People have been asking me what's up with the Weekly lately and hell if I know. They do their thing and maybe new management has made them lose their edge, but maybe they're just getting olde. Seems to me that once upon a time if someone like Juliette Lewis was in town to play a Saturday night show at the Roxy with a decent bill like Scissors for Lefty and Suffrajett, the Weekly would......

Although most of us here at LAist are gourmet vegan chefs, a few of us (hi!) get our meals via drive-thru's not just daily, but several times a day. So the day after Thanksgiving we found ourselves in the drive-thru of the Jack in the Box on Santa Monica Blvd. in Westwood right near the 405 and we saw this interesting sign. Because we're selfish, lazy, bastards, at first we thought "oh cool, Jack......

For many of you, this week is all about Turkey Day. For others, it's still all about The Strike. For me? This week will go down in history not because of the strike or Thanksgiving, but because the most awesome video game of all time, Rock Band, was released yesterday. I got my kit set up and ready to go within minutes, and began rocking out almost immediately. First impressions? The drumming element is......

You know you're gonna do it. Don't lie. You're gonna be there in the dark, in the cold, along with all your friends and neighbors standing in line like a dope at 4:50am outside some Big Box store or a mall waiting for some kid to unlock the door so you can buy a $300 plasma tv or a $5 dvd player. It's America and no matter how cool we think we are, we're......

Over 10,000 people are scheduled to march today along Hollywood Blvd., and Grammy-award winning singer Alicia Keys will sing in support of the WGA strike which is now into its third week. Beginning at the intersection of Hollywood Blvd. at Ivar Ave. at 1pm, members of the Service Employees International Union, California Nurses Association, Teamsters, actors, musicians, elected officials will join the striking WGA members. Keys is planned to perform at 1:15pm for about......

We've been looking forward to the "big day" for a long time. Tomorrow was going to be a "big day" because the Cultural Heritage Commission was going to decide whether or not to declare Buk's De Longpre residence a historic landmark. Why should such a residence be declared a landmark? It's where he wrote Post Office & Factotum and was the very residence that plays a central role in Women. Since we're in love......

Nearly 500 Teamsters tired of not being able to work for the weekend - because they have to work on some weekends - went on strike early this morning affecting Long Beach, Compton, and Sun Valley. About a quarter million people will be touched by the strike that is based around two major issues, long hours and respect. [Waste Management] said the [Teamsters] contract expired in September and that its latest offer included a......

Driving through Koreatown we ran past this gentleman who had the most interesting sign hanging from his neck. Heartbreaking if you believe him, which we do. photo by Sonny I. LaVista for LAist......

One of the nicest things on Sunset Blvd. is the Elliott Smith tribute wall. In October 21, 2003, dreary and brilliant singer songwriter Elliott Smith killed himself by stabbing himself in the heart. Best known for the moody acoustic songs heard in Good Will Hunting, Smith had an Oscar nom in his back pocket in '97 and a contract with Dreamworks in '98. Immediately after the reports of his death began to spread, fans......

Regardless of what we think about pretty boy actors who seemingly have it all handed to them on a silver platter, anyone who lives in LA for a while either becomes friends with stars or have friends who are friends of stars. And one thing that's clear about celebrity, is that the stars are just like us, if not more pathetic. While you and I are struggling to make ends meet, the stars are......

With unseasonable weather descending upon much of North America, schools getting ready to reconvene, and sports seasons getting exciting, it's a busy time of year for us here in the Ist-A-Verse. Luckily, even with all the things we have to do, we still managed to get together to let you know what we've all been up to. After cooling down from a hot weekend of many badass Sunset Junction Street Fair photo dispatches, LAist asked......

For the second year in a row UC Santa Barbara was ranked the 10th Best Party School by the Princeton Review. In their newly released 2008 edition of The Best 366 Colleges, the university 90 minutes north of LA was the only California school to make the Top 10. The top ranked party school this year was West Virginia University, a school that has made the list seven times in the past 15 years.......

Parking at a valet is something that many Americans will go their whole lives without ever doing. And yet in LA most of us will do it at least once a week. After we downed some Slippery Shrimp this afternoon in Chinatown while looking at their impressive wall of autographed photographs of state and local politicians (although, curiously, no photos of our Senators) we realized that we were about to retrieve our car from......

The Los Angeles County Assessor announced that the property values in LA County rose above 9% in 2006 and totals a smidge over $1 trillion. Beating the trend is everyone's favorite, Compton, whose value rose 13.6%. However the largest increases were in Lancaster, Paramount and Palmdale . Lancaster surged by 21% due in part to a lot of new home sales, reports the LA Business Journal. Two inner-city communities also saw substantial gains: Paramount......

Dear LAist, Last night I was driving through downtown to get some- nevermind why I was driving downtown at night. I saw City Hall was green. I took a picture. But it didn't turn out. But it was green. Why? Perry, Studio City Dear Perry, It's ok to drive downtown at night. It's ok to drive anywhere in LA... at any hour. What the hell do we care? The point is that you're driving,......

Although we would have thought that there would be no safer place for a 13-year-old at one o'clock in the morning than a Las Vegas casino, comes news that early this morning a teen from Van Nuys was clipped by one of the ten "random" shots fired by a Vegas local. Troy Sanchez, a 13-year-old from Van Nuys, Calif., who was wounded in the left ankle, said he heard more than 10 gunshots from......

