Take a hike with Tony Valois in the Santa Monica Mountains and you're likely to see things much differently than the average hiker. For Valois, a volunteer with the National Park Service, the mountains are a living, breathing and ever-changing landscape of beauty, wonder and excitement. What's this flower? He has the answer. How about this grass? Yeah, he knows it. What can be said about this tree? Nothing gets beyond him and if he doesn't know, he'll be quick to figure it out. more ›

We always knew Jon was a loser, I mean, he was hanging out with Garfield. But the surreal Garfield Minus Garfield paints a picture of a shockingly depressed and delusional Jon. Even cats as annoying as Garfield are some people's only handhold on their sanity. more ›

On Friday, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) launched their new website, which is a vast improvement to what they had before. And while the site is repackaged with a much nicer visual design and an easier to find live traffic conditions page (super useful, check it out), it's still missing two important components that should be built in the near future: more ›

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Only Bryan Singer has directed a better superhero movie than Guillermo del Toro's original . Early details about the film have been sparse (expect Del Toro compadre Harry Knowles to have the lion's share of exclusives), but today at noon the first trailer for the film rolls out simultaneously on several web sites. You'll be able to see it on IGN, Rotten Tomatoes, AskMen and MySpace. I know my mouse will be at the ready! more ›

LA-based Pajamas Media hates their poll so much that recently it had to remove its winners so that the politicians that they're rooting for will have a chance. PJ Media, who has had a tragic history of fuckups, embarrassments, and going nowhere despite raising millions of dollars, have been holding online straw polls for months. After results of a poll that started the week of September 16th were tallied, anti-war Democratic presidential nominee Dennis Kucinich's... more ›

There was a time when all top-of-the-music-chart bands had killer flash websites, showing off their graphic and motion skills and competing with other record labels' fancy webpages. But there were problems. Flash became more about gimics and "cool tricks" than actually letting the fans access the information in a timely and easy manner. Not only that, for the record labels, flash sites are expensive to update, time consuming to update, and not accessible to... more ›

When Tribune Corp was met with two similar offers for its media conglomerate that includes the LA Times, the Chicago-based company decided that it felt better selling to a fellow Chicagoian, real estate billionaire Sam Zell than to a group of billionaires living here in LA. Although Zell will be ponying up just $300 million of the $8.2 billion deal, he will be calling the shots. And on his radar, incredibly is Google, and... more ›

In our attempt to have City Council offices get LAist added to their press release lists, we have found another City Council e-mail address defunct. Enter councilman Greig Smith, the man with one of the best City Council websites (maybe not in design, but an aggressively updated one, unlike other council websites). After failing to communicate with Tom LaBonge, a similar problem now exists with Smith. Unreported on LAist, this exact same thing happened on... more ›

With the sun out, the temperatures high, one can only think of one thing: what's going on in the World of the -ists? more ›

It seems like there are a million places to get a bite to eat in this city, and we will nod our head emphatically in agreement if you were to say it's all a bit overwhelming. Most of the time we opt for something tried and true, where maybe we find comfort in the familiar listing of menu items, a favorite dish, or a staff who knows our name. But then there are the... more ›

Women like little things: iPod Nanos. Miatas. Engagement rings. Tom Cruises. more ›

A Word or 24(!): Don't forget Jake Gyllenhaal hosting "SNL" on Saturday, and then on Sunday the season premieres of "24" (Fox, 8:00 p.m.) and "Rome" (HBO, 9:00 p.m.). Tonight - Friday - January 12, 2007 "The Killers" (TCM, 7:15 p.m.) Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner star in this '46 noir classic. Magic @ Lakers (Fox Sports, 7:30 p.m.) "Ghost Whisperer" (CBS, 8:00 p.m.) What more can be said about an episode entitled "Deja... more ›

Tod Brilliant is a self-made eco-celebrity and decided his top 10 list to share with LAist readers would be about the most critical websites that will help you learn to save our massively fucked planet. more ›

If you use Wordpress and your blog looks good, you probably have Theron Parlin to thank. One of the most downloaded designers of Wordpress themes, Theron is currently at Start Us Up, a start up based in Framingham, MA that writes and releases cool web applications and helps other companies bring enterprise level success to their ideas while building lots of relationships. more ›

- Bono checked out two burlesque sets at Ivan Kane's Royal Jelly this week - Net Music Countdown - Jason Schmidt to the Dodgers, best signing all winter? - Fox Sports - How to turn forgotten election signs into anti-government freeway signs - Freeway Blogger - LA Councilman stands on the corner of Venice & Lincoln to shout out traffic cures - Daily Breeze - Spike Lee to direct film about the '92 LA... more ›

- 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 -... more ›

There is more to looking something up than Google. Scary, but true. LAist recently came across PR Week's listing of the "Top Education Reference Websites" for last week and thought we'd share. Cause we're nice, and we want you to learn stuff. You're welcome. more ›

Sure Eyesawit.com has over a dozen categories ranging from car crashes, domestic violence reports and UFO sightings, but it's the celeb spottings that will make the site a sure winner in LA. Originally started to get the word out about a missing child, Eye Saw It could either turn out to be a horrible intrusion on one's privacy or an intersesting way to document LA's ongoing story. While we wait for someone to break... more ›

If you like blogs (safe guess, since you're here) and have any interest in the media, you might want to shell out $10 tomorrow for the panel discussion at the LA Press Club. It's called Watching the Watchdogs: LA's Media Websites and will be moderated by blogger-turned-LA Times staffer Matt Welch. Panelists include LA Observed's Kevin Roderick, LA Radio's Don Barrett and Ron Feinman. They'll talk about how they keep tabs on local media and how they get those secret memos. We're curious about what they'll say, but also what the crowd thinks: will they conclude that blogs have a meaningful role, or that they're irrelevant? Plus, the press club always has booze — journalists know how to throw a panel discussion. Boozing/networking begins at 6:30pm, panel at 7:30. The LA Press Club is at 4773 Hollywood Boulevard. more ›

http://www.artleak.org/civicmatters/">Civic Matters exhibit at LACE and the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art downtown. more ›

Michael Kinsley has gotten the boot from the job of editorial page editor for the own rather ambiguous coverage (it has also published the text of Kinsley's kiss-off letter. more ›