Verizon Communications Inc.

Free Wi-Fi For All of Los Angeles?

Have ever you dreamed having data streaming through your laptop, iPad or smartphone almost anywhere in L.A. without giving Time-Warner Cable, AT&T or Verizon your lunch money for it? L.A. city Councilman Bob Blumenfield has had that dream too. And he's proposing that the city of Los Angeles study w ... More >>

Baby Sea Lion Hits The Road, Heads For Ikea In Carson

A baby sea lion was rescued on the street in Carson, more than eight miles from open water, sheriff's officials reported today. Caught near Avalon Boulevard and Dominguez Street, it appeared the pup took a wrong turn and was headed toward ... Ikea? Who knows. Sheriff's Lt. Chris Bergner told the W ... More >>

How To Get Reamed By Verizon Wireless For The Holidays (A Cautionary Tale)

Ever buy a holiday gift, change your mind, take it back and get hit with a whopper of a b.s. "restocking fee?" When you return something immediately and it's unopened and unused, shouldn't it be illegal to charge money to walk it over to a shelf? It isn't, as Southern California resident Eric Rose ... More >>

DMV Computer System Goes Down For Hours

Updated at the bottom: The DMV's system is back up. First posted at 11:42 a.m. California Department of Motor Vehicles office computers were down this morning, making a day at the DMV even more of a clusterf--- than usual. To top things off, the DMV was urging people to try to resolve their issues ... More >>

The Bank That Looks Like a Del Taco: 6348 Sepulveda Blvd., Van Nuys

You can walk in and ask for a "Del Fargo" burrito at this Wells Fargo branch in Van Nuys but, sadly, you probably aren't gonna get one. Built in 2007 where a Mobil gas station used to sit at the corner of Victory and Sepulveda Boulevards, this fairly new, ketchup and mustard-colored building could ... More >>

Jimmy Cliff, Liars, Jesse Sykes

Also, New Edition, Kátia Moraes & Sambaguru, Milo Greene and others

Cellphone Tree in Glassell Park Rejected by Some Residents as Not Artsy Enough

Updated at the bottom with a statement from Verizon and some additional background. First posted at 8:09 a.m. It's a data-hungry world, and now we want it wherever we are. Thus cellphone companies have been on a quest to find new locations for its data towers. Not only that, but they've had to get ... More >>

Women Beat Their Men? L.A. Guys' Group Mad at Verizon Ads Says That's The Flip-Side of The Story

Verizon​Quick question: In a hetersexual relationship, who's more likely to use violence -- the man or the woman? Research seems to show that both are equally as likely to be the victims of domestic violence, though it appears women are more likely to get hurt and men are less likely to repo ... More >>

Village Voice Media Responds to Clergy

​Today 36 clergy affixed their names to a paid ad and open letter to Village Voice and the classified ad site Backpage.com. The full page ad was published in the New York Times. The religious coalition demanded that we close down our legal, adult classifieds. Neither government officials n ... More >>

Music Picks: Los Lobos, Lord Huron, Calculator, Exmortus

Also, Yes, Styx, the Naked and Famous and others

SoCal Verizon Customer Dies, Still Receives Bills for Internet That Never Worked

Think you can escape the great Verizon ripoff? Think again.​It's a cruel, yet common, habit among hokey Internet companies struggling for relevance: Milk the confused old folks (who didn't grow up with the new-fangled Nets and therefore aren't quite sure how that stuff should work) for what li ... More >>

Stage Raw: Krunk-Fu Battle Battle

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWS   Stage FEATURE on William Leavitt's Spectral Analysis Courtesy of East West PlayersKrunk-Fu Battle Battle​Though Mayank Keshaviah found thin patches in the new musical Krunk-Fu Battle Battle (book by Qui Nguyen, lyrics by Beau Sia and vocal ... More >>

Day 3: Coachella's GOODs, BADs and UGLYs (feat. Kanye West, Duran Duran, PJ Harvey and the Hilton Sisters)

Timothy Norris​ We came, we saw, we sweated off four pounds of water. Kudos to the Coachella organizers for turning the Empire Polo Grounds into a people-organizing machine. Lines were long, but everything kept moving. Let's look at Sunday's GOODs, BADs and UGLYs...

