As one of my favorite bloggers Jeffrey Wells recently wrote, "The Sundance Film Festival is a 10-day event, but it's always over as of Wednesday morning...the voltage turns down, there are fewer people on Main Street, all the presumably hot titles (i.e., name casts, advance-hyped) have been screened." Park City actually becomes a manageable town again and tickets that were impossible to get a few days ago can usually be had for less than face value. With that in mind, I decided to blow off the morning's press screenings and head out with a group of friends to see a film I'd been closed out of earlier, .
LAist at Sundance: The Home Stretch
Week Around the -Ists
- Londonist pondered who might be the next sponsors of the London Eye and whether or not readers would be willing to donate £1,000 each for a Londonist Eye.
- Shanghaiist was shocked to find a cameltoe in the city's only English-language paper.
Tonight in Rock: Coby Brown & The 11:11's, GIANT, Rocky Dawuni, Minnie Driver
It's the biggest dance club night in Los Angeles over at The Vanguard and tonight is a special one -- GIANT is having its eighth-anniversary party. Join Steve Aoki, Glycerin and others along it 1500 clubbers. Metromix has the low down.
LAst Night's Action: Ducks Fight For Win
Ducks 2, Avalanche 1, OT - Even in a loss, Colorado's Peter Budaj proved why the goalie is the most important player in hockey. He made 36 saves to keep the Avs in the game, while his teammates managed just three shots in the third period and none in overtime. The final shots-on-goal margin was 38-12, so the scoreboard could have been a lot worse for Colorado. Anaheim showed a major improvement over their 16 shots the day before, and their stingy defense didn't mind having Scott Niedermayer back for his third game of the year.
NFL Quick Recaps: More Snow than Hollywood Can Snort
I know I’m about as consistent as the Lakers in doing these things. So here are my quick takes of all of the Sunday games.
LAist Armchair Quarterback Week 13: In Memoriam
Like I said, I’ve been really bad about this. But I’m back with a vengeance fuckers.
Local Rock Must-See: Biblical Proof of UFOs Play Spaceland 12/3
During the six years relocated Clevelanders Biblical Proof of UFOs haunted the dives of Los Angeles, they made my world a better place. This one band brought so many of my favorite things in the same package. They had a simply colossal sound, shape-shifting between glacial-pace Black Sabbath grind and Who-like momentum, powered by memorable tunes and sweetened with angelic vocal harmonies. They could step on any stage, in any room, with lousy acoustics...
Get Your Lit On: The Week in Bookish LA
Monday Dave Isay, from StoryCorps, presents Listening Is an Act of Love 7pm @ Vroman's Johan Lehrer presents Proust Was a Neuroscientist 7pm @ Dutton's Nigella Lawson presents The Domestic Goddess 7pm Borders, Torrance Tom Brokaw presents Boom! Voices of the Sixties 7:30pm @ Temple Emanuel Tuesday Clive Barker presents Mister B. Gone 7pm @ Vroman's Gregory Rodriguez presents Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans & Vagabonds 7pm @ Central Library Susanne Daniels presents Season Finale 7pm @...
A sad day for piracy
What happens when you run one of the largest, "extremely lucrative" networks of invite-only, torrent-based music piracy? Interpol comes knocking at your door. Next thing you know all of your properties, including that covert warehouse in Amsterdam where your server is based, are seized in a raid-like manner. As though you were exporting/importing pounds of Class A drugs. Last night around 2 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, OiNK was officially taken off the web. By...
Red Sox Nation Celebrates!!
The Boston Red Sox, after coming back from a (reminiscent) 3-1 series deficit, last night beat the Cleveland Indians 11-2 to win the AL Championship Series and secure a spot in the World Series for the second time in four years. The Red Sox held a close 3-2 lead until the seventh inning, when Dustin Pedroia hit a 2-run homer to bring their lead to 5-2. Six runs in the eighth inning clinched the...
