Harvard University

World's No. 1 University is Right Here in L.A.

When we think of great college towns, Boston, New York and Philadelphia come to mind. But Los Angeles, barely even on the map when those cities' schools were turning out world leaders, might just be king. See also: USC, UCLA Tied in Academic Ranking. The latest Times Higher Education World Univers ... More >>

Weird, Legless Lizard Discovered Near LAX

The area around LAX is so developed that one neighborhood, Surfridge, has even come and gone. But that didn't stop a Cal State Fullerton geological sciences professor from discovering a whole new species of lizard there. The pencil-like, 8- to 10-inch creature calls the sand dunes west of the airpo ... More >>

America's Funniest Office Temp

Coffee Study of the Week: It Could Fight Prostate Cancer

It's good for you, it's going to kill you, it'll cure whatever ails you, it'll make you go insane. In the latest submission to the coffee conundrum catalog, a new study says that excessive coffee consumption might help men with prostate cancer, according to U.S. News & World Report. The research, c ... More >>

Royal Baby? Poor Newborns in L.A. Have 1 in 10 Chance of Achieving Wealth

We know you're having kiniptions over the birth of the royal baby. This boy will never worry about paying the rent, that's for sure. But what about the average newborn in L.A? What chance does she have at achieving wealth? Turns out researchers from Harvard University and UC Berkeley have crunched ... More >>

From a Gas Station Screening to Linsanity: Your Weekly Movie To-Do List

See also: *More L.A. Weekly Film Coverage *5 Artsy Things to Do in L.A. This WeekFriday, April 26 Friday, April 26 From Japanese director Shunji Iwai comes Vampire, a film about a teacher (Kevin Zegers -- a long way from his Air Bud days) who seduces his suicidal female students prior to draining ... More >>

Tax Day Food and Drink Specials

There are few days of the year that we dread more than Tax Day. Sympathetic to our plight, there are several local restaurants and national chains offering specials on food and/or drink, ranging from appetizers to a rib meal to cocktails. Turn the page for coupons and specials. Except for Chili's, t ... More >>

Eat Your Fish Sandwich, Live Longer

Eating fish could reduce your risk of dying by more than 25%, according to a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Washington. Scientists found that older adults with the highest levels of fatty acids found in fish lived 2.2 years longer on average than those wit ... More >>

Why Are All These People Hanging Around Hollywood & Highland on a Friday Night?

It takes an intrepid East Side researcher with a true flair for adventure to go exploring west of Vermont Avenue. There lie the wilds of East Hollywood, with your devil-may-care Jumbo's Clown Room crowd or the feckless faux-divers at Harvard and Stone, partying on the very knife's edge of Angeleno C ... More >>

We Critique Five Interpretations of Beck's Sheet Music Song "Old Shanghai"

Not too long ago, most folks could read music in this county. Most middle class kids, at least, could bang out some chords on the piano at their parents' cocktail parties. Nowadays, of course, pianos most often serve as furniture. But that hasn't stopped Beck from releasing an "album" that require ... More >>

Study: Toxic Chemical Found in Kids' Lunchboxes

Those Disney princesses sure come with a lot of baggage. This time, it's their lunchbox that packs a problem: The Disney Princess Lunchbox, along with other back-to-school kids' products, has a toxic chemical that experts say is dangerous for children and already has been banned in toys. A new repo ... More >>

You Say Goodbye, and I Say Hello

The Record Company Got Drunk, Then Made Blues Music in the Backyard

The backyard of The Record Company's Los Feliz house is the kind of place where you want to sit and stay a while. Birds are chirping, a lawnmower whirs in the distance and a dog slumps happily on the grass. There's not much smog, so the downtown skyline is visible. The idyllic spot is perfect for la ... More >>

Top 10 Bars With the Hottest Women in L.A.

Quantifying the best of anything is a dicey endeavor. Whether it be dive bars or gay bars or strip clubs, the best places for you will of course depend on your taste. (Many of these lists will be available via the Weekly's new "best of" mobile app, by the way). When we wrote about the "10 Bars Most ... More >>

Plan Check: How is This Restaurant not Like the Others?

Scattered around Los Angeles are restaurants that could be used as examples for teaching kids how to differentiate among objects. "One of these things is not like the others" lessons. Petrillo's on Valley Boulevard in San Gabriel, a solo Italian neighborhood restaurant bobbing up and down in a sea o ... More >>

[Updated] UCLA's Science & Food Series: Or, Why There's A Modernist in Your Soup (or at Your Dinner Table)

Update: The lovely folks at UCLA have just told us that there are still spots available for the June 9 lectures. Maybe go reserve one now. General admission is $20; UCLA students get in free with a valid student ID. This semester is a pretty good time to be a "non-science student" at UCLA: 50 lucky ... More >>

Multiple People Shot at Hollywood Residence That Went Up in Flames

Updated at the bottom with the suspected shooter, a fourth victim found inside the house. First posted at 1:04 p.m. At least three people were shot at a residence in Hollywood that went up in flames, according to police and fire officials. Police were called to 517 N. Harvard Boulevard at 12:40 p. ... More >>

