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Get inspired: Novel writing class in Echo Park

Flickr photo by Menetnashté

Echo Park resident and novelist Tempany Deckert is offering a Beginner’s Novel Writing Class on Wednesdays, starting October 6. While the class isn’t free, you will get to:

Learn to write your very own novel in this fun, informative and inspiring class. Taught by eighteen time novelist, T. Deckert, you’ll learn how to develop characters, plot, structure and most important of all, have the discipline to complete your very own work of art. Anyone can write, but not many people can navigate their way through the entire novel writing process. In this class you’ll not only learn the tricks of the trade, but you’ll complete your very own book over the course of 8 weeks.

Cost of the class is $260, and class size is restricted to so sign up fast!

To reserve your spot, email tempanydeckert@gmail.com

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Ask the LA Planning Director: Tonight!

Tonight is the Town Hall meeting where residents can meet and speak to the new LA Planning Director, Michael LoGrande. Echo Park has some stake in this meeting – at least two developments in Echo Park are being criticized by neighbors for developing buildings that breach our community planning guidelines: Avalon Street and the Sunset Flats development on Sunset and Rosemont.This is a great opportunity to find out what the city has in store for our community.

If you’re not planning on attending tonight’s meting, you can still submit questions online by clicking here.

Mayberry Elementary is located at 2414 Mayberry Street

Click here to register for the town hall.

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Acoustic Concert at Fretted Frog

Flickr photo via The Fretted Frog

Fretted Frog will be hosting an acoustic concert with Anthony Da Costa, a talented 19-year-old folk/rock/Americana/pop musician, on Saturday, September 25 at 7:30 pm.

Opening acts include Micah, who has played twice in the open mics at Fretted Frog, and Elliot Smith (inspired rock/folk songwriter).

The show goes until 10:00 pm, is all ages, and FREE! (donations, however, are accepted).

RSVP by emailing info@thefrettedfrog.com

Fretted Frog is located at 1200 N. Alvarado St.

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Echo Park Night at Dodger Stadium – Get your tickets now!

Support the EPIA and the Chamber of Commerce and enjoy a Dodgers game with your neighbors!

The annual Echo Park Night at Dodger Stadium is coming up on Saturday, October 2 at 7:10 pm, the Dodgers play the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Tickets are ONLY $11 each (for $18 seats!)

Get your tickets today! Email the EPIA at epiamail@yahoo.com with your name and the number of tickets you are committing to purchase, and instructions about delivery/pickup and payment will be emailed back to you. If you see the above flyer in the window of a business (like Masa!), inquire there as well! You might be able to buy tickets with your dinner.

Go to www.epia-echopark.org for more info or to download the event flyer.

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Echo Park Historical Society Lake Walking Tour

The Echo Park Historical Society is hosting its Echo Park Lake Walking Tour on Sunday, September 26 (originally scheduled for September 25). The tour starts at 10:00 am and will include some of the neighborhood’s most prominent landmarks, such as Jensen’s Recreation Center, Angelus Temple and, of course, the Lake.

The tour takes about two hours to complete and includes several stairways. Building interiors are not included. Reservations required, and are free for EPHS members but we ask a $5 donation for all others. For more tour information, please call (323) 860-8874 or click here to e-mail your reservation. Include your name, the number of people in your group, your phone number and the name and date of the tour.

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Echo Park’s Week in Music

For the week of Monday, September 20 through Sunday, September 26

Monday
Monday Night Residency: Vanaprasta, Pacific Hurt, Cue The Moon, The Hundred Days @ Echo
New Music Monday With Young Mammals, Atomic Zeus, Deaf @ Echo Curio
Sean Carnage presents Captain Ahab, Narwhalz of Sound, W.H.I.T.E. Hosannas (formerly Church from Portland) @ Perhspace

Tuesday
The Parson Red Heads, Red Cortez, The World Record @ Echo
KROQ Locals Only presents The Funeral Party, The Belle Brigade, Italian Japanese @ Bootleg Theater

Wednesday
What Laura Says, Skybox @ Echo
The Dø (Finland), Mia Maestro, Paul Dempsey, (Something For Kate) @ Bootleg Theater
Neo, Tribraco, Glass Goblins, plus guests @ Echo Curio
Live Jazz every Wednesday Night at 7:00 pm @ Downbeat Cafe

