L.J. Williamson – Writer, Editor, Commentator

Itsy Bitsy Brain Branding

January 12, 2015, Uncategorized

The baby was about four months old when I figured I should start doing some ?mom stuff.? But what did moms do? Although I?m 32, none of my friends have kids, so I was pretty much going it alone. The only things I had to guide me were my surreptitious observations of other moms down the aisle from me in the grocery store, and the direct mail … Continue »

My Son, The Monk

December 29, 2014, Los Angeles Magazine, Print/Online

When my 12-year-old son decided to spend two weeks as a novice monk at the Wat Thai temple in North Hollywood, I hoped he would learn something about Buddhism. Instead he learned how to make a flamethrower out of a lighter and a can of Febreze. Say ?Buddhist monastery? and everyone pictures a strict, disciplined environment, full of structure … Continue »

The Regent Is The Latest Theater To Join Downtown L.A.'s Live-Music Boom

November 25, 2014, LA Weekly, Print/Online

Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Mitchell Frank's barking ringtone is at it again. Tonight Frank is hosting a private party at the Regent Theater, his newly renovated venue on Main Street, in the Historic Core section of downtown Los Angeles. Outside, a painter is still delicately putting finishing touches on the red R's that adorn the windows. … Continue »

Men And Feminism: The Pierce College Feminist Club

November 12, 2014, Award-Winning Work, Broadcast

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Swing Music Goes Electro With The Gentlemen Callers

October 28, 2014, LA Weekly, Print/Online

Is it that swing keeps coming back, or does it just refuse to go away? The last time early 20th century sounds burbled up to the surface was in the late '90s, when bands like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy haunted the Derby in Hollywood, a scene immortalized in (and some might say killed by) the movie Swingers. That version of the swing revival was firmly … Continue »

Jack Black, Patron of the Arts

October 21, 2014, LA Weekly, Print/Online

We know actor Jack Black for his "best band in the world" bluster as half of Tenacious D, and for his on-screen persona: a heavy metal pothead. But Black also happens to be a patron of the arts. Or just stuff that he thinks is cool. Black and his wife, Tanya Haden, have helped fanned the flames of small, select handful of projects including Art … Continue »