Christmas

Skacore Band Gets Touring Van and Gear Stolen on Christmas Day, Needs Your Help Finding Thieves

Members of Lynwood act La Resistencia had about the crappiest Christmas morning you can imagine this year. The skacore band has a recording and rehearsal space in Lynwood, where they normally keep their touring van off the street. On Christmas Eve, however, they moved the van to accomodate a neigh ... More >>

Michael Wieczorek Stole Christmas Cards, Presents, Mail In South Bay -- Cops

Sheriff's officials say Michael Wieczorek is a Grinch who stole Christmas. Literally. After busting him Wednesday for allegedly swiping a delivered package from the porch of a home on Redondela Drive in Rancho Palos Verdes, cops say they found more pilfered holiday goods in his possession, includin ... More >>

Chop Schtick 2012

Holiday Beer Guide: Belgian Christmas Edition

The holiday beer season is upon us -- a time when even the most devout beer groupies are probably overwhelmed by the increased selection at their local retailer. Because old Belgian breweries are the granddaddies of this season in beer, we'll begin by guiding you through imports and detail domestics ... More >>

Chefs Cook At Home, The Holiday Edition: The Hungry Cat's David Lentz

This week and next, we'll be featuring the holiday food traditions of L.A. chefs. Today, The Hungry Cat's David Lentz tells us about his traditions with his wife, chef Suzanne Goin. "For Christmas eve, Suzanne and I have had a great tradition of going for lunch at Spago. I think we've been doing it ... More >>

A Wayne in a Manger

Why I Love Holiday Singalong With Mitch, to the Chagrin of My Family

[Editor's Note: Fuck Guilty Pleasures celebrates the over-produced, commercial, artless, lowbrow music that we believe is genuinely worthwhile. Like, among the best music ever.] Mitch Miller, musician, record producer, and twinkly-eyed choir master of '60s TV, rules. (Or, ruled. May he rest in peac ... More >>

Dick Jokes for Jesus: Comedy Bang Bang's Nativity Pageant Taught Us the True Meaning of Christmas

See also: *Our Slideshow on Comedy Bang Bang's Nativity Pageant *10 Best Stand-Up Comedy Shows in Los Angeles Some folks will tell you that the War on Christmas begins every Black Friday -- a day when faithless, mouth-breathing hordes descend upon shopping malls in an orgy of consumerism that ope ... More >>

Holiday Party Inspiration: 4 New Cookbooks, 4 Drink Recipes

Overheard last week: "Gawd, the entire commercial audition was filled with Christmas carolers. Glad I was just the guy in the sweater," said the guy at Peet's with a sweater hanging out of his messenger bag. In L.A., the holiday season begins early. We know you have cocktail parties to plan and gi ... More >>

The 20 Worst Hipster Bands: 20-11

Top 20 Worst Bands of All Time Top 20 Musicians of All Time, in Any Genre Top 20 Whitest Musicians of All Time Who are these hipsters we see each day in the streets, on our Tumblr feeds, and on the local news? And why are so many in bands? It's not the mere existence of hipster groups that distress ... More >>

MacArthur Park Hotel Murder on Christmas: Woman Beaten to Death in Suspect's Room

Maids at the Olympic Hotel near MacArthur Park stumbled across a gruesome scene as the clock struck midnight, bringing Christmas to a close. A woman in her 40s whose name has not yet been released lay dead in a vacated room, LAPD homicide detectives tell City News Service. And the man who had rente ... More >>

First Person: Melting Down at the Happiest Place on Earth

​ In our new column, First Person, L.A. writers tackle the good, the bad and the funny about life as they know it. "No, you watch your fucking mouth!" Those were not words I ever imagined uttering at Disneyland, and particularly not while sporting sequined Minnie Mouse ears and clutching pink ... More >>

Mark Matuszak, L.A. Designer of Obamas' Holiday Card, Sees Thumbs-Down Critique From Sarah Palin

The card (cropped).​Turns out the Obamas' holiday card this year was designed by L.A. artist Mark Matuszak. It's cozy and apropos, featuring First Dog Bo chillin' like a villain in front of a White House fireplace. Good work, Mark. Except that even if President Obama were to bring back Jesus ... More >>

Why This Song Sucks: "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" Is Hatemongering

[Editor's note: Why This Song Sucks determines why particular tracks blow using science. It appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday.] Song: "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" Atmospherics: Admittedly, this is pretty brilliantly composed. It is moody and fun and clever. History: Duh. From the c ... More >>

