Some of us are really excited for the Eat Real event, so excited we might even brave the 405 closure debacle & cross from East to West side. Heck, some of us who think free labor is like running in public — the horror — might even volunteer.

Here’s the official blurb, interspaced with photos from the “Preview Event”, followed by further thoughts on the festivities inspired by the Eat Real Fest Oakland:

The Eat Real Festival, the urban food extravaganza that showcases food in all its tasty forms, has just announced highlights of the lineup for the jam-packed Los Angeles event taking place at the Helms Bakery District in Culver City, CA on July 16th and 17th, 2011. Offering an extraordinary opportunity for people to celebrate not only the very best of their regional foods, but also the people who grow it and make it. Attendees will get up close and personal with their food through two days of non-stop food skills and hands on DIY demos including a “flying knives” butchery contest, an eclectic array of local food producers in the marketplace and a curated selection of delicious street eats incorporating local and sustainable ingredients all priced at $5 or less. “Eat Real takes the idea of and old-time state fair and turns it on its head,” said Anya Fernald, founder of Eat Real Festival. “For two full days, attendees can dine and sip on delicious items that highlight local, healthy and sustainable ingredients. But eating and drinking is only part of the fun. We’ll also put people in touch with their food by showing how it’s made – from making jam, sauerkraut or bread, raising backyard chickens and bees, to seeing the artistry involved in butchering a steer or pig. We celebrate the very best southern California has to offer and will activate thousands of people to demand good food, all the time.”

There is no cost for entry into the Eat Real Festival. In fact, there is no cost for any of the festival activities that includes music, workshops, demonstrations and events like the canning and butchery contests. The only cost when attending the Eat Real Festival will come from shopping in the marketplace or purchasing food from the food vendors on site. By agreeing to take part in Eat Real, vendors commit to using 1-2 local or sustainable ingredients in their food, hormone free meat and ensure that all prepared food for sale on site will be priced $5 or less. There is also space devoted to local food craft folks (cheese, charcuterie, pickles, jams, and more) and urban homesteading where attendees can learn what it takes to get in touch with your inner backyard farmer.

»continue reading Eat Real Fest LA: For The Anti-Cool July 16 – 17

HEADS UP
Friends of Richie III – A Bloody Good Time Benefit featuring Legal Weapon / Mike Watt / Nels Cline / Saccharine Trust / Sylvia Juncosa / Jon Wahl @ Knitting Factory Sun Sep 20

FRIENDS OF RICHIE III: A BLOODY GOOD TIME

On the day after Christmas, 2006, veteran alternative musician Richie Hass was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. He had no insurance and no “medical home.” His cancer was “staged” at end-stage. His colleagues organized “Friends of Richie,” a benefit concert intended to raise money to pay Richie’s medical bills. Because Richie was being qualified for MediCal and had been admitted to treatment at the City of Hope National Medical Center, Friends Of Richie I became a fundraiser for the International Myeloma Foundation and the City of Hope.

The treatment Richie received at City of Hope was second to none, and he had a complete remission that lasted from June 2007 to the resurgence of his cancer in early 2008. However, the cancer roared back, and on March 20th, 2008, on a quiet afternoon, Richie lay down for a nap and never woke up. He went out peacefully and without suffering. In April 2008 Friends Of Richie II: A Celebration Of A Life, took place, benefiting the International Myeloma Foundation once again. $1,000 was raised for the IMF, providing comfort to Richie’s family and contributing to the progress of science in finding effective treatments and an eventual cure.

»continue reading To Do This Weekend: Richie Hass Tribute & International Myeloma Foundation Benefit @ Knitting Factory

Benefit Rock Shows. What more can be said, really? You get the r.a.w.k, you get the strange dirty-antispetic smell of the r.a.w.k. club, you get the self-satisfaction of having spent a millisecond or two maybe thinking about someone else, and you can have fries with your Dewar’s (cuz specifically I’m talking about The Echo here, sirs).

In Brief: this coming Wednesday, the 16th of April, come have your face melted by Afternoons, The Pity Party (that’s MY band), Karin Tatoyan, and The Franks at The Echo WHILE giving back to the community. Don’t you just love phrases like “giving back to the community”? I mean, what did the community ever give you that you owe it something back, exactly, except a hard time finding parking and disgruntledment at the post office?
»continue reading WARNING: THE FOLLOWING BLOG POST IS FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES ONLY; ANY AND ALL ACTUAL CONTENT CONTAINED HEREIN IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL