More than 40 paddleboat teams took to Echo Park Lake last weekend to raise money for 826LA. Teams were required to raise at least $100 for entry and some teams raised well above and beyond to generate an estimated $20,000 in funds for one-on-one writing tutorials and workshops for students age 6-18. 826LA's two locations (in Venice and Echo Park) are staffed entirely by volunteers dedicated to teaching and inspiring students to write creatively. The......

This coming Sunday, treat yourself to a body bronzing by Sunset Tan, a mani by OPI, a massage by El Leon Spa and perhaps a makeover by Artform Studio. That's just a few of the beauty treatment options you have at this coming Sunday's Pamper Me Fabulous event held in Downtown's Ford Brady Loft. Plus enjoy free-flowing champagne, food by Ciudad and sweets galore. Every guest also gets to take home a swag bag with......

The annual Extravaganza for the Senses, a fund-raising tasting event benefitting the Saban Free Clinic previously mentioned here on LAist was held this past Saturday in Century City on the Fox lot. I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend and have returned with some photos for our readers. I'll be the first to admit that these photos don't really do the event justice, these photos were taken with camera in one hand,......

Photo by theonetruedevo via Flickr Ready to eat and drink for a good cause? I know it sounds too good to be true, but it's legit, and I'm totally going! Extravaganza for the Senses is a fundraising event held annually to benefit the Saban Free Clinic, (formerly the Los Angeles Free Clinic) and features food from 40 Los Angeles restaurants and wine from more than 100 wineries. The presenting sponsor is the Wine House......

A redneck, a Hasidic Jew, and Michael Jackson walked into a bar. No punchline here ... just some funny photos. This Saturday a flip cup tournament was held in Hollywood to raise money to fight breast cancer. If flip cup and charity seem like strange bedfellows, well ... yes, they are. Some of the outfits were even stranger. Larry and Cheech's Second Annual Flip for the Love welcomed over 200 do-gooders, with most of the......

While most suckas will still be at work this Friday, you have the chance to find yourself at the Torrance Spearmint Rhino taking place in the second annual charity car wash from 3-6 p.m. It's the Leykis Car Wash and your car will be all soapy and slippery with the help of the lovely dancers, who are doing this to help benefit Savannah's Organic Ranch. There's no details as to how much these car washes......

Need an activity for your inner philanthropist? Try drinking beer. Larry & Cheech's 2nd Annual "Flip For The Love" is a flip-cup tournament benefiting the John Wayne Cancer Institute and the Vail Valley Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation. It's going down this Saturday in Hollywood. Teams of four pay an entrance fee of $80 (individuals can enter for $25 each), which includes all beer for the tournament. Spectators can enjoy the madness for $7 and additional......

Try hard and you might get this hang loose feeling from checking out the Hawaiian Fest in Northridge Photo by bhollar via Flickr Annual Northridge Ho Olau lea (Hawaiian Fest) Say Aloha to the the 50th state with a taste of the food and fun of Hawaii. Lots of Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts, vendors with all sorts of goods, fresh floral leis, loads of food (shaved ice!!!!), and beer. Luckily it won't be......

Photo by Sundogg via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr ART Catch one of the last nights of the 3rd annual benefit art show, Power in Numbers 3. All artists have done their work on 5" x 7" cards and are donating 20% of their profits to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. So many great artists, and such a good cause, it’s worth the trip! 11 a.m. // Gallery Nucleus // 210 East Main St,......

Santa Monica's Pacific Park ferris wheel has a new owner, thanks to an eBay auction that ended at noon yesterday. The winner is Grant Humphreys of Oklahoma City, who came in as the highest bidder with $132,400 for the solar powered heavyweight carnival ride that arrived on the Pier in 1996. According to the Daily Breeze, Humphreys "beat out five others in a bidding war that went back and forth through 35 offers." The wheel......

Tonight you can dine out at some of L.A.'s top restaurants and support a worthy cause at the same time: it's time again for Dine Out LA 2008, a city-wide event that raises money for the organization Aid for AIDS. Check out the list of participating restaurants, which are donating 20% of all profits to the charity, which helps prevent homelessness and hunger for individuals and families impoverished and disabled by HIV/AIDS. There are......

Chris Caparro, Braden Anderson, and Debi Mae West created Family Affair to help raise money and awareness for social and environmental purposes. This past weekend, Family Affair IV raised $12,000 for The 11th Hour Action Fund to help educate the youth of america on how to sustain the planet. ...

The Magnetic Fields play tonight and tomorrow | Image via their MySpace Some may know that there is the LA Homeless Blog, written by the CEO of People Assisting the Homeless (PATH). Tonight, the Hotel Cafe is hosting a benefit concert for the organization called Rock and Run for Charity. The name is not merely because the Marathon happened this morning. Sara Radle from Calamity Magnet and Chris Radle from Supersport both ran it......

Don't forget to donate to the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund this month, because you should, and for a chance to win their latest fun gift: a special, one of a kind silk-screened Clash T-shirt designed by bassist Paul Simonon (now of The Good, The Bad, and The Queen). The shirt goes to one lucky person who donates at least $20 to the charity between January 15th and February 26th. Simonon designed most of the band's......

Freaking out? Don't know what to give tomorrow? Here are a few ideas with a conscious in mind: GOOD Magazine: This locally based do-gooding magazine has been impressing many across the country over the past year. In fact, a subscription to this bi-monthly publication is one of our favorite ideas. If GOOD is not your giftee's style, there are about a million other magazines to gift them.Greendimes: Give the gift no more junk mail. Starting......

