Colombia

Pan African Film and Arts Festival 2013 Spotlights Immigration, Civil Rights and Jazz

Local Natives - The Fonda - 1/28/13

Local Natives The Fonda 1/28/13 See also: Local Natives on Their Dark New Sounds It's Local Natives week! Their new, much anticipated new work Hummingbird was just released, and last night they kicked off a pair of L.A. shows at the Fonda. (They play tonight at the El Rey.) They are without questi ... More >>

"Artisan" Instant Coffee? Just Add Panela

Sooner or later, a modern marriage of the current artisan and coffee crazes was inevitable. Still, when that box of Jiva coffee cubes landed on our desk, we found the idea of 'artisan' instant coffee highly entertaining (it was a long day). And, to be fair, our Folgers times have changed. Starbucks ... More >>

The Ten Best Latin Alternative Albums of 2012

It has become difficult to define what Latin Alternative is these days. The genre seems to encompass everything from traditional roots band playing an accordion to a progressive hip-hop MCs to singer-songwriters crooning romantic ballads -- and can be sung in Spanish, English or Spanglish. It's a hy ... More >>

Ciclavia's Oct. 7 Hipster Bike Route Hits Chinatown, Bars & Pubs of Downtown

CicLAvia, the bike ride that closes down miles of L.A. streets for your pedaling pleasure, announced an all-new route for its Oct. 7 shindig. And it's somewhat of a hipster happening, taking you to Chinatown, the new Grand Park, "downtown's bustling cafés and pubs," and Little Tokyo, according to ... More >>

Griselda Blanco, Original Cocaine Kingpin With SoCal Ties, Assassinated in Colombia

Griselda Blanco, the cocaine queen who plied her trade in Southern California in the early 1980s, was fatally gunned down in her native Colombia yesterday. You're probably asking, What took so long? Blanco was one of the most murderous drug kingpin's in recorded history, having turned Miami into a ... More >>

The Five Best Concerts in L.A. This Weekend

Saturday, July 28 Dirty Projectors, Wye Oak WILTERN What few critics there were of Dirty Projectors' 2009 magnum opus, Bitte Orca, took issue with the LP's idiosyncrasies. As thrilling as those songs were, they clearly weren't written for anyone other than main brain David Longstreth. But on new al ... More >>

CicLAvia: Bike, Eat, Repeat En Route Establishments and Food Truck Finishes

The fourth CicLAvia bike event opens the streets of downtown L.A. to non-motorists this Sunday, April 15. Originating in Bogota, Columbia, in 1974, the South American event now reserves a whopping 75 miles of street for cyclists and pedestrians. Here at home, we'll see a 10 mile web with 5 branches ... More >>

CicLAvia Rules! How Bicyclists Made L.A. a Better Place

Meet Your Food Blogger: Valentino Herrera of Trippy Food

Valentino Herrera abides by two philosophies: Try everything, at least once. And share unusual experiences with others, especially when it comes to travel and eating. Both ideas are evident on his blog, Trippy Food. Don't expect hallucinogenic mushrooms. For Herrera, "trippy" means unusual items ran ... More >>

Cupcakes Continue World Domination and Other Lessons from Google's 2011 Zeitgeist

R.E.~/FlickrCupcakes were one of the most Googled terms of 2011​Much to our chagrin, the cupcake is a trend that just won't die: according to Google's 2011 Year-End Zeitgeist, cupcakes were one of the most popular Food and Drink search terms of the year. Other fascinating revelations about ou ... More >>

5 Best Gelato Shops in Los Angeles

Guzzle & NoshAssorted flavors at Gelato Bar in Los Feliz.​Yesterday, we listed the 5 Best Ice Cream Shops in Los Angeles. Today, we move onto gelato. Taxonomy is crucial in these matters. 5. Gelato Bar (Los Feliz, Studio City): Owned by Gail Silverton (sister of Mozza pizza queen Nancy), Gela ... More >>

'Scuse Me While I Kiss My Squeezebox

William C. Rempel's New Book At the Devil's Table: 7 Astounding Revelations About Colombian Drug Lords

Robert HarmonRempel, author of the new book about the Cali Cartel called At the Devil's Table​ William C. Rempel, who for 36 years worked as an investigative reporter and editor at the L.A. Times, has written the book At the Devil's Table: The Untold Story of the Insider Who Brought Down the C ... More >>

Who's Al Fresco?

