11/16/01

You may have noticed we are in the process of making a few changes to the Venice Beach Drum Circle Website, starting with the Home Page. Eventually the rest of the pages will follow suit. Along with these changes we plan on bringing you new and exciting stuff. Keep checking and thanx for your visits.

Please read and make any comments on our shared message board with the Medicine Bow Gallery Website. There have been some very interesting entries lately. Keep 'em coming   http://www.medicinebowgallery.com/guestbook.html 

See ya at the drumcircle! 

10/09/01

Two more artists have been added to the pages of art work that can be seen and bought on the artists pages...please welcome Fortune and Diane Butler.

Check out their work

http://www.venicebeachdrumcircle.com/shoppingcart/artists/Fortune/Fortune.htm

http://www.venicebeachdrumcircle.com/shoppingcart/artists/DianeButler/pageone.ht

More artists coming soon!

09/11/01

My message to the World today...
...reach out and LOVE...

8/26/01

James Parra and a few drumming friends hanging out at 

Griffith Park Drumcircle wearing Salsa Bandanas...a very versatile head gear!

Find Salsa Bandanas Here

8/20/01 

Venice Beach visits Griffith Park and we are Welcomed with open arms!~ Here are some of the many many pictures I took while we all played together...yes even me. No pictures of proof because I usually have the camera in my hands.

ENJOY!!!

8/05/01

This is It

Always we hope
someone else has the answer
Some other place will be better,
Some other time
it will all turn out.

This is it.
No one else has the answer.
No other place will be better,
And it has already turned out.

At the center of your being you have the answer;
You know who you are and you know what you want.

There is no need
to run outside
for better seeing.

Nor peer from a window.

Rather abide at
the center of your being;
For the more you leave it
the less you learn.

Loa-Tzu
from the Tao Te Chin

8/04/01  Lot's goin' on...I I have started linking the links to the drummers/dancers/locals and others who want a link to their personal web pages/sites and emails.

email your favorite DRUMMER: DANCER: (with many more to come...)

http://www.venicebeachdrumcircle.com/drummersdancers/drummers.html

http://www.venicebeachdrumcircle.com/drummersdancers/dancers.html 

I am searching out those at the Venice Beach Drum Circle who want to be linked. If I have missed you, please email me and I will link you up ASAP

...don't ya know!

Lots to do. I plan on putting up 100 pictures tonight before I sleep.
TA until Tomorrow! The waves are awesome tonight. 

7/31/01   Happy Birthday to my very beautiful son JAMAL!!! 

I put up the sunset picture you picked out.
Be safe and smart tonight on your 21st Birthday...I Love You!!!

( Psst, Call me tomorrow)

JA MAMA!!!

7/26/01Hello, I am afraid to answer any of my emails right now. I'm going south for a while, my computer needs to be worked on by my very wonderful tech team of volunteers. It's time for more memory and new stuff. Ever since I got that pesky virus my computer has not worked right so it's time for an overhaul. I will update the calendar and have new pages for you next week ...promise. 

Thanking you in advance for your continued patience. 

TA! 

SONDRA.

7/23/01

Sorry, I've been out of touch for a while. I have a lot of catching up to do on many pages especially the sunset calendar. But my latest delay was because some kind lost soul sent me a virus and WHAT A MESS in my email account!!! I opened the attachment on the 17th and unfortunately and accidentally may have infected others. Please run this removal program to eliminate the pesky virus: http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.sircam.worm@mm.removal.tool.html

A new page went up for Humphrey I caught him in action while he pierced a tongue, check it out. http://www.venicebeachdrumcircle.com/boardwalkartistsperformers/Performers/humphrey/humphrey.html

I have miles to go before I sleep.

TA!

7/03/01...Please Party Responsibly on this upcoming 4th of July weekend...And remember the Venice Beach Drum Circle is held in a State Park and drinking alcohol on the beach is prohibited. 

