Shocking news of a knife-attack on two Americans affiliated with the Olympics on the prestigious event's first day have local reverberations, as the victims' identities have been revealed. According to Associated Press reports, Todd Bachman and his wife Barbara were stabbed midday at the Drum Tower (pictured), a popular tourist location, by Tang Yongming, 47, from the eastern city of Hangzhou. Following the stabbings, the attacker committed suicide by leaping from the second level where......

Dublab's taking over the Silent Movie Theatre to bring us a night of sights and sounds. / Photo by maxw via LAist's flickr pool. THEATRE The Actors’ Gang presents 1984, the George Orwell novel we all had to read in high school. It “tells of a world where people fear that their opinions cannot be expressed freely, where citizens are monitored at the government's discretion, where leaders are not held accountable for their deceptions,......

Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick is bringing up one of LAist's favorite topics: Los Angeles. The once City Councilwoman (and probably future City Councilwoman when she runs and probably wins) wanted Los Angeles to be tourist friendly and not just for tourists, but for residents. "When I first got elected, I asked why we weren't doing more to market Los Angeles," Chick was quoted saying in the Daily News. "I recently went to Chicago......

Earthquake Photo via Shanghaiist The nearly 10,000 person death toll (and rising!) after yesterday's massive 7.8 earthquake in the Sichuan province of China serves as a reminder to Los Angeles that we are just as vulnerable to such a large shaker. It was just last month that scientists said "California faces an almost certain risk of being rocked by a strong earthquake by 2037." And they're talking about "the big one." Shanghaiist, a sister......

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Photo credit: sniderscion Torontoist spent its week uncovering who was behind mysterious ads for a drug called "Obay" that popped up across the country (Scientology? Frank Shepard Fairey?), first tracing them to an advocacy group called Colleges Ontario and then confirming their suspicions a few days later.Phillyist learned how to put on a puppet show – it's not as easy as you might think!Shanghaiist discovers that the average starting monthly pay for fresh graduates......

Lakers 130, Suns 124 - So I'm like "OMG!" and then she's like "fer reelllllz!" And then I'm like "NO.WAY." and the she's like "totally." Whoops. That's the last time we let our teenage niece borrow the keyboard -- but she did sum things up pretty well. Jimmy will have all the deets on the NBA's greatest February game of all time at 9:00am. Clippers 100, Grizzlies 86 - The Clippers are officially LA's bastard......

Photo by el daverino via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr A Musical Valentine to Santa Monica: Sia just announced a last-minute show (definitely her last before Coachella!) for tomorrow, February 14th at 2PM in Santa Monica at the Starbucks Hear Music Coffeehouse on Third St. Promenade, first come first serve. She kicks off her North American tour the following day, Friday, in San Diego. The 15-year-old boy shot on Tuesday at a......

Okay, it won't be even close to this dramatic looking when the food is pulled | Photo veganstraightedge by via Flickr Trader Joes, based here in Southern California in Monrovia, made a big announcement today regarding imported food from China:Garlic, frozen organic spinach and other "single ingredient" food items from mainland China will be phased out by April 1, although products that include ingredients from both China and other sources will remain. The company......

Two Chinese immigrants in different parts of the country were charged in separate cases of espionage today, the Associated Press reports. One of them was based here:In Los Angeles, former Boeing engineer "Greg'' Chung was arrested on charges of working as an unregistered agent for the Chinese government who stole trade secrets from the defense contractor. Prosecutors say the stolen data largely focused on aerospace programs. Chung, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was indicted last week......

Photo by Fire Monkey Fish via flickr. Forget medical marijuana storefronts, the feds have found a new kind of place to storm into -- museums. Today, four Southern California museums, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana, the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena and the Mingei International Museum in San Diego, were raided in an attempt to bust an "alleged illegal smuggling of Southeast Asian......

Photograph of the Trump Soho by Riccardo Sinti Gothamist went to the scene of the Trump Soho construction collapse, which left one construction worker dead and others injured (an indirect culprit - Manhattan's hot real estate market, causing rushed construction jobs).Shanghaiist is confused by media reports as to whether Playboy will be available in China during the year of the Olympics.LAist got fugged in an interview with the Go Fug Yourself girls.Torontoist set hearts......

LAist listed a top ten list of sorts: things they hope not to see in Los Angeles in 2008. (one example, pictured above). Shanghaiist was surprised to learn that "godless," "atheist," and "commie" China is soon going to be the world's largest supplier of Bibles! Torontoist picked some of their favorite photos of 2007. Londonist was relieved to hear the fire at the Royal Marsden hospital didn't harm any of the patients even though......

I have the good fortune of having a relative who lives right at the end of the Rose Parade route. This allows my family to have good seats and a warm bed the night before. My wife used to camp out to get good seats, now that we have this good fortune I want to share it with you, the LAist readers in the form of this photo essay. The end of a 5.5......

Celtics 110, Lakers 91 - Los Angeles ran into the buzzsaw that is Boston. Apparently, the first thing to get cut were their shorts. "I felt violated, I felt naked," remarked Kobe Bryant. There are so many places we could go with that. Actually, he was referring to the throwback short-sorts the team wore as a tribute to the rivalry and Jerry West, who was the honorary captain for the game. Maybe that's why Kobe......

While hundreds of volunteers are stealthily working into the wee hours to affix flora to framework and as people begin to plan for finding space along the parade route, an unexpected battle has been waging between human rights groups and the City of Pasadena. The Pasadena Star-News reports that the controversy surrounds several components, including the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games to be held in Beijing, China, and the requests made by the Pasadena Coalition for......

