Serving Larchmont Village, Hancock Park, and the Greater Wilshire neighborhoods of Los Angeles since 2011.

Weekend Buzz: Events for July 20-21, 2019

This weekend features two local-ish events celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

This is one of those oddly lopsided weekends, where events on one day (in this case, Saturday) far outnumber those on the other day of the weekend.  No real rhyme or reason to it, as far as we can tell, but Saturday this week is really jam-packed (including an event with actual jam!), while Sunday will be your more leisurely day for local events.

Saturday‘s schedule starts bright and early, with a family art-making workshop at the Coloring Book Plaza at the SE corner of Pico and Hauser.  It runs from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and two artists will lead art activities for kids. At the last event in this summer series, participants made shadow puppets and clay animals.  This week’s project is TBD, but there will also be plenty of chalk for everyone to color on the sidewalk. The whole family is welcome, it’s free, and it’s a great way to check out the results of one of our local Great Streets Initiative projects that are adding new vitality to some of our major local streetscapes.

Click to see full size flier.

Next, you might consider adopting a new cat this weekend.  This is prime kitten season, and the Pet Care Foundation is sponsoring the annual Catapalooza adoption event at all six Los Angeles City Animal Services Centers on both Saturday and Sunday this week. The event features reduced adoption fees, decorations, and treats for center visitors. For more info and locations of the city’s six animal shelters, see http://www.laanimalservices.com.

Also in the community service vein is the 5th Annual Hollywood Family Health and Resource Fair, sponsored by California State Assembly Member Richard Bloom and several other state, county, city and other non-profit organizations.  The event includes fun fitness activities for kids, free health and vision screenings, free children’s dental checkups, free blood pressure screenings, karate and self-defense classes for kids, arts and crafts tables, free backpacks and school supplies (while supplies last; priority given to those who RSVP in advance)…and lots more.  It all happens on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Yucca Community Center, 6671 Yucca St. (between Cherokee Ave. and Las Palmas Ave.) in Hollywood.

Next for family fun, check out the huge Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Celebration at the California Science Center, running all day on Saturday. The celebration features hands-on activities, including aNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) custom portable planetarium with a live, interactive, immersive presentation about space science…as well as workshops on Meteorite Exploration, Exploring Craters, Big Sun, Little Moon, Orbiting Objects, Objects in Motion, Landing the Apollo Lunar Module…and more.  There will also be a collection of historic artifacts to peruse, including real spacecraft and lunar samples, as well as screenings of the IMAX film Apollo 11: First Steps Edition (note that while Science Center admission is free, IMAX films require a paid ticket).

Meanwhile, the Miracle Mile Toy Hall, 5464 Wilshire Blvd., will also be celebrating the big space anniversary with an “Out of This World Cookie Decorating with Handstand Kitchen” event, starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Kids can decorate rocket ship, astronaut, and moon-shaped cookies, taking  “one small step for man and one delicious bite for mankind.”  The event is free, but space is limited, so please RSVP at the event link above.

Moving from the moon to France, you could head over to the John C. Fremont Branch Library, 6121 Melrose Ave., for its twice-monthly French Conversation Class, which starts at 1 p.m.  The class is led by Paris native Samba Magassa, is free and open to all, and is a great way to brush up on your conversation skills at any level.

Also starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, at the Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Boulevard, is the American Cinematheque’s latest entry in its “The Style of Sin: Pre-Code FIlm with Kimberly Truhler” film series.  According to the Cinematheque, “pre-code” films were made between 1930, when the restrictive Production Code was adopted, and 1934, when it went into full effect, and are “beloved for their provacative content and rather risqué style. This six-part screening series “introduces viewers to some of the most popular actresses of the pre-Code era through double features of their films – Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Harlow, Kay Francis, Carole Lombard, Marlene Dietrich, Joan Blondell and Joan Crawford.”  This week’s double feature is Girls About Town and Jewel Robbery, both featuring Kay Francis.  The program begins with an illustrated presentation by historian Kimberly Truhler.

