ATOD Magazine

ART in the Folds of the Subconscious

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The Orange County Museum of Art opened its doors this past weekend in Newport Beach to the aptly titled, yet deceptively simplistic, Sarkisian & Sarkisian: a father and son co-exhibition of works spanning a combined fifty years, from as early as the 1960s to today. Originally thought up as a survey of one Peter Sarkisian’s video installation work over the last twenty years, it was decided by OCMA Interim Director and Chief Curator Dan Cameron that parallels seen between Sarkisian’s work and that of his father, Paul, warranted a side-by-side unveiling of the two masters’ crafts, in a collective of astonishing pieces that perform double helixes around one another without ever really colliding or crossing paths.

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LIVE FIRE!

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The Live Fire Challenge at one of Austin’s most beautiful outer city locations, Salt Lick BBQ, is one of the highlights in the entire Food & Wine Festival. With its off-the-beaten-path locale and the smells of meat cooking thick in the air surrounding every pocket of air over the surrounding mile, well, one can’t help but find an insatiable appetite looming.

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Los Angeles – the Cultural Playground

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Have you ever really dove head first into the City of Angels? I don’t mean the cool obscure clubs or the sophisticated plethora of gatherings. I mean just gone off, explored, walked into a gallery, Museum, restaurant, wine bar, clothing store, oddity find, or simply plodded along, pulled up a chair in the middle of a crowded spot and just people watched? Well then, then this is your invitation to do precisely that.

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New Hope for Cambodian Children

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In the heart of Beverly Hills just a stone throw away from Rodeo Drive, an event is happening that is changing the lives of children in Cambodia living with HIV/AIDS. A couple, John and Kathy Tucker have sold every piece of property they own, decided to live their lives simply in order to build a 20-acre orphanage – New Hope – offering solace, medical care, education, and most importantly, love to the children living with HIV/AIDS.

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The Byrd Series – The Dustbowl Revival

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WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA – Imagine a boutique hotel tucked away in the streets of West Hollywood, an entrance, a man, a list, an elevator, a rooftop – you pass a pool all too inviting and follow the strings of Edison bulbs dangling overhead in rows of ambient wonder, down the steps. You see a large fire pit made of tiles and stones nestled cozily on the planks of wooden flooring amidst rows of over sized tangerine cushioned chairs, a corner bar with bartenders buzzing about the abundant crowd inquiring of cocktails and wines and plates of fare. Now imagine all of this as a band is arranged at the front of the deck; music and sound traveling with an undulated swing of sheer playful delight – that is tonight’s Byrd Series and the band: The Dustbowl Revival.

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LA Meets Nashville

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While there are major bands living and playing all throughout the city, there are smaller indie musical artists that take you by surprise. The kind that envelop the more unfiltered parts of ourselves. The singers, songwriters, and musicians that play with a hunger within to simply tell their story – the kind of music that comes from Nashville or Chicago or another time altogether and somehow, when lucky enough, you get 3 in one night!

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Oscars Fashion

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Going to the Oscars is an exciting event; The #RedCarpet event was a jaw dropping fashion show, from amazing silhouettes to detailed embroidery, sexy lace to stand out colors. This Oscars was the most exciting fashion show yet. It was the epitome of inspiration and glamour!

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TOTEM Cirque du Soleil

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Somewhere between science and legend TOTEM explores the ties that bind Man to other species, his dreams and his infinite potential. Uniquely beautiful costuming, golds, eccentric, feathers, bowls, juggled balanced passed from performer to performer with a skill absolutely bewildering.

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2014 Oscars Documentary Films

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LOS ANGELES, CA – Last night I had the honor of attending the Annual Oscars Academy Award Nominee Symposium for the 5 Nominated Documentary Shorts and Documentary Features. The films each possessed qualities of sheer humanity in every form and while yes, that is the nature of documentaries on the whole, it doesn’t always happen with such candor.

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If You Build It, A Film

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The film is split into three distinct sections seamlessly tied together with the help of Oscar-nominated editor, Doug Blush, and appropriately, iconic graphics. Following Pilloton and Miller, we meet the wood shop class students: boys and girls who are depicted at first to fit the uncertain, marsh-riddled town stereotype of drowning in muddled obscurity. Students who seem so woefully different from what we—especially in Orange County—expect or are used to when it comes to 16-year-olds (arguably), but who we very quickly realize are as different from us as we are from ourselves.

