Suzi Barett made a video to dissuade her actor friend OT from moving to Los Angeles. Very NSFW language [more inside]
posted by lazaruslong on Nov 1, 2009 - 51 comments

"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way." Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace for Tangipahoa Parish’s 8th Ward in Louisiana, has denied a marriage license to an interracial couple, using Tragic Mulatto reasoning. He claims that children of interracial marriages suffer needlessly, and the couple's union won't last. Previously on MeFi: The Bill of Rights for People of Mixed Heritage
posted by zarq on Oct 16, 2009 - 189 comments

An expose of non-vegan ingredients in pancakes at LA Vegan Thai inspired the QuarryGirl.Com writers to conduct their own extremely thorough investigation of LA vegan restaurants, testing their meals for traces of casein, egg, and shellfish. Over $1000 and a chain of interviews up to Taiwan later, they find that half the restaurants aren't as vegan as they claim, with half registering Positive or High and one registering Overload. Some restaurants vowed to conduct their own tests or requested further assistance; one banned them from the establishment.
posted by divabat on Jul 5, 2009 - 260 comments

Tuesday night is comedy night at the Big Fish
posted by ornate insect on Jun 23, 2009 - 16 comments

Los Angeles is home to approximately 3.8 million people in 498.3 square miles (1,290.6 km²). There are plenty of reasons to hate LA, but there are also reasons to love the City of Angels. Hidden Los Angeles is a treasure map to the second largest city in the US, charting upcoming events, local trends, and in-depth features. [via mefi projects]
posted by filthy light thief on Jun 18, 2009 - 54 comments

Muppets' Exclusive La Choy Fire Breathing Dragon! While on the road to success, Jim Henson's creations were used in the advertising world. The La Choy pitch is a great insight into the workshop's early genius. [more inside]
posted by Frasermoo on Mar 19, 2009 - 28 comments

Architectural critic and writer Reyner Banham loved Los Angeles. (Last link is a BBC documentary, circa 1972, 52 minutes -- NSFW at 47 minute mark) [more inside]
posted by miss lynnster on Dec 1, 2008 - 2 comments

Real L.A. Noir. (Video/audio auto-plays). Los Angeles Times reporter Paul Lieberman has been chronicling the era of the LAPD Gangster Squad, a secret division of the department that tried to combat the mobs of Jack Dragna and Mickey Cohen in the 1940s and '50s. (Keep the cast of characters straight with this handy chart.)
posted by Bookhouse on Nov 1, 2008 - 9 comments

It's not so often that a US Top 40 chart hit is a song whose origins can be traced back 300 years, and even less often that such a song would be sung in Spanish. So when Ritchie Valens went into a studio and recorded La Bamba 50 years ago this month, he carved himself what would become a special place in American pop music history. It was one of those cases of the B side becoming the hit, though: the A side was Oh Donna, which showcased a sweeter, croonier side of Valens (singing in English), but was a somewhat unremarkable tune on its own. Here's a live recording of La Bamba by Valens, who, of course, along with rock'n'roll legend Buddy Holly, lost his life in an airplane crash just as his career was blossoming. Almost 30 years after La Bamba's original release, a version by Valens' natural heirs Los Lobos became a hit once again. And, admittedly, I didn't make it through the entire clip, but it's perhaps worth noting, for the record, that a Barack Obama-related version is available for your listening and viewing, er, pleasure? [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Oct 15, 2008 - 44 comments

Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, formerly knows as King/Drew and forever known as Killer King, has shut its emergency room and will close in a week due to feds pulling its funding. The hospital near the Watts section of LA, best known for its incompetent staff and meaningless deaths was profiled here a few months ago. Local residents see the hospital as a symbol of freedom and don't want to see it go. (UpdateFilter)
posted by daninnj on Aug 16, 2007 - 28 comments

Estevan Oriol photographs LA street life, celebrity portraits, and hip-hop album covers. (A handful of the photos feature scantily-clad ladies, so this might possibly be nsfw.)
posted by Gamblor on Aug 5, 2007 - 12 comments

"I just like to have the hottest of the hottest. Whatever's hot at the time" In the spring of 2007, Lauren Greenfield conducted interviews with Los Angeles teenagers on the subject of money and how it affects their lives. The link is a 15-minute selection of those interviews.
posted by revmitcz on Jun 14, 2007 - 60 comments

