TALK Michael Alexander, author of Jazz Age and the Jews, will discuss Jewish life in the roaring 20s, including performer Al Jolson, Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter and mobster Arnold Rothstein in the lecture “‘Mammy, Don’t You Know Me?’: Al Jolson and the Jews.” He’ll discuss the 1920s as a heyday of Jewish culture, but why many identified with groups that remained marginalized. Book signing and dessert reception will follow. 7 pm // Davidson Conference......

(c) Andy Summers and courtesy of TASCHEN" src="http://laist.com/attachments/la_andy/andy_summers_crowd.jpg" width="640" height="403" /> Amoeba was not quite as crowded last night for Andy Summers' "I'll Be Watching You: Inside The Police 1980-83" book signing as was the Austin record store that the photographer, author, and erst-while guitarist for The Police captured in B/W from the set of a 1980 in-store appearance. But Summers was kept busy for over two hours signing copies of the impressive, nearly......

My relatives on the east coast just don't understand California weather. For a time, it seemed they saw Southern California as the land of rainbows, unicorns and constant, seasonless, unrelenting heat. The gifts they sent me reflected these beliefs - bikinis that would embarrass a stripper, all manner of atrocious patterned terrycloth 'loungewear', big, cheap plastic sunglasses that they thought all the movie stars might wear whenever they ventured out of their fabulous mansions to......

After the disaster that was Evan Almighty, Steve Carell seems to have recovered (albeit slightly) with Dan in Real Life. Carell stars as a widower who inadvertently falls in love with his brother's girlfriend--hey, who fucking hasn't?! Celebrated French hellcat, er, actress Juliette Binoche stars as said girlfriend (which is good). Dane Cook is the brother, though, which is bad. Which is awful. Which sucks so hard there's no way I'm seeing this movie.......

We bought an 8th of this stuff for $50 from some guy eating Cap'n Crunch cereal. Skunk #1 is an infamous and popular strain and has been around LA, and the world, for decades. In case it isn't obvious already, it got its name for smelling like those black and white members of the rodent family, Skunks. Pre-Smoke Examination: The buds are uniformly egg shaped, and very dense. The buds are extremely aromatic, and......

Anastasia Griffith plays the hot, and somewhat indiscreet drug-using and slutty restauranteur Katie Connor in "Damages" (FX, Tuesdays, 10:00pm) - you might also remember her from "Alfie" and "Dirty Rotten Love". The story so far as we know it shows Katie getting played by both corporate scumbag Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson) and no-holds barred harpie lawyer Patty Hewes (Glenn Close). Sorry about the pigeonholing stereotypes - everybody plays there characters well beyond those cookie-cutter......

There is just something about seeing old black and white films on the big screen that gets our motor ticking. Put them in old theaters and you have a winning combination. This year's series of the LA Conservancy's, Last Remaining Seats, has been a hit and selling out. There are two nights left. Tonight you can make your way over to the John Anson Ford Ampitheater to see La Balandra Isabel llegó esta tarde,......

I knew he'd caught me. It was the first time in a long while that the 405 had been wide open and I was taking full advantage of that delicious opportunity. A few minutes into driving way too fast, I spotted the black and white in my rear view and knew my happiness would be short lived. But then...he moved into another lane! As he drove past me, I noticed the words "Movie Car"......

We won't say one way or the other whether we think Paris should spend 45 days in the slammer, but LA-based jewelry designer Red Freckles definitely thinks Paris got a raw deal. In support of the pink princess, Red Freckles created a hot pink bracelet called Paris is My Cell Mate "because she is a loyal customer, she’s always been nice to me, she’s a nice girl, people don’t give her enough credit." Of......

The following dramatic reenactment is based on actual events. No names have been changed to protect anybody. MISS JAY: Hey Lisa. Want to go to Eagle Rock to see a band called Clown Eyes and Corn Nuts? LISA: Clown Eyes and Corn Nuts!? I'd go anywhere to see a band called Clown Eyes and Corn Nuts. The crushing blow came many hours later when it was discovered that I had misunderstood Miss Jay, and......

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra just launched their new website. Classical music has went and gotten a makeover of black and white dashed with red, behind-the-music blogs posts the obligatory MySpace music profile and "LACO Pulse, the orchestra's network for the young and culturally savvy" (get together, drink, play pool, talk music). Shows to look out for this season at LACO are Musaic at the Jazz Bakery in May, Baroque Conversations 1 (we love Telemann!)......

Starting tomorrow, Saturday, January 13th, at 5:00 p.m., TVGasm.com embarks on a marathon of "24" viewing in eager and obsessive anticipation of the season premiere on Sunday. They've got tons of schwag they're going to give away, an Edgar tribute, call-ins, guests, contests, and they're hoping to get Kiefer and anybody else from the show to stop by. I had a chance to pepper co-host Saul Friedman with some LAist-specific questions, namely what "24"......

