Photo via Old 97's Myspace Everyone's (or certainly my) favorite country/rock band from Dallas, The Old 97's, are back with a new album due out May 13th! I heard the news and got out my Alive and Wired cd (Disc Two is the best, in my opinion) and sang along in the car this past weekend. Before the new album, entitled Blame It On Gravity, hits the shelves, however, bespectacled bassist Murry Hammond's solo......

We seemed to have missed Santa Monica based Krandon as a Wednesday night resident at Molly Malone's. The lightly meditative and chill alternative indie band's name comes from an abandoned James Joyce play written in collaboration with physicist Neils Bohr according to the band's MySpace page. If that's a little too esoteric for you, our Wednesday night pick this month is a little more down home folk style, but with a loud presence -- Brian......

Conan O'Brien will soon leave NYC | Photo by Shiny Things via Flickr Conan O'Brien really isn't that funny as a talk show host. Nor is Jay Leno. We all know David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel are the kings of late-night (and to be fair, Craig Kilborn Ferguson has many great moments too). Nevertheless, in preparation of kicking Leno out in 2009, Conan has purchased a $10.5 million home in Brentwood:The newly built, gated......

Let’s spend a moment on this Jay Leno fracas that’s going on. Jay was a big supporter at the beginning of the strike. He walked off his show and stopped by the strike lines the first couple of days with some food. Eventually, he paid a bunch of the people on the show. There’s no denying that it was real nice of him. For some reason, all the late night guys came back this......

Best way for LA to bring in the new year: win the Rose Bowl. USC killed Illini at 49-17, winning their 23rd Rose Bowl title. 750 bills go into effect this year and the minimum wage is now $8 per hour! The news battle in Santa Barbara continues: Wendy McCaw, owner of the Santa Barbara News-Press, has lost in court over illegal firings. She "must re-hire and give back pay — to at least......

David Letterman’s production company, Worldwide Pants, and the WGA have reached an interim agreement that will allow the host to return to the air next Wednesday WITH writers. Letterman, who has been an outspoken supporter of the writers since the strike began, made it clear that he wanted to return to the air, but stressed that it was important to him to work out a deal with the WGA, so that he could return......

Close, but not close enough: a 3.9 earthquake hit Baja California today at 1:50 p.m. Now that we think of it, getting yourself prepared for a major earthquake is a great New Year's resolution! Those rodes are slick, stay safe! This morning's crash on the 5 near the 170 left one dead and three others injured. Who loves the politics of hair? Pam Spaulding at Pandagon writes that Essense Magazine's Top Ten Celeb Hair......

Two more strikes against two power players in showbiz today as fallout from the WGA strike. According to a report on KTLA.com this morning, "The union representing striking Hollywood writers has denied requests to allow their members to write for the Oscars - Hollywood's biggest, most glamorous showcase - and the Golden Globes." Interim agreements and waivers were dismissed Monday by the WGA. The Hollywood Foreign Press, who put on the annual Globes gala banquet......

Dear Tony Pierce, can you please tell your new employers at the LA Times to fix their streaming American Express advertising pop-up so that it does not crash my brand-new computer every five minutes? Thank you, signed, LAist.com. When we are not struggling to cope with adverse side-effects of inexorable technological progress, we are keeping track of the striking writers' negotiations with venture capitalists to begin producing Internet programming. Baby needs a new pair......

Don't know what to get for the gun toting rifleman who has everything? In San Francisco, turning that rifle in to authorities will net you a cool $100 gift card. Eh, you say? OK, how about $200 for AK-47s? I wonder how that conversation might go at home: Honey, where is my gun? Oh, I turned it in sweety, for $100 worth of movie rentals. You did what? Guns don't kill people, gift cards......

*UPDATE 2:30 p.m.: The concert will now take place at 2:45 p.m. and at 2300 Alameda, not 3300 Alameda. Here's a map. Yesterday we interviewed Scottish sensation KT Tunstall before she played to a sold-out Avalon, and we featured her in Tonight in Rock. Today we are receiving word that she is going to be playing at an address that sure sounds like NBC in Burbank to us. as many of you may or......

It's Veterans Day, and, to commemorate, let's check in on Iraq and see how some Veterans-to-be are doing. Turns out, things weren't so festive today there. A civil war continues to rage and officials announced that, with the 853rd death this past week, 2007 is now the deadliest year yet for American troops in the ongoing Middle East quagmire, surpassing 2004's total of 850. So far, 3,860 U.S. soldiers and 4,164 coalition troops from......

a writer's perspective As I get ready to join my brothers and sisters in the picket line, I’m flipping the channels, looking for some coverage. Fuckin’ Joe Torre is stealing our thunder. Finally, on KTLA, they break in with footage of Jay Leno pulling up on a motorcycle and handing three boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts to some writers. All writers are being encouraged to give 20 hours a week to the cause. No......

Somehow "The Tonight Show" scored a trifecta of controversy tonight as they were able to book the most punk rock of punk rock bands, the most conservative member of Congress, and the wackiest Scientologist all to appear on its air in the same hour. Tonight the Sex Pistols, Ron Paul, and Tom Cruise will all be in Burbank to tape the late night chat show. Strangely, whatever wire service the LA Daily News used......

For Joe Wilson, joking is a part of everyday life. After all, he is a comedian. But, one day, some casual joshing lead to an experiment: would people pay money for celebrity air? Joe put his plan into action, started an eBay auction, and found himself swamped by media attention, enemies with Jay Leno, and with enough material for a one man show that he called A Jar of Celebrity Air, which he'll be......