LAst Night's Action: Wild Finish (Couldn't Resist)
Kings 4, Wild 3 (SO) - The Kings took down previously undefeated Minnesota, which is a surprising sign of a pulse. It did take them an extra period and a shoot-out to get their first win since upsetting Anaheim six games ago in the season opener. Jean-Sebastien Aubin made 28 saves in his first start for Los Angeles. We're not convinced Southern California is big enough for two NHL goalies named Jean-Sebastien. Kobe Watch -...
Drew Carey: 'I'd love to own a freeway in Los Angeles'
He plays the part on TV but Drew Carey is not all games all the time. The host of both The Price is Right and Power of 10, Carey moonlights as one of Hollywood's most visible Libertarians (see also: Clint Eastwood, Trey Parker, Jason Reitman). Starting today, he's taking it broadband via the Reason Foundation's new online video channel "for free minds and free markets," Reason.tv. "We need Reason to help fight the stupid drug...
This Week in the World of -ist
As it gets closer to Halloween for LAist, a contributer recollects her tale of staring down the serial killer, Richard Ramirez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker. Must think happy thoughts -- okay, free organic chocolate chip cookies for Los Angeles -- now that's a happy thought. Other happy Los Angeles thoughts include an interview with Jack Kehler of The Big Lebowski (he was the Dude's landlord), a beautiful and magical photographic moment in Venice and the press making the speaker of the California State Assembly, Fabian Núñez, run away when being asked hard questions about sketchy luxurious and worldly expenses.
LAist Armchair Quarterback Week 5: What Have We Learned
With week 5 done in the NFL season, what have we learned so far? Thing learned the first: Norv Turner really isn’t that great a head coach. Granted they beat the Chicago Bears in week 1, but to lose to the Kansas City Chiefs who still have a question at quarterback is inexcusable. Thing learned the second: Rex Grossman is bad. True the ole ball coach Steve Spurrier named him Sexy Rexy, but he’s...
LAst Night's Action: Angels Drop The Ball
Rangers 8, Angels 7 - Call it an emotional let-down. Call it a hangover. Call it whatever you want. The Angels lost when they should have been pushing even harder for home field advantage in the playoffs. Ervin Santana had a lousy start, giving up 6 runs on 8 hits in 5 innings. The loss left the Halos tied with Boston and Cleveland for best record in the AL. Beckham Watch - Paging Dr. Beckham....
LAst Night's Action: It's Official
Angels 7, Mariners 4 - The champagne Bud Light is no longer on ice. After dropping two in a row to Seattle and delaying their inevitable AL West pennant, LAnaheim closed it out on Sunday. This is the earliest the Angels have ever clinched. They will join Cleveland (AL Central), Boston (at least the AL Wild Card) and one other team in the chase to represent the junior league in the World Series. Dodgers 7,...
NFL Week 2 Recap: I'm a Genius!
Yesterday I was out shopping all day. It was my friend Cathi’s way of staging an intervention for me. All of my friends are concerned that I’ve become so tied to sports, they are doing everything they can to get me out. Yesterday it worked. What can I say? I’m weak when it comes to shopping. Anyhow, I’d like to take this moment to say that I’m a fucking genius. I picked 13 of...
The Week in Weeklies
LAist scours dozens of LA metro weeklies and highlights the best content you may have missed. We read the weeklies so you don't have to. CityBeat gives well-deserved props to 26-year-old Bel-Air native, Alexander Antebi. Earlier this month, Antebi became the youngest, first American, and first Jewish moustache champion in the history of the World Beard and Moustache Championships. Antebi is also the, uh, face man, of LA glam-funkers Conquistador. Still gotta problem with facial...
Hello Cleveland? Village Voice Media Needs Help
The LA Weekly has been struggling to placate its staff ever since the alt-weekly's publisher, Village Voice Media was swallowed up by not-so-alternative New Times Newspapers nearly two years ago (New Times adopted the VVM name, but not necessarily the flavor). If you haven't witnessed the shift in ideology and coverage in the pages of the Weekly yet, a drastic dip in content quantity -- if not quality -- seems imminent, as the New...
