First Canada has to beat us to the punch by celebrating their Thanksgiving an entire month before ours. Now their "nation's birthday" is three days before ours? Like that's a coincidence. Way to steal our thunder, neighbor to the north. Today is officially Canada Day, so everyone don your tuques, crack open a Labatt's and let's down some poutine and butter tarts! It's time to party! And to start things off, here is our tribute......

From the Graph Humor and Song Chart site, GraphJam, here's one way we see the rest of the country (& Canada... by the way, Happy Canada Day!).......

It's hard to compete with St. Patrick's Day, something Jason Collett can testify to as he played to a thin crowd numbering in the few dozen at the Troubadour. It seemed the allure of corned beef and Guinness was just too much. What the revelers missed was a charming, laid-back set from Collett, a sometime member of the Canadian collective, Broken Social Scene. Collett's sound is a throwback to the old California rock sound by......

Don't be angsty like this lady...go out tonight! / Photo by Plankton 4:20 via LAist's flickr pool. FILM “Animation Nite: From Halifax with Love” is a program at the Echo Park Film Center that features short animated and semi-animated films by women who’ve all lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, eh. The screening includes work by host Siloën Daley and six others. Music by local band Foot Foot follows. 7:30 // Echo Park Film......

10,500 people packed into the Crenshaw Christian Faith Dome this morning for a very special service for fallen LAPD SWAT Officer Randal Simmons. Police officers from as far as Canada have come to Los Angeles to honor him. More waited outside and people began to gather on the streets along the procession route. Media watcher, Kevin Roderick at LA Observed pointed out this morning as he liveblogged the funeral that "every network owned TV station......

Last week I met up with Tony Pierce and some of his friends at the best Downtown bar to catch up and have some drinks. After talk about pimps blogging in Compton and strippers getting fondled in Canada, Tony turned to me and asked, “So you been writing about any guys lately?” “Nah man, I’m not dating anyone so there’s nothing to tell,” I answered. Tony replied, “I don’t believe it. You’re hot.” Well,......

Back in 2004, Congress approved the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. It dictated that in order to cross the border back into the country from either of the United State's two neighbors, a passport would be required. Today, that law goes into effect. Beginning today, Americans returning from Mexico and Canada must show valid passports, a sharp departure from previous regulations that let U.S. citizens use only a driver license as proof of residency. [...] Now,......

No direct link, but ABC7 has a large red breaking news banner at the top reporting that "Fox Hills Mall in Culver City is locked down while police search for a stolen car suspect." The leaning tower of Pisa. Check. The leaning tower of Hollywood? Double check. The Sunset + Vine building appears to be leaning. Timber! Donda West, mother of Kanye, who passed away after plastic surgery at a local hospital died from......

Ahhh, Christmas, carols fill the air along with the aroma of baking cookies. hearts are filled with joy, and Santa sends out obscene mail to good little girls and boys. Here are some stories of holidays gone bad, including some from holidays past. Ho ho ho!!!Author of nasty letters from Santa sought Fri Dec 14, 2007 11:39am ET OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's post office and police are trying to track down a "rogue elf" who......

For your lunch time viewing pleasure today is a lovely little diddy going around the Internet and tech circles about the new tech "bubble" that is upon us. It's to the tune of "We Didn't Start The Fire" by Billy Joel and if it's doesn't make you laugh, maybe it will give you a few ideas for new websites to check out. Many Angeleno's in the tech sector say the next surge of technology......

The Malibu fire is now 25% contained. At least 35 structures have been destroyed and thousands were forced to flee as wind whipped flames ravaged the coastal town. The cause of the blaze is not known at this time, but crews haven't ruled out CNN's Glen Beck. In other fire-related news, two people died this morning when a house fire ripped through their Pasadena home. The cause of the fire is unknown. A woman......

A couple premieres tonight worth noting, Project Runway for all you fashionistas, and the incredible Kenny vs. Spenny makes its US premiere, and check the above video for a message made exclusively for LAist! The boys live in LA, check the show out or at least Tivo the mofo. 8:00pm Pushing Daisies ABC - "The Soup"'s Joel McHale guest stars tonight. TV Junkie 8:00pm Pick 8:00pm Wired Science PBS/KCET - Love the show, hate......

Following a flap from an LA Times article that found 60,000 LAUSD students attend school within 500 feet of a freeway, the school district is looking into ways it can reduce the health hazards for kids close to pollution-filled freeways. Maybe the school district can use the $53 million in funds they're trying to recoup to build domes over playgrounds. Thousands of birds and an immeasurable amount of fish have died as a result......

The man responsible for killing a woman and her two young children in a street-racing accident last month has been tracked down and arrested in Mexico; Martin Marones is expected to be charged with three counts of murder. So many questions! Has "Heroes: Origins" been shelved? Or just "postponed" due to the writers strikes? Will we ever find out who's been offing the group of twelve? And what's up with this ADAM guy??? Two......

Jack-In-The-Can by RNL The contest in which design teams create structures with canned food, has returned to the Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks, and will be on display through October 15th. Taking Warhol’s soup can to a whole new level; CANstruction produced by the Society for Design Administration, and organized by the offices of State Senator Jack Scott & Assemblyman Mike Feuer, gathers together L.A. architects & designers to create creative displays, and......