This past weekend was full of fun in the sun @ Venice Beach...

Heal the Bay ...the efforts of so many people made a difference here at Venice Beach and the beach looks great! We all can learn a lesson here and pick up after ourselves everywhere on the beach and at the Drum Circle when it shuts down for the evening. 

then... California Impressions Gallery held a showing of Kenneth Muth's incredible work of the local beach scenes!!! His oil on canvas is fabulous. He captures the feeling of the beach and buildings around here so well you can place yourself in his pictures.  I'm not an art critic but I know what I like and Ken's work is very good.

GOOD JOB KEN!  & GREAT RECEPTION!!!

 I will have a sampling of his collection up soon.  For now, here are a couple of pictures of the reception...

I had a good time and wish Ken much success. 

6/27/01

Those of you who know me know that I work late into the night on the VBDC website. When I put in these long hours I can actually do the work while I hear what brought me here in the first place...

THE VENICE BEACH DRUM CIRCLE!!! 

All I do is turn the power  on, on my trusty boom box and hit play and wha...la...instantly I have...

...it makes me feel like all of you (drummers, dancers,) are just out side my windows. I remember not log ago I would wait and wait for the 

CALLING OF THE  DRUMS 

on Saturday and Sunday at Venice Beach. I was in need of the healing power of the drum circle then and now I am honored to be the webmaster of 

 Venice Beach Drum Circle .com

My mission here is to give the drummers, dancers, locals, merchants, and artists a voice at Venice Beach. I want to bring  Venice Beach to the world, to EVERYONE  who can't get here and to give back a place where those who have been here ...can come again and enjoy over and over again the magic of... VENICE BEACH !!!

and most certainly the...

MAGIC AND HEALING POWER OF THE 

VENICE BEACH DRUM  CIRCLE!!!

TA!

p.s. more drummer pictures went up tonight...as always more to come, soon I promise. I am roughly only 100 pictures behind, including all the pictures of art work, dancers and locals in the works of going up behind the scenes :-) 

So please keep checking.

6/21/01

Good Morning Everyone!!! 

Thanx!!! to Danny and Everyone at STAR 98.7!!! 

I had a good time yesterday  morning talking to all of you. I received a lot of emails from your listeners and had you guys not caused a lot of commotion on Venice Beach at Sunset on June 20th , 2000. Many of these people would have never dropped by the Venice Beach Drum Circle website for a visit. For that I want to Thank You. I made several new friends and got a great sunset picture of your boat suitable for framing! Enjoy! THANX AGAIN!!!

p.s. I left your sunset picture up as "Picture of the Day" on the "Sunset Page" an extra day. It's not every day you see this sort of thing on the wild and crazy Venice Beach. Don't ya know!!! 

And, please drop in for a visit at the Drum Circle anytime!

TA!

6/20/01

Boats on the Beach Anyone???  OOPS!!! How would you have liked to be the guy that was sitting on the sand while this boat headed for shore? 

6/12/01pm

Patrick!!!

Congratulations!!! We all knew you could do it!!!

I am happy to report to everyone that Patrick came through his surgery better than expected! You can't keep a good man down!

Now some down time for recovery and he will be better than ever. He thanks everyone who sent their Prayers, Love, Hugs & Support.

6/12/01am

...!!!PATRICK!!!...GET WELL SOON!!!...

As you can see you have a lot of friends at the beach who wish you a speedy recovery. This card is filled with so much love, had I walked up and down The Venice Beach Boardwalk for days, I could not have gathered all the signatures of those who care about you and miss your smile here along with the sun and surf ...and yes...the drums!!! The card contains only a sampling of the Love, Support, and Prayers that come your way ...don't ya know??? Your heart has touched a lot of lives here at Venice Beach!!!

...with a new and improved heart...what can one say?...I didn't know yours needed any improvement.

Our Prayers and Our Love are with you and your family during your surgery today and throughout your recovery. 

