I was lucky enough to get hooked up with a pass (thx La) for the X Games this weekend and we nabbed an amazing spot on the deck for the Skateboard Superpark Comp. Check out the photoset on flickr.

This Saturday in Santa Monica there is an all night art festival. From the Site:

Glow will fill the hours between dusk to dawn with compelling, enchanting and effervescent sights and sounds situated in spaces and times that expand possibilities for where, how and when the public experiences contemporary art.

With the historic Santa Monica Pier and adjacent world-famous Santa Monica Beach as their space, artists were commissioned to create unique and inviting works of art that welcome the public to be both audience and actor for twelve celebratory hours. Inspired by the wildly successful Nuit Blanche in Paris, Glow takes its spirit from the fabled grunion that live in local waters and come ashore several times a year to spawn in the sand creating a momentary sensation of iridescence.

Sounds like something worth supporting to me and it could be a hell of a lot of fun to chill on the beach into the wee morning hours.

Anyone into it?

The hills behind Santa Barbara and Goleta are on fire and evacuations have come down over the last week for the hills very near where I used to live. But things seem to be looking better.

The fires have lead to some pretty spectacular photos - such as this one, posted on a NASA astronomy site.

Explanation: On July 5th, wandering planets, bright stars, and a young crescent Moon graced western skies after sunset. Arrayed along the solar system’s ecliptic plane, the three celestial beacons forming this skyscape’s eye-catching line-up with the Moon are Saturn (upper left), then Mars, and finally Regulus, alpha star of the constellation Leo. Of course planet Earth itself lies in the foreground, a scene dominated by the city lights of Santa Barbara, California. The smoky haze hanging over the city is from threatening wild fires still burning along the hill at the right. On Thursday evening, Saturn and Mars can be seen in a much closer pairing or conjunction, separated by only about 3/4 degree on the sky.

A few more photos here.
Photo credit: Dmitrii Zagorodnov - (Thx Peter)

Sunset Junction is coming up August 23-24 and the lineup is definitely the best in years. Broken Social Scene (pictured), Cold War Kids, and The Black Keys will all be performing. For those of you not aware, this festival takes place on Sunset Blvd - a drunken stumble from my house (you can clearly hear the music and even see the fest from my balcony). Get your reservations in now for couch space if any out-of-towners want to join the festivities.

The LA Film Fest starts rolling today and runs through next weekend in Westwood and, new this year, at the Landmark. Featuring a number of Sundance faves and a few new indies, the rather select lineup is really quite good. It seems the documentary competition is especially interesting this year. Kudos to the folks behind the website for the fest - write-ups are packed with useful info on the film and filmmakers, links, and trailers. Here are some of the flicks I am most excited about. Check out the full post after the break for more notes.

Dirty Hands: The Art & Crimes of David Choe
David Choe is famous for his dirty style of art and graffiti that I have long been a fan of. This docu looks at his life and career and chronicles a recent stint in Japanese prison for vandalism. (Photo above)

Wonderful Town
An interesting looking Thai drama about a couple finding love in post tsunami Thailand.

Let the Right One in
Let me take this opportunity to most heartily recommend this Sundance flick, which I caught at the Seattle Fest a few weeks ago. It is a touching a brilliant coming of age story of a young boy who falls in love with the new girl next door in a Swedish suburb, only to discover she is a vampire! The story unfolds in a stark and subtle way that makes the eventual action so much more effective. I can’t say enough good things about this film. It has quickly joined The Wackness as one of my very favorite films of the year.

Encounters at the End of the World
Werner Herzog’s new docu examines the lives of people living in Antarctica and looks fantastic.

More, more, more!

Reprise, a Norwegian film by director Joachim Trier, was probably my favorite film I saw in 2006 (it premiered at that year’s Toronto fest). Now it has finally come out in theaters (thx Miramax) and will be gone before you know it. I am planning to go see it tomorrow, Tuesday 6/17 at the Regency Fairfax (oh I’m back in LA btw). Anyone who wants to take this chance to see a truly innovative narrative on the big screen should come along.
Norwegian Trailer - US Trailer