Sometimes a train of thought is like a meandering wind. Sometimes it’s a smooth ride through a hilly, verdant countryside. Other times you may find yourself on a jerky local that’s breaking down in Yonkers. And on occasion, you may be inspired to step aboard one of those super fast, ultra direct (and very silver) bullets.

But even the steadiest train of thought can be instantly derailed by a phrase like “Moscow Cat Circus.”

See? You used to be thinking about trains.

Moscow Cats Theatre
Sunday, December 3
Wilshire Ebell Theatre (4401 W. 8th St., L.A.)
Showtime at 1p
Showtime at 4p
(213) 365-3500

Photo by Keenman via Flickr

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, Blood Brothers @ Henry Fonda
Lucinda Williams @ Royce Hall
Imogen Heap @ The Wiltern
Joanna Newsom @ El Rey
Jesca Hoop @ Temple Bar
The Grande Mothers @ House of Blues
Melvins, Big Business, Porn, Altamont @ The Troubadour
Jill Sobule, Julia Sweeney @ Largo
Los Abandoned @ The Echo
Zach Brooke @ The Unknown Theater
Mute Math, Cute Is What We Aim For, Karate High School @ Key Club
The Duhks, The Fresh, Jason Karaban, Master-McCarthy @ The Hotel Cafe

Book Signings & Readings:

David Carradine @ Book Soup
Steve Wozniak @ Los Angeles Central Library

One of LA's most popular bloggers, Kevin Roderick, mastermind behind LA Observed, will be reading tonight from his fabulous book Wilshire Boulevard, Grand Concourse of Los Angeles at Village Books in Pacific Palisades.

Although he bears a striking resemblance to Bush's Brain, as lovingly pointed out by GOP flag-waver Moxie, Roderick's concerns are far more local, specifically the going-ons at the LA Times and other media outlets here in the City of Angels.

The former Times reporter is just as insightful about Wilshire Blvd. in his book as he is about the happenings at the Times on his blog, which is to say he's downright close to definitive - although just like the Turd Blossom, Roderick is not without his critics.

However LAist holds both the site and the book in high regard and would be at the signing tonight if we weren't planning on hotboxxing it in the Von's parking garage behind the Wiltern before praising Satan with Danzig this evening in KTown.

Wilshire Boulevard..., co-written by Eric Lynxwiler, will be presented and signed by the authors at 7:30pm at Village Books, 1049 Swarthmore Ave., in Pacific Palisades.

photo credit: the sultry, delicious, and single Moxie

Danzig @ The Wiltern
Joanna Newsom @ Malibu Performing Arts Center
Sugarcult, The Pink Spiders, Damone @ House of Blues
Barenaked Ladies @ Gibson
Butch Walker @ The Hotel Cafe
DJ AM @ LAX
Sally Kellerman @ Genghis Cohen
The Handsome Family @ El Cid
Slow Signal Fade, The Ivy Walls @ Silverlake Lounge
Mike Stinson, Merle Jagger, Rancho Deluxe @ Safari Sam's
I Heart Robots, The Maze @ 14 Below
2 Headed Dog, Dana Gould @ Largo
The Tenderbox @ Spaceland
Fireball Johnson, Brad Hooks, Rock Paper Scissors, Black Comets @The Gig
Himself, June, High Life Kingz, Artistic Expression, Conjuring Evolution @ The Knitting Factory

Lloyd Banks, Cartel, Suspects, Stamina @House of Blues
Perry Farrell, The Nightwatchman (Tom Morello), Nuno Bettencourt @ Hotel Cafe
American Music Club @ Silverlake Lounge
Steve Aoki @ Cinespace
Gregg Allman @ The Canyon
Michael Penn @ Largo
The Evangelicals @ Spaceland
The Lovemakers @ The Troubadour
No Thanks, Diablo's Darlings @ Viper Room
The Handsome Family, The Chapin Sisters, HT Heartache @ El Cid Restaurant
The Hidden Cameras, Born Ruffians, The Minor Canon @ The Echo
Dr. Octagon (a.k.a. Kool Keith), Substance Abuse @ Safari Sam's

