Carolyn Kellogg

If you really want to celebrate Mexican culture this week, LAist suggests grabbing some delicious Mexican food tonight, like the Oaxacan delights at Guelaguetza. It's one of Jonathan Gold's top 99 LA restaurants, makes mole to die for and is incredibly cheap. Two things our reviewer didn't try — the enormous squash blossom quesedilla and the pan-fried, chili-coated grasshoppers/crickets — are both delicious, if a bit unusual. Looks like they've got a full bar...

This photo, from Santa Monica on Tuesday morning, makes us understand why people wake up early and head to the beach for a little surf before work. The report from Venice this morning said the surf was OK, but one local surfer found the waves a little lacking. Of course, he'll be back for more tomorrow....

If you declined to nosh at Canter's for 75 cents because it was just too pricey, do we have a deal for you. Tommy's, which makes a classic chili-smothered burger, will celebrate its 60th birthday with 60 cent Tommyburgers on May 15 from noon until midnight. Although it has locations across the southland, you'll have to go to the original shack at Beverly and Rampart (west of downtown, just off the 101) for the...

We're giving away a pair of tickets to see The Black Rider at the Ahmanson Theatre on Thursday, May 11. If you like Tom Waits, William S. Burroughs or the work of director Robert Wilson, you don't want to miss this amazing, unforgettable performance. We're sorry, this contest is now closed. Fine Print: Affiliates of LAist, other -ist sites and the Center Theatre Group are not eligible to enter. Entries received by 1PM PST...

The LAPD, in one of its new webby moves, has used the Googlemaps API to create a handy tool. Just plug in your address on this form and find out what crimes have happened in and around your neighborhood recently. For the picture above we typed in the address of Parker Center, LAPD headquarters: it's the big yellow dot at 150 N. Los Angeles Street. The surrounding neighborhood — the surrounding two blocks, anyway...

Memo Pisa El Lodo interviews LA street artist Seizer. Here's a taste: Has anybody ever recognized your face? Yes, well, no, not really.. They recognize it, but the recognize it as Chris Martin. Which is not so bad considering that he is generally accepted as a handsome guy. The complete interview is here....

jail violence Fighting broke out at the men's central jail in downtown LA last night; dozens of inmates rioted. February riots spread across the jail system and lasted for days. cyber violence Hart High School was sparsely attended yesterday after a student's myspace posting made administrators nervous. Apparently the student called for "take your weapons to school day." Back before myspace people just made moronic jokes in the lunchroom and wrote this stuff on...

The Black Rider is stunning in its vision. On a nearly blank stage, actors move like broken puppets; costumes and makeup are extraordinary, horrific, expressionistic. The mastermind is director Robert Wilson, who has created a performance that is striking and unforgettable. Wilson had two bigtime collaborators — Tom Waits wrote the music and William S. Burroughs wrote the story — but in the end it is the director who commands the show, now playing...

Gloomy today, isn't it? We want it to be summer, when we could go swimming in a waterfall: road trip to angeles crest on Vimeo We're not sure where exactly they went in the Angeles Crest: this site gives directions to Switzer's Falls, the Millard Canyon waterfall and Sturtevant Falls, all of which are up the 2 freeway. Or if you'd rather do things the hard way, use these directions to rapell to the falls...

400,000 Official reports are saying 250,000 immigration rights marchers showed up at City Hall and 400,000 walked down Wilshire Boulevard in yesterday's Day Without An Immigrant. Mayor Villaraigosa made a post-Quizno's lunch appearance (good thing he didn't try to dine in Pasadena or at Panda Express at UCLA — closed due to staffing shortages). There's a sign that immigration has either become a real issue for Angelenos or it's jumped the shark: The LA...