Anyone who indulged (and/or overindulged) in this past Saturday's LA Street Food Fest understands the beauty of L.A. food trucks. Hawthorne officials, however, do not, as reported by The Daily Breeze. A Best Buy parking lot in Hawthorne became a once-weekly home to a dozen food trucks in June, spurring a recurring Tuesday night mobile eatery extravaganza. Claiming that the gatherings violated the city's Municipal Code, officials halted the event just weeks after its inception. more ›

Strange things transpire in Venice. Early this morning, after breaking into a West L.A. Best Buy, stealing electronics and filling a U-Haul van to the brim with their goods, three men and their U-Haul eluded police and vanished in Venice. more ›

A man who is suspected of kidnapping and shooting a woman in Long Beach this morning, leaving her body in a parking structure, was shot during a standoff in front of a San Fernando Valley Best Buy a few hours later. more ›

This nifty little package - 1 DVD and 2 CDs bargain-priced at $11.98 for the set, and only available at Best Buy - captures two of the intimate acoustic productions put together by Rachel Fuller, the English composer, arranger and singer who is also the longtime partner of Pete Townshend, at various stops on the Who’s 2006-07 world tour as a way to keep herself busy. “I said, if I’m gonna go, I’m gonna have to have something to DO,” Fuller explained when the Attic came to the Troubadour last fall. The house-partyish production, which started as a webcast from her actual attic back in 2005 and gradually worked its way into American nightclubs, has allowed Fuller to present her music to a wider audience, and as a side benefit, has sparked some of the most fun and inspired Pete Townshend performances of the last twenty years. more ›

There are no local reports of people being trampled to death over Black Friday madness in Southern California yet--such a horrible incident left a Wal-Mart employee dead in New York's Nassau County this morning-- but shoppers camped last night in Cerritos outside a Best Buy store to be first in line to shop electronics. Early morning lines could be found all throughout the region, mainly at name-brand stores. more ›

Who fans in major cities have been trained to keep their ears very close to the ground when the band goes on tour these days, as Pete Townshend’s partner, singer-songwriter Rachel Fuller, has found a unique way to keep herself occupied while tagging along: a live web program called In The Attic, in which Townshend and Fuller’s invited guests get together for spontaneous acoustic jam collaborations, often involving someone’s favorite rarely-performed Who song. They revived the program at the Troubadour on Friday, to promote the forthcoming In The Attic DVD release from Best Buy, and a handful of lucky fans got to witness a truly unique evening. more ›

Best Buy is reportedly keeping Napster's Los Angeles staff and CEO Chris Gorog as well. The last time Best Buy made a major investment into the music business, it didn't go so well. "Its $700 million purchase of Musicland/Sam Goody stores in 2000, timed just as the music retail business began an 8-year-slide," the Silicon Alley Insider reported. But how well are digital music subscription services doing? more ›

I fell in love with Porto's Bakery long before I ever actually visited one of their Glendale or Burbank bakeries -- they've always been our go-to place for catered meals at work. It only took one bite of one of their famous potato balls to convince me that this was a place I HAD to visit. more ›

Just in time for the release one of the most anticipated titles for the Wii this year, the folks over at Nintendo are staging a regional tournament for fans of Super Smash Brothers Brawl, the game that just recently shattered Wii sales records in Japan. According to our sources, the first 256 people who show up at the Orpheum theater downtown will have a chance to fight to the finish in an attempt to claim the regional championship title. All regional winners will face off in a championship tournament in New York wherein the finalists will battle for a crystal-coated Wii and a home theater system from Best Buy. So if you've ever wanted to chance to see Pikachu kick the simultaneous asses of Mario and Luigi, head downtown this Saturday. Doors open at 3pm. more ›

Procrastinating gift givers everywhere can stop at their local Best Buy to grab a CD from a plethora of music superstars and avoid the dreaded regifting faux pas. The holidays have always been a time when record labels ramp up their releases to make a pretty penny off of shoppers. Don’t know what to get your kid? Take your pick of shiny round plastic discs with a fancied up singer on the front. Of course they’ll love it! more ›

LAist Featured Photos contributer Jonathan Alcorn caught this scene in Compton on Saturday: "In an effort to reduce violence, 156 guns were collected by Los Angeles County Sheriff's representatives in Compton during the first three days of an annual exchange program, officials said today. People turning in guns to sheriff's personnel receive $50 gift cards for use at Best Buy, Home Depot, Ralphs or Target. Gift cards worth $100 were given for each of the first 50 guns turned in." more ›

• Want a Wii this holiday season? Well toooooo fuckin bad. The best you can hope for is a rain check certificate that will entitle you to a console at some point in January. Even the Wii people themselves are now admitting what a mess they've made of manufacturing this thing.
• Two members of a terrorist cell have pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to wage war: the splinter group was "was poised to attack military sites, synagogues and other targets" in Southern California. The two men face 20-25 years in prison.
• Oh noes! The hipsters will be so dry now! The DWP will be draining Elysian Park and Silver Lake reservoirs because of high levels of toxic chemicals in the water.
• Gas prices soar, consumer inflation also goes up: "Consumer Price Index rose 0.8 percent last month, the biggest one-month increase since a 1.2 percent surge in September 2005, when the country was hit by rising energy costs in the wake of Hurricane Katrina."
• It's the PLAGUE!!! Actually, no, it's just the flu, and a child in the Valley is the first to be diagnosed this season. Get your flu shots! Unless you're like me and treat every illness with a few stiff shots of whiskey.
• Rhino Records is open again! Not at their storied Westwood location (sniff sniff), but they're operating a "pop-up" store during the month of December only over at Third and Fairfax.
• A "guns-for-gifts" exchange will be held tomorrow in Compton: "People turning in a gun to sheriff's personnel will receive a $50 gift card to Best Buy, Home Depot, Ralphs or Target. $100 gift cards will be given for each of the first 50 guns turned in. About 400 guns were turned in at a similar exchange in 2005".
• Conan O'Brien and NBC are getting sued...by a bodybuilder...over a Clay Aiken gay joke. Do we live on the moon or something? Oh no, that's right -- Hollywood.
• Midnight Ridazz are doing an all-city Bring-A-Toy-For-Charity bike ride tonight. Check their website for details.

