Sports & Recreation >>

• Best Free Comedy, Beer Included
  Comedy Meltdown
  Comic book geek or hip alt-comedy scenesters? The line is pretty blurred on the fourth Friday of the month at Meltdown Comics. That's when the back room stays open after hours for a nonglamorous, harshly lit evening of standup comedy. The show is free, as is the plentiful Asahi beer, which is... More >>
• Best L.A. Record Label
  Stones Throw Records
  It buggers the imagination that any sane person would consider running a record label in this chaotic environment. Why not play it safe and open a sub-prime brokerage, instead? In this landscape, a hearty huzzah to those who channel their musical passion into pumping the sounds of others.... More >>
• Best Master of Puppets
  Steve Meltzer
  It's not hard to picture what Steve Meltzer must have been like as a little boy. The puppeteer, who mans the box office before jumping onstage to work the puppets for Puppetolio! every weekend, has a big, goofy grin and exudes the energy of an 8-year-old inviting you to play in his room.... More >>
• Best B-Star Fest
  Hollywood Collectors & Celebrities Show
  "You are the entertainment capital of the world," says Ray Courts with a slow and polite Southern drawl from his home in Spring Hill, Florida. "We thought there were other people besides us who come to Hollywood and would like to meet some of your favorite celebrity guests. OK, I grant you that... More >>
• Best Beanery
  UpHigh/DownLow Dodgeball
  Like a little razzle-dazzle when you're getting smashed in the face? At UpHigh/DownLow, the Silver Lake chapter of LADS (Los Angeles Dodgeball Society), you're sure to get a glimpse of sparkly purple tights, perhaps under a gorilla suit, right before a big red ball knocks you into next Tuesday.... More >>
• Best Red Rubber Balls
  Dodge Ball at Crunch
  Gyms in L.A. are always coming up with one new class or another — cardio boot camp, supercharged spinning, power yoga — so it was only a matter of time before the dodge-ball craze found its way to Crunch on Sunset Boulevard, which has been hosting exciting dodge-ball games (or... More >>
• Best Small-Fry Fishing
  Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
  Sometimes overshadowed by its gigantic cousin in Long Beach, the Cabrillo Aquarium in San Pedro is a fantastic alternative for visitors who want to spend the majority of their day at an actual beach. Full of hand-painted displays and small-town charm, the Cabrillo Aquarium has a wide variety of... More >>
• Best Moonlight Stroll
  Sierra Club's Griffith Park Hike
  Hiking the hills of Griffith Park alone after dark is, unfortunately, ill-advised. Happily, Sierra Club's Angeles Chapter has your back, offering group hikes of varying difficulty during the week and on weekends — and, once a month, a special moonlight hike. These treks are no secret:... More >>
• Best Communal Tennis Courts
  Echo Park Tennis Courts
  You might not find the next Venus or Serena Williams giving the Echo Park tennis courts a good spanking, but you will find a lively, thriving tennis community there beneath Highway 101. Unlike the nearby Griffith Park courts, which charge a small fee, the well-maintained Echo Park courts are... More >>
• Best Compassionate Yogi
  Julian Walker
  In a town lousy with yoga (and so much of it lousy yoga), how does one pinpoint The Best? What does "Best Yoga" even mean? The whole idea of "best" is anathema to yoga, which means "union," which obliterates reductive, dualistic differentiations like "best" and "worst." Aargh! I'll give it my... More >>
• Best Yogi Rock
  Vinnie Marino
  We've all heard the story before: Drug-addicted East Coast guido flower child gets clean, migrates to Los Angeles and emerges as Venice Beach superstar yogi. It's as obvious as a Jerome Robbins musical. Back in the early '90s, Marino substituted for a vacationing yoga-teacher friend, brought... More >>
• Best Yogi for all
  Bryan Kest's Santa Monica Power Yoga
  As the world spins off its axis and bounces recklessly beyond the confines of the Milky Way, Bryan Kest leads his packed-to-the-gills Santa Monica power yoga classes with an endless stream of lyrical, Seussian rhymes loaded with humor and self-effacing sarcasm. Breathe with me best as can... More >>
• Best Fitness Guru
  Harley Pasternak
  Isn't it time you finally took on the bloat that's been dogging you since you turned 25? The one that's been keeping you out of the water at pool parties for countless summers? The one that makes you wanna move to Portland? Sure, Portland's an option. It'll be great. You're going to love... More >>
• Best Body Trend
  Flesh
  Nope, it's not those mangled earlobes that have migrated from Black Rock City's beloved Playa to the (almost) mainstream streets of Venice Beach. It's ... FLESH!!! Round arms, full faces, radiant complexions, happy, glowing, plump feminine figures that celebrate all that is woman and abundance... More >>
• Best Poker Room
  Hustler Casino
  A few months back, I went to play some low-stakes poker over at Larry Flynt's Hustler Casino, and who did I bump into, right next to me at a corner table in the back of the room? Not only Flynt himself, in his gold-plated wheelchair, but sitting around him were none other than Ted Forrest, Barry... More >>
• Best Place to Express Yourself and Your Biceps
  Kinetic Theory Theatre
  Karyne Steben, the lead aerial instructor at Kinetic Theory Theatre in Culver City, won't hound you about your unpointed toes. She won't correct the posture in your tango turn around the trapeze ropes, nor will she insist that you keep your legs straight when you straddle up on the aerial tissu... More >>