By Mischa Geracoulis

 Ara Basil's "Ballistic" Comedy Show: click image to purchase tickets

Ara Basil's "Ballistic" debuts starring Jonny Loquasta of CBS' Mobile "LOL", Noel Elgrably of "Sultans of Satire", "Axis of Evil Comedy Show", "New York Arab Comedy Festival" and the LA Comedy Festival." Also starring the very funny Iranian comedian Nadine Rajabi, of Showtime's "Hot Tamales" as well as a regular commentator on E!, XM Radio, VH1, "The Skinny" (Fox TV) and the Style Network. Also starring the superb Armenian Sicilian comic SamTripoli, who has appeared on Spike TV, Showtime's "Comics Without Borders," Comedy Central and Live Nude.

The headliner for this show is the great Greek comedian from Canada, Angelo Tsarouchas, who has his own Showtime special, regular stars in Canada's "Just for Laughts" and has been in "Mad Men", "Fred and Vinnie" and even the "Sultans of Satire."

Love Park: your purchase benefits in part LCC (click image to buy)
Love Park may be for the City of Brotherly Love what cult classic Confederacy of Dunces was to the Big Easy. At first glance, LOVE Park is a timeless coming of age story in which the angst-ridden protagonist struggles to find his way. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the stage for this modern day Greek tragedy, though at times it might have been the ancient Philadelphia of Asia Minor. The University of Pennsylvania and Temple University are akin to Dunces' Tulane University and the University of Louisiana, and Greek Orthodoxy rather than Catholicism explains the religious zeal and anguish.

Fictional Peter Pappas is the middle son in a Greek-American family ingrained in Old Country ways, yet vested in American pop culture. He lives with his priest father, mother and extended family-a family intent on keeping secrets in the name of tradition and sanctity. Both Peter and the plot itself straddle a ubiquitous midpoint. Details like Peter's July 4th birth date serve to accentuate the central Greek-American theme.

8th Annual West Hollywood Book FairSee event photos below.

Levantine Cultural Center participated in the 8th annual West Hollywood Book Fair, Sunday October 4th, 2009 with a booth featuring authors and musicians/peformers, and a panel discussion with Tamim Ansary and Reza Aslan.

For the past seven years, this event has attracted many avid readers and book enthusiasts alike. Over 400 authors and artists will be in attendance during the 2009 edition of the WeHo Book Fair, with some 100 discussion panels, book signings, writing workshops, poetry readings, storytelling and theatre. As ever, there will be a children’s area to entertain kids.

Come visit the Levantine Cultural Center’s booth (# E47-48, located in “The Field”), where we will have a comfortable lounge area to relax in, interesting books, CDs and DVDs available for purchase and some free goodies for those who come by. We will also be hosting a number of book/CD/DVD signings with authors and musicians:

Using film, music and scholarship, on August 5th, speakers will explore the Mizrahim (Eastern Jews):

• Are the Jews of the Middle East/North Africa as Arab or Iranian as their host nationalities?
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  How were they received in Israel?
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  Are the Mizrahim/Sephardim a missing link to Middle East peace?

Using film, music and scholarship, on August 5th, speakers will explore the Mizrahim (Eastern Jews):

Jordan Elgrably: speaking at a recent event at USCBy Amanda Georges
The L.A. Pilot

LOS ANGELES — Even before September 11 drastically shifted the way Arab-Americans lived, journalist and writer Jordan Elgrably was already thinking about ways to educate America about the Arab world.

Months before the attack, Elgrably helped found Levantine Cultural Center in 2001, a Los Angeles based non-profit organization that works to showcase the top names in Middle Eastern music, film and art as an alternative resource of information about the Middle East.

In a post-9/11 world, Elgrably finds his original mission to be even more relevant and imperative.

Elgrably believes that art and culture offer people a unique perspective into Arab and Middle Eastern life and politics.