Category: Event Reviews

Party Like it’s 1929

‘Tis the season for parties but one group that never needs an excuse is The Art Deco Society. With so many fabulous historic buildings in Los Angeles, this organization knows where to socialize! They regularly gather in some of the city’s most amazing settings to have a drink, wear their finest vintage attire and discuss ways to preserve Los Angeles’ most precious structures – those built in a time when art, style and craftsmanship took precedence over cheap, nondescript disposable architecture. I love being a member of this group knowing I’m contributing to some dedicated conservation efforts and I don’t mind drinking a toast to it as well! See some photos from recent events:

Art Deco Society Parties

See you at the next party!
K.

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Category: Event Reviews

A Blogger in a BlogWorld

I got a chance to attend the BlogWorld New Media Expo at the LA Convention Center last week. Imagine if you will – thousands of manic, Tweeting, Facebooking social media movers and shakers, exchanging tips and Twitter handles, crammed in one building to lift the online world to the next level.

I was absolutely inspired and excited to see what can be done with branding and blogging in this new space. I was also quite taken with the speakers as I watched a full day of them. They were smart, charming, and even quite funny. And it was nice to be in a room with people who spoke my same hashtagging, bit.ly shortened @language.

I even ran into social powerhouse Ramon DeLeon who has put Domino’s pizza on the map in Chicago, yes Chicago, you know the town of the classic deep dish? Well, move over Chicago pizza, Ramon owns that town and has done it through being all over the web. He was more than willing to share a few tips with me in the lunchroom. Thanks Ramon!

Then I stopped by the WordPress “Happiness Bar” in the exhibit hall where they helped me adjust my blog template. WordPress really did serve up some happiness that day!

And I plucked out a few noteworthy (and Tweet-worthy) words of wisdom from the series of speakers I saw. Follow them on Twitter, heed their words. You’ll no doubt learn a thing or two about being a social media guru yourself!

From @Guy Kawasaki

“Google+ is to Facebook what Apple is to Windows”

 “What truly enchants me about this technology is that it’s going to be used in unanticipated ways.”

 From HARO’s @PeterShankman

 “Learn to write. Bad writing is killing America. And it will kill your business.”

 “Everyone tells you to have a backup plan for when you fail. Here’s a better thought, have one for when you succeed, when that thing blows up and goes viral. Be sure to put your contact information on it!”

 “As much as you’re going to do great things, you’re also going to screw up. Own it. Apologize, tell the world how you’re going to fix it and move on.”

 “If you don’t have haters, you’re not doing enough to change the status quo.”

From David Murray @DaveMurr

“Your content is your product”

 “Be a helpful resource of information, not just information about yourself.”

From Debba Haupert @Girlfriendology

“Spend your time strategically because we are all limited in the time we have.”

“Find other like-minded bloggers and promote each other rather than compete.”

 From @MariSmith

“This business isn’t B2B or B2C, it’s P2P – people to people”

 “Before you post anything, ask yourself – what is my deepest intent?”

From Amber Naslund, Radian 6 @AmberCadabra

“We are the wayfarers, we are the people responsible for ushering in this new era. We see the future nobody else sees – we can’t even define it yet.”

“We are the missing link for business of the last 20 years and the business we are creating for the future.”

 See the photos from BlogWorld, click the link below:

Photos from BlogWorld 2011

Thanks BlogWorld and all the amazing presenters and exhibitors. I learned so much! My Klout score is gonna go through the roof!

Blog on,

K.

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Category: Event Reviews

Lomography School

Every picture tells a story. It’s one of the reasons I’ve always loved photography. I did some photojournalism a few years back and would go wherever and whenever to get a great shot. It was a major creative rush. But I fell out of doing artistic photos when easy point-and-shoot digital automatics came along. There was no art to it, just capturing the scene in perfect focus, perfect lighting – and perfectly boring. Recently (as many who follow this blog know) I’ve fallen for Lomography – experimental analogue photography using plastic cameras and film, yes, film to completely deconstruct the perfect photo into moody, textured, inspired works that play off happy accidents of light leaks and double exposures.

