New Zealand

S Is For Snuff Film

L&E Oyster Bar: 99 Essential Restaurants 2013

5 Crisp White Wines for your Spring Table

I don't know about you, but this is the week that spring fever has officially kicked in, for me. The sun feels higher in the sky, the backyard patio beckons, the fruit trees are blossoming, and everything feels more redolent and alive. It's time to lock the wine cellar door -- leave the reds to lie ... More >>

New Film Chronicles South L.A. High School Rugby Teams' Journey to New Zealand

South L.A. rugby program ICEF Rugby took its first international trip to compete in Hong Kong in 2006, and film and T.V. crews have been scouting its two high school teams ever since. First there was the Academy award-winning documentary filmmaker who shot a movie reel he intended to turn into a fea ... More >>

New Zealand Pinots To Drink Now

At the New Zealand Consulate in Brentwood last week there was a wine tasting of that country's pinot noir. There were just 18 wines in the seminar, curated by British Master of Wine Tim Atkin; and yet this amounted to a quietly nuanced performance, demonstrating the strides that country has made wit ... More >>

Music Picks: No Doubt, Nikki Hill, Alice Cooper

At the New Zealand Consulate in Brentwood last week there was a wine tasting of that country's pinot noir. There were just 18 wines in the seminar, curated by British Master of Wine Tim Atkin; and yet this amounted to a quietly nuanced performance, demonstrating the strides that country has made wit ... More >>

Tamaryn

At the New Zealand Consulate in Brentwood last week there was a wine tasting of that country's pinot noir. There were just 18 wines in the seminar, curated by British Master of Wine Tim Atkin; and yet this amounted to a quietly nuanced performance, demonstrating the strides that country has made wit ... More >>

Scientists Create Frankencows to Produce Hypoallergenic Milk

In what some might see as a disturbing moove move in the whole Frankenfood trend, cows in New Zealand have been genetically engineered to produce hypoallergenic milk. The target consumer is the 1.3 million children with milk allergies (which apparently includes nauseous young Justin Bieber). (What ... More >>

Kimbra: After Selling Out the Troubadour In 45 Seconds, She's Back to Play the Fonda

New Zealand-born singer Kimbra's voice might sound familiar -- she was featured on Australian singer-songwriter Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know," now the third-best selling Australian single of all time. But she's also making tracks of her own, with her American debut, Vows, debuting at #14 ... More >>

Q & A With Haven Brewing's Dave Larsen: L.A. Beer Week, New Zealand Hops Stone's First Local Collaboration

The fourth annual Los Angeles Beer Week might have officially ended with Sunday's festival at Union Station, but there's still one more special LABW brew that has yet to be released. Too bad it's not even ready to drink yet. That's because early in the morning on Thursday, Sept. 20 -- while many e ... More >>

Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival: The Wine Part of the Equation

The second annual Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival concluded Sunday, a slickly produced, three-day debauch mostly held in and around the capacious digs of L.A. Live and its Marriott property -- though neither conference room nor rooftop exhibition tent could adequately contain the assemblage of whit ... More >>

Q&A: Perez Hilton On His New CD and the Music He Has Sex To

See also: Meet Iggy Azalea, the Street Smart Blonde Bombshell Behind "Pu$$y" Megalomaniacal Hollywood gossip blogger and one-time self-described "Queen of All Media" Perez Hilton's first CD compilation, Pop Up! #1, was released earlier this week on the Opus Label. As early as 2009, there was talk o ... More >>

Henry Rollins: The Column! Down Under and 
Hard to Find

[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.] I am currently in Australia. This will mark my 30th trip to this country since I first came her ... More >>

Meat 101 at Nick & Stef's: Demystifying Meat Wine Pairings

At the farmers market, a couple digs through the coolers at the Jimenez Family Farm stall, unearthing plastic-encased cuts of goat, lamb, pork and rabbit. They're shopping for dinner, but looking a little less than confident. "What do you do with this again?" asks the lady, bespectacled, gray-bunned ... 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 >>

Top 5 YouTube Noodle Commercials: James Brown, Dancing Roe Sac Babies, and the Moa Ostrich

If the cavemen and frogs taught us anything it is that commercials don't have to have much to do with the products they promote. Some wares lend themselves to absurdity more readily than others, particularly those whose nuances are tough to render in just a few seconds of color and sound. Like insu ... More >>

2011 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

Fast Five and beyond

Tempest Without a Body

Fast Five and beyond

$80 Wine Beats $5,000 Wine in Blind Pinot Noir Taste Test

​A bottle of New Zealand pinot noir edged out several high-profile French and Californian wines to take the top spot in a recent blind tasting. Talk about bottle shock. Courtesy of World's Top 20 Pinot NoirsTim Fleming judges a pinot noir.​Proving that price is no guaranteed determiner ... More >>

I'M BOUQUET, YOU'RE BOUQUET

​A bottle of New Zealand pinot noir edged out several high-profile French and Californian wines to take the top spot in a recent blind tasting. Talk about bottle shock. Courtesy of World's Top 20 Pinot NoirsTim Fleming judges a pinot noir.​Proving that price is no guaranteed determiner ... More >>

