You might have to wait and be agonizingly teased for an additional three months until those LCD, screens telling you the arrival of the next train, start to work. Curbed LA reported it would be by May and now Streetsblog LA reports by the end of June the latest and tells us how they will work: more ›

When you read something you like on LAist, we love it when you hit the "recommend" button, and we love it even more if you put your two cents' worth in the comments. Getting a dialog going with our readers and making sure we're giving you content you can use are top priorities for us. So here's this week's top posts, as endorsed by you via the recommend feature, or as indicated by the level of talk going on in the comments: more ›

It's official - Buk's De Longpre house is now a landmark. more ›

Remember when there was that big freak out in the Santa Clarita Valley? Six Flags Magic Mountain was going to close and quite possibly become torn down for more housing. Not good. The "extreme" roller coaster theme park is the single largest employer in the area, it fills up the hotels with tourists, adding green to the local economy and hey, it's an institution of the little Valley that could (do a lot better than Simi). more ›

Once upon a time Millie's was the only game in town. Sure, there was the House of Pies and the coffee shop on Sunset that is now some kind of brewpub -- but no one ever went there. Millie's had a strong family vibe. Everyone in the neighborhood considered it home. Most of the servers were local musicians, and everyone knew each other. Then new restaurants started popping up all over town, and when Millie's changed hands around 8 years ago, it was the final nail in the coffin. Millie's fell off the map. more ›

In an e-mail early, early, early this morning, McCabe's announced something unexpected: The Swell Season will be playing tomorrow night in the guitar shop's intimate performance space. You may not recognize the band's name, but you know them as Irish singer Glen Hansard and Czech pianist Marketa Irglova from the movie Once. The gig got booked serendipitously yesterday when Glen brought his guitar into the shop for repair. Of course, the bad news here is that tickets sold out quickly, probably before the light of day hit. Tonight, McCabe's presents Jackshit, who we interviewed here on LAist last August. more ›

">Irish foreign movie Once has been nominated for two categories: "Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media" and "Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media" for the song "Falling Slowly" (heard above). The song's validity as an Oscar nomination was challenged, but the committee found everything to be fine, so Once stays. It was not nominated for a Golden Globe.
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I have to be very honest with you. I hate this time of the football season. more ›

Vermont was my favorite neighborhood "upscale" joint when I lived in Los Feliz. Not only was the food outstanding, but the service was attentive to the point of obsequiousness. Once during a particularly romantic meal, a waiter casually dropped a large cloth napkin on my table and gave it a few pats, then continued on his way with great aplomb. I was confused by the intrusion until I realized that I had set the table on fire. Talk about sang-froid! more ›

In an ideal world, one of the routes in solid black, pictured above, could be a reality in nine and a half years -- that would be the year 2017. Generally speaking, a project the size of a major public transportation extension to the Westside, towards the sea, could take a decade to complete from pencil and paper to the first day of operation, assuming full project funding more ›

UPDATE: Looks like the forces of Truth, Justice and the Irishican Way prevailed everyone - It's not hard in here for a Once after all: more ›

Last month a program called Project 50 aimed at identifying homeless individuals most in need of immediate housing was begun in Los Angeles, and a similar program kicked off today in the City of Santa Monica. more ›

I’ve never been one for New Year’s Resolutions – it just seems like paving the way to letting myself down sometime mid-February. Besides, if I can’t stick to something in, say, June, why would I be able to stick to it in January? more ›

There are usually only two things to talk about at the Sundance Film Festival: the movies and the parties. Last night was unique, though, because everybody was talking about...the blackout! That's right. Around 9:30 last night the whole town just went completely dark for at least half on hour. Periodic blackouts continued for the next hour or so before everything finally returned to normal. It was a surreal scene. Thousands of people were just standing out in the cold on Main Street in utter darkness. more ›

Starting tomorrow and continuing through next week, LAist will be reporting live from the Sundance Film Festival. We'll be covering the films, the parties, the people and the various surreal and pointless events that comprise the most important film festival in the country. With the WGA strike still in full bloom, most are expecting a buying frenzy up in Park City as distributors stock up on films just in case the strike continues to paralyze the industry. It should be a fun week of long days and even longer nights. more ›

