Human Giant unleashed itself upon an unsuspecting public last year via MTV and the bell just rang for Round 2 - are you ready? There's sketch comedy, there's underground sketch comedy, there's in your face on-the-streets sketch comedy, and then there's Human Giant, a team that presents, in each episode, collections of bits that are more like experimental movies than the sketch comedy we've been seeing for the last 15 years. There's plenty of parody......

Photo by Jonathan Alcom via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr This is last Friday as reported by LAist Featured Photos contributor Jonathan Alcom: "A gallon of regular gasoline priced at 3.99 at a Unocal gas station on Pico Bl and Barrington in West Los Angeles on Friday March 7, 2008 as surging oil prices jumped to a new record above $106 Friday. This gas station was about 40 cents higher than other......

Everyone is in a tizzy about The Wire coming to a close yesterday - it's one of the few shows that decided to go out while it was on top so kudos to them. The TV Junkie is barely keeping his head above water with the deluge of new shows coming out in the next week, tonight it's Julianna Margulies' return to the little screen with Canterbury's Law (that's a mouthful, say: Julianna Margulies in......

Yeah, this is how I feel. / Photo "Supervisor Zirves" by db via LAist's flickr pool. This morning was a rough start for everyone and we still got a little sleepies in us, but we'll definitely be awake for these events tonight. After another latte. CLASSICAL* The LA premiere of "The Axe Manual" happens tonight at Zipper Concert Hall as part of the Monday Evening Concert series. The program includes important recent works by......

Elvis Costello and The Attractions essential 1978 record This Year’s Model was re-released for the twenty-third time earlier this week as a deluxe 2-CD set. This year’s model of This Year’s Model includes a bevy of previously released bonus tracks, and a previously unreleased live concert. I was going to review it, but instead I decided not to buy it. On Tuesday, I found myself at Amoeba records. After an hour or so, I’d amassed......

Tonight we say goodbye to McNulty, Bunk, Freaman, Greggs and the rest of the cast of The Wire Back in June 2002, a crime drama from the minds of former Baltimore Sun writer David Simon (who spoke at USC earlier this week) and former Baltimore police officer Ed Burns made its debut on HBO. The Wire was more than just another cop show, it was an examination of both sides of the Baltimore drug......

When you read something you like on LAist, we love it when you hit the "recommend" button, and we love it even more if you put your two cents' worth in the comments. Getting a dialog going with our readers and making sure we're giving you content you can use are top priorities for us. So here's this week's top posts, as endorsed by you via the recommend feature, or as indicated by the level......

"Fire in the Sky" by manmadepants via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr Sacramento to California's teachers: I love you, but I just can't pay you. Thousands of teachers across the state this week could receive pink slips in the wake of the $14.5 billion budget gap. Teachers to Sacramento: I'd like to see you try and force us out. The Air Quality Management District loves clean air so much they decided to impose......

Photo by ~db~ via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr It's official: Police have identified the Green Skeleton Bandit who was fatally shot earlier this week when he was caught in the act of robbing the AutoZone in NoHo by a US Marshal. He was 24-year-old Lawrence Dean Smith Jr. of Palmdale who used a knife and wore a skeleton-themed sweatsuit in his robberies. Fight for the right to ficus! Local activists in......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on LAist. The 2009 Toyota Corolla, which encourages you to "Live the Dream for Less Coin." Pasadena Art Weekend, for three days of free events. Busted Tees, which introduces three new designs a week. If you're interested in advertising on LAist or any other site in our network, check out our online mediakit.......

Sherman Oaks and South LA made national news yesterday when a Los Angeles native, now based in Oregon, became the latest decried author who penned a fraudulent memoir. Yes, Margaret Seltzer grew up in the Valley, no Margaret B. Jones (her non de plume) did not gangbang in South Central as her book said. Today, the fallout came in the form of experts giving quotes to the media about this reoccurring theme. What first comes......

Test Your Reflex plays this month at Hotel Cafe on Wednesdays | Photo by Luke Wooden via their MySpace Despite SXSW starting up this week with 100+ Los Angeles based bands heading over there, residencies are growing stronger and more venue-diverse across the line, especially on Monday nights where the volume makes it hard to choose from. Here's to a great month of residencies, rock on. Mondays The Chapin Sisters @ The Echo (Free),......

Lots of old school films happening around town tonight. / Photo by get directly down via flickr. THEATRE You have a hand at commenting on the Theatre of NOTE’s play selection this week and next. NOTEwood is their comprehensive series of public readings featuring new, original works. The 2009 season will be chosen from the 30 scripts selected to be read aloud at the year’s NOTEwood reading – but there’s a talk back session......

"...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......

When you read something you like on LAist, we love it when you hit the "recommend" button, and we love it even more if you put your two cents' worth in the comments. Getting a dialog going with our readers and making sure we're giving you content you can use are top priorities for us. So here's this week's top posts, as endorsed by you via the recommend feature, or as indicated by the......

"the road home," by pink_fish13 via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr Boy am I glad I don't live in this Torrance neighborhood, where a cache of machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, assault rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition were found in a house Friday. The residents may be terrorists, police say, but the owner of the weapons said he is just a collector. Do you think he also collects dead bodies in......