Top 10 (Mainly) Local Edible Stocking Stuffers

K.RobbinsDark 8Fudge​ Like movie previews or Hendrix opening for the Monkees, sometimes the intro act can overshadow the main event. Such is the case with a really well-stocked stocking. We're particularly partial to the pre-tree practice because holiday stockings tend to be crammed full of lo ... More >>

Tonight: The Naked and Famous, Dar Williams, My Chemical Romance, Chasing Kings, Black Apples, Dirt Dress

The Naked and Famous​Even the coolest of cool kids -- you know, the ones who can eloquently extol the virtues of MGMT's second album Congratulations -- have a soft spot the size of Brooklyn for hits like "Kids" and "Time to Pretend." That's the kind of chewy, sweet electro-pop that New Zealan ... More >>

Wine Vending Machines: Coming To A Supermarket Near You

Inhabit.comComing Soon: Pump-Your-Own Wine Vending Machines​ In the past few months we've heard of all sorts of wine innovations, from single-serve wine glass to canned wine to Hello Kitty branded booze, and now there's another one to add to the list. Courtesy of the French, who led the world ... More >>

Out at the Movies

From bisexual bromance to lesbian Marines to Le Tigre: 15 picks for Outfest

THEY SAY GOOBER AND GOMER WERE JUST COUSINS

From bisexual bromance to lesbian Marines to Le Tigre: 15 picks for Outfest

Will Mourn For Food: Man Attends Funerals For The Grub

Signagistics/Christie Bishop​ Most of us have stolen food at one time or another. Maybe it was a Snickers bar from your neighbor's house when you were a kid. Maybe it was bubble gum from the school's candy jar. Or maybe it was the counter-intuitive lollipop at your dentist's office (scratch t ... More >>

WARNING: BOWL MAY BE HIP

Signagistics/Christie Bishop​ Most of us have stolen food at one time or another. Maybe it was a Snickers bar from your neighbor's house when you were a kid. Maybe it was bubble gum from the school's candy jar. Or maybe it was the counter-intuitive lollipop at your dentist's office (scratch t ... More >>

Most Popular Soccer Squad In U.S. Is Team Mexico?

​What's the most popular soccer team in the United States? The New York Times says it's El Tricolor a.k.a. the Mexican national squad. Huh? In the land of Palin-favorin' soccer moms? Guess so. And the paper says more women are attending team Mexico events in the U.S., too. A breakthrough mome ... More >>

Of Ukeleles, Tolkien, Garfunkel and Bond: A Chat With Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords

Brian TamborelloMcKenzie (front, with Clement) rides the folk train​ October is Folktober for fans of New Zealand's fourth most popular digi-folk parodists, the mighty Flight of the Conchords; following the second season of their acclaimed eponymous HBO show, which bagged several Emmy nominati ... More >>

Top 10 Places to Get Your Fro-Yo Fix

Erinn EichingerNew Zealand Natural​ Tart green tea or mint chocolate? Icy or creamy? Fresh fruit or mochi and lychee for toppings? For frozen yogurt aficionados, these are key elements in what makes a good cup of fro-yo. And serious frozen yogurt fans can be just as cultish in their loyalty ... More >>

Landmark Wining and Dining Downtown from Patina

Joachim Splichal's Patina Group presents prix-fixe dinners on its Tuesday-night Tasting Menu series at its Disney-Hall-adjacent flagship throughout the spring and summer. Tonight's California Wines dinner at Patina -- five courses with wine pairings -- costs $150 per diner (including wine, exclusiv ... More >>

Just Don't Say "Jew Zealand"

Joachim Splichal's Patina Group presents prix-fixe dinners on its Tuesday-night Tasting Menu series at its Disney-Hall-adjacent flagship throughout the spring and summer. Tonight's California Wines dinner at Patina -- five courses with wine pairings -- costs $150 per diner (including wine, exclusiv ... More >>

I'D LIKE TO THANK MY STUFFED ANIMALS...

Joachim Splichal's Patina Group presents prix-fixe dinners on its Tuesday-night Tasting Menu series at its Disney-Hall-adjacent flagship throughout the spring and summer. Tonight's California Wines dinner at Patina -- five courses with wine pairings -- costs $150 per diner (including wine, exclusiv ... More >>

Morgan vs. Foretich Twenty Years Later

A mother and daughter whose abuse story gripped the globe are making it in L.A.

Rock Picks: Beirut, The Cure, Jonathan Richman

And other May 29-June 5 shows

Daughters of Heaven

And other May 29-June 5 shows

Daughters of Heaven

And other May 29-June 5 shows

Some UTA Online All-Stars

Including clips from Smosh, People-Food, We Need Girlfriends and more

Dining à la Cart at Whole Foods

Market values

Point/Counterpoint: Meet the Battling Brunettes

The latest twee-pop purveyors from the land down under

2007 Pan African Film Festival, Week 2

The latest twee-pop purveyors from the land down under

The Itsy-Bitsy Spider

Has very big eyes and is a lot smarter than you think

Here and There and Back Again

With The World’s Fastest Indian, Roger Donaldson comes full circle

Forefather Envy

Whale Rider’s Maori girl power

Literary Winter

C.K. Stead’s novel, The Secret History of Modernism

Kiwi Catharsis

Getaway tooNZ from Down Under

Hard Up

Diary of a Mad Waitress

Horizons

Photography (mostly) at MOCA and the Getty

Dark Stars

Micro-East Collective in the race for space