Fab Online And IRL Events Happening In SoCal This Week: June 22 - 25

Coronavirus is wreaking havoc on schools, stores, businesses and events. With in-person concerts, talks, comedy shows, food festivals and other gatherings cancelled, we have turned our events column into a "nonevents" column. It will remain this way as long as social distancing and stay-at-home orders are in effect.

During this difficult time, please consider contributing to your local arts organizations or to individual artists and performers.

Drop in to a virtual 24-hour Global Queer Read-In. Attend a Bicycle Kitchen repair workshop via Zoom. Learn from Black authors how to be a better ally in the fight against racism and injustice. Take a road trip to Montclair for a drive-in double-feature.

Monday, June 22; 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. PDT

Bicycle Kitchen Online Shift
Drop in virtually to share bike repair and maintenance tips with supporters of the nonprofit bicycle educational organization. Access the event via Zoom.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Monday, June 22; 5 p.m. PDT

Weird Homes Tour: The Container Home of Your Dreams
Atlas Obscura's Wonder from Home series continues with tours that feature the domiciles of artists, performers and creatives. This week, visit a couple's three-story New Orleans home, made up of seven shipping containers.
COST: $10 per device; MORE INFO

The California Botanic Garden in Claremont offers speciality activity kits on native butterflies and plants. (Courtesy of the California Botanic Garden)

Wednesday, June 24 - ongoing

My Butterfly Garden: Children's Activity Box
The California Botanic Garden in Claremont is creating activity kits for kids and families, focusing on native butterflies and the plants that they need to survive. Perfect for families cooped up at home this summer, the kit shows how to create a butterfly garden that supports local species with nectar and host plants. The kit includes three native plant seedlings that attract butterflies and sustain caterpillars, a wildflower seed packet curated with butterfly-friendly species, plant labels to decorate, a box of crayons and a butterfly activity book. Pick-up will be available starting Wednesday.
COST: $55 - $85; MORE INFO

Wednesday, June 24; 3 p.m.

Nikita Dragun's Confidence Class
The natural beauty brand Each & Every celebrates Pride 2020 by teaming with the makeup mogul and model as she offers tips on how everyone can look and feel their best. A Q&A session follows the class. The brand will also donate $10 for every person who attends the live Zoom workshop (up to $10,000) to The Trevor Project.
COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

October 1, 1986: Repairs are carried out on the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine, following a major explosion. (ZUFAROV/AFP via Getty Images)

Wednesday, June 24; 12 p.m. PDT

Contaminated Space: Long Radioactive Half-Lives and Short Media Cycles in Chernobyl
The Wende Museum presents the next installment of its Cold War Spaceslunchtime talk. Listen to Kate Brown, professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Joes Segal, the Wende Museum's chief curator and director of Programming, discuss Chernobyl -- the actual event, not the HBO series, but maybe that too -- via Zoom.
COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

Peppermint hosts It Gets Better's Digital Pride Experience this week. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

Wednesday, June 24 - Friday, June 26; 2 - 7 p.m. PDT

It Gets Better: A Digital Pride Experience
The nonprofit that connects and empowers LGBTQ+ youth holds an online Pride gathering with programming that includes segments on fitness, lifestyle, fashion, beauty and gaming as well as music and drag performances. Hosted by Broadway actor (Head Over Heels) and activist Peppermint, the event also features performances by Rebecca Black, Crystal Methyd and Jujubee and special appearances by Alyson Stoner, The Aces, Nick Lehmann, The Angelinos and Rob Anderson. Watch the events on It Gets Better's YouTube,Facebook andTwitch sites.
COST: FREE; MORE INFO

Wednesday, June 24; 10 a.m. PDT

The Oedipus Project
The Summer Nostos Festival presents a dramatic reading of Sophocles' Oedipus the King from Theater of War Productions. Featuring performances by Frances McDormand, Oscar Isaac, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Frankie Faison, David Strathairn, Glenn Davis, Marjolaine Goldsmith and Jumaane Williams, the reading serves as a jumping-off point for conversations about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities throughout the world. The Zoom link will be emailed to registered attendees prior to the event.
COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

Thursday, June 25; 8:45 p.m. PDT

Beyond Fest Drive-In Summer Series
Mission Tiki Drive-In Theatre
10798 Ramona Ave., Montclair
American Cinematheque teams up with Beyond Fest and Mission Tiki for a screening in your cars, under the stars. Catch the double feature of Mad Max Fury Road (2015) followed by Death Race 2000 (1975). Tickets must reflect the number of passengers in the car.
COST: $15 - $50; MORE INFO

Save the Voters Save the World from Megan McKenzie Media on Vimeo.

