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......

It was a great year of new books, re-discovered books, and books we meant to get to last year but didn't. The end of the year is nearly here and before we look forward, we'll take a look back. LAist Editors share their favorite book they read this year: Who: Zach Behrens, Editor What: The Four-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris Why: Inspiring words on how to improve workflow, automate tasks, and get more......

If you like songs that are fast, heavy and noisy, then LA trio Icebird may just be up your ear-splitting alley. Comprised of Barry Monahan (guitar and lead vocals), Kate Wise (drums and vocals) and Mike Monahan (bass and vocals), Icebird brings an energy and exuberance to rock that shines with each pounding performance. The band recently released a follow up EP titled "Championship Bloodline." Looking back at the tour earlier this fall, lead man......

From RobertGoulet.com we hear this very sad news that was posted yesterday: Robert Goulet, the legendary star of stage, screen, television and recordings, was pronounced dead at 10:17am today. He had been suffering from a rapidly progressive pulmonary fibrosis, a condition that is most often fatal. Most treatments are ineffectual. The only successful treatment is lung transplantation. Mr. Goulet had been in intensive care at Cedars Sinai since October 14, 2007. At the time......

Things You Can Do In Five Hours: -Drive to Las Vegas from Los Angeles -Run a marathon as fast as P.Diddy -Watch the uber-long extended version of Return of the King -Make an entire baby sweater -Learn a computer programming language Things You Can't Do In Five Hours: -Build Rome -Watch Saturday night's Dodger game from start to finish That's right, Saturday's game lasted 5-hours and six minutes, the longest game at Chavez Ravine since......

8:00pm Big Brother 8 CBS - New head of household + someone gets the boot 8:00pm So You Think You Can Dance FOX - The winner is announced! 10:00pm Mad Men AMC - Looks like some more shite goes down with the kosher department store heiress, that and more cool early '60s cars, furniture, smoking, and sexism! 6:00am-Forever Elvis Presley Marathon TCM - Nothing but the King all day long. 12:35am The Late Late......

8:00pm So You Think You Can Dance FOX - Two dancers get the boot 9:00pm Fat March ABC - The fat marchers have made it all the way from southeast Massachusetts to Connecticut. The men face a strength challenge. but wait! there's more! 9:00pm Hell's Kitchen FOX - Finalist hell! The final challenge!!! The winner becomes the new head chef at one of Gordon Ramsay's Las Vegas restaurants! 10:00pm Weeds SHOWTIME - Season premiere!......

Hump day ain't over, at least for TV - Wednesday is probably one of the worst-programmed days of the week this summer. Throw me a frickin bone here. Your choices for prime time are mostly reality/game shows: 'Power of 10' (CBS), 'So You Think You Can Dance' (Fox), 'Last Comic Standing' (NBC), 'Don't Forget the Lyrics' (Fox), etc. Or just commit yourself to 2 retro hours of 'My Music: The 70's Experience' (KOCE-PBS, 8:00pm)......

One of my primary goals when I started working in the music business was to, some day, meet with somebody from Warp Records. As an eager newbie DJ in 1990, I was fortunate enough to discover this label through a couple of releases that helped form my sensibilities in a way that was so profound that it endures to this day. Coco Steele & Lovebomb's "You Can't Stop the Groove" and Power Pill's "Pac......

A Word or 39: It feels like Wednesdays are going to be the night with new programming this time of year. It feels like it, but it doesn't look like it since not much of this stuff is watchable. Hidden Palms?? For effsake. Tonight - Wednesday - June 13th, 2007 Mets @ Dodgers (PRIME, 7:00 p.m.) Hidden Palms (the CW, 8:00 p.m.) Country club party time The Next Best Thing: Who Is the Greatest......

A Word or 54 (or so): I know that there are some folks who are happy to be getting a few new episodes of the doomed Studio 60 - enjoy it while you can. Funny how there is no cohesive letter-writing campaign to save that one, at least not a campaign that is getting any press. Tonight - Thursday - June 7th, 2007 Dodgers @ Padres (KCAL, 7:00 p.m.) Pirate Master (CBS, 8:00 p.m.)......

A Word or 77 (or so): ABC has a lineup of new episodes and shows tonight - bucking the other networks, with the exception of Fox and the CW, who were always trend-buckers [hey, I said "buckers" ok, you dirty-minded individuals]. You might have also seen on the AP that the kids are trying to keep Jericho on the air - if CBS doesn't want to run it, they should sell it. I always......

A Word or 21: Mark Burnett can't come up with anything new other than Pirate Master - and you thought Survivor had gone down the tubes. Tonight - Thursday - May 31, 2007 Orioles @ Angels (Fox Sports, 7:00 p.m.) Dodgers @ Nationals (PRIME, 7:30 p.m.) Pirate Master (CBS, 8:00 p.m.) Series premiere! Reality show set up to piggyback on a movie not produced by this network - lawsuit anyone? 2007 Scripps National Spelling......

A Word or 34: These are the doldrums dear friends. Not much to offer other than a couple mediocre talent competitions and a teeny-bopper premiere on the CW. Really, this is a chance to catch up on your reading. Tonight - Wednesday - May 30, 2007 Mariners @ Angels (Fox Sports, 7:00 p.m.) Sid and Nancy/The Filth and the Fury (IFC, 8:00 p.m. - 1:30 a.m.) Get your Sid fix tonight. Hidden Palms (the......

