After missing the horror writers picket last week, I made sure to head over to the Paramount lot this afternoon to snap some shots of this week's awesome (ly nerdy) strike gimmick -- STAR TREK DAY! Sadly, I saw nary a Klingon, but I did manage to spot a few pairs of Spock ears, a phaser or two, and of course, one Mr. George Takei (oh my). Beam me up, solidarity! Lots of pictures...... [continue]

Artist: Dust Galaxy Album: Dust Galaxy Label: ESL Release Date: Fall '07 Listen to the track "River of Ever Changing Forms": If you missed Dust Galaxy at their Knitting Factory gig last Friday, have no fear, you can pick up their excellent self-titled CD. Dust Galaxy is the solo project of Rob Garza, co-founder of scenester label Eighteenth Street Lounge (ESL) but you won't be hearing any of the ESL's signature bossanova or other latin... [continue]

Melrose Alley Street Art... [continue]

Another year - another turkey. Last year, on Thanksgiving weekend, my fiance and I were in the car with my brother and some dear friends, all dressed up to go do Patina "on the cheap" - apps and drinks only. (Still not cheap.) On our way there, a man screeched up in his car, rolled down the window, and started screaming at us. Screaming. Waving his arms and gesturing. He got out of his...... [continue]

Here's a map of central LA traffic at around 5pm the day before Thanksgiving. Ooof. Good luck out there, guys -- and you can keep track of the gridlock you'll be encountering over at Google Maps. Godspeed, my friends, and please be safe. Respect your fellow drivers, hook up with a carpool, and take your time....... [continue]

What could have been a humdrum Saturday afternoon turned out to be the most memorable I've had this entire year. No Age and a lucky crowd of about 75 broke history. Actually, I'm not even sure if we broke history. However, I am certain that no other band has had the gall to execute a renegade show of this particular nature before. This is what happens when you combine an Arthur Magazine editor-type guy,...... [continue]

So what has been going on in Dodger land since I last posted? Well a big hearty congrats go to Russell Martin for winning the Silver Slugger Award for National League catchers. Voted by coaches and managers, Martin led the NL catchers in hits, homers, runs, stolen bases, batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. Only Mike Piazza (from 1993-1998) was the other Dodger catcher to win the award since its inception in 1980....... [continue]

Will the real reverend please stand up. The Reverend Bob Levy and his collective of stand-up comics known as the Killers of Comedy (Rev. Bob Levy, Jim Florentine, Sal Governale, Richard Christy, Shuli, Yucko the Clown, Beetlejuice & The Iron Sheik), are coming to the Avalon and even Hollywood will notice. Bob is a regular on "The Howard Stern Show", is a professional comedian, has horrible spelling skills, and lives with in the basemen...... [continue]

My asshole has been clenched in anticipation since October 18, 2006 for the fourth season of the Bravo hit show Project Runway. On that Wednesday evening, I was at a Project Runway finale viewing party my friend threw at her apartment in West LA watching local designer and Cosa Nostra founder Jeffrey Sebelia win the whole kit and caboodle. Starting tomorrow there will be 15 brand new contestants vying for: An editorial feature in...... [continue]

Last Thursday, pornstar and director (and Fleshbot Crush Object, link NSFW) Dana DeArmond (MySpace) and her boyfriend Daniel (MySpace), along with pornstars Justin Long (NSFW) and Jon Jon (NSFW), were featured guest speakers in Professor Kassia Wosick-Correa's Sociology of Sexuality course at UC Irvine. According to TIME, the study of pornography on a collegiate level originated in the early 1990s, as the article mentioned Professor Linda Williams' Film and Rhetoric course at UC Berkeley,... [continue]

We've driven by the Whole-Foods-to-be site for months now. Waiting. Wishing. While we don't shop at Whole Foods all the time (we love you Whole Foods, but your prices on many common items are just short of outrageous) there are a few grocery items we're partial to that we just can't get anywhere else. When we run out of these particular food items, the trek to the really far-away Pasadena or Glendale Whole Foods...... [continue]

On Tuesday it was announced that Dodger catcher Russell Martin is joining a fraternity of National League catchers that include Johnny Roseboro, Johnny Bench, Benito Santiago, Tony Pena and even Mike Lieberthal. Russell Martin is now a gold glove winner. Since 1957, Rawlings have been giving out the gold glove award for best fielding performance at each position. Martin is the first full year Dodger catcher since Johnny Roseboro in 1966 to win this...... [continue]

When a novelist first publishes relatively late in life, one wants to applaud his or her persistence, as well as the fact that the writer retains the stamina to turn out a sustained piece of work. One also hopes for the best, wanting to believe that the publisher recognized quality and not just a curiosity when accepting the manuscript. Of course, with examples like Penelope Fitzgerald and Harriet Doerr to pave the way, one...... [continue]

The Boss has been my favorite my whole life, the soundtrack to my life if you will. Born to Northeasterners and brought up in the eighties, I knew that Bruce was it. I even wrote my fifth grade Social Studies report on him after we were assigned to choose an “Amazing Americans”. My teacher didn’t get it. That’s why last night was so special for me, seeing Bruce in concert is an experience everyone,...... [continue]

Keep updated on this map as the day goes by, check the traffic before leaving work by clicking here. It looks as if all of LA is running smoothly right now. That's because it's lunchtime, not crunch time. If you didn't take the 405 this morning, then you were spared some extra special traffic caused by some unfortunate events:Most lanes of the 405 at La Tijera Boulevard are closed this morning after the 4:45...... [continue]

Remember in grade school when your teacher would break out the Halloween records? In my class there would be a selection of about a dozen and we’d get to vote on which one we wanted to hear. Yes, this was before CDs and MP3s. I'd sit on the ground Indian-style and look at the Fruit of a Loom underwear bands peeping out from the boys' pants. The teacher would dim the lights and put...... [continue]

This playlist of 45 songs was hand-picked to help you focus on your Wednesday Happenings while rockin' out to songs about fire and burning. This goes out to the thousands of firefighters who spent the past 72 hours on high alert, saving people, pets and property across Southern California. The tally according to the LA Times: 420,424 acres burned, 1,155 homes destroyed, 881,500 people evacuated. If you are where you'd normally be on a...... [continue]

Gearing up for another War on Christmas, combative conservative columnist David Horowitz and the College Republicans are calling out to their hate squad and killing Halloween (not to mention a week of breast cancer awareness month) with what they've dubbed "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week." Ann Coulter, recently listed as charging a $25,000 speaker fee by the Premiere Speakers Bureau (and now "call for fee") will speak in the name of Islamo-Fascism Awareness tomorrow night at USC....... [continue]

Silly Jack Weiss! He thinks the Valley is different from the City. Tsk tsk! The Daily News takes the Councilman to task (lovingly) for his slip of the tongue. Halloween events abound in the city this time of year, and LAist is your best source for the hottest spooky spots: check out our continuing Halloween coverage here. OMGZZZ Kitten Cops! I can has ratburgerz?? The LAPD is recruiting feral cats to root out rodents...... [continue]

Believe it or not but there's not a lot of hiking happening with many of us here at LAist. Sure there's Zach and a few other show-offs, but even they could tell you that if you start lacing up your hiking boots and notice someone stretching with a freaking sword, things will probably not end well. Such was the case yesterday afternoon up in Mt. Baldy when three "friends" got into an argument while... [continue]