Email Author Keith Plocek

Awards

• 2007 - First Amendment Awards/The Fort Worth Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, published May 18, 2006

  "Needling the Haystack"

• 2007 - First Amendment Awards/The Fort Worth Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, published February 9, 2006

  "Shortchanged"

More

2011 Stories by Keith Plocek

• Top 10 Simpsons Food Episodes: Tomacco Ribwich with a Side of Guatemalan Insanity Peppers + Skittlebrau

  published Nov 11, 2011

  Food writers have been stoked this week about the The Simpsons' upcoming episode on gastro culture. Our own Margy Rochlin interviewed Simpsons Executive Producer Matt Selman, who admits he's a big fan... More >>

• Banksy at Occupy London: See the Street Artist's Monopoly Sculpture Before It Got Vandalized

  published Nov 02, 2011

  Angelenos aren't strangers to the works of British street artist Banksy. His participation in MOCA's street art show was a (predictably secret) given, and the man plastered L.A. during the run-up to t... More >>

• Venn Piagram: The Twain Shall Meet with This Blueberry-Strawberry Pie

  published Oct 21, 2011

  You know the story: Half the family wants one kind of dessert, the other half wants another. (And don't get us started on Aunt Mildred, who can never make up her dang mind.) Normally the solution is t... More >>

• Sand One and Vyal One Paint a Downtown Mural That Gets Buffed Within a Week (VIDEO)

  published Oct 18, 2011

  This week in print, Tony Cella and Simone Wilson look at L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich's war on public murals and the moratorium that has left many artists seeing their sanctioned work get buffe... More >>

• Family Guy Art: 10 Amazing Paintings of Peter, Lois, Stewie, Brian and Quagmire. Giggity.

  published Oct 13, 2011

  With the tenth season of Family Guy slated to premiere this Sunday, we found ourselves looking back at the paintings from 2008's Family Guy C.R.A.P. (A Collection of Rare Art Pieces) show at La Luz d... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Conrad Murray Trial: Six Characters You'll Find Outside the Trial of Michael Jackson's Doctor

  published Sep 29, 2011

  Yesterday was the second day of Dr. Conrad Murray's manslaughter trial for administering the anesthetic that killed Michael Jackson, and it proceeded without sad revelations like Day One's audio of MJ... More >>

• Chuck D, RZA, Shavo Odadjian, Page Hamilton, Angelo Moore and SceneFour "Come Together" at Andrew Weiss Gallery

  published Sep 15, 2011

  "They put me next to Dali, and I'm like, Yeah!" said System of a Down's Shavo Odadjian, standing between Salvador Dali's Triumphant Elephant and his own Nocturnal Art. Odadjian's work featured the Arm... More >>

• Rancid - House of Blues Anaheim - 9/7/11

  published Sep 08, 2011

  Rancid, Agnostic Front House of Blues Anaheim Downtown Disney September 7, 2011 Better than: Knocking down brews with your bros at ESPN Zone. Sing the song of shirtless guy, he's sweating all over ... More >>

• Russell Armstrong Suicide: Husband of "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" Star Taylor Armstrong Found Dead

  published Aug 16, 2011

  Russell Armstrong was found hanged in a Mullholland Drive bedroom last night, according to TMZ. He was the estranged husband of Taylor Armstrong, one of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. A major ... More >>

• 8-Bit Video Games and Mash-Up Art: "SUPER iam8bit" Opens in Echo Park

  published Aug 12, 2011

  See more of Shannon Cottrell's photos in "SUPER iam8bit in Echo Park: Video Games and Art." Part of pop art's appeal comes in instantly recognizing icons from contemporary life. Andy Warhol's soup ca... More >>

• Shark Week: 5 Knockoffs Surprisingly Less Popular Than the Discovery Channel Series

  published Aug 03, 2011

  Now in its 24th year, Discovery Channel's Shark Week is a testament to just how much people love watching prehistoric death machines create circles of pink in choppy water. This year Discovery has tro... More >>

• Yoshitomo Nara, Jeff Koons and Yoko Ono Become 'Party Animals' at Royal/T. Woof!

  published Jul 08, 2011

  Pulling works from an art collector's private cache and organizing them around a theme is often a tricky affair, where capitalized nouns such as Transgression or Race or Patriarchy wind up applying to... More >>

• Amber Lyon and the Media's Paranoia Over Underage Sex Trafficking

  published Jul 07, 2011

  Last week's cover story focused on how Ashton Kutcher was using spurious data to claim there are "between 100,000 and 300,000 child sex slaves in the United States today," but he's not the only one ca... More >>

• Anime Expo 2011: South Hall Evacuated Temporarily on Saturday

  published Jul 02, 2011

  We've just received word that the South Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center has been evacuated in the middle of Anime Expo 2011. Rumors are swirling of a suspicious package or a bomb threat, as ... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Underage Sex Trafficking: Don't Get Your Facts From Ashton Kutcher

  published Jun 28, 2011

  No one, save for sickos, thinks underage sex trafficking is a good thing. But contrary to what you might've heard from Ashton Kutcher's latest media blitz, there are not 100,000 to 300,000 children in... More >>

• El Pollo Loco Commercial: Where There's Smoke and No Giant Fire

  published Jun 24, 2011

  "Don't smile," a guy in a straw hat barks through a megaphone. "You're not supposed to be having fun." Mr. Straw Hat is directing 16 people decked out in orange and red El Pollo Loco shirts. A diver... More >>

• Riding Public Transit from San Francisco to Los Angeles: One Man's Journey to Union Station

  published Jun 22, 2011

  What do you do for four hours in King City, Californiar It's probably not a question you ask yourself often, but you're probably not the kind of person who would take public transit all the way from S... More >>

• No "Art in the Streets" for Brooklyn Museum: New York Changes Mind About Street Art Show

  published Jun 21, 2011

  We've just been forwarded an email sent by the Brooklyn Museum to a street artist in the "Art in the Streets" show, currently on view at the MOCA. The Brooklyn Museum was scheduled to be the next shop... More >>

• Los Angeles Web Awards: The Winners!

  published Jun 09, 2011

  What happens when you mix food bloggers, steampunk performers and fake Christian fundamentalistsr We'll find out tonight at the party for the Los Angeles Web Awards. Before we announce the winners,... More >>

• Best Politics Blog: Digby

  published June 9, 2011

  Liberal blogger Heather Parton doesn’t buy into the mentality of the D.C. village, and it... More >>

• Best Local Activism Site: Streetsblog Los Angeles

  published June 9, 2011

  Damien Newton’s daily news source is really wonky, but in a good way. Newton and the other More >>

• Best Police Blog: Venice 311

  published June 9, 2011

  Armed with a police scanner and a whole lotta energy, Alex Thompson tracks grime and crime in Venice, the... More >>

• Best Gamer Blog: G4

  published June 9, 2011

  Remember the announcer from NBA Jam, the way he’d shout “He’s on fire!” after someone made three baskets in a row? The... More >>

• Best Vlogger: Philip DeFranco

  published June 9, 2011

  PhillyD’s YouTube digests of the latest political and celebrity stories put plenty of high-dollar TV anchors to shame. The man knows how... More >>

• Best Highbrow Arts Blog: The Fox Is Black

  published June 9, 2011

  “Space Suit of the Week” might not sound like the... More >>