You are missed!!!

FROM...EVERYONE!!!

6/07/01

Hello Everyone...

Believe it or not the "Time 4 Change" public access show that we did will be shown again! AT&T Broadband messed up and failed to air the show in the time slot we reserved so here we go again. So for those of you that missed it the first two times, you get one more chance to see the show. It's quite good actually, we did a fine job representing the Venice Beach Drum Circle and should be proud.

So once again set your VCR"s for June 10th @ 9:00pm channel 43 on AT&T Broadband and enjoy!

The cities covered by AT&T Broadband are the Wilshire Fairfax District, Mar Vista, Culver City, Venice, Hollywood, Downtown Los Angeles, & Marina Del Rey.

We only had 8 days of sunshine in the whole month of May so the sunset pictures were not much to look at. As seen in the May Calendar on most days there was nothing to take a picture of. So sorry, hopefully Mother Nature will be kinder in the month of June. So far we are not off to the best start though, let's hope it gets better. At least on the weekends I have the Drum Circle for subject matter or the whole month would have been a bust. 

I've been working feverously behind the scenes on the artist and performers pages to make them right and hope to have them back up and working properly soon, so those who want to, can buy the beautiful art. I was honored by Abraham's wife Diane when she asked me to pose for her new Venice Beach 2001 Boardwalk painting. It is really coming along beautifully. I am in good company in the painting, with many recognizable faces. I can't wait to see the finished work. Naturally I have my camera in my hand! I took pictures of her while she was painting me, (I will post them soon) it was loads of fun when the people walking by stopped to watch her paint me. Everyone gave the thumbs up and after seeing her work. I certainly agree.  THANX DIANE!!!

Love, Peace and Drums to Everyone!

TA!

6/02/01

Here is the latest press...Christian Science Monitor 05-23-01

As always, our Thanx...

                             WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2001

  FEATURES, HOME FRONT

  Lost in the Rhythm

  Drum circles draw people together to create a feeling of community.

  By Sara Terry

Special correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

                                                                     LOS ANGELES

Every Tuesday night, Emil Hogen marches - no, plays - to the beat of a different drum. He leaves behind the relentless pace of his job a manager of a computer store in suburban Sherman Oaks, Calif., and drives to nearby North Hollywood. Still in his workday garb of suit and tie, he enters a warehouse, chooses a drum from the dozens stacked on shelves and along the walls, and takes a seat in a semicircle, removing his suit jacket and rolling up his shirtsleeves. He is joined by as many as 40 other people - young and old; male and female; black, Latino, and white - who have come for the same reason; to drum together for an hour, to find both an individual and a collective way to step out of the frenzy of daily life.

By the end of the session, led by a percussionist known as the Chaz Man, Mr. Hogen is sweating, his tie loosened, his shirt partly unbuttoned. He has found what he came for: a sense of well-being and calm. "There's such a huge contrast between the stressful routine at work, and doing this," says a smiling Hogen, who had never drummed before starting to come to these gatherings in January. The sessions are sponsored by Remo, a drum manufacturer. "I just know that I go home happy."

He is not alone. Across the country - in big cities and small towns, along beaches and rivers, in parks and even in corporate retreats - more Americans are picking up drums. They're joining with friends and often complete strangers in "drum circles," to play what is perhaps the most ancient and accessible form of music, the steady beat of hands forming rhythms on the head of a drum. "It's a grass-roots movement," says Arthur Hull, a self-professed "rhythm evangelist" who has been leading drum circles for nearly 20 years, and is author of "Drum Circle Spirit: Facilitating Human Potential Through Rhythm." "Drumming is accessible," he says. "It's a joy, and it's a release. It's a celebration of life. Bottom line, it's the most natural thing we have."

