Photo by darkpatator via Flickr Here at LAist, we get hundreds of e-mails a day, sometimes at the rate of one e-mail per minute. Press releases, invites, statements and tips all flood our boxes. Many of these e-mails are from bands. Whether they are local or traveling through, there are lots and lots of shows every single night in this town and that adds up in the inbox (and sometimes it's coming at you......

I didn't want to just do a "best of" list. So this year, I've decided to take a years worth of personal New Year's Resolutions, ask around for those of friends and put a call out to readers (email me here) about things you've always wanted to know, always wanted to do and then take those requests and ask an expert, an insider to help out. The result? Here goes... Today's Resolution: "I am......

We once knew Captain Automatic lead man, Josh Kamensky, as the public relations guru for the popular councilman Eric Garcetti and one of the very few at City Hall that was hip to new media. Back in October, Kamensky left the job to pursue other goals, part of that being music. Last night, the band of of three and a half jews sent us a clip of their holiday song, "(We Used To Have A)......

Yesterday's citywide public relations blitz, "A Day Without a Bag," to bring awareness to our bad habits of using and and ditching paper and plastic bags in the trash was a quaint effort by city and county leaders -- a step in the right direction, as it were. Though, in a nation where the average household consumes 750 plastic bags a year, one day, or two bags, is hardly habit forming. And habit is......

It was the day of the Mitchell Report And all through the house, Not a ballplayer was boozing, Not even Nancy, the louse The lawyers were called from Sidekicks with care In fear that St. George would soon be there. The players were all fearful on their mistresses beds, Visions of subpoenas dancing in their heads; Bud in his kerchief, and Boras in his cap Had just settled down for a post-Winter Meetings nap.......

The WORST NEWS IMAGINABLE: you know that shiny new Fender Strat Rock Band controller? It's probably going to break. I KNOW. Harmonix is finally responding to the issue, but we hear it's fairly easy to fix at home. More fallout from striking writers: the Democratic party has cancelled next month's candidate debate due to a contract dispute between CBS and its many creative staffers. The Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger aircraft, is at......

On Monday, not many people in Los Angeles knew the name Jack Chiang, a city planner overseeing a project in Valley Village. Then on Tuesday, The Daily News published the Department of Planning staffer's name. Come Wednesday, the LA Times caught on. Why all the sudden popularity? Sometimes when you pick up the phone and dial a number, you call the wrong person and leave a message.A Los Angeles City Council panel voted Tuesday......

I was struck this weekend by a most wonderful thought: my neighborhood, the NoHo Arts District, is getting to be a fun place to walk around at night. I used to jokingly refer to the District's studiously "fun!" new moniker as "merely an exercise in public relations rather than a reference to anything 'real,'" but after getting out and about on Friday night, I have to say that this stretch of Lankershim Boulevard really......

With the threat of a writers strike less than 24 hours away, the WGA and the AMPTP reconvened negotiations this morning. Federal mediator Juan Carlos Gonzales joined the discussions yesterday, and again, the WGA is claiming that no progress has been made. Among other things, Variety is reporting that the WGA will most likely delay the beginning of a strike until late next week. The article says this would be an advantageous move for......

The inspiring and occasionally hilarious Points West columnist delivered the commencement address to graduating undergrads and graduate students of USC's Annenberg School of Journalism (and Strategic Public Relations) on Friday.......

We got a hold of Metro's internal e-mail newsletter (after the jump) that talked about the LA Marathon and this what we think: 1. It is a good newsletter for operational insight. 2. Why the hell is it just internal? 3. This is more informative and transparent than anything we have seen from Metro, even if it is a bit of fluff. 4. It is important for Metro to communicate like this with their......

When it rained this weekend 150 tons of trash from LA's sewers flushed beneath us and ended up in the ocean. This is why we can't have nice things. "The volume of trash collected at the L.A. River boom is a powerful reminder that everything in the street - trash, cigarette butts, pet waste, even oil that leaks from cars - washes into the ocean after each heavy rainfall," said Emma Ayala, Head, Public......

What does a wind speed of 25 mph or more plus a humidity of 15% or less equal? It equals a Red Flag day where those two ingredients can easily bring out a fast moving brush fire in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, which happens to be in those lovely hills many call home. Whether it's the Hollywood Hills or Sherman Oaks, people who live on old and skinny streets that would......

Simple, clear purpose and principles give rise to complex and intelligent behavior. Complex rules and regulations give rise to simple and stupid behavior. ~ Dee Hock Tunnel vision the keywords “Los Angeles city council” in the past few months and one might think LA is corrupt beyond belief. Sure, sketchy things happen: term limits on tomorrow's ballot attached to an ethics reform proposal, Brown Act questions, raised fees and raised salaries. But try this:......

Offering low-cost clothing to slim-hipped wastrels isn't easy, and Swedish clothing chain H&M strives to stay on the cutting-edge of cutting costs. Competing in a cutthroat global marketplace, the company has found that budgetary consciousness doesn't only apply to the factory floor, it can extend to the highest reaches of the corporate machine thanks to the advances of the computer age. To that end H&M is the first major retailer to deploy the PR-Bot......

One of KCRW's newer contributors, Associated Press TV writer Frazier Moore, is one of our favorites. Like many podcasts, we subscribe to his and it's always a delight to hear a fresh perspective on all things TV. Here is Moore on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: I have to marvel how this pales beside the real-life jam ABC put itself in last week with its factually disputed miniseries The Path to 9/11. Witlessly......

It’s easy to forget how many Angelenos influence what we read, consume and think. For every telegenic actor accepting an award or CEO discussing his latest stock offering with a journalist, there is a phalanx of publicity professionals and marketing specialists choreographing the entire event. Eric Schwartzman is one of these behind- the-scenes maestros who are so adept at making the general public aware of the latest person, place or thing. After honing his skills......

In the crowded field of public relations, marketing, specialty novelty/luxury items, and events, Kerith Elizabeth Henderson has her own thing going. Kerith’s experience of developing her own business is a noteworthy tale for folks trying to find their way and forge careers in creative, non-traditional ways while having fun. Plus it’s a reminder to us all that publicists are people too, ahem. Age and Occupation: 31. President of PRess, co-owner of PiscesSoap.com and Marketing......

File this one under "not that we care that much": Though Jessica Simpson has often been dinged in the media for being well, a dingbat -- LAist can never ever look at a can of Chicken of the Sea in the same way again -- she was brilliant at image control this weekend. (Yes, we did use Jessica Simpson and "brilliant" in the same sentence.) Our favorite former newlyweds, Simpson and Nick Lachey, were......

After a near no-hitter from Derek Lowe last night, the Dodgers suddenly find themselves just five games back of the Padres. Last week, we said the Dodgers should be sellers before the trade deadline. But we might have to take a mulligan. With five days before the trade deadline, giving up with just a five-game deficit would probably wreck the psyche of a franchise already walking a public relations tightrope. The public and the......

When the biggest splash your public relations firm makes involves getting itself itself in the headlines on charges of fraud, that’s probably not a good sign. Two former executives at the Fleishman-Hillard public relations firm, Douglas R. Dowie and John Stodder Jr., were accused yesterday of inflating the number of hours for which they charged the city for the firm’s work, and of working on projects for former mayor James Hahn on a contract......

Brace yourselves. Popular teen serial "The OC" returns tonight for its second season on Fox at 8 PM. And now it's leaping off the screen and into our dimension as (shudder) a brand. Women's Wear Daily reports that "a higher-end clothing line inspired by the program will launch for spring after the debut last week of a subscription-based Web site called TheOCInsider.com. Members of the Web site will receive The OC Insider Magazine, which......