Photo by Tom Andrews/LAist via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr It's always interesting to see public officials speak on the same subject and then put their words back to back. Last week LA Weekly published an article by David Ferrell taking aim at Villaraigosa's garbage tax. At issue, the garbage tax that sold to the public was on the premise that it was purely going to building the LAPD's force. That ended up not......

Mahalo Daily has been locally focused the past couple of days. Yesterday, they spoke to people at the Santa Monica promenade about the effect of gas prices on their lives. Today, they tag along with the city's Bureau of Sanitation in South LA for a day of bulky item pickups. Good times.......

Many of us have recently taken heed to the call to be more "green" in our lives, from easy day-to-day things such as employing reusable bags, to larger-scale endeavors, like switching to hybrid cars or going car-less entirely. And now that we've turned our calendar pages to January 2008, many of us are pledging (aka the dreaded "resolutions") to make the year a greener one. Well, Los Angeles' Dave Chameides aims to have us all......

Pixar today released a new trailer for their upcoming movie, WALL-E. The movie is about the last robot on a human abandoned earth who's task is to clean up the mess we made....

Black Friday has come and gone but there's one more killer sale that you shouldn't miss - the Obey Sale. For the last few years we have been lucky enough to learn about the sale, this year held in a warehouse The OC, and today we are very happy to share the dates with you. When: Friday, December 7th from 9a - 7p & Saturday, December 8th from 9a - 5p Where: 3500 West......

You remember this famous exchange from The Graduate? Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you - just one word. Ben: Yes sir. Mr. McGuire: Are you listening? Ben: Yes I am. Mr. McGuire: 'Plastics.' Ben: Exactly how do you mean? Mr. McGuire: There's a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it? Ben: Yes I will. Yes, there was certainly a future in plastics -- but it......

Ok maybe it's not the worst DVR ever made Oh yes it's the worst. And it's not just me, customers hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it. I'm writing this post to let Time Warner LA know that this cannot stand for long before customers such as myself switch back to satellite providers. I'm talking very soon, like as soon as I can get a day off from work to have......

Photo by imacri via Flickr You're still running to Eye of the Tiger? Then it's time to download some new tunes for your run. Most of these songs are much more aggressive than Eye of the Tiger -- Hard Metal Rock, Techno and Industrial. For people like myself, it's difficult to find good songs to run to. Everybody likes Coldplay but you can't really run to it. Here at LAist we like to encourage......

Too many train crashes! Today saw the second Gold Line crash this month, this one being the worse of the two. The Blue Line was involved in a crash earlier this week as well as a Metrolink train yesterday. Tennie Pierce, the city firefighter who claims co-workers fed him dog food-laced spaghetti settled with city council today for $1.43 million dollars. Will it be a cozy night indoors as it rains outside? Yep. Pretty......

Not since Pee Wee's Playhouse has there been a children's show that grown-ups can enjoy as much as kids. Washington DC's local cable-access show, Pancake Mountain, has been attracting rockers like Deerhoof, Scissor Sisters, and Arcade Fire since 2003. Scott Stuckey's concept for the program was to have a children's show that is focused on fun, not on marketing. It's all about the music, and their live dance parties invite local kids to join......

Labor Day Weekend is a great time to be in town because everyone else leaves. The streets are empty. There’s elbow room at your favorite local watering hole. And … there’s plenty of local theater just waiting to be seen. Here are LAist’s five theater picks for this weekend: Calling Aphrodite Keiko and her sister were playing outside their home, when something unimaginable happened. It was Hiroshima in 1945. This play focuses on Keiko’s life......

I went to Canada for my summer vacation. While Zach was running the ship, and while all the guest editors were guest editing, I was north of the border drinking beer, buying weed from Hells Angels, and constantly eating poutine and sushi. They have fireworks in the bay several times during the summer, they have a garbage strike that doesn't seem to effect anyone. And they have an odd relationship with buying booze in......

OUT TODAY: Tegan and Sara - The Con (Sire) Juliette and the Licks - Four on the Floor (Hassle) UNKLE - War Stories (Surrender All) Mexican Institute Of Sound - Pinata (Nacional Records) Robbers on High Street - Grand Animals (New Line) Manu Chao - Rainin In Paradize [EP] (Nacional Records) Prince - Planet Earth (NPG) VHS or Beta - Bring On The Comets [Single] (Astralwerks) Hanson - The Walk (Cooking Vinyl) Manic Street......

I like to consider myself a green person. I mean every time I leave the house I ask myself if my destination can be reached without a car, which is why I find myself riding a bicycle/subway/bus often. However I always come across others who are gung-ho about nascent eco-trends (drives a Prius, shops only at Whole Foods), who are so caught up in Green Commercialism that they never stop to evaluate its benefit......

Living in Los Angeles with my dog Skeela has made me keenly aware of shit. Every day I wrap my hand in some sort of petro-chemical barrier, scoop up whatever solid matter has fallen out of my canine, tie a knot in a hand-to-shit barrier bag to seal off the stench, and then proceed to dispose of it cleanly in the nearest appropriate receptacle. My dog eats a well-balanced diet with plenty of whole......

- Illegals doing what Americans wont do: 61,000 pot plants spotted in Santa Barbara - CBS2 - North Hollywood man found guilty of 1997 murder of Nigerian soccer player - LA Daily News - Chino woman who was found guilty of murder and served 23 years, released on parole - Daily News - The Zorro Bandit strikes again at a Glendale bank - CBS2 - OC bus strike on its 6th day and going......

