How To Make a No-Sew Superhero Cape

How To Make a No-Sew Superhero Cape on Howcast

Another LA Halloween: What To Do (For all ages and if you’re broke, or not broke yet.)

Photo credit: West Hollywood Costume Carnaval

Halloween isn’t just for kiddies with candy! You can find lots of ghoulish things to do around Los Angeles on a budget. If you like bar crawling alongside some of the most awesome and outrageous costumes in the LA area for FREE and ALL AGES then go to West Hollywood’s Costume Carnaval on October 31^st. The over the top event will be held on Santa Monica Blvd from Doheny to La Cienega (1 mile of fun!). Think of a giant train of people going down Santa Monica Blvd dressed in leather, as sexy bumblebees, pimps, school girls, zombies, maybe a giant penis or two, or even multiple Michael Jackson’s and just about any other costume you could contrive. 

As a veteran WEHO clubber it is most wise to get a taxi to the event and show up buzzed because there will be limited amounts of street parking (as blocks of Santa Monica Blvd. will be roped off) and extremely long lines for expensive drinks. If you want the best drink specials I recommend that you pay a visit to the always poppin’ spots like La Cantina and Trunks (Google it!). The best thing about this event is that there are three main stages devoted to music and there are other mini music spaces (PODS) throughout the carnaval.

WEHO Costume Carnaval Line Up:

Vaudeville Stage (@ Almont): Vaud & The Villains (18-piece ragtag house band), Silk Sisters Aerial Acrobat duo, Lux Lacroix (burlesque artist), Karis (hula dance artist), Eve La Dare Stilt Artist.

MC: Vaud Overstreet

Illusion Stage (@ West Knoll): Christopher Wonder (illusionist), Jacqui Kreisler (contortionist), Machina Candeo (fire dancers), Robert Baxt (macabre magician), Pasha & Vladamir (body balancers), Circus Troupe.

MC: Christopher Wonder

Arcade Stage (@ San Vicente): Jeffree Star, Powder, Crush 333, Coronation of the Carnaval Queen (Ricki Lake!), Carnaval Costume Contest.

MC Momma

Music Pod DJ Talent: Zen Freeman, Mia Morretti, Daisy O’Dell, Aaron Colbert, Unification Theory (visual artist), A Graffitti Painting Installation (visual artist).

For more information please check out the West Hollywood Costume Carnaval website here!

Photo credit: HARDFEST.com

If for some reason you have money in your pocket and you want to dance all night you should go to HARD Haunted Mansion. The tickets, going at $75 per night at regular admission and $135 VIP, will sell out! So get your tickets right now and here! Haunted Mansion is going to be ALL AGES and 2 nights long, starting Friday October 30^th and ending Halloween night! Bring money (expect $10-15/beer, $5/water bottle) and bring anything else low-key. There will be lots of costumes! Think women dressed in their sexiest costumes and men to be as trippily dressed or as scantily dressed as possible. Think glow sticks, candy kids, luminescent black lights, light shows, and dilated pupils all around. If you will be partaking in shenanigans (legal and illegal) PLEASE be safe! Get a designated driver or taxi! And remember – Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect! 

After such a massive electronic letdown like HARD Summer where the party got shut down before midnight by the 5-0 and because people were acting rowdy (because some young folks can’t handle their stuff) I think that HARD Haunted Mansion will definitely bring the cosmos to this party! They’ve got a lot to prove with the LA scene again, so I hope – no, I KNOW – that headliners JUSTICE and Deadmau5 will completely hypnotize and redeem the HARD name.  The music will not disappoint! 

HARD Haunted Mansion Line Up:

Friday:

HARD Stage

8:00 Franki Chan, 9:00 Danger, 10:00 A-TRAK, 11:25 The Bloody Beetroots, 1:00 2MANYDJS, 2:35 DEADMAU5.

Expo Hall

8:00 Staccato, 9:30 Harvard Bass, 10:45 Don Rimini, 12:15 Special Guest, 1:30 MIXHELL, 2:45 Special Guest.

Saturday:

HARD Stage

8:00 CLASSIXX, 9:00 Buraka Som Sistema, 10:10 MAJOR LAZER, 11:15 BASEMENT JAXX, 12:30 JUSTICE, 1:50 Special Guest, 3:00 MODESELEKTOR.

Expo Hall

8:00 PAPARAZZI, 9:00 Shinchi Osawa, 10:30 Steve Aoki, 12:00 CROOKERS, 1:30 Special Guest, 3:00 Zombie Nation.

**I am only attending Night #2 for Haunted Mansion so check back with our site for pictures and a review from HALLOWEEN NIGHT!!!**

In the meantime check out these links!