The Format is one of the most underrated, great new bands out there. They do everything right - great lyrics, really good singing, creative songs. They put out their own record last year, Dog Problems, and last month they came to LA last month to shoot the live dvd for it (which the band paid for out of their own pocket too), and now we hear that all you have to do is give......

The White Stripes and Warner Bros. Records have transformed our beloved Tower Records on Sunset into Icky Thump Records, named after the Stripes' new cd. As we showed you in this photo essay on Monday, people stood in line for days to not just get the new album, but to also get to see Jack and Meg perform tonight inside the former record store. The first 200 people who bought cds Monday night at......

- Graduation was canceled today at UC Riverside when police found a firebomb - LA Times - Shots fired at the Roosevelt Hotel. Just don't hit Prince - TMZ - Woman killed last night during a police chase where she was driving the wrong way on the 5 - LAT - Some bastards have snuck Sicko onto the Interwebs - CBS - Michael Moore says he's "happy" about it - Brietbart - Peaceful protest......

- Attention Blacks - Dreamworks wants you to audition to be Donkey for the Broadway production of Shrek - Defamer - Was Mayor Tony up to the same monkeybusiness that the Frisco Mayor admitted to? - LA Observed - Now that we know where the Westside of LA begins (La Cienega), has the Associated Press determined that Toluca Lake is in the Hollywood Hills? - LA Brain Terrain - Muslim man in Van Nuys......

While walking through Los Feliz yesterday we spotted these hot tshirts at Y-Que on Vermont. Not only do you have your choice of the Free the Bitch or Keep the Bitch tees (depending on which side of the law you're currently on), but apparently there's now a Free the Bitch Again shirts. Y-Que, of course, being the store that has the sweet-ass MacArthur Park tshirts that we love so. But back to Paris... yesterday......

The Jesus and Mary Chain, Gogol Bordello, Bjork, Sonic Youth, Peaches, Arctic Monkeys, Stephen Marley, Of Montreal, Silversun Pickups, Satellite Party, Julieta Venegas, Noisettes, Amy Winehouse and others @ Coachella Gwen Stefani, Lady Sovereign @ Gibson Pigeon John @ Malibu Inn Grant Lee Phillips @ The Troubadour I See Hawks in L.A., Horsepainters, Amy Farris @ The Scene The Cinematics, The Heavenly States, Le Meu le Purr @ Spaceland Apes of the New Millennium,......

According to the meteorologists over at Weather.com, the three-day forcast for Indio is Hot, Hotter, and Still Damn Hot: 100 degrees today, 101 tomorrow, and 99 Sunday. So with two of the days predicted to hit triple-digits with winds of just 5 to 10 mph, may we make some recommendations: - Bring tons of sunscreen - Ladies: bikini tops; gentlemen: Speedos - Floppy hats and parasols for all! - Pick up some trash -......

Sunday there are lots of great bands, culminating with the reunion of one of the best groups ever, Rage Against the Machine. Here's how we're probably going to do it, thanks to the magic of the Coachooser which, if you leave a little early from shows will show you how you too can see 17 bands. Mika: 1 - 1:30 Anathallo: 1:30 - 2 Mando Diao: 2:15 - 2:35 Tapes 'n Tapes: 2:35 -......

If you're a dude you wanna hate Evan Dando for his flowing long locks and his runway model looks and his lack of irony of wearing an old school Lou Reed tshirt and Vans. But then he plugs in that SG and does his little stoney version of shredding and you sip your beer and chill the hell out. The Lemonheads are the Goo Goo Dolls without any aspiration. They're the sober man's Replacements.......

It's not like Sonic Youth slacks. They always seem to be on the road, working on new projects, curating this, guest starring that. But this year LA will be spoiled with some special shows by Kim and Thurston and Lee and Steve. First we get to see them on the first night of Coachella (4/27) right before the Jesus and Mary Chain and Bjork, and right after Peaches. Yowza. But then later this summer......

Now that I have recovered from nine days and nights at SXSW, I can tell you that it's all downhill from here for the world's greatest music festival. No way could anything top that. 1750 bands and hardly any of them sucked. How does that happen? Plenty of free food, beer, no lines if you had a badge. Stalwarts like The Stooges, Pete Townshend, Robyn Hitchcock, Public Enemy, Peter Case, Rickie Lee Jones, and......

Wanna know why LAist has four writers at SXSW all of whom paid their own way? Because LA loves music and LAist is obsessed with good tunes. Below are just some of the killer acts playing today here in Austin. Yes be jealous, but better, come here next year and party with us. LA Bands: 4pm: Ozomatli @ Austin Convention Center 8pm: The Chairs of Perception (formerly Urinals) @ Soho Lounge 10pm: Dengue Fever......

There are really only two major music festivals that truly matter, like really matter: Coachella and South by Southwest. The former happens over two three days in the desert near Palm Springs, the latter rages for about a week on the dusty streets of Austin, Texas. SXSW features over 1,000 bands. You buy a wristband and you wander from bar to bar, club to club, alleyway to patio and you get to see some......

Even though you might be at work, today is Martin Luther King Day. Here's what's opened and what's closed: Closed All city, county, state and federal courts. All post offices and public schools Most banks and libraries. Open:Busses, Metrolink trains, subways, LAist, and rail will run as if it was a typical Monday Same goes for the trash, just another day. photo by Sonny I. LaVista for LAist......