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

Weekend Buzz: Events for October 12-13, 2019

OK, we are now rushing headlong into the nearly relentless year-end holiday vortex, in which Halloween/Thanksgiving/Haunkkah/Christmas and other events come at us so fast it’s hard to keep up.  But we try…and maybe our little lists can help you find the events worth attending closest to home during this super-busy time of year.

First up this weekend, the Second Home Serpentine Pavilion – that colorful, snaky installation at the La Brea Tar Pits – will host a “Community Marathon” showcasing “our favorite non-profit organizations using dance, poetry, art and education to transform people’s lives in LA.”  It runs both Saturday (9 a.m. – 5 p.m) and Sunday (11:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.), and events and discussions will focus on sustainability issues, youth literacy, and job training and coaching in the fashion and beauty businesses.  There will also be a blanket-making project, and music and dance performances.  See the event link above for the full schedule and list of participating organizations.

Also running from 9-5 on Saturday is the 14th Annual LA Archives Bazaar, at USC’s Doheny Memorial Library.   Presented by LA as Subject and the USC Libraries, the event brings together experts and materials from “a broad array of institutions and archives,” who will show off their collections and answer questions about local history and the materials that tell our city’s collective story.  There will also be preservation workshops, presentations on women’s history, the history of local religious organizations, finding history in letters and diaries, home movies, and even “basement tapes” musical recordings.  Definitely something for anyone and everyone with an interest in history of all types, big and small.  See the event link above for the full, jam-packed schedule.

Meanwhile, fall festival season gets off to a big start with the 85th Annual Fall Festival running from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday at the Original Farmers Market. The “family-friendly weekend celebration” is “jam-packed with crafts, pig races, live music, a petting zoo and much more”…including kid-sized, pedal-powered tractor pull competitions, “world-famous All-Alaskan Pig Races featuring flat-track racing and hurdling pigs,” fall-themed arts and crafts, “and a classic “no hands” pie-eating contest sponsored by Du-par’s” restaurant.  There will also be live country, western and rockabilly music…and more. See the event link above for the full schedule.

Getting more holiday-specific as we move toward Halloween, the Natural History Museum opened its “Natural History of Horror:  The Science of Scary” exhibit yesterday.  It runs through April during museum hours, but this Halloween season would be a great time for monster fans of all ages to enjoy this special peek into how movies throughout Hollywood history have used persistent cultural myths about vampires, mummies, sea creatures and electricity’s role in the universal life force to create iconic screen characters such as Dracula, The Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Frankenstein’s monster.  (We don’t want to give away too much here, but you’ll be able to read much more about this one in Monday’s Buzz!) It’s great for both science and movie fans…of all ages.

For other kinds of iconic fictional characters, you could also visit LA Comic Con, the “spectacular gathering of all things pop culture,” which runs today through Sunday at the Los Angeles Convention Center.  The lineup includes all sorts of special events, cosplay, exhibits, gaming and more…even indoor trick or treating.  The exhibitors, events and special guests are too numerous to list here, but are all available at the website link above.

Back in the Larchmont area, starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, it’s your twice-monthly chance to brush up on your conversational French with the free French conversation class at the John C. Fremont Library, 6121 Melrose Ave.  The class, which also meets one Thursday per month,  is taught by native speaker Samba Magassa.  No signups are required – the sessions are free and open to everyone – so just drop in, meet some new Francophile friends and have fun working the kinks out of your under-used language skills.

Just a couple of hours later, starting at 3 p.m. on Saturday, and just three blocks away, at 5870 Melrose Ave., the neighborhood’s newest Pilates studio, Pilates Art Center, will hold an open house to introduce itself to the community.  The business, advertising “quality instruction to fitness enthusiasts from all walks of life,” offers both private and semi-private training and customized workouts.  The open house event will also include a raffle for three private Pilates lessons ($270 value).  So stop by, bring the family (“kids and non aggressive pooches are welcome”) and say hi to a new neighborhood business.

Also on Saturday afternoon, you could explore more European culture at the 13th Annual German Currents film festival, which runs from Friday through Sunday at the Egyptian Theater, 6712 Hollywood Boulevard.  The event “features some of the best recent films from Germany, all of which make their Los Angeles premieres here.” The lineup includes Andreas Dresen’s music biopic “Gundermann,” which won six awards at the German Film Awards, including Outstanding Feature Film.  But there are many more, too, including full slates of German kids’ movies, and short films…as well as in-person discussions and special guests.  See the event link above for the full lineup, screening schedule and ticket information.

Moving into Saturday evening, it’s back to the movies as the Japan Foundation of Los Angeles, 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 100, presents “Mameshiba,” the latest screening in its “Japanema” film series. The “heartwarming road movie,” starrng an ultra-cute Mamashiba (or mini Shiba Inu) puppy, is “a film adaptation of the TV series which depicts the journey of a middle aged man with a two-month old puppy in search of his mother, who has run away from home.”  It starts at 6 p.m. and  will be shown in Japanese with English subtitles.

Sunday dawns with a bit more seasonal spooky, as the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles sponsors a “Hollywood Goes Underground” walking tour of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, starting at 9 a.m. (tour groups will depart every 20 minutes from 9 until 11 a.m.)  The event ““digs up the dirt” on Hollywood’s history—and several of its scandals,” as you visit the final resting places of Hollywood stars, movie moguls, and film pioneers…including “Col. Griffith J. Griffith, Hollywood founder Harvey Wilcox, silent film swashbuckler Douglas Fairbanks, heartthrob Rudolph Valentino, actress and William Randolph Hearst mistress Marion Davies, filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille, screen siren Barbara La Marr, slain director William Desmond Taylor, and over twenty other legendary Los Angelenos.”  Their stories will be told by expert guides and through “living history interludes.”    Tickets are $20 per person, or free if you join ADSLA at the event.

Later, for those more interested in crafting their own memorable characters, the Craft Contemporary will host a CraftLab Family workship, “Clay Creatures with Alyson Iwamoto,” from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. According to the museum, “participants will learn basic handbuilding techniques including pinch, slip-and-score, and brushing on under-glaze to create their very own fantastical clay creature. Pieces will be fired and available to pick up later.”  Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for children, and free for Craft Contemporary members.  If you’d like to attend, please RSVP at [email protected].

Click to see full size flier.

And finally on Sunday, for those who love big charity balls, the Imagine Ball, to benefit ImagineLA, a non-profit organization “dedicated to ending the cycle of family homelessness and chronic poverty via a supercharged blend of mentoring and social services,” will be held from 7-11 p.m. at the Peppermint Club in West Hollywood.  It will be hosted by “fitness evangelist and motivational coach” Angela Davis, and includes performances by Nas, David Foster and other special guests, as well as a DJ set by Zack Bia.  If you’d like to have some fun while supporting a great local organization, see the event link above for details and ticket information.

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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