On Monday the NY Times reported that ABC and Cox Communications are collaborating on a video-on-demand service with disabled fast-forward, meaning, yeah, that you can't skip the commercials. This isn't that new an idea as Time Warner Cable has been doing the equivalent with two features called "Start Over" and "Look Back" (after using them IMHO they stink). This is another example of old media protectionist attitudes that think the strategy is to avoid being......

Earlier this week members of The Gentle Barn's Rescue Staff discovered hundreds of animals from a ranch in Lancaster, reports CBS2. They posted the story of the discovery, and a plea for help on Craigslist: "On Monday, January 14, 2008 Gentle Barn Rescue Staff arrived on scene at a property in Lancaster, CA that, from a far, just looked like some fences and trees. As we got closer, it became a city of cages made......

On Monday night, local artist and Downtown resident Elizabeth McGrath (formerly of Tongue) and her gothic country band Miss Derringer (MySpace) performed as the headliners of Indie 103.1 (MySpace)'s Check One Two Mondays at The Viper Room in West Hollywood. Opening for Miss Derringer were James Wilsey (MySpace) and Linda Strawberry (MySpace), with The Idyllists (MySpace) performing afterwards. Later this month, Miss Derringer will embark on a West Coast tour, and open for Bad......

A piece written while inebriating oneself with absinthe. Read on as Elise test-tastes these fabulous absinthes...with interesting results! For many years people have believed that wormwood, or specifically the chemical thujone, found in wormwood, drove people mad. Because of this popular misconception, absinthe has been banned in the United States since 1912. Popular during the 19th century, absinthe inspired famous works by poets and painters alike. Absinthe has seen a recent resurgence in popularity and......

On Monday, we previewed the Democratic candidates in the run up to the Feb. 5 California Primary and Jan. 31 Iowa Caucus. Today, we'll look at each Republican candidate vying to be the leader of the GOP world as we prepare to profile all candidates on a deeper level than this brief glimpse allows. All poll numbers cited are from Pollster.com, unless otherwise noted, and are current as of Dec. 2. While we will......

On Monday, not many people in Los Angeles knew the name Jack Chiang, a city planner overseeing a project in Valley Village. Then on Tuesday, The Daily News published the Department of Planning staffer's name. Come Wednesday, the LA Times caught on. Why all the sudden popularity? Sometimes when you pick up the phone and dial a number, you call the wrong person and leave a message.A Los Angeles City Council panel voted Tuesday......

On Monday night, and after being on tour for two months, Rilo Kiley (MySpace) made their triumphant return to Los Angeles with a performance at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Grand Ole Party (MySpace) and The Bird And The Bee (MySpace) were the openers. More photos after the jump.......

This week marked one of the proudest moments in recent Canadian history. Well, not really...but pretty darn close... On Monday the Canadian dollar traded at $1.0091! That translates to about 99.12 Canadian cents to the American dollar, the highest rate the currency had traded at in over 30 years! The “loon” has been steadily increasing over the last month up from its typical rate of around $0.80-$0.85 Canadian cents to one American dollar. The......

LAist just lost a writer to the Midwest, and on Monday, the Los Angeles blogasphere may lose another major player -- Mayor Sam, otherwise known as Michael Higby who is a City Hall watchdog and whistle blower. "The last week or so I've been exploring whether to stay in LA or move to my family's hometown of Waterloo, Iowa," Higby wrote in an e-mail last night to LAist. Over the past week, he's compared......

On Monday evening, the winner of the 2nd annual Polaris Music Prize will be announced. This is not earth shattering news because many don’t even know what it is. The Polaris Music Prize is Canada’s equivalent to the U.K.’s Mercury Prize. It is an award given to the best Canadian album of the year, regardless of genre, sales, or record label. The winner receives $20,000 cash and a bevy of publicity. The initial jury......

Last week I texted my friend Dals to see what she was doing for the evening. "Chillin' at home, smokin' hookah. My power went out," she responded. I texted back, "Ahaha you loser," and then I thought about just how much it sucked being her. On Monday afternoon, I arrived to LA from Las Vegas and was greeted by a sweltering apartment. I don't have A/C. Usually it's not cold inside my place, but fans......

Dodgers 10, Phillies 3 - Imagine how good the Dodgers would be if Jason Schmidt were healthy. On Monday it was another All Star, Brad Penny, who notched his 11th win of the season and gave the Blue Crew their 5th in a row. Jeff Kent and Matt Kemp each contributed a three-run shot. The Phillies trailed by as many as nine en-route to their MLB leading 10,001st franchise loss. Beckham Watch - There's drama......

Roughly one month into the season, and the Los Angeles Dodgers are within 2 games of the best record in Major League Baseball. What team began play today with the best record? Why the Milwaukee Brewers, of course. Led by young hitting stars Prince (Don't Call me Cecil) Fielder, Bill Hall (of Fame), Corey (Never Surrender) Hart, and Rickie (insert cheesy nickname here) Weeks, the Brewers have belted more home runs than all but......

Paris Hilton Ordered To Court For Allegedly Violating Probation A judge on Tuesday ordered hotel heiress Paris Hilton to appear in a Los Angeles courtroom on May 4, when she could face jail time for allegedly violating her probation in a reckless driving case. After a lengthy private conference with attorneys from both sides, Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer said Hilton would be "required to attend" the next court date. Los Angeles 2016 Reacts......

Grindhouse There probably isn’t a single night I wouldn't enjoy going to the Quentin Tarantino-curated Grindhouse Festival at the New Beverly. On Monday & Tuesday it’s a double bill of Rolling Thunder, a revenge flick about a Vietnam vet who goes on the warpath after his wife and son are killed by thugs, and The Town That Dreaded Sundown, a 1977 film that's set in 1946 about a hooded killer stalking the terrified residents of......