Thursday
Dub Club @ Echopex & Echo
Jim Jones Revue, The Bellrays, Coasting @ Echo
Down and Derby Roller Disco @ Echoplex
Wet & Reckless @ Origami Vinyl
Cassorla, Strangers Family Band, Slang Chickens @ Echo Curio

Friday
Unidentified Tasting Object @ Echo Patio
Club Underground with Rabbits Rabbits Rabbits @ Echo
Cantora Live and The Fold present: Rumspringa, (Debut Record Release), Gamble House, Superhumanoids @ Bootleg Theater
Swagger Sticks, The Shakers, Z/schnee & The Bleeding Livers, Mad Planet @ Echo Curio
Hydroplane, Khalija, Knobgoblin, Wake @ Perhspace

Saturday
Waved Out II: Dungen, Entrance, Sharon Van Etten, The Fresh & Onlys, Shannon and the Clams, John Carpenter, So Many Wizards, Summer Darling, Young Prisms, Gestapo Khazi, Victoria Noll, The Zig Zags and more @ Echoplex & Echo
Funky Sole @ Echo
Heather Woodbury’s As The Globe Warms, Halloween Swim Team Release Party with Laco$te And 60 Watt Kid @ Echo Curio
Torches in Trees, The Fay Wrays, The Record Year @ Perhspace

Sunday
Grand Ole Echo @ Echo
Part Time Punks With Frankie Rose [Slumberland Records LP Release Party], Hunx & His Punx @ Echo

For more information on weekly musical events like club nights, see our community resource pages.Visit the venue website for more information on the cost and times of shows. This list may not represent all the musical events happening in Echo Park this week – feel free to add more events in the comment section. All events listed are subject to change at any time. New events announced for the week after this posting may not be included.

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Will the pigeons win this time? Find out at the Echo Park Lake Bird Count

Flickr photo via BlackDaffodill

Last Christmas, pigeons trumped coots 240 to 239 at the annual Echo Park Lake Christmas Bird Count. Will they win this round?

The Autumn Echo Park Lake bird count takes place on Saturday, September 25 at 9:00 am (meet at the Boathouse!). Bird lovers in Echo Park have identified over 70 species of birds over the last ten years. You can expect to find species such as mallards, great-tailed grackles, robins, American coots, sparrows, finches, great egrets, black-crowned night herons, green herons, blackbirds, hawks and various gulls and doves, and more.

Beginning birders, including children, are welcome to the free bird walk. Binoculars are strongly recommended along with a bird guide if you have one.

For more information contact  judycalifornia@yahoo.com, or call (323) 663-6767.

See you at the bird walk!

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Cars of Echo Park: Sweet Malibu ride

Flickr photo via A.C.Thamer

Oh-so-shiny and love those Chevy Malibus!

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Peace Day Picnic at Rec Center

The Echo Center (formerly the Center for Nonviolent Education and Parenting) is holding a Peace Day picnic at the Echo Park Recreation Center on Sunday, September 19 from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.

The International Day of Peace “provides an opportunity for  individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace on  a shared date. It  was established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly.” The picnic is an opportunity for Echo Center families to connect.

At The Echo Center, we will comemorate this special day of peace and nonviolence by having a super fun Peace Day Picnic this Sunday!  This is a fun-filled, casual way to connect with other Echo Center families.

The picnic will take place at the Echo Park Recreation Center at 1632 Bellevue Ave.

The Echo Center/CNVEP will provide water, games, art activities provided by the Art Zone, and “empathy.”

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“Paradise and Lunch” at Echo Country Outpost

Spend part of our final summer days this weekend at Echo Country Outpost’s “Paradise & Lunch” even on Sunday. Here’s all the info:

Sunday, September 19th, 3:00pm
$5 at the door
$5 unlimited refreshment
$2 Burgers and Dogs
Live Music All Afternoon

Walter Spencer at 3:30 pm
Freaky Mountain at 4:20 pm
Matt Van Winkle at 5:30 pm<
Cave Country at 6:30 pm
The Driftwood Singers at 7:30 pm
RT N’ The 44s 8:30 pm

Echo Country Outpost is located at 1930 Echo Park Ave

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Schultztember art show opening at DIY Gallery

The opening reception for DIY Gallery’s next art exhibit starts tomorrow (Saturday, September 18, 2010). Stop by after 7:00 pm for “Schultztember,” a collection of new work by the Schults Brothers, an art and music duo based in Los Angeles.

