Culture

California, Culture, Los Angeles, TV | FILM

I Think It’s Raining

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It is with this in mind that I was struck by how at odds I felt about the actors’ ability in conjunction to the film’s style and narrative. Undoubtedly a by-product of the director’s decided dismissal of maintaining strict coherence of his script, throughout the narrative Renata and Val carry on Linklater-esque conversations in an awkward, pause-filled manner that initially induces a sort of ticking time-bomb dread.

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California, Culture, Los Angeles

Cirque-A-Palooza!

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This is the show that the performers would put on for each other. The juggler dropped his pancake (more on that later), the sword swallower even choked up just a little bit of the spaghetti from his dinner (I’ll leave that one alone). That said, even before the show started, I felt like I was in on the jokes, maybe even sitting in Stefan’s living room, dancing a little too wildly and drinking more than I should. So along with other performers, the audience and I cheered the successes, forgave foibles, and generally had a delightful time doing so.

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Culture, Eat | Drink, Lifestyle

The OC Fair: A Summertime Treat

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So, as many of you know, I am a full-grown man. I chop wood, wear flannel, play a contact sport, drink beer, do dumb things with my friends, and eat an excessive amount of meat. I like to pride myself on my carnivore-like nature. Walking through the welcome gates at the OC fair, I experienced the beginning stages of a meat stroke. Then proceeding further through the smoke and smells of my paradise, I came to behold Juicy’s World Famous BBQ … They had an eighteen wheeler truck BBQ station, with over 300 turkey legs in sight, a brisket bigger than my torso, giant western sausages that could overflow an Olympic sized pool, and onions and peppers for days.

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California, Culture, Film, Limited Edition, OCMA Film, TV | FILM

Tom Cawley’s “Something” is Anything but “Nothing”

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While higher-budgeted docs filled with even bigger names might elicit the awe of that Hollywood intangibility, Cawley’s down-to-earth subject matter, and even the subjects themselves, bring us into the story of our own lives. We don’t want to be the people on-screen, these celebrities of sight and sound and tactile surfaces, but rather we wish to paint the stars of our respective destinies with the footnotes of these men and women’s successes, failures, moments of elation, and of suffocating despair. They are, in a word, human.

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California, Culture, Los Angeles, Music | Theatre, Special Event

Ferrante brings back Groucho Marx

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Just then, the lights begin to dim as a loud voice comes on over the loudspeakers, the once-deafening shouts of a crowd in conversation with itself dying down as a spotlight follows impresario and tonight’s host Stefan Haves down the right side of the theater to the main stage. Mr. Haves is known for “frequently drawing on LA talent to re-invent physical theater, circus, and clowning — stubbornly breaking every artistic wall in a town whose theatrical conventions and filmic traditions often tend toward maintaining that stubborn ‘fourth wall’ [pasadenaplayhouse.org].”

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A Drink?, California, Cocktails, Culture, Eat | Drink, Limited Edition, Los Angeles, Wine & Beer

The Bruery Brew Dinner at The Crow Bar – Prying Flavors with Pairings

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Our plates are cleared, and the second beer arrives, Or Xata, a horchata ale—something we’ve never had or heard of—and anticipation swells in our tongues; both of us spending many nights running to 24-hour Mexican restaurants to satisfy our cravings for the milky, cinnamon drink after 2am. Upon smelling the beer, it evokes images of a creamsicle on a hot summer day, and as it touches your lips, the cinnamon and creamy body takes over, weaving to a vanilla conclusion. We discuss how you often read about eccentric billionaires who have enough money to fly out their favorite chili cheese burger from a Ma and Pa restaurant in the Midwest. This beer would be our eccentric billionaire fly-out.

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California, COLUMNS, Culture, Dawn Garcia, DG's Passion, Events, Los Angeles, Special Event

PASADENA PLAYHO– — USE PRESENTS Justin Willman

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As seen as the HOST o Food Network’s, “Cupcake Wars”, PASADENA PLAYHO– — USE PRESENTS Justin Willman – TRICKED OUT! A Magic Show like you’ve never seen – AND – ATOD Magazine Readers are getting a special offer and discount on the tickets thanks to those at Pasadena Playhouse. This is a show you do NOT want to miss!

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COLUMNS, Culture, Film, Lifestyle, Limited Edition, Los Angeles, OCMA Film, TV | FILM

Smiling Through the Apocalypse

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Smiling Through the Apocalypse, if you haven’t already Googled it yourself already, is a documentary that focuses on Esquire magazine during the sixties. Specifically, during the sixties under the helm of editor Harold T.P. Hayes. The story goes something like this: during one of the most turbulent decades unseen since the Civil War era, editor and provocateur Howard Hayes is remembered as having stepped up to take the falling star that was Esquire, and put it back in the sky. The film’s summary goes on to describe a man who not only led a team behind some of the most varied polemical writing styles and iconoclastic subtleties, but did so under the caveat that each and every day could easily lead to (and oftentimes did) disaster riddle in controversy.

