Anne Fishbein

A nice, fat, thick, juicy beefsteak -- perfect for celebrating gender equality!

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L.A.'s Best Steakhouse
*10 Best Places in L.A. For a First Date

So believe it or not, today is actually an obscure holiday; but we're not talking Festivus or National Pancake Day here, people...

The increasingly infamous "Steak & BJ Day" doesn't require a whole lot of explaining. "Invented" by a Tom Birdsey (whose online presence seems to be limited to this Myspace profile), the idea behind the celebration is simple. Very simple. Conceived (however poorly) as the man's version of Valentine's Day, the holiday is described on one of two supposedly official (and NSFW) websites as such:

Over the years, Valentine's Day has become a commercial holiday for women. On February 14, intimate couples celebrate their love with candy, flowers, greeting cards, and other gifts of affection. Men do not want candy. Men have no need for flowers or teddy bears. There are two things men want: steak and a blow job.

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Do Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough make you gag?

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*8 L.A. Stores for Alternative Valentine's Day Gifts
*Top 10 Bars With the Hottest Women in L.A.
*10 Bars Most Likely to Get You Laid in L.A.

Yes, yes. We know. Valentine's Day is overrated. If you're single, it's a day seemingly created just to make you feel bad about yourself. If you're in a relationship, it's a day seemingly concocted to make you drop cash on dinner and presents a mere two months after the holiday present season.

Luckily, plenty of places in Los Angeles feel your pain and are not above mocking the holiday -- meaning there are still ways to go out and actually have fun on Valentine's Day.

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World 8 lets you find an epic item for your gaming lover

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*10 Things to Do in L.A. on Valentine's Day for People Who Hate Valentine's Day
*Top 10 Bars With the Hottest Women in L.A.
*10 Bars Most Likely to Get You Laid in L.A.

"You always buy me the same shit."

If you haven't heard that before, consider yourself amongst the lucky lovers whose significant others keep their thoughts to themselves. That one year your girlfriend ooh-ed and aww-ed over the flowers and cleverly-packaged chocolates you gave her? She might have been faking it.

And even if your babe likes getting classic gifts for Valentine's day, it couldn't hurt you to maybe think outside the box when it comes to cute trinkets. Especially if you're looking to conquer a new beau. It's like a wise man once said: the more creative you are, the higher your chances of getting laid. Or something like that.

So hop in your love mobile and hit up Los Angeles' more cooky shopping spots for gifts that will make your Valentine's Day less lame.

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Micah Cordy

Golden Stag at the Park Plaza Hotel

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*Our Calendar Section, Listing More Great Things to Do in L.A.
*5 Artsy Things to Do in L.A. This Week
*Top 10 Films of 2012

Who says that 13 should be an unlucky number? Help ensure the coming year starts off on the right foot with these celebration suggestions, from comedy clubs to Prohibition-style speakeasys.

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The slasher film Silent Night, Deadly Night

Our weekly list of special event films to see:

Friday, Dec. 14
What would make 1946 classic It's a Wonderful Life even more wonderful? Seeing it on ice! Put those ice-skating moves to work while the Echo Park Film Center Filmmobile plays the movie (Christmas cake is promised). Keep an eye on its Twitter account, @EPFCFilmmobile, for the location announcement the day before the show.

Sundance Film Festival selection Excision promises to turn heads and stomachs. If true to its word, the film, which focuses on one disturbed teen (played by AnnaLynne McCord) who becomes obsessed with surgery and the human flesh, may be the best thing (or worst, depending on your taste) since The Human Centipede. Director and writer Richard Bates Jr. will be present for a Q&A after the screening at UCLA's Ray Stark Family Theatre.

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Brandon Roosa

Canvassing LA

See also:
*Best L.A. Novel Ever: The Tournament
*5 Artsy Things to Do in L.A. This Week
*Our Best of L.A. issue and our Best of L.A. app

What do you get someone who has everything: a beautiful home, great food and legal marijuana? From endless gift certificates to countless books and DVDs, there's no shortage of things to buy that special someone who lives and/or loves the City of Angels, even if that person is, well, you. In fact, it can all get a little overwhelming.

So instead of turtle doves, French hens and a partridge in a pear tree, we've compiled a wish list of 12 items people can actually use -- just in case the ladies dancing and maids a-milking have a casting call.

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Rachel Heller

Rad vintage figurines make visitors wax nostalgic.

See also:
*5 Artsy Things to Do in L.A. This Week
*Our Calendar Section, Listing More Great Things to Do in L.A.

Nothing says happy holidays to a nerd like a shelf full of vintage action figures in Santa caps.

That's the sight that greets customers outside Curry House in West Los Angeles, drawing gasps and nostalgic smiles from passersby who peer into the display window outside the restaurant. In a large glass case, the usual faux-food spread has been cleared aside to make way for more than 120 late-80s and early-90s figurines, arms raised in yuletide glee. And atop their plastic and metal heads sit more than 120 tiny, red-and-white felt Santa caps handcrafted by Curry House assistant manager Hiroichi Echizen and his wife, Yoshiko.

There are characters from Street Fighter, Power Rangers, Dragon Ball, Gundam, Transformers, Godzilla and Kamen Rider, and even a bulky Arnold Schwarzenegger figurine from Last Action Hero. Marge Simpson, perched in the front row with her family, sports a modified hat that hugs her blue beehive. Ninja Turtles crony Usagi Yojimbo has paper carrots taped to his cap's brim.

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Wikimedia Commons

The problem with wanting to help the so-called less fortunate on Thanksgiving is that it's usually the only day of the year most people feel like volunteering. While researching this year's roundup of Thanksgiving-related volunteer opps, we discovered a number of local nonprofits that are already filled to capacity -- not with hungry people, but volunteers.

Nonetheless, most organizations still need help actually procuring the meals, so if you suddenly find yourself willing and unable to lend a hand on Thanksgiving, consider making a donation to any one of your favorite charities instead -- chances are they can use your help. And of course, if you still feel like doing some good for your fellow humans, remember that every single person needs at least one good meal, every day of the year.

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Rachel Roderman

Caught in a bad romance? So bad that you can't even bear to think about chocolate or candlelight with your partner?

Lucky for you, we have compiled a list of the five least romantic Valentine's Day dates in Los Angeles you'll go gaga over.

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Is that lemonade in your cup? Beyonce did the master cleanse for her role in Dreamgirls

In our new column, First Person, L.A. writers tackle the good, the bad and the funny about life as they know it.

Deciding to go on the master cleanse in December was either inspired or idiotic. Since I got the idea while in the far-too-familiar haze of a wine buzz, I blame it on the alcohol.

You're probably aware of the idea, if not the details. The cleanse, also known as the lemonade diet, went mainstream when Beyoncé used it in 2006 to lose weight for her role in Dreamgirls. These days, buying 15 lemons, a jug of maple syrup and a canister of cayenne pepper in L.A. telegraphs exactly what you're up to -- and no one lifts an eyebrow.

But the fast, which requires eating no solids and drinking a juice made from the above ingredients for no less than 10 days, wasn't created to shrink starlets. A health guru concocted the plan in the 1940s as a detox. As the Weekly's assistant music editor, I was going out too much and drinking too much of whichever poison was placed on the bar in front of me. I needed a detox, desperately.
But in December? The season of open bars and heavily laden buffet tables? I faltered until a friend gave me the side eye. "The most hard-core chicks I knew in college never lasted more than three days." That sounded like a challenge.

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