A River Should Run Through It

Marc B. Haefele
An otherwise conservationist friend once said, "The problem with the Los Angeles River is that there is really no such thing. It's a concrete flood channel." That was what I thought. Until I attended my first Friends of the Los Angeles River (FoLAR) conference last week.It wasn't just a routine......

The Myth of the Flush

Judith Lewis
The first thing I did at the Johannesburg airport was rush to the bathroom. No, no - not to pee, and not because I ate something disagreeable on the flight; this is not a story about what it's like to hold it through turbulence, or about the dangers of consuming......
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Amphibious Assault

Jonathan Gold
If you have taken your American Express card out for a walk lately, you have probably noticed that Los Angeles has become a city of supper clubs, dark, atmospheric - and smokeless - rooms featuring identical blends of '80s grill food and '50s lounge music; subpar creme brulee and subpar......

Moby Dick (the Next Generation)

Robert Lloyd
USA Network Part 1: Sunday, March 15, 8 p.m. Part 2: Monday, March 16, 8 p.m. THE McCOURTS OF LIMERICK Cinemax Tuesday, March 17, 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 25, 7:30 a.m. The high-concept casting of Starship Enterprise skipper Patrick Stewart as Ahab in the USA Network's new two-part Moby Dick......
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Wilde and Wilder

Steven Leigh Morris
OUR TOWN By THORNTON WILDER At SOUTH COAST REPERTORY 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa Through March 28 GROSS INDECENCY: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde By MOISÉS KAUFMAN At the MARK TAPER FORUM 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown Through March 29 The central character of Our Town isn't anybody......
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A Night in Provence

Sara Catania
There is something inherently comforting about a Provence-style bistro. Bordered by Italy to the east and the Mediterranean to the south, Provence embodies an easygoing spontaneity. Food goes directly from garden to kitchen, and then, with a minimum of fuss, to table. And while the flavors are sometimes adventurous -......

Jailhouse Rap

Benjamin Adair
SACRAMENTO - Shawn Thomas apparently got the wrong idea from a Western that he saw on late-night TV. That's likely the place where Thomas, a.k.a. the gangsta rapper C-Bo, picked up his approach to handling guns. It was his loose ways with firearms during a 1994 melee that got C-Bo......

Eastside Story

Tony Castro
Over the course of 25 years in L.A. politics, Richard Alatorre's name has become synonymous with backroom political deals. So perhaps it is fitting that the early jockeying to succeed the controversial Eastside city councilman involved an awkward attempt at nothing short of a backroom deal. The candidate who arguably......

Trump's Ambassador Gambit

Howard Blume
For eight years, mega-builder Donald Trump, the poster boy of the get-richer-quick set, has quietly endured a $50 million beating out West. Worse yet, the drubbing has come at the hands of the L.A. school district, which has fought him tooth and nail over the site of the defunct Ambassador......
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Sip It Slow

Greg Burk
CHARLIE HADEN AND KENNY BARRONNight and the City (Verve) Charlie Haden is not an underappreciated bassist. It would be foolish to embark on a list of his credits, for fear of leaving out a few thousand. But if everybody loves Haden, how come nobody copies him? His dexterity and speed......