Hustler of Culture

Good Bye 2007!

December 31, 2007 - 11:33 p.m. - Venice, CA

This is the only photo of Silvio and I together in pre-2008 celebrations. It's a happy shot of us with perpetual funny man Scott Lahman -- we clean up nice, huh?! Happy New Year!

La Jolla - "Building Houses / Hiding Under Rocks" (01.04.08 - 02.02.08)

Aaron T Stephan
Building Houses / Hiding Under Rocks
Jan. 4 - Feb. 2, 2008

Opening Reception: Friday, Jan. 4th 6 - 8 pm

Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10 - 5:30

info@quintgallery.com
Quint Contemporary Art

LA - Ryan Beck New Works (01.04.08 - 01.25.08)

RYAN BECK recent works
JANUARY 4 - JANUARY 25 2008

OPENING RECEPTION
FRIDAY JANUARY 4TH 7-10pm

222 Gallery
451 n fairfax avenue los angeles ca 90036
(entrance behind building)
open mon - fri 12-5, or by appointment

LA - "I Like You More" (01.04.08 - 01.15.08)

I LIKE YOU MORE
4th January – 15th January 2008
Reception: 6-8pm Saturday 5th January 2008

Michelle Constantine Kathryn McFarlane
Curated by Christina Manville

LA - Modern American Sculpture (01.04.08 - 02.09.08)

SF - "Is it a Fiber Show" (01.04.08 - 02.16.08)

Bucheon Gallery
389 Grove St. @ Gough
San Francisco CA

Reception This Friday Jan. 4th, 6-8 pm

Exhibition Jan. 4th- Feb. 16th

Philly - "Big Kids/Little Kids" (01.04.08 - 01.25.08)

BIG KIDS/ LITTLE KIDS
JANUARY 4 - 25 2008

PHILADELPHIA - 4 JANUARY 2008
OPENING RECEPTION
FRIDAY 4 January 6-9pm 222gallery
222Vine Street Philadelphia PA 19106
open mon - fri 12-5, or by appointment

LA - Martha Rich & David Sandlin New Works (01.04.08 - 01.27.08)

OPENING: Friday, January 4th, 2008 (8 - 11 pm)

La Luz De Jesus
4633 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027

LA - David Sandlin and Martha Rich New Works (01.04.08 - 01.27.08)

David Sandlin and Martha Rich

Jan. 4 – Jan. 27, 2008
Reception for the artists: Friday, Jan. 4, 8 - 11 pm

La Luz de Jesus Gallery

Rockin' NYE With Radiohead!

Hey you, the rabid Radiohead fan, this is for you! Are you willing to forgo a night of debauchery ringing in the new year with your buddies to stay in and attend an online Radiohead concert? 'Cause here's your chance to prove how dedicated you are to our plugged-in rock gods. According to Current TV:

Radiohead will join us to play an exclusive live US TV performance of their new album "In Rainbows" on Current TV, all commercial free. The pre-recorded performance will include all of the tracks from "In Rainbows" plus some "other bits" as Thom says. The Daily Fix tells you when to tune in.

Producer/Host: Douglas Caballero (douglas at current dot com)
Producer/Director: Alex Simmons (alex at current dot com)

Air time available here.

SF - "The Westerns" (01.03.08 - 02.09.08)

Happy Birthday Mike!

December 30, 2007 - 12:51 a.m. - Los Angeles, CA

We celebrated Mike's 30th birthday with lots of cheer. Happy Birthday bub, you are loved!

Porous Walker Art

December 29, 2007 - 3:23 p.m. - Venice, CA

I was walking in and out of Abbot Kinney boutiques when I ran into my friend Francis working at ElizabethPaigeSmith gallery/boutique. As I was scanning the art on the wall, a series of hand drawings immediately caught my eye as the work of my pal, Porous Walker. No matter where I see his work, it always makes me crack up aloud. I mean, look at this. How can it not?!

Family Dinner & Games

December 28, 2007 - 10:07 p.m. - Santa Monica, CA

Chicago - 9th Annual Polar Bear Club New Years Day Swim (01.01.08)

Leesa Drake's Chicago Polar Bear Club!

9th Annual Polar Bear Club New Years Day Swim
January 1st, 2008 - 12:00noon

The 9th annual Polar Bear Club Swim will soon be here. Save the date and plan to ring in the new year with a splash. What better way to start off the year on an adventurous. The event will be on no matter how cold. Hope to see you there!

