Adrienne Crew

Local author Mark Sarvas's literary blog, The Elegant Variation, reminds us that Los Angeles City Beat takes a short and shallow look at the L.A. Literary scene in two pieces: one on local readings and another on the two new LA-based literary journals (does 2 journals make a “scene”?) that focus (for the most part) on voices from Southern California. Apparently, we owe this bounty to McSweeney’s success. L.A.'s long-neglected literary scene is due...

Tonight, noted author Carolyn See will read her contribution to My California: Journeys by Great Writers, an anthology of travel and adventure stories about Calfornia, at Village Books in Pacific Palisades. Donna Wares, based in Long Beach, edited this valentine to our state. Contributors such as Michael Chabon, Thomas Steinbeck, Dana Gioia, Matt Warshaw, Patt Morrison, T. Jefferson Parker, Edward Humes, Rubén Martínez, Aimee Liu, D.J. Waldie, and Firoozeh Dumas have donated their work...

It’s a well-known secret that major novelists actually reside in Southern California...even Los Angeles. This weekend some come out of hiding to visit with their fans. T. Coraghessan Boyle travels down from Santa Barbara to engage the latest editor of The Paris Review in conversation about the anthology, The Paris Review Book for Planes, Trains, Elevators & Waiting Rooms, at Skylight Books in Los Feliz on Saturday, July 31st at 5 pm. Skylight Books,...

LAist loves watching bad musicals and horror movies in the summer. Much to our delight, the programmers at the American Cinematheque are screening a week of horror movies and musicals, probably as a prelude to their upcoming Festival of Fantasy, Horror and Science-Fiction. “Can't Stop The Musicals: More Musicals from the 1970s and 80s” series runs July 28th–August 3rd. The series includes a rock music version of The Passion of Christ (Jesus Christ Superstar);...

While the nation’s attention mainly focuses on this week’s political conventions in Boston and New York City, this weekend Southern California played host to a major convocation of its own. Comic book lovers from all over the world invaded San Diego for Comic-Con 2004. Once a tiny gathering of folks buying and selling comicbooks, Comic-Con AKA “The Nerd Prom” has become the pop culture event of the year for sci-fi and superhero enthusiasts and...

LA ist loves it when Angelenos actually share their opinions. Here’s another perspective to add to the ongoing discussions about the merits of palm trees in the comments section below. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: ____ McHale Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 10:38:12 -0700 Subject: "Palm Freeze" blog entry To: tom@laist.com Cc: adrienne@laist.com Two hundred of even the most expensive palms would be only $1.5M (assuming no rise in prices as a result of additional...

LAist sighed sadly after reading Emily Green’s story about Southland palm trees in the Los Angeles Times earlier this month. Our beloved mascots are dying out due to old age. Cities can no longer afford to replace them with new seedlings, as Las Vegas casino developers have pushed prices beyond most municipal budgets. Green informs us: Demand from casinos has forced prices for Canary Island date palms to $350 to $500 per foot of...

LA Theater geeks, rejoice! Three quirky shows are running at local theaters until mid-August. Precursor to professional curmudgeons like Larry David, Denis Leary, Lenny Bruce and H.L. Mencken, journalist Ambrose Bierce made everyone see the humor in misanthropy. TV regular John Billingsley brings the famous 19th Century pisspot and provocateur to life in “Bitter Bierce, or the Friction We Call Grief,” now playing at the Zephyr Theater in conjunction with Bonita Friedericy’s one-woman show,...

Sarah Lefton’s new “Sacramento Girlie Men” T-shirts, mentioned at LAObserved.com, reminds LAist that our Governator is involved in a lawsuit that spotlights the different rights of celebrities and public servants. T-shirt makers beware: Oak Productions, which holds all rights to merchandise Arnold Schwarnegger’s name and image, filed suit against Ohio Discount Merchandise, a firm that markets a bobblehead doll bearing our governor’s likeness in a suit but posed holding a gun in a manner evoking...

Ed. Note: Adrienne Crew is a new LAist contributor. This weekend LAist visited the California Gift Show at the LA Convention Center. Sunday's show was pretty well attended. We look forward to attending the Gift Show every year in the way we used to anticipate visiting the County Fair. There are favorite booths to revisit, but it's best to wander the different halls in wonder of all the crap coming to a gift store or...