The Family Savvy - A Parent's Guide to What's Worth Seeing, Doing, Reading and Thinking Right Now (Los Angeles Edition)

Click on over and peruse the new site for things to do this weekend. You'll find our picks listed by age group under This Month. Feel free to poke around the site to check our reviews of interesting new art and culture around town. Then, if your coffee cup is still full, spend a few moments reading our blog.

Tickets are still available for Cirque du Soliel's IRIS, at the Kodak Theater - we loved it. And a new show from Cirque du Soleil, OVO, opens today at the Santa Monica Pier. Music fans will love the family show for They Might Be Giants, at UCLA Live on January 28.

Fast Breaking Idea: There is an unusually large pod of orcas off the coast, so a whale watch is not a crazy idea for the weekend.

My kids are as obsessed with taking pictures and editing them onto Instagram as I am with pinning pretty images on Pinterest. How'd we get so visual? And... when did everyone become a photographer!?

You'll pick up some clues when you take the family over to see The Annenberg Space for Photograpy's new show, Digital Darkroom. Everything - from gorgeous portraits of athletes, to dreamy shots that originated in the imagination of a romantic 20-something year-old, to sophisticated collages made of found objects. Each image is more intriguing than the next, and were all cooked up by contemporary artists with the help of the folks at Adobe Photoshop. You'll head back into the world wondering what's real and what's not.

Kalpa at the Getty -- Kicking off 11 days of Pacific Standard Time's Performance and Public Art Festival is a one-time installation called Kalpa. Dancers and musicians will take over your senses in a performance like no other. Click here for details.

Los Angeles Halloween Radar Screen - Part 2!

A Few More Scares!

Endangered Animals, Ed Keinholz Tableau and Teen Drivers

We're back with a few more seasonal tidbits, and an update on our latest ticket offer (see below). In thinking ahead to our trick-or-treat plans, we were wondering when Daylight Savings Time kicks in; turns out it's not until Sunday, November 6. If you're nervous about having the kids roam around on their own in the dark, check out an article in today's Los Angeles Times about tracking your kids on Halloween. Yes, there's an app for that! Though we're not sure how we feel about it...

Tots and Elementary: There's absolutely nothing frightening about the new carousel that opens at the LA Zoo on October 27, except for the fact that instead of horses, children will ride around on animals that are endangered. The carousel, which includes a komodo dragon, a poison dart frog, a Sumatran tiger and a dung beetle chariot, and includes beautiful murals of endangered California flora and fauna, is created by exceptional craftspeople and your $3 fee goes toward Zoo programming to protect many of these endangered species. Parents will enjoy that the carousel spins to music from recording artists from the A&M label (such as the Police, Go-Go's, Cat Stevens, Amy Grant, Janet Jackson, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass) which was co-founded by Jerry Moss with Alpert. Moss and his wife Ann have given generously to bring theTom Mankiewicz Conservation Carousel to life.

Middle School: Take a tram ride up to the Getty Center this Saturday, October 22 for a day-long Pacific Standard Time Family Festival. Enjoy musical performances, workshops with local artists in the traditions of the celebrated PST artists (like poster-making, mail art, guerrilla clothing), and take in the new PST show, Crosscurrents in LA Painting and Sculpture: 1950-1970, with monumental sculpture by De Wain Valentine and a room of large-scale paintings by Ed Ruscha, Richard Deibenkorn and David Hockney. We thought this show was satisfying in a big way.

Teens: Our son turns 16 on Halloween, and the scariest thing we're doing this fall is anticipating the moment when he will drive off alone. It's National Teen Driver Safety Week, and here is a powerful article about the odds your kids will have an accident in the first month or two of driving. New technical developments to keep them from texting behind the wheel are encouraging, like the new iPhone's SIRI virtual assistant and Ford putting a device in cars that can read text messages. But to stave off trouble, we enrolled both our kids in Jim Snelling's driving course at the Toyota Speedway. Although it's not cheap, Snelling gives a crash course is safety (the kids get to spin out in soapy water and learn to control the skid). It's exciting stuff, but Snelling tempers the action with sobering messages about safety. Click here for more information about Advanced Driving Dynamics.

