Despite the beginning-of-the-year bustle, the play is still the thing. At least it is for the UCLA Shakespeare Reading and Performance Group. In existence since 1993, the group is a motley crew of Bruins varying in age, race, discipline and association with the university, but with one thing in common: the love of theater. Read more...

“I’d got back to the new pad depressed that morning, having blown the last of the coke and started jerking off to a newspaper picture of Hillary Clinton in a power suit running for Senator of New York.” So says Simon “Sick Boy” Williamson, initiating the first in a series of many depraved sex acts in Irvine Welsh’s latest book, “Porno,” the sequel to 1996’s incredibly popular “Trainspotting.” Only this time, instead of scamming in order to score heroin, Simon has his sights set on world domination via a single, earth-shatteringly original porno film, made right above the bar he now owns. Read more...

In the lobby of the arctic air-conditioned Melnitz Hall are posters of films on which UCLA alums worked. Francis Ford Coppola’s “Dracula” sits black-framed on one side of the hall; on the opposite wall is Alexander Payne’s “Election.” Both of Brad Silberling’s efforts (“City of Angels,” “Casper”) are framed as well, making him giddy. Read more...

By now, the rap star cliche has passed the point of no return. However, despite the blinding glare of the so-called Bling Dynasty, alternative rap acts like Blackalicious have begun lighting up audiences with their back-to-basics brand of hip-hop. Read more...

In the 1960s our parents listened to The Beatles and their parents could not understand how the music was deemed listenable. Strangely, it was easy to feel like one of those stodgy middle-aged parents circa 1965 at Clinic’s performance at the Palace on Friday night. Read more...

During the Cultural Revolution in China, Liu Shi Kun was placed in prison for playing piano (a Western instrument). After seven years without touching a piano, Liu Shi Kun still played like a master, because he practiced in his head if not with his fingers. Read more...

Sometimes it’s good to live in Los Angeles. Forget the traffic on the 405 Freeway, forget the air perpetually brown with smog, and follow the music. Read more...