You know what a "gifting suite" is, right?... It's a room or, in my case, an entire fucking house full of free shit they give away to celebrities.
posted by blasdelf on Jun 4, 2007 - 72 comments

"I am a transsexual sportswriter," reads Mike (soon to be Christine) Penner's touching, brave column in today's L.A. Times. Although Mike's transgender identity is rare, it's natural ... and it seems that he is not alone. Christina Karl started her sportswriting career as Chris, and according to her, "nobody has batted an eye." Nip/Tuck's creators are even developing a series about a transsexual sportswriter's career and family life. One thing's for sure: the USTA's non-discrimination policy just got a lot more blurry ...
posted by chinese_fashion on Apr 26, 2007 - 74 comments

Charles Phoenix's Disneyland Tour of Downtown Los Angeles... featuring Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland. Feel like taking your own walking tour of Downtown? Here you go. But hey, why not stop and gorge yourself on a giant pancake breakfast at The Pantry first, just because? Open 24 hours a day, it hasn't closed since 1924 so the doors don't even have locks. Just like Disneyland!
posted by miss lynnster on Apr 21, 2007 - 25 comments

Creativity, Inc: Dave Eggers of McSweeney's is a proprietor. A shopkeeper. Perhaps even a franchise magnate! It was his keen perception of unmet needs in niche markets that led to the opening of a growing array of supply houses across the country. Among them: The Pirate Store, for the well-outfitted swashbuckler; The Boring Store, a subtle, unassuming purveyor of goods for secret agents; the Superhero Supply Store, in Brooklyn, carrying all the eyewear and accessories today's world-savers require; and Greenwood Space Travel Supply, where customers are reminded of the space-travel axiom "A lack of preparation is a prescription for mishaps." If these sound like curious business ventures for a celebrated author, there's a reason: the storefronts, though real, are just that - fronts. They're the streetside faces (and fundraising arms) of the nonprofit 826National, a family of learning centers for kids ages 6-18. The 826 'stores' provide free field trips, creatively themed writing workshops, publishing, and one-on-one instruction. Supported by an impressive field of cultural types (including Ira Glass, Sarah Vowell, Sherman Alexie, and others), the program is growing. Coming soon: Michigan 826 will open Monster Union Local 826, and 826LA will open the Echo Park Time Travel Mart.
posted by Miko on Jan 11, 2007 - 51 comments

was there just a second ago... Cop Watch LA, a police watchdog group, posted the video on YouTube, said organizer Joaquin Cienfuegos. Cienfuegos said the video was shot by a neighbor of Cardenas with a cell phone camera. The neighbor gave it to Cardenas' family, who then gave it to Cop Watch, according to Cienfuegos.
posted by Bravocharlie on Nov 11, 2006 - 83 comments

"Punk rock today is like Happy Days or Civil War re-enactment.” LA Weekly is sponsoring "14 and Shooting," an exhibit of west coast punk photos taken by Jennifer Finch, former bassist for L7.
posted by bardic on Nov 9, 2006 - 29 comments

Extra! Tabloid photographs from the Los Angeles Herald Express (1936-1961), showing celebrities, fashion, tragedy, (early) CHiPs, and babes with guns. Via the Virtual Gallery at the LA Public Library, which has many other fine exhibits, such as California in the 20s, the 1932 Olympics, celebrity golf, and a wonderful collection from the golden age of travel posters.
posted by Gamblor on Jul 28, 2006 - 15 comments

The Jackie Robinson of architecture. An orphaned African American boy from downtown Los Angeles, Paul Revere Williams wanted to be an architect, and when he mentioned his career goal the high school guidance counselor ”stared at me with as much astonishment as he would have had I proposed a rocket flight to Mars... Whoever heard of a Negro being an architect?”. Therefore, Williams learned to read and draw upside down -- he knew that white clients would not sit next to him -- graduated from USC and in 1924 became the first certified African American architect west of the Mississippi. In a 50-year long extraordinary career, he designed landmarks like the Theme restaurant at Los Angeles International Airport (with Welton Becket), the LA County Courthouse, the Hollywood YMCA, Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills, restored the Beverly Hills Hotel. Some of his most interesting buildings, like the La Concha Motel in Las Vegas have either been razed to the ground or, like the "Batman house", aka 160 S San Rafael mansion in Pasadena, have been destroyed by fire. Now, Williams' historic Morris Landau House has been cut into 21 separate pieces and sits in a Santa Clarita storage yard, rotting away. More inside.
posted by matteo on Jul 2, 2006 - 25 comments

