UPDATE: Looks like the forces of Truth, Justice and the Irishican Way prevailed everyone - It's not hard in here for a Once after all: "The Academy’s music branch executive committee has met and endorsed the validity of 'Falling Slowly' as a nominated achievement. The committee relied on written assurances and detailed chronologies provided by songwriter of 'Falling Slowly', the writer-director of Once and Fox Searchlight." So there you go - The good guys......

Yesterday commenced with an LA bang. I started off at the Indaba music loft again because they have been hosting a plethora of good (free!) shows. There's something comforting about watching bands from someone else's living room. I showed up around mid-day to catch one of my favorite LA bands Division Day. Front man Rohner Segnitz and the boys ran through a pleasant acoustic set. With drummer Kevin Lenhart on shakers, Division Day sounded......

My inner 10-year-old just had an amazing time at "Transformers", while my 26-year-old self took a break from worrying about plot-holes and decent acting. All said, it was everything I wanted it to be. Give reality a break for 2 hours and go enjoy yourself. But if alien robots aren't your thing, there are a few other options opening Friday. Transformers - It isn't even the weekend and this movie has already brought in......

The Binges, The Vacation, Year Long Disaster, Tokyo Smog @ The Roxy Carlos Guitarlos, Dale Peterson, Devastating Karate @ El Cid The Chapin Sisters, I See Hawks in L.A. @ The Echo She's Your Sister, The Waking Hours, Shiloe, Infedelinc, Tweakbird @ Safari Sam's Nana Pancha, Raskahuele, Almalafa, Ekolekua @ The Knitting Factory Lemon Drop Kick, Vooduo, The Red Hearts, Vesuvia Sonic @ Mr. T's Bowl Action 45, More Than Ever, Sidekick, General Purpose......

Monday Diane Lefer discusses and signs California Transit 7pm @ Vroman's Chuck Barris presents The Big Question 7pm @ Book Soup Chris Abani & Al Young read their work 7:30pm @ Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater Tuesday Jonathan Cohn discusses Sick: The Untold Story of America's Healthcare Crisis 5pm @ Center for Healthy Communities, Yosemite Hall Reyna Grande presents Across a Hundred Mountains 7pm @ Book Soup Nicole Mones signs The Last Chinese Chef 7pm......

- Huge Pine Tree falls in Sherman Oaks. - LA Times' Steve Harvey basically writes the same thing as LA Observed adding a few more pictures and lines of text. - We're seeing the highest gas prices at the same time public transit fares face a possible and significant increase. - LA is No. 93 in Cities Ranked & Rated: More Than 400 Metropolitan Areas Evaluated in the U.S. & Canada. Here's how. -......

Every week LAist will tell you what we're listening to, today the troublemakers at the Adult Swim cartoon Aqua Teen Hunger Force told us what they rock out to with their straws out. The Hunger Force have a movie coming out on Friday the 13th - maybe you've seen some of their marketing efforts - and the soundtrack comes out Tuesday the 10th. Carl: Jailbreak - AC/DC If you go to jail, why stay......

New York writer-performer Jonathan Ames is gracing our fair city this week and while he's in town he's doing some good. His performance at 826LA tonight will benefit the fab literacy organization, and your part is just 10 bucks. Ames' latest book is I love You More Than You Know, essays that are funny (college swordsmanship), scary (cockroach in the bathtub) and geniunely racy ("her ass was round and firm and white.") Some are......

John Stewart recently called John Hodgman "very funny." That would be enough to keep us home playing the Daily Show video over and over, but it's not enough for Hodgman. He was center stage at the McSweeney's thing at REDCAT on Saturday and will be at Book Soup tonight. Because it's all about his book, The Areas of My Expertise, which includes the heretofore unknown Hobo Rebellion. Stewart says the book should not be......

A trip to check out More Than Waffles was aimed at satisfying both the craving for a good breakfast and the desire to check out a new (to us) place. It's been a family owned and operated joint in the Encino Town Center since 1975. You'd think they'd have figured out a few things by now. It was late morning on a weekday, when the breakfast rush should be over and the crowds thinned......