Author James Goodale was chief counsel for the New York Times during the Nixon era. His new book, “Fighting for the Press: The Inside Story of the Pentagon Papers and Other Battles,” outlines our government’s pernicious (and ongoing) threat to media freedom. Some prescient authors get all the luck: Every morning it seems we’re greeted to fresh revelations of Barack Obama’s War on Leaks over-reaching into the privacy of journalists. His administration has threatened to pursue Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, just as Nixon went after Neil Sheehan and the Times. In “Fighting,”Goodale warns that the act of newsgathering as we know it may become criminalized. The question is: does anyone except First Amendment lawyers care? Read this book and you will.
Certain simple ideas have the power to transform humanity (for the better). Creating an organic community garden is one of those life-changing concepts. The forward-thinking nonprofit, EnrichLA, builds gardens at schools, using students, parents, and community volunteers to construct irrigated planting beds, trees, flowers, and vegetables. In the tradition of Habitat for Humanity, it all happens in one antic day. This is possible thanks to a smartly refined template — they’re in more than 50 locations; they know what they’re doing — and a charismatic leader, Tomas O’Grady, a handsome Irishman equally handy with power tools and public relations. Volunteer. Plant a seed. Watch what grows.
Originally posted April 30th, 2013
By Michael Konik
Entertaining, educational, and totally boogie-licious, the New York Public Theater production of “Here Lies Love” is the most fun we’ve had at a show since the age of disco. Originally a stellar recording project created by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, with vocals from, among others, Cyndi Lauper, Tori Amos, Nathalie Merchant, Santigold, Florence Welch, and a Filipina chick named Charmaine Clamor, “Here Lies Love” traces the fascinating life of Imelda Marcos. It’s not satire and it’s not camp; it’s a revelation. Ingeniously staged by Alex Timbers and featuring a solid ensemble cast of singer-dancer-actors, “Here Lies Love” is an immersive theater event bristling with imagination and intelligence.
Originally posted April 16th, 2013
By Michael Konik
The idea has intrigued modern American composers for decades: What would happen if you mashed-up jazz with the symphonic form? Duke Ellington, Gil Evans, Vince Mendoza, and Maria Schneider have written ravishing scores in this vein. Now, the respected Los Angeles reed-man, arranger, composer and band leader Kim Richmond has released his latest masterwork, “Artistry,” a tribute to Stan Kenton. Featuring some of the very best studio musicians in Los Angeles — the ones you hear on TV and movies — the album is rich, multi-layered, arresting, and highly listenable. It’s art music that feels good. Richmond’s wry sense of humor and questing spirit comes through in the writing. His concert jazz orchestra’s excellence comes through in the playing.
Originally posted April 2nd, 2013
By Michael Konik
Andy Kauffman. Tony Clifton…Jackie Mason — America’s glorious tradition of professional funnymen lives on in the fabulous Neil Hamburger. Hamburger’s live act, which reportedly differs from his many celebrated albums, features a barrage of Socratic jokes, tough questions with tougher answers. If you’re his ex-wife, we’re sorry! Neil’s pacing is legendary, and he uses the abundance of mucus that accumulates in his throat with great practicality. The Borscht Belt’s loss is the comedy world’s gain.
Originally posted March 12th, 2013
By Michael Konik
The show is billed as “stories of Dinah Washington, Queen of the Blues.” And it is. But I Wanna Be Loved, which features all of Dinah’s hits, could just as easily be billed as “An Evening with Barbara Morrison.” L.A.’s Queen of Jazz & Blues is now confined to an electric wheelchair after diabetes-related operations. The scooter might as well be a throne. Barbara Morrison is a genuine American treasure, one of the living links to the era of Ella, Billie, and Ms. Dinah W. The show, which features a sensational 18-piece big band under the direction of cool cat John Stephens, runs through the end of the month at Queen Barbara’s namesake performing arts center, in Leimert Park. Go. Enjoy. Witness a living legend, a master, demonstrate the art of singing and performing.
Originally posted February 26th, 2013
By Michael Konik
What if everyone who owns a lawn stopped growing grass and started growing food? What if we grew our vegetables on local plots instead of factory farms? The Massachusetts organization and education center Seeds of Solidarity believes that we should grow food everywhere — including urban and “inner-city” areas. The goal of Seeds of Solidarity is to foster justice and joy. They believe peace, love, and harmony can be cultivated, just like tomato vines and cabbage. We stand with them.
Originally posted February 12th, 2013
By Michael Konik
Hollywood’s strange and wonderful Fake Gallery, not far from the grand gates of Paramount Studios, is a better place to visit and experience than write about. It’s a refreshingly clean space, a fertile garden where things happen: comedy, spoken word, music, art, happenings. The stench of “industry interest” is blissfully absent. At The Fake, art and performance and performance art bring artists and performers and performance artists into a common realm. What it feels and sounds and looks like is something you should see for yourself.
Originally posted January 29th, 2013
By Michael Konik
Wise, strong, and polished way beyond his years (33), writer and comedian Moshe Kasher is quickly establishing himself as his own category. He’s becoming known nationally for uncommon confidence in his sexuality (ambiguous), intelligence (superior), and willingness to speak what he believes to be the truth (always). He’s on tour and on Twitter and on TV, but if you’re in Los Angeles you can catch Kasher at all the local comedy shows, destroying. Caution: Interesting mind at work!
Originally posted January 23rd, 2013
By Michael Konik
Part yoga tutorial, part Indian travelogue, Leaving Stress Behind is all good. Created by Daniel Overberger, formerly known by his death metal name “Stress,” and now a popular Hollywood yoga instructor and the front man of the Dharma Gypsies band, LSB offers a practical guide to a one-hourish Ashtanga yoga practice, with excellent illustrations and just enough anecdotes, wisdom, and encouragement to keep newcomers engaged. An audio CD is included. Now, breathe…
Luckily for Barack Obama, news of improper shenanigans at the IRS stole attention from the week’s biggest story: that the President’s Justice Department had secretly seized call information from at least 20 phone lines belonging to Associated Press reporters, including personal cell phones and the main switchboard of the AP’s Washington bureau. While Obama thundered on about “inexcusable behavior” at the IRS, he said he would “make no apology” for his latest foray into Nixonian…
News comes from Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, that a disastrous fire swept through a garment factory there, killing eight people. A factory fire in November killed more than 100.
The garment industry in Bangladesh is euphemistically called “loosely regulated,” so, regrettably, these things (fires and so forth) tend…
Were you aware that bottled water is “bad for the environment,” “bad for public water sources,” and “bad for your wallet”?
Neither were we! It’s pretty funny to think of something so obviously good – so amazing, when you think about it – as inherently evil, or something. Bottled water…
The commonly understood reason why terrorists wish to kill and maim Americans is because they hate our freedoms. That’s what’s behind all the civilian violence: they hate our freedoms. You can go ahead and enumerate all the freedoms the terrorists hate, but it doesn’t really matter which ones –freedom to…
The whole world is worried about North Korea. We’re not. We think locally. The area around which we can walk or ride our bike is our concern. We’re civic-minded that way.
Hollywood Boulevard is nearby. We walk on its sidewalks almost every day, often to access the subway, which serves…
Author James Goodale was chief counsel for the New York Times during the Nixon era. His new book, “Fighting for the Press: The Inside Story of the Pentagon Papers and Other Battles,” outlines our government’s pernicious (and ongoing) threat to media freedom. Some prescient authors get all the luck: Every morning it seems we’re greeted to [...]