A bit closer to home, the Marciano Art Foundation presents one of its series of events highlighting issues related to “the feminine today and disrupting the male gaze,”  in conjunction with the current exhibition Donna Huanca: Obsidian Ladder.  In this event, starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Olivia Marciano will lead a Q&A discussing the importance of the safe spaces provided by REACH LA, East Los Angeles Women’s Center, and Trans Wellness Center and how the arts community can work to support and collaborate with these groups. Each nonprofit will speak to its mission, as well as share the programs and services offered at their locations. Tickets are free and can be booked at https://marcianoartfoundation.org/event/supporting-la-a-discussion-with-reach-la-the-east-los-angeles-womens-center-and-the-trans-wellness-center/

Meanwhile, from 3-4 p.m. on Saturday at the Wilshire Branch Library, 149 N. St. Andrews Pl., food preservationist Brie Wakeland will teach participants the safe way to make jam, jelly, and marmalade at home…with samples available for tasting.  It’s also free and open to all – just stop in and enjoy.

Moving into Saturday evening, the LaunchLA gallery, 170 S. La Brea, will hold an opening reception, from 6-9 p.m., for its new show, Holly Elander:  Solitary Shadows + Fine Line. Elander is a native Angeleno “whose inspiration comes from the architecture, people, animals, and mood that make up Los Angeles. She uses several thin, flat layers of acrylic paint to mold realistic spaces of her own creation and from real life.”  In “Solitary Shadows,” Elander explores L.A.’s alleways at nighttime,  where “she has found an unpretentious world of solitary shadows, quiet scenes, and secret lives hidden amongst the busy boulevards that surround them.”  Meanwhile, “Fine Line is Holly’s new experimental series that visually manipulates landscapes, presenting them as surreal and graphic works of art.”

For those who enjoy the intersection of film and music, check out the Los Angeles Live Score Film Festival, which features “short films with original scores performed live-to-picture.”  It starts at 6 p.m. on Saturday, at Barnsdall Gallery Theater at the Barnsdall Art Park, with a composer and flimmaker panel.  The screenings start at 7:30p.m, and then there’s a 9 p.m. reception.  Films for the 2019 festival are chosen by the faculty at the New York Film Academy – Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Film School and Columbia College,  Hollywood…and then “selected composers are paired with a winning filmmaker to create an original score for the festival. The film is screened with the score performed live by the renowned performance and recording ensemble, Helix Collective. The screening includes an interview with the filmmakers and composers.”  Admission is free…and there’s also free parking.

For more Saturday night film fun, you could return to the Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., where the American Cinematheque will present a 40th anniversary screening of the Russiansci-fi thriller Stalker, in which “a writer (Anatoli Solonitsin) and a scientist (Nikolai Grinko) follow a shaven-headed “stalker” (Aleksandr Kadjanovsky) into forbidden territory, a dangerous wilderness known as the Zone.” Shown in Russian with English subtitles, starting at 7:30 p.m.

And finally on Saturday, one last cinematic option – the Cinespia series’ screening of Dumb & Dumber at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, 6000 Santa Monica Blvd., starting at 9 p.m. (gates open at 7:30).  It’s a 25th anniversary screening, and will include your favorite 90s tunes before and after the film, along with a “one-of-a-kind photobooth fit for you and your best buddy.”

Moving at last into Sunday, join the rest of the country in celebrating National Ice Cream Day with your favorite frozen treats.  This year, you’ll find specials at  Bennett’s Ice Cream at The Original Farmers Market ($1.00 off any ice cream item from 12-7 p.m.), Local Ice (also at the Original Farmers’ Market), which is offering free sprinkles on all ice cream orders, Johnny Rocket’s (at the Beverly Connection), which is offering free shakes with entree orders, and Yogurtland shops, which will be offering a buy-one-get-one-free deal fro 1-6 p.m.

After that fortification, you might also be in good shape to donate blood, and the Hang Out Do Good organization will have the Cedars-Sinai Blood Mobile available for donation appointments in the Hancock Park area on Sunday. If you’d like to donate, just make an appointment at donatebloodcedars.org.

And finally on Sunday, there’s a fun Bingo at the Ebell event at the Ebell of Los Angeles, 743 S. Lucerne Blvd.  Give the old game a new spin, with a BYOB dinner and cash prizes included.  It starts at 5 p.m., and tickets are $25 for Ebell members, and $30 for non-members, at https://ebellofla.com/event/bingo-at-the-ebell-07-21-2019/

Have a great weekend!

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Elizabeth Fuller
Elizabeth Fuller
Elizabeth Fuller was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN but has lived in LA since 1991 - with deep roots in both the Sycamore Square and West Adams Heights-Sugar Hill neighborhoods. She spent 10 years with the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, volunteers at Wilshire Crest Elementary School, and has been writing for the Buzz since 2015.

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