4:03 p.m., Tuesday May 9th.

Nothing going on right now over here. How about over theres by you?

Visit our concert calendar for a full show list, links to buy tickets and our top picks.

PICK OF THE WEEK: Destroyer @ Spaceland
Heavy guitar riffs, growling vocals, headbanging…you’re actually going to get none of these things you’d expect from a band named Destroyer. What you will get is the glam folk stylings of New Pornographers contributing mastermind, Dan Bejar. Trade devil horn signs with Dan Tuesday at Spaceland.

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HEADS UP

• 5/18 Alice in Chains @ Roxy (on sale at box office 5/8)
• 5/20 Moving Units, Ima Robot, Whirlwind Heat @ Neighborhood Music Fest
• 5/25 Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples, DJ Shadow @ Mayan
• 6/10 The Streets w/Lady Sovereign @ Fonda
• 6/14 Wolfmother @ Fonda
• 6/15 Walkmen @ El Rey
• 6/16 Fiery Furnaces @ Fonda
• 6/16 Jose Gonzalez @ El Rey
• 6/17 Seu Jorge @ El Rey

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Win tickets to see John Vanderslice w/Laura Viers at the Echo on 5/11
(Pixel Revolt) fully merits high praise as both the best work of Vanderslice’s career and easily one of the best albums of what has been a refreshingly strong year for music. -Slant

Enter to win a pair of tickets by emailing jv-contest@losanjealous.com. Please include your full name. Winners will be selected by 5:00 P.M., Tuesday, May 9th.

myspace.com/johnvanderslice | myspace.com/lauraveirs

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MONDAY
Angels and Airwaves @ Troubadour
Bronx @ Spaceland
Soul Position @ Echo
Submarines, Goldspot @ Viper Room

TUESDAY
Angels and Airwaves @ Troubadour
Ariel Pink @ Sea Level (free)
Destroyer, Blood on the Wall @ Spaceland
Jolie Holland @ Amoeba (free)
KT Tunstall @ Fonda
Mute Math @ El Rey

WEDNESDAY
Angels and Airwaves @ Troubadour

THURSDAY
Bebel Gilberto @ Conga Room
Guillemots @ Roxy
Helio Sequence @ Spaceland
John Vanderslice, Laura Veirs @ Echo
Keren Ann @ Skirball Center

FRIDAY
Angels and Airwaves @ Troubadour
Bebel Gilberto @ Conga Room
Bellrays @ Safari Sam’s
Brandi Carlile @ El Rey
Brazilian Girls @ Avalon
Tom Brosseau @ Tangier
Very Be Careful @ Echo

SATURDAY
Beat Junkies @ Knitting Factory
Elf Power @ Spaceland
Fall @ Knitting Factory
Fever, Nine Black Alps @ Troubadour
Mike Andrews @ McCabe’s
Red Hot Chili Peppers, She Wants Revenge, Wolfmother @ Irvine Meadows
Slow Music @ El Rey
US Air Guitar Regionals @ Roxy

SUNDAY
You should spend time with your mom today

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Contest time. Win tickets to John Vanderslice w/ Laura Viers at the Echo, this Thursday, 5/11. Should be a great double bill. You probably know JV’s stuff. To the unintiated, suffice to say he is of a certain set of sensitive but wry youngish male singer-songwriters that probably includes Colin Meloy, John Darnielle, maybe Ben Gibbard (with all of whom, not coincidentally he has worked or toured). The best way to get an idea of JV to just listen to a few of his tunes, which we can link here. He’s a generous guy and gives away a lot of his music on his website. Or check out a few choice cuts from 2005′s Pixel Revolt here and here.

You can check out a track from opener Laura Viers here, who is in her own right a compelling up-and-comer tunesmith.

E-mail jv-contest@losanjealous.com to be entered to win a pair tickets to see John Vanderslice with Laura Viers at the Echo this Thursday, May 11.

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Check out a few of JV’s LPs:

aka The Most Dangerous Blandest Meal, Ever

The concept was simple. Two bloggers, two sites. One potentially dangerous meal. Neither man knew what the other would eat. Neither man knew what the other would write. They knew only that they would eventually describe the same hour to parties unknown. Online. This is one half of a joint review of Silverlake’s LA Chinese Food. Be sure to read Will Campbell’s take on the same meal at blogging.LA…

Will posted the photo and said he’d always wanted to eat there.

