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What's Old? YEAR 2000 contact Sondra
YEAR 2000 12/22/00 Ok, here's the deal. Our message board wasn't taking off so we got permission to link to our sister site's message board www.medicinebowgallery.com. They already have the forum going strong with some pretty good written opinions on saving the drum circle. Check it out. 12/22/00 November Sunset Calendar & Events page has links to larger images now. Tell all your friends and soon, we will have them available to email virtual postcards to your friends. 12/19/00 Sunset Calendar & Events page now has the sunsets downloadable into larger image for the month of December. Check it out and download the daily sunset into your desktop and dream about watching the sunset while you work your nine to fiver. It's pretty cool - check it out man! Working to do the same for the November calendar. Happy Holidays Everyone (complainers and all) and Love, Peace, and Drums... 12/01/00 Great news! Looks like the City Officials and the Police are lifting the ban on drumming on the beach and the Boardwalk! Keep in mind our battle for legitimacy and our rights is not over. This is a minor battle won. I have a garage full of picket signs already for the planned demonstration we were going to make. We were just waiting to get more media support. We already have several publications written about our plight in support of our cause. We made the front page of the Los Angeles Sentinel written by Samuel Williams Jr. last week (Nov. 23 - Nov. 29, 2000 issue). We got permission to post that article here so stay tuned. Two full articles on The Argonaut were written by John Sweeny. The Westside Weekly is also publishing an article next week about us so watch for it. Freedom of the Press at it's best. I will just have to save those picket signs for the next crisis or the next ban that takes place - we'll be ready if it comes to that again. Again the enemy is not the City Officials and the Police per se, but the narrow-minded uncompromising attitude of some individuals who think they can dictate their own SELFISH agendas against the wishes of the whole community they purportedly belong to. If the character of the community is not to your liking, it's time to rent a u-haul truck... These people will not stop complaining. We are a nation of complainers - people who abuse their freedom, unable to enjoy life, and make other's lives miserable. We will still have to move out in the sand but according to the Captain Gary Williams of the Pacific Division, who is above all the police in Venice, it was never their intention to arrest any drummers. He also said it is ok to drum on the boardwalk, the mound, and/or anywhere on the beach. Keep in mind that if they get a good number of calls for drumming on the boardwalk or on the mound, we will have to move out in the sand. Those complainers will just have to deal with a heftier phone bill. May I suggest drumming out in the sand as far to the water as possible, since the water is so much more peaceful anyway. There is nothing like drumming to the waves when the sun sets. Imagine, we are in the 21st century, men have walked on the moon, people are plugged in to the internet, you can talk to people on the other side of the globe, space shots are a daily occurrence, Star Trek is still playing on TV, and yet we can still drum to the waves and the sunset. That's what I mean by celebrating life... Thanks to all who signed the petition and who helped collect them. We are still collecting to submit 10,000 signatures. Our media blitz is spearheaded by Marc Madow, who put together the Venice Beach The Video Art/Documentary, and non other than our Webmaster Sondra Tatum. Don't hesitate to say hi and congratulate them on the boardwalk when you see them. Also, we are researching the Neighborhood Council and want all of you to get involved and represent your community. This way, Venice Beach will be represented by those who care about the community as a whole, and not cater to their own selfish agendas...Happy Drumming everyone - and Happy Holidays - Love, Peace, and Drums... 11/18/00 Sunset Calendar & Events page is changed and is up and running with updated sunset EVERYDAY! Photos taken by non other than our lovely-webmaster Sondra Tatum. Take a look and see for yourself. 11/18/00 Some very sad news. They did it folks, it is now against the law to drum on Venice Beach Boardwalk or even anywhere on the open beach. Yes DRUMMING IS NOW A CRIME HERE IN VENICE BEACH IN THE GOOD US of A! The police and city officials bowed to 1 or 2 individuals who call sometimes 20 times a day and threaten to sue the city and the police if they don't enforce NAZI style (meaning totalitarian-no compromise-without taking into account people's lives and well being) the noise ordinance which is subject to interpretation. Drumming is only allowed now behind the pavilion away from the boardwalk where the tourist can't see or hear. Sgt Fogarty said "We will start to arrest drummers if they don't comply!" That's Venice Beach Community for you - Yes Venice Beach is now a POLICE STATE! Get used to it folks. To top things off - these same individuals who call themselves residents of Venice (they simply don't belong