Attention, worshipers of the diminutive emo prince Conor Oberst: it's your lucky day! Bright Eyes is filming a video in the Los Angeles area this Friday, and they're looking for fans to appear in the audience. If you are over 18 (sorry, but you must be) and interested, email brighteyesvideo@yahoo.com with your name and contact info. Somebody will get back to you.

Good luck, and please report back about the experience if you are chosen!

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 The Safari Sam's sign that once lit up the sky over Sunset Blvd. is nothing but a charred sorry mess after bursting into flames at around 7PM last Saturday night, much to the amazement of staff and club-goers standing outside. Sam told me about the incident last night - apparently a lethal combination of pigeon poop and rain drops caused the sign's electronics to shortcircuit, leading to a spark, and then a flame...the resultant pyrotechnic display was pretty for a minute, apparently - not unlike the last day of Burning Man.

Sam said the club will be holding a benefit on February 16 to raise money for a new sign - details to come!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

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I caught the last show of Pity Party's residency at Silverlake Lounge last night. The band had come highly recommended by lots of pals and LA Weekly writer Alie Ward who gave them a Pick Of The Week and spoke very highly of them on Indie 103 with Mark Shovel. So last night I was ushered by my friend Monica to the front of the stage, right in front of the drum kit, behind it, a Lite Brite little sign proclaimed "The Pity Party." It had some competition from the larger lighted sign that read, "Salvation", but it still looked so sweet. The crowd was largely super fashionable and gorgeous. A lithe woman in a felt light blue fedora danced in front of me, boys with suit jackets on dotted the room. And out came guitarist Maurice-Robert (a.k.a. Marc Smollin), with a sweater that recalled Kurt Cobain and a terry cloth headband and facial hair that made me think of Luke Wilson's character in The Royal Tennenbaums. He started playing his instrument plucking a sustained string repeatedly. Then the long flame haired Heisenflei (a.k.a. Julie Edwards) took the stage, wearing a cream colored Victorian top, and jeans and red suede boots that she kicked off on stage and sat down barefoot behind the drums. She wailed on those drums, while playing the keyboard and singing. It was the hottest thing I'd ever seen. She was so natural, so completely without ego, she was genuinely feeling the music, possesed by it. I just kept thinking of Little Orphan Annie, not just the red hair, but the balls, the ferocious hard knocks toughness that she brought to the show, with her sort of urchin looks, bare feet and authenticity. Like if Annie grew up and channeled all that Miss Hannigan orphan shit into rock music. I couldn't make out all the lyrics but I did hear, "get fucked up, turn the music up and fuck."

Monica introduced me to Julie after the show. She was giving out copies of the free zine she made with a residency sampler, a compilation CD of all the bands that played a residency while she were there. There was a quarter in the bag too. Oh and I found out where Julie's stage name came from, she says, "It's from Watership Down. I thought it was the name of one of the female bunnies, but I misheard it. It's actually, Hyzenthlay." She shrugged, not too concerned.

If you missed them at the free Mondays at Silverlake Lounge, you can still catch them March 5th at the Viper Room for just 10 bucks. It's a small price to pay for so much hotness.

Photo from Pity Party myspace page, by Alan Munoz

Posted by Linda Immediato

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The L Word is back on Showtime and since Miss Caroline hasn't weighed in on this season, let me be the one to say it's better than ever.

Shane's hair looks good again, there's a hot new Latina to called Papi (a name usually reserved for the gay hombres) and Alice is wilder and funnier than she's ever been.
The show is no Sex and the City fashion-wise, but apparently it's become quite the trend-o-rama with straight and gay women alike lovin' the looks. So much so that now there's an L Word collection of clothes and accessories. Creator Ilene Chaiken keeps plugging it after each episode, so I finally went onto the website to check out the merch.
Proceeds from the line go to The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, but unfortunately, there's nothing terribly exciting to buy. Embellished jeans, studded tanks and jackets, dogtag like pendants… It's all very minimalist butch with a bit of Beverly Hills glam. Stuff that Shane might wear if she raided the closet of her old lover Cherie (played by Rosanna Arquette). Pieces inspired by Alice's vintage boho look or Bette's classy cool suits or even Jenny's weird kinderwhore ensembles would have been so much more interesting. Check out the virtual fashion show for yourself here and see the stuff outside of cyberspace at Global 61 in WeHo, a shop which carries men's apparel.

