Results tagged “drinking>”

As with every weekend, the LAPD is out to nab drunkards off the streets. This weekend's DUI checkpoint, scheduled for 8 p.m. to 3 a.m., is in Sherman Oaks, just south of the 101 Freeway on Van Nuys Boulevard at Hortense. The Van Nuys Division, which serves Sherman Oaks, has seen 102 driving under the influence-related traffic collisions and 1,008 hit and runs. Stay safe out there and don't drink and drive!

Watch out, folks! As always, never, never, never, never drink and drive. Halloween weekend is no exception and the LAPD is keeping an eye out. Over at Sunset and HIghland, a sobriety and drivers license checkpoint will be set up tonight between 8 p.m. and 3 a.m. Since the beginning of the year, there have been 127 driving under the influence-related and 989 hit and run traffic collisions in the Hollywood area.

If you still don't know where to get your drink on for Cinco de Mayo, check out the following festive venues. Arriba drink deals!

Remember back in December we had posted a story about Three Sheets host Zane Lamprey, the international party connoisseur that filmed his exploits traveling the world, learning about the drinking habits of various cultures? Late last year, fans of the show were distraught when home network Mojo HD went under, leaving Zane and his arsenal of drinking knowledge without a home on cable television. A New Year’s Eve party at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood and a St. Patty’s Day pub crawl in New York were thrown to substantiate Zane’s ever-growing fanbase, and it would appear that they just may have worked.

We often hear about DUI checkpoints in the Los Angeles area, but tonight in Santa Monica they'll be doing something different. "We're giong to increase DUI enforcement with more officers on the street," explained Sgt. Renadli Thruston of the Santa Monica Police Department over the phone. "It's not just one checkpoint, it's throughout the area."

You should never drink and drive and to remind you of that, the LAPD is hosting two sobriety checkpoints tonight. One will be located at Vermont and 11th in the Koreatown area from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. Further South, the other checkpoint at Broadway and 51st Street from 7 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. As the LAPD explains, "The purpose of the sobriety checkpoint is to reduce the number of traffic collisions involving intoxicated and unlicensed drivers through enforcement and public awareness." And now you're aware.

There will be a sobriety checkpoint set up tonight from 6 p.m. until 1 a.m. on Harbor Boulevard between 5th and 1st Street, run by the South Traffic Division’s Crime Task Force/Driving Under the Influence Enforcement Detail. Why? Well, besides the fact that drunk driving is as dangerous as it is lame, the authorities would like to say that: "This operation will be conducted in an effort to reduce the incident of injuries, death, and property damage associated with the intoxicated driver at this location. Harbor Division has experienced an 11 percent increase in Driving Under the Influence related traffic collisions in the year 2008 as compared to 2007. The checkpoint will serve as a reminder to the community of Harbor Division to use designated drivers and not drink and drive." Need to hear this in more basic terms? "Our message is simple: if we catch you driving drunk, you will be arrested!"

The holiday season is a time for reflection. We’ve all been fortunate enough to make it through another year relatively unscathed; sometimes we stick out our hands to help those around us, and sometimes the hands reach out for us, but any way you look at it, there’s a lot that we’ve all done for each other, and ourselves. so when you finally sit down to relax this season, really try to reflect.

Have you ever been channel surfing when suddenly, out of the blue, you find a network you had no idea you were paying $80 a month for?

Looking for a little holiday cheer in the frantic last days of frenzied mall crowds, last-minute shopping and party hopping? Well, today is your lucky day. Christmas in a cocktail glass at the following bars and even a little recipe to try at your holiday party!

              

What's red and white and drunk all over (town)? Well, today, that would be Santacon.

Remember when the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcohol was illegal? Yeah, neither do we, and thankfully so.

Everyone knows: When you can't think of what to get someone for Christmas -- whether the host of a holiday house party or the man or woman who has everything -- a safe bet is always booze. The following are some of our favorite liquor-related places and gifts to make it a very merry Christmas indeed.

Yes, alas Jones Soda isn't doing its special turkey and gravy soda for Thanksgiving this year. But never fear, you'll still be able to drink your mashed potatoes, and in a martini glass at that, or one of the following holiday specialty cocktails. BTW, not all places are open on Thanksgiving so call ahead if you're really counting on that après-dysfunctional-dinner drink.

We're constantly on the hunt for cocktail milkshakes in Los Angeles. Mmm, nostalgic fun with an edge! Surprisingly not too many places offer them in our fine city. But one night while we were enjoying the grilled cheese pork rib sandwich at 8 oz. on Melrose, we asked the bartender if the chef, bartender, whomever got around to making the alcoholic milkshakes we had heard they were planning to put on the menu months ago.

