Just got an e-mail from Machine Project about some serious events happening in the near future. This Friday, Jamie Zigelbaum, a Ph.D. student at the MIT Media Lab, will present a lecture about computer interfaces and their interaction with humans. This may sound a bit over your head, but we deal with this everyday and you might just learn something interesting. And to be honest, the description of this event is a bit over my head. So that’s all you get from me. Check out their site to find out more. (I trust in Machine Project to provide us with mentally and creatively stimulating events, so I’m sure they won’t disappoint).

Speaking of creativity– Coming the first week in August, Machine Project will play host to it’s new workshop, Monster Props and Costumes. It’s a bit expensive, $250 for non-members, $225 for members, but it includes four 3 hour classes, tools, and a basic materials kit. It’s a pretty good deal because pounds of liquid latex and foam rubber aren’t exactly cheap. You will be able to create your own awesome Halloween costume after this! Cooooool. Sign up soon!
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WHAT: Computer Interface Lecture///Monster Costume Workshop
WHEN: Friday, July 24th @ 8pm///August 4th, 6th, 11th, & 13th @ 7-10PM
WHERE: Machine Project
$$$: Free///$250

Dustin Meyers, "Human Boredom"

Attention Geekoids: From July 16 through August 8, let’s all check out Gallery 1988, the one stop shop for great pop culture art, for the Crazy 4 Cult 3-D exhibit!

Now Noobs, I know what you are about to ask, “What makes it 3-D???” Answer: “3-D is used because it is our 3rd annual installment of this show. We have been staying with Jaws references for the first 3 years,” says Jensen of Gallery 1988. Still, save some cash for that Big Lebowski painting you always wanted!

100 artists pay tribute to your fave cult classics: From UHF to There Will be Blood, from Shaft to a portrait of directors such as Jim Jarmusch, Kevin Smith and Wes Anderson as monks poring over a scroll, there’s something for everyone while maintaining giddy unpredictability.

MAKE IT A DAY: Practically next door is beloved local comic book stand-by, Golden Apple Comics. Stop in before or after and pick up some new stuff! What’s out, you ask? Geez, do I have to do everything guys?! Take a gander here!

CHOW: M Cafe de Chaya is a cute, delicious spot walking distance from gallery 1988 and Golden Apple. Specializing in mostly vegetarian fare, they have great poultry and fish. If you’re there for lunch, try their paninos–Yumm! They have a great patisserie, too. Flavor factor very high, while $$ factor is mid-range: soup is 6, the fanciest sandwiches about 15.
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WHAT: CRAZY 4 CULT ART EXHIBIT
WHEN: July 16-August 8! 11am-6pm; Open Sundays for this exhibit! Closed Mondays.
WHERE: Gallery 1988
$$$: FREE!

Let’s face it, Hip Hop and Kung-Fu have a lot in common: they’re both about legacy, honor, and dispensing infinite truths… oh who am I kidding, they’re about kicking ass and teaching them frontin’ haters a lesson!

For those of you looking for a great 18+ event this weekend, this will be off the chain: Live at Cinespace this sunday night is Hop-Fu, in which a DJ pins a sick live soundrack to classic Kung-Fu film The Prodigal Son. The opening acts are also great, including DJ Illnaughty spinning live music to a portion of brilliant 1927 film Metropolis, and a crazy beatbox sesh by JASE Beatboxer, with a mash up of video clips using a microphone a loop peddle!

Ready for the martial arts, awesome music, and inevitable comedy? Then let’s learn Hop-Fu! Check out Hop Films to learn more about the events. This a great show for turntable aficionados, and film and Kung-Fu buffs!

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WHAT: Hop-Fu; DJ vs. The Prodigal Son
WHEN: Sunday July 19, DOORS @ 7PM
WHERE: Cinespace
$$$: $10 in Advance, $15 at the door

As I am sure that ultra-famous Meltdown Comics is LA’s geek cathedral, I’m sure that Grant Morrison is our current Geek Pope. The prolific shapeshifting writer of The Invisibles, The Filth, Seaguy, We 3; inimitable revamper of Final Crisis, Animal Man, Superman, Batman, X-Men… and so so many more, will be in town this Wednesday. He returns to the one and only Meltdown Comics to converse with infinitely awesome author Clive Barker and give you all hotpants.