Stage Raw: Bash'd

NEW THEATER REVIEWSStage FEATURE on Radar L.A.Sean LambertBash'd, A Gay Rap Opera​A string of recommends comes with this week's theater reviews: Bash'd, A Gay Rap Opera at Celebration Theatre, Blackbird at Rogue Machine, Blood Wedding at the Odyssey, Broadsword at the Back Dahlia, Closet Land at ... More >>

30 Scoops in 30 Days: Grom Gelateria (Day 5)

The line between ice cream and gelato can sometimes be thin. At Grom Gelateria, a much loved Italian, New York and (since January) Los Angeles chain, there's no question. This is gelato, at its finest: soft, velvet smooth and reeking of casual indulgence.

Chicano Batman: Los Superheroes

Pete Licata Wins US Nat'l Barista Championship; Nik Krankl Takes 2nd

Here's an early afternoon pick-me-up. This past Sunday, Pete Licata of Honolulu Coffee Company beat out dozens of competitors to win the United States Barista Championships. The man who who won the 2011 Southwest Regional Barista Championship will go on to compete in the World Barista Championshi ... More >>

CicLAvia Los Angeles Bike Ride Planned For Sunday: 7.5 Miles of Streets to Be Closed

Gary LeonardCicLAvia in October.​The first one was such a success that a second CicLAvia is scheduled to take place this weekend, when 7.5 miles of city streets will be closed to cars so that tens of thousands of bicyclists can take part in this ride. This one heads through the heart of the c ... More >>

Miami Man Tries To Smuggle 14 Pounds Of Colombian Cocaine Through LAX In Candy Easter Eggs

Easter came early for ICE officials last Thursday​Esteban Galtes, the 23-year-old Miami resident due in L.A. federal court today for smuggling blow, could have at least waited until springtime to disguise his stash in little pastel candies shaped like Easter eggs. When asked why he was carryi ... More >>

In Search Of: Bardo Martinez on Colombia, Cumbia, Champeta And More

courtesy chicano batmanBardo Martinez (R) with Chicano Batman​ Bardo Martinez is the singer, guitar player, keyboardist, and occasional accordionist for Chicano Batman, as well as a former member of Buyepongo. He speaks now about the cultural context of Colombian cumbia, Cuban and Colombian c ... More >>

Mayor Villaraigosa's Bike-Ride Pipe Dream Will Close Down 7 Miles Of City Streets For A Day

Mayor V. on his bike.​If you were mad about the traffic trauma created by President Obama's Westside visit last month, if the annual Los Angeles Marathon's street closures raise your blood pressure, or if you're simply tired of being passed by bicyclists as you crawl down Wilshire Boulevard, b ... More >>

A Report From Juarez, the Front Line of the War on Drugs

A Report From Juarez, the Front Line of the War on Drugs

Free Mixtape: Ethiopia, Brazil, Colombia, and Los Angeles Mix from Mochilla features Astatke, Verocai, 'Suite for Ma Dukes,' Quantic, Azymuth Live

Ethiopia, Brazil, Colombia, and Los Angeles Mix on Mochilla's FREE 'Hear the World' MP3

Movie Reviews: Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience, Must Read After My Death, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li

Also, Dog Eat Dog, Echelon Conspiracy and more

Grace Notes

Joshua Marston on bringing Maria to life

Teaching Peace

Colombian schools try to free children from guns

Letters

Mission Creep

Bush finds his Vietnam

Let’s Roll!

Collateral Damage steps out of the shadows

Time of the Assassin

Filmmaker Barbet Schroeder on his new film

Southern Front

The Bush administration’s shell game in Colombia

This Is Your Country on Drugs

Bert Potter’s Secret

A slow season in the bail bond biz

Apocalypse Now

Poetry of protest at the San Francisco International Film Festival

Letters

Immaculate Contraception

Into the Melding Pot

Rich flavors from the old country

King Chimp

Collected sayings of a presidential thief, Part 3

Barry McCaffrey’s Goodbye Tour

Ignoring the Protesters

U’wa’s next stop — Democratic Convention

Where Is Al Gore?

Silence on Colombia’s oil-drilling showdown irks environmentalists

Overland to Bogotá

Through the pastoral landscapes of Santander and Boyacá, with the distant threat of violence

¡Echale Salsita!

Latin music in Los Angeles

A Mismatch Made in Oil

Protesters challenge Occidental in Santa Monica

Portrait of the Activist as a Young Man

The passionate life and tragic death of Terence Freitas

Patriarch Games

Sex, AIDS and Machismo in Latin America

Art Before Memory

Latin American artists offer "Amnesia"