Fifteen people have been convicted over Sri Lanka’s 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which killed 279 people at churches and luxury hotels. The verdict comes amid continued scrutiny over intelligence warnings received before the attacks and whether officials failed to act.
Published On 23 Sep 202623 Sep 2026
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The 81st UN General Assembly opened with US President Donald Trump threatening to ‘annihilate’ Iran. Despite the threat, US and Iranian officials met for three hours on the sidelines of UNGA. Al Jazeera’s Diplomatic Editor James Bays reports.
Published On 22 Sep 202622 Sep 2026
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Normally when a telephone rings inside a bar, it’s the duty of the staff to pick it up. But when an old-timey rotary dial phone suddenly springs to life at the Last Canteen, it’s up to guests to decide what to do next.
Answer it — or attempt to make a call from it — and you’ll encounter one of dozens of pre-recorded messages. They’re calls from an imagined future, one when a war-torn America is on the mend from some sort of apocalyptic catastrophe. They’re messages, perhaps, for the bar’s fictional founder, a shotgun-carrying mysterious woman known for her mean bartering skills, or maybe if you’re lucky, you will dial into what sounds like an early 20th century party line and hear from those looking for a date in the Valley, now a neutral zone among warring factions.
Todd Martens’ newsletter delivers news and commentary on the past, present and future of theme parks, right from the theme park capital of the world — Southern California.
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The Last Canteen, situated on a stretch of Ventura Boulevard that’s just a short walk from the Universal City metro and minutes from Universal Studios Hollywood, is a new restaurant and bar that looks lifted from a theme park. It also feels like a throwback to an earlier time, when Los Angeles was an epicenter of the themed restaurant.
Southern California has a storied history when it comes to themed establishments. There’s our penchant for food-shaped eateries, of course — see our giant doughnuts or the Tail o’ the Pup — but dinner with a side of story is a Los Angeles-area staple that predates any corporate chains such as Rainforest Cafe or Chuck E. Cheese. From the long-forgotten Jail Cafe in the 1920s to our region’s birth of the tiki bar to the themed restaurant explosion of the ‘80s and ‘90s, when even Steven Spielberg got into the action with the submarine-focused DIVE! in Century City, the themed restaurant has long found a receptive audience in Southern California.
And the Last Canteen feels especially built for our moment.
The Last Canteen’s three founders were going for a lived-in feel.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Taking influence from the likes of “Mad Max,” “Fallout” and a host of other dystopian, postapocalyptic media, the Last Canteen is a bar for an era — and a city — when the future seems especially uncertain. Whether it’s AI, corporate consolidation, inflation or the struggles of Hollywood that’s got you down, the Last Canteen wants to be your “Cheers” of sorts.
“It’s not the brightest of times, I would say for most of the world, but certainly younger generations are feeling like we got the rug pulled over us — the state of the economy and corporate overreach,” says Jimmy Clements, 32, who founded the Last Canteen with two other friends from the hospitality industry.
“We always joke that the world is ending, but there’s some charm in fully embodying what that would mean, and realizing there’s something on the other side,” he adds. “That’s what attracts me to the genre. OK, the worst thing possible happened, but there’s still people on the other side. We still need community and a place to eat and drink.”
A grenade fashioned out of a baseball is one of the items hidden in the Last Canteen.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Or as Clements’ partner TJ Lewis says, “Who doesn’t watch ‘Mad Max’ and dream of riding on top of a crazy car with a spike in your hand?”
Despite a potentially bleak concept, the Last Canteen is open and welcoming. The color palette is soft, leaning heavily on dust-like sandy vibes, the cocktail menu takes influence from the fruity, complex world of tiki bars, and a sense of humor permeates the main dining room.
Yes, a demolition bomb, which is actually a movie prop from Angelina Jolie’s “Unbroken,” hangs from the ceiling, but take a moment to explore the venue and you’ll find grenades colorfully fashioned out of baseballs, or rewritten maps of the Valley in its new “Wasteland” era. Universal Studios’ famed minion still stands, but the Ikea is now a “hall of justice.”
