There’s so much going on in the City of Angels, it can be hard to keep track of it all. Thanks to the new Flavorpill, we’re inviting the entire community to make suggestions with its gorgeous city-based culture guide — an open platform where our very own editors and curators meet and mingle with artists, gadabouts, and other tipsters for a limitless variety of both ongoing and one-off recommendations. With this in mind, please enjoy our weekly list of hand-picked event suggestions here on Flavorwire, and in the meantime, be sure to check out the new Flavorpill. We’ll see you there.
Monday, July 8
FILM: Free For All Movie Mondays: The Wedding Singer Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents five weeks of free outdoor movies on Monday nights. Guests are welcome to bring their own picnics, snacks, or opt for Patina Catering, which provides food that’s custom-tailored to each film. July 8, enjoy Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore in the 1998 romantic comedy The Wedding Singer while partaking of burger and cheeseburger sliders, grilled cheese sandwiches, and, of course, slices of wedding cake — all at a nominal extra cost. — Karin E. Baker
Tuesday, July 9
CITY GEM: Bark if You Love Bingo Hamburger Mary’s, the drag-friendly West Hollywood restaurant famous for its legendary bingo nights, hosts a fundraiser with dog whisperer Cesar Millan — the evening’s celebrity guest “ball caller.” Proceeds benefit the Millan Foundation, which aids, supports, and rehabilitates dogs in need. Expect great prizes along with food-and-drink specials in an evening that promises to be nothing like your grandma’s bingo. — Karin E. Baker
Wednesday, July 10
MUSIC: Fishtank Ensemble In the lively West Coast vein of a sunnier, more urban take on gypsy cabaret comes the Fishtank Ensemble, whose oom-pah is a little less noir and hyperstylized than compatriot acts like DeVotchka, and much less aggro than Gogol Bordello’s post-punk reveries. With a nod to the unpolished sounds of street bands and urban troubadours, these men and women wield their accordions, violins, banjoleles, and mics with a polka-rock flair. — Shana Nys Dambrot
Thursday, July 11
Artwork by Hans Walør
FESTIVAL: Lightning in a Bottle With the continued evolution of über-large weekend music-fests, Lightning in a Bottle is remarkable for its strong bent on sustainability and mindful practices. There’s a wide reach and diverse scope of music and modern-day ceremony, including many unique attractions such as a tea temple and massive outdoor yoga classes. You never come back the same, no matter how many times you make the pilgrimage. There are talks, pop-up shows, real-time painters and artists, and vegetarian food served on biodegradable dinnerware. As for lodging options, consider camping at Lake Skinner to complete your earthly re-birthing. In the proverbial Age of Aquarius, you do not just attend this festival — you alight in a full-fledged paradigm-shifting vortex. — Kenneth Hughes
PERFORMING ARTS: Authors on Asia: The Silent and Spoken Word
Friday, July 12
PARTY: Into The Night: Secrets and Truth You won’t want to miss the Skirball Cultural Center’s “Into the Night” series of after-dark parties. This summer’s kickoff, “Secrets and Truth,” revolves around the museum’s exhibit, Gary Baseman: The Door Is Always Open . Delve into the career survey, view a brand-new art performance by Baseman and choreographer Sarah Elgart, join special tours of the museum, listen to live music from Hunter Hunted and Harriet, hear KCRW DJ Anthony Valadez spin, watch screenings of the animated film Fantastic Planet, enjoy signature cocktails, and create art. Not all at the same time, of course. — Karin E. Baker
Saturday, July 13
BOOKS: Harlan Goes to Hollywood with Patton Oswalt From publishing his first story at the tender age of 11 to punching out his literature professor almost a decade later, Harlan Ellison both chronicled and embodied the rise of juvenile delinquency in postwar American culture, even joining a youth gang under the moniker “Cheech Beldone.” But throughout his skirmishes with the law, Ellison was always a gifted writer — even while writing pulp fiction under yet another pseudonym, Paul Merchant. A collection of Ellison’s “violent stories of naked passions” was originally published as a mass-market paperback called Sex Gang in 1959, and since the real identity of the book’s author has been revealed, first-edition copies of Sex Gang fetch upwards of thousands of dollars at auction. But you don’t need to drop your nest egg to read it, because Brooklyn-based indie publisher Kicks Books is reissuing all the stories from Sex Gang in two volumes: Pulling a Train and Getting in the Wind. To celebrate Ellison’s return to his roots, join Patton Oswalt in honoring the author himself in this unique afternoon adventure, beginning with Ellison’s haircut at Sweeney Todd’s Barber Shop (accompanied by two greaser thugs with chains and switchblades), followed by a demented procession to La Luz de Jesus, where Ellison reads from and signs copies of his books. This time, he’s using his real name. — Tanja M. Laden
Sunday, July 14
FILM: Outfest presents Before You Know It Outfest began in 1982 when a group of UCLA students decided to bring more visibility to the LGBT community through cinematic storytelling. From the erstwhile “Gay and Lesbian Media Festival and Conference” to simply “Outfest,” it’s the oldest continuously running film fest in Los Angeles, screening groundbreaking films like tonight’s hotly anticipated Before You Know It. This documentary provides a look into a world rarely seen by most of us: that of LGBT seniors. The film explores the lives of three gay elders: the proprietor of the longest-surviving gay bar in Texas; a man who is finally, in his later years, able to be honest about his sexuality and cross-dressing; and a New Yorker hoping his boyfriend will eventually propose marriage. — Karin E. Baker