Sometimes, what happens around San Francisco applies to Los Angeles. Editor Brock Keeling catches this sign of the times with some humor: Freeway Blogger brought these sings to our attention, placed on the overpass above (the) eastbound I-80. A great message about global warming. Good job. Also: how mean! Christmas is canceled!......

What was just a St. Patty's Day bar fight that included a pool cue knocking one man unconscious has turned into a murder incident. As of yesterday, the Monday afternoon fight in a bar in Orange County's city of Cypress left Steven Keith Toole, 45, in critical condition and on life support. As of yesterday morning, he was pronounced dead police announced today. Police had arrested a bar regular, Richard Lee Thompson, 46, who after......

Photo by Sister72 via Flickr It's 8:30 a.m. and by the count on this list, at least five Irish bars are open right now: Brennan's Pub, Casey's Irish Bar and Grille, Clancy's, O'Brien's Irish Pub, Patrick Molloys and Tom Bergin's Tavern. Whoops, make that six (derrr, the morning O'Doul's is already kicking in). Oh, speaking of that non-alcoholic beer, O'Douls is sponsoring the Pershing Sqaure celebration today starting at 11:00 a.m., which happens to......

From Why Presidents’ Day? via Why Tuesday? No, not tomorrow Tuesday... the first Tuesday of November, aka Election Day. Why Tuesday? Executive Director and local Los Angeles politico Jacob Soboroff reports from Queens, New York asking why can Presidents' Day, a federal holiday, be moved around for convenience, but Election Day remains a regular workday. Is it not that important? LAist: If election reform successfully moved election day to a Saturday, what would that......

RocknRollDating.com is the creation of Eagle Rock resident and music industry veteran, Daniel House. He has created the free online dating site with music as the coming-together concept. Put in your favorite bands and concerts, your preferred genres and the normal dating profile stats such as heights, sex, etc. and go find your mate based on the tunes you share in common. Or maybe you'll find someone who will let you experience new music. Tonight,......

Back in 2004, two Harvard graduates decided to make a dating website with the vision that dating should be free. Since then, OkCupid.com has gained 525,000 active users (meaning active within the last 8 weeks), climbing their way up to the top of the online dating empire, possibly freaking out Match.com, which has an estimated 1.3 million users. In Los Angeles alone, OkCupid has 54,000 registers users (including Tom from MySpace... maybe that's him, maybe......

Got a sweetheart with a sweet tooth? Valentine's Day is just around the corner and candy is everywhere. I'm not into those heart-shaped boxes full of chocolates nor do I think my boyfriend would want to receive one of those from me - but everyone likes candy, right? It's a fun gift and can be surprisingly meaningful if you put some thought into it. When your loved one was a kid, what was their favorite......

The Los Angeles Fire Department has announced a Red Flag Parking Day that will begin tomorrow morning at "08:00 AM to Wednesday, January 2, 2008 08:00 AM or until further notice." Those who violate Red Flag Parking sign restrictions risk getting ticketed, but more likely being towed. This is not good timing for the Holidays, but fire knows no tactful way of saying "hello." Image provided by the Los Angeles Fire Department......

Apparently I am the only one who hasn't finished her holiday shopping. I went to my three prime people watching spots this weekend, and they were dead. Here I am, armed with camera, bills for parking, extra batteries, a ton of memory cards, a notepad and my walking shoes, and I show up and no one's around. I felt so abandoned. I paid $11 to park at Citywalk thinking I would see something truly amazing.......

SNL + Darlene Love + Claymation="Christmastime for the Jews." Sing along or learn about how the non-Christians can take advantage of their day off to "gang up on the Quakers" and "play for the Lakers," or "crank Barbra Streisand" among other wacky things.......

I know a lot of people who have the very best intentions of getting their holiday shopping done e-a-r-l-y every year who wind up failing miserably at making good on their noble plans. Some, like an estimated 40% of Americans, in fact, get wise to the internets and do their shopping online--but even that takes some advance planning. Earlier this week, if you'd forgotten to shop, or had that typical "oh, Christmas isn't for......

You know it's Christmas season in LA when the owners of Youngwood Court (an estate that pays homage to ivory off Third Street near Hancock Park) dress up their 12 David statues in Santa hats. This year, a huge 2008 sign also adorns the front lawn, which is covered in a layer of faux snow. A stylin' Santa and Mrs. Claus seem to be riding in a comfy sleigh, too. No matter how busy......

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......

Holidays have you indulging a little more than usual? Just in time for those New Year resolutions and post-holiday diets, the Wii Fit is expected to be released in North America in January. Released earlier this month in Japan, Wii Fit sold over a quarter million units in the first week. The game was designed for families to exercise with activities like stretching, yoga, step aerobics, push ups, jogging and much more. The additional......

Admit it. We have all done it one time or another. Re-wrapped something that ran counter to our oh-so-fabulous taste and passed it along to some unsuspecting schmuck &/or loved one. It's not very nice. It reeks of cheapness and laziness. Still, in a recent survey more than half of the Americans polled said they re-gift regularly and unashamedly. Hey, we all got our reasons: couldn't make it to the store in time for......

Say, what's that in your mailbox? Is it perhaps an invitation to the company's holiday party? It is? Are you worried about making a good impression? Or the inevitability of making a bad impression? Bill Lampton, PhD gives us his "7 Tips for Surviving the Company's Office Pary" and reminds us all not to put our fingers in the dip, don't forget to mingle, avoid getting shitfaced, and for crying out loud, no off-color......