HARD MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/hardfest

Facebook for Gary Richards: http://www.facebook.com/destructo

Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/hardfest

Photo credit: HARDFEST.com

Throwback Thursday - Marvin Gaye "What's Going On / What's Happening Brother"

Who wants to go Friday?

Click here to get more Discotheque info!

New Album Release Tuesday 10/20/09

Electric Six - Kill - MySpace/Website

Florence and The Machine - Lungs - MySpace/Website

Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport - MySpace/Website

Kings of Convenience - Declaration of Dependence - MySpace/Website

Sufjan Stevens - The BQE - MySpace/Website

White Denim - Fits - MySpace/Website

Themselves - Crowns Down - MySpace/Website

Thanks to MetaCritic for all the new and upcoming album release info!

Bad Veins @ Kilby Court, SLC Utah 10/12/09

Bad Veins, 2 man power house.
Photo Credit: Daniel Gentry

Reel to reel used during the show.

Photo Credit: Daniel Gentry

Daniel & Logan with Bad Veins after the show.

Photo Credit: Daniel Gentry

Check out Bad Veins MySpace!


Support Kilby Court by clicking here!

Support & listen to Utah Free Media by clicking here! 
Or go to www.utahfm.org. 12 to 3pm, (Mountain Standard Time) & listen to The Jam Session with Dag on Utah FM. 


Note: I am now accepting submissions (articles, photos, mp3s, videos, etc) for all shows and events from all over the place (world and universe). 


So, submit all info to me here!!!

Throwback Thursday - Betty Davis "Game Is My Middle Name"

"Anti Love Song"



I hope y'all enjoy yourselves some Betty Davis - she's a funky outer planetary bad ass! Respect. Shoutout to Jill Avilez who introduced me to her. I love you Jill!!! <3

Ground Coverage: Eagle Rock Music & Arts Fest

        Stumbling off the 81 bus, my friend and I danced past the always musically forward Rastafarian Ice Cream Truck and dashed over to the best taco truck on the block, Tacos La Estrella: Tacos & Burritos (they gave me a free Coke with 3 of the best carnitas tacos I’ve eaten in a minute) to calm our stomachs. After getting started on a promising foot we began our trek along Colorado Boulevard and experienced the oddest look into our peers’ futures in the form of super-eclectic-fashionable families. At about 5ish in the afternoon it seemed like there was no end in sight to all theses “stroller hipsters” walking around with their 2.5 person families making me feel bad for being slightly intoxicated, yielding an American Spirit, trying to make my way down the street with a barely understandable map.

Five-ish came and went and there I stood, map in hand, feeling like Zelda, trying to map out a way we could see the bands we wanted to check out - and had a map FAIL. The map, the one with all the pictures and set times on the back became tedious and cryptic, but we still tried to figure out where and when some of the bands were playing. It became difficult to maneuver the festival because, one - some of the stages were basically on the same stage just called a different thing (Kingsize Soundlabs Stage/The Ship Stage). Two - they were hidden and not directly on Colorado Boulevard (American Legion Hall). And three - the set times of one DJ ran later than expected (which should always be expected, Soul in the Park/Future Music Stage). There’s only three things to do when put in a confusing situation - try to make the best of it, adapt, and move on.

We ended up finding the American Legion Hall tucked between Merton Avenue (Caspar = over-priced-gourmet-world-food alleyway) and Colorado and ended up stumbling in on Random Patterns’ set. The American Legion was what I imagined was used for old World War dances, except that Random Patterns set the mood for a very loud and distorted prom band. Not that they played prom songs, but their entire set was muffled by the blaring speakers that bounced off the acoustics of the hall. You could tell that despite the loudness not even the saxophonist and the amazingly intense drummer (props to the guy who helped him get part of his cymbal set back on stage after it fell off) could salvage the music quality.  Just a note: NO props to the lighting guy who kept shining bright production lights in the eyes of the band. Good job (sarcasm) guy. I guess you get what you pay for at a free concert. Although the band started out rough and loud, I give them props for making the best out of the semi-discouraging things occurring around them. Way to keep at it! That doesn’t mean I don’t have a small complaint to the band – say the track title loud and clear for the people who are jotting down notes about you. It’ll help come review time. Or turn down your amps so we can make out the song title through the lyrics. Thanks. Much appreciated.

