This Halloween, down some Zombies & get wasted with The Rum Diary! Then, from three sheets to the wind comes nine lives of Puss In Boots. Plus Hipsters & Oka! in limited release.
Weekend Movie Guide 10/28: Why's The 'Rum' Gone?
Puppets Unravel The Mystery Of Hipster Evolution
We love reading, writing and watching videos about hipsters. L.A. is brimming with them (we're looking at you, Silver Lake). But we could never pinpoint exactly where the hipster was born. Lucky for us (and now you) Glove and Boots produced "Evolution of the Hipster," a video summing up the decades of hipster progression via two puppets - Mario and Fafa. We took notes.
LAist Interview: Organist Cameron Carpenter, On Milk, Music, and Hipsters
Cameron Carpenter is probably one of the best (and most controversial) organists to ever take the stage and he's performing this Sunday at the Disney Hall (a fun Mother's Day activity, if you're still looking for something to do) in a program featuring transcriptions of Bach (well Cameron's transcription of a Busoni transcription), Brahms, and Mahler. You can also follow him on Twitter and facebook to learn more.
Attention, Silver Lake: 'Hipsters' on Deathwatch?
Fold up your skinny jeans and ironic t-shirts, kids. While it doesn't get much more hipster than to be known for your Tumblr blog, comedian Joe Mande has turned his snark into payday with the release of his book Look At This Fucking Hipster.
Calling all Silver Lake Hipsters, Reality TV Wants You
No joke, via Craisglist via Curbed LA & @takesunset: "A new Reality Show is casting Silver Lake's rich, wealthy, hipster GUYS and GIRLS 21-30 whose personal style is homeless chic: Guys with beards, ratty hair and raggedy yet stylish clothing - and Girls dressed in fashionable, vintage hippie-type garb accessorized with large sunglasses and oversized tote bags. You must be incredibly involved in the Silver Lake social scene, enjoy a sensational nightlife Silver Lake style and be very outspoken with a vivacious personality. You must also hang with a racially diverse, intriguing group of friends who all live in Silver Lake..." Will it go hand in hand with the related HBO show in development?
'Ironic Hipster Bar' Stinkers to Celebrate 1 Year
Has it been a year already? The "Eastside's" most loved/hated bar, Stinkers Truck Stop, will celebrate its one-year anniversary this Sunday evening with drink specials and swag including, wait for it, air-fresheners and hats. For those who remember, an LAist post last year about the bar became quite heated in the comments section. One year later, we're curious if this place is still ironic.
Ellen Page to Write HBO Show about 2 Girls Moving from Williamsburg to Silver Lake
Oh, this hipsterville to hipsterville concept has potential be wicked awesome, or an ultimate fail. Ellen Page and two others are writing and executive producing a comedy that "follows two painfully cool hipster girls as they relocate from Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood to Los Angeles' Silver Lake enclave in hopes of becoming artists -- of any kind," reports the Hollywood Reporter.
LAPD Sobriety Checkpoint in Echo Park Tonight
They better clear some jail cells for a bunch of drunk hipsters tonight. On the heels of 80 DUI incidents and 792 hit and runs in LAPD's Northeast Division this year, officers will hold a sobriety checkpoint at Sunset Boulevard and Echo Park Avenue tonight from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. Expect some traffic in the area, especially in light of Thom Yorke's show around the corner at the Echoplex.
In Silver Lake: 'It’s kind of an American Apparel ad come to life'
You can thank Terence McFarland, the executive director of the Los Angeles Stage Alliance, for that fantastic quote about Sweaty Sundays (and Wet Wednesdays), a popular updated Richard Simmons dance exercise class " to a soundtrack of indie rock, techno, and 1980s new wave hits new wave" in Silver Lake. The New York Times takes an interest--"Silver Lake, a hipster neighborhood in Los Angeles"--while Gawker ponders if Williamsburg hipsters in Brooklyn can step up to the challenge.
Why Does Everyone Hate Hipsters Assholes?
The main theme of the seminal grunge documentary Hype! is how something that by its very nature was anti-commercial became commercialized.
Extra Extra: Tony Pierce, We'll Miss Ya Something Awful
- Want a Wii this holiday season? Well toooooo fuckin bad. The best you can hope for is a rain check certificate that will entitle you to a console at some point in January. Even the Wii people themselves are now admitting what a mess they've made of manufacturing this thing.
- Two members of a terrorist cell have pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to wage war: the splinter group was "was poised to attack military sites, synagogues and other targets" in Southern California. The two men face 20-25 years in prison.
- Oh noes! The hipsters will be so dry now! The DWP will be draining Elysian Park and Silver Lake reservoirs because of high levels of toxic chemicals in the water.
- Gas prices soar, consumer inflation also goes up: "Consumer Price Index rose 0.8 percent last month, the biggest one-month increase since a 1.2 percent surge in September 2005, when the country was hit by rising energy costs in the wake of Hurricane Katrina."
- It's the PLAGUE!!! Actually, no, it's just the flu, and a child in the Valley is the first to be diagnosed this season. Get your flu shots! Unless you're like me and treat every illness with a few stiff shots of whiskey.
- Rhino Records is open again! Not at their storied Westwood location (sniff sniff), but they're operating a "pop-up" store during the month of December only over at Third and Fairfax.
- A "guns-for-gifts" exchange will be held tomorrow in Compton: "People turning in a gun to sheriff's personnel will receive a $50 gift card to Best Buy, Home Depot, Ralphs or Target. $100 gift cards will be given for each of the first 50 guns turned in. About 400 guns were turned in at a similar exchange in 2005".
