Adrienne Crew

We here at LAist enjoy reading The Los Angeles Times Real Estate section. Sometimes, it provides a glimpse into lifestyles we can only imagine. Take for instance, this recent story about impossibly high-end homes by Shawn Hubler entitled "In L.A. real estate, $10 million is the new $1 million." The following details sound like they came right out of a script by the TV producers of "The OC": "Built just two years ago for...

Los Angeles is a bright place. Some Angelenos embrace the region's light, while others scurry from it like a roach caught in the beam of the refrigerator's bulb at midnight. Whether you are a sun-worshipper or a vampire, though, sun is bad for you. When the rays are too much, we find solace in shady spots that cleverly use design elements to provide respite and relaxation (yes, we use sunglasses, hats and umbrellas too—but...

LA writer Joshuah Bearman is blogging from the Republican National Convention in New York City for the LA Weekly. Apparently, he's just obtained his first scoop. He says, "I went to the Republican Platform Committee meetings at the Javits center, where I saw the poor schmucks who call themselves Republican moderates get railroaded. They were trying to get more inclusive language on gay rights and abortion on the platform and failed." You can read...

Yesterday's Women's Wear Daily reported that T-shirts bearing political messages are more popular than ever. Online sales outlets and political websites fuel this body-as-billboard trend. The article also mentions LA's own Sean Bonner and the sixspace Gallery downtown. WWD reports: "Also benefiting from sales are Web sites, including CafePress.com, that service organizations that don’t have the time and wherewithal to court their own retail accounts. San Leandro, Calif.-based CafePress.com will ship more than a...

ASIFA-Hollywood presents "A Fred Ladd Retrospective," hosted by Los Angeles-based film historian Jerry Beck. Plus, Fred Ladd will attend this rare one-of-a-kind retrospective! Fred Ladd was one of the first to import anime to America in the 1960s—and was a personal friend to many of Japan's greatest animators. Jerry Beck will host this retrospective of Fred Ladd's greatest hits, including full lenth screenings of rare 16mm prints of Astro Boy, Gigantor and Kimba the...

The Soto Street Bridge at Mission Road and Huntington has been deemed functionally obsolete (PDF). The City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks plans to remove it and replace it with "green space" and a sculpture by Los Angeles artist Stephen Glassman. Judging from Glassman's work in West Hollywood, we bet the piece will include poles made of natural material indigenous to the area and be very, very tall. We just hope...

Get your holiday shopping done early at the annual African Marketplace & Cultural Faire this week. Saturdays & Sundays, August 28, 29 and Labor Day Weekend, September 4, 5 & 6 10:00 AM–9:00 PM Location: Exposition Park, in front of the LA Sports Arena Address: 3939 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles (Martin Luther King Boulevard & Figueroa)...

As August draws to a close, blogland seems to be on hiatus, leaving us with re-runs. But repeats can be rewarding. For instance, LA journalist Rodger Jacobs posts a 1999 article about his experiences writing a documentary about porn legend John Holmes. How could you not love an essay that begins with: "A soul-siphoning conveyer belt leading to nowhere" is how I described the adult film industry in a an essay written only a...

Maura Conlon-McIvor visits Dutton's Books in Brentwood to sign her book, FBI Girl: How I Learned to Crack My Father’s Code. There's a Southland connection to this childhood memoir of an Irish Catholic girl struggling to connect with her enigmatic F.B.I. father. Young Maura Conlon’s dad was a Hoover-era FBI agent in Los Angeles. Determined to infiltrate her father’s world, she is met with his stony silence. So Maura sets out to discover the...

Get your tickets now if you still plan to catch the latest Bob Baker Marionettes show, which closes on September 3rd. This new marionette musical extravaganza will delight children of all ages. Join the famous Bob Baker Marionettes for a magical journey into the world of imagination. From a day in the Ozarks to a night in glamorous Paris, juggling monkeys and madcap musical instruments along the way, over 100 of Bob Baker's exquisitely...