last night i saw the L.A. band Airborne Toxic Event at the henry fonda/music box here in L.A. (i probably should have posted on this the day >before … [Read more...]
Great Makeout Records and Happy Valentine’s Day
Please forgive me a bit of cheesecake, folks, as i celebrate Valentine's Day, a bogus holiday that i learned the hard way (with a college girlfriend i considered too bohemian to care about such a hallmark inspired custom) not to ignore.i guess today i am feeling something to lift the spirits after looking at all that east german cold-war art. so today i'm going to be building a list of great … [Read more...]
Postwar German Art, Mexican Printmaking and LACMA
The other day i made my first concentrated trip to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in a very long time. in the last year or two i'd walked along the campus with architect renzo piano as he talked about upcoming renovations, and i attended the blowout opening of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum, but this was my first visit as as civilian in quite a while. it also may be that only time i've … [Read more...]
John Updike Redux
There's so much to say about the prolific john updike that i've filed a second story... and still didnt have room to get into topics like his take on male sexuality, his very funny Bech books, or his very fine art and book criticism. (his new yorker review of "my name is red" turned me on to turkish writer orhan pamuk, for instance.)this piece came out of something i noticed over the years: when … [Read more...]
Fresh view of Narnia
As a kid, i loved the first few books of c.s. lewis's narnia series... until i realized that they were actually christian propaganda. (my religious education was slight enough that it took me a while to even figure out the whole aslan-christ symbol part.) it was years before i forgave lewis, and my sense of those books never entirely recovered. i was drawn mightily into tolkien, "dune," vonnegut … [Read more...]
Death of a Cramp
Well folks, normally i would not offer two posts on punk rock in the same week, much less the same day, but these aren't normal times.Today, Lux Interior, lead singer for the band The Cramps, died (fine LAT story here). ohio native erick purkhiser became part of the CBGB punk scene and moved to california. (when i bought a house four years ago i realized i lived one street over from him and cramps … [Read more...]
Ex-Sex Pistol, Indie 103 and "Mr. Rock Steady"
Many Angelenos were disappointed recently when, without warning, the radio station Indie 103 closed up shop and moved onto the Internet. i must admit, i was always suspicious of the station because of its early links to clear channel, and i'm more a kcrw kind of guy anyway.but i always enjoyed "jonesy's jukebox," the show by former sex pistols guitarist steve jones. (the huge amount of attention … [Read more...]
John Updike and Hollywood
It's been a very hard year or so for major writers -- we lost norman mailer near the end of 07, david foster wallace last year and now, last week, john updike. (and my boyhood hero kurt vonnegut a little further back.) here is the first of two stories of mine on updike -- it ran in the new hollywood site the wrap. my editor there is the fiendishly talented maria russo, who i wrote for at the LA … [Read more...]
Classical Piano and the Importance of Good Grooming
Last night i caught Leif Ove Andsnes, the norwegian pianist, at disney hall. (here he is, right, after, presumably, chopping an entire nordic forest.) he played a set of janacek, brahms, mozart and schubert, with violinist christian tetzlaff. (a fine story on the celebrated duo here.)great concert, by the way. while the ballade in the janacek was nearly heart-stopping, my favorite was the brahms … [Read more...]
Gastropubs and Highland Park
The other night i went to the reasonably new "gastropub" in the formerly rundown-- now thriving -- area of los angeles called highland park. an english friend, who i sometimes go pub-hopping with near his home off the hampstead heath, grumbles these days when his beloved victorian watering holes "go gastro," in his words.but i'm in favor of the trend, partly because english pub food, and most … [Read more...]