You know you're gonna do it. Don't lie. You're gonna be there in the dark, in the cold, along with all your friends and neighbors standing in line like a dope at 4:50am outside some Big Box store or a mall waiting for some kid to unlock the door so you can buy a $300 plasma tv or a $5 dvd player. It's America and no matter how cool we think we are, we're... more ›

HIM - "Passion's Killing Floor" more ›

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Today brought on two major changes for Sherman Oaks. Some are cheering, some are jeering. The first is the opening of the 405 on-ramp just south of Valley's busiest intersection of Ventura/Sepulveda at Greenleaf Street. This means no more traveling a couple miles to Burbank Blvd. to get on the 405 North and possibly a tiny bit less congestion. The second and controversial neighborhood newbie (to some) is the grand opening of Best Buy on... more ›

No stadium show experience is complete without a snafu at Will Call. And this is how this story begins. Sure it was nice to see Ray Liotta standing next to me at Window 4, but not even the loop of Henry Hill voiceover playing in my head could soften the blow of a forty minute wait at Window 5. Eventually security arrived and ushered us to our seats. That’s a first. After a twenty... more ›

Man, didn't you just love "Freaks and Geeks"? Weren't you pissed when it got cancelled, almost as pissed as you were when they cancelled "Arrested Development"? Or, if you discovered it post-axe, weren't you pissed there was only one season to savor on DVD? But then The Forty-Year-Old Virgin came out and was really funny and did really well at the box office, and you were still pissed about "Freaks and Geeks", but at... more ›

In what was probably the least gross competitive eating event I have ever seen, James Donohue destroyed the rest of the field at this morning’s CHiPs DVD Release/Donut-Eating Contest. Donohue inhaled 18 donuts before anyone else could finish as many as a dozen (and I’m talking full-sized glazed donuts, too, not the tiny, little powdered sugar motherscratchers.) CHiPs star, Erik Estrada, was on-hand to referee the whole affair but his services were barely needed... more ›

Ever had one of those fever dreams where you enter a donut-eating contest, win $2500 and meet one of the original Latino superstars Erik Estrada all at the same time? Well, tomorrow that dream can be made real. In honor of the release of , Frank “Ponch” Poncarello will be hosting a donut-eating contest at Randy’s Donuts in Inglewood. A portable DVD player and a signed copy of the DVD are also up for grabs. There’s even talk of a massive donut sculpture so bring your cameras. Spend a few minutes reading the contest requirements here and be sure to arrive by 8:30. And pray that Kobayashi doesn’t show up. more ›

The Wherehouse, Licorice Pizza, Rhino, Tower, Moby Disc, Aron's, Penny Lane, db Coopers... and now you can add Echo Park's Sea Level to the list of once-essential local record stores that have thrown in the towel. The LA Times Buzz Bands blog has the scoop: the independent outlet that in 5 1/2 years had become a locus for Los Angeles' Eastside music scene, will close June 30, owner Todd Clifford said. "It's not so... more ›

Arcade Fire Neon Bible Merge Records Every once in a while a cd will come along that you can't get out of your head. You take it with you to the car, you bring it into the shower with you, and hey look at that there it is playing in your iPod. Arcade Fire's first album was like that, Funeral. Beware though, Neon Bible is going to cost you. It's such a dynamically beautiful... more ›

- Chandler family may buy back LA Times - AP more ›

There were Sherman Oaks residents against Best Buy. There's Sunland-Tujunga residents against Home Depot. Enter Burbank Equestrians. more ›

Like Santa (pictured) LAist knows who's naughty and who's nice. We also know that many of you probably didn't check in with your favorite city blog since Wednesday, so here's some highlights of what we busted with while you were scarfing stuffing. more ›

Winners: Best Buy, Circuit City, Retailers. more ›

- "I think that blogs should die a sudden death," Jared Leto said while wearing mascara. - Best Week Ever - "I'm not sure I can stomach continuing to read National Review." - The Corner - The mid-term election has hit an all-time low when Al Franken's face is photoshopped on the body of a man wearing adult diapers. - Think Progress - AZ GOP Congressman one of the Foleyish men with a Page Problem?... more ›

Interested in a shiny new High Def DVD player but don’t know what format to get? Confused about the quality of HD DVD versus Blu Ray DVD? Afraid to go into your local Best Buy and see what all the fuss is about and ask the twelve-year-old kid that works there a question? We don’t blame you at all. To get the scoop on at least one of the competing formats, HD DVD, you... more ›

They've dressed up in blue shirts and khakis and started helping people at Best Buy, they pretended to be U2 playing on a roof, and now they've decided to go to a Home Depot and either stand still for 5 minutes or move in super-slow-motion. more ›

How can't you delight in the glee of a young man meeting one of his celebrity heroes? Yesterday a teen from West LA went to his local Best Buy on Friday and stood in line for hours with his friends. He pre-ordered the cd, as was instructed, and after 6 hours of waiting, he got to meet the heiress, and thanks to MySpace, we now have this report. I walk up in disbelief and... more ›