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

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

Stage Raw: The Crucible

New Theater ReviewsTheater Awards ReportTheater Awards Slide-Show by Timothy Norris​Photo by Byron Turk is from Theatre Banshee's production of The Crucible, which critic Amy Lyons argues is a powerful manifestation of our culture of fear; Bill Raden was less impressed with Lauren Gunderson's new ... More >>

Janet Napolitano Urges You to Become a Terrorism Snitch at Staples Center: Profile Away

Front row, next to Jack Nicholson.​Ah, the terror-snitch ho-down has begun at Staples Center downtown, where U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Monday announced that the "If You See Something, Say Something" tip-off program has expanded there. Any particular th ... More >>

Amazing Rants Overheard on L.A. Buses: "Lady said 'no,' man."

​ Ranter: Fortyish white dude with Eastern European accent, wearing Verizon cap, Air Jordans and pleated blue jeans Location: 200 bus headed south on Alvarado Time: Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. Topics Covered: Friendliness, the chance of encountering pure beauty on a bus, the value of compliments, ... More >>

Los Angeles Gets 4G Network Via Sprint: iPhone Users Are Out Of Luck

AppleMore 'G' please.​Los Angeles is finally getting a 4G network. Yay! It's on Sprint. Pout. It's cool though. It looks like, if you're geek like that, you can buy a router and get 4G speed on your nearby iPad or laptop. But iPhones, despite being in version 4, are out of luck for now. Spr ... More >>

Beautiful Woman Rides Bus

Music Picks: Grizzly Bear, Muse, Dark Dark Dark, the Charlatans UK

Also, Tonya Watts, Modeselektor, Heart and others

Santa Monica Consumer Group Alleges Google-Verizon Internet Plan Could Hinder Universal Internet Access

​A Santa Monica-based consumer watchdog group this week decried a proposal by Google and Verizon Communications that it says would put an end to net neutrality and create a system of pay-to-play haves and have-nots when it comes to internet access. " ... It sets up a two-tiered structure," sa ... More >>

This Weekend: Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Rage Against the Machine, Robyn, Jackson Browne, Lyle Lovett, Keith Urban, Delta Spirit

via MySpaceMiguel Atwood-Ferguson​Tonight's installment of Grand Performances at California Plaza -- one of our town's finest, free music al fresco opportunities -- figures to be especially grand. Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, the composer/producer/arranger/multi-instrumentalist who boasts a resume ... More >>

This weekend: The Swell Season, MGMT, One Day as a Lion, Die Antwoord, Shelby Lynne

Piper FergusonThe Swell Season​Boy, girl. Boy, girl. Boy, girl. It's a bill made for date night on Sunday at the Hollywood Bowl as some of music's favorite collaborative couples team up to provide a soundtrack for your wine and cheese. Of course, the Swell Season -- Glen Hansard of Irish r ... More >>

Tonight: The Guggenheim Grotto, Smokey Robinson, Kings of Leon, Sweethead

The Guggenheim Grotto​The Guggenheim Grotto has been making friends and influencing coffee-drinkers ever since 2008, when their song "Told You So" appeared on Across the Pond, a sampler CD issued by a certain beverage company with a twin-tailed siren as its log. Now the Irish folk-pop duo are ... More >>

Verizon iPhone Service In January? Yes: Hipsters Rejoice

Gizmodo​Woo-hoo. Echo Park hipsters rejoice. Verizon is said to be breaking AT&T's lock on iPhone service starting in January, when it will start selling the devices with its own service attached, according to Bloomberg News. Forget the improving economy, a win by your favorite World Cup team ... More >>

Live in L.A.: LCD Soundsystem, 50 Cent, Peanut Butter Wolf, Isis, The xx, Local Natives

James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem​Hope you don't feel slighted, Los Angeles. Two weekends ago on That Other Coast, LCD Soundsystem brought the house -- or, rather, Terminal 5 -- down with an eye-popping, ear-decimating, 2 1/2-hour show that wound up with "New York I Love You" and a cover of Alic ... More >>