What with Paris Hilton's release earlier this week and the upcoming celebration of American Independence (sorry, Londonist!), we've been thinking a lot about freedom. Freedom to vote, freedom to choose, and most importantly, freedom to blog. Here are a few things we're happy we've been free to blog about this week. Being the nation's capital, DCist felt especially proud to let freedom ring this week by exposing the really important issues, like how sad they......

The Harry Potter marketing onslaught has begun in earnest – and the latest film in the franchise doesn’t even open for two more weeks. Right now, there are more products being plugged by the boy wizard on store shelves everywhere, thanks to Tinseltown’s magic marketing. And even this muggle bought into the hype. I paid $1.99 for 1.6 oz. of "Bertie Bott's Beans" in a box -- that works out to almost a nickel......

A good documentary tells a compelling story that may have otherwise remained unknown. The best ones do so through people you can't believe actually exist. Such is the case with The Town That Was. Using a blend of archival footage and recent interviews, directors Chris Perkel and Georgie Roland tell the sad, strange story of Centralia, Pennsylvania and one of its last remaining residents, the marvelously eccentric John Lokitis. In 1962, Centralia was a......

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti......

A Word or 10: Intercity baseball rivalry tonight - check it. Have a great weekend! Tonight - Friday - May 18, 2007 Dodgers @ Angels (KCAL, 8:00 p.m.) That's the Way It Is: Celebrating Cronkite at 90 (CBS, 8:00 p.m.) The last great newsman turns 90. Dateline NBC (NBC, 8:00 p.m.) More exploitive garbage. The Henry Rollins Show (IFC, 8:00 p.m.) Joan Jett(!!); The Blood Brothers perform America's Funniest Home Videos (ABC, 8:00 p.m.)......

A Word or 34: Lots of new TV tonight, too bad that most of it is garbage. Potentially entertaining late night talk show guests include: Jane Fonda, Salman Rushdie, Antonio Banderas, Evangeline Lilly, Joe Rogan, and Steven Wright. Tonight - Wednesday - May 9, 2007 Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (IFC, 6:00 p.m.) Revel in the debauchery. Indians @ Angels (Fox Sports, 7:00 p.m.) Dodgers @ Marlins (PRIME, 7:30 p.m.) Jericho/Criminal Minds/CSI: NY......

A Word or 49: Iggy Pop redeems Jimmy Kimmel tonight. For petessake when is the stupid 'house' gimmick ever gonna end on House? (new one tonight) I'm rockin' the slot with the Shield tonight though - now that Vic seems to be in the clear perhaps we're just back to some stellar violence. Today - Tuesday - April 24th, 2007 Rita Hayworth Marathon (TCM, 5- p.m.) Starting with Pal Joey, then Salome, etc. Check......

American Idol should be thanking their lucky stars. Here they are turning the corner and there are no super hot chicks, no super fantastic singers - except for maybe LaKisha Jones - and the only remaining dudes are boyband rejects. If it wasn't for Sanjaya this would be the worst American Idol ever. And Simon can smirk and squirm every time the 17 year old doesn't suck, but the truth is Fox fucked up......

A Word or 157: It's all about the Prime Time tonight. The Office and 30 Rock have a real chance at getting some serious viewership since both Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy are simply rehash episodes (even though they are billed as 'New'). Tina Fey has been hitting everything from Good Morning America to Conan (and Baldwin made an appearance on Letterman last night) in an attempt to push 30 Rock more - it's......

Every week LAist will tell you what we're listening to, today the troublemakers at the Adult Swim cartoon Aqua Teen Hunger Force told us what they rock out to with their straws out. The Hunger Force have a movie coming out on Friday the 13th - maybe you've seen some of their marketing efforts - and the soundtrack comes out Tuesday the 10th. Carl: Jailbreak - AC/DC If you go to jail, why stay......

The Oscars go down in just a few hours, so this is the last call for Oscar Picks! Just go to this post and choose who you think will win in ten big categories. Here are the AMAZING prizes we have for the winners The Grand Prize Winner (person with the most correct picks) will get a copy of the just-released Luscious Jackson's "Greatest Hits", tickets to the Hotel Cafe on March 29th to see......

The Oscars are right around the corner, everyone's an expert, so let's see what ya got. After the jump we have ten big categories for Sunday's award show. To enter out your picks in the comments and leave your real email address so we can contact you. Please follow this format: 1. Penelope Cruz 2. Jennifer Hudson 3. Forest Whitaker etc... Here are the AMAZING prizes we have for the winners The Grand Prize Winner......

Sex is something that drives us, empowers us and gets us into really stupid situations with people we have no business seeing naked. Jen Sincero is the bestselling author and sexpert with the carnal knowledge you need. Ask her your questions (all are posted anonymously). Cuz there's no such thing as being too good in bed. Dear Jen: I've been married for 4 years and I am not happy. I've inwardly talked to myself about......

Garbage, Bonnie Raitt, Keb’ Mo’, Victoria Williams, Sheryl Crow, Jackson Browne, the Martinis (Joey Santiago and David Lovering), and others @ Alex Theater (Beat It Wally benefit) Helmet @ The Troubadour Kaki King @ Hotel Cafe Joss Stone @ House of Blues Sally Kellerman @ Genghis Cohen Jill Sobule, Julia Sweeney @ Largo Polysics, The Outline @ The Knitting Factory Ferona Vai, In Memory, Anthema @ Viper Room Iceage Cobra, Jessie Deluxe, The High......