The WGA Board voted unanimously last night to not picket the 50th Grammy Awards, February 10th at Staples Center. If there was an exasperating gasp of relief following the WGA vote, excuse us for missing it. For most of our lifetime the Grammys has done little more than exemplify just how out of touch the so-called mainstream is with Gen x+y's musical taste (with apologies to The Dixie Chicks). The only way this Grammy Awards......

Red Shoes makes for a nice contrast with the distinctive blue tile floor of Silver Lake's Intelligentsia CoffeeVan Nuys is real nice, isn't it, Senator Obama? Today the Democratic presidential nominee hopeful held a roundtable discussion in the residence of supporter Mimi Vitello in beautiful Van Nuys. Today's visit is part of Obama's local campaign efforts and his desire to meet with those who have fallen victim to the country's tough economy. And speaking of......

I've always been intrigued by other "best of" lists, but this year I decided to take it to a whole new level. I e-mailed a handful of bands that I've seen this past year in order to unearth what exactly captivated them in '07. As music listeners, it is our duty to take a keen interest in our favorite musician's influences. After all, they rocked our little world, might as well see what rocked their......

Grammy nominations were announced early this morning in Los Angeles. Kanye West's album "Graduation" earned eight nods, including Album of the Year and Rap Album of the Year. The increasingly unstable Amy Winehouse garnered six nominations for "Back to Black," including Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist. Surprisingly, Bruce Springsteen did not get an Album of the Year nod for "Magic." Other nominees in......

Nine are dead in Omaha, Nebraska today after a man opened fire in a shopping mall, and then shot himself. Police do not have a motive so far. Did you have this conversation this morning? "Sorry, boss, I can't come in to work today...a terrible cough, I, uh, flu symptoms, definitely -- what waves? Uh, I don't know what you're talking about...." Lots of SoCal surfers took a sick day and busted out on......

There is rarely an audience at an LA club show so fully and intensely captivated as the crowd at The El Rey was last night. Leave it to Dap Kings guitarist / emcee Binky Griptite who is a master at his craft: warming up the crowd and introducing the boogieing Miss Sharon Jones. Jones & the Dap Kings performed for solid two hours, no opening act necessary (although the 60's and 70's dusty and......

This week we have been delivering Top 10 lists from KCRW's most popular on-air personalities. Tonight we're going to give you a two-fer. First up is native Los Angeleno Raul Campos, host of Nocturna, and the first one on these lists to give it up to Brit faves Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen. Also if you're scoring at home, Radiohead seems to be doing quite well on these KCRW lists. Have a gander at......

Amy Winehouse got booed offstage during the opening of her new tour after ranting about her husband's incarceration - BBC Britney Spears runs over another photographer last night while leaving The Four Seasons - TMZ Rumer Willis has been named "Miss Golden Globe" by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association - Defamer Little Zahara's family wants her back in Africa! They are claiming that Angelina Jolie's adoption paperwork is wrong - Digital Spy Dave Letterman opens......

Silly Jack Weiss! He thinks the Valley is different from the City. Tsk tsk! The Daily News takes the Councilman to task (lovingly) for his slip of the tongue. Halloween events abound in the city this time of year, and LAist is your best source for the hottest spooky spots: check out our continuing Halloween coverage here. OMGZZZ Kitten Cops! I can has ratburgerz?? The LAPD is recruiting feral cats to root out rodents......

This Saturday is September 22nd. So dust off your lederhosen, iron your dirndl and brush up on your chicken dance because Oktoberfest officially gets underway. Don’t worry if you can’t make it to Germany this year because you can still get your fill of beer and bratwurst here in LA. Here is a short list of Oktoberfest locations and events. Alpine Village- In Torrance Ca. Fri- Sun., Sept. 8th – Oct. 28th . The......