Adults: You'll have to have a strong stomach to visit Five Car Stud 1969-1972, Revisited, an arresting diorama that has been hidden from the public for 40 years, and is on display in the US for the first time at LACMA. Edward Keinholz's graphic and violently upsetting tableau takes up an entire gallery and makes a powerful statement about civil rights in this country.

Ticket Giveaway: In Tuesday's ticket offer for Bring It On: The Musical, we were mistaken about the dates - the new musical is going to be in town for SIX weeks not TWO, giving families a larger window to catch the show that explores the competitive, high-stakes world of high-school cheer squads. At the Ahmanson Theater from October 30-December 10. Tickets are still available online and by calling 213/972-4400. For special ticket pricing to shows in the first two weeks call the box office and mention code GAME or click here. Exclusions apply. We're giving away one Family 4-pack to Kids off the Couch readers (and will choose a winner next week, so there's still time to enter by writing familysavvy@gmail.com). 

Kids Off The Couch

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Kids Off The Couch: What's On Our June Radar Screen!

Welcome, Summer!

Ballet Nacional De Cuba Ticket Giveaway

If school isn't out yet for your kids, at least the end is in sight. Get ready to celebrate the End of Homework by enjoying some of the many family festivals and art events around town this month. We've unearthed so many neat film festivals that we are secretly hoping for some June Gloom so we won't feel too bad ducking inside!

Ballet Nacional de Cuba Giveaway: Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center is bringing the wonderful Ballet Nacional De Cuba to town for five shows of Don Quixote from June 23-26 (including two matinees). First formed in 1948 by Alicia Alonso, Ballet Nacional de Cuba has created more than 600 works and performed in more than 60 countries. Kids Off the Couch subscribers are eligible to win a Family Four-Pack of tickets to the 2:00 PM performance on Saturday, June 25 at the Music Center's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Click here to enter your name to win - please include a phone number!

Movies Galore this Month: Besides the many summer films already in theaters (we love Kung Fu Panda 2), there is a plethora of film festivals for lucky Angelenos this month. From the Los Angeles Times Hero Complex Film Festival at the Chinese 6 Theaters (June 6-9), that includes a free matinee of The Incredibles, to the Los Angeles Film Festival(June 16-26), that takes place downtown again this year, to a fabulous line-up of Tim Burton films at LACMA. Your family's film savvy quotient is about to go way way up!

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Tree People is holding it's annual Green City Fair this weekend (June 4) in Coldwater Canyon, with live music, face painting and plenty of environmental workshops and hikes. You can also enjoy the outdoors the following weekend (June 11) at the Children's Nature Institute's Kids Rock Concert and Festival in Hancock Park. If you have grandparents in town, there's nothing more relaxing than an afternoon spent at the Getty -- either the Villa or the Getty Center -- following some of their creative art programming for kids. And, consider paintapic, a cool at-home art project, which turns a photo into a paint-by-numbers project.

MIDDLE SCHOOL: MOCA is holding a Big Family Day celebration (June 5), downtown. The Hammer continues its Family Flicks programming with a free screening of Hyper Sapien (June 12). The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum has two Shakespeare plays in its summer line-up, The Merry Lives of Windsor and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Plan ahead for this treat, because seeing a play in Topanga Canyon is a must-have LA experience. Click here to read a Popcorn Adventure about this fabled outdoor theater.

TEENS: Consider letting your art-loving teens wander around the Culver City Artwalk this Saturday (June 4). Or if they're into dance, check out the Dance Camera West Dance Media Film Festival (June 16) at The Getty Center. We're always fretting over our kids' obsession with their cellphones, so take a quick listen to Warren Olney's radio show from yesterday; it's the start of what is sure to be a lengthy national conversation about cell phones as potential carcinogens.

