want to tell you their stories. I think they have an attitude of, ‘I’ve lived so long, what can anybody do to me now? I’ve outlived everybody,

★

S E E

I’ve been through every political upheaval known to Man, what can they do to me now?’ In fact, for my next book, I want to write a little bit about what was called the Confession Program. During the 1950s, during the Red Scare, Chinese-Americans were really targeted to see if they were here legally or illegally … to rat out their friends, family and business associates.

In return for a confession, those people would be given their citizenship.

This is something that hasn’t really been written about very much by scholars, because there’s been so much resistance and shame and upset to this day about what happened. …

I’ve just begun to go and talk to people who are now in their eighties or nineties, and it’s like, ‘Okay, I might as well talk about it because what different does it make now?’ People want to tell you their stories.

NA: First modern-day China, then 19th-century China, then 17th-century China. Will you go even further back with the next book? Actually, the next book will start in 1937 in Shanghai, but very quickly move to Los Angeles. Two sisters from Shanghai will have arranged marriages, and marry men who work in China City, which used to be in L.A. It was developed by the same woman who developed Olvera Street, which was developed to be an “authentic” Mexican marketplace (though we could argue whether it was ever very authentic), and so China City was the same idea. It was one square block between Alameda, Spring Street, what’s now Cesar Chavez but before was Sunset, and Ord Street, surrounded by a miniature Great Wall and inside, a lot of it was built from the leftover sets from the filming of The Good Earth. It only lasted about 10 years — it kept burning down.

It was a very ill-fated project,

but it opened the same year as new Chinatown, and it was much more popular. You could just go in and shop and you could ride a rickshaw or you could eat a “China burger.”

NA: Ah, the authentic “China burger”!

(Laughs.) Yeah, so most of it will take place in and around China City. It’s a nice thing for me, because I’m sort of going back to, in a sense, what I wrote about in my first book: my own family and Los Angeles. I think this is a part of L.A. that people either have never heard of or forgotten about, but it was unique and it was unique for the Chinese, especially in the case of these two sisters coming from Shanghai, which was considered to be the most sophisticated city in Asia — the Paris of Asia — to this fake China City. NA

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19 ★ August 2007 ★ NEW ANGELES

MUSIC FEATURE

GA

BY LISA BRENNER

W

T

SILVER LAKE SHOEGAZERS AUTOLUX DISSECT THE EFFECTS OF MUSICAL ACCIDENTS

O M Y NEW ANGELES ★ August 2007 ★ 20

Lisa Brenner is a freelance writer and the music editor of LAist.com. • Photos by Maura Lanahan • www.slidebite.com

A N A

★

ZE

ith a second studio album peeking around the corner, a coveted invitation by Portishead to perform at the venerable All Tomorrow’s Parties music festival, a highly praised collaboration with UK musical outfit UNKLE, and a top spot at this year’s Sunset Junction, local band Autolux is humbly poised to embrace their destiny as the sainted saviors of shoegaze. The band sat down with New Angeles Monthly to discuss the pressures of the music business, their love of noise and how the Silver Lake thing is just an accident.

Drummer Carla Azar arrived mid-morning for the photo shoot at Metro Gallery in Silver Lake with her night-black hair hanging expertly in front of one eye and wearing a pink, ruffled frock and metallic space tights. Bassist Eugene Goreshter was confused about being awake; he confessed to keeping a more inverted “5 to 9” type of work schedule and made jokes about blending into the grey walls. Their guitarist, the mysterious and quietly commanding Greg Edwards, arrived sans coffee, hardly spoke, and never smiled. After the photo shoot, we moved up the street to Blair’s on Rowena for fried eggs and double cappuccinos.

An unlikely coming together of people, Autolux is what happens when a girl from Alabama meets a speed-metal-loving, classically trained violinist from California and together they join up with a man in black from the Valley. Now that they are Monotone management mates with the likes of The White Stripes and The Shins, Autolux has ascended into the loftiest of musical conversations  you will hear them tossed about in context with Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Nirvana or Pavement. For a band that doesn’t believe in genre and generally avoids tangible identity, they are currently representing about five prominent and specialized classifications of indie rock.

The far-off sounds of Autolux are deliberate and visceral, grindingly ambient and spaced-out sexy. Like the fuzzy buzzing of a post-industrial dream, the richly layered sonic atmospheres offer a stylish incandescence 

a flickering and moody coolness replete with shadowy, magnetic melodies and an edgy din. However, it is their not-too-far-off love affair with the pop-song paradigm and their nimble blending of genres that makes accessible what might otherwise be a strictly dissonant groove.

“I think whatever elements are kind of spacey or noisy, to us, they’re just musical,” Edwards says matter-of-factly. Azar agrees, “We’re experimenting with different sounds and dissonance, which we all love. But it’s melodies over dissonance. We’re big fans of melodic music. ” The process of writing their music is “always different,” says Azar. “Every single way you can imagine, we write. Sometimes we jam; everybody can have ideas.” Edwards’ view of collaborative creativity, he says, is inspired by an old Robert Altman interview: “He was talking about movies and said he kind of just creates a staging area for accidents and allows the accidents to unfold and tries not to control what’s happening too much. That’s sort of what our rehearsal space is like. We just go there and make noise and try to pay attention and exploit the good moments without sucking what’s organic out of it.”

When asked about their constant musical association with Silver Lake, Azar says with a half-smirk, “We’re a planet Earth band …” And she’s right. Autolux may seem to have the hallmarks of a pre-conceived, Eastside package, but in reality they are a Silver Lake band by default, not by design. “We all were living here before we ever played shows,” says Goreshter. “This is just our neighborhood and when we started playing, we went to the local places like Silverlake Lounge and Spaceland.

It just so happened that the local clubs and hangouts were this Silver Lake scene.”

Autolux has also earned a reputation for ingenuity and direction over their visual presentation, thanks to a DIY initiative that had them creating and building their own stage lighting. “When we started out we were playing small places that just had one amber light and one blue light,” says Azar, “and we like to create our own environment, so we went to Home Depot. I know that since we started doing that, there are about 10 bands in Silver Lake now that are building their own lights and bringing things out on stage. I even saw a band bring out potted plants. I think maybe now we should start taking things off the stage before we go on  deconstruction!”

As for their follow-up to 2004’s exquisite Future Perfect, their first full-length album, the band holds firm, refusing to succumb to industry pressures or intimidations; there’s simply no room for compromise on the quality and voice of their latest work. Music is “the only artistic endeavor where you’re forced to hurry up and write another thing right after

you’ve done one,” says Azar. “We’re a slow band with turtle suits on. You can’t force creativity  you are where you are, and you’re done when you’re done.”

“There is a very high level of intimidation that occurs as far as the turnaround for records,” adds Goreshter. “But 20 years from now they’re not going to be talking about, ‘Wow, that was a really quick turnaround, you know?’ They’re going to look back at the quality of the work you did.”

