Carbon/Silicon took their punk rock pedigrees to the stage at the El Rey Wednesday night and kicked out an inspired, energized set that left the crowd of several hundred white 40-year-olds ecstatic that they’d stayed out past their bedtimes. I have to confess that I hadn’t heard much Carbon/Silicon before the show. Most of the press I’ve seen has been less about the band, and more about the band members – especially Mick Jones......

Avenue Q, the Broadway sensation now playing at the Ahmanson Theatre, simply put, is Sesame Street and The Muppets for adults. Actually, it's any go-lucky humpty-dory family/neighborhood TV sitcom with overly crude humor. It's a tight production with abrupt segues, hints of metatheatrical jabs and extremely catchy tunes. Everything's very un-PC, but that's okay, cause a puppet said it, right? They're just telling it like it is, as they see it, no qualms about......

It was funny enough when Northwest Airlines chose the web address nwa.com. Now, from what we've seen on a recent flight, it seems they've redesigned their logo and branding to emphasize the NWA identity -- as though an identity as "NWA" wasn't already taken by Compton's original Boyz-N-The Hood. First of all, going by their initials did not work out for Kentucky Fried Chicken, which has put the "fried" back in their name after......