The Movies are the most enigmatic entity I’ve ever stumbled across. They are simply legendary in Los Angeles. Fans practically worship the ground that front man Timothy James walks on. Or at least that’s what I’ve witnessed. Regardless, there’s a barefaced glory and honor that comes along with calling yourself a fan of the Movies....

The permit for the festival's street closure signed on August 20, 2008 | Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist As with years past, the Sunset Junction Street Festival has been somewhat of a contentious point between the community and well, let's face it, the small part of the community that puts this event on. Past issues have revolved around basics like parking, traffic and noise, but the more heated debates have been over the entrance fee.......

Naturewell will host their grand opening next week, but they're offering free samples this afternoon, they said earlier today as they prepped their signs and storefront. There are no alcoholic drinks, but refreshing the body is the name of the game here. It's vegan, organic and they buy as much as possible from local farmers. We tried a sweet coconut water concoction and it was quite amazing. Then they broke out the dragonfruit, which......

It's about 85 degrees here in Silver Lake and the streets of Sunset Junction are starting to fill with music and the fans that love it. Here are some shots from this early afternoon as things were getting started. If you're taking public transit, check this post out.......

From Metro's full system transit map For the past three years, public transit has been our guiding way to the Sunset Junction Street Festival. To try to find reasonable parking is just not very realistic. Still, we've felt alone on the subways and buses when en route to the fest. There's maybe only a handful of people with us heading to or from the event (one LAist friend asked us if hipsters hate public......

Isaac Hayes was scheduled to headline at the Sunset Junction Music Festival before his death this past Sunday in Tennessee. Tonight, the festival announced that friend of Hayes and a legendary soul man himself, Sam Moore, will play during the Saturday night slot. Moore is a Grammy winner and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in1992 for his work with Sam & Dave. He will be performing on the Hoover Stage......

That was fast. I guess this proves that billboards and a massive, massive, massive amount of flyers put around the neighborhood can get your dog back. For background on Hedkayce (that's the dog's name), check out yesterday's story.......

Update: Hedkayce, the dog, has been found.The Silver Lake and Echo Park area was slammed with flyers this weekend showing this dog, pictured above. And if flyers were not enough, two billboards, back-to-back, at Sunset and Alvarado featured the cute dog asking anyone who has seen it or has found it to contact the owner. And who could afford such an effort? The one and only Dov Charney of American Apparel. One of the flyers......

Are you planning to throw a cocktail party this summer? Do you need some groovy glassware or bar accessories? You are in luck. This weekend one of LAist's favorite Sunset Junction stores is having a really big sale. Bar Keeper in Silver Lake stocks new and vintage barware, collectibles, and gadgets. From 11am- 7pm on Saturday shoppers will get great deals and some daytime libations and bacon wrapped hot dogs too. The sale continues......

Last month, local band Radars To The Sky (MySpace) performed at Spaceland (MySpace) in Silver Lake, opening for The Republic Tigers (MySpace). As described by Andrew at Amateur Chemist, "Radars To The Sky continues to harness the buzz they built up after wrapping up their successful Echo Residency in April. Spaceland was filling up nicely as the members of Radars To The Sky took the stage. Andrew Spitser (Vocals/Guitars) announced early on that they......

We were finally able to try out the Medicina Latina ($13) at Malo's during the LAist foodie meetup earlier this week and it is awesome. Made with 4 Copas Reposado, fresh ginger juice, agave and lime with a Del Maguey Mezcal Mist, it certainly has a kick. It's that ginger juice that makes it an unusual tequila cocktail. But unfortunately since it's so drinkable, we were done with it before we knew it. Malo Taqueria......

Part of an ongoing series. Earlier this year, local band Rocket (MySpace) performed at Spaceland (MySpace) in Silver Lake and The Echo (MySpace), before embarking on a nationwide tour. Tonight, they perform at The Viper Room (MySpace) in West Hollywood, and it will be their final one for the next two months, as they are returning to the studio to record new material.......

When it opened back in January, Silver Lake's boutique coffeehouse LA Mill had LAist wondering if the food was really worth the cash (let alone the hype). Now that the buzz has thankfully died down, it was time for another trip to the coffee brewing mecca to sit down and have a proper breakfast.......

Part of an ongoing series. Last month, on the same night that Rilo Kiley (MySpace) headlined at the Greek Theatre, another local band, Midnight Movies (MySpace), performed at Spaceland (MySpace) in Silver Lake as part of Club NME (MySpace)'s weekly show. Midnight Movies' set included their cover of The Moody Blues' of "Nights In White Satin", only sung in French by frontwoman Gena Olivier. This was also their last performance in the foreseeable future,......

Part of an ongoing series. Last month, local band The Airborne Toxic Event (MySpace) returned to Spaceland (MySpace) in Silver Lake to headline a show that included The Deadly Syndrome (MySpace), and The Henry Clay People (MySpace) with support from I Make This Sound (MySpace) and Le Switch (MySpace). As aptly described by Mouse from Classical Geek Theatre, "Before a mixed-crowd of longtime fans and recent, true-believing converts, The Airborne Toxic Event rewarded ticket......

Via L.A. Now, here's the 4th documented freeway bicycle ride. This time, it was a different group of folks (you may remember these crazy photos from Crimanimalz) and they hit the 101 and 110 starting in Silver Lake.......

