Elise Thompson

Tonight RuPaul's Drag Race premieres on LOGO. World of Wonder in Hollywood threw a wild opening party for the show last week filled with drag-themed artwork. The turnout was tremendous and the room quickly went from "SRO" to Fire Marshall at the door". The event was at capacity and under threat of being shut down even before the red carpet was finished. Which left the stars of the show, RuPaul, A-list invitees and certain (cough)...

Nostalgia brought us to the door of Thousand Cranes in Little Tokyo. There was a time in the 80s when nightfall turned downtown LA into a wasteland dotted with random nightclubs and loft parties, It was a punk rock playground, inhabited by night owls, homeless people and junkies. One oasis in the sea of cement and alleyways was the New Otani Hotel. It never ceased to amaze us that a well-tended Japanese garden even existed...

Compared to the crowd at Simon LA the night before, Campanile was packed. After a short wait in the bar we were seated in an overflow room upstairs. Compared to the high ceilings and open space of the main dining hall, the room was cozy and uncluttered. In spite of the age of the historic building, there is a pristine cleanliness about everything. Even the butter that arrives with the famous La Brea Bakery bread...

For 15 years Wofgang Puck has been the official caterer of The Governors Ball, the celebration that follows the Academy Awards. And this year, LAist was there for the preview. This time we get to show you pictures of Oscar-shaped chocolate statues. We also had the opportunity to test-taste a few of the treats and the cocktails that will be served at the Ball. Wolfgang Puck Catering will be serving 1,500 Ball guests, which will...

Simon LA was chosen as the first stop on our Dine LA blitz because of the impressive appetizers we sampled at the Behind the Unseen event held there. Simon Kerry, who is known as the rock and roll chef, stood in the kitchen staring intently at the dining room, which was not empty but definitely not bustling. The servers were bursting with enthusiasm and friendliness. They responded to our bad jokes by adding their own...

by Jack Skelley How hard has the housing slump hit Downtown L.A.? Two buildings tell two different stories. The Rowan in the Old Bank District has scheduled an auction to unload 79 lofts on February 8. Whereas Evo in South Park has closed sales on a dozen condos in the last eight weeks: This includes a $3 million, all-cash penthouse deal last week - the largest purchase price for a single residential unit in Downtown,...

In the wee hours of the morning today phones were ringing off the hook all over Hollywood. At 5:30 a.m. the nominees were announced for the 81st Academy Awards. Academy President Sid Ganis and Actor Forest Whitaker made the announcement at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. LAist was there. Heath Ledger predictably received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In fact, most of the nominations were as predicted although there were a...

Nomination day is an early day in Hollywood. Media outlets arrive at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater as early as 12:30 in the morning to start setting up. The rest of the press corps arrives at 3:30 a.m. for the press breakfast, and some stragglers creep in as late as 5 a.m. Jockeying for position is not as aggressive in a room full of mixed media. But once it is the photogs' turn to rush the...

You know how deep fried Mars bars were supposedly invented by drunken chip shop workers? I think that is how Taco Bell's Bacon Gordita Crunch came about. Now don't get us wrong, here at LAist we are bacon people. In fact, we are official Facebook fans of bacon, and it doesn't get any more real than that. We have eaten bacon in ice cream, covered in chocolate, and illegally wrapped around hot dogs. But...

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, Blue Drums® in conjunction with Miles Davis Properties, LLC unveiled a limited-edition snare drum at the Vic Firth booth during the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) convention last Saturday in Anaheim. Only fifty (50) Kind of Blue (KOB) 50th Anniversary snare drums are being produced by Blue Drums® in association with Miles Davis Properties, LLC. Blue Drums® is a company of musicians that...