Sure there are now apps available on your iPhone for that. But nothing is more fun than getting a roll of film back to see what you got. It’s like a prize inside the Cracker Jack box – sometimes you love it, sometimes it’s disappointing, but usually there’s at least one or two shots that draw pure excitement.

Mind you, my first few rolls were complete crap as I learned to work with my camera and started remembering to check all the manual settings. But if you ever need help, the super friendly and supportive staff at the Lomography store In West Hollywood is standing by to show you how to work the camera and recommend films to try for different effects. I love going in there, I always leave feeling part of a community of total enthusiasts just nutty for these colorful little cameras.

I was lucky enough to get a Diana F+ camera for my birthday last month and the Lomography store just happened to have a workshop on how to use it. During a brief session in their upstairs “classroom,” we learned all about the different lenses and backs you can try for endless possibilities – way beyond what you can do with a little digi automatic. I tricked out my camera with a 35mm sprocket back and splitzer lens and we took stroll down Santa Monica Boulevard to shoot what inspired us. Here’s a sampling from my roll.

Click below to see the slideshow:

Lomography Diana F+ Workshop

 Thank you Lomography – you’ve got my creative juices going!

Smile for the camera,

K.

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Category: Event Reviews

Occupy America

While getting ready for my recent trip to New York City, I was hearing a lot about the Occupy Wall Street movement – a demonstration started one month ago by “we the people,” the majority who make up the 99% – as opposed to the wealthiest 1% – who have had it with what has been happening in our economy, our government, our healthcare system and our job market.

As the movement began spreading city to city at a feverish pace – including my own LA – I became more intrigued and pleased to see people finally speaking up. The 1960s had their demonstrations and their protest songs but for the decades since, an incredible apathy has had a hold of this country as it declined into a mess. Once thriving citizens are now part of our nation’s homeless, poverty stricken population. Our leaders are setting examples of debt and stubborn squabbling that’s an embarrassment. Is this really America?

Occupy Wall Street is doing something amazing – rallying the fed-up and it’s been long overdue.

And they are doing it by exercising their freedom of speech and right to assemble in non-violent protests (though there are always the troublemakers who turn up who have nothing to do with the movement.) It’s a completely grassroots movement that combines people, passion and the power of social media to spread the word. It represents today and who we are in every way.

So when I was in New York City last week, I wanted to see the group who began this now-global action statement for myself. I checked their Twitter and Facebook pages and found they were gathering at Washington Square Park at 3 p.m. Oct 9th. During my walk there, I noticed that the NYPD also got the memo and I’d never seen so many police roaring up – they came in cars, vans, motorcycles, scooters and on horseback. They lined every street on both sides leading up to the park. It seemed a bit of overkill to me and looked like they were waiting for something big and terrible to happen. It made me very nervous to say the least. One dicey move by anybody could trigger this to go ugly very fast.

However, what I saw on that day was a very peaceful protest of people with the guts to speak up and speak for everyone, to stand in the hot sun and hold up signs to make people think and question about what we’ve just accepted as THE system.

It will be very interesting to see where this goes.

Click the photo below to see the photos from my day with Occupy Wall Street:

 Occupy Wall Street, Washington Square Park – NYC

Find out more:

Occupy Wall Street Website
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube

Make your stand.

The whole world is watching,
K.

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Category: Event Reviews

Goodbye Steve Jobs

heel iconFor me, going on vacation means unplugging. In my daily personal life and in my day job, I’m a social media, blogging maniac, online at my desk and on my phone pretty much from the moment I wake to when I go to sleep at night. So this year, I chose to take a week holiday in Vermont, courtesy of some friends in Boston (thank you Jane!), to allow me some peace and quiet in the beautiful setting of tree-lined countrysides, where the leaves were just changing into their fall colors.

But my web-free holiday came crashing down when out to pick up dinner at a quaint Wilmington pizzeria, my boyfriend’s phone began to buzz with breaking news updates from his Twitter feed.  Steve Jobs had died.

I sank into the wooden booth and pulled out my phone and we both began scrolling through our Twitter feeds, news websites, and Facebook pages to get more details. We knew it was coming. I was crushed when Jobs resigned from Apple at the end of August and I think everyone went into denial about the real meaning of the move – he was dying.

