Experimental filmmaker Phil Solomon comes to Los Angeles
Filmmaker Phil Solomon's works are coming to Los Angeles, beginning with an installation at Young Projects at the Pacific Design Center which runs through August 2.
Solomon's experimental films aren't your typical movie-watching experience. Watching a Solomon film feels less like watching a movie than looking into a kaleidoscope or opening your eyes underwater -- a haunting, dreamlike experience.
Sometimes Solomon's works are a little scary, like his 1978 silent black and white piece "The Passage of the Bride," in which eerie faces subliminally flash across the frame. In some of his more recent works, Solomon even used digital backdrops from video games like "Grand Theft Auto" to create ghostly landscapes.
You can catch Phil Solomon in person at REDCAT on Monday, May 20 where several of his films and digital works will be screened, including "What's Out Tonight is Lost" (1983) and "In Memoriam" (2005-09). Tickets and more info at REDCAT's website.
Fruits, veggies, and black market soda at the Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market
Intern Mukta Mohan writing. Today I woke up at 3:30 a.m. to meet the Obscura Society at the Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market before sunrise. When I had arrived at 5 a.m., tractors were filling trucks with hundreds of pounds of produce. People were making deals on their computers, and small business owners were examining produce to stock their shelves. Every day, the produce market supplies supermarkets and restaurants so they can feed Los Angeles...all before the sun comes up.
Executive Chef Robert Luna, of Malo and Mas Malo, led a guided tour through the market. He's been shopping at the wholesale market for produce for over 18 years and has seen how it has changed.
The Wholesale Produce Market is split into two distinct areas. The new market which borders Olympic sells primarily to large supermarkets. Meanwhile, the old market which borders Central sells smaller quantities to markets, restaurants, and individuals who are buying in bulk.
Book review: "The Forgotten Presidents: Their Untold Constitutional Legacy" by Michael J. Gerhardt
Oxford University Press
This is a surprisingly singular study of the U.S. Presidents who somehow didn't make it into the common history of our nation. Michael Gerhardt's objective seems to be to prove that they are an essential part of our constitutional history, even if they are not remembered by most of us.
But "forgotten'' is a relative term here. There are plenty of us alive who voted for — or against — one of Professor Gerhardt's unlucky 13. That would be Jimmy Carter, who has in some ways distinguished himself more in the 33 years since his presidency than he did in office. Gerhardt seems to be speculating that Carter's presidency will soon be forgotten. But his detailed analysis of Carter's strengths versus his fatal "constitutional incoherence," makes you doubt that.
Other than Carter, you can't much argue with Gerhardt's selection: Martin Van Buren; William H Harrison; John Tyler; Zachary Taylor; Millard Fillmore (who is arguably best remembered for being completely forgotten); Franklin Pierce; Chester Arthur; Grover Cleveland; Benjamin Harrison; William H Taft and Calvin Coolidge. Ring any bells? I thought not. Cleveland's face shows up on the $1,000 bill, but how long since you saw one of those? Even Ronald Reagan's personal shilling for Calvin Coolidge couldn't make Silent Cal a jot more famous. The first Harrison is known chiefly for dying in office weeks after he made the longest (8,000 words) inaugural speech in US history. The second for being the first Harrison's grandson. And so it goes.
Natural History Museum celebrates 100th birthday on June 9, and you're invited
On Sunday, June 9, the Natural History Museum will celebrate its 100th birthday. There will be plenty to do during the day, but you don’t have to go home once the sun goes down.
After dark, Adam Steltzner of JPL will talk about the Mars Curiosity rover and the museum will put on a “spectacle of light and sound” in the brand new Otis Booth Pavilion, which houses the bones of a 63-foot fin whale.
You can roam the museum gardens and listen to DJs in the Mammal Halls, too. And if all that's not enough, you can also catch a live performance from DEVO.
Tickets are $25 for non-members and can be purchased through the Natural History Museum’s website.
Just in time for Mother's Day: Echo Park Craft Fair is this Saturday and Sunday
All the great handmade stuff you could ever want will be at the Echo Park Craft Fair this Saturday and Sunday. Just in time to get something cool for mom, too. Like textiles from Counterpane, jewelry from Annie Costello Brown and artisan brittles from Morning Glory Confections.
But beware, even though it's called the Echo Park Craft Fair, it's actually taking place in downtown LA at 821 East 3rd St., 90013. Check it out Saturday, May 11, 12pm-7pm; and Sunday, May 12, 12pm-6pm. Free to attend. More info here.
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