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Soundwalk2008 is going down tomorrow, September 20th, in the LBC. Head down to the East Village Arts District and join in on the fun. I'm a sound art fanatic, so I think I've been down there almost every year since its inception. Always an interesting experience.--James

I think I was told by two people at two separate galleries that should catch this show. So I hopped on the BART down to the 24th Street station to go to Receiver. I don't know much about the artist, but I do like the work. The Flickr slideshow probably won't her art justice. So many small collaged elements.--James

Lydia Fong strikes again. S/he is currently having a show at RATIO 3 in San Francisco's Mission District. Nice installation by Barry McGee as always.--James

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Bad news for the Grand Central Art Center, good news for OCC. Andrea Harris the excellent director who is responsible for so many great shows at GCAC over the last ten years as well as growing the Grand Central Press in respect and reach is leaving and will be taking the Director position at the new Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion at Orange Coast College.What this news means for GCAC remains to be seen. With tepid University and City support as of late maybe the loss of a talent such as Andrea...

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Few Asian American films break out of the festival circuits. When one does it's always a cause for celebration. One of my favorites in recent years continues to be Charlotte Sometimes by Eric Byler.Ping Pong Playa is the new film by Jessica Yu. It's the story of a suburban slacker Christopher "C-Dub" Wang. Wang dreams of being a pro b-ball player, but blames his Chinese genetics for not reaching his goal.Wang's family runs a store selling all things ping pong, while his...

First OCMA hires a new curator and now it's LAM's turn. This week the Laguna Art Museum announced that they hired Grace Kook-Anderson to fill the vacancy created when Tyler Stallings decamped to Riverside. Kook-Anderson comes to us via San Francisco where she curated shows for the Yerba Buena Center of the Arts, the Wattis Institute and New Langston Arts. She will be responsible for all aspects of the museums curatorial program. Welcome to Orange County!

This Saturday night the Grand Central Art Center kicks off the new art season with Aspects of Mel's Hole curated by Doug Harvey and featuring a slew of great artists. You do not want to miss this one. It'll be a fun one and the crowd will be huge. See you there.In 1997 radio host Art Bell first introduced his listeners to Mel Waters, a man from Eastern Washington who claimed to have discovered an ancient and apparently bottomless pit on his property. The story of the hole was...

Unfortunately Orange County has lost another gallery. After two years J. Flynn Gallery has closed up shop. It was good while it lasted. Nice work Jack.

Well, Well. Lookee what this is. A shameless plug!The Cypress College Art Gallery is holding a exhibition of works by its faculty. The disclaimer here is that I just happen to be teaching at the college this semester. But we have a roster of really good working artists who are teaching there.The Cypress College Art Gallery has really come into its own. Though the transition from the old space to the new was a bit rocky, it has become a really nice space. The gallery director and the students...

Here's something for you to do this week. The Hoff Foundation alum Paul Paiement is having a show at Peter Blake Gallery. The opening is this Thursday.PAUL PAIEMENTHybrids 5.5September 4-27, 2008Reception: September 4, 6-9PMPeter Blake Gallery326 N. Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA  926651--James

This book simply will not die for me. It took me about three months to complete it because of distractions and lack of time. So for awhile there I was failing to complete a book on failure. While I was reading it, Ed Giardina told me about this group on Flickr, with discussions and photos that exemplify the subject. Then when I had a meeting with Aandrea Stang from MOCA this past week, she was mentioning her recent interest in the idea of failure. The funny thing is I bought this book from the...

In their attempt to make the move to the net. It's my understanding that all the writers at the OC Register are now being judged on clicks to their online posts.So what do you do when you're involved in writing for the Arts & Culture section that is hard pressed to find readers as it is. You bring in the Nudes, and more Nudes, and more Nudes, and more Nudes, and some Strippers.You get the point. Naked ladies = Clicks!

I just bought a book about the Situationist International today. So when I saw this video, it gave me a good chuckle. I think works of art based solely on theories are highly boring. This is probably for your amusement only.--James

Oliver Laric. 50 50, 2007--James

The last thing I really want to do is go hang out with a bunch of dirty hippies but I understand that some of you might like that kind of thing so here's a video of some of the "art" build projects at this years Burning Man via CurrentTV. Enjoy and remember, Never Trust a Hippy.

Tricky has a new album coming out soon. And he's back in the U.S. for a national tour. He will land in The O.C. at the House of Blues, Anaheim on Thursday, September 11. Last I checked there are still tickets available. I last saw Tricky live back in 2000 in San Francisco while in art school. One of my most memorable concerts. He's worth seeing.I've listen to the new album in its entirety, and it's really a throwback to his Maxinquaye days. Good listen.--James

If you still haven't seen Helvetica: A Documentary, flix it. The best documentary on the most ubiquitous typeface on the planet.Now the director Gary Hustwit is at it again. This time with a documentary about industrial design. The movie will have a world premiere sometime at the beginning of 2009. In the meantime, head over to the website. There is a really good blog on there as well.--James

Chris blogged about this I think a couple of weeks ago. Beautiful Losers the movie opens in Los Angeles this Friday. It will be showing for one week only at the Nuart in Santa Monica. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you'll have to leave The O.C. to go see this one.--James