Well, it's that time of year again.

Time for traffic jams at the mall, traffic jams at the airport, and, most importantly, my favorite traffic jam of the holiday season: The LADWP Light Festival.

This celebration of the holiday season consists of one million lights, and, for those who venture forth to bear witness to this gratuitous display of the DWP's apparently bottomless well of disposable power, it often seems as if there is at least one car for each colored light.

I noticed that in an ineffectual attempt to lure people out of their cars, the DWP is now offering an electric (natch) shuttle from the Zoo parking lot, which will do absolutely nothing about the logjam that develops nightly along the 5 and down both directions of Los Feliz Boulevard. But, again, it is electric.

And, of course, health conscious Festival-goers can always hoof it along the 1-mile route, enjoying the intoxicating, positively hallucinatory, effects of breathing the emissions of thousands of idling cars: "Whoa, check out the trails dude!"

However, as much as it pains me to admit this, the best way to experience this transcendently tacky display is in the comfort of your car. Burn your best iTunes holiday mix onto a CD and throw it into your CD changer, get some hot chocolate from the CBTL on Hillhurst, and point your car east.

Cami and I will see you there.

We're looking forward to idling in front of the "DeWapPoSaurus & Volcano" display.   ¶ 7:51 PM