How did you like this year's Sunset Junction?

This was supposed to be the Sunset Junction Street Fair that never happened. After last year's drama over how far east the annual festival would stretch, how much the mandatory (instead of voluntary) admission prices would be and where everyone would park, neighbors and concerned parties held heated debates that put this year's festivities in severe doubt.

But another August rolled around, and so did another Sunset Junction. The footprint of the fair was extended, neighbors got free wristbands, and parking seemed to be more plentiful, in part because of the demise of the local Circuit City.

Critics still had things to complain about given the $20 admission price, the lack of top-notch local headliners and of course the threat of running into those pesky Silver Lake and Los Feliz "hipsters."

Although most attendees were thrilled with Saturday's melange of bands, Times music writer Scott Sterling was more than satisfied with Sunday's musical lineup, comparing it to that much-grander festival in the desert:

As the Time closed with an extended run through “Jungle Love,” and with Arrested Development and Built to Spill already wrapped up playing to huge audiences, the 2009 Sunset Junction street fair proved you don’t necessarily need Coachella headliners to have an impact.

So the question is, how did you like this year's Sunset Junction? Were your greatest fears realized? Did you enjoy the food? Were you repulsed by bearded 20-somethings and their ironic T-shirts? Did you meet any new neighbors? Did you hear any new bands? And most important, do you think it was worth the 20 bucks?

-- Tony Pierce

Photo credit: Tony Pierce / Los Angeles Times

How will In-N-Out change -- or should it?

My life as a fast-food consumer pretty much ended the moment my kids became old enough to drive themselves to the nearest hamburger stand.

But even back then I knew that all such chains could be divided into two categories: There was In-N-Out, and there was everybody else.

The In-N-Out cult -- is there any other word for it? -- is rooted in its patrons’ appreciation for its simple menu and its sedulous devotion to fresh, high-quality ingredients.

To be sure, there are other fascinations. These include the mystique created by its management’s traditional refusal to ever speak to the press (including for this column).

Then there are the biblical citations imprinted on the edges and seams of its burger wrappers and disposable cups, a practice started by the late Richard Snyder, the born-again younger son and onetime heir apparent to In-N-Out’s founders, Harry and Esther Snyder.

Finally, there are the intertwined issues of In-N-Out’s colorful past and its unsettled future, which are touched on in a new book about the company, entitled simply "In-N-Out Burger," by BusinessWeek writer Stacy Perman.

As the chain moves into ownership by the third generation of the Snyder family -- Lynsi Martinez, 27, is the granddaughter of the founders and a rather mysterious figure -- what lies ahead? What changes would you like to see -- if any -- in this California institution?

Read the complete column: In-N-Out: Can perfection survive?

-- Michael Hiltzik

Caitlin Pogue prepares burgers for lunch customers at In-N-Out in San Marcos on February 06, 2009. Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

Olive Garden and Red Lobster put calorie counts online -- but do you really want to know?

Do you want to know just how calorie-laden your creamy, cheesy dinner is?  Whitney Friedlander at the Daily Dish blog reports:

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Orlando-based Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden and Red Lobster, among others, now lists its restaurant menus'  nutritional information online.

While Kim Hays at the Sentinel seems to be happy that Darden has outed itself, I can't help feeling like the Muppet Grover in the children's tale "The Monster at the End of This Book" -- I know this stuff is bad for me, but do I want to know how bad? And I know I'm going to have to look eventually.

Hays did spoil a bit of the surprise, stating "an Olive Garden breadstick and a Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuit are 150 calories each."

Is it a restaurant's responsibility to make the nutritional information for their meals accessible to diners?  Or would you prefer to remain blissfully ignorant?

Photo: Olive Garden's Tuscan garlic chicken, which has 1,020 calories. PR News Foto / Olive Garden.

Is 'Ratatouille' really gay? (Not that there's anything wrong with that)

We've got a live one over at our food blog, The Daily Dish.

Is the Academy Award-winning "Ratatouille" really a gay-coming out story? Ostensibly, the movie is a straight-forward tale about a rat whose true passion lies in the kitchen. But Times Staff Writer Betty Hallock found out about an upcoming lecture at UCLA that portrays the film as a homosexual coming of age, with a heavy dose of Oedipal and race conflicts.

Readers were divided. Here's what a couple had to say:

Says SaMo:

When I first saw the movie, I too thought there was a gay subtext in the fact that the rat, by its very nature, does not "belong" in the kitchen. The movie suggested that even this supposed taboo could be overcome...But it does the gay rights movement a disservice.  [That] to me was the problem with the movie: it set up an impossible to overcome hurdle. I don't want rats cooking for me, so I really couldn't root for Remy to succeed.  But I'm all in favor of gay people doing anything they want: marrying, adopting, fostering children, whatever.

Says Storm:

Okay, really I am gay and I did not see any kind of coming out from the RAT. You could apply the rats self awareness to simply growing up...this is a big push....Really, just let it go...stop looking for the gay angle.

-- Rene Lynch

Photo credit: Disney/Pixar

Just can't avoid The Noid

The Noid popped his head into Funny Pages 2.0 during a discussion about Lysol-Jones' deviant art renderings of fast food mascots.

Reader Jon did a little research on the Dominos pizza anti-hero and found that the fictional character inspired a real-life person to sort of freak out in one of their restaurants.

Curiosity got the better of me and I ended up checking out The Noid on wikipedia, and found this amazing little nugget:

"In 1989, Kenneth Lamar Noid, a mentally ill customer who thought the ads were a personal attack on him, held two employees of an Atlanta, Georgia, Domino's restaurant hostage for over five hours. After forcing them to make him a pizza and making demands for $100,000, getaway transportation and a copy of The Widow's Son, Noid surrendered to the police. Noid was charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, extortion and possession of a firearm during a crime. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity."

If Jon had done a wee bit more research he would have seen that the real Mr. Noid has inspired a band in Indiana to name themselves after the pizza fan. Yo! Kenneth Lamar Noid plays indie rock and can be heard rocking on their Myspace page.

image via Dominos

- Tony Pierce