Primal appeal almost unnoticed by the media, drum circles have become an increasingly mainstream movement, drawing people from virtually every walk of life. An Internet search of the phrase "drum circles" yields more than 50,000 references, with drum circles and events being held in communities ranging from Spokane, Wash., and Missoula, Mont., to North Jacksonville, Fla., and Cleveland, Ohio.

The same search reveals a growing number of drum circle "facilitators," people who help lead drum gatherings - whether in informal community groups or as paid consultants to corporations looking for fresh ways to approach company morale issues. In addition, scientific researchers are exploring the effects of drumming on well-being.

The drum's appeal, say its proponents, is almost primal. The drum itself is a highly accessible instrument to almost anyone, regardless of his or her experience. Its basic pulsing beat is a natural rhythm, they say, as innately familiar to humans as a mother's heartbeat is to a child. And the drum defies arguments that someone just isn't good enough or musical enough to be able to play. ("If you couldn't keep a beat," notes one drum circle facilitator, "you couldn't walk across a room.")

Mary Strand knew nothing about drumming when friends started a drumcircle called Community Through Rhythm in Spokane. But she was intrigued by the idea, and for a year now has been participating in monthly drum circles. "My goal is not to become a good drummer," she says. "It's more like a return to innocence for me. It's a kind of childlike play that has been educated out of us as adults by society. "Drumming also gives her a respite from the demands of her work as a criminal defense paralegal. "It gives me a chance to shut out all that ugliness," she says.
Drumming as a metaphor Drum circle enthusiasts also point to the drum's traditional role in nearly every non-Western culture as an integral part of community gatherings and celebrations, in everything from courtship and marriage to harvesting and burials.

Drumming, they say, is by nature a communal experience: it requires several drummers to play together, establishing different rhythms as individuals, but also listening closely enough to others to create harmonious patterns.

"It's an incredible metaphor for community life," says Martin Marsolek, a percussionist and drum maker who helped start Full Moon Drumming Circle in Missoula. "I think a lot of folks involved in drumming circles are concerned about a sense of community in America, and in fostering community," says Mr. Marsolek, who is also a member of a group called the Drum Brothers, which performs and leads drumming workshops. In today's growing movement, drum circles usually take one of two forms. In what are termed "free form" circles, drummers simply get together and play, with no one leading the group. Venice Beach, Calif., for example, has gained at least local notoriety as a place where hundreds of drummers gather on weekends. But the kind of circles that appear to be most appealing to the increasingly mainstream newcomers are known as "facilitated" circles, where one individual leads the group. Facilitators may teach some of the basic hand and body movements involved in playing, they may suggest rhythms to different parts of the group, or they may build on rhythms that are coming from individual players in the group.

"The facilitator is empowering the group towards collaboration, self-expression, and improvisation," says Mr. Hull, the author and drumming guru, who not only leads circles but also trains facilitators in special workshops. They help the group understand that quality is based more on relationship skills than on musical skills.

Many corporations are also beginning to discover the benefits of drum circles, as companies from Toyota and Sony to Levi Strauss and the Discovery Channel turn to facilitators to help them deal with workplace challenges.

Christine Stevens, a registered music therapist who has worked with many businesses and nonprofit groups through her company, UpBeat Drum Circles, was asked to lead a drum circle for the Discovery Channel retail stores shortly before the onslaught of last year's busy Christmas season. Management, she says, brought her in to help build morale and team spirit. With more than 100 people from different parts of the company joined in a drumcircle, drumming became a metaphor for building a common language.

"Today's corporate culture is really rapidly changing," says Ms. Stevens. "It's in such need of creativity and innovation. Things are changing fast. Drumcircles involve creativity and sharing, but they also demonstrate that things need to be coordinated to sound good." By speeding up tempos in the workshop with Discovery Channel employees -which led to a collapse of the music - she tried to show what happens when group members stopped listening to each other. With practice, they learned to speed up their own tempos without losing their rhythm, as each player listened more closely to the group.