And now it was official, Jobs lost his 7 year battle with pancreatic cancer. This amazing mind, this creative force who inspired us all to think different and live our own dream could not invent something to end this disease that has taken so many great ones.

The rest of my evening was spent in our quiet Vermont house online and in stunned silence, surfing the wave of postings as the news spread. With everyone having a voice now through social media, the grief was literal and instantaneous. It brought me to tears. Yet I felt comforted in sharing the loss with so many I didn’t even know by adding to the Twitter string.

Jobs will be remembered for how he completely revolutionized our culture. He changed the way we work and socialize, how we listen to music, talk on the phone, connect and share every moment of our lives – even the moment we hear of his passing.

A few days later, I am in New York City and feel it’s important to make the pilgrimage to the 24/hr Apple store on 5th Avenue to pay my respects. A remembrance area filled with flowers, notes and of course, apples, lined the entrance to the store. And I am compelled to leave a note of my own:

“You inspired us all. Thank you Steve.”

Think different,
Kastle

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Category: Event Reviews

Tiki Getaway

I capped off my summer with a getaway to a perfect paradise. I zoomed down to San Diego for the annual Tiki Oasis. This gathering of hardcore Tiki-philes who love all things to do with retro Polynesian-style subculture offers a total emersion into this ultra fun subculture. The entire hotel was booked out so there is nothing but Tiki partiers there to enjoy the sunshine and marketplace shopping by the pool by day and bands and room parties by night. DJs and live music play pretty much ‘round the clock with a soundtrack the mixes the sounds of Herb Alpert, surf rock and exotica. I rocked out to Los Straitjackets, bopped along to HERB, picked up some jiggling and shakin tips from saucy burlesque and super groovy go-go dancers, saw some vintage slides of people I don’t know to the hilarious narrative of Charles Phoenix and encountered an actual Mai Kai girl serving up a mystery drink. Tiki Oasis truly is an oasis all its own. It was certainly hard to go back to reality after that!

Read more about Tiki Oasis, including my interview with founder Otto von Stroheim HERE.

Click the link below to view the slideshow from Tiki Oasis:

Tiki Oasis Slideshow

Aloha!

K.

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Category: Event Reviews

Clever Vintage Fashion Show

Knowing my love for the ‘60s, my pals at Clever Vintage Clothing invited me to model in their fashion show at the photo exhibit of iconic shutterbug Phil Stern who had his celebrity snaps on display at the Los Angeles Theatre Center.

A bevy of vintage-loving scenesters babe turned up to help show off Clever’s finest ‘60s era threads in the style of old style fashion shows

Fittings took place a week prior and I was lucky enough to find a teal and olive floor length gown fit for a Bond girl. I dreamed about wearing that dress all the way up to the event!

Call time was 6 p.m. and backstage was a flurry of last minute wardrobe changes, hair teasing, white clouds of hair spray, and makeup touchups. Special thanks to my hair and makeup artist pal Rachelle of Bella Bella salon in Pasadena for coming out to help with my updo and pitching-in to help other girls get period-perfect hair.

Clever’s Dave and Sabino laid out a buffet of vintage handbags and shoes to go with our outfits and it was like being in a candy store. When it was all done, the entire room looked like it a movie set of the 1960s with the girls in elegant eveningwear holding their numbered cards to let the guests know details and designers of their outfits.

Our gaggle of models were trickled out into the crowd, walking through with our numbers, stopping and doing a spin every so often as people asked about our gorgeous frocks as they also enjoyed a selection of Italian wines provided by LA Wine Tasting and gazed upon Mr. Stern’s amazing collection of photos. As I gazed upon black ‘n’ candid moments with Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, I could only imagine what it was like to be back in a era of glamour and pop culture influence that extends to today.

What a great night! Click the image below to see the photos:

A Night of ’60s Photography & Vintage Fashion

Heels on!
K.

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Category: Event Reviews

It’s a Mod, Mod, Mod, Mod World

Are you a mod or a rocker? I have to admit I like a bit of both, but I do have a soft spot for the groovy smoothness of the mod squad, especially when it comes to their choice ride, the scooter.

