Nerd alert. Summer In LA!

Are You Ready for the Summer?
Many family activities are free and open to the public this Summer. Here's just a sample:

How many outdoor concerts can you see? All over Los Angeles, people flock to the outdoor Summer Concerts that are kid-friendly, lively and free! A few of our preferred venues are the Skirball Summer Concert Series, the Santa Monica Twilight Dance Series, and, our favorite, The Grand Performances in Downtown LA. Hop on the Red Line, grab your bike and pack a picnic for these outstanding concerts.

Want something arty? The LACMA offers Jazz concerts and film screenings throughout the Summer. It's well worth a visit to hear the music then wander around the historical La Brea Tar pits. Not only is the Hammer Museum in Westwood free on Thursdays, but they offer a variety of film screenings along with their sister museum, the Folwer, on campus at UCLA. The MOCA and LACMA both offer free admission Thursdays after 5:00.

Want to see a movie with the family?? Grab a blanket and thermos of hot chocolate for the Pershing Square Friday Night Flicks. This year, they're screening The Princess Bride, Babe, Spy Kids along with many more fun films.

June is National Accordion Awareness Month
What do you know about accordions? According to Tom Torrigila, not enough. Here are some facts to inform you more on this reemerging, but still under-appreciated instrument.
Did you know...

The piano accordion is the official musical instrument of the city of San Francisco and has been since 1990.

Actress Lucy Liu plays the accordion

Guitarist Nils Lofgren started on the accordion.

Billy Joel and Barry Manilow also play the accordion.

The accordion is a member of the reed family, not the keyboard family.

When people think of an accordion, they usually envision that large, black monstrosity with piano keys on one side and about a thousand buttons on the other side. However, the accordion family also includes Cajun button boxes, chromatic and diatonic button accordions, the concertina, the bayan, and the bandoneon.

And accordian playing is also called a "bandoneonist."