Not sure what to buy your environmentally conscious friend or family member for the holidays? Opting to make this holiday season's giving more earth-friendly? You may want to check out this weekend's Eco Gift Expo, which:will provide everything you would hope to find including beauty products, fashion, yoga products, sports, bags, shoes, candles, home decor, toys and much more... and everything at the expo is good for the planet, mind, body and spirit. You......

Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, Food Network’s “Too Hot Tamales” are Chef/Owners of Border Grill Santa Monica, Border Grill Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, and Ciudad in Downtown Los Angeles. Last week we brought you a report from their fantastic Holidy Cooking Class (including two amazing recipes) and now it is our pleasure to share with you their tips for making your holiday gathering a deliciously smashing success. 1. Impress your......

Three people were injured and dozens evacuated after an apartment fire in Sherman Oaks gutted at least two units at 2 a.m. this morning. It was cold last night, but there are better ways to stay warm people. Australian police arrested a man in Melbourne who threatened to attack The Grove Friday. There is no evidence the man, who has never been to the United States, intended to carry out the attack. Still, days......

Snow. It's great when you're watching it from inside a heated room, like magic dust bunnies dropping from the celestial ceiling. It's much less magical when you're trying to strategically pee inside your car door to defrost the locks. Call it lifestyle differences, we Angelenos prefer our holidays merry and BRIGHT with a high of 72. The following local heroes offer proof positive that a white Christmas is not a requirement for high spirits.......

As traffic worsens on Ventura Boulevard, a new L.A. City report found that developers could add 3 million square feet of commercial space to the Ventura Boulevard corridor under current zoning rules. If you thought getting from Sepulveda to Van Nuys down Ventura was bad before. Umph... Not sure what to buy that ragamuffin who has everything this holiday season? Franklin Avenue found a great set of Lego-ish toys featuring people in casts, babies......

Last weekend we were lucky enough to snag at seat at the demo-style Holiday Cooking Class hosted by Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, aka The Two Hot Tamales, at their Border Grill restaurant in Santa Monica. The room was packed with enchanted attendees focused on the endearing antics of the celeb chefs and the amazing food they were making, which we were served in tandem with the recipe demos. The menu was set to......

Happy Holidays LAist Readers! Here's a nice treat for you. We have three pairs of tickets to giveaway for Tori Amos at NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE on Dec 16 at 8:15 p.m. If you haven't been Downtown in awhile, the new LA Live development across the street from the STAPLES Center is really starting to change the neighborhood. All very exciting and all within a short walk from the Red and Blue lines. To enter......

Is holiday shopping driving you to drink? Are you feeling stressed, nervous, or sick to your stomach? It's time for an intervention. For one week All Purpose has become The Brand Pharmacy, a cure for all your shopping ailments. The store features tuxedo shirts, leather bow ties, and knits by Filius. CITIZEN:Citizen objects include the black ccPhone and the Shoplifter tote bag. Are silk blindfolds on your holiday shopping list? All Purpose carries lifestyle......

One of the highlights of holidays past for me has always been getting to taste some of the the delicious chocolate goodies that seem to appear everywhere this time of year. So the idea of checking out and tasting some of our city's finest chocolate makes absolute sense, which is where next weekend's Los Angeles Luxury Chocolate Salon comes handily into play. The event, which is presented by TasteTV, will include speakers and demos, as......

Don't know what to get for the gun toting rifleman who has everything? In San Francisco, turning that rifle in to authorities will net you a cool $100 gift card. Eh, you say? OK, how about $200 for AK-47s? I wonder how that conversation might go at home: Honey, where is my gun? Oh, I turned it in sweety, for $100 worth of movie rentals. You did what? Guns don't kill people, gift cards......

It seems like everyone just instinctively knows how to make JELL-O shots. Only recently did I discover that this fine art is not in everyone's repertoire. With the holidays coming up, it might be time to brush up on College Drinking 101. The standard recipe includes 1 (6-oz) package JELL-O, 2 cups boiling water, 1 cup cold water and 1 cup vodka. Over the years I have futzed with this recipe. I like to......

The holidays are a great time to sarge (pick up) women. Why now? Because shopping malls are FILLED to the brim with hot women doing their last minute shopping. Go to any major mall in the country and you'll have the chance to meet all the smokin' babes you could possibly want! Use any of these 4 basic approaches, adapted for the holiday shopping season, to meet the sexy girls of your dreams!...

‘Tis the season for good theater. For fun theater. The holidays always usher in tons of lighter fare and holiday reviews. Here’s just a sampling of what’s going on this weekend your local neighborhoods… Bob’s Holiday Office Party Bob is back. As usual, insurance agent Bob Finhead’s clients stop by his small-town office for the annual holiday bash. What started out as an improve sketch 12 years ago has morphed into an annual event…with......

Welcome to Hollywood Today, an LA City commission voted recommending that Charles Bukowski's former home to be designated a historic cultural monument. Yay books and reading! According to state representative Fabian Nunez, who represents the Downtown LA area, the biggest crisis we're facing today is foreclosures. ""It's a more immediate crisis," he told the AP. Meanwhile, protests are beginning to hit the streets over this. Drink up! It's the holidays! Caroline on Crack has......