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The loveliest of Chumpchampion friends ASKA, Ariana and the LA Ladies Choir join forces with many more musicians at downtown LA’s Million Dollar Theater to create the ambitious New., “an epic post-apocalyptic Rock Opera originally created by the artists of East LA. FREE OF CHARGE, for the citizens & into the future.”

More from Post Fact Productions:

“New. tells a story about destruction and transcendence. Over-the-top neon clad party snobs seek power and hierarchy, destroy civilization, and try to conquer the afterlife. This twisted tale describes a world saturated in synthetic desire, a culture desperate for recognition without effort or compassion, and Mother Nature’s ever-increasing power to move us to become better people or put us in our place, realized through song and dance.

With live performances by Ariana Delawari, Anna Oxygen, Aska Matsumiya (Moonrats), Amanda Jo Williams, The LA Ladies Choir, Featherbeard,  KP Thomas (Spindrift), Max Guirand,  Oliwa (Pleasure Circus Band), Lauren Brown & Rachel Kolar (He’s My Brother She’s My Sister) and Nicole Disson. These musicians contributed original songs that were choreographed into the script, transforming New., the experimental dark comedy of manners, into New., the epic post-apocalyptic rock opera.“

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A bit of loveliness for you before your Valentine’s weekend begins as the lovely and multi-talented Ariana Delawari presents intimate excerpts from her debut album, Lion of Panjshir. The following series of filmed vignettes was directed by David Lynch who is also distributing the album through his record label David Lynch MC. Recording since 2007, Ariana’s journey making Lion of Panjshir began in her homeland of Afghanistan where she recorded at her parents home in Kabul and where she continues to return to film and document her family’s life in Afghanistan.

Click here to find out more about Ariana and her story in an exclusive interview from David Lynch Foundation Television (DLF.TV).

From Mr. Lynch:

“ARIANA WRITES GREAT SONGS - THEY ARE FILLED WITH FEELINGS AND THOUGHTS FROM HER LIFE - HER LIFE IN HOLLYWOOD AND LIFE IN AFGHANISTAN WHERE HER ROOTS ARE - ANCIENT AND MODERN FLOW TOGETHER HERE - THIS MIXTURE OF CULTURESAND HER MELODIES AND LYRICS CONJURE A GREAT UNIQUE FEELING IN PEOPLE - PEOPLE ARE SURPRISED AND EMOTIONALLY MOVED BY THIS MUSIC — ARIANA’S GOT SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT AND SHE DOES IT REAL WELL - IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DEBUT ALBUM SHE’S MADE.”

(*Ariana is also one of the lovely ladies from the LA Ladies Choir who’s hauntingly beautiful music I edited into Aaron Rose’s film on Corita Kent, Become a Microscope-90 Statements on Sister Corita.)

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I’m sure most will be enjoying eggnog and holiday parties galore this weekend thus the lack of art openings and events to speak of. Thankfully we have singing ladies, cool clothing and big blue aliens to keep us busy.

• The lovely LA Ladies Choir will be hosting Take My Treasures, a silent auction charity benefiting the Children of the Night organization, as well as performing a special set of Christmas Carols at Hollywood’s Space 15 Twenty. Among the items for auction are donated treasures from Flea, Tom Petty, Kevin Willis, Lauren Dukoff, Jess Holzworth, Alia Penner, Will Lemon III, Billy Idol, Lucky Dragons, original sketches from the film Where The Wild Things Are and more to be announced.

• Homie PM Tenore’s RVCA clothing company doesn’t just make awesome clothes, they’re steadfast supporters of the arts (Artist Network Program), publishers of ANP Quarterly and now provider of fashion to Angelinos with the opening of their Fairfax based store. Grandly opening this Sunday, RVCA’s new location adds to their flagship Haight & Ashbury store in San Francisco. (thanks to the omnipresent Meghan Edwards for the reminder!)

• Oh yeah, and there’s this small 3D film by little Jimmy Cameron coming out too…

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Time for girls to dress like slutty something-somethings, guys to make minor adjustment to last year’s costumes and for me to edit my ass off on another uncelebrated Halloween (that makes 3 out of the last 5). And since I’ll be working on Saturday I’ll be dressed as an editor. BOO!

• Start your Halloween with some brain…cancer research fundraising. The Zombiethon-A Run For Brains is costumed walk/run fundraiser benefiting brain cancer research to be held at the Silver Lake reservoir.

• Find out what lurks In the Garden of the Mystic as Andrew Brandou unveils new paintings and rare silk-screened wood blocks at the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City. *Also free Halloween poster print for first 400 attendees at the opening!
  

• The evening gets weirder at The Cinefamily and Dublabs joint Bollyween party, a Bollywood-style Halloween party featuring drinks and dosas (provided by The Dosa Truck), ghoulish giveaways, costume prizes, DJ sets from the dublab “Bloodsucking” Sound System and Dr. Who Witchcraft Coven, more live performances and of course Bollyweird: The Movie — “their very own feature-length video mashup celebrating the most horrifying, fantastic, costume-crazed and outlandish moments of vintage Indian musical madness ever.”