After hearing that a big event celebrating the launch of the new Nintendo system, the Wii was taking place at Citywalk, we made a B-line for the Wii-line and got to sitting. The long night in line at one of our least favorite places in Los Angeles, Universal CityWalk, Wii finally have our console in hand and now Wii have yet another thing to eat up any free time Wii might come across. All our feelings on the situation could be summed up with this sign a couple of the revelers had posted on the window of the store

That's enough for the Wii-tarded Wii jokes, at least for this Wiikend

Randy Newman @ Walt Disney
GWAR @ Ventura Theatre
The Skatalites @ El Rey Theatre
Steve Aoki, DJ AM @ LAX
Girlyman @ McCabe's
The Lucky Stars @ The Derby
Peter Walker @ The Mountain Bar
Groundation, Come Down Selecta, Local Vibes @ Key Club
Ponce DeLeon, Anna Jones, Brennan Hill @ Il Corral
The Warriors, Remembering Never, Full Blown Chaos @ Whisky
Fireball Ministry, Artimus Pyledriver, Vains of Jenna @ Knitting Factory
Bankrupt & Borrowers, No Face, Karmina, Tanya Mitchell @ Viper Room
These Arms Are Snakes, French Toast, Mouth of the Architect @ Spaceland
Jessie Harris, Chase Pagan, The Darling Alarm @ The Hotel Cafe
Sacred Dice, Revolutionary Side Effects, Letting Up Despite Great Faults @ Scene
Sabertooth Tiger, Die Princess Die, Blow Up Blow, The New Motherfuckers @ Alex's

Book Signings:
Francesca Lia Block @ Vroman's (4pm, hurry)

Safari Sam’s, a favorite among the hip set and the winner of LA Weekly’s coveted “Best Converted Strip Club” award, is now home to the monthly showdown, “Hollywood Trivia,” brought to you by the combined efforts of Cabaret Voltaire and The Couch.

“Hollywood Trivia” is an awesomely low-tech, 60-question nerdfest for the pop-culturally inclined. The questions are delivered in three rounds via a human person on a stage with a microphone. Each team or individual writes his, her or their answer on a piece of paper, and at the end of round three the sheets are collected and graded immediately by a crack team of monkeys. There are no buzzers or beepers or plungers or touch-screens. There is no Scantron. This is old school, people. The way the Amish do it.

Some of the questions are clearly skewed for the persnickety uber-snob, but if you watch TV, go to the movies, and love your Hollywood factoids, you can hold your own in this battle of the brain. You can also win a boatload of cash because it’s $9 to get in and the winner takes home half the door money. Also important to know, there is a zero-tolerance/death-by-stoning policy for cell phone, Treo, or Blackberry type cheaters. Don’t fake the flavor.

Last month’s smackdown brought a stunning display of cooperative team efforts, brave solo missions, fierce competitors, giggling funsters, a couple of trash talkers and some no-joke trivia. The white-hot, nerd-on-nerd action culminated in an astonishing, sudden death round where both finalists (“Wiedergott” and “Clown Eyes and Corn Nuts”) ate it on the bonus question and were forced to split the bountiful loot. Very exciting.

In our continuing yearlong coverage of 365 Days/365 Plays, we present you with weeks two through four:

Week 2: The Open Fist Theatre Company
Tuesday, November 21 at 7:45 p.m. and 9:15 p.m.
Friday, November 24 at 10:45 p.m.
Saturday, November 25 at 6:45 p.m.

Week 3: Playwrights’ Arena
Wednesday, November 29, 2006, 8 p.m.
Lutheran Church of the Master, 10931 Santa Monica, Los Angeles

Week 4: The Elephant Asylum Theatre
December 5 - 9 at 8 p.m.
The Elephant Asylum Theatre, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood

*It should be noted that while the festival includes 365 days, it does not mean that there is one play each day. The rules let theatre companies choose to do the plays all in one night or over a few. To that end, Open Fist chose to present their 7 plays a few times because they are just that cool.

Photo: Suzan-Lori Parks (center) and Don Cheadle in the audience for the presentation of “365 Days/365 Plays” by Parks, at the opening in Los Angeles November 15 of the yearlong National 365 Festival, presented by Center Theatre Group outside on the Music Center Plaza. LAist was standing right behind them.

We just go into reverie when thinking of picking apples in orchards out in Illinois or cherries in Door County, Wisconsin.

Transplant? Yes.

When in LA... pick oranges and grapefruit.