Big Wangs, Little Wangs: Bieber, Glambert, Ke$ha and more at Wango Tango

No matter how indier than thou you think you are music-wise, uber pop hits can make it into your consciousness, whether you like it or not. Unless you make an adamant point of blocking them, these ubiquitous confections need not be heard on mainstream radio like KIIS FM, either. They will seep in vi ... More >>

Future-popster AM Covers Charlie Brown Christmas Classic and Visits Hotel Cafe Tonight [Exclusive MP3]

EXCLUSIVE MP3! - AM Covers Charlie Brown X-mas Classic and Visits Hotel Cafe Tonight

Shriver-gate: Maria Apologizes

California First Lady Maria Shriver apologized after paparazzi snapped her driving while talking on a mobile phone, sans hands-free device. Husband and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger championed the state's "hands-free law," which mandates that drivers must use hands-free devices such as Bluetooth he ... More >>

Urine the Money With L.A. Sidewalk Ads

Now they're steam-cleaning corporate logos into the thick sidewalk filth

Rock Picks: Os Mutantes, Hall and Oates, Bat for Lashes, Davila 666, Maia Sharp

Also, the Mars Volta, Nine Inch Nails, Gun Outfit, the Pretenders and others

Rock Picks: Future of the Left, Deerhoof, Ronnie Mack's Barndance, The Urinals

Also, Torche, Alejandro Escovedo, Quintron & Miss Pussycat, and others

Rock Picks: Doves, Ceci Bastida, Carina Round, New York Dolls

Also, The Detroit Cobras, the Aggrolites, Loney Dear and others

Notes from the Road: Yak Ballz and Kosha Dillz Survive Root Canal, Arrive at SXSW

Though I just returned to L.A. from Austin, Texas after a week working SXSW Interactive with the top players in tech and social media, it doesn't mean I'm not rocking SXSW Music in spirit. When I found out that my early return home meant I'd be missing hip hop acts like Yak Ballz, Kosha Dillz and Ca ... More >>

Grammy Week: Magical Music Moments All Over Town

Live in LA: Iron Maiden invokes Coleridge, Crowley, Eddie in Irvine

Iron Maiden at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, Irvine, May 31 By Skylaire Alfvegren (photos by Anne Varak). “I’ve got to pinch myself and say it’s not Long Beach Arena in 1985,” Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson bellowed to the sold out crowd of 15,000 at the Verizon Amphitheater on S ... More >>

Concerts and Tickets Coming Up

Autechre - 4/14, Echoplex Bad Religion - 3/4,5,11,13, House of Blues Bamboozle (All-American Rejects, Jimmy Eat World, Paramore) - 4/5, Verizon Amphitheater Bamboozle (My Chemical Romance, Anti-Flag, Saves the Day, Chiodos) - 4/6, Verizon Amphitheater Bjorkestra - 3/9 , Safari Sam's Black Keys ... More >>

Radiohead not playing L.A. until late summer at the earliest

The bad news: we're gonna have to wait until the fall. The good news: we've got frequent flier miles. RADIOHEAD CONFIRMS MAY 2008 U.S. DATES & VENUES RADIOHEAD has confirmed the dates and venues to be visited on the first segment of its upcoming North American tour. They are: May 5 - Cruzan Amp ... More >>

Pan African Film Festival: Homeless Rappers, Freedom Fighters

Sixteenth annual event circles the globe

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers announce two area shows

Hot on the heels of LA Weekly's map of Tom Petty's Los Angeles, and a few days prior to their appearance at the Super Bowl, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers today announced two summer shows in the L.A. area. The first will be on Wednesday, June 25 at the Hollywood Bowl; the second will be a month later ... More >>

Rock Picks: Los Lobos, No Age, Los Abandoned, Slayer

For the week of August 23-30

Rock Picks: The Slits, Squiddo, Electrocute

For the week of August 2 - 9

Rock Picks

For Sept. 28 – Oct. 5

Party Pains

Hanging out with the Democratic hacks in Sacramento

Foul Territory

Bushless in Boston

Progressives, pawns and prawns in our cowardly democracy

Corporate Conventions

How millions of dollars will buy influence in New York and Boston

Heathen Worship

Crime Pays

. . . the phone company and the state. how inmate calls raise millions for Gray Davis� budget