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Echo Park Film Center closed in July

We just got our (at the least) weekly email from the Echo Park Film Center. The Center will be closed for the month of July so that they can “tour, make films, and plot and plan for the coming season.” It seems that a couple of them are even taking the Trans-Siberian Railway through China, Mongolia and Russia. Jealous!

They will return sometime in August, but you still have one more chance to get your summer film fix this Friday, July 2 when the Filmmobile screens “The Savage Eye.” This “dramatized documentary” from 1959 follows the newly-divorced Judith on a journey through Los Angeles where she encounters all sorts of unsavory characters. The film “provides a peephole into the seedier side of a long gone Los Angeles.”

The screening is FREE and open to anyone, and starts at 8:00 pm. The location is somewhere along the 7000 block of Hollywood Blvd. between Sycamore and Orange. Keep an eye out on the Filmmobile Twitter page for more detailed info.

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Fix Coffee’s Local Artisans Bazaar Sunday

Fix Coffee is holding a free Local Artisans Bazaar the last Sunday of every month, starting this Sunday (June 27)!

Local artisans will be selling their wares, sidewalk chalk artists will be coloring up the area, and band African Cowboy will be playing starting at 4:00 pm. Bring your families, friends, and even doggies are welcome. They will provide chalk for the kids to join in.

The Bazaar goes from 2:00 – 7:00 pm.

If you are interested in playing or vending at the venue, please email Veronica Hunt at screamingchica@mac.com

Fix Coffee is located at 2100 Echo Park Ave (at Baxter)

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The Echo Show to Benefit for Nashville Flood Relief Fund

MusiCares has teamed up with The Echo to throw a benefit concert to raise money for people affected by the Middle Tennessee floods tomorrow (Thursday, June 24) at 7:00 pm. Cost is $20 benefiting Musicares Nashville Flood Relief Fund.

The lineup for the event includes Carlene Carter, along with Dave Alvin, Exene Cervenka, Syd Straw (our neighbor in Echo Park!), Tony Gilkyson, Seaspin, The Damn Sons, and DJ Travis Keller.

From The Echo website:

Nashville and its surrounding communities were unexpectedly struck by a major disaster on Saturday, May 1. Many in this music community experienced significant loss — homes, cars, equipment, and rehearsal space — ruined by the unprecedented flooding in several communities. It has been estimated that only a fraction of those who experienced significant loss have adequate flood insurance to cover their damages. MusiCares understands the effects of this disaster in a unique way. Since our inception in 1989, it has been our mission to assist music industry people facing unexpected crises. MusiCares is poised and ready to help the Nashville music community get through this crisis.

MusiCares has established the MusiCares Nashville Flood Relief Fund to assist music people affected by the Middle Tennessee Floods. MusiCares’ initial assistance will provide funds for food and clothing, gasoline and transportation, cleanup efforts, relocation costs, medicine, and other critical supplies.

18 and over, click here for tickets.

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Newest Echo Park Business – Montana Cans

It took me a while, but I finally figured out who’s moving into 1528 1/2 W. Sunset Blvd after finding this post on the Eastsider LA. The newest addition to Echo Park’s businesses will be Montana LA, a boutique spray paint store. The brand Montana has been around for a while (at least ten years)* and offers high end spray cans as well as markers, black and sketchbooks and apparel. As well as selling products, the company also sponsors artists, projects, events and does charity work. The store should be opening soon as its website announces that it will open in early 2010.

*Montana Cans (or German Montana) is not to be confused with Montana Colors (or Spanish Montana). The two companies seem to have a long and sordid history. See this PDF.

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Take a Folk Art Tour by bicycle around Echo Park/Historic Filipinotown

Join Folk Art Everywhere and the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition on a bicycle ride exploring art and culture in Echo Park and Historic Filipinotown.

Tomorrow! Saturday, June 19, 11:30 am to 2:30 pm (approximately)

Ride begins and ends at Pilipino Workers Center on 153 Glendale Blvd. (2nd Floor). Enter off Rockwood Dr.