Want a Wii this holiday season? Well toooooo fuckin bad. The best you can hope for is a rain check certificate that will entitle you to a console at some point in January. Even the Wii people themselves are now admitting what a mess they've made of manufacturing this thing. Two members of a terrorist cell have pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to wage war: the splinter group was "was poised to attack......

Online book retailer Amazon.com announced today that they have purchased an original, hand-written and hand-bound copy of J.K. Rowling's "The Tales of Beedle the Bard," a book of children's stories that plays a major role in the plot of "The Deathly Hallows." The book, one of only seven made, was auctioned off in London at Sotheby's for 1.95 million pounds. Proceeds from the auction are going to The Children's Voice Campaign, a charity that benefits......

The Whole 9 is hosting their holiday party tomorrow (Tuesday) night from 6-9:30PM and would like to invite you to come! What started as an online community where creative, entrepreneurial open-minded people can meet and share, showcase their work and get work has turned into a creative space and art gallery in Culver City. The gallery has shows where the artists are selected from portfolios on The Whole 9 website. The host of the most......

Need for food donations is increasing, while food available for those in need is on a downturn. The good folks over at SOVA in the Valley are scrambling to provide for hungry families this holiday season; rising energy and food costs are partly to blame. So why do I still see people checking the coin slots for loose change? AT&T is selling off their pay phones to "independent" operators; will the machines be kept......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on LAist. Go Eight, a Hanukkah party on December 8th at Echo Plex. John Mayer , throwing his 1st Annual Charity Holiday Revue. Tickets may still be available. Homes for Working Families, because who hasn't been squeezed out of the housing Wristcutters, which is in theaters now. Busted Tees, where you get free shipping with the purchase of three shirts. If you're interested......

Judges, Queen Hopefuls, and ALL the Doo Dah Parade Entries! Let’s PACK the place for a blast of a party and COME AS YOU ARE to the… DOO DAH DAY PARTY AND QUEEN TRYOUTS! SUNDAY, November 18th from 1:00pm till ? TRYOUTS begin at @ 2:00pm, Crowning @ 5:30pm. Your Gracious Hosts and Performing LIVE! SNOTTY SCOTTY AND THE HANKIES HORSES ON ASTROTURF Your Host, ANDREW DUKE OF DOO DAH Queen Hopefuls and Judges, please......

Monday Dave Isay, from StoryCorps, presents Listening Is an Act of Love 7pm @ Vroman's Johan Lehrer presents Proust Was a Neuroscientist 7pm @ Dutton's Nigella Lawson presents The Domestic Goddess 7pm Borders, Torrance Tom Brokaw presents Boom! Voices of the Sixties 7:30pm @ Temple Emanuel Tuesday Clive Barker presents Mister B. Gone 7pm @ Vroman's Gregory Rodriguez presents Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans & Vagabonds 7pm @ Central Library Susanne Daniels presents Season Finale 7pm @......

When you have a huge music collection and you listen almost all the time, there tends to be a few artists that you come back to over and over. In our house, full of CD's, concert DVD's, and iPods a few artists reign supreme: The Beatles, Elvis Costello, and Loudon Wainwright III. Loudon's music can make you feel, make you smile, and make you think-- he is a master storyteller. Often listed with the......

Lakers 119, Jazz 109 - The Lakers may have won their second straight game against a division champ. Kobe may be playing team ball (and even blocked a dunk, for cryin' out loud). We're still not buying it ... Derek Fisher was 0-for-7 in the first half against his former team, but finished with 19 points ... The Lakers removed press row from courtside, adding 15 more seats which are going for $2,300 per game.......

Bob Mould - "It's Too Late" Bob Mould @ The Roxy (unplugged) Jill Scott @ House of Blues The Subways, Mobius Band, Blackmarket @ Spaceland Matt Pond PA, Jesca Hoop @ Troubadour Dashboard Confessional @ Orpheum The Brombies @ Viva Cantina The Draft, Dead to Me @ Knitting Factory for the kids, so to speak Happy Hump Day Party for Charity! featuring Adult film star: Ava Rose and her Porn Posse, The Sanchez Band,......

The annual Epilepsy Freedom Walk took place this morning in Griffith Park with honorary chairman Greg Grunberg of "Heroes" fame leading the crowd of supporters. We have previously highlighted this event here on LAist. To find out how you can help the work of the Epilopsy Foundation, visit The Epilepsy Foundation. Photos after the jump.........

LAist began the month with a new food series exploring the popular and unknown late night eats around town. If a Top Chef winner opened up a late night spot in Los Angeles, denizens would flock it, yet the LA Times and other media might be wary. Turning to sports, the Dodger season was quite memorable in the way that it imploded and the LA County Sheriff's Department made some games of their own......

Your pets want the house to themselves today. Some of yesterday's festivals like Detour, NoHo Scene and the Eagle Rock Music Festival are over with. Yet Sunday, here in Los Angeles, is still a busy day. Events continuing from yesterday's Weekend Festival Guide: Brewery Art Walk and TarFest Jazz at Drew 10:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.: In it's 17th year, the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science's popular music and charity event......

Another festival alert, this one concerning cheese! Hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla will be celebrating the Italian-American immigrant experience this weekend in Hollywood at the 6th Annual Cheese Feast of San Gennaro. Eat some excellent Italian food, play some bocce ball (courts will be set up all day), research your heritage, and watch a parade of the saint through the streets of Hollywood. (San Gennaro was one of those indestructable superhero saints who......

The IRS investigation at the All Saints Episcopal Church over a 2004 "anti-war sermon" has been dropped, the church announced today at a press conference. The church is now asking for an apology and some clarification. Remember all those pot-house busts in the Inland Empire? It appears that all these drug homes in high-end areas are funded and employed by gangs from China. Aren't hospitals always in trouble? "Nearly two dozen private hospitals in......