Watching Noel Gallagher playing on stage at the Wadsworth Theatre Thursday night was like hanging out with an obnoxious, older brother you haven’t seen in a few years. He definitely looked older, more mature, with an increased abundance of life experience under his belt, but once he opened his mouth, the same obnoxious jerk you remembered from years ago never left; Noel is still that same bratty Brit, and it’s comforting to know that......

“The known center of the universe is Ikea… the whole world is built on consuming and shopping,” local photographer Bill Owens quipped yesterday during a discussion of his photographic odyssey of 1970s suburban sprawl. Owens’ lecture at the USC graduate school of art was the trial run for presentations he will be giving at the MOCA Pacific Design Center today at 3 pm on his solo exhibit and The Getty on Sunday for the......

Challenge: Create a cocktail dress using only a black and white palette, incorporating all material purchased in the overall look. No leftover scraps are permitted. They are given one day to construct. Guest Judge: Designer Zac Posen. Heidi wasn’t kidding when she said the challenges would get harder. Starting from last challenge, immunity was dissolved. This week’s episode twist is more like a wrench thrown into the spokes of a moving bicycle. Heidi announces......

So my first movie review for LAist turns out to be for a totally New York movie. That’s ironic, or something. Not that you know it’s set in New York, per se, because it’s mostly interior shots and they never really say where it is. But you’d kinda be able to guess after a while, because pretty much every character is like Woody Allen without the jokes: whiny, navel-gazing in a neurotic way (as opposed......

How can't you delight in the glee of a young man meeting one of his celebrity heroes? Yesterday a teen from West LA went to his local Best Buy on Friday and stood in line for hours with his friends. He pre-ordered the cd, as was instructed, and after 6 hours of waiting, he got to meet the heiress, and thanks to MySpace, we now have this report. I walk up in disbelief and......

by Bree McGuire I'm really not an arena-rock kinda girl-- I prefer the troubadour or spaceland, where I can get rockstar sweat on me without showing up 4 hours early and elbow-wrestling to the barricade. But if the bands have the energy to fill up the gaping concrete space, bring it on. Unfortunately we missed The Subways and Head Automatica and came in at the beginning of Angels & Airwaves set as they opened......

The SAG awards start with a bunch of actors telling their stories to the camera. 8:04 Sandra Bullock, the first presenter, is wearing a cute dress. Too bad she spits out her lines like they're cedar chips. She introduces Crash, for best ensemble film. 8:05 Eva Longoria looks amazing, of course, except for her 50s-era hair tragedy. Patricia Arquette, on the other hand, has '30s era hair that works for her. Will she beat out......

Stay tuned for Day 2 and Day 3, of which Day 3 includes a very hot Katie Holmes news tidbit....

What should we tell you about Kong? That the hour and fifteen minutes after Jack, Ann, Denham and the rest arrive at Skull Island are not for the weak hearted? That the film is shot beautifully? That there are moments when the lighting is so stark, the simple movie effects so classic, that you wish it was in black and white? That the strongest performances are by Kyle Chandler as the incredibly cartoonish Bruce......

Ed Note: We postponed publication of Monday's LAist Interview until today in honor of the Independence Day holiday. Craig Havens, a graduate of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, is a fine art photographer whose commercial assignments have appeared in magazines such as Rolling Stone, JANE, Los Angeles Magazine, WYWS, and Detour. In 2004 he became the first American photographer to be honored with a solo exhibition at the Grand Hall Artists Union......

Like most other movie goers this weekend, we saw Sin City. We loved it. As unashamed comic book nerds, the idea of a direct graphic novel adaptation of the Frank Miller classics was simply spectacular to watch. Cinematical thinks "The Hard Goodbye" was the best of the stories and we agree although it did run a little longer than necessary. We can forgive that though because of Carla Gugino. Mmmm, Carla Gugino. We're highly......

One thing we've noticed about little kids in LA is how well-dressed they are. We've seen babies sporting adorable customized onesies that don't look like they all came from Baby Gap and we're awfully glad to see that not all LA kids wear teeny, tiny Uggs. Curious about the variety of kid clothing choices, we've been looking around the LA kid clothing scene and discovered LA artist Doris Oswald-Burrell's line of children's clothing while......

Jared Hess (director of Napoleon Dynamite and Postal Service's most recent video) will be part of the Q and A tonight along with Michael and Olivier Gondry and Peter Cornwell at this month's RES screening. Not quite as cool but an added bonus? First 100 people in the door get a free pair of Converse. We presume they'll be some assortment of black and white Chucks. How could they not be?......