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......

So LAist admits to being one of the five people to actually watch most episodes of the FOX freshman series Vanished. When it launched late in the summer, the promos tempted viewers with the promise of a mystery wrapped in an enigma, a la The Da Vinci Code with all the action of 24. But after watching the so-called “series finale” on the web this weekend--which was a real letdown--LAist would like to call......

We've never been that interested in Da Vinci's painting La Gioconda. This lack of interest briefly grew into a loathing when this lady we work with - a dithering fat lady addicted to painkillers - started reading The Da Vinci Code and wouldn't shut up about it. The loathing has mellowed but still, we just can't figure out why everybody cares so much about "the mysteries of the Mona Lisa": the model's true identity,......

+ Apple to staff Best Buy? The electronics giant has a lot of things going for it -- decent prices, good selection, excellent extended warranties -- so imagine if the computer sales staff was trained and managed by Apple? If it's anything as good as the Genius Bar at the Grove's Mac store, it could run Circuit City right out of town. + The LA Times are in Greenland covering global warming and the......

We're flashing a sad peace out to their editor Carolyn Kellogg with one hand and bumping knuckles with our new head typist L.A. blogger king Tony Pierce with the other. Where do ist editors go when they hang up the 'editorial we'? They take on MySpace, apparently. At least Ben Brown does. Austinist reminds of the just rewards of less savory careers this week and then they witness the Arctic Monkeys and We Are Scientists......

When we heard that Tom Hanks was cast as the lead Prof. Robert Langdon in The Da Vinci Code, LAist was worried. Then when we heard that Dan Brown's page turner would be directed by Ron Howard, we were totally bummed. Not to take anything away from Hanks or Howard, but really, why do the studios need to always take the safe (read: boring) route with the blockbusters? We reserved comment until the film......

We used to think we loved everything about pop culture; we could even get some twisted enjoyment out of The Simple Life. But the appearance of Nicole Richie's book at #9 on this week's LA Times bestseller list is just wrong. If you said that hardcover purchases by people who read People is good thing, we'd agree with you. But The Truth About Diamonds is categorized as fiction, sharing the list with popular novels......

What's Los Angeles reading these days? Here's the Top 10 Titles requested from the Los Angeles Public Library system: 1) The Da Vinci code : a novel Brown, Dan, 1964 2003 2) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Rowling, J. K. 2003 3) The narrows : a novel Connelly, Michael, 1 2004 4) Angels & demons Brown, Dan, 1964 2000 5) "R" is for ricochet Grafton, Sue. 2004 6) * My life......