What would make LA stop, drop and …eat? Well this months Awesome LA winners, Farley Elliott and Danny Cohen, think they have the answer: one giant kick-ass picnic. In a city that is far too often characterized by its traffic, and its residents constant rush to get from point  A to B – these two awesome individuals want to given LA a reason to stop for a bit, enjoy the day and break the bread with their fellow Angelenos! In their own words:

Picnic baskets, blankets, kites – all the makings of a classic picnic, but on a massive scale. Baskets as big as a sofa, Paul Bunyan-sized sandwiches and enough grapes to make Caesar blush. It’s a giant picnic in size, scope and mission. There will be food, games and an open invitation for anyone and everyone to stop by and meet their neighbors.

Here’s a few more awesome facts about these two picnic-neers :

1. They are improvisers at the amazing Upright Citizens Brigade (clearly they know how to have a good time!)

2. Have you heard of Minutiæ ? If you haven’t you should check this brilliantly satirical magazine that Danny and Farley co-edit!

3. They’re simple folk (in a good way):

We’re not about making a political statement or saving the world, we’re just about bringing people together for some really awesome giant picnic shit.

So… stay tuned for details on some really awesome giant picnic shit!!!

We had our first grant and dinner on Thursday night. It was well, awesome.

Erika convinced everyone to trek Northside to drink wine and eat a lot, at Hell of the North, in Fitzroy.

Despite raised eyebrows from the guys at the tapas menu, the food was insanely delicious, and the company, a whole lot more.

Cheryl brought along her friend Steve, the man responsible for launching a Lego shuttle into space (awesome). He gave us a quick run down on an up and coming plan/invention he has going on. If you’re into cool start ups, you should check out Steve’s new project, or at least the hype for it.

Tom and Jo from Big Scary were off doing their thing overseas so sent in their votes the night before – kudos for organisation skills.

The winner of our our first grant was the cool dudes at Son Valise. They turn old school suitcases and the likes into functioning jukeboxes. If you haven’t heard of them already, have a look at their shop on Etsy. Then go on the best picnic you’ll ever go on.

They are planning a ridiculously cool project involving new jukes, new music, and some of Melbourne’s – if not Australia’s best talent. We can’t tell you much now, but we will be sure to let you know how it all goes.

So yes, we are giving them $1,000. Because we think they’re awesome.

And we’re done. See you in April.

A2.