Plan Check to Open on Sawtelle on Feb. 22

Plan Check, the newest entrant to Sawtelle's buzzing restaurant row, will open Feb. 22. The upper-midscale gastropubby restaurant features chef Ernesto Uchimura (Umami Burger) behind the stoves and mixologists Steve Livigni and Pablo Moix (La Descarga, Harvard & Stone, Black Market) behind the bar - ... More >>

Ethan Gold's Art and Tragedy

Silver Lake singer-songwriter faces down the darkness, with only his music to see him through

Your Counter Intelligence Preview: In Which Mr. Gold Considers a Traditional Beefsteak at Vibiana's

Anne FishbeinBeefsteak 2011 at Vibiana​This week Jonathan Gold visits an old-style beefsteak dinner, in the manner of the regional gluttonous feasts (platters of beef, absence of vegetables, rivers of beer) of early last century New York. Was this a New York beefsteak circa 1939? It was not. ... More >>

Breakfast for Dinner Headed to Harvard & Stone

Is breakfast still breakfast at 6 p.m.? Well, it depends what time you went to bed. As for Michael Livingston and Raul Villarreal -- photographers, filmmakers, major drinkers and self-taught kitchen wizards -- they wake up when the sun goes down, so their web series in which they whip up an elaborat ... More >>

Test Kitchen Alumni Return for Anniversary

Guzzle & NoshSotto's boscaiola pizza; the exterior of the two restaurants; Picca's mollejita.​Next Monday, the former Test Kitchen space celebrates its 1-year anniversary with the return of several high-profile TK alumni to the kitchens. Upstairs at Picca, chef Ricardo Zarate will host Kogi im ... More >>

8 Places To Get a Beer Cocktail in L.A.

Caroline on CrackSteingarten LA's Bavarian Marian beer cocktail.​ Beer cocktails are a growing trend in the Los Angeles cocktail scene, with Library Bar bartender Matthew Biancaniello's Hopping in the Rye being one of the first to start things off. Now you can take your pick of either traditio ... More >>

Theater Reviews: The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Crucible, Goodbye, Louie ... Hello

Also, Tartuffe, Silent Sky, The Bluest Eye and more

Grace & Glorie

Ann Magnuson Kicked Off Facebook For Inoffensive Roxy Music Hommage

[Thanks to Lina Lecaro for the tip.] Facebook, which started off as a "Hot or Not" type application for horny preppies to evaluate Harvard coeds, has unceremoniously booted off the amazing singer and performer Ann Magnuson for posting this photo: Austin Young​ The picture is, of course, an ... More >>

Feed Your Head: Top 10 Food Books That Make Us Drool

Whether it's a chef's memoir or a novel set in the kitchen, books that center around food have conjured up cravings, inspired us at the stove and opened us up to new adventures in dining. This is a list of our favorites: some fiction, some exposé, some popular, some obscure, but all in celebration ... More >>

The New Book "The Psychology of Wine" is Long on Rhetoric and (Thankfully) Short on Wine Criticism

Consult Your Psychologist Before Drinking Chardonnay​​The Psychology of Wine: Truth and Beauty by the Glass by Evan and Brian Mitchell sounds like another book from wine experts telling us which wines to love--and which to scoff at. Sounds like exactly what we don't need, right? Taste bu ... More >>

Dr. Eliot's 5-Foot Shelf: Diana Kennedy's "The Art of Mexican Cooking"

Amazon.comThe Art of Mexican Cooking​When Charles Eliot, the former Harvard president, declared that one could get a perfectly serviceable education by spending 15 minutes a day reading from the books that could fit on a five-foot shelf, he did not have cookbooks in mind. But these days, with ... More >>

Dr. Eliot's 5-Foot Shelf: Were The Harvard Prof a Cook, That Is

Photo credit: Amy ScattergoodThis is not a product endorsement In 1909 publisher P. F. Collier and Son published a 51-volume anthology of classic literature, compiled by then Harvard president Dr. Charles W. Eliot. It came to be known as the Harvard Classics, but when it was published, the anth ... More >>

The Windmill Movie: Mr. Rogers' Nieghborhood

One filmmaker finishes another's self-portrait

Angels & Demons: Holy Crap

Da Vinci Code sequel has a need for speed

Harold's Office

Six words, and a memo to remember

The Impostor

THE LAST DAYS OF DESMOND NANI REESE: A STRIPPER'S HISTORY OF THE WORLD

A Full Life

Claire Messud on marriage to a critic, diapers and The Emperor’s Children

Timothy Liar

A biography

I, Songwriter

Rivers Cuomo and the search for the perfect hook

3 Myths About the Recording Industry Debunked

Love’s Voice Wearies Not

The Duds, the Clubs, the Jazz

What I Saw at the Parisian Room

Gadgetry Galore

Their Country, ’Twas of Thee

Fat, the Bastard

The war over oil may be taking place in your head

Rattling the Cage

Local theater artists you’ll be hearing from

City Beets

Home Grown?

If anthrax is domestic, likely suspects abound

Crown Thy Good

Being Ron Unz

The Genius Son of a Welfare Mother, He Made a Fortune in Computers. Now He's Spending it Trying to Reshape the World

Targeting the Assassins

School of the Americas faces its toughest test