THE UNURBAN is proud to host MESS (Media Ecology Soul Salon) on Saturday September 14 at 3301 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90404, 310-315-0056, free admission, 4 pm (for two hours), Info: 310-306-7330 – The public is invited to these engaging interviews by Gerry Fialka with the following modern thinkers who’ll address the metaphysics of their callings and the nitty-gritty of their crafts. ROBIN MENKEN, Cinema Without Borders Editor, who will speak at the event is truly one of LA’s great thinkers and cultural scholars. As a teenager, she studied with legendary improvisational theater teacher Viola Spolin. She was the Artistic Director of the Second City Workshops, taught at UC Berkeley, USC, Barcelona’s Ateneu and the Esalin Institute. Robin was Roberto Rossellini’s assistant, and worked with Yevgeny Vevteshenku, Glauber Rocha and Eugene Ionesco. She sold numerous screenplays and wrote the OBIE winning The FTA SHow (touring with Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland and Ben Vereen.)
Robin was a programming consultant and Special Events co-ordinator for numerous film festivals, including the SF, Rio, Havana and N.Y Film Festivals. Her first news outlet was the historic East Village Other. Besides being married to Country Joe McDonald, she hung with Kukla Ollie and Burr Tillstrom (learning puppeteering), Muddy Waters, Mike Bloomfield, Tim Leary and a slew of counter cultural icons.
Robin was also a rock and salsa concert promoter ( The Family Dog, The Straight Theatre (SF’s first Psychedelic Dance Hall), managed THE FUGS, snake danced with the Cockettes, was a founding member of SF’s Improv group The Pitschel Players and Jamilah Salimpur’s legendary Belly Dance troupe Bal Anat. She hung with most of the Rock acts of the 60’s, produced albums, dJ-d on the radio and hosted an infamous SF cable show “All About Sex.”
For more information please check http://www.laughtears.com/mess.html and http://www.laughtears.com/
