Blog Archives

Debauchery In Exile

In a survival game set in the lands of Conan the Barbarian, Conan Exiles allows players to build a kingdom, and dominate enemies, in brutal combat and epic warfare.

Starting with nothing but bare hands, players explore a vast world full of challenge and opportunity. Whether hunting animals for resources, slaying monsters for treasure, or delving underground to discover the secrets of ancient civilizations, Conan Exiles is deeply immersive.

Adding to this already rich experience, FUNCOM introduces twelve DLC exclusive emotes in the Debaucheries of Derketo Pack. Now players can cast their prudence aside and give in to their darkest desires.

Choose to live out fantasies of being a noble, decorate your home with scarlet curtains and wine racks, and prepare yourself for battle with the intimidating Dark Templar armor set. Or satisfy base human cravings by chugging beer, getting drunk and juggling balls (your own.)

Conan Exiles has become one of Funcom’s best-selling games to date. Now that things are getting steamy, there’s no reason to return to reality. So, it’s time to quit your job and forge your legacy in the lands of Conan the Barbarian.

Burning Man Attacks Oakland

Illuminating the event’s origins, and its culture of experimentation, collaboration, and creativity, No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man consists of cutting-edge artwork, sculpture, and interactive installations from Burning Man; the infamous event that draws over 70,000 people to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert each year.

Today, the event attracts thousands of makers, artists, and innovators, who together create a temporary city in the desert filled with theme camps, impromptu performances, and experimental art installations, many of which are then ritually burned to the ground.

One of the most widely-celebrated and influential cultural events, Burning Man is deeply rooted in California and the Bay Area with the first “burn” taking place on San Francisco’s Baker Beach in 1986. No Spectators makes its West Coast debut and final stop in Oakland, and will take over the Oakland Museum of California‘s Great Hall and beyond to its galleries.

Featuring costumes, jewelry, “mutant” vehicles, photography, paintings, and interactive pieces, No Spectators will come to life through special programming and workshops where visitors can experiment with dance, music, and radical self-expression.

Beyond interactive activities, visitors will have the opportunity to hear from artists and founders of Burning Man as part of OMCA’s In Conversation speaker series.

No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man will be on view October 12, 2019–February 16, 2020.

Swan Lake Re-imagined

A new vision for this beloved tale, Loch na hEala (Swan Lake) creates a world of magical realism, compelling imagery and potent storytelling. From one of Ireland’s foremost dance and theatre makers, Michael Keegan-Dolan, comes of one of the most famous of all ballets.

The Dublin based band Slow Moving Clouds has created a new score that combines Nordic and Irish traditional music with minimalist and experimental influences. This Swan Lake is rooted in a place where ancient Irish mythology and modern Ireland collide, re-imagining Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece as a unique fusion of dance, traditional storytelling, folk music and theatre.

Loch na hEala is a stunning debut for Keegan-Dolan’s new company, Teaċ Daṁsa which was founded in 2016 as a means to forge deeper connections with his cultural roots: the native traditions, language and rich music of Ireland. Teaċ Daṁsa, ‘House of the Dance’ in Classical Irish, reflects Michael’s ongoing creative journey, further fusing his work to the place from which it originates.

Tickets available for the November 9 performance at UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA) at Royce Hall.

Retrocade at Union Station 2019

Fans of classic games from the 70s, 80s and 90s, can step back in time for the ultimate arcade rewind featuring over 50 cabinet games at Union Station.

Visitors can play on an eclectic collection of classic arcade games and specialty pinball cabinets including fan favorites “Pac Man”, “Galaga”, “Donkey Kong”, “Mortal Kombat” and “Street Fighter”.

In a spin on classic arcade food, 80s candy and soft drinks will be available as well as nachos, popcorn and churros, including beer, wine and specialty-themed cocktails.

Serious gamers can enter the 2nd annual “Pac Man” Tournament each day from 5-7pm. Entry fee is $10 to compete on vintage arcade “Pac Man” cabinets and vie for top-score honors and a custom “Pac Man” trophy.

Admission is $5 per two-hour gaming session. All games are set to “free play”. Tickets are available for purchase at the door this Saturday and Sunday, September 28 and 29, 2019.

Mobile Film Festival 2019

Defending equality & discovery, and eliminating economic constraints by way of mobiles & free registration, the Mobile Film Festival promotes the creativity of directors who choose to tell their stories in one-minute max!

For its 15th edition, the Mobile Film Festival (MFF) has partnered with YouTube Creators for Change and United Nations Climate Change; choosing to take part in the action by joining the campaign ACT NOW on climate change launched by the UN General Secretary, Antonio Guterres.

With the support of more than 90 NGOs, movements and international foundations, the Mobile Film Festival team hopes that these one-minute films from around the world will inspire citizens, politicians and economic decision-makers to act…

…and with €46,000 in grants at stake, participation should be a no-brainer!

Rainbow Shift 4.0

A unique exhibition celebrating LGBTQ awareness through a collaborative community of artistic expression, Rainbow Shift 4.0 offers an opportunity for queer visual, performing, and literary artists, and organizations to meet each other, plug their projects, and support a similar mindset.

This distinctive event, fusing art with social justice and curated by Baha H. Danesh & Tiger Munson, will be held at the The Montalban, and presented by We Choose Art, whose mission is to globally document a vibrant and artistic culture for tomorrow’s unique future.

The Ricardo Montalbán Foundation–which owns The Montalban theatre–seeks to provide educational and employment opportunities for artists dedicated to the Performing Arts, producing and supporting meaningful, world-class presentations that emphasize artistic collaboration, diversity and interdisciplinary work with community participation.

Erroll Garner Remastered

One of the most prolific performers in the history of jazz, Erroll Garner published more than 200 compositions during his 40-year career. Considered a legend among jazz pianists, his unique approach melds bebop and swing, resulting in music that is accessible and utterly distinct.

