Monday Maggie Nelson presents The Red Parts: A Memoir 7pm @ Pomona College, Claremont Rich Eisen presents Total Access 7pm @ Book Soup Sue Grafton signs T is for Trespass 7:30pm @ Barnes & Noble, 3rd Street Promenade Tuesday Sue Grafton signs T is for Trespass 6pm @ Vroman's Steve Schapiro presents Schapiro's Heroes 7pm @ Book Soup Christine Pelosi presents Campaign Book Camp 7pm @ Book Soup Deborah Landis presents Dressed: A Century......

It all started with Anthony Bourdain's Mexican border episode of his show No Reservations. At one point he picks up a riding crop in a leather shop. He slaps it confidently against the palm of his hand, and says, "Yeah, this is coming home with me." I've always been attracted to his superior punk New York attitude. But the "whack" of that riding crop took it somewhere new. I confessed to my boyfriend, "I'm sorry......

Although some say it doesn’t have nearly as much charm as the original cult sensation, Iron Chef America, is one of the top rated Food Network series since its first airing in 2005. Besides for some of the most inventive dishes one’s ever heard of – fish ice cream anyone? - the mysterious chairman gets to unveil the secret ingredient as well as the winner in that serious/self mocking tone. That chairman's name is Mark......

Spice girl, newlywed, and new mama Mel B is being outted by her former lesbian lover who is revealing information about their two year love affair and Mel B's "fragile" state of mind - Daily News Britney Spears got pulled over last night on her way to her favorite party spot, Las Vegas. Britney got out of it, claiming she was being chased by the paparazzi - Dlisted Pete Doherty checks into rehab finally, lets......

Sexy Pasta. Can I make a confession? I've kinda got a soft spot for Rachael Ray's recipes. Not the woman herself - while I don't detest her enough to join a hate club or anything, I don't find her particularly witty or interesting or original. Now, Tony Bourdain - THAT'S my idea of a chef-slash-television-personality! And the fact that he'd probably cut me for calling him a television personality makes me love him even......

A Word or 14: Nothing matters until the Police appear on TV this Sunday at the Grammy Awards. Tonight - Friday - February 9th, 2007 Clippers @ 76ers (KTLA, 5:30 p.m.) Lakers @ Raptors (KCAL, 5:30 p.m.) Ghost Whisperer/Close to Home/NUMB3RS (CBS, 8-11:00 p.m.) All new. Mary J. Blige guest stars on Whisperer. Crank Yankers (MTV2, 8:00 p.m.) Season premiere Las Vegas/Law & Order (NBC, 9-11:00 p.m.) A mummy is stolen in Vegas and......

Happy Holidays! Chances are, you're reading this the day after Christmas, back at your day job after all-too-short a holiday, and the last thing you want from us is stuff about the holidays. But that's just too bad. Because, see, here in the Ist-A-Verse, we do things ahead of time. It might be December 26 for you, but that's what you get for not checking your Favorite Local Blog on Christmas Eve. Austinist is......

Tuesday Night "Rachael Ray's Thanksgiving in 60" (FOOD, 6:00 p.m.) If you're in need of last minute T-giving ideas watch this evil little sprite dish them out "Beauty and the Beast" (IFC, 6:00 p.m.) Director Jean Cocteau's 1946 surreal take on the fairy tale. Hey, at least I'm not pushing you to watch Eisenstein's "Alexander Nevsky" at 9:25 p.m. "NHL Hockey" (PRIME, 7:00 p.m.) Sharks @ Ducks "NBA Basketball" (the CW or FSW, 7:30......

- First four minutes of Borat - above, friend - Los Angeles agrees with Rush Limbaugh when he accused Michael J. Fox of going off his meds to make a pro-stem cell research political ad - CBS2 - Arnold Schwarzenegger, Aaron Spelling, Gene Simmons, Charlie Sheen, Brad Pitt, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne, Matt LeBlanc, Tommy Lee, Jack Nicholson, Dan Aykroyd, and Kevin Federline all make their way into the new book "Hooking Up: You'll......

California is overrepresented in the finalists in The Next Food Network Star reality show: two are still standing, and they're both from California. First there's Guy Fieri from Johnny Garlic's up in Santa Rosa. But despite his location, Guy's not wine-country-ish at all: he's got spiky blonde hair, wears skate shorts and cooks healthy-ish home versions of crap we all like to eat: the fried, the BBQd, the spicy, the tequila-soaked. He's somewhere between......

For the past several days the Food Network's ubiquitous kitchen pixie, Rachael Ray, has been invading book and cook shops in California on a signing tour for her cookbook 365: No Repeats. Tomorrow night marks her last stop in the greater Los Angeles area, with a 7-8 PM slot at Pasadena's Sur La Table. We happened to stroll by there over the weekend and noticed that their sidewalk sandwich board urged those interested to......