"It was a wonderful team-building experience," says Kim Airhart, director of communications for Discovery Consumer Products. "We really created a symphony. "We were coming up on our holiday season, which is a busy time for us in the retail world, and it all just sort of jelled," she says. "Everybody was coming together to understand a common goal." The company had one of its best retail seasons ever. Though no one can pinpoint the drum circle as the cause, she says, "It had a wonderful impact on morale." A better "social lubricant"

Drum circle enthusiasts predict that drumming will only grow in popularity, as more people discover its individual pleasures and its community-building potential. Human beings, they argue, have a basic need to feel connected - and drum circles seem to help satisfy that need.

"We've become a very mobile society," says Martin Werr, who helped launch Community Through Rhythm in Spokane. "Everybody wants community," he says. "It's a better social lubricant than alcohol is. It's a way to sit next to a stranger and bond with them. We need that sense of extended family and community. There's just something innate within us that wants to recapture that."

• For more information, visit these sites:

www.drumfuncircles.com

www.venicebeachdrumcircle.com

www.allonetribedrum.com

   For further information:

     DrummingCircle.com 

     Drumming Circles Web Ring

     Rhythms of Collaboration - Corporate Drum Circles

Please Note: The Monitor does not endorse the sites behind these links. We offer them for your additional

research.

5/29/01

To all of the media, organizations, and individuals who received our open letter to Los Angeles Mayoral 2001 Candidates Hahn and Villaraigosa we have unfortunately to report that we have received no response from either candidate on their position on the preservation of the tradition of weekend Venice Beach Drum Circles.

This lack of recognition of the Venice Drummers, Dancers and Fans continues the policy of the current administration who recently completed their renewal of the Venice Boardwalk with millions of dollars in structural repairs but did not set aside a clear place for the Drumcircle to play in perpetuity. Its hard not to imagine that many other cities in the world would have seized the opportunity to create and set aside a world-famous drum district which would draw even more visitors from all over the world and the prosperity that such visitors bring to a district.

This is unfortunately another demonstration of the lack of Official commitment and assistance to the multiethnic community of Venice Beach Drummers. The Drumcircle's strength to continue will not likely be found at Los Angeles City Hall.

Regretfully,

Sondra Tatum

 webmaster@venicebeachdrumcircle.com

                                                                                      May 11, 2001                                                                                                                 

An Open letter to the 2001 Los Angeles Mayoral Candidates

Dear Candidates Hahn and Villaraigosa:

This open letter to both of the Los Angeles Mayoral 2001 Candidates is presented to you on behalf of the Venice Beach Drum Circle.

Whichever candidate wins the upcoming election will also inherit many situations which exist in the city and began well before their term. One such issue, which is deserving of the new Mayors attention and involvement is the high-profile situation that exists between a group of musicians, dancers, singers and fans who are collectively known as the Venice Beach Drum Circle. This group has practiced its weekend tradition of drumming and dancing on the sands of Venice Beach over the past 30-plus years. A relatively small group of individuals would like to persuade the Los Angeles Police Department and other authorities to put an end to the Venice Drums. The situation is multidimensional and involves many factors.

Besides the active drummers and dancers who participate actively in the drum circle, there is a very large group of supporters who have put their signatures on paper in the form of a petition supporting the continuance of the weekend drum circles. At last count over 5,000 signatures had been collected and the process is ongoing. It is the intention of the Drum Circle to present these signed petitions to the prevailing Mayoral candidate as a clear indication of public support of L.A.'s wonderful Venice Beach Drum Circle.

Before voting we would like to know your position on the preservation of the tradition of weekend Venice Beach Drum Circles. There are certainly many issues facing both candidates in the coming days, which you must inform the voters about your position on. We feel that this is an important enough issue to be one of them. One excellent source of accurate, objective information about the issue for your assistance in coming to an informed position would be to contact Captain Gary Williams at the Pacific Division of the Los Angeles Police Department. Captain Williams has worked hard over the past months to come to understand the entire issue as well as possible. Of course, we also invite both of you to personally attend our enjoyable drum circles on any Saturday or Sunday afternoon from 2:00pm until sunset and form some of your own opinions and feelings firsthand.

