This American Life
Samuel Goldwyn Theater - Beverly Hills
6/02/09
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For those of you living in LA, KCRW radio host Ira Glass’ This American Life will be holding a screening on Tueday, June 2nd, of stories from the Showtime TV series. At the heart of this will be our hour-long “John Smith” episode, the story of one life, told through the lives of seven people, all of them named John Smith. Seats are limited! →

This video was designed and directed by Prologue Films‘ Ilya Abulhanov.  The opening sequence was showcased in the 2009 OFFF festival. With the help of Kyle Cooper and producer Elizabeth Newman, Abulhanov delivers a stunning opening title featuring mysterious masked men in various locations.  The soundtrack →

Maybe the trendy pink/black cover should have tipped me off.  Maybe the glittery stars on the front should have made me think twice.  But for whatever reason I walked into “The Pink Limousine EP” completely oblivious to what was in store for me.  Pigeon John & Flynn Adam’s alliance as Rootbeer was not what I expected. →

Photo courtesty of the guardian.co.uk, licensed under Creative Commons

The Internet in all its vast, unregulated glory has provided us with more musical choices than ever before.  Instead of being subject to whatever Tower Records has on the listening station, we can now hit “preview” on any one of thousands of tracks on iTunes, Amazon, Pandora, etc. to find our next favorite track of the hour.  However, according to two British researchers, supply be damned — most of us illegal downloaders are still listening only to what our beloved mass-media outlets tell us to.  Oh, and did I mention that the researchers work for the British equivalent of the RIAA, the Performing Rights Society for Music?
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Enjoy Maestro’s latest episode filmed with Terry Kennedy. P-Rod makes a guest appearance as well.

While there was much hoopla focused on President Obama’s speech at Notre Dame, the speech that President Obama delivered at Arizona State University is equally if not a bolder message; an open lambast to corrupt politicians and a call to action to look at life in more humane ideas. His jabs at not recieving an honorary degree is appropriate and quite humourous. Well written and well delivered, Obama brings it home.

CBS 60 Minutes recently sat down with the Ice Queen of Fashion, Ms. Anna Wintour. Enjoy.

DC consistently surprises me. Aside from making great technical skate shoes, DC continues to branch out in their lifestyle categories in creating genuine novel products. Take this recent Aaron Rose for DC project. From the moment I opened this box, every element of this unrevealing was a pleasure to bear witness to. Of course you would expect nothing less from Mr. Aaron Rose, founder of the legendary Alleged Gallery →

This was not a good week for print. How do I know? Twitter told me so. The San Antonio News-Express is set to cut 135 people from their newsroom. Over at the Hartford Courant, the ax is falling on 100. Ditto that number at the Providence Journal. The New York Post dropped famed gossip columnist Liz Smith. In San Francisco, the Chronicle is hemorrhaging $50 million a year. The respective homes of the L.A. Times and Chicago Tribune will be sold as part of the ailing Tribune Company’s bankruptcy proceedings. And last but not least, today marks the final issue of The Rocky Mountain News, which would have been 150 years old in April. →

The Gangi residency with Friends
Spaceland – Silverlake, CA
5/18/09
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L.A. Records and 88.9 KXLU presents The Gangi’s month-long residency in May and they will be offering music lovers a free show every Monday.  Tonite will prove to be a special night with openers, LANDy (Adam Goldberg’s musical project), The Life and Times, and Paige Stark.  Come check it out if you’re in the neighborhood! →