
Features:
The Desert
It looks like a lot of rocks and sand. But get your desert eyes on and the tortoise and antelope squirrel, the creosote bush and ocotillo emerge from the pebbles. Many plants and animals call the Mojave, Colorado, and Great Basin deserts home, as do cowboys, jarheads, art rats, KCRW donors, holy loners, and the hedonists of Palm Springs. A guide to California’s wild and wonderful desert
By Dave Gardetta
Raw Deal
A diet of uncooked fruits and vegetables is being hailed as a cure-all. Cleansing the liver of Los Angeles magazine’s Dine editor in a week would require nothing less
By Lesley Bargar Suter
A Brush With Life
For half a century Don Bachardy has drawn and painted some of L.A.’s most memorable faces. Gaze upon his legacy
By Ann Herold
A Case of Road Rage
When a porn star and a college student driving through the San Fernando Valley fell into conflict, a Bangladeshi American family suffered the consequences
By Ed Leibowitz
Buzz:
Ask Chris
Chris Nichols rides the rails
By Chris Nichols
The SEEN
All the parties fit to crash
By Kari Mozena
The Weekender
Petting the gray whales in San Ignacio, Mexico
By Ashley Alvarado
Best of LA
Small museums with big ideas
By Sara Wilson
PLUS: Bill Paxton fortifies himself for another round of Big Love
Tastemaker
It’s hard not to stop at a window designed by ChadMichael Morrisette
By Laurie Pike
Au Courant
Military supply stores as the latest boutiques
By Laurie Pike
Columns:
Speak Easy
After more than three decades in charge of KCRW, Ruth Seymour takes a bow, confronts criticism, and gives some parting advice to her successor
By Richard E. Meyer
Open City
Tiger Woods isn’t the first mythic figure to plummet from the skies
By Anne Taylor Fleming
Dine
Thomas Keller’s legend was forged in a tiny Napa Valley town. Now it’s unfolding in an urban landscape with the latest incarnation of Bouchon
By Patric Kuh
PLUS: In our newly expanded listings, find cheap eats, a dish’s story, and what’s in season at farmers’ markets
Business
Notice how much airtime local news is getting these days? It’s all part of a strategy called survival
By Mark Lacter
Film
He laughed. He cried. A critic finds 13 reasons to love the past decade
By Steve Erickson
Web Extras:
The Reading List: February ’10
Every month LAmag.com highlights titles of local interest that are hitting bookshelves. Here’s what’s new
By Wendy Witherspoon
Type Cast
Visit the upstate New York studio of artist Ross MacDonald as he creates our “Desert” headline from antique wood and metal block letters
The LA Mag Pet Survey
Got a minute (okay, two)? Fill out our pet survey and you, your responses, and even a photo of you and your pet could be featured in our May issue. It’s in the interest of science—sort of
By Amy Wallace