A view of the Valley from Sherman Oaks | Photo by Dan Wuh via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr So apparently in Kansas there's this lady who decided to sit on the toilet for two years -- this story is so bizarre I can hardly fathom it. How's this for shocking: remember that Downtown housing boom that was luring so many buyers to all those cool new lofts? Well, it's not so......

Downtown Los Angeles is fast becoming one of the city's new "it" places to set up a permanent address and play house. But a new worry is plaguing residents of the high-rises and converted lofts that dot the one-way streets of LA's civic center: What happens when we have kids? The big concern is chiefly becoming options for daycare, which is part of the overall issue of whether Downtown is a good place to raise......

As traffic worsens on Ventura Boulevard, a new L.A. City report found that developers could add 3 million square feet of commercial space to the Ventura Boulevard corridor under current zoning rules. If you thought getting from Sepulveda to Van Nuys down Ventura was bad before. Umph... Not sure what to buy that ragamuffin who has everything this holiday season? Franklin Avenue found a great set of Lego-ish toys featuring people in casts, babies......

So I think I can safely say, having viewed it twice now, that Jason Reitman's Juno is the newest addition to my list of favorite movies. Okay, yes, it may be a pretty "rosy view of teen pregnancy", as my friend declared, but the humor, the characters, and the crazy dialogue ("You should've gone to China, you know, 'cause I hear they give away babies like free iPods. You know, they pretty much just put......

I'm a lucky bitch. But I'm grateful, and even though every day I walk across those stars on Hollywood and Vine, I still take some time to thank them for everything I've got. For one: I've had a great year professionally, and I'm glad to say I have both a day job and a writing gig that bring me immense satisfaction and fulfillment. I get up every morning and spend my day at a......

Another year - another turkey. Last year, on Thanksgiving weekend, my fiance and I were in the car with my brother and some dear friends, all dressed up to go do Patina "on the cheap" - apps and drinks only. (Still not cheap.) On our way there, a man screeched up in his car, rolled down the window, and started screaming at us. Screaming. Waving his arms and gesturing. He got out of his......

For 36 years, The Wiener Factory has been serving hot dogs out of their Sherman Oaks stand to loyal and new customers alike. Good for hot dog lovers, bad for residents craving Pinkberry:Officials with Pinkberry, a nonfat frozen-yogurt chain, were expected to tell a Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council panel Monday night that they wanted to raze the small hot-dog restaurant and build another Pinkberry store. "Historically, many things come and go. But we have......

Morrissey @ Palladium Annie Lennox @ Wilshire Theatre Pat Benatar @ Cerritos Center Rogue Wave @ El Rey Beirut @ Avalon The Tragically Hip @ House of Blues Bela Fleck & The Flecktones @ Henry Fonda Matt the Electrician, The Sheers, The Active Set @ Silverlake Lounge The Avengers, Pansy Division, The Red Hearts @ Spaceland Ozma, New Year's Day, Satisfaction, Ari Shine @ Knitting Factory The Gray Kid, Sam Sparro, Team Facelift, Daniel......

On any given day we have the chance to see major theatre, dance, and music performance in Los Angeles. Many organizations bring performing arts to our local kids. The city is full of generous volunteers who make mentoring a priority. One of these non-profits, the Virginia Avenue Project (VAP) celebrates its fifteenth year of changing the lives of the kids they serve by inspiring them to work hard, have fun creating theatre, and plan......

A recent 911 call about George Clooney's motorcycle crash in New Jersey has been made public. The operator seems quite confused - TMZ Uh Oh - do we have another celeb heading to rehab? Pamela Anderon's friends are concerned about her hard partying ways, drinking and doing damage to her liver when she already has Hep C (Thanks Tommy) - NY Post Bridget Moynihan poses for OK magazine with new baby boy, John, fathered by......

"So you know what you need to do to come off as authentic in San Pedro, right?" "Tell me!" We were all set to head off to the annual Lobster Fest held in San Pedro's charming seaside Ports O' Call. "You gotta call it Peeeeeedro." Peeeeeedro. Got it. Not that this was my first time searching out good times and good eats in this sunshiney little enclave nestled against the Port of Long Beach,......

According to the Down Syndrome Research and Treatment Fund (DSRTF) website, about one in every 800 American babies is born with Down syndrome and approximately 350,000 people in the U.S. have this condition today. Down syndrome is caused when a child is born with an extra chromosome, more specifically an extra copy of chromosome 21. The genes are all normal, but having an extra throws the delicate balance of the body off, which leads......

I live in a suburb. But our house is on an alley near some busy intersections, so the only wildlife around are sparrows and feral cats. Oh, and once I saw a flock of wild parrots. I work nearby in an office park that is a sea of concrete next to a huge shopping center. Imagine my surprise recently when someone came into the office and insisted, “Elise, you'd better come outside. Your truck......

Dear MCA, I would like to marry you and have 1000 of your Buddhist-rapper babies. While this may come across trite or ill conceived I assure you I am neither a crazy person nor a stalker fan. Of course I think you make great music, but what I’m saying is that I have not been harboring these feeling for two decades hoping that one day I’d have a chance to spring them on you.......

Photo by Prawnpie via Flickr I recently discovered that my friend's brother does PR for Lee Scratch Perry, one of the first reggae artists and experimenters in dub. Being half-Jamaican, (but born in Louisiana), I was a bit ashamed for only barely recognizing the name, but hey, my dad was listening to The Kinks and The Who at the time, and took off to England as soon as he was old enough, so I......

