Everyone is in a tizzy about The Wire coming to a close yesterday - it's one of the few shows that decided to go out while it was on top so kudos to them. The TV Junkie is barely keeping his head above water with the deluge of new shows coming out in the next week, tonight it's Julianna Margulies' return to the little screen with Canterbury's Law (that's a mouthful, say: Julianna Margulies in......

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......

Get Your Lit On: The Week in Bookish LA includes some outstanding readings this week from some fine, fine writers including Maggie Nelson, Anne Enright, Colm Toibin, Toby Barlow, Amy Hempel, Peter Carey, John Rechy, Martha Grimes and Russell Banks....

Monday Michael Pollan and Barry Glassner discuss In Defense of Food 7pm @ Central Library Cindy Pierce and Edie Thys Morgan presents Finding the Doorbell 7pm @ Book Soup Tuesday Traci Slatton presents Immortal 6:30pm @ Metropolis Books Joe McGinniss and special guest Bret Easton Ellis present The Delivery Man 7pm @ Book Soup Terri Cheney discusses and signs Manic: A Memoir 7pm @ Vroman's Gary Goldberg presents Sit, Ubu, Sit 7pm @ Dutton's......

Monday Shalom Auslander presents Foreskin's Lament 7pm @ Vroman's Valerie Plame Wilson presents Fair Game 7pm @ Carpenter Performing Arts Center, Long Beach Barbara Firestone presents Autism Heroes 7pm @ Dutton's Slash presents Slash 7pm @ Borders, Torrance Lawrence Wright presents The Looming Tower 7:30pm @ UCLA Tuesday David Plante, with host Mark Danielewski, presents ABC 7pm @ Book Soup Michael Lent presents Christmas Letters from Hell 7pm @ Vroman's Tommy Lasorda & Bill Plaschke......

Would you pay $85 for truffle mac n' cheese? Or would you rather enjoy the cheaper, classic versions at Larkin's or Lucky Devil's? The Glutton over at the LA Times samples the goods for you. What do we want? Conservation programs, access to healthy food, and promotion of renewable energy! When do we want it? Whenever the Senate gets around to voting on the Farm Bill. There's still time to make your voice heard.......

Artist: No Age Album: Weirdo Rippers Label: Fat Cat Records Release Date: 08/28/2007 Perhaps you had a chance to see No Age at one of their shows at the end of the August at the Troubador or perhaps the Fuck Yeah Fest. If you missed them you'll have a chance to see the LA-based duo of Dean Spunt and Randy Randall (frickin' love that name) again but until then you should consider giving their......

Monday Bjorn Lomborg presents Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming 7pm @ Central Library Terry Pratchett presents Making Money 7pm @ Borders, Torrance Randall Robinson presents An Unbroken Agony 7pm @ EsoWon Books Tuesday Carol Muske-Dukes presents Channeling Mark Twain 7pm @ Vroman's Cathy Malkasian presents Percy Gloom 7pm @ Book Soup Gilbert Hernandez presents Chance in Hell 7pm @ Book Soup Leslie Garis signs House of Happy Endings 7pm @......

After seven days of deliberation, word came from the Phil Spector jury today that they were deadlocked. But the judge isn't ready to let them go yet. Turns out the jury is hung 7 to 5. Either 5 people are saying that reasonable doubt exists that Spector didn't shoot Lana Clarkson, or 7 are. That's more doubt than many courtwatchers had expected. The judge asked the jurors if anything else might convince them to......

Monday Moonday poetry reading 7:30pm @ Village Books Tuesday David Lynch signs Inland Empire 7pm @ Borders, Westwood Elaine Dundy presents The Dud Avocado 7pm @ Book Soup Warren Mar presents Descanso 7pm @ Vroman's Kiara Brinkman signs High Up in the Trees 7pm @ Dutton's Wednesday Adrienne Barbeau presents There Are Worse Things I Could Do 7pm @ Book Soup Nobody Reads in LA presents Charles Bukowski's Post Office (it's his birthday!) 7pm......

Monday Gordy Slack presents The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything 7pm @ Vroman's Tuesday Kimberlee Auerbach presents The Devil, The Lovers and Me: My Life in Tarot 7pm @ Book Soup Gregg Hurwitz presents The Crime Writer 7pm @ Borders, Century City Kirk Douglas presents Let's Face It 7:30pm @ Barnes & Noble, Encino Wednesday Laurie Viera Rigler presents Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict 7pm @ Vroman's Helen Gilbert presents Okay Girls,......