here - I'm sorry) are forming the Neighborhood Council which is a legal entity which will govern the city and community of Venice. I URGE EVERYONE OF YOU TO JOIN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL AND OUTNUMBER THESE COMPLAINERS SO THAT THE TRUE RESIDENTS OF VENICE BEACH - THOSE WHO TRULY REFLECT THE SPIRIT OF THE COMMUNITY - TO BE THE ONES WHO GOVERN THE COMMUNITY! They have already met 4 or 5 times without telling the whole neighborhood about it. See Ruth Galanter's office on how to join this Neighborhood Council, and email them and tell them exactly how you feel about all this. I for one am very disgusted - city officials and the police should be ashamed to be puppets of 1 or 2 individuals of the community. One thing people can do is to make picket signs. The city officials and the police don't want Venice Beach Boardwalk to become a political arena. They don't want tourist to see a boardwalk littered with picket signs. This is probably the most effective way to fight back - folks MAKE AS MANY PICKET SIGNS AS YOU CAN - LITTER THE WHOLE BOARDWALK WITH SLOGANS SUCH AS; "VENICE BEACH - POLICE STATE" "DRUMMING IS NOT A CRIME" "VENICE CITY OFFICIALS PUPPETS OF 1 INDIVIDUAL" "THE DRUM IS NOT A WEAPON" "POLICE ARREST MURDERERS, RAPIST, AND ROBBERS, NOT DRUMMERS". A few years ago, a drummer who is also an artist put up his paintings on the boardwalk and the police told him to take it down because they didn't like paintings on the boardwalk back then. What this guy did was to make picket signs instead because it was his right to free speech. The police and city officials later asked him to put up his paintings if he would take the signs down. I say put up the picket signs and let them run year round because this is off-tourist season - the city officials and police might not mind them too much - but let them stand all year round for doing this to the community - THE COMMUNITY WILL FIGHT BACK. THE PEOPLE OF VENICE WILL FIGHT BACK! This is not just about stupid noise, this is about the freedom and the right to assemble and gather. IT IS OUR RIGHT! 11/10/00 We've had some technical problems being ironed out, one of which was a computer that went kaput. Luckily it wasn't our primary computer. Backup, backup... 11/10/00 Have you checked out your local paper The Argonaut lately? There is an article (on page 8) by John Sweeney addressing the issue regarding the complaints by residents about the drum circle. It gives both sides of the issue and is very informative in that several city officials are quoted shedding some light as to what is at stake. Specifically, Mike Bonin, Galanter's deputy chief of staff, said, "the City of Los Angeles has several codes related to noise, one of which allows police to consider the character of a neighborhood in dealing with noise." This is what we've been trying to convey to everyone. As one lawyer told us, when someone moves to a neighborhood that is already a place of local community gatherings, it is considered "moving towards the nuisance". Of course most of us do not consider the drum circle a "nuisance", on the contrary - it is the most primal basic human musical condition... Mike Bonin goes on to say, "Venice Beach is a place with a lot of character and a lot of noise. It's not the place to live if you want to meditate or study for the LSATs..." He also said that the noise issues arise periodically over the years in Venice. Newcomers move in and decide to change the neighborhood... Folks, a message to the residents complaining - it's winter, the drum circle will be smaller, the hours of daylight is shorter, the drummers are willing to compromise and start the circle way out in the water - and the bottom line of all this madness is - out there in the water with a smaller drum circle, IT IS NOT THAT LOUD period. Don't you see we are willing to bend and accommodate you - we respect your right to complain and consider with appropriateness your discontent. But you can't really expect a whole community to change it's way of life and give up it's passion for celebrating life! It is like a religion to a lot of people - they are fanatics, and I am one myself. We cannot stop drumming - it is our god given right... 11/10/00 We are getting ready for our second Fire Drums Full Moon Festival. I was informed that a group of American Indians will be joining us which takes place 11/11/00 at Dockwieler Beach starting around 5 pm. We need more wood to burn and bring your picnics, sodas and water, hotdogs, and marshmallows, and lots of warm clothing... 11/10/00 Our petition to save the drum circle is over 500 signatures already in only two weeks. I don't think we will have any problems reaching 10,000 signature by the end of the year! Thanks for your support and a special thanks to those who volunteered... 11/07/00 Boardwalk Shops page is up which has a sliding panorama of the Venice Beach Boardwalk! Just slide the scroll-bar left and right to "stroll" down and soon, you will be able to click on an area and have an enlarged image of the shops and see what they are selling. We will also incorporate online shopping and a listing by subject i.e. yellow pages style of the merchandise available on the Boardwalk. 