La Calavera: Things that went and are going on in Summer 08.

Reboot in process. . . . . . . . . .
System up and running. . . . . .
50% of La Calavera Program recovered. . . . . .

Que onda amigo’s y amiga’s!!!! Well, this summer has been a bit slow, especially with the pinche economia being the way it is, but some good events have been poppin’ up here and there.

First off, if you haven’t done this already you should be checking out Dave C. over at The Vault in old town Redlands. Word is, he’s been spinnin’ some really good joints, drawin’ in the crowds, and workin’ them like Alex Rodriguez works Madonna. . .AYE!!!!!

Here’s some events that La Calavera has attended over the past two months and info on events still going on (some free, some with just a little bit of dinero for either the tickets or the gas to get out there).

The Hollywood Bowl

La Calavera was sad. His woman and him missed out on their yearly 3 day outing to Coachella. But for a cheaper price he got themselves a three pack summer concert series at the Hollywood Bowl. . . and you still get that cloud of weed smoke blowin‘ your way, ain‘t nothing‘ like a second hand high! The first Concert was back in June featuring Devendra Banhart and Gilberto Gil from Brazil. The crowd was hyped, the vibe was chill, and it’s always cool to take a picnic basket filled with subs, drinks, humas and pita chips. Next concert in-line is this Sunday featuring Gnarls Barkley as the main act for the night. And the final one in September with Ozomatli and Nortec Collective. Tickets are always on sale ranging from $10 to $90, and there’s a concert almost everyday of the week. The only other expense that sucks is the gas it takes to get there. . .depending on what kinda car you own.

For all you movie buffs there is:

Calavera? What is Cinespia? Well amigo y amiga, it’s a muy chingon way to see a classic/cult flick. This takes place every Saturday and Sunday at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Santa Monica Blvd in L.A., one of the oldest cemeteries in Hollywood where classic movie stars are buried. There’s a $10.00 fee for getting in and $5.00 for parking (if you decided to park elsewhere there’s also a walk-in entrance). So basically this is a spot where every hipster, movie buff, and eclectic kid rolls out a blanket on the lawn, sets up their picnic, eats, drinks, smoke’s weed, and chills to the sounds of guest DJ’s playing music that fit’s the movie before the movie starts. Gates open at 7:30p.m. and the movie starts around 9:00p.m. Two Saturdays ago La Calavera and his woman and his hermana and her novio checked out a screening of Easy Rider. DJ Small Town Talk was spinnin’ some classic 70’s psychedelic rock and folk that added to the atmosphere. Next in line this Saturday is “The thin man” and on Sunday “The eyes of Laura Mars”.

Calavera, what else is there? Well, La Calavera is happy you asked. Another super chido event was GLOW, a free public arts/DJ venue that took place at the Santa Monica Pier and adjacent area from dusk till dawn. Yes, from 7p.m. till’ 7a.m. HOMBRE, why can’t we have those types of events out here so we wouldn’t have to drive so far!!!!

The event happened this past Saturday/Sunday. It was like an all night mini-Coachella. There were art instillations that lit up the night on the beach, the pier, and the promenade. Spread throughout the event were DJ’s mixing some electronica, ambient, trance, etc. with people dancing, camping out on the beach, enjoyin’ life. It’s good to get away from it all, especially if it’s gratis! If only we would had brought some sleeping bags. . . .

The ferris wheel on the pier, 1a.m.

Glow Sticks in the sand

Lots of Colorful Jelly fish like installations under the pier

Shadow puppets on the moon (it’s a small moon projection)

Constantly changing colorful light patterns on the ceiling of the carousel building with experimental electronic playing the background.

Dancers in the Dark

Santa Monica and L.A. in general always has some good free events going on, there’s the Do-Over every Sunday night, Glow, little café’s and chill joints offering free live performances. Riverside now has the Pharos’ Den located in between The Grind Coffee shop and the Menagerie where up-and-coming artist perform, the Riverside Arts museum had a free art exhibit featuring some good music two Sat’s ago. It’s all good. Even though these are hard times right now, there is a lot of things that one can do to get out of the pad, they’re not hard to find, you just gotta look.

Alright, that’s it for now. La Calavera thinks he did enough writing to make up for his absence. Hope you all are doing bien and. . .

Hasta La Proxima,

La Calaveras #42