Today it became official. Mark Lisanti, the Editor of Defamer since mid-2004, is done as of this Friday: Of the 9 or 10,000 posts I've done since we started this site, this one is the hardest to write. After almost four years here at Defamer, I've decided it's finally time to move on. In an effort to keep this short and sweet, I'll be climbing out of the blogging hamster-wheel this Friday, and though I......

Okay, so maybe the only time people in Los Angeles gathered around to see how something affiliated with a groundhog turned out was when the Bill Murray-Andie MacDowell movie Groundhog Day premiered in 1993, cementing the comic idea of life on an endless replay loop in our pop culture lexicon. But early this morning, in a far-off place called Gobbler's Knob, Pennsylvania, the real celebrity groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, drew crowds as his annual (and allegedly......

Nowadays, fairy tales have been cleaned up (and often outfitted with boring pop culture referential comedy that mitigates the timelessness of the stories) Cinderella's evil sisters don't cut off parts of their feet to fit into the glass slipper. The little mermaid lives happily ever after instead of sacrificing herself to save the life of her beloved. These stories were made to tap into children's deepest fears, to give weight to the shadows the......

If Maila Nurmi had never created her alter ego, Vampira, I wouldn't know how to act, dress or put on make-up. As the Misfits sang: “Two inch nails, micro waist, with a pale white feline face, inclination eyebrows to there.” Nor would it have been as cool to be into all the weird, spooky, horror show stuff that I’ve loved since childhood. We all need role models, and without mine, I would have been......

This Saturday Dec. 22nd @ the Key Club there's going to be a Joe Strummer Tribute thing-thang honoring the late rock legend, by not only performing many of the songs he wrote but also putting all the money raised towards Strummerville (the charity set up in his name) The press release states the following:Joining Zander Schloss & The Wilderness Years, Three Bad Jacks, David J (Bauhaus), Hellride (featuring Mike Watt, Steven Perkins & Peter......

One of the many tattoos done by Kat Von D This past Friday night, The Learning Channel's LA Ink tattoo artist vixen, Kat von D, attempted to break the world record for most tattoos done in a 24 hour period. With lines forming almost 48 hours in advance, people flocked from as far away as Ohio to be apart of tattoo history. At about 3:30 in the morning on Friday, we decided to head......

Joel McHale hosts The Soup, a celebration of the most embarrassing moments in pop culture every Friday night on E! From Tila Tequila to Yo Gabba Gabba you can count on The Soup to gather all the "best of" moments into one big pot of funny. LAist headed to the E! studios for a backstage tour, taping of the show, and one on one with the man who is not afraid to say Oprah's Va-Jay-Jay......

Does Depp's Sweeney Todd rip off Dave Vanian? ...

About the above picture: The Rawking Refuses To Stop!, a blog of all things Los Angeles pop culture and MP3, shares with us their best concert photos of 2007. Above, they sneak out of LA to New York to see Les Savy Fav at the Bowery Ballroom (we'll just say they did the same thing when they came here). Don't forget -- you still have today and tomorrow to enter our Rufus Wainwright/Belinda Carlisle......

MTV's The Hills Season Finale pre-show, live after party took place tonight at AREA Nightclub in West Hollywood, which seemed to be the perfect spot for a soiree such as this. Walking the Red Carpet (or shall I say Blue Carpet) were Lauren, Brody, Audrina, LOD, Frankie, Katie and Heidi. And apparently the personal trainer. Surprise, suprise, Heidi Montag showed up on the carpet briefly, alone and without a wedding ring. it seems that......

One of the most important composers of the 20th Century, German avant-garde and electronic composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, has died. The cause of his Wednesday death, which was announced today, is unknown at this point. Stockhausen made his way into pop culture when his image appeared on the Beatles album cover to the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album. After 9/11, his name surfaced in the main stream media when the press misinterpreted a statement......

Most of us point, shoot and load our photos into Flickr. And then there are some who scan in old photos such as Alan Light. Above is a photo taken outside the Viper Room in 1994, the year after River Phoenix's early morning Halloween death. Fans graffitied the wall between the club and what is now a cigar shop. Today, that wall is painted beige. Almost 10 years later to the day, singer/songwriter Elliot......

In 1987, U2 did a little guerrilla music video shoot on top of the Republic Liquor Store at 7th and Main in Downtown Los Angeles. Only announced hours before the shoot on the radio, thousands and thousands of fans poured into what many considered a bad part of town prompting the LAPD to have a little freak out and try shut down the show before anything happened. Luckily, in the name of rock n'......

Great things can happen. But somehow, he always ends up getting kicked in the nads. Anime was always a bit much for me, but in 2-minute clips, it's the best. Click on the image or go to the jump to watch the movie (It's on auto-play).......

Last weekend my dad accompanied me to see the Salvador Dali exhibit at LACMA (although, to avoid a $20 cover and massive crowds, I’d opt for the $17 weekday peek). Nonetheless, and as expected, the exhibit was absolutely astonishing. Upon leaving Dali we toured the famous Japanese Pavilion, which houses a good portion of LACMA’s permanent collection – art and artifacts spanning centuries, the scope of which is indescribable. We left the Pavilion awe-struck (once......

