Every once in a while, The New York Times decides to turn its attention to the Best Coast, and this week the Grey Lady suggested checking out this bubbling asphalt pit full of prehistoric (or as we Angelenos refer to it B.F.: Before Freeways) fossils that's right smack-dab in the middle of the Miracle Mile. Isn't that insane?!! more ›

The bubbling La Brea Tar Pits will welcome the ninth installment of TarFest, a free indie art and music celebration, on Sunday, September 25. Shining on emerging talent, the spotlight features live music, live painting, art installations and environmental sculpture. Musical performances include Saint Motel, Everest, Obi Best, A House for Lions, Infantree and Ash Panda. more ›

A squirrel narrowly avoided the fate of so many mastodons and saber-toothed cats eons before, when it was rescued from the La Brea Tar Pits. A worker from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art saved the creature from the tar pits a few weeks ago and called the California Wildlife Center near Calabasas to rehabilitate the creature, The Acorn Reports. more ›

Long before Los Angeles became synonymous with Hollywood movies and television the only drama in town was the traffic on the horse trail now known as the 101 freeway. But even before that -- tens of thousands of years ago -- the Miracle Mile's "Museum Row" was the domain of sabertooth tigers, ground sloths, and other giant, seemingly fantastical creatures of the last ice age. more ›

Thirteen years, five months and eleven days of LA-based thankfulness starts and ends with every exquisite friend I've been lucky enough to have. Also I am thankful for the following incredibles: more ›

When people think of the La Brea Tar Pits, they usually think of the outdoors -- the replicas dramatically "trapped" in tar, and Pit 91, where scientists continue to unearth fossils under tourists' watchful eyes. But the George C. Page Museum is where the real action is. more ›

LA is home to some of the world's biggest, best, most well-known, and most important museums, as well as some lesser-known gems. The role of museums in providing an informal educational experience for children and adults alike is clear, but it often costs money to go to these museums. And even though the money almost always goes directly back into the museums' operations, if you love museums as much as we do, then you could make a pretty sizable dent in your bank account. more ›

Marc Maron, comedian and host of the popular podcast, "WTF With Marc Maron," offers up what he calls: "The REAL Baby Jesus Story." It involves the La Brea Tar Pits and a lot of dinosaur ass-kicking. Merry Christmas, all. more ›

Although it may look like a convenience store from a distance, as you draw closer, it's obvious that 826LA's "Echo Park Time Travel Mart" is something special. After all, it's not every day you get to purchase items that appear to be from the distant past...as well as the future! Some of the products are so whimsical that first-time visitors often ask, "Is this actually for sale?" Items range from "Robot Milk" to "Barbarian Repellent," and once inside the store, you can't help but feel like you've stepped into a space-time way station. more ›

Here in Los Angeles, the non profit charged with conserving most of Catalina Island's 76 square miles is not exactly one you hear about every day. But who knew that the Catalina Island Conservancy has been producing a daily environmental podcast for over three years now that is broadcast on over 225 radio stations across the country? They're short and sweet, fact checked by two scientists and speak to the group's larger mission of the environement--after all, as they say, we are all on an island. more ›

For the second time this month in Southern California, a large amount mammoth remains have been found. First, it was in San Diego two weeks ago when construction crews were preparing to build a law school in downtown-they found an 8-foot tusk, skull and foot bones from a Columbian mammoth, estimated to be 500,000 years old. more ›

McSweeney’s has published the debut novel Bowl of Cherries by Millard Kaufman. What’s different here is that Mr. Kaufman is a 90-year-old ex-Marine who created Mr. Magoo way back when. It’s described as “A bizarre and funny pseudo-take on Great Expectations, Kaufman's book has enough twists and turns to keep even the most attention-deficit-disorderly readers engrossed.” more ›

"This is our last song ever," shouted Lady P, still catching her breath from the previous number. My friend and I exchanged strange looks as if it were the apocalypse and somehow we didn't get the memo. Perhaps the La Brea Tarpits were boiling over and about to suck us in or some crazy Toxic Avenger shit was about to go down. Turns out we did miss the memo, but lived to tell of... more ›

NOHO Scene Saturday 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.: Promising a new, improved take on the NoHo Arts Festival. Free theater, dance and music , art exhibits, film screenings and workshops, plus food and goods from NoHo merchants. Proudly sponsored by your CRA/LA. Free. MAP Brewery Art Walk Sat-Sun 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.: This twice-a-year event is all the reason you need to explore The Brewery, conveniently (though conspicuously) located north of Chinatown. Lots... more ›

