There were at least a handful of LAist contributors at this year's Coachella Festival, and as we slowly recover from our Coachella "hangover" we'll continue to upload photos and tell the stories from another epic weekend in the desert... (or at least the parts we can remember) Part 1 of 5: THURSDAY - Peanut Butter Cream Pie and Riot Police Our plan was to leave LA by 2pm (or 3 at the very latest) to......

It's February 29th -- Happy Leap Day! While others are pondering mysteries like "what happens to a baby born on February 29th?" and "Does this have anything to do with last night's episode of 'Lost'?", we're going to take the opportunity to teach you a shiny new word! It's called intercalation, and it's what Julius Caesar did back in the day to fix the wacky Roman calendar system: inserting extra units of time (in......

Our crack political team is projecting "reason to believe" that both Rudy Giuliani and Gov. Schwarzenegger will endorse John McCain for the Republican nomination very soon. We've sorted through various flight plans and itineraries, deciphered a number of "no comments" and left several voice messages on Wolf Blitzer's cell. Schwarzenegger will endorse "within days," Sen. Lindsay Graham told reporters before McCain took off for Burbank this morning. It's unclear whether that means today, or......

The eyes of the nation are turning to the Ronald Reagan Library today, where debates for the Republican front-runners will begin. This is the last debate opportunity for the GOP before "Super Tuesday" next week (LAist is throwing an Election Party to celebrate). Pundits are now anointing John McCain as a front-runner thanks to his campaign success this week in Florida, with Mitt Romney cast in the role of his fiercest opponent. The question......

Photo courtesy of jpchan via flickr For me, the Sundance Film Festival officially ended at the airport in Salt Lake City when I was waiting in line behind Bijou Phillips at the Quizno's in Terminal 1. She was politely arguing with the counter guy about why she couldn't get fresh mustard from behind the counter instead of having to use the the mustard packets by the napkin stand. In a heavy accent, he kept......

Photo courtesy of Alik Keplicz/AP Saturday is invariably both the best and worst day of the entire festival. It's the best in the sense that there is no shortage of high-profile movies, events and parties to attend. It's the worst in the sense that everyone--and I include the entire under-25 population of Salt Lake City--knows this. Saturday simply has the most intense crowds of the entire festival. It's the perfect day to avoid Main......

Sen. Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have spent the past couple days traipsing around the Golden State uncomfortably responding to allegations that their campaign is connected to a lawsuit brought last week by the Nevada teacher's union that would prevent casino workers from caucusing on the job. Many casino workers and hotel employees are members of the powerful Culinary Workers Union Local 226, which endorsed Barack Obama. The Nevada Democratic......

Mitt Romney is the consummate, cookie-cutter, robot-like Republican. Forget about eliciting animation or human emotion from this wanna-be prez. Even his campaign henchmen lack the ability to opine on, well, just about anything, as evidenced below. Romney is lucky to have 30 delegates on his side after Iowa and New Hampshire. Problem is, it takes 1,191 to win the Republican nomination. The 60-year-old former Massachusetts governor does have one or two things going for him,......

Happy New Year from LAist and your brand new Food Editor! I've arrived home refreshed from a fantastic vacation in the Philly/New Jersey area, and now I'm revved up and ready for the New Food Year. It was difficult to leave Philadelphia and its fabulous dining options behind (cheesesteaks are only the tip of the iceberg), but nothing beats Los Angeles for its range of offerings. Here's my wish list for places to go,......

According to a new study by David Strayer, a psychology professor at the University of Utah, talking on a cell phone while driving can make a person drive up to 2mph slower that other drivers, the LA Daily News reports. "The distracted driver tends to drive slower and have delayed reactions," said Strayer, whose earlier studies have resulted in the well-known findings that cell phone talkers react more slowly on the road than drink drivers.......

The New Year's Eve celebration at Little Radio in Downtown LA featured locals The Pity Party (MySpace), Fatlip (formerly of The Pharcyde), and Restaurant (MySpace), as well as DJ Lady Michelle Sinclair (MySpace). Not to mention free alcohol (after a $20.00 admission fee). Local music bloggers in attendance included Amateur Chemist and Rock Insider. Monday night was also "...the last event at Little Radio for about 4-5 months while [they] renovate the entire 10,000......

Earlier this week, KGRL, "...a [Southern California-based] non-profit non-commercial internet radio station that plays the freshest and the best ALL QUALITY female artist / fronted acts in a wide variety of genres," presented their List of Influential CDs of 2007, which included local residents Inara George (The Bird and the Bee), Charlotte Martin (MySpace), Sara Bareilles (MySpace), and Carina Round (MySpace). Their list of Top 10 Artists To Watch Out For In 2007 featured,......

Best way for LA to bring in the new year: win the Rose Bowl. USC killed Illini at 49-17, winning their 23rd Rose Bowl title. 750 bills go into effect this year and the minimum wage is now $8 per hour! The news battle in Santa Barbara continues: Wendy McCaw, owner of the Santa Barbara News-Press, has lost in court over illegal firings. She "must re-hire and give back pay — to at least......

Today's issue of LA Weekly holds their top few picks of the 740 new California laws coming our way in 2008. The law that hits Californians on the most basic level is Senate Bill 33, which bans talking on a cell phone while driving unless using a hands free device. It also bans teens from using cell phones flat out while driving. Don't worry, you don't have to spend your money yet, buying that ear......

