HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year! I spent New Year's Eve trying to figure out how to do my first podcast before the year 2005 but it just didn't fly. I am missing a technical chip in my brain! But check out my TAKE FIVE with an OC movie reviewer on Podfly.com anyway. (You'd think after interviewing a podcaster, I'd get it - they say it's so easy and you don't even need an iPod!) Instead, just a few strokes before midnight, I posted my first offical "blog". The name LOG comes from webLog, an online journal. (See theprimespot.blogspot.com).

NEW YEARS EVE (Continued)

Taking place just steps from my door was the PERKINS HOUSE CONCERT featuring QUENTIN CAINE LLORENTE of NoCaL's caneandgould.com, JOEL EASTON of virtualradio.com, BOB MYERS and DIANA PERKINS of thebandheartless.com. (HEARTLESS, a heart tribute band plays the MartiniBlues.com on Friday, Feb 4th, maybe I'll trek to "Huntington after TPSradio! Local photographer KAYTE DEIOMA from kaytedphoto.com (you've seen her work all around the city!) played guitar (yes, you read that right!) and LISA RAYMOND sang along sweetly. BRET LANGFORD put his awesome digital camera to work and I partied until.. well not the wee hours, I had Express Mail to deliver on New Year's Day! All of the guests brought their favorite dish, I supplied the two-buck-chuck. I always look forward to the scrumptious treats of Long Beach Local RAMONE LICAS - when is he going to start a catering business? To sum it up, I was at THE PRIME SPOT on New Year's!

FIT FOR LIFE

I also started a week of just plain RAW FOOD (vegetables, fruit and trail mix). I received quite a few emails from concerned people (thanks!) but I've done it before, in addition to fasting. If you've ever read the FIT FOR LIFE BOOK, it just makes sense to improve your health by changing what you put into your body. The authors, HARVEY & MARILYN DIAMOND believe that the body has 3 major cycles: Elimination (while you sleep ntil lunchtime when you shouldn't et anything but fruit), Appropriation (before lunch through dinnertime, when you should properly combine foods), and Assimilation (evening through early morning as your body absorps its intake). They profess to "Cleanse not Clog" your body through use of food and that milk is for baby mammals, not adults. Anyway, I must say LILLIAN MULLER inspired my at the Turn of the New Year. She wrote her own book about Beauty and Health over 40 and recently appeared in Playboy again at age 50! (Not that I want to take my clothes off for anyone, I just want to get in Eat to Live instead of Living To Eat!) Another example of what a diet change can do: I just saw COVER TO COVER on TV and they showed many epileptics who stopped having seizures after a diet change. The seizures stopped within 24 hours in most cases. It's never too late to change!

THE PRIME SPOT - TALENT PRODUCTS SERVICES

Checkout THEPRIMESPOT.com and if you have a Talent, Product or Service you'd like to promote For FREE, send an email in text format to theprimespot@yahoogroups.com (No smut or health products please). MOM AND POPS, small businesses, artists, musicians, dancers, have a special place in my heart. If you have an event coming up (sale, open house, grand opening, move, gathering, etc.), ThePrimeSpot wants to know! If you advertise in the VIEW Newspaper (a bimonthly publication) or on LongBeachOnline.net because you read this, leave me a message at 562-804-5625 and I'll call you back and brainstorm about an even bigger SPOTlight!

DID YOU HEAR?

If you didn't hear TPSradio.org this past Friday, don't fret! You can actually enjoy the PAUL BAILEY ENSEBLE (dot org) live in concert at the Cerritos Performing Art Center, Weds, Jan 19th and hear poet G MURRAY THOMAS on TPSradio Every First Friday. LILLIAN MULLER (dot Com), Playmate of the Year 1976 will appear in March after she returns from Norway with exciting news, ssshhh! The young guys from LONG BEACH VIEW will hold their Launch Party is in late March and KBEACH is kicking around the idea of a remote broadcast of the event! Email rsvp@longbeachmagazine.com to get your own invite email to you. It's going to be the Party of the Year!

EAST VILLAGE POLITICS

Attention Artists, Businesses and Residents in the EastVillageArtsDistrict.com, MONDAY, January 10th is an important day for you! The East Village Association will be discussing voting procedures for selecting the new EVA Board. The meeting is at 6pm in the Community Room at the downtown police station, 100 LB Blvd. This is the time to get involved OR, if you've put in alot of time and energy like the current board members, to "stay on board!"!

I personally called all of the artist-owned businesses listed on the Second Saturday Artwalk site (artwalklbc.com) that do not yet have a rep "on board" to remind them to at least attend, if not volunteer for a position because that is why the EAST VILLAGE ARTS DISTRICT was created and named that: To promote art with a business sense, yes?

Everyone on the current board has put in alot of time and energy as did alot of their predecessors who were involved in that part of town before the current upswing. (Me included, which is why I am so passionate about this part of town and its awesome creative people and writing about it here!) Personally I am torn between the "new and old". In a perfect world, each current Board Member would mentor and/or support the fresh faces and energy of newcomers. It is SO important to prevent burnout, just ask one of the EVA Founders, PAT PARIS APPLEBY whose heart has been in the eVillage for over a decade!

My brainstorming: IF the EVA is going to entertain the idea of a c harging a fee for membership/voting rights, why only $10? Other nonProfits like Long Beach Heritage and Long Beach Historical Society charge at least $30. The LBchamber even more. Why not do that and PAY someone to do the admistration end, because running a legitimate nonProfit takes alot of know-how in adition to time. The $30 can be written off by businesses and professional artists, maybe offer residents FREE membership their first year... Long-Beach-Arts.org has a membership fee and that organization has been around for 80 years, maybe they are something to look at as a model in this respect.....

There is more in depth information on this on the "Friends of the East Village" website which I moderate at EastVillageArtsDistrict.org (.COM is the official site). If I could make it, I'd record it on my minidisk and publish some kind of minutes so everyone is at least "on the same page." MY RECOMMENDATION? To nominate everyone currently on the board but also add anyone else who has something to offer (especially their time!) to the list. RAYMUNDO GARDEA, KAMRAN from UTOPIA RESTAURANT and SHELLEY RUGGTHORP are my recommendations as they have drawn alot of people into that area over the past years with their natural talents and professionalism. Is there a cap on the amount of nominations. Is there a cap on the number of Board Members an organization can have? Again elections aren't until Feb 14th. Good luck if you volunteer!

In addition to the EVA meeting on Monday, the TOUR DES ARTISTES meeting is Wednesday, January 12th 7pm at GARDEN OF PAN, located next to KOOS.org "TOUR" is alot of fun (speaking from experience!) and will once again be covered by Ms. T-LILLY of LONG BEACH COMMUNITY TELEVISION. The EarthNeighborhood.com TV Show on LBCTV.org also SPOTlights the East Village Arts District throughout the year.

LONG BEACH RECORDS

I was pleasantly surprisde to open a big package from GREG of LONG BEACH RECORDS filled to capacity with local LONG BEACH music I didn't have in ThePrimeSpot Private Art & Music Collection. You can now request music from EAT AT THE POTHOLDER, LONG BEACH BLVD, LONG BEACH SHORT BUS, CORN DOGGY DOG, 8 FOOT TENDER... TPSradio.org spins local CD's from the LBC. Tune In, Log On, Turn Up!

KaRi delivers Express Mail in 90803, 90804, and 90814. She often gets asked my she wears shorts, especially in the rain. It's because she can dry off in between stops instead of walking around all day with polyester stuck to her legs!