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News

ICYMI: The Unexpected Civic Benefits Of Pokemon Go

By  Devon McReynolds
Published Jul 18, 2016 11:00 PM
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Mel's Drive-in on Sunset. (Photo by LaTur via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr. Tag #LAist on Instagram if you want to see your photo featured here
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  • Curbed writes that Pokemon Go is responsible for encouraging a unique kind of civic engagement, as wannabe Pokemasters explore parks and parts of cities they might not have been to before. Nice to see a consequence of the game that doesn't involve finding a dead body.
  • The RNC is underway in Cleveland (follow the coverage over at Chicagoist), and no time was wasted when it came to a participant making an offensive, racist, and just plain bizarre statement. In a discussion about the Republican party's overwhelming whiteness on MSNBC, Congressman Steve King said that non-white "sub groups" have contributed less to civilization. Yes, that actually happened, and no, we can't even think of anything snarky to say. It's going to be a long week.
  • Former Los Angeles Laker Metta World Peace has un-retired from rap, and performed at West Hollywood club Bootsy Bellows last night.
  • It's about time we had a romcom about Tinder.
  • Southern California beaches often see the bloated carcasses of humpback whales wash up on shore, but in Poland, a boar emerged from the sea to tackle two beachgoers.
  • Today would have been Hunter S. Thompson's 79th birthday. Here he is in a fantastic interview with The Paris Review.
  • Bruce Springsteen wrote a moving remembrance of Suicide's Alan Vega, complimenting his "generous and sweet spirit." The Boss continued, "The blunt force power of his greatest music both with Suicide and on his solo records can still shock and inspire today. There was simply no one else remotely like him."
  • Speaking of Bruce, on this day in 1988, the Boss played an epic 4-hour long set in East Berlin, tearin' down that wall metaphorically with good old fashioned Amurrican rock 'n' roll:

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