Azar agrees. “In music, it’s not a matter of purposefully waiting or holding up the show. No one wants to put out records more than the people writing, but you want to be proud of what you’re doing and you want to keep it good.”

Edwards chimes in with an insightful, if not circuitous, conclusion, “We’ve made everybody wait, but the good thing is that we passed over our unnecessary sophomore record … The totally ironic thing is that we don’t want to waste anybody’s time. I guess we are wasting people’s time, but ultimately, we will not be wasting their time.” NA

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Autolux plays on the Bates stage at the 27th annual Sunset Junction Street Festival on Aug. 18 at 6:05 p.m. www.autolux.net or www.myspace.com/autolux

21 ★ August 2007 ★ NEW ANGELES

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MUSIC FEATURE

F O R the B I R D Tuesday night 2nd Street Jazz Jam Sessions carry on the Charlie Parker tradition

BY KIRK SILSBEE ★ Kirk Silsbee writes about jazz and culture in Los Angeles, as he has for over 30 years. • Photos by Noé Montes • www.noemontes.com

It’s 8:30 p.m. on a warm summer Tuesday night in Little Tokyo. On 2nd Street, a few doors west of Central Avenue, a red neon sign above a welcoming doorway boasts “LIVE JAZZ,” and below that, in neon blue: “BAR & GRILL.” Stroll into 2nd Street Jazz, and you’ll find a tranquil scene.

A few patrons quietly nurse drinks at the bar off to the right; Chet Baker croons ballads from his mid-1950s Pacific Jazz period over the sound system; framed photographs of Miles Davis and Charlie Parker dot the walls.

One block away, on 1st Street, Parker used to hold nightly musical court 61 years ago, when the area was known as Bronzeville. Bronzeville was a thriving, humming beehive after dark, full of bars, cabarets, after-hours joints — “breakfast clubs” as they were called — cafés and other night owl habitats. Parker, the alto saxophonist Dionysus, briefly shifted the locus of modern jazz from New York’s famed 52nd Street to 230 1/2 E. 1st Street, at the Club Finale. It was the focal point for every bebop-minded musician and fan west of the Rockies the spring and summer of 1946.

At that time, jam sessions were the musical coin-of-the-realm. They were proving grounds, social conduits and bulletin boards bearing the very latest developments in music. Last night’s triumph could be erased by tonight’s inspired performance. But that was then. Nowadays, younger musicians rarely have that kind of musical laboratory allowing them to experiment in public, testing their ideas and mettle against their peers. That culture of in-the-moment exchange has largely been lost in the era of MIDI and the laptop.

At 9 p.m., a young man in glasses strolls into 2nd Street and greets a friendly woman attending to the patrons. Gary Fukushima is a studiouslooking pianist with an easy smile. He begins to ready microphones and things on the little bandstand area against the south wall. People have begun to fill the stools under the neon KIRIN sign that hovers over the bar. Baker’s callow voice is singing the Gershwin song of longing, “But Not For Me,” as Fukushima pulls the cover off the piano.

The name 2nd Street Jazz is a bit of a misnomer — this is the only designated jazz night of the week. Fukushima also presides over a new music showcase here on Monday nights, and the rest of the week might feature anything from indie rock to hip-hop to J-pop.

The friendly woman is Yasuko Matsumoto, who, along with her son Ko, is the proprietor of 2nd Street Jazz. Matsumoto has had a career as a pianist, usually working on Crenshaw Boulevard.

Her late husband Kokei — a businessman who loved jazz — opened 2nd Street years ago.

Fukushima has been hosting Tuesday night jam

~ GARY FUKUSHIMA ~

sessions here since the spring of 2005. “There are a lot of musicians who are either enrolled or have graduated from music programs at USC, UCLA and CalArts, and they need a place to play,” explains the crew-cut pianist. “What I’m doing on Monday nights and what they book at the Metropol are good for avant-garde music. But there’s still a need to play standard tunes and to see how good a player you are.

“Musicians like this place because it’s down-toearth, unpretentious. It’s starting to happen; 2nd Street is becoming the Small’s of L.A. We had a San Francisco band in here last night — the Beep Trio. They said there’s nothing like this in their town.” Fukushima excuses himself and walks over to the piano. A goodly crowd has now filled the club. Drinks are passed, horns assembled and a clipboard circulates, filling with names.

After 10 p.m., Fukushima confers with drummer Miles Senzaki and a bassist before launching into an original. His hands dance over the keys, seemingly independent of each other at one point, before the tune stops on a dime. Two young men join the trio: a brawny trumpeter named Patrick and a doughfaced tenor saxophonist named Eric. They take off on “Just Friends,” with Patrick singing the first chorus. Eric’s solo revels in his buttery sound. The faces change again, with a young woman named Emily taking Fukushima’s place at the piano, a bassist named Chris hopping in, and a buzz-cut alto saxophonist named Nate joining the horns.

Nate plays in a linear manner: full of snap, and with a breathy Lee Konitz vibrato. As he heads into the tune’s bridge, a young man named Kyle sits down, clutching his saxophone case protectively. He’s personable and answers questions easily. “There are a couple of other regular jam sessions in L.A.,” he says,

“but they’re not as good. This has the best young players and the atmosphere is really friendly. The rhythm section supports you — I’ve been in sessions where the rhythm players push you around.

“At the Mint, if you get up there, they give you one song and that’s it, you’re done. You don’t even have a chance to get warmed up. And at the World Stage,” he sighs with exasperation, “there’s no clipboard. Anyone who feels like it gets up and you have to scream to be heard.”

A new drummer has now taken over, and a young violinist named Madeleine joins Nate on the Caribbean romp “St. Thomas.” While the violin adds filigree to the jaunty rhythm, the tune brings out an unhurried quality in Emily the pianist. Like Sonny Clark, she can sound relaxed at a bright tempo. The sharp-featured Kyle mentions that Chris went to USC, while he graduated from the famous jazz program at North Texas State. He moved to Hollywood in January and is trying to find a place in music for himself in this town. Meeting the Tuesday night people at 2nd Street helps him navigate SoCal. It’s Kyle’s turn on the stand and he excuses himself. Jennifer takes over for Emily and Miles resumes his drum chair. “There Will Never Be Another You” begins at a lazy tempo and Madeleine finds a seat.

“I’ve been coming here for a month,” she says, still exhilarated from her set. “I come all the way from Duarte. It’s a way for me to connect with the musicians and, for once, I get to call the tune.”

Somewhere, Charlie Parker is smiling. NA

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The 2nd Street Jazz Jam Session runs every Tues. from 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. 2nd Street Jazz, 366 E. 2nd St., Downtown • (213) 680-0047 or www.myspace.com/landon2ndstreetlivejazz 23 ★ August 2007 ★ NEW ANGELES

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★ August 2007 ★ 24

WARES

Pull My Daisy keeps it real in Silver Lake

When owner Sarah Dale opened her Sunset Boulevard boutique six years ago, she had practically no retail experience, but she also felt confident that if she liked something, at least a handful of other people in the city might share her funky, eclectic taste. She was wrong — there were tons of them.