Hanson, "Change in My Life", Hotel Cafe, 6/30/07 Hanson @ Spaceland Whispertown 2000, Oliver Future @ The Hotel Cafe Chris Cornell @ Pacific Amphitheatre Fetus Eaters, The Dolemite Project, Watch Me Burn, Call the Paramedics @ Knitting Factory Static Halo, Frank Barajas & the Shakedowns, The New Strawberry Zots @ The Joint Stonehoney, Tracy Huffman, Leslie & the Badgers, The Hi-Ho's @ The Echo Big Sandy & his Fly-rite Boys @ The Derby Lack......

Monday Mike Carey presents The Devil You Know 7pm @ Book Soup Tuesday Doug Stumpf presents Confessions of a Wall Street Shoeshine Boy 7pm @ Book Soup Joy Horowitz presents Parts per Million: The Poisoning of Beverly Hills High School 7pm @ Central Library Michael Tucker signs Living a Foreign Language: A Memoir of Food, Wine and Love in Italy 7pm @ Dutton's Jerry Stahl presents Love Without 7pm @ Borders, Long Beach Thomas......

Monday If you haven't managed to rest-up after your July 4th blow-out, you get one more day. But that's it! Tuesday Emily White presents You Will Make Money in Your Sleep 7pm @ Book Soup Patricia Schultz signs 1000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die 7pm @ Dutton's Stephen L. Carter presents New England White 7pm @ EsoWon Books John Amaechi signs Man in the Middle 7:30pm @ Barnes......

It is hard to call Bright Eyes’ frontman Connor Oberst old or grown up as he only recently turned 27, but having recorded and released albums since the age of 14 it may be safe to say that he has found a new sense of stability and maturity in his craft. Not only does his latest and album of the year front runner Cassadaga, his “Americana” album, reflect this but his live performance this......

New Music Tuesday has matzofied, seder’d out and re-opened for business on this fine Thursday eve. Please use caution while perusing the list -- these brand-spankin’, ultra-smokin’, bootie-shakin’, earth-movin’, mind-blowin’ new releases might just melt your face off. Especially the Hip Hop Tribute To Bon Jovi. Phenomenal. Well, theoretically phenomenal. You understand. Jarvis Cocker - Jarvis (Rough Trade) Mother Hips - Kiss the Crystal Flake (Mega Force) Brandi Carlile - Story (Sony) The Field......

LAist is proud to offerer a weekly, chart roundup of Billboard Magazine’s most coveted rankings. Join us as we revel in the conventional standard of musical success. Let us cross our fingers, hoist our lighters, and dream together of the supreme resurrection of artist-driven recordings that will forever eclipse the dark cloud of big label greed, A&R sleaze and disposable audio. Amen. Here are this week’s chart toppers. Behold the #1s. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Billboard Charts......

It's not really a dance video, but it's hilarious, and not only did LAist consider it a nominee, but the people came out en masse to help it win the contest in what can only be called a landslide. Joseph Thai, whoever you are, reply back to the email we sent you and claim your amazing prize for this hidden gem. Enjoy your bag! Time magazine totally wimped out by naming "you" the Person......

LAist would like to admit we were wrong: Tonight, we taped Lost and ended up watching the finale of American Idol -- all two hours and three minutes of it. We got sucked in during the first hour and needed to watch the show to to its cheesy, glorious conclusion with Katharine McPhee and Taylor Hicks singing "I've Had the Time of My Life" from Dirty Dancing. Oh yes, and then Taylor being crowned......

LAist contributor Josh Spector reports: For two hours on Sunday night inside the House of Blues, rock 'n roll was everything it's meant to be - raw, dangerous, meaningful, and moving. Veteran So Cal rockers Social Distortion brought more than two decades worth of musicianship, urgency, ups and downs to the stage in an inspiring performance. With no new album to promote, the band played a good mix of songs from over the course......

After an exhausting — and possibly soggy — day at the LA Times Festival of Books tomorrow, literati of the most fun persuasion will be heading to Chinatown for the Vermin on the Mount reading series. Held at the Mountain Bar, this Vermin is co-produced by Swink Magazine, and promises to be both liquor- and literature-friendly. Readers coming in from afar include poet Alex Lemon, Steve Almond (My Life in Heavy Metal), and litblogger......

Tonight, KCRW presents two shows: The Dears with Robbers on High Street at the Troubadour at 8:00 PM and the Gimme Shelter Annual Acoustic Benefit featuring Jason Mraz, The Like, Rooney, The Speechwriters and others at The Roxy. (Be sure to enter our contest to win tickets from spinArt to see The Dears tonight!) Meanwhile, KXLU presents Karate, Roots of Orchis, and Ahmaste at Spaceland. Doors open at 9:00 PM. At the Knitting Factory, see......