The 3.4 mile bike tour is co-sponsored by Folk Art Everywhere, a project of the Craft and Folk Art Museum, and the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition. It’s designed to explore folk art in shops and cultural centers in the neighborhood with other art and bike lovers. Stops include:

  • Remy’s on Temple (a Filipino arts and culture gallery)
  • Nahuí Ohlín
  • Tribal Cafe
  • Edendale Branch Library in Echo Park
  • Pilipino Workers Center

About Folk Art Everywhere:

Folk Art Everywhere is designed to inspire exploration of diverse communities and neighborhoods in Los Angeles through art and culture. A project of the Craft and Folk Art Museum (CAFAM), Folk Art Everywhere has partnered with 25 diverse organizations and businesses to place artwork representing cultures from around the world inside venues throughout LA County. Think of it as a cultural treasure hunt that releases beautiful and curious art objects from private collections and installs them in unexpected public spaces—restaurants, parks, coffee shops, bookstores, and cultural centers—places where people naturally gather.

Click here to download the PDF flyer for the event.

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Echo Park Books Publishes “Art Time Punks”

Front and back covers of Art Time Punks book

Newly formed Echo Park Books has just launched its first release. Titled “Art Time Punks,” the 98-page softcover book is an original “fanbook” that covers five years of Part Time Punks (every Sunday at The Echo), including original artwork by Michael Stock from the past few years.

First Art Time Punks flyer circa 2005

Echo Park Books consists of Andrew Pogany (Echo Park resident, self-proclaimed “cultural instigator” and former Flaunt Magazine Editor-in-Chief) and Michael Stock (writer, DJ, and part-time professor). “For now, Echo Park Books will focus on publishing limited-edition books, chapbooks, and fanzines,” says Andrew, “But the plan is for it to evolve into just one of several imprints offering a variety of literary and arts services to an intimate community of creative peers.”

Art Time Punks books is a limited edition (only 250 books will be published), is black and white, soft cover perfectbound, 98 pages, and dimensions are 8 x 8 inches. All books come wrapped in Kraft Butcher paper.

You can purchase the books in person at:

  • Tonight! Punky Reggae Party at La Cita on Friday, June 18.
  • Tiger Beat at La Cita on Saturday, June 19.
  • Part Time Punks at The Echo on Sunday, June 20.

Or starting today, you can purchase a book online for $14 plus tax and shipping/handling at www.echoparkbooks.com and www.parttimepunks.com.

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Upcoming Echo Park Film Center Screenings

Thursday, June 17 @ 8:00 pm – OPEN SCREEN
Our quarterly cinematic free-for-all dares you to share your film with the feisty EPFC audience. Any genre! Any style! New, old, work-in-progress! First come, first screened; one film per filmmaker; 10 minute maximum. DVD, VHS, mini-DV, DV-CAM, Super 8, 8mm, 16mm. FILMMAKERS GET IN FREE!

Monday, June 21 @ 7:30 pm – FILMMAKERS ALLIANCE
Join us for the latest crop of local indies hosted by Filmmakers Alliance and get inspired to greenlight yourself! FILMMAKERS IN ATTENDANCE! FREE!

Thursday, June 24 and Friday, June 25 @ 8:00 – TIJUANA SHOWCASE
Join EPFC and guest curator and filmmaker Giancarlo Ruiz for a special two-night showcase of the best new cinematic work from Tijuana. Giancarlo Ruiz is a filmmaker and an actor. He is also co-founder of the collective “La Luciernaga Colectivo Escenico” with Raquel Presa in Tijuana and the acting troupe “The Travellin’ Zoo” with Joseph J. Stephen and Wayne Shi in San Diego. Ruiz is also co-founder of the annual film festival RECORTOS48 in the city of Tijuana. So many good films are being made in Tijuana right now that we had t o fill two nights! Each night will be a completely different program so be sure to be at both! FILMMAKER/CURATOR GIANCARLO RUIZ IN ATTENDANCE!

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Another OK Go Video Filmed in Echo Park

Just a few months ago, OK Go debuted its video for the song “This Too Shall Pass” filmed in an Echo Park warehouse. The new video for “End Love” is filmed at Echo Park Lake, which I LOVE! In just a few months, the lake will be gated up in preparation for the big rehab project, so this is a nice “ode to Echo Park Lake” for me.

Check it out here:

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The Echo Park Film Center Filmmobile Returns!

Once again, the Echo Park Film Center’s Filmmobile is taking movies to the streets! This eco-friendly bus drives around L.A. every summer and screens films for free in public locations around L.A. “Angelenos are invited to discover and explore their changing urban landscape when the Filmmobile projects an array of classic films at (actual or implied) cinematic locations across the city.”

