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Why, you ask? From the official Coachella website:

“In an effort to try and accommodate everyone who wants to experience the festival, COACHELLA 2012 will be two separate events, held over two consecutive weekends. We will attempt to produce two identical festival weekends. That means same lineup, same art, same place, different people. We know many of you were unable to attend this year’s festival because passes sold out much sooner than anticipated. We were truly surprised by the overwhelming response and remain honored by your passion and enthusiasm.”

Stay with me because you’re going to want to pay attention to this next bomb I’m about to drop: instead of making tickets available for purchase roughly four months before the festival as was previously the case, passes will be going on sale June 3rd, 2011, as in THIS FRIDAY at 10am PST until June 10th, 2011, as in NEXT FRIDAY, at 10pm PST. Got that? No “WTF, I didn’t know they’d sell out in six days” excuses this year, you’ve been warned in advance, so mark your calendars, set your alarms, leave Post-Its everywhere, tattoo it on your flesh, whatever you have to do to remember to get those goddamn three-day passes for $269 instead of $500-$800 like last-minute Charlies coughed up this year.  So, which weekend will you be there??

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Go HERE for more photos by Douglas Neill and tag yourself and your friends!

Aahhh, summer. How we’ve missed thee and all thine pool parties, bbqs, raves, beach days and ideal conditions for the ultimate maxin’, relaxin’ vibe-age that make you our favorite time of year. To herald your return, MFG launched their Swimming With Sharks pool party Saturday with a Memorial Day soft opening for their nearest and dearest as a proper kickoff of the season.

With Team Wildlife and friends covering the decks, the Sharks swarmed to the rooftop of The Standard Downtown for an afternoon of sun, dancing, water gun fights and Jell-O shots—you know, just your garden variety tomfoolery full-grown adults are not only welcome but encouraged to partake in at the summer throwdown. Needless to say, the first Swimming With Sharks of 2011 was a reminder of what we’ve been missing all these months, and why we’re thrilled it’s finally time to get down, summer-style.

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That’s right, the Wellington International Airport is moving ahead with a plan to erect a “Wellywood” sign in the style of our own precious (and often endangered!) “Hollywood” sign on a now-vacant hill overlooking the airport (the photo above is a computer rendition of how it will look). According to the director of the Airport, the sign will represent New Zealand’s emergence as a global center of film and entertainment, and be “the city’s newest photo opportunity.”

Well, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, who have a trademark on the Hollywood Sign, disagree, claiming that the Airport never sought permission, and that:

“We hope that if the Wellington airport wants to mimic our Sign in this fashion, it will proceed in cooperation with us and will recognize that the holder of the rights to the Sign and the party responsible for its continued existence is a nonprofit entity that works hard to raise funds so that the Sign even exists to be mimicked.”

In other words, we’re going to sue the elf-ears off of you.

On the one hand, the Hollywood sign is a legendary icon that recent events have proven is not invincible to the siren song of shitbag developers who would pave over their grandmother’s gravesite if there was a buck in it. So one would think that we should stand with any organization whose goal is to raise money in order to preserve it. On the other hand, this seems like a pretty funny sign, and it seems fairly obvious that a joke sign on the other side of the world poses no threat to the brand integrity of our own landmark (at least, no more than the thousands of tacky, unlicensed souvenirs sold on the Boulevard no more than 700 feet away from the sign itself.

So maybe unclench a little, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Spend a minute or two plugging things into this WELLYWOOD Sign Generator and see how much fun you can have. And then, I guess, if you’re still pissed, go ahead and sue them. Seeing as how even the locals seem to be heavily divided on whether they want the sign or not, you might be doing Wellington a favor.

The CEO of the airport, after all, who came up with the plan? He’s Australian.

[top photo via, Wellington photo via, Hollywood Sign via]

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Go HERE for more photos by Ardy Ala and tag yourself and your friends!

Last night, the L.A. art lovers and scenesters who weren’t a Open Rankin (or perhaps made it to both?) stepped out for a first glimpse of New York-based artist Ryan McGinness‘ newest body of works, Trophies, in an opening soiree at PRISM on Sunset.

Known for his two-dimensional drawings of female figures, McGinness tackles the subject in a new medium and adds a third dimension with Trophies, deconstructing his figure drawings and recombining them in the form of aluminum sculptures painted gold. Surrounding the Trophies throughout the gallery space are golden wall drawings depicting his iconic larger-than-life women figures for an echo effect.

Guests at the opening reception enjoyed cocktails on the roof as they meandered through the gallery and admired the collection of works. Among the artsy set in attendance were the artist Ryan McGinness, Brent Bolthouse, Shepard Fairey, Carlos Lopez, P.C. Valmorbida, Shawn Kaleka, Jared Najjar, Karin Von Berg, Greko Skoavounos, Hedi Gores, Jonathan Brown and Nancy Lucas.

Ryan McGinness

Melanie Brister, Karin Von Berg, Skip Dacanay

Brent Bolthouse, Jack Novak, Jonathan Brown, Ryan McGinness

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