Newspapers dot the walls. They’re filled with fiction that tell of the bar’s new reality, giving the place a sense of history and lore. One article, for instance, speaks of a battle that broke out near the remnants of US-101 next to the old “sidewalk stars site.” Another tells of how the bar’s founder took over the land where the establishment now stands. By force, of course. And don’t miss the beer taps, fashioned out of bullets, guns and baseball bats.
The Last Canteen is a themed bar that feels ripe for our era, one in which the future is filled with uncertainty.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
“It’s the difference for us between immersive and themed,” says Lewis. “Like the Hard Rock Cafe is themed. It’s got music on the wall, but you don’t feel like you’re at a concert when you’re there. It’s not immersive. What we were really going for is a lived-in space. We didn’t cover this in ‘Max Max’ posters. It is in the world of. It’s really open-ended. All the details on the wall help paint a picture.”
Of course there were limits. The team jokes that if they really wanted to exploit the dystopian theme, then drinks should likely be served in red plastic cups. Instead, the Last Canteen has proper drinkware, but each type of glass does come from a different set, as the owners wanted to give it a found materials vibe. The menu doesn’t stray too heavily from bar fare, and there are bowls of bison chili ($18), a burger ($18), a charcuterie plate ($21) and, of course, a “Last Meal,” which is a half grilled cheese, a cup of chili and a glass of sarsaparilla ($25).
The cocktail program, however, is extensive. The blackberry-infused Blackthumb or the spiced A Torch or Rosemary feel like darker twists on brighter, lively tiki fare. For those craving the latter, there is currently a frozen version of a Zombie. Bar founders Clements, Lewis and Drew Aloe say the menu, both cocktails and food, will change seasonally.
The Last Canteen founders Jimmy Clements, from left, TJ Lewis and Drew Aloe.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
And the tiki influence is no accident. The three cite the Disneyland Hotel’s Trader Sam’s as the Last Canteen’s primary influence. Also an inspiration? Oga’s Cantina at Disneyland’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Theme parks were on their mind as much as the apocalypse.
“What they do so well is they feel really lived in,” Clements says of Trader Sam’s and Oga’s. “It doesn’t feel like a cute homage. You walk in the door and you’re somewhere else.”
And guests are noticing.
“We had someone opening weekend tell me that this feels like an end-of-the-world Trader Sam’s. Thank you. That’s all we want,” Lewis says.
Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift is now in daily operations at Universal Studios Hollywood.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
The concluding, trippy scene in Inked, a new maze from Knott’s Scary Farm.
(Todd Martens / Los Angeles Times)
As we get deeper into Halloween season, I wanted to highlight another haunted maze, this one being the best one at this year’s Knott’s Scary Farm event. Inked is the maze, and it’s set in a 1930s cartoon studio. While of course having the requisite number of scare actors who will pounce on guests after they turn any corner, the maze also charms as it features original animation in the style of Disney’s classic “Silly Symphony” cartoons. Nearly every room in the haunted house boasts a cartoon scene starring a cutesy ghost, a little cat and an often sad pumpkin man.
The story is the drawn figures have come to life and are now murderous, but you’ll wish you could stop and watch a graveyard short or hang with a jazzy skeleton band. Giant pumpkin heads are animated with cartoon eyes and a mirror-heavy psychedelic scene, pictured above, brings the maze to a fiery conclusion. Knott’s is perhaps relying too heavily on returning mazes of late, but Inked is a winner.
Have a theme park tale to share? Whether it was a good day or less-than-perfect day, I would love to hear about it. Have a question? A tip? A fun photo from the parks to share? Email me at todd.martens@latimes.com. I may feature your note in an upcoming newsletter.
Ride on,
Todd Martens
Magic Mountain’s currently shuttered X2 coaster has been in the news of late.
The X2 ride has for years been the Valencia park’s crown jewel, the first roller coaster in the world that spun riders 360 degrees in their seats. It even topped my ranking of thrill rides at the park. I wrote that it was a risky choice, as the coaster is not for the faint of heart. Its seats extend off the track, giving you a sensation of flight at its most chaotic, with an assortment of loops that suddenly shift direction and segue into drops. Due to the constantly changing direction of its seats, the path of the track can be hard to discern.
