The Fire Poppy is known as a fire follower as it gets its germination cue from the smoke of a wildfire. Photo By Kai Gulliksen.
We had planned a romantic theme for our February newsletter, and then the city started burning. It feels like we are between two worlds: things have fundamentally shifted with these fires, but the path forward remains unclear. Some of us are facing incalculable losses, and even those of us with neighborhoods still intact are struggling with concern for the present and fear for the future.
These feelings live beside awe for the mutual aid and community that has sprung to life since the fires broke out. The outpouring of support (in the form of donations, relief shops, home-cooked meals, and on and on) has been incredible to see. Perhaps owing to our sprawl, Los Angeles is not generally known for its civic showings or community muscle, but if these last few weeks have shown us anything, it’s that a crisis can be an opportunity for transformation.
Los Angeles has changed, and it will continue to change as these lessons of impermanence and loss take root. One thing that we can be sure about for the time being, however, is that we will need to continue cultivating community, seeking out joy like our lives depend on it, and treating everyone as neighbors. The pandemic, the writer’s strike, and now the fires are deeply impacting our small businesses and cultural institutions. So there has never been a better time to join a volunteer effort, go to a cultural event (list below!), or dine at a local restaurant (and support beloved restaurants as they rebuild here, here, and here). We are in a symbiotic relationship with Los Angeles after all, and the best thing we can do is get off our phones, get out of our houses, and engage in our lives as locally as possible.
So with heavy hearts, we will keep highlighting this beautiful, fragile city of ours.
-Loose Land
PS: Strip mall review at bottom, for those interested.
Cultural Events
Photo credits: Flow; Ricky Swallow (Photo: Flying Studio); Banh Chung (Photo: Coral von Zumwalt); Helmut Lang at MAK Center; Frieze LA; Usual Projects (Photo: Irfan Khan )
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All Month - Community Restoration Initiative (Usal Project) The Usal positions itself as offering “experiences for the modern outdoor enthusiast.” I guess that makes me a modern outdoor enthusiast, because every month I’m dying to go to something they have on offer. In the wake of the fires, they are offering a huge calendar of community restoration events that are all donation only (use the code“freefebruary” at checkout). Spots are going fast so many rad events are closed, but open ones include: Star Party - LA Astronomical Society, Community Bike Ride, Bouldering Meetup. (BK)
Feb 3 - Flow (Vidiots) Do I talk a lot about Vidiots because it is our single most proximate theater, or do I talk a lot about Vidiots because the programming is immaculate? In either event, this is a great month for one of LA’s most exciting theaters. In addition to essential David Lynch offerings, an iconic Star Trek, and an all-time great cold-weather romance musical, they’re also showing Flow, which is a genuine marvel, for all ages. It’s got a misfit band of animals for the little ones, strong action sequences for the big kids, and meditations on life in a time of cascading natural disasters for, uh, the parents, I guess? Anyway, trust that it’s worth your time (and the popcorn’s great, too). (DH)
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Feb 4 - Lions Love (...And Lies) Screening Supporting Eaton Fire Relief (The Aster) Another wonderful opportunity to combine a love of culture with support for wildfire relief. Women Under the Influence is programming Agnès Varda’s cult film about Los Angeles, which was inspired by the French director’s time here in the late 1960s. To attend, all guests are asked to make a donation to the Displaced Black Families GoFundMe Directory. There are still over 300 families who haven’t met their goal and need our lions’ love (...and support). (MR)
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Feb 8 - Bánh Chưng Collective (Alma Backyard Farms-San Pedro) Lunar New Year is upon us and we are entering the Year Of The Snake, which represents wisdom and transformation (yes please!). The wonderful chef Diep Tran of Good Girl Dinette fame, has been putting on a communal Bánh Chưng making event with Alma Backyard Farms for the past few years as a way of ringing in the new year and affirming community. For the uninitiated, Bánh Chưng is a traditional Vietnamese sticky rice cake filled with marinated pork wrapped in a banana leaf. In light of the fires, 40% of this year's sales will be “directed to Alma Backyard Farms and its transformative work in urban agriculture, Anti-Recidivism Coalition for its work in helping formerly incarcerated firefighters get certification, and National Day Laborer Organizing Network for its work with immigrants hit hardest by the fires.” (BK)
