Urbanix Gallery in association with Bezalel Academy of Art & Design are proud to present Gary Baseman’s first solo show in Israel. “The Sacrificing of the Cake” opens Thursday, January 8 at 8 p.m. at Urbanix Gallery in Tel Aviv.

Baseman’s show is not about birthdays or cakes. It is about self-examination, observation of the past, correction and change. In a picturesque childish language and a sweetish color palette, Baseman displays a series of new works, acrylic paintings along with color pencil drawings on paper. The exhibition features the image of the dragon “Ooga” (meaning “cake” in Hebrew), slaughtered again and again by feminine nude images of erotic girls or nymphs, radiating sexuality - an allegory to the artist’s struggle against his private demons from the past.

The narrative of Baseman’s work in this show indicates in an almost hidden way, his struggle to release himself from the heritage of his parents, east European Holocaust survivors that raised him according to the “American Dream.” Sacrificing the dragons of the past symbolically entitles Baseman to release himself from the burden represented by his parent’s world perception, allowing him to re-mold his individual path.

The show runs through March 12.

Aficionados of pop culture detritus know Jeff Krulik as co-director, with John Heyn, of the legendary Heavy Metal Parking Lot, the definitive fan-thropological study of drunken Judas Priest devotees cavorting outside Maryland’s now-defunct Capitol Centre arena in 1986. But true heads acknowledge Krulik as Washington D.C.’s underground auteur of weird Americana; his oeuvre of over 50 documentaries takes on everything from the secret history of Lancelot Link, to a Congressional Librarian’s gargantuan porn collection, to the true tale of how Adolf Hitler’s top hat ended up in some guy’s closet in upstate New York.

Brooklyn-based film venue Light Industry kicks off 2009 by inviting Jeff up to New York to present rarities and tidbits of hidden rock history culled from his personal archive and current projects, including Heavy Metal Picnic, Led Zeppelin Played Here, Ambassador Theater Psychdedelic Memories and other surprises, followed by a discussion between Krulik and critic Michael Azerrad, author of Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991.

Tuesday, January 6, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $7, and available at door. 55 33rd Street, 3rd Floor, Brooklyn, New York.

Krulik will also be at Anthology Film Archives on Wednesday, January 7, at 8 p.m. to introduce Cosmological Wonderland: The Films of Matthew Silver.

Our friend and art director Justin has relapsed with Leukemia. This time around, there is no chance to cure it with chemotherapy, and he will have to have a bone marrow transplant. None of his family members are a match, so he is searching for an unrelated donor.

In conjunction with City of Hope, we are hosting a bone marrow drive for Justin at our office. The drive will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, January 6, at 3111 Los Feliz Boulevard Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90039.

Potential donors will be asked to fill out a consent form and have a mouth swab taken. All donors need to be between the ages of 18 and 60.

There is normally a testing fee of $52 per person, but City of Hope has waived the fee for us. Any donation you make—even if it’s just $5—will cover the cost of testing.

If you cannot attend the drive, you can make an appointment to get tested at City of Hope (626.301.8483). There is a $52 fee for processing the marrow sample, but if you donate blood, then the cost is waived. You can also have a kit mailed to you. You will need Justin’s full name, birth date and medical record number, which I can provide to you.

If you aren’t in the L.A. area, click here to figure out where the closest drive is for you.

Please be aware that by getting tested for Justin, you will be added to the national bone marrow donor registry. When a volunteer registers as a potential donor, his/her tissue type is listed on the donor file and is compared with the tissue type of all patients in need of a transplant. You can withdraw at any time, but keep in mind that you may be someone’s only hope for survival.

Please drop us a line to let us know if you are coming so that we can gauge the number of materials needed. For more information about Justin or the drive, please contact me at zio@rrockenterprises.com or call 323.669.8819.