I’d go on frothing at the keyboard like a typical rabid Grant Morrison fan, but none hath spake such frothy gospel as in the Meltblog:

“If you consider yourself a worthwhile nerd, a good geek, a fascinating fan of freak fiction, then do us a favor and start formulating your questions now so that we can extract as much information from the googleplexity of Grant. Then, once the event is complete, we shall use what we have learned to trace a map of the world that is to come so that our enemies cannot surprise us and we shall remain victorious in our dream world of comical capes and quizzical chimpanzees.”

All you have to do in order to enter this magical dreamscape is buy of of the three latest Grant Morrison offerings released this Wednesday (Final Crisis HC, Batman and Robin #1, or Batman and Robin #2), and The Swami will sign for you. No outside books will be signed, due to the time constraints in this dimension. When Grant comes to the Meltdown Comics on Earth 467, you may bring infinite bound items for autographing, as his adamantium wrist will never get Carpal Tunnel.
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WHAT: Grant Morrison Q&A, signing
WHEN: Wednesday July 1, 2009 6:00-9:00pm
WHERE: Meltdown Comics
$$$: Cost of at least one new Grant Morrison release. FREE Asahi beer and Tibetan tea!!!

Get yer mind blown.

Remember the days when we were obsessed with competing against supercomputers? Neither do I, but it looks like the trend is slowly coming back. This Sunday, Machine Project will provide 8 hours of arty and mathy goodness with an artist’s race against a machine:

“In the performance of “John Henry Von Neumann,” Chandler B. McWilliams will compete against a computer to complete a drawing in an eight-hour workday. The drawings are algorithmic, such that each line can be calculated from the previous lines. Random numbers will be used to generate the same seed line for McWilliams and the computer to execute the algorithm. He will use pen and paper while the computer uses a plotter. The result will be two drawings, one from the human hand, and one from the hand of the machine.”

Yes yes YES. For a fascinating yet chill Sunday, this is the best recommendation I can give.

NOSH: North Alvarado is a great hang-out area, so in between check-ins with McWilliam’s harrowing competish, head down Alvarado and have lunch at the popular Downbeat Cafe, a classic cafe joint with a hip atmosphere to complement your jaunt through Echo Park!
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WHAT: Machine Project’s “John Henry Von Neumann”
WHEN: Sunday, June 28 10am – 6pm
WHERE: 1200 D North Alvarado Los Angeles, CA 90026
$$$: Free

For those who’ve never been to the famous arcade dive, Miss T’s Barcade, a few questions come to mind:
1) Are the games cool? YES. All your old schcool faves including the Pac Man family, Donkey Kong, Rampage, Galaga, Gauntlet, and no arcade would be complete without Playboy pinball!
2) Is it dark enough? YES. Who IS that paunchy silhouette destroying at Centipede?
3) Is the beer cheap? YES. Grab corona’s and soju’s for less than a 5er.
4) Is the food good? YES. Nachos and burgers and huge bowls of ramen, super!
5) Is there also comedy here? YES, a regular show put on by some of the funniest kids in town!
For the uninitiated, tonight’s the perfect night to visit Miss T’s Barcade. Hang out with cool people, drink, play games, eat delicious junk food. Rock out to the awesome KXLU-featured DJ Lee Noble, and stand-up from members of hilarious UCB sketch troupe Your Girlfriend! This will put a fun, nerdstalgic cap on your weekend!
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WHAT: Super Joke-Out
WHERE: Miss T’s Barcade
WHEN: TONIGHT- Sunday June 21, 8:30pm
$$$: Show’s FREE! Food and drinks cheap!

Ever pick up a copy of The Onion in the last couple years?  Ever read the comics?  Well up until the comic page went away earlier this year, you could catch the latest print edition of Wondermark, a hilariously cerebral webcomic that is not above a good poop joke written by Dave Malki ! Run-on sentences aside, this Wednesday night is a release party for his third volume, Clever Tricks to Stave Off Death.  Dave will be bringing “books, sketch paper and high-fives” and if that isn’t enough, then jump into the Beard Portrait Booth and experience your new, facially endowed self.  Photographer Noe Montes will be on hand to capture your transformation to a hirsute visage.  The “hats and baubles” to accessorize will probably be more than enough to get that new look you’ve been going for, though.

Order a signed book here, or buy one at the event and get it filled with snazzy sketches and meet the artist like you probably won’t have another chance to do this year.  Also available for well-worth-it purchase will be greeting cards, T-shirts, posters, and other Wondermark books.

Did I mention the location is swanky?  It’s a little swanky.

