In a special Off-Ramp podcast, John Rabe's (mostly) uncut interview with Cheech Marin about Chicano art, including an exclusive tour of Marin's huge Chicano art collection, and his memories of Cheech&Chong.
Cheech Marin gives Off-Ramp exclusive tour of his Chicano art collection
Cheech Marin, half of stoner comedy duo Cheech & Chong, gave Off-Ramp host John Rabe an exclusive guided tour of his Chicano art collection.
Next weekend, comedian, actor and director Cheech Marin picks up Palm Springs Fine Art Fair's 2012 Arts Patron of the Year Award. The event runs Feb. 16-19.
Nobody has done as much in recent years to promote the status of Chicano art as Marin, who started collecting Chicano art years ago because it was cool and affordable, then became an advocate when he realized it wasn't being treated as great art by the establishment. Since then, he's published books and staged nationwide tours of Chicano art, much of it from his personal collection, which may be the best in the world.
He gave Off-Ramp a tour of the art at his Malibu beach home last week. Yes, he's a professional performer, but you can't fake his enthusiasm and love for Chicano art.
Marin loves the way Chicano art mirrors the Chicano experience, blending the naive and the sophisticated, the collision of classical and pop. As he took us around his house, he was delighted to show us details in this painting and that sculpture, things he loved about it at first, stuff he only noticed after owning it for a year or more. Having good artwork, Marin says, is like watching your kids grow. You watch it change year after year, and find new things to love in it.
The centerpiece of the collection might be in the most intimate space. It's a huge Carlos Almaraz painting of Echo Park Lake. "It's the boating party, the Chicano take on Seurat," Marin said. "A riot of paint, every square inch of this canvas is covered in paint and it's all in motion. It's the most dynamic and mystical thing. It keeps giving. I lay in bed and stare at this painting every day."
His first art show was in San Antonio, and he says it took forever to set up. If I could just get all this work in one room so people could see it, they'd have to agree it was great art, he thought. Sure enough, the art arrived and the museum workers started unpacking the crates.
"And all of a sudden you start to see people coming from all parts of the museum," Marin said. "And at the end of the day the whole museum staff was there, watching the uncrating of these things." From all these people, who had never really understood the breadth and depth of Chicano art, he says there was a collective "Wow."
Lou Adler - Lakers with Jack, and "uncovering" Cheech and Chong
Alex Ben Block of The Hollywood Reporter continues off-Ramp's exclusive career-retrospective interview with entertainment legend Lou Adler. First, he tells how he met his friend Jack Nicholson, and how they migrated down the stands at Lakers games. Then, Alex asks how Adler "discovered" Cheech and Chong, the "hard rock" comedians.
Ivy Bottini, 85 year old gay marriage supporter celebrates prop 8 verdict
As the 9th circuit court of appeals announced its decision to strike down proposition 8, the gay marriage ban, a crowd gathered outside West Hollywood city hall to celebrate the ruling. KPCC's Ashley Bailey attended the rally, and talked with Ivy Bottini, a gay marriage supporter with a story that's hard to forget.
Performer Tammy Lang channels late singer, Velvet Underground collaborator Nico in "Chelsea Mädchen"
UPDATE: Chelsea Madchen ist zurück! The show is worth catching, and it's being performed at Largo on Wednesday, June 6.
She sang for the Velvet Underground, acted for Fellini, and posed for Warhol, but Nico the German-born singer also led a chaotic life -- she was a heroin addict for years -- and died in 1988. Singer Tammy Lang, who made a name for herself playing a country singer named Tammy Faye Starlite, is bringing Nico back to life with a show called “Chelsea Mädchen,” where she channels the late rock icon on stage. She talked with Off-Ramp producer Kevin Ferguson.
Lang first came across Nico while reading a biography on Edie Sedgwick, who along with Nico, was one of Warhol’s “superstars.” Immediately after, Lang hit up her local record store to buy the Velvet Underground’s debut effort “The Velvet Underground and Nico.”
After that, Lang was hooked.
“I had never heard a female voice so deep,” she said. “[Nico’s] accent just gave it so much more allure.”
Nico’s German roots shone through in songs such as “Femme Fatale,” where her pronunciation of “clown” sounds more like “clon.” In her cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes” the word “dolphin” also takes on a new sound.
“That song just made me love her more for saying dolphins that way,” Lang added.
The inspiration for “Chelsea Mädchen,” Lang said, struck when she heard one of Nico’s interviews from the mid-80s. Lang transcribed the interview, then dissected and rearranged it to her liking.