Captain Ahab, an amazing ravesploitation (embedded wav) band from LA, has just won the Snakes on a Plane song contest. They also have some brutal music videos (Youtube, NSFW) and songs on their myspace ('Girls Gone Wild' highly recommended). [mi]
posted by beerbajay on Jun 26, 2006 - 21 comments

The Room: The Movie. Triple-threat (actor/writer/director) Tommy Wiseau made his cinematic debut in 2003 with the The Room (see trailer and various scenes), "a blend between a softcore porn flick and a Tennessee Williams stageplay." Wiseau ("who's not just one of the most unusual looking and sounding-with an unidentifiable Eastern European accent-leading men ever to grace the screen, but a narcissist nonpareil whose movie makes Vincent Gallo's "The Brown Bunny" seem the apotheosis of cinematic self-restraint...may be something of a first: A movie that prompts most of its viewers to ask for their money back-before even 30 minutes have passed." - Variety), allegedly raised $6 million outside Hollywood to cover production and marketing costs of the self-described "black comedy about love, passion, betrayal and lies" (see various rough dress rehersals). Audience members, including comedian David Cross, have been "marveling at the bizarre editing, bad bluescreen, uncomfortably explicit sex scenes and, of course, the enigma of Wiseau himself" as the film played monthly for years in Los Angeles. Available on DVD, diehard "roomies" swear by the theatrical experience, shout out their own commentary, hurl spoons at the screen and singalong to the soundtrack. Some call it "The Rocky Horror of the New Millenium" and stage "Room" parties. If you look at the marketing campaign or survived a screening you might see The Room as "a seminar on how NOT to make a movie." [Inspired by Boing Boing]
posted by boost ventilator on Jun 1, 2006 - 28 comments

What’s a dog worth? Los Angeles kills more animals in its shelters than any other metropolitan area in the United States. For that to change, we will have to figure out what to do with the pets none of us want.
posted by PenguinBukkake on May 13, 2006 - 56 comments

Rivers of Light Hypnotic night-time helicopter shots, floating over downtown LA offices and highways. From Grass Collective. Flash interface, so find your way to the fifth column from the left ('free downloads'). [Large (91MB, 146MB) zipped QT files - a smaller (12MB) sample here]
posted by carter on Mar 23, 2006 - 12 comments

I first read "Ask the Dust" in 1971 when I was doing research for "Chinatown". I was concerned about the way people really sounded when they talked, and I was dissatisfied with everything else I had read that was written during the '30s. I wanted the real thing, as Henry James would say. When I picked up Fante's "Ask the Dust," I just knew that was the way those kids talked to each other—the rhythms, cadences, racism.
Robert Towne on adapting John Fante's novel for the big screen. More inside.
posted by matteo on Mar 4, 2006 - 17 comments

Ray Bradbury proposes monorail-bulding in LA.
via
posted by Afroblanco on Feb 11, 2006 - 73 comments

Someone drives away from the cops in Los Angeles County about fifteen times a day—much more often than anywhere else in the US. But how do you find out when a chase is being broadcast live on TV? With PursuitAlert™ service, you'll be alerted by a phone call or through a text message to your cell-phone or pager to live high speed chase broadcasts from Los Angeles TV stations. You can expect to see about 4 chases per month on live television.
posted by PenguinBukkake on Jan 23, 2006 - 22 comments

The Ambassador Hotel is no longer standing. Recorded here.
posted by tellurian on Jan 17, 2006 - 23 comments

LA Bars & Restaurants of the 30s 40s 50s 60s as well as motels on Route 66, movie palaces, Vegas motels and all things Googie [previously discussed]. If I ever make it to the States this will be my guidebook.
posted by tellurian on Nov 7, 2005 - 15 comments

With the Air Force One Pavilion opening at the Reagan Presidential Library this week, President Bush is coming to L.A. But that's not the big news. The big news is that the 405 freeway (one of 3 major arteries in this city) will be closed for four hours both tonight and tomorrow morning. During rush hour. More inside.
posted by sarajflemming on Oct 20, 2005 - 63 comments

