RSS

Tag Archives: freedom

Craftivism: Lady Liberty Makeover! • July 4th, 2018

TONIGHT!!!! Wednesday, July 4th, 2018 at Akbar ’round 9ish to midnight (or later) it’s CRAFTNIGHT! 
Project: CRAFTIVISM Statue o’ Liberty Lettahhhh 

*******$4 PABST/TECATES • $5 Cocktail Special, drink it up, live yo life!        
*********$3 suggested donation, please!

Can’t come to CraftNight? Doesn’t matter, you can download, print, color and SEND this craft from your very own home because it’s right HERE for you to download!

[maxbutton id=”5″]

The statue of Liberty: She’s got a good message, she is in support of our best self, the country we’d like to be, the country that at best, is a place of innovation, experimentation and open-hearted goodwill and at worst, is a place of close-minded bigotry, avarice and cruel exploitation of people and resources.

Lately, it kinda seems like it’s the latter. 2,300 children separated from their parents, and all incarcerated parts and parcels of these families would probably have a lot to say about that. I’ve organized a THREE PART Craft for tonight that is designed for you to do a teensy tiny bit of activism (about ICE and Homeland Security and your tax dollars) while still having a bit of fun.

1.) Give Lady Liberty a Makeover… I put a t-shirt on her, you can give her any slogan you want, because how long has she been wearing that oversized bathrobe?!? OMG she needs help, poor girl. Give her a beard, give her some eyeshadow, make her look fabulous!

2.) Write a letter to your CA reps on the back, make it short, sweet, respectful, and clear. I put a sample script in there if you don’t know what to write. Currently, your tax dollars are going to the incarceration of families… do you approve of that? Feel free to extrapolate if you need to in your friendly letter.

3.) Give it to me to mail for you, so that you don’t have to drag your lazy ass to the post office. There. You’re done. You will have performed a democratic task, something we, as Americans, take for granted all the time.

I also addressed apathy, cynicism and self-defeating mulligrubs in the guide I made, because it’s EASY to let the noise tell you how to be a patriot. It’s easy for you to give them the flag of your country and decide it’s JUST for narrow-minded right-wing baby jailer skinheads. IT IS NOT. This country is a place for all kinds of people, the goddamn Statue of Liberty SAYS SO. Are we going to RETURN the Statue of Liberty to the French because we’re a bunch of namby pamby wishy washy lazyheads who can’t fight the big bad bigoted blowhards? I certainly hope not!

The stars and stripes are just as much mine as yours as theirs. We take a knee to our anthem and our pledge of allegiance because somehow, in the shuffle, someone forgot that calling stupid/bigoted laws into question is one of the most American, democratic things you can do. We take a knee because shit is WRONG. We are the watchdogs of this place we call home, and yes, it’s broken, it’s not perfect, there’s a lot of stuff wrong with it. But you have to transcend the apathetic viewpoint that America is “theirs” and you are not a patriot. Do not let others define the way you love your home. Standing up to bullshit is VERY American.

You ARE a patriot, and instead of deciding the other side is gross and they can just have all 50 states, TAKE THEM BACK. Get off your duff and MAKE SOME GODDAMN CHANGE. Do it with a feather boa, do it with your writing, your donating, your calling, your art, your courage, your leotard: whatever!!!!

Also… you can love America AND Greece, and Brazil, and whatever else country… you can be poly-country, you can be pro world. Loving your country doesn’t mean you only love one place! Start with a craft… start with a craft tonight.

See you at the Craft Table,

JP Craft Captain

Bet Yer Bottom BINGO JULY 15th at Akbar at 7:30PM it’s SUMMER LOVIN’ BINGOOOOOO!!! Take a chance on gambling, we’re the ones you wanna see!