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Feb 8 - Alice Coltrane, Monument Eternal Opening Celebration with Flying Lotus (Hammer Museum) Opening celebrations at the Hammer always fill my cup. Free and open to the public, they are a bright display of community, art, and music. With hundreds of people gathered in the museum plaza, I imagine it's how the public square of a small town feels. For the opening night of this exhibition memorializing the great jazz musician, devotional leader, and mother, Alice Coltrane, the galleries will stay open late and the one-and-only Flying Lotus (also the musician’s grandnephew!) will be DJing. I can guarantee a bevy of dancing Angelenos into the night. (MR)
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Feb 13 - TV Girl Eaton Fire Relief Concert (The Bellwether) There are a lot of great benefit concerts happening right now for music lovers of manydifferentstripes, but TV Girl (nepotism alert: my brother’s in the band) is the only one that’s directing a portion of their proceeds to the Altadena Bunny Museum. A little bit of whimsy still goes a long way. (DH)
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Feb 19 - Opening Reception for Helmut Lang: What remains behind (MAK Center) If you want to chase a feeling that is quintessentially LA, go stand in Rudolf Schindler’s house-turned-museum and breathe in the smell of old wood and California native plants. Not many structures whisper the modernist history of Los Angeles quite like this one. We are especially excited to check out the opening night of this exhibition of work by former fashion designer-turned artist Helmut Lang, curated by Neville Wakefield of Desert X. (MR)
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Feb 20 -The 1619 Project: A Visual Experience (Mark Taper Auditorium) The 1619 project is a much-needed correction of the historical record that puts slavery and Black Americans at the heart of the American story. This project is now a curriculum, a book, and a TV show, which has been deemed “un-american” by Tr*mp and surely will be under attack soon. Come see Nikole Hanna-Jones, the Pulitzer prize-winning journalist behind 1619, talk with artists about the new illustrated version of this book in what very likely could be its final days before it is buried by our budding tyrannical state (jk?). (BK)
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Feb 20-23 - Frieze Los Angeles (Santa Monica Barker Hangar) The Frieze Art Fair typically brings a week-long party into town for the LA art world. Galleries and museums pull out all the stops to put on their best exhibitions and LA welcomes an influx of international jet-set artists. Due to the wildfires, the fair was almost postponed. Luckily for us, they have decided to forge ahead and are offering meaningful forums for conversations with the art community as well as support for artists affected by the fires. While we’re anticipating the parties to be a bit more subdued this year, Frieze Week (the week leading up to the fair weekend) is a fantastic time to get out and explore the exploding creativity this city has to offer. (MR)
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Feb 21 - March 1 - Oscar Nominee Spotlights (Academy Museum) Every year during Oscars season The Academy hosts a slew of screenings and panels celebrating the year’s nominees. Word on the street is that the Makeup & Hairstyling panel is the best. Whatever you choose - whether International Features or Documentary Shorts (shout out to Betsy’s Dad, Jamie Kalven who is nominated in this category!) - scurry over to the museum restaurant, Fanny’s, afterward to enjoy their cheeky list of limited edition cocktails inspired by the Best Picture noms. Hoping there’s a wicked green one! (MR)
Ode To A Strip Mall
The Roma Market Situation
Personally, I prefer a strip mall with some sloppiness to it. I want chaos, basically: a lot of businesses with seemingly nothing in common other than a shared desire for parking and relatively cheap rent. But not every strip can wait around for its shared aura to emerge; sometimes, you just need a star. At the Lake Ave and Mountain St in Pasadena, Roma Market is the star, and their signature $6 sandwich is the… um… the star of the star? (I don’t know, man; I’m not a starnographist.) Anyway, suffice it to say, that at Roma you can spend six bucks and receive, in return, a delicious pre-made Italian sandwich, all wrapped up in pretty pink paper.
Owner Rosario Mazzeo has been shipping these bad boys out with few alterations for decades now, and although the neighboring businesses (an Italian restaurant; a fish shop; a laundromat, and an orthodontic office) won’t help you live the most varied existence on Earth, they would certainly keep you hale and hearty in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse. In conclusion: Please, for the love of Padre nostro, che sei nei cieli, may many other LA strip malls begin to foster their own signature sandwiches soon.
One Essential Neighborhood Business: Roma Market (see above)
Whimsy Factor: Moderate (not a lot of surprises here, but you’ve gotta appreciate the wrapping paper)
Variety Level: High if you only want variety in terms of the Italian food you’re eating; low if you want any other form of variety
Life Expectancy, if Forced to Take Residence for an Extended Period of Time: Nearly infinite.
Quality of Life Under Same Conditions: High. (Positively Olympian, in fact.)
