The City of Santa Clarita (that's Valencia/Magic Mountain area and environs) opened its one and only dog park -- Central Bark -- late last year. The 1.3 acre, off-leash doggie park is located in Central Park (27150 Bouquet Canyon Road) and has designated gated areas for small dogs (25 lbs. and under) and larger dogs. It's open from dawn to dusk and is a great place for friendly dogs and their owners to hang......

For those who say you can't put a price on education, California's governor and UC and CSU officials say you're dead wrong. In fact, not only can you put a price on it, you can hike the price, making undergraduate education in the state increasingly more expensive. The LA Times is reporting that if Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposed new budget goes into effect, most student fees [will] rise by 10% at the 23-campus Cal State system......

This LAist poster trudges through Union Station every day for work. Usually the long hallway that connects old Union Station to Gateway Plaza is bland, beige and just plain boring. But once in awhile, some advertiser will cover the walkway with wallpaper for eye candy for tired commuters. Recently, Starbucks commandeered the area to wish everyone a good holiday season. And this morning, we finally noticed it. Move over Santa and elves -- there......

This LAist also grabbed her trusty camera and took the Red Line downtown to catch yesterday's Chinese New Year Parade. We joined the fray on Broadway to usher in this Year of the Boar 4705 in all its colorful glory, although we, too, ran into the same parade-photogging snags as our fellow LAist mentioned last night. The parade was just one part of an ongoing celebration, and there's still a window--a porthole, perhaps--of opportunity......

Daily Bruin staff filed a formal complaint against the LAPD for mistreatment and denial of access to reporting early Sunday morning as students began to party hard in Westwood. The celebrations for the victory over USC on Saturday night reached the pinnacle when partygoers on Frat Row decided to pile trash in the middle of Landfair Ave and set it afire. Daily Bruin staff writers who produced identification were still denied access to see......

This LAist writer is a self-professed thrift junkie. I blame my parents -- on weekends we would hit every flea market in a 20-mile radius to look for salt and pepper shakers (for my mom), old fishing bait and tackle (for my dad), and '60s lucky troll dolls and vintage costume jewelry and compacts for myself. In the summer months of my teen years I would roll out of bed at 6 am to......

Today marks the start of National Novel Writing Month, affectionately called "nanowrimo" by the tens of thousands of its participants. Now in its 8th year, the month's premise is simple, really: Write 50,000 words in 30 days and earn the right to call yourself a novelist. This fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach to writing forces novelists to get the words down and out, instead of stressing about little things like symmetry and syntax. Gone is the luxury......

“The known center of the universe is Ikea… the whole world is built on consuming and shopping,” local photographer Bill Owens quipped yesterday during a discussion of his photographic odyssey of 1970s suburban sprawl. Owens’ lecture at the USC graduate school of art was the trial run for presentations he will be giving at the MOCA Pacific Design Center today at 3 pm on his solo exhibit and The Getty on Sunday for the......

Our first introduction to the Frango came in Vancouver via Seattle, almost three decades ago. The bite-sized, mint-flavored chocolate was a holiday-time treat, brought up and over the border after its purchase at Frederick and Nelson. But like many childhood tidbits, and like many things that disappear over time, the Frango faded from our grasp in the early 80s. While that constitutes our personal history with the department store confection, the candy's own history......

This LAist admits to not talking food much around these parts for some time now. Obviously we haven't been starving ourselves; there's been plenty of eating out and cooking in at home to sustain us in our shameful absence. We might even so boldly suggest that while we were keeping quiet we were also busying ourselves with learning more and more about food so we could pass on this wisdom to our readers. We've......

This LAist poster is a BIG fan of turkey sandwiches. But many times, don't we all end up being disappointed, with the turkey being too dry, or the bread being either too chewy or too hard? Or maybe it’s the cheese or balance of condiments that’s not quite right. It’s a never-ending quest – kind of like finding the perfect pizza slice in this city. The last time we came close to the perfect......

This LAist poster made a trip earlier this week to Richmond, VA, for a family thing. Now everyone knows that things can be a little different in the South than here in LA -- people move at a much slower pace below the Mason-Dixon line. However, Richmond's not even the deep South, and when we spotted this sign out in front of a local supermarket -- a Ukrops -- out there, we had to......

In case you haven't noticed, the World Cup championship started Friday. This LAist plans to watch the Footballers Wives marathon on BBC America this weekend in preparation (did you know that Tanya has a blog?). A reader asks where Angelenos rooting for teams from countries outside of the Americas and the Caribbean can watch the games. Here's a list for starters. Where will you watch? 1. Hollywood Football hosts the World Cup Breakfast series......

This LAist poster, like many other Angelenos, subscribes to Los Angeles Magazine. It's well-written and just a tad snarky -- the way we like things around here. But let's talk about the magazine's website, shall we? It's quite sad, really. The site has had an "under construction" banner for years, it seems, and no sign of when the new version will launch. For a magazine that represents a city at the forefront of entertainment......

So after their win at Staples last night, the Los Angeles Clippers play for all the marbles on Monday night in Phoenix. This LAist poster was lucky enough to wade in the sea of 20,000 red Clippers shirts last night, about 50 feet behind one of the baskets. (A shout out to the in-laws for scoring those!) We’ve never seen or heard Staples that electrified before – especially for the Clippers – and we’re......