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You know how MySpace has that section called "cool new people," and how, at least from the photos, these people always seem anything but cool?

Club Promoter Danny B is out to create an internet networking site where all the members really are cool…. and attractive….and successful…and oh yeah, single.

Called "The Thousand List" the site will feature one thousand people, the "WHO's WHO dating list for LA and London," they tout, all of whom will be heavily screened by the creators for hotness.

Of course, one person's hot and sexy is another's icky and yucky, so it remains to be seen just how desirable being on the list will be.

I've been to B's clubs, like Naked, which, coincidentally, just celebrated its 6 year anniversary at Avalon last night (though this Naked had nothing to do with him- his ex-partner threw the party). Naked's crowd, at least from what I remember back when it was at the Grand Ave. club downtown, did have its share of foxy ladies, you know the kind who love their halter tops, but the dudes left something to be desired. As Steve Aoki likes to call 'em, "the cologne crowd."

Anyway if you wanna see if you're up to snuff for the site click here and sign up!

If you're all about the MySpace, I've got something for you too. Check out this week's Nightranger where I talk about stalking its creator Tom Anderson at BPM's MySpace Guide to LA bash.

Wearing cashmere makes me feel validated. Empowered. Like a big girl. So when I noticed my roommate floating around the house in beautiful knitted wraps and diaphanous-sleeved sweaters, I had to find out where she got 'em from. Turns out they are made by Amo and Bretti, the cashmere line run by husband and wife team Amy Krofchick and Brett Perkins. Amy and Brett grew up only blocks away from each other in Toronto, but it was some years before Brett was able to persuade Amy to move to LA and marry him.

And here's the good news - the two lovebirds are holding a sample sale on Saturday (tomorrow) at 128 Swall Drive, between Alden and 3rd. It starts at 11am and goes until 4. They will be selling their stuff from their Fall collection at must-have prices. See you there!

Last night, rock writer Sarah Tomlinson celebrated her 31st birthday AND her love for T. Rex at Safari Sam's. Considering she's a recent transplant from Boston, the fact that several hundred glam heads, metal gurus, local glitterati (including MOCA minx Vanessa Gonzalez, above), and cake whores filled the club was even more impressive. Sarah, whose favorite T. Rex album is The Slider, brought a photo of the Ringo Starr-shot album cover to Porto's Bakery in Glendale. "I don't think they do too many album cover cakes," she said, adding that while sampling cake flavors to choose from, "I felt like I was getting married to Marc Bolan."

Three bands played a mix of originals and T. Rex covers: D-, also newly arrived from Boston; the 14-piece (!) Faraway Places, and the S'cool Girls, local satin-clad scenesters who almost everyone I talked to had partied with, but had never seen play live. (In fact, they attended the Style Council fashion party!)
They were a gas, singing songs about "loving you in my milky way," while thrusting out their packages. One woman I met pointed to the baby-faced blonde with the flying V and said, "You see that guy? He's from Sweden. I beat the shit out of him." Why? Because he went up to her (incidentally, a gorgeous blonde) in a club and said, "You're too old to be here." She gave him a shove and down, down, down, the drunk boy went.
But there was no fighting, only loving last night - except for some good whacking at the top hat shaped pinata (no bashing Marc Bolan's face, y'know) filled with candy and glitter. Sarah (pictured with pinata loot, above) revealed that her dream is to one day open a T. Rex themed bar, and she's already got the decor taken care of. This is, after all, a girl who owns The Slider on picture disc, reel to reel, 8 track, cassette, gatefold LP and CD. She's looking for investors, naming Slash as a possible candidate - perhaps because of the top hat thing? But she's not in it for the money. "I often say that if I opened a T. Rex bar I would want people to feel as happy there as I feel when I listen to T. Rex." Awww, how sweet. Happy birthday Sarah, we're all just jeepsters for your love...uh, aren't we? I never quite knew what he was talking about.

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New York City's most glamorous political cabaret troupe, the Citizens Band, is marching into the Avalon this Thursday for their Los Angeles debut (a lucky few caught their act at a private party at the Roosevelt last year). The show's theme is "Masquerading in Paradise," and you can expect a fantastical fusion of circus, salon, song-and-dance revue, and fashion spectacular, featuring some of the most beautiful boys and girls on earth (Karen Elson, aka Mrs. Jack White, is a founding member...and she can sing, too). Hollywood cutie Zooey Deschanel is scheduled to perform, as are musical talents like Craig Wedren and Angela McCluskey, and the group's other co-founder Sarah Sophie Flicker, a film maker and budding trapeze artist with the longest eyelashes in all of New York City.

