Luckily, since SXSW Music officially starts on Wednesday, tonight's massive line-up of residencies is hardly affected, save for The Voom Blooms who are replaced by We Barbarians and others at the Viper Room tonight (full list of tonight's residencies after the jump). However, the exodus of Los Angeles based bands is upon us. Also, ticket sales for 2008 Premiere Marquee Club have begun. The "club" has no membership fee and will host over 60 concerts......

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......

Bikes and graffiti are on tap for today. / Photo by Lush.i.ous via LAist's flickr pool. GRAFFITI ART Ghettogloss presents the graffiti art of Jersey Joe in Silverlake. The exhibit runs until March 20, but the opening reception is tonight from 7-midnight. 7 pm // Ghettogloss // 2380 Glendale Blvd #C, Los Angeles // Free. RIDE & TALK * RIDE-Arc monthly ride -- themed "Trolly" -- happens tonight. The group rides along for awhile......

Tonight the Project Runway finale will tell us who will take the top spot on Season 4. Christian Siriano, Jillian Lewis, Rami Kashou survived weeks of grueling design challenges. Christian describes his collection as dark, romantic and gothic. Jillian Lewis’ found inspiration in 15th century armor. LAist wants to know if Rami Kashou’s modern take on Joan of Arc’s fighting gear will earn him the win. While we wait for tonight’s episode, let’s take......

The Magnetic Fields play tonight and tomorrow | Image via their MySpace Some may know that there is the LA Homeless Blog, written by the CEO of People Assisting the Homeless (PATH). Tonight, the Hotel Cafe is hosting a benefit concert for the organization called Rock and Run for Charity. The name is not merely because the Marathon happened this morning. Sara Radle from Calamity Magnet and Chris Radle from Supersport both ran it......

I recently finished reading Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food", and I couldn't wait to get out to the Studio City farmer's market this morning. I stuck a couple of twenty-dollar bills in my back pocket and threw a "Ventura County Fair!!!" tote bag over my arm. $22.50 and about half an hour later, I lugged this load home: one bunch of sweet carrots, one large head of cabbage, one bunch rainbow chard, three......

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......

"hang" | Photo by xxjetlab via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr THEATRE Members of the Towne Street Theatre are on stage tonight in a double bill. First is The 10 Minute Play Festival, which features plays ranging from comedy to satire to drama brought to you by 23 actors and 9 director. Second is PassingSOLO, a one-woman show based on their play version of Nella Larsen's 1927 novella Passing. There will be......

Zombie Joe's Underground takes on "The Raven" and other Poe stories tonight. / Photo by Ctd 2005 via flickr. FILM The Silent Movie Theatre concludes its “Love Hurts” series with the noir-ish tearjerker Brief Enounter. Directed by David Lean, Brief Encounter deals with an illicit affair between a housewife and a married doctor. A train station serves as a prominent backdrop for their weekly trysts. 8 pm // Silent Movie Theatre // 611 N.......

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......

Photo of Carter Tanton by Amanda Zee Carter Tanton of Tulsa always gets rave reviews about his voice like this one from Pitchfork: "Lead singer Carter Tanton has a spectacular voice... [he] could probably sing a recipe for chocolate éclairs and still make it sound good." And Rolling Stone said "his indie-seraphim voice is not of this world." Both reviews referenced the similarities to My Morning Jacket. And not to forget the band, the......

Tonight is round three of an ongoing David & Goliath battle between LA’s Eco-Village Community and the heavily funded Los Angeles Unified School District. The Los Angeles Eco-Village Intentional Community (LAEV-IC) is an internationally recognized sustainable community and is part of the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED-Neighborhood Development pilot program. At issue the fact that in order to build Central Region Elementary School #20 in the neighborhood, the LAUSD wants to raze approximately 40 units......

Drinks with Digital LA tonight at Bodega Bar in Santa Monica (and yes, this is not the Bodega bar) / Photo by C-Monster via LAist's photo pool. FILM I am so scaaared. Writer/director Eli Roth (Hostel) continues his reign at the New Beverly in “The Greats of Roth” series. Tonight, he’s screening the double-feature of The Blair Witch Project (1999) and Cannibal Holocaust (1980), an earlier film that deals with a missing documentary film......

Don't try this at home -- or at the Civic Center Metro Station. / Photo by puck90 via LAist's flickr pool. TRANSIT TALK Metro is studying alternatives for connecting the Gold, Blue and Expo lines through downtown Los Angeles. This study will examine linking the future Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension (near the Little Tokyo/Arts District Station) and the 7th Street/Metro Center Station. Tonight Metro will update the public on the project and allow......

Part of an ongoing series. Speaking of local rock duos (and also tonight), The Pity Party (MySpace), who were interviewed here at LAist earlier this month, conclude their February residency at Spaceland (MySpace) in Silver Lake. This month, the artists who've shared their stage include The Happy Hollows (MySpace), Light FM (MySpace), Rademacher (MySpace), Twilight Sleep (MySpace), The Human Value (MySpace), Karin Tatoyan (MySpace), What Made Milwaukee Famous (MySpace), Ladies And Gents (MySpace), and......

So I won't go on about how dry and average the Oscars were last night and how the TV ratings reflect that. I will say, however, that I'd like to find anyone involved with the development and production of the movie Enchanted and incinerate them on a pile of every DVD and CD soundtrack copy of that rancid film. A brief burst of carbon emissions and pollutants now will save us from more such dreck......

