It’s the first Friday of the month, meaning that the First Fridays series continues at the Natural History Museum tonight. It’s a little gathering where you learn a little and party a whole lot more. First up at 5:30 (and 6) pm is a tour of the Vertebrate Paleontology Collection with NHM Curator Dr. Lawrence Barnes. At 6:30 pm, there’s a discussion and book signing on “Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why it Matters” with Dr. Don Prothero, tackling evolution, creationism and “intelligent design.” Now after all that learning, grab yourself a drink and listen to the live music from 7-10 pm featuring the music of Jukebox the Ghost and The Bird and the Bee with DJs The Phatal DJ and DJ Michael Stock (dublab.com) in the African Mammal Hall. Admission is $9. Dinner and drinks are on sale beginning at 5 pm. And, if you see our News Editor Andy Sternberg wandering the crowd, wish him a happy birthday and buy him a beer! more ›

http://seattlest.com/2008/02/28/foo_fighters_da.php">announced his presidential bid.

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Who knew an early Monday morning post about graffiti on a mural posthumously made famous by singer/songwriter Elliott Smith would lead to such wonderful results. Nearly six months ago, then-editor of LAist, Tony Pierce, posted a photo of the graffitied wall stating that "this is why we can't have nice things." Then, on Monday, reader Robert T. wrote an e-mail attaching a photo of a new tag on the wall. What we noticed was that the tag from six months ago was still there, under the new one. more ›

Look up! Whether it's a plane, a bird or Superman, the sky is clearing up. And that means earlier fears of tonight's 7:01 p.m. total Lunar Eclipse viewing being blocked by clouds in Los Angeles can go wayside (Update: the moment we published this, the Valley started to get hit by cloud cover, but it seems on and off, cross your fingers). And thank the good gods of this city because this is the last time for this until 2010 (by contrast, we had two last year). more ›

This billboard has been bugging me for months and it's all over LA. WTF is "Jobing?!?" Surely it's more than just a website designed to capitalize on typos of the unemployed. But what is this Jobing Community of Greater Los Angeles all about anyway? Is it community in the Eco-Village sense? Is there a secret society that worships the prophet Job? Do they have gaming casinos? more ›

In spite of the greasy mess plate of hungover love pictured above, Foxy's in Glendale is far from your last resort, still-drunk brekkie-plate of mornings soon to be forgotten. more ›

We're getting reports of problems from readers, writers and the media. John Ennis, one of the founders of Video the Vote, gave LAist this update. Most of the confusion today is over people who are not registered as Democrat or Republican who want to vote in the primaries. The issue might be that they moved and they thought they were up to date. If you are a non-partisan voter, all you have to do is go to either a Democratic or Republican voting booth. Other than a few precincts not opening on time, Ennis says things seem to be running smooth, but it's early in the day he warned. To report a bad voting experience, call Video the Vote at 866-OUR-VOTE more ›

The day has finally come. And if you didn't do your homework, you still have some time study. more ›

LAist News Editor Andy Sternberg is inside the Barack Obama rally which is scheduled to kick off at 1:30 this afternoon at Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus. more ›

Through 10 a.m. this morning, here are the rain and snow totals in inches from the National Weather Service. more ›

Photo by kpe II via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
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The anticipated LA MILL COFFEE boutique opened this morning in Silver Lake on its eponymous boulevard between Sunset and the Reservoir (they close at 6 p.m. tonight and are only serving bar drinks and clovers until then). Eater LA takes in the decor: "Custom-made French wallpaper, faux crocodile, ostrich and sharkskin chairs in dark teal, sky blue and red, black Lucite tables. A dramatic brass chandelier hangs in the main room." Definitely not a place safe for vegans. Actually, the menu isn't either. more ›

How much Britney coverage is too much? Whatever it is, it's not enough. In an e-mail memo, obtained by Gawker, sent this morning from Frank Baker, Assistant Bureau Chief, Los Angeles, he tells staff that "virtually everything involving Britney is a big deal." more ›

And that's just American Airlines! more ›

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It’s been a whirlwind of a day here at LAist. Early this morning our Editor told the staff via email that he would soon be accepting a new job at the LA Times running all of their blogs (of which there are about 25, currently) and that he would be starting in just a few weeks. We all knew this day would come, but so soon? Since the moment Tony Pierce began at LAist back... more ›

Welcome to Hollywood Today, an LA City commission voted recommending that Charles Bukowski's former home to be designated a historic cultural monument. Yay books and reading! According to state representative Fabian Nunez, who represents the Downtown LA area, the biggest crisis we're facing today is foreclosures. ""It's a more immediate crisis," he told the AP. Meanwhile, protests are beginning to hit the streets over this. Drink up! It's the holidays! Caroline on Crack has... more ›

If you don't get yourself to a festival this weekend, we're really going to question your priorities in life. Andy Sternberg lists the highlights, while Caroline on Crack narrows in on the awesome food festivals also happening this weekend. We have spent the entire month eating our way through Thai Town. We're winding down our series with Thai Town Express, Sanamluang Cafe, Thailand Plaza, and Thaitown Noodle. New Zagats are out! New Zagats are... more ›

Internet Radio Stations around the country are protesting a proposed increases of over 300% to royalty rates on streaming audio broadcasts by partaking in the Internet Radio Day of Silence. Our personal favorite KCRW is observing this day and been talking about it for two weeks. Also observing the day of silence is LAister Andy Sternberg's WOOZRadio. Read about it more in either the LATimes article or Washington Post. And then please take action.... more ›

Photo © Andy Sternberg Tomorrow, tens of thousands of Los Angeles residents will take to the streets to draw attention to the shoddy state of labor and immigration laws in the United States - for the fifth or sixth time in the last 6 months. Call me shitty, but I am over it. It's an excuse for kids to skip school, and if you have to go through downtown to get to work, it's... more ›

How to Protect Yourself and Others from Electrical Hazards Following a Natural Disaster more ›

Year of the Dog's Laura Dern and Molly Shannon with writer/director Mike White OK, so we were invited to the Paramount lot -- but wouldn't it be more dramatic if we crashed it? Could additional drama even be necessary at the premiere of a movie about relationships, work, death, and dogs, with a tagline begging the question: "Has the world left you a stray?" Year of the Dog hits theaters next Friday, the 13th.... more ›

Here are the ground rules: five players from each team enter the track -- four blockers and one jammer. The whistle blows and the group of blockers start skating. The second whistle lets the jammers begin their jam. The jammers must skate through the group of blockers, go all the way around the track and catch up to the group again. Now, for every opposing blocker they pass, a point is gained. It's those... more ›

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