A couple things on tonight but Saturday's a wasteland, go play in the sand or snow. Sunday is finale-city, check it out below. Have a great weekend. Tonight 7:00pm Attack of the Show G4 - Totally rad 1987 edition tonight!! (Repeats at 11pm) 9:00pm The Next Great American Band FOX - Because I know some of y'all watch this. 9:00pm Friday the 13th IFC - Uncut! 10:00pm The Soup E! - Listed mainly because it......

Dear PBS, eff you and your dumbass Doo-Wop shite - I'm sick of it! Grasping at straws here, no decent movies on tonight either, frickin' TCM has Show Boat (again) and IFC has Sid and Nancy (again). 8:00pm The Office NBC - Yeah, it's a rerun, but it's the hour-long one where they go to Benihana. 8:00pm Survivor: China CBS - Next to last episode of the season. The finale is on Sunday. 9:00pm 30......

So I think I can safely say, having viewed it twice now, that Jason Reitman's Juno is the newest addition to my list of favorite movies. Okay, yes, it may be a pretty "rosy view of teen pregnancy", as my friend declared, but the humor, the characters, and the crazy dialogue ("You should've gone to China, you know, 'cause I hear they give away babies like free iPods. You know, they pretty much just put......

We had no good photos from last night, so enjoy a video of Chad Henne getting tackled by a goalpost. Stars 5, Ducks 0 - Dallas center Mike Modano described it as Anaheim's "Stanley Cup hangover." His team took advantage by dishing out one of the Duck's worst whoopin's in almost six years. Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere got yanked in the third ... The Pacific Division seemed like the strongest last year, but this year......

As firefighters sought to contain the smoldering remains of California, officials are keying in on how the fires started. One of the largest fires, the Santiago fire that burned 22,000 acres was, reportedly set by an arsonist. President Bush toured parts of California and declared, "We're not going to forget you in Washington D.C." I guess he didn't visit any poor children. There's at least one good story to come out of this tragedy.......

They are the Go! Team. They are from Brighton, England. They sound like a group of cheerleaders dancing to Motown at the end of a tunnel while you're on acid listening to Sonic Youth. It's impossible to take in everything they're throwing at you at one time, but it gets you and you dance and you smile and you jump around. Then you love them, then you see them play everywhere. Even China let......

Volume at the Los Angeles port, the biggest in the U.S., is expected to drop for the first time in four years. Experts attributed the decline to the slumping housing market and continued loss of confidence in imported goods. I don't pretend to be an expert, but we'll cheer up when they stop putting plastic in their toys. A woman was arrested and charged with murder, stemming from an incident in which she allegedly......

Welcome to October! Metroblogging wants to know how you and your neighborhood will celebrate the run up to All Hallow's Eve. Kobe "I can't live with you, I can't live without you" Bryant was in a jolly mood today as the Lakers greeted the media at its El Segundo practice facility. Construction on a proposed child-care facility, once touted as the centerpiece to Panorama City redevelopment, is hampered by political and building delays. I......

The IRS investigation at the All Saints Episcopal Church over a 2004 "anti-war sermon" has been dropped, the church announced today at a press conference. The church is now asking for an apology and some clarification. Remember all those pot-house busts in the Inland Empire? It appears that all these drug homes in high-end areas are funded and employed by gangs from China. Aren't hospitals always in trouble? "Nearly two dozen private hospitals in......

Blown transformer down the street killed my cable and internet connection so no post yesterday - many apologies. Did anyone watch Kid Nation? 8:00pm Surivivor: China CBS - Season premiere. This season features a "kidnap your opponent" tactic. Players were also given Sun Tzu's "Art of War" to study - we'll see who did their homework. 8:00pm My Name Is Earl NCB - Season premiere. Earl's got a new love interest(?!) 9:45pm After Hours IFC......

Angels 2, Devil Rays 1 - LAnaheim picked up a second straight 2-1 victory thanks to another solid outing from their rotation. Ervin Santana had 10Ks, and the Halos swept Tampa Bay to inch just a little bit closer to their third pennant in four years. Sitting at 90 wins, their magic number is down to three. Life isn't so sweet for the Devil Rays, who dressed their rookies in Hooters attire. Welcome to the......

Rockies 3, Dodgers 1 - Olmedo Saenz cranked a pinch-hit home run in the seventh, but the Dodger's offense was otherwise anemic. Rockies starter Jeff Francis had 10 Ks. Rockies 9, Dodgers 8 - Just when they were looking to turn things around in the second game of the double header, Takashi Saito allowed a two run dinger in the bottom of the ninth. He wasn't the only Dodger pitcher to have a rocky night.......

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - "Over and Over Again" Sinead O'Connor @ Orpheum Animal Collective, Wizard Prison, Eric Copeland @ Henry Fonda Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Elvis Perkins @ The Troubadour Sugar Hill Gang, Audible Mainframe @ Knitting Factory Peachfuzz, Ari Shine, Jay Buchanan, Robert Francis, Primitive Painters @ Safari Sam's The Mulhollands, Protokoll, Dirty Kings, China Room @ Key Club......

Monday Will Beall presents L.A. Rex 7pm @ Book Soup Robert Alter & Jonathan Kirsch discuss The Book of Psalms with David Ulin 7pm @ Central Library Mark Schapiro signs Exposed 7pm @ Dutton's Richard King presents Spirituality in the Workplace 7pm @ Vroman's Alan Alda presents Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself 7pm @ Borders, Westwood Tuesday Bill Clinton presents Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World 2pm @ Vroman's......