The Digest. 12.01.08. Yes, I’m still in L.A. edition.

Apex in S.F. See it large. (Photo by otherthings.)

• In honor of my homegirl, San Suzie: Paper doll conservator. (Richard McCoy.)
• Speaking of which…the world’s oldest pot stash has been discovered in China. Sublime! (Thanks, Paige!)
• The Day in Art Merch: celebrity artist beach towels, just in time for Basel (AO). Plus: 7” KRink mailboxes, only $39.95!
• Miami Beach tourism honchos won’t allow an ink fountain, commissioned by the fair, to go into public view. Why? Because ink stains. Simple solution: don’t wear white!
• More than a week ago, L.A. billionaire Eli Broad offered a $30 million challenge grant to save MOCA. What have we heard from the museum’s trustees so far? Crickets. Plus: there’s an online petition to support the museum, which has been signed by Catherine Opie. She’s #1908. (Culture Monster.)
• LACMA’s financial support of Measure R, intended to bring a subway to the mid-Wilshire area of Los Angeles, is being questioned by the county. (Second item.)
• S.F. not digging the idea of a Don Fisher museum in the Presidio—at all. (Art Observed.)
• The art industrial average is in the crapper: Christie’s in London sold a Russian painting—valued at £2,000—for £10 (AJ.) Plus: ArtInfo is wondering if the Asian contemporary bubble has also burst.
• Movies as color pies.
• Wired thinks blogging is so 2004.
• Sort of related: There’s an online gizmo that will gender analyze your blog. And it thinks I have a 52% chance of being a dude! (Digital Literacies.)
• Raymond Pettibon goes big in L.A.
• And, in the event that you’ve been living under a rock: Takashi Murakami to open an animation studio in L.A.
• Bad sex in fiction. (Coudal.)
• Today’s Graff: Dan Witz in Brooklyn.
• The BBC World Service has the second part of their street art series (on São Paulo) up online now! (The first one, in case you missed it, is here.)
• R.I.P. Jørn Utzon, the Danish architect best known for designing the Sydney Opera House, via Hello Beauitful. (Plus: thanks for the heads up, Seier + Seier.)
• Because what religion needs is starchitecture: Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid in the running to redo Mecca. (Culture Monster.)
• A stunning sunset shot of Frank Gehry’s art gallery of Ontario. Related: The Washington Post thinks that Gehry isn’t looking like himself these days. (Arts Journal.)
• Get ready to shred: Architecture that beckons skateboarders. (architecture.mnp.)
• Five centuries of board games.
• Your moment of hip hop, senior choir edition. (Thank you so very, very much, Shane.)