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LA Art Show 2014

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LOS ANGELES, CA – Art really is an expansive platform to which someone, anyone, is able to find a piece of themselves reflected in what they see. Sometimes it takes the darkest parts of who we are and turns it into something beautiful and once in a while, if we are lucky enough, we find a piece of art so exquisitely revealing, we can’t help but find ourselves lost in it. Art is unlike any other medium in that it is, outside of books, the most tangible form of visual inspiration

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The Ranch Restaurant and Saloon

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I had the great pleasure of sending my 3 writers and photographer: Cord Montgomery, Greg Barraza, Tyler Dean and Clarence Alford to experience the new launch of a phenomenal menu and a beautiful venue this past week. While I was unable to make it myself, I was proud to send in my exceptional staff to experience what I had hoped was an unforgettable venue. Turns out, it was. Thanks to Nancy Zwart for the invitation and to Chefs Michael and David Rossi for creating something these fellas won’t soon forget. I look forward to coming in myself. For now, enjoy three very different perspectives of one unforgettable evening.

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Bill Phelps – NY Photographer

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Through his lens, there is a trust that occurs between him and his subjects that allows him access to their innermost self. Carefully and thoughtfully, Bill is able to capture that through his lens in a way that lends to a profoundly real understanding of human nature. He finds the beauty, the fear, the solitude, the playfulness, the fierceness, the joy, the passion, the spirit, and the honesty of every subject. Below is a look at the truly remarkable work Bill Phelps has produced.

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Supperclub + Wine Tasting

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On August 2nd and 3rd, ATOD Magazine™ partnered with Los Angeles’ premier venue and nightclub, Supperclub in Hollywood to do a dinner + wine tasting with D’Alfonso Curran Winery. Wines created by Bruno D’Alfonso and Kris Curran, the lineup of wines expands well into any palate with a passion and love that can appeal to just about anyone. Below is a video of how the evening went. Thanks to Supperclub, the 4-Course dinner pairing was sublime.

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Coast Modern, Architecture For The Soul

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Is life composed of hard edges, or soft curves? In this elliptical documentary on the architectural wonderment of modernism and its steadfast metamorphosis over the last eighty-plus years, filmmakers Mike Bernard and Gavin Froome travel the Pacific Northwest in an effort to capture the essence of a spirituality we won’t find at the local synagogue or mosque, but in the very bones of our own homes. Coast Modern tries to establish not so much a style of living, but a way of life in its up-close-and-personal investigation of a series of homes and establishments belonging to the few who’ve decided to forgo the privacy and security of the enclosed enclaves most of us probably find ourselves in.

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WHY? and Serengeti

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In the highly fickle and competitive world of music, bands that may be “great” individually but sound similar to other artists in their genre bracket, there’s a good change they get lost in the static. It is those musicians that straddle genre lines, blending influences to create a sound all their own, that are not only making themselves memorable, but becoming essential to staying relevant to listeners’ eclectic tastes.

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The Independents Vol. 1

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Power, honesty, gritty self-awareness, passion, love, humor, sexuality, self doubt … Every artist must have all of these.

The Independents Vol. 1 is a compilation of extraordinarily talented artists acting out moments of their lives and each and every one of them embody the characteristics mentioned above. The evening air relents and lowers its obstructive heat to give us a moment of cool calm.

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Writing Tips with Editor – Dawn Garcia

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I am a firm believer that everyone needs to be reminded to get out of their comfort zones – immediately – when it comes to creating. We get stuck in the mundane, the everyday routines, we commit to a single genre or – we simply procrastinate SO I created quick, very casual writing tip videos for you on our YouTube Channel to keep your mind fresh and encourage you to do weekly assignments. While I get to attend a lot of fun and glamorous events and outings and I’m usually dolled up, when it comes to writing – I’m not fancy. I’m real and just like you, I’m sitting in front of the computer or out for a walk and ideas come.

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