In conjunction with the exhibition "The Vision and Art of Shinjo Ito," The Westwood Art Forum is presenting a series of free events that include guided meditation classes, yoga, discussions and a day programmed for children. Spaces are filling up fast, but there is still plenty of availability starting this Thursday for events throughout May and June. The different yoga classes encompass Anusara, Hatha and interestingly, symphonic where instructor Brad Keimach sets the practice to......

Monday Keith Gessen & Chad Harbach discuss the latest issue of n+1 7pm @ Book Soup Jay Inslee & Bracken Hendricks presents Apollo's Fire 7pm @ Vroman's Jenna Bush signs Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope 7pm @ Barnes & Noble, The Grove Robert Hass presents Time & Materials 7pm @ Central Library Tuesday John Leake presents Entering Hades 7pm @ Book Soup Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg present Superbad: Seth's Drawings 7pm @......

A brief overview of the new Takashi Murakami exhibit at the MOCA....

Lauren Bon's, Not a Cornfield Project, created quite a stir in the art community. Saturday night her new exhibit "Bees and Meat" is bound to generate more talk. Bon will fill the vast Ace Gallery with sculptural pieces created from honey, bees, and lamb carcasses. The "Bees and Meat sculptures involve the following items: 90 miles of irrigation stripping 33,000 pounds of dried “Not a Cornfield” corn kernels Two working wild hives and over......

While the Great UCLA Versus USC Debate may never reach a resolution (those damn Trojans are too hard-headed and engorged with pride to recognize true superiority when they see it), all Californians can hold their heads up with pride thanks to our excellent universities. I don't know if you noticed the recent Washington Monthly ratings of the nation's top schools, but they're giving the U.S. News and World Report a run for their money.......

The Flickr Related Tag Browser, a much easier way to look at photos in Flickr....

Did you know today is the 226th birthday of El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de Los Angeles -- aka L.A.? The old bitch is looking pretty good for her age! Although the city did not incorporate until 1850, September 4th, 1781 is the date that 44 Mexican pobladores set out from San Gabriel with a military escort to settle alongside a great river -- then called the Rio de Porciuncula, later to......

Who knew that for nearly a decade, newly appointed Poet Laureate Charles Simic’s work has been on display in the unlikeliest of places in Downtown Los Angeles? At 7+FIG to be more precise. Yep. You read that right. On the plaza above the bustling food court and the retail stores stands “Portals to Poetry” (1989), a collaborative effort between Simic and artist George Herms. The piece is one of eight works commissioned for a......

- Gustavo Arellano, who writes the syndicated column “¡Ask a Mexican!” for the OC Weekly, is profiled in the New York Times. - Hollywood loves top cop Sheriff, Lee Baca. Now he faces questions over his handling of Paris Hilton. - From University of Virginia to UCLA, here comes Gene Block. - Summing up City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo's last couple weeks. Photo taken at the UCLA Sculpture Garden by Zach Behrens for LAist.com......

Ever had one of those fever dreams where you enter a donut-eating contest, win $2500 and meet one of the original Latino superstars Erik Estrada all at the same time? Well, tomorrow that dream can be made real. In honor of the release of CHiPs: The Complete First Season, Frank “Ponch” Poncarello will be hosting a donut-eating contest at Randy’s Donuts in Inglewood. A portable DVD player and a signed copy of the DVD......

Last Wednesday’s show at the Billy Shire Gallery in Culver City had all the elements needed for a typical Los Angeles VIP event – work by a world renowned artist (Tim Biskup), a celebrity host (JJ Abrams), sponsorship from two hip brands (Vanity Fair and Helio), and a roster of guests most people only read about in the usual arts & culture magazines (Matt Groening, Mark Ryden, Adele Mildred, and Shepard Fairey, among others). The......

If Paris Hilton is allowed to leave the state, she'd surely be on her way to the Capla Kesting Fine Art gallery in Brooklyn, where Daniel Edwards' "Paris Hilton Autopsy" will be on display through the end of May. According to our Mothership, Gothamist, Hilton is said to have commissioned Edwards to create a sculpture of her for the Sunset Strip. Surely, she'd blame this sculpture of her untanned body on her fired and......

LA named one of the Best Places for Artists in America "... one of the reasons Los Angeles leads the list is because it has 56 artistic establishments for every 100,000 people, a diversity index of 84.2, and an arts and culture index of 100 (on a scale of 1 to 100)." (Business Week) City's Cultural Affairs Department gets new Head "I am thrilled to put forth such a visionary and inspiring leader as......

Friday was the 50th birthday of Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat. A few area schools honored the occasion with special events including the release of "THE SEUSS IS LOOSE!: Young Lil' Hats, Writing All That," at The Watts Learning Center charter school. Cabrillo Elementary in Hawthorne went all out for the good doc with a Read-a-Thon and a Green Eggs and Ham Cookoff, and the Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library served birthday cake while hat-wearing......

Happy Birthday Create:Fixate! You are 5 years old! And TONIGHT, in honor of this momentous anniversary, KCRW and The Onion are presenting a massive, one-night-only, art exhibition extravaganza called “Alive in Los Angeles.” In true Create:Fixate style, this event will include unique, live painting, musical happenings, experimental sculpture, interactive photography, multi-medium displays, t-shirt screen printing, and video installations. Come early with the fam. Come late with a date. All humans welcome. SATURDAY, December 9......

