Photo credit: sniderscion Torontoist spent its week uncovering who was behind mysterious ads for a drug called "Obay" that popped up across the country (Scientology? Frank Shepard Fairey?), first tracing them to an advocacy group called Colleges Ontario and then confirming their suspicions a few days later.Phillyist learned how to put on a puppet show – it's not as easy as you might think!Shanghaiist discovers that the average starting monthly pay for fresh graduates......

"orange chair with cushion," by kpe II via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr A steady stream of Koreans moving into the northwest San Fernando Valley suburbs is giving the traditional K-Town in LA City a run for its money. Now you Valley-ists might not have to travel over the hill for karaoke bars. Japanese and Los Angeles police detectives solved a 26-year-old case of a Japanese business man who allegedly shot his wife......

Next time your uncle and aunt are in town skip the usual Hollywood Boulevard shenanigans. The Walk of Fame and Mann's Chinese Theater are just as exciting as they look on Google Images. Instead take them to Pincher's Liquor and crush their spirits with these unusual murals.......

Restaurants have no love for dogs, but dogs sure do love their owners | Photo by Tom Andrews via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Steve Poizner has no love for Allianz: The state Insurance Commissioner announced a $10 million settlement with Allianz Life Insurance Company, the biggest seller of annuities in California, today in Burbank. Allianz swindled hundreds of 84 and 85 into bad deals that cost them thousands of dollars. David......

Today it became official. Mark Lisanti, the Editor of Defamer since mid-2004, is done as of this Friday: Of the 9 or 10,000 posts I've done since we started this site, this one is the hardest to write. After almost four years here at Defamer, I've decided it's finally time to move on. In an effort to keep this short and sweet, I'll be climbing out of the blogging hamster-wheel this Friday, and though I......

Okay, it won't be even close to this dramatic looking when the food is pulled | Photo veganstraightedge by via Flickr Trader Joes, based here in Southern California in Monrovia, made a big announcement today regarding imported food from China:Garlic, frozen organic spinach and other "single ingredient" food items from mainland China will be phased out by April 1, although products that include ingredients from both China and other sources will remain. The company......

Two Chinese immigrants in different parts of the country were charged in separate cases of espionage today, the Associated Press reports. One of them was based here:In Los Angeles, former Boeing engineer "Greg'' Chung was arrested on charges of working as an unregistered agent for the Chinese government who stole trade secrets from the defense contractor. Prosecutors say the stolen data largely focused on aerospace programs. Chung, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was indicted last week......

You still have time to take part in the Lunar New Year festivities in Chinatown today! CELEBRATE THE YEAR OF THE RAT The annual Lunar New Year Festival continues today in Chinatown. Catch pan- Asian entertainers including Chinese acrobats, as well as Thai dancers and Taiko drummers. Food, games, children’s activities, and more will also be on tap during the free festival. Until 5 p.m. // Chinatown // Free FUNDRAISER BASH! OPEN BAR! The......

The Lunar New Year has officially started, and pigs are like soooo last year. To usher in the Year of the Mouse and Rat, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles is hosting the 109th Annual Golden Dragon Parade and festival on February 9th and 10th. Performers from Beijing will lead the parade, followed by assorted city officials (Villaraigosa et al.), Mickey Mouse as grand Marshall, flower drum dances, a plethora of beauty queens,......

The Happy Ending is the perfect place for your bachelor party to grab a bite to eat on the way to the strip club. It's also the perfect place for your divorced dad to park you in front of the video trivia game while he drinks too much and hits on a waitress half his age. I couldn't believe it the first time I saw the name of this restaurant. I thought perhaps it was......

SFist worried over drugstore chain Walgreens celebration of Black History Month.Gothamist was surprised that apparently New York City is the fourth most miserable city in the country, after Detroit, Stockton, CA, and Flint, MI.Shanghaiist finds out what the Chinese think of Hilary and Obama.It was with a healthy amount of schadenfreude that Phillyist reported that former Eagle, and now Cowboy (ew), Terrell Owens owes the Eagles a significant wad of cash.Torontoist is two weeks......

COMIC BOOK ART The gallery named for the year that brought us Hypercolor T-Shirts, Yo! MTV Raps, and Salt N Pepa's single "Push It" (that's 1988 for those who didn't immediately connect) is currently featuring "Under the Influence: A Tribute to Stan Lee" in a show that runs until February 1. Preview some of the artwork online and then activate your Spidey webs and crawl over to Melrose Ave. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. //......

Following up on my last post, here are five favorites I return to time and time again. All are reliable sources for good eating! Home Cooking and More Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin The novelist Laurie Colwin wrote playful, funny novels (Goodbye without Leaving is my favorite) about complicated characters, and also wrote straightforwardly about everyday cooking, the kind that sustains body and soul. Home Cooking, the first collection of her pieces from Gourmet and......

I have the good fortune of having a relative who lives right at the end of the Rose Parade route. This allows my family to have good seats and a warm bed the night before. My wife used to camp out to get good seats, now that we have this good fortune I want to share it with you, the LAist readers in the form of this photo essay. The end of a 5.5......

Clippers 91, Timberwolves 82 - The Clippers came into the game with a six game losing streak, several players out with injuries, and went 0-for-14 from three point range. Fortunately, Minnesota is the worst team in the NBA so none of that mattered. USC vs. Illinois - It's a little bit of a letdown match up, but you still can't top the Granddaddy of Them All. Tune into ABC at 2:00pm today to watch the......

