St. Sophia's on Normandie hosts the LA Greek Fest this weekend. The church's interior is just stunning. / Photo by pink_fish13 via LAist's flickr pool. THEATRE: Made Me Nuclear is a “pop music operetta” by Charlie Lustman. The tagline “They radiated him, but they couldn't silence him” refers to his battle with cancer. The show opens tonight at 8 pm at the Santa Monica Playhouse. Tickets are $25. FILM: The Aero Theatre continues its... [continue]

Just say 'yes' to these events around town tonight. / Great photo by ~db~ via LAist's flickr pool. THEATRE: The Company of Angels and The Management in NYC present the West Coast premiere of The Chalk Boy tonight at the Alexandria Hotel in downtown LA. Set in a small town, the story focuses on the relationship between four girls. “They struggle with faith, friendship, sex, the occult, algebra, and the disappearance of . .... [continue]

We just think this is an awesome shot. / Photo by kpe II via LAist's flickr pool. THEATRE*: Once on This Island is a mythical musical set in the French Antilles based on the novel My Love, My Love by Rosa Guy. In the play, Ti Moon must prove to her gods that love is stronger than death. It examines issues of race and class along the way, through some really great music. The... [continue]

Looking for this month's nightlife? Check out our favorite events below. / Photo by !Manny! via LAist's flickr pool. We'll add interesting events as they come our way. Want your event considered for listing? E-mail us. Mon., Sept. 1 See today’s Pencil This In Tue, Sept. 2 Once on This Island @ Freud Playhouse, UCLA Megan Crane and Liza Palmer on "How to Get Published" networking event @ Blankspaces Wed, Sept. 3 Towelhead film... [continue]

Nothing says Labor Day than meat over fire. / Photo by bcmacsac1 via LAist's flickr pool. It's pretty quiet around the city since many of us are cuing up the grills for later today, but there are still a few events happening around the city...if you know where to look: JAZZ*: As mentioned earlier, the Angel City Jazz Festival takes place at Barnsdall Art Park today until 10:30 pm. The show features all styles... [continue]

Hang at the Getty Center for the last Friday off the 405 tonight. / Photo by Photo by atomicshakespeare via LAist's flickr pool. FILM: The Aero in Santa Monica screens the L.A. premiere of the rock doc Patti Smith: Dream of Life at 7:30 tonight. “Twelve years in the making, the first film directed by fashion photographer Steven Sebring stitches together layer upon layer of human experience to paint a portrait of Patti Smith,... [continue]

John McCain's web people were a little busy this morning prepping the "Ticket for America." (Is it just us or does the photo have SNL skit written all over it?) Just for fun...let's play caption the photo.... [continue]

As we were watching The Today Show this morning, trying to wake up, Matt Lauer came on live with a bit of an eye opener: Sen. John McCain, the Republican presumptive nominee for POTUSA, took a little bit of wind out of Democrats' sails this morning with the announcement that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has been picked as his running mate. Now we don't know a lot about the Alaska governor, but we do know... [continue]

ART TALK: MOCA’s The Geffen Contemporary hosts artists David Lamelas who’ll discuss his work in conjunction with the museum’s current exhibition Index: Conceptualism in California and the Permanent Collection. The talk begins at 6:30 pm. READING*: "In the Flesh Reading Series: LA" happens at Hustler Hollywood tonight at 7:30 with some of LA's best journalists and authors titillating audiences with themed stories about love, sex and all things flesh-related. Tonight's is "Madonna Night" with writers... [continue]

How can you resist helping a face like this tonight @ Safari Sam's? / Photo of Sadie by Christine N. Ziemba PARTY WITH A PURPOSE*: Only in LA, right? Paws for a Cause L.A. presents "Cha-ching for Cha Cha" tonight at Safari Sam's. It's a party to benefit local residents who can't pay emergency vet bills when their pets are injured. On the bill tonight are various burlesque acts, including Miss Viva Las Vegas... [continue]