Volume at the Los Angeles port, the biggest in the U.S., is expected to drop for the first time in four years. Experts attributed the decline to the slumping housing market and continued loss of confidence in imported goods. I don't pretend to be an expert, but we'll cheer up when they stop putting plastic in their toys. A woman was arrested and charged with murder, stemming from an incident in which she allegedly......

From time to time, LAist will take a look at the many book-to-film projects underway in Hollywood. We'll explore the books we love and why we're over-the-moon excited or just plain worried about the film projects that bear their name. The Lovely Bones -- When we first examined the books-to-film projects underway in Hollywood, we were on regular IMBD watch for casting updates about Alice Sebold's novel-about-to-be-film The Lovely Bones directed by Peter Jackson. So......

If you thought earthquake season was over -- you were wrong! A 3.9 shaker hit the Lake Elsinore area earlier this afternoon. Maybe that explains the unseasonably warm weather today? Today in Shitty Traffic: parts of Wilshire are being closed off due to reports of a "suspicious package," Defamer is reporting that "the LAPD has closed the eastbound traffic of Wilshire Boulevard at Veteran Avenue to Westwood Boulevard." Hopefully justice will be served here:......

On Monday evening, the winner of the 2nd annual Polaris Music Prize will be announced. This is not earth shattering news because many don’t even know what it is. The Polaris Music Prize is Canada’s equivalent to the U.K.’s Mercury Prize. It is an award given to the best Canadian album of the year, regardless of genre, sales, or record label. The winner receives $20,000 cash and a bevy of publicity. The initial jury......

On Sunday, one of my buddies and I went downtown to the Oprheum Theater on Broadway for a taping of Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam. What can I say? I'm a sucker for lowbrow comedy. So, picture my surprise when after about 30 minutes of the stylings of such comics as Damn Fool (yes, that's his name), host D.L. Hughley came onto the stage and announced the final comedian. "All the way from Canada...the......

The NHL 2007-08 season officially got underway last night with an exhibition game between the Stanley Cup Champion (?!) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and your Los Angeles Kings. Brian Willsie put the Kings ahead with five minutes to go in the game, and the Kings held on to beat the Ducks 5-4. Sure, exhibition games mean nothing, but we’re not going to see a lot of King’s victories this year, so let’s savor the......

For almost a year now, the southern corners of National Boulevard and Overland Boulevard have not had anything on them. Now, in the last week, they're bustling with activity. On the eastern corner, where there was once an Arco, a plywood fence has gone up (now it's festooned with posters) and on the western corner, where the stripped Blockbuster still advertises the video release of The Omen remake last October (saw it, not great)......

Artist: Small Sins Album: Mood Swings Label: Astralwerks Release Date: 09/25/2007 The Small Sins is a group led by former Carnations member, Thomas D'Arcy. Small Sins is his baby and you can tell as every song is almost, but not quite, overwhelmed by his presence. This album starts very solidly, with several outstanding tracks: the anthematic "I Need A Friend", the wonderfully banjo-infused "Morning Face", and potentially my favorite, the Magical Mystery Tour-esque "What Your......

Artist: Memphis Album: A Little Place In the Wilderness Release Date: June 2007 Label: Good Fences Memphis released this album in Canada a year ago and now it's made it to the US. This was a hard record to listen to in the summertime, what with it's many references to snow and snowy countrysides, ostensibly up in Canada, as it was written and recorded in the winter of 2005-6. All the vocals, guitars, and......

This blog talks a lot about riding the busses and subways and being Green, but some of us drive and aren't ashamed. Further, Los Angeles loves its car culture and it's fine time that we take pride in who we REALLY are. As we drive our cars proudly, there comes the times when we have to park them. Last week I was shocked and amused when the writer of the busblog clued LAist readers......

Division Day, the indie pop band hailing from Santa Cruz and formed in 2001, is out with their debut full length album, Beartrap Island, a combination of echoey sounds, exciting drums, and catchy choruses. Originally from northern California the band makes its home in Los Angeles now, more specifically Eagle Rock's "rock block" - the neighborhood known for its numerous recording studios and rehearsal spaces. Known for their relentless touring and somewhat mischevious behavior......

This is the story the record labels have always feared. Canadian rocker Matthew Good had been recording professionally in North America for the past 12 years. When his U.S. record deal with Atlantic Records expired, he had some choices to make: try to find a new label that would distribute his music in the States, try to get a new deal with Atlantic, try something totally different, or completely give up on getting his......

I went to Canada for my summer vacation. While Zach was running the ship, and while all the guest editors were guest editing, I was north of the border drinking beer, buying weed from Hells Angels, and constantly eating poutine and sushi. They have fireworks in the bay several times during the summer, they have a garbage strike that doesn't seem to effect anyone. And they have an odd relationship with buying booze in......

Doom hangs over the new Arcade Fire album. A nameless dread, omnipresent and consuming, from the oceans and the skies, by infernal means and by human hands....

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a......