If you've got a daughter, take her to Girls Rock! this Sunday at the Echo Park Film Center. It's a pretty inspiring rawk dawc. If you don't have a daughter, take yourself. The funny looks will be worth it, because there's plenty fun for adults too. Then sit tight - because right about the time it sinks in that Rock 'n' Roll Camp is electrifying Portland and we're in L.A., Girls Rock Los Angeles & its faithful organizers burst onto center stage! Give 'em a few minutes of your time & a few dollars for the ticket. Unless you want the future of grrl rock repped by Kristen Stewart... more ›

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will discuss The Good Fight: Hard Lessons From Searchlight to Washington with Rob Reiner 7:30pm @ UCLA, James Bridges Theater more ›

If old and rare books are your thing, you're in luck this weekend. The 41st California International Antiquarian Book Fair opens at 2pm today and runs through Sunday. more ›

LA readings and book signings around town for January 28th - Februar 3rd including Judith Freeman, Ron Jeremy, Tamara Jenkins, Mary McNamara, Sam Jones and Tom Dolby. more ›

The week in Los Angeles bookish events from Monday, January 7th - Sunday, January 13th. Readings, signings and bookish events this week include Andy Summers, Jami Attenberg, Judith Freeman, Alice Fulton, J.A. Jance and Robert Gottlieb. more ›

Craby Joe's has been at the corner of 7th and Main in Downtown LA since 1933, and earned its place in local lore as a watering hole near and dear to the well-known downtrodden of the literary scene, like John Fante and Charles Bukowski. In honor of the bar's closing night, there will be a gathering of local historians and preservationists, and anyone else wishing to hoist a memorial last drink at Craby Joe's from 10 p.m. until last call on Christmas Eve. The night is being called a wake, in order to properly, and ceremoniously, say goodbye to the bar, whose "now-dead neon sign blinked gaily in the opening credits for Barfly and its pickled eggs were the day's only protein for too many." more ›

The Guardian has an irritating blog post about LA writers. The gist: LA poet and novelist Rob Woodard wonders where all the good novelists in LA have gone. He points to the well-known "great" LA writers (Chandler, Nathaniel West, John Fante, Bukowski) and a few others, then deems LA literature mostly dead for the past thirty years. more ›

Judith Freeman's just-out book, The Long Embrace: Raymond Chandler and The Woman He Loved is a must-read for any Angeleno worth their salt. Why? Not only does Freeman detail the fascinating life of Chandler, one of L.A.'s most famous writers, but she documents, researches and visits almost every one of the thirty-five homes he lived in during his life in Southern California. more ›

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... more ›

James Rollins presents The Judas Strain 7pm @ Vroman's more ›

Here’s the thing: this book isn’t even out yet. But because we live in Los Angeles, and this book is about Los Angeles, you’re in luck. We’re all in luck. Denise Hamilton and the bevy of supremely talented noir writers that contributed stories to this book are signing all over town this week. And the book will be, yes, you guessed it – available for signing at the readings two weeks before the rest of... more ›

A Word Or 29: Slim pickins tonight my friends. I'm half inclined to just park it in front of TCM for a night of private eye flicks (Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, Mike Hammer). Tonight - Tuesday - March 6th, 2007 Lakers @ Timberwolves (KCAL, 5:00 p.m) Kings @ Blackhawks (Fox Sports, 5:30 p.m.) The Big Sleep (TCM, 7:00 p.m.) Bogie as Philip Marlowe in this classic Raymond Chandler private eye flick, directed by Howard... more ›

The quirky author of L.A. Confidential, The Black Dahlia, and the film "Cop", was interviewed yesterday in the New York Times to promote his upcoming involvement in a CourtTV series which will analyze the unsolved murder of his mother. more ›

- Yes there is a marching band called The Santa Ana Winds - Yes, Raymond Chandler wrote this about the winds in "Red Wind": "those hot dry [winds] that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks.... more ›

Alfred Hitchcock fans are in seventh heaven this month, thanks to the Egyptian Theatre’s series, “Hitchcockian: The Master & His Disciples.” For the next three weeks, the Egyptian will screen some of Hitch’s most lauded – and some lesser known – films, which will then be paired with other movies that paid homage to, stole from or mocked the master of suspense. more ›

Step into Union Station on Alameda Street and be immediately transported into the world of Dashiell Hammet or Raymond Chandler: It just smells of old pulp fiction. The train station, which was built in 1939, blends the art deco with Spanish style tilework and evokes a noirish world -- or at least Lifehouse's "You and Me" video (filmed here and at the Roosevelt). more ›

Age and Occupation: 46. Writer and documentary producer. more ›

Ah, the first day of fall is upon us. more ›