Beginning tomorrow night, South Pasadena will be the first city to claim a no-cussing week proclamation. And it's thanks to 14-year-old McKay Hatch who founded the "No Cussing Club." He explains on his website what this is all about: "A lot of kids at my school, and some of my friends, would cuss and use dirty language all the time. They did it so much, they didn't even realize they were doing it. It bothered......

From writing to recording and producing, Joe Henry knows how to keep himself busy. This year he released his CD "Civilians", wrote the music for "Knocked Up" with Loudon Wainwright III, and produced several tracks for Todd Hayne's Bob Dylan film "I'm Not There". In 2003 he won a Grammy for producing Solomon Burke's "Don't Give Up On Me". Burke has said about Joe Henry, "He's an exciting young man, a talented gentleman, he......

Monday Porochista Khakpour presents Sons and Other Flammable Objects 7pm @ Dutton's Kenneth Turan presents Never Coming to a Theater Near You 7pm @ Studio City Branch Library Tuesday Susan Faludi presents The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America 7pm @ Central Library Max Brooks presents World War Z 7pm @ Book Soup Walter Mosley presents Blonde Faith 7:30pm @ Skirball Cultural Center President Vicente Fox discusses and signs Revolution of Hope......

Somewhere inside the archives of my storage closet resides one of those relics of yesteryear--a recordable audiocassette that, on one Saturday night about fifteen years ago, I stuck in my "boom box" and pressed down the play and record buttons together to capture the KROQ DJ giving his shout-outs to all the folks who'd just called in, including me and one of my partners-in-crime. "And Lindsay and Laurie in La Crescenta are going to Rocky......

Steven Schmidt We've told you about the Sundays Live tradition stemming from 1948 here in Los Angeles before, but we'll tell you again: this is essential LA. 1) It's at LACMA. 2) It's Free. 3) It's Quality. Tonight, they present percussionist Steven Schmidt alongside Mládí, the conductor-less chamber orchestra known for their concerts at the historically famous Los Altos Apartments in Wilshire Center. The diverse program includes Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů, Schmidt's own Images......

LAist Editor Tony Pierce has blogged here non-stop for more than a year deserving a well-earned vacation (and did he ever earn it). While out of town, we decided to have a little fun and bring some guest day editors in from around the blogLAsphere. Monday we had Green LA Girl and Tuesday saw Fred Camino of MetroRiderLA.Zuma Dogg took Wednesday and LA City Nerd yesterday. Today, former LAist Editor Carolyn Kellogg makes a comeback!......

At 87, esteemed American author Ray Bradbury is in the twilight of his life – and his latest play Green Town serves as an homage to his childhood -- with the requisite Bradbury twists, of course. Green Town consists of three vignettes set circa 1929 that focus on fantasy and the whimsical. In the first, 14-year-old Ralph Spaulding (Anders Asbjornsen) can feel something exciting coming on the noon train. He races home to his......

You can push them around, cancel their shows and laugh at their outfits until your face turns red... they just keep on Trekking. In the pantheon of rabid fan bases, you'd be hard-pressed to find a legion of fans as loyal as the Trekkies (excepting, of course, the Star Wars crowd). Notwithstanding the one above, you've probably already seen your fair share of Trekkie cosplay pictures, whether from Star Trek conventions, movie openings or......

Writer Ray Bradbury may be 87, but his mind and sense of humor are as agile as ever. LAist joined his diehard fans and other audience members for an evening with Bradbury live at the Fremont Centre Theatre in South Pasadena on Friday night. The author of American classics – Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles etc. – took the stage and talked for nearly an hour and a half on his love life. Using......

Here are the five productions opening this weekend that are currently piquing LAist’s interest: 7 Glimpses of Utopia Tonight only, the Skid Row-based theater group LAPD (Los Angeles Poverty Department) presents a picture of utopian possibilities in downtown L.A. LAPD'ers and others were asked to identify and invite someone they knew who was doing something "laudable, and important, something that represents the best of the current and future downtown." National Center for the Preservation......

- Among several persons being promoted, Chief Bratton will present a commander’s badge to Captain Sandy Jo MacArthur, who will become the first woman on LAPD to oversee all training functions in the police department as the commanding officer of Training Group. - 77 sworn officers, 25 civilian personnel, 18 helicopters, one airplane, over 18,000 hours of flight time a year and the largest rooftop heliport in the United States of America. Congrats to......