For the past seven years, Good Microbrew & Grill on Sunset Blvd. has made their own beer garden during the Sunset Junction Street Festival. And even though that this year if you go south of Sanborn St. there is no festival (yet the street is still closed off and you still have to pay to get in), the beer garden goes on.

The presidents of Occidental, Pomona and Whittier colleges were among the California representatives who signed a petition that called for "an informed and dispassionate public debate over the effects of the 21-year-old drinking age," according to the LA Times. Around 100 schools around the country signed the document.

Saturday may have been the official National Rum Day, but who says we can't celebrate whenever the hell we want (and who gets to make up these national days? Do these people get paid? How do I get that job?)?

There's a sobriety checkpoint in Hollywood at Gower Street and Hollywood Boulevard from 7:30 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. tonight. Traffic can slow down considerably at these, so if you're in the area, you should avoid it because you are a good citizen that reads LAist and doesn't drink and drive, right? And if you're drunk, taxis can now legally pull over to pick you up in some parts of Hollywood, so take advantage and make sure they don't cost you an arm and a leg by getting into the sobriety checkpoint traffic.

So this is how the Princeton Review gets press. University of California, Santa Barbara made the Princeton Review's top 20 schools for partying. Coming in at number 9, they also earned a position as the 4th best school for use of hard liquor. Other California schools making some kind of partying (or lack thereof) list was Claremont McKenna College for wide use of beer consumption (#13), UC-Santa Cruz in the "Reefer Madness" category (#6), Thomas Aquinas College for being "Stone Cold Sober" (#9), Thomas Aquinas College (again) and Pepperdine University undergraduates in Malibu for not using hard liquor, Pepperdine for also avoiding beer (#20) and Thomas Aquinas College for being weedless (#7)

Headed out to see Lili Hayden tonight? Thinking about checking out the Dresden Dolls on Monday? Well, if you're the lucky designated driver, or if you just want to check your drinking habit a little, bring along some earplugs - researchers in France recently found that loud music in bars or clubs encourages people to drink more.

If your Saturday evening plans have you a) drinking and b) traveling in or through Van Nuys, a word to the wise via the Daily News: "Cops will be out in force tomorrow night in Van Nuys doing a sobriety checkpoint from 6 p.m. Saturday to 2 a.m. Sunday to cut the number of DUI-related traffic collisions." The location of the checkpoint has not been revealed, but the reasoning is as clear as a shot glass brimming with Ketel One--there have been more than 700 hit and run incidents in the area so far this year, and approximately 100 car crashes that have been alcohol related. Sure, it's not as glamorous as boozing and cruising Sherman Way, but may we suggest the Orange Line? Or at least a designated driver!

Need an activity for your inner philanthropist?

LA Magazine has already crowned it one of the best things about living in LA. If you've ever tried to drive down Santa Monica Blvd. around Gower on a Saturday night, you'll quickly find out what thousands of Angelenos already know: there's no better way to spend a Saturday night than with a picnic and a bottle of wine in the middle of a cemetery, watching a classic film. In fact, Cinespia's weekly summer film showings have become so popular that it's best to arrive several hours early (by public transportation if you can get it; parking's a bitch!), friends and pic-a-nic basket in tow.

Went to Finn McCool's in Santa Monica this afternoon for a "business meeting" and suddenly found myself surrounded by people dressed in green and drinking green beer and slamming Irish car bombs. I guess everyone's getting in their St. Patrick's Day celebration early to avoid the crazy bar crowds on Monday. Smart idea!

All right, you alchie lads and lassies, your day is near, the one time of the year where the bars open up for breakfast and people won't look at you twice for having a little whiskey with your morning cuppa. Take the day off so you can start drinking early to beat the mad crowds and avoid the long lines. These Irish pubs can accommodate your pre-dawn cravings as they open up in the a.m. for St. Patrick's Day next Monday.

After a 5-month investigation, the Associated Press found that Los Angeles drinking water has traces of Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications. "To be sure," the AP noted "the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose."

Unless you don't like drinking liquor to begin with, it can be a bit of a drag to be the designated driver for your drunkard friends. You have to sit there on your bar stool sipping your tiny, weak soda while they get to enjoy pretty, decked-out, specialty cocktails. Fortunately, there are some lovely nonalcoholic options out there for you responsible folk, and I'm not talking O'Douls.

And I was very surprised by how much I actually enjoyed the taste of this martini. No, it didn't have a fishy taste.