There are four million stories in the City of Angels (ten million in the County), and a bunch of them will be told at the 8th Annual L.A. Storytelling Festival. The Festival, which takes place on Saturday, November 14 at the Culver-Palms UMC Complex in Culver City, will feature stories, tales, concerts, workshops, and more.  Information about the Storytelling Festival, including the lineup of workshops, registration instructions, ticket prices, and directions, can be found at the event’s website here.

What’s the difference between a story and a tale?  Head to the Festival and find out!

LADWP is offering its customers free landscape classes focused on using ideal vegetation for our climate. The California Friendly Landscape Workshop will show you how to choose the right plants and conserve water in Southern California.

Class sizes are limited, so you must RSVP immediately.

If you’ve been reading here at LA MetBlogs for any length of time, you’ve probably picked up on the fact that I am a man who is connected, and that I like to share those connections with you, dear reader.

Early in 2008 I discovered a great talent with the help of the good people at Boing Boing’s BBtv. Klaus Pierre, a German/French actor had come to Hollywood to train to be the next big action hero. If you’re not already familiar with Klaus Pierre, here is a BBtv episode you need to see:

I have recently become acquainted with the director who brought those episodes featuring Klaus Pierre to the world. He tells me that Klaus has recently completed post-production on his movie, and that it will be available for your enjoyment soon. In the meantime, Klaus will be shooting an interview later this week to let his adoring fans know what he’s been up to over the last year.

Here is where I share my connections. I know that you all must have many questions for Klaus, so leave them in the comment section below. I’ll pass them along, and perhaps Klaus will answer in his interview video. If you could ask Klaus Pierre anything, what would you want to know?

More BBtv episodes featuring Klaus Pierre after the jump… (more…)

One of the most awkward things about being part of a minority is that you are at once the local spokesperson for the Minority, and the first person the Majority goes to for comfort.  For example, the day after Prop. 8 passed, I was sitting in my office, my little fit of depression tempered by a little relief that the American electorate actually went out of its way to make sure Mr. Obama won.  Someone walked into my office, and the first thing she said to me was: “No one should sit on the back of the bus!  No one.  Can we talk about this at lunch?  I’m really upset” and walked out.  I felt like I had been hit by a bus. And this is the response I had over a course of several days, from all sorts of people.  Well, better late than never.

The gay rights movement, like many minority groups, learned that in order to get things done, you really have to swallow your pride (that’s pride with a little p) and enlist the help of the majority group who sits in the positions of power and finally – finally – is sympathetic to your cause, is willing to gamble its political currency, and take the credit for it all once the goal is realized.  Enter FAIR (Freedom Action Inclusion Rights), an organization quickly organized after the passage of Prop. 8.  At FAIR’s request, Shepard Fairey created a poster intended to galvanize the movement as well as his Hope poster did for the MoveOn set.  The result is slightly more affecting than American Apparel’s retro, almost whimsically passive “Legalize Gay” tshirts:  his is a gnarled fist with the words “Defend Equality/Love Unites” above and below [insert snarky comment about his source material for the fist here].  You can buy shirts and the poster on FAIR’s website here (the politics of inclusion necessitates the politics of fundraising), but if you want to show all your gay friends that you really care, come out to Andaz in West Hollywood on November 12th.

Read about the Love Unites Shepard Fairey Equality Project after the jump

The Cirque du Soleil may be in Santa Monica, but tomorrow (Sunday, October 25), another circus comes to town.  The Tea Party Express protesters (who are often referred to, with or without irony, as the “teabaggers”) arrive in Los Angeles tomorrow to hold a protest in Griffith Park.  They promise to bring along their Lipton tea bags, stars & stripes clothing, and badly misspelled signs.  What are they protesting?  You can ask, but don’t expect a coherent answer.  Instead, you can come and join the counter-protest organized by the Courage Campaign, RENWL, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

The tea party protest takes place at 4:30 p.m. at the Pad D – Crystal Springs picnic area in the park (the address listed is simply the park’s main address, 4730 Crystal Springs Road), and the counter-protest gathers at the same location at 4 p.m. for a preemptive rally.  Whatever side you’re on, this promises to be quite the entertaining event.

For the next three weeks, Los Angeles area Hello Kitty fans can take part in celebrating her 35th anniversary! Three Apples is an exhibition event that Sanrio is hosting at Royal/T, a unique café/shop/art space in Culver City. It’s starting tonight with a VIP grand opening, and running through November 15th.

When I first received an announcement for Three Apples, I thought it was just another art show. Not only will art be on display, but you will get a chance to see unique products and designs, shop in a pop-up store, and attend various events celebrating that adorable cat-with-no-mouth, who many of us have loved since she adorned our pencil cases when we were kids. Some of us have never grown up out of our love for all things Hello Kitty. Three Apples is for us!

