Reader Apollo Sputnik was down in Vernon and happened upon this treasure. Thankfully, he shared with us so we could share with you: "I was happy to discover La Villa Basque in the middle of industrial Vernon. I have never seen a better kept mid-century diner. They're only open for lunch during the week -- but it's worth the effort... The place is full of a cast of characters -- I passed by a 70+......

Although Los Angeles is by most standards a young city, it is a city full of history, regardless. In LAist's past we've looked at the mysterious Spider Pool ruins, the life of James M. Wood, and Campo de Cahuenga, but have barely scratched the surface. Today we're introducing a new feature on the site, LAistory, which will take us on a journey to what came before to help us understand where we are today. We......

“Early morning, April 4 A shot rings out in a Memphis sky. Free at last, they took your life They could not take your Pride.” -U2, “Pride (In the Name of Love)” It’s now been 40 years since Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated. This weekend, the “news” will look back on the turbulent 60’s and see how far we’ve come since then, but they often take the wrong perspective. They look at cultural advances......

Photo by _ gianni's_ photography _ AKA *Prime Imagery* via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr In part to honor the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr and in part to "increase the peace" a 40-hour moratorium on violence goes into effect for the City of Los Angeles starting at 6:01 p.m. tonight. Do your part! Because "You can't fire me...I QUIT!" lacks that certain je-ne-sais-quoi, perhaps? An employee in......

Legend says that Echo Park got its name from workers building the original reservoir said their voices echoed off the canyon walls. However... After years of searching, LAist has found the “echo” of Echo Park. And wouldn’t you know, it wasn’t even in that neighborhood. No, Echo Park’s “echo” has been trapped at the birthplace of Los Angeles: at Olvera Street. In the plaza there, inside the only bandstand in the City, an echo lives......

Welcome to the world of sex, strippers and women’s studies students. If you were to say, hey, that sounds a little like the beginning of the feminist version of “a rabbi, a priest and a minister walk into a bar,” you’d be right…but au contraire, mon amie. It is the fairly serious basis of Heather Woodbury’s one-woman show, "The Last Days of Desmond ‘Nani’ Reese: A Stripper's History of the World," which was the......

Today the small town of Montrose, known first as "Glendale's first suburb," hits the big 9-5, and the Founders Day Celebration is expected to be a big draw. Founders Day festivities will include awards presented to community members for service, a nine-tier birthday cake, historic photos on display, and "the ringing of the bell from the last of the Glendale & Montrose Railway Cars." The event is scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 2......

It looks like they can fly, sometimes. What do you do on National Pig Day anyway? I could be snarky and suggest some bbq, but I love pigs, Porky and Arnold the Pig included. If you don't want to watch Green Acres or Charlotte's Web, March is chock-full of other options: It's American Red Cross Month, Irish-American Heritage Month, National Craft Month, National Frozen Food Month, National Noodle Month, National Nutrition Month, Woman's History......

Do you think this is part of the Reno 911! marketing campaign? / Photo by Bernard Mickey Wrangle via flickr. COMEDY* Paging Reno 911! fans: Robert Ben Garant, who plays Deputy Travis Junior, hosts The Armando Show tonight. (It’s an hour-long improvised comedy show inspired by an audience suggestion). He’ll be joined by a few other Reno castmates: Carlos Alazraqui, Thomas Lennon, Niecy Nash, Kerri Kenney and Cedric Yarbrough. 8 pm // iO West......

Earlier this month, A-Trak (MySpace) and Kid Sister (MySpace) performed as the co-headliners of First Fridays (MySpace) at the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park. Meanwhile, Dublab (MySpace) DJs Frosty (MySpace) and Take (MySpace) spun tunes in the African Mammal Hall. When Kanye West appeared at their show a week before at the American Museum of Natural History in New York (West is featured on Kid Sister's song "Pro Nails"), there was speculation that......

Restored Wood wheel at the LA Natural History Museum | Photo by WILL13 via Flickr Los Angeles was settled in 1781, three years after Chicago. Unfortunately, people who do not know this city write-off the history and focus in on the obvious glitter. Even if this city continues to bulldoze over its past, that in itself is part of the history. The Los Angeles region has over 200 historical organizations, societies, and museums dedicated......

FILM* Charlie Chaplin's legendary Modern Times is on the big screen this afternoon at the Silent Movie Theatre. The film "marks the final screen appearance of his beloved and iconic Tramp. It’s also one of Chaplin’s most thematically and stylistically audacious films." 4:00 p.m. // The Silent Movie Theatre // 611 N Fairfax Ave // $12 WIN AN OSCAR! Oh, okay, fine, you probably aren't nominated for one this year (don't worry, your time will......

FREE DAYS @ LACMA Don't forget that today, tomorrow, and Monday admission to LACMA is free. There will be lots of extra entertainment on the grounds, and access to all the galleries, except the new Broad Contemporary, which has already sold out (of course!). But that means less people crowding the European paintings you love so much. Tickets need to be reserved in advanced online or by calling the box office. Sat, Sun, & Mon......

There are few things that bring sex workers, old-school feminists and modern-day Hollywood together under one roof. But thanks to Jill Soloway (right), writer and co-founder of the feminist group OBJECT, this seemingly impossible dream of yore will be realized on Saturday, Feb. 23, at 8 p.m. It’s called Lady Party IV, and it’s definitely all about the ladies. Hosted by OBJECT, Lady Party IV will feature Obie Award-winning playwright Heather Woodbury performing her one-woman......

Arts and Crafts class at the Craft and Folk Art Museum tonight. / Photo by CarbonNYC via flickr. GET CRAFTY Make your Valentine’s Day gift tonight instead of picking through the lame leftover cards in the Ralph’s card aisle tomorrow. The Craft and Folk Art Museum hosts “A Creative Valentine” and provides materials for you to let your inner artist loose. Couples are encouraged to attend to get a jump start on the Valentine’s......

