Los Angeles Downtown News

4 days ago | ladowntownnews.com | Laura Latzko

Each month, astrologer Courtney “Vivi” Henriette of ART of the ZODIAC seeks to educate and bring together the astrological community with the Los Angeles Astro Salon, hosted at the Philosophical Research Society. She is expanding on this idea with a larger-scale event called LA Astro Fest. In its first year, the event will run from Friday, April 25, to Sunday, April 27, at the Pacific Opera Project in Highland Park.

1 week ago | ladowntownnews.com | Ellen Snortland

“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king; the palace instead becomes a circus.” — Turkish proverb. On a macro level, the world is aghast at our palace full of rogues, thieves, liars and nasty people, led by someone who probably has dementia or, at the very least, sociopathic levels of narcissism. On a micro level, the scorched communities of Altadena and the Palisades have our own clowns to contend with: capitalist scavengers.

1 week ago | ladowntownnews.com | Laura Latzko

There are so many eateries, museums, tourist destinations, historic buildings and scenic sights to see along Los Angeles’ roadsides. This is something author and travel journalist Mimi Slawoff explores in her second book “Historic Los Angeles Roadsides: Towns Off the Beaten Path in the City of Angels.”The book was published through Reedy Press and is set to be released on May 1. Slawoff will do a presentation and book signing at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena on Saturday, June 14.

1 week ago | ladowntownnews.com | Christina Fuoco

Success is nothing new to musicians Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill. As the Bangles’ lead guitarist, Peterson scored No. 1 hits with “Walk Like an Egyptian” and the top 10 “Eternal Flame.” Cowsill was The Beach Boys’ drummer and a member of his family’s band, The Cowsills. Now, the married couple is starting over — gratefully — with their eponymous band. Peterson and Cowsill will perform a sold-out acoustic show at McCabe’s in Santa Monica on Friday, April 18.

1 week ago | ladowntownnews.com | Jared Rasic

There are a ton of low budget, international and just plain off-the-radar films coming out over the next few weeks, most of which deserve at least a chance of finding an audience. With advertising budgets that are unable to compete with what larger studios are able to throw at their movies, I dove into a pile of this month’s smaller releases to make sure nothing truly exceptional falls through the cracks. The results definitely varied. Let’s take a look.