Knicks 99, Lakers 94 - The Lakers got through the first half of the season without losing three games in a row, but it finally happened at Madison Square Garden. Kobe Bryant missed the game on a suspension for elbowing San Antonio's Manu Ginobili on Sunday. The elbow didn't draw a foul in the game, but the league responded strongly. Since the Lakers were already in New York, just down the street from the NBA's......

Just days after winning the Rose Bowl, USC kicker Mario Danelo was found dead at the bottom of a cliff in San Pedro. Internet message boards are flooded with rumors, but there has been very little confirmed at this time. His body was found around 4:30pm on Saturday. Danelo had some major ups and downs this week. On Monday, he hit two key field goals to help USC win the Rose Bowl against Michigan. In......

Lakers 101, Pacers 87 - The Lakers won their third in a row to stay atop the Pacific Division in a commanding win over Indiana. Kobe Bryant scored 21 but left the game in the third quarter with a sprained ankle. He returned to the bench shortly after going to the locker room. Before the game, coach Phil Jackson benched starting center Andrew Bynum due to questions over his work ethic, though the 19-year-old......

On Monday afternoon in Arleta, LAPD's Foothill Division was called to a house for a "burglar there now" call from a neighbor. Three officers responded with two entering through the garage in the back and one through a side gate from the front. As the first two officers walked through the backyard, a rotweiler charged at them. The officers fired their guns and the dog ran down the side of the house towards the third......

2007 Chevy Malibu shown above...no seriously, that's a Malibu On Monday, in a sneak preview of what you can see this weekend at the LA Auto Show, LAist was invited to get an inside look at what GM Design has been working on for the past five years. We took a gander at what's coming up in GM’s future lineups (next year and beyond). David Rand, Executive Director of Interior Design, was eager to......

Wassup Rockers, the new film from Larry (Kids) Clark, features a bunch of Latino skate kids that head to Beverly Hills. On Monday the kids, pro skaters, moviemakers and more hit chi-chi Montana Avenue in Santa Monica for a screening at the Aero and, we hear from a tipster, tied up traffic. The photo above shows, from left, Renee Renee (thankfully sparing us the outfit's matching turquoise shorts), director Larry Clark and pro skater......

come to Catalina: The Catalina Island Conservancy wants eco-tourists to come to explore the island's massive nature preserve, and is opening a new nature center to sweeten the trip. Critters like Na Shun Tachi, a Santa Catalina fox, await. (photo by Sean Hiller for the Daily Breeze). new mayor in WeHo: On Monday, John Heilman will be sworn in as the Mayor of West Hollywood. The good news: his ambitious plans include ending hunger,......

What were they thinking? The LA Times Home Section's big feature this week is: Going Costal: The modest Southern Calif. beach cottage once ensured inlanders an outpost with an ocean breeze. Today, residents call their ramshackle charm an antidote to modern life. Elsewhere in the paper, there is continued news of the 2 million gallons of raw sewage that spilled into the Santa Monica Bay on Sunday. 11 miles of beaches remain closed. On......

Ah, the November "sweeps" are in the air. And network TV brings out the big guns -- special episodes, stunt casting, etc. -- to help get a big share of the TV audience to set those big advertising rates. It happens again in February and May. And it shows TV at its best. And its worst. But what LAist loves about these months, especially, are the ingenious segments our local TV news broadcasts have......

On Monday October 17th, Club Culinare is hosting a Chef a Table dinner with Swedish Chef Conny Andersson at the Regent Beverly Wilshire. Andersson will spend each of five courses at a different table, and guests are encouraged to engage in table talk about culinary issues and other pressing global concerns. Andersson graduated with honors in culinary school, has created dishes at some of the top restaurants in the country including L'Orangerie and the......

On Monday we plan on being in someone's backyard, beer in one hand, grilled meat product in another, head turned skyward to look at falling bits of colored light (or we could head out to some of these spots for more intense fireworks and Fourth-of-July action). So we've got the holiday covered. What about the rest of the weekend? Here are some quirky, cultural, and historical things going on around town--lots of them are......

If LAist was still in high school, we'd probably be faking sick, playing hooky or attempting to convince our parents to reconsider their aversion to home schooling this week. It is not a good week to be a teen in Los Angeles. In our best local newscaster hyperbole: No Place is Safe! We know that Jefferson High School and Santa Monica High School had huge brawls last week (Jefferson fighting continued on Monday) but......

Finding a place to live in LA is easy — finding a place you can afford isn't. Blogging.la did a little math that showed you need to make twice the city's median income to afford to buy the city's median-priced house. Which means that those of us who can't afford to buy houses are sucking up a big share of the cheaper rental stock. Leaving poor folks, well, screwed. How screwed? Take Monday. The Hollywood......

And let the thoughts pour in... Stimulate your intellect at some of these happenings around town: Tonight, Book Soup presents Gerard Jones who will sign "Men of Tomorrow: Geeks Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book." In a real-life Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, long-time comic book insider Gerard Jones (Killing Monsters, Honey I’m Home) chronicles the birth and enduring life of the American comic book. Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd. W.......

LABlogs.com reports that the Los Angeles Fire Department has just launched a blog that gives readers insight into the fires its personnel battle on a daily basis. Fire reports include details on the monetary damage estimates as well as the suspected cause of each incident. Each report contains sad and shocking details that make for riveting reading. On Monday, four companies of firefighters fought a fire in a small residential duplex at 114 East......