Steve Poltz Tells Stories and Performs on These Days

I'm a Steve Poltz fan, I'll admit it at the outset.  The guy can make up a song at the drop of a hat, and it will likely be clever and observant and touching...and off-kilter.  A lot has been written about Steve's songwriting and performance style, which has been described ad nauseam as "quirky."  I'm going to go with "off-kilter" because while I know Steve to be a seeker of balance (he's a yoga devotee), he also can't help the fact that he sees the world from a totally askew vantage point. 

It's a crazy trip and a real treat to see the world through Steve's eyes, and he's generous enough to share it in music and on stage.  He certainly shared it with These Days yesterday, where he came into the studio to play music and draw a few chuckles out of Tom Fudge.  Tom and staff were quite entertained.  During sound check, Steve broke out into a cover of "Memories" - oh yes, that one - which he admitted is his favorite song right now.  He also sang a hilarious song inapproprite for public radio (featuring a job on a bus) but a tried and true fan favorite.  If you go see him this Sunday at North Park Festival of the Arts (and you should!) you may hear it.  The music that did make it on the radio included some great cuts from Steve's new album Traveling, and one from his other new album, Unraveling.  Check him out:

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Orpheus and Hades Surf the Stage at UCSD

Corey Madden has been combing the beaches of Southern California talking to surfers for the last year.  She's talked to runaways living along Pacific Beach.  And she's spent a lot of time with professional surfers who have retired from the sport and now find themselves ostracized from the surfing community. 

Madden, the former associate artistic director at the Mark Taper Forum in LA for 15 years and now a visiting artist at UCSD, has also been thinking about Orpheus, the ancient myth of the Greek poet and rock star who could tame wild beasts with his lyre skills but who loses his love Eurydice to the underworld god Hades.  Madden combined her interest in surfing culture and the tale of Orpheus into a new musical called simply Surf Orpheus. It's currently being produced by the Theater and Dance Department at UCSD.  I recently went to a rehearsal of Surf Orpheus and took some photographs.

As you can see, it's a visually rich production with complicated moving set pieces and a big cast.  Madden partnered with noted choreographer Jaques Heim of Diavolo Dance company in LA and acclaimed composer Bruno Louchouarn to create the look and sonic world of Surf Orpheus.  A number of things stood out at rehearsal, not the least of which was the dedication of the undergraduate acting students, technical crew, and stage management team.  It's really quite amazing that UCSD supports a production of this scale at the undergraduate level. 

You can hear Corey Madden and Bruno Louchouarn talking about Surf Orpheus on These Days today.  The musical opens tonight, Tuesday, May 13th and runs May 17th.  Performances take place at the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theater on the La Jolla Playhouse campus.

Omar Little Loves Some Honey Nut Cheerios

My colleague Trisha, a wise woman from Imperial Valley who loves The Wire, just informed me about an interview in Newsweek with Amy Poehler.  The following exchange takes place between interviewer and Amy Poehler:

Q: What cereal are you going to have?

A: Right now I’m down with Honey Nut Cheerios because that’s what Omar eats on “The Wire”

 Q: Do you base all your food choices on television shows?

A: I don’t know if you’re a “Wire” fan, but on the show Omar travels far and wide and risks getting killed just to get a box of Honey Nuts. So I like to think it keeps me connected to the streets.

I just went to the Honey Nut Cheerios website... lots of white people, upper middle class blacks, and the honey nut bee.  Their marketing team needs to show some respect for Omar Little and let him endorse their product.  Mad money to be made... street cred AND lower cholesterol.  See Omar's quest for Honey Nut below... (Nudity alert: opening 30 seconds).

Book Review:  Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen

Austin Powers, when asked by Basil Exposition what the other thing was that scared him, replied:  "Carnies. Circus folk. Nomads, you know. Smell like cabbage. Small hands."  In the novel Water for Elephants, author Sara Gruen draws her circus folk with more precision and insight than Austin Powers, though he retains the obvious comic edge.  Local blogger Aaryn Belfer recommends Water for Elephants for Culture Lust readers.  She sent me her thoughts on the book.