Thursday, June 25; 5 p.m. PDT

Save the Voters Save the World
Local filmmaker Megan McKenzie debuts her short documentary about three prominent figures in the Civil Rights movement: Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr., Mr. James Perkins and Bishop Henry Hearns. After the Zoom screening, LaFayette Jr., Perkins and Hearns will share their stories and participate in a Q&A.
COST: FREE with RSVP; MORE INFO

Thursday, June 25; 7 p.m. PDT

Home Together Virtual Fundraiser
L.A. Family Housing and actor-comedian P.J. Byrne raise funds that will go to ending homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic. The night celebrates LAFH's frontline staff and program participants with help from Congressman Adam Schiff, Mayor Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez, India Arie, Ed Helms, Kristen Bell, Troian Bellisario, Camila Coelho, Izabel Pakzad, JD McCrary and Raegan Revord.
COST: FREE, but donations encouraged; MORE INFO

L.A. Theatre Works production of the radio drama '8' by Dustin Lance Black, pictured above, closes out a marathon Global Queer Read-In this week. (Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)

Thursday, June 25; 12 p.m. PDT

Global Queer Read-In: A Virtual Pride Event
More than 30 LGBTQI writers, playwrights, activists and artists -- including 2020 Pulitzer Prize winner Jericho Brown, Maryland Poet Laureate Grace Cavalieri, actor Alfre Woodard, playwright Charles Busch, writer-poet Alexis De Veaux, singer-songwriter Sophie B. Hawkins -- read passages from their favorite works of queer literature and poetry. The broadcast closes with the presentation of the L.A. Theatre Works production of Dustin Lance Black's 8, a full-length radio drama about the historic fight for marriage equality. Watch on Zoom and Twitch.
COST: FREE, but donations encouraged; MORE INFO

Thursday, June 25; 7 - 8 p.m.

You Down for the Cause or What?
BookSwell returns for the next installment of Read & Relate, a virtual literary salon. Writers of color, including Sehba Sarwar, Tanya Ko-Hong, Lisbeth Coiman and Chris L. Terry, discuss allyship. Audience members are encouraged to bring quotes from Black authors to share in the chat. The event will be available to watch via Zoom, Facebook Live and YouTube.
COST: FREE, but donations accepted; MORE INFO

Emily V. Gordon and husband Kumail Nanjiani, here at the 'Men In Black: International' premiere, are participating in 826LA's first virtual gala. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

Thursday, June 25; 7 p.m. PDT

Changing the Story
826LA holds its first virtual gala, rescheduled from earlier this month, with a night of live and recorded storytelling by Tom Hanks, Judd Apatow, Mindy Kaling, Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon, Keegan-Michael Key, Constance Wu and host Al Madrigal. The event raises funds for free writing and tutoring programs for kids from under-resourced communities. Watch on 826LA.org/changingthestory or log into Twitch.tv if you want to chat along with friends.
COST: FREE, but donations encouraged; MORE INFO

Thursday, June 25 - Friday, June 26; 7 - 8 p.m. PDT

Introduction to Writing for the Novice
Do you have a little downtime these days? Have you always wanted to write... something? The Elysian Valley Arts Collective presents a new series of virtual workshops taught by writer Rex Weiner (The Adventures of Ford Fairlane). The online sessions will be streamed live on two separate evenings via Google MeetUp. The hour-long workshops cover the differences in fiction, nonfiction, memoir and poetry and help newbies get started.
COST: FREE with registration; MORE INFO

Uncool, a new burger restaurant, opens in Larchmont this week, offering burgers, breakfast, chicken sandwiches and other treats. (Courtesy of Uncool)

Dine & Drink Deals

Who doesn't miss going out to eat or stopping by a bar for a drink? Here are a few options from restaurants and bars as we work our way back toward normal.

• Korean BBQ hotspot Baekjeong recently reopened its Temple City location for limited-capacity dine-in service as well as offering takeout for the first time. Guests can now savor dishes like japchae, stir-fried squid with noodles, Baekjeong bowls and cuts of meat.
• Uncool is a new smashburger restaurant in Larchmont (139 1/2 Larchmont Blvd.) that specializes in a thin-pressed patty with toppings such as maple-glazed pastrami bacon, raclette, hashbrowns and fried eggs. The menu also includes fried chicken sandwiches, breakfast goods and a vegan burger. On opening day (Monday, June 22), upgrade a burger into a meal combo and the restaurant donates $1 to STOMP Out Bullying.
• Terra, Eataly's Italian grill rooftop restaurant, has reopened with extra safety measures. On the weekends, Terra's Italian-style brunch is offered between 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.
• Malibu Beach Inn teams with the upscale tequila brand Volcán Tequila for a virtual tasting dinner ($175) on Thursday, June 25. Watch live as Volcán founder and CEO Trent Fraser in New York is joined by educational director Adriana Baca from Jalisco, Mexico, to talk about tequila and its history. Chef Ryan Caldwell pairs Carbon Beach Club's California cuisine with tequila and cocktails. Orders for pickup and delivery must be made in advance and will arrive the day before the event.
• Highland Park Bowl is now open for cocktails as well as dine-in and takeout service from Wednesdays through Sundays. The lanes aren't operating yet but stay tuned.