A cool and rather large crowd of art lovers attended last night's fun Downtown Art Walk; enjoying an evening of great works, good music & yummy food. Next month's artwalk is scheduled for Thursday, June 12th. Check out www.downtownartwalk.com for more info and if you need more reason to go, here are seven.......

The Downtown Art Walk is every second Thursday of the month (that means tomorrow!) and is easily a staple of those things you have to do at least once. For us, however, we prefer it to be on the list of things to do at least once a month. More than 30 galleries participate along with events happening in conjunction such as the Comedy Walk, Town Square's cocktail and networking party and Possum Saloon at......

Image courtesy of gfixler via Flickr Last year, to the chagrin of thousands of gamers nationwide, the LA-based Electronic Entertainment Expo (popularly known as E3) was massively scaled down to exclude the public in what was widely considered one of the biggest industry flops of the year. While the gaming masses were offered an alternative convention in October called E for All, industry professionals (specifically press) were none too pleased with the scattered layout......

Tomorrow Los Angeles will take part in Holocaust Remembrance Day--called Yom Hashoah in Hebrew--in ceremonies around the city, with the largest one in California set for early Sunday afternoon in Pan Pacific Park. Mayor Villaraigosa will be among the leaders attending the observance, and Rabbi David Wolpe of Sinai Temple is slated to be the keynote speaker. The location of the event is particularly significant, as early this year adjacent land was broken and dedicated......

Today is a big day in Los Angeles. Hundreds of thousands of people will walk in four separate marches downtown and converge at one location near City Hall. Needless to say, whether one is participating or not, downtown will be quite a scene and something different to traverse. Yesterday, we published the May Day Logistics Guide: Marches, Rallies, Traffic, Transit to help understand what is going on. Rail public transit will probably be the best......

Jesus Sanchez at the LA Times reports that the 150,000 estimated turn out (based on LAPD numbers) to Sunday's Fiesta Broadway celebration downtown was still was lower than previous celebrations and projections for this year. However, the fire department determined 400,000 people came out, still lower than the expected 500,000. Whatever the exact number may be, one things was for sure... it was hot and looked like a great time. LAist Featured Photographer Tom Andrews......

In the past two and half years we have seen the demise of Aron's Records, Tower Records , The Virgin Megastore on Sunset, Sea Level Records, and Rhino Records in Los Angeles. The tradition of combing the stacks for a rare find, donning oversized foam-padded headphones at the listening station, and spending hours roaming the aisles trying to remember what's on your "must listen to" list is fading, or obsolete, for most of us......

Providence, Michael Cimarusti's culinary temple celebrating the wonders of seafood, has quickly become a byword for exquisite dining in Los Angeles. One can hardly fathom the pleasures of eating wildly creative and delicately presented dishes like razor-clam risotto or sea urchin scrambled eggs, let alone preparing them yourself. But for a lucky few who show up on Sunday, you can take advantage of a private cooking demonstration held by Cimarusti himself in Providence's kitchens......

The weekend of April 26 is more than a month out, but one of the coolest festivals in this city has recently launched their updated schedule for this year's literary fête -- the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. The event, which is the same weekend as Coachella, is full of panels, stage readings, booksellers, publishers and literary organizations. It costs to get into Tickets with a nominal fee of 75-cents are needed for the......

All right, you alchie lads and lassies, your day is near, the one time of the year where the bars open up for breakfast and people won't look at you twice for having a little whiskey with your morning cuppa. Take the day off so you can start drinking early to beat the mad crowds and avoid the long lines. These Irish pubs can accommodate your pre-dawn cravings as they open up in the......

UPDATE!!! The event has moved to in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater. Check Facebook for updated details.Coming on the heels of the announcement for Los Angeles' participation in World Pillow Fight Day scheduled for Saturday March 22 downtown, there's yet another spectacle of an event planned for the night before at Hollywood and Highland, sans bouncers and lines to wait in (h/t again to Bored-LA). According to the Facebook page, at 10:00 p.m. on Friday......

Photo by Dave Schumaker via SFist via Flickr Update: For the most recent info on the Pillow Fight, they made a dedicated webpage for it. Check pillowfightlosangeles.comBYOP(illow) to Pershing Square on Saturday afternoon, March 22nd because it's time to have some fun. It's World Pillow Fight Day and the LA Burners are hosting the downtown, transit accessible, event. And yes, there are rules: Soft pillows only! Swing lightly, many people will be swinging at......

CSC's Juan José Haedo and High Road's Mark Cavendish stretch for position. Cavendish took 6th and Haedo 7th. | Photo by Matt Cohen San Francisco based photographer Matt Cohen reports from yesterday's Tour of California with photos and explanations of what happened: On its seventh and final stage yesterday at the 2008 AMGEN Tour of California, riders raced from Santa Clarita to Pasadena, often in very heavy rain. The 93-mile Stage 7 was the......

All photos by Scott Groller This weekend, the AMGEN Tour of California hit two Los Angeles area cities, Santa Clarita, yesterday, and Pasadena, today. Photographer Scott Groller was kind enough to share some photos from the finish line of Stage 6 in the Valencia neighborhood of Santa Clarita. The cyclists traveled 105.4 miles from Santa Barbara for a ride that lasted over four hours.......

Sometimes, the most fun in life comes in surprises. Last night, that surprise came in the form of a random marching band appearing out of nowhere at the corner of 5th and Spring playing a hybrid of New Klezmer Afro-Brazilian Tango during last night's Downtown Art Walk. We followed the free-jazz, experimental, all-genres-equal Killsonic for about an hour throughout Gallery Row intruding upon art galleries and people's peace and quiet. At one point, we......

