John Stamos, child star Bailee Madison and Grammy-nominee Dave Koz host a gala to benefit the lives of terminally and chronically ill children; Natassja Kinski and Marisa Tomei join Gene Kelly's widow for an evening at paying tribute to the legendary film star and the scope of his innovations in direction and choreography; Julia Roberts, Amy Smart, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and Peter Fonda kick off their shoes for a beachside benefit for Heal The Bay in Santa Monica; Drew Brees hosts actors, Olympians, military heroes and former baseball greats for the kickoff of his celebrity golf tournament. There was plenty of action last night in SoCal and we've got all the details in this TGIF edition of Last Night's Parties! More»

It's always a massive disappointment when you meet a famous person who seems really nice on TV and they turn out to be a gigantic asshole. But it would have been an even bigger disappointment if our favorite television asshole of all time, the incomparable Larry David, turned out to be a milquetoast. Luckily, as a video of L.D. getting stuck in the Santa Monica Place parking garage and leaping from his car to kvetch to strangers proves, he's the same Larry whether the camera's rolling or not. We posted this earlier in the week, but we're just not ready to let this one go. MORE>>

We've never really made a big secret around these parts about our abiding love for Larry David. As the standard bearer for perpetually cranky, deeply neurotic Jews, he's basically the closest thing to a rock star that I could ever aspire to be. Which is why it's all the more delightful when we see examples of just how close he is in real life to his "Curb Your Enthusiasm" character—examples like this Sunday footage of an utterly perplexed, fatootsed David getting stuck at a parking gate the Santa Monica Place parking garage. More»

St. Patty's Day is nigh, and we here in Los Angeles aren't going to let cities with actual Irish communities have all the fun (suck it, Boston, Philly, Dublin, etc). Since no one wants to encourage negative stereotypes of Ireland like extreme religious devotion or massive bricks of dense, unreadable literature, you might as well start preparing your liver for Saturday's embrace of the positive Irish stereotype.  Grab a hold of your Guinness and shillelagh, and read our list of what to do in L.A. for the holiest of holidays. More»

With all due respect to the L.A. Weekly's Squid Ink blog (even if the departure of Jonathan Gold gives them a kind of "Van Halen with Sammy Hagar" vibe these days), we have a bone to pick with their recent "Top 10 Late Night Eats" list. It's pretty simple: 11 p.m., when several of the restaurants on their list close, is not even remotely "late night." More»

Eating after midnight: even if you're not worried about turning into a Gremlin, it's not exactly good for you, right? But let's face it, we've all had nights when the bars are closing, the booze is burning a hole in your stomach, and you'd rather lay down in the middle of Wilshire than go home to a fridge full of condiments and frozen broccoli. These are the nights when you need our indispensable guide to the best restaurants on the west side (east side guide coming soon!) that will still be open when tonight turns into tomorrow. More»

Don't really know/care what the difference is between Hugo and The Artist? Well it doesn't even matter anymore now that awards season is finally over, and we can all move on to focusing on the things we love most: sweaty live music performances for all to enjoy. It's that glorious time of the week again where we break down the best upcoming live music happenings in the L.A. area.  So relax and enjoy as we do the work for you with our handy guide to the best live shows not to be missed this week. More»

So Awards Season has finally, finally, lurched to a close, and as we dig ourselves out from under the debris of glitter, old-timey popcorn boxes (seriously, what was up with those?) and injured Cirque du Soleil acrobats, it would be easy to dismiss the whole thing as an overwrought, self-indulgent snoozer. And while that would be largely accurate, we'd be remiss if we didn't acknowledge that the Film Independent Spirit Awards also happened this weekend, and that between host Seth Rogen's killer monologue and the fact that everyone was drinking Irish whiskey the whole time, things were a bit more loose than your average awards show. More»

Exploring places beyond one's designated comfort zone can be particularly daunting for Angelenos. For some people, it's a chronic case of AWOL (Always West of Lincoln); for others, leaving and entering the valley presents an emotional challenge. These self-imposed geographical limitations preventing us from cruising yonder aren't just based on the distance—they're because we wouldn't know where to go and which places we belonged at even once we got there. More»

For a recreational activity that almost everybody is utterly terrible at, surfing has truly captured California's imagination. In fact, I'd say the ratio of competent surfers to complete movies about surfing is no more than a healthy 3:1. And while that means we end up with a Blue Crush for every Point Break, it's also how we end up with things like the hilarious Haunted Heats Halloween Costume Surf Contest. Luckily, LA Weekly was there with a camera so we can all enjoy. More»

Go HERE for more photos by Ardy Ala and tag yourself and your friends!

Life's all about picking your spots. As in, if we're not going to sponsor a show every single weekend, why not save our dough (and credibility) for an up-and-coming band that really sounds different, a band that's been blowing up industry showcases in LA and NYC, a band that Time Magazine called one of the "10 Acts That Rocked SXSW 2011"? Well, that's what we did, and the result was Saturday night's Incan Abraham Record Release Party at Central Social Aid and Pleasure Club in Santa Monica. More»