Carolyn Kellogg

Last night we were among the fortunate attendees at the sold-out Writers Block event featuring Leonard Nimoy interviewing Gene Wilder, a strange but wonderful wrinkle in the pop culture universe. Nimoy, who directed Wilder in 1990's Funny About Love, got Wilder to tell some great stories, a few of which are in his new memoir Kiss Me Like a Stranger. Our favorite: Gene Wilder got the script for Willy Wonka and told the director...

Today people are buzzing about the LA Times poll that says Antonio Villaraigosa leads James Hahn by 18 points in the race for Mayor. The Angelino calls the news "devastating" for Hahn. While LA Voice scoffs at voter apathy and the tiny number of likely voters (suggesting a write-in for Xeni Jardin), the poll hits the national blogsphere on Daily Kos and the AP isn't far behind. BoiFromTroi reminds us that last time around,...

Bus stops all over town are adorned with advertisements for the Real Estate Wealth Expo, coming to the LA Convention Center April 30 - May 1. Donald Trump will be speaking on How to Get Rich (saving how to file for bankruptcy for the next expo, we suppose). And Tony (oops, Anthony) Robbins, the "foremost authority of peak performance for business and life strategies" will be self-helping those who want to fork over the...

As members of the excellent American Cinematheque, we couldn't help but notice that the film-screening nonprofit recently launched a second venue: the newly-restored Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. The Max Palevsky Aero Theatre, to be exact. We keep seeing the name, in the Cinematheque e-mails, on the wall at LACMA, on the cover of this book, even in the credits of a handful of films. Once shrouded in mystery, now Google explains all: Max...

Bob Hertzberg might be gone from the Mayor's race, but he's launched a new website this week to make sure he's not forgotten. Called Big Ideas 4 LA, the site so far has a lively blog that culls stories from the day's news into a snappy, still-evolving digest format. Former Hertzberg campaigner Brian Hay is behind most of the work, and the digests are sure helpful to those who like getting a snapshot of...

In art, there is highbrow, there is lowbrow, and then there is the art of the noodle. Highland Park's community center-slash-radical bookstore Flor Y Canto is currently showing noodle-based art — but it's not just for show. On Thursday LA's roving band of crafters present "Call it Macaroni Craft Night!," an open call to noodlers with crafty and artistic inclinations. For a mere $2 donation you can join in transforming ordinary dried noodles into...

As if introducing the song from Polar Express at the Oscars wasn't proof enough that P. Diddy would show up to the opening of a can of catfood, he spoke today at the funeral of Johnnie Cochran. There were lots of impressive attendees, of course -- Rev. Jesse Jackson, Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt of the Black Panthers -- but Puffy made sure to get a spot at the mic. On April 1st SOHH reported that...

Today the LA Times reports that Evergreen International, one of the world's biggest shipping lines, has agreed to pay a $25 million fine for rigging their filtration systems so they could dump waste oil into the ocean rather than bringing it to shore, violating international and US laws. The agreement clearly states that the charges relate to violations made from 1998-2001. But we can't help wonder, since one of the big guys was once...

An upcoming trip has LAist leaving town on a numbingly early flight from LAX. How to get there? Take a shuttle and risk mistakenly reserving a spot on the line that's owned by extreme right-wingers? Hope for the public-transporation best and schlep a combo subway and bus? Bribe those we love out of the sleep they deserve? Maybe the solution is to pick a parking lot and let the car rest there for a...

Demolisten's 20th anniversary party is Saturday at the Knitting Factory and while you can't blame Fred Kiko (pictured, in action) for the whole thing, he's been an able helmsman for quite some time and probably wouldn't mind you buying him a congratulatory beer. The Friday night radio show on KXLU plays (duh) demos and has featured pre-known acts such as Beck, Devendra Banhardt, Guns N Roses and the everlasting Red Hot Chili Peppers. Celebrating...