Photo by ~db~ via LAist's photo pool. FILM: The Academy’s “Great to Be Nominated” series ends tonight at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre with There Will Be Blood. See Daniel Day-Lewis as a mean sonofabitch in the Paul Thomas Anderson adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s novel Oil! Day-Lewis won for best actor, but the film didn’t win best picture. The film will be preceded by animated short nominee I Met the Walrus and a scheduled post-film... [continue]

Artist: Uh Huh Her CD: Common Reaction Release Date: Aug. 19 Common Reaction is the first full-length CD released last Tuesday by the LA band Uh Huh Her. Camila Grey (formerly of Mellowdrone) and actress-musician Leisha Hailey (The L Word) front the four-piece band. Hailey’s probably the better known of the two, thanks to the Showtime series and her time spent in the ‘90s band The Murmurs (best known for the sublime ditty, “You... [continue]

We just really liked this photo of a Manhattan Beach sunset. / Photo by karthikkito via LAist's photo pool. FILM: What We Do Is Secret, The Germs’ biopic finally hits LA. Watch the rise and fall of the punk scene embodied by lead singer Darby Crash—and true to rock legend form—played hard and died too young. The Nuart has multiple screenings tonight with Q&A and introductions from original Germs Lorna Doom, Pat Smear and... [continue]

Peep these upcoming events for the rest of the month. / Photo by ~db~ via LAist's flickr pool. We heard ya, LA. Getting across town is a bee-yotch. But on short notice, it's plain near impossible. You need more of a heads up for events around town than our daily "Pencil This In" column gives you. To help you maximize your social calendar and plan your life, we’d like to present the "LAist Agenda:... [continue]

We can't guarantee a sky as beautiful as this, but you can bet on some good music tonight at 1st and Central. / Little Tokyo Clouds by pinkfish13 via LAist's flickr pool. MUSIC*: The 1st & Central Summer Concerts at the Japanese American National Museum continues tonight featuring the Cheap Landscape’s distorted Colombian cumbia and zocaloZüe’s pumped-up Mexican son jarocho. The outdoor concert begins at 6:30 pm with a kickoff performance by La Santa... [continue]

I'll admit it. I'm a "Davehead" who's seen and followed the Dave Matthews Band more than a dozen times in at least four states. And I know some LAist readers (and my fellow editors – right, Andy?) will judge me for actually liking their world-jazz-bluegrass-lite style of pop. But LeRoi Moore's death at 46 yesterday in LA was saddening. Matthews' sax player was a consummate jazz musician whose work often got overshadowed by the... [continue]

Say you want to share your dozen newest favorite songs with your bff...like now. You head over to make a Muxtape, right? Nope. Not today. Go to the site (muxtape.com) and you'll find this message: "Muxtape will be unavailable for a brief period while we sort out a problem with the RIAA." But here's why we're confused. The site allows users to listen -- not download the songs. And it even links to sites to... [continue]

You think the photo's pretty trippy? Then check out the film on the schedule at the Silent Movie Theatre tonight. / Photo by Lord Jim via Laist's flickr pool. MUSICAL FILM: You love movie musicals? Especially ones that would be deemed oh-so-politically incorrect today? Then head over to the ArcLight Hollywood tonight for a special anniversary screening of Rogers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific. Mitzi Gaynor will host the event and will be joined by... [continue]

MUSIC JAM*: The Ford Amphitheatre’s J.A.M. Sessions series continues tonight with “String Along to Bluegrass.” Audience members can bring along their acoustic string instruments for an evening of bluegrass jamming. The event’s hosted by the Bluegrass Association of Southern California and begins at 7 pm. And make an evening by bringing your own food and drink (or buy it there) for a picnic. The Ford opens two hours prior to evening performances for picnicking... [continue]

FILM: Attention all Hitchcock fans: The New Beverly Cinema screens two of his classics tonight and through the weekend. The spy thriller Notorious with Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant begins at 7:30 pm and it’s followed by Rebecca with Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine. THEATRE*: The Falcon Theatre presents the Troubadour Theater Company tonight in a preview of the comedy As U2 Like It. The show’s a parody of Shakespeare’s As You Like It,... [continue]