Best of L.A. 2008: Local Events

Bathroom poetry to elevate the spirit at Little Joy.  (Elina Shatkin / Los Angeles Times)

Evelyn Weimenn of Moerfelden Germany, reacts as a harbor seal pokes its head through the kelp forest as she and her sisters take a guided wildlife kayak tour. The seal stayed in this position for several minutes and didn’t seem interested as the kayakers passed by.  (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

Just in time for summer, Southern California theme parks have rolled out a wave of new rides. Universal Studios Hollywood features a theme park-within-a-theme park as the fictional Krustyland plays home to the Simpsons Ride.  (Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)

Eugene Hutz of Gogol Bordello whips up the crowd during the 2008 Coachella Music & Arts Festival, which boasted record heat this time around.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

A vendor sells light sabres and glow glasses by the Mane Stage at Stagecoach 2008, the second annual “Country Coachella” in the desert.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Electronic music fans flocked to the Electric Daisy Carnival at the Coliseum on June 28.  (Camilo Smith / Los Angeles Times)

The party pool scene was in full swing this past summer in Vegas. Here guests at Bare in the Mirage Resort stay cool in the infinity pool.  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Brad Culver, left, Michael Geniac, Jonney Ahmanson and Andrew Gilbert, members of the Poor Dog Group, perform in a scene from “Hey, Hey, man. Hey.” The show was part of the second program at REDCAT’s NOWfest this past July 24-26.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Krystal Bell and other members of Cirque Berzerk form a “flaming Shiva” during the finale of its production “Beneath,” which followed Eurydice through her time in the underworld during a production at the former Not a Cornfield site downtown.  (Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)

Lucent Dossier dancers “Sunny” and “Angel” perform a routine to Massive Attack’s 1998 song “Teardrop” on the Edison’s main stage at one of a series of weekly performances at the downtown bar this past summer.  (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)

The Cold War Kids from Fullerton, California played a “secret” show at the R Bar in Koreatown this past summer. Despite leaks in the blogosphere (our very own Soundboard music blog ran an item as did LAist) the show’s attendance remained manageable. Here, singer Nathan Willett riles up the crowd with his gravelly howl.  (Jessica Gelt / Los Angeles Times)

A carnival of lights could be seen at Awakening, a massive rave dance party held in San Bernardino this summer.  (Marty Rosamond / For The Times)

Models Jessica Rogers, center, and Abby Virgen, right, pose during the Bronx Zoo figure drawing class at La Cita bar in downtown Los Angeles, a gorilla-masked art gathering organized by Ghettogloss.  (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Our examination of fried food at the Orange County Fair started humbly, but Chicken Charlie’s has expanded its empire of grease to become the epicenter of all that is battered and fried in fair-land. We took a tour of these battered, grease-soaked wonders.  (Rob Takata / For The Times)

On a late autumn evening at the El Rey featuring DJ Paul V, the noir rock of Miss Derringer and goth disco of IAMX attendees’ attire skewed towards festive, sexy funereal. The color of choice for most was black coordinated with eyeliner, leather boots, piercings and tattoos that stretched across backs, knuckles and necks. Here Jack Atlantis and Stephanie Bastionell of Los Angeles were swank in satin.  (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)

Brazil’s DJ Mary Zander surveys the crowd before dropping a house track at the sixth installment of the Avalon’s “Made in Brazil” series this past August.  (Natalie Fiteni / For The Times)

Hordes of young, clothes-conscious alt-rock fans -- a surfeit of whom claimed, curiously and conveniently, to be just 21 -- descended on Echo Park on Aug. 30 and 31 to listen to more than 30 local bands. Here Alex Sanchez and Can Casual share a kiss inside the Echoplex.  (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)

“Lonely Boy,” a.k.a. Raul Najera of Unlimited Tattoo in Azusa, tattoos an image of the Virgin Mary on the ear of fellow tattoo artist Sergio Sanchez of 310 Tattoo of Long Beach at the 2008 World Body Art Expo. Sanchez already dons multiple tattoos and piercings, including a string of words across his forehead and a rhinestone embedded in a dimple in his cheek. He blithely flipped through cellphone messages as the needle pricked the religious image into the thin skin of his ear. The placement was significant for Sanchez. “That’s where she’s always at. Always talking to me,” he said.  (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)

A couple shares the love at HARD Halloween this past October, which featured performances by Justice, Deadmau5, Crystal Castles and more.  (Colin Young-Wolff / For The Times)

The view from the balcony as fans wait for Jay Z to take the stage at the newly restored Palladium in Hollywood.  (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

Two attendees at the Lolita Halloween Tea Party held at Royal/T, a Japan-centric tea house and gallery in Culver City. The Lolita fashion subculture has it roots in Japanese youth culture and draws inspiration from European Victorian and Edwardian styles of dress. The style is further broken down into subsets, including Gothic Lolita, Elegant Lolita and Pirate Lolita -- all unified by a frilly, feminine sense of whimsy. “We’re scientists by day and then we dress up like this at night,” said Camille Vergara (right), who is a biotechnology scientist. Mandy Ma is a chemical engineer and, on weekends, a waitress at Royal/T.  (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)

The annual event Santacon found a mob of Santas descending upon a variety of bars and nightclubs around the Silver Lake and Hollywood area. Here the Santacon Santas show their appreciation for one of the dancers at Jumbo’s Clown Room.  (Colin Young-Wolff / For The Times)