Despite the fact that McDonald's has tried to palm off salads, wraps, grilled chicken, and other healthier options to its hamburger-based mainstay, Angus burgers have made their way onto the menu at a half-dozen area Mickey D's. And we're just not talking one Angus burger that can be found in several McDonald's restaurant, like one found in South Pasadena, but three different burgers: Regular, Mushroom & Cheese, and Deluxe. Clearly feeling the heat from......

The past is always present for Janet Klein. A devotee of early 20th century popular culture, Janet sings old hits on her ukulele and performs with her band "Janet Klein & Her Parlor Boys." Last year, they hosted a weekly show called "Janet Klein & Her Borscht Belt Babies," directed by Amit Itelmann, at the Steve Allen Theater. The show recreated a vaudeville show, featuring a variety of performances involving animal acts, speakers, singers and......

Can't afford that $2.2 million house you wanted in Laguna Niguel? You can get the same exact model for a half million in AV (that's Antelope Valley). Hello Poppy Festival and street names with no creativity! We love Bob Hope Burbank Airport (BUR)!!! The short lines, the ease of picking up and dropping off friends and walking on the tarmac. But the airport is getting more popular and now they are considering the Van......

Three years ago, Jim Brown and his wife Michelle Gringeri-Brown decided their love of mid-century ranch homes was too much to keep to themselves. With years of experience in publishing, they founded Atomic Ranch, a glossy, independent magazine that's as gorgeously photographed as the high-end home and design magazines from New York. But Atomic Ranch is from South Pasadena, and instead of focusing on "starchitect" homes features houses that are just as striking without......

Today, the LA Times reports on the new express service that saves riders 5 minutes. Well, we want that time back. 5 minutes on a practically empty train means a lot: more reading, blogging, sleeping, chatting and sprawling out. Saving 5 minutes is a waste of time for the MTA's resources and funding. Andrew at Here in Van Nuys has the best idea of converting "the aged 110 freeway from South Pasadena to Downtown......

Carolyn Kellogg has been the editor of LAist for just about a month. She's been writing for the site for much longer than that. At the same time, she hosts Pinky's Paperhaus but we'll get into that later. She explains her professional past as a "former music journalist turned web producer". We'd describe her as energetic, intelligent, invested, excited and colorful. And that's just her hair (rimshot). Thank you, please tip your wait staff.......

Last night LAist bid adieu to summer with one last evening under the stars at the Hollywood Bowl. But last night wasn't the usual orchestra and picnic basket affair--it was a screening of the midnight movie cult classic Rocky Horror Picture Show, celebrating its 30th anniversary with what amounted to be the biggest ever audience participation crowd in the film's decadent and scantily clad history. The pre-show included a performance by the band Louis......

With construction of the Metro Orange Line - the dedicated busway stretching from NoHo to WoW (that's West of Winnetka, folks) -- breezing along at a clip that'll see it finished by September, northern 'burbs like Pasadena and Glendale are itching something fierce for a transit corridor that can see passengers safely through their own burgeoning yuppie districts. It's a still-theoretical jaunt from Gold Line to Orange Line that many are calling the "missing......

Ably processing Los Angeles’s extraordinary built environment requires thinkers who can look it through a dynamic lens that takes into consideration way more than what’s typically thought of as “good” architecture. Understanding LA means peeking into the cracks of the city and embracing what some might dismiss as sheer vulgarity. Moreover, creatively adding to the physical fabric of our city and meeting its needs beyond the strip mall paradigm necessitates a deeply complex appreciation......

Parrot-eating has an illustrious history dating back to ancient Rome....

Neighborhood activists have succeeded in forcing the MTA to tone down the warning bells at crossings along the Gold Line route through South Pasadena. Their win in administrative court means the MTA must cut decibel levels on the electronic bell simulators (that's right, fake bells) from their current level of between 85 and 90 (about as loud as a garbage disposal) to somewhere around 75 dbs (an older window A/C unit). We wish the......

The Pasadena Star News reported on 11/4/04 that the MTA has commissioned a study to determine the feasibility of extending the 710 Long Beach/Pasadena using a tunnel under Pasadena, South Pasadena and El Sereno, the cities in the freeway's path. Proposals include building one tunnel for northbound cars, one for southbound cars, and a third for trucks. "It'll be too damned expensive to dig three holes. That's what (the study) is going to show......

Los Angeles is a bright place. Some Angelenos embrace the region's light, while others scurry from it like a roach caught in the beam of the refrigerator's bulb at midnight. Whether you are a sun-worshipper or a vampire, though, sun is bad for you. When the rays are too much, we find solace in shady spots that cleverly use design elements to provide respite and relaxation (yes, we use sunglasses, hats and umbrellas too—but......