Bill Clinton had a warm reception yesterday at the UCLA sculpture garden, where hundreds of students came to see him speak. Crowds waited in anticipation for the celebrity president to arrive at 10am, where he would rally in support of Proposition 87 - a measure that aims to reduce dependence on foreign oil, as well as to reduce greenhouse emissions by imposing oil-drilling fees on on oil companies. Opposition to this proposition is of......

Millionaire beautiful people Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie did a lot more than just browse while attending the latest Banksy show in downtown LA; they scooped up three pieces, including the $226,000 painting "Picnic", which depicts a family of white people eating while several Africans look on hungrily. Some say the husband in the party looks similar to Pitt. But the spending spree didn't end there. According to Star Magazine, and reported by the......

Graffiti artist Banksy, who most recently was in the news for getting a disturbing sculpture into Disneyland, as well as his work that trashed Paris Hilton's new cd, is in town causing trouble guaranteed to make pretty much everyone who passes it smile. This week the LA Weekly spotlights the controversial artist in a Q & A about his new collection of thought-provoking art that literally hits the streets of LA. Here's an excerpt:......

by Ericka Lozano Okay, Elina, I'll take the bait and defend my beloved Westwood, even if no one else will. I have to say that to bash a whole neighborhood because you got stuck in a parking garage overnight when you didn't read the signs (!!!) seems like you overreacted. I lived in Westwood for four years, and worked at UCLA almost the whole time. I still serve on the board of the Westwood......

by Debbie Long For three years I worked in the upper floors of a downtown LA skyscraper. Each day I would eagerly wait for the two 15 minute breaks and 45 minute lunch when I could leave my windowless cubicle and find somewhere outside to regroup. There was something about being around all of the glass, concrete and steel buildings that made me seek out water. Fortunately, downtown Los Angeles is filled with fountains,......

Now a “career woman", Leilani Wertens searches for the perfect meal during her lunch hour in an oft neglected part of Los Angeles—the newly revitalized downtown district. Read about her weekly culinary adventures on LAist. by Leilani Wertens A sign at the entrance to a cobbled alleyway (Harlem Place Alley) is the only clue that Lost Souls Café lies just ahead. Grasping for the handle of what appeared to be a back door, I......

Monday: The Next Herb Wesson Unless you spent the $225 for the series that includes Al Franken and Ann Coulter tonight at The Gibson, you’re out of luck. Rather, we recommend you check out local celebrity politico Eric Garcetti at the Improv Olympic on The Blank Blank Show in Hollywood. Tuesday: "This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating." The face behind This Modern World, political cartoonist Tom Tomorrow, will present and sign his......

Los Angeles based artist Gronk, who is known nationally as a performance and graffiti artist, as well as a prankster, has a new installation exhibit that opened this weekend in Downtown LA. Urban Narrative is recollection of the history and mythology of the fading urban core of Los Angeles, and uses found objects, sculpture, and paintings to tell a tale of our city. The installation is open now through April 16th at Gallery 727,......

• Come and celebrate Spaceland's 10th anniversary with special guests The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Quarter After and The Clean Prophets at 9 PM. • Things are happening tonight at the Hammer Museum, beginning at 6 PM with a gallery talk for the new exhibit "THING: New Sculpture from Los Angeles," led by led by artsits Olga Koumoundouros, Renee Lotenero, and Nathan Mabry with exhibition curators. At 7 PM, senior Village Voice art critic......

History often proves unkind to ideas and plans once touted as the wave of the future. Take much of Downtown LA, such as the elevated walkways and segregated vehicular/pedestrian zones. And then there’s the Civic Center Mall. LAist found ourselves strolling through this partially subterranean development located northeast of City Hall that contains a subterranean parking, restaurants, mix of retail operations, miscellaneous amenities (e.g. shoe shine booth), and City operations (DOT). Plus lots of......

First a prediction: While we think Donovan McNabb is superb and the Eagles have been a lot of fun to read about all week, we're going with the Patriots as our Super Bowl Champions. You just can't bet against Brady in the playoffs. But nevermind the game. The real important thing to watch on Sunday is American Dad. The animated show from Seth McFarlane promises to be hilarious. It might even get us out......

• The El Rey hosts Brit sensations Razorlight with The Like and Tender Trio at 7 PM. Tickets are $15.50. • Tonight at The Echo, The Section Quartet will be finishing up their residency, accompanied by the vocals of Greg Dulli, Sam Philips and Grant Lee Philips, performing originals and covers, as well as performances by The Ditty Bops and Astra Heights. Doors open at 8 PM and admission is $7. [18+] • At......

The Soto Street Bridge at Mission Road and Huntington has been deemed functionally obsolete (PDF). The City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks plans to remove it and replace it with "green space" and a sculpture by Los Angeles artist Stephen Glassman. Judging from Glassman's work in West Hollywood, we bet the piece will include poles made of natural material indigenous to the area and be very, very tall. We just hope......

Angelenos have two chances to contemplate contemporary Aboriginal art this month: On Sunday, August 8th from 3:00-7:00 PM the Australian Trade Commission, Aboriginality.com, and The Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey, host "Palate and Palette: A Sampling of Australia�s Finest Wines & Paintings" at the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey. This show allows visitors to sip 45 Australian wines while viewing contemporary Aboriginal art by such artists as Ronnie Tjampitjinpa, Freddy Timms, Kathleen Petyarre, William Sandy, Abie......