Fire Monkey Fish said:
Don’t do it. It is very bad greasy food. I can’t understand how it survives.

Jamesinger said:
Yeah, I was told not to eat here and I just stayed away. I was told it gave my friends (FRIENDS) the bad poo.

Rabbit was the first one to hear it.
Duck was the first one to see it.
Cat was the first one to feel it.

Ryan and Will were the first ones to eat all hell out’t.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

720pm. As usual, I’m running late. Will’s waiting. He’s standing outside when I arrive. Now we’re both standing outside. We stand outside a crummy-looking “Chinese” joint near the intersection of Sunset and Silverlake. What’s the name of this place anyhow…“Chinese Food”?…That’s no name. I go ballsy. Cocky. I’ve seen worse. “I’m ordering the scallops.” Will laughs. “You’re going to seafood town!?” “Hell yeah, what’s the worst thing that could happen to you with food poisoning. Like do you just get really bad diarrhea for a few days? Or could you possibly die…”

He looks me dead in the eye. “It is possible,” he says. “You could actually die from food poisoning.”

Neither of us say anything for about ten seconds. We stare at the door. The grimy signage. The dim lights. The murky, electric gloom of the interior.

“If it has to be tonight, what better place than Silverlake. Let’s do this.” I push open the door and we go inside.

We hear feet and the thrum of an ice machine. Lady shuffles up. “Sit where you like.” We do.

At the table Will’s all business with Lady.

Will: What’s the name of this establishment…?
Lady: Why you wanna know!
Will: I live just around the corner. In all this time I have never eaten here.
Me: Are you the LA Cafe? It says LA Cafe on the menu.

We’re giving her the full court press now. We don’t even pause for answers.

Will: How long have you been in business here?
Lady: About 34, 35 years.
All three of us: Damn…

Will (agitated): I don’t understand. What is the name of this place?
Me: Do you have scallops?
Lady: No scallops.
Will: They have shrimp.
Me: Do you have shrimp with walnuts?
Lady: No, we don’t have much in the way of seafood.
Will: What do you recommend? Do you recommend one of these?
Lady: No…
Will: What do you recommend? I’m looking for input here.
Lady: I don’t recommend Anything!
Me: I’ll have the french fries.
Will: I’ll have the french fries.
Me: Pork…That’s the BBQ Pork, the sliced…
Lady: This one.
Me: That’s the one. I’ll take it.
Will: I’ll have the ribs.
Lady: Something to drink? We have coke, diet coke, orange…
Me: Hot tea. And tap water, please.
»continue reading Live and Let Dine: Big Trouble in Little China

The Losanjealous Benevolent Society gathers a weekly list of strange happenings and fun events in LA–the more ridiculous, the better. Visit our events calendar for the full list. And if you’re organizing or know of an event you think belongs on the list, send us info at tips@losanjealous.com.

FRIDAY

The Haunted Hacienda: the art of the Mexican horror film @ drkrm
The photographs and rare original art from this period take on a life of their own, revealing a poetry one could never find in the films themselves. Join us for an excursion into the midnight world of the Aztec mummy, masked wrestlers, doll people and busty Vampire women as we travel through the misty countryside to The Haunted Hacienda. The Haunted Hacienda will have its opening reception from 7pm until 10pm on Friday, May 5th, 2006. Through 6/10.

Laura Levine @ La Luz de Jesus
Laura Levine’s one-person show consists of all new work: paintings of country music legends she created for her new children’s book, Honky-Tonk Heroes & Hillbilly Angels: The Pioneers of Country and Western Music, and her recent series of bird paintings, Tweet Suite. Portraits in the exhibit include The Carter Family, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, and Johnny Cash. Artists’ Reception: Friday, May 5, 2006 8:00-11:00pm. Through 5/29.

La Gran Limpieza
The CleanUp takes place on two days at many different sites along the mighty LA River and its torrential tributaries. Friday’s CleanUp is our River School Day including a CleanUp at one site – Fletcher Drive in Atwater Village. The CleanUp continues Saturday May 6th at 14 different sites.