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BY TEENA APELES ★ Native Angeleno Teena Apeles, writer, editor and author of Women Warriors (Seal Press), loves exploring the city by foot.• Photos by Noé Montes • www.noemontes.com

THE LITTLE STORE THAT COULD

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Pull My Daisy • 3908 Sunset Blvd., Silver Lake • (323) 663-0608 or www.myspace.com/pullmydaisystore

A former member of local indie-rock duo Rizzo (a shout-out to the Grease character), former waitress and onetime commercial actor has been a fixture on the Eastside’s art and music scene for more than a decade. It all started during the late 1990s, when 1-800COLLECT played the hell out of a commercial Dale was featured in alongside actor David Arquette. The exposure paid off well; she used the residuals to fund her entrepreneurial pursuits, namely, a then modestsized store called Pull My Daisy just east of Sunset Junction.

Dale is as animated and colorful as the store’s inventory — from fashionable computer bags, updated fedoras and novel jewelry to decor by local artisans or the never-go-out-of-style Penguin shirts. The store recently doubled in size by taking over a neighboring space and bringing in even more goods, as well as a photo booth. Dale also closed her popular two-year-old Silver Lake Shoes store, folding in the stock for pairing with the many adorable dresses, skirts and tops on Pull My Daisy’s racks. And men are taken care of as well, with a decent collection of hand-screened tees, chic button-up shirts and pants and, yes, even the perfect shoes to match.

“It’s really great, now that we have the room to do what we want,” says Dale. “It just took six years to evolve, and I love the fact that we have so many talented Silver Lake people making things for us.”

Despite Pull My Daisy’s location on scene-y Sunset Boulevard, it attracts a diverse crowd that reflects the rich character of the neighborhood:

Latino families strolling by; dog lovers visiting Dale’s sidekick, her dachshund Bingo; hipsters looking for unique gifts (the taxidermy plushies are a perfect choice!); Marshall High students checking out the latest shipment of clothes; or simply friends seeking Dale’s sage advice (and maybe they’ll just pick up a cute pair of shorts for their significant other while stopping by).

Pull My Daisy has become a place for locals to commune, whether it’s hosting a DIY craft emporium or a monthly fashion event for “the regular-sized female,” and Dale and business partner Rick Saloomey couldn’t be more pleased. “I really like the sense of community and the celebration of talents here,” says Dale. “We’ve really succeeded in being part of this community and also helping define it, I hope. Silver Lake is our small town and we don’t leave it often, but why would we?

“It’s just real,” Dale adds. “No matter how big Silver Lake gets and how people portray it — Williamsburg, punk, cool, indie rock — the real experience of being part of this community is very real and very genuine, and that will never change. I don’t think anyone could ruin Silver Lake, I think there’s room for everybody.” NA 25 ★ August 2007 ★ NEW ANGELES

CALENDAR

08/07

{Highlights}

Get your fix of spine-tingling entertainment at the 7TH ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF SCI-FI, FANTASY & HORROR taking place the entire month of August at the Egyptian Theatre. The festival is jam-packed with a plethora of shorts, full-length features and hard-to-find films with one common mission: scaring the living daylights out of the viewers. From the 1950s drive-in masterpiece Invasion of the Body Snatchers and to the lesbian vampire classic Blood and Roses to the L.A. premiere of Ultraman Mebius & Ultra Brothers, there is something for all types of horror fans.

Stop by and beat the heat by taking in a flick or two during this festival of chills. $10; $8 students and seniors; $7 for Cinematheque members.

The Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. (323) 466-FILM or visit www.americancinematheque.com

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★

LISTINGS COMPILED

BY JULIE RASMUSSEN Send listings to calendar@ newangelesmonthly.com Visit Julie’s website www.alittlebirdytoldme.com

NEW ANGELES ★ August 2007 ★ 26

ART AUG. 1 - 25 : CHANGE OF SCENERY This exhibition shows the work of 15 artists in a variety of media. Artists include Jan Thomson, C. Lynn Tegenfeldt, P. Walsh, Hugh Lifson, Vicky Daniel, Dale Ofteday, Renato Ochoa, Mimi Sturman, Thameur Mejri, Kevin Van Kluck, Jason Kimble, Deborah Graves Pipes, Lorrie Hunter Roberts and Sal Panasei.

Opening reception Aug. 9 from 6 to 9 p.m.

Infusion Gallery, 719 S. Spring St.,Downtown.

(213) 683-8827 or www.infusiongallery.com

AUG. 2 - SEPT. 8 : FLOWERS An exhibition of hyper-real color photos of basic garden flowers by photographer Tony Mendoza. Through his unique vision and camera position, Mendoza’s subjects take on the stature of redwood trees though they are just poppies, cosmos and morning glories. Opening reception Aug. 4 from 4 to 7 p.m. Stephen Cohen Gallery, 7358 Beverly Blvd., L.A. (323) 937-5525 or www.stephencohengallery.com

CALENDAR

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at the Japanese American National Museum

AUG. 3 - 26: LA LUZ FIVE-PERSON GROUP SHOW Paintings, illustration, and drawings by Plain Jane, Magda Keriakos, Adam Strange, Cameron Tiede and Bonni Reid. Opening reception Aug. 3 from 8 to 11 p.m. La Luz de Jesus Gallery, 4633 Hollywood Blvd., Los Feliz. (323) 666-7667 or www.laluzdejesus.com

graphs and videos inspired by surrealism and film including performance art, feminist art and the narrative photography of the 1990s. Opening reception Aug. 25 from 6 to 8 p.m. Luckman Gallery, Cal State L.A., 5151 State University Drive, L.A. (323) 343-6604 or www.luckmanarts.org

AUG. 4 - 25 : FLANEURS A group exhibition that includes collages by Gul Cagin, paintings by Jon Flack, video and drawings

by Shaun Gladwell and sculpture and video by Gustav Hellberg. Opening reception Aug. 4 from 7 to 10 p.m. Raid Projects in the Brewery Arts Complex, 602 Moulton Ave., L.A. (323) 441-9593 or www.raidfc.com

THROUGH AUG. 25 : THE REGION OF UNLIKENESS A group show of artists working with portraiture in video that examines and explores the tension between still and moving subjects.

Curated by Kim Schoen, it includes work by Viola Yesiltac, Corinna Schnitt, Simon Cunningham and Dorit Cypis.

Bank, 125 W. 4th St. #103, Downtown.