California is still a hue of royal blue in the bloody bruise that exemplifies partisan U.S. politics. But with the ludicrous and often homogeneous plans suggested by members of the so-called "right" and "left," California voters have only grown to embrace their right-to-choose in a people's democracy. Californians who choose not to register as a red, blue, or third-party voter -- "Decline to State" voters -- comprise nearly one-fifth of the state's registered voters according......

Those of you who've been following the presidential race as closely as I have (and, really, who hasn't?) are no doubt aware of the conventional wisdom surrounding Hillary Clinton's candidacy – namely that she now appears unbeatable. Pundits and reporters alike have been buzzing about her insurmountable lead – often clocking in in the high double digits – over her next two closest rivals, Obama and Edwards, for what has seemingly been weeks now.......

We all hear about the Iowa Caucus, but do we really know, as Californians, what's going on over there? Previously: LAist Interview: Jacob Soboroff of Why Tuesday......

Let's face it, 2007 was a mediocre year for movies. Although there are still a couple months left for 2007 to prove it's cinema value, overall it was a disappointing year. Sure Hollywood gave us "300", "Zodiac", and "Once", but we also got "The Number 23", "Norbit", and "Code Name: The Cleaner". So I have my eyes set on 2008, which seems to have a wonderful slate of features for us to see at......

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is stopping at Chapman University in Orange on Sunday, capping off weekend fundraising dinner rounds elsewhere in OC. The public forum is billed "Ask Mitt Anything," and we've got a few suggested questions with which you can do just that... after the jump. WHAT: Public Forum w/ Mitt Romney WHEN: Sunday 9/23, 2:15 p.m. WHERE: Chapman University Theater, Orange (map). RSVP: Call (857) 288-2667, or email california@mittromney.com. AP Photo......

The 80th Academy Awards (host: Jon Stewart) aren't until February 24 but starting today you can register for a chance at a bleacher seat overlooking the red carpet. Thousands applied for 300 spots last year along the 500-foot-long red carpet, but you're feeling lucky, right? The chosen voyeurs will be randomly selected next Monday at noon, and notified in March. Submit for up to four tickets per person. http://www.oscars.org/bleachers/ Dangerous Liaisons devotees look for......

By week's end, LA is littered with dozens of free rags. LAist reads the weeklies so you don't have to. If there's anything we missed, let us know, or better yet drop it in the comments section below. LA Weekly reviewed the gaffe-filled Q & A between Democratic presidential hopefuls and Hollywood gays. While not one candidate came out clearly in support of gay marriage, Bill Richardson slipped so hard as to insinuate that......

Oh, ouch. That's gotta hurt: There's one vote that Rudy Giuliani definitely can't count on in his 2008 presidential bid: his own daughter's. According to the 17-year-old Caroline Giuliani's Facebook profile, she's supporting Barack Obama. But, wait, it gets better: On her profile, she designates her political views as "liberal" and—until this morning—proclaimed her membership in the Facebook group "Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Barack)." According to her profile, she withdrew from the......

As just the latest of high-profile California lawmakers to endorse her presidential bid, Senator Dianne Feinstein should add a bit more West Coast mojo to Hillary Clinton's already momentous campaign. The latest poll figures have her up 49% to 24% over Barack Obama in California, and she is leading the field in most other early primary states — though not in the fund-raising department, where Obama is kicking some serious tush. Her latest California......

If there's one thing I hate more than the MSM's obsessive coverage of the presidential campaigns, it's the gross fickleness and inanity inherent in the coverage itself. Given that the next president will need to tackle a whole host of weighty issues immediately upon taking office — global warming, the Iraq war, healthcare and the deficit, just to name a few — you might think the press would be busy providing in-depth and insightful......

Everybody's favorite "spoiler" third party candidate, Ralph Nader, may be gearing up for yet another encore in the forthcoming 2008 presidential election. According to a recent article in USA Today, Ralph Nader "told the Green Party's national convention that he is considering a 2008 presidential run." Apparently not yet satisfied with having already helped cost two prior Democratic nominees the presidency, Nader is primed and ready for another go if he deems it sufficiently......

LOGO, the nation's first (and only) openly gay television network, is set to host the next Democratic presidential debate in Los Angeles on August 9. The moderators will include Joe Solmonese, the president of Human Rights Campaign, and Melissa Etheridge, the Academy Award (for her rendition of An Inconvenient Truth's "I Need to Wake Up") and two-time Grammy Award-winning rock musician and prominent gay rights activist. So what specific topics will be on the......

Today we interviewed a top online news editor and wanted to share the goods. This interview was conducted by LAist during the Knight New Media Centers Politics and Cyberspace conference. Does anyone really still call it "cyberspace?" Dave Herman is the daily editor of the MSN.com homepage. We discussed the hits and misses on the evil empire's Redmond, WA-based portal, including the Janet nip-slip and the Virginia Tech massacre, before we were rudely cut off.........

Yesterday we interviewed John Amato of Crooks and Liars and today we take it to Right Blogistan to pick the brain of Outside the Beltway's James Joyner. (Amato and Joyner are pictured on the left and right, respectively.) While Amato was pulled away after a few minutes yesterday, we had an entire 15-minute break with Joyner at the Westin Bonaventure (we're covering the Knight New Media Center's Covering Politics in Cyberspace conference) to rap......

Thousands attended the Obama 2008 rally yesterday at Rancho Cienega in Crenshaw. We spoke to several Barack Obama supporters and found a variety of interests and goals bringing people together. To nobody's surprise, we found one common theme: Hope. Watch the video for more from the crowd and from Senator Obama himself.......