- Conan O'Brien and NBC are getting sued...by a bodybuilder...over a Clay Aiken gay joke. Do we live on the moon or something? Oh no, that's right -- Hollywood.
- Midnight Ridazz are doing an all-city Bring-A-Toy-For-Charity bike ride tonight. Check their website for details.
Extra Extra: All Our Secrets Revealed!!!
Because he's too shy (and way too busy) to announce it here himself, I am proud to do the honors: Zach Behrens has officially accepted the Editor position here at LAist and he'll be starting on December 17th. BloggingLA has the announcement, as well as a nice picture of the new editor's "Sexy Face." That's how you get your Canadian fanbase, Behrens!!! Rain. Please. Rain. Effects of the strike are starting to ripple out...
Low vs. Diamond @ Viper Room 11/2/2007
When Low vs. Diamond's lead singer Lucas Field sauntered on the stage and meekly opened the show with "Life After Love," I knew immediately that despite the head bobbing and dancing from a few, LvD’s live act would neither expand upon its sound nor translate to the crowd what exactly they were trying to do.
Since we're talking about shortcuts
A few days ago, I posted about sitting in L.A. traffic on Halloween, and opened the floor for people to make shortcut suggestions. Turns out that the mere mention of the words "shortcut" and "share" in the same sentence can make at least one person go temporarily insane, and others suddenly think that they're in sole possession of highly classified government information. Who knew?
Here's the Things About Shortcuts
Yesterday, another LAister, Jessica Pauline asked about Hollywood shortcuts. A few people gave suggestions, such as the now "not-so-much-a-secret" Fountain but other commentors plain old said, "I'm not giving up my secrets to you greenie." I was reading over the comment and got to thinking...
Late Night Eats: Astro Family Restaurant
Astro Family Restaurant is a venerable Los Angeles institution located a hop, skip, and a jump from the beautiful shores of Silver Lake. Astro has graced the glamorous corner Glendale Blvd. and Fletcher Dr. since 1974. Silver Lake has been through many changes over the last thirty years. It went from a neighborhood known for being dingy and overrun with gangs to a neighborhood that is trendy and is overrun with hipsters. Through all of the trials and tribulations, Astro has been there with its hearty menu.
What’s Cookin’ Behind the Curtain – Grubbing Before the Rooster Crows
Every Friday, LAist is taking you on a trip down to Orange County to uncover the unique dining experiences that await adventurous eaters willing to explore beyond the county line. This month, LAist has brought you daily coverage of some of LA’s finest late night dining spots from all over the Southland. So we’d be remiss if we didn’t throw in at least one spot from OC. Some of you readers that have probably...
My Short Time with the Helio Ocean
So at first this was going to be a whole “Chronicle in the Life of a Hollywood Hipster” type of deal. But let's face it. I'm not a hipster, I am hip (in the non-sarcastic, semi-sincere sense), but definitely not a Hollywood Hipster. I hate Hollywood hipsters. Even more than that, I hate Silverlake/Los Feliz hipsters. You know them, they take themselves way too seriously with their severe haircuts and super tight pants. Bastards. Anywho,...
Late Night Eats: La Estrella #3
When choosing a late night spot to eat, you might factor in a number of elements - Atmosphere, quality of the food, price, service. Is it conveniently located between the bar and your house? Truly, the barometer of a great late night haunt is whether it holds up in the blinding light of day. I’ve eaten many a 3am taco with orgiastic enthusiasm, only to be totally disappointed eating at the same place under more,...
Extra, Extra: Hide your Cocks!
The identity of one driver caught in the horrific fire on the I-5 Friday night might now be identified by the last call he made. Reports surfaced that the fire in the tunnel was so hot, the concrete began to melt. But, things are going smoothly today, officials said. Or as smoothly as rush hour on the I-5 can be. A cockfighting raid in San Diego over the weekend netted 4,400 birds at a...
Swerve Festival: Day Two 09/30/07
With indie rock mainstays Devotchka, Oh No! Oh My!, Foreign Born, Snowden, Illinois, The Black Angels, St. Vincent, and Thee More Shallows, how can one really go wrong? Well, quite simply by not publicizing your festival enough. My experience swerving was a little disconcerting, mainly because of the poor turnout. It's my turn to take a stab at this whole Swerve Festival. Everything seemed perfect on paper (the music, the art, the film, and the...
Extra, Extra: LAUSD Issues Paychecks to Dead People
Best line of the day: "If L.A. Unified can't figure out the math on employee paychecks, can it be trusted to teach more than 700,000 students?" It's been 231 days since the whole fiasco began at the LAUSD. Teachers aren't being paid while dead people are being issues paychecks. Autumn officially begins on Sundaysays the Griffith Observatory's Sky Report, which also states Mercury, Jupiter, Mars and Venus can all be seen in the sky...
Lobster Fest!!! Or, An Essay Upon The Most Fair City of San Pedro
"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,...
This Week in the World of -Ist
Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week!
TV Junkie: Wednesday Picks
Introducing the TV Junkie Black List: While waiting for Spoon to go on the Tonight Show last night I had to endure Leno and guest Denis Leary talking about how they'd like to get cyclists off the roads and how they enjoy honking at them, etc. Both of these a-holes know* what went down recently in Beverly Hills as reported by LAist and the last thing LA needs is more SUV drivers feeling justified in...
Beckhams Be Gone!
What a waste of a quarter billion dollars. For the same amount that the Galaxy promised David Beckham to come to Los Angeles, they could have paid the salaries of all 26 New York Yankees in 2007 -- plus the Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In the NFL, they could have covered an entire team operating at the salary cap for almost two and a half seasons. Granted, it's a five year...
This Week in the World of -Ist
Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse.

