Results tagged “holiday”

Yesterday was yet another Friday on which the state's DMV offices were closed down, thanks to Executive Order S-13-09--a furlough mandate launched in July that sees the department darkened for the first three Fridays of each month. However, do a little figuring with the calendar, and yesterday kicked off a long string of Fridays when the DMV just won't be an option for motorists. "[F]actoring in upcoming holidays on top of those mandated furlough days, Friday marked the start of a 12-week stretch in which DMV offices will be closed for business every Friday," reports the Daily Breeze, which "means that the next Friday employees will be on the job - and that motorists can get their licenses and vehicle registrations renewed - won't come until Jan. 29."

For those planning a trip to Yosemite National Park this weekend, about a five-hour drive from L.A., they don't have to worry about the Meadow Fire ruining too many of their plans, officials say. The park will remain open, save for some off-limit areas and roads due to the 7,240-acre blaze.

View 4th of July 2009: Fireworks in a larger map

In just the first two days of the Memorial Day long weekend, authorities made more than 420 arrests for "suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs in Los Angeles County," the Pasadena Star-News reports, up from the 387 arrests in the same time frame last year. The count began at 12:01 a.m. Friday and these figures represent arrests logged until midnight Saturday. Motorists may have noticed the upped presence of patrols and checkpoints, which is thanks to the "Avoid the 100" campaign; 100 county law enforcement agencies working together as a "task force target[ing] intoxicated drivers" are the ones you'll want to avoid. Better yet, avoid any problems and either be the or designate a sober driver.

"Because that's the way we do business in L.A., you come and scream and yell and you usually get your way," Los Angeles Unified Supt. Ramon Cortines said in an interview to the LA Times about pending school budget cuts which has everyone in strife. Cortines is on to something here. It's unrelated to education funding, but religious institutions felt the annual Los Angeles Marathon made it hard on parishioners, so they lobbied city council, who in turn banned the Marathon from taking place on Sundays. The race will now take place on Monday, May 25th, otherwise known as Memorial Day.

Tomorrow is Cesar Chavez Day, eponymously named for the Mexican American farm worker turned labor and civil rights leader. It's an official state holiday in California and in seven other states meaning closures of government buildings and services. Today, Los Angeles city offices and libraries are closed and tomorrow, state offices, the DMV and superior courts, state universities and community colleges will close. Mail delivery, public schools, county and federal offices will all remain in operation both days as well as public transportation, banks and trash services. Unfortunately, not many people know about the holiday. Because LA City Hall is closed today, everyone is calling the 3-1-1 Call Center, which this morning was an easy 10-minute wait to reach an operator. "Everyone is calling us because it's a holiday," explained a rushed operator who had 58 calls on hold.

Hopefully, you've chimed in on our map of pubs in the Los Angeles area. In any case, every business is yearning to take your green in exchange for green on this happy day of Shamrock Shakes and the such. If you're staying in, The Rundown has a great list of store-bought beers you can find at Whole Foods and BevMo curated by LA-based "beer expert" and author Hallie Beaune. Over at the LA Times, Charlie Amter rounds up the irish pubs and where the holiday themed drink specials can be found (even non Irish bars like Liquid Kitty are getting on the game, and maybe it's a good idea to check them out, they'll be less crowded). The Scene also has a list and over at LA.com, they offer a handful of their picks.

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."

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My girlfriend and I took our first tantric sex class this past Valentine’s Day. Our collective curiosity was peaked as a new erotic adventure stood before us on the most amorous of holidays. Despite instructor Deva Charu’s tantric explanation -- “contrary to popular belief, Tantra is not all about sex” -- I though yeah, right!

Depressed lovers be warned, on Saturday the LAPD's South Traffic Division will be adding extra patrols to hunt down drunk drivers in the Harbor Area (San Pedro, Wilmington, Gateway). Why? "Harbor Area has experienced a 133% increase in DUI related traffic collisions in 2009 as compared to 2008," the LAPD explains in a notice. Unlike checkpoints, these "DUI saturation patrols" will roam the streets.

Valentine’s Day is tyipcally a day of atonement for lousy boyfriends. It's a Get Out of The Dog House card, erasing 364 days of relationship-disinterest. Not a bad deal for the low cost of dinner at The Grove and a grocery store-bought floral arrangement.