It's hard to imagine a more un-L.A. cuisine than German food -- it's heavy, it's meaty, it's about as vegetarian-unfriendly as you can get. So how does the Red Lion Tavern in Silver Lake stay so busy? A few reasons, actually: beer. Beer! Also, beer (bier!). The Red Lion has a number of great brews -- pilsners, bocks, weizens, and so much more. These Germans value their beer so much that the interior of......

From Silver Lake to Hollywood to Beverly Hills, style is sometimes part of a neighborhood's identity. Here are some photos taken from the streets.......

Two weeks ago, photographer/director Dave Naz (MySpace) celebrated the release of his new Vivid-Alt (MySpace) movie Circa '82, his second directorial effort for the imprint, with a party at the Hyperion Tavern in Silver Lake. Circa '82 revives "...the early 80's and focus[es] on the important things in life: sex, music, and doing whatever the fuck they want. No parents, no school, no rules." The movie features cameo "...appearances by punk legends Keith Morris......

Wonder where all your favorite bartenders from Seven Grand, the downtown whiskey bar, have gone? Well, Aidan Demarest (formerly 7G and the Doheny's GM) is now director of beverages and spirits at Edison in downtown, Damian Windsor will be starting his stint at Gordon Ramsay at the London on July 2, Marcos Tellos is bartending at West Hollywood's Comme Ca and running For Medicinal Purposes -- a cocktail consulting company -- with Damian, Patrick......

Boing Boing co-founder and Make editor in chief Mark Frauenfelder got a tour of Silver Lake's Intelligentsia with the company's head of research and development. The Chicago-based coffee brand opened a Los Angeles storefront last summer and debuted during the Sunset Junction Music Festival.......

Smac & Cheese at Kitchen 24, left, and Mac N' Cheese at The Kitchen, right. | Photos by Zach Behrens/LAist With similar restaurant names, why not compare two feel-good comfy foods back to back? First, there's the Kitchen 24 in Hollywood with their Smac & Cheese ($8.95) made out of cheddar, mascarpone, smoked gruyere and topped with a basil herbed crust. Over in Silver Lake, The Kitchen serves it's Mac N' Cheese ($8.00) with......

Last weekend LA was home to not one, but TWO dyke marches! If there's one thing dykes love, it's marching! We love marching too! And motorcycles! And music! And sexy women! LAist photographers Elise Thompson and Tom Andrews were on hand Saturday at Dyke March LA in Silverlake to catch all of the action. Check out Monday's coverage of LA Pride, yesterday's coverage of the Friday night West Hollywood Dyke March, and stay tuned after......

While ordering tacos this past weekend, Pat at Eating L.A. noticed that Cardone's Deli on Sunset had been replaced by a new place called The Vegan Spot. "There are seriously a lot of vegan places in Silver Lake and Echo Park already. (Cru, Flore Cafe, Elf, at least four Thai places, etc.) So we're just wondering, are there really that many vegans on the near-Eastside?" One Food Network chef say Tapas could be the next......

Photo by Tom Andrews/LAist Update: The robbery occurred when an employee was approached by the suspect in a bandana and a gun at the garbage dumpster. He was forced back inside where five other employees were. The problem came when the employees and suspect couldn't speak each other's languages. That's when employees bolted, according to ABC7 11:00 a.m. news. Three ran upstairs and hid in the female bathroom and the other three hid downstairs.......

Earlier this month, the Sunset Junction Music Festival announced the headliners for their 28th annual street fete, which takes place on August 23 and 24. Now, the rest of the schedule has been announced with many excellent local indie bands including Radars in the Sky, Happy Hollows, Castledoor, Jonathan Rice, Henry Clay People, Oliver Future and Gram Rabbit. For a more r&b/world with a local twist, there's plenty as the festival is featuring Chana, Nikhil......

Part of an ongoing series. Last month, local band The Happy Hollows (MySpace) performed at The Echo (MySpace), opening for The Ruby Suns (MySpace) and Architecture in Helsinki (MySpace). On Sunday, The Happy Hollows' lead singer Sarah Negahdari performs a solo acoustic set at Pehrspace (MySpace) in Echo Park with The Physics of Meaning (MySpace), One Trick Pony (MySpace), and Rademacher (MySpace)'s Malcolm Sosa. Joe from Radio Free Silver Lake raves that "I'm really......

Part of an ongoing series. Last month, local band Radars to the Sky (MySpace) had a month-long residency at The Echo (MySpace). The artists who've shared their stage included The Parson Redheads (MySpace), Aushua (MySpace), The Weather Underground (MySpace), The Transmissions (MySpace), The Henry Clay People (MySpace), Death To Anders (MySpace), The Flying Tourbillion Orchestra (MySpace), The Western States Motel (MySpace), and I Make This Sound (MySpace). For April 21st, they included Rademacher (MySpace),......

Joy and happiness surround the new park and pay stations in this photo of a citizen with a park and pay ambassador | Photo provided by the City of LA The Department of Transportation caught wind of yesterday's confusion at the Park and Pay Machines in Silver Lake and decided to take a stab at explaining what happened. "What occurred in this case is that after inserting their quarter, the customer pressed 'OK' twice......

The new Park & Pay meter system is now in effect in Silver Lake -- at least along both sides of the 3500 block -- where we found people gathering in confusion at this meter outside Millie's this morning. The Australian-made Reino meters are not as imposing or as ugly as traditional meters, and while you can pay with change, cash, or credit card, it is paperless -- there is no receipt needed to post......