Local purveyor of all things kawaii, Japan LA, is curating an art exhibition featuring over 80 contemporary artists’ interpretations of Hello Kitty. Gary Baseman, Luke Chueh, and Buff Monster are a few of the artists whose work will be on display and for sale. A portion of the proceeds will benefit L.A. Works.

In addition to seeing one-of-a-kind artist creations, you can gaze into a mock apartment, filled wall to wall with Hello Kitty items. This may sound like a dream come true or a nightmare to you, but worth checking out either way. Another gallery will provide a retrospective of products from 1974 to present day that feature Hello Kitty, including some things only found in Japan. You be able to visit the on-site store featuring never- before-seen merchandise and also participate in an array of parties and workshops. Take a look at the calendar of events, which will continue to be updated with details for the various happenings.

The Three Apples Hello Kitty exhibition runs Friday, October 23rd through Sunday, November 15th. The FREE event is being held at Royal/T, located at 8910 Washington Blvd, Culver City 90232.

I read what I considered to be merely a rumor last night, that film composer Ennio Morricone’s Hollywood Bowl show this coming Sunday, October 25th had been cancelled or postponed. Today, multiple sources, including the Bowl’s site, confirm that there will be no performance and it has not been rescheduled.

According to the L.A. Times blog, “the concert was supposed to include excerpts from his scores to the movies The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, The Untouchables, Cinema Paradiso, Once Upon a Time in America, The Mission, Once Upon a Time in the West,  A Fistful of Dollars, and others.” The Cinema Paradiso score to be incredible and worth the price of admission alone. I’m bummed to be missing out on seeing a conductor lead an orchestra playing his or her original piece, which is always amazing.

It’s unknown why the show is not going on. Refunds are available, according to the Hollywood Bowl, “at point of purchase.” Of course, if you go to Ticketmaster, you learn that they are not obligated to return your money, so we are currently in limbo. Luckily, we bought cheap seats for this one.

Updated 10/23/09: We received an email from Ticketmaster. They will refund the base ticket price and service charges. However, they will keep the $4+ processing fee. Bastards.

This is my favorite time of year. October, Fall, Halloween. While I am somewhat nostalgic for changing leaves and crisp autumn air in the Northeast, I love the season here and am never at a loss for festive things to do. That may sometimes mean picking out that perfect pumpkin when it’s 90 degrees, but I’ve adjusted.

In case you are on the hunt for something different to do, I can highly recommend checking out the  Halloween and Mourning Tours at Heritage Square Museum. You’ll learn how people in the Victorian Era dealt with death, mourned for loved ones, and practiced Spiritualism, all through guides in period costumes. Maybe this sounds somewhat morbid to you, but I know I’m not alone in finding it fascinating.

Want to know more about Heritage Square Museum? Curious about the details for this cool event?

Click through, if you dare, for answers to those questions…

Yes, I know it’s raining and that means a stay-at-home night for some number of residents who harbor an overwhelming fear of precipitation. For those of you among the more adventurous, however, this is a great literary night. Michael Chabon, author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, and more recently of Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son,  is giving a talk at the Central Library, and noir genius James Ellroy is presenting and signing his new novel, Blood’s a Rover, at Skylight. If that just whets your literary appetite, there’s more wordy goodness on Thursday when Wallace Shawn, who cowrote My Dinner with Andre and has just authored Essays, a book which promises to be more exciting than its title, talks with Bruce Wagner at Hammer and Jane Smiley signs her latest, her first novel for young readers, The Georges and the Jewels, at Borders Northridge. I admit I’m a first line fetishist, and Smiley’s novel satisfies. It begins like this, “Sometimes when you fall off your horse, you just don’t want to get right back on.” Amen, Jane.

As I’ve mentioned previously, 826LA is my favorite non-profit organization. There may not be any profit, but it still takes a lot of money to do all the great work they do. Thus, there are occasional fund-raisers and benefits. 826 benefits are always win-win situations, though, because while they get the money, you get top-notch entertainment for a relative bargain price.

There are a couple of great 826LA benefits happening this week, starting with a very special show tonight at the EchoPlex featuring the spectacularly funny Eddie Izzard! This show was just announced, and as of this writing some tickets are still available for only $20 (plus a reasonable, non-TicketBastard service charge.) Race to get them at TicketWeb HERE. Izzard’s L.A. shows have historically sold out very quickly (with higher ticket prices,) so don’t wait.

On Friday night, M Bar Supper Club in Hollywood is the place to be for “Behind the Smoggy Veil: Tinseltown Tales.” This evening of comedy features (among others) Taylor Negron, and is hosted by my old friend, the very funny Sarah Taylor. Given the title, I’m going to guess it will be an evening of funny stories about life in Hollywood. This promises to be a great show as well, so call the number at the link above and make a table reservation now.

One week. Two benefits for 826LA. Two evenings full of laughter. You’re welcome.