The backstory to THE sign spinning company, in NoHo ... Easter Eggs in animated films ... Brains On, the science podcast for kids, and what the brain sounds like ... the Griffith of Griffith Park was a very nasty man ... Alex Israel and Brett Easton Ellis collaborate, and our critic hates it

Mel Haber tells us about starting Melvyn's, his landmark Palm Springs eatery ... we prep you for WonderCon, coming to LA for the first time ... Marc Haefele makes us wistful for Black Mountain College ... whither Mariachi Plaza?

From Hollywood's historic Musso & Frank restaurant, Off-Ramp brings you a special Academy Awards preview episode.

Zoey Tur gets back in the chopper for her groundbreaking new job on Inside Edition; the head of WET in Burbank explains how to make a really cool fountain; a retro video game arcade in Old Town Pasadena lets you play on cultural artifacts.

We walk Skid Row with VA chief Bob McDonald; how Vidiots changed journalist Elina Shatkin’s life; a classical bassist who went to New Guinea to study a singing and composing tribe.

We spend a few minutes in the Idle Hour; talk bars with atmosphere with 1933 Group's Bobby Green; talk judges' robes with Kevin's dad; and meet radical quilters.

The annotated H.P. Lovecraft ... France's proud history of satire ... Oscar nods at the chosen few ... the late Taylor Negron loved Lucy

RH Greene sits down with Chaz Ebert at the Palm Springs Film Festival; we remember poet Michele Serros; Patt Morrison looks back and forward at Jerry Brown; and Marc Haefele takes us to the Fowler museum for an exhibit that almost didn’t happen.

As 2014 wraps up, Off-Ramp looks back at some of its best music coverage: all female tributes to Iron Maiden, Venice Beach's most beloved busker, Henry Rollins and more.

A surprising Hannukah TV special; a deeper look at "Batman Returns;" Angela Lansbury, Queen of all Medias - and Mediums; our All-Star Night Before Christmas