(213) 621-4055 or www.bank-art.com

AUG. 4 - 26 : DREAM A LITTLE DREAM Large group show of small works with creations by Renee Lawter, Scott Whisenant and Macsorro, live painting by the Haley Collective, and a dreamy installation by Carol Powell. Opening reception Aug. 4 from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. $7 at the door; $4 for those dressed in PJs. The Hive Gallery, 729 S. Spring St., Downtown. (213) 9559051 or www.thehivegallery.com

THROUGH AUG. 25 : EARTHLY DELIGHTS Four artists convey their concept of the natural world through landscape works. Show includes work by Jacqueline Kras, Alyse Livingston, Daniel Pecijarevski and Dan Wooster. Closing reception Aug. 25 from 7 to 10 p.m. jFerrari Gallery, 3015 Glendale Blvd., Atwater Village. (323) 877-5542 or www.jferrarigallery.com

AUG. 4 - 28 : COMPUTER FOLK ART 2.0 This unique exhibition consists of a collection of digitally created folk art produced by artist David Rickett. Opening reception Aug. 4 from 7 to 10 p.m. Chango Coffee House and Gallery, 1559 Echo Park Ave., Echo Park. (213) 977-9161 or www.myspace.com/changocoffeehouse AUG. 4 - SEPT 1 : THE ECLECTIC WORLD OF GAD Group exhibition curated by Simone Gad. Opening reception Aug. 4 from 7 to 10 p.m.

L2Kontemporary, 990 N. Hill St., #205, Chinatown. (323) 225-1288 or www. l2kontemporary.com

BOOKS & DISCUSSIONS AUG. 4 : LOST MEN Brian Leung’s story of an estranged father and his son on a journey not only to a distant village but into the minds, souls and hearts of each other.

5 p.m. Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Feliz. (323) 660-1175 or www.skylightbooks.com AUG. 4 : COMIC MICHAEL DE’SHAZER will read from his novel NC-17. 2 p.m.

Metropolis Books, 440 S. Main St., Downtown. (213) 612-0174 or www.metropolisbooksla.com

AUG. 4 - SEPT. 1 : SHIZU SALDAMANDO Drawings and paintings by artist Shizu Saldamando that depict the colorful and diverse communities of East L.A., South East L.A., Downtown and the surrounding cities within the San Gabriel Valley.

Opening reception Aug. 4 from 7 to 10 p.m.

Tropico de Nopal Gallery, 1665 Beverly Blvd., Echo Park. (213) 481-8112 or www.tropicodenopal.com

AUG. 9 : A CALM POSITION Launch event for Jon Weinberg’s book of provocative photography and poetry that explores and exposes his delicate heart and warm thoughts. Photos from the book will be on display. 7:30 p.m. Truxtop Gallery, 2876 Rowena Ave., Silver Lake. (323) 661-1665 or www.truxtopgallery.com

AUG. 4 - SEPT. 7 : IRON EYE OF BABYLON Portrait paintings by Jason Mason. Opening reception Aug. 4 from 7 to 11 p.m. DIYGAllery, 1218 W. Temple St., Downtown. (323) 496-5241 or www.myspace.com/kipplegallery

AUG. 11 : BLACK BOOK EXPO Explore a progressive approach to the written and spoken word with a wide and energetic array of authors, storytellers, spoken word artists, booksellers, and more. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Ahmanson Senior Center, Exposition Park, 3990 Menlo Ave., L.A. (323) 385-7103 or www.labbx.com

AUG. 10 - SEPT. 8 : INTERLACED New work and installation by Hawaiian artist Ekundayo, whose creations come across as a sea of interconnected lines, colors and characters. Also, in the project room, “Brighter Days,” featuring new work by illustrator Andrew Hem. Opening reception Aug. 10 from 7 to 11 p.m. thinkspace Gallery, 4210 Santa Monica Blvd., Silver Lake. (323) 913-3375 or www.thinkspacegallery.com AUG. 25 - OCTOBER 13 : BODY DOUBLE An all female group exhibition of photo-

AUG. 15 : POST OFFICE Meeting to discuss Charles Bukowski’s novel Post Office held by the Nobody Reads in L.A. book club. 7 p.m. Charlie O’s Bar in the Alexandria Hotel, 501 S. Spring St., Downtown. (323) 223-2767 or www.bukday.com AUG. 18 : KOENIG AND KAPLAN Join Gloria Koenig, architectural historian and author of Iconic L.A.: Stories of L.A.’s Most Memorable Buildings and Charles & Ray

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Landscaping America is a multimedia exhibition that reveals the personal stories, historical journeys, communities, and creativity that underlie the surface of the “Japanese garden.”

Visit www.janm.org for a detailed schedule of related public programs.

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Native American Jewelry Show and Sale at the Southwest Museum Saturday and Sunday, August 4 and 5 Noon – 5 pm Meet Gene Waddell, second-generation trader and owner of the famed Lone Mountain turquoise mine, who brings the best jewelry by Native American artists.

Artists and collectors flock to his Arizonabased Waddell Trading Company, but you can see it all at the Southwest Museum of the American Indian.

Admission is free. Member discounts apply.

Join the Autry National Center and receive your member’s discount from this special sale.

Sonic Bloom Open until September 2, 2007 SCI-Arc Community Design Program presents an installation at the Southwest Museum inspired by the textile collections of Charles Lummis and the cultural ‘soundtrack’ of the museum.

Southwest Museum of the American Indian 234 Museum Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90065 . 323.221.2164 . AutryNationalCenter.org 27 ★ August 2007 ★ NEW ANGELES

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CALENDAR Eames: Pioneers of Mid-Century Modernism, for an informal conversation and book signing. Koenig will be joined by Sam Hall Kaplan, a design and development professional with a parallel career as a journalist, author and educator. 2 p.m. LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Miracle Mile. (323) 857-6000 or www.lacma.org AUG. 25 : CHRISTIETOWN Author Susan Kandel will read and discuss her latest mystery novel. 4 p.m. Metropolis Books, 440 S. Main St., Downtown. (213) 612-0174 or www.metropolisbooksla.com

DANCE & PERFORMANCE AUG. 2 - 4 : NOW FESTIVAL Catch the final program of this cutting-edge festival that includes multimedia, dance and theater pieces by Hand Fjellestad, Schinichi IovaKoga, Kelly Marie Martin and David Jones.

8:30 p.m. $18 general admission; $10 CalArts students, faculty and staff. Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater, 631 W. 2nd St., Downtown. (213) 237-2800 or www.redcat.org AUG. 3 AND 17 : DANCE DOWNTOWN Dance the night away under the stars! Can’t dance? No worries ⎯ a beginners class is available to get you off on the right foot.

6:30 to 10 p.m. Free admission.

