UCLA Professor Donald Shoup has been saying it for years: "inexpensive parking fosters urban decay, contributes to sprawl and motivates people to drive alone." How? It's that circling around effect, you know, when looking for spaces, avoiding valet. "Low meter rates can further congest city streets as motorists search for cheap parking spaces," the LA Times writes. "Studies in New York indicate that motorists on the hunt represent about 28% of all traffic on Manhattan......

Dooh Dah Parade. Many thanks to reader and LAist Featured Photos contributor Movie Lover for contributing these fantastic photos of yesterday's Doo Dah Parade. The normal-looking man nursing a hangover in the middle of all this lunacy is Tom Coston, who's become Doo Dah's P.T. Barnum since his nonprofit arts organization, The Light Bringer Project, bought the parade 12 years ago from founder and legendary Pasadena barfly Peter Apanel for $2. " … It's......

On Sunday, PasadenART Weekend concluded with a free seven hour Music Festival, featuring sets by Sara Lov (MySpace), Culver City Dub Collective (MySpace), Dengue Fever (MySpace), Ceci Bastida (MySpace), Jessica Fichot (MySpace), Balaio (a last-minute substitute for Tijuanos), and Jessie Baylin (MySpace), on the One Colorado Courtyard in Old Pasadena. The festival was the perfect showcase for Los Angeles as a cultural melting pot, as songs were sung not only in English, but in......

Tonight: Tom Jones @ Hollywood Bowl Raconteurs @ Wiltern Brian Bell @ Whiskey Freedy Johnston @ McCabes PM Dawn @ The Joint Ninja Academy, XO @ CIA Saturday: Paul Oakenfold, The Crystal Method - Giant Village @ Downtown Slick Rick @ Viper Room Slayer @ Long Beach Arena Tom Jones @ Hollywood Bowl Blue Cheer @ Key Club Rusted Root @ House of Blues Imperial Teen @ Knitting Factory Velvet Revolver @ Pacific Amphitheatre......

Unless otherwise noted, all performances are free. SATURDAY, 9/24 DJs Michael Stock and Benjamin White of Part Time Punks continue their two month residency at MOCA. The show starts at 6pm and it's free with general museum admission. Call (213) 621-1734. JB and The Rebellion's play at One Colorado in Old Pasadena, from 9pm to midnight. Call (626) 564-1066. SUNDAY, 9/25 Pianist Sara Naomi Sumitani performs at the Beverly Hills Public Library at 2pm.......

Autumn officially starts this week... what better way to chase away the 5-degree temperature fluctuation than some hot music? Unless otherwise noted, all performances are free. SATURDAY, 9/17 Listen to Molly Howson & the Grits, Bucksworth, Skeeter Truck, Kingsizemaybe, Soda & His Million Piece Band, King Straggler, and 50 Cent Haircut at the Third Street Farmers Market at 3pm. For details, call (323) 933-9211. DJs Michael Stock and Benjamin White of Part Time Punks......

We have a sort of legendary aversion to chain restaurants, and our friends do the best they can to accomodate our (alleged) snobbery. But recently we were craving sushi, and the suggested lunch spot was a sushi place that happened to be one of a chain. (No, not Todai. Don't get us started.) LAist enjoyed a relatively inexpensive and remarkably fresh and well-prepared sushi lunch at the Hastings Ranch (Pasadena) location of the sushi......

If you hate the winter holidays, now would be a good time to head for a cave. Weekends are filling up with Southland holiday rites and rituals. Pasadena's annual Doo Dah Parade is Sunday, November 21 at 11:30 AM. The parade takes place in the Old Pasadena district. It begins at Raymond and Holly Streets, goes south on Raymond to Colorado Boulevard, west on Colorado Blvd. to Pasadena Avenue. The event started out as......