Carolyn Kellogg

When the LA Alternative Press asked LAist to write 400 words "In Defense of Blogs" for a sidebar for their Blogs vs. Zines article, I did, somewhat reluctantly. I was once a Zinester: I spoke on zine panels, a zine sent me to SXSW (twice). But I stood up for blogs. Well, the paper didn't print my sidebar; instead, they used parts of it in the article; the issue is not yet online. Here...

For years, driving around, certain buildings stand out. The Egyptian-style apartment building at 747 Wilcox, for example, never fails to turn heads. Built in 1926, there's nothing particularly Egyptian about the architecture. But King Tut's tomb was discoverd in 1922, and some of the Egypt-mania that ensued must have drifted over to the building's owners. Two greek-looking pillars are detailed with Egyptian-ish designs; colorful paintings adorn every detail possible. In the domed hallway to...

In 1846, a group of 87 settlers on their way to California, led by George Donner, got caught in the Sierra Mountains by the worst snowstorm in 30 years. They set up camp, eventually ran out of food, and when other members of the party started to die off the surviving settlers ate them. At least, that's always been the story of California's most famous cannibals. The ill-fated settlers split into two camps about...

We hear that Moris Tepper, onetime guitarist for Captain Beefheart and Tom Waits, takes the stage tonight at the Echo, early, with buddy PJ Harvey on bass. His band Candlebone will open for Tenacious D this weekend at a benefit for the Women's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project. So you can always go see that and do some good. But tonight is Candlebone's chance to practice in front of a live audience. Do you want...

In a coup of who cares, the LA Times Home section today features a story on the sleep industry. Yawn. The lead, with 9 whole pictures of the Getty Villa's gardens, is better than usual for them. But click on over to the NY Times and once again, our hometown rag wilts in comparison. New York has a gorgeously photographed Park Slope brownstone complete with audio tour slideshow, a Texas butler, and fantasies of...

Arthur Magazine and the Spaceland folks — the people who brought us ArthurFest at summer's end — are presenting a winter fete. Tickets have just gone on sale for Arthur Ball, which will feature documentary films, speakers and of course dozens of live performances by the multiculti progressive psychedelic likes of Society of Rockets, Indian Jewelry, Afrobeatdown and Winter Flowers. There won't be any police there, that we know of. The title just made...

Senator Diane Feinstein, who is frequently a fake liberal, piped up today for the Endagered Species and Clean Water Acts at the Alito confirmation hearings. Democratic lawmakers have been pointing out, during the questioning, that in almost every circumstance Alito has sided in favor of business, particularly big business, over both individuals and the common good. We say the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act both fall into that common good category....

By now you surely know that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was in a motorcycle accident this weekend while tooling around Brentwood with his son tucked into a sidecar. You probably also know that he doesn't have a motorcycle license, and hasn't thought about getting one in the last 37 years. But if the idea of an unlicensed Governor bothers you, why worry? Spokeswoman Margita Thompson says that since the motorcycle had a sidecar, it counts...

When it comes right down to it, UCLA professor, Pulitzer prizewinner, evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond is all that. Guns, Germs and Steel is about how societies evolved; Collapse is about how they disappeared. Tonight he'll be speaking about one, or the other, or perhaps what happens in-between at the Skirball Cultural Center. Tickets are still available; they're not cheap, but $20 is still less than you'd pay to register at UCLA. The nonprofit organization...

The Daily News tunes in to Howard Stern's premiere satellite radio broadcast, counts the number of times he uses the f-word. Cal State Long Beach has a new president, F. King Alexander; the Long Beach Press Telegram checks in on his first day of school. Apparently he did not use the f-word. Pasadena middle school students have lunch with Samuel L. Jackson as part of a program that helps them make it to college....