Music Center Plaza, 135 N. Grand Ave., Downtown. (213) 972-3660 or www.musiccenter.org AUG. 4 - 5 : BROCKUS PROJECT DANCE COMPANY A night of contemporary, modern, jazz and ballet created by 10 choreographers and performed by a variety of talented dancers. Doors at 8 p.m. on Aug. 4; 7 p.m. on Aug. 5. $15. Diavalo Dance Space in the Brewery Arts Complex, 616 Moulton Ave., L.A. (562) 531-8949 or www.brockusprojectdancecompany.org

FILM AUG. 11 AND 25 : GENE AUTRY DOUBLE FEATURES Revisit the films that turned everyone’s favorite cowboy into an American icon and participate in a discussion led by a variety of guest speakers. Aug. 11 - Hills of Utah and Whirlwind; Aug. 25 Back in the Saddle and Riders of the

Whistling Pines. All screenings 1 to 5 p.m.

Free with museum admission. Autry National Center, Wells Fargo Theater, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park.

(323) 667-2000 or www.autrynationalcenter.org

Club Life on XM Satellite every Saturday night. Tickets range from $55 to $70. Doors at 9 p.m. Los Angeles Sports Arena, 3939 S. Figueroa St., L.A. www.giantclub.com

AUG. 17 : AQUABATS This self-proclaimed “super hero” band is on a quest to save the word from evil music with punk-pop sounds.

Also performing are The Phenomenauts, MC Lars and A Kiss Could be Deadly. Doors at 8 p.m. $14.99. Music Box @ Fonda, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. (323) 464-0808 or www.henryfondatheater.com

AUG. 17 AND 19 : AN ACADEMY CENTENNIAL SALUTE TO MIKLÓS RÓZSA Screenings of a handful of films boasting scores by Hungarian-born composer Miklós Rózsa. Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. – The Thief of Bagdad and at 9 p.m. The Killers; Aug. 19 at 7 p.m. – El Cid. $5; $3 academy members.

Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater, 1313 Vine St., Hollywood. (323) 247-3600 or www.oscars.org THROUGH AUG. 21 : THE LATE, GREAT KATE: A CENTENNIAL TRIBUTE TO KATHARINE HEPBURN A series of screenings in tribute to the life of Katharine Hepburn. Aug. 3 - Adam’s Rib and State of the Union; Aug. 4 - The Lion in Winter; Aug. 7 - Undercurrent; Aug. 10 - Holiday and Bringing Up Baby; Aug. 11 - Summertime and Suddenly Last Summer; Aug. 14 - Mary of Scotland; Aug. 17 - Alice Adams and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner; Aug. 18 - Long Day’s Journey Into Night; Aug. 21 - Break of Hearts. Call or visit website for exact screening times and ticket pricing. LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. (323) 857-6000 or www.lacma.org

MUSIC AUG. 2, 16 AND 30 : JAZZ ON THE PATIO Enjoy the warm summer night with dinner, drinks and groovy live jazz performed by the Roger Cairns Jazz Crew. 8 to 10 p.m. Chop Suey Café, 347 E. 1st St., Downtown. (323) 617-9990 or www.chopsueycafe.com AUG. 4 : TONALISM Bring your pillows, beanbags, blankets to this all-night ambient music experience. Music by Dublab DJs Frosty, Morpho, Matthew David and a handful of others, along with live sets under the stars by Dntel, Languis and Tropic of Cancer.

Also, live nature sound duets, projections and complimentary tea. 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Free admission. Farmlab, 1745 N. Spring St., Los Angeles (323) 226-1158 or www.farmlab.org AUG. 11 : TIESTO A night of trance and dance music by renowned DJ Tiesto. To get a preview, check out his radio show Tiesto’s

AUG. 17 : BUZZCOCKS A night of music by the legendary English punk band. Also performing are The Adored and Easy Image.

Doors at 8:30 p.m. Tickets available at the door only at $20. Spaceland, 1717 Silver Lake Blvd., Silver Lake. (323) 661-4380 or www.clubspaceland.com

BEASTIE BOYS What’s your favorite? Ours is either Ponce de Leon / constantly on / the Fountain of Youth not Robotron or I’m the king of Boggle / there is none higher / I get 11 points off the word quagmire. Or maybe it’s rhyming more of this with Horovitz or pasta primavera with Geraldo Rivera. It doesn’t matter, because they’re on tour supporting an INSTRUMENTAL record. Whatever. Just hope they play some oldies. Aug. 19 and 20 at the Greek Theatre, or if you are looking for something a little more intimate, check out the performance on Aug. 21 at The Wiltern. Tickets at both venues are $49.50. Doors at 7:30 p.m. at The Greek Theatre; 7 p.m. at The Wiltern. The Greek Theatre, 2700 N. Vermont Ave., Griffith Park. (323) 665-5857 or www.greektheatrela.com; The Wiltern, 3790 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. (213) 388-1400 or www.livenation.com

AUG. 18 : ’80S FUNK FEST Prepare for a huge dose of bumpin’ jams and groovy funk with performances by George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars, Zapp, Lakeside, Mary Jane Girls and Force MDs. Doors are at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets range from $25 to $75. The Greek Theatre, 2700 N. Vermont Ave., Griffith Park.

(323) 665-5857 or www.greektheatrela.com AUG. 23 : ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA An opportunity to spend an evening with Frank Zappa’s music, performed by various musicians and directed by Dweezil Zappa. Doors are at 7 p.m. Tickets are $39.50, $49.50, $59.50. The Wiltern, 3790 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. (213) 388-1400 or www.livenation.com AUG. 25 : SAM SPARRO With the 1980s revival in late crest, pop producers now spend weeks at a time getting their kick drums to sound as retro-perfect as the beat Sam Sparro puts down. The soulful synthlover writes surprisingly complex compositions. What’s more, he sings with an earnestness that recalls the best of early Reaganera urban music. $10. Silverlake Lounge, 2906 Sunset Blvd., Silver Lake. (323) 6639636 or www.foldsilverlake.com AUG. 25 : LOS ANGELES CHORO ENSEMBLE Expect upbeat and melodic sounds of Brazilian choro music in a fun performance for all ages. 5 to 7 p.m. Free admission. LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. (323) 857-6000 or www.lacma.org

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The 27th annual Sunset Junction street fair runs Aug. 18 and 19. In addition to rides, art and food, a wide variety of bands will be playing on three stages.

Midday fest-goers should make their way to the Bates stage at 1:30 p.m. to catch L.A. duo Pity Party, featuring singer Hesienflei, who’s won my undying love and admiration for singing, playing drums and keyboards all at the same time. Other local bands gracing the Bates stage on Saturday include indie-rock quartet Division Day (12:40 p.m.),’60s-poppish The Broken West (4:10 p.m.) and the wistful Sea Wolf (5:05 p.m.). Also at 5 p.m., funk/breakbeat band Breakestra takes over the Sanborn stage.

Saturday night highlights include an 8 p.m. performance by chanteuse Deniece Williams, best known for her hit “Let’s Hear It For the Boy,” which formed the backdrop for Kevin Bacon teaching Chris Penn how to dance in Footloose. That’s on the Hoover stage, right before Morris Day and the Time. A cursory glance at the Time’s website shows that Day hasn’t parted from the ’stache he sported in Purple Rain. (And I thought it was part of the character.)

