"The Getty Center has experienced no damage to grounds, buildings, or the collection due to the brush fire that broke," Julie Jaskol of the Getty wrote in an e-mail this morning. "The Getty Center will remain closed today to visitors and most staff to ease traffic congestion in the area, but will reopen tomorrow at 10am for business as usual." The Getty Villa will remain open.......

For over seven hours, firefighters fought the 100-acre Sepulveda Pass Fire along the 405 Freeway. It started before 1:00 a.m. and resources were quickly, smartly and aggressively deployed to knockdown the fire after 8:00 a.m. as Los Angeles started its Thursday workday. Here's a little of what it look like early this morning:......

A sigh of relief for Los Angeles. "It took the combined efforts of more than 400 FF's just 7 hrs and 25 min to extinguish all visible flame," LA Fire Department Spokesperson Brian Humphrey announced at 8:23 a.m. The fire burned around 100 acres and there were no injuries and no structures damaged. Now the investigation for the cause is underway. Shortly before 5:00 a.m., officials were unsure what way the fire would go. Cautiously......

The near 45-acre brush fire raging between the Getty Museum and Mount St. Mary's College has prompted the California Highway Patrol to close the 405 Freeway in both directions between Skirball Center Drive in the Sepulveda Pass and Sunset Blvd., according to CHP officials and updates via an online log. 405 north and southbound traffic is being diverted to the 10 Freeway and Valley Vista Rd. in Sherman Oaks, respectively. ...

*For an update, click here.* A brush fire, first reported at 12:51 a.m., ignited in the Sepulveda Pass near the Getty Museum. "It's a well protected facility," LA Fire Department Spokesperson Brian Humphrey said of the famous museum in the Brentwood neighborhood. With winds increasing shortly before 2:00 a.m., the fire was moving towards Mount St. Mary's College and homes on North Bundy Drive (map). Over 200 firefighters have been assigned from the city and......

Photo by Here in Van Nuys via Flickr The Getty made an announcement yesterday that is disappointing some: hours are dropping back and parking fees are raising starting next Tuesday. This means tonight is the last Friday night you can enjoy the Getty until 9:00 p.m. as it will drop to its new time of 5:30 p.m. next week. Additionally, all other days except Saturdays, which will remain with its 9:00 p.m. closing time,......

Yesterday at four different locations around the Los Angeles area, teams built ice structures, a re-creation of performance and installation artist Allan Kaprow's "Fluids." Yesterday, Kaprow's son helped build one of the structures in Pasadena's Memorial Park. LAist Featured Photos contributor Tom Andrews was there to catch it. From Beverly Hills to San Pedro, "Fluids" structures are still being put up today and tomorrow. Below the photo gallery is a map of locations and dates.......

Fluids in Trousdale Estates, Beverly Hills - 1967 © Dennis Hopper [Yes, the actor] Since late March, performance art happenings have taken place all around Los Angeles. From students at USC dragging cement blocks in public right-of-ways to women licking jam off cars, the Allan Kaprow exhibit has extended beyond the gallery walls of the MOCA Geffen Contemporary gallery exhibit. Through the end of June, recreations from the pioneer of performance art will continue.......

GueriLA, the LA sister offshoot of Improv Everywhere, has done it again and they're growing. A couple weeks ago on a Saturday afternoon, they hit the Getty Museum and did a simple exercise of follow the leader... with 200+ people. They released only raw footage, but here are the highlights if you want to skim around: 1:40 - 2:20 (An outdoor staircase) 4:10 - 4:50 (On a walkway) 5:55 - 6:20 (Staircase inside the......

Update 7:00 p.m.: Sepulveda is still shut down and now crews expect to open it around 9 p.m. tonight. Update 5:11 p.m.: "Crews Hope to Clean up Sepulveda Landslide by 5:30pm Rush Hour" says Fox 11 News. Update 4:04 p.m.: Power has been restored to all effected except 700 residential customers in Brentwood and Bel Air. Update 11:14 a.m.: This morning's landslide even caused power to go out at the Getty Center. Luckily, power in......