Tarfest, the La Brea pits' very own arts fest, launches this year -- its fifth -- next Friday. Created both to celebrate the Miracle Mile and to provide the opportunity for artists and audiences to discover each other, Tarfest is free, unlike certain other Sunset Junctionlike festivals one could name. Find the full schedule here; highlights include: Friday, October 5: Gallery exhibition ( and reception featuring musical performances at the Korean Cultural Center, 5505... more ›

Tobias Wacker has uploaded just one video on YouTube, but it's a dandy. Walking from One Wilshire to the Santa Monica Beach is 16 miles and Tobias took a picture every 10 steps. As you see he isn't afraid to cross Wishire now and then and he has a bit of fun by checking out cool things like tall buildings, the La Brea Tar Pits, and the dancing guy at Westside Rentals. Definitely something... more ›

- LA Weekly wins seven awards from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies awards. - Tomorrow is “Community Day” at all California Whole Foods — 5% of the day’s net sales statewide are gonna go toward California coastal Cleanup Day, which happens on Sept. 15, 2007. - Cook like a fireman with the Los Angeles Firefighters Family Cookbook. - Changes are coming to this year's Sunset Junction festival with a new "route." - Big Blue... more ›

A mysterious package left in the street at 5700 Wilshire Boulevard has closed down 3 blocks of traffic on Wilshire around the La Brea Tar Pits. At this time, 2:16pm, the bomb scare squad is on their way, office buildings are not being evacuated yet, but certainly exercise caution both in entering the area and also while trying to manuever around traffic. It is unknown how long this will last, but certainly the longer... more ›

- FBI Top 10 Most Wanted caught in Canada. The former Long Beach gun club president accused of child molestation - AP - 150 people in the North Hollywood Washington Mutual were evacuated by firefighters because of fumes. 11 taken to the hospital - Daily News - NBC is spinning off "Heroes" after just one season - AP - Maypole erected in front of Brentwood girls school - LAT - Researchers discover that the... more ›

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- 3.0 quake in The Valley this afternoon - Major League Soccer: New England 3, Los Angeles 2. - Environmentally friendly and affordable bras and panties guides by GreenLAGirl. - 2 die at Mother's Day Flower Stand when car plows through. - Why do the La Brea Tar Pits bubble? - California man on FBI's Top Ten List arrested in Canada - 60 to 80 acres burned in Pacoima off Osborne Street. - American... more ›

- Is LAX really trying to more than double the rent on several low-cost airlines? - Daily News - Speaking of LAX, SkyWest celebrated their 30th anniversary with the airport - Yahoo - Speaking of anniversaries, Little Ethiopia is preparing to celebrate Big Ethiopia's millennium - Nazret - Brandy is being sued by the sons of the woman who died in last year's car crash - AP - The LA Daily News takes a... more ›

Perhaps those of you who frequent Wilshire Boulevard along the La Brea Tar Pits noticed the new location of the trapped Woolly Mammoth near the streetside enclosure, as pictured above. Around December of last year, the fiberglass mammoth wrangled loose of its tether and drifted Southward, spurring this writer to wonder whether a new narrative was being constructed for the 40-ish year-old display. It would appear the middle-aged pachyderm merely broke free of her moorings and simply beached herself on the opposite shore. We have expended very little energy to track down the true story behind the Winter migration, though we suspect it could have something to do with the McNaught Comet. more ›

Tarfest begins today! Four days of films, music, and tar at the LaBrea Tar Pits - Tarfest.com Beck's new album is too cool for the UK charts. Because you can use stickers to design your own cover, it's got an "unfair" advantage on the other cds, the Brits say. Beck begs to differ. - Billboard How do you fight downtown gentrification? Involve a 75 year old nun - LA Times Boy-crazy Foley's behavior wasn't... more ›

Franklin Avenue noticed that 2006 is LA's 225th year. They asked City Council President Eric Garcetti "where's the party?" — and he answered: more ›

LAist loves Thanksgiving. more ›

This weekend sees the opening of at least four new movies hitting theaters all across the Southland, and in surveying them LAist can't help but think how Angelenos could experience the same events in said movies around Los Angeles without ever having to pay a cent. more ›