And you thought the Burger King Chicken was crazy? Check out the Crazy Chickens this week at the Mayan / Photo by upslases via flickr. TALK Could you not get into Michael Pollan last night at the Central Library? No worries because American eating habits and food policy are a hot topic this week. Tonight, the Center for Healthy Communities presents “Hungry for Change: The Politics of Food with Marion Nestle.” The nutritionist, author......

Since February is Black History month, we asked our friends at Eso Won Books in Leimert Park to recommend ten history books that would provide a balanced overview of black history, filling in any gaps in the American educational system. Included are a number of books that specifically focus on the history of African-Americans in Los Angeles. Before the Mayflower Lerone Bennett "The black experience in America--starting from its origins in western Africa up to......

So many times those of us who live in LA play host to out-of-town visitors who want to see all the sights that our amazing city has to offer. It's pretty routine to get asked if and how one can get up to the iconic Hollywood Sign to see it up close, and, sadly, it must be admitted that the sign is off-limits to regular folk. This means that looky-loos, locals, and pranksters who......

FILM The Egyptian is having a John Ford film fest this week, focusing on some of the 50-plus films made while he was at 20th Century Fox. Screening tonight is 1924’s The Iron Horse, a silent film that chronicles the American push out West. Ford shot the film on location in Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada. The film will be introduced by historian and author Robert Bircard. 7:30 pm // Egyptian Theatre // 6712......

THEATRE Orson's Shadow is an expansion of Austin Pendleton's drama that first ran a few years back at the Black Dahlia Theater and is now at the Pasadena Playhouse. It's a behind the scenes look at life in the theatre and the intermingling lives of some legendary folk, like Orson Welles, Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, Vivien Leigh, and drama critic Kenneth Tynan. We're told the set--a theater-within-the-theater--is stunning. 7:00 p.m. // Pasadena Playhouse // 39......

SFist worried over drugstore chain Walgreens celebration of Black History Month.Gothamist was surprised that apparently New York City is the fourth most miserable city in the country, after Detroit, Stockton, CA, and Flint, MI.Shanghaiist finds out what the Chinese think of Hilary and Obama.It was with a healthy amount of schadenfreude that Phillyist reported that former Eagle, and now Cowboy (ew), Terrell Owens owes the Eagles a significant wad of cash.Torontoist is two weeks......

The Cuban Cowboys, who were profiled on NPR last October, play tonight at the Temple Bar | Photo from their MySpace page Last Friday when A-Trak and Kid Sister played at New York City's Natural History Museum, Kanye West made a surprise visit. Neither Flavorpill or the Natural History Museum list Kanye for tonight's version of the NYC event, First Friday, but rumors are afloat, as they're bound to happen. Nevertheless, the evening looks......

TALK CalArts and USC have a joint program at REDCAT tonight titled, “Listen Again: Music You Should Change Your Mind About Right Now.” A great panel of writers, musicians and scholars discuss the current state of pop music and celebrate the release of the latest scholarly writings on music issued by the Experience Music Project. Panelists include Neal Pollack (alternadad.com), Ann Powers (Los Angeles Times), R.J. Smith (Los Angeles magazine), Oliver Wang (Soul-sides.com, CSU-Long Beach)......

So I spent my Sunday sick as a dog on the couch watching, of all things, football, literally because I was too wiped to find the clicker and move on. I'd forgotten how obnoxious the graphics were and how pompous and full of itself football has become. Still, gotta watch the Super Bowl for the commercials so I still have some time to devote to that. Am dismayed that the talentless hack Ryan Seacrest is......

Two weeks ago, locals Sea Wolf (MySpace), whose album Leaves In The River was number six on Nic Harcourt's Top Ten Albums of 2007, performed as the headliner of First Fridays (MySpace) at the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park. Opening for Sea Wolf were the Afternoons (MySpace), while DJs Allen (MySpace) and Hoseh (MySpace) spun tunes in the African Mammal Hall. Sea Wolf will open for Peter, Bjorn, and John (MySpace) at the......

FILM A Bloody Aria, a film from Korea about a professor, his pretty student and a possible murder, opens tonight for a one-week engagement in Little Tokyo. It’s been compared to Deliverance, but with a dark sense of humor. (We wonder if there’s any pig squealing in this one?) Times vary // ImaginAsian Center // 251 S. Main St., Los Angeles // $7-$10. MUSIC / SPOKEN WORD Tonight the CalArts Creative Music Festival features......

I logged into my email this morning to find five Facebook Wall posts from old friends -- many of whom I haven't spoken to in a while. "Hm, what is this spontaneous outpouring of love? How is it that so many have been moved to reach out to me this morning?" I clicked on over to my Facebook account, only to find -- I'D BEEN SPAMMED!!! Actually, I was the spammer, and every single......

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......

We comb through tons of event listings so you don't have to. LA events have come back from its winter doldrums tonight. Big time. Here's what's happening around town tonight -- there's lots of learning mixed in between all the great entertainment stuff. CLASSICAL The LA Phil's Concrete Frequency series -- combining music, film and symposia -- begins tonight. It's a Casual Friday, which means shorter programs with no intermission. On tap tonight is......

You Me and Iowa Things are starting to get back to normal here, after the holidays -- it's a great night in music for Los Angeles. For one, two major arts institutions are hosting some excellent concerts tonight. At the Natural History Museum's popular music and discussion series, First Fridays, Dr. Antonio Damasio, M.D., Ph.D. (Director of Brain and Creativity Institute, USC) will cover how the brain processes memory, language, emotions and decisions. And......