 

Posted by on July 4, 2018 in Coloring Craft, EZ Craft

Comments Off on Craftivism: Lady Liberty Makeover! • July 4th, 2018

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

TONIGHT!!! ShrinkRay Glow-in-Dark Crafts! • May 9th, 2018

TONIGHT!!! May 9th, 2018 at Akbar it’s CRAFTNIGHT! 
Project: Shrink Ray Glow-in-the-Dark Crafts!!!

*******$4 PABST/TECATES • $5 Cocktail Special, sip away the stress!         
*********$3 suggested donation, please! #CraftNight_is_You

Oh I KNOW this announcement is soooo last minute, but CraftNight is 95% ALWAYS every week, so keep showin’ up! I haven’t had time to cut a sandwich in half, things have been bonkertown, but I will be there tonight and ohhhhh this craft is SO FREAKIN’ COOL. So even though I JUST told you about tonight’s craft, you gotta know this one will make your brain do a lil’ square dance in your head, a square dance of delight. 

As if the fact that it SHRINKS before your very eyes isn’t enough, it’s also a GLOW-IN-THE-DARK craft!!! We know it works because we tested it in the Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavor Pavilion and everyone’s face fell off with total and uninhibited JOY AND FASCINATION. We’re bringing that joy to you because it’s just so great I can’t even stand it.

See you at the Craft Table,

JP Craft Captain


MAY MONTH CHIFFON HUMMINGBIRD TIMES!     

Bet Yer Bottom Bingo is on a MONDAY this month! MAY 14th, 2018 • Akbar • 7:30pm • Girls, boys, balls, booze! PRIZES APLENTY!!! >>>> FB Event! 

MAY 16th Craft: Laminated Bookmarks!

MAY 17th Show: Myself and other quality folks are in a live staged-reading of the Beat-era puppet play “Don’t Flee the Scene Salty”, and it happens NEXT THURSDAY NIGHT (May 17th) @ The Actors Company Theatre in West Hollywood! >>> Get tix!

MAY 20th: JP (that’s me) hosts the 2nd Annual Project Q Fundraiser Ball – All proceeds from this event will go towards completing construction of the ProjectQ ‘Hairstream’ self-esteem building mobile salon, and funding the 2018 Tour, in which free haircuts are given to LGBTQ homeless youth. Get tix or donate! >>>> FB Event!

MAY 23rd Craft: Poofy Chickens and Rabbits! (because it’s still SPRING, dang-it!)

MAY 30th Craft, CRAFTIVISM SPECIAL EVENT: CraftNight teams up with Down But Not Out to decorate packets of needed sundries to give out to those in need in our city! Donations for supplies welcome! More info to come!

 

 

 

Posted by on May 9, 2018 in Coloring Craft, Heat-based Craft

Comments Off on TONIGHT!!! ShrinkRay Glow-in-Dark Crafts! • May 9th, 2018

Tags: , , , , , ,

Valentines for Politicians • February 8th, 2017

This Wednesday, February 8th, 2017 from 9pm until midnight (or later) it’s CRAFTNIGHT!!!
Project: Valentines for Politicians! 
$3 Donation Please 
$4 Drink specials! Akbar: The Spirit of Silverlake Style!  

Usually we have the “CraftNight Love-In” and believe me, there will be LOTS Of love, but it’s a little different this year. Come in and make a valentine for someone you love… but also, if you want to, I’ve made a series of valentines for our elected officials. Because while some of them are doing their best to give Lady Liberty black eye after black eye in the name of greed and avarice, some of our politicians are doing their best to keep Ms. Freedom in the ring.

I’ll have addresses/info and valentine sample scripts for:

1.) Elected officials who have made a public and principled stand against the current administration’s dangerous and hateful policies – let’s tell ’em thank you.

2.) Politicians who can be wishy washy and need some reminders from us of what’s at stake – they need to wake up and fight for us.

3.) Those in power who have been proven to be overtly racist, homophobic, misogynist, rapacious, eugenicist, contemptible people – they must be called out, they must be taken to task.