Water for Elephants: A Review

by Aaryn Belfer

“Either there’s been an accident or there’s roadwork, because a gaggle of old ladies is glued to the window at the end of the hall like children or jailbirds. They’re spidery and frail, their hair is fine as mist. Most of them are a good decade younger than me, and this astounds me. Even as your body betrays you, your mind denies it.”

So says nonagenarian Jacob Jankowski, the curmudgeonly yet loveable protagonist who you can’t help but root for in Sara Gruen’s novel Water for Elephants.

The circus is in town and the tents are going up just outside the convalescent home.  Inside, the home’s residents have gathered by the window with walkers and wheelchairs, jockeying for the best view. Most of them are excited about an upcoming outing to the circus, which promises freedom from the bland, antiseptic confines of their day-to-day routine. But for Jacob, the circus view and the failings of his aging body spark a wellspring of memories that pour out during his less lucid moments. Or they may be his clearest moments. Both may be equally true.

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Opening Day of The New Children’s Museum

On Sunday, I spent the day at the grand opening of The New Children's Museum.  Culture Lust has decided it's the coolest new digs in San Diego.    The concrete and steel "green" building designed by local architect Rob Quigley finally came to life this weekend after much anticipation.  The place was packed all day Sunday - honestly, I didn't detect a lull in the three hours I was there.  Kids were smiling and concentrating at every turn.  In fact, the only kids I saw crying were the ones who didn't want to leave.  I overheard many a parent promise to return the following weekend as a pacifier.  If I were a betting woman...and sometimes I am...I'd bet those weren't empty promises.  I personally can't wait to go back, and I don't even have children!

I took some pics of kids interacting with the opening exhibit Childsplay for your viewing pleasure.

Culture Lust favorites at The New Children's Museum:  Brian Dick's No Rules Except...Yard.  You may think I like this piece because of the ellipsis in the title... I obviously love ellipsis.  But this piece has ellipsis and mattresses and chaos and tire pillows!  What's not to love? I also liked Mark Mulroney's Shadow Puppets and Nick Rodrigues' Porta-Party - it's a booth shaped like an iPod with a disco ball inside and an iPod full of music - you get inside and dance, groove, booty shake, what have you.  I'm thinking about commissioning one for my office at KPBS. 

Hilarious Video On Social Networking Wars - Must See!

The Klezmatics Perform on These Days

Last week, the Grammy Award winning klezmer band The Klezmatics performed in our KPBS studios and talked with These Days host Tom Fudge about their varied musical interests.   The Klezmatics won a Grammy in 2006 for their album of Woody Guthrie tunes, called Wonder Wheel.  They've also collaborated on an album of gospel tunes with singer Joshua Nelson.  Though The Klezmatics mix it up with muscial genres, they always retain a basic klezmer or Jewish cultural spirit in their music.  Enjoy their performance.

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A Defense Of The Short Story:  Nam Le’s The Boat

Seth Marko over at The Book Catapult is one of my trusted culture scouts, especially when it comes to books, and he's really angry that short stories don't get the respect they deserve.   He sent me the following defense, bolstering his argument by reviewing a new addition to the genre, Nam Le's The Boat.

A Defense of the Short Story, by Seth Marko

As a bookseller, I often hear the following refrain: “I don’t want that. I hate short stories.” To me, this is pure crazy talk. David Sedaris, Jhumpa Lahiri, Chuck Klosterman, and Nora Ephron are all fabulously successful based on their short writing pieces. So what gives? While I can understand not wanting to “get involved” with a story that isn’t novel-length – your emotional investment may be disproportionate to the number of pages available –  but to just dismiss what could be a potentially life-changing experience seems, well, too dismissive. Wouldn’t reading an eloquent, beautifully written short story that hits you like an emotional freight train be more worth your time than some forgettable, throw away, pulpy thriller you picked up in the airport?  I don’t mean to sound so righteous, it’s just that I feel passionately about this overlooked, kicked-around, stepchild of a genre and I feel it could use some love. Thankfully, a gentleman named Nam Le has written a brilliant collection of shorts called The Boat that just may change the way we all read (or don’t read) the short story.

