Carolyn Kellogg

Don't look now, but The Donald is heading this way. The next season of The Apprentice will be shot here in Los Angeles, because, producer Mark Burnett says, "Donald has so many recent West Coast projects that it made perfect sense to change locations and along with it change the flavor of the weekly tasks." We are just waiting to get to the bottom of a freeway exit and see the wanna-be-Apprentices selling bags...

Three years ago today, Joe Strummer shuffled off this mortal coil; tonight it's a Joe Strummer tribute with a passel of bands at the Anarchy Library in Downey. Jon Brion does his thing at Largo for the club's last show of 2005. Dinner is sold out but tickets for drinkers are still available. Mellow singer-songwriter Io Perry with the chanteusey Order of the Wand at Taix in Echo Park. Rockin' like Dokken! Guitarist George...

Local heroes Ozomatli are at the House of Blues, Hollywood with the B Side Players. At the Troubador: Eagles of Death Metal and Har Mar Superstar. Firebug has a record release party at Spaceland with The Distants. Balkan Beat Box and DJ Garth Trinidad at the Knitting Factory for a vodka latka party (there may not be actual latkas, but look for a menorah)....

It's easy to forget that it's winter around here. You probably didn't even notice that today is the winter solstice. Yesterday temperatures in LA reached 80 degrees, just 3 degrees lower than the highest ever recorded in the city (that was in 1985). Not that we're complaining; in fact, we'll be busting out the sunscreen. If you're thinking beach, you're not the only one: LA Observed tells us that waves are up today —...

An overlooked LA landmark: Bob Hanifen visits Santa Monica's Camera Obscura for Gridskipper. We didn't know exactly what a Camera Obscura was, but he explains. It's pretty cool. A disappearing LA landmark: Franklin Avenue has new shots of the continued destruction of the Ambassador Hotel. We just walk by and cringe, but they know what was where. The (historically important) kitchen seems to be open to the elements. A wishful thinking LA landmark: A...

Blogs are a strange combination of the intimate and the public. Like diaries, they are confessional. Like billboards, they're just sitting out there for anybody to drive past. And chances are, just when you think nobody ever reads your blog, your boss checks in, stops short, and boomaloom: you're fired. Our sympathies are, of course, with (almost) anyone who gets fired because of their blog. However, our sympathies are not with the idiotic teenager...

Jen Sincero is a sexpert, musician, and the author of the bestselling book, The Straight Girl’s Guide To Sleeping With Chicks and the semi-autobiographical novel, Don’t Sleep With Your Drummer. She currently hosts the weekly sex talk radio show Dr. Happypants on killradio.org. Every week in Living in Sin, Jen provides advice for LA's sexually confused and curious. Got a question for Jen? Ask her. We promise to be discreet — all questions will...

American Apparel is known for two things: the antics of its iconoclastic/pornographic founder Dov Charney, and its really excellent cotton t-shirts. The company started making the plain t-shirts for other companies that would then, you know, print stuff on 'em. They still do that, but now notoriety, sexy ad campaigns and dozens of standalone retail stores have made American Apparel a brand of its own. The main factory is in downtown LA, an enormous,...

TUESDAY • Silverlake's own Irving heads west to the Troubadour to open for Rogue Wave, with Mazarin. $12. • Head to the Walt Disney Concert Hall if you're feeling classically jolly; it's Christmas with Chanticleer, the all-male vocal orchestra. Cheap tix are $22. • Another Tuesday, another Mickey Champion night at Little Pedro's. Free chicken and cornbread at 11pm....

Monday, 4:15pm, Los Feliz. The Box Brothers on Hillhurst. The mood: patience, mostly. The guys at this Box Brothers are always cheerful, joking, and totally competent. Bring in your packages and they have boxes, bubble wrap, those foam squiggles, padded envelopes, address labels at the ready. They will pack everything for you and ship it intact. So what's it like there on December 19, with the shipping countdown on? Packed. Boxes ready for pickup,...