11/07/00 We had a talk with the police regarding the status of our fight to save the drum circle. Not so good news. Sergeant Fogerty informed us that there is a lawyer resident who is making a lot of trouble harassing the city officials and the police to comply with the noise ordinance and demanding them to arrest and/or enforce the ordinance. The Sergeant said they have no choice, even though he said the police have better things to worry about - like rape, murder, drug dealers, and theft, than arresting drummers. He also mentioned confiscating drums. Can you believe it folks, arresting fun-loving positive law-abiding musicians (most of which are professional people like airline pilots, architects, cpa's, business people - all of whom are taxpayers, for playing drums! Folks - DRUMMING IS NOT A CRIME FOR CHRIST'S SAKES! THE DRUM IS NOT A WEAPON!!!! Here is a copy of the complainers petition: To the Los Angeles Police Department: the residents of Venice request that you immediately enforce Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 116.01 (Loud, Unnecessary, and Unusual Noise), and any other applicable noise ordinances, to completely stop the noise from the Venice Beach Drum Circle. Every weekend, from mid-afternoon to late at night, the "drum circle" creates intolerable noise for the residents who live near the beach. The drum circle should be moved to a location where its noise does not impact the residents. we will also be needing the disturbed residents to email a letter explaining how the noise is disturbing their peace. this is just the beginning. the residents intend to pursue this until the noise subsides. we are not going to be ignored by the lapd or Ruth Galanter any more. thanks for your support!" On the subject of confiscating drums, may I have a suggestion. If it ever comes to that, leave your drums at home and make some real noise with plastic Sparklet's water bottles! Or anything disposable that can make a lot more noise than a drum and let them confiscate those. We have contacted several agencies regarding this injustice and the Argonaut is already on the beat and writing a story about our cause. We are also contacting the Boardwalk Shop Vendors - who are supporting the right of the drum circle to exists! Network television people said they are interested. LA Weekly and The New Times are being contacted. Write to you local newspapers and organizations as this is very relevant news topic they will want to cover. Again I stress that the police have their hands tied in this manner. But do they really need this bad publicity? We are on the side of the law and appreciate the danger and hard work that the police undergo. But is this an example of being in touch with their community? We hope it doesn't come to arresting drummers and confiscating drums - but in reality - it will not solve the problem, but only aggravate it ten-fold. You cannot stop drummers from doing what they love - it is a god-given right and the passion of drumming does not die - it has been a part of humanity since the very beginning of human existence! The people will fight. We are looking into organizing a protest parade with picket signs "DRUMMING IS NOT A CRIME!" and "THE DRUM IS NOT A WEAPON". We will get legal help to establish an official protest march up and down the boardwalk and network television will be there and the whole world can see what some communities regard as a crime. What is that guy who is threatening the city officials thinking - "Oh never mind the rapes and murders and robberies and drug deals that happen in the city - I'm going to complain and rant and rave about people who play drums!" Priorities gone awry... 11/07/00 Message Board is up and running. For now, your submitted messages will go up the next day. Soon they will go up instantly when you submit them. Thanks for your patience. 11/03/00 Fire Drums II special event happening on Full Moon Saturday Nov. 11, 2000. Since our last Full Moon Fire Drums Festival was such a success, the consensus is that we do it every full moon. Let's gather up some fire wood again and bring your own hot dogs and buns and those marshmallows! 11/02/00 Boardwalk Performers page up. Soon you will be able to click on their images and see individual pages on each performer.
10/28/00 Friends of VBDC petition page up. Please read and sign the petition to support the right of the Drum Circle to exists. THERE IS NOW CONFIRMATION THAT SOME RESIDENTS ARE PRESSURING THE CITY/POLICE TO ENFORCE A NOISE ORDINANCE AGAINST THE RIGHT OF ASSEMBLY - TO GATHER AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH - FREEDOM TO PLAY MUSIC - FREEDOM TO PARTICIPATE IN SOMETHING AS WONDERFUL / POSITIVE / BEAUTIFUL AS MUSIC ON THE BOARDWALK / VENICE BEACH!!!! Please read the meeting minutes in Important Notice page.
We will add more pictures to our galleries soon, so we will try and get every - one who is a regular at the circle in the site (all those who want to be in). If for any reason you choose not to be in the galleries, and we accidentally put your picture in, please let us know and e-mail us here. We will more than happy to comply and remove your picture right away. We apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused.
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