Is this the best seat in the house? | Photo by neonspecs via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr TV: WATCH THE OSCARS LAist's own TV Junkie has already given us the deets (and some alternatives), but in case you missed it, the 80th Annual Academy Awards are tonight, live from our very own Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Settle into your favorite spot in front of your tee vee and tune in along......

Last Friday I trundled up in the tram at The Getty Center to see a 'sold out', intimate performance. For the mere cost of parking and a little bumper-to-bumper on the 405, I and my brother from another mother, MX, got to sit in a comfy auditorium and listen to the laconic stylings of ex-punk (no pun intended) troubadour, John Doe. Now, ain't yah jealous? Of course, I've always had a crush on Mr.......

If you're looking for something free and chill, then catch old school acoustic jazz at Crane's Hollywood Tavern or ride the tram uphill for reggae at The Getty. For jazz of a crazier brand (yet still classic), try the Art Ensemble of Chicago at REDCAT. Speaking of Chitown, three hip-hop artist from there will be at Echoplex. Hip-hop of a different brand can be found at the weirdest space in LA, pehrspace. And for some......

In 2004, artist Peter Schulberg learned that literally tons of advertising billboards were being dumped into landfills every month. His solution to dealing with all this waste was rather novel: recycle those billboards into art. On Saturday night, the newest exhibition of these pieces is unveiled at Eco-LogicalART. Fifteen local artists have created pieces that will eventually be mounted as billboards across the city. Based on existing traffic patterns, it's estimated that 750,000 people......

Haven't you always wanted to grow your favorite fruit in your own backyard? This month you can have your tree -- for free -- thanks to TreePeople and SEE-LA. Just go to one of the Farmers' Markets listed in the flyer at right or fill out this form and you'll be on your way. * LA Mill Opening - Stop by the long-awaiting opening of LA Mill's new coffee shop in Silver Lake. You might......

Los Angeles is the Cultural Capital of the 21st Century. From visual art to cutting edge music to innovative theatre and live performances to some of the world's leading cultural institutions - we truly have it all. But all great cultural capitals have - in addition to the arts and culture as mentioned - a forum for public discourse. The Greeks had the agora for assembly, education, and interaction; and though we have our......

Lakers 122, Suns 115 - Andrew Bynum's growth as a player has been the Laker fans' biggest gift this year, and they celebrated on Christmas by watching the youngster drop a career high 28 points along with 12 rebounds and 4 assists ... All five starters for both teams scored in double digits, with Kobe's 38 leading the way. He seems as intent and driven as ever, though it's still difficult to really trust the......

Could you imagine Los Angeles without the Getty Museum? If that serene white chunk of Italian marble nestled above the 405 suddenly removed its bulk to some other parts, would you notice? Would you care? An article in yesterday morning's LA Times reconsiders the Richard Meier-designed edifice in the light of its 10th anniversary, and in doing so, asks some important questions about the nature and integrity of architecture in Los Angeles. "there is......

"Sni Bong" - Dengue Fever Dengue Fever @ Getty Center Deborah Harry @ Pantages Theatre (see our interview from earlier this week) John Mayer @ Nokia LIVE Pete Hopkins @ Key Club Pierce the Veil @ The Troubadour Bikini Science, The Atma @ The Derby Aceyalone, Leadership Crew, Epsilon Project @ Malibu Inn Jon Brion, Nels Cline @ Largo Kingsley, Self Against City, Visa @ The Roxy Diegos Umbrella, Casa do Samba @ The......

Monday Keith Gessen & Chad Harbach discuss the latest issue of n+1 7pm @ Book Soup Jay Inslee & Bracken Hendricks presents Apollo's Fire 7pm @ Vroman's Jenna Bush signs Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope 7pm @ Barnes & Noble, The Grove Robert Hass presents Time & Materials 7pm @ Central Library Tuesday John Leake presents Entering Hades 7pm @ Book Soup Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg present Superbad: Seth's Drawings 7pm @......