The Boat is composed of seven stories, each set in vastly differing locales – Colombia, Iowa, the South China Sea - that are thematically tied together in such a way that you almost miss it at first glance. Each appears unrelated to the others, yet the emotional toll of living life manages to breathe on every page, creating a thematic bridge. I know, “emotional toll” doesn’t sound like much fun, but in the hands of Le, the raw emotional power shines through in a way I have seldom encountered.

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Salvation, Imperial Valley Style

This past weekend, we heeded the strange siren call of the Salton Sea and drove once again into Imperial Valley.  As an amateur photographer and a collector of stories, Imperial Valley has become an obsession.  There are incredible images at every turn and generous storytellers -- real characters with a weathered but reliable charisma.  You meet them in the strangest places.  This is the story of meeting one in the middle of the desert. 

I've spent a fair bit of time around the Salton Sea (though it never seems like enough) and some surreal story always emerges from my visits to the Valley.  Last July, we went to Bombay Beach and I had a terrifying encounter with thousands (millions!) of flies trapped in a car... OUR CAR! And I'm not talking regular ole flies; I'm talking flies that had just been hobnobbing on rotting fish.  Apparently bored with miles of fish carcasses, swarms of flies decided to bum rush our car (more advice:  even if you are in the 110 degree heat of Bombay Beach, don't leave your car window cracked.  The flies will find you).  And you know what?  There's only one way to get rid of those suckers... you just have to get in the car and drive.  Imagine it right now, sitting at your desk, what it would be like to get in a sauna-like car with thousands of flies and the stench of dead fish -- now imagine having to sit there with them all over you while driving as fast as you can with the windows down so they would fly out.  I'm telling you, it tested my mettle and, well... I personally think I'm special forces material now.      

Anyway, for this trip, I wanted to see Salvation Mountain and Slab City, sans flies.  Both places were featured in two recent films:  a documentary called Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea (narrated by John Waters!) and Into the Wild, last year's feature film directed by Sean Penn.  

Slab City and Salvation Mountain are in the middle of the Mojave desert, about three miles east of Niland, California, at the foot of the Chocolate Mountains.  Driving through Brawley and Niland, we were a little worried about getting lost.   Having left the GPS at home (another genius move), we figured we'd rely on the old school method of a paper map.

Words of advice: If you can't GPS,  then you best not forget to laminate. 

It turns out Salvation Mountain isn't hard to find. Once you get to Niland, just go to Main Street (not that many streets to begin with) and head east.  Before the road bends, you catch a glimpse of the colorful, candy-like mountain in the distance.  I can't imagine what it would be like to just stumble upon Salvation Mountain.  Driving in the desert involves observations like:  "wow, look at that cactus," and,  "boy, is it hot out here," and "I wonder if there are rattlesnakes," not "hey, check out the brightly-colored mountian spouting Bible verse."  And that's why you have to see Salvation Mountain;  it's so wonderfully strange and alien.

Salvation Mountain is the work of one man with lots of paint and a simple message:  God is Love.  Originally, Leonard Knight thought he'd spread the word of God through a hot air balloon, because...you know... why not? 

He spent 10 years trying to raise the money for the balloon and then decided he would try and sew it together himself.   He began sewing in Nebraska, but the fabric rotted one winter, and when Leonard moved to Slab City he discovered his project wasn't salvageable.  It was time to give up the hot air balloon dream and figure out what to do next.  It occurred to him that he could paint a mountain into the landscape.  To that I just say: it's the desert.  Trippy ideas bounce off the land left and right.  One could attribute Leonard's dream to the desert heat or his pure evangelism, but either way I'm sure glad he stuck to it. 