And no, no, of course, I didn’t forget. Back on the Bates stage, gracing our presence straight from NYC, the luxurious Blonde Redhead at 7:30 p.m.

Midday on Sunday features another local rock block: electro-shoegazer fuzzies Eskimo Hunter on the Bates stage at 12:50 p.m., followed by the pretty melancholy of The Movies (1:30 p.m.), the Smiths-y Airborne Toxic Event (2:20 p.m.) and reggae band The Aggrolites (3:10 p.m.).

As for Sunday night on Bates, of course there’s ’70s punk icons Buzzcocks at 6:45 p.m. Though the last record, Flat Pack Philosophy, was a bit er … flat, they still put on a pretty good live show. I mean, not 1979 good, but still … I’m a little out of touch, so I had to go to Wikipedia for a description of She Wants Revenge, who follow Buzzcocks. Here’s what I got: “She Wants Revenge’s sound is influenced by 1980’s bands like Prince, Erik B and Rakim, New Order, The Cure, Danse Society, Depeche Mode, and Suicide.” I’d stick around just to figure out what that would actually sound like.

Sunday night on the Hoover stage features soul stars Millie Jackson and the O’Jays. Also, at 8:30 p.m. on the Sanborn stage is very cool world DJ Cheb i Sabbah, who blends Middle Eastern and African sounds with trance and dance beats. And on both mornings at 11 a.m., the Silver Lake Conservatory of Music takes over the Sanborn stage.

Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the entrance. Stop complaining. Besides all of the entertainment, admission fees go to funding Sunset Junction’s numerous good deeds, including the Youth Program, Silver Lake farmers market and Tsunami coffee house, which hosts 12-step meetings and provides job training for local kids. Michael McKinley, organizer and director of the street fair for over 25 years, also told me that his organization is working with local groups to get 200 low-income families in for free.

“What really excites me,” said McKinley, “is just being there and seeing everyone getting along for two days and being happy. A lot of the times the powers that be play us against each other. I like to see all of the diversity and people getting along æ that’s the reward for me.”

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OUTDOORS AUG. 1 - 29 : DOWNTOWN AT SUNSET A series of walking tours hosted by L.A. Conservancy that explore the architecture and landmarks of L.A. Aug. 1 and 22 Downtown’s Evolving Skyline; Aug. 8 - Art Deco; Aug. 15 - Little Tokyo; Aug. 29 - Union Station. 5:30 p.m. $10; $5 LAC members. (213) 430-4219 or www.laconservancy.org AUG. 2 - 5 : X GAMES 13 This annual multisport event consists of a variety of extreme action sports in which competitors try to win medals, prize money and notoriety. Tickets package is $45. Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa St., Downtown. (213) 742-7340 or www.staplescenter.com

AUG. 2 THROUGH 13 : 1ST & CENTRAL SUMMER CONCERTS A world music series taking place under the stars in Downtown L.A. Aug. 2 - Ricardo Lemvo and Makina Loca (Afro-Latin); Aug. 9 - Tribute to Alice Coltrane (modern jazz). Concerts start at 6:30 p.m.

Free for museum members or with museum admission. Japanese American National Museum, 369 E. First St., Little Tokyo.

(213) 625-0414 or www.janm.org AUG. 4 : DRUM DOWNTOWN This unique drumming experience encourages all levels to participate in the music-making experience by using hand drums, shakers, tambourines and other percussion instruments. Instruments are provided. 10 to 11:30 a.m. Free admission. Music Center Plaza, 135 N. Grand Ave., Downtown.

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Your American Bistros In Downtown L.A.

Rock Star Haircuts, Extensions, Dreadlocks, Custom Special Effects Colors, Afro Perms

Siren’s

657 N. Spaulding L.A. | Just south of Melrose | 323.653.2520 www.myspace.com/sirenssalonmelrose | salonsirens@yahoo.com

Home of the Texas Tripler & the 1lb. Burger Eat-in, To Go, Catering, & Delivery SAVE TIME, JUST CALL YOUR ORDER IN

www.texasbbqking.com

867 W. SUNSET BLVD. LOS ANGELES OPEN: SUN - MON 6AM - 8PM TU - SAT 6AM - 10PM (AT THE CORNER OF SUNSET & FIGUEROA ST.)

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101 FWY SUNSET BLVD

TEMPLE ST

E. CESAR CHAVEZ

MAIN ST

• Beers From Around The World

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FIGUEROA ST

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213-437-0885 213-437-0881

110 FWY

• Happy Hours 3-7pm & 10pm-close

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LA A little bit of Provence in Downtown WEILAND BREWERY 400 E 1st Street L.A. 90012 213-680-2881 MON - FRI 11AM - 2AM SAT - SUN 5PM - 2AM

WEILAND BREWERY UNDERGROUND 505 S Flower Street Suite B-410 L.A. 90071 213-622-1125 MON - FRI 11AM - 2AM SAT - 5PM - 2AM

www.weilandbrewery.net NEW ANGELES ★ August 2007 ★ 32

1936 E. 7th Street Los Angeles 213.623.4028

CALENDAR for sale, along with drinks, food and music provided by DJ collective Droog. 1 to 5 p.m. $10 pre-sale; $20 at the door. Santee Village Courtyard, 716 S. Los Angeles St., Downtown. (818) 558â&#x20AC;&#x201C;3968 or www.aigalosangeles.org

AUG. 19 : BARNSDALL ARTS MARKET An open-air art market with an eclectic array of creations from local artists and art workshops for families. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Free admission. Barnsdall Art Park, Lower Parking Lot, 4700 Hollywood Blvd., Los Feliz. (213) 622-0915 or www.myspace.com/ barnsdallartsmarket

Best known for her lively and organic grid paintings, L.A.-based artist Ann Thornycroft explores a new direction with a body of bold and colorful abstract pieces in her first solo show at Jancar Gallery. Utilizing a combination of formal and expressive elements, the artist explores the complexity of her visual thoughts resulting in a mixture of formal abstract work replete with botanical imagery.

These paintings explode with energy, animated by the push-pull tension between the crisp emblems in the foreground and the deep backgrounds of lushly washed colors. Born and raised in England, the artist has been submerged in both the English and American cultures; the synthesis is a strict sense of structure mixed with vibrant spontaneity.

Thornycroftâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paintings will be on display from Aug. 4 through Sept.

1. Opening reception Aug. 4 from 5 to 7 p.m. Jancar Gallery, 3875 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 1308, L.A. (213) 384-8077 or www.jancargallery.com

AUG. 9 - 30 : SIZZLING SUMMER NIGHTS L.A.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hottest Latin bands provide the fuel for an energetic night of dancing and fun. Dance lessons are provided for those with two left feet.