The Essential Kieslowski @ LACMA
In conjunction with the 7th Annual Polish Film Festival, LACMA celebrates the the work of Krzysztof Kieslowski with a retrospective of several of his classic films. Ten years after his death, while undergoing heart surgery at age fifty-four, the Polish director remains a towering figure in international cinema, a visionary who challenged audiences to find spiritual renewal in the most daunting and banal aspects of modern life. The program includes The Double Life of Veronique, as well as the complete Three Colors trilogy. Over two weekends, 5/5-5/6 & 5/12-5/13. Full program and ticket information available at lacma.org.

Ron Rege Jr’s The Awake Field Book Launch @ Secret Headquarters
Cartoonist, illustrator and Lavender Diamond Band drummer Ron Regé Jr. launches his new graphic novella THE AWAKE FIELD (Drawn & Quarterly) a collection of Regé’s reflections of small town life during a recent 2-year sabbatical in a coastal community in southern Rhode Island. Short stories collide and swirl together leaving visions of mysterious creatures floating through lush landscapes, pantomimed fairy tales, hypnotic dances, Bible quotations, and peace comics all in Regé’s idiosyncratic abstract poetic cartoon language. View previews here. With an art exhibit and signing. SECRET HEADQUARTERS, 3817 W. Sunset Blvd. 7 pm.

SATURDAY

DORKBOTSOCAL13
This will be the third “open hack” event, with a workshop/activity in the disassembly of an electronic device. In other words, come on out and bring something interesting to rip apart: Tom Jennings will provide an overview of some disassembly issues and get us all rolling. Bring in something that you’ve never seen the insides of: an old VCR, toaster, alarm clock, keyboard, camera or a piece of industrial surplus. If you’ve never taken anything apart, don’t be intimidated: this activity is for both newbies and experienced folks. To help rip apart your electronics, you’re also welcome to bring some of your own tools in case things get busy and the “house” tools get monopolized.

Beat13 @ Lab 101
UK modern-day arts & crafts collaboration, producing and presenting original work and ltd edition art prints by both established and up & coming artists. Opening reception May 6 7-10 pm. Through 6/5.

SUNDAY

Instant Films
Explosive creativity and serendipitous collaboration produce amazing short films in just 2 days. The screenings take place at the L.A. Center Studios in Downtown Los Angeles. The screenings are followed by a party and awards.

Museums of the Arroyo Day
The five museums located along the Arroyo Seco in Los Angeles and Pasadena (Gamble House, Pasadena Museum of History, Lummis House & Garden, Southwest Museum of the American Indian, Heritage Square Museum) open their doors free of charge from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

TUESDAY

Clash of the Tetris @ Little Temple
Our Tetris tournament is back! We’re teaming up with dublab’s BLEEP BLOOP and it’s going down at the Little Temple in Silverlake. Live music by 11hz Robot, Dolphinforce, and more. Ryan Flynn hosts. Plus DJ Chachin and others! $7 / 21+ / 9pm-2am.

WEDNESDAY

E3 Expo @ LA Convention Center
The world’s most important show dedicated exclusively to the interactive entertainment industry. Through 5/12.

THURSDAY

Kevin Roderick and Eric Lynxweiler discuss and sign Wilshire Blvd. @ Vroman’s
Wilshire Boulevard, written by LAObserved’s K-Rod and Eric Lynxweiler, explores Wilshire from downtown L.A. to the Santa Monica beach and traces the story of Gaylord Wilshire, the street’s millionaire-socialist founder. 5/11.

Join the Losanjealous Benevolent Society and we’ll send our events list to your inbox.
email:

Another beer-sponsored holiday? I’m just now getting over my St-Pat’s-In-Ktown hangover. Why are we celebrating again?

n 1862, the French army began its advance. Under General Ignacio Zaragoza, 5,000 ill-equipped Mestizo and Zapotec Indians defeated the French army in what came to be known as the “Batalla de Puebla” on the fifth of May.