Here are the films that will be screening in June. The screenings are free and open to everyone, but the locations aren’t revealed immediately. Be sure to check their Twitter to find out where these films will be playing.

Friday, June 11 @ 8:00 pm – THE DECAY OF FICTION
Pat O’Neill’s haunting meditation on The Ambassador Hotel. “If there were more experimental films as entertaining as “The Decay of Fiction,” Pat O’Neill’s luminous Hollywood ghost story, the notion of a thriving avant-garde cinema might not be so intimidating to the movie-going public. The 73-minute movie is a semi-abstract film noir shot largely in the empty corridors and bare peeling rooms of the Ambassador, a once-grand Los Angeles hotel that went spectacularly to seed after closing in 1989. The Ambassador was the site of some of the early Academy Awards ceremonies in the 1930’s and of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.” — Stephen Holden, The New York Times INTRODUCTION BY FILMMAKER PAT O’NEILL!

Friday, June 18 @ 8:00 pm – KING KONG
The 1933 classic King Kong, remembered for pioneering special effects using stop motion models and evocative images of the giant gorilla atop the Empire State Building.

Friday, June 25 @ 8:00 pm – LADY SINGS THE BLUES
Tonight’s screening is Lady Sings The Blues, the 1972 Billie Holiday biopic starring Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams.


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Echo Park Film Center Screenings and Workshops

Thursday, June 10 @ 8:00 pm – SAN FRANCISCO’S EXQUISITE CORPSE & INTIMATE OBSERVATIONS
Super 8 films from San Francisco! Intimate Observations is a collection of moving collages, left-field narrative and cinema vérité committed to the confines of small gauge celluloid. Filmmakers include Phoebe Tooke, Christian Bruno & Natalija Vekic, Paul Clipson, Daniel Gorrell, Jim Granato, Miles Montalbano, Douglas Schultz and “King of Super 8” Danny Plotnick. The second half of the show will feature Exquisite Corpse films. Each of these films was created using a 3 minute cartridge of Kodachrome super 8 film and was assigned a topic chosen by the group, with six 30 second opportunities to describe the subject. The filmmakers edited their contributions ‘in camera’ and the films are presented as they w ere shot. Live music by Don Black of GHIANT and Eric McCann of the New Amsterdams will be featured to score the 2nd half of the show (Exquisite Corpse).

Saturday, June 12 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm – SENIORS DIGITAL DROP IN CLASS
EPFC invites neighborhood seniors to join us for our FREE Introduction to Digital Filmmaking Drop-In Classes. Learn how to use digital cameras and basic computer editing software to make your own movie in a relaxed and informal setting. All materials and equipment are provided by EPFC. No previous filmmaking experience necessary.

Saturday, June 12 @ 8:00 pm – ARMCHAIR ADVENTURES III: AN EPFC ANALOG ANNEX EVENT
Another evening of bizarre, surreal, and wonderful animation from around the globe presented by John Cannizzaro and Cosmo Segurson. This evening’s screening will feature work by local animators including Colin Barton, Norwood Cheek, Nancy Jean Tucker, and co-presenters Segurson and Cannizzaro; as well as rare, 16mm classic animated films including THE HAND (Jiri Trnka 1965), CANON (Norman McLaren 1964), SCIENCE FRICTION (Stan Vanderbeek 1959); as well as LIVE MUSIC and refreshments. EVENT IS AT THE NEW EPFC ANALOG ANNEX… CALL OR EMAIL FOR DIRECTIONS!

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6th Annual EPFC Youth Film Festival

The 6th Annual Echo Park Film Center Youth Film Festival is tomorrow! There are two events, one in the early afternoon, and the other in the evening. Check out the details:

Youth Film Festival: FEED THE MONSTER

1:00 pm at The Smell (247 S. Main Street) in Downtown

Free, all ages welcome

EPFC will be screening youth films from around the world, plus video poems by King Middle School youth poets. There will also be an interactive video and musical performance, where audience members participate in some film loop making and musical improve (musical instruments encouraged!). In the final hour of the event, they will display the results of the interactive video/music-making.

Selected films, images and music will also be posted on EPFC ’s YouTube Channel here.

Work: EPFC Spring 2010 Youth Class Screening

Potluck at 6:00 pm, screening at 7:00 pm followed by a Q&A with filmmakers and instructors

Downtown Independent Theater (251 S. Main Street)

Free, all ages welcome

The EPFC’s youth class will debut their films they’ve been working on for the past three months. The films explore work in our society, turning the cameras “on the worker and becoming craftsmen themselves.”