My asshole has been clenched in anticipation since October 18, 2006 for the fourth season of the Bravo hit show Project Runway. On that Wednesday evening, I was at a Project Runway finale viewing party my friend threw at her apartment in West LA watching local designer and Cosa Nostra founder Jeffrey Sebelia win the whole kit and caboodle. Starting tomorrow there will be 15 brand new contestants vying for: An editorial feature in......

This weekend a new "show" called Quarterlife premiered and with its premiere, the realization of web-based entertainment was brought one step closer. Have there been other attempts at creating episodic (webisode) programming for the internet? Yes, but not with the calibre of participants or the level of funding that was brought to Quarterlife. The actors in Quarterlife are actors that you may have already seen in television programs like The West Wing, Ugly Betty, and......

After the successful release of their new album "Honeycreeper", international pop duo superstars Puffy AmiYumi are touring some West coast cities inlcuding the Key Club in Los Angeles November 16th, and the House of Blues in Anaheim November 18th. Puffy AmiYumi epitomize the phrase "I'm huge in Japan", but they don't just stop there. They're huge everywhere. It's as if the Beatles were two Japanese chicks, and started mashing out records in the mid-90s. They're......

With lines wrapping around the Borders bookstore in Torrance, yesterday Slash signed autographs and stoked fans of all ages excited and holding a copy of his new aptly titled book, "Slash". Arriving at 7:45, I saw that if i wanted to get a signed copy of Slash's book, i was going to have to wait in a line to get into the line that zig-zagged through the bookstore. I am not that patient, and......

The day after Neil Young’s first show at the Nokia Theater, I was having trouble believing I hadn’t dreamed the whole thing. I got pictures, but they’re kind of blurry. My friends seem to remember the same things happening, but I could have dreamed them up too. It just seemed like too much. As you may have guessed if you read my earlier review of Chrome Dreams 2, I’m a big fan. Long time......

A brief overview of the new Takashi Murakami exhibit at the MOCA....

Blackalicious will come through LA for a show Wednesday, October 24 @ the Roxy Theater, along with a special performance by The Mighty Underdogs, and Crown City Rockers will kick off the night. The Mighty Underdogs is a new collaboration between Quannum MCs Gift of Gab and Lateef the Truthspeaker, with production by Headnotic of Crown City Rockers. This will be their showcasing run. Coming up in 2008 for Blackalicious on Quannum will be......

Sneaking into my seat in the Skirball Center’s small auditorium, I look around to notice that I may be the youngest person in the audience by about thirty years, with the exception of a painfully bored looking teen two rows back. “The truth,” the emcee is saying in a rich British accent as he introduces the show, “can be inconvenient.” Applause breaks through from the crowd at his tie-in to pop culture. He’s introducing The......

The Detour Festival was ok. I didn't stay for very long because my girlfriend and I felt like cattle, and were tired of doing the unavoidable million laps around City Hall. Basically we echo all the sentiments previously put forth by our faithful editor, Tony Pierce. After the jump enjoy over 60 pics of such bands and big shots as: Kinky, Janeane Garofalo, Autolux, The Ravonettes, and Perry Ferrell's Satellite Party. All Photos by......

I have a neighbor named Zac. He's always pleasant and holds the elevator door open for me when he doesn't have to. Young, unassuming, and a generally-likable guy. Little did I know that my neighbor became one of young Hollywood's breakout stars virtually overnight. I noticed that he was on the cover of People magazine one day with this young girl I sometimes saw him hanging out with. Little did I know that my neighbor......

The TelePromTer-readers and out-of-touch-hate-mongers of the mainstream media thought that they were being super-cool by discussing/bitching about the presidential candidate debates that were posted on YouTube. So since that new, interesting, and youth-vote promoting aspect of the next election has been talked to death by the talking-heads, I have found these candidate related webpages to occupy me during my early in the ante meridian down-time: At SuperBook.com, you can go to their "Exotic Lines"......

Necro grew up in Brooklyn listening to rap and heavy metal, and took all those influences and fused them together. Like if death-metal and hip-hop had a baby after a failed abortion. And while it's so good you will want to memorize every word, don't let your girlfriend listen to it... Not unless you want a lot of explaining to do, "No baby, i'm not a psycho, Necro is, but im just a fan!"......

Marilyn Manson and Slayer bashed open our collective brains, and feasted on our souls. We in turn worshiped and thanked them for every second of it. Of course, it's a haul getting one's ass all the way out to the damned Irvine Meadows/Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, but where else can these dudes play? Promoters aren't letting all of us head bangers and moshers into the Hollywood Bowl anytime soon. Pffft... we'd destroy that place. The......

Pigeon John is so LA that he doesn't neglect the South Bay, like so many others choose to do. That's why he's gonna be at Venezia in Redondo Beach tonight, bringing the love to all the bitches, as per usual. We love Pigeon John, partly because he can make non-hiphop people stop and say, "Hey what's that? Turn it up!" The Luminaries will be holding it down closer to LA if you're not down......

There is so much cool stuff going down tonight, you’d better start chugging that Red Bull!! First, the Hammer Museum will be celebrating the closing night of Eden’s Edge: Fifteen L.A. Artists. Admission to the museum will be free(!), and DJ Tendaji Lathan will spin the soundtrack as you enjoy the cash bar and the works of L.A. artists Ginny Bishton, Sharon Ellis, Matt Greene, and Jason Rhoades (who is sadly no longer with......