the BEAT of the week: Taco Madness Party

It's yet another Tuesday. Need a way to spice up your week?

How about all-you-can-eat tacos from the best places in Los Angeles, homemade horchata and some live art and DJing?

What more do I need to say? Head on over to the classic Guelaguetza restaurant in K-Town tonight for all of the above, brought to you by taco connoisseurs LA Taco and the ever-hip Echo Park Records. $15 will give you all the tacos you'll ever need, including those from Mexicali Taco & Co. -- the winners of LA Taco's Taco Madness 2011 bracket (Interested in this year's? Vote here!). Bring cash for mescal cocktails, and you'll have a Tuesday you'll never forget (and if you do, well, you'll wake up knowing you had some great tacos.)

Happy Taco Tuesday!

Taco Madness Party takes place from 9pm to 1:30am at Guelaguetza, located at 3014 W. Olympic Blvd. in Koreatown.

-- Chau Tu

Click It. BEAT picks of the week.

Lana Del Rey will be at L.A.'s El Rey Theatre June 3, 4, and 5. Tickets are on sale now.

Gourmet edibles from Barneys.

Show off your love of cake for breakfast!

Mark down the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on your calendars - April 21 and 22.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: via Lana Del Rey Web

the BEAT of the week: ForYourArt's "Around the Clock: 24 Hour Donut City."

Yes, you did read that correctly: 24 hours of donuts. And it's for art, so it's cool and not totally gluttonous, right?

Right. ForYourArt, a bi-coastal arts organization aimed at bringing awareness to great art, is opening a 24-hour pop-up donut shop in collaboration with LACMA's screening this weekend of Christian Marclay's experimental film, The Clock, which also lasts 24 hours. The film is actually more like a video montage, slicing together "thousands of moments of cinema and television history depicting the passage of time," all synched up to real-time. So when the screening starts this Saturday at noon, it'll be noontime in the film too.

But let's get back to the donuts -- which, like the screening, will all be FREE. The shop will be right across the street from the museum, and will serve coffee and a rotating menu with picks from the likes of Donut Man and Stan's Doughnuts, all curated by L.A. food and travel writer Krista Simmons. Apparently, Simmons' choices were directly influenced by the movie itself. (Plus, don't forget donuts are round like clocks!) It's all interconnected!

Free donuts, coffee and artsy film. Have a good Saturday.

ForYourArt's "Around the Clock: 24 Hour Donut City" is taking place from noon on Saturday, March 24 until noon on Sunday, March 25 at 6020 Wilshire Blvd. in Mid-City. The Clock will be screening across the street at LACMA, during the same time. Both events are free.

-- Chau Tu

Photo credit: ForYourArt

Do It. 21 Jump Street.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credits (from top): 20th Century Fox Television, via Fanpop, and Columbia Pictures, via Get the Big Picture

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the BEAT of young los angeles! Some ideas for celebrating ...

Try Real Simple's recipe for Ale-Braised Corned Beef, Brussels Sprouts, and Carrots (above).

Or Bon Appetit's Grilled Corned Beef and Fontina Sandwiches ... and for dessert Chocolate Stout Cake.

Guinness Cocktails

Wear: Pleated tank dress by Parker in green, from Intermix

Soundtrack: U2: The Best of 1980 - 1990

-- the BEAT

Photo credit: Real Simple

Click It. BEAT picks of the week.

Jeff Who Lives at Home. Jason Segel, Ed Helms, and Susan Sarandon all in the same movie? Yes, please.

J. Crew's classic leather ballet flats in tawny sand - perfect spring/summer shoes.

Starbucks' Kona coffee, because daylight savings is making early mornings rough.

Layer Cake Shiraz - delicious and well-priced red wine. On 'ClubBev' sale now at BevMo!

Start listening to A.A. Bondy now, so you'll know all the lyrics when he's at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles on May 1. Start with "When the Devil's Loose".

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: Paramount Pictures via allmovieinfo.com

the BEAT of the week: Los Angeles Beerathon.

One wouldn't normally put beer and exercise in the same thought or sentence, but we here at the BEAT like to break some rules every once in a while -- in the name of fun, of course.

And thusly, we introduce you to the first annual Los Angeles Beerathon: 26 beers at 26 bars, taking you all over downtown (including places like Wurstkuche and the Downtown Independent), with all kinds of brews (like Hangar 24 and Magic Hat). Couldn't be more simpler than that, and probably couldn't be more fun either.

All you've got to do is sign up. One $55 ticket will get you access to all 26 different venues and beers no matter if you finish the actual marathon or not -- the event creators admit it is actually quite a challenge -- so you'll be set to have an adventure either way. You'll have to be 21+ to participate, but otherwise, pretty much anything goes!

Drink safely out there!

The LA Beerathon takes place at March 31. Check out the website for more info on starting points and for tickets.

-- Chau Tu

(Correction: an earlier post said the event would be 26 miles long -- this is not true. Just 26 beers at 26 bars in downtown Los Angeles.)

Click It. BEAT picks of the week.

The late, great Christopher Hitchens on how to make a decent cup of tea.

It's always fun to check out everything from eye shadow and moisturizers to nail polish and perfume in Sephora ... A new Culver City location opened yesterday, March 9. I want to try Benefit's new "Hello Flawless!" Oxygen Wow foundation.

One of New York's most legendary restaurants, Le Cirque, is going on a cross-country pop-up tour, with the "LA" stop being at Orange County's Center Club on April 6. Click here for more about An Evening with Le Cirque.

Now open: UMAMIcatessen - 846 Broadway in downtown Los Angeles.

Today in the Times: the new Saturday section, and Jonathan Gold.

For weekend browsing, the March / April issue of Lonny.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: Martin Parr / Magnum Photos, via Slate

the BEAT of the week: Monday Movie Nights at Echoplex.

For whatever reason, watching movies in places other than movie theaters can often make the experience a million times more exciting. Throw in some free popcorn and some excellent movie choices, and you've got guaranteed fun ahead.

UNIQUE LA, the creators of the largest independent design show in the country and a great advocate for modern homemade artisan goods in this city, is getting into the film spirit. They'll be putting on monthly movie nights in the vast space of Echoplex in Echo Park, and next up on the marquee this next Monday is the '90s classic Clueless. Perfect excuse to reminisce and watch a wonderful film -- and yes, there will be free popcorn! (Plus drink specials all night and pizza for sale from Two Boots!)

Tickets for each show is $10. Check out the upcoming lineup of films here.

Monthly Movie Nights at the Echoplex featuring Clueless will take place next Monday, March 12 at 8pm at Echoplex, located at 1154 Glendale Blvd. in Echo Park.

-- Chau Tu

Click It. BEAT picks of the week.

Etsy's March Meet & Make in California is taking place tonight in Los Angeles and San Francisco. More details here.

How cool is Stella McCartney?

If you have some awards-season catching up to do, Hugo and J. Edgar are out on DVD this week.

Have you tried Starbucks' Blonde Roast? It was the hot item during my morning stop today.

I've been loving slathering on Aveeno's Positively Ageless Reconditioning Night Cream. It smells fresh and is a great creamy but not too heavy consistency.

This Pomelo Blossom candle from Catbird in Williamsburg, Brooklyn smells SO good. They also make great tin travel candles.

Extremely simple Thai curry to make at home.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

Photo credit: dropcloth / Etsy shop