ALL of these valentines are cute as the dickens… they just have um… different words attached to them, as seen here in this example I’ve posted. Some of the valentines are mean, but… you know, making sweeping general unconstitutional bans that strand desperate people at airports for over 20 hours without food, and then maybe later down the line cause them to lose their lives… well, that’s not just mean, that’s absence of human decency.

So, in between writing checks, making all the phone calls, getting into local politics, and stockpiling green beans in the basement and preparing crops for your apocalypse garden… come in and make a valentine. It’s your first amendment right to say what you want to say, exercise that free speech muscle!

Because this is Craftivism. We’re fighting for America with glue sticks, paper scraps, and sparkles, come in and make your voice heard, I’ve got stamps.

See you at the Craft Table,

JP Craft Captain


Upcoming CraftNights:

Feb 15th – Snowflake Necklace – Are people calling you a sensitive snowflake? Let’s wear our winter jewelry, be snowflakes, and make an AVALANCHE to crush the alt-right menace!  

Feb 22nd – Winter Wishes Keepsake Box – Who loves the sun? Not us, it’s still winter! Keep small treasures in this gorgeous lil’ box!

March 1st – Snow Person Action Figure – Sliding down the mountainside on a S’more, no less!

CRAFTIVISM APRIL: Protest Poster Painting Party #2 where we prepare for the TAX DAY DEMONSTRATION.


MORE Things: 

FEBRUARY 8th: CRUISE at The Eagle – Just down the street from Akbar and CraftNight is another watering hole you’ll want to visit! There’ll be lip-syncing contest hosted by Tony Soto • Spankings and play from Backroom Mistresses, Bootblackers, DJ tunes, maybe take a friend a homemade political craftivism valentine made at CraftNight!  >>>Facebook Link

FEBRUARY 10th: QUEER PROM at the Sweat Spot! – We could all use a little more LOVE right about now given the current political climate and walking into an unknown future. Join us at Queer Prom to raise spirits, glasses & money for a local charity we will choose as a community. $15 Tickets
Tickets available at: http://queerpromla.brownpapertickets.com/

FEBRUARY 23rd: sSISTERSs: An Experimental Musical – A new punk musical about three sisters who may or may not be witches. Trapped in the drawing room of an old Victorian house, they take on famous triads in a psychedelic, stream-of-consciousness trip through time that explores shifting ideas of sisterhood. Who gets to be seen as a sister, and why? With a live band, haunting three-part harmonies, and throwbacks to the secret rituals of girlhood, sSISTERSs explores memory, family, mortality, queer feminist identity, and the struggles of being a woman artist.
Written and Directed by Gina YoungFacebook Link! 

 

Posted by on February 7, 2017 in Scrapping/Coloring Craft

Comments Off on Valentines for Politicians • February 8th, 2017

Tags: , , , , ,

Magnets! • January 20th, 2016

latenight_delivery

TONIGHT! Wednesday, Jan 20th, 2015 from 9pm until midnight (or later) at Akbar, it’s CRAFTNIGHT!!!
Project: Magnets 
$3 Processing fee, please
$4 Drink Specials at Akbar: Hands on your hips, a smile on your lips, spirit in your heart, we’re ready to start! 

It occurred to me that CraftNight really has a LOT of magnet backings. This means we’re rolling up our sleeves and making DIY magnets for your refrigerator or wherever else in your life needs a magnet. Magnets are great, they let you do so much without any constraints. Here you have an object that affixes another object (usually paper) to a surface temporarily. Temporary as in NO commitment as in FREEDOM and no hassles and your life and YOUR choices. How great is that?

When you hand a piece of paper to someone, they have NO IDEA how long it was kickin’ around on your fridge before you finally got around to giving it to the recipient. The meaning and purpose of your busy and engrossing life is affirmed and bolstered by the magnet’s quiet fortitude. This means you should make some magnets at CraftNight as soon as possible to get started living a wildly unencumbered actuality that will enable you to blossom and excel.

