Carolyn Kellogg

Fade In: Homeless shelter - The co-creator of "Good Times" is living in the Bell homeless shelter. He once had an NAACP award and a 4-bedroom house in Taraza, but that was before the crack and strokes. Now he's got a laptop and 30 scripts; he tells the LA Times, "I'm never that far away from a blockbuster hit." We're thinking he should pitch his life's story — before the LA Times writer who...

Every week in Living in Sin, Jen Sincero provides advice for LA's sexually curious. Now you can see her column in print in the LA Alternative Press. Ask Jen your questions: all are posted anonymously. Dear Jen, You spout all kinds of wisdom that's basically begging people to become self-validating. But my question is this: How do you justify offering people validation while you're trying to get them to validate themselves? Isn't all your...

We assume that you have places to go and things to do. You are undaunted by rain. You will not, we're sure, be staying home for a double feature of '80s DVD. Like, say, To Live and Die in LA (complete with theme song by the incomparable Wang Chung) and Beverly Hills Cop (with theme song by the Pointer Sisters). But just in case, we have to tell you that these two movies, awful in...

We admit it, we got a little obsessed....

We've been obsessively pacing the candy aisle, trying to resist the urge to stock up on Cadbury Creme Eggs (we lose every time). As the Easter Bunny shops to fill all those little baskets he'll be delivering Sunday, the candy has been fast disappearing. Yet still we're awed by the vast Easter selection. That's why we're so glad that the CandyBlog recently celebrated its first birthday and is cruising along on its marvelous, sugar-fueled high....

Got the itch? Get it scratched all over town. Eagles of Death Metal 6:00pm at the Virgin Megastore, Hollywood & Highland The Eagles of Death Metal have a new record out this week. Live performance. Free free free. The People Under the Stairs 7:00pm at Amoeba Records in Hollywood PUTS are in town from the UK. With special guest Penuckle. Free free free. W Magazine party and Speedo fashion show 7:00-9:00pm at the Cabana...

Enjoy Coke: In Mexico City, Mexican soldiers opened up the cargo hold of a commercial flight from Venezuela and found 128 black suitcases marked "private." But they weren't feeling polite: in the cases they found 5.5 tons of cocaine, worth $100 million or more. Wow, those were some big suitcases. Wacko crash in Encino: Some guy was driving a Crown Victoria all crazy down Ventura Boulevard, being pursued by police. He smashed into a...

Los Angeles a big city with big cultural institutions like Disney Hall and LACMA. And we also have tons of smaller cultural institutions, including several little museums in unexpected neighborhoods. That's where LAist headed on our first field trip, to the Los Angeles Police Historical Society Museum. It's in a decommissioned police station that went operational in 1925 in Highland Park. Parts of it still looks a lot like a police station: the imposing...

Bring us your tired, your poor, your overworked assistants; bring us your energetic, crazy, underemployed creative geniuses. LAist's search for 20 of the most interesting Angelenos under 30 continues for another week, and we want you — and your friends. Nominate your favorite 14-29-year-old Angelenos for an LAist interview using the form below. You can nominate as many as you want; you can even nominate yourself. Tell us why they're cool and be sure...

A cool half mil: the median LA home price scooted up to $506,000 in March. This is how that works: To buy a house at the median price, a household would need an annual income of at least $120,000 to qualify for conventional financing with a 20% down payment. The county's median household income: about $47,000. And 20% downpayment would mean you'd need $100,000 cash — NOBODY is putting down 20% these days, because...