We all know that today is Memorial Day, but what many of us may not realize is that May 23 - 30 is also National Backyard Games Week. And since many of you no doubt are headed to your backyards even as we speak, and are by now looking for something fun to do for the rest of the afternoon, allow us to use your video lunch make a few suggestions. more ›

In an effort to keep LA streets safe during the Memorial Day weekend holiday, the LAPD will conduct the following DUI enforcement activities: more ›

More than140 local law enforcement agencies and the CHP are on high seat belt alert with a statewide, zero tolerance, "Click It or Ticket" Memorial Day weekend crack down that begins today, notes an LASD news release. more ›

In case you are still expected to put in your day's or shift's worth of toil and strife tomorrow, don't plan on using Metrolink for the commute--they, too, are taking the day off. The official word, via official press release:

Due to the Labor Day* holiday, Metrolink trains will not**, May 31, 2010. Regular commuter service will resume on operate on Monday Tuesday, June 1. On this Memorial Day holiday weekend, Metrolink wishes to pause to remember the men and women who have bravely served and died for the cause of our freedom, and for the freedom of people the world over.***

Eastbound lanes of the 91 Freeway remain closed after a tanker exploded, sending flames 100 feet into the air, this morning. Lanes are expected to reopen sometime later this evening. Westbound lanes reopened around 3 p.m. The incident, which left no one hurt, gridlocked Memorial Day weekend traffic for many leaving the area. more ›

Weekend Edition It's Memorial Day weekend which means lots of war movies on TV, we've picked the best of the bunch for the schedule below. We'll stick with original programming tonight with Bill Maher, "Party Down" (which has been excellent this season), and "The Soup". Then we wait for Sunday's must-watch episode of "Breaking Bad" - yesterday series star R.J. Mitte told us that... more ›

With Memorial Day coming this weekend, The Nature Conservancy is offering up what they think are the 10 most memorable state parks in California. Not all of them are local to Southern California, but they do make for a great bucket list of places to check out if you haven't already. more ›

On Tuesday the number of U.S. soldiers who have died in Afghanistan surpassed 1,000. "The $100-billion-per-year war itself—and the daily losses in lives—should be front-and-center in the media most days, but that often is not the case," says David Corn at Mojo, the politics and current affairs blog at Mother Jones magazine... more ›

Shortly before noon, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved moving the LA Marathon back to a Sunday date in the month of March beginning next year. During public comment, most speakers supported the date change, but a few stood up to save Sundays. "For those who have made this into a religious issue, this is not a religious issue... This has not and has never been a religious issue," said a determined Father John Bacchus who said that a single event should not tie down the city to the degree it prevents people of faith attending their institution. A compromise within the approved motion instructs city agencies involved with the race's logistics "to design a new point-to-point route which will minimize disruption to Sunday church services." The agreement also allows for the "Stadium to Sea" route, which could include Santa Monica, announced last week. more ›

Kinda quiet on the event front on the Memorial Day, so here are a few ideas for those of you who aren't 'cuing it up at home today. FILM BBQ The 5 Minutes Game & Cinefamily Memorial Day BBQ happens at 6 pm tonight at the SIlent Movie Theatre. “What we're gonna do is choose fifteen movies you've likely never seen before (with most, if not all the films unavailable on DVD), line 'em up, and only show you the first five minutes of each, not counting their opening credits. After all that, you, the audience, gets to vote on which film out of the fifteen we all then watch in its entirety.” Bring something to cook on the Cinefamily Grill. Tickets are $10, and the 'cue starts at 6 pm. more ›

Without a doubt, there will probably be more military fly overs today than this, but since we know the one in Santa Monica, here's your warning. Two Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters will fly over Santa Monica's Woodlawn Cemetery at 11:45 a.m. this morning. Then a C-17 Globemaster III will fly over Venice and Santa Monica beaches around 1 p.m. This is for an annual event at the cemetery. more ›

The LA Marathon has been happening since 7:20 this morning, but with miles to go and thousands of runners and spectators, the route is going to make getting around town a bit challenging for many today. So before you head out, double check the route map to see if you need to rethink your own route, or, if you want to help cheer people on, check out the Spectator's Guide to see where the bands, the cheerleaders, and the broadcasters will be gathered. more ›

A motion introduced by three City Councilmembers today will lift a ban that forced the Los Angeles Marathon this year to be held on a Monday holiday instead of a Sunday to avoid conflicts with religious groups. With not many choices at hand, Marathon organizers went with Memorial Day, which predictably proved difficult with low participation, limited broadcast availability and complaints from runners. more ›