Part of an ongoing series. Last Sunday, local electronic pop duo Electrocute (MySpace), perhaps best known for their song "Bikini Bottom" on the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie soundtrack, concluded their February residency at Spaceland (MySpace) in Silver Lake. The lineup included Totally Radd!! (MySpace) and Har Mar Superstar (MySpace). This month, the artists who've shared their stage include Punk Bunny (MySpace), ARP (MySpace), Laco$te (MySpace), The Lady Tigra (MySpace), and B.R.A.M (MySpace). Tonight, Electrocute performs......

Do you think this is part of the Reno 911! marketing campaign? / Photo by Bernard Mickey Wrangle via flickr. COMEDY* Paging Reno 911! fans: Robert Ben Garant, who plays Deputy Travis Junior, hosts The Armando Show tonight. (It’s an hour-long improvised comedy show inspired by an audience suggestion). He’ll be joined by a few other Reno castmates: Carlos Alazraqui, Thomas Lennon, Niecy Nash, Kerri Kenney and Cedric Yarbrough. 8 pm // iO West......

Boom Bip will be at The Roxy Tonight | Photo by Charley B via Boom Bip's MySpace page Yay for Monday nights, there's lots of quality to choose from. If you're looking for something crazy and fun, then watch this video we recently took of Killsonic, who plays at The Bordello tonight. LA Weekly picks Tracy Spuehler at the Hotel Cafe as their pick and What Made Milwaukee Famous plays once again, for free,......

"orange chair with cushion," by kpe II via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr A steady stream of Koreans moving into the northwest San Fernando Valley suburbs is giving the traditional K-Town in LA City a run for its money. Now you Valley-ists might not have to travel over the hill for karaoke bars. Japanese and Los Angeles police detectives solved a 26-year-old case of a Japanese business man who allegedly shot his wife......

Tonight is the night to break out that special bottle of vino and head over to one of more than 20 LA-area restaurants that are obliterating the corkage fee in honor of "Open That Bottle Night." The foodie-minded folks over at EaterLA asked around and came up with a list of dining spots who are willing to forgo their usual $20-$35 fee for one night only so that diners could have a special meal to......

Love Pretzels? Love Indie Rock? Often find yourself torn between these two passions like the protagonist in some kind of terrible 80s R&B song about adultery and not wanting to be right? If that's you, then your tactile sensations love triangle is over. Tonight, Classical Geek Theatre and LA Underground are bringing together the sweet sound of indie rock and the soft salty goodness of some of LA's best Pretzels. It's at the Scene bar......

And then there was a train... There could be a day when you go from Wilshire Blvd. down Crenshaw Ave, crossing the path of the Expo Line (under construction right now), through Leimart Park, into Downtown Inglewood and eventually hit LAX before route ends, connecting to the Green Line. That's one option, at least, for Metro's North/South Crenshaw-Prairie Transit Corridor Study. Tonight is the first of four public meetings to get a status report of......

Life doesn't stop in LA because it's raining. / Photo by kristi.nicole via LAist's flickr pool FILM The American Cinematheque’s Outfest Wednesdays continue at the Egyptian. On the big screen tonight is With You! -- director Yaniv Dabach’s documentary on the formation of New York City’s first gay rugby club, the Gotham Knights. A discussion with Dabach follows the screening – plus there’s a reception hosted by Absolut. 7:30 pm // American Cinematheque at......

Killing on the big screen at the New Beverly tonight, courtesy of Eli Roth. / Photo by hemmob via flickr. TALK Author Katha Pollitt discusses her new book On Learning to Drive: And Other Life Stories with UC Irvine Professor Jon Wiener as part of the ALOUD at the Central Library series. Pollitt is a poet and columnist for The Nation who’ll discuss her latest essays that deal with sex, death, ex-lovers, politics, motherhood,......

Everest at The Echo | Photo by Shayna Peveler via their MySpace page Last night we checked out What Made Milwaukee Famous playing to a small crowd at Spaceland. Simply put, amazing. We're shocked that more people were not there. Lucky for us, luck for you, they have four more shows within the next nine days here in LA starting Thursday at the Silverlake Lounge. "Sultan" - What Made Milwaukee Famous &righticonhover=0x333232&text=0x333232&slider=0xF2F2F2&track=0xFFFFFF&border=0xFFFFFF&loader=0x838383&soundFile=http://aprodxn.com/laist/zfiles/sultan.mp3"> "Resistance" -......

Photo by Heath Biter/LAist It might seem hard to believe that tonight’s game between the Phoenix Coyotes and your Los Angeles Kings carries any weight, but it does, and I’ll tell you why. With 21 games left in the season, and a lowly 53 points to their cellar-dwelling name, the Kings would be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention with a loss tonight. Not officially of course. After all, only 13 points separate the Kings......

Pickle just about anything at the Machine Project tonight. / Photo by ccarlstead via flickr. Sure there are a lot of places closed for President’s Day, but nightlife does exist in LA...even tonight: FILM Roman Polanski’s Chinatown focuses on an intricate water scandal and an even more twisted family backstory. Starring John Huston, Faye Dunaway and Jack Nicholson as Detective Jake Gittes – the city of Angels plays a major part of this nourish......

OK so the Oscars a week from Sunday are what we're building up to but as an enthusiastic follower of Dexter on Showtime, I'm intrigued to see how it will translate to its network debut on CBS at 10:00pm this Sunday. At first I was concerned that the end result would be a heavily edited, several minutes shorter, vapid and empty shell of its former glory. Not so according to my Showtime contact. Evidently when......

Van Hunt plays the Temple Bar tonight, Feb. 19 and March 6 | Photo via his MySpace page In an e-mail early, early, early this morning, McCabe's announced something unexpected: The Swell Season will be playing tomorrow night in the guitar shop's intimate performance space. You may not recognize the band's name, but you know them as Irish singer Glen Hansard and Czech pianist Marketa Irglova from the movie Once. The gig got booked......