Guest Contributor

The LA Opera has embarked on its final push through the epic undertaking of Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle. All four of the operas that comprise the Ring cycle, share the same daring design by Achim Freyer (director, designer), Amanda Freyer (costumes) and Brian Gale (lighting)...

An awkwardly attempted make-out session down by the embankment in the Irish town of Sligo turns into a miracle when the hickey that appears on the girl’s neck the following morning bears a striking resemblance to Jesus Christ himself. Plus: the hickey proves to have a genuine healing effect on anyone who touches it. The girl with the Jesus hickey is cautiously glad that her suddenly-achieved curative powers can help people; her cantankerous, unemployed, hard-drinking father sees a chance to make lots of money off of her.

The LA Opera is days away from beginning its final cycle of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. The entire Ring cycle is comprised of four self-contained operas that run well over 16 hours including intermissions and curtain calls. With our current multitasking lifestyles and short attention spans, it’s amazing that that an event like this is something that attracts us and compels us. But it certainly does.

Aarti serves up her savory take on Funnel Cake at the Santa Monica Pier (Photo courtesy Food Network/used with permission) For its sixth season, The Next Food Network Star was shot in Los Angeles, and among the 12 finalists vying for their very own Food Network show are 3 locals, including food blogger and LAist alumn Aarti Sequeira. Each week, Aarti will give us her take on the episode, from her unique insider's perspective....

After all the buildup, the promotion and the hype, the stakes for the LA Opera’s first performance of Richard Wagner’s complete Ring cycle were equally high to the stakes that characters face within the opera. Do or die. Succeed or fail. Win all or lose everything.

Photo courtesy of Sandbar Pictures If you've ever given or sought consolation for receiving an A- instead of an A, you'll feel right at home in Whiz Kids. The documentary, which opens this weekend at Laemmle's Music Hall, charts three teen scientists as they prepare for the Intel Science Talent Search, high school's equivalent of the Nobel Prize. There's a lot of hard work and a little heart break along the way, but this...

Aarti at work (Courtesy The Food Network) For its sixth season, The Next Food Network Star was shot in Los Angeles, and among the 12 finalists vying for their very own Food Network show are 3 locals, including food blogger and LAist alumn Aarti Sequeira. Each week, Aarti will give us her take on the episode, from her unique insider's perspective. Will she be named The Next Food Network Star? We won't know until...

With horror, skin-flicks, sword & sorcery, and even family fare to his (and MANY pseudonyms') credit, Jim Wynorski is a rambunctious renaissance man. Long known (and feared) amongst b-movie lovers, general interest is at a bloody, busty peak thanks to Wynorski doc Popatopolis (which premiered last week)...

What happens when you trust the Brooklyn experimental ensemble So Percussion's sounds with the electronica innovating masters Matmos? The simple answer is that you get Treasure State, a collaborative album that will be digitally released on June 8th (physical release July 13th) via Cantaloupe Music.

Devil’s Night, a Los Angeles production company and radio station, starts its drive-in summer series this Saturday night with the John Hughes’ classic Pretty in Pink. The summer series continues with two films per month into September. Located on an elevated parking lot downtown, the drive-in offers a needful escape from summer in the city. Patrons have the option of driving in and staying in the car or enjoying the film on Astroturf provided by staff. According to Devil’s Night owner Morgan Higby Night, the lot, located on Broadway and Fourth, “has this great feeling of seclusion and a great view of the skyline.”