Perhaps you thought Burton was just for winter-sports, and didn’t realize that they’ve taken over Channel Islands. It’s all good, that’s why you’re reading LAist. Now they have all kinds of tight shit for the summer, and the beach, and just straight up kicking it pool-side. (For some of us, the beach is like a million hours of traffic on the 405)...

Damn, it's hot! The city of Los Angeles' 54 summer pools will open tomorrow, the first day of summer, through Labor Day, and are free for seniors, people with disabilities, youth, and adults with LA Public Library cards. Also beginning is "Operation Splash." Now in its third year, it provides free swim classes to over 8,000 youth and their parents at 35 pools in low-income communities citywide. Sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, the program also provides......

Now that it stays light until almost nine o'clock, nighttime has taken up its annual habit of being more playful, with balmy temperatures and the hint of summertime. But weekday doldrums can still take over, which means weeknight relaxation and indulgences are a must-have. Here's where the beautiful and historic Langham, Huntington Hotel & Spa comes in. From now until August 27, every Tuesday and Wednesday night from 4-8 they're having a poolside summertime special,......

One of the most exciting things to do in the summer is to go see some shows at the Hollywood Bowl. It has a variety of classical and popular shows and has been known to bridge the gap between the two genres with their collaborations between artist and orchestra (Remember this?). This season marks the end for Salonen as a music director and has added two talented conductors Bramwell Tovey and Thomas Wilkins. This season......

Can we call it summer yet? Despite the rampant bouts of June Gloom as of late, our afternoons have been pretty close to picture-perfect weather wise, and with this month seeing school out, backyard parties galore, and beach days, we may as well add that hot-weather favorite to the mix. Oh, yes... ICE CREAM! Pinkberry Shminkberry. Forget your Fro-Yo and go for the real deal. LAist Featured Photos contributor woolennium shared this shot of some......

LA Magazine has already crowned it one of the best things about living in LA. If you've ever tried to drive down Santa Monica Blvd. around Gower on a Saturday night, you'll quickly find out what thousands of Angelenos already know: there's no better way to spend a Saturday night than with a picnic and a bottle of wine in the middle of a cemetery, watching a classic film. In fact, Cinespia's weekly summer......

Part of an ongoing series. On Saturday evening, local green-minded band (and Go Magazine covergirls) The Ditty Bops (MySpace), with Jesca Hoop (MySpace), John Reynolds, and Kaveh Rastegar (MySpace), performed at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. The shows also celebrated the release of The Ditty Bops' third full-length album, Summer Rains, with Hoop singing backup on three tracks: "Skinny Bones," "What Happened To The Radio," and "Feel From The Outside In." The Ditty......

Last August, Aimee Mann, Joan Osborne, Rob Laufer, Ian Ball from Gomez, and Al Jorgensen joined Cheap Trick and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra to recreate Sgt. Peppers on it's 40th Anniversary. They'll do it again June 28th. We're four months out from the official start of the 2008 Hollywood Bowl Season and the schedule is nearly complete. Single tickets won't go on sale for a couple months but the Bowl is offering 16 different......

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......

As a devoted fan of Wet Hot American Summer, I feel it's my duty to give top-billing to the equally hilarious The Ten. I'm not sure there was a more surreal comic moment last year than Liev Schreiber's competition with his neighbor over--what else--CAT-scan machines. I almost resent Ricky Gervais for not sticking with Extras a few more years. There are now only three funny shows left on TV. Between grief and Good Luck......

And who said culture doesn’t exist in Los Angeles? Check out these events for a little learning, a little entertainment – or both. THEATRE Joe Keyes, author of Bob's Holiday Office Party and Pete's Garage, brings us a new treat: Big Baby. The dramedy focuses on "a crazy Catholic mother living with her disturbed middle aged son who falls for the dominatrix next door and all hell breaks loose." It opens tonight. 8 pm //......

Well, whatcha know, Radiohead's In Rainbows, which hit stores on New Year's Day, sits atop the Billboard charts nearly three months after the band offered the album as a pay-what-you-want digital download via their Web site. Today we have confirmation of the cities (albeit neither venues nor dates) that our favorite Glaswegians Englishmen will visit this summer. California stops include Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Diego, and San Francisco:The first leg will come prior......

Andy Summers will be at Amoeba Music tonight @ 6pm to sign his just-out book from Taschen, I'll Be Watching You: Inside The Police 1980-83. There are so many things we could say about this man, about this band, about this book. But all you really need to know is that Andy Summers, guitarist for The Police, is a kick-ass photographer and he's documented three phenomenal years of The Police touring the world. You could......

If tonight's slim pickings in the music scene had an official theme, it would fall into Western/Country. In mid-country, House of Blues, Sunset Strip, is hosting a night of insane Psychobilly (punk, meet rockabilly). The Southlands of Long Beach finds the baritone country rock sounds of Brad Johnson at Cowboy Country and to the north in the Valley, the straight ahead country rockabilly Jeffrey Michaels visits The Cowboy Palace Saloon. Of other interests and......

Despite the ominous stormclouds looming overhead, last Friday, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly creator Joss Whedon and an estimated 350-400 people, comprised of former Mutant Enemy Productions staffmembers, actors, and fans (mobilized through Fans4Writers, with some flying in from across the country and as far away as the United Kingdom and Australia), picketed in support of the ongoing WGA Strike in front of 20th Century Fox. Mutant Enemy staffers at the rally......

Listen to the interview here: Deborah Harry is on her way to LA to play the Music Box at the Henry Fonda Theater tomorrow, Friday the 7th. She's got her first new solo album in fourteen years out, Necessary Evil, and you can hear some samples of it at her MySpace. Unfortunately our conversation sounds like I'm contacting her by sat-phone somewhere in Tibet but these are the days of multiline patch-ins so it couldn't......

