A Lawrence Weiner piece graces the Vienna Skyline | Photo by Gastev via Flickr If you've been waiting for the hype to die down and waiting for the crowds to thin before visiting the Lawrence Weiner retrospective, you've almost waited too long. Weiner's conceptual art show at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA ends on Monday and this weekend is your last chance to get in and see As Far As the Eye Can See......

Total cost: 5 bucks and some change | Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist In the earlier days of the frozen yogurt craze, Yogurtland sprung up in Fullerton in February 2006. It was a success and so more stores opened in Hollywood, Long Beach, Little Tokyo, Sherman Oaks and many other Southern California locations and one in Cupertino up north. They even opened a location in Greenwich Village in New York City with plans for Vegas,......

Today, Metro announced that the Gold Line East Extension is 80% completed. But don't think that means you'll be riding into Little Tokyo and out to East LA by the end of this summer. Metro has always conceded that project will by done by the end of 2009, yet construction is now almost six months ahead of time. That means it could open in the summer of '09 if all goes well with the remaining......

California Strawberry Festival (Oxnard) This annual fundraiser is focused on the legendary Ventura County strawberry, and has lots of food, crafts, and entertainment from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Strawberry Meadows of College Park (3250 South Rose Avenue, Oxnard). Tickets: $12 Adults; $5 Youth (Ages 5-12); $8 Seniors (55+); $8 Active Military and Dependents with ID; Children 4 and under are free Lilac Festival The 26th annual Lilac Festival in Frazier Park at......

Shadow & Light in Little Tokyo | Photo by pink_fish13 via LAist's Featured Photos pool on Flickr. Monday Jeremy D. Popkin presents Facing Racial Revolution 7pm @ Dutton's Tuesday Alan Corey presents A Million Bucks by 30 7pm @ Book Soup Christopher Rice presents Blind Fall 7pm @ Borders, West Hollywood Wednesday Milo Martin presents Poems for a Utopian Nihilist 7pm @ Book Soup Leslie Lehr presents Wife Goes On 7pm @ Dutton's Josh......

Photo by atomicshakespeares via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Suffering from an Oscar hangover? Then check out the next generation of hot filmmakers at The Beverly Hills Shorts Festival, which begins tonight and runs through the weekend. The studio that brought you such blockbusters as the "Lord of the Rings" franchise will soon become only the merest shadow of its former self: Warner Brothers will be absorbing New Line Cinema, which employs......

Photo of Meiko, who plays at the Knitting Factory tonight, by Koga/LAist for 'Meiko & Priscilla Ahn @ Hotel Cafe, 1/23 & 1/24/08' What Made Milwaukee Famous finish up their Los Angeles tour playing along with Tulsa and the British Sea Power/Colourmusic bill moves over to Spaceland. On the Westside, there's only one choice to make and that is hip-hop violinist Paul Dateh at the Temple Bar (check out our interview with him including......

Don't try this at home -- or at the Civic Center Metro Station. / Photo by puck90 via LAist's flickr pool. TRANSIT TALK Metro is studying alternatives for connecting the Gold, Blue and Expo lines through downtown Los Angeles. This study will examine linking the future Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension (near the Little Tokyo/Arts District Station) and the 7th Street/Metro Center Station. Tonight Metro will update the public on the project and allow......

Zero One Gallery | All photos by Elise Thompson for LAist Remember the good old days, when you would just end up at a random artspace downtown sometime after midnight? People would be walking around wearing bowler hats and bunny suits while loud noise/music/artistic expression screeched out from the next room. So you would wander into the next room and find someone bellydancing or putting on a burlesque show. And you would think to......

Anyone living downtown in an old converted warehouse is familiar with the specific brand of glee the comes with learning that the big empty retail space on the groundfloor of your building or across the street from your front door has finally been filled. In a downtown that is still growing and adding services for the ever-expanding resident population, any new service is met with excitement. As in: Will it be a Trader Joe's? Imagine,......

Sometimes, the most fun in life comes in surprises. Last night, that surprise came in the form of a random marching band appearing out of nowhere at the corner of 5th and Spring playing a hybrid of New Klezmer Afro-Brazilian Tango during last night's Downtown Art Walk. We followed the free-jazz, experimental, all-genres-equal Killsonic for about an hour throughout Gallery Row intruding upon art galleries and people's peace and quiet. At one point, we......

Have you had enough of $5 coffee? $99 burgers? $125 martinis? I know I am -- doesn't anybody in this city want to find the cheapest drinks, meals, and booze? Los Angeles Magazine comes through this month with a feature on great deals and bargain finds on everything from martinis to furniture to underpants. We went straight for the food section, of course -- and here are our top food bargain picks from the......

The Tough Cookies' Venus d'Maulr / All photos by Kelly C. Gallamore for LAist While much of LA stayed home watching movies Saturday night, the real action was in Historic Filipinotown, where a sold out crowd of 2,000+ ventured out into a meteorological maelstrom to watch the L.A. Derby Dolls season-opening bout. The Tough Cookies dominated each quarter to knock off the Fight Crew 35-28 in the new Doll Factory, a converted 30,000 sq.......

I should hate Pinkberry for a million different reasons: what it does to neighborhoods, the mom & pops it shuts down in its wake, its fake-yogurty ingredients that are likely very, very bad for me and its off-putting, sour flavor that foodies abhor and I, strangely, adore. I know and I agree and I held out as long as I could....

FILM A Bloody Aria, a film from Korea about a professor, his pretty student and a possible murder, opens tonight for a one-week engagement in Little Tokyo. It’s been compared to Deliverance, but with a dark sense of humor. (We wonder if there’s any pig squealing in this one?) Times vary // ImaginAsian Center // 251 S. Main St., Los Angeles // $7-$10. MUSIC / SPOKEN WORD Tonight the CalArts Creative Music Festival features......