“I tried to incorporate what some may call her less-loveable tendencies,” she said.
Lang said that Nico is someone who she has long imitated and admired.
“I would love for people to get into Nico,” she said. “She was so underappreciated as a composer and as a singer … [I] also, just [want others] to enjoy all aspects of her humanity, whether they be what is deemed negative or positive.”
“Chelsea Mädchen” takes the stage beginning this Thursday at the Bootleg Theater on Beverly.
Bonobo expert Amy Parish talks sex and feminism at the Natural History Museum
Professor Amy Parish says evolutionary science has only been telling one side of the story, and feminists ought to be worried.
Until now the big name in evolutionary theory - the species known as our "closest relative" - has been the chimpanzee. But Professor Parish and a new wave of anthropologists are pointing out that bonobo chimps, another species closely related to the common chimp, are equally related to us. In fact, genetically, it's a tie.
But there are significant differences between the two species. Chimps are known for their male-bonded clans, their dominant male figures, and their aggression. Bonobos are much more peaceful than common chimpanzees. Their communities are female-dominated, and they counter the chimps' violent tempers with raging hormones. Ferocious, unfettered hormones. Bonobos have more sex, in more ways, and for more reasons, than most humans can imagine.
The differences are real, and at a speech and interview at the Natural History Museum, Parish said that bonobos should be given their rightful seat at the evolutionary table. She says human evolutionary theory can and should be revised to accommodate meaningful female bonds, possibilities of female dominance over males, and hunting and meat distribution by females.
5th graders know what love is, tell commentator Hank Rosenfeld
To me, love is stubbing out a menthol cigarette in a cup of coffee, an empty bottle of whiskey by the side of the road, a shuttered motel in 29 Palms. That’s why I loved my job at a Santa Monica elementary school. The 5th graders there kept me sane when Valentine’s Day approaches. They don’t have those kind of memories … yet.
I ask Krshna, "What’s your definition of love?" Without blinking, he says, "The definition of love is me liking Sophie." Not "a" definition or "one" definition, but "the definition." It’s crystal clear.
5th graders have lots of crushes. Not that they are all as willing as Krshna to talk about them. And of course they’re too young to understand what Strindberg called "the inevitably primal confrontation between men and women." They’re too busy playing. They’re 10 or 11 years old, running around with their shoes untied. And my job is to help them with their poems that go, "Love is like a hot fudge sundae."
When Amy tells me quietly, "Love is a strong thing. It’s when two people really care about each other," I think of that quote about love from Martin Buber. He called it "a vague instinctual overwhelming feeling."
If the girls are a little quieter, the boys who want to talk really want to talk. Noah and Vincent grab the mike and basically start doing a radio show.
Noah: Valentines isn’t about who’s the coolest, the hottest. It’s about who you love, right, Vincent?
Vincent: Right. You have to spend time with your girlfriend or your loved ones and you have to just realize how beautiful Valentine’s is.
Noah: I mean if you don't have Valentine’s Day, if you’re married, how will you ever say to that special person “I love you?”
Wasn’t it Blake who said, "we’re all here to bear the beams of love?" That may seem a bit above the pay grade of an average adult, but children send out those beams without even trying. Krshna, before he went back to class, left me with this. "Love is a real right thing and I think everyone needs love to feel happy and stuff like that. And I hope Sophie becomes my girlfriend, and I hope you find love Mr. Hank."
O Krshna, I don't think there’s anything in that grab bag for Mr Hank. I was in one relationship for six years. We used to break up every Valentine’s Day. We’d get back together around Easter or Passover; something to do with resurrection, or guilt.
But the 5th graders are studying the circulatory system right now, and in the standard California science book, it says that the heart is actually hollow. But when it gets to beating and rhythmically pumping the blood around the body, well, it feels alive.
For Valentine's Day
Marc Haefele tells us that the Romans didn't think Cupid was so cute.
For Every Lover, a Schlepometer
Driving is a huge part of living in Southern California and quite often a hassle. For Valentine's Day, Off-Ramp contributor Karen Fritsche asks, "How far should I drive for love? And for sex?"
Voluptua — TV love goddess's reign lasted less than 2 months
UPDATE 1/4/2013: We just learned that Gloria Pall died on December 30. RH Greene filed this piece for Off-Ramp's Valentines Day episode in 2011.
RH Greene tells us about Voluptua, a short-lived 1950s local tv sensation, branded "Corruptua" by Christian protest groups.