Artist: Various Universal artists (mainly Motown) Album(s): Motown Vol.2 and '80s Soul (+ 18 others) Release Date: April 2007 Label: UMe I have to say that I love compilations. Variety is the spice of life and what’s better than an assortment of tunes shoved at you. Universal Music Enterprises (Ume) has put out a set of 20 compilations of “number ones” of various genres, artists, and eras. The eras are by decade from the......

Angels 3, Royals 1 - The West's best faced the league's worst in the first of a four game series. Anaheim prevailed thanks to a solid 6 and 1/3 inning performance by John Lackey. In the hard-luck story of the day, Kansas City first baseman Ryan Shealy finally reached base with a 2 RBI double after going hitless in his last nine at-bats. He had been averaging .096 for the season. A couple plays later,......

Monday T.C. Boyle reads and chats with David Ulin 7pm @ Mark Taper Forum Jennifer Kaufman & Karen Mack present Literacy and Longing in L.A. 7pm @ Studio Branch Library Denise Hamilton & contributors signs Los Angeles Noir 7pm @ Borders Torrance Pat Montandon discusses Oh, the Hell of It All 7pm @ Vroman's Tuesday Barry Glassner discusses The Gospel of Food 7pm @ Central Library Kirk Douglas signs Let's Face It 7pm @......

The Ataris - Welcome the Night (Sanctuary) David Bowie - Station to Station [VCT] (Virgin) David Bromberg - Try Me One More Time (Appleseed) Bobby Conn - King for a Day (Thrill Jockey) Dean & Britta - Back Numbers (Rounder) Delorean - You Can't Win (Yep Roc) John Denver - Essential John Denver (RCA) Dr. Dog - We All Belong (Park the Van) Electric Light Orchestra - Out of the Blue [30th Anniversary Edition]......

Every week in Living in Sin, Jen Sincero provides advice to LA's sexually confounded. Sign up for her newsletter and have it sent to you every week. Ask Jen your questions: all are posted anonymously. Dear Jen, My fiancé and I have been together for quite a few years and have started having a sexually open relationship. Usually we play together with someone else, but occasionally we'll let each other go solo. Well, we......

Update: Among much 9/11 coverage on Gothamist, they also do The Inappropriate 9/11 Coverage Awards. Has anything changed in Hollywood? In Pop culture? LA Times' Patrick Goldstein reflects: ... it would take more than a horrific catastrophe to quench our thirst for the madcap antics of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Star Jones Reynolds, Jessica Simpson and all the other bobble heads bouncing around our celebrity universe.... I spend a lot of time around showbiz......

On the eve of Austin's gargantuan music festival in Zilker Park, Austinist is hosting our second annual fall soiree, replete with bands, DJs, video projections, fire dancers, and more! For Local Music is Sexy 2, we've brought together some of our favorite bands who call this city home: IV Thieves [myspace] "You Can’t Love What You Don’t Understand“ (from without sound) “Chase Me Off/Out“ (from without sound) "Take This Heart" (from Berkeley Place) Brothers and......

After being all 4th of July-ed out, this LAist poster settled in for a mellow night in front of the boob tube. But the network pickings were slim. We're talking skinnier than Nicole Richie. NBC-4 showed two hours of dreck with America's Got Talent. FOX aired two hours of So You Think You Can Dance. And ABC offered viewers George Lopez, Freddie (yes, Prinze Jr. has a TV show) and two repeat episodes of......

Quick -- what happens when you want to put on an American Idol-esque show during the summer TV doldrums, and Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest are busy spending the bizillions they earned during the regular TV season? You get David Hasselhoff in the role of Randy; Brandy playing Paula, some Brit “journalist” named Piers Morgan playing Simon; and an aging Regis Philbin taking over Seacrest’s role in a two-hour waste......

American Idol. Even when it's over, it's never really over. Silver-haired American Idol champion Taylor Hicks (the guy with the mixture of Ray Charles moves and Tourette's Syndrome), was named the No. 1 "Hottest Bachelor" by People Magazine today. Say whaaaat? The 29-year-old Hicks outranked other familiar names like Matthew McConaughey, Nick Lachey, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kenny Chesney, Jamie Foxx, Owen Wilson and even AI's host Ryan Seacrest. Another AI contestant makes it a trifecta......

It's good to be a live music fan in Los Angeles. We regularly get the opportunity to see shows that people in other cities (with the exception of New York) don't get to see. Last week we attended three "special" performances. Sun 4/2 - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Silversun Pickups played a benefit show at Spaceland. Silversun Pickups wore their fancy clothes and played sitting down. Usually they put on a sweaty, energetic......

LAist sometimes gets an intense craving for sushi that cannot go unheeded. In a pinch those little plastic supermarket packs will do, but, let's face it, sometimes you just need the real deal. Ventura Boulevard from end to end boasts countless strip-mall sushi joints; miss the turn for one and another is a half a block away. But with sushi, any hole in the wall simply won't do. Freshness, value, and variety play a......