While the controversy over Beijing's Olympic-themed float in Tuesday's 119th Tournament of Roses Parade has not managed to stir up LA's Chinese-American community, as New Year's Day draws near, murmurings of anti-war protests have begun to surface. The protests are linked to a group called the White Rose Coalition, and involve well-known activist Cindy Sheehan, whose soldier son was killed in Iraq. According to a press release: Local and national pro-Impeachment and pro-Peace American citizens......

While hundreds of volunteers are stealthily working into the wee hours to affix flora to framework and as people begin to plan for finding space along the parade route, an unexpected battle has been waging between human rights groups and the City of Pasadena. The Pasadena Star-News reports that the controversy surrounds several components, including the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games to be held in Beijing, China, and the requests made by the Pasadena Coalition for......

Welcome to a two-part review of the year’s best cookbooks. In part one, I’ll list five new books that inspired me in the kitchen in 2007…part 2 will include five rediscoveries that you might want to add to your shelf. Chocolate & Zucchini: Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen by Clotilde Dusoulier A cookbook by a blogger! (with another book in press!) Inspired by a two-year stay in San Francisco, Dusoulier developed the blog......

Remember when Chewbacca allegedly attacked Marilyn Monroe? If you have ever driven past Mann's Chinese theater, you have seen the assortment of costumed characters posing with tourists. The Reinactors, Dave Markey's documentary that follows the strange bunch who haunt Mann's, has just been chosen for the 2008 Rotterdam Film Festival. The 37th edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (23 January to 3 February 2008) is being realised under the leadership of director Rutger......

Last week Monday, Metro released a series of service enhancements and additions including the new Gold Line schedule. In the additions bucket came two new Metro Rapid lines, both starting in Downtown. The 728 runs between Downtown and Century City, mostly along Olympic Blvd. A ride review by Wad at MetroRiderLA finds that the busy thoroughfare "has a cross-cultural crosstown aspect" as it runs through Central American community of Pico-Union, Koreatown, Little Ethiopia, South Carthay......

Are you lazy? A terrible cook? Don't care about Christmas? Where are you going to find someplace to eat that's open during the holidays? Chinese food is a great option, of course -- and Gayot lists some other fine dining places that are serving up deals on Christmas Eve. Looking for a last-minute book buy for the chef in your life? The LA Times lists the year's top cookpook picks. JGold celebrates the opening......

Torontoist discovered their city's most ridiculous holiday lights setup, with 80,000 lights and two––two!––synchronized music routines. Naturally, they snagged a video. Chicago tragically loses one of its most recognizable neighborhood icons, the pigeon man of Lincoln Square. LAPD leaves body in car at crash scene, then tows it. Massachusetts plus mullet equals PR mayhem. Londonist sleeps in a Haunted plague pit. UC Berkeley students strip naked and race through campus, NSFW floppiness ensues. Phillyist......

About 500 support and production workers marched down Hollywood Boulevard to urge an end to the strike that has paralyzed the movie and television industry. The "Strike a Deal" march brought together workers who are not on strike themselves but who have been laid off or are losing business as a result of the WGA strike, which appears far from over as it enters its sixth week. Today's rally and march -- from Grauman's......

Taste-Buzz will fill you with ramen cravings in this post on Asa Ramen in Gardena. Rameniac (noodle porn!) is also on the scene. More and more, it seems like the real culinary finds in this region are in the cities surrounding central L.A. Is Whole Foods (Whole Paycheck) a necessary evil for those seeking high-quality, low-impact organic food? Or is the company less interested in ethical consumption and more involved in "creating a retail......

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is scheduled to make a stop in Los Angeles Monday at the Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal City Walk. From his campaign: Barack Obama in Los Angeles Monday, December 10th Doors open 6:00 p.m. With performances by Ne-Yo and The Goo Goo Dolls Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal City Walk 100 Universal City Plaza Universal City, CA 91608 For security reasons, do not bring bags. No signs or banners permitted. Purchase......

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......

The ever talented and lovely Alicia Keys performed just before the massive 4000+ strong march down Hollywood Blvd. Keys, with the #1 album in the country As I Am, said "As a SAG member and a writer, she was there to support the cause." After the mini-concert of two songs, "No One" and "Go Ahead", the red army took to the street. March and chanting from Vine to right in front of the Chinese......

Two of the four big summer three-quels hit DVD shelves today. Neither is worth your money. Better to spend it on La Vie en Rose, featuring one of the best performances in years by the amazing Marion Cotillard. Better yet, make it a French double-feature and pick up Paris Je T'Aime, too. If you haven't yet, invest a weekend watching Berlin Alexanderplatz. And, yes, it will take the whole weekend. Christmas and South Park......

Fun Fun Fun Fest 2007 Recap from Super!Alright! on Vimeo. Austinist attended a town hall meeting about proposed noise ordinances that could undermine the city's future as the Live Music Capital of the World, and lamented the possible loss of Texas's only feminist bookstore. Throughout the week, they interviewed a bunch of indie fashion designers and D-I-Y websites—Etsy, Ornamental Things, 31 Corn Lane, and Aorta Designs—for the upcoming Stitch Fashion Show. They also did......

On Sunday, PasadenART Weekend concluded with a free seven hour Music Festival, featuring sets by Sara Lov (MySpace), Culver City Dub Collective (MySpace), Dengue Fever (MySpace), Ceci Bastida (MySpace), Jessica Fichot (MySpace), Balaio (a last-minute substitute for Tijuanos), and Jessie Baylin (MySpace), on the One Colorado Courtyard in Old Pasadena. The festival was the perfect showcase for Los Angeles as a cultural melting pot, as songs were sung not only in English, but in......