We respectfully request your response to our open letter on or before May 21st. Your responsive comments or lack of same will be posted on the Venice Beach Drum Circle's website and various other linked sites and will also be transmitted to all of the media, organizations and individuals listed as having received this open letter. Thank you both very much for your anticipated response.

Sincerely,

Sondra Tatum

webmaster@venicebeachdrumcircle.com

On behalf of all of the drummers, dancers, singers and fans of the Venice Beach Drum Circle, many who are also Los Angeles voters.

Open letter presented by personal delivery to both LA Mayoral candidates’ campaign headquarters.                            

Cc: KABC, KCBS, KNBC, KTLA, KCAL NEWS, KTTV/FOX 11, KCOP/UPN 13, KMEX, The Argonaut, Daily News, LA Weekly, La Opinion, Los Angeles Times, LA Watts Times, LA Sentinel, Captain Gary Williams LAPD Pacific Division

4/16/01

OK Folks...listen up...The public access show "Time 4 Change" hosted by Jo Alice Braswell & Marc Madow will be shown again! On both AT&T Broadband and Adelphia cable networks. Those interviewed on the show were Sondra Tatum, John Camarena & Manuel.  The show has clips from the Venice Beach video Mark Madow produced and clips from the Channel 13 News about the never ending controversy we face with those who would like nothing more than to see The Venice Beach Drum Circle disappear. Set your VCRs or sit with family and friends and watch.

The show will air SUNDAY MAY 13, 2001. 

AT&T Broadband (channel 43) will air @ 10:00pm

Adelphia (channels 3, 37 or 77) will air @ 9:30pm

The cities covered by AT&T Broadband are the Wilshire Fairfax District, Mar Vista, Culver City, Venice, Hollywood, Downtown Los Angeles, & Marina Del Rey.

The cities covered by Adelphia are Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey, Pacific Palisades, Venice, West LA, Beverly Glen, Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Los Feliz, Highland Park, Lincoln Heights, Pasadena, Eagle Rock, Studio City, Sherman Oaks, & Woodland Hills.

4/7/01 Saturday Afternoon 6:31pm

I have added so many new drummers and dancers to the pages that I lost count! Believe it or not I have more pictures coming soon. 

To everyone who e-mailed and asked for the sunsets they are coming. The April calendar is not up yet, but will be up by Tuesday and I will bring the sunsets up to date then. Sorry about the delay. 

I talked to Captain Williams this past week after I spotted an officer from the LAPD Pacific Division doing sound level tests last Sunday. According to the Captain the test were made from  in front of some of the complainers homes and from 2 Breeze & Ocean Front Walk where some complaining calls come in. So folks...I guess we wait and see what happens next. I will follow up with another phone call and see if we can get the results of the tests.

Please remember... when the Beach Patrol goes home for the night they often shut down the Drum Circle for the safety of the drummers and dancers. You see... the police cars do not have 4wheel drive and can not get out to the sand in a timely manner if trouble occurs.  So let's leave when asked to do so.

Leave your Alcohol and Drugs at home...the Venice Beach Drum Circle is not the place for it!!! 

This type of behavior only jeopardizes the future of the Drum circle. Let's also pick up the trash we leave behind.

3/17/01 Hello and Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone! 

(I hope you wore your green!)

We made the news again last Wednesday night on UPN Channel 13 News. The issue was? What else?...those who move to Venice Beach for Peace and Quite. I want to say that the  2 minutes and 10 seconds that aired, both side were represented fairly. And you heard Captain Williams say, they are going to do sound level tests on the Drum Circle. He also said to me in a phone conversation I had with him last Friday that the real problem is not the noise level its the arrests that take place at the Drum Circle. Please folks...DO NOT bring alcohol or Drugs to the Drum Circle!!!, this is not the place for it. The drummers want to continue to drum in this beautiful state park we love to drum in until sunset and after. Let's all work together here and not let the actions of a few ruin it for all of us!