This is a bandwagon we should all hop on. Check back for a full report once I sleep off the champagne.

Tickets, a very affordable $15, are available here.

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"Rage Against the Machine, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bjork to headline Coachella" - just announced today.

It's a bit too early to start planning our hot-to-cold weather outdoor ensembles for the desert rock-a-thon, but we're thinkin' about looking into a room about now. Especially since the line-up has just been announced.

Rage Against the Machine! Dude. One of the best shows I ever saw (ever!) was Rage at the Forum. Chili Peppers? Okay, they may not be the wild men they once were (c'mon their tunes are now the soundtrack for the roller coasters at Disneyland!) but Flea, Anthony and the boys do put on a raucous live show every time.

Bjork I'm not a big fan of. I thought her last Coachella stint was kinda boring, which I know is a blasphemous statement to some.

Anyway, now that the lineup has been unveiled the big buzz is: who will be the suprise act?

I'd like to see David Bowie, but the rumored group aint too shabby either: The Police! I also heard Gwen Stefani might pop in for a set while on tour. Unfortunately the rumors are rarely correct (Madonna was though!). It is three months away so we'll just have to wait and see.

The preliminary line-up also includes: The Arcade Fire, Interpol, Manu Chao, Willie Nelson, Air, Happy Mondays, Decemberists, Faithless, Gotan Project, The Good, The Bad and The Queen, Paul Van Dyk, Arctic Monkeys, Roots, Jarvis Cocker, Sonic Youth, Crowded House, Placebo, Satellite Party, Stephen Marley feat Jr. Gong, Kings of Leon, DJ Shadow, Kaiser Chiefs, Kokono No. 1, LCD Soundsystem, Nickel Creek, Travis, Damien Rice, Black Keys, Blonde Redhead, Infected Mushroom, New Pornographers, Peeping Tom, Placebo, Rufus Wainwright, The Rapture, Explosions in the Sky, Richie Hawtin, !!!, Benny Benassy, Felix Da Housecat, Hot Chip, Jacks Mannequin, Julieta Venegas, Lily Allen, Lupe Fiasco, Ozomatli, Peaches, Ghostface Killah, Jose Gonzales, Amos Lee, Brazilian Girls, Fountains of Wayne, Regina Spektor, VNV Nation, Coco Rosie, Cornelius, Gillian Welch, Junior Boys, Pharaohe Monche, Roky Erickson and the Explosives, Soulwax, Sparklehorse, The Kooks, Tilly and the Wall, Andrew Bird, Peter, Bjorn & John, The Frames, Gogol Bordello, Comedians of Comedy, Justice, MSTRKRFT, We Are Scientists, Yeva, Grizzly Bear, Amy Winehouse, Avett Brothers, Circa Survive, The Coup, The Cribs, CSS, Digitalism, Erol Alkan, Evil Nine, Girl Talk, Klaxons, Noisettes, Spank Rock, Tapes 'n Tapes, The Fields, Tokyo Police Club, Rodrigo Y Gabriella, DJ Heather, The Feeling, Fratellis, Mike Relm, Silversun Pickups, Busdriver, Brother Ali, Nightwatchman, Bojones, Mika, Pop Levi, Anathallo and Fair to Midland.

Coachella will be 3 days long this year, April 27-29.

That's right the American Idol winner was just chosen to be the "it" girl for the racing sport. But you're not really surprised are you? (Not that there isn't a special place in my heart for NASCAR.)
According to the press release I just received: "Nearly 50% of NASCAR fans are female and with the new season just weeks away, the ladies on the track want to look fabulous while supporting their favorite driver." The singer has recently been in the news for refusing to allow new American Idol contestants sing her songs, until Simon Cowell threw an "I made you, I can break you" fit and she subsequently changed her mind.
Kelly had already proclaimed her love of NASCAR, and to show it she just signed on to do a high profile ad for the sport, she'll be a spokesperson at an event, and attend an award dinner.

Good for her and all of that. What I'm not so sure about is the "pit lizard" tank. A pit lizard used to referred to a gold digging woman who hangs out in the pit to pick-up race car drivers. But, perhaps unknown to the designers, "pit lizzard" has become synonymous with words like with "whore" and "skank."