Slake's John Albert remembers when Van Halen was groundbreaking and good ... Riding the Blue Line ... Poison or Pleasant - what is the plant in Kevin's backyard ... Bike Advocate ... Seth MacFarlane ticket winners singing with spoons ... Simon Cowell previews The X Factor ...

Disaster preparedness in SoCal ... Dinner Party Download ... Apollo, the Getty Villa's handsome but dangerous god ... Poppies return ... Running the LA Marathon ... Owsley Stanley remembered ... Seth MacFarlane SINGS ... Lomita's "Black Widow"

Aja Brown's vision for Compton, CalTrans' houses, Matthew Bourne's "Sleeping Beauty," Dylan Brody's Thanksgiving, and Marv Gross' Thanksgivingkuh. Yes, we're possessive.

New documentary "Dear Mr. Watterson" ... Roz Wyman remembers plotting a JFK fundraiser that had Sinatra singing on the diving board ... Mark Twain is getting much better at writing his memoirs

Kris Kristofferson sings at Janis Joplin's star ... Agnes Varda at her new LACMA show ... the Hammer tries to show the arts can bring back a neighborhood ...

Rob Verdi's rare and unusual saxophones, LA's first film and John Ridley's latest, Tiberius - not so bad, and the lasting influence of The Twilight Zone TV series.

R.H. Greene's new documentary, "War of the Welles," shows how Orson Welles got to "The War of the Worlds," and says it really did panic millions of listeners.

Mexican-American superstar Pepe Aguilar's first public radio interview; Jefferson Starship's Craig Chaquico emits Beamz with a new instrument for the non-musical masses; facing death rationally; and gourmet ghosts.

Celebrating the 1-year anniversary of Shuttle Endeavour's triumphal arrival at the California Science Center ... the Cyrus Cylinder comes to the Getty Villa ... the Mediterranean house gecko and you ...

A rabbi and a priest walk into a fundraiser, and talk about guilt ... Vin Scully on his life, work, and possible retirement ... Father Boyle on Pope Francis, so far ... Patt Morrison and Nate Silver talk sports, stats, and California politics.