An opinion piece in today's LA Times raises the issue of what seems to be the rampant Pinkberry-fication of many of our local neighborhoods, using recent food and retail closings and openings in the popular Larchmont Village as an example of how major-chain development affects the unique vibe of a given area. Larchmont Village, which is the bustling strip of shops located on Larchmont Boulevard between Beverly Boulevard and 1st Street, is starting to......

What better way to get 2008 started than with some cheap booze at some happening city spots? Here's a few more we managed to dig up this week -- send your secret spots and recommendations my way at carrie@laist.com. Yes, some of these are later than the usual after-work happy hour, but I know you L.A. kids -- you can't be bothered to go out before at least 9pm, so enjoy some after-hours drink......

So maybe you holed up inside last night with a hot toddy and are thinking, "rain be damned! I'm going out tonight!" Okay, fine. If you make it out earlier, you can celebrate the Japanese New Year, or you can lay low until the evening hours and then get yourself so theatre. Or you could just stay home and keep drinking. We'll never tell... JAPANESE NEW YEAR/SAKE-TO ME There are multiple events going on today......

An archival photograph depicts LA's Little Tokyo neighborhood in 1942, which was when Japanese Americans were forced to leave their homes and businesses and sent to internment camps. President Franklin Roosevelt signed Excutive Order No. 9066 in February 1942, which explained that these relocations were necessary because "the successful prosecution of the war requires every possible protection against espionage and against sabotage to national-defense material, national-defense premises, and national-defense utilities." Because of the December......

I have said it before and I'll say it again, the best designers on Project Runway this season are from Los Angeles. In my holiday wish, I see Rami Kashou, Sweet P, and Kit Pistol in the final three and visions of their collections on the runway in the finale. Christina Scarbo A.K.A. Kit Pistol created her alias during her time studying and working in Italy. You can find her designs at Jack Henry Couture......

Gingersnaps and cocoa and rum balls and Italian knots and Kolacky and biscotti and chocolate chips, oh my! LAist has been in the kitchen, cooking up a Cookie Exchange. I Can Has JGoldBurger? Omg the PULITZER PRIZE WINNING JOURNALIST uses LOLspeak, I don't know what to say, my world has been all shook up like a snowglobe. It's entirely possible I was Afghani in a previous life (as well as Korean, Persian, Icelandic, and......

MUSIC: CalTech isn’t just about nerdy rocket scientists. They have glee clubs, too! All kidding aside, tonight's concert will feature traditional holiday favorites as well as the Women's Club taking on Porpora’s Magnificat, written in the 1730s. 8 pm // Dabney Lounge at California Institute of Technology // 1200 East California Blvd., Pasadena // Free. DANCE: From CalTech, we’ll head over to CalArts in Valencia. The Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance is holding its......

I am thankful for… Thanksgiving - even though I think it’s a stupid holiday, and I pretty much hate all the food associated with it - for giving me the opportunity to spend the day with family that I love and actually enjoy being around. I am thankful every day that I am able to make a living being creative and doing something I love. (Except for when I’m on strike) I am thankful......

Let's start over, shall we? Disney is investing $1.1 billion into California (Mis)adventure, the ghost town of an amusement park next to Disneyland. The Rose Queen for the Pasadena Rose Parade was announced this morning and her name is Dusty. We just love that name for a girl. Staring now, there is no excuse for anyone of any age to ever go "I don't get blogging." The world's oldest blogger celebrated her birthday this......

View Larger Map They are on trial, facing possible felony charges if convicted, for unauthorized access to city's computer system in order to make traffic even worse at four busy intersections last year August. Who are they? Meet Gabriel Murillo and Kartik Patel, both in their 30s and both high level Department of Transportation transportation engineers with the Automated Traffic Surveillance Center.Prosecutors said the men changed computer codes preventing transportation managers from reprogramming and reactivating......

After a summer hiatus, the in-your-face punk rock action of the Derby Dolls are back. Tonight is a different brand of the Derby and of the Doll, as they will be playing at the Industry Hills Expo Center for a night of two games (including a mini-bout), bands and Hell's Belles Custom Classic Car Show. While the temporary one-time location is screwy for some, the advantage is the 2500 people the space can hold,......

If the insider tip is true, you better hurry up as the Tofu Festival closes its doors at 6 p.m. today. According to our source the non-profit Little Tokyo Service Center, who operates the festival as a fundraiser, is not making enough money from the two-day event to make it worthwhile. Supposedly, other events will come in the future, but the 'fu is over with. We sincerely hope this claim is false. If it is,......

The cultural festivities of this popular Japanese summer festival continue today from Noon to 9pm in Little Tokyo. These public parties include live music, games, taiko drum performances, awesome food and much more! Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple 505 E. 3rd St. Parking is available across the street for $5 all day. Click here for schedule of events and more info! Photo by Henry David for LAist.com......

LAist is your source for local Obon Festival coverage. This photo essay includes highlights from the Obon Festival at Zenshuji Temple in Little Tokyo. The Obon Festival still continues at the Zenshuji Buddhist Temple today from 11am to 8pm. You can get there easily by taking the Metro Subway to Union Station, then walk 3 blocks West from Alameda. The address is: 123 South Hewitt St. Los Angeles, CA 90012 Pictures of the world-famous......

Last month, I sent a question to all the other writers about late-night dining options in Downtown. There was a lot to be said about The Pantry last week, but today we continue with other options. The following is taken from a casual conversation from the LAist back channels. (c): Pete's Cafe / 4th and main. Read my LAist piece. Open til 2. Reasonable unless they go for a steak and a bottle of......