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WHAT: Wondermark Book Signing & Release Party
WHEN: Wednesday, June 17th, 7-10pm
WHERE: The Crescent Hotel
$$$: FREE! ($15 for the new book)

Hello folks, while your usual crafty minx Liz is off taming the feral wilderness of Yosemite, your new BoredLA pal mander is here with a special nerdy edition of Craftiness.

Here in LA, the exhaustive amount of designer handbags we see is neither value-savvy nor original. Turn up your nose on couture, and this sunday evening try a little librarian chic. I’m pretty sure I made one of these in middle school: the modified book purse. Take your favorite book, and personalize it into your new favorite framed bag or clutch!

Materials you’ll need:
-hard bound book
-straight edge knife
-1/2-yd. fabric
-small piece of clear vinyl
-2 prefab plastic purse handles
-extra strong fabric glue
-painter’s tape

Let’s not waste precious space with the directions, here is  a super-simplified instructional video, courtesy of the awesome curbly.com.

Please post photos of your favorite books-cum-purses in the comments! I’ll post one, once I finish mine! Can’t wait for this leatherbound copy of Mein Kampf to finally become totable!

Ashley Fires and Ron Jeremy. She is one of four stars in attendance with the last name "Fire" or "Fires".

Today, tomorrow, and the next day hold a very special treat for you perverts out there indeed. I’m talking about Erotica LA, a huge adult entertainment industry convention, where tons of porn stars, vendors, and all sorts of other wholesome people gather together to, well, I’m not sure of it’s purpose.

But this show is more than just getting parts of your body signed by chicks you’ve seen naked. There will be lingerie and burlesque shows, as well as a Sexy Girlfriend / Boyfriend competition (sponsored by the radio station Power 106, creators of the almighty Traffic Jam), and a bunch of other neat stuff. Also, for the first time in history, there will be a live auction, where you and your pervy friends can bid against each other on actual ‘props’ used in your favorite adult films! You’ll be the envy of everyone, even your new girlfriend’s parents, when you point out that the candle on your mantle is the candle from the infamous ‘candle scene’ in Pirates.

So if you don’t have anything better to do and your girl is out of town, or, more likely, if you’re the kind of guy that doesn’t get many girls, then head on down the the LA Convention center this weekend, and all the pretty girls will finally pay attention to you, because they’re being paid to.

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WHAT: Adult Entertainment Convention
WHEN: Friday, June 12, 2009, 4:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. – Saturday, June 13, 2009, 11:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. – Sunday, June 14, 2009, 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
WHERE: LA Convention Center
$$$: 35 a day, or 75 for a three day VIP pass

Jealous that you couldn’t attend the MoCCA Comic Art Festival in New York City? Well LA has a consolation for you, comic book connoisseur: The Skirball’s ongoing exhibit dedicated to the classic comic heroes, ZAP! POW! BAM! THE SUPERHERO.

Even better is the companion exhibit, Lights, Camera, Action: Comic Book Heroes of Film and Television, in which you can survey all the awesome artifacts of your favorite comic mythos’ turns in tv and movies. You’ll be doing the Batusi the second you see the Original Batcycle!

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WHAT: Golden Age of Comic Books Exhibit
WHEN: Anytime before August 9! Open 10am-5pm.
WHERE: Skirball Cultural Center
$$$: $10 General; $7 Seniors and Full-Time Students; $5 Children 2–12; Free to Members and Children under 2; Free to all on Thursdays

Daunted by decision? Stymied by all the things to do this weekend? Trust me, after all the amazing things you’re doing tonight, tomorrow you’ll want sink into a movie. This Sunday is another great night at The New Beverly. Get your nerdstalgia on: Awesome video game double feature The Wizard, and Joysticks!

Word is there will be special guests! I’ll be there, with fingers crossed for Fred Savage, and one poorly aged bikini babe!

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WHAT: Video Game Movie Double Feature
WHEN: Sunday, June 7 @ 7:30pm
WHERE: The New Beverly Cinema
$$$: Just 10 bucks!

Some live updates from the floor at E3 2009.

DJ Hero

Charles Martinet (the voice of Nintendo’s Mario) plays the latest Mario game

Get your very own 3-D scan

@L.A. Convention Center
Submitted by JZN

If you have an LA Blink you’d like posted, send it to marksy [at] boredla [dot] com. Make sure you include your name, where you took the photo, and anything you want to say about the photo.