9th Annual New Year’s Day Swim

What: Polar Bear Swim in Lake Michigan on New Year's Day
When: New Year's Day at 12:00 noon
Where: North Avenue Beach near the boat house (approximately 1600 N)
Why: Carpe Diem!
Cost: FREE!

Ring in the New Year with a splash and set an adventurous tone for the upcoming year.

links for 2007-12-28

• 2007: The Year in Covers
  A portfolio of covers from all forty-seven issues of 2007's New Yorker magazine.
  (tags: NewYorker Art 2007 Lists NYC)
• Top 100 Recipes of 2007
  It looks like America loves comfort food with macaroni and cheese taking the top two slots!
  (tags: Food Recipes 2007 Lists BestOf Cooking FoodNetwork)
• The Top 10 New Organisms of 2007
  It looks like a highdea is finally on the cusp of being realized, "Next year, expect a transgenic cat, which will remain kitten-size throughout its life." Scary awesome!
  (tags: Wired Science Biology Cats Technology 2007 Lists BestOf Animals)
• Top 10 Cultural Trends of 2007
  From trashy TMZ to the so-over Sopranos, NPR discusses the top ten cultural events that had the most impact in 2007.
  (tags: NPR Lists BestOf 2007 Trends Culture)

Tamra Davis Cooking Show

I love cooking. And I love food blogs. Cooking is an activity that runs many generations deep in my family.

So thanks to Ian, I discovered the newly launched cooking vlog of filmmaker and mother Tamra Davis. With a Manhattan kitchen large enough for maneuvering around in, Tamra's how-to instructions are simple and easy to follow. Check out her pizza play date video above. She makes prepping dough fun. I wondered, did the substitute aluminum wrap make her nervous like it did me (hey, how about seeing some bloopers in the future)? I find Tamra's voice and demeanor to be gentle and nurturing -- just the kind of support every kitchen newbie needs! The blog is only a few days old so it'll be cool to see this project snowball. Combining the things you love can only be a good thing. Good luck Tamra with your cooking show, I'm looking forward to all your future creations!

If you haven't already found your inner chef, I encourage you to do so in 2008. Cooking for oneself and others is one of life's greatest joys. I promise!

Say Fromage!

December 26, 2007 - 9:46 p.m. - Culver City, CA

Bay Area - New Year's Eve Celebration (12.30.07 - 01.01.08)

New Year's Eve Celebration
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF MAESTRO EDGAR BRAUN (1933-2002)

SAN FRANCISCO CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
BENJAMIN SIMON, CONDUCTOR

ROBIN SHARP, VIOLIN
ALICIA TELFORD, FRENCH HORN
BENJAMIN SIMON, VIOLA

Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 2 in D Major
Mendelssohn: String Symphony No. 9 in C Major
Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola
in E-flat Major, K. 364

"Time to come down to dinner, Felix"... "Wait a minute mom, I’m almost done writing my new symphony!" Glorious music penned by youthful genius: from Felix (age 12) a delightful symphony for strings; from Wolfie (age 22) two of the most beautiful concerti ever written. Our "prodigious" soloists are the concertmaster, principal horn, and music director of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra. Come ring in the New Year in style with our celebration of youth - and ever-youthful music.

SF - Citta di Vitti Performance (12/30/07)

Citta di Vitti

Sunday, December 30 -- 3 to 5p

During November and December 2006, Phillip Greenlief composed around 40 melodic fragments while watching the films L'Avventura, L'Eclisse, and Deserto Rosso, all films by Michelangelo Antonioni, featuring Monica Vitti. With the sound turned off at the time Greenlief imagined that he was writing his own soundtrack for the films.

Film music by various Italian film composers from the 1960's (Giovanni Fusco, Ennio Morricone, Nino Rota). Films by Antonioni, Fellini, Leone, De Sica, Bertolucci, Visconti, Rossellini, Olmi. Inspiration courtesy of Moms Greenlief, Bartok, Steve Lacy, Anthony Braxton, Pauline Oliveros, Jon Raskin, Herb Alpert, Angelo Badalamente, John Zorn, Bernard Hermann, Graham Connah, Migs, Paolo Angeli, Federico Fellini, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Peter Sellers, Dumbo the Elephant, James Joyce, Cocina Italiana, molto espresso, scrabble tournaments, more...

Phillip Greenlief: alto saxophone
Lisa Mezzacappa: contrabass
Jason Levis: drums