Also provided: a taco bar, margarita bar and a separate dance floor for the kids. Aug. 2 Orquesta Son Mayor;. Aug. 9 - Susie Hansen Latin Band; Aug. 16 - Francisco Aguabella; Aug. 23 - Orquesta Charangoa; Aug. 30 - Johnny Polanco y su Conjunto Amistad. 6:30 to 9 p.m. $5; free for Autry members. Autry National Center, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park. (323) 667-2000 or www.autrynational center.org

VOTED BEST PIZZA BY LA DOWNTOWN NEWS! 108 8 W.. 2ND STREET @ MAIN â&#x20AC;˘ 213.808.1200

,!3 6%'!3 .6 R SIEGE! A CITY UNDE

vegoose At Sam Boyd - October 27-28!

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Tickets!

AUG. 12 : CRAFTIVISM: DESIGNING BY HAND AIGA/LA, the professional association for design, together with Santee Village Lofts, brings this one-day crafts marketplace to Downtown. Ticket proceeds benefit the AIGA Scholarship Fund, which creates educational opportunities for the next generation of designers. Craftivism will feature unique products, contemporary artwork and one-of-a-kind design gifts

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DARREN HUBERT is a local area expert specializing in: Echo Park, Silver Lake, Atwater, Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Glassell Park, Mt. Washington, and Los Feliz.

www.UrbanHillsides.com DARREN HUBERT Re/Max Tri-City

2150 Hillhurst Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90027 Darren@UrbanHillsides.com (323) 898-2991

Menopause Education Series The facts about Bioidentical/Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT)

Wednesday, August 15 & 29 at 7pm

Local Presence Global Reach Grubb & Ellis Company 1100 Glendon Avenue, Ste. 900 Los Angeles, California 90024 tel. 310.235.2914 fax 310.478.9478

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Series of Educational Seminars designed to help women get answers to their questions about menopause and hormone replacement therapy.

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★ August 2007 ★ 34

EULOGY

A PIONEER COMMUNITYLOSES A VOICE

JOEL BLOOM 1 9 4 8 - 2 0 0 7

Photo by Qathryn Brehm

After a lengthy public struggle with cancer, one of the Arts District’s loudest and most enduring voices, Joel Bloom, left this life on July 13, 2007, at the age of 59.

Joel Bloom served both his country as a Vietnam vet and the world of entertainment with Chicago’s Second City and as playwright of Mayhem at the Mayfield Mall, a parody of science fiction movies. But the service he became most known for was his pioneering role in the community of the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District.

In 1994, Joel opened Bloom’s General Store just down the street from my studio on Traction. He became well-known as a curmudgeon, a grump (raising grumpiness to an award-winning level), and — as someone once said — it was a rite of passage to have him yell at you or throw you out of his store.

Bloom’s General Store served as the gateway to the Arts District, and Joel was often the first person people would meet as they ventured east of Alameda to discover what the District had to offer. Bloom’s very

quickly became the place to connect with neighbors and friends. Politicians stopped by to post their latest flyers and seek Joel’s support. Actors work-

ing on a nearby movie set came in for a cigar. One notable actor, working on a film called The Terminator, eventually become our governor. He

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By Julia Cho Directed by Chay

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September 19 to October 14, 2007

still comes by the store for a cigar whenever he’s in the area.

Joel Bloom loved dogs. He once told me he loved them “even more than people.” Many a canine would maneuver their owner past the store, where Joel would give them a special treat. He knew them all by name.

Joel’s accolades are larger than life. He was known as the “Unofficial Mayor” and the “Godfather,” but his greatest service was as Father of the Arts District. Throughout his seven-year fight with cancer he scheduled doctor’s appointments in between his attendance at various community meetings. Just before his death, the city of Los Angeles and Councilwoman Jan Perry named the triangle at Traction Avenue and Third Street as Joel Bloom Square.

Joel is survived by his son Randy, two grandchildren, siblings Lynn and Michael, many friends and colleagues and his beloved community.

— Qathryn Brehm Friend and Neighbor

,' F== =FI ;FNEK JFLN9J:I@GK@FEJ E I<J@;<EKJ THAT’S O INCLUDINGNLY $62.50 FOR 4 P LA

A BROADW Y Offer expire AY MUSIC S s Oct 7, AL! price and fo 2007. 50% off Genera l r Wednesd Downtown ay Subscrip Subscription residents m tions only. us t liv e in 90012, 9001 3, 90014, 90 the following zip code s: 017, 90021, 90071.

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By Jeanne Sakata Directed by Jessica Kubzansky

November 7 to December 2, 2007

By

Jon Shirota

February 13 to March 9, 2008

Book by Roger O. Hirson Music & Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz Directed by Tim Dang Musical Direction by Marc Macalintal

May 14 to June 8, 2008

East West Players www.EastWestPlayers.org • (213) 625-7000 General Subscriptions start at $125 DAVID HENRY HWANG THEATER at the UNION CENTER FOR THE ARTS ewp 120 Judge John Aiso St. in the Little Tokyo district, downtown L.A.

35 ★ August 2007 ★ NEW ANGELES

FOODSTUFF

BY STEVE COULTER ★ Steve Coulter is food editor of New Angeles and a freelance writer with 20 years experience in the food and beverage industry.

BRING IT! >> TIARA CAFÉ

127 E. 9th St. Downtown (213) 623-3663 or www.tiara-cafe.com

C

CURDS OF A FEATHER

hef Fred Eric of Fred 62 and Vida fame re-emerged in 2006 in the Fashion District’s New Mart building with Tiara Café. At any given time, the seasonal, globally-inspired menu may include “bubble bread” topped with prosciutto, caramelized onions and Parmesan; a grilled ahi salad with wonton slivers and soy wasabi dipping sauce; or a Cuban medianoche sandwich with smoked and roasted duck. Delivery is available weekdays from noon to 2 p.m., limited to the Fashion District and free with a $10 order.

-Joshua Lurie

The Los Angeles Tofu Festival attracts flocks

Joshua Lurie’s colorful photos and keen dining observations can be found at foodgps.blogspot.com.

of vegetarians and carnivores alike It’s hard to believe there are still people out there who will gobble down a bowl of salty edamame at a sushi restaurant and then grimace as they pick around the squishy squares floating in their miso soup minutes later. Such is the lot of bean curd in America, where Smart Dogs and soy ice cream are more popular than ever, while plain tofu is viewed as an ethnic dietary food best left to vegetarians.

Thankfully, Southland soy lovers have the Los Angeles Tofu Festival, an annual celebration of all things bean curd that takes place in the heart of Little Tokyo Aug. 18 and 19. Now in its 12th year, the LATF combines food, drink and live entertainment in the form of a street fair at the corner of 2nd Street and San Pedro. The event is produced as a fundraiser by and for the Little Tokyo Service Center, a nonprofit organization that has been providing services to low-income, immigrant, homeless and distressed seniors and families in the community for over 25 years.

