End of summer, endless summer: VCCOOL, Spencer M’s & more fun this weekend

Since I am NOT going to be packing for Burning Man this weekend, I’m free to go have a good time this weekend. (Technically.)

And there are lots of good times to be had here in old Ventucky!

During the day, Spencer Mackenzie’s is hosting a HUGE free music festival Saturday and Sunday while just down the street on Saturday, the gay Pride Festival attracts attention, and Saturday night is VCCOOL’s fund raising concert at Zanzilla’s where City Council member Brian Brennan and I will be pouring donated Frei Brothers Chardonnay and Syrah from the Russian River Valley in Sonoma and Cabernet Sauvignon from the Alexander Valley..

What to do?

Since I’m partial to VCCOOL, I’ll start there. VCCOOL is a global warming or climate change activist group. They promote ways to reduce your carbon footprint and they organize events like the bike rodeo. The VCCOOL fund raising concert will offer traditional, old time good time music and room to dance for $20. Members are making treats and there will be non-alcoholic drinks as well as wine pours for $5 each from Frei Brothers Winery in Sonoma which, for a large organization (200,000 cases), is trying its best to be good to the land the brothers have been working for over 100 years. We will be pouring their reserve Russian River Chardonnay and Syrah ($20 at Vons) and their reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from the Alexander Valley ($25 at Vons). Thanks to Brian Brennan for bringing real glasses for us to drink and taste out of! And thanks so much to Frei Brothers for donating the wine!

Why is Frei special? Why did I seek Frei to donate wine for the VCCOOL event? Because Frei Brothers is driven by an “overriding principle to conduct business in a manner that will protect and preserve the environment.” This includes exceeding government regulations and setting aside an acre of land for every one planted with vines to protect the natural environment in which indigenous animals live. Here’s a blog post by Rob Bralow with an interview with Chief Viticulturist Jim Collins which discusses some specifics. And Frei makes great wine–I had the syrah at the 2009 Wine Blogger’s Conference and I’ve bought it too! And just to make sure everything was good, I tested out a glass of the chardonnay–nice and balanced, it will be a pleaser tomorrow especially if it’s warm!

During the day on Saturday, ride your bike and attend both Pride and Spencer Makinezie’s free festivals! The schedules for both follow:

Here’s the schedule for Pride at Mission Park & later at WAV Saturday Aug 28th:

• 2010 “Brown Bag” Picnic at the Park @ Noon
  Join us for a Picnic and fun at Mission Park. Bring your picnic basket, your blanket, and your friends and family.  Plan on having a good time.  There will be informational booths, vendors, and entertainment   For those of you without a picnic basket, we will have some food vendors; water and soda will also be available for purchase. There will also be temporary tattoo artists and face/body painters.

	@Noon		1 Note Suzie
	@1pm		Bella Donna Delaney Gibson
	@2pm		Kimmy Lenwell Brooke Staton
	@3pm		Fearmia

• Note: The Park will not let you consume alcohol in the open public areas.   But, we do have a beer garden sponsored by Miller and hosted by Paddy’s where beer, wine, and margaritas can be purchased and consumed. Happy hour is from noon until 1:30pm – $3.00 beers.   $5 afterwards.
  
• 2nd Annual Pride March hosted by COLOR @ 4PM
  Burn off those calories and join us for a celebration and awareness march in Ventura. For those of you who didn’t bring signs, we’ll have a sign-making booth at the picnic…
  
• 1st Annual Artist Festival at the WAV @ 5PM
  Meet local artists, view their art, possible short-film festival, and more entertainment.

	5pm	Champagne Sunday Karen Ripley Improv Workshop
	@6pm	Illusionistaz Short Film Festival Coco Corillo
	@7:30pm	Hirbois Electric Liberaces (aka PONG)

• Pride Wrap-up Party @ 9Pm
  Cool off, relax, and have some fun at Paddy’s 9th Annual Pride Wrap-up Party and Show.

Over at Spencer Makenzie’s, here’s  the schedule for Saturday where local favorite Rey Fresco is headlining. Lots of great word of mouth about this band–and I hear they have a management deal!

SATURDAY
Rey Fresco – 7:30
Jeff Hershey and the Heartbeats – 6:40
Army of Freshmen 5:50
…Shades of Day – 5
Le Meu Le Purr – 4:15
Franklin For Short – 3:30
Kyle Hunt & the King Gypsy – 2:45
Softsilence – 2
New Liberty – 1:15
Frank Barajas – 12:30
Amanda and Travis Marsh – 11:45
Tommy and the High Pilots – 11

Sunday’s a little more wide open–the biggest competition for your attention will be sleep, brunch, church and the beach! Here’s the schedule for Spencer Makenzie’s:

Timmy Curran 5:15
Phil Cody 4:15
Heather Rae and Rumbleweed 3:30
Lee Koch and the Grinders 2:45
Delaney Gibson 2
Special Guest 1:15
Skick 12:30
Evan Sula-Goff 11:45
Sarah Ashleigh and Joel Levin 11