Going BioDiesel; BioDiesel My Ride; Trolling for Oil; Vegging Out; Spiny Forest; Slide Show'n'Tell; Longing for Llano; Hungary for Sausage; Double Jeopardy; Fast Food Dude-Revisited; Theater LAndscape; Reporter's Roundtable

Off-Ramp to the I.E. Special thanks to cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz for plugging our little show in his nationally distributed comic strip, La Cucaracha (click "enlarge" to see.) This week, Off-Ramp explores the Inland Empire. The nation's fastest growing community is home to one of the world's oldest orange trees, Chick-fil-A and more. Next week, Off-Ramp will be broadcasting live from LA Times Festival of Books. We'll be at Dickson Court North, Zone F, booth 601. Come vist, we'd love to meet you. -John (and Queena)

New and old takes on Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol"

Judge James Reese fights for literacy ... all-star Night Before Christmas, an Off-Ramp holiday tradition ... A Christmas Story: Dylan Brody and Dylan Thomas ... EatLA eats a lot of sandwiches ...

Milton Love's new fish book ... the violinist and artist recall the making of Harbor Freeway Overture mural ... Stan Kenton's Centennial ... As San Fernando Turns ... Word Banishment ... Arboretum weathers the storm ...

Off-Ramp commentator Milton Love, UCSB marine biologist, on his new book "Certainly More Than You Want to Know About the Fishes of the Pacific Coast."

Leonard Maltin on the 2012 Movie Guide ... Pasadena's Fork in the Road sticks it to Grinches ... Bronze Mirrors at The Huntington ... John Lennon predicts his shooting in 1964 ... Feeling Groovy under LA's 7th Street bridge ... Landry and Summers Occupy the studio ... Occupy LA Ousted ...

A night at The Comedy Store, with host Brandon Christy and comics Ian Edwards, Sarah Tiana, Michael Kosta, Fahim Anwar, and Freddy Lockhart.

EatLA ... moving the Dodgers ... "Judas" remembers Crystal Cathedral Passion Play glory days ... Dale Hopper asks, "Where's my flying car and my robot pal?" ... Ilsa Setziol remembers Katherine Siva Saubel, Cahuilla Indian elder ... AEG sued over allegedly destroyed art ...

Occupy LA with Sam Slovick ... Pigeon Fanciers ... "David Dean Bottrell Makes Love" and "Boston Legal" ... ride a dung beetle at LA Zoo's new carousel ... Jazz at the A Frame: great jazz in a livingroom ... Artist Ed Moses picks 3 favorite spots for Pacific Standard Time ...