Last year’s event drew close to 25,000 visitors, a hefty increase from the 8,000 that visited in 1996.

So with all of this support for bean curd, why do so many diners still shun tofu in its purest form? “It’s the texture — the consistency grosses some people out,” explains chef and LATF spokesperson Candice Kumai.

Kumai, who gained prominence as a contestant on the first season of the Bravo reality show

NEW ANGELES ★ August 2007 ★ 36

“Top Chef,” is a SoCal native who grew up eating tofu with her Japanese mother. She is currently an instructor at Chefmakers Kitchen Academy in Manhattan Beach, where she often conducts cooking classes for children.

Kumai was approached to do two cooking demonstrations at the 2006 LATF before graduating to LATF spokesperson in 2007.

“Tofu is the perfect food for kids to cook with because it’s completely safe – there is no cross-contamination involved.

They could eat it straight out of the box if they wanted to,” says Kumai. “I’ve made smoothies, tofu skewers, tofu burgers, tofu tacos – you can make anything out of it.”

Although the 25-year-old soy booster admits she is “not a fullblown vegetarian,” she has managed to avoid red meat since the sixth grade and she praises the adaptability of tofu as a tasty and nutritious alternative to animalbased proteins. “Eating something that is obviously cholesterol-free, has less fat and is lower in calories than meat, makes me feel better about my diet. It’s not just for vegetarians, it’s really an alternative for your health. It’s out there for a reason and it’s getting very popular for a reason.”

Among local restaurants offering up tasty tofu treats at the 2007 LATF will be Curry House (tofu cutlet with curried rice), Maison Akira (marinated strawberries and fresh mint on tofu), and LL Bakery (tofu bruschetta).

Manufacturers including Maggi Taste of Asia, Soybliss, Toby’s Tofu Plate and Lee Kum Kee, will provide samples of tofu-based soups, appetizers, drinks and desserts.

In order to broaden the appeal of the event, a handful of vendors will also be offering meat dishes. Arroy Thai Restaurant will showcase BBQ lobster balls, V&R Thai-Chinese Food will offer chicken satay, and Hawaii Tropical Drink will be serving Korean beef ribs.

This year’s entertainment includes a children’s arts, crafts and music festival, parade, sumo wrestling and martial arts demonstrations.

Also back again is the popular tofu eating contest, a beer, wine and sake garden, and a Sunday night raffle drawing with a vacation for two in Japan as grand prize.

“It’s a festival that brings together people from all walks of life, but it’s not just about having fun — it’s also about giving back to the community,” Kumai says. “The Little Tokyo Service Center is an amazing organization.” NA

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Los Angeles Tofu Festival Aug. 18, noon to 8 p.m.; Aug. 19, noon to 6 p.m. 237 S. San Pedro St., Little Tokyo. www.tofufest.org $5 admission fee, not including vendor food and drinks

★

★

★

IN THE DRINK >> ROYALE

2619 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. (213) 388-8488 or www.royaleonwilshire.com

I

t wasn’t too long ago that heading anywhere near MacArthur Park after dark meant you were seeking some salacious stimulation. These days, thanks to the much-touted “Downtown renaissance,” even those without a death wish are discovering what once made this striking stretch of Wilshire Boulevard so chic.

Lined with historic Art Deco buildings that lend a certain East Coast charm, the Westlake district is once again enjoying a lively nightlife scene populated by loft dwellers and Eastside hipsters alike.

~ THE ROYALE DECADENCE ~

At the center of this reawakening is Royale, on the ground floor of the spectacular 1920sera Wilshire Royale Hotel. “Eastside Mondays” feature performances from upand-coming musicians, while “BUILT Tuesdays” celebrate the state of the arts. The best bet remains weeknight happy hours from 5 to 8 p.m., featuring affordable appetizers and pocketbook-pleasing potions. The cocktail of choice is definitely the Royale Decadence, a shaken martini made with Van Gogh chocolate vodka and ooey-gooey Godiva chocolate. A votre sante’!

—SC

Openn Dailyy from 11:00am • Ample Parking

DELICIOUS MEXICAN FOOD MOUTH-WATERING MARGARITAS OUTDOOR DINING 1920 HYPERION AVE. SILVER LAKE • 323.662.4255 • www.casitadelcampo.com with love from the Casita del Campo family

• Delicious Food • Live Music • Garden Patio Open 7 days Mon-Fri at 4pm Sat. & Sun. Mimosa Brunch at 11am

2500 Riverside Drive (at Fletcher) Silver Lake 323.669.1226 • Rudolphoslive.com • Free Parking

37 ★ August 2007 ★ NEW ANGELES

Facials Injections Laser SPECIALS Titan

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One hour non-surgical face lift

Silk Peel Express

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Acne scars/fine lines

Laser Hair Removal

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Underarms 5 treatments

BOTOX

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Smooth Laser Genesis

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Los Angeles Studio City 3171 Los Feliz Blvd., #300B 11239 Ventura Blvd., #215 323.669.9888 818.508.4884 www.sunrisemedspa.com Mon-Sat 10am-7pm *limit one per client. first time clients only. results may vary and are not guranteed. Hair removal is for a package of 5 treatments. Laser genesis is for one treatment only. May not be combined with other offers. Fat redux program is limted to one area. Must purchase minimum of three Titans for redemption of this offer. Call for details.

NEW ANGELES â&#x2DC;&#x2026; August 2007 â&#x2DC;&#x2026; 38

dine shop relax

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downtown’s premier shopping and dining destination 735 S. Figueroa St. | Downtown L.A. | 213 955 7150 | 7FIG.com Free parking with validation | Open daily SHOP AT&T Wireless | Macy’s | Ann Taylor | Capucci Optics | Cookies by Design | Mr. G’s Toys & Expressions | Godiva Chocolatier | Times Square Watches | Urban Leather | VaMara Gifts & Candles | Viella Shoes & Accessories WINE & DINE Arnie Morton’s Steakhouse | Adoro Mexican Grill | All American Philly | California Crisp | California Pizza Kitchen | Charlie Kabob | Extreme Blendz Juice & Nutrition | George’s Greek Cafe | Han’s Korean GrillMrs. Beasley’s | Mrs. Fields Cookies | Panda Express | Quizno’s Subs | Sarku Japan | Sbarros Italian Eatery | Starbucks Coffee | Trimana AMENITIES 7+FIG Newsstand | Basic Beauty Downtown Chiropractic | Gold’s GymFedEx Kinkos | Paradise Florist | ShoeWiz | Pappy’s Shoeshine | Dr. Jeffrey Kleinman, Optometrist | Esthetic Dentistry | Sloan’s Dry Cleaners | Yolanda Aguilar Beauty Institute & Spa

NO

03

AU G.

07 A monthly magazine devoted to the revival of downtown and the â&#x20AC;&#x153;newâ&#x20AC;? Eastside H photograph by Maura Lanahan

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