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My dear friend, do-it-all renaissance woman and quester in arms, Debra Koffler along with her Conscious Youth Media Crew (CMYC), bring the bay area the world premiere of their recently completed film Why I Ride: Low and Slow. The documentary, which tells “the untold history of San Francisco’s unique lowrider culture in the city’s Mission District”, screens free(!) along with other films, live music and art making at the de Young Museum in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

From CMYC:

“Mission Media Archives in association with Conscious Youth Media Crew and Burning Wagon productions, proudly presents “Why I Ride: Low and Slow,” our recently finished film documenting the untold history of San Francisco’s unique lowrider culture in the city’s Mission District.

Join us for a night of memories, reunions, and celebration featuring the voices of Mission District street historians: Roberto Hernandez, Valerie Tulier, Felipe Velez, Mitchell Salazar, and Sandy Cuadra.“

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Always looking to push creative boundaries, my main man Milk (Chris that is) directs a truly unique and groundbreaking music video for Arcade Fire’s single “We Used to Wait” from their latest album The Suburbs, and turns it into the interactive interpretation titled “The Wilderness Downtown”. Part Google web browser Chrome Experiment part personalized nostalgia trip, the immersive, multi-window, next level clip literally takes you home before the music even starts as you’re prompted to “enter the address of the home were you grew up” (which eventually appears on screen at the appropriate part of the track with the help of Google Maps technology).

Driven by the haunting melodies of Arcade Fire, you follow the galloping footsteps of a hooded runner who’s seemingly travelling through your old neighborhood as he passes familiar spots popping up in small windows on your screen. Sweeping street level and aerial views of your old home conjure childhood memories as Milk perfectly choreographs the sentimental imagery which culminates in an outgrowth of birds, trees and wilderness.

Top it all off with another window for writing “a postcard of advice to the younger you that lived there then” and you have yourself a personalized and poignant journey (and maybe even a tear or two) that you’ve yet to experience in a music video.

Click here or the image below to visit “The Wilderness Downtown” (best viewed in Google Chrome or in Apple’s Safari 5)

Read details and more from Google’s blog here.

From Chrome Experiments:

“Choreographed windows, interactive flocking, custom rendered maps, real-time compositing, procedural drawing, 3D canvas rendering… this Chrome Experiment has them all. “The Wilderness Downtown” is an interactive interpretation of Arcade Fire’s song “We Used To Wait” and was built entirely with the latest open web technologies, including HTML5 video, audio, and canvas.”

More from Chris Milk:

• THURSDAY (June 10): Flux Screening Series @ The Hammer feat. Chris Milk, Alexandre de Bonrepos, Chris Marrs Piliero and Jonas Odell
• Milk’s Last Day Dream
• THIS WEEKEND: N.A.S.A. vs. Japan, Milk Photography, 1000 Days, The Red Balloon Scores, To Catch a Dazed and Confused Thief
  
• Chris Gets Complex With Kanye
• The Best Web Videos of the Year 2008: #5-Gnarls Barkley “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul”
• Milk for Hope
• Gnarlsy
  

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To all the dork, geek and nerdy superhero themed cosplayers of Los Angeles: the attempt to break the Guinness World Record for most people dressed in superhero costumes in one place at the same time will be going down tomorrow at the costumed character mecca-the intersection of Hollywood and Highland.Trying to break the Australians current record of 1,245 superheroes, set almost exactly a year ago (August 29, 2009) shouldn’t be that hard considering the amount of freaks LA has to offer but could prove a challenge with the LAPD’s recent crackdown on Hollywood’s masked maniacs. (via Comics Alliance)

For detailed info check the Craig’s List notice here.

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The 30th anniversary of Silver Lake’s always festive street festival, Sunset Junction, goes down this weekend full of the usual too many bands to name, drinking, dancing, carnival rides and games, fried foods, street vendors, drinking and more drinking. Also drinking!

Click here or flyer below for all the info you’ll need to know.

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Enter a world of pure imagination surrounded by a world of pure dead people as Cinespia presents everyone’s favorite candy man (sorry Johnny Depp but it’s still Gene Wilder) along with everyone’s favorite orange midgets (sorry Tattoo) in the 1971 classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory sweetens up the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Also…Daedelus spins before and after the screening!

From Cinespia:

“Classic children’s fantasy starring comic genius Gene Wilder. A visual treat, this movie is filled with wild and imaginative sets, colorful characters and of course, mountains of candy. Charlie is a poor boy who becomes one of five winners of the golden ticket, a special pass which brings him inside the wondrous and mysterious factory of Willy Wonka. Only one of the winners will win a lifetime supply of chocolate, and as they tour the factory, they are eliminated one by one. Come take a tour of the chocolate factory with us!”

