In the spirit of creativity, Spokes & Words is focused in bringing together spoken word with bike riding because riding a bike is poetry.

This Thursday ~ August 26th, 2010

There are six designated stops in which anyone can share words, poems and stories. Each location will have two/three people sharing and we will ride on to the next stop.

All poets, artist, riders and anyone who has an appreciation for poetry, spoken word and riding their bike around town is welcomed. Since this is the first ride, it’ll be an easy one. We welcome input from everyone on rides, routes and locations to include in future rides.

TO ALL PARTICIPANTS, MAKE SURE YOUR BIKE IS IN WORKING ORDER. MAKE SURE TO BRING EXTRA INNER TUBES, TOOLS ETC. IN CASE ANYTHING HAPPENS.

ON THE DAY OF THE RIDE WE WILL QUICKLY GO OVER THE RULES OF THE ROAD FOR SAFETY REASONS. HERE IS A QUICK LINK,

http://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/index.htm

We will meet at Mariachi Plaza at 6:30 p.m. and ride out at 7 p.m. West, stopping first in Little Tokyo by the Japanese National Museum. We will continue on 1st. stopping at the Walt Disney concert hall, then continuing on stopping under the bridge on Beverly and Glendale, in front of the long gone Belmont tunnel, riding up Glendale stopping at Echo Park Lake and riding down Sunset, finishing of at the Chinatown Gold line stop and riding bake to the Eastside.You can view the route on google maps,

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=101988524258856390304.00048d6d80c30bdc35945&ll=34.060126%2C-118.238468&spn=0.031856%2C0.053902&z=14&lci=bike

RETNA and EL MAC have teamed up for another mural, this time in Culver City. Their newest mural, titled Of Our Youth, can be seen on the side of Graphaids art supply store, on La Cienega between Jefferson and Washington.

The imagery and text used in this mural was inspired by their time spent at Skid Row, while painting their previous mural. The artists met a man by the name of Ralph Woodruff aka Chato and were inspired by this man’s past hardships, experiences and overall outlook on life. His ability to recognize his mistakes and atone for his sordid past was something that resonated with RETNA. The text which reads, “So today I’m trying to change a few things to rectify the situation of my past. So today I’m looking towards the future (of our youth highlighted)” is a quote taken from their conversation.

Soul Assassins Studios was commissioned by the makers of Danny Trejo’s new motion picture, Machete, to make some ‘lifestyle’ videos. Above is the first one, shot by Estevan Oriol, which shows Danny and Mr. Cartoon cruising and talking about their love of car culture…

It’s flavor , it’s heat, it’s simplicity. It’s a great taco.

One place I keep going back to and stand by as one of LA’s best tacos is Sergio’s Tacos in Commerce (also a location in Montebello). If you like your tacos spicy you will love Sergio’s. The salsa roja has a good amount of heat to it but it’s also very flavorful. And the heat doesn’t hit you right away, it’s the flavor you first taste, then the heat says – “hey how ya doing you may start to feel me in a second.” Read the rest on GreatTacoHunt.com

Abbot-Kinney ~ Venice

UPDATE: Details on the Bill Murray Group Show Below!!!

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Todd Schorr ~ “Designed for Extinction” ~ Otis College of Art & Design ~ 9045 Lincoln Blvd. ~ Los Angeles

’till Sept. 11, 2010

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If you don’t know the name De’Anthony Thomas, many in South Los Angeles are hoping you will soon. One of the top high school football players in the nation, Thomas has impressed scouts and NFL talent evaluators from all over the country. Committed to USC next year, read what Scout.com says of Thomas:

The only player I’ve ever said that could legitimately be 5-Stars at four different positions, RB, S, CB, WR. The only thing that keeps Thomas from being the #1 prospect in the country is that he’s on the small side. But his combination of raw speed, change of direction, balance, and natural athleticism is at the top of the heap. His long term future may best be served at corner where his size isn’t a liability. Scott Kennedy, Scout.com

The Los Angeles Times has a quick interview and some practice and game footage of Thomas below.

Joby Cummings is a graphic, visual, toy, and tattoo artist who works at Freak Chic Tattoo on Melrose. Click on each image below to see the larger version.

Wilmington ~ CA

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The Dodgers may be 7 games out of a playoff spot, but they’re still the captains of this town and we’d wear this hat proudly (and drunkenly) at a game if it weren’t a limited edition Japanese hat that’s sold out everywhere.