"I haven't been in a concert hall in 4 billion years". Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, 54, had been excited about an invitation to see the Los Angeles Philharmonic in action at Disney Hall. "The anticipation is horrible". He'd started showering daily at a shelter, to gussy himself up as much as possible. Nathaniel was a music student more than 30 years ago at the Juilliard School when he suffered a breakdown. Today, as he continues to battle the schizophrenia that landed him on skid row, he plays violin and cello for hours each day in downtown Los Angeles, lifting his instruments out of an orange shopping cart on which he has written: "Little Walt Disney Concert Hall — Beethoven." After the Philharmonic's rehearsal, Ayers has played Disney Hall -- the real one, this time. Without the bow at first, picking the strings with his right hand, Bach's Cello Suite No. 1: Prelude. Several Philharmonic staffers heard the music and wandered over, peering in to see a man of the streets, tattered and elegant, close his eyes and drift into ecstasy.
posted by PenguinBukkake on Oct 9, 2005 - 14 comments

A German in Los Angeles. (link in english) Stern is running a series on a German immigrant's experience of moving to Los Angeles and the various cultural differences he's experienced, including getting cable (en) and a driver's license (en), buying a car (en) and being homesick (en), and the American love for iced drinks (en). Really interesting cultural perspective.
posted by fet on Aug 30, 2005 - 23 comments

LA Deputies: 100+ rounds, two wounded. After firing nearly 120 rounds, some Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department deputies manage to wound the driver of an SUV they'd been pursuing, one of their own number, and punch lots of 9mm holes in a Compton neighborhood. Report says no weapon in the suspect's vehicle.
posted by alumshubby on May 10, 2005 - 50 comments

The Language of Saxophones At 55, L.A. musician and poet Kamau Daáood is finally beginning to acknowledge the possibility of his own place in local letters with his debut book of poetry, The Language of Saxophones, a 30-plus-year retrospective published by City Lights. Though he’s recorded a solo CD and read nationally and internationally, Daáood had never seen fit to collect his material in a book. Until now. “I never liked the idea of poetry sitting on a shelf somewhere, lost in all those book spines”.
posted by matteo on Apr 17, 2005 - 2 comments

The most modern home built in the world. "From the outside it looks like a spaceship you cannot enter. But if you go inside, it feels very cozy… very Zen and calming. Maybe because you are floating above the city, in the sky". John Lautner's Chemosphere residence is the product of a fortuitous union of architect, client, time and place. Leonard Malin was a young aerospace engineer in late-1950s L.A. whose father-in-law had just given him a plot north of Mulholland Drive, near Laurel Canyon. The only catch: at roughly 45 degrees, the slope was all but unbuildable. Lautner sketched a bold vertical line, a cross, and a curve above it. "Draw it up," he told his assistant. Now publisher Benedikt Taschen owns Chemosphere (NSFW), and after 20 years of neglect the house has been beautifully restored (.pdf) by Frank Escher.
posted by matteo on Apr 7, 2005 - 24 comments

A Visit to Old Los Angeles "A pictorial survey of downtown Los Angeles, and certain other areas, focusing on the years 1900 to 1915, though occasionally making use of images from other times. This series will follow, primarily by means of actual postcards of the era, the travels of a farming family from the great plains as they visit Los Angeles and its environs in the early years of the Twentieth Century." In 29 episodes, and with lots of postcards.
posted by carter on May 21, 2004 - 5 comments

Apparent terrorism threat to Los Angeles West Side. According to KNBC News 4 in LA, Federal authorities in Westwood have received a threat of terrorism against a local shopping mall somewhere on the West Side, to take place sometime tomorrow, Thursday April 29. Though unsubstantiated, the threat is being taken seriously enough that all local police forces have been notified and at least partially mobilized. I don't know about you, but I won't be shopping tomorrow.... are any other places in the US getting local threats like this, either now or recently?
posted by zoogleplex on Apr 28, 2004 - 39 comments

"Hubert Selby died often. But he always came back, smiling that beautiful smile of his, and those blue eyes of his... This time he will not be back. My saints have always come from hell, and now, with his passing, there are no more saints". Selby is the author of Last Exit to Brooklyn, (tried for obscenity in England and supported by, among many others, Samuel Beckett and Anthony Burgess), Requiem For a Dream, Song of the Silent Snow. He is being eulogized in the USA and UK, but also, massively (I've just watched a fantastic TV special) in France, where he is much more popular than in his native land (Selby's death was the cover story -- plus pages 2, 3 and 4 -- in the daily Libération today -- .pdf file): Dernière sortie vers la rédemption, L'extase de la dévastation. What makes all this kind of ironic -- in a very Selbyesque way -- is that Selby himself used to say, "I started to die 36 hours before I was born..." (more inside)
posted by matteo on Apr 28, 2004 - 16 comments

Labor Unions in a free market. Southern California is being gripped by crippling strikes by transit workers and grocery clerks -- both over health care -- that has stranded thousands of mostly poor commuters across Los Angeles and is expected to sap millions from the local economy.

