Sat 5/03 9BeetStretch @ OCMA

Join the Orange County Museum of Art for a very special 24-hour performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. 9BeetStretch, a musical composition and sound scape, conceived and implemented by Leif Inge, a Norwegian composer, is part of the Odd Beethoven Festival. Performance schedule:1st movement: Saturday, 12 pm-5:30 pm, 2nd movement: Saturday, 5:30 pm-10:30 pm, 3rd movement: Saturday, 10:35 pm-3:30 am, 4th movement: Sunday, 3:30 am-12 pm. Lounge furniture will be provided and light refreshments are available for purchase throughout the night. The event is free, but you're encouraged to B.Y.O.P. (Bring your own pillow and sleeping bags).

Sat 5/03 Art Walk Santa Ana Artists Village

As per every first Sat of the month, the gallery doors of Santa Ana's Artists Village will remain open late this Sat from 6:00-10:00pm. Check out the show at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in particular to see the full version of the above detail of Elliot, I Spilled the Milk, by Christina Natsuko Paulos, whose website contains many treasures worth troving for.

Fri 5/02 First Fridays @ Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum is hosting its First Fridays event tonight. The schedule will proceed as follows: 5:30pm TOUR:“Tour of the Ancient Latin American Hall” led by Karen Wise, Ph.D. & Curator in charge of Archaeology 6:30pm DISCUSSION:“How Does Evolution Build a Complex Brain?” 7:00-10:00pm MUSIC: featuring Akron/Family, The Dodos, and DJ sets in the African Mammal Hall by Carlos Niño and Morpho. The museum is located at 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, 90007. Tickets are $9 and food and drinks are available for purchase.

Thurs 5/01 Art Walk Laguna Beach

The extremely well-organized Laguna Beach Art Walk kicks off the month of May tonight starting at 6:15pm. You can hop on the free shuttle to participating gallery locations starting at the Laguna Art Museum (corner PCH and Cliff Dr.) or at Bluebird Center (1590 S. Coast Highway). The image above is by Andy Davis, who I have mentioned before on the blog, and whose work is synonymous with Laguna Beach in my mind. Shuttles run until 8:45 p.m.

Thurs 5/01 Shifting Perspectives TNT

As always, the first Thurs of the month brings many enthralling art-relevant activities, including TNT @ the MCASD downtown location. Starting at 7pm tonight, the museum will feature 3-D topographic maps, a preview of The Hybrid Authorship Project, and music by Seesaw Ensemble (pictured above) and Reverse Cowboy. After TNT, take the trolley to J6Bar and Hotel Solamar (at J Street and Sixth Avenue in downtown) for drink specials and live music 10pm-midnight. MCASD downtown is at 1100 Kettner Blvd @ B Street, San Diego. $3 suggested donation.

4/25-5/03 Hurley Spring Warehouse Sale

Hurley is slashing store prices 50-75% and having a multi-day sale to clear out some warehouse space. They are located at 2323 Main St. @ Von Karman, in Irvine, and the sale runs the following days: Fri 4/25 12-8pm, Sat/Sun 4/26-27 8am-3pm, Fri 5/02 12-8pm, and Sat 5/03 8am-3pm. They promise to feature Men's, Women's, Boy's, Toddler's and Infant's gear. Not sure if Girl's are intentionally ommited?

4/24-5/01 Newport Beach Film Festival

The 9th annual Newport Beach Film Festival opened last night with the highly publicized Sherman's Way at Edward's Big Newport and a celeb-attended gala. The festival runs weeknights and weekend days through Thurs 5/01, and is jam packed with features and shorts, and will even showcase a few US premieres. I'm particularly enthralled by the looks of Good Dick, starring Jason Ritter and Marianna Palka, playing at 8pm tonight at Regency Lido Theater.

4/22-4/26 Allan Kaprow's 18 Happenings in 6 Parts

In conjunction with the MOCA's presentation of Allan Kaprow Art as Life, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions is showing a re-invention of Kaprow's seminal Happening– 18 Happenings in 6 Parts – originally presented in 1959 at the Reuben Gallery in New York. LACE is entrusting the re-interpretation to artist Steve Roden and friends. The show runs tonight through Sat 4/26 at 6522 Hollywood Blvd at 8:00pm. This totally validates my "Happenings" post label.

1/27-5/18 Chicano Art & Soul

Chicano Art & Soul: Three Exhibitions in One, presented by Cheech Marin, is currently showing at Muzeo in Anaheim. The show, which opened in January and has been extended by popular demand until 5/18, includes the work of 30+ prominent Chicano artists, and presents a 360-degree view of the Chicano experience. Muzeo is located at 241 S. Anaheim Blvd, Anaheim 92805. Museum hours are everyday 10-5 and tickets are $10. In trying to determine who is included in the exhibition, I discovered two additional artists who, though they're not featured (I don't think), have some amazing work to be viewed: John Zender Estrada (partial view pictured above) and Jaime "Germs" Zacarias, both Los Angeles natives.

Thurs 4/17 MFA #3 @ New Wight Gallery

UCLA's New Wight Gallery is opening their third round of graduate art students' thesis exhibitions tonight from 5-8pm. Included in this showing are Matthew Brandt, Vera Caldas, Lily Simonson, Spencer Lewis, and Aaron Turner. Detail of Lily Simonson's Portrait of a Yeti depicted above. As another round of student work is set to be displayed soon after, this group will only be exhibited for one week. The New Wright Gallery is located in The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Center, Room 1100, (310) 825.0557. Gallery Hours: Mon-Fri 9:00-4:30, Sat 10:00-6:00. Admission is Free. Parking available in Structure 3 for $8.