Twice a year, folks can head over to Orcutt Ranch in Canoga Park to pick fruit: oranges in the summer and white grapefruit in the fall. This Saturday from 7am to 2pm, it's $2 for each shopping bag you fill up and $1 to rent a fruit picker (bring your own and save a buck).

There's quite a history behind this ranch, most notably is the swastika decor. The City's Department of Recreation and Parks, who run the ranch, go deep into the history of the swastika and the general history of the location at their website.

Orcutt Ranch is open for visiting 7 days a week from sunrise to sunset. Call ahead to make sure no weddings will be happening during your visit.

Photo by Drumbago via Flickr

Los Angeles native, Douglas Kearny, will be celebrating the publishing of his first book, Fear, some at Bergamot Station (Gallery A-5) on Friday, November 17th from 6:30 - 9:00 p.m.

Photo of an Altadena Sunset by sfPhotocraft via Flickr.

-- Only in LA would there be an Emilio Estevez directorial double-feature hosted by bro himself. Tonight at the Aero they will screen a sneak preview of "Bobby" followed by "The War at Home". Q&A with Mr. Estevez between films.

-- The New Beverly is having a David Lynch double-feature (maybe he will show up and bring his cow). The films will be the creepy "Blue Velvet", and the X-rated version of "Wild At Heart".

-- "F*CK", the documentary about the infamous expletive, opens tonight at the Nuart. Filmmaker Steve Anderson will be in-fucking-person for Q&A tonight and tomorrow at the fucking 5:00 & 7:30 screenings.

-- Our favorite literary blog, The Elegant Variation, recommends tonight's Short Fiction series in Beverly Hills at 8pm. Actors read from Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits, the debut story collection from Laila Lalami (a USC grad), who will also be making an appearance.

A few months ago, we visited with The Format at the Avalon. We were also visiting an opening band that night called Anathallo in anticipation of this weekend where they will hit the LA area with three concerts.

The large band of percussionists, keyboardists, hand clappers, velcro rippers, floor stompers and vocalists just blows us away. Organic, playful and just a pure joy to listen to, we can listen to their artful music, which they categorize as "folk and experimental," like a broken record player all day long.

We're now down with our ass kissing, just take our word for it and check our their MySpace/PureVolume pages and check out the video after the jump...

Nov 10 2006 @ 7:30P: Chain Reaction (Anaheim)
Nov 11 2006 @ 8:30P Spaceland, 21+ (Los Angeles)
Nov 12 2006 @ 8:00P Alex's Bar, 21+ (Long Beach)

If you love the ocean and want to support the people out there every day trying to protect it, you have no choice but to attend the party next weekend celebrating the reopening of Heal the Bay's Santa Monica Pier Aquarium.

From the official site:

Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium will celebrate the completion of a new roof with a reopening event on November 18th from 12:30 to 5:30pm at the Aquarium beneath the pier -- 1600 Ocean Front Walk. The marine education facility closed for two months during the roof construction, necessary after years of water leaks during the rainy season and debris falling from the eastern Pier deck.

The reopening festivities will include the kickoff of the “Meet the Locals” campaign; performances by professional storyteller Diane Michelle, special feeding presentations at various exhibits and a variety of games and arts and craft activities. “Meet the Locals,” a campaign designed by Ogilvy & Mather uses whimsical images and educational facts to highlight the local marine life of Santa Monica Bay.

So, gather the kids, dogs or whatever and plan on spending some quality time at the beach next weekend. If you do, you'll get to have some fun, learn something and support a good cause all at the same time. What could be better than that?

Bring together Positive Television and Animal Acres in Acton, CA, and you're going to get an event worthy of your Saturday afternoon, even if it is about an hour north of Los Angeles.

Saturday from 2 to 6 p.m., Progressing Together will bring out speakers to talk about international charity work, 5 years after 9/11 in Afghanistan, and what children can do to make a difference. Sky Valencia of the Vegan Vixens will talk about her activism, Bobby Rock does vegetarianism, and Skinny Bitch author Rory Freedman will speak on Peace. Tours of the sanctuary that is Animal Acres will be held every hour.

Consider it a day trip up the 14 Freeway and make a small detour stop at Vasquez Rocks or Placerita Canyon where the first gold in California was found.

You'll even make it back in time for UCLA kickin' some ass.

Photo by Brianna Harden via Flickr