Stuff To Do

This Sunday, Spike Jones will be at the independent bookstore Family to sign his new book Heads On and We Shoot. From the Family website:

HEADS ON AND WE SHOOT unveils the unique collaboration behind Where the Wild Things Are -the combined work of Maurice Sendak, Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers, and all the cast and crew. The book design is heavily image-based, a mix of early sketches, storyboards, character designs, and extensive behind-the-scenes photographs that show both incredible live-action puppetry and computer animation. The text includes forewords by Jonze and Eggers, interviews with the cast and crew, stories from on and off the set, and early drafts of the screenplay.

Family is located at 436 North Fairfax Ave.

From the LA Press Club website:

For 35 years, Robert Hilburn chronicled the evolution of rock music -- from the Beatles to U2 to Green Day -- in the Los Angeles Times. One of the most influential music writers in the nation, his reviews helped launch Elton John in America and popularize other top artists. His myriad adventures included being the only journalist present for Johnny Cash's concert at Folsom prison and being invited to watch cartoons with Michael Jackson in his bedroom. Hilburn's new book traces his journey through the rock n' roll age and how the music affects us all. He will take questions from Geoff Boucher, an arts reporter whose diverse work in the Times recently included a ode to Hilburn and his long career, and from the audience.

Buy tickets here.

The human body is a disgusting thing. If you live long enough, something truly horrifying will happen to yours. And when it does, well, you wanna talk about it.

Your friends may be sick of listening to your tales of shattered pelvises, festering boils and dislocated eyeballs, but that doesn't mean you're tired of telling them. Local performance troupe Art of Bleeding wants to hear all about it. The group is building a library of real-life medical horror stories and offer a toll-free hotline to anyone who wants to spill their guts. An audio archive of scary stories is available online.

Literary and cultural series Writers Bloc keeps selling out events. We'd like to see discussions with John Irving and Matthew Weiner, but tickets are no longer available for either. If you're a fan of mystery writer Ruth Rendell, you might want to buy tickets now. From the event website:

Fans of P.D. James will love Ruth Rendell, creator of the terrific Inspector Wexford series of great police procedurals, also writes as Barbara Vine. Baroness Rendell is one of the most prolific of our favorite mystery writers, and her newest is The Monster in the Box: An Inspector Wexford Novel. Her novels are deeply psychological explorations of both the good guys and the bad guys. What makes her novels so thrilling and satisfying is that nothing is cut and dried in a Rendell or Vine novel - her characters and their situations are rich and complex. Rendell's strong sense of social justice lift her novels from genre fiction to the best of literary fiction. In conversation with April Smith, one of LA's favorite crime novelists.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at the ICM Screening Room, 10250 Constellation Blvd., Century City, at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $20.

Critics Jonathan Gold, Kenneth Turan, David Ulin, and Evelyn McDonnell will be getting together this evening for a little panel discussion. The event, called "Critics Talk Shop: Writing Books, Music, Food, Film, and Why it Matters," will be held at the University of Southern California and moderated by Dinah Lenney of the Master of Professional Writing Program.

The discussion will be from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM in USC's Doheny Memorial Library. More details at the USC website.

The show starts tomorrow.

$20 Tickets for A Grand Night for Dancing!
October 22 & 23 at 8pm
The Broad Stage

Join us for an evening of dance inspired by the music of Richard Rodgers. Reprise resident choreographer Lee Martino has assembled some of the best dancers in Los Angeles to create an exhilarating evening, including the iconic ballet "Slaughter On Tenth Avenue" from On Your Toes.

For Tickets and More Information Visit Reprise.org or Call 310-954-1595
Get $20 tickets when you mention code: RUSH

KPFK radio may be full of crackpots, but they're independent, free-thinking crackpots who know how to throw a party. Ziggy Marley, Poncho Sanchez, Luciana Souza, Christian McBride, Roseanne Barr and more tonight at the Ford Amphitheatre.

More info at the KPFK website.

Full disclosure: we love The Love Junkie Rachel Resnick. We're a notch below parking outside her window at night.

There is a live performance of her recently to paperback book, Love Junkie from director Arye Gross.

The entire release below:

On October 11th at 8pm, members of The Antaeus Theatre Company, under the direction of Arye Gross, will present "Love Junkie, A Performance Piece" at Frank Pictures Gallery against the backdrop of provocative photographs and paintings by Emma Ferreira. The evening will feature a dramatic re-telling of scenes from Resnick's new groundbreaking book about sexual addiction and recovery, followed by a Q&A with Rachel Resnick. The event is hosted by author Rachel Resnick and Laurie Frank, and Emma Ferreira's provocative collection, "Exposed", which explores issues of intimacy, will also be on display. The event is from 6:30-9:30pm, with the live performance beginning at 8pm.

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Vigils for the three hikers detained in Iran are being held around the country tonight. The events mark the second-month anniversary of the American's detention. The Los Angeles vigil will be held at the federal building from 6 to 8 p.m.

More info at FreeTheHikers.org and the L.A. vigil Facebook Page.

Mark your calenders!

What: Drinks and conversation

Who: Media professionals

Why: To bring about greater community among media professionals, and because it's fun!

When: Thursday, October 1, 7:00 - 9:00pm

Where:
The Crocker Club
453 South Spring Street
between 4 and 5 Streets
Los Angeles, CA 90013

Food/Drink: Cash bar

Hosted by: freelance writer Beth Howard, freelance writer Debra Eckerling (Write On! Online) and CBS Interactive editor Michelle Thatcher, featuring special guest author Stefanie Flaxman

RSVP here.