We have flat, colorful foam and beads and shapes for which you can form your magnet. Here are some magnet ideas:

1.) Puppy Face Magnet
2.) Magnet that says “NOW” to remind you of what you need to do NOW. Maybe another one that says “SHEESH.”
3.) Bring a small photo and make a frame around it and boom it’s a magnet!
4.) Your own magnet poetry kit
5.) All bad words, just all of ’em
6.) Exquisite corpse magnets, lots of heads, torsos and feet: interchangeable!
7.) Annoying slogans or meaningful um, quotes.
8.) Foods: Donut, hot dog, sushi, noodles
9.) Giant capital letters (this seems to be trending)
10.) Squids, Owls, Deer, Birds, Llamas, Otters, Monkeys, Lemurs, Pandas, Bisons, Eagles, Ponies, Sharks, Lobsters, Cows, and Ducks

See you at the Craft Table!

JP Craft Captain

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS  

JAN_bingo_2016

NEXT WEEK January 26th BINGO: Tuesday 8pm to 10pm it’s Bet Yer Bottom Bingo with the big bad prizes you’ve come to love us for, so come on in and try your luck with booze, girls, boys, balls, it’s the best in neighborhood gay bar gambling!

*January 27th CRAFTNIGHT – Groundhog Day Paper Dolls
**February 3rd CRAFTNIGHT – Mardis Gras Disguises
***February 10th CRAFTNIGHT – ANNUAL CRAFTNIGHT LOVE-IN!!!!
Ohhhhh the LOVE-IN!!! • Featuring the LOVE RAFFLE (Mad mad prize baskets), Valentine Snacks, Cute Friends, Hot Strangers and MORE!

craftnight_lovein_2016

 

 

 

 

Posted by on January 20, 2016 in Assembly Craft, Freeform Craft, Multi-Variety Craft

Comments Off on Magnets! • January 20th, 2016

Tags: , , , , , , ,

‘Merican-Themed Plant Holder • June 26th, 2013

caped_amazon

This Wednesday the 26th of June 2013 from 9pm until midnight or later at Akbar, it’s CRAFTNIGHT!!!
Project: ‘Merican-Themed Plant Holder
$2 Donation Por Favor
$4 Cosmopolitan Drink Special! The Akbar Cosmo: The Taste of Freedom.
NOTE: NO CRAFTS NEXT WEEK!!!! Instead, there will be a DANCE PARTY!!!! Ring in the long weekend! (See you the following week July 10th with a sweet watermelon craft!)  

I’m a big fan of patriotic novelties, and this one is truly strange, dare I say even too good to be true. Coming to you this week, a piéce de résistance never before attempted, it’s The Craft Stick Flag Planter. 

Knowing what I do about the need for a CONSTANT reminder that you live in AMERICA, I do believe the problem is now solved, and here is the preamble reflecting my intense and eager enthusiasm:

We the CraftNight, in order to form a more perfect planter, establish craft sticks, insure self-adhesive foam pieces, provide space for a small plant, promote the general bar chair, and secure the joy and ease of crafting and creativity to ourselves and our dexterity, do ordain and establish this revolution for the United Crafts of America.

Display your national values and strong sense of purpose, becoming deeply rooted in the American way! Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives or Liberals,  all win with this plucky square receptacle that will absolutely preserve your independence and spirit, while maintaining US industry and enterprise.

After this week you will have a souvenir that not only shows an appreciation for Old Glory, but it ALSO doubles as a place to put a small plant, like a cute little succulent, a spider plant or a tiny fern. A groovy little plant hanging out in your home is a keen reminder of summer, which is now here.

See you at the Craft Table,

JP Craft Captain

PS – If you aren’t all that into the jingoistic flavor of a patriotic plant holder, remember to do the ANOTHER truly American thing: exercise your freedom and renounce nationalism by BURNING the flag (or flag-themed plant holder) closest to your heart!

www.crafthead.com

www.akbarsilverlake.com

 

Posted by on June 22, 2013 in Uncategorized

Leave a comment

Tags: , , , , ,