The Petersen Automotive Museum is currently celebrating the scooter with an exhibit chronicling the history and I checked it out during a special event where they encouraged locals to bring their own to enter a contest for best thing on two wheels. Inside the museum were vintage scooters and modern scooters but I have to say, the parking lot was where the best looking scooters were hangin’. Local mods with tricked-out, multi-mirrored, checker and leopard trimmed hot wheels had the most personality. It was especially fun to see them all take off and ride over to Molly Malone’s in a huge pack after the contest!

So where else would I be when the Mod Weekender came around, courtesy of Rich Sihilling of Bullet Club fame. Three action packed days of mod, mod, mod!  Friday night was for dancin’ and while it wasn’t super crowded, the music was great for some fancy footers who shook it with a backdrop of ‘60s imagery. DJ Jesse Trejo played such amazing stuff I have to get that setlist on my iPod!

The next day’s vintage fair gave modsters a chance to pull some new threads while the scooter run from Griffith Park wasn’t exactly smooth sailing, filled with breakdowns, crashes and a run-in with the cops who couldn’t quite figure out, “who are these stylish road warriors?”

Saturday night the place was packed with a full lineup of bands. I was diggin’ the garage sonic sounds of the Swarm and the blue-eyed soul of the 20 Grand Club whose big sound blew the roof off the place. They were followed by the more punkish pop of the Question who closed the night with a little vocal help from Jerry Miller of the Untouchables.

Sunday was for recovering and those who could soothe their achin’ dancin’ feet to make it to the lunchtime BBQ and Santa Monica scooter run.

Click the link below to see the slideshow (shot in Lomography!):

Mod Weekender Slideshow

Until next time…

What’cha Gonna Do About It?
K.

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Category: Event Reviews

A Lesson in Lomography

In my last report, I raved about discovering the Lomography store. Well, I made a little shopping trip to purchase a Fisheye camera. I’ve had great fun practicing using the circular framing technique that works best when you get REALLY CLOSE to your subject – much to the dismay of a my best supermodel, my cat!

I went back to learn some expert techniques including double exposure and other tricks at the Dina Mini workshop, one of the many Saturday offerings at the store. We were given a brief presentation on different ways to shoot, a loaner camera and a roll of film. Then it was off to practice. The six strangers in the class became instant friends taking pix of each other and we couldn’t wait to get the roll developed to see what surprises awaited. The fun thing about shooting analogue is you never know what you’re going to get on your film and it’s the unexpected that makes the most powerful photos. I walked out of there with yet another camera and great excuse to shoot a couple of friends in the park the next day. Take a look at my results:

Click the photos below to see the slideshows

Lomography Diana Mini Class

Friends in a skyscraper park

Until next time – shoot first, ask questions later!

K.

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Category: Event Reviews

Mad Men Today

With my crazy schedule trying to take in all the Los Angeles has to offer, I don’t get to watch much TV (mainly because there aren’t many shows I like) but I do make time to watch Mad Men courtesy of Netflix. It’s pure indulgence for me to feast my eyes on the clothes and set decoration done period-perfect in the ‘60s (my favorite era!) As the show is up for yet more Emmys this year, I was excited to learn that some cast members would be doing a Q&A downtown for the LA Times Envelope Emmy Week. On hand were Jon Hamm (Don Draper), Christina Hendricks (Joan Harris), Kiernan Shipka (Sally Draper) and creator Matthew Weiner. I have to say all of the cast’s stars are as impossibly good looking in person as they are on screen and while Weiner had some great behind-the-scenes tidbits, it was Shipka who stole the night as the most charming, poised tween I’ve ever seen! They all just made me love the show that much more – can’t wait for the next season!

Speaking of the ‘60s, I ventured out with some of my groovy ‘60s lovin’ pals to see Douglas Roegiers who has a Wednesday night residency at Villa Sorriso in Pasadena. Encompassing the swingin’ style of the Rat Pack in their heyday, this one-man show has the sound bigger than any big band. A smooth crooner with the presence of a true entertainer, he sang covers of the classics, danced, told jokes and mingled with the audience with the charm and tradition of an old school lounge act that is a lost art. And did I mention this guy can sing? His voice was way too big for the tiny stage and backing track at this restaurant but it just led to us to appreciate his true gift for entertaining and made for a great evening. Thanks Douglas!

Fly me to the moon,
K.

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