LAist was comped front row seats by the Dodgers due to Malingering being struck by a foul ball last week, and she came back with some great photos, and earlier made fun of 4th of July on Venice Beach. But the biggest stories of the week was that the Mayor's Hot Tamale was revealed, and that a Kwik-E-Mart was erected in Burbank.

Phillyist was busy doing the Fourth of July up right, exercising their First Amendment rights by writing a food column about sex, revealing a musical coverup, reminding barbecue goers to eat pigs, but not act like them, and hating on , all the while trying not to get run over. In other First Amendment news, a local anchorman offended the whole city with a racial epithet – just because you can say it doesn't mean you should. Meanwhile, Phillyist readers were embracing their freedom of expression by celebrating—and photographing—the city's Fourth of July Festivities.

Torontoist asked their readers an honest well-meaning question: is Toronto ugly? They said goodbye to Zanta, Toronto's answer to the naked cowboy, who is leaving for a suburb, and to a famous truck. They mused about the problem of towers and debated whether native protests are justified. Oh, and they were the first media organization to have anything on a free White Stripes concert happening in a downtown YMCA as it was happening, so that was pretty awesome.

Londonist are living through interesting times. With terror alerts becoming part of the daily routine, they marked the two year anniversary since the Tube blasts that killed 52 people. All while coping with some biblical weather. Meanwhile, no slowdown on the cultural events. The biggest race in the world came to London this weekend, when the Tour de France pedaled off from London. And the O2 Dome - the largest roofed building anywhere, ever - finally reopened. So with all this excitement, perhaps not the best week to ban smoking.

Over on SFist, a bus driver revealed his top 10 list of things that annoy the crap out of him. Another 10-item list: activist Josh Wolf's action plan for SF; he's running for Mayor almost a year after being jailed for refusing to turn over videotapes. On the fine arts side, SFist interviewed the symphony's young, talented associate conductor. Folks were bummed and outraged at a stupid 4th of July injury to a teen drummer. Good thing Jesse Jackson's on the way to save the city.

Photographs, from top: Matching Los Angeleno dog owner and dog by LAist's Malingering, "the death of venus" by Okaypro on Flickr (via Phillyist)

After the jump: Bill Gates saves gay publishing in Seattle; DC's panda ain't pregnant; Gothamist on the factions warring over Central Park; and more!

Transformers