Last Saturday, KCRW presented its First Annual Masquerade: A Halloween Costume Ball & Dance Party at the Park Plaza Hotel in Downtown LA. With music by DJ Shadow and Sweden's Little Dragon as well as local indie favorites Sea Wolf and Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, plus food from Grilled Cheese, Border Grill, Kogi, Coolhaus and Sprinkles, it was an extravagant night of veritable sights, sounds, and smells.
Not the most humorous interview, but Stephen Colbert last night got Bratton to explain his "Broken Windows Theory," which was applied here in L.A., and how he's going to apply it to his new private security gig.
Tonight, as always, local multi-instrumentalist/producer extraordinaire Jon Brion (LAist Interview, #2, Review) will be jamming with friends at the Largo at the Coronet. Legendary Boston-bred alternative rock outfit the Pixies are poised to conclude a three-night stint at the Hollywood Palladium with Brooklyn-bred TV on the Radio's Kyp Malone, who will be performing material from his solo endeavor Rain Machine of course. And, lastly, San Franciscan genre-defying septet Rupa & the April Fishes will be gracing the Mint. But we strongly suggest heading over to the El Rey Theatre to catch experimental Icelandic collective Múm. LAist favorites, Icelandic indie pop outfit Sin Fang Bous are slated to kick things off.
For the past two weeks, Brooklyn-based street artist Dan Witz has been in Los Angeles. And although he's put up about 20 pieces throughout Echo Park, Silver Lake, Hollywood and West Hollywood, he's not about to give away their locations.
It's been a week of mourning in Long Beach after the death of 16-year-old Melody Ross between last week's Homecoming football game and dance at Wilson High School. She was an innocent bystander when two alleged 16-year-old gangmembers shot bullets into a crowd meant for two men who were wounded. Those teens were identified today--Tom Love Vinson and Daivion Davis--because they were charged as adults, according to the LA Times.
The Silver Lake Art Crawl begins tonight with a series of events through Sunday. The majority of art gallery openings are happening Saturday night, but on Sunday, when the "Official Silver Lake Art Crawl Party at Barnsdall Art Park" occurs, a handful of food trucks will arrive to cater.
The next in a series of community town halls with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, featuring the new LAPD Chief, will be on the Westside next week. On Tuesday when Charlie Beck was chosen, meetings were immediately scheduled for that day in South L.A., followed by one in the Valley on Wednesday and one yesterday in El Sereno.
Echo Park blogger Jenny Burman points out a great event tomorrow, via her local librarian: "We'll be having a frugality forum at the Edendale Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library this weekend. It will be an open discussion on doing more with less. Bring your money-stretching tips, your challenges, and your questions to ask." It goes from 1 to 3 p.m.
When the city tried to regulate digital billboards earlier this decade, the advertising industry brought on the lawsuits. Out of one big cases, CBS Corp.'s Outdoor division and Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. landed a major settlement in 2006: 800 billboards could be converted into digital ones.
The New York Times nailed it this morning when they said "For Americans who wake up each morning thinking about their job hunt, Friday’s unemployment report offered little reassurance that their search would soon pay off, even as the broader economy showed signs of strengthening." That's because nationwide, unemployment in October shot up to 10.2 percent, a 26-year record high. 190,000 jobs were lost with the largest amount found in the construction industry.
If you're excited about Thomas Keller's return but can't get any reservations, there is an alternative. TK's new cookbook, Ad Hoc at Home, is now available. Although his previous books (The French Laundry Cookbook, Bouchon, Under Pressure) were notoriously difficult and demanding, this one is being billed as "the long-awaited cookbook for the home chef (that happens to have a blowtorch lying around)." If you can overlook the occasional five hour soffrito, most of the recipes are quick and easy to make (like his chocolate chip cookies). As mentioned in the LA Times, Ad Hoc at Home is a great primer on cooking.
Tonight's episode of SoCal Connected on KCET will air an episode detailing how some South LA residents are being forced to pay thousands of dollars because they are in some so-called new flood zone, as determined by the all-mighty FEMA.
Those artist-inspired USB flash drives known as The Mimobots (see the image to the right) have taken over the Munky King Shop on Melrose for all of November. Tonight is the opening party (7 to 10 p.m.) and Thomas Han himself will be live painting with artists Brian McCarty and Lili Chin on hand. Also: Keeping to a design trend here, Heath Ceramics on Beverly is showing off 75 limited edition canisters tonight.
Saturday night Track 16 Gallery in Santa Monica, where art meets punk rock, will be hosting a birthday party for artist, activist, teacher and official LA "Living Cultural Treasure", Rachel Rosenthal as she celebrates her 83rd year. Amy Knoles from the California E.A.R. Unit and Jean Paul Monsché of the Mad Alsacians will be performing live. Rosenthal will also be celebrating the release of her upcoming book The DbD Experience: Chance Knows What it’s Doing! and will announce her Company’s new performance troupe, TOHUBOHU! Extreme Theater Ensemble.
On a stretch of Pico where you’re likely to find spicy Caribbean food, or the caloric effort that is Oki-Dog, one might not expect tacos. That's why Sky’s Gourmet Tacos is a great fit. They serve up what they call: "Mexican food with a splash of soul".



