Results tagged “kitsch”

Good kitsch is hard to find these days. But not at Ghettogloss tonight because it’s the Allee Willis Museum of Kitsch Closing Karaoke Night from 7-11 pm. On display are hundreds of artifacts from her personal kitsch collection. There’s going to be a karaoke sing-off of Allee's classic Earth Wind & Fire hit, "September," at the party ("Do you remember...the 21st night of September...?") plus other surprises.

              

Allee Willis is a lot of things - songwriter, artist, director, performer, hostess extraordinaire, and owner of a fab mid-centry modern home -- the list goes on. Personally, I love her for introducing me to Bud Cort and for writing "Boogie Wonderland". Just try to listen to that song and not boogie.

At 45 years old, Charles Phoenix has achieved a sort of legendary status in Southern California and beyond. Though he is well known for his Disneyland tours of Los Angeles, Phoenix has toured this country in search of the kitschiest cities and most vibrant offenders of class. His travels have brought him to Tulsa, Portland and Denver, which he calls the most kitschy city in the nation. But he calls Silver Lake home and has devoted extensive hours to documenting the history of Los Angeles and its environs in the most unique way one can.

With all the recent local talk here and elsewhere about gentrification bitterness, racial disharmony, and general loathing of entire communities, one might get the idea that Los Angeles is nothing but a disjointed, angry sprawl of warring factions ready for another major meltdown. Well sir, that's simply not true. We shan't pull out Rodney King's once-powerful but now-cliched chestnut, but instead ask you to direct your attention to a stretch of Rowena Avenue in...