At the end of the first scene of the original Men in Black, agents D and K, played by Tommy Lee Jones and Richard Hamilton, are confronted with the specter of exhaustion. After years of saving the world as anonymous protectors, D cannot hack the job anymore. Merciful K dons his shades and flashes his neuralizer, or memory eraser before the eyes of his faithful comrade, thus alleviating D of his secret knowledge and releasing him from his sacred trust.A few scenes later, K enlists J, played by Will Smith, and an inter-racial inter-generational partnership is born.
Twelfth Night: That Old Bard Still Funny
By John Farrell
Perhaps it’s not quite seasonal, but Shakespeare’s delightful comedy Twelfth Night is really good at any time of the year.
Summer Magic Begins with Music
By B. Noel Barr, Music Writer Dude
Every summer we all like to get out away from our hot, and sometimes, stuffy houses to do something slightly different by enjoying our family, friends and random strangers in relaxed outdoor settings. This summer we have laid out some suggestions that you might not have considered and those we know you will be happy with.
The concert season is already well underway with Coachella and Doheny already done and getting ready for the next year. We had four local festivals starting with the 28th Annual Topanga Blues Festival that happened on May 2, followed by the Blues Band Weekend with Brophy Dale, Big Rockin’ Daddy and a grip of other folks at Costa Mesa’s OC Market Place on May 12.
Driver Ed and His Demon: Driver Ed turned up the music
“After dinner tonight, I’ma put it on you” boomed the R&B singer from the trailer’s sound system, which Ed had upgraded no less than ten times. After dinner, he would have loved to put it on someone, if finding someone wasn’t so damn tricky. When he became too stoned or drunk to conjure a fictional vocation, women usually ran at the first mention of his job.
The Perfect Storm: Artists, Bands, Orchestras, and More Bands
By B. Noel Barr, Music Writer Dude
May 17th, we traveled to The Basement Lounge for an evening of jazz, produced by Max Viltz – To the Max Promotions. On this evening’s bill, we saw saxophonist Alvin Hayes Jr. & Friends. Alvin Hayes, Jr. is a saxophone player that has been compared to Kirk Whallum, Boney James, and Gerald Albright. The rest of the friends playing that night were Mikal Majeed on keyboards, Jeff Suttles on drums and Benorce Blackmon on guitar. The two sets we stayed for were very good, everyone shined at each solo. I could not have enjoyed the evening more.
PSST: Art in San Pedro 2000-2012
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There’s no “École de San Pedro.” Hell, these days there’s no “École de LA.” But the kinds of forms and materials that have become “traditional” to Southland artistic practice, along with those that have migrated here more recently, flourish in San Pedro no less than anywhere else in the region. A San Pedro group show brims with abstractionists, object makers, photographers, figurative painters, installationistas, recondite and in-your-face conceptualists, and whatever else you might imagine southern California artists to be, make, or do. And then some. –Peter Frank, excerpted from PSST: Art in San Pedro 2000-2012
Hotel Workers in Long Beach a Step Closer to a Living Wage
By Kevin Walker, Editorial Intern and Zamná Ávila, Assistant Editor
On at least five days per week, Martina De Santiago drives from her rented home in Inglewood to her job as a lobby attendant. at the Hilton Long Beach.
Her job includes cleaning public areas, the bathroom, the executive meeting center, and making sure guests have clean towels in the exercise rooms and pool areas. When she started working at the Hilton 10 years ago, her starting hourly wage was $7.25. Today, she earns $10.70.
Ainadamar Overcomes
By John Farrell
It took until the 21stcentury for opera to deal with the many horrible acts perpetrated by the murderous fascists (a literal characterization in this case) in 1930s Spain.
One of the most prominent victims of this movement was the great Spanish playwright and poet Federico Garcia Lorca, who was killed by Falangists (Spanish fascist) in 1936. His murderers viewed his poetry as so powerful and were so fearful of Lorca that sought to erase him. Lorca’s body has never been found.
Ainadamar,an opera with music by contemporary Argentinean composer Osvaldo Golijov and written by David Henry Hwang, first premiered at the Tanglewood Festival in 2003 and in a revised format at the Santa Fe Opera in 2005. Long Beach Opera gave the work its West Coast 2012 stage premier on May 21. The performance repeats Saturday, May 26.