PARENTS: Satisfy your travel itch at the Getty by checking out a new photo show, A Revolutionary Project: Cuba from Walker Evans until Now, that explores the Cuban cultural and political landscape during three distinct historical periods - before, during, and after the 1959 revolution.

Too Good to Be True: Two cool new food ideas emerged this month -- check outWaffle Chix, serving fried chicken and waffles in Westwood, and a souffle bar at Rockenwagner's at the Market at Santa Monica Place. As for eating at home, check out the USDA's brand new food plate, released this morning that replaces the 19 year-old food pyramid, and aims to be easier for families to use in planning healthy meals.

Kids Off The Couch

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Kids Off The Couch: Memorial Day Weekend 2011!

Summer is Upon Us

Good news: it's going to be sunny by Monday, so get your BBQ prep done early (while the kids are studying for exams or finishing up their spring sports). We've had a chance to look at most of the new art shows around town, so you can have the summer's cultural outings planned before June even begins.

MOVIES in THEATERS: There's plenty of raunch in the theaters for adults, from Bridesmaids to Hangover Part II so if that's not your thing, drop in on a worthy kid option (Kung Fu Panda 2) or check out the films that were well received in Cannes last week: Midnight in Paris from Woody Allen (starring Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams) or Terrance Malick's much awaited The Tree of Life.

ART AROUND TOWN: We got a sneak peek at what will surely be this summer's must-see show, LACMA's Tim Burton, which is lots of fun. We will write up a comprehensive report next week, but mark your calendar to take advantage of a fabulous line-up of Burton films, screening at the museum throughout June. Show is expected to be a blockbuster, so get your advance entry tickets now. The Getty Center's Paris: Life and Luxury employs an engaging organizing theory, with objects from a Parisian household presented by the "Four Times of Day." We were particularly impressed with a spectacular golden bed where the women of the household performed their "toilette" while receiving (what a concept!). The Skirball Cultural Center's Houdini: Art and Magic is great for magic-loving tweens, and we also loved The Annenberg Space for Photography's Beauty Culture. Be sure to head downtown for MOCA's Art in the Streets, showcasing large-scale, colorful graffiti art that is a hit with everyone from 8-80. If your kids are into street culture, check out a related show at the Pasadena Museum of California Art featuring the work of the Clayton Brothers. And, while you're sipping lemonade by the pool, don't forget to peruse this season's Hollywood Bowl schedule which includes a Grease Sing-A-Long, Hall and Oats for the July 4th Fireworks Spectacular and Hairspray with the original Broadway cast of Harvey Fierstein and Marissa Jaret Winokur.

Subscriber Tip: A loyal KOTC-er gave us the heads up about a new show at the Santa Monica Museum of Art -- a video installation by filmmaker Marco Brambilla, called The Dark Lining, that uses film clips in pastiche to create a new narrative. Our subscriber's kids, who are 11 and 13, thought it was the "coolest art show ever".

MEMORIAL DAY ACTIVITIES: In lieu of parades, LA has wonderful regional celebrations starting today, such as Topanga Days, the Valley Greek Festival and a Jazz Reggae Festival at UCLA.

Ideas: Stumped by what to get a graduate in your life? Check out Flavorpill's grad gift guide. While you're thinking about college and careers, consider that PayPal's Peter Thiel is plucking kids out of college and supporting their entrepreneurial ideas with $100,000. Not a bad idea considering this sobering report on the highest (and lowest) paying careers.

And, Finally: We were moved by this YouTube video about the dangers of melanoma. Titled "Dear 16 year-old Me," it's a powerful reminder to young people that their "skin never forgets". Good-bye tanning beds, hello sunscreen.

We'll be back next week with the June Radar Screen.

Kids Off The Couch

If you like what we do, please tell a friend to sign up! info@kidsoffthecouch.com

www.kidsoffthecouch.com