As someone who grew up going to the New York Halloween Parade, I love going to the West Hollywood Parade.

If you are the only person on the planet that lives on the Westcoast and haven’t gone to LA’s biggest Halloween parade, go tonight! It’s not what you think it would be, and it’s everything you wouldn’t expect it to be.

**** UPDATE *****

Below is the 2007 Story.
A 2008 Update for the 2008 Parade is located here:
http://news.lalate.com/2008/10/27/west-hollywood-halloween-parade/

___________

From 2007:

First, the crowd is a mixture of Asian tourists, westside husband and wives, kids and parents, ridiculously amazing costumes, enormously inventive designs, and more.

We are going, and you should too. Here are some tips.

1. Get there EARLY. The parking is so atrocious if you get there late, you will feel like you are walking from car to Nevada to see the parade. We suggest people to get there by 6 or 7 pm. If you must get there later, mapquest a entry route into the area because of street closures. If you get close, you will get into a great lot - it’s just getting to that lot that will be a task. Here is a list of street closures. Try to park closer to Doheny and Melrose for ease of entry into the area.

2. There is no parade. YOU are the parade. Bring comfortable shoes. The walk can stretch from La Cienega in the East to Robertson in the West, and lines Santa Monica Boulevard.

3. Where to eat? There are lot of great spots to check out along the way to eat. Fiesta Cantina has great mexican grub, reasonably priced including wings, nachos, and more. And their drinks are mighty fine. (On Santa Monica Blvd, east of San Vicente). Next door is Steak Depot with great Philly Steaks.

The Abbey has killer eats, a bit more pricey under new owners SPE, but still great favorites including fries, deserts, cakes, coffee, and a full menu. Basanova  is the best Brazilian food on the Westside. It is small and will be packed. (Both, Robertson, south of Santa Monica Boulevard).

4. Bring whoever! The live stage usually by KIIS-FM is rockin’ featuring killer cover band music. The night is great for young kids with parents, couples, ghosts, and goblins!

For more on the parade, go to www.weho.com
 

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Today, come dressed as a burrito to Chipotle stores and get a free burrito.

Are they serious?

That’s the promotion today at Chipotle. Of course, covering yourself in aluminum foil will set you back more money than the burrito itself.

No word yet if the Olive Garden will give you a free dish of pasta if you cover yourself with tomato sauce.

Image: NYPostblog

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President Bush’s adviser Karen Hughes has quit her job pitching the U.S. image abroad. Check any online site, most will say the same thing - Hughes failed miserably (much like her boss!).

Polls indicate the world looks upon the U.S. less favorably since Hughes took over. 

Hughes was as undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs since March 2005, and was given the duty to “win the hearts and minds of the Muslim world.”

Source: Alaska Report

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“Monster Mash” is still the number one song for Halloween. So lalate news have a scary treat for you - Bobby Brown and Mike Tyson doing “Monster Mash”, yes that Mike Tyson!

OH WHAT A HOT MESS!

Here are the top Halloween songs
1. The Monster Mash by Bobby (Boris) Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers
2. Bela Lugosi’s Dead by Bauhaus
3. Thriller by Michael Jackson
4. Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield
5. Don’t Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult
6. I Put a Spell on You by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
7. Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath
8. Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon
9. I Love the Dead by Alice Cooper
10. Sweet Transvestite from Rocky Horror Picture Show

Source: USGS

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LALATE BREAKING NEWS: SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKE map.

Now made available moments ago is a map detailing the exact location of the earthquake that hit earlier this evening. The newly released USGS map, enabled by Google Maps, shows the area the quake struck to be not populated.

The quake’s center was located in Alum Rock, a community of San Jose, California.

Click the map below to see the link and zoom in to see the surrounding areas.

Google Map

Source: USGS

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Yes, the title of this story sadly is correct. Robert Goulet has passed, making this perhaps one of the hardest stories lalate news has ever written, because of the enormous talent of this man, and the tragic way he has left us ….. and the stage.

It was revealed moments ago on Reuters that Goulet died on Monday while waiting for an emmergency lung transplant, reports his wife Vera to Reuters.

The tragic death of this enormous talent came after he recently learned that he suffered from a rare form of the lung disease pulmonary fibrosis. He had been rushed just recently to Cedars Sinai Medical Center and there awaited a decision whether he could receive a lung transplant.

Goulet was only 73.

This story is enormously difficult to write because of what this man brought to the American theatre. If you’ve ever been in a musical, or had a child in a musical, you knew who Goulet was.

His most famous role was Lancelot. He played the lead role in the original 1960 Broadway production of “Camelot” opposite Julie Andrews and Richard Burton.

“Robert Goulet was a monumental presence on the stage and had one of the great voices of all time, which often overshadowed his many other talents,” pianist Roger Williams said in a statement Tuesday. “He really could do it all — act, dance and was as funny as hell, especially when he was making fun of himself. Robert always took his craft seriously, but never took himself seriously. Oh, how we will miss this great guy.”

Goulet won a Theatre World Award for young performers for the part. In 1966, he starred in a television adaptation of “Brigadoon”. And in 1968, he won a Tony for his performance in the 1968 Broadway musical “The Happy Time.”

Movie credits included “Honeymoon Hotel” (1964), “Atlantic City” (1980), “Scrooged” (1988) and “Beetlejuice” (1988), and he voiced the role of Wheezy the Penguin in “Toy Story 2′”(1999). He won the best new artist Grammy Award in 1962.

He is survived by three children and his current wife Vera Novak.

Our deepest thoughts to his family….. a Great has left us.

Source: Reuters

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LALATE BREAKING NEWS: SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKE!

More figures are just coming in now about the California Earthquake that hit the Bay Area tonight moments ago shortly after 8 pm Pacific Standard Time.

Reports now indicate that the quake lasted 15 seconds starting at 8:05 PM PST with vibrant moves, not sharp jolts. The quake registered 5.6 on the Richter scale according to the USGS. Below are the exact data figures now coming in.

San Jose: 5.6 2007/10/30

20:04:54 37.432

N 121.776W 9.2 8 km ( 5 mi) NNE of Alum Rock, CA.

Stay tuned to lalate news to breaking news throughout the evening. We are monitoring this breaking story as it develops.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle, USGS

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