Next we headed into the Coffee Table Lounge, the only sports bar on Colorado and a great selection of $5 beer, and decided to look at the map again to plot our course. After being pushed to the edge of confusion, again, we got up and decided to find the next stage – Soul in the Park/Future Music Stage. Basically, we went to go find the electronic and DJ stage. We got there and caught Computer Jay’s set and a DJ by the name of Free the Robots. Computer Jay began his set with what sounded like a thousand rabid pigeons cooing at the same time, except that they were digitalized. I think the guy said that he was using an Atari 600 to create whatever sounds he was making, and that was alright with me. I didn’t know that’s what it took to create those kinds of sounds, but I now see why it sounded 8-bit. Most of Computer Jay’s mixes were low key and appropriately chill for a Saturday afternoon. Free the Robots took the stage and immediately had sound problems. He quickly overcame this and moved on to an intense mashup of edgier and sexier beats.  At one point the guy used some sort of “Close Encounters” crazy aleatoric sound that inspired some wobbly toddlers to start dancing. Hell, I even got down! At this point the sun was about three quarters down and the alcoholic brown bags started coming out. People became braver, more nocturnal, and friendlier. The full moon helped too. We didn’t get to see DJ Nobody like we hoped because Free The Robots went over time, but that’s okay because it pushed us to move on to The Ship Stage to see The French Semester.

                On our way to the Ship Stage my friend and I noticed that there were lots of people wearing t-shirts that said “The Rock 90041” and “Mount Wash 90065”. I don’t know if it was my jealousy that I didn’t have on a “90501” zip code t-shirt to represent (!) but I was not feeling it. What I was feeling though was the little wooden stage a group of about 8 or 10 performers set up curbside of the 7-11! That was the most unexpected awesomeness that came out of the night. They each had what looked to be ukuleles with 8 strings! The people playing the ukuleles stood around the wooden stage and two women began dancing and clicking their heels to the beat. I don’t know what their name is, but if anyone knows, let me know! The Latin/Spanish/I don’t know-inspired performance was mind blowing and inspirational, since they were not a featured band and just randomly appeared! They even accrued their own dancing crowd! And since the crowd kept growing and show time for The French Semester was near, we moved on.

One thing about the indie rogue band The French Semester is that they have a sound that directly reflects their influences (The Zombies, The Flaming Lips, and Neutral Milk Hotel) and also has an honest, simple-complicated, yet modern-classic acoustic rock sound that they have and own. To me, they sound similar to a band called The Anniversary and share a deep rooted psychedelic Velvet Underground sensibility that’s set off by the tambourine and accompanying female vocals. Come performance, each band member approached their instruments, stage, and crowd with a sort of mature fearlessness (maybe this came from their recent spring ’09 tour). They kicked off the set with a new song “A Shoutout to the Underside” (EP out in a few months!), jived into “Backwards Rolling” and “The East Man” (both from full length album Good Friends Only I Could See), and then gave the good-sized sea of concertgoers three more new TFS tracks, “Deep Tissue on a Saturday Night”, “Lessons on the Autoway”, and ended their album-diverse set with “The Large Bouquet”. They rocked it and the crowd thanked them with genuine hoots and claps for helping to create an easy transition from laid back summer into nostalgic and bittersweet fall.

                Out of all of the performances I saw I think my favorite memory comes from the group of 8 or 10 musicians who managed to play their 8-string ukuleles or guitars in unison, each strumming, plucking and singing while two dancers on a makeshift stage click their heels to the beat. They weren’t even on the bill and they had a stage and had a focused and intensely joyful audience to dance and keep beat with. That’s what I love about hometown music festivals – they’re smaller than mainstream ones and promote the growth of independent musical talent within a local and larger cultural realm. I can’t wait for next year’s Eagle Rock lineup. Who will be the next band to catch the attention of our ears?

All photo credit goes to Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock

10th Annual Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

Come celebrate the lives of family or friends who have passed on. Dia De Los Muertos is being held Saturday October 24, 2009 at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. For those of you who don't know what Dia De Los Muertos is: it is what others may know as All Souls' Day (Catholics) or Dia de Finados (Brazil) and is celebrated in Mexico and Latin America on November 1st and 2nd. However, in LA I think they are starting a few days earlier. Anyways, it is a celebration and way for people to get together and remember their beloved family and friends who have died (including pets!).

 To cite a source, Wikipedia says that "Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts." So, if you're looking to remember those who have died in a positive and memorable way I think you should go to Dia De Los Muertos at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Bring something to remember a loved one, or just keep them in mind, while participating in a unifying event. Everyone will die one day, I guess that's what unifies us. But, at the same time it's not that sad because maybe there will be people celebrating your life at an event such as this one day. I guess what I'm trying to say is that death is made to be so serious, why not reserve one evening to remembering the lives of the dead as if they were alive.

More Info:
Saturday October 24th, 2009
4pm-11pm

The Ceremonial Altar Set-Up:
Friday October 23rd, 2009
5pm-onward

Cost: $10/person, children = free.
Dress: You can come dressed how you are or in Calaca apparel
Be prepared to: Celebrate the lives of the dead! Eat Mexican cuisine! Enjoy Day of the Dead altars, art, skulls, and merchandise! See traditional Aztec blessings and regional musical-dance group dedications! An evening concert! Family activities! Contests! Historical lecture about Dia De Los Muertos! Have fun!!!
Come: EARLY for parking!
Bring: $10 for parking!