The Star Wars Cookbook vs. Food That's Actually Star-Warsy

ThinkGeek.com​Like the Salad Shooter or the electric quesadilla maker, some items that deserve to fade away -- and almost succeed in doing so -- experience a Frankenstein-like revival every Christmas shopping season. The 1998 Star Wars Cookbook is one of these things. While we've come to acc ... More >>

Theater Anecdotes, Anyone? Also, New reviews of Stations, Santasia and Camp Sunday

Rich Sofranko"Stations"​Boom Kat Dance Theatre's production of Stations at Santa Monica's Miles Memorial Playhouse landed this week's stage Pick; ​also recommended are the Whitefire Theatre's Santasia in Sherman Oaks, and the Groundlings' Camp Sunday. See all the reviews after the jump.Call for ... More >>

Sacred Fools' The Christmas Present: Who Spends Christmas With a Prostitute?

LinA In LA Party Picks: SNL's Stefon Ain't Got Nothin' On Us

​Anybody's who's ever watched Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" and reads this column knows the flamboyant nightlife reporter, Stefon (played by Bill Hader), and yours truly have similar sensibilities when it comes to colorful clubbing. Midget pirate parties ... white trash drag queen hoe ... More >>

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Fuck Guilty Pleasures: Trans-Siberian Orchestra Can Suck It, I Want My Savatage

​[Editor's Note: Fuck Guilt Pleasures celebrates the over-produced, commercial, artless, lowbrow music that we believe is genuinely worthwhile. Like, among the best music ever.]Christmastime is brutal. Hearing stories about sacrificial babies. Making nice to family who ask why you wear so much ... More >>

5 Artsy Things to Do This Week: From MOCA's Controversial Gala to Christmas in Chinatown

Courtesy Cirrus GalleryDoug Edge's Pure Air Hope Chest, made of cast resin in 1971​ Like summer group shows, holiday group shows are hit-and-miss. But two good ones are up right now, one in Inglewood and one downtown, and both mix barely heard-of artists with those who have been around. 5. M ... More >>

Ugly Christmas Sweaters, Be Gone: 5 New Contenders to Replace the Ironic Holiday Icon

rustyzipper.com​ By now, even Grandma has probably heard (but doesn't care) that the Ugly Christmas Sweater is done. Such sweaters have moved from being worn sincerely to being worn with irony, and soon they'll move into not being worn at all. But what will take their place in yuletide ubiqu ... More >>

Aimee Mann Christmas Show - The Wiltern - 12/11/11

L.J. Williamson​See also our preview: Aimee Mann's Christmas Show For People Who Don't Really Like Christmas Aimee Mann opened her sixth annual Christmas show with dialogue from A Charlie Brown Christmas, quoting Chuck himself: "I think there must be something wrong with me -- Christmas is co ... More >>

Ready-To-Bake Cookie Dough Carries E. coli Risk

Guzzle & NoshChristmas cookies: delicious but dangerous when unbaked.​In the midst of the Christmas cookie season, it's important to remember one thing: Don't eat unbaked cookie dough. That's the upshot of a recent report published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. After a 2009 multistate outb ... More >>

Top 5 Ridiculous But Awesome Christmas Shows In L.A.

​Need a break from all the credit card-maxing, house-lighting, bad party-attending and general seasonal stressing? Why not try something outside of the gift box this year? Here, five festive, somewhat freaky holiday haps in town that are anything but cookie-cutter Christmas confections. 5. Ch ... More >>

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like You're Ruining Christmas

Atomic Holiday Free Fall

7 Ridiculously Tacky Commercialized Christmas Tree Ornaments

You know that complaints about the commercialization of Christmas are as unfashionable as figgy pudding when "Your Ad Here"-equivalent Christmas ornaments are popular store items. Companies like Coca-Cola pay big bucks to buy advertising space on billboards and bus stops, but they've cleverly figu ... More >>

Lady Gaga - KIIS Jingle Ball At Nokia Theatre - 12/3/11

Lina Lecaro ​KIIS Lady Gaga, David Guetta, Gym Class Heroes, Flo Rida, Nick Canon, Karmin and others KIIS Jingle Ball At Nokia Theatre 12-3-11 It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but the annual blizzard of branded radio station holiday concerts somehow brings in the season like noth ... More >>

Christmas 4 Bukowski

Ba-Freaking Humbug

Alan Alda's Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie, Christmas 4 Bukowski, and other new reviews. . .

