PENISES, PINATAS We embraced our inner art tart this week, hitting up two openings that were anything but predictable wine-and-cheesers. Wednesday it was the Outfest premiere party for performance legend (and Weekly staffer) Ron Athey and musicologist Julia Snapper’s new multimedia opera, The Judas Cradle, at REDCAT. Art queen Vaginal Davis hosted the after-bash, presenting her parody of NYC provocateur Vanessa Beecroft’s work, a “living sculpture” featuring two dozen guys and gals covered in black and white nylon (some with faux-cocks, some with faux-hawks), which attendees could meander around and study. The group included Chris Evans, a.k.a. “the Human Torch” in the hit movie Fantastic Four, Taj of 13 BC (the piercer who gave Janet Jackson her boobie bobbles) and Kimberly Kim, bar-mistress of soon-to-close WeHo wonderland Parlour Club, which was just purchased by Sean McPherson (Swingers/Bar Marmont). Vag’s popular Friday-night fete, Bricktops, is rumored to be going monthly and moving to Little Pedro’s downtown. There was entertainment at Jeff Electric Gallery’s Thursday-night opening, “L.A. vs. Montreal” (featuring drawings by True Love Records’ Cali Dewitt and bro Patrick Dewitt, among others), in Silver Lake too: a giant Tecate beer-can piñata. Unfortunately, the homemade monstrosity was covered with reflective tape which proved totally unbreakable, so frustrated candy fiends tore out the bottom and emptied the load onto the front sidewalk, then stomped the thing to oblivion. Luckily the free beer was sponsored by Red Stripe.
POOL SHARKS The blog world is in a tizzy over the Roosevelt Hotel’s new Tropicana Bar, with stories about hotel guests being snubbed entrance, Kirsten Dunst (her again?) jumpin’ in the pool with all her clothes on, and proprietress Amanda Scheer-Demme getting cuffed by the cops after noise complaints — but our recent Friday night there was downright serene. We actually found the Sade/Steely Dan–heavy soundtrack a little too mellow, though we hear the jams are more rockin’ on Thursday and Sunday, the latter offering a daytime pool party where girls have been sunning topless. Your turn, Kirsten! Apparently every star in the universe has done the Rose pose by the pool recently, even rock god Mick Jagger. Alas, Sir Mick was nowhere in sight on Friday, though Marisa Tomei, Heather Graham and Rob Schneider were, not to mention usual suspects/stick figures Lindsay Lohan and Nikki Hilton. Ms. Hilton also brought her man Kevin Connelly from HBO’s Entourage, who will surely be name-dropping the hot spot in a forthcoming episode.
BANDSTANDS Nightranger spun some tunes at party chica Miss Scarlette’s second annual all-girl Hang the DJs night at the Echo on Saturday, arriving just after Cali-popsters Rooney played an early secret gig for fans and family (singer Robert Carmine’s bro Jason Schwartzman and gal pal Zooey Deschanel were in the house). SF rockers Von Iva played HTDJs later — and girl-band geeks take note: Their rock-meets-synth-wave shit is bananas! Kinda like Moving Units, who we hear are either broken up or “on a break.” In other band news, wacky glamsters the S’Cool Girls are looking for female backup singers, and according to their mass e-mail, “Scenesters are welcome as long as you have a voice. Looks are a must.” But of course.

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