I love to quote Veteran Drummer Gill and say "VENICE BEACH WITHOUT THE DRUM CIRCLE IS LIKE DISNEYLAND WITHOUT MICKEY MOUSE!" 

I've  put up new Drummer and Dancer pictures for your viewing pleasure. I am catching up on the Locals and Performers pictures too. Also today you can buy Julio's and RaRa the Super Starr's work. It's been a long time coming and weekly you will see new artist pages added until we get every artist that wants to be on our site the opportunity to sell their art to the world via the Venice Beach Drum Circle web site.

And finally to all of you Irishmen both real and Irish for the day...please party safely and remember not to drink and drive. Assign a designated driver or take a cab.

3/04/01  This entry is for you…Jamal, Patrick, Wassaabee, Peter, Lucky, Mary, Muscle Beach, Elan, Jhad, Josh, Michael, Victoria, Ed, Emily, Lora, Nancy, Bill, Manuel, & others…check out the new pictures and keep checking for more.

  Lot’s of new pictures have been added to the Drummers and the Locals pages. Lot’s more to come!  I apologize to everyone who has ever asked  “where is my picture?” I promise you, your pictures are coming soon! I also have plenty of new pictures of some of you already on the pages that will replace some of the old ones. Keep a look out for them.

  The weather has been sooooo gloomy, so the sunsets have not been too spectacular as of late. Hopefully the sun will shine again soon. I will do my best to bring to you what Mother Nature provides.

  Thank you, to everyone who sent e-mails of support after the article ran in the LA Times last Monday. For those of you who missed reading it, it is printed below. It was also the most e-mail ever received in one day on our web site! I added some of the e-mails to the message board to share with everyone. Be sure to check them out and add your comments to our message board we share with our sister site www.medicinebowgallery.com 

3/01/01

A Circle of Sound
Copyright 2001 Los Angeles Times

     The group's drumming is music to the ears of some Venice residents. Others are irritated by the noise.

