Santa Monica

10 Best Burlesque Shows in L.A.

Modern burlesque may have its roots in retro culture (and the objectification that was prevalent in the past), but today it's become an undeniably empowering form of expression for the women who do it and a unique form of entertainment for an avid fan base that goes way beyond the turn-on. Cheesy i ... More >>

Events: The Earth Day Edition

BlueGreen Earth Party Golden Road is debuting its Heal the Bay IPA at the BlueGreen Earth Day Party in honor of the non-profit organization. The IPA is described as bright and citrus-forward. It will be available for sale in 16-ounce cans at select retailers like Whole Foods Markets by mid-June. WHA ... More >>

The Rainmaker: Why We Keep Reviving That Old Chestnut

Santa Monica's Edgemar Center has a new production

Stand Back: These Los Angeles Bands Are About To Blow Up

The new year couldn't come at a better time. Forget Superstorm Sandy, school shootings, Snooki's baby, Rihanna and Chris Brown's reconcilliations. Let's start fresh, and let's do it with some new music. Here are eight fantastic local bands, all of whom are set to break big in 2013. The best part? Y ... More >>

2012: A Landmark Year in L.A. Hip-Hop

L.A. hip-hop hasn't seen a year like this one since 1992, when the word G-Funk was (re)defined and art-rap was steadily making noise in and around Leimert Park. Twenty years ago saw, of course, the release of The Chronic, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, The Predator, Spice 1, and Way 2 Fonky, among ot ... More >>

Lindsay Lohan: 5 Easy Steps To Get Your Life Back On Track

Gosh, Lohan, you're so inept at life you can't even take your luck at not having to do serious time for two DUIs and a jewelry theft and just lay low and run with it. (As friend Lalo Alcaraz said via Facebook, "If Lindsay Lohan was brown she'd already be doing 4 years in Chino."). No. In one day yo ... More >>

William Close's "Earth Harp" Is Pretty Neat

Five years ago, William Close's house in Malibu caught fire and burned to the ground. This was even more devastating because his life's work -- a collection of giant, almost sculptural instruments, including something he calls his Earth Harp, painstakingly constructed over the past decade -- acted a ... More >>

Hip-Hop Video "The Dangle" Racked Up 74,000 YouTube Views Without Tits, Ass or Fancy Cars

Adnan Safadi didn't want to set expectations too high, but his goal was to have the music video shoot he was producing be the most fun project he and his friends had ever worked on. Turns out, it was. This sheer enthusiasm is palpable on "The Dangle," a joyfully ridiculous music video that finds S ... More >>

Baño Gallery: Turning the Bathroom Into an Art Space

Commercial enterprises devoted to the sale of visual art generally adhere to a common formula, with elaborate lighting racks, delicately framed work and pristine white walls the common attributes of the average space. Yet a new West Hollywood based gallery, namely Bleicher Gallery's Bano annexe, is ... More >>

The Sounds of '42

Los Angeles Is the Best-Smelling City on the Planet?

Among L.A.'s prouder distinctions -- worst traffic, rudest people -- is a new one: Smelliest City on the Planet. So says GQ magazine this week. The thing is, it's not a put-down. It's a love letter:

Occupy L.A. Arrestees Said to Include Possibly Drunk, Belligerent Reporter For City News Service

See an update here: The reporter is identified (it's a him -- our bad), and video seems to contradict what the police say. A reporter for City News Service, a Southern California news wire that sells content exclusively to other organizations, including this one, was arrested during the Occupy L.A. ... More >>

Is Whitey Bulger Southern California's Bank-Robbing 'Geezer Bandit?'

Sky NewsBulger vs. Geezer.​Is Whitey Bulger Southern California's famous "Geezer Bandit" bank robber? The notorious Boston mob boss portrayed by Jack Nicholson in The Departed did allegedly have $800,000 in cash stashed in his rent-controlled Santa Monica pad when the authorities finally trac ... More >>

'Playboy' Magazine Moving to Los Angeles? Looks Like It

Here and now.​Is Playboy magazine moving to Los Angeles? What, you ask? You didn't even know the publication wasn't here? It's based in Chicago, its birthplace, with its "Studio West" offices in Santa Monica. And yeah, the founder, Hef, is here too, in his Holmby Hills Playboy Mansion, as we ... More >>

A New Chef at Petrossian Shunji's to Open on Melrose

Guzzle & NoshCaviar at Petrossian.​Now that Ben Bailly has left Petrossian to revamp the Culver City Fraiche (which just began serving Sunday brunch yesterday), the West Hollywood caviar hub has brought in Giselle Wellman as executive chef. Formerly of Bouchon Beverly Hills, Jack's La Jolla ... More >>

Best Evening Farmers Market: South Pasadena

A. ScattergoodSouth Pasadena farmers market​ Sure, there are farmers markets with more high profile chefs trailing carts and, often, camera crews (Santa Monica Wednesdays); there are markets with stalls featuring more Asian or Hispanic produce (Torrance); or markets scheduled early enough and ... More >>

Rivera: Burrito on the Rocks, Salt

Searching for great food and a great margarita

Guardian Of Middle School Student Anwar Stetson Sues L.A. District After He Lost Two Fingers In Shop Class