In the United States, the “Batalla de Puebla” came to be known as simply “5 de Mayo” and unfortunately, many people wrongly equate it with Mexican Independence which was on September 16, 1810, nearly a fifty year difference. Over, the years Cinco de Mayo has become very commercialized and many people see this holiday as a time for fun and dance. Oddly enough, Cinco de Mayo has become more of Chicano holiday than a Mexican one. Cinco de Mayo is celebrated on a much larger scale here in the United States than it is in Mexico. People of Mexican descent in the United States celebrate this significant day by having parades, mariachi music, folklorico dancing and other types of festive activities. [source]

Further…

It might be a historical stretch to credit the survival of the United States to those brave 4,000 Mexicans who faced an army twice as large in 1862. But who knows? [source]

Finally, Liz Phair fans nationwide will be gathering at local Liz dey Mayo events, recalling the days when she was still listenable:

Cinco de mayo, blowout, denial
It wasn’t fun this time, letting you go
What if I never, a bullet forever,
Held out my hand to you?
We wouldn’t have known beautiful flow

Absolute measure, I ain’t no pleasure hound
Bus out of control, ploughing the road
Out on a bender
Just Alice falling down a deepening hole [source]

People have been asking for another ‘approved venues’ list for the evening’s activities. It is safe to say they have been downright clamoring. Losanjealous recommends the following locales. Look for the Giant Dong Burrito seal of approval for your best bet this eve:

• Magic Johnson’s TGIFridays
• Chano’s Drive In
• Chano’s Tire Shop
• El Siete Mares (Whittier location only)
• El Conquistador
• El Compadre (Echo Park only)
• El Bastardio
• El Shit-von-pantsoff (Mt. Washington only)
• El Pollo Loco (Chatsworth Only)

Saturday’s lunch: Maria’s Ramada or El Atacor #11. Nothing less.

Local hip hop duo, People Under The Stairs pays tribute to over 30 Southland fast food joints on their recently released track, Eat Street. This not only gives Los Angeles a much needed fast food anthem, it provides area foodies with a new badge of honor: The Eat Street Club.

To become an official Eat Street Club member:

• At each restaurant mentioned in the song you must entirely consume a full meal. e.g. for a burger joint you must finish a burger, fries and a drink. Eating one stewed prune at Phillippe’s does not count and is not in the spirit of The Eat Street Club.
• If an establishment’s menu item is mentioned in the song, you must eat said menu item. For instance, at Fritto Misto you must order the gnocchi. And at Busy Bee you must have either the chicken or the pastrami Belly Buster. Or both.
• Elite status will be granted to those achieving membership within a one-week period OR those who are actually murdered at A-1 Burger. If you plan to shoot for elite privileges please contact us immediately. We want to watch.
• Losanjealous can not be held liable for any health complications arising from your attempt to join the Eat Street Club.

An online shrine will be created for those able to prove their membership through photo and receipt documentation.

Eat Street MP3 samples: Uno | Dos

Photo courtesy of putsonline.co.uk

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Eat Street
Lyrics by People Under the Stairs

I might call your spot pumpin’ if you got crushed ice
In a styrofoam cup with the refill rights
So homie no time to chill we got places to try
I gotta find some grilled onions and a large side of fries

Some guys are mad smart, some guys are tough dudes
But me and my homies we mostly care about food
Got spots to peruse and never choosin’ McDonald’s
I’m talkin Al’s cheesteaks, Dino’s and Chano’s

Tomy’s on Pico, Hi-Life in Pasadena
Man and Lucky Boy too and I can’t forget Arena
Wilson Burger by PCH in Hawthorne
And right around the corner is Y-Not, it’s awesome

Melrose got Astro’s and that’s that
I only mess with Fat Burger if your fries are fat
Now Whittier got Ruby’s they’re renowned for their shakes
It’s like the Claim Jumper pilin’ up the food on your plate

Wait, now better yet let me tell you ’bout that Busy Bee
You get the Belly Buster–the chicken or the pastrami
Tommy’s on the late night, Eat Well for breakfast
And Fritto Misto with my lady–gnocchi’s the best dish

Shout to Papadakis, Lighthouse and a Waffle House
Fantastic Cafe and Pronto they rule the South
Word to your mouth until the next Phillippe’s
Yo I’m out on the streets looking for something to eat

When I’m chillin’ I’d rather be grillin’
Gimme a plate of the flavor and Mike starts stealin’
Now if I ain’t squeezin’ lemon on the roast chicken
I’m jumpin’ on the row like the fast food villain

Burgers I be killin’, tomatoes and all
I be coolin’ in the food court of your favorite mall
Buyin’ brunch like it was weight, throw it in the back of the trunk
I’m off to Tom’s #2 to get me some lunch

