This morning from above the 110 freeway in Downtown L.A. via @crunkistani

That 80-degree three-day weekend in the middle of L.A.'s winter we just had means we can't really be mad at it. Stay dry out there!

Who needs fiction when you can just turn on our local news for some truly outrageous displays of human behavior unfold live? While being chased by deputies from Santa Clarita to Downtown L.A. this morning, bank robbers began dumping the stolen money from the moving vehicle. The Robin Hood bandits made it rain in the streets of South L.A. as flurries of ca$h money flew from the windows of their speeding Volvo. More»

What in the seven hells is going on at Lil Death? The weekly event at Downtown L.A.'s One Eyed Gypsy has quickly been picking up steam, but if you, the casually fashionable West Hollywood party veteran, were to just wander in, you might find the vibe to be spookier than you're accustomed to. That's because Lil Death, with it's digital goth aesthetic, eclectic crowd, and higher artistic aspirations, keeps it a little weirder than your average nightspot. Confused? We'll use these awesome Cobrasnake photos from last week's edition to help break it down. More»

As you might recall from our previous visit to Summertramp, the monthly DTLA-based polysexual waterpark jamboree being thrown all summer long, the gays know how to party. And based on the scope and scale of last month's throwdown, there were only two ways this month's edition of "gorgeous, hot mess" was going to be remembered: either as a relative disappointment, or as even bigger and badder than its predecessor. So, if you had to guess, how do you think Sunday's went down? More»

Hey, you with the tan lines and the Corolla that's still sporting Connecticut plates. Welcome to L.A.  We know you've been talking up SoCal to all your Emerson buddies ever since you landed an internship in the WME mailroom, but now you're out here and you're trying to mine your extensive knowledge of Entourage to think of things to do this summer. One small snafu: you're not a movie star yet, and that $11.63 an hour that Ari's paying you isn't going to support the groovy lifestyle of bangin' club nights that you had envisioned. Lucky for you, L.A. is chock full of great things to do on a budget and we've got the low-down on 10 full days of fun for under $20. More»

With all due respect to the eternal funkiness of Dogtown, it's pretty much become a given that the weirdest events that go down in our fair city are generally centered around the artsy hipsters of our Eastside, particularly the Echo Park region. While that might occasionally be disappointing to those of us that reside closer to the ocean, it also means that we don't bear the mental scars that go from looking out of our windows in the morning and seeing 200 naked people, at various levels of physical fitness, riding bicycles down the street. It's called the World Naked Bike Ride, and if you missed it, we'll get you up to speed. Y'know, if you really want that. More»

Quick, name the craziest, gayest party you know! Provincetown Bear Week? WeHo Halloween? Taco Tuesday at Fiesta Cantina? These are all excellent guesses, but at least over the summer, they are all incorrect. On the last Sunday of each month, the epicenter of polysexual madness is located in an astroturf'd parking lot just east of the Toy District in Downtown L.A., where outrageous costumes, inflatable waterslides, and copious amounts of intoxicants (along with straight-from-the-club DJ's) combine to form the party known only as Summertramp. More»

Hopefully you all had a peaceful, nonviolent May Day yesterday if you participated in or were nearby any of the numerous demonstrations and marches that canvased Los Angeles as part of the nationwide general strike. The ultimate goal to shut down all businesses, schools, streets and other day-to-day aspects dubbed "A Day Without The 99%" may not have been met, but Occupiers certainly put quite an impressive dent in L.A.'s infrastructure with their "Four Winds" caravan which brought a parade of bikes and cars from four corners of the city that converged in Downtown L.A. Much like Occupy L.A., thousands poured into the streets—between the many wielding signs, others in costume, some alternative forms of expression, and police—to create some pretty spectacular imagery of the downtown landscape. More»

[May Day protest; photo by A.C. Thamer via]

Happy May Day, everyone! Well, maybe "happy" is the wrong greeting to attach. After all, for the Occupy crowd (and anyone who cares about worker's rights), May Day is meant to call attention to the exploitation of the labor force by the privileged elite. Not exactly a cake-and-ice-cream kind of day. But regardless of where your political beliefs fall, you'd do well not to ignore it, because with several massive protests, rallies and marches planned for today, mostly centering around Downtown L.A. and LAX, it's going to affect plenty of us. Read on for our full guide on street closures, delays, and more. More»

So maybe you have a niece or a younger brother or a cousin or something with a birthday coming up, and you fancy yourself a cool, older role model, so you want to buy them something the kids love these days, like a Twilight book or a Hannah Montana or something? God, you are so stupid, that stuff hasn't been cool for months now. No, it's all about The Hunger Games, the über-bestselling young adult novel and movie adaptation, which began its methodical annihilation of all box-office challengers last night by taking in a staggering $19.7 million in midnight screenings last night. Like it didn't suck enough already to be the guys who made John Carter. More»