Forget June Gloom... for one major section of Descanso Gardens in La Canada it's all about June Bloom! The roses in the International Rosarium are the star players this month (the camellias, irises, and lilacs are done for the season, alas) and a visit to the horticultural oasis that was bought and developed in 1937 by E. Manchester Boddy, (then publisher of the Los Angeles Daily News) is a pleasant way to spend a late-spring......

Spring is here in Los Angeles! To celebrate, I give you a series of Haikus. boobies are in bloom jiggling in the fresh spring air welcome to LA More poetry after the jump.......

In celebration of World Pillow Fight Day, hundreds of spring-fevered revelers duked it out in Pershing Square 'til they were "ankle-deep in feathers." All photos by Dan Tentler for LAist......

These flowering blossoms remind us that today, March 20th, is the first day of Spring. The first day of Spring is also known as the Vernal Equinox. It is one of two days a year (The other being Autumnal Equinox) when there are 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of night. Equinox = equal night. Why? Most descriptions are a little overly complicated, so let's try not to get too Mr. Science about......

Nick's, home of delicious breakfast burritos, by Rebecca~James via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr Remember when we told you that Los Angeles tap water was the best tasting in the world? Turns out that our delicious H20 might have been sprinkled with delicious drugs. The AP found that a multitude of pharmaceuticals, like antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones, have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million......

The first sign of Spring isn't a lavendar crocus gently peeking out of the snow. This is Los Angeles, and it's time for strawberries! Which means strawberry pies are back! The greatest pie of them all is the Banberry Pie at Polly's Pies. Sometimes strawberry pies can be a bit overwhelming, and sometimes they are way too tart. Banana cream pies are just a little dull. The geniuses at Polly's Pies combined them to......

Can you re-imagine the LA Riverfront? Then checkout tonight's lecture at SCI-Arc. / Photo by Lush.i.ous via LAist's flickr pool. FILM* A classic Japanese double feature plays at the New Beverly tonight and tomorrow. While these films were made more than 50 years ago, the themes are timeless: Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952) focuses on a housewife who’s sick and tired of her boring life with her business-minded husband as her niece......

Photo by ChazWags via Flickr He already served a month of jail time when he was convicted last Spring, but today, sleazy wannabe slumlord Darren Stern, who also goes by Henry Shalom, was ordered to pay millions back to rent-control tenants that he mistreated in order to get them to move out so he could raise rents, eventually selling the buildings at "inflated" prices, according to CBS2. The money will be split and given......

"...And the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming" by kpe II via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr Newly elected state speaker, a Democrat named Karen Bass who was raised in Los Angeles, has made friends on both sides of the aisle, the LA Times said. She is the first African-American to assume the top spot and has some pretty lofty goals, including providing healthcare and improving education. Wait, those are things EVERY......

Still Life with Seasonings, by Alex Kehr via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr An investigation by the Daily News found that, as the DWP has increased rates they continue to issue cars to more than 100 employees who are free to take them home. Proponents of the program say the cost of the vehicles is offset by the tax breaks the department receives from the hybrids they drive. Other people say, You're shitting......

Sometimes, the most fun in life comes in surprises. Last night, that surprise came in the form of a random marching band appearing out of nowhere at the corner of 5th and Spring playing a hybrid of New Klezmer Afro-Brazilian Tango during last night's Downtown Art Walk. We followed the free-jazz, experimental, all-genres-equal Killsonic for about an hour throughout Gallery Row intruding upon art galleries and people's peace and quiet. At one point, we......

Photo by el daverino via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr A Musical Valentine to Santa Monica: Sia just announced a last-minute show (definitely her last before Coachella!) for tomorrow, February 14th at 2PM in Santa Monica at the Starbucks Hear Music Coffeehouse on Third St. Promenade, first come first serve. She kicks off her North American tour the following day, Friday, in San Diego. The 15-year-old boy shot on Tuesday at a......

TALK Michael Alexander, author of Jazz Age and the Jews, will discuss Jewish life in the roaring 20s, including performer Al Jolson, Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter and mobster Arnold Rothstein in the lecture “‘Mammy, Don’t You Know Me?’: Al Jolson and the Jews.” He’ll discuss the 1920s as a heyday of Jewish culture, but why many identified with groups that remained marginalized. Book signing and dessert reception will follow. 7 pm // Davidson Conference......

The Tough Cookies' Venus d'Maulr / All photos by Kelly C. Gallamore for LAist While much of LA stayed home watching movies Saturday night, the real action was in Historic Filipinotown, where a sold out crowd of 2,000+ ventured out into a meteorological maelstrom to watch the L.A. Derby Dolls season-opening bout. The Tough Cookies dominated each quarter to knock off the Fight Crew 35-28 in the new Doll Factory, a converted 30,000 sq.......

If you're looking for something interesting to do this weekend, tomorrow night from 9:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m., a group of young women under the name Fetus are organizing the first of a planned monthly event at the INMO Gallery, in Billy's Coffee Shop, at the historic 1920s Rosslyn Hotel building. The $5 admission fee includes 3 free drinks (nice!) and there will be several DJs spinning Electro, Retro, 60s-80s dance, new disco, and international......

Artist Rendering Courtesy of Union Restaurant & Lounge Even more restaurant news is coming down the wire -- earlier today, we checked out some early reports on Bond St in Beverly Hills, and now we hear that developers The Valencia Group will be transforming Downtown's historic Union Bank building into The Union Restaurant & Lounge (it's all about the restaurant-slash-lounge concept nowadays, isn't it?). So, yes, Downtown will have another fancy-schmancy dining space; the......