Ten beef tacos, senor. Extra cheese.
And the chips that you got at the store, lookie here
Now I just passed Oki-Dog, I’m headed toward Lucy’s
Passed the Roscoe’s–they can keep them waffles

In the distance I see a place they call El Rey
Home of the garbage burrito and if not then hit Benito’s
Taquitos for days and a big bag of Lay’s
Wash it down with a soft drink, hmm…let me think

I head down west to the A-1 Burger
Where the french fries are fresh and you might get murdered
Or what about Johnny’s pastramis and shakes
So you can hit Chabelita’s for the midnight break

After the club spend a dub and you can feed your crew
On any given day this is what I might do
Go place a order…then wait…pick it up

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Buy the album and get CD info at Amazon Download Eat Street from iTunes

From the LACMA program notes–

Ten years after his death (while undergoing heart surgery at age fifty-four), Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski remains a towering figure in international cinema, a visionary who challenged audiences to find spiritual renewal in the most daunting and banal aspects of modern life. A product of the Eastern European state-subsidized film industry, Kieslowski worked for twenty years in short documentaries and television dramas, only emerging onto the international stage during the last decade of his life. Presented in the LACMA series is one of his crowning achievements— The Three Colors: Blue, White, and Red (three French-language features constructed around the themes of liberty, equality, and fraternity) was filmed in French and features major international stars, haunting musical scores, and ravishing cinematography. While still a student at the Lodz Film School (whose other notable alumni include Roman Polanski and Andrzej Wadja) Kieslowski wrote, “In addition to satisfying our elementary needs, we all aspire to something which gives meaning to our life and elevates it.” This credo echoes throughout his work. Among Kieslowski’s most memorable quotes was one offering advice to an aspiring filmmaker: “It is not important where you put the camera. What is important is why you put the camera where you put it.”

The Essential Kieslowski series begins at LACMA this Friday, 5/5 and Saturday, 5/6. Detailed program and ticket information available at lacma.org

losanjealous has pairs of tickets to give away to readers for either night of the 2nd weekend of the LACMA program, Friday, May 12 or Saturday, May 13. The programs for these nights will feature Blue, White and Red (his Three Colors triology) plus The Double Life of Veronique. If you haven’t seen these in a while, haven’t seen them on a decent sized screen, or just never seen them period, cinephiles will want to catch these films. Veronique, in particular, is a must-see screening as there is still no DVD release for it.

To win tickets, e-mail us at contest@losanjealous.com. Winners will be selected at random and notified next Thursday, 5/11.

My lands, but I don’t understand this ad. Is it innuendo? Or does it really not rhyme.

In either case, suffice it to say agent Jack could stand to learn a few things about effective bench ads from agent Chris Nam. You don’t see I.E.C. tags and 7-11 coffee detritus congesting Nam’s mug, now, do you?

One year shy of its 10-year publication anniversary, the guidebook LA Bizarro retains a devout cult following among the perverse and overly informed in Los Angeles. Alongside Jonathan Gold’s Counter Intelligence, the guidebook and its writers, Matt Maranian and Anthony R. Lovett, forged a profound influence on many of my own writings right here at Losanjealous. For years now I’ve spurned Frommer’s guides and NFT spirals, opting instead to shovel the Gospel According to Maranian and Lovett into my houseguests’ unwitting hands, hoping beyond hope they end up in La Puente at the Donut Hole…hoping they take in a Bob Baker lavish puppet production…hoping that, at the least, they eat one meal at Clifton’s Cafeteria. One could say I’ve been a champion of the book’s merits, to be sure. It doesn’t hurt that the book is funny as hell.

We speak in depth today with Matt Maranian regarding LA Bizarro, the book he co-authored nine years ago. Also the author of the critically-acclaimed do-it-yourself home design books PAD and PAD Parties, various missives for bOING bOING, The Los Angeles Reader, Harper’s, Wired, British Esquire and God only knows what else, Matt now owns a new-and-used clothing store in Brattleboro, Vermont with his wife, Loretta Palazzo.

One word of caution, should you ever meet Matt Maranian: Mention neither St. Martin’s Press nor the 405 freeway, lest ye be fully braced for the ensuing onslaught of F-bombs. It is safe to say Matt Maranian is no fan of either institution.

