Jacob Soboroff takes to Venice Beach telling locals the Superbowl was moved to Tuesday to make a good point.......

A few months ago I noticed a nekkid lady’s torso perched on a plinth in the middle of the Windward Traffic Circle in Venice. Considering the calle vida thereabouts, this shouldn’t have raised an eyebrow. Yet, the utter incongruousness of a slick, black, metal, larger-than-life sculpture in the midst of "don’t harsh my mellow" Bohemia, made me stop and gawk. Regardless of yellow caution tape, I sprinted across to the island, which is roomy enough......

A simple description for a simple moment from LAist Featured Photos contributer Jonathan Alcorn: "A man watches the glow of dusk from the sand berms at Venice Beach on December 23, 2007." In what can be a rather harried and stressful time of year, it's nice to remember to take a moment to be calm, indeed. Photo by Jonathan Alcorn (Sundogg) via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr......

The Venice Beach Drum Orchestra will play at the Spronto Gallery at 4 p.m. The Curse, Sweetest Perfection, Anna Strafford String Quartet @ Roxy All Wrong and the Plans Change, Pedestrian, Chase Frank, Brutus Gets the Girl @ Spaceland Shiny Toy Guns, Moving Units, War Tapes @ The Wiltern Poncho Sanchez's Latin Jazz @ La Ve Lee Medusa @ Temple Bar The Vandals, Supernova, Hunter Revenge & A Kiss Could Be Deadly @ House......

Pass the Bud Light and hold your babies tight to your laps: A grassroots movement has shot up on Venice Beach (surprise, surprise) to elect two of the most high-profile names in America to the White House. (And, no, Lindsay, that doesn't mean your dealer's pad.) Although the slogan seems to be "Rehabilitate in '08" we're not sure what the platform is. Family values, Ms. Spears? Oh, wait... there's that little situation with Jamie......

LAist Featured Photos contributer Jonathan Alcorn talks about this photo he took in September. "The Venice sign has returned to Windward Avenue after being taken down in the 1940's. It is a copy of the historical Venice sign that hung across Windward Avenue, a block from the entrance to Venice Beach. The effort to bring back the sign was secured by a beautification grant from the City of Los Angeles for the project in......

Remember that car chase scene in "The Da Vinci Code?" Yeah, that car chase is coming to an LA near you. Last Thursday, the weekly LA Green Drinks was hosted at The Smart Car House in Venice. We get an introduction to the Smart Car and learn that the first Smart Car dealerships in Los Angeles will be in North Hollywood, Beverly Hills, West Covina, Riverside and Laguna Niguel. The smart house at 1319......

Three people were injured and dozens evacuated after an apartment fire in Sherman Oaks gutted at least two units at 2 a.m. this morning. It was cold last night, but there are better ways to stay warm people. Australian police arrested a man in Melbourne who threatened to attack The Grove Friday. There is no evidence the man, who has never been to the United States, intended to carry out the attack. Still, days......

Don't forget that umbrella on the way out the door today -- it's gonna rain (yes, that is an intentional Steve Reich reference). Right now, surfers should be enjoying the best swells of the week and skiers can look forward to a nice snowpack of "about 6 inches of snow at elevations of about 6,000 feet," according to the LA Times. As always, with the good, comes the bad. Among the more strenuous commute and......

A 50' woman was seen terrorizing Venice Beach today. We are sure this has something to do with global warming. More photos from the scene after the jump.......

Most late-night grub benefits mightily from the drunken torpor we're often in when eating at two in the morning. Let's face it--the places that serve food deep into the night are not usually those we patronize when in full command of our senses. And, yet, there are exceptions. Luckily for me (since it's 50 feet from my apartment), Mao's is one of them. Every dish is prepared a la minute and you can tailor......

Spin Gallery presents paintings by Carlos Vera....

I was walking along the infamous stretch of head shops and happen to stumble upon this spectacle. Tons of spectators gathered as these dudes lifted a cross-legged plastic man into the back of a convertible. Classic. I was completely bewildered by this bizarre procession. Was I in Venice Beach? Was I on the planet earth? Definitely fit for a caption contest of sorts.......

In a couple of weeks I will be joining 40,000 artists, misfits, deviants, hippies, vampires, musicians, furries, and nudists to participate in the 21st Burning Man Festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. So if you happen to be strolling through Venice Beach during the week of Aug. 27- Sept. 3 and wonder where all the freaks are at don’t be alarmed, we’re all just taking a much needed vacation from the default......

LAist Editor Tony Pierce has blogged here non-stop for more than a year deserving a well-earned vacation (and did he ever earn it). While out of town, we decided to have a little fun and bring some guest day editors in from around the blogLAsphere. Monday we had Green LA Girl and Tuesday saw Fred Camino of MetroRiderLA. Today, get ready for Zuma Dogg who has his own website, but also contributes to Mayor......