Most insane picture and story of the day: a cruise ship strikes submerged ice in the Antarctic and begins to sink, 154 passengers escape to safety. I guess the holidays just really stress some people out: "a 27-year-old man turned himself in to police early this morning after allegedly shooting his brother-in-law to death following a Thanksgiving celebration." Christ, did somebody burn the turkey? And the long lines waiting for Black Friday deals weren't......

No one likes the stigma of saying they live in Van Nuys, so they chip away making their own new neighborhoods. To that, Councilman Tony Cardenas, who we admittedly give a hard time to on this site, said something that is right on target about this so called community pride: "If I had that many people show up to a community cleanup or an anti-prostitution night out it would do much more than changing......

The courts once again sided with the Bush administration in its warrantless spy tapping program. This time, the liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to rule against the government in its handling of the war on terror. Somewhere, Abbie Hoffman is crying. Following an incident at Cal State Fullerton, in which nooses appeared on a clothesline at an anti-hate rally, civil rights leaders are calling for a federal investigation. College officials quickly took......

This week, Fodor's online published a little Q & A with editor Jennifer Paull who recently spent a long weekend in our dear city. She wanted to catch up on all that's been recently new to her as a frequent(ish) tourist. Among that was the Griffith Observatory, The Getty Villa, restaurants Osteria Mozza and Röckenwagner Café in Venice and Moss, the high-design housewares store on Melrose. What caught our attention the most, though, was her......

Edward Weston. One of the most brilliant photographers of the 20th Century. Viewing the LACMA exhibit many years ago, I was enamored instantly. The buildings, the nudes, the everyday objects, and his link to Los Angeles stirred up emotions in me that I’ve never forgot. I’ve been trying for months to get to the Getty Center to see this latest exhibit, and finally this weekend I treated myself…and it was delectable! Once again, I......

Orlando Bloom will not be prosecuted after an October 12th incident in which he injured his two passengers in a car crash involving parked cars. He said he was avoiding a photographer who suddenly changed lanes. Seeing these paparazzi in action, we suspect it was them who caused the crash, most likely on purpose for some higher dollar photo sales. Starting from last week today, the San Jose Mercury News has a great timeline......

Morrissey being interviewed in 1984 Morrissey @ Palladium Metric @ Henry Fonda Bobby Valentino @ El Rey Twelve Girls Band @ The Greek Jimmy Dale Gilmore @ Getty The Radiators @ Fais Do-Do Jon Brion @ Largo Bill Callahan @ Echo Sir Richard Bishop @ Echoplex Black Label Society, Dope @ House of Blues Helmet, Dub Trio, Icarus Line @ Malibu Inn Reyes Brothers, Butterfly Hancock @ Whisky The Whisky Saints, Crash Kings, Jacaranda......

In conjunction with the exhibition The Arts in Latin America: 1492:1820, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art will be screening a series of selected classics of Latin American cinema this weekend. Best of all, thanks to a generous grant from the Getty Foundation, all of these screenings are 100% FREE! Make the trip to the LACMA this weekend and enjoy films rarely seen on the big screen in this country. Two of the......

If you haven't been to The Getty Museum in a while, now may be the time to plan another visit. L.A.-based contemporary artist, Tim Hawkinson, has been showcasing his latest work, Zoopsia (Visual hallucinations of animals) which will be on display until Sept. 9th. The exhibit is anchored by the gargantuan installation of Hawkinson's Uberorgan. Don't confuse this towering work of art for Stephen Baldwin's kidney, built with giant biomorphic balloons and tentacle-like horns that......

Hadrian over at Cinefile in West L.A. just sent us the heads-up for a great event going on at the Silent Movie Theatre this Wednesday, 8/15 at 9pm. Brent Green is an animator from rural Pennsylvania whose unique style has drawn comparisons to Tim Burton and Adam Jones. Hadrian blogs: Brent Green an untrained, completely original animator from rural Pennyslvania, who plays music along with his short films, while narrating them live in freeform,......