Monster Munching- OC food blog

I just found this blog, Monster Munching, that has been reviewing local restaurants since 2003. Needless to say, after 5 years, there are a plethora of useful reviews upon which to base your culinary adventures. It seems that the blogger, Elmo, has a penchant for asian food, as there are lots of reviews of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean places. . .yum! And from what I've read, Elmo responds to every comment posted. How kind.

Sat 4/12 Long Beach Art Walk

The 2nd Saturday Long Beach Art Walk is taking place tomorrow 4/12 4-10pm, in Long Beach's East Village Arts District. The al fresco event features a variety of emerging artists working in all mediums, as well as live entertainment and food. The above image is by Rodney Sellars and was previously displayed at the Passport Coffee House. The East Village Arts District is located near Linden Ave. between 1st & Broadway in Long Beach.

Fri 4/11 Crystal Castles @ Detroit Bar

Crystal Castles is a Toronto-based band, described by Loud and Quiet as "the most exciting and original band in the world right now" consisting of multi-instrumentalist Ethan Kath and vocalist Alice Glass. They play with Sparrow Love Crew tonight at Detroit Bar. Show is 21 and over and presale tickets were $15, but are now sold out. Doors open at 8pm, so get there early to pay what I assume will be $20 at the door. Detroit Bar: 843 W. 19th Street, Costa Mesa 92627.

4/5-5/2 Blek Le Rat @ Subliminal Projects

Blek Le Rat's first US solo show, Art is not Peace but War, is at Subliminal Projects through 5/2. Le Rat is acknowledged as being a pioneer of graffiti writing in Europe and was one of the first people to use stencils to make public art instead of writing his name. He was first exposed to graffiti in 1971 in New York, but didn’t start making his own until ten years later in Paris. Banksy is quoted as saying of him, "everytime I think I've painted something slightly original, I find out that Blek Le Rat has done it as well. Only twenty years earlier." Subliminal Projects is located at 1331 W. Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles 90026, 213.213.0078. Hours: Tue-Fri 11—6, Sat & Sun by appointment.

4/5-5/10 New London School @ Max Moore

New London School, featuring the work of Gordon Cheung (image above), Nadine Feinson, David Hancock, Sam Jackson, Cathy Lomax, Rui Matsunaga, Hugh Mendes, Richard Moon, Gavin Nolan and John Stark, is running at Max Moore Gallery through 5/10. Curators Simon Rumley and Zavier Ellis are known for spotting rising talent, and New London School will act as an introduction of London based and educated talent to the LA art scene. Address: 2525 Michigan Avenue A-1 Santa Monica 90404, 310.453.3031. Gallery hours: Tues-Fri 10-6, Sat 11-5.

4/5-4/28 David Trulli @ Robert Berman

David Trulli's All Lines are Busy, a collection of new work that explores modern human networks, is open at Robert Berman Gallery through 4/28. Mr. Trulli works in scratchboard: a white clay-coated board, covered with black ink. Fine knives are used to delicately scrape the ink away, creating the image. A former cinematographer, Trulli compares working in scratchboard to lighting a film set: “it starts out black and you add light.” Robert Berman is located at Bergamot Station Arts Center, 2525 Michigan Avenue, Suite C2/D5, Santa Monica, 90404, 310.315.1937.

4/4-5/27 Yumiko Kayukawa @ La Luz de Jesus

Yumiko Kayukawa's solo show, Extinction, opened last week at La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Hollywood. Ms. Kayukawa's work is filled with graphic candy-colored young women in communication with fantastical animals. Yumiko says that she has “been creating work in the theme of communion with animals and nature for a long time." She also describes a connection with the natural world through her painting, one that increases her concern for the welfare of wildlife, hence the show's name. Address: 4633 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, 90027, 323.666.7667. Gallery hours: M-W 11:00 - 7:00, Th-Sat 11:00 -9:00, Sun 12:00 - 6:00.

4/06-9/1 Phantom Sightings @ LACMA

Phantom Sightings: Art after the Chicano Movement, which opened 4/06, is the largest exhibition of cutting-edge Chicano art ever presented at LACMA. The exhibition includes approximately 125 works in all media, including painting and sculpture as well as installation, conceptual, video, performance art, and intermedia works that incorporate film, digital, and sound art. Featured artists include Christina Fernandez, Mario Ybarra Jr., and Nicola Lopez. LACMA is located at 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, 90036, 323-857-6000.

Wed 4/2 Serge Gainsbourg night

Tonight the Bordello Bar pays tribute to the iconic voice and oeuvre of Serge Gainsbourg. Several talented local musicians, including Nicole Simone, Joel Virgil, Adele Jacques, Alex and Sam, and Bjorn Turoque will tackle Monsieur Gainsbourg's songs in a performance of adulation beginning at 7:30pm. Tickets are $10. The Bordello Bar is located at 901 E 1st St, downtown LA, 213.687.3766.

Wed 4/2 Protest for Prosperity

Hundreds of UCI students are rallying today 'because college should not result in debt.' Tuition and fees at California’s universities have risen to extreme heights and have intimidated millions of potential students from pursuing higher education. Join the students and supporters of affordable education from 11am-2pm on Ring Road on the UCI campus for a rally and march to Aldrich Hall. Because everyone deserves affordable education, not debt!