But X2 has come under close inspection after several lawsuits allege people were injured on the ride. Six Flags shut down X2 in July amid a state investigation into the coaster. The Times’ Fedor Zarkhin has the story.
By Deborah DayAssistant Editor, Fast Break Desk
The Queen of Country is being honored with a special day on Californians’ calendars.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Sunday that establishes Sept. 25 as Dolly Parton Day. The date’s significance may be obvious to fans of the late country legend: 9-2-5 references Parton’s hit single “9 to 5” from the soundtrack of the 1980 comedy film of the same name that starred Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.
“Dolly Parton was an icon,” Newsom said in a video accompanied by his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, announcing the bill’s passage. “Dolly was larger than life with big hair and a bigger heart. People around the world have been touched by her music, by her philanthropy, and by her humor.”
Parton died Aug. 25 at 80 years old following a battle with cancer. The beloved songwriter, recording artist, actor and businesswoman was an honored musician, earning 10 Grammy Awards and 10 Country Music Assn. Awards, as well as two Academy Award nominations and a Primetime Emmy. She was the recipient of the National Medal of the Arts in 2005 and the Kennedy Center for the Arts Award in 2006. Parton was also inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
“Her legacy goes well beyond her music,” Sen. John Laird (D-Santa Cruz), who co-authored the bill with Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), said in a statement. “Through the Imagination Library, she put books into the hands of millions of children, and throughout her life she led with kindness, acceptance, and a belief that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. She was also no stranger to the Central Coast, where she performed for packed crowds and spent time over the years. Now, every 9-2-5, California gets to celebrate Dolly and the remarkable legacy she shared with all of us.”
Match of the Day pundit Rob Edwards says Liverpool’s Alexander Isak is playing with greater “confidence” after scoring four goals this season – one more than he managed in the whole of last season.
WATCH MORE: Football video on the BBC
Available to UK users only.
The LA Times/SurveyMonkey poll set out to measure feelings about football and Super Bowl, both in the U.S. as a whole and in the Los Angeles region.
Each day, a huge range of organizations — schools, churches, bowling leagues, companies and more — use SurveyMonkey’s online platform to poll their members, customers or associates.
In total, more than 2 million people take SurveyMonkey polls on an average day, giving the company access to a broad cross-section of the American public.
To conduct surveys on questions of broad public interest, like this one, SurveyMonkey randomly selects some of those people and asks them if they’d be willing to take an additional online poll. Those who say yes get a survey to fill out.
As with traditional telephone surveys, the results then are weighted to match standard Census Bureau measures of the nation’s population — to make sure that the sample mirrors the nation’s distribution of age, race, gender, geography and education levels.
The result is a representative sample of the adult population.
In this case, the poll, which was developed jointly by SurveyMonkey and The Times, was conducted in English and Spanish from Feb. 1-7 among a national sample of 7,590 adults. The sample included 1,659 Californians and 743 people who live in Greater Los Angeles, which encompasses Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
As with all polls, the results are subject to sampling error. For this survey, the modeled error estimates are 2 percentage points in either direction for the national sample, 3.5 percentage points for the statewide California sample and 5 percentage points for the Los Angeles metro area.
For months, current and former high school coaches have been asked to respond to my simple question:
“What’s the best lesson a player taught you?”
It’s so hard to come up with an answer that many can’t do it immediately. They’re forced to think, which means the question is very good.
Stories are always written about lessons learned by students in the classroom and on the field, but what do coaches, most of them teachers, learn from their students?
Here are some answers.
Weeks before he died last March, Venice football coach Angelo Gasca told me the story of a player who wanted to quit and what he learned. That player later became one of his assistant coaches.
“I’m not accepting your resignation today,” Gasca told him. “You need to go home and think about it.”
Venice coach Angelo Gasca showing off the City Division I title trophy in 2021.
(Cliff Kensinger)
“He said he went home and thought about it and stayed on the team and was our starting center. He taught me the best thing we can teach is come to school and you never know what connections you’ll make at the school you grew up at. He taught me there’s more to coaching than winning games and scoring touchdowns. In our lives as teachers and coaches, we do learn from players. When we stop learning from our players, it’s time to stop coaching.”
Former Edison football coach Dave White remembers suspending his team’s best player before a trip to Hawaii for a team rule violation. He had to stay home even though his parents had paid money for the trip.
