Preparations for the Tournament of Roses Parade According to the LA Times, the National Weather Service is reporting that a windy a New Years Day Tuesday could have sustained winds of 25 mph and gusts of winds that could blow small children away at 50 mph. Luckily, though, "Pasadena itself will probably be sheltered from the worst of the wind." Rain is likely to come next, however, it's expected later in the week, letting......

The white smoke flowed from the chimney, doves were released, and virgins scattered to deliver the Good News that the newest Editor of LAist is Zach Behrens. Valley boy Zach has been a contributer to this fine blog since 2005, he's an outdoorsman, he sits on the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council, he's a vegetarian, he volunteers selflessly, and yes ladies, he's single. Softspoken, strong-willed, and determined to get you to ride public transportation, Zach......

It’s been a whirlwind of a day here at LAist. Early this morning our Editor told the staff via email that he would soon be accepting a new job at the LA Times running all of their blogs (of which there are about 25, currently) and that he would be starting in just a few weeks. We all knew this day would come, but so soon? Since the moment Tony Pierce began at LAist back......

I'm thankful for so much this Thanksgiving that I don't even know where to begin, so let's start with the basics: I'm thankful of you, my family, my friends, loose women, cheap vices, Guitar Hero, and the Good Lord. I'm thankful for something that you probably don't have, the greatest bosses alive and the coolest gig. For example can you say fuck to tens of thousands of people today? Fuck. I'm thankful to live......

by Jake Dobkin Hey everyone-- you may have noticed that we've made a few small changes to our commenting and feedback systems: 1. Commenters now have profile pages with a bit of information about them, and links to their recent comments, along with comments other people have left in response. If the commenter is also a LAist or Gothamist or Ist author, the page will include a list of their recent posts. Here's mine. You......

A day after we told you that the latest Wired would hit newsstands on Thursday, we got our subscription copy mailed to us, and the issue made it up to the web. Why do we care so much? Because our boss, Jen Chung, the co-founder of Gothamist is in there getting a Rave Award and we're stoked for her. Not just because she's an excellent boss but because she's a great example of a......

In the over-achieving world of online pioneers there are very few people who produce as much as Jen Chung. When she's not editing and writing for Gothamist, the super-ginormous example of how city-based group blogs should be, she's Executive Editing the Gothamist empire (which includes LAist and a dozen other -ists), or she's working her day job at a NY advertising company. Wanna feel like a slacker? Last week Jen wrote 56 posts on......

When he's not publishing the Gothamist empire, Jake Dobkin enjoys a peaceful weekend involving fly fishing, trading arms for hostages, and rollin in his 6-4 taking pictures of graffiti - or what the kids call "street art". He's even created a blog, Streetsy, solely to celebrate the art that he's photographed around the world. The map above contains Jake's top ten best LA Street Art spots in our fair city. Maybe you know of......

- There are twice as many men than women with IQs over 120. Not so fast, Dubya - The Independent - Police taser an 11-year-old in a Jonesboro, Georgia middle school - WSBT - Just in time for Christmas! A perfectly preserved dinosaur nest containing 22 fossilized eggs of ancient dead baby dinos will go on auction tomorrow here in LA - AP - Just in time for Kwanzaa! Own Jessica Alba's bra -......

- How To Shock People Without a Lousy Taser - phrets - Cop Tasered in the Family Jewels - Rescue Humor - Fuck Ashton Kutcher and his courtside Laker seats. Please taser him - AP - Amount of douchebags with more than one cell phone increasing - ZD Net - Render upon the Iraqis what is Iraqi: Bring Back Saddam - LA Times - Black Friday sales increased 6% to $8.96 ba-ba-ba Billion, still......

Every month, LAist ges together and has drinks. Lately, we've hit Atwater Village (The Roost), Los Feliz (Good Luck Bar), Hollywood (The Well) and West L.A. (Don Antonio's). Sometime next month, we will hit The Chimney Sweep in Sherman Oaks. It began last night at the W Hotel's Whiskey Blue with Gothamist, LLC head honcho Jake Dobkin. After many laughs and drinks, we got hungry. Too bad Noodle Planet was already closed. In-N-Out it......

Nearly 30 years ago, the legendary USC football coach John McKay left Los Angeles for Tampa Bay to become head coach of the Buccaneers. McKay took over the worst team in football, one which set a record for consecutive losses. When asked about his team's execution, McKay famously quipped "I'm in favor of it." Yet McKay eventually turned the Bucs around, as they reached the NFC Championship game under his leadership. A generation later,......

- City Beat looks at high school from the perspective of local high schoolers. - The Gay Marriage bill isn't the only bill the Governor is feeling the pressure on. - Don't you want to buy your own post office? - The City Council can't ignore the Valley if they start meeting regularly there, right? - Sister City has two posts of interest this morning: Many of our first responders that went to help......

We're in Austin, Texas and haven't left the hotel room yet. It's lovely in here and besides that, we're too busy reading Austinist. Brand new to the gothamist network, Ben Brown (Internet Rockstar) is its editor and, at this point, doing it all by himself. Other gothamist action in Austin this week? Jake Dobkin will be at SXSW and speaking on two panels: How to create a community website and How to create a......

LAist publisher (and newlywed) Jake Dobkin loves to share photos. Here are some pictures he took while visiting Griffith Park recently. If this cave looks familiar, it's because it's often used in movies and TV shows like the "Batman" series from the '60s. More pictures after the jump.......