• Need for food donations is increasing, while food available for those in need is on a downturn. The good folks over at SOVA in the Valley are scrambling to provide for hungry families this holiday season; rising energy and food costs are partly to blame.
• So why do I still see people checking the coin slots for loose change? AT&T is selling off their pay phones to "independent" operators; will the machines be kept in working order or will they devolve into so many graffiti magnets?
• Downtown L.A. is welcoming its first new movie theater in twenty years this week, the ImaginAsian Center -- but will its location, right next to punk club The Smell, prove problematic?
• Maybe it fell over because it had too many jello shots last night: an overturned crane blocked off the southbound lanes of the 5 freeway near Mission Hills this morning -- traffic is being diverted but the freeway has yet to be reopened.
• Gridskipper rounds up some of the worst parking lots in Los Angeles: thumbs up on recognizing the horrors of The Grove and the Hollywood Bowl but nothing deserves to be on this list more than that god damned Trader Joe's Santa Monica lot. Worst. Ever.
• I'm sorry, but men can be such useless, vile idiots sometimes: "Two males were arrested in connection with last month's stabbing death of a 19-year-old man in a case police said started when one person disrespected another." [Emphasis mine.]
• Tickets for Garth Brooks's series of concerts benefiting victims of the recent California fires sold out in less than an hour -- 85,000 tickets at $50-75 a pop, with all proceeds going to charity? Not bad, Garth, not bad!
• IWantMedia's media person of the year? Striking Writers!!!
• How's our man Rex over at Fimoculous.com doing with his 2007 predictions? "6) Jim chooses Pam on The Office. Yes! Score: 10 7) Studio 60 catches on. No! Score: 0"

Don't forget to enter our Labor Day Weekend Contest with the prize to see AIR at the Greek Amphitheater later this month. Recent major events for the Los Angeles Fire Department include a fire last night in North Hills contained to a 12 x 12 foot room where a twenty-something male in serious condition with smoke inhalation and an air ambulance rescue for a two-year-old boy who fell from a pony, dragging him near... more ›

This weekend marks the annual Tofu Festival, where fans of the soy based food product of Chinese origin can gather together in celebration of what to so many is an acquired taste. The festival is taking place in downtown on San Pedro Street between 2nd and 3rd on Saturday from 2-10 p.m. and Sunday from noon-9 p.m. General admission is $8, with kids (5-12) and seniors (60+) at $5 a piece. Of course, the... more ›

We all remember Giant Village getting cancelled this year. Well to be technical, it was last year. Anyway, there was another party cancelled last year around this time called Lucent L'amour. Okay, to be technical again, it wasn't fully cancelled. But if you paid around 25 bucks to go to a party that was supposed to close at 4:00 a.m., and the fire marshal kicks you out at 2:30, some might be a bit nonplussed. more ›

Fill the space between your ears with info about wind by attending the screeing of Wild Weather: Wind" at Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium, 332 S. Michigan Ave. , Pasadena. Show starts at 2 PM but doors open at 1:30. $5 also nets you a post-screening discussion will be led by Shane Murphy, of Caltech’s Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Program is for ages 6 and up so it won't be over your head. more ›