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AM's Drive, COLUMNS, Comedy, Culture, Limited Edition, Los Angeles

The Comedy and Magic Club

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Andrew Norelli followed, and made the smart move of using very locally weighted topics like health nuts and social media. Since he was the performer we were primarily going to see, I had done some research on him, watching a few video clips of previous performances (including his spots on The Late Show with David Letterman and Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham) and I was impressed that everything I heard was fresh material, even making me cry over a flaxseed oil joke.

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A Drink?, AM's Drive, Cocktails, COLUMNS, Culture, Events, Lifestyle, Limited Edition, Los Angeles, Special Event, Travelogue

No Room For the Ordinary

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As the band fades out, the man in the bowler derby starts to climb a ladder to where the tightrope begins. He stops to sweep out his arm over the audience, clutching a bouquet of flowers, and begins his trek across the tightrope above faces draped in cherry lipstick and blue eye shadow, everyone frantically trying to capture the moment with their camera phones, and me scribbling details in an orange notebook. The crowd and I reward the tightrope walker with a much deserved crackle of applause and it is after this moment that the co-owner of the bar, Mark Houston, arrives, blazing through the crowd in a grey suit and whirlwind of smiles, hugs, and handshakes from the many friends who have come to support him. And although I have never met him before, Mark sets aside time to speak with me, giving me a tour of the location and tells me of his vision for No Vacancy, explaining how he wants the bar to rise above the cheesiness of Hollywood Boulevard as well as restore a treasured landmark and era of Los Angeles history.

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AM's Drive, COLUMNS, Culture, ENTERTAINMENT, Events, Lifestyle, Los Angeles

Magic and Mixed Drinks

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After a long week of event planning and coordinating, Dawn and I decided we needed a fun “ladies night out” as a reward for our hard work. Two of our favorite magic men, Chris Korn and Ben Seidman, were scheduled to perform at The Magic Castle, and since Dawn and I had only seen their magic briefly in the studio during their ATOD Radio appearances, and on the Travel Channel’s “Magic Outlaws”, we decided this would be the perfect opportunity to pay them a visit.

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COLUMNS, Culture, MD + the UK, Music

Goat and Gnod

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This month is all about collectives. Bands are for squares. I mean why bother putting an ad for a bass player in your local rehearsal studio when you can recruit the entire town into your band and preside over it like a cult leader? – And – before you dismiss the whole idea and mutter something about the Polyphonic Spree, rest assured that the current trend of sprawling tribes of musicians are decidedly darker than before. Gone is the saccharine pop and gaggle of grinning misfits in robes…

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COLUMNS, Culture, DG's Passion, Interviews, Limited Edition, Music, Special Event, TV | FILM

Looking Back on Love – LENNY KRAVITZ

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Directed by Artist, Photographer, Producer, and Music Man, Mathieu Bitton, every shot is honest and gritty – no concealed perfections. Told in a fragmented voice that embraces the moments caught through the lens, the poetic narrative strung together by raw moments not only tell a story in a way that I find refreshing, Matthieu – an artist in his own right – propels us into a world both dynamic and real. He shows us the many sides of a man. A musical icon. A dreamer that captivates the gentle hum buzzing within us all – that need to find love in everything.

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Arts | Culture, Culture, Eat | Drink, ENTERTAINMENT, Lifestyle, Los Angeles, Southern CA, Wine & Beer

A Night of Magic and Wine with David Minkin

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David enters the room and situates himself no more than 2 feet away from the audience. He is up close and personal and without a beat, greets us all in his relaxed and warm way and voila! The magic begins. Literally. It muse be said – again – that I’m a cynic and an over-thinker. I pride myself on wanting to know how everything works.

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California, Culture, Los Angeles, Music | Theatre, Theatre

Lovesick

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The play moves with a transcendence of space and time, with this out-of-the-world reproach, dialogue that leaves your soul craving more – like words dripping off of a juicy apple smothered in honey, and a story that makes you feel things you weren’t expecting to feel – your heart, your soul, your mind is running right along with every scene.

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ATOD Radio, Chef, Culture, Eat | Drink, Los Angeles

A Taste of Dawn RADIO Episode 4

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We are at a pivotal point in time where there are so many potential positives amidst the insanity. Equality, the evolution of foods, wines, the openness to a world waiting for us to explore it … Today I invited a Chef I utterly admire for his creativity and willingness to utilize all of the senses, Chef Andrés Dangond. The premise of the show is sugar and creativity.

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