Although they admit the lead time to market the program was insufficient, Metro and the City have not committed to operating late-night Red Line service again in 2009, according to a report (.pdf) published by the Department of Transportation this week. However, they do believe Metro can "operate effective additional service" if funded and that the community may have an interest in seeing it happen again during the 2009 holiday season.

For some, this it not even a holiday where you get the day off, but to the normal world (government, banks, etc), this is a holiday. And if you want to take that seriously and honor the man it is named after, Obama has made that possible with his huge Renew America Together program. The LA Neighborhood Cleanup Project is getting together in Silver Lake at 10 a.m. to clean up the neighborhood an there are plenty of other events around town.

Many businesses and institutions will be closed around the nation and in Los Angeles tomorrow in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Although most people are perfectly pleased to spend the third day of a three-day weekend lolling about in bed, hunkering down in front of the television set, or enjoying some fun in our winter sun, there's a large-scale movement focused on making tomorrow about doing good for others and not just yourself.

There's good news and bad news when it comes to driving-related incidents that happened over the holidays this past week. According to the Daily Breeze, "Six traffic deaths were reported over the holiday weekend in Los Angeles County and DUI arrests by California Highway Patrol officers were down from last year's total."

To Matt Cornell, this 15-minute Queer Nativity play is "an act of irreverent defiance against religious and political institutions that would seek to marginalize entire groups and classes of people, effectively leaving them out in the cold."

Sad. Clad in a Santa Suit on Christmas Eve, Bruce Jeffrey Pardo arrived at his ex-wife parent's Covina home and shot and killed at least eight people. Here's how it played out, as described by the LA Times:

From the background-friendliness of old standards made barely-audible on aged mall speakers, to the foreground of childhood favorites I've unearthed thanks to iTunes (and can now enjoy while snailing down the 405) -- Christmas music does me right each December. My Christmas faves range from silliness about honking donkeys, to “Merry Christmas” wished in Hawaiian, to John Denver’s sappy/sweet duets with the Muppets.

It's Christmas and hey, not everything is closed. So here are some options of what you can do today...

It’s a quiet night around town tonight, but here are a few options if you feel like venturing out:

              

When it comes to Skid Row's largest Christmas toy party, some wait over ten hours in line; some wait over night. Fred Jordan Missions' 65th annual Family Christmas Celebration was last Sunday and it brought out the masses, with smiles in tow.

It feels like an annual tradition these days. Politicians fight over the budget. It's delivered late. But nothing really gets fixed. And this year is especially bad.

Officials say that the 2.35 million passengers expected to go through LAX this holiday season is considerably less than years past. 14% less, in fact. But that doesn't mean there will be crazy busy days and one of those include today (the other days are Friday, December 26 & Friday, January 2. Last Friday was also one). So if you're going, arrive early, they say, especially between the times of 6 a.m. to 9 a.m./11 a.m. to 2 p.m./7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Then again, the weather out there is frightful, so delays, delays, delays could be the travel industry's mantra today.

The holiday box office season is generally a time for light-hearted, star-driven films that keep audiences engaged. After all, it is tough in this economic climate and with so few days before Christmas to take two hours out of your day to sit in a theater and really become involved in the characters on screen, even if the dialogue is upbeat and the main squeeze is totally that one guy from that one movie. The new Will Smith film Seven Pounds does an admirable job of two of these key elements, eschewing the easy-to-swallow fare in favor of meatier pieces for the audience to chew on.

Since it's a Day Without a Bag today, here's a useful, creative and value added way to make your holiday gifts more environmentally hip. The bags in this video are from Baggu Bags.

So much of this holiday season is about giving ‘gifts’. It’s all so commercialized, bro. You’ve got gifts for kids, gifts for drinkers. You’ve even got gift ideas for people who sure as hell can’t afford to buy you a gift in return. Thanks but no thanks, douchetards. This year, it’s all about getting people shit they don’t need. And probably don’t even want. For stocking stuffers, I’m just getting everyone a picture of my wiener inside the stocking they’re holding on to. That’ll teach you to trust a twentysomething with limited income and anger management issues. Bro.

            

A few weeks ago, TOMS Shoes invited LA bloggers to check out their pop-up store on Abbot Kinney Boulevard. Due to their overwhelming success, the store, which was only supposed to stay until September, will continue to occupy the space until January. TOMS sells (and gives away) shoes all over the world, however this is their first and only store. This holiday season they aim to give away 30,000 pairs of shoes to children in need in Ethiopia, so it's definitely worth checking out, especially for some holiday shopping.