• And of course what Halloween wouldn’t be complete without, uh, Halloween? John Carpenter’s 1978 scarefest gets even scarier as Cinespia screens Halloween at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

• And after all your Halloween night debauchery, how bout some wholesome goodness on Sunday with Hello Kitty’s Birthday Party. Curated by the fine folks of Flux, the continuing Hello Kitty Three Apples celebration takes place at the Royal/T Cafe in Culver City. The day’s events include workshops with artists Gary Baseman and Buff Monster and a live performance by the LA Ladies Choir complete with birthday cake!

From Flux:

You are invited to Hello Kitty’s Birthday Party. Come explore the Three Apples art exhibition and join some of the fun birthday activities planned throughout the day. Hello Kitty’s Birthday Party is hosted by Flux.

10am-12pm - Birthday Breakfast with Hello Kitty and DJ Lady Sinclair

11am-12pm - Figure Drawing Workshop with Three Apples artist Gary Baseman (Limited Capacity, sold out)

12pm-1pm - Toy Workshop with Three Apples artist Buff Monster (Limited Capacity, sold out)

2pm-3pm - Sushi & Bento Workshop with acclaimed chef Sushi Girl (Limited Capacity, sold out)

4pm-5pm - Live singing performance by LA Ladies Choir and Birthday Cake with Hello Kitty

Plus Hello Kitty Birthday Photo Booth

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Royal-T
8910 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232-2326
(310) 559-6300
Three Apples Exhibition: A Celebration of All Things Hello Kitty

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Films about an inspirational pop art nun (including ours), a Karaoke dance party, Muppets and more Muppets, and of course art openings highlight this weekends highlights.

• Pocket wallet pioneers Poketo take over Royal/T’s this summer with their storefront pop-up shop. Tonight they transform the joint into a Karaoke Dance Party with our fun Fluxer friends Jonathan and Meg Wells on an esteemed panel of judges.

• The Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax has Muppets on the mind once again as they bring back last year’s sold out showings of Jim Henson’s mind-blowing collection of shorts, crazy commercials, and other rarities including the not-be-to-be-missed Oscar winning Time Piece. Bonus: midnight screening of Henson’s feature film The Dark Crystal!

• With the Lotus Festival on hiatus this year the Echo Park Community Fest has come in to save the day, or weekend rather. Fun for all with carnival attractions, International foods, and the music of the lovely LA Ladies Choir with the Chili Pepper’s Flea (responsible for some songs from our Sister Corita film-more on that below)

• Giant Robot offers up prints to take home when the group show of 50 plus artists titled Printed Matter opens at GR2 on Sawtelle Saturday night. Featuring Bigfoot, Buff Monster, La Merde, Saelee Oh, Deth P. Sun, Albert Reyes, Andrew Jeffrey Wright and many more. Preview here.

• Constantly bringing the goods with their carefully curated shows, the Constant Gallery opens Desert Sexy “a survey of artists originating from and inspired by California’s low desert scene. Along with work by Logan/The Date Farmers, Anthony Lepore, and Peter Sutherland, we’ll be having an opening night musical performance by stoner rock progenitors Yawning Man (pre-Kyuss).” Check the preview here.

• Girls go wild as the Honor Fraser Gallery opens Bitch is the New Black, an all women art show featuring “fourteen Los Angeles-based women who are all emerging or established artists from roughly the same generation and are bright lights on the local scene.”

• Another Muppety evet at the Silent Movie Theater Saturday this time screening a matinee of Muppet Music Moments which, as you may have guessed, is a collection of musical performances from The Muppet Show.

• And finally end your weekend inspired as our short film (Become a Microscope: 90 Statements on Sister Corita) about the life and art of Sister Corita Kent will be screening at the Silent Movie Theater Sunday night alongside two other films by Corita’s friends, Mary’s Day (1964) by Baylis Glascock, and Survival With Style (1966) by Cal Bernstein, Alex Singer and Haskell Wexler. Both of these rare films will be screened from their original 16mm prints, and Mary’s Day will feature a live score by special musical guests!

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Sorry for the late post today, I was a bit busy rejoining the human race again. The last few days have just about been the hardest I’ve ever pushed myself finishing a film, and I’d def do it all over again. Working with the dedicated members of our Corita film crew in finishing the edit, finalizing the animations, listening to the sound mix, coloring the film, and conforming the entire thing to be ready for last night’s Flux screening tallied me a new personal work record: work-90 hours, sleep-6, from Sunday up until the show on Wednesday. But with a drive to finish fueled by the work of Sister Corita and with the payoff of how well our film was received, I have to say it was all so worth it. Big thanks to Jonathan and Meg Wells for organizing another fun Flux screening and to all who came out and checked out our film, Become a Microscope-90 Statements on Sister Corita! Many more screenings to come soon!

On top of our film showing alongside a multitude of amazing music videos and short films, the LA Ladies Choir headed by Becky Stark performed as well. The lovelies were captivating with their two songs in this their second performance.

The Ladies Choir pt. 1 from chumpchampion on Vimeo.

The Ladies Choir pt. 2 from chumpchampion on Vimeo.

And here’s another film that screened last night, a supremely crafted short directed by Ace Norton and his new ’stache that left me sonically blown away:

Soundscapes - by Ace Norton from IE HAGY on Vimeo.

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