Muhammad Ali

Theater to See in L.A. This Week, Including an Unlikely Oscar Winner

Henry Ong's new play Sweet Karma, based on the life of a Khmer Rouge survivor and his tragic death on the streets of L.A., is being performed at Burbank's Grove Theatre Center, and is this week's pick. For all new theater reviews, plus this weekend's stage listings, see below.This week's theater fea ... More >>

One Night in Miami

Leave Snoop Lion Alone

When Snoop Dogg started calling himself Snoop Lion last year, those who casually follow him (ie the entirety of the internet) collectively snickered. His embrace of Rastafarianism and journey to Jamaica -- resulting in April's Reincarnated -- has been widely criticized and mocked, by those in the kn ... More >>

Mike Tyson's One-Man Show at the Pantages Theater Is Surprisingly Good

See also: *More theater reviews Former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world Mike Tyson scored one of the more impressive comebacks of his colorful career last night. That he did so in his one-man autobiographical show, Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth, on the stage of Hollywood's Pantages Theat ... More >>

Rock Star Fashions, Without the Douchiness

[Editor's note: Weekly scribe Jeff Weiss's column, "Bizarre Ride," appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday. His archives are available here.] Almost everyone has once wanted to dress like a rock star, but most people realize how absurd they look in leather pants and sequins. Wisely, then, Holly ... More >>

Ten Jazz Albums to Hear Before You Die

By Joseph Lapin Because there are multiple decades of jazz, it's almost impossible to pick the top 10 albums of all time; the hip cats with their canes and cool shades will throw their used saxophone reeds in my direction and call me a young whippersnapper. Top Ten Jazz Albums for People Who Don't ... More >>

The "Spider-Man" Theme Song As Sung By the Ramones, Michael Bublé and Pauly Shore

If your spider-sense has been tingling lately it's because, today, The Amazing Spider-Man brings everyone's favorite arachnoid dude back to theaters. But while not everyone's looking forward to this Tobey Maguire-less incarnation, it does present an excellent opportunity to revisit the Spider-Man t ... More >>

Trayvon Martin Gets the Shepard Fairey Treatment in Ebony Magazine

It was only a matter of time before L.A. street artist (turned international graphic-design star and Obama portraiteer) Shepard Fairey took on Trayvon. We're actually surprised it didn't happen sooner. Though there remains the sporadic rally cry for the young black Florida teen's murderer to be bro ... More >>

Henry Rollins: The Column! Advice From Diamond Dave

[Look for your weekly fix from the one and only Henry Rollins right here on West Coast Sound every Thursday, and come back tomorrow for the awesomely annotated playlist for his Saturday KCRW broadcast.] Still in Australia, with a lot more shows to go. Right now, I am in Brisbane. We got in a few ... More >>

Oran Z's Black Facts and Wax Museum: A Brutally-Honest African-American History Collection in Baldwin Hills

Christopher J. LynchWax figures of Barack and Michelle Obama​ Oran Z began his quest for a wax head of Barack Obama even before the president took office. The creator and proprietor of the Pan African Black Facts and Wax Museum in South Los Angeles met resistance from his supplier, who wanted ... More >>

Concussions Take a Terrible Toll on America's Young Athletes

Rob Zombie vs. Darth Vader vs. David Lynch: Celebrity Coffee Showdown

Rob Zombie's a freaky guy. Darth Vader's a frightening one. David Lynch is just plain strange. As diverse as these three figures are, they have one venture in common: They have each lent their name to a brand of coffee. Having recently discovered these celebrity roasts, we wondered: How special ar ... More >>

Yousuf Karsh: Regarding Heroes

The Ass Essors

Civilized Media for This Modern World: the Dinner Party Download

​ The Great Fire of London. Khrushchev's visit to Cedar Rapids. The origin of computer viruses. Muhammad Ali's skirmishes with the U.S. military. The creation of the peace sign. No, these facts aren't from a Jeopardy! audition drill, but instead trivia you could be learning from the Dinner Pa ... More >>

Soul Power

On the Backs of Children

How UTLA's teacher-layoff rules are devastating inner-city L.A. schools

Manny Pacquiao: The Fight of His Life

Boxer goes for his greatest win yet — congressman

Rock Picks: The Strange Boys, Memory Tapes, Scout Niblett, Four Tet

Also, El Perro Del Mar, Phranc, Moonrats and others

Mega-Telethon Broadcasting From L.A., Elsewhere

CNNAnderson Cooper.​A Friday telethon to raise money for the victims of last week's earthquake in Haiti will be broadcast from Los Angeles, New York, London and Haiti, organizers announced Thursday. It will be everywhere: ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, BET, The CW, HBO, MTV, VH1, CMT, PBS, TNT, Show ... More >>

Today in Photographs: July 20, 1962

Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, poses with Alejandro Lavorante before their fight at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Clay predicted "Lavorante will fall in five" -- which he did. Later that year Lavorante was beaten by John Riggins at the Olympic Auditorium, slipped into a coma and died.LA ... More >>

Movie Reviews: Death In Love, 500 Days of Summer, Severed Ways

Also, The Poker House, The Queen and I, and more

Soul Power: The Other Rumble in the Jungle

Documenting an epic concert in Zaire

Poet Billy Collins Charms the Skirball Crowd

A Music Journalist Remembers the Old Dewey Cox

Cox clocked me and then I puked

Evel Knievel and a Shit Named Joe Eszterhas

The King Is Dead. Long Live the King!

James Brown, 1933–2006

Theater Reviews

A Mann's Man's World

Think you can keep up with the Miami Vice director?

Requiem for Surfing's Black Knight

The sanctioned Miki Dora

Lou Rawls, 1933-2006

Hanging the Witness

Theatrical Arnold

Governor’s word for Legislature — evil

You’ve Been Served

Reading tennis queen Serena Williams’ fashion statement

Weird Old Ghosts

El Encuentro Mágico

Laker great stakes claim as Nuevo Ali

The Coffee Table, Revisited

Sex & Beauty, Art & Kitsch

The exquisite mayhem of Benedikt Taschen

The Man Show

TRIBES: Kittens and Puppies and Birds, Oh My

Pure War

In the Mood for Wong Kar-wai

The year’s best films

Writing Is Fighting

Sparring for credit on Ali

When He Was King

Michael Mann’s Ali; plus, Gosford Park and Kate & Leopold

Peripheral Visions

The edge of L.A. in three dimensions

Beat Baggage

African Sunrise

Melting into Chocolate City

The Noise Boys

Richard Meltzer, Nick Tosches and the late Lester Bangs

Fantasia

Gary Boas and his celebrity connections

Shadows and Fights

Images from the ring