It's summer in Los Angeles and everyone knows that means heat, rising temps, dryness, wind and dust, which of course results in dirty cars. It happens. You know what else happens? As the heat rises, my patience lowers, especially when I come out of my house to do an errand and see that some jerkface went out of their way to write "Wash Me" on the back of my car- yes, my dirty car. With......

Oh those Swedes and their delightful pop melodies. Indie darlings the Shout Out Louds will play their last US date at the El Rey tomorrow night before heading out for extensive tour globetrotting. Opening the show will be San Diego’s Grand Ole Party and their special brew of vocal domination and dashing, funk-rock riffs. If you like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain, leave a comment citing your favorite Swedish thing (mine......

The 88 are great. The end. Dot com. But there is a disturbance is the force, and I’m not sure what the deal is. I do not know why Muppet-haired Brandon Jay left the band, but his high-energy nerdiness was visibly missing from last Friday’s performance at the Troubadour. Also missing were lead singer/guitarist Keith Slettedahl’s trademark glasses (sweatily sliding down his nose), and the whole band-in-matching-suits gimmick. New to the line-up, a suspicious......

Nude picture panic- Lindsay Lohan frets over nude pictures taken by boy toy Calum Best, she believes may have been stolen - New York Post In other Lindsay news, the newly sober 21 year old celebrated in Vegas at Pure this weekend sippin on Red Bulls only - TMZ Former Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland collapses during a concert in Nigeria from dehydration - People Now that Victoria Beckham is in Los Angeles she's looking......

The path of terror and destruction heads to Los Angeles with a Dwarves show coming to Safari Sam's on July 20th. The Dwarves are a punk band going strong since the late 80's originating out of Chicago, who are legendary for their wild shows. If you go to a Dwarves show someone's wiener is coming out, and if you're in the front row... you're prolly going to get "involved". Blag Dahlia, the guy without bikini......

18,000 screaming queens, pregnant nuns, and babies in lederhosen headed to the Hollywood Bowl last Saturday for the annual Sound Of Music Sing-A-Long. As expected, many snacks from Trader Joe's were eaten (might I recommend the Artichoke/Jalapeno dip), much swooning over Christopher Plummer took place, the Baroness got hissed at, Julie Andrews was cheered, and the unified masses belted in earnest (and amazingly in key) the tunes from Rodgers & Hammerstein's final masterpiece. How......

We're not even gay and we love Kathy Griffin. In fact of all the people who have tried to fill the shoes of Joan Rivers on the Red Carpet, we believe that Kathy did it better than all of them combined. And what was her reward? E! put her way up as far off the red carpet as they could so as not to fluster the celebs. Poor babies. And poor viewers. Kathy has......

All across the Ist-A-Verse (or at least the American parts thereof), writers and editors are in the midst of enjoying their three-day weekend. But after the week we've all had, we feel like the break is not only needed, but deserved. Just look at everything we've been doing! Gothamist headed into the Memorial Day weekend with a number of tasks accomplished. They worried about Long Islanders giving New Yorkers a bad name. They tried......

Cashew-Cilantro Pesto over Ravioli, Roasted Asparagus, & Mushrooms Okay, okay, so we didn’t mean to piss off the vegans, but somewhere in between dead babies and an ontological inquiry into the humble mollusk, we lost sight of what’s really important: good, fresh, locally grown food. In an attempt to put our money where our (hungry) mouth is, we visited the Farmer's Market at Santa Monica's 3rd Street Promenade this weekend. We were delighted to......

The infamous leader of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, the PTL, the National Liberty Journal, Liberty University, and the Moral Majority was found dead this morning in his office at Liberty Univeristy in Virginia. The controversial televangelist used his influence to push his agenda of conservative intolerance onto the Republican party who accepted it and enable it even today. That sort of influence hasn't always sat well with all Republicans. John McCain in 2000......

How good was "Lost" last night? Damn! Unlike many of its critics, I was/am happy with this crazy show meandering and wandering and dragging its feet. I don't need to know why The Others are obsessed with babies. I don't bother myself with details such as why the fat guy hasn't lost a pound on that island despite eating better (less greasy, no fast food) and moving around more. And I don't care that......

When we heard that a Georgia couple were sentenced to prison yesterday for the death-by-vegan-diet of their infant son, we got a little bit pissed off: "DAMN VEGANS and their DAMN DIETARY RESTRICTIONS! Now they're killing babies, what's next?? Muzzling tigers so they can't hunt their prey? De-fanging sharks so they can't devour fish? Ruining Christmas???" Then we calmed down a bit and took a closer look at the story: the baby's death was......

Sex is something that drives us, empowers us and gets us into really stupid situations with people we have no business seeing naked. Jen Sincero is the bestselling author and sexpert with the carnal knowledge you need. Ask her your questions (all are posted anonymously). Cuz there's no such thing as being too good in bed. Dear Jen, I am a 21 year-old male who lost his virginity to the girl who is now......

We had a pair of tickets and two posters for the Sonic Youth show at the Greek next month for a lucky winner who dared to either daydream or tell us a story. It will be a historic show as the band will play their entire Daydream Nation album. AS won with the story below that was chosen randomly. We understand that there are still a few tickets left for the July 20th show,......

Everyone's favorite trainwreck is climbing back on the stage after a long haitus to lipsync for you, America, and inspire high school halftime routines once again. Just like we sorta told y'all. Despite rumors and misunderstandings that her previously-canceled Forty Duece secret show had anything to do with her three House of Blues appearances this weekend, San Diego's NBC affiliate, 7/39 is reporting that a woman who matches the description of the former Mrs.......