The PBR bucks their way into Anaheim this weekend for three days of bull riding at the Honda Center. 45 riders will compete for over $125,000 in prize money distributed in a number of mano-a-toro showdowns. more ›

Just in time for spring, the LA Times is reporting on something I think would just go marvelously with that recession you've been looking at: more ›

In a couple hours, the Iowa caucuses- or Hawkeye Caucii, if you prefer- will be starting, and that means we're off to the races for a new President. more ›

No Country for Old Men is so profoundly good, so rich in depth and meticulous in craft that if someone were to ask me what I thought of it, I would only be able to stammer, "Just...go see it. Quickly!" Adapted from the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name (its title lifted from Yeats' Sailing to Byzantium), No Country for Old Men tells the deceptively simple story of a man who finds a... more ›

This ESPN reporter took a big old bite out of a Naga Jolokia chili pepper -- also known as the Hottest Chili Pepper in the World. Wikipedia says that "one seed from a Naga Jolokia can sustain intense pain sensations in the mouth for up to 30 minutes before subsiding." I doubt there's enough milk in the world to make THAT kind of burn go away.... more ›

In today's LAFD updates, a structure fire at Fuller and a passenger car is trapped underneath an 18-wheeler. Will fewer fast-food restaurants mean healthier citizens? The City Council will be asked to consider a moratorium on new chain restaurants in South Los Angeles. Oscar-winning actress (and first wife to Ronald Reagan) Jane Wyman died today at the age of 93 at her home in Rancho Mirage. Students at forty LAUSD schools will be competing... more ›

I know I’m working too hard when my social life takes a complete nosedive and the only men I’m able to fantasize about are ones that I can’t have. These include old crushes that provide nothing but heartbreak and guys I work with. more ›

Throw-The-Kitchen-Sink-In-It Pizza: with Vodka Sauce, Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Garlic, Mozzarella, Pepperoni, Basil, Parmesan, Caramelized Onions, and Olives We've gotta admit, Mozza was great, but Lord knows we can't eat like red-headed Italian kings every day. In fact, even ordering pizza every night tends to add up: $20 per pizza per day for two people over one week? That's over $140, even if you eat the leftovers for breakfast! It's enough to make us want to...I... more ›

Clearly these kids do not understand disco. Nevertheless, silver, swoopy-haired Barry Gibb (sounding oddly like Darryl Hammond’s Sean Connery impression) mentored and coached the hatchlings into eight counts of nostalgia butchering. Much like colorized movies, this was a bad idea. Melinda started us off with the very dirty, “Love You Inside And Out” oblivious to the connotation. For her second number she chose the timeless, the epic, the boooooooooooooring “How Can You Mend A... more ›

"You're trying to sell a historical period drama to a country like America, you don't want a big, fat, 250 pounds, red haired guy with a beard. It doesn't let people embrace the fantastic monarch he was, because they're not attracted to the package. Heroes do not look like Henry VIII. That is just the world we live in."
--WENN/IMDB

In case you missed the banners on every major street in town and the commercials on KNBC, it's time for the LA Marathon. Even if your idea of a workout is walking to the TV when the batteries in your remote die, this event is likely to have an impact on your life. About 26,000 runners will pound 26.2 miles of pavement on Sunday morning. That's right, 26.2 miles of street closures for just the... more ›

If you’re a hooligan comme moi, you frequently find yourself situated in the pavilion seats at Dodger games. The greater powers that be decided that although the right-field pavilion is already a madhouse of drunken debauchery, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to throw all-you-can-eat Dodger Dogs in with the cost of admission. more ›

My best friend's fiancé flirts with me all the time. I hang out with them a lot, but every time she's not around, he crosses the line. He'll do things like tell me how pretty I look, or say things like, "I was thinking about you the other day and then you called. It was so weird." Why was he thinking of me? And he says it with this knowing look. A flirty look. more ›

So, you're a Silver Lake hipster* who wants to go to the Sunset Junction street fair this weekend without shelling out that $15 no-longer-suggested-donation entrance fee. It's not that you're not into fiscally supporting harmony and diversity in the community blah blah blah, and some old grampa at the Little Joy the other night said that the Cramps alone were well worth that $15, but frankly, you're a little ticked off that you haven't... more ›

Dear Carl’s Jr., Look, it’s not that a pastrami burger is a bad idea, and perhaps thought up by some vile criminally insane think-tank… It’s that you would have to be retarded or some kind of asshole to buy a pastrami burger from a restaurant that thinks it’s selling a six-dolla-burger for $5. That so called sixdolla patty ain’t even good enough to use as a coaster for my Keystone Ice. Everything has to... more ›

Is there anything better than free food? YES! And that's a free Slurpee, which technically doesn't count as food. Unless you pour it onto a hot dog or something. And actually, during the last few boiling hot days, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. Chili cheese dog with cherry Slurpee on top. Mmmm. more ›

As Phil Jackson prepares for an interview during tonight's broadcast of the NBA Finals, Peter Vecsey of the New York Post is reporting that the Lakers are considering Brian Shaw as their next head coach. more ›

Hiring Spero Dedes is a bad idea. He comes from what I like to call the "New York school" of basketball announcers, where everyone desperately tries to sound like Marv Albert. They all speak in short phrases, and throw a bit of a New York flair at the end of their sentence, while not really saying a whole lot. Mike Breen has become relatively accomplished with this style, and Spero could too one day. more ›

The biggest loser in this battle is Mayor Hahn. He coveted having the measure on the ballot for the May runoff, when he could not only use it as part of his campaign, trumpeting drops in crime and the hiring of Chief Bratton simultaneously, but also because of its financial implications: such a ballot measure would facilitate setting up an independent expenditure (IE) committee to support the measure, where normal campaign finance laws don’t apply. With IEs, campaigners can raise an unlimited amount of money from contributors instead of the normal $1,000 limit. In addition, they can send out mailers that support a particular candidate, as long as they’re not connected to the candidate’s campaign. Had this measure gone to the ballot, the Police Protective League (the Police officers’ union), which has endorsed Hahn, would have undoubtedly sent out hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of mailers to support the measure–and Jim’s reelection. more ›

Developers will finally have their way with the Ballona Wetlands, as the Los Angeles City Council has given the go ahead to plans to construct a second phase of the Playa Vista mixed-use development (click on the project web site just for the corny flash intro and mind-numbing Muzak soundtrack. Priceless schmaltz!). more ›

We here at LAist may not want to rule the world (though from time to time we fantasize about running this city for a while), but that doesn't make the lyrics of Tears for Fears any less true. Almost twenty years after their best-known hit, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," they've moved on to make a new generalization about the entirety of humanity. Now they're insisting that Everybody Loves a Happy Ending. And in this case, at least, we do. more ›