FEB 1: FINANCIALLY HUNG’S SECOND ANNUAL GAME DAY AT THE WORLD FAMOUS PLAYBOY MANSION; EVENT BENEFITS CALIFORNIA POLICE YOUTH CHARITIES

Featured Event Listing - TLR Event of the Week
Posted by Don Rose

Admit it. You've always wanted to spend a day at the Playboy Mansion. To surround yourself with Playmates and Hollywood celebrities while enjoying great food and drinks, plus A-list entertainment -- and all for a very worthy cause. Well now is your chance! And you get to do it on the biggest sports day of the year: Super Bowl Sunday. Yes, on February 1, 2009 you can join Hollywood’s hottest celebrities, professional athletes and Playboy Playmates along with hosts Brande Roderick (Playboy Playmate and Baywatch Babe) and over 20 Playmates to celebrate the Game Day while supporting the California Police Youth Charities.

The day long festivities will be held at the world famous PLAYBOY MANSION. This remarkable and interactive event will entertain guests with a performance by Bret Michaels of Poison and Rock of Love and Strawberry Blonde, entertainment provided by Girlicious, special guest DJ, Playboy’s 50th Anniversary Playmate Colleen Shannon, performance art by David Garibaldi, 20 painted models with your favorite football teams, photo ops with Playboy Bunnies, swimming in the world famous grotto and pool, professional massages throughout the day, open bar, Game Day style food, hand rolled Cuban cigars, dancing and networking.

Financially Hung is in the business of professional social networking. Striving to help business professionals meet qualified contacts and achieve their goals in an exciting and stimulating environment. “We provide our members with an online community to network outside of the normal business day” says founder Brande Roderick. Members are extended invitations to the most posh and lavish events. Financially Hung members experience life the way every rock star, movie star, pro-ball player and VIP lives.

Expected celebrities to attend: Brande Roderick, Bret Michaels, Traci Bingham, Angelica Bridges, Glen Cadrez, Colleen Shannon, Girlicious, Strawberry Blonde, Alfonso Ribeiro, Brandon Molale, Cole Hauser, Eddie Steeples, Elizabeth Berkley, George Gray, Grant Show, Pauly Shore, Rick Fox, Robin Bain, Tera Patrick and many more.

California Police Youth Charities builds relationships between the law enforcement community and California youth. They strive to provide opportunities for youth through various resources throughout the state of California. Creating scholarships and funding various youth activities in each of California’s counties shall accomplish this. It is their goal to keep California’s youth involved in productive activities run by positive role models.

Event hours are from 2:00 pm – 10:30 pm. Early arrival is strongly suggested! VIP Cabanas are available for $25,000, VIP Tables available for $10,000, General Tickets available for $1,500. For additional information please visit www.GameDayatthePlayboyMansion.com. (Promo Code: CEG).

JAN 31: Edwardian Ball Descends on Downtown LA for the First Time at Tower Theater

Posted by Don Rose

Paradox Media, Vau de Vire and Cirque Berzerk presents The Edwardian Ball - Los Angeles on Saturday, January 31, 2009. A splendid San Francisco tradition flies south for the winter, presenting an elegant, turn of the century celebration of music, theatre, dance, circus arts, DJs, ballroom dance, fashion, technology, and of course, the art and stories of Edward Gorey.

Held in the historic Tower Theater, and hosted by LA's own big top phenomenon Cirque Berzerk in partnership with Edwardian Ball co-creators Rosin Coven and Vau de Vire Society, the night promises an unforgettable blend of audience and performance with humor, darkness, and style. Also featuring Helios Jive, DJ Xian (LADEAD), Jill Tracy, Miz Margo, Dark Garden Corsetry, and many special guests.

Tower Theater is located at 802 S. Broadway, downtown Los Angeles, CA 90014.

Doors open and show begins at 8:00pm, and all ages are welcome.

Costumed attire is requested!

General admission tickets cost $25, and a limited amount of $75 VIP tickets are available that include reserved balcony seating and hosted absinthe bar, courtesy of Obsello Absinthe (21+ only). Tickets can be purchased at Necromance (7208 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046; 323-931-2997).

For more information and online tickets, please visit www.edwardianball.com.
For more information on the venue call 213-629-2939 or visit www.towertheaterla.com.

Since 1999 The Edwardian Ball has steadily grown from an underground club phenomenon into a full-fledged festival of arts and culture, focusing on the esteemed works of the late, great author/illustrator Edward Gorey. Now, with the blessings of The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust, this one-night-only Los Angeles event of everything under the midnight sun reaches across cultural boundaries to include audiences of all ages and backgrounds, where literary fans are as welcome as goth club goers, where the high flying trapeze and steam-powered machines create the backdrop for elegantly dressed ballgoers waltzing their way into the antique portrait studio. Event producer/founder, Justin Katz, muses, “No one city can contain this celebration where the old-world meets the world-to-be with an unforgettable tip of the top hat, curtsey, and a splash of absinthe poured over a silver spoon… So we’re thrilled to bring the Ball to LA.” For almost a decade, The Edwardian Ball has been featuring Gorey tales brought to life on stage.

