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

Weekend Buzz – Events for May 13-15, 2016

 

Volunteers in the Wilshire Crest school garden on Big Sunday 2014.
Volunteers in the Wilshire Crest school garden on Big Sunday 2014.

friday13thYes, it’s Friday the 13th today, but it’s not at all spooky. Unless you want to kick off your weekend with a Great Horror Movie Night screening of Friday the 13th at the Griffith Park Old Zoo, 4730 Crystal Springs Dr., 90027, at 7:45 p.m….and then things will get very spooky, very quickly. Tickets are $15, and the film is rated R, so the event is restricted to ages 17 and up (ID required). Parking is free. And just to keep it from getting too spooky, smoking, fires, metal objects, and costumes, masks or props of any kind are prohibited.

bladerunnerFor a less spooky, but equally evocative in its own way, movie, the American Cinematheque is showing another early ’80s classic, Blade Runner, at the Egyptian Theater in Hollwyood at 7:30 p.m. tonight. Directed by Ridley Scott, Blade Runner has been called “one of the most influential films of the past 30 years, a dazzling fusion of retro-noir and future paranoia, set in a decaying, rain-drenched Los Angeles dominated by Mayan pyramids of unimaginable wealth.”  It’s also rated R, so definitely for older teens and adults.

oldtimesocial2Finally, in an entirely different vein, the 11th annual Los Angeles Old Time Social, a celebration of “handmade traditional music and dance,” opened last night and runs through Sunday at several venues around the city.  On Friday at 8 p.m., at the The Velaslavasay Panorama, 1122 West 24th St., enjoy fiddle and guitar performances, ragtime, blues, hoedown and other old-time music by Earl & Adrian White (Santa Cruz), Tom Marion & Frank Fairfield (Los Angeles),  The Canote Brothers (Seattle), and SoCal’s own Sausage Grinder.  (Full concert details and band bios here).  On Saturday, the fun continues with a full day of workshops, a square dance, family dance and cakewalk…and on Sunday with a variety of old-time music and dance workshops at other locations.  See the links above for more details and ticket information for each of the separate events.

Yard saleOn Saturday, for early risers (or those too spooked to sleep after Friday’s horror movie), there’s a multi-family yard sale on Saturday, 8:30 a.m. at 1078 Meadowbrook Ave., which may be of particular interest to foodies.  Items advertised so far include cookbooks, miscellaneous restaurant equipment, a heavy duty stainless steel table, 20-quart Hobart mixer with stand (no bowl or beaters), an architect-designed Cor-Ten steel coffee table base and chairs, a large mid-century modern mirror, vintage decorative objects (acrylic grape clusters, hatbox, lava lamp), a ’70s-era teak cabinet for record albums, yarn, shelving unit, coffee and end tables, patio chairs, outdoor table, clothing and linens, terra cotta flower pots…and more.

griffithpartystarpartyLater, head over to Griffith Observatory for its monthly public star party, which runs from 2:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.  Volunteers from the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, the Los Angeles Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Planetary Society will be on hand to help the whole family look at the sun, moon, visible planets and other objects – with a variety of telescopes – and talk about the sky and their equipment. Note that all telescope viewing must close by 9:45 p.m., though the Observatory building remains open until 10.

writegirlCloser to home, from 5 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Larchmont’s Chevalier’s Books hosts the young women of WriteGirl, a mentorship program for young female writers, who will give readings of both poetry and prose.  WriteGirl promotes creativity and self-expression to empower girls, and matches girls with adult women writers for one-on-one mentoring and monthly creative writing workshops, helping them explore poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, songwriting, journalism, screenwriting, playwriting, persuasive writing, journal writing, editing and more. Collectively over the last 14 years, WriteGirl anthologies have won 70 national and international book awards…and 100% of their mentees have gone on to attend college.

fairbanks2For more cinematic fun, the American Cinematheque is celebrating the early Hollywood classics of Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford with a double feature of Fairbanks’ The Black Pirate and Pickford’s Sparrows, which opened in a one-of-a-kind double-bill premiere 90 years ago today at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theater.  At the very same locale, at 7 p.m. on Saturday,  Pickford scholar and author (“My First Time In Hollywood,” “Without Lying Down”) Cari Beauchamp will introduce Sparrows and Fairbanks biographer (“The First King of Hollywood”) Tracey Goessel will introduce The Black Pirate. Both speakers will sign books in the lobby before the films and at intermission. Live musical accompaniment for the two archival prints will be provided by Michael Mortilla.  And in the spirit of the long-ago premiere night, the Cinematheque will present its version of “The Duel Dance of the Buccaneer Beauties,” and a few other live performance surprises, between the films.

bigsunday4Although Big Sunday has become a full month of Big Sunday volunteer events this year, this Sunday, May 15 is still pretty Big in our area, with two volunteer events at Wilshire Crest Elementary School and Carthay School of Environmental Studies Magnet.  At Wilshire Crest, where the event runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m, volunteers are needed to help weed and mulch their big farm/garden area, sand and re-seal wood picnic tables, build wood benches, and do some fun painting and organization in the preschool play yard.  At Carthay, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., they’ll be tackling garden and landscape maintenance, weeding, mulching, cleaning, construction projects in Carthay’s new outdoor classroom, building a weather station and making posts for shade cloth.  This is the 9th year of Big Sunday events at both schools, and everyone who attends will receive a Big Sunday T-shirt and a free lunch.  (Note that RSVPs at the above links are appreciated, so the organizers know how many people they’ll be feeding.)  The work is appropriate for all ages, and definitely counts as official community service hours for  middle and high schoolers.

weallplay2For the younger set, try the Zimmer Museum’s  We All  Play fundraising event, from 12-4 p.m. Sunday at 6045 Wilshire Blvd.  In addition to the museum’s usual fun exhibits for kids ages 0-8, this performance-packed day will include visits from The Beat Buds, Andrew and Polly, Emily Arrow, Willie Aron, Captain Tall Tale and the Party Puppet Show…in addition to food vendors, activity and art stations, new museum exhibits, a “baby art crawl,” interactive animal show and a coloring wall.  Tickets are $40, available at https://51145.blackbaudhosting.com/51145/We-All-Play-2016

masksofsrilankaAnd, finally, for another creative kids’ event try Barnsdall Art Park’s Art Sunday (from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Sunday), which provides free weekly art workshops for kids.  This week they’ll focus on the old Sri Lankan tradition of making raksha masks, which date back to the 1800s and  were used to portray various characters in popular folk tales.

This fanciful face-wear is a far cry from where we started – with that other iconic mask in Friday the 13th – but a perfect bookend to your eclectic weekend.  Have a good one!

 

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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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