If you see folks walking around with some dirt on their foreheads today, they proabably did it on purpose. It is Ash Wednesday, where Christians are supposed to fast, pray, repent after the debauchery of Mardi Gras and (Super Tuesday). So here' are a few debauch-free events for tonight: WORDS The ALOUD series continues with John Burnham Schwartz, author of Reservation Road, who talks about his new novel set in 1959 Japan where a non-aristocratic......

It's Mardi Gras! And no one does Mardi Gras like New Orleans! Here are some photos and a few choice blog entries from Mardi Gras 2005 in The Big Easy: In New Orleans, "It's Mardi Gras!" is the standard answer to every single question from "Why isn't the toilet working?" "It's Mardi Gras!!!" to "What song are they doing next?" "It's Mardi Gras, Baby!!!" I would interpret it as basically, "Chill out. All hell......

Mardi Gras + Super Tuesday = Drinks with LAist @ Seven Grand tonight. SUPER TUESDAY DRINKS WITH LAist It’s Super Tuesday and Mardi Gras. What other reason do you need to celebrate with LAist? Come to Seven Grand tonight to watch election returns. (Who knew that primaries would be this exciting?) You never know…people may start flashing for beads after a few Glenlivets. For questions or to RSVP: events@laist.com (Note: Seven Grand is a......

Aimee Mann will play tonight and tomorrow night at Largo. Dinner is booked, but they say come down early for drinks | Photo via MySpace Usually Tuesday nights are slow for music in this town. Not tonight -- the spirit of Super Tuesday and democracy must have rung clear to bookers. Of course, LAist is having a party too, starting at 7:00 p.m. at Seven Grand. Choices, choices. If there's a show you do......

Barney's Beanery gets rocks the vote. Kind of. RED, WHITE AND BEER If you didn't get enough beer yesterday, Barney's Beanery in Santa Monica is hosting a "Super Tuesday Countdown Beer Vote" today and tomorrow. Alcoholics Drinkers vote for their favorite candidates by choosing which tap to draw their $3 beer from. They'll be serving up plenty of Hillarys and Obamas for sure. A running total will be announced as the votes are tallied.......

WINE TASTING Rock 'n Roll Wine brings exactly those two things at the Santa Monica Bar & Grille tonight. Vegas-based The Bends play live music while guests taste more than a dozen wines throughout the evening. No one will judge if you swallow it all and don’t spit – between wines. 7 pm // Santa Monica Bar and Grille // 3321 Pico Blvd., Los Angeles // $40 at the door. OPERA USC’s Thornton Opera......

The LA River in all its glory. DEBATE WATCHING Now with John Edwards out of the picture, Hillary and Barack only have eyes and one-liners for each other. Watch them duke it out during the Democratic candidates debate tonight with friends and bloggers in the comfort of CineSpace (because really, you don’t want to be anywhere near Hollywood and Highland). RSVP at RSVP@gatherinc.com. Doors open at 4:30 pm // CineSpace // 6356 Hollywood Blvd., Los......

TALK Michael Alexander, author of Jazz Age and the Jews, will discuss Jewish life in the roaring 20s, including performer Al Jolson, Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter and mobster Arnold Rothstein in the lecture “‘Mammy, Don’t You Know Me?’: Al Jolson and the Jews.” He’ll discuss the 1920s as a heyday of Jewish culture, but why many identified with groups that remained marginalized. Book signing and dessert reception will follow. 7 pm // Davidson Conference......

After the holidays, some offices are feverishly trying to catch up on missed work, while others are still lounging in the holiday lull, trying to look busy. Here are a few popular sites for goofing around, or taking a little break from that feverish bean-counting. Just try not to laugh so hard you disrupt the entire office. I usually avoid adorable animal sites, but you have to forgive me, Stuffonmycat.com is hysterical. This site even......

What with all the Big Game festivities going on this weekend, a girl can't help but think back fondly upon her alma mater. But you know what? It's only been a few years since I left UCLA, and I gotta say -- I almost don't recognize the place anymore. Has it really been so long since I graduated? Five years? Maybe more? So much has changed -- I came of age in the Steve......

When people trade scary stories, it's usually something that happened to them; a ghost they saw, a voice they heard. Unfortunately, most of my scary stories are things I brought upon myself. When I was a teenager, I hung around with a group of people who took a lot of acid. We would just take some acid, then decide where to go. The woods or the beach were usually good places to fry. 7-11......

Hermosa Beach is one lucky town. Not only do they have the beautiful beach and the ocean breezes, but they have lucked out in the restaurant department. They are home to not one, but three New Orleans-inspired eateries: Ragin Cajun, New Orleans, and Café Boogaloo are all within two blocks of each other. This week, to gear up for the big Bayou Festival in Long Beach, I am going to cover all three restaurants.......

Austinist gets arty with an interactive guide to SXSW, loved some local art galleries and a new art exhibit and lamented the possible loss of "Friday Night Lights" production to New Mexico. Bostonist was happy they finally found an Anna Nicole Smith connection to their fair city and that an Apple Store was opening up. They were less happy that new rules have been established limiting underage shows and that their Governor spending a......

Today's not just any Tuesday. It's Mardi Gras -- Fat Tuesday -- Shrove Tuesday -- Carnival. Whatever you want to call it, it's a day to rock yer socks off. And since we're not in Rio or in New Orleans right now flashing for beads and drinking Dixie Beer on the street, LAist has thought of a few places to celebrate around LA today: - Amoeba Records starts its festivities at 4 PM with......

With Mardi Gras around the corner, LAist thought we’d mention a pretty cool EP to benefit the other La -- the folks in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast still suffering from the effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. REM’s Michael Stipe has corralled a few musician friends to record a benefit EP, “In the Sun.” What’s different about this CD is that it’s five versions of the same great song -- “In the......

Seems many restaurants have theme nights in LA. We've noticed that Monday's become a popular night for restaurateurs to cook up specials to entice patrons in on a school night. Gayot.com's has posted 2 separate announcements from restaurants regarding Monday specials: Wine & Cheese Tastings Maison 140 hotel in Beverly Hills (near the Peninsula Hotel) has partnered with The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills to host monthly wine and cheese tastings in the hotel’s......

Should you ever be in need of a Mardi Gras dish to compliment or substitute for King Cake, then the Weiser Family Farms stand at Hollywood Farmers' Market is able to help. The staggering array of potatoes and cauliflower in particular at this time of year should not be missed. These cultivated hybrids are both psychedelically striking and damn tasty. In fact, we've noticed a recent profusion of purple cauliflower available from numerous vendors......

The feast day of Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th in western Christian tradition, an event considered the culimation of the Christmas season. Tonight from 6 PM to 8:30 PM, Olvera Street will be hosting a reenactment of the journey of the Three Kings to celebrate. Anyway, the date has triggered an epiphany of our own--exactly when can we reasonably expect Angelenos to take down all the holiday lights, trees and geegaws? So far......