Adrienne Crew

Dear Reader, This is my last LAist Interview. I have appreciated all your feedback, but I'm especially grateful to all the interviewees who graciously gave me their time and knowledge. Writing this feature validates my belief that everyone in LA has a fascinating story to tell and an interesting opinion to share. I'm confident that Tony will lead LAist on to bigger and better things, including more riveting interview features. It's been a fun...

Meet Daniel Hernandez, one of this LAist Interviewer's most elusive targets. He's only 25, but he's already an important voice in the Los Angeles media. Always on the go, we've been chasing him for an interview for the past year. We're glad our persistence paid off because Daniel has a keen sense about what's really interesting about this city. We first noticed Daniel's writing when he wrote a piece about the endangered graffiti art...

Book people are the luckiest people in the world because they get to read what they love while on the job. So we envy Robyn Kamimura, the assistant Promotional Director at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena. She organizes book signings for authors and gets to meet and greet the celebrated and the strange everyday. Robyn contributes to the books column in the Arroyo Monthly magazine. She also writes a kick-ass email newsletter for the store....

If you can't stomach the thought of sitting through "Snakes on a Plane" this weekend, you might want to consider a movie featuring rich girls on a bus. "Material Girls," starring Hilary and Haylie Duff, opens this weekend and it's worth a look, despite its troubled production history and bad reviews. The sisters Duff play the Marchetta sisters, Los Angeles cosmetics heiresses, who lose their riches and learn to live like the rest of...

The past is always present for Janet Klein. A devotee of early 20th century popular culture, Janet sings old hits on her ukulele and performs with her band "Janet Klein & Her Parlor Boys." Last year, they hosted a weekly show called "Janet Klein & Her Borscht Belt Babies," directed by Amit Itelmann, at the Steve Allen Theater. The show recreated a vaudeville show, featuring a variety of performances involving animal acts, speakers, singers and...

Haven't you just wanted to escape the shackles of corporate America and become your own boss? Nicole Simpson is living proof that it's possible to achieve that dream. Once a senior executive for top advertising agencies servicing clients in the entertainment and packaged goods industries, she chucked it all to open her own boutique in Beverly Hills. Occupation: I own and operate a gift shop called Nicole's Beverly Hills How long have you lived...

Music journalist James Greer has influenced a generation of music fans via his work in "Spin" magazine. A novelist, musician, and screenwriter, James is the author of "Guided by Voices: A Brief History: Twenty-One Years of Hunting Accidents in the Forests of Rock 'n' Roll." His latest novel, "Artificial Light," covers the alternative rock scene of the 1990s, the mythos of Kurt Cobain, Orville Wright's legacy and Midwestern indie rock in a book-within-a-book structure. James...

Hillary Carlip is a handful. She's an author, juggler, entertainer, and all around prankster. She's just published "Queen of the Oddballs," her memoir about about growing up at celebrity's edge in Hollywood. Independent booksellers selected the book as their Book Sense Pick for May. Hillary is also a familiar web presence. Two years ago, she started the FRESH YARN literary website, the first online salon for personal essays. The site resumes its publishing schedule...

Marshall Astor loves San Pedro something fierce. He is a working artist who not only manages programs at Angels Gate Cultural Center but also operates the Walled City art gallery in his spare time. He's organized a group show at the Brewery Project called "Contemplating Apocalypse" that will debut on September 9, 2006 with a reception starting at 7 PM. Custom brewed malt liquor will be on hand and patrons will be encouraged to...

Let's face it, Angelenos, we're all a bunch of gossips. How else to explain that peculiar L.A. habit of looking up at each new customer who crosses a restaurant's threshold, assessing their attractiveness and/or celebrity. In certain dining establishments around West Hollywood, the atmosphere is akin to a high school cafeteria. One keeps expecting restaurant patrons to break out in song like in that scene in the film, "Gigi," where guests seated at Maxim's...