Photo by ~db~ via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Are you scared to fill up your gas tank these days? You may be one of the many suffering from petronoia. According to Allstate and AAA, the number of stalled vehicles is on the rise in So Cal because of the farcical phobia of the pump. Since May 1st's tattoo cover up policy went into effect, LA's firefighters have been irked about covering... [continue]

Lucha VaVoom's three-day Summer Nacional starts tonight where Mexican wrestlers battle for the title cup. / Photo by kpe II via LAist's flickr pool. Here’s the down-and-dirty on happenings around town tonight. FILM*: Calling all Ingmar Bergman fans (not to be confused with Ingrid Bergman fans). There’s a screening at the Silent Movie Theatre tonight @ 8 pm of the director’s 1959 supernatural classic The Magician. But here’s the bonus: The film will be... [continue]

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo. If you're having a case of the Mondays, take a few minutes, relax and enjoy this video from the most recent adventures of Matt Harding in his Where The Hell Is Matt video series. Does he visit Los Angeles and/or Southern California? Well, you'll have to see. Harding's original video, which launched him to internet fame two years ago, is below:... [continue]

LAist Featured Photos contributor Tales of an LA Addict visited a stand in Boyle Heights last Fall and schools us on this fascinating dish: Red Pozole - This soup starts off as white pozole which is chicken-based. The meats added to our particular soup included carnitas, pigs feet and pork skin. White pozole becomes red pozole when a sauce made from dried chiles is added to the soup. Our sauce had California chiles (either... [continue]

The USA National Gas Temperature Map by LosAngelesGasPrices.com Oh my, look at California. The darkest state of them all... on this map, at least. In fact, California currently has the second most expensive gas in the country next to Alaska, whose current average price of a regular is $4.572. The Golden State sits 6-cents below at 4.510 (and Los Angeles is around $4.50). Why does California have some of the highest prices? In a... [continue]

I nearly swerved off the road yesterday when I heard Phish's "Heavy Things" being played on the radio. Phish. A jam band. On local LA radio. I'm too cheap to purchase satellite radio, and I've been lazy about replacing the CDs in my car. So I spend my driving time listening to NPR or local traffic reports on the AM stations. LA radio has been dead to me for a long time. I'm out of... [continue]

"Peace," by ~db~ via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr. Holy marijuana, Batman! A Northern Californian town near Eureka has been inundated with pot growing houses. More than 10 percent of the 7,500 houses in Arcata are used for pot, creating a housing and safety issue, officials said. But everyone is too tired and hungry to do anything about it. Oops! A snafu in the race for Torrance City Council has left some voters... [continue]

We all have our guilty pleasures when it comes to food--you know, the things we know we shouldn't eat, from the restaurants (using that term loosely in this case) we know we shouldn't frequent. For LAist Featured Photos pool contributer ~db~ it's all about the Popeye's. To confess: "I tell myself it's okay, since I refuse to eat at McDonalds or Taco Bell. I'm sure my doctor would cringe knowing how I like their... [continue]

If Wagner was still alive today, he would have just celebrated his 195th (!) birthday yesterday. His influence was felt by many including Baudelaire, Freud, Joyce, Nietzsche, and any/every important contemporary of his. Some recent adaptations in mainstream media that come to mind include a terrible Tristan + Isolde movie and Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy (based off of Wagner's Ring cycle). For me most memorable tribute to Wagner comes from a not-too-recent... [continue]

A poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times/KTLA has found that Californians are practically split even on the issue of gay marriage, which was deemed legal last week by the California Supreme Court. The findings on their website, which was posted yesterday afternoon, time stamped for today, has already garnered over 3,000 comments. Let the fight begin... "The survey also suggested that the state is moving closer to accepting nontraditional marriages, which could create openings... [continue]

Photo by ~db~ via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Could you believe the wind going on last night? Well, OC residents had it a lot harder: a massive storm hit Orange County and caused mudslides in the foothill areas. More freakish weather to come. Additionally, "a tornado touched down near March Air Reserve Base in Riverside just after 4:30 p.m... It lasted for at least six minutes and there were some prelimary... [continue]

Near the Burbank Airport, choices are slim. Luckily, one of those few options seem to be a tasty and popular one. LAist Featured Photos Contributer ~db~ headed to Costa Azul this weekend and snapped this shot of his Tostada de Ceviche (citrus-marinated seafood salad on a tostada). He called it "the perfect Sunday breakfast." Submit your Eye Nosh food 'porn' photos and mini-reviews to LAist via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr.... [continue]

At first glance, this looks like many of the crazy out-of-touch ranting signs seen around Los Angeles. But after some sleuthing, LAist Featured Photos contributor ~db~ and another Flickr user found this is for real. "At first I thought "King George" referred to President Bush," explained ~db~, "but the guy who filed the suit claims he is the King of England (and father to many pretty Hollywood people), and that his property in East Griffith... [continue]

Over at B's Wonton Noodle House in Chinatown, LAist Featured Photos contributor ~db~ has a dilemma. "There are still literally dozens of soups I haven't tried at B's, yet the BBQ pork wonton is so incredibly good, I don't know if I'll ever get to the others... I think all this cost about 5 bucks. I could barely finish it, but of course I did." Submit your Eye Nosh food 'porn' photos and mini-reviews... [continue]