Today's "Only in LA" column in the Times checks in with the restaurant to see if the myth still holds. Steve Harvey explains, "The trend supposedly began after some very pregnant women from a birthing class dined there -- and then went into labor. All had ordered the romaine and watercress salad. One theory held that the balsamic vinegar dressing triggered contractions of the uterus." A quick call to Caioti confirmed that ladies looking to get their buns out of their ovens still order up what's called simply "The Salad." They are even offered a journal kept by the restaurant so they can record their visit, and those for whom the so-called miraculous salad works sometimes send in photos of their newborn. more ›

Kudos to LA Indymedia for pointing out this amazing fantasy that the LA County AFL-CIO is living in. According to the LA Union website (who are trying to fight for higher wages in LA), they believe that a single adult needs to only make $13.52 an hour ($28k a year) to "support a modest standard of living in LA". more ›

Some people hate the truth. They look at the scoreboard and they hate what they see. They look at themselves and they hate what they see. They look at others having success and they hate that too. Last night blogging.la did the right thing and they linked to our post about my resignation from LAist due to my new gig at the LA Times. Because the blogosphere is what it is, a small group... more ›

In a stunning accusation of a crime that in most circles is tantamount to treason, former White House mouthpiece Scott McClellan claims that President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Karl Rove and others were all in on outting 20-year CIA agent Valerie Plame. Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan blames President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for efforts to mislead the public about the role of White House aides in leaking the identity... more ›

Last night I was casually checking out what various travel websites had to say about the neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Most of the summaries in Frommers sounded like this: Silver Lake, a residential neighborhood just north of Downtown and adjacent to Los Feliz (home to the Los Angeles Zoo and Griffith Park), just to the west, has arty areas with unique cafes, theaters, graffiti, and art galleries -- all in equally plentiful proportions. The... more ›

If there's one site that LAist loves loves loves it's Digg. The power of The Hive has been manifested beautifully in sites like Metafilter and Fark and SlashDot but never with as much Web 2.0 power-to-the-people panache as Kevin Rose's much heralded uber-site. Likewise if theres one production company LAist loves it's Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films. These are the Los Angelenos who have made hard-hitting low-budget left-leaning hit pieces on Wal*Mart, The Bush... more ›

While some of the most creative people in Hollywood were striking for the right to get a cut of residuals from Internet sales of the shows they create, some of the biggest local losers have decided to try to take advantage of the situation. Defamer has a nice little rundown of many of the Craigslist postings of would-be writers who are more than willing to cross picket lines to get theirs. Selfishly. No offense... more ›

Earlier today TMZ had a live camera spying on people trying to eat at the Urth Cafe on Melrose. They almost seemed giddy about the fact that they were going to hopefully deliver the world video images of the likes of Us Weekly celebs buying, uh, coffee. When the cameras weren't being shut down by Johnny Law, all they really documented were the sweaty backs of hard-working busboys. But still, wtf, TMZ? You're in... more ›

Cornell Greathouse was shot in the throat with a stray bullet from a gangster's gun in 1993 that left him paralyzed. He was dancing at the time. The injury made him a quadriplegic and confined him to a wheelchair. In January of 2005 while he was being arrested by four Pasadena police officers, he was removed from his chair and hung across a concrete wall so he could be searched. Because the quadriplegic are... more ›

The email from the White Stripes had the subject line of ? and inside it said: "The tricks of today are the truths of tomorrow." - Man Ray X XV MMVII So we took a magnifying glass to our collection of Man Ray prints and lithographs. And nothing. We asked our friends if it possibly had something to do with Lips Over Hollywood, and we found no connection. And then someone suggested that we... more ›

In case anybody was worried, Jews for Jesus are alive and kicking in L.A. I chanced upon the above gem as I was walking across the UCLA campus last night – the placement of which, it turns out, is (surprise!) no coincidence: “You will find us Jews for Jesus out on the streets and on college campuses handing out our gospel tracts… It is all part of our Jews for Jesus commitment to remain... more ›

This afternoon, a news story attributed to Hollywood Reporter claimed: "L.A. professor triggers Myanmar Web shutdown." We're all too used to the sensationalist tendencies of today's media, but this headline is completely unfair and potentially devastating for Ryan McMillen, professor of English at Santa Monica College (or as the accuse-then-verify media reported, "professor of history"). The story isn't on the Hollywood Reporter Web site but it is credited as such by Reuters, WashingtonPost.com, and --... more ›

Believe it or not but there's not a lot of hiking happening with many of us here at LAist. Sure there's Zach and a few other show-offs, but even they could tell you that if you start lacing up your hiking boots and notice someone stretching with a freaking sword, things will probably not end well. more ›