Visit the Echo Park Film Center website for contact information.

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Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard in Angelino Heights

Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through June 20, The Oasis Theater Company will be performing Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard” in a private home in Angelino Heights. The play is interactive and is staged in different rooms throughout the house, with the audience sometimes sitting down to watch the action and other times following the actors from room to room. And if you get there an hour an hour early, you’ll be served some free borscht, bread, wine or vodka, and dessert!

Click here for more info and to buy tickets. Cost is $40 and show times are: Friday at 6:00 pm, and Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 pm.

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Art Opening for Echo Park Artist

Echo Park resident Karen Frimkess Wolff will be having an art opening at a Hollywood studio called Happy later this week.

While the Echo Park artist is known for her sculpture and installations, the artwork that will be displayed, shown above, are new graphite and pencil drawings. From the press release:

Using pure white gesso on press board as her surface, Karen’s landscapes convey a complex visual vocabulary that combine flora and fauna and a treasury of objects that sometimes soar, sometimes lay perfectly still, but always possess deep meaning.  A brilliant draftsman and master storyteller, Karen returns to the simple act of drawing with a sense of aplomb, a hand that is always present and the soul of a gentle soothsayer.

Artist Carlos Ulloa will also be displaying his signature collage silhouettes.

The opening reception is on Friday, June 4 from 6-10:00 pm, and will continue through July 31.

Happy is located at 4675 Hollywood Blvd. Email Paul for more information: paul@happylosangeles.com

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Tonight in Music, Echo Park

Bootleg Theater
The Good Listeners at 9:30, Pearly Gate Music at 10:30, Walking Sleep release party at 11:30
> Purchase Tickets

Echo Curio
Tom Carter, Barn Owl, Slasher Risk, Magick Orchids, Dreamcolour, The Faraday Trippers

Wooly Blvd (1840 Glendale Blvd)
NASA Space Universe, Okie Dokie, Green Screen Door, Ecoli, Soloing Over Alanis Morissette (thanks LAist for this one! Looks like this a fairly new space, never been before.)

Echoplex
Bearracuda: “San Francisco’s dance night for beards, furballs, bears, cubs, pups and beefcakes comes to Los Angeles.” DJ/Product Matt Consola, Sam Storicks.

The Echo
Funky Sole (every Saturday) with DJs Music Man Mills, and Clifton AKA Soft Touch.

Origami Vinyl
Cannoneers Of The New Command 7th release party at 7:00 pm.

Pehrspace
Easter Everywhere presents Princeton, Mystery Claws record release, Gamble House, Sleeping Bags, and a special guest.

Have fun and be safe! And as always, let us know if we’ve missed anything.

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Your Thursday Echo Park Guide

Diaper Drive

Donate any size and brand diapers all day today at El Centro Del Pueblo – donations go to teen parents and programs that work with infants.

You can drop off your donations until 7:30 pm tonight at El Centro Del Pueblo, located at 1157 Lemoyne Street.

Ice Cream Tasting at Stories

It might be a little cool and cloudy in Echo Park today, but let’s pretend it’s summer and grab your complimentary ice cream samples from Bittersweet treats at Stories Cafe. The store will be serving up flavors like honey lavender and salted caramel, and will be including these flavors in a 5 oz. size on its menu. Stories is located at 1716 Sunset Blvd.

Mooi

Mooi did indeed open up this week, tonight might be a good night to check it out (Thursdays are the new Fridays). They are open until 3:00 pm today for lunch, and 6:00 – 11:00 pm for dinner. QuarryGirl has a rave review of the raw vegan restaurant, so it might be worth check it out.

Take a Hike

Photo via Corralitas Red Car Property

We’ve been doing a lot of research recently about the Red Car routes through Echo Park and Silver Lake, and a recent article on the Corralitas Red Car Property website about the Red Car Trail has got us hankering for a hike. Warm up on Corralitas staircase (with its 133 steep steps) or just start out at the end of Corralitas drive and walk right on up the trail. The mile-long corridor will take you all the way to the corner of Fletcher and Riverside.

Click here for a map of the Red Car Trail from the Corralitas Red Car Property website. The trail is clearly visible on Google maps, click here for a look.

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