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The group of artistic individuals who make up the Bagavagabonds join forces with a mighty group of creative cohorts, including marketing master friend Jessica Chong and K-Swiss, for a night good causes full of art, music, film and partying as Filter Magazine presents the Bagavagabonds DREAM Art Explosion!

Proceeds from art sales benefit Aaron Rose’s youth-oriented Make Something!! workshops across the country.

From JC:

“DREAM a little dream or a lot?  You’re invited! It’s a $10 donation at the door, but drinks are free all night and you will be able to purchase original artwork for $50 or less.  The proceeds from the artwork will benefit Make Something!!

RSVP: sirfrancisdrake@bagavagabonds.com“

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The spirit of Sister Corita keeps on kicking as master puppet maker Beth Peterson leads a Labor of Love a workshop in creating puppets and story-telling at the Courtyard Galleries at the Hollywood Lutheran Church.

From the Corita Art Center:

“Puppetmaking workshop with Beth Peterson, puppet maker extraordinaire. Inspired by Corita and Jan Steward’s Learning by Heart, Teachings to Free the Creative Spirit, Beth has been creating puppets, masks, pageants and parades all over Los Angeles for over 16 years with schools, community and professional theatres. Join us for puppet-making and story telling from 11am until 2pm at the Courtyard Galleries. Next stop, Sunset Junction!”

More on the sensational Sister Corita:

• THURSDAY (Aug 5): Sister Corita Art Silkscreen Mash-Up & Film Screening @ Levi’s Workshop SF
• SATURDAY (July 24): Sister Corita Art Silkscreen Mash-Up @ Blue Rooster Art
• Sister Corita is the Nowness
• FRIDAY (June 4): Los Feliz Art Walk Featuring Sister Corita’s Rebel Nuns & Aaron Rose
• THURSDAY: Viva Corita!
• Flux You Very Much!
• TONIGHT: Get Fluxed With Us and Sister Corita
• Flux You!
• SATURDAY: Love
• Chasing Corita
• Continuing Corita Coverage
• Sister Corita IS Your Valentine
• These Rules Rule
• A. Rose is A. Rose is A. Rose

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The gelato-crazed, design-fazed Gelatobaby lends a hand (or her feet?) to GOOD magazine’s car-free, alternative transportation celebration Moving Beyond Cars. Taking place at downtown’s Jewel Box where the exhibition LA Beyond Cars: A Global Perspective on Rail and Space is currently held, the event is aimed at helping Angelinos become less auto-dependent while taking steps toward using the city’s ever expanding public modes of transportation.

From the delicious Gelatobaby:

“I’m really excited about an event I’m helping to plan for GOOD, in partnership with railLA, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, the Coalition for Clean Air, and de LaB. railLA contacted us to throw a party as part of the downtown LA exhibition LA Beyond Cars: A Global Perspective on Rail and Space which envisions a future of high-speed rail in LA. So we thought it would be really cool to look towards that future and make this event completely car-free—and we’re hoping everyone is up to the challenge!

So! Borrow a bike! Try taking the bus for the first time! Race a friend on horseback from across town! Just get to the event in a way that shows LA is moving beyond cars. Besides the fun of everyone reporting how they got there, we’ll also have a few special activities. We’ll have James Rojas leading his interactive city planning workshops (which I’ve written about for GOOD before), and the folks from CicLAvia will be on-hand to tell us about their plan to create car-free streets one day this fall (10/10/10!). Plus! Prizes will be awarded to whoever arrives in the most unique, “beyond car” way.

All information here, and you can RSVP and share the information over at Facebook. Hope to see you there!”

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Our lovely go-getter friend and lover of Los Angeles independent designers, artists and businesses, Sonja Rasula, brings her fashionably fun Unique LA marketplace to Orange County for a weekend of Unique OC at The Lab in Costa Mesa.

Click here for full list of vendors and more. Food offerings include the up and coming mobile Manila Machine (Filipino food!!!) and Sweet Lucie’s (organic ice creams) among others.

And as per the usual, our good buddy Bryan Davidson will be providing the entertainment for your ears.

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The Japanese invasion of cuteness continues in Los Angeles as San-X’s ever popular Rilakkuma characters open a two-day pop-up shop full of Japanese goodness, parties and foods through the Rilakkuma Weekend.

Full details and schedule of events from Japan LA here including Umami Burger deliciousness.

From the always charming Charm School:

“This August, Los Angeles will experience a taste of Japan. Highly-popular San-X characters Rilakkuma and Mamegoma will be presenting Rilakkuma Weekend, an amazing weekend of food, fun and shopping, in association with Umami Burger. For the occasion, Jamie Rivadeneira of JapanLA will curate a custom San-X pop-up shop filled with San-X characters and rare merchandise from Japan. The weekend will also include a party and Japanese-inspired events produced by Bubble Punch.”

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