On March 5th, I called Osteria Mozza to make a reservation for April 5th (they only take reservations a month in advance.) I thought I would call at lunchtime when they would first be open. A critical mistake. Turns out that the reservation line for both Mozzas opens at 10 am. I could get 5:30 or 9:45. Not being a New Yorker, I took the earlier time. Thanks to Daylight Savings, it was full......

Baby spinach adorns the NY White pizza above, Porco pizza shown underneath. Two of my friends have been raving about this supposed "real Italian/napolitana" pizza in Monterey Park, and after months of accumulated hype I decided to give in and drive 20 miles just for fucking pizza. I even took five other friends in tow for the expedition to Monterey Park, the hotbed for all great cheap eats -- some of my favorites include......

Photo by highervision via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr This evening a public viewing will be held for slain LA High football star Jamiel Shaw, with funeral services to follow tomorrow. Shaw's tragic murder has prompted many LA residents to refocus on the senselessness of gang-related violence. Go, stop, go, stop: Commuters northbound on the 57 and the 605 transitioning to the 210 westbound this morning were greeted by the new traffic......

Shadow & Light in Little Tokyo | Photo by pink_fish13 via LAist's Featured Photos pool on Flickr. Monday Jeremy D. Popkin presents Facing Racial Revolution 7pm @ Dutton's Tuesday Alan Corey presents A Million Bucks by 30 7pm @ Book Soup Christopher Rice presents Blind Fall 7pm @ Borders, West Hollywood Wednesday Milo Martin presents Poems for a Utopian Nihilist 7pm @ Book Soup Leslie Lehr presents Wife Goes On 7pm @ Dutton's Josh......

Yeah, this is how I feel. / Photo "Supervisor Zirves" by db via LAist's flickr pool. This morning was a rough start for everyone and we still got a little sleepies in us, but we'll definitely be awake for these events tonight. After another latte. CLASSICAL* The LA premiere of "The Axe Manual" happens tonight at Zipper Concert Hall as part of the Monday Evening Concert series. The program includes important recent works by......

Luckily, since SXSW Music officially starts on Wednesday, tonight's massive line-up of residencies is hardly affected, save for The Voom Blooms who are replaced by We Barbarians and others at the Viper Room tonight (full list of tonight's residencies after the jump). However, the exodus of Los Angeles based bands is upon us. Also, ticket sales for 2008 Premiere Marquee Club have begun. The "club" has no membership fee and will host over 60 concerts......

Matt Belknap is changing the way people experience comedy. As founder of Aspecialthing.com , Matt's created a place where comedy nerds, whether they be fans or the artists themselves, can discuss the art form they love so much. But Belknap isn't only a comedy fan. He runs See You Next Tuesday at the UCB Theater, is producer of and panelist on Never Not Funny, one of the I-Tunes picks for best Podcasts of '06 and......

We always hear about Improv Everywhere pulling crazy stunts off in New York City, like five-minutes of frozen time at Grand Central or no-pants on the subway. Well, after a small improvised pillow fight at the Glendale mall (video below), the new LA Chapter of the collaborative pulled off their first major mission: a spontaneous musical at Baldwin Hills Mall, starting off with the Hot Dog On A Stick girl. Eventually a cast of......

Nick's, home of delicious breakfast burritos, by Rebecca~James via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr Remember when we told you that Los Angeles tap water was the best tasting in the world? Turns out that our delicious H20 might have been sprinkled with delicious drugs. The AP found that a multitude of pharmaceuticals, like antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones, have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million......

When you read something you like on LAist, we love it when you hit the "recommend" button, and we love it even more if you put your two cents' worth in the comments. Getting a dialog going with our readers and making sure we're giving you content you can use are top priorities for us. So here's this week's top posts, as endorsed by you via the recommend feature, or as indicated by the level......

There were two major controversies surrounding yesterday's Bruin win over Cal. 1. With 7.1 seconds left to go, Cal's Ryan Anderson turned the ball over under full-court pressure from UCLA's Russell Westbrook and Josh Shipp. No foul call. Cal fans claim that a foul should have been called because Westbrook apparently pushed Anderson to the floor, and on top of that he "hacked him in a downward motion" to get at the ball as ESPN's......

The state's budget woes may soon have a massive casualty list to its credit, culled from our already ailing school systems. Who's getting kicked out of school? Educators! Late next week, teachers and administrative staff from public schools around the state will find out they may soon be unemployed, reports the Daily News. "The layoff letters, which by law must go out by Saturday, could number in the tens of thousands, school officials warn."......

Today was the day that the first Barbie doll made her debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York in 1959. Make fun of her all you want, but Barbie's an icon whose life has been far more interesting than any reality show, and yes we know if she were real her head wouldn't be supported by her body dimensions or some such thing, but come on. Even Dolly Parton named her......

Getting a parking ticket just downright blows, agreed? It can be the ultimate day-ruining moment, especially if you're having the proverbial "one of those days" to begin with. However, LAist Featured Photos Pool contributor faerymkh submitted a shot of the ticket they found on their windshield recently, that had an added message from a thoughtful and anonymous individual. To explain:A stranger left the message "Bummer that you got a ticket but they suck and......