Sometimes the emails that we get from our readers tell the stories way better than we ever could. We had just read the sad news over at LA Observed that filmmaker, writer, and blogger Theresa Duncan had committed suicide, when we got this email: Tony, I'm a long time fan of your blog and LAist. I'm also a huge fan of Theresa Duncan's blog, Wit of the Staircase. LAist did an interview with her awhile......

LAist was comped front row seats by the Dodgers due to Malingering being struck by a foul ball last week, and she came back with some great photos, and earlier made fun of 4th of July on Venice Beach. But the biggest stories of the week was that the Mayor's Hot Tamale was revealed, and that a Kwik-E-Mart was erected in Burbank. Phillyist was busy doing the Fourth of July up right, exercising their......

I ended up at another bodybuilding competition. Or more correctly, once again I found myself at Venice Beach while a bodybuilding and figure competition was going on. I really should just get on their mailing list so I don't get caught off guard. Plus I keep missing the 'roided up women's bodybuilding competition, since this usually is first. The flip side to coming late is that sometimes the women are in the stands watching......

Good news, everyone! The terrorists have not won. And in America, we have the freedom of expression, which people today use in various ways. Though the sun never came out, the section of America we call Venice Beach had a happy happy birthday. Here we will take a look at the people of Venice Beach and how they showed their patriotism on the 4th of July (beyond the $5 Old Navy flag t-shirt). Keep......

Figures the powerful skateboard lobby would use their muscle to snag the longest day of the year for Go Skateboarding Day. Unfortunately, many of them were out skateboarding and don't tell those of us in ivory towers what's happing down at the half pipe. What's happening is today is the day that we all celebrate this truly southern California fad sport lifestyle, so important we had to mention it twice. Not only is skateboarding......

There's the orange men and abundant tattoos and the fashion disasters, but is there a cooler group of people than the roller skaters? Malingering says no.......

I happened upon this event last year and giggled for about 4 days. Last year I had the fortune of walking by just as the women's figure competition was finishing up, and there was this voice of God over a microphone that would say "LEFT DELTOID" and then everyone would turn and flex their oily glistening shoulders in unison and smile their most constipated smile while standing atop 4 inch tall plastic hooker shoes.......

Memorial Day kicks off summer which means we can finally show the world our ripped bodies we've been working on all winter and skateboard down the boardwalk grinding to our favorite summer jamz. City Hall's favorite taxpayer, Zuma Dogg was nice enough to share with us what we would probably hear if we wound up over at his pad sharing mother nature and working on plans to save the world. Sez ZD: Where do......

South Park aired "Night of the Living Homeless" a couple weeks ago. The last episode of the first half of season 11 (translation: they're taking a break until October) paid tribute to some famous SoCal icons ... namely Tupac, Tony Hawk, and, well, the homeless. Enjoy Cartman and Co's music video.......

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will be held this week on Saturday & Sunday, April 28 - 29th. Monday Cathryn Jakobson Ramin signs Carved in Sand 7pm @ Dutton's Tuesday Jeff Hobbs presents The Tourists 7pm @ Book Soup Jeffrey Lewis signs Theme Song for an Old Show 7pm @ Dutton's Santa Montefiore discusses and signs The Gypsy Madonna 7pm @ Vroman's Wednesday Kristen Buckley presents Tramps Like Us: A New Jersey......

- List of Major League baseball players who wore 42 today - Yahoo - Best headline about Chicago getting the nod by the US Olympic committe: "Gone with the Wind" - LA Daily News - How a Hollywood blockbuster could earn over $200 million but still lose the studio $78 million - LAT - Local businesses, companies, and even malls are writing big checks to the LAPD for extra protection - LAT - An......

Last night's only local action on the field, court, or ice was the Kings. Since nobody was surprised that they fell 3-2 to the Phoenix Coyotes, we figured we'd use this edition to ask a simple question: What kind of freebies can you get in LA on your birthday? A certain LAist sports editor remembers getting cones at Baskin Robins, and this past Tuesday YAS (Yoga and Spinning) in Venice Beach invited him down for......

We love the creative culture of Venice Beach. Somebody actually took the time to create this metal sign and install it at an intersection on Abbot Kinney. Instead of pointing across the street, the arrow guides pedestrians to a liquor store.......

If Los Angeles seems a little light on groupies this weekend, don’t be shocked. It’s just that the NBA’s All-Star game, which is the brightest light of the year to the groupie moths, is just a one-hour plane ride away in Las Vegas. This is a weekend only the guys at The Smoking Gun could dream up: Take a sport where the players have the reputation for being rich and out of control, then drop......

- The two dead bodies found in the crawl space in the Westwood home that caught fire were part of the painting crew - NBC-4 - Might want to stay away from Will Rogers Beach, Venice Beach, and Dockweiler Beach for a few days - eMax Health - Phil Spector awarded $900,000 in embezzlement case - Forbes - What do the CEO of MySpace, Barbra Streisand, and model/anchor Willow Bay have in common? -......