Dave White speaks to a crowd, including the football team, during the official naming of the Belcher White Strength Training Facility at Edison High School in 2022.
(Scott Smeltzer / Los Angeles Times)
“He taught me that I made the right decision and it was best for the team and in the long run best for him,” White said. “I was proud how he handled things. There are consequences for bad decisions. I really enjoyed and respected him more after that.”
Granada Hills girls volleyball coach Tom Harp said he had a player with a disability. She lost sight in an eye during an accident.
“She taught me how to overcome a difficult situation with a positive attitude,” he said. “She was a shining example of how to overcome adversity. It showed me my little problems aren’t as bad as they seem if she can overcome that.”
Lorenzo Hernandez, the football coach and athletic director at Whittier and former head football coach at Garfield, said a comment from a player made him realize to change tactics.
Former Garfield coach Lorenzo Hernandez runs onto the field with his players and assistant coaches.
(Hernandez family)
“You grow up in a certain era and have to adapt,” he said. “These kids want to enjoy themselves. They taught me to keep it as fun as possible. We worked on discipline. A kid said, ‘That’s great coach, but I don’t think we’re having fun.’ It made me take a step back. We have to understand it’s a different era of athletes and they require different ways to handle things. That’s helped me build better relationships. I’ll meet you halfway.”
Former Crenshaw football coach Robert Garrett said he learned to talk to students about their personal lives to understand why they are behaving in certain ways. He discovered one of his players had nowhere to wash his clothes.
Longtime Crenshaw football coach Robert Garrett talks to De’Anthony Thomas, one of his best former players, in 2011.
(Robert S. Helfman)
“Some don’t have a stable household,” he said. “You don’t learn that until you talk to them. I knew he was intelligent and studious but until I found out his hygiene wasn’t good, I realized the environment he was up against. It wasn’t until he shared with me what he was going through I offered assistance to wash his clothes.
“He didn’t need tough love. He needed kid gloves. Every day I try to find at least one child I didn’t know and have a personal conversation, ‘What middle school he went to, where does he live, are his studies OK.’ I try to learn the child before I learn the body. Adults never talk to kids. We just assume a kid is a certain way until you have a conversation and know their background and what they are going through.”
Former Hart baseball coach Jim Ozella, retired and watching his grandson play sports, told the story of his former player, Jack Ralston, reaching the major leagues this year taught him about perseverance.
“Everyone wants instant gratification,” Ozella said. “Here’s a kid who didn’t make the major leagues until he was 29. For us, he was an outstanding pitcher. We made it to the CIF final. Then he walked into UCLA, didn’t pitch as a freshman or sophomore, pitched a little as junior, then boom as a senior. He got drafted. His lesson has been off the charts for me.
Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow with Hart coach Jim Ozella, who coached him in high school.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
“You can’t expect results immediately. You’re talented, put in all the work and effort. In this case, it didn’t work. He kept plugging along. His lesson is everyone is different. His was keep plugging away and it will happen. I called him after he gave up a home run. He said, ‘Today I woke up and it’s a new day.’ What a role model. Don’t expect everything overnight. It takes time. Be patient.”
Then Ozella quoted a famous line, “The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit.”
Hall of Fame football coach Paul Knox had a situation early in his coaching days at Dorsey dealing with two brothers and figuring out what you’re supposed to do when they’re different.
“They were very close in age,” he said. “I learned by trying to coach them you can’t coach everyone the same. Whatever I tried, one was very coachable and his younger brother all the things I tried never worked with him. We went back and forth.
Dorsey coach Paul Knox celebrates a miracle win in the 2001 City championship game at the Coliseum.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“I found out I had to find a whole other way to reach him. I learned you can say how you treat everyone the same, but you approach some kids differently. You never really know precisely who’s listening to you and sometimes the satisfaction of being a teacher or mentor is delayed and you don’t know until years later.”
Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer praises the performance of Aston Villa’s Nicolas Jackson, saying Tottenham’s centre-halves “couldn’t keep up” with the 25-year-old striker.
MATCH REPORT: Premier League – Tottenham Hotspur 2-3 Aston Villa
Available to UK users only.