Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Iditarods, Fevers, and March Madness (no not basketball)

Life can pass by so quickly.  It's been too long since my last post, but good things have been happening.  FUEL has been out in LA for 1 month now, which is really really exciting!  It's still playing over at the AMC Loews Broadway on the promenade in Santa Monica, so if you really want to see what's hot and important in the alternative energy and green world, check it out.  It will change your life, I promise.

On a musical note (teehee note, get it?), South by Southwest is coming up super soon, so if you find yourself bored, with a lot of extra cash that you wouldn't mind dropping on a flight/driving trip, a hotel, and passes to the shows, get yourself over to Austin, Texas!  Or, a la recessionista, put that money somewhere and make some interest off of it...oh wait interest rates are less than 1%.  Get yourself to SXSW you lucky son of a $#@*&!!! All of the bands I love are going to be there...sadly enough, without me.

So lately, as in the last week lately, I have discovered a band called Cut Off Your Hands, hailing from New Zealand.  The Kiwis invaded LA, specifically Silver Lake last week, and man oh man are they fun.  Similar to Rooney and Hot Hot Heat, these 4  boys surpass the prior poppy bands from their engaging performance and stage presence.  Not only that, but Jono, their newest member and guitarist, is a friendly guy, having allowed me to interview him for a separate website for which I write music reviews,  NewBandDaily--it hasn't launched yet, but will be available soon!  They are touring the U.S. right now, and provide a really fun, cheap show.  Check them out, or just go listen to their MySpace page if you want to feel happy/silly for a few minutes.

While the recession is continuing, I will continue to post fun cheap things I have found to do in LA.

There is so much going on this month, both in the green world and the arts world, I am calling it my own personal "March Madness."

Upcoming this week, as it is the 2nd thursday of the month, its the...

Downtown Art Walk!!! 
It's a free event, with quite a large amount of cheap to free libations, food, music, and galleries open all along main and spring between 8th and 3rd downtown L.A.  It's the one time per month that L.A. feels like New York--is this a glimpse of the L.A. to come in the next 5-10 years as downtown is further gentrified?  If so, I am definitely not complaining...

After the Art Walk, there is a high end "green" event at the new lounge downtown, "Blue Velvet."  It's free if you rsvp on www.heidiluerra.com (she is the event planner) and it looks to be a really interesting combination of free art/culture/music/film along with organic alcohol, yummy!  It will be a monthly event, so if you can't make it this time, April shall arrive sooner than later.

Most exciting however, was the L.A. Urban Iditarod this past Saturday in Venice Beach.  It was the 3rd annual, and definitely more underground than last year per se where there were riot police.  However, team Jamaica dominated (this is an official judgement of course).  What's an iditarod you may ask?  It's a dog sled race!!! This time, humans are the dogs (even though team Jamaica did have a golden retriever mascot running amok with us).  The sleds are grocery shopping carts, and the territory is the Venice beach area where we only added more variation and oddity to the already spectacularly strange crowds.  The libations vary cart to cart, and everyone shares drinks, outfits, pictures, kisses...is this a view of the future global society?  Maybe if everyone was wasted and running around in costume all the time.  Even the cops posed in our pictures.  Something interesting to ponder nonetheless...

Song of the day:  Takka Takka, "Fever."  Check out their website, www.takkatakkamusic.com They've got catchy lyrics and compositions, hail from Brooklyn, my favorite place on the east coast, and still play small venues (which is very important).  Why fever?  Because that's how I've been feeling lately...

Green tip of the day: Does your shower or sink drip incessantly like mine do?  That water is referred to as "gray water" and its wasted :( Put a bucket under the shower head or bath and a cup under the faucet and use it to brush your teeth, or clean the apartment later.  For you recessionistas out there, you'll save money on your water bill and up your environmental conscious too :)

New addition for now=
COUNTDOWN TO COACHELLA because I am just that excited...
37 days!!!!!!!!!

hasta and peace