Photo by Plankton 4:20 via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr More on the arrest of Kazuyoshi Miura, who is accused of killing his wife in LA in 1981 and is being extradited from Japan: Turns out it was his blogging that got the authorities' attention. Bad blogger! Bad! Another one from the Cold Case Files solved: 47-year-old Wayne Osbourne of Virginia has been charged in the 1988 murder of Diana Michael, who......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on LAist. The 2009 Toyota Corolla, which encourages you to "Live the Dream for Less Coin." Missy Higgins, with an album that is available now. Busted Tees, which introduces three new designs a week. If you're interested in advertising on LAist or any other site in our network, check out our online mediakit.......

Illustration courtesy of the artist. We saw in this week's Los Angeles Downtown News that Doug Davis, the paper's former art director and current contributor of the "Urban Scrawl" political comic strip, has his first gallery show. It opens tonight in Downtown LA and runs until April 30. In "Urban Scrawl," Davis captures the essence of the city with his pen and ink -- skewering government officials, projects and Downtown life in general. At......

The Advocate, a pro-life student-run UCLA magazine, released it's quarterly issue (.pdf) this week with an investigative report on sketchy fundraising practices at Planned Parenthood. Their lede reads: Over the summer, The Advocate investigated the financial dealings of Planned Parenthood and made some shocking discoveries about the clinic-owning “nonprofit.” We obtained the information by having an actor call clinics across the country and pose as a donor. The actor who called, The Advocate’s advisor, communicated......

Talk shows this week are all Natalie Portman all the time if you hadn't noticed - the charming pixie is making the rounds for her new flick The Other Boleyn Girl, a period piece that looks like a yawn to me. In terms of tonight's viewing options check out the 10 o'clock slot - way too many choices and all of them are reality TV, what a shame. 7:15pm Doctor Zhivago TCM - If you......

It it 80 degrees on LAist's thermometer today | Photo by delara-photos via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Shivering puppies can remove their little sweaters: it was warm today, wasn't it? 80 degree weather, when it was cold and rainy a mere 48 hours ago. We're not complaining. Naomi Campbell was hospitalized in Brazil this week...no, not for "exhaustion," but for treatment and removal of a small cyst. Man, that's so uncontroversial!......

A few months ago LAist interviewed writer/creator/director Marshall Herskovitz about his web series Quarterlife, and lo and behold, the series debuts on NBC tonight! MySpace, which showcased Quarterlife has a new show of the hidden-camera comedy variety debuting this week as well, "Special Delivery", which will have episodes twice weekly. From these new media developments we turn to television's ancient past on today, Jackie Gleason's birthday, JackieGleason.com has been launched with rare stills and clips......

Photo by Beth Kopley in her LAist review of Square One Dining That's at least according to Details magazine's March issue which hits stands this week. In a list of top breakfast spots in large cities around the country, they give major kudos to Square One Dining, which also happens to be a favorite of LAist's.This spare storefront with apricot-colored walls is where Robert Lee and Hayden Ramsey, both alums of top-notch kitchens, lavish......

Photo credit: sniderscion Torontoist spent its week uncovering who was behind mysterious ads for a drug called "Obay" that popped up across the country (Scientology? Frank Shepard Fairey?), first tracing them to an advocacy group called Colleges Ontario and then confirming their suspicions a few days later.Phillyist learned how to put on a puppet show – it's not as easy as you might think!Shanghaiist discovers that the average starting monthly pay for fresh graduates......

These murals outside Pincher's Liquor on Pico were some of your favorites this week on LAist | Photo by Osmany Rodriguez/LAist When you read something you like on LAist, we love it when you hit the "recommend" button, and we love it even more if you put your two cents' worth in the comments. Getting a dialog going with our readers and making sure we're giving you content you can use are top priorities......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on LAist. The 2009 Toyota Corolla, which encourages you to "Live the Dream for Less Coin." Kanye West at the Staples Center, the third show they've added in L.A.! Other People's Love Letters, the book where you can see 150 love letters you were never meant to see. Joe Jackson's Rain, available now on Amazon.com. Busted Tees, which introduces three new designs a......

Part of an ongoing series. Three weeks ago, The Airborne Toxic Event (MySpace) concluded their January residency at Spaceland (MySpace) in Silver Lake with a show that included The Deadly Syndrome (MySpace) and Castledoor (MySpace). It was a chance to see all three of Kevin Bronson's bands to watch on the same stage in a single night. So many people (including Kiefer Sutherland, who had recently completed his DUI prison sentence) descended to Spaceland......

In anticipation of their March 4 album debut, What Made Milwaukee Famous will be in LA for five shows this week | Photo by Cambria Harkey As usual on Mondays, it's a big residency night in Los Angeles. Lots of free shows or, at least cheap ones, to pick from. Outside the residency radar, Buddyhead is throwing a belated Christmas party tonight at La Cita. Santa Casper will be there for you to sit......

Chino's Westland/Hallmark Meat Company came into the spotlight recently when secret video footage revealed staff was mistreating the animals. On the heels of this week's news that the slaughterhouse's manager could face several years in prison if charged with animal cruelty comes the news that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has recalled 143 million pounds of their frozen beef, making it "the largest beef recall in the United States," according to the Daily News. The......