As you drive down Sunset Blvd.eastbound toward Vermont you might see a yellow sandwich board sign at the corner of Edgemont advertising what seems to be a dozen roses for $4. Since the area has several hospitals (Kaiser, Children's, Hollywood Pres), such a deal would seem like the sort of hidden gem that you'd expect LAist to share with you. But the sign is hiding a dark secret. In fact it hopes that you... more ›

Dear Metrolink: I've been a daily, faithful rider on the Antelope Valley line for nearly two years now. I love me the public transportation. It saves me the grief that I know all those dead-stopped drivers along the 5 freeway are going through each morning. But here's the deal. You raised my train fare this month. The monthly cost for my pass from Newhall to Union Station went from $187.50 to $193.25. Fortunately, my... more ›

One of the nicest things on Sunset Blvd. is the Elliott Smith tribute wall. In October 21, 2003, dreary and brilliant singer songwriter Elliott Smith killed himself by stabbing himself in the heart. Best known for the moody acoustic songs heard in Good Will Hunting, Smith had an Oscar nom in his back pocket in '97 and a contract with Dreamworks in '98. Immediately after the reports of his death began to spread, fans... more ›

Old letters released yesterday reveal a side of Mother Teresa that have shocked some - that the Nobel Peace Prize recipient had serious struggles with her faith.

In a new book that compiles letters she wrote to friends, superiors and confessors, her doubts are obvious. Shortly after beginning work in Calcutta's slums, the spirit left Mother Teresa. more ›

Most people who don't know me are surprised when they learn that I am a born again Christian. I don't know why they're surprised. I think I'm a nice person. For example, even though for the last decade or so I've been writing article and post and column about how the Conservatives are evil and untrustworthy and now I am telling people how excited I am to be voting for the most conservative presidential... more ›

Begging the question of "how much does gasoline cost in Riverside", a man was discovered carrying 125 gallons of gasoline in his van when witnesses saw vapors rising from his parked love machine. The fumes were occurring because the gentleman had placed the fuel in bottles like what once contained laundry detergent and other containers not designed to carry gasoline in vans. "It was just unbelievable," Battalion Chief Jeff Dredla told the Riverside Press... more ›

I'm pretty sure that this qualifies as the WTF of the day, maybe even of the week. My mother called me moments ago to impart something "bizarre". Bizarre indeed. Apparently, a woman told her that she saw a missing poster with her name on it. I do a quick Google search and it turns out to be true. Someone hijacked my mom's name...for a terrible movie? The film Where is Amy Pressman? involves a... more ›

Accidents that happen on I-5 may be the absolute worst thing in the world. more ›

Being a spy is a tough job. Not only do you constantly run the risk of being exposed by your enemies or compromised by an error in judgment or other grievous mistake (heck, your identity might even be leaked by your own government), you must also be able to adjust to rapidly changing conditions and always be quick on your feet. This then begs the question: why have you or a colleague do it... more ›

- Illegals doing what Americans wont do: 61,000 pot plants spotted in Santa Barbara - CBS2 - North Hollywood man found guilty of 1997 murder of Nigerian soccer player - LA Daily News - Chino woman who was found guilty of murder and served 23 years, released on parole - Daily News - The Zorro Bandit strikes again at a Glendale bank - CBS2 - OC bus strike on its 6th day and going... more ›

Although we would have thought that there would be no safer place for a 13-year-old at one o'clock in the morning than a Las Vegas casino, comes news that early this morning a teen from Van Nuys was clipped by one of the ten "random" shots fired by a Vegas local. Troy Sanchez, a 13-year-old from Van Nuys, Calif., who was wounded in the left ankle, said he heard more than 10 gunshots from... more ›

We were distracted and didn't make it to our Tivos to check out the Miss Universe pageant until last night, but girlfriend, there was some drama on that show and no one seemed to have seen it. If you heard anything about the pageant, you may have heard that Miss USA slipped and fell during the evening gown competition. Well, that's true, and the video above shows you that. It also shows you that... more ›

There was a time when there was nothing more punk rock in LA than to have imported Dr. Martens boots. Sounds like a paradox, but thus is part of the fun in trying to explain or define punk. In LA the only place where you could get Docs were at Na Na's in Santa Monica, but when the company decided to cut ties with the shoe store after 11 years in order to sell... more ›

Sometimes Angelinos wonder why we are mocked around the rest of the country. Maybe it's because of stuff like this. I'm not trying to justify stereotypes or anything. I'm just sayin'. more ›

The editor and publisher of the Pasadena Now website has decided that writers don't need to be in the city that they're writing about. Especially if they can be exploited for a fraction of the cost that Americans would ask. James Macpherson logged on to the Indian version of Craigslist and was able to hire two Indians to write on his site about Pasadena for less than $20k a year for the pair, by... more ›

Arguably the most powerful site on the web, Digg, ran into an issue where the Internet found one line of code, which when used (im)properly would make it very easy for pirates to copy HD-DVD discs in high quality - and as it was meant to be, the users of Digg dugg it. more ›

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