There are a number of events happening in LA tonight, including a performance-art inspired "MIss Hooker Beauty Pageant" at Dragonfly; mid-century cartoons screen at LACMA; a First Friday celebration at NHM; and sample sales at the California Market Center. Read on for all the details. more ›

If you didn’t get a chance to go out yesterday because of the rain, we’ve picked out several events tonight that may entice you to venture out. There the epic documentary Shoah screening part 1 at the Hammer; Star Dreck at NerdMelt, bad cartoons are screened at Cartoon Dump, Pasadena’s Restaurant Week continues and It’s a School Night takes over Bardot. Read on for all the details. more ›

Happy Boxing Day...if you don’t feel like hitting the Target or Macys to return gifts, we found a few other stores with sales that might satisfy the shopping bug, as well as a few events that have nothing to do with either shopping or food. Read on for all the details. more ›

The LOFT Ensemble presents An Evening of Music & Art tonight at 8 pm. Hear a mix of folk/blues/bluegrass/gypsy/swing and everything in between tonight with The Dustbowl Revival, Dastardly, Olentangy John w/ special guest Jared Bartman. See the artwork of Patrick Haemmerlin, Teresa Downer and Dave Lovejoy, too. $5 at the door. 929 East 2nd Street #105, Downtown LA (Directly across from the Bordello Bar, Entrance on S.Vignes St.). more ›

There’s a public reception tonight for Joel Kyack: Superclogger at LAXART back parking lot from 7-10 pm. Superclogger is LA-based Kyack's first large-scale public project that holds puppet shows for drivers caught in afternoon traffic jams from a mobile theater in the back of a white pickup truck... more ›

Tonight at 7 pm the Santa Monica Museum of Art hosts Helen Varola, co-editor of Con Art, a book on art and magic. She’ll discuss history and symbolism of the pulling a rabbit out of the hat trick. Varola’s lecture is part of the museum’s current exhibit Diana Thater: Between Science and Magic. Free admission, but seating is limited. more ›

In conjunction with “The Bible Illuminated: R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis,”, which opened at the Hammer Museum last Friday, UCLA Live this Thursday is hosting a rare appearance of the famous cult cartoonist in a conversation with Françoise Mouly, The New Yorker's Art Editor. A little about Crumb, via UCLA Live: In the late ’60s, R. Crumb’s psychedelic comics—including the characters Fritz the Cat, Mr. Natural, Devil Girl and the popular Keep on Truckin’ cartoon— propelled him overnight to celebrity status in San Francisco’s burgeoning underground scene... more ›

Pourtal wine bar kicks off The Imbiber’s Ultimate Playmate Fantasy Wine Tour tonight from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. It’s a flight of eight wines inspired by eight of history’s most iconic Playmates, from Marilyn Monroe to Anna Nicole Smith. Join “The Imbiber” Dan Dunn, booze writer and Playboy.com’s nightlife columnist, with a few of his friends: Featured Playmate Lisa Semler (Miss September 1980), whom Dunn paired with a selection from her family’s winery in Malibu, will make a special appearance to autograph special-edition bottles of the 2001 Semler Cabernet. Playboy model Andrea Lowell, host of the Playboy Radio Morning Show on Sirius/XM, will also be on hand to pour a special tasting of Waterbrook Melange 2005. more ›

Councilman Greig Smith hosts a movie night tonight -- National Night Out -- with free hot dogs, popcorn and "Kung Fu Panda" tonight at Northridge Park. The dogs come courtesy of CPAB and LAPD and will be served at 6:30 pm. The movie starts at nightfall. There will also be free popcorn until 9 pm, free drawings for prizes, face-painting for kids, booths with public safety information, LAPD mounted police and underwater diving units, games, activities, and more. For more information, call Councilman Smith's office at 818.756.8501 or visit his website. more ›

Jerry Beck is an LA-based animation and cartoon historian who's authored or co-authored many books on the subject, including Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons, The Art Of Bee Movie, The Hanna Barbera Treasury and Nicktoons. more ›

Animation historian Jerry Beck presents “Juvenile Mindrot: Inappropriate and Disturbing Kids' Cartoons” at the Silent Movie Theatre tonight. These cartoons have been deemed too violent, too scary, too depressing and no longer for kids. Beck will bring in cartoons that aren’t shown on TV or on DVD right now. “Originally made for children, these roasters are no longer appropriate for small fry, whether it's because of the violence, cross dressing, smoking, sexism, or just straight-up bizarre ingredients contained within. If your childhood wasn't already perverted by hours upon hours of unhinged animation, this show will make it up to you.” Tickets are $13. more ›

Over the holiday week, it appears that Warner Brothers has painted over their huge Looney Tunes/Hanna-Barbera/Warner Animation mural that's been there for more than 15 years, finds animation authority, historian and author Jerry Beck on his blog, Cartoon Brew. "To give them benefit of the doubt, perhaps they are going to replace it with an even better graphic of Bugs Bunny and crew. I hope so... but who wants to bet that Harry Potter or the live action Dark Knight will soon be guiding us toward the Cahuenga Pass." more ›

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I used to work in an extremely uptight government office. My one saving grace was my friend, Karen, who was the only normal person there. more ›

Are you old enough to be nostalgic for "Car Toons" comics? Or young enough to wonder what the deal is with Rat Fink? Tonight's art opening for original Big Daddy Roth artwork at La Luz De Jesus is a can't miss event for children of all ages. Big Daddy Roth's characters fathered a movement Howie Pyro refers to as lowbrow/pop surrealism. Roth mentored and inspired artists such as Robert Williams and Ed Newton, not to mention an entire generation of unnamed PeeChee folder doodlers. more ›

Artwork by A. Nagler.... more ›

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10. More Foods Taste Good - If you try it, you'll like it. Mom was right. 9. Shorter Lines At Disneyland - When you're bigger, they seem shorter. And you're tall enough to ride everything. 8. R Rated Movies - Not to mention other places with an age minimum. 7. Naptime - Once dreaded, now our friend. 6. Reaching The Top Shelf - We can reach what's on the top shelf. If not, we... more ›

- Now that's a bad ass trailer - Defamer - My bad little girl is bringing her bi-hotness back to Lost - tv squad - Is the Pope gay? - NY Post - The Answer is a Question Mark for tonight's game in Denver - AP - Woman thrown from her car and into LA River during a traffic accident, probably fatal - LA Times - Clippers only a game and a half out... more ›

Last night I had a dream I was walking on an empty freeway with a martini in one hand and a beedog in the other. Bathrobe clad with a cigarette dangling from my mouth like Valley of the Dolls meets The Color of Money, I flag down Mr. T, who is speeding by on a tractor while singing “Private Eyes,” by Hall and Oates. We exchange knock-knock jokes and arrive at an oceanfront condo... more ›

COOP doesn't play. If you tell him you're going to have a couple dozen questions emailed to him, and you shoot them to him, when you come back from your little party, there they are, answered, beautifully, honestly, no problems, no worries. The man is a pro. He takes his art just as seriously. Well, as seriously as you can take big-tittie devil girls and hot rods and demons and now Atari joysticks. He's your... more ›