The Steven Allen Theater has been doing summer-horror-movie drive-ins (because it’s always Halloween somewhere, right?) and there’s only two more. The drive-in thrillers are Fridays at 8pm, $8 per person, $30 per parking spot in East Hollywood. Cram your car with 6 people and that’s only 5 bucks each. The theme is 1970s and 80s horror flicks; this Friday (June 5th) will be a screening of “King of the Ants” with director Stuart Gordon there in person. Check out their website for details.

WHAT: Steven Allen Theater Horror Drive-In Series
WHEN: Fridays, 8pm
WHERE: Steven Allen Theater: 4773 Hollywood Blvd
$$$: 8/person, 30/car

Beyond Baroque lives a happy Bohemian life as a bookstore, independent publisher and creative space near the beach in Venice that has been offering art and literature programs since its opening in 1968.  If you’re looking to tap into the writing community in the great city of Los Angeles, a good place to begin your search is Beyond Baroque.  Let me break it down:
Monday: 8pm Literary and Experimental Fiction workshop with Angie Kirk
Tuesday: 8pm Creative Non-Fiction workshop with Tonga Nguyen
Wednesday: 8pm the West Coast’s longest running, free poetry workshop with Ellyn Maybe
Thursday: 8pm Alternative Screenplay workshop with Matt Byrnes
Saturday: 1:30pm Poetry (or Prose) workshop with Bob Foster

I realize this post could have been helpful earlier in the week.  What’s so great about Beyond Baroque, though, is that the community has not and is not going anywhere.

There are also some purchasable workshops/training that you can read about on Beyond Baroque’s website.  Also, check the website before you show up for the first time, so you will know what you will need to bring.  Some workshops ask you to bring ten copies of your poetry, for example.  All of these daily/evening[ly] workshops are free.

Besides these workshops, Beyond Baroque is open Fridays from 11am-6pm.  boredLA will keep you posted about upcoming events.  You can find a more extensive history of Beyond Baroque, including information about its impressive literary and artistic affiliations and accomplishments, on their myspace.
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WHAT: Beyond Baroque Writing Workshops
WHEN: Monday – Thursday at 8pm, Saturday at 1:30
WHERE: Beyond Baroque in Venice Beach
$$$: free free free!

The amazing 1998 Coen brothers detective story, The Big Lebowski, offers more than nihilists, toe amputation, and Jesus.  This week in LA, it also offers its own festival.  The bath-robed festivities begin on Thursday with a Movie Party at the Wiltern.  Yuto Miyazawa, an impressive 8-year-old guitarist (which explains why the event is all ages) will play some tunes while special guests, including Philip Moon (Woo, the guy who pees on the rug), make appearances.  Of course, there will be a screening of the movie.  You can buy tickets here.
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WHAT: Lebowski Fest LA Movie Party
WHERE: The Wiltern
WHEN: Thursday, May 7th.  Doors at 7pm, show at 8pm
$: Mezzanine (seated) $15; Main Floor (partially seated) $19.99

Friday’s event is a bit of a mission (out to Lakewood), takes the admission age up to 21, and turns the fest into a Bowling Party at Cal Bowl.  There will be bowling, costumes (of course!), trivia, and other contests where you can demonstrate your subcultural capital and maybe earn a chance to stand a bit closer to the slightly different line-up of special guests, including Mark Pelligrino (the blond thug who works for Jackie Treehorn).  Tickets include general admission bowling and shoe rental.  Bowling isn’t guaranteed, so you might need to go Walter on their asses (I feel as though I must note that boredLA does not condone going Walter on anyone’s asses). You can buy tickets here.

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WHAT: Lebowski Fest LA Bowling Party
WHEN: Friday, May 8th at 9pm (arrive early if you want to bowl)
WHERE: Cal Bowl (in Lakewood)
$: $27.50

Steve Lambert, artist/activist(y) big-wig who uses art to communicate subversive messages about advertising and mass culture, has a show at the Charlie James Gallery that you can check out (and even ruminate on) for free!  Lambert’s show, “Everything You Want, Right Now!” has transformed the gallery space into a skewed, yet eerily familiar, consumer reality where you’re certain to have some moments of self-reflexivity and cultural discontent (in a good way!).  Check out information about Lambert’s impressive, interesting, and international past projects, including work with Adbusters Media Foundation and the Creative Work Fund, at his website.
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WHAT: Steve Lambert, “Everything You Want, Right Now!”
WHEN: Wednesday-Friday, 12-6
WHERE: Charlie James Gallery in China Town
$: Free!

Tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day! If you can’t tell what this means from the title, then I’m surprised you made it this far in life. However, we will try and ease you into the idea with a little info. Free Comic Book Day is a single day – the first Saturday in May – when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely FREE to anyone who comes into their stores. There you go. Just like it says on their website.