Also, as the title indicates, Matt’s still naked. Naked, naked.

How did you meet Anthony R. Lovett, and how did the idea for LA Bizarro eventually come to be? Were you filling a niche at the time, or simply fed up with the influx of Zagat guides and Frommer’s humdrum? Both?

Tony and I met in an improvisational comedy class of all places, when we were both half-heartedly pursuing acting careers. Tony was working in the porn industry then — producing not performing — and I was living off residuals from TV commercials and wasting a lot of time. We hit it off right away; we sort of shared a brain with respect to our general sensibilities and had a real mutual respect. We were friends for years before we ever thought about writing together. We were sitting around stoned one night at his house and I guess we starting talking about all our favorite off-the-beaten-path, sort of fringey places in and around L.A. that we had each sought out over our collective twenty years in Southern California. At one point one of us said “We should write a guidebook.” It seemed like a great project for us to work on together but we figured that the idea was so obvious, surely someone must have already done a book like that. We combed bookstores and did our research and came up with nothing. There were books that touched on some of that material, but not whole-hog. No book even came close. Personally, I’ve always felt that great ideas are just floating out there in the ether, and the difference between someone who has success with a great idea and a person who doesn’t is all a matter of who jumps on it first. So I figured we’d better jump on it — and with a great sense of urgency. We created a proposal and wrote some sample entries, and our agent pitched it to something like twenty publishers. All of them turned us down. I wish I had saved all the rejection letters: They told us it was too vulgar, or too this, or too that. Some editor actually told us that “L.A. Bizarro would never work in a book format.” After we hit #1 on the L.A. Times Bestseller list I really wanted to send that clipping to that editor and say, “I told you so,” but that’s what you get when you don’t save your rejection letters. So let that be a lesson to every writer out there. I’ll never get a chance like that again!

Finally, when we had no other options, St. Martin’s Press offered us a really shitty advance of the minimum wage/working poor variety. We figured it was our only chance, and since St. Martin’s was such a prestigious publishing house we said okay. We obviously weren’t going to get rich from the advance, but no one else wanted the book so we agreed. We had to knock it out fast, because St. Martin’s wanted it for a spring release. I think we had something like four months to do everything, including the photography (which we did ourselves). St. Martin’s Press turned out to be a total fucking nightmare, though. Worth it in the end because we got to do the book the way we wanted and had great success with it, but truly a total fucking nightmare of endless fuckups and useless assholes.

Some of the entries in the book are credited to either MM or ARL, but the majority of entries have no credit attached. Were you writing the majority of the entries jointly?

We didn’t write any entries jointly. We split the entries 50/50, and we each really did contribute a full 50%, but we did edit and sometimes rewrite each other’s work. I always wanted the book to have one voice and to keep the “I’s” out of it completely. I just didn’t think it made sense for a book of this ilk; it would detract too much from the subject, which was Los Angeles, after all, not us. But Tony’s ego is even bigger than mine. He liked to write about himself a lot, so we compromised and wrote some first person entries when they were more personal in nature. I still think it was a mistake to do that, and I think it’s confusing to readers, but whatever. We made a lot of mistakes with that book. Live and learn.

Which one of you gets the credit for “Is that a penis in your pussypants, or are you just happy to see me?”

That line was mine. It should be noted, however, that my favorite line in the whole book, “Hob-Nobbing with the Knob Gobblers,” was Tony’s. I still laugh out loud at some of his passages, which is quite a testament to his talent.

How did you go about determining what to write, and how did you research your topics? At the time of publication I’m guessing one would have found a noted lack of “Freaky LA Shit” references online.

We mostly wrote about what we knew. We had both invested a lot of time exploring L.A. prior to ever meeting. We sought out all that shit just because we liked to. That was one of the greatest things about living in L.A.: Exploring. I can’t believe how many Angelenos never do that. When we sat down to actually start creating a table of contents, we practically filled the entire book just by listing our long-time favorites and places we had always wanted to check out but hadn’t. I’d just get in the car and drive to find new material. I drove Route 66 for miles and miles one day and found amazing things I never had room for in the book. I can sniff that tawdry, stale, garish, sleazy stuff out pretty well. I’d almost never end up with a dead lead. I could check out lots of sleazy places and do lots of sleazy things all in the name of research.

