Monday No bookish events on Mr. King's Day. Tuesday John Densmore of The Doors, Jim Henke and John McDermott present The Jim Morrison Scrapbook and Jimi Hendrix: An Illustrated Experience 7pm @ Book Soup Wednesday Sudhir Venkatesh presents Gang Leader for a Day 7pm @ Vroman's E. Duke Vincent presents Black Widow 7pm @ Book Soup Robert Novak presentsThe Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington 7pm @ Glendale Public Library Thursday Steve......

It's not that commuting by bike and or public transportation is fear inducing activity. However, it can be a discomforting feeling whenever you are going somewhere you've never been before via public transit and bike. "I want to take public transit, but I don't even know the neighborhood in the first place," I would use for an excuse before heading into my Civic. Not very green, right? Tim Ferriss' The 4-Hour Workweek talks about......

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......

The best thing about last night's Saturday Night Live was neither Scarlett Johansson hosting nor Bjork singing - both were disappointing to say the least. Indeed the only saving grace of the whole night was the TV Funhouse cartoon "Torboto". "The Prince Show", was ok, we guess, or was that the week before? They're all so disposable and interchangeable. If you didn't make it an hour and twenty minutes into the show and missed......

The UCLA police department identified the officer caught electrifying the student who did not produce his college ID card as Terrence Duren, an 18-year veteran of the UCPD. Duren hasn't had the smoothest career in law enforcement. He came to Westwood after being fired from the infamous Long Beach PD. A few years after being hired by UCLA he was accused of using his nightstick to choke a fratboy and the university asked the......

In case you haven't noticed, the World Cup championship started Friday. This LAist plans to watch the Footballers Wives marathon on BBC America this weekend in preparation (did you know that Tanya has a blog?). A reader asks where Angelenos rooting for teams from countries outside of the Americas and the Caribbean can watch the games. Here's a list for starters. Where will you watch? 1. Hollywood Football hosts the World Cup Breakfast series......

By gum they did it — they actually made a funny movie about politics. Thank You For Smoking stars Aaron Eckhart as a tobacco lobbyist, who's so ballsy and charming you have to love him, even while you know he's entirely evil. He's what Ari Gold and Rush Limbaugh think they are — but neither holds a lighter to Eckhart's Nick Naylor. It's an incredible balancing act between charm and evil, and without its......

It's hard to believe that Jordan Mechner is only in his 40s. He's accomplished an awful lot in a short period of time. Hailed as a visionary game designer, Jordan is an icon in the video game industry. His first game, "Karateka," was an immediate success. Using innovative character animation techniques, Jordan's next game, "The Prince of Persia," redefined the look and feel of video games for years to come. Currently adapting the screen......

To be honest, this week we've spent a little too much time in bars. But we know that you're probably considering having a drink this weekend, so a few of us put our heads together and came up with a list of those bars that we found best in '05. Carolyn Musso & Frank's, Hollywood - after 86 years, their martinis with sidecars still can't be beat Footsie's, Cypress Park (ish) - the perfect......