It's almost impossible to decide where we want to get our hands dirty this Sunday. We could be in the East Valley painting an elementary school that serves deaf and hearing-impaired kids. We could make our best dish (This LAist contributor makes a mean mac & cheese) and serve homeless families. We could shoot hoops for peace. We could go wash some dirty dogs. We kind of want to do it all. Big Sunday......

This LAist contributor would watch a BMW ad if it promised Clive Owen, so we happily handed over the $ to see Inside Man yesterday without complaint. Plus Denzel Washington? Crime thriller — whatever. We know a chick flick when we see one. We kid. It is a crime thriller, and director Spike Lee knocks it out of the park. Everything moves along at a good clip, and it's got some nice twists and......

So, if you're on your way to find some Nature in LA this weekend, might we suggest downloading two tracks from Oliver Wang's Soul-Sides? He was in town this past weekend and came across The Devics and Feist (one of our favorite artists from 2005) while listening to Anne Litt's new show on KCRW - The A Track (which is also available daily at kcrwmusic.com). This LAist contributor is currently bouncing Madlib's Beat Konducta......

The producers behind Fox’s American Idol 5 must use subliminal messaging or the Vulcan mind meld behind the scenes. How else can you explain the popularity of this high school-esque talent show? It’s certainly not the hi-larious hijinks of its too perfectly coiffed host, Ryan Seacrest (but we admit that we did laugh when the height-challenged Seacrest stood on a box to talk to a taller female contestant). Nor is it the witty repartee......

The hallowed downtown institution, Philippe the Original, is famous for "creating the 'French Dip Sandwich' and serving the 10 cent cup of coffee Since 1918, Philippe's has been most famous for dipping the French rolls into au jus and then serving up very yummy sandwiches of beef, pork, lamb, ham and turkey between the bread. Like Pink's, it's an experience that every Angeleno should try once. The sandwiches are reasonably priced $4.90 for most......

As promised, LAist attended the Opening Reception event for this year's magnificent photo l.a.. This LAist, an ardent east-sider/Valley girl, was only a little bitter about making the rush hour trek to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, but since we know our south and west-bound streets well, made it there in record time. The place was brimming with all sorts of minglers, from young bohemians in scruffy denim, to older men and women in......

Hanukkah comes to us a little late this year, and so close to Christmas, which means those who partake in the menorah-lighting will have more to do this weekend, and it means we've taken very liberal license to make an excess of Christmukkah references (G-d bless you, Seth Cohen). The fun of Hanukkah is a little less in-your-face than the merriment of Xmas (that is unless you drive on Fairfax with any regularity), and......

This LAist contributor doesn't normally write about sports so we won't focus much on the game itself. After a 54 point first half, Pacers defense (mostly manifesting in Ron Artest's activity and muscle) and a horrible third quarter left Da Clips 5 points short of their 10th victory. We don't think our soon-to-be-all-star Elton Brand will be getting player of the week honors again after the squad doubled their loss total. That said, their......

The poor, beleaguered San Fernando Valley has been the brunt of jokes for decades. And where would television and films be without one of their favorite touchstones of mocking? Even these days on the soapy SoCal soaked O.C. the characters are obsessed with a nighttime drama all about and named for...you guessed it, The Valley. A generation back finds the painfully hip residents of a cetain Beverly Hills zip code horrified to discover one......

No two words can better describe a decadent weekend for the Angeleno than Las Vegas. This LAist poster joined the masses at the Bob Hope (a/k/a Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena) Airport on Friday afternoon for a Southwest Airlines 3 PM cattle call to the city of Lost Wages. And we didn’t mind a bit. OK, maybe a little -- but we still love us the Bob Hope… Here’s the timeline from Friday that some can probably relate......

What a great day for LA college football tomorrow! First UCLA plays host to Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl at 12:30 PM. Then at 7:15 PM, USC will take on Arkansas at a sold-out 92,000-seat Coliseum. This is the beauty of having two major conference college football teams in the same town. We get instances where two well-known programs play here on the same day. LAist still remembers 1997 when a highly-ranked Florida State......

The last thing the Dodgers needed was another catastrophic injury. With Eric Gagne's elbow, Milton Bradley's finger and knee, JD Drew's wrist, and Odalis Perez's back, what more could go wrong? That question was answered yesterday when it was reported that shortstop Cesar Izturis will undergo Tommy John surgery in his right elbow, and is likely out until July 2006. This is a rather stunning development because usually pitchers are the only ones to......

Rumour has it that the latest chapter in the Harry Potter saga, "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince," goes on sale Saturday, July 16th. We wonder if the release date for the new flick "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was deliberately set to coincide with this most auspicious date. This LAist just realized that the media and hoopla that's developed around Harry Potter perfectly matches the mania depicted in the "Charlie" book and......

Editor's note: This is the second part of the LAist Interview with the editors of the 1947 Project, a blog that posts news stories and photographs of Los Angeles in 1947. This LAist Interview is with a typical resident living in Los Angeles in 1947. Name: Johnathon Zheltov, 29 Works in the pectin department, California Fruit Growers Exchange Where are you from and what neighborhood do you live in? Johnathon Zheltov: The folks moved......

There's so much to do and see this weekend, we don't know where to start. Well, actually we do. This LAist is going to spending lots of quality time at Skylight Books in Los Feliz as they have some eclectic readings and panels we (and you) don't want to miss. Tonight, that party monster, Wow Report contributor and eternal club kid, James St James, explains it all for you, along with Jennifer Blowdryer, Clint......