"Steven" - Voxtrot VHS or Beta, Foreign Born, Afrobots @ The El Rey Voxtrot @ The Music Box @ Fonda Dia de Chango @ Temple Bar Soulsavers, Spain @ The Troubadour Tom Paxton, Dan Crow and JP Nightingale @ McCabe's Guitar Shop Cake @ The Grove of Anaheim Summer Darling, You Me and Iowa, Loverlee, Oso @ Spaceland Damon Dae & Burning Wagon @ Jerry's Flying Fox The Locust, Upsilon Acrux, Yip-Yip, Sleeping People......

Los Angeles seems to have a love/hate relationship with the Lakers right now. The games still sell out (and at the ">highest prices in the league) and there are more people walking around wearing Lakers gear than there are writers picketing out in front of Fox. But in every sports bar in the city there are loudmouths saying to nobody in particular, “Kobe is selfish and ruining this team.” The loudmouth sports columnists in......

The Boss has been my favorite my whole life, the soundtrack to my life if you will. Born to Northeasterners and brought up in the eighties, I knew that Bruce was it. I even wrote my fifth grade Social Studies report on him after we were assigned to choose an “Amazing Americans”. My teacher didn’t get it. That’s why last night was so special for me, seeing Bruce in concert is an experience everyone,......

Tuesdays will be the worse for the lack of Damages until when, next Summer?!?! There seems to be just a couple worthy prime time choices tonight despite a full plate of new offerings that have, to me, seemed mediocre. Please tell me in the comments if you watch any of the following and why (I've got an open mind, I'll check them out again): Gossip Girl, Life, Dirty Sexy Money, Criminal Minds, Private Practice. 5:00pm......

While all the cheesy babybooming douches like Costas and McCarver harken back endlessly about the good ole days of the Boys of Summer before they left NY and moved to LA, keep in mind one thing - people in Brooklyn don't miss the Dodgers. They might miss Vin Scully, or decent National League baseball, but miss or care about the Bums? Faggitaboutit. "When Pee Wee Reese died," said Marty Adler, who has spent years......

Earlier this month, the LA-based and green-minded The Ditty Bops (MySpace) completed their six week Summer Farm Tour (which began at the Henry Fonda Theater) with a performance at Farm Aid at Randall's Island in New York, complete with an introduction by actress and fellow environmentalist Daryl Hannah. I had the unique opportunity to follow the band in Northern California, Chicago, and New York as they toured across the country in their biodiesel-powered van,......

Artist: Colleen Album: Les Ondes Silencieuses Label: The Leaf Label Release Date: Summer 2007 Colleen - "Sun Against My Eyes" After an insanely hectic week this was the album to listen to. While I'm not a devotee of classical music, I've very much enjoyed this minimalist work by Colleen, aka Cecile Schott. While it is minimalist, it isn't austere as in the style of a Philip Glass or his ilk. Colleen boils the music......

This is a fast, fun, and ridiculously delicious way to prepare the last of summer's beautiful heirloom tomatoes. Make sure you choose tomatoes that are fairly round and symmetrical -- a plate filled with several different colored varieties will be beyond gorgeous. Stuffed tomatoes are also great for getting rid of leftover bits of veggies that are hanging around in your fridge -- I chose onion, mushrooms, and swiss chard because that's what I......

Artist: Ulrich Schnauss Album: Goodbye Label: Domino Release Date: Summer 2007 I had first heard tracks from Ulrich Schnauss' Far Away Trains Passing By on a bizarre compilation someone handed me back in 2002. Again I heard a couple songs from Schnauss' second release, A Strangely Isolated Place (2004), on yet another compilation. The songs were epic and transformative meanderings through ambient yet driving spaces. Schnauss' current release, Goodbye, takes us down these paths again,......

There was very little else for Londonist to be concerned with when the threat of a Tube strike became a very unpleasant reality. The inconvenience was extreme: there aren't many alternatives to the Tube in London despite the best efforts of the Londonist team to get everyone from A to B. Brighter news came in the form of the first ever female Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater as the position is more commonly known, and......

You can reproduce the amazing flavors of true Santa Maria BBQ in your backyard on a much smaller scale, using a 2-3 lb. tri-tip in place of a 20 lb topblock. Looking to watch your urbane clique revert to their primal roots, forsaking knife, fork, and plate for fingers, bulged eyes, and wide smiles? Want to see your veggie and vegan friends split into groups of people either salivating because they want a taste, or are fully repulsed at such a carnivorous feast? Want to make something awesome, with $20, and at the last minute for a group of 4-5 people? This is your answer. ...

Some fresh AIR would be really great right about now. Har har har!!! I'm such a card. Now, really, how about Air at the Greek this month, courtesy of LAist: head on over to enter our Labor Day Weekend Air Contest. In the category of Thank God It Hasn't Happened to Us Yet: over twenty thousand homes and businesses have lost power this weekend. If you're on the roads tonight, please drive safely, use......

The top e-mailed story from the Los Angeles Times website today was "Mythical Chupacabra Found in Texas?" Some of us know exactly what a chupacabra is thanks to a 1997 X-Files episode "El Mundo Gira." Sort of: It's a creature that supposedly either looks like a weird wild dog or a lizard-like alien. First reported in Puerto Rico, there've been spottings in Mexico and the U.S. The name translates to "goat sucker," and it......

These are the last days of summer. At least that's what they say on the news and in the marketplace. But here in Southern California, it only gets hotter as the days grow shorter. (At least the pools won't close just yet). But -- Holy Dallas Raines -- early this morning, with temps stuck in the mid-70s, we've got thunder and lightning! Unfortunately, the electricity in the air has no bearing on California's energy supply,......