Michael LamontAlan Alda's "Radiance. . . " at the Geffen Playhouse​ Alan Adla's play, Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie is this week's Pick of the Week, running alongside a recommended review ​ of Christmas 4 Bukowski presented by Zombie Joe's Underground in North Hollywood.For all the l ... More >>

Will the LA Sheriff's Firing of Six Deputies Accused of Beating Fellow Officers at Christmas Party Finally Be Enough to Spur Real Reform in County Jail?

​The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department is in the process of firing half a dozen deputies who worked on the third floor of Men's Central Jail for supposedly beating up a pair of fellow officers at a Christmas party. The LA Times is reporting that the deputies, who have not been publicly named, were ... More >>

Getting Out for Christmas

(MAP) Watch Santa Fly! Love, Google Earth

NoradLive from the sleigh cam​If the dark winter weather isn't enough to remind you of the season, Google Earth is here to force the holidays upon you with some nifty new gadgetry, wrapped and ready at NoradSanta.org. And it's the best kind of present -- the kind you can open Christmas Eve! O ... More >>

Nightranger: CHRISTMASSIVE

A Recipe From The Chef: The Royal Family's Chocolate Birthday/Yule Log Cake ( Now Wedding?)

Leonardo FrusteriThe Royal Yule Log​When we talked with Darren McGrady, the Royal Family's former private chef (and later Princess Diana's chef -- yes, he considers those two very different titles), he told us about cooking for the Queen of the kitchen, as well as his thoughts on the upcoming ... More >>

4 Local Gingerbread Structures of Note: How Southern California Builds Christmas

Forever dreaming of a white Christmas that will never come -- unless we head to the Sierras, at the very least -- we Southern Californians do Christmas a bit differently than the rest of the country. Were we to go caroling, for example, we might consider wearing sandals, or Ugg boots with skirts, i ... More >>

Top 10 Ways To Not Electrocute Yourself With Twinkly Lights This Year, By SCE Electric

Avoid this​Your lifetime subscription to SoCal power supplier SCE requires you care about its grandmotherly new list of "Holiday Lighting Safety Tips," or how to avoid all danger and joyfulness while lighting your humble abode this holiday season. Unless you're a DWP baby, in which case we ha ... More >>

List of the Worst Fad Diets To Avoid in 2010: No Elvis Sandwiches For You

If you're contemplating a fad diet to work off some of the excesses of the holiday season, you can forget about the Cabbage Soup Diet, the Maple Syrup Diet, and, yes, the Blood Group Diet (not making this up). The British Dietetic Association, the professional association for registered dietitians i ... More >>

Download: 'A Decade Of Flying Lotus,' Blended by Gaslamp Killer [MP3]

Ten years and counting...​Low End Theory limelighter Flying Lotus sure knows how to celebrate a special occasion. In October, he wrangled an all-star L.A. underground troupe for the ultimate epic hip-hop/Latin jazz/ambient electronica freewheeling jam session in order to help ring in his birth ... More >>

Merry Christmas (With Satan!)

WCS wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas. With Satan. From the legendary Ze Records Christmas Album (1984), here's our hero James Chance for your holiday enjoyment:

A Few Recipes From the Chef: Pastry Chef Jan Purdy's Holiday Cookies

When we stopped by to visit Butter Tart bakery--which is set to reopen next month--the other day, pastry chef Jan Purdy was in the kitchen, baking holiday cookies. Purdy has been working with Butter Tart chef-owner Andre Guerrero since their days together at Linq (which is now the home of Christophe ... More >>

Name That Pastry Chef Christmas Rush Edition: Who's Macarons Are Under This Tree?

As the Christmas week countdown has begun, we're respecting your need to dash out for last-minute holiday shopping by providing this iPhone-friendly Name That Pastry Chef single-pager. In between online sweater shopping for dad (sweaters are like caviar: when in doubt, go with classic black), tell u ... More >>

Christmas Tastes Better With KFC (Just Ask the Japanese)

Maybe it shouldn't come as a surprise that, in a land where Cheap Trick still sell out stadiums and Anvil are considered cool, KFC is seen as the ultimate Christmas treat. http://www.flickr.com/photos/archangeli/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0Creepy Christmassy Colonel Sanders​ Apparently, when "Kentucky ... More >>

HERE WE COME ARMENIAN

HARK! THE PARKING'S FREE TODAY!

Holiday Fever!

The Night Before Christmas

A Christmas Caroline

This Christmas, I had hoped to fly back to London, gorge myself on Mum's turkey and sip sherry with my long lost Brit posse. But Fate, it turned out, had other plans in store... 24 hours before my Christmas Eve flight was due to depart, I wandered in to a psychic's den on Hollywood Boulevard in Lit ... More >>