​The guardian of a 13-year-old middle school student who lost two fingers in shop class in 2008 is suing the Los Angeles Unified School District for negligence after a the plaintiff rejected a settlement offer, according to his attorneys. The incident at Paul Revere Middle School in Brentwood ... More >>

Andrew Lord at Santa Monica Museum of Art

Culver City Hotel Tax Might Go Up; Hoteliers Not Happy

​In an effort to raise nearly $500,000 annually, Culver City officials are seeking to raise the hotel tax from 12 percent to 14 percent, according to the Los Angeles Wave. If approved by voters, the proposed tax would be phased in, with the rate raising one percent over each of the next two ye ... More >>

Feline Ferments: Hello Kitty Winemaker At Wine Expo On Saturday

justjennrecipes.comHello Kitty Cupcake and Wine Pairing?​If your list of 100 things to do before you die includes meeting Hello Kitty's maker, we can't help you with that ticket to Japan. But if meeting the cartoon's personal winemaker is close enough, it's your lucky weekend. Patrizia Torti o ... More >>

Bon Marche

It's carpe diem at Gary Menes' latest restaurant

Brick's Picks: Here, There and Way Out There

6 Cheese and Beer Pairings For St. Patrick's Day

Wine-and-cheese is such a classic combination that you might not think of going beyond it. But beer is a pretty terrific match for cheese too, and this is just the week to switch out your glass of Cab for a pint. Consider it an homage to the biggest beer drinking holiday of all: St. Patrick's Day. ... More >>

L.A. Gang Tours: Exploitation Or Education?

​The first of those L.A. Gang Tours we told you about took place Saturday on a bus filled mostly with journalists, and concerns that the journeys would be exploitative looks at the ghetto seemed to be mostly allayed. "I was skeptical at first, and thought it would be a 'titillating' tour, lik ... More >>

Another Bank Bites It: First Federal Of Santa Monica To Be Taken Over

​The UCLA Anderson Forecast, the president and the stock market (on some days) say the recession is over, but banks keep going bust. The latest victim was Santa Monica-based First Federal Bank, which was closed Friday by the federal Office of Thrift Supervision. Pasadena-based OneWest Bank an ... More >>

Stage Raw: Hamlet Shut Up

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSTHEATER NEW REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on Bill Cain's Equivocation and Burglars of Hamm's Land of the TigersHAMLET SHUT UP! ​Photo by Diane Meyer Jonas Oppenheim's silent version of Hamlet continues this weekend at Sacred Fools Theatre Check back Monday afternoon for revie ... More >>

Mayor's Housing Plan Left Homeless

As we reported previously, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's pro-density housing policy took a hit when the state Supreme Court ruled last month that the city could not require the kind affordable housing units it tried to attach to otherwise upscale developments like Geoff Palmer's west-of-downtown Pier ... More >>

The Moscow Mule: A Cocktail That's Still Kicking

FlickrGreer Garson drank hers in a "glass of alarmingly huge proportions."​The Moscow Mule is a delightfully refreshing cocktail with a Hollywood pedigree. In 1941, shortly before Pearl Harbor, John G. Martin of Heublein, an East Coast spirits distributor, and Jack Morgan, owner of the Cock N ... More >>

Stage Raw: Pee Wee Forever?

The LATEST NEW REVIEWS are embedded in this week's COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSAlso, this week's STAGE FEATURE on Hair, at the Chance TheatrePEE WEE FOREVER?​Photo by Greg GormanNot quite "forever," but Stage Raw just learned that The Pee Wee Herman Show, originally slated for Nov. 8 - 29 at the ... More >>

Photog Feels Santa Monica Pier Pressure

(View more photos in the slideshow "Barred From Shooting Pacific Park Pier: The Photographs")One surprise in Sunday's pre-Inauguration Day celebration at the Lincoln Memorial came when Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger and others sang once-expurgated verses from "This Land Is Your Land." Woody Guthrie' ... More >>

How Deep Is Your Throat?

What to do in L.A., October 17-23

Best Yogi for All: Bryan Kest's Santa Monica Power Yoga

Chris & Don: Opposites Attract

New documentary paints a portrait of the artist as a young man (and his lover as an old one)

Donald T. Sterling's Skid Row Mirage

The billionaire Clippers owner claims he's creating a major homeless center. He's not, but image is what counts.

Animal Spirits

"Endangered Species," Larry Bell

Last Chance to Be a Better Person!

What to do in Los Angeles this week

Best Way to Get All the Way Through Moby-dick in a Weekend

Venice Oceanarium Beach Reading

Art Pick

Noir City: Los Angeles Vs. New York: The Eighth Annual Festival of Film Noir

One of Those Weeks

Christopher Rouse's Requiem and Mark Robson at Zipper Concert Hall

Kurt Andersen's Heyday

''Contrary to the Laws of Nature,'' Lawrence Carroll and Pasha Rafat

Also Fair Games

All in the Famima!!

A new convenience-store empire is among us

Mime Talkin'

Theater Reviews

Get Naked for Gaia or Go Clean a Stream

Hoopla's Earth Day Edition

Seven Days Till a Better You in 2006!

Bad Conduct

LAPD’s gay-entrapment policy wastes police time and destroys lives

Only the Lonely