As it gets closer to Halloween for LAist, a contributer recollects her tale of staring down the serial killer, Richard Ramirez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker. Must think happy thoughts -- okay, free organic chocolate chip cookies for Los Angeles -- now that's a happy thought. Other happy Los Angeles thoughts include an interview with Jack Kehler of The Big Lebowski (he was the Dude's landlord), a beautiful and magical photographic moment in Venice......

There are some people, mostly retirees, who haunt the halls of the downtown LA courthouses, attending trials for entertainment. High-profile trials are mobbed, but the regulars know the secret is to attend the preliminary hearings instead. When the hearings were held for the Night Stalker, Richard Ramirez, the courtroom was practically empty. I only worked half-days, and I had graduated from taking acid to pills, so I had a lot of patience for just hanging......

I made my way to the yellow covered tents at the far end of the WeHo Book Fair fifteen minutes early, for the panel that had made me cream when I read about it. Moderated by Hilary Carlip, “Cracking Up: Women on the Verge of Laughter” was a discussion with five female writers whose work ostensibly falls under the heading “comedy”: Beth Lapides, Cathryn Michon, Meghan Daum, and Erika Schickel. I’ll be frank –......

Dear MCA, I would like to marry you and have 1000 of your Buddhist-rapper babies. While this may come across trite or ill conceived I assure you I am neither a crazy person nor a stalker fan. Of course I think you make great music, but what I’m saying is that I have not been harboring these feeling for two decades hoping that one day I’d have a chance to spring them on you.......

Monday Portia Iversen & Jane Kaczmerek present Strange Son 7pm @ Vroman's Christopher Hitchens discusses God is Not Great 7pm @ Central Library Diane Lefer signs California Transit: Stories and a Novella 7pm @ Dutton's Larry Doyle presents I Love You Beth Cooper 7pm @ Borders, Westwood Tuesday Ron Carlson signs Five Skies: A Novel 7pm @ Dutton's Larry Doyle presents I Love You Beth Cooper 7pm @ Book Soup Aurelia Scott presents Otherwise......

If you missed your soaps this week, and if your ex is actually complying with that restraining order, you may be missing out on your daily dose of drama. Well, if the three-dimensional world has been too uneventful of late, I can assure you the fur has been flying in cyberspace. And if I may be so bold to ask, please grant me one giant, all-encompassing (sic) for this post. This week, Martini Republic,......

Word is that 16-year-old Emma Watson, who's made her mark in Hollywood playing Harry Potter's galpal Hermione Granger, is sick of the role. She's balking at signing on for the last two Harry Potter movies. Matters probably didn't help much last week when a 20-something stalker approached Watson at school to chat about the films. According to a Guardian article: It seems to have been Grint [Ron Weasley] himself who sparked off the speculation......

With the sun out, the temperatures high, one can only think of one thing: what's going on in the World of the -ists? Bostonist dug deep to uncover Barack Obama's unpaid parking tickets, their Governor's latest ethical lapse, and a plagiarizing sports writer. Chicagoist had everything in twos: two views on having the Olympics, losing two members of their Super Bowl team, and two music festivals. DCist put their noses in legal books as......

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-i-verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't officially start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to... Over at Sampaist, spring has more than sprung: it's sweltering! But, as everyone knows, museums are an......

Some people have already been eulogized here on LAist, for example, Robert Altman, so I've done my best not to repeat anyone who has been mentioned recently. As someone who studied film in college, I always try to look over and remember people who changed the industry, improved their art, or who changed/improved me. This is by no means a comprehensive list, and I'm sure I've missed some people. Feel free to add and......

- Over the last few days two very odd, small blogs have reported a sex tape being released starring an actress who allegedly gave oral pleasure to her boyfriend while on a hot set with her mic still on. The actress's name was never revealed. Only the hint that she had a deeper voice.... and the actress could be known by a red letter A. So either it's Lindsay (because everyone thinks shes a......

As an avid web-surfer and general know-it-all, LAist likes to keep up on the newest things that can serve as great distractions to your work day. The newest obsession is Zillow. This website is part real estate agent, part voyeur, park stalker, and completely addicting. Want to know how much your house costs or your neighbors? What about your parents or your new crush? Researchers in development offices have been using this tool all......

For all of you who missed episodes of LOST and Desperate Housewives due to a series of Adelphia Cable snafus in Los Angeles, fear not. The new version of iTunes now features downloadable TV episodes. Apple struck a deal with Disney-owned ABC ensuring the distribution of popular TV shows [exclusively through the iTunes Music Store] the day after they air on the network. Think of it as portable video-on-demand for PCs and Macs. The......

A new season is here. And we’re not talking about the crisper fall-ish weather of late. Or even football. LAist is ready for the fall TV lineup. So bring it on. We’re psyched that new scripted shows outnumber the mind-numbing “reality TV” pilots. Martha Stewart is the only reality show to make our list. And we’ve noticed a few other trends. There’s more sci-fi and suspense with new shows like Supernatural, Threshold, Surface and......