Mellowdrone | Photo by Todd Becker via their MySpace page UPDATE, 12:10 P.M.: We forgot to remind you that Sia is playing this afternoon in Santa Monica for free. 2:00 p.m., Starbucks, random (see first bullet in Extra, Extra list). Maybe you're going on a rock n' roll date tonight with one of these bands. Or maybe you're going to the launch party of RocknRollDating.com. Or maybe Valentine's Day sucks and you'll be joining......

Today we are all supposed to be thankful, so that's exactly what I am going to do, right now, in enumerated fashion, just for you. 1. Just to get all the obligatory thanks out of the way: I am thankful for my mom and dad, for all the rest of my family, for the people who try their best to live green every day and for all the good things that have ever happened......

1. In N' Out I've been training for the LA marathon for the past month and once a week, after a super hard run, I reward myself by ordering a #3 w/onions. Seriously, how could a "fast food" hamburger taste so good? And it's really not that bad for you. If you order a burger combo with a diet coke, you'll consume less than 550 calories. It's totes a win-win situation. 2. Bros Because......

Several years ago, I used to be a Westsider and part of my weekly routine was to hit up the beach, whether playing ball on the blacktop at Venice, laying out and reading a book at Ocean Park, or people watching at Santa Monica. It was super-relaxing to be out in the sun, soaking up the ocean breeze, and enjoying the local culture. Part of the culture was stopping off at some of the......

Photo by sassylittlepunkin via Flickr. Looking for an excuse to try the lobster roll and pug burger at Hungry Cat? Now you have a certifiably altruisitc motive for your gluttony. Tomorrow is the 13th Annual Dine Out Los Angeles, a one-day event where participating Los Angeles area restaurants will donate 20% or more of their day's proceeds to Aid For AIDS, a charity that works to improve the quality of life for people who......

Stocking stuffer alert for the foodies on your list! When it comes time to make New Year's resolutions, oftentimes at the top of ours is "Try more restaurants!" And this is when "new" is a relative term; sometimes "new to us" is as good as new, if not better. But then as any given mealtime approaches, we find ourselves scrambling for ideas: Where should we go? How much of a dent in the wallet will......

Personally we don't get the hate for Mark "The Cobra Snake". Sure he gets to hang out with hot young chicks and take their pictures and go to hipster clubs and take pictures, and go to fun concerts and take pictures and get paid mo money mo money, but hi, that's his job. He's a photographer, and judging from most of the pics that we see on the Interwebs, he should be getting paid.......

Tuesday, the most overlooked day of the week, has finally made a name for itself thanks in part to the latest trend in retro pastimes, Foosball. You might remember Foosball from such events as: ~ That time you misguidedly joined a fraternity (or) ~ The Boston pub-crawl you participated in around the millennium (or) ~ Being nine. But whatever your fondest memories of this beloved table soccer, you can relive them every Tuesday, for......

Gram Rabbit Cultivation (Stinky) – They’ve got a unique sound (kind of like Calexico mixed with trip-hop) and they’re from Joshua Tree. This is their second release and they’re performing live at Tower Sunset on 4/20 at 6:00 PM and the Echo on 4/21. Listen to some tracks on MYSPACE. Languis Other Desert Cities EP (Pehr) – Highly recommended new release from an under-appreciated local band. If you haven’t seen or heard them since......

In a week when the governor wasn't running for re-election but lost big anyway and Jesus is Magic won the hearts and minds of our readers becoming our biggest giveaway yet (there were well over a hundred entrants! We love that), we welcomed a couple new contributors, gave a shout out to local digital photographers and started working on a new contest/contributor search that we hope to announce early next week (hint: if you......

Recently we had an urge to head out to eat somewhere fun--not necessarily somewhere the wait staff does dance routines en masse at scheduled intervals, or where patrons stand on tables knocking back sake bombs, but just somewhere interesting and vibrant. Maybe not new to the world of dining but new to us. Our wish was met through dinner at one of the original locations of the contemporary Caribbean restaurant Cha Cha Cha in......

Although we don't know who's winning the first round of the mayor's race -- which will likely end up with two finalists facing off on May 17 -- we do know that tonight two candidates will be celebrating. The three who don't make the finals may share their sadness with the people who worked hard to make their campaigns come to life. Who's sharing where the parties start? Richard Alarcon: Cha Cha Cha in Encino......