Your extra special bonus for tomorrow is the grand opportunity to meet William Shatner at Golden Apple Comics. He will be appearing from 1-3pm and will ONLY be signing his free comic book. But I’m sure if you ask him to sign your cleavage he will oblige. Or ask him questions. Your choice. But if he asks you to come with him on a “Priceline Getaway,” don’t fall for it. He just wants you to buy him a new turtleneck or other… ahem… questionable things. For the full list of appearances, prizes and activities at Golden Apple tomorrow, click here.

In any case, use the store locator to see who is participating and head on down for your free comics. Who knows, go crazy, maybe even buy some. I recommend Fables to anyone looking for an entry point or a great new series.

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WHAT: Free Comic Book Day + William Shatner Signing
WHERE: Golden Apple Comics
WHEN: Saturday, May 2nd @ 1-3PM (full day of events starts at 10am)
$$$: FREE!

While many bake their faces off in the Indio sun this weekend, we can have a melodramatic and musical time right here in the great city of Los Angeles.  KSCR (1560am) is hosting a CD-Exchange party on the USC campus this Saturday.  After you check out the ultimate independent publishing event on the campus, grab a bite to eat, then swap some tunes in the evening.  As far as the guidelines for the CD swap: 1. Bring a burned mixed CD with at least 8 tracks of tunes.  Keep in mind the theme: Your last day on earth 2. Creativity, with cover art and song descriptions, is encouraged.  3. Trading begins promptly at 8:30. 

I’m going to bring a couple CDs to trade…

KSCR will be giving away two pairs of tickets for Deerhoof and Cornelius at the Glass House on May 15, as well as KSCR merchandise.  Of course some KSCR DJs will be serenading you during the event.

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WHAT: “Mixtape” Exchange
WHEN: Saturday, April 18th from 8:30-11 (after party TBA)
WHERE: Ground Zero Performance Cafe
$: free

If you live in LA and haven’t read Ask the Dust, you need to. Fante is basically the “patron Saint” of the LA literary world, next to Bukowski of course, and tomorrow marks his 100th birthday. To celebrate, the Hammer Museum is hosting a panel discussion on his work, with KCRW’s Frances Anderton, Esotouric co-founder Richard Schave and Fante biographer Stephen Cooper. The panel also includes John Fante’s children: Vickie Fante Cohen, Jim Fante and Dan Fante. If you don’t get psyched about literary panel discussions, I’m sure you get psyched about booze, right? Wednesday night Fante fans are gathering at King Edward Saloon, the stomping grounds of his best-known character Arturo Bandini, to toast to the author.

WHAT: John Fante’s 100th
WHEN: Tuesday, 7pm and Wednesday, 8pm
WHERE: Hammer Musuem, King Edward Saloon
$$$: free

Tomorrow night you can hit up LACMA for their Late Hawk double feature series that honors director Howard Hawks while providing you with cheap entertainment.
Some cool information: I just talked to a very kind gentleman at the LACMA box office and he said that the Bing Theater, where these films are to be screened, can hold 600 people, but only 10 tickets have been sold for the screening tomorrow.  I’m sure that far more than 10 people are going to show up, but it’ll be cool to see these classic films on The Big Screen, while still maintaining an element of intamacy.  Anyway:
Howard Hawks 1967 Western El Dorado, starring John Wayne, is the first film of the night, and starts at 7:30.   The sheriff, Robert Mitchum, is a little drunk for most of the film, and there are lots of white guys with guns riding horses.
The second Late Hawk film, Land of the Pharaohs (1955) has a screenplay written in part by William Faulkner, arguably one of the best American authors (I definitely vouch for him, for what it’s worth).  The film focuses on a pharaoh obsessed with life after death.  I’m sure Faulkner mixes it up a bit.  This film begins at 9:45.

The first film is $10, and covers the price of the second film.  It’s $7 if you’re a student.  If you just go to see the second film, maybe go around town and get some beverages before the 9:45 screening, the price of admission is only $5.  Check out the LACMA website for more helpful information about planning your evening.

Hatari! (1962) is playing the next evening at 7:30pm in case you prefer your epics on a Saturday.

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WHAT: Late Hawk double feature at LACMA
WHEN: 7:30pm and 9:45pm on Friday March 20th
WHERE: LACMA’s Bing Theater
$: 10, 7 if you’re a student 5 for just the second film