As a person who can't drive due to a visual disability, I am personally effected by the MTA transit strike (that is rumored may last several months). State employees are not allowed to strike. Shouldn't that also be the case for essential services, such as public transit?
posted by lola on Oct 14, 2003 - 80 comments

After nearly five years of silence Valve is starting to talk about Half-Life 2. More to come at E3 in Los Angeles. What ever happened to Team Fortress 2? (Vaporware?)
posted by McBain on Apr 22, 2003 - 35 comments

The Los Angeles Times goes multimedia. For the past few weeks, the LA Times has begun a significant push into offering video, audio, and interactive Flash on their website. One of the most interesting aspects is that the paper has moved one step beyond simply replaying AP Television clips as many sites have done; the LA Times writers are stand before the cameras and microphones themselves and report stories in a stuttering, non-hairsprayed, introverted demeanor that I find very refreshing, though so far I have gleaned very little additional information from it. When does (or can) this mode of journalism on the web rise above gimmickry or 'just because we can' and add value to a written article? Can video/tv news rise above mere spectacle?
posted by 4easypayments on Mar 20, 2003 - 3 comments

L.A. building Rocked By Explosion A large residential building was rocked by an explosion and erupted in flames Friday. There was no immediate word on whether anyone was hurt. The blast hit the building in the Encino area of the San Fernando Valley about 11 a.m., Fire Department spokesman Bob Collis said.
posted by GernBlandston on May 24, 2002 - 36 comments

How good is London's Air, live. Do you know how polluted your city is? Air quality is a serious issue and being the free display of vast quantities of information, something that the internet is quite good at (like this site for LA).
posted by nedrichards on Apr 7, 2002 - 3 comments

Has anyone noticed the lack of hip-hop stars from flyover-country? There seem to be thriving scenes in Gary, Indiana, Philly, and other cities. (Oddly, there's a dearth of info on Chicago.) Aside from a couple of well-known white rappers from the Motor City, the Geography of Hip-Hop remains fixated on NYC and LA and to a lesser extent, Miami and Atlanta. Now there's plenty of urban life going on between the coasts, and I can't believe it's because there's no talent in the breadbasket country. So is it record company stupidity, bad promotion, what?
posted by jonmc on Feb 19, 2002 - 17 comments

Mister Pants is alive! In case you were getting worried like me, apparently Mister Pants survived the transplant to LA and is posting again.
posted by badstone on Oct 2, 2001 - 6 comments

Ron Fineman's On The Record is a well-done critical look at TV news. It's centered on the LA market and most of the discussion relates to LA stations, but networks and cable channels are covered too and (for a TV news geek like me at least) it's all interesting. The letters section is usually a pretty lively discussion, and the "Broadcasteze Citation of the Week" highlights stuff that anchors and reporters say that no one else ever would.
posted by Vidiot on Sep 21, 2001 - 1 comment

LA is the number-one relocation city for fleeing San Franciscans. Has the world turned upside down? The L.A. Examiner has the summary. And the complete story can be found, for now, on the LA Business Journal front page.
posted by josholalia on Jul 24, 2001 - 34 comments

But is it harmless fun, or a breeding ground for pedophiles? We've also got hard hitting stories on pornstars, used car scams, and no-surgery breast implants, here in LA. What kind of stupid, sensationalistic scare stories are your local news stations doing for May sweeps?
posted by owillis on May 21, 2001 - 9 comments

Actor killed by L.A. police shot in the back & the back of the head -- the wounds appeared to contradict police accounts that Anthony Dwain Lee, who carried a fake .357 Magnum gun as an apparent part of his Halloween costume, pointed the gun at Officer Tarriel Hopper, causing the patrolman to fear for his life and shoot in response.
posted by palegirl on Dec 5, 2000 - 2 comments

Michael Lynch characterizes the D2KLA (or whatever they're calling it) protesters as idealistic and irrational. Also there's some interesting quotes and tactics discussion from the LAPD.
posted by dcehr on Aug 16, 2000 - 21 comments