This American Life comes to LA. Be still my heart.

Thanks to a tip from my good friend STS this morning, I found out that the great love of my young life, Ira Glass, will be coming to town next month for one night (two shows) of what I'm sure will be nothing less than pure, nerdy, genius entertainment.

For those who aren't familiar with This American Life, it's a weekly, hour-long NPR show (Angelenos can listen in on KCRW or KPCC) that features themed stories each week that are sometimes moving, often hilarious, and always compelling.

Lots of folks download dance tracks to hit the gym. I download This American Life.

Tickets went on sale at 10 am this morning (I bought my tickets by the time the clock turned 10:01). Glass' nerdy fans of Los Angeles will surely scoop up seats at both shows soon, so join me and your fellow Glass geeks and pick up your tickets asap.

Find out more and buy tickets.

[via Scenestar]

Terror strikes. Platform sneakers make a come back on Melrose.

I was shopping in Sportie L.A. tonight for some sneaks to tramp across UCLA's campus in this weekend (for Festival of Books. yay, plug!) and I came upon this eye-catching platform sneaker on an otherwise unimpressive and cluttered check-out counter. The sign--fastened on securely with a paper clip--boldly announcing:

Custom Made Platforms
Weddings
Special Events

And I wondered...did stores still add platform layers of rubber on to walking shoes? Hadn't this stopped after those awful years of misguided fashion in middle school? Someone surely must have alerted the footwear retailers across the country that no, this was no longer an acceptable 'fashion' practice. And then I panicked...would some girl--some girl who'd not gotten the memo--who'd spent the last 15 years under a very distant rock--see this sign and customize her very own platform bridal adidas?

I paid for my own, non-customized kicks before I could have my sense of style violated any
further at the register. But the image won't leave my head. The sneaker nightmare lives on.