In celebration of Garner’s musical contributions, Mack Avenue Music Group and Octave Music are set to release a historic year-long, 12-album project, entitled Octave Remastered Series that features newly restored and expanded editions of classic Erroll Garner releases from the 1960s and 1970s. Utilizing the Plangent Process playback system and subsequently remixed by the GRAMMY Award-winning Garner team, the albums also contain newly discovered, unreleased bonus tracks.

The first four titles in the new series – ‘Dreamstreet’, ‘Closeup in Swing’, ‘One World Concert’, and ‘A New Kind of Love’ – will be released simultaneously on September 27. The subsequent series rollout features one album per month – ‘A Night at the Movies’, ‘Campus Concert’, ‘That’s My Kick’, ‘Up in Erroll’s Room’, ‘Feeling is Believing’, ‘Gemini’, ‘Magician’, and ‘Gershwin & Kern’ – leading up to Garner’s centennial in June 2020.

Garner’s most popular track, “Misty”, was ranked by ASCAP as the twelfth most popular song of the 20th century, and has been featured in numerous television shows and films. As well as being an illustrious musician, Garner was a courageous advocate for African-American empowerment and artistic freedom, which unquestionably added to the adoration and respect he received by peers and devoted fans alike.

Argento’s Remastered “Inferno” Soundtrack

Horror visionary Dario Argento undeniably appreciates the significance of a great soundtrack, and his choice of Keith Emerson was perfectly suited for the monumental task of creating the soundtrack for the 1980 Italian supernatural horror film Inferno.

Serving as a the second installment of Argento’s “The Three Mothers” trilogy, which began with Suspiria and concluding with The Mother Of Tears, the newly mastered and expanded release of the Inferno Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is now available from Waxwork Records.

A mix of both electronic work, orchestral compositions, percussion, piano, and a full choir by way of the Chorus of Rome, the Inferno Waxwork Records release includes soundtrack outtakes and alternate tracks making it the most comprehensive and definitive version ever available on vinyl.

Differing from the previous Argento films, in that it did not feature the band Goblin, Inferno‘s tale of three sister-witches that run the world with sorrow, tears, and darkness, is a classic installment from a master filmmaker and an accomplished progressive rock and electronic musician.

For more information, follow the link below…

Druid Underground Film Festival

Following a sold out event in Brooklyn NY, the Druid Underground Film Festival comes home to LA, celebrating 12 years of wildly creative indie films including animation, documentary, experimental and beyond.

Founded by independent horror film director Billy Burgess (of Hipster Holocaust fame), the festival has been a cult favorite among indie filmmakers and their fans for its subversive subject matter masterfully wrapped in comedic overtones.

This year’s DUFF features a hilarious medley of found footage followed by ground-breaking shorts carefully chosen by Burgess himself from this year’s nearly 1,000 submissions, which includes work by David, Yuval Haker, Negro Terror, Brian & Karl, Lobster Repair, Chrissy Fellmeth, and Jim Tuite.

PROGRAM DETAILS

Motorcycle Party Massacre
The ultimate white-trash hell-ride of backwoods motorcycle rallies, awkward redneck wisdom, horrifying home videos, and more boobs than a stack of Playboys in a break-neck, fly-by-seat-of-your-leather-pants analog mixtape mash-up sourced from hundreds of late 80’s-early 90’s VHS tapes dragged from the most decrepit, cigarette-stained thrift stores of the deep-south.

Kool Bros part 1+2
Two skateboarding cartoon goons jump in and out of a delirious world of cops, beach rats and butts.

I Am Sex
Colorful, playful, sex-obsessed Tel Aviv-based animation for an Alon Eder song performed entirely on a cheap 80’s Casio keyboard.

Voice of Memphis
The band Negro Terror subverts a white supremacist anthem, urging power be returned to the people, in particular in their hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.

Brendan Maclean: House of Air
Inspired by Hal Fischer’s photo series ‘Gay Semiotics’, House of Air is a sexually explicit look at hanky codes in 1970s San Francisco.

National Anthem
The Star-Spangled Banner, belched.

New Baby
A dude shows off his new baby as evidence he actually had sexual intercourse in this ridiculous animation.

Rockabilly: Whole World Gone Cancelled
An experimental melting pot of deteriorating and re-articulating madness narrated by poet Billy Cancel.

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The 12th Annual Druid Underground Film Festival will take place at the classic and infamous HM157 artist collective and venue, one of LA’s last surviving independent non-profit DIY spaces. Founded by Charon Nogues and Reid Maxwell, HM7 has hosted countless concerts, art shows, community dinners, and educational workshops.

For more information, follow the link below…

WAR Erupts At The Greek

Watching a performance by the legendary American funk band ‘WAR’ is certainly on many an OG’s bucket list, especially if you’re an old school Angeleno who never had the opportunity to see these guys at the height of their popularity in the 70s. Luckily, WAR was on hand for a rare appearance at the Greek Theater—alongside George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic and special guest Nortec Collective—to dip into their grab bag of goodies for a trip down memory lane.

Considered a successful musical crossover-band fusing elements of Rock, Funk, Jazz, Latin, R&B and Reggae, WAR’s message of inclusion and tolerance is once again uber-relevant in America’s current sociopolitical climate. With an initial goal of using music to speak out against racism, hunger and crime, WAR’s multi-ethnic line-up continues to transcend racial and cultural barriers while promoting hope and unity.

For a band whose history includes a Billboard ‘Album of the Year’ win, hits such as “Spill The Wine” & “Lowrider”, and stage time with Jimi Hendrix (in his last performance), we hope that WAR eventually gets into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame… no doubt they deserve it.