Over the weekend, the anonymous "scribes" at Martini Republic voiced a complaint common to many: "The City of LA’s continued shakedown of its own citizens continues apace. The foto-tickets cost about $365, and are very tough to fight (a day off work, a drive to Compton), even though cops snicker when they see that one has popped up in your life: 'Those lights are almost always wrong,' they say." Will someone explain to me... more ›

Our best pictures are of The Sugarplastic but we left the Great American Smokeout Benefit Show last night most impressed with Space MTN. Dina Waxman's sad songs about loss and past relationships gone bad mixed with her deadpan banter in between songs were oddly appropriate for this night of jokes and music centered around that most hilarious of subjects: Cancer. more ›

We don't know how else to say it except like this: Fuck Cancer! Breast cancer, throat cancer, stomach cancer, all of it. Kiss our ass, Cancer! Especially lung cancer which is the leading cause of cancer deaths in this country and the most preventable. Take those sexy cigarettes and break 'em up, throw them in the trash and never look back. LAist had, for a long time, been seduced by the allure of attractive people holding rolled tobacco on their lips and in their hands but no longer. Smoking may be sexy but a long life and being able to run up a flight of stairs without fearing for a heart attack is way hotter. more ›