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......

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......

Says the nerd... Maybe 5 questions were too much to start with? Maybe they were too hard. Sadly, with only one serious response and only one correct answer out of those five - it's a sad state of affairs for LA City Nerdisms. Let's help correct that by at least adding 5 new tidbits of LA City Nerdism into the vernacular: 1. Before the 2005 opening of LAPD's Mission Division in the San Fernando Valley,......

So after Sunday's Question and Monday's Answer, the LA City Nerd challenged LAist and you, our readers to a quiz: "I saw you posted a Pop Quiz on LAist, and thought I'd see if I could challenge your readers with an LA City Nerd Pop Quiz." So here you go kids, let's go at it! Put your guesses and answers in the comments section. 1. Before the 2005 opening of LAPD's Mission Division in......

That there black goo bluging streets and seeping through manhole covers in downtown seems to be oil, indeed. Workers at a nearby oil well were flushing old lines with high-pressure water to get any last drops of oil out — and started wrecking havoc on Olive Street. And havoc continued online. It's craziness in LA blog world this week! Blogging.la redesigns, embracing gray! LA Voice re-appends, from .org to .com! What could be next?......

Technically, it's in Pacific Palisades, but the Getty Villa — which reopens tomorrow — feels like it's a million miles from the PCH. Newly added are a tall, rectangular entry (stairs. Lotsa stairs) and an amphitheater that faces the Villa. The entry serves to make visitors feel small and meek, but it also creates an almost tunnel-like experience that conducts them out of the traffic-y, hectic world below. What struck us the most was......

In a coup of who cares, the LA Times Home section today features a story on the sleep industry. Yawn. The lead, with 9 whole pictures of the Getty Villa's gardens, is better than usual for them. But click on over to the NY Times and once again, our hometown rag wilts in comparison. New York has a gorgeously photographed Park Slope brownstone complete with audio tour slideshow, a Texas butler, and fantasies of......

Perhaps those Getty Center signs promising that the old Getty Villa will reopen soon are coming true. The J. Paul Getty Museum is looking for a Villa Transition Project Coordinator to assist in the renovation and reopening of the Getty Villa in Malibu. It's a short term gig, though. Get your resumes in soon. Details on the job can be found below.......