By JOSEPH HANANIA, Special to The Times

Sondra Tatum moved to Venice Beach three years ago from the San Fernando Valley hoping the nearness of the ocean would help speed her recovery from surgery. On the days she was too sick to climb down the flight of stairs from her second-floor apartment to the beach, she would position herself at the window to feel the sea breeze on her face and listen to the drums.
    Nearly every weekend for the last 50-odd years, the drummers have come. They come together for as many reasons as there are drums in the Venice Beach Drum Circle, and the members--who number anywhere from 30 in winter to 100 in summer--have shifted over the years. But always they come.
    Tatum does not play the drums, yet the 46-year-old advertising sales manager was steadily drawn in by the circle's spirit of freedom and inclusion. Nor is her devotion unique. Nearly every weekend, John Camarena, 69, a retired barber and reverend with World Christian Ministries, drives in from Azusa to pound his bass drum, because "it takes away my tiredness, the loneliness, the old age." And 30-something Emily Sharbania moved here from San Francisco because "even when I come here down and exhausted, the collective energy elates me."
    But not everything is love and harmony by the sea. Complaining about the noise level, some beach-side residents are trying to shut down the circle. Eileen Hagen, 40, an online auctioneer who last year bought a home two blocks from the staging area, knew about the drum circle when she and her husband moved in. But, she says, "we assumed they would be treated the same as a loud, rowdy party."
    Instead, she says, "all we hear for 10 hours straight is TA-TA-TA-TA. So, we can't keep our windows open; we can't use our decks; we can't do anything other than try to get the police to do their jobs."
    Steve Schlein, a 60-year-old former public defender who has lived in the area for 26 years, says the drum circle noise has escalated to the point that "often, I can feel the drums' vibration in my floor." Still, he says, his repeated complaints to the police have been ignored. "The police have caved in; they have simply abandoned the residents of Venice," he says.
    Los Angeles Police Capt. Gary Williams, whose Pacific Division patrols the area, counters that the issue is not simply whether the noise created by the drums violates city noise ordinances. "In a vacuum, that may be," he says. "But this is Venice Beach, one of the world's largest tourist attractions, with numerous entertainers, musicians, traffic and noise from up to 150,000 visitors a day. So, the question becomes, is drum circle noise so significant that it rises above everything else?"
    To support the drummers, Tatum has set up a table on weekends at which she has collected more than 5,000 signatures from local residents and visitors from all over the world. She has also launched a Web site at http://www.venicebeachdrumcircle.com to broaden her support base.
    "It's a spiritual release, communicating without words," says Joseph Tiu, 38, of the drum circle. Tiu once gave away his boyhood drums "to go to college and become a responsible adult." Now an architect, Tiu realized that responsible adulthood could never compete with the "rush" of drumming. So, he moved to Venice and now drums for up to eight hours a day. "It's primal," he says.
     Maybe too primal. Noise, neighbors say, is not the only issue. Add to it the drugs and violence that sometimes occur at the circle's periphery and things may get out of control. Williams has tried to mediate the dispute, on a recent weekend assigning up to three vehicles to park near the drummers to keep the peace. He has also negotiated a compromise in which the drummers move away from the boardwalk, toward the ocean during most of the afternoon.
     What's at stake amid all this, says filmmaker Marc Madow, who recently spent six months filming "Venice Beach," a documentary that focuses primarily on the drummers, is the survival of "something unique in the world." Most drum circles, he says, are facilitated by a lead person, who signals the drummers when to start and stop, and when to speed the rhythm. Drawing from L.A.'s multiethnic background, however, the leaderless Venice circle is totally free-spirited, with three basic rhythms: Middle Eastern, African and Latin.
     The circle also breaks down social barriers, Madow says. He has filmed a 70-plus woman dancing and playing a tambourine, as well as an obese woman, who elsewhere might have been intimidated, "holding hands with another girl and dancing unself-consciously. At the circle, people forget their class, their status, their limitations," he says.
     Judith Penchansky, a 54-year-old Santa Monica College administrator who has owned her home half a block from where the drummers meet since 1972, admits the issue is not black and white. A former neighbor and friend is part of the drum circle. "I can see how one group appreciates this as music, while the other thinks of it as noise," she says. Still, "neither group is going away. So we have to somehow learn to live together. We have to learn to compromise. That's the lesson here."

02/13/01  Hello everyone! The sunset pictures are back to being updated everyday and our technical problems have been fixed. So onward and forward from here. Be sure to invite your friends to log on and check out the magnificent sunsets from Venice Beach! I hope you enjoy the sunsets as much as I enjoy taking them and bringing them to your computers. You can enlarge the pictures and set them as wallpaper on your desktop.

You will also find new drummer and local pictures on their pages and when you enlarge Gil’s picture (he is the b&w picture at the top of the drummers page you will find a beautiful poem written by his sister. Thank-you Sandra for allowing us to share your poem with the world.

As I type this entry you may or may not believe it…but it is actually hailing at Venice Beach! The hail is hitting my windows! The hail is no larger that green peas but it is hail that’s for sure. This is pretty wild, let me tell you, I feel like I’m back in Kansas! This day should go down in history!

As we approach the spring and summer seasons, we at the Venice Beach Drum Circle web site are looking for advertisers from near and far. Please contact webmaster@venicebeachdrumcircle.com for our reasonable rates. If you are interested or you would like to recommend your favorite music store we would be happy to contact them and offer them ad space on our site. Let us know what you would like to see and we will do our best to deliver.