LAst Night's Action: Local Teams Fall
Giants 4, Dodgers 2 - Jeff Kent's two solo shots gave the Dodgers a lead, but it fell apart on a three run pinch-hit blast by San Francisco's Ray Durham in the eighth. Los Angeles went 7-2 against the Giants this year, both losses coming in this weekend's series. With just 18 games to go this season -- all against division rivals -- the Blue Crew sits 5.5 games behind NL West leader Arizona and...
NFL Week 1 Predictions
That opening game of the NFL was a kick in the nuts, wasn’t it? The Indianapolis Colts proved their defense wasn’t a mere fluke in last season’s playoff by only allowing the New Orleans Saints offense to only score a field goal in their 41-10 blowout. At least I was right about the Saints having a pretty porous defense. With the exception of the Reggie Wayne fumble that was taken for a touchdown, no...
LAst Night's Action: Few Bright Spots
Cubs 8, Dodgers 2 - There goes that winning streak. The Blew Crew committed three errors, but only allowed one unearned run. That left an average of one earned for each of the seven pitchers used by Los Angeles. Juan Pierre was responsible for one of the errors, but also picked up his 55th stolen base of the year. A's 6, Angels 2 - Garret Anderson has been en fuego. He extended his RBI streak...
The Twilight Zone
What in the world is going on? On Tuesday night the Dodgers give up 15 runs to the Phillies, and now on Thursday night the Mets get 13. I was going to write off Tuesday’s game as a fluke. It happens, and the Dodgers just had to forget it and move on. Now I sense some bells starting to ring. Prozac gave up eight earned runs in only three innings pitched. Actually the only...
A Bizarre LeBron Interlude
In light of our recent LeBron debates, I felt the need to show LAist readers this. It's a "cautionary tale about the villagers of small hamlet called 'Cleveland' and a magic mule and greed and the savage burden of expectation and sudden fortune". Basically, this is one of the funniest and most bizarre things to come out of the blogosphere. Will it make no sense to some of you? Yes. Of course, others will see it as pure genius. Me, I think I understand half of it, maybe. I expect nothing less from Wizznutzz. If you've never read Wizznutzz, it is absolutely amazing and insane. Listen to this audiobook. Not Safe for Work? Probably. Will it also be the best 15 minutes of your day? Definitely.
Name The NBA Champion, Win Free Stuff
Will Cleveland complete a giant turnaround on the shoulders of LeBron James? Will San Antonio continue their NBA legacy with another championship? We don't have a stinkin' clue, but if you make the best prediction LAist will give you a box of 2006-2007 Topps Full Court Basketball Cards. The box contains 108 cards, including two relic cards and one that's been autographed by two different NBA stars. If you haven't heard, it seems like everybody...
One Down, Three to Go(al)
The Ducks have waddled one step closer to the Stanley Cup. A 3-2 win in Game 1 sent 18,000 Anaheim Ducks of Anaheim fans home in a tizzy. Of course, the other 9,982,000 citizens in the Los Angeles area are probably wondering what all the fuss is about. If they even noticed. You can get the details of the actual game anywhere. How the Senators ran out of steam in the third period. How...
LAst Night's Action: Angels Blast Indians
Angels 8, Indians 0 - Anaheim's anemic offense finally looked hungry with a run total matching their previous three games combined. They scored eight against Cleveland, five coming in just one inning. Gary Matthews Jr. smacked a three-run homer in the third inning outburst and Jose Molina stole home in the next frame. Kelvim Escobar pitched a complete game shutout, notching seven strikeouts and giving up no walks. The Angels are now off to Texas...
LAst Night's Action: Tomko Delivers
Dodgers 5, Marlins 3 - The bad news for Los Angeles this season is that a low percentage of their baserunners make it home. On Wednesday they left the bases juiced three times and stranded a total of 13. The good news is that so many Dodgers are getting on base, they don't need all of them to score. Brett Tomko helped his own cause by bunting home a suicide squeeze, but was more impressive...

