Elsewhere In The Ist-a-verse

Photograph of Times Square during the first moments of 2009 by Neil Epstein/Gothamist

• Gothamist said good-bye to 2008 by looking back at the year and rang in 2009 in Times Square. (God bless YouTube for capturing Kathy Griffin's salty New Year's comments to a heckler.)
• Phillyist interviewed Robert Bielski, whose father will be played by Daniel Craig in the upcoming film, Defiance.
• Seattlest entered 2009 shaking off some bad pizza recommendations and debating whether or not the New Year's Eve police shooting of a UW student--who was dressed in a military costume, holding a rifle with a bayonet--was justified.
• Bostonist was all about vice this week when they dispensed sparkling wine buying advice and celebrated Massachusetts' first annual Marijuana Possession Day.
• Londonist gawped at an utterly deserted London -- not even a zombie to be seen.
• SFist asked why in God's name did you bother going to work this holiday week; and, also, was tickled and awed to see Bay Area Rapid Transit (i.e, BART) ask subway riders to snitch on and snap images of fellow passengers behaving badly. To make public. On BART's Facebook page.
• LAist bid a fond farewell to last year by looking back on what was a tedious, musical, and delicious year in Los Angeles.
• Chicagoist dealt with more gubernatorial shenanigans as embattled Gov. Blagojevich introduced Roland Burris as President-elect Obama's replacement in the U.S. Senate (much to everyone's chagrin), bid farewell to Congressman Rahm Emanuel, and welcomed in the new year with the NHL's Winter Classic at Wrigley Field.
• Torontoist looked back at the most notable images submitted to their Flickr pool in 2008.
• Shanghaiist reported on a remarkable 16-year-old Chinese girl who received a coveted invite to Barack Obama's inauguration.