From the DIY Gallery website:

The Teller of Lore speaks of images … Speaks of dreams … Speaks of sights and sounds of this world and others. Some understand the messages in the symbology represented on these visions , while others seek the knowledge hidden in them. Some fear the gifts they are given while others embrace the responsibility at hand. There are those who see the light as a beacon to guide them through the darkness and others who embrace the shadows knowing the blinding dangers of the light. Water to quench the summer thirst, fire to warm the winter hearth. Nor summer nor winter, Schultstember is upon us.

Closing reception is October 16, 2010.

DIY Gallery is located at 1549 West Sunset Boulevard

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LA Beyond Coal Campaign coming to you

Park[ing] Day LA is tomorrow, so we’re feeling very eco-friendly lately!

This Sunday, if you live in Echo Park you might be visited by someone from the LA Beyond Coal Campaign. They are canvassing the neighborhood to reach “10,000 Angelenos to ask them to support a coal-free LA.” It doesn’t look like they’ll be asking for donations or anything, but each door-knocker will have a postcard to City Council, “asking them to make sure the City goes coal-free.” If you get a knock at your door between 11:30 am and 3:30 pm, you’ll know who it is.

After the canvassing, they’ll be holding a coal-free BBQ at Elysian Park, meeting at the picnic tables near the corner of Stadium Way and Scott Avenue. If you have questions about LABeyondCoal.org, want to help canvass, or join in some other way, contact Evan.Gillespie@Sierraclub.org.

If you’d like to attend this event, you can RSVP online.

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Beyond the Street signing and Exhibit

Tonight (Thursday, September 16) is the opening reception for “Beyond the Street: The 100 Leading Figures in Urban Art.” There will be a book signing with contributors Amanda and Shepard Fairey, Dave Kinsey, Jana DesForges of BLK/MRKT, Marsea Goldberg of New Image Art, Patti Astor, Retna and Saber.

The signing will be following by the opening reception for Shepard Fairey’s exhibit of printed work, titled “Printed Matters.”

Subliminal Projects is located at 1331 W Sunset Blvd. For more info visit subliminalprojects.com

Gestalten and Subliminal Projects Book Signing and Reception
Beyond the Street: The 100 Leading Figures in Urban Art
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Signing from 7–8:00 pm
Exhibit from 8-11:00 pm

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Echo Park Film Center screening during Park[ing] Day LA

In addition to the Park[ing] Day festivities throughout LA and the Echo Park Time Bank park up on Echo Park Avenue (which we wrote about yesterday), the Echo Park Film Center is hosting its 4th annual Park[ing] Day LA 2010 Ride-In Movie and Pot Luck Dinner at Echo Park Lake on Friday. Meet up on Park and Logan, the event starts at 6:00 pm with some tasty eats, and the screening at 7:00 pm.

The Echo Park Film Center will be screening “Breaking Away” on the side of their FilmMobile, the eco-friendly cinema and film school on wheels. Reclaim great public space and join the EPFC as they regenerate the long and noble tradition of itinerant cinema.

Just in case you missed it: “Park themes range from Shakespeare in the Park[ing] to Dog Park[ing], from a Western Hoedown to a country picnic, from a Pedestrian Plaza to a Village Square. Park-ticipants include activists, artists, architects and all sorts of folks who simply want to engage the community in a discussion of public space and how it’s allocated.”

See you there!

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“Pocket parks” to take over parking spots on Friday

The fourth annual Parking Day LA will be taking over a few of the city’s parking spots all day this Friday, September 17. The goal? To transform our parking spaces into small pockets of parks, and to change the landscape of LA from one day from a car-infested city into a sustainable (and pretty!) public space. The Parking Day LA website further clarifies: “Additional parks will help reduce the heat-island effect of the City by converting our over-abundance of concrete and asphalt into green spaces that will inevitably promote the civility of the City by offering more spaces for the public to converge.”

In Echo Park, the Echo Park Time Bank Park will be at Echo Park Avenue and Delta (near Chicken Corner, the Durbin project that has been left vacant for so long) from 10:00 am – 7:00 pm. They will be “PARK(ing)” front of the lot they hope to some day be, instead of condos, a public park. Time Bank members, Aaron Kuehn and Orchid Velasquez will be offering “‘PARK(infusion)’ – the ‘steepest’ park ever! Assorted aromatic blends of wild flora for you to experience, just add water and your own cup.”

Stop by and hear live music and celebrate time bank member, Alicia Beach’s birthday!

Parking spaces are being transformed all over Los Angeles – click on the map below to find a location near you:

Click on the map for more

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