Sometimes one is in the mood for a gathering of people with great music, but instead of being happy and energetically dancing around, there is Give Up's "A Sad, Slow Dance Party" presented by dublab and Part Time Punks tonight at La Cita. Taking cue from the successfully subdued Give Up shows where DJs played gloomy music and devotees painted tears on their faces, this next installation takes on the lonely theme in time for......

The Lunar New Year has officially started, and pigs are like soooo last year. To usher in the Year of the Mouse and Rat, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles is hosting the 109th Annual Golden Dragon Parade and festival on February 9th and 10th. Performers from Beijing will lead the parade, followed by assorted city officials (Villaraigosa et al.), Mickey Mouse as grand Marshall, flower drum dances, a plethora of beauty queens,......

Portland based musician and known as "the Stephen King of Indie Pop," Chris Robley and his band -- Fear of Heights -- play at Mr. T's Bowl tonight in Highland Park. Plenty of MP3s to check out of this indie-pop folk band below. Mr. Lif & The Perceptionists @ The Knitting Factory Jessie Evans, Von Iva, Deadbeats @ Silverlake Lounge Chuck Berghofer Midnight Jazz Band @ Charlie O's (Valley jazz club, not downtown one) The......

Yes, I know. Saturday's a busy night. So many places to go. So many people to do. But there's always time to fit in a signing of a really cool book at a really cool gallery space and store, especially if there's gonna be live music. So, why not roll into La Luz De Jesus/Wacko tomorrow night between 6 and 9pm to celebrate the publication of what all us musical nerds have long awaited: Bomp!......

Monday Tanya Lemani presents Have Belly, Will Travel 7pm @ Book Soup Kim Sunee presents Trail of Crumbs 7pm @ Vroman's Tuesday Marc Porter Zasada presents The Urban Man: Staying Human in LA 7pm @ Book Soup Patrick Conyer presents Pasadena: A Business History 7pm @ Vroman's Elizabeth Pomeroy presents Pasadena: A Natural History 7pm @ Vroman's Muhammad Yunus discusses Creating a World Without Poverty 7pm @ Central Library Lewis Hyde discusses his books......

I'm still waiting for all your hot happy hour tips, Los Angeles! We'll be posting happy hour listings at least a few times weekly in 2008; send your secret spots and recommendations my way at carrie@laist.com. And besides, what better way to get 2008 started than with some cheap booze at some happening city spots? Here's a few more we managed to dig up this week: Miss T's Barcade, Koreatown, Happy Hour 5-9 pm:......

Last year, my boyfriend and I wanted to go somewhere fun but romantic but local for our New Years Eve. We had just gotten back from a major trip to Belize, so we weren't in the mood for anything that would stretch our brains or require too much planning. Disneyland seemed like the best choice -- an easy drive (holiday traffic), mindless amusement, and maybe we'd get in a nice dinner at one of......

This is the summer cookie that works well in winter - especially in LA, where women are still wearing flip-flops on Christmas Eve! At every holiday party, the dessert table is full of heavy chocolate confections, heady alcoholic affairs (figgy pudding!) and dense fruit-cake-y type items. If I'm just not up for making sugar cookies (and the insane hours it takes to decorate them all!), I make these instead. They're lighter, fresher. Oh so yummy......

Winter really gets me down. It's cold, it's rainy, everybody's on vacation except for me. Worst of all, when I get off work every evening, it's already dark outside. Can we say SADS? So how best to beat the winter blues? Why, BOOZE, of course, the cheaper the better, and there are a ton of happy hours and special events taking place across the city that will lighten your holiday-heavy heart without lightening your wallet.......

I think reasonable people would agree that Deadwood was one of the best shows on television over the last few years. It never got the pub that The Sopranos did, but I know which show I was more excited to see (Tony Soprano's lucky he never had to face Al Swearengen). And while John from Cincinnati was confusing as hell sometimes (okay, most of the time), I still tuned in for every episode. Anyway,......

Ray Bradbury will receive France's highest Arts & Letters Award, the Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, tonight at 6pm in Beverly Hills for his contributions to literature all over the world....

As a send off to photographer, Ann Summa's Los Angelesshow, bands/performers from the bad old days of early L.A. punk played in the gallery. Dude, it was both awesome and bitchin. ...

KITSCH: The Charles Phoenix Holiday Jubilee returns to REDCAT for the next four evenings. LA kitsch expert Charles Phoenix brings together an evening of live comedy, including the Bob Baker Marionettes, roller rink organist Dominic Cangelosi and a few other surprises. The entertainment's all in combination with his "Retro Holiday Slide Show," comprised of slides he found at area thrift shops and flea markets. 8 pm // REDCAT at Walt Disney Concert Hall //......

On Friday evening, pornstar and director (as well as recent UC Irvine guest speaker and former Howard Stern Show guest) Dana DeArmond (MySpace) celebrated the release of her Vivid-Alt (MySpace) movie Role Modeling with a party at the 6th Street Warehouse in Downtown Los Angeles. Donations of canned food at the door benefited the Downtown Women's Center. Also in attendance, besides DeArmond's boyfriend Daniel and Vivid-Alt head Eon McKai (MySpace), were photographer Dave Naz......

Washington DC based minimalist postpunk trio, Antelope, is hitting town tonight at The Smell along with Bad Dudes Mi Ami (ex-members of Black Eyes from SF) and Bipolar Bear. Since we love classical minimalism, we thought to ask the band a few questions before tonight's show: 1. First, you've gotta explain what minimalist postpunk is. It's difficult to talk about music, which is invisible. We just try to create songs that are simple and......