Leonard estimates it's taken over 100,000 gallons of paint to make the mountain, which is constructed out of adobe and straw.  Leonard has worked on it year round for almost 30 years.  In the summer months, he works early in the morning and naps during the extreme heat.  If you visit, he'll be there giving tours, telling you about his mission, and posing for pictures. 

Leonard lives right at the base of Salvation Mountain, in a vintage truck with a makeshift cabin built on the back.  The truck is also painted in bold colors with Bible verses. Leonard has no electricity, water, or a bathroom.  He's off the grid, but has an entire mountain to show for it.

Tourists and residents of Slab City and Niland bring him food and paint.  Some even stick around to work with him for a couple of hours. 

I read that some years back, a dust up ensued over whether Salvation Mountain was an environmental hazard.  There's probably tons of lead on that thing.  Nothing much came of the controversy and in 2002, Senator Barbara Boxer placed Salvation Mountain on the Congressional Record as a national treasure.  Leonard must have told us this four or five times.  He's so proud that someone thinks it's a treasure.  

Leonard is 77 years old.  Salvation Mountain is now protected, but it's all the more special when you can see it with him. Go visit.  Bring him some paint or make a donation. 

Leonard Knight is an outsider artist, a missionary, and a classic dreamer.  You gotta love dreamers in the desert.

It’s Friday—Goodbye Work, Hello Cupcakes!

Cupcakes have been all the confectionary craze for a couple of years now in New York and LA, with Amy Sedaris as the cupcake pied piper.   San Diego is now jumping into the batter with its own twist.  Square cupcakes!  Personally, I didn't need a square version to get me on board but if this is what it takes to get a pistachio cupcake with pomegranate frosting, so be it.  I'll worship the square.  Other unique flavors: Lilikoi--vanilla cupcake with lilikoi (passion fruit) buttercream frosting, Peanut Butter and Jelly--peanut butter cake and strawberry frosting, Vanilla Chai--tender Chai cake with vanilla/orange buttercream frosting, and the other siren in the bunch for me, a Lemon White Chocolate--white chocolate cake with a hint of lemon frosting with white chocolate ganache.  These sweets are only $2.75 each.  Grand opening is today!

This interactive feature from The New York Times is so, so fun.  You can look at a sampling of Al Jaffee's back cover fold-in's for Mad Magazine.   Jaffee still does the fold-in's for Mad, drawing them by his 87-year-old hand!  I went through the feature twice trying to find the elements of the resulting images in the original drawing.   A worthy time suck.

McSweeney's has a mini film school course in three lines.  Citizen Kane, The Godfather, and other greats are hilariously boiled down.  For example:

West Side Story

TONY: Cinema has a long literary tradition. This one's based on Shakespeare.

MARIA: Just like that Amanda Bynes movie!

TONY: (Sigh.) Let's just dance-fight.

Errol Morris seems to be everywhere right now, which is really a good thing.  He has a new documentary coming out about Abu Ghraib (the site for his film is really good - but be prepared to look at the unbelievably disturbing photographs again).  Can't seem to find an opening  date for San Diego... anyone? Tentative opening in San Diego is May 2nd.   Morris and Werner Herzog chat it up over at The Believer.  I regularly have the dinner party fantasy:  what's the most interesting mix of 8 people for dinner?  My fantasy guest lists change all the time, but Werner Herzog and Errol Morris together is a bang-up start.   Morris has also written two interesting opinion pieces in NYT about using re-enactments in documentaries.

KPBS Senior Editor Alan Ray on the new Scorsese-helmed Rolling Stones documentary Shine a Light:  "All rock and wrinkles."  He doesn't recommend it. 

A lot of you probably know about Flickr, the online photo sharing site, but have you ever browsed the photographs in Flickr's San Diego group?  There are some great images of our fair city by visitors and local photogs.  Enjoy!

And finally, check out these Garfield comic strips without Garfield... way better.  Thanks for the tip, Edward!