It was obvious when Travel + Leisure Magazine put New York City up against Minneapolis that the big apple would win. It was an easy choice when you had to choose between San Francisco and Phoenix. But when we saw Los Angeles in competition with Honolulu, we knew the fate that was to come. The second round of voting began today for the magazine's favorite city in America contest that follows up on their best......

Remember that crazy list from Travel + Leisure where we were ranked as the rudest and dumbest city earlier this month (and not to mention last year, too)? Well, the magazine has a little online bracketed game where you can vote for the best cities. It puts San Francisco up against Phoenix, New York City against Minneapolis. It sounds like SF and NYC have it in the bag. But who is Los Angeles in competition......

The Sunday LA Times has a new addition--well, an old addition reinvented, sort of. It's LA, the new Los Angeles Times Magazine, but it's only available in print. In the age of the internets, a print-only publication (parented by a print publication that has had to face the age of the internets and--stop the presses!--do something about it) is a risky enterprise. Eating L.A.'s Pat Saperstein reviews the new mag on her blog today, and......

Reviews of Jay Babcock's review of Los Angeles didn't go so well in the comments section yesterday. Babcock, the man behind Arthur Magazine, left Los Angeles for Brooklyn earlier this month. Soundboard on LA Times caught up with him and quizzed him about his move and Babcock went off on Los Angeles. Today, Babcock explains his side of the story on the blog at Arthur Magazine's website: "I recently talked to an LATimes dude......

The man behind Arthur Magazine, Jay Babcock, recently took the indie rag's operation to Brooklyn where he decided to resettle. Soundboard, the LA Times music blog, got a hold of him for a short interview. His answer to the first question, "what prompted the move to Brooklyn?", is quite a read: New York is just a more hospitable environment than L.A. ever has been or will be. L.A. is devolving quickly, and I think......

Exhibitors set up for Dwell on Design | Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist The newest and hottest trends in new modern design and eco-friendly building are hitting the Los Angeles Convention Center this weekend at Dwell on Design. Over 200 exhibitors will display their outdoor, indoor and prefab wares including new products being launched this weekend. Additionally, there will be displays (ex., the Nomad yurt), sixteen private home tours and after hours parties. Thursday and......

Photo by miss patricia via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr. PARTY Popular magazine URB is having a release party for their upcoming issue tonight. DJ ?uestlove shows off his talents after completing the new Roots album. 10 p.m. // The Roxy Theater // 9009 Sunset Blvd. Hollywood // $18 STAGE Tonight, Emergency, a performance piece by Daniel Beaty, ends it’s run at the Geffen Playhouse. Beaty becomes all of the forty characters......

AP Photo/Matt Sayle Exclusive parties are thrown all the time at the Playboy Mansion, but yesterday's luncheon was a bigger event for Playboy -- Playmate of the Year. This time around, the annual event's honoree is January 2007's model, the 22-year-old Jayde Nicole. She is the first Canadian Playmate of the Year in 26 years. Furthermore, Defamer makes a good observation about Canadian women: "Hailing from Scarborough, Ontario, Nicole is just the latest in......

LAist is proud to begin offering a weekly, chart roundup of Billboard Magazine’s most coveted rankings. Join us as we revel in the conventional standard of musical success. Let us cross our fingers, hoist our lighters, and dream together of the supreme resurrection of artist-driven recordings that will forever eclipse the dark cloud of big label greed, A&R sleaze and disposable audio. Amen. Here are this week’s chart toppers. Behold the #1’s. Billboard Charts......