Justin Timberlake @ Staples New Pornographers @ Henry Fonda Theater Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Elvis Perkins @ Troubadour Peanut Butter Wolf, Pigeon John @ Roxy Joe Frank @ Largo The Vacation, Kennedy @ Viper Room The Dilettantes, Run Run Run, After Midnight Project, Jake Smith @ Safari Sam's canceled: White Stripes, Cold War Kids @ Forum Amy Winehouse @ Wiltern Jesca Hoop @ Ivar Theater......

Summer has passed and acts such as Suzanne Vega, Tegan and Sara, M.I.A., Spoon, and Rilo Kiley have reclaimed the spotlight after significant hiatuses, but the year is far from over. It’s now time to look forward to albums on the horizon that look like winners already: 21. In Our Bedroom After the War – Stars: The popular Canadian indie outfit is poised to take America by storm. (Release date: September 25) 20. As......

With unseasonable weather descending upon much of North America, schools getting ready to reconvene, and sports seasons getting exciting, it's a busy time of year for us here in the Ist-A-Verse. Luckily, even with all the things we have to do, we still managed to get together to let you know what we've all been up to. After cooling down from a hot weekend of many badass Sunset Junction Street Fair photo dispatches, LAist asked......

Amy Winehouse's mother Janis has an exclusive interview with the British gossip rag Daily Mail discussing her daughters descent into drugdom - Daily Mail Britney Spears's rehab center, Promises, in Malibu has been issued a subpeona by Kevin Federline and his lawyers in his custody lawsuit - Access Hollywood In other Britney news, she's finally taken off the wigs and looks well, pretty good...or at least better - X17 Nicole Richie's baby might not be......

Once upon a time, before Little Miss "Nooo-no-no" came along, when someone said "winehouse", we only thought about the sweet vino emporium on the Westside, called, um, Winehouse. This 30-year institution has made an appearance on LAist before, but like a hydra, Winehouse is adding a new arm. This new arm is called Taste. It's the answer to many a winebuyer's quiet prayer: At Taste, you can take your chosen wine for a test-drive.......

Britney Spears made an impromtu visit to the beach in her lingerie - Daily Mail In other Britney news she's filming a new video, the first in two years according to one of her back up dancers myspace pages - Extra TV And in even more Britney news, she wants to take your order- the pop princess is trying to land a gig as a cocktail waitress at Hollywood hot spot Le Deux -......

6:36 - Total Number of Celebs Who Have Visited the Blogghetto: 1. 6:34 - Dane Cook visits us in the Blogghetto. Despite my lack of interest in his comedy, he seems like a laid back, personable dude. Even though I like capping on him, I really don't dislike him. He gamely answers questions, revealing why he won't be in the upcoming Transformers movie. "I know this is going to sound like complete balderdash," he......

Lindsay Lohan will finally reach the legal drinking age in a month and is planning her big Vegas bday bash sponsered by Ceasers and Svedka Vodka - US Weekly Nicole Richie reportedly checked back into rehab, reports vary on if its inpatient or outpatient - TMZ Britney Spears's impromtu lip synch performance at a Miami mansion on Saturday night did not go over well - NY Post A new kitten for TomKat? - MSNBC Former......

LAist is experimenting with blogging dates from J-Date, but finds the best men are found offline. Some date vicariously online and that is one reason why porn is big -- really freaking big -- so they ask if they should cover XXX since the heart of it lays in the city's San Fernando Valley. A writer grapples with her food porn photography obsession, another gets censored on Flickr, one gets scooped by the LA......

With all the hoopla about the Griffith Park fire, we've lost sight of our priorities people, so here we are to catch you up on what celebs have been up to this week... Spurred on by their daughters recent illness, Johnny Depp and long-time girfriend Vanessa Paradis make it official and tie the knot - Daily Mail After getting sentenced to 45 days in jail for numerous traffic violations, Paris Hilton gets back behind the......

The Jesus and Mary Chain, Gogol Bordello, Bjork, Sonic Youth, Peaches, Arctic Monkeys, Stephen Marley, Of Montreal, Silversun Pickups, Satellite Party, Julieta Venegas, Noisettes, Amy Winehouse and others @ Coachella Gwen Stefani, Lady Sovereign @ Gibson Pigeon John @ Malibu Inn Grant Lee Phillips @ The Troubadour I See Hawks in L.A., Horsepainters, Amy Farris @ The Scene The Cinematics, The Heavenly States, Le Meu le Purr @ Spaceland Apes of the New Millennium,......