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! Another banner week at Chicagoist started off with daily reports from food writer Lisa Shames on her attempt to eat only locally grown and raised foodstuffs all week as part of a farmers......

Introducing the TV Junkie Black List: While waiting for Spoon to go on the Tonight Show last night I had to endure Leno and guest Denis Leary talking about how they'd like to get cyclists off the roads and how they enjoy honking at them, etc. Both of these a-holes know* what went down recently in Beverly Hills as reported by LAist and the last thing LA needs is more SUV drivers feeling justified in......

9:00pm Big Brother 8 CBS - Another houseguest gets the boot [who are you betting on Tony Pierce?] 9:00pm i-Caught ABC - Soldiers use of the internet; also, so-called blogebrities who have access to the hottest events - hmmmm, that kinda sounds like our lauded editor Tony Pierce ;-) 10:00pm P.O.V. "The Camden 28" PBS/KLCS - Back in the day, people used to do more than just bitch about the war on blogs -......

My boy Carson Daly takes a lot of heat. People complain that he is a late night talk show hack, and that he is basically unwatchable. Sure he is not the leader of the pack, maybe not even close to the leader, but his show rocks and it's about time people appreciate it before he's replaced with someone even lamer. We'll admit that his opening monologue is always just a bunch of poorly delivered......

Late night is pretty good tonight - will have to make some tough choices or be handy with the remote. 8:00pm Big Brother CBS - Who gets the boot? 8:30pm The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer TCM - The always dapper Cary Grant squares off against a frigid but hot Myrna Loy and avoids the attentions of a grown up and horny Shirley Temple - a classic. 10:00pm Mad Men AMC - This is the......

Hump day ain't over, at least for TV - Wednesday is probably one of the worst-programmed days of the week this summer. Throw me a frickin bone here. Your choices for prime time are mostly reality/game shows: 'Power of 10' (CBS), 'So You Think You Can Dance' (Fox), 'Last Comic Standing' (NBC), 'Don't Forget the Lyrics' (Fox), etc. Or just commit yourself to 2 retro hours of 'My Music: The 70's Experience' (KOCE-PBS, 8:00pm)......

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has launched an inquiry into allegations of racism and discrimination within the LAFD. Two men have filed suit against the L.A. Zoo and the city to stop construction of a $40 million elephant exhibit and to prevent it from having elephants on the grounds, alleging instances of abuse and neglect. Bring on the air pollution: the South Coast Air Quality Management District board voted to approve, 8-3, rule changes......

Yes, they're claiming the subpoena has to do with Mike's recent trip to Cuba for the filming of "Sicko," but it's hard for me to believe that there are no other underlying motives: Filmmaker Michael Moore revealed on Thursday's "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno that the Bush Administration had served him with a subpoena regarding his recent trip to Cuba made as part of his new film, Sicko. Moore told the audience that......

The Spazmatics @ Dragonfly Joan Armatrading, Elvis Perkins @ John Anson Lemonade, Fool's Gold @ The Echo Big Japan, Piper Downs, The Retarded, The People Now @ The Gig Because there's so little comedy on the Tonight Show... Jay Leno @ Comedy and Magic Club, Hermosa......

A Word or 56+/-: I guess Tuesday's are Ida Lupinow filmfests on TCM - why, god why? How about a Terry Thomas filmfest for effssake? If you want to watch new stuff tonight you'll have to head over to PBS. And hey, Colbert has a "surprise guest that rhymes with Steagle" tonight. Bugsy Siegel? Tonight - Tuesday - June 12th, 2007 Dodgers @ Jays (KCAL, 4:00 p.m.) Astros @ Angels (Fox Sports, 7:30 p.m.)......

A Word or 39: It feels like Wednesdays are going to be the night with new programming this time of year. It feels like it, but it doesn't look like it since not much of this stuff is watchable. Hidden Palms?? For effsake. Tonight - Wednesday - June 13th, 2007 Mets @ Dodgers (PRIME, 7:00 p.m.) Hidden Palms (the CW, 8:00 p.m.) Country club party time The Next Best Thing: Who Is the Greatest......

A Word or 56+/-: Even the movie selections suck tonight unless you want to watch an Ida Lupinow filmfest on TCM, which I really don't want to do. I'm superexcited to see Parker Posey on Late Late and hopefully I'll catch Feist on Conan after switching over. Tonight - Tuesday - June 12th, 2007 Mets @ Dodgers (PRIME, 7:00 p.m.) Angels @ Reds (Fox Sports, 7:30 p.m.) On the Lot (Fox, 8:00 p.m.) The......

A Word or 100+: Ooops, I missed the Tonys, malhereusement. If there's a pick tonight, other than arena football, then it's the US version of Creature Comforts on CBS at 8:00 p.m. (from the creator of Wallace and Gromit). I love the UK version but my kids have a hard time with the various British accents and some of the various topics - I know it's a lot to ask for but I'm hoping......

A Word or 68: At long last, The Sopranos takes its long walk off a short pier, "leave the gun, bring the cannoli" a famous gangster once said. The somewhat heavily promoted (color double spread NY Times) John From Cincinatti follows. Nicole Richie continues to make her last ditch appeals for favorable public opinion before she appears before a judge in the next month or so - watch the rich girl squirm. Tonight -......

A Word or 54 (or so): I know that there are some folks who are happy to be getting a few new episodes of the doomed Studio 60 - enjoy it while you can. Funny how there is no cohesive letter-writing campaign to save that one, at least not a campaign that is getting any press. Tonight - Thursday - June 7th, 2007 Dodgers @ Padres (KCAL, 7:00 p.m.) Pirate Master (CBS, 8:00 p.m.)......