A truly prodigious and original artist, Edward St. John Gorey (1925-2000), gave to the world over one hundred works, including The Gashlycrumb Tinies, The Doubtful Guest and The Wuggly Ump; prize-winning set and costume designs for innumerable theater productions from Cape Cod to Broadway; a remarkable number of illustrations in publications such as The New Yorker and The New York Times, and in books by a wide array of authors from Charles Dickens to Edward Lear, Samuel Beckett, John Updike, Virginia Woolf, H.G. Wells, Florence Heide and many others. His well-known animated credits for the PBS Mystery series have introduced him to millions of television viewers. Gorey's masterful pen and ink illustrations and his ironic, offbeat humor have brought him critical acclaim and an avid following throughout the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Gorey).

Heralding dozens of various performers, Cirque Berzerk has been performing since 2005. Spearheaded by husband and wife team Kevin Bourque and Suzanne Bernel, Cirque Berzerk is a tight-knit family of performers who have banded together to put their unique spin on the face of contemporary circus theater. Complete with their own big top tent (and still buzzing from their sold-out, multi-weekend “Beneath” shows at the Los Angeles State Historic Park in summer 2008), they have performed for various types of events and clients including Carmen Elektra’s New Year’s Eve Bash at Paramount Studios, Best Buy, PlayStation3 Computer Entertainment System and a host of private shows at locations ranging from nightclubs to the Ritz Carlton. The troupe’s signature style blends hardcore circus choreography with the glamorous themes of cabaret and vaudeville. Stunts include aerial performance, contortion, various stunts involving fire and incredible stilt action. More information on Cirque Berzerk is found at http://www.cirqueberzerk.com/.

A hidden gem in downtown LA's Broadway movie palace district, The Tower Theater was the first theater designed by renowned architect S. Charles Lee. The Tower opened in 1927 as the first movie palace in downtown LA wired for sound films, and was the sneak preview location for the Warner Brothers' classic, The Jazz Singer (1927). The theater's opulent exterior and interior feature French Renaissance motifs with lavish Spanish, Romanesque and Moorish influences. Popular with film industry location scouts but rarely used for live events, the venue owners saw how special this production was and on January 31st so will enthralled audience members.

JAN 22-25: ART LA RETURNS TO SANTA MONICA AT NEW LARGER VENUE: BARKAR HANGAR

Featured Event Listing - posted by Don Rose

ART LA, the New Los Angeles International Contemporary Art Fair, takes place this year at the Barkar Hangar, located within the Santa Monica Airport complex. A preview reception takes place January 22, 2009, to benefit MOCA (the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles). Then, regular hours run January 23 - 25. The fair presents a select roster of 60 top international and Los Angeles based galleries representing an informed cross-section of today's contemporary art trends and directions.

The exhibiting galleries at ART LA are an even balance of established blue chip and emerging galleries, all presenting the most progressive, international art work being produced today. Half of the exhibitors hail from the immediate Los Angeles area, and half are from the United States and abroad.

The fair is designed to spotlight the Los Angeles art scene and its prominence within current international artistic trends. The fair brings influential international galleries and their artists work for the interested art patron and collector alike to enjoy. The finest examples of contemporary art work will be available for view and sale.

The weekend of ART LA 2009 has been expanded to include a full auxiliary programming series. Special exhibitions, performances, conversations and premiere film screenings will be staged at the Barker Hangar and throughout the city during the run of the fair.

The official Art LA 2009 website can be found here:
http://www.artfairsinc.com/artla/2009/index.html

Public Fair Dates and Hours

Friday, January 23, 11am-7pm
Saturday, January 24, 11am-7pm
Sunday, January 25, 11am-6pm
1-day pass $15
3-day pass $25
Tickets are available for purchase at the box office during the run of the fair.
Advanced tickets may be purchased on-line.

Buy Tickets

Opening Night

Thursday, January 22
6:30-10:30pm
The ART LA 2009 opening night reception benefits the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA). For additional Opening Night Reception infomation call 213.633.5361 or email mwilson@moca.org.

Buy Opening Benefit Tickets

SUNDAY JOY: BEAR RIDES HORSE (PHOTO OF THE WEEK)

A metaphor for us all. If two species can get along, why can't one?

FILM REVIEW: "JOE DICK" - DELIGHTFUL DEBUT COMEDY FROM STAR/DIRECTOR GREG LINDSAY; COULD BE NEXT BEN STILLER

by Don Rose

Joe Dick is a daring, delightfully funny first feature from actor/star/director Greg Lindsay, who is not afraid to blend multiple comedic styles to achieve his goal: delivering the most funny from each scene. The chemistry between Lindsay and his Owen-Wilson-esque co-star is near perfect, and there are two sequences in the film that had me laughing so hard I was crying. An impressive debut from a rising talent all should keep their eyes on.

Look for Joe Dick to be released to the general public soon. Greg could just be the next Ben Stiller. Seriously. Funny: it's Greg's middle name. Not surprising, given his Second City pedigree. A name to watch in 2009 and beyond.