For what it’s worth, I’ve done a lot of exploring thanks in no small part to your book. Getting back to Frommer’s: They eventually recommended LA Bizarro to their readers, calling it “titillating” … Was this the goal all along?
»continue reading Matt Maranian: Still Naked After All These Years

Chalk up another end of an era in a city that specializes in ending eras. This time, it’s personal. Santa Monica casually squeezes out one of its few remaining killer sub-$3 eateries:

“Family owned and operated for over 30 years!”
We Thank You for Your Patronage.

Dear Valued Customers,
The property on which we are located here in Santa Monica, has been sold. The new owners have asked us to move by the end of May. We would like to thank all of you for the many years that you have supported our business. Formerly known as Lucy’s and ultimately Taqueria Chihuahua, we have been at this same location for over 30 years. It saddens us to have to leave this way, but we have no choice. We hope to relocate nearby, but have not found a suitable location here in Santa Monica. Coincidently we are also opening a location in Los Angeles. We would appreciate it if you would leave us an e-mail address or business card, so that we may keep you informed. Please feel free to contact us at www.taqueriachihuahua.com.
Sincerely,
Mario Banda
The Banda Family

Take heart. That $4.25 “All Meat” burrito, roughly the size and heft of a fired clay brick, will continue to be made available at the new and considerably rowdier neighborhood, four miles away, donde tendrán más competición, in a few short weeks.

Nothing is permanent.

Taqueria Chihuahua
1922 Olympic Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA —>
12034 Venice Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA

Visit our concert calendar for a full show list, links to buy tickets and our top picks.

PICK OF THE WEEK: Daniel Johnston
Indie rock legend, cult artist and documentary subject Daniel Johnston makes a rare LA appearance Thursday, playing a free in-store show at Amoeba followed by a gig at Spaceland.

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HEADS UP:

5/1 Cult @ Jimmy Kimmel 6/13, 6/14 She Wants Revenge @ Wiltern 6/29, 6/30 Radiohead @ Greek (on sale 5/25) 6/30, 7/1 Built to Spill @ Troubadour (two shows added) 8/27 Dos @ Smell

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Win Tickets to see Andre Williams and the Flash Express @ Spaceland on 5/6
(Williams) lists three simple reasons to go to an Andre Williams show. “The audience can expect me to be very dirty, they expect me to dress well, and they expect me to work my butt off and give them their money’s worth,” Williams says. “And that’s what I do.”–SF Chronicle

Enter to win a pair of tickets by emailing contest@losanjealous.com. Winners will be selected by 3:00 P.M., Wednesday, May 3rd.

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MONDAY
Sunset Rubdown @ Echo
Cult @ Jimmy Kimmel

TUESDAY
Secret Machines @ Amoeba (free)
Wolfmother @ Tower Sunset (free w/purchase)
Franz Ferdinand @ Jimmy Kimmel
Ladytron @ El Rey

WEDNESDAY
Drive By Truckers, Son Volt @ House of Blues
Rainer Maria @ Troubadour
Morningwood @ Roxy

THURSDAY
Drive By Truckers, Son Volt @ House of Blues
Daniel Johnston @ Spaceland
Daniel Johnston @ Amoeba (free)
Gris Gris @ Echo
Richard Buckner @ Largo
Aterciopelados @ Conga Room
Secret Machines @ El Rey

FRIDAY
Islands @ El Rey
Steve Forbert @ Getty (free w/rsvp)
Nortec Collective @ Amoeba (free)
John Doe, David Garza @ Spaceland
Frausdots @ Echo

SATURDAY
Talib Kweli @ Conga Room
Andre Williams, Flash Express @ Spaceland

SUNDAY
Starlight Mints, Dios @ Troubadour
Irving @ Spaceland
Living Sisters @ Echo

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Sake Illuminated was a great event to benefit the Little Tokyo Service Center. As you can see, sake (and beer!) were in fact served while the art of the Museum of Neon Art blazed in the background. A lively mix of professionals, downtown administrative types and the merely curious turned out. By all accounts, the tasting and silent auction were hits. These mediocre photographs don’t really convey the conviviality of the evening. The LTSC also puts on the L.A. Tofu Festival at the end of summer. We are already looking ahead to it.

This is actually a composite timelapse photograph of the decline my vision over the course of the night: 7 pm-9 pm, going left to right.