...or you could hit up Swingers for a late-night bite (LAist did!) | Photo by Stephanie Asher via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr DOCUMENTARY & DISCUSSION Non-profit mentoring group WriteGirl is putting on a screening of Girls Rock! which is a documentary about a rock n' roll girls' camp, and hosting a panel discussion after the film. Scheduled panelists include WriteGirl's founder and executive director, singer-songwriter Keren Taylor; Grammy-award winning songwriter and......

In the wake of last week's shooting death of 17-year-old Los Angeles High football star Jamiel Shaw, his community--and the community of LA at large--are mourning the loss and trying to make sense of how a kid who was on the right path in life was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Shaw was gunned down by gang members near his home. His mother is serving her second tour of duty in......

Matt Belknap is changing the way people experience comedy. As founder of Aspecialthing.com , Matt's created a place where comedy nerds, whether they be fans or the artists themselves, can discuss the art form they love so much. But Belknap isn't only a comedy fan. He runs See You Next Tuesday at the UCB Theater, is producer of and panelist on Never Not Funny, one of the I-Tunes picks for best Podcasts of '06......

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......

#3 UCLA 77, #7 Stanford 67, OT - The Bruins clinched their third consecutive Pac-10 hoops crown with their victory over the Farm. It looked bleak for awhile, but they managed to come from behind. More from Jimmy later this morning. USC 93, Cal 89, OT - This game was tough for fans to watch. That's because it wasn't televised. And because USC blew a huge lead. It worked out OK in the end. We're......

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......

Reporter Leo Stallworth and Chief Bratton have a difference of opinion and at yesterday's press conference about violence in South LA, the no-nonsense East Coast sensibilites of LAPD's top cop came out in front of everyone... and ABC aired it. Stallworth asked about racial tensions, maybe in a more speculative way, based off interviews with community members. Bratton did not like that and responded. "We have to work with fact and speculation... You're a......

Spaceland, Thursday, Feb 28 (With a Pause to mention their Echo show on the 27th.) I really wanted to write a positive review. I walked into the Echo on Wednesday, February 27th, firmly intending to come out again 3 hours later with a gloriously sycophantic description of the show. I was planning on pure hagiography, with illuminations and everything depicting the sure-to-be brilliant performance. It came then as a depressing shock when the band utterly......

Young fans watch the Project Runway finale with Season 3 winner Jeffery Sebelia Anyone following the phenomenon that is Project Runway now knows that Christian Siriano won Season 4. The judges loved his dramatic collection, feathers and all. Though my favorite Rami Kashou did not win, he will always be a style icon in LA and around the world. Last night as fans of the show gather around TV’s throughout the country to see......

A puppet show without Kermit: Concrete Folk Variations at The Manual Archives / Photo by Susan Simpson MEET THE PO-PO The public’s invited to meet the police and talk about safety issues at a neighborhood meeting between the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council, the Glassell Park Safety Committee and LAPD. Senior Lead Officer for Atwater Village Gina Chovan, gang detectives and City Attorney Donna Wong will be in attendance. 4 pm // Glassell Park Community......

Van Hunt plays the Temple Bar tonight, the third and last in a series of LA shows | Photo via his MySpace page The Guide to March Rock Music Residencies has been updated with a few more listings -- it seems as if residencies are catching on, which is a good thing. Meanwhile, Howlin Rain plays their last LA concert before a tour promoting their new album, Magnificent Fiend, that was released yesterday. Nicole......

You might have to wait and be agonizingly teased for an additional three months until those LCD, screens telling you the arrival of the next train, start to work. Curbed LA reported it would be by May and now Streetsblog LA reports by the end of June the latest and tells us how they will work: Until the train is close to the station, the screens will update information based off the schedule. Once the......

The rant starts off with a little resume building: for the life of me, i can't seem to figure out what's going on here. i did all the things that i thought i was supposed to do to put myself in position to score ungodly amounts of hollywood poon. i got an undergrad degree in business from nyu. then i move to LA and complete the Peter Stark producing program at USC. while there i......

KNBC Broadcaster: "Well Ed, is it one of these matters where the Kenyans and Ethiopians, let's be honest here, they see a white guy out front and they don't take him seriously?" Ed: .......................................... Cue circus music. While we're not sure who this particular broadcaster is, here's an earlier press release from the event's owner, Devine Racing: NBC’s Fred Roggin, L.A. Marathon broadcast veteran Toni Reavis (who has broadcast all 23 races in L.A.)......

Update 7:00 p.m.: Sepulveda is still shut down and now crews expect to open it around 9 p.m. tonight. Update 5:11 p.m.: "Crews Hope to Clean up Sepulveda Landslide by 5:30pm Rush Hour" says Fox 11 News. Update 4:04 p.m.: Power has been restored to all effected except 700 residential customers in Brentwood and Bel Air. Update 11:14 a.m.: This morning's landslide even caused power to go out at the Getty Center. Luckily, power in......

75 killings this year equal a 27% increase from this last year, but the LAPD says they are random and unrelated, according to KFWB News 980 on air. One of those include a murder this morning. There has been a 5% decline in violent crime overall and a 25% drop in gang-related homicides. "Try telling that to the people I represent," said LA City Councilwoman Jan Perry in the Daily News report on gang violence.......