"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. more ›

This is what happens when you let politicians dictate how to organize a sporting event. In September, the City Council mandated that the Los Angeles Marathon change from a Sunday to a holiday Monday, citing "complaints from religious leaders, who blamed race-day road closures and traffic congestion for making it difficult for their congregations to get to church," according to the LA Times. more ›

It's Memorial Day. That means Federal, state, county and city offices, courts, libraries, animal shelters and banks are closed. And Metro will run on a Sunday schedule. more ›

Ben Pringle, Alex & Sam, Wisely, Mount Righteous @ Tangier (Read the Alex & Sam Interview) more ›

-->Lucent Dossier is the spectacular LA-based vaudeville circus that highlighted The Do LaB's awesome Lucent L'Amour Valentine's Day party last month. You may have even seen them performing at the official Grammy Awards party (no, that wasn't Cirque du Soleil, it was Lucent Dossier). more ›

I went to my introductory session with Andy Petranek one morning while taking a "sick day" at work. I had been searching for a gym that taught Crossfit, a special brand of fitness recommended to me by a friend. I e-mailed Andy to ask about the class schedule, and next thing I knew I was in my workout clothes and standing in the alley between 14th and 15th Streets in Santa Monica wondering what... more ›

There's the orange men and abundant tattoos and the fashion disasters, but is there a cooler group of people than the roller skaters? Malingering says no.... more ›

Did any of you catch Bobby Flay's Throwdown the other night? It's the show where he goes to different cities across the world and challenges some legendary food purveyor that his version of whatever traditional city food they're making will win a blind taste test. Usually, he loses, cause I mean COME ON: can anybody really make a cheese steak better than a Philly native? What about fish n' chips from some grotty bar... more ›

Ducks 3, Senators 2 - Do you believe in miracles? We're almost there. Sunny, surf-city-adjacent Anaheim drew another step closer to Lord Stanley's trophy by beating Ottawa (a real, honest-to-goodness Canadian team) in game one of the NHL finals. The Senators managed only 20 shots on goal, but connected on one of their three in the first period. Anaheim equaled before intermission, but lost the lead again in the second. The third was all Ducks,... more ›

Memorial Day Weekend 2007 wasn't just all about Lindsay's crash and arrest, there were other celeb items in the news..... One of, if not the most beautiful baby in the world, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt turned one this weekend in Prague alongside the rest of the Jolie-Pitt litter - Celebitchy Looks like its the official end of the unlikely match of John Mayer and Jessica Simpson as these photos from Cabo reveal - Flynetonline Nicole Ritchie looking... more ›

We know we listed them a few posts below, but this is a band who bears repeating... and hyping. If you recall, in March we went to SXSW in Austin and had a little battle of the bands of sorts. LAist got a few bands from LA, and we invited some bands from Austin to play at the LAist SXSW party. We had never heard of Quiet Company, and quite frankly, their name didn't... more ›

I can be cheap. When it comes to food, I like thinking I’m getting a good deal…a great bargain…the best bang for my buck. Who doesn’t like getting a hearty meal? But this weekend, I realized that sometimes too much food isn’t always a good thing. My breakfast buddies and I decided to chance the lines at the Griddle Café on Sunset and really dive into our Memorial Day weekend. We lucked out and... more ›

If it seems like Vin Scully has been doing Dodger games forever, that's because this is his 50th season broadcasting LA Dodger games (1958-2007) and his 57th as a Dodger announcer. He's one of the few major broadcasters who works alone in the booth. No color man needed, no ex-jocks, no sidekick. The only problem with that is sometimes he can casually blow you away with precise diction and perfect tone, and sometimes the... more ›

Memorial Day kicks off summer which means we can finally show the world our ripped bodies we've been working on all winter and skateboard down the boardwalk grinding to our favorite summer jamz. City Hall's favorite taxpayer, Zuma Dogg was nice enough to share with us what we would probably hear if we wound up over at his pad sharing mother nature and working on plans to save the world. Sez ZD: Where do... more ›

All across the Ist-A-Verse (or at least the American parts thereof), writers and editors are in the midst of enjoying their three-day weekend. But after the week we've all had, we feel like the break is not only needed, but deserved. Just look at everything we've been doing! more ›

A bear-hugging belated congratulations to local rockstars The 88 for their record deal with Island Def Jam (announced last week). These LA marvels have been working their tush (it’s a technical term) off for years and I am thrilled for their success. I heard a track off Kind Of Light in 2002 or 2003 and it was one of those compulsive, immediate love, kismet things. I assaulted the internet looking for any information on the... more ›