LAVA offers tours, talks and more Sept. 24 and 25

WHAT: On Saturday, September 24 and Sunday, September 25, members of LAVA
(The Los Angeles Visionaries Association) present a weekend of eclectic
cultural happenings: Esotouric's occasional "The Birth of Noir: James M.
Cain's Southern California Nightmare" bus tour and LAVA's 19th monthly
Sunday Salon featuring a preview of art historian/photographer Paul
Koudounaris' highly anticipated book "The Empire of Death" and a musical
performance from The Ukulady

COST: LAVA's Sunday Salon is always free, Esotouric's "Birth of Noir" tour
costs $58

LOCATION: Esotouric's "Birth of Noir" tour departs from Philippe The
Original, 1001 N. Alameda, Los Angeles, CA 90012. LAVA's Sunday Salon always
happens at Clifton's Cafeteria, 648 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90014.

MORE INFO: http://lavatransforms.org and the individual links below

Have you heard about LAVA? The Los Angeles Visionaries
Association is a creative consortium of artists, musicians, writers,
storytellers and filmmakers who since February 2010 have come together on
the last Sunday of the month for a free cultural lunch Salon at Clifton's
Cafeteria, in addition to sharing their far-flung activities on a community
calendar.

Created by Richard Schave and Kim Cooper‹the busy married couple who lead
historical bus tours under the Esotouric flag ("The Real Black Dahlia,"
"Raymond Chandler's L.A."), successfully campaigned to save the endangered
76 Balls, Charles Bukowski's house and L.A.'s Public Libraries, put the
Downtown Art Walk into a non-profit, and most recently assembled a
collective of the region's best independent tour guides at www.7DaysinLA.com
-- LAVA is fast establishing itself as one of the city's most intriguing
arts collectives, with a calendar packed with compelling, offbeat urban
events and a growing list of notable Visionary contributors.

And during the last weekend in September, the LAVA calendar shines with
fascinating events reflecting the group's eclectic diversity, with something
to delight and inspire anybody looking for a memorable outing. The events
play out in this order...

EVENT #1: Saturday, September 24, 12-4pm ­ An Esotouric bus adventure, "The
Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's Southern California Nightmare" (departs from
Philippe The Original, 1001 N. Alameda, Los Angeles, CA 90012, $58)
INFO/RESERVATIONS: http://lavatransforms.org/noir911

ABOUT THE BIRTH OF NOIR: Southern California, 1931: Musing over fresh urban
sprawl atop bulldozed orange groves and the bitter realization that you
can't eat the sunshine, newly arrived writer James M. Cain found a kernel of
truth and his voice. That voice would become the dominant note in the
development of a unique American genre, Film Noir, which spawned the abiding
Los Angeles myth of the solitary, relentless detective. THE BIRTH OF NOIR is
a four-hour luxury bus tour celebrating the life, work, myths and passions
of hard-boiled American novelist James M. Cain through his best known books,
"The Postman Always Rings Twice," "Mildred Pierce" (coming to HBO as a new
Todd Haynes-directed mini-series starring Kate Winslet in Spring 2011) and
"Double Indemnity," and how their screen adaptations shaped Film Noir.

How did East Coat sophisticate Cain go from editor of "The New Yorker" to
populist novelist accused of writing dirty books? The tour explores the
writer's life and work with a focus on his time in Southern California,
where his observations on Malibu, Hollywood, Pasadena and the low rent
'burbs of Glendale are as provocative today as they were seventy years ago.

The tour also covers the gifted people who transformed Cain's tales into
movies, among them Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler, Joan Crawford and Lana
Turner. "The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's Southern California Nightmare"
is a complex portrait of a fascinating character who was seduced and
transformed by his time in the Southland, a hard working movie industry
professional who sank into drink and despair, ultimately a uniquely
Californian artist.

Hosted by Esotouric's Richard Schave, the tour departs from beloved dining
landmark Philippe the Original, where passengers can enjoy delicious pie in
honor of legendary baking mama Mildred Pierce. The tour itself draws on
Cain's essays, short stories, novels, films and the memories of his friends
and colleagues to paint a portrait of LA in the 1930s and 1940s through the
eyes of the writer. The tour spans Hollywood to Glendale and along old Route
66, and includes illuminating visits to the actual "Mildred Pierce" house,
the Glendale Train Station where the "Double Indemnity" murder plot played
out, and the punch line to a Billy Wilder joke so subtle, it's taken six
decades for anyone to get. Get on the bus to share in the laughter and the
pathos of Cain's Southern California.


EVENT #2: Sunday, September 25, 12-2pm - LAVA's free monthly Sunday Salon
features a musical performances "human muppet" The Ukulady, and a preview of
art historian/photographer Paul Koudounaris' highly anticipated book "The
Empire of Death" (upstairs at Clifton's Cafeteria, 648 S. Broadway, Los
Angeles, CA 90014, free)

SALON INFO: http://lavatransforms.org/salon911

ABOUT THE AUGUST LAVA'S SUNDAY SALON: On the last Sunday of each month, LAVA
welcomes interested individuals to gather on the third floor of the historic
Clifton's Cafeteria in Downtown Los Angeles (noon-2pm), for a loosely
structured conversational Salon featuring short presentations and
opportunities to meet and connect with one another. If you're interested in
joining LAVA as a creative contributor or an attendee, we recommend Salon
attendance as an introduction to this growing community. We also recommend
the shortbread.

Special program at the September 25 Salon:

LAVA Visionary and Salon favorite THE UKULADY & The Evil Sandwiches return
to L.A. after a triumphant and adventure-filled residency in Barra De
Navidad Mexico! Dubbed "the Love Child of Pee Wee Herman and Cyndi Lauper,"
The Ukulady will share songs and stories of Mexico, L.A. and their cultural
similarities and differences, plus interactive crafting and photo-ops with
the Unicorndog, The Evil Sandwich & Dr. Steve Chicken!

LAVA Visionary and PhD in Art History PAUL KOUDOUNARIS will discuss the
research for his new book, "The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of
Ossuaries and Charnel Houses." Five years in the making, the book will be
available for the first time at a signing and photo show the night prior to
the Sunday Salon, and the LAVA talk will be the author¹s first public
presentation on the work. The research for this unique book took the author
to over 70 preserved charnel houses and skeletal shrines on four continents,
to document the otherwise forgotten history of the veneration of the dead in
Christian culture through the direct presence of human remains. The
presentation will not only illuminate a forgotten history, it will also
reveal the surreal saga of the research itself: among other tribulations, in
the course of completing his research, the author was pursued by malevolent
spirits, handcuffed to a table in a striptease bar by a prurient monk,
forced to undergo a religious pilgrimage and exorcism, and arrested by the
Austrian police.

ABOUT LAVA: Through participation in LAVA, a select group of creative
professionals come together to promote cultural programming that speaks to
the urban experience while promoting positive public space. LAVA's creative
partners share a love for L.A. and unique ideas for exploring it in their
work. Formed by social historians RICHARD SCHAVE and KIM COOPER --
proprietors of Esotouric bus adventures and the 1947project time travel blog
series (including On Bunker Hill and In SRO Land) -- LAVA brings together
L.A.'s most visionary promoters, artists, writers and thinkers.

Applications from prospective LAVA members are being taken at
http://lavatransforms.org/apply

To learn more about LAVA, please visit http://www.lavatransforms.org