How many times have you seen some boneheaded driver make a stupid move on the road, only to drive up beside them and see them yapping away on their cell phones? Too many times, I'll bet you. Now a new study shows that cell phone users also drive more slowly and make poor lane-change choices, which may slow down traffic overall up to 10%. From the LA Times:

Researchers at the University of Utah have found that motorists jabbering on cellphones drive more hesitantly than undistracted drivers and, as a result, are increasing everyone's average drive time by 5% to 10%. more ›

We comb through tons of event listings so you don't have to. LA events have come back from its winter doldrums tonight. Big time. Here's what's happening around town tonight -- there's lots of learning mixed in between all the great entertainment stuff. more ›

I had originally planned to forgo a "best of" list and just talk about all of the movies I enjoyed in this very deep and rich year. After some consideration, though, I decided I should stick my neck out a little bit and go with the best of the best. I'm sure I went with a few outliers and even ignored some consensus picks, but that's why you do these things, right? The hardest films to leave off were --see them all if you haven't already. With that said, here's my ten best. more ›

Continuing party planning where we left off, we now turn our focus to the main event: the food. more ›

As the early crowd began to show up at bars in Hollywood last night, a few blocks away at Highland and Sunset at Hollywood High School one of the 17 or so LAPD Airships was making an emergency landing on the football field due to mechanical problems around 9:40 p.m. It landed safely and no injuries were reported according to Cecil Manresa, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman. The LAPD reports that the helicopter is still there as mechanics work on it. Once fixed, it will take off. more ›

As reported earlier this week, on New Year's Eve, there will be all night Metro rail service. As one commenter pointed out, the news was actually broken in a press release where it was buried with not much detail given:

“The Tournament of Roses parade and game is the biggest venue for Metro Gold Line service all year, with upwards of 60,000 train boardings on a single day,” said Pam O’Connor, Santa Monica City Council member and Metro Board Chair. “Metro is meeting that demand this year with quality, all-night train service and free rides from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. that day to ensure the public enjoys these wonderful New Year’s festivities.”

LAPD detectives in the San Fernando Valley have an unusual series of convenience store holdups on their hands. Eleven late night robberies have occurred in the past month from North Hollywood to San Fernando, with two women as the gun-wielding perps. more ›

Have a taste for deliciously scary eye candy? Check out Christopher Ulrich's phantasmagorical paintings: Demoneater Series One in Santa Monica! more ›

Yesterday, we got you map-ready. Today, we'll get you float-ready. Tomorrow? Who knows, maybe we'll get you marching-band ready. more ›

L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. just announced that Mischa Barton was pulled over at 2:46AM this morning while driving in the 900 block of north La Cienega Boulevard in West Hollywood. According to the police report, her vehicle was seen "straddling two lanes of traffic and failed to signal when making a turn." more ›

Once you try these, you'll never eat a plain rice krispy treat again! These spicy alternatives to the sweet treat we all know and love will win you many fans and they will never (ever!) suspect that they're the easiest things to make! How easy? Check it out: more ›

I've never roasted chestnuts before. I've also never made a (successful) gingerbread house or chopped down my own Christmas tree. But every year, in the super early hours of Christmas morning, we get together with friends to go caroling. more ›

I will admit, I get a little excited when I notice that Starbucks launches their holiday-time drinks menu. Candy canes and Christmastime go hand in hand for me, and at this time of year I'm a total sucker for anything that's got some peppermint in it, from Trader Joe's' Candy Cane flavored "Jo-Jo" cookies to--you guessed it--the Starbucks Peppermint Mocha. There's something wholly satisfying and just a tad indulgent about a mocha jazzed up with some wintery peppermint flavor, topped with a generous heaping of their tasty whipped cream and decorated with a cheery and festive shaking of red sprinkles. more ›

There are two movies that are being scandalously left off the year-end best lists. The first, is pure, guilty goodness. more ›

Joel McHale hosts The Soup, a celebration of the most embarrassing moments in pop culture every Friday night on E! From Tila Tequila to Yo Gabba Gabba you can count on The Soup to gather all the "best of" moments into one big pot of funny. LAist headed to the E! studios for a backstage tour, taping of the show, and one on one with the man who is not afraid to say Oprah's Va-Jay-Jay on national television. When we arrived Joel was in the makeup chair prepping for the show. more ›