Address: Hollywood Forever Cemetery
6000 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90038

I'm definitely going to this. xo

Photo Credit: LA Day of the Dead

Throwback Thursdays - Sleep Walk by Santo & Johnny (1959)

Tangled Up In Blue by Bob Dylan

New Album Release Tuesday 10/06/09

Air – Love 2 - Website/Myspace 

Basement Jaxx – Scars - Website/Myspace

Built to Spill – There is No Enemy - Website/Myspace

The Gossip – Music For Men - Website/Myspace

The Happy Hollows – Spells – Website/Myspace

The Raveonettes – In And Out Of Control – Website/Myspace

Roseanne Cash – The List – Website

The Cinematics – Love and Terror – Myspace

Bob Dylan & His Band @ The Palladium!!!

Photo by Last.fm

October 13 through the 15th and two nights @ The Greek Theatre at U.C. Berkeley October 10th and 11th!
What an awesome random little tour to take for one of the actual "monsters of folk". The tickets will run you $50-56 dollars or more depending on the service charges from Live Nation and Ticket Bastard.

It would be worth the half a hundy to go and see "the" Bob Dylan perform. Let's be honest, when's the last time you know for sure that you're going to be able to see one of the last great rock idols, rock?  A good friend and also a very reliable source told me that she's seen him more than once and he performs all of his songs differently than how they are in their original versions. He always changes it up. You've got to respect a guy who knows how to keep his own material fresh by always evolving it. The guy has been around the same amount of time my grandparents have been around and that's saying something for the longevity of his spirit and the timelessness of his back catalog of music.

Some other concerts you should check out are:

• MUTEMATH @ Club Nokia Oct. 10th 
• Yo La Tengo @ The Avalon Oct. 15th
• Roger Daltrey (the lead singer from The Who) @ The Orpheum Theatre Oct. 17th
• The Pogues @ Club Nokia Oct. 17th
• Owl City @ Troubadour Oct. 20th 
• Echo & The Bunnymen @ Nokia Theatre Oct. 24th

FREE: Eagle Rock Music & Arts Festival

Luckily, I'll be covering this gig. So, check back later for more on it!
'Til then go here for more info on it and who's playing.
And go here for bar info on Colorado Blvd.

Listen To This: The Raveonettes

Their new album 'In & Out Of Control' can be listened to in its entirety on Spinner.com's website. I may be a little faded but I know good music when I start catching myself groovin down doing that "yes nod".

This album is has raised the bar for all the "The" bands because it actually has a story to tell. Listen to it from beginning to end. Don't jump the gun and start it from the most attention grabbing (and honest) track titles "Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)", "D.R.U.G.S." and "Suicide", set aside that extra motion in your everyday gesticulation and start from the beginning.You wont be sorry you did it.

 'In & Out Of Control' is just like how you'd envision anyone out of control. You go  from one thing to the next, but always relishing in the thing you're throat deep in. It flows to great emotional heights and spins into dark human lows. Saron Foo's clipping and evolutionary (from beginning to end!) vocals and Sune Rose Wagner's intense instrumentation are dizzying in an electrifying body highish and mind excavation sort of way. "Bang" kicks everything off with an upbeat and fun summery tune. I didn't know if the pop was going to be a one time thing or become an overdose.

I stuck around and "Gone Forever", a more serious, hollow, and distant sound engulfed me. It has an intimate longing and self-reflective bare bones style to it. After you are dropped off into a Joy Division-esque loneness the slinky bass line in "Break Into Cars" comes in shattering and crashing into "Breakup Girls". "Oh I Buried You Today" is slow and weepy. It makes me think of a wispy Skeeter Davis song. Foo's voice in "Wine" is warm and smeary, like the hazy glow you get while drinking wine. Or drinking too much. Anyways, listen to The Raveonettes and dream away in your room. You'll have an 80s flashback at some point, I guarantee it. Especially after "Last Dance". You'll get it once you listen. "Heart Of Stone" is my favorite at the moment. Gonna go take a 3rd listen...

Go to their MySpace here!

Photo credit: The Raveonettes MySpace

Bars on Colorado Blvd.

For Saturday's Eagle Rock Music & Arts Festival there are bars on Colorado Blvd. WEST!
NOT EAST!

Check it out...

View Larger Map

Throwback Thursdays - A Message To You Rudy by The Specials

Behind Blue Eyes by The Who (it's all about 2:28!)

HAPPY ROCKTOBER!!!!!