Apr 30, 2013 Long Beach: Work in Progress recap 1
Where were you last Friday? If you weren’t at the freshly unlocked and dusted-off Edison Theatre attending Imprint’s Long Beach: Work in Progress, here’s what you missed following Julia Huang’s welcome and introduction. (These are my hack photos but we’ll share professional images from Ben Clark Photo next week…)
• John Jay from W+K Garage gave an inspiring keynote talk about the global creative crisis, touching on how the business, technology, and artistic worlds’ collective need for creativity is at all-time high. He set the stage and created a sense of importance and purpose for our examination of Long Beach’s uncelebrated, untapped, and rich (some might say badass) heritage and culture.
• Authors Cara Mullio and Jennifer M. Volland presented a comprehensive and breathtaking study on the works of Long Beach-based Case Study House architect Edward A. Killingsworth, explaining the criminally underrated home and hotel designer’s artistry, productivity, and dedication to his home town. Very cool.
• Pulitzer Prize winning food writer Jonathan Gold gave a seemingly off-the-cuff yet completely illuminating, entertaining, and one-of-a-kind talk about some of his favorite Long Beach restaurants and dishes in addition to memories of going to The Pike as a child. The Los Angeles Times staffer concluded that Long Beach needs more sailors, and later told me that it was the first time for him to share the roller coaster decapitation story.
• Moderator Joe Escalante from The Vandals reminisced with T.S.O.L.’s Jack Grisham about the bad old days of early hardcore punk and then had a mind-blowing talk with Chhom Nimol and Zac Holtzman about their Cambodian psychedelic rock band Dengue Fever and Long Beach’s Little Phenom Phen. The latter duo also played an acoustic version of a brand new song. Talking about either the early punk or Cambodian subculture could have easily carried the panel but I rather liked the mash-up of topics.
• Skate goods distributor Justin Reynolds, pro rider Chad Tim Tim, skate cinematographer Ricki Bedenbaugh, and shoe designer Paul Kwon discussed the deep roots of skateboarding in Long Beach as well as what can be done to help it flourish, create culture, and literally save kids from trouble. The crowd was totally absorbed and could have kept asking questions throughout the evening.
• A final round table discussion conducted by Imprint’s own jeffstaple found parallels between the messages of John Jay, the architect co-authors, and skate advocates, putting their efforts in context, building solidarity, and creating momentum for action. (Above image courtesy of Ben Clark Photo, with more to come…)
• Final words were given by District 2 Councilperson Suja Lowenthal (not shown), who opened her office doors to culture building, sharing, and change.
Throughout the day I tried to introduce as many panelists to each other, Imprint team members, and guests as I could, but fell woefully short. Hence, the small sample size of people in my pics. But here are a few of the more interesting shots that I managed to sneak in throughout the busy day: Skaters Chad Tim Tim, Justin Reynolds, Paul Kwon, and me with food writer Jonathan Gold; The Vandals’ Joe Escalante says this is the only picture he has with him and his longtime friend from T.S.O.L. Jack Grisham because they didn’t take a lot of pictures at the Starwood, Cuckoo’s Nest, etc.; The final participants to go home were Imprint staffers me, Tanya, Julia, and Renzei along with Joe Escalante and my wife Wendy, who took the photo.
Thanks again to sponsors, supporters, staffers, and friends. More pics, more thoughts, and perhaps even some links to come next week…