Now that the line-ups have been announced, I'm happy to follow Sloane's lead and speculate on what my day will look like. By using the Coachella scheduler, The Coachooser, I simply turned off blocks of bands I wasn't probably going to be interested in seeing, and turned on blocks of bands that I liked. On Friday there were 19 acts that I kept turned on, and by leaving each set just a little early,......

Don't you just love Secret Shows? If you can't make it to Coachella on Friday to see the Arctic Monkeys (who we now know will be sandwiched quite nicely between the Silversun Pickups and the Jesus and Mary Chain on the main stage), the much-hyped Brits will be playing a few days later on Sunday at the historic Troubadour. People swear there's still a few tickets left if you click here and use the......

A Word or 49: Iggy Pop redeems Jimmy Kimmel tonight. For petessake when is the stupid 'house' gimmick ever gonna end on House? (new one tonight) I'm rockin' the slot with the Shield tonight though - now that Vic seems to be in the clear perhaps we're just back to some stellar violence. Today - Tuesday - April 24th, 2007 Rita Hayworth Marathon (TCM, 5- p.m.) Starting with Pal Joey, then Salome, etc. Check......

Paris and ex BFF's ex K-Fed party together in Vegas - X17 In other Paris news, here is a wasted Cameron Diaz leaving Paris's house party - DListed In more Paris news, she hooked up with Brit singer James Blunt last week at Teddy's - Rush and Molloy Lindsay Lohan pulls out of filming sexy threesome scene with Kiera Knightley. Some call it a "responsible choice", we here just call it chicken. - NOW Mug......

When reviewers of Saturday's KCRW Sounds Eclectic concert yawned at the surprise guest, Travis, they overlooked what they actually had in front of them. Namely the dynamic guitar duo Rodrigo Y Gabriela; and the pouty, sarcastic starlet-of-the-moment Lily Allen. When you have lightening in a bottle one one hand, and an unpredictable foul-mouthed princess on the other - and they both showed up - then you have a successful event. Today it was announced......

LAist Editor Tony Pierce is the special guest tonight on MusicPlus TV. Hosted by Jenn Sherry, our fearless leader will discuss this year's Coachella line-up, SXSW, and the future of rock in LA. The live show is on tonight from 8pm - 9pm at MusicPlusTV.com, feel free to heckle him through AOL IM: MusicPlusTV. Or you can ask questions. Or tell him you like his beard. Video above of Amy Winehouse, one of the......

Bloc Party, The Like @ The Wiltern Rod Stewart @ Staples Center Amy Winehouse @ Spaceland canceled Richard Cheese (above) @ The Derby Evidence @ Amoeba Michael Penn @ Largo Stars & Scars, Oso, The Mirrors @ The Good Hurt Time Flys, The Nice Boys, Birds of Avalon, Sweet Evil @ The Scene The Tender Box, The After Midnight Project, The Hedrons, The Scanners @ Key Club The Helio Sequence, Dirty on Purpose, Besnard......

Now that I have recovered from nine days and nights at SXSW, I can tell you that it's all downhill from here for the world's greatest music festival. No way could anything top that. 1750 bands and hardly any of them sucked. How does that happen? Plenty of free food, beer, no lines if you had a badge. Stalwarts like The Stooges, Pete Townshend, Robyn Hitchcock, Public Enemy, Peter Case, Rickie Lee Jones, and......

The Fratelli's doing "The Seeker" with Pete Townshend at SXSW Now that SXSW has wrapped, indie bands and up n comers are scattering around the country like cockroaches startled by the kitchen light. Tonight we have three groups that LAist was lucky enough to see out in Austin. We caught Bloc Party putting on an energetic and uplifting set in the back of Stubbs, we saw The Fratelli's do a light-hearted acoustic set on......