The LA Times has a write-up on the demise of local public Channel 36. Somehow the City of LA can't/won't come up with a measly $500k to keep local broadcast of "school sport events, public policy talks, and long-distance for-credit college classes". While it's true that there is another city-funded public channel (#35) that one seems to be a megaphone for whichever politicians are in office. Surely the megalopolis of LA is big enough to......

Old Blue Eyes is the most expensive cocktail at Mediterranean restaurant/lounge NeoMeze in Pasadena. A $21 concoction standing apart from a list of $12 drinks, this one is made of 2 parts Bombay Sapphire Gin and 1 part Johnnie Walker Blue Label and it is some potent stuff.......

Chief William Bratton has cut crime in New York City and now here. Other cities are trying to do what he does, but it doesn't always work. So how do we model the success? Manhattan Beach solidarity. A two-year veteran of the MBPD is undergoing cancer treatment. Fifty officers, firefighters and city employees shaved their head to support the officer who is going through chemotherapy and one hundred people donated O-negative blood specifically for......

The Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel was the place to go for live entertainment in Los Angeles. Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis Jr., and Merv Griffin were among the many legends to perform there. This weekend Pink Martini will recreate the nightclub's magic at The Hollywood Bowl. Merv Griffin was to have performed at these concerts. Now the evening will include a tribute to him. The one and only Carol......

We love good books. We even love some bad books. What we don't normally go in for, however, are memoir-type books, especially those of Hollywood legends. They hardly ever write the books on their own (this is Hollywood after all) and the gossipy asides from yesteryear never intrigue as much as promised. When Don Rickle's book, Rickles' Book, (don't get us started) hit shelves this month, we thought it would be just another Hollywood memoir......

LAist gets and listens to a Lot of music. You can see the bands we like in the concerts that we review, the Tonight in Rock listings that we compile, and in the cds that we review. But we realize that we listen to way more music than we review so we figured we make a list once a week letting you know what we're into. week ending 4/13/07 Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Self-Titled......

Tonight on American Idol, octogenarian crooner Tony Bennett coached the remaining nine contestants. While we were semi-excited to hear the Idols take on the standards, LAist was really anticipating what form Sanjaya’s shape-shifting hair would take on this week? Maybe a salt and pepper gray in honor of Mr. Bennet? No such luck. This week, Sanjaya wore a ’do that was much tamer than the faux-hawk: just the simple slicked-back crooner look. But we......

Bowling for Soup - The Great Burrito Extortion Case (Jive) J.J. Cale & Eric Clapton - The Road to Escondido (Reprise) The Chelsea Smiles - Thirty Six Hours Later (Acetate) El Goodo - El Goodo (Empyrean) Europe - Secret Society (Sanctuary) The Evens - Get Evens (Dischord) Foo Fighters - Skin and Bones (RCA) Josh Groban - Awake (Reprise) Jim Jones - Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment) (Koch) Librarians - Alright Easy Candy......

Reflections on Vegoose 2006 1) Be forewarned, Vegoose is not so much a weekend trip to Vegas as it is a weekend at a music festival. Of course it does depend on how passionate you are about the music. God bless my friends, this past year at Coachella it was like herding cats getting them there at a reasonable pace. Of course Coachella tempts you like a cheerleader doing high kicks; "Oh come to......

Last night we were invited to see Emily Haines of Metric play her solo album for the first time in Los Angeles at the Viper Room. We weren’t familiar with Metric’s catalog and had only been to one Metric show before that resulted in a Metric fan strong-arming us out of the way of the stage resulting in our subsequent departure. That being said we went in not really knowing what to expect. We......

In between an Angie Dickinson double feature last night, the woman herself made an appearance and answered questions from a hoarde of enthusiastic male fans. At 75, the woman still has it; heck, she doesn't look a day over 50. (she may have had work done, but it's exceptionally good work). The one-time Police Woman was charming and forthcoming. The 1971 film Pretty Maids All In A Row, directed by Roger Vadim, was, she......

So Jon Stewart will host the Oscars this year. Hosting the Oscars solo is a little like climbing Everest: the idea of doing it is always there, taunting America's elite comedians and raconteurs. Some, like Bob Hope, can beat it — 12 times he hosted alone, and more times with helpers tagging along. Others end up like Beck Weathers and David Letterman, beaten and barely alive, knowing they'll never do it again. But the......

This weekend, say hello, dolly! The Japanese American Museum wants families to check out the dolls in their collection and join them for a tea party from 10:30-11:00AM Saturday. Children are encouraged to bring a doll -- or action figure -- of their own for storytelling. Don't miss the "Hey Doll" show, a collaboration of 13 women artists that's been more than a year in the making. Each artist constructed a doll-like art object......

The Ambassador hotel, which is either slated for destruction or partial preservation, has long been unoccupied except for film shoots. Meanwhile, its grounds have made a wide wilderness home for a cat colony, which survives on the films' catering scraps and the kindness of strangers. These strangers have decided that no matter the hotel's fate, the 40 cats need to get out before the construction crews roll in, and have set up a website showcasing......

Janet Leigh, famous for her screaming battle with a knife-wielding madman in Psycho, passed away yesterday in Beverly Hills. She was 77. "Leigh's portrayal of Marion Crane in the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock thriller Psycho earned her a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress. The experience of watching the final cut of the famous shower scene made Leigh take baths for the rest of her life. Born Jeanette Helen Morrison......

LAist once saw someone do a karaoke rendition of Cheap Trick's "Surrender" that involved a blow-up guitar; particularly considering that the act took place in a coffee house, it was an impressive show. LAist is willing to concede, however, that tonight's actual Cheap Trick show at the Canyon Club will probably top it. Doors open at 6:00 PM for dinner reservations; the show starts at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $42.50. In film, the Silver......

Oilman Marvin Davis died Saturday at his Beverly Hills home. He was 79. The Los Angeles Times pubished his obit in Sunday's edition. "The wealthiest individual in Los Angeles for much of the last two decades, Davis was recently estimated by Forbes magazine to be worth $5.8 billion. Although his fortune was built in the dusty oil fields of Colorado, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Wyoming and Texas, where he was known as "Mr. Wildcatter," Davis was inexorably......