On December 15, 1892, John Paul Getty was born. The oil tycoon died in 1976, leaving behind a legacy and a lot of money and art that gave birth to the two Getty museum locations in Los Angeles. Currently on exhibition at the Villa is a collector's choice exhibit featuring Getty and his antiquities. more ›

"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. more ›

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: more ›

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 Humphrey said in an LAFD Alert that " the possibility of winds at dawn make this very much a wildfire." more ›

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. more ›

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. more ›

Haven't you always wanted to grow your favorite fruit in your own backyard? more ›

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? more ›

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... more ›

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... more ›

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,... more ›

43 people suspected of being members of the Eastside Pain Bloods gang were arrested by more than 400 police officers in predawn raids yesterday. More staff cuts coming at the Daily News: zone coverage of Santa Clarita and the Antelope Valley to be eliminated. Yikes! How much did Tony spend to help get his three candidates onto the school board? The L.A. City Council has just approved a ban on smoking in city parks.... more ›

Photo by Alex Kehr via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr more ›

One of Hollywood’s Highest-Ranking Female Execs Gail Berman, the president of Paramount Pictures, has resigned. “This has been an extraordinary two years for Paramount, but after the DreamWorks purchase and the evolution of Nick movies and MTV films into our label structure, Gail’s job became too small for her. She’s a great talent," Brad Grey, chairman of Paramount. (New York Times) LA River Plan Businesses in the San Fernando Valley take a look at... more ›

We're just not able to get upset by another story of fat salaries and benefits for museum heads. The latest kerfluffle in the LA Times is about the housing expenditures for the new Getty Museum director, whose rental is $15,000 per month, which is $180,000/year. The Getty purchased a house for him that (oops) was mold-ridden so they're putting him up elsewhere. But if we want to have world-class museums we have to pay world-class salaries & bennies, just like they do in sports, right? The director of MOMA in NY made $617,000 in 2004 and had more than $100,000 in expenses. That same year, NY's Met spent almost $250,000 in expenses for its director, footnoting that most of that was for housing. So we're in the ballpark. What's the big deal? more ›

The end of 2005 is nigh. Luckily there's still time to get a dose of high culture before the year comes to a close -- most of the city's major museums will be open for at least part of the day. more ›

Perhaps those Getty Center signs promising that the old Getty Villa will reopen soon are coming true. more ›