Author Archives: Shirley Pena

Shirley Pena

About Shirley Pena

A native of Southern California, Shirley Peña began her career as a music journalist almost twenty years ago, writing for her websites "Stars In My Eyes: the Girlhowdy Website" and "La Raza Rock!" and progressed to creating various fan sites on Yahoo, including the first for New Zealand singer/songwriter Tim Finn. From there, she became a free agent, arranging online interviews for Yahoo fan clubs with various music artists (Andy White, John Crawford, Debora Iyall, John Easdale, etc.). She also lent her support in creating and moderating a number of Yahoo fan clubs for various music artists from the 1990s-today. As a music journalist, Shirley Peña has contributed to a number of magazines (both hard copy and online), among them: Goldmine, American Songwriter, Classic Drummer Magazine and UK-based Keyboard Player (where she was a principal journalist). A self-confessed "fanatic" of 1960s "British Invasion" bands, Classic Rock and nostalgic "Old Hollywood ", she also keeps her finger on the pulse of current trends in music, with a keen eye for up and coming artists of special merit. Shirley Peña loves Los Angeles, and is thrilled to join the writing staff of The Los Angeles Beat!

Nestlé / Gerber Banana Baby Food Recall Notice Is False

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Shirley Pena

Recently this notice has been appearing widely on several social media sites, especially Twitter and Facebook. Since I had heard nothing previous about it, I took it upon myself to investigate the validity of this claim. I subsequently discovered this … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Health and Beauty, News & Sports | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

24 Hours of Reality: The Dirty Weather Report Begins TONIGHT at 5 pm PST

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Shirley Pena

Al Gore, Founder and Chairman, The Climate Reality Project Maggie L. Fox, President and CEO, The Climate Reality Project: “Dear Los Angeles Beat readers, We are pleased to invite you to join us this week when millions of people will … Continue reading →

Posted in Events, News & Sports, Science & Technology, Upcoming Events | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Watch the Premiere Screening of the ‘It’s a Girl!’ Film

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Shirley Pena

Rita Banerji, Founder and CEO of ’50 Million Missing: a Campaign Against India’s Female Genocide: “Courteous greetings to all the readers of the LA Beat, ‘It’s a Girl!’, the much awaited new documentary film on female ‘gendercide’ in India and … Continue reading →

Posted in Events, News & Sports, Theater, Upcoming Events | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Stand with David Garcia to End Retaliation at Walmart Warehouses

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Shirley Pena

David Garcia: “Hello to everyone at the LA Beat! Working conditions in the Walmart-contracted warehouses are bad. We are temporary workers, we make minimum wage, we have no job security, no sick days and we work in extreme temperatures lifting … Continue reading →

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CA Secretary of State Urged to “Count Every Vote on Prop 37” with New Petition

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Shirley Pena

According to investigative journalist Jon Rappoport, more than one million votes on Prop 37 (the GMO labeling initiative) in California have gone uncounted to date. Since the margin of “victory” is about 600,000 votes, this means that Prop 37 may have … Continue reading →

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Has Science Confirmed the Existence of the Soul Through Quantum Physics

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Shirley Pena

“I know that the molecules in my body are traceable to phenomena in the cosmos. That makes me want to grab people in the street and say, ‘have you heard this?!’ We are all connected: to each other biologically, to the earth chemically and … Continue reading →

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Robbery and Murder: an Interview with David Olney

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Shirley Pena

All photos courtesy of Deadbeet Records. Copyright 2012. Singer/songwriter/storyteller David Olney possesses a unique charm that is hard to resist. He can quite literally charm the birds out of the trees and even the shoes off the feet of a legend … Continue reading →

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The Man who Saved the World

Posted on November 3, 2012 by Shirley Pena

“A guy called Vasili Arkhipov saved the world.” –  Thomas Blanton in 2002 (then director of the National Security Archive) Last month, October 27, 1962 marked the 50th anniversary of an event too important in world history for it to get … Continue reading →

Posted in Upcoming Events | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Was There Ever a Real ‘Devil’s School’?

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Shirley Pena

For anyone who is familiar with the classic horror tale of Dracula there is a particular paragraph that has raised many questions in the minds of readers, ever since the book’s release over a hundred years ago. In that paragraph … Continue reading →

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The Top 10 Worst Horror Films Ever Made!

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Shirley Pena

With Halloween almost here, The Los Angeles Beat welcomes witty and popular Yahoo Network contributor Lara Bailey, as she presents her pick of the top ten worst horror films ever made. Although I might disagree with her decision to include … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments