Calendar

Gates at 5:30/ Movie at 7:00

Starring Neve Campbell, Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk and Rachel True. Campy, catty and delirious, The Craft is a 90s supernatural classic. The new girl at a catholic high school falls in with a trio of girls who practice witchcraft. With love spells, hexs and summonings, at first they use their powers to right the wrongs of the school bullies, but how long before THEY become the mean girls? Will their powers become deadly? The Craft is a blast, watch it with us under the stars for this one-night-only Halloween screening.

DJ Jimi Hey spins before and after the screening

The legendary Groundlings Theatre troupe presents its latest and greatest main stage show. It’s an evening of sketches and some improvisation, always original and always hilarious.

The legendary Groundlings Theatre troupe presents its latest and greatest main stage show. It’s an evening of sketches and some improvisation, always original and always hilarious.

In her new collection of selected stories, Taraghi—one of Iran’s best-known and most critically acclaimed authors—draws on her childhood experiences in Tehran, adult exile in Paris, and subsequent returns to post-revolution Tehran . Her stories are, as Azar Nafisi writes, “filled with passion, curiosity, empathy, as well as mischief—definitely mischief.” Listen in as Taraghi shares from The Pomegranate Lady and Her Sons, made fully accessible to the English-speaking audience for the first time.

Goli Taraghi is an Iranian-born, U.S. educated author who returned to Tehran to study and work in international relations and later, to teach philosophy. Her work is inspired by growing up in the privileged, old-money neighborhood of Shemiran in Tehran and later, as an exile in Paris and various visits to post-revolution Tehran. Taraghi has been honored as a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in France and has won the Bita Prize for Literature and Freedom given by Stanford University in 2009. She is included in Reza Aslan’s anthology of modern literature from the Middle East, Tablet & Pen; in the anthology Words without Borders: The World through the Eyes of Writers; and in the PEN anthology of contemporary Iranian Literature edited by Nahid Mozaffari, Strange Times, My Dear. She is a bestselling author in Iran, where her books are often censored.

Reza Aslan, an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions, is author, most recently, of Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. His first book, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, has been translated into thirteen languages and named by Blackwell as one of the hundred most important books of the last decade. He is also the author of How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization and the End of the War on Terror (published in paperback as Beyond Fundamentalism), as well as the editor of Tablet & Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East. Aslan is Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations and Associate Professor of Creative Writing at UC Riverside.

McDonnell’s Queens of Noise: The Real Story of The Runaways is a testimonial to the inspiration and insecurity of the trailblazer, a look at the Los Angeles music scene of the 70s and women on the run. Joined by Exene Cervenka of seminal L.A. punk band X and Riot Grrrl Allison Wolfe—veteran journalist McDonnell will lead a discussion on music making and selling, legacies and the women who are breaking new ground.

Since 1996, both locals and cruise-ship tourists from the nearby Port of Los Angeles have flocked to the area to experience San Pedro’s tight-knit artists’ community, impromptu street performances and conversation-worthy art — all classic ingredients for a great art walk. The tour’s 30-odd participating galleries include contemporary and textile art.

The art season in Laguna Beach flourishes year round with First Thursdays Art Walk. This educational monthly art event, held on the first Thursday of every month from 6 – 9pm, celebrates the diverse cultural art scene of Laguna Beach and is free to the public. First Thursdays Art Walk is a membership based organization. It is funded by member galleries, local art institutions, lodging establishments, and the City of Laguna Beach.

Local merchants on or near Abbot Kinney, the thoroughfare that runs diagonally through Venice, come together every month to feature the best artists, gifts, products and music in the area. Local charities benefit as art junkies, couples and families descend on the always funky beach community. And, of course, beverages are available.