It's official, four major studios have canceled writer contracts -- the Spring 2008 TV is repeats and/of reality. Since Friday, 65 writer contracts have been canceled. Now, even if the strike ends in the foreseeable future, "the studios will no longer be obligated to pay the writers... The action saves the media companies tens of millions of dollars in payments, and is the first real sign of belt-tightening caused by the strike," according to......

So, looking forward to the Golden Globes tomorrow night? If you like lists being read aloud (and, really, who doesn't?) then NBC has a show for you. But, wait, there's more! Since the news conference announcing the winners will take one hour, NBC is filling the other two hours originally scheduled for the Globes with a "Dateline" special, including interviews to be conducted by Matt Lauer with some actors that are up for some......

The Los Angeles Times is predicting that we can expect gas prices to continue climbing, possibly hitting $4 a gallon in 2008. Citing high demand and persistently strong crude oil costs, it is estimated that prices will hit $3.40 a gallon by next Spring (which is not that far off from the $3.10 charged at Mobil this morning, or the $3.22 advertised at Shell). According to the Energy Department, as quoted in the Times, "The......

You can't escape the holidays this weekend. No matter how hard you try. So wanna play? Go with the flow? Check these events out: SING-ALONG: The Music Center’s annual Holiday Sing-Along happens tonight. Don't know the words? Songsheets will be provided. The singing takes place outside, so bundle up – or spike your personal egg nog stash. 6:30 pm // Music Center Plaza // 135 N. Grand Ave. // Free. FILM: To get Westsiders......

Sometimes too much holiday cheer is a very, very bad thing. Especially the liquid kind. Hence, the lateness of today's column. But here's the down and dirty on what's happening around town tonight: SPECTACULAR: The Super Sexy Christmas Spectacular takes place at El Cid tonight with Terry Beeman's Hollywood Pin-up Girls' burlesque dance showcase. Tapas. Drinks. Flamenco. Sounds like a very dangerous combo. We're in. 10 pm // El Cid, 4212 Sunset Blvd., Los......

LAist has been sending undercover reporters to UCLA's undie run for the past few quarters and trust us, there's no better place to be embedded than in a throng of thongs. Try as they might to duplicate our coverage (we're looking at you, KTLA ... and the creepy dude with a camera lens that was a lil' too long, if you know what we mean), nobody can uncover a story like we can. Thanks......

1812: A major earthquake struck Southern California, destroying the church at Mission San Juan Capistrano and damaging the San Gabriel Mission. 1873: J. R. Toberman, Mayor approved a franchise for a street railway which have a run "commencing at Temple and Spring Streets, and along Spring to First; First to Fort Street, (now Broadway); Fort Street to Fourth Street, Fourth to Hill Street, on Hill to Fifth Street; on Fifth to Olive Street; on......

MUSIC: CalTech isn’t just about nerdy rocket scientists. They have glee clubs, too! All kidding aside, tonight's concert will feature traditional holiday favorites as well as the Women's Club taking on Porpora’s Magnificat, written in the 1730s. 8 pm // Dabney Lounge at California Institute of Technology // 1200 East California Blvd., Pasadena // Free. DANCE: From CalTech, we’ll head over to CalArts in Valencia. The Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance is holding its......

It’s been a whirlwind of a day here at LAist. Early this morning our Editor told the staff via email that he would soon be accepting a new job at the LA Times running all of their blogs (of which there are about 25, currently) and that he would be starting in just a few weeks. We all knew this day would come, but so soon? Since the moment Tony Pierce began at LAist back......

"You don't actually think they spend $20000.00 on a hammer, $30000.00 on a toilet seat do you?" ~ Independence Day Well, it's the difference between what the new LAPD headquarters currently under construction should cost and is costing. And City Controller Laura Chick, who is responsible for auditing city spending to find misuse, abuse and savings, is making headlines by putting departments city who oversee contracts and contractors themself on notice, starting with the......

Before the Kroger corporation absorbed the grocery chain, making it just a small portion of the empire that also includes Cala Foods, Food 4 Less, and Foods Co., among others, Ralphs was owned by a local named George. George Albert Ralphs had been a bricklayer, but a hunting injury forced him into being an apprentice in the grocery biz. Two years into it he founded the now legendary grocery chain in downtown LA with......

There's an eclectic mix of comedy, drama and spoken word in this week's theatre picks. Shut Up and Eat Your Groundlings The Groundlings’ latest sketch show hits the stage this weekend. Groundlings Theater. 7307 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles. (323) 934-4747 ext. 37. Tickets are $21.50. Opens Friday at 8 pm. Runs Fridays at 8 pm and Saturdays at 8 and 10 pm until Nov. 24. L.A. Voz L.A. Voz (Los Angeles Voice) is a series......

Art walks, Food fairs, fashion, and film. It's fall in LA, and for another weekend we can forget about our lack of playoff-worthy baseball teams and professional football and take advantage of our final three weeks of Daylight Saving Time. The fun begins tonight, so you best start the weekend now. Downtown Art Walk Thursday, Noon - 9 p.m.: On the second Thursday of every month, Angelenos stroll up and down Spring and Main......

Since its launch in March 2006, Hot Chicks With Douchebags has delivered exactly what it promises, "Pictures of hot chicks with total and complete douchebags. With commentary." While the pictures themselves, like the one seen above (fittingly a photo taken in LA) or of our beloved editor here, are incredible, it's the commentary from the site's creator Jay Louis that has helped this blog reach legendary status. HCwDB has become so popular it's been......