LA Observed

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  Beck juggles the lineup again

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 8:56pm EST by Kevin

  New LAPD chief Charlie Beck sent officers in the field his latest round of promotions and reassignments tonight. Captains Blake Chow, Bob Green and Mike Moriarty make commander, Sharon Papa... [...]
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  Natalie Portman loves L.A.

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 8:34pm EST by Kevin

  She tells David Letterman she's liking life in Los Angeles.... [...]
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  Scratch 'Giant' magazine

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 4:10pm EST by Kevin

  Radio One is folding Giant as a print magazine after the current issue, which has Alicia Keyes on the cover. The name and some content will live on the web.... [...]
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  L.A. art is popular all over

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 3:48pm EST by Kevin

  Or maybe it's the willingness of the city's Department of Cultural Affairs to get involved as a sponsor. While a hundred or so Los Angeles writers, artists and speakers —... [...]
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  In praise of Madame Wong

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 2:59pm EST by Kevin

  While we're on a bit of a music jag, Esther Wong was the godmother of punk in Los Angeles. Her restaurant-clubs in Chinatown and Santa Monica would be in the...' [...]
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  Penner and soccer

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 2:15pm EST by Kevin

  Sportswriter Scott French was at the World Cup match in Pasadena in 1994 where Mike Penner first discovered soccer. The late L.A. Times sports writer bought a ball, started kicking... [...]
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  Bob Keane, Del-Fi Records creator, was 87

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 1:49pm EST by Kevin

  Unofficial word from a former Del-Fi employee on Facebook is that Bob Keane, the record producer who signed Ritchie Valens out of Pacoima in 1958, died over the weekend. Keane... [...]
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  Bob Keane, Del-Fi Records creator, was 87 *

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 1:49pm EST by Kevin

  Unofficial word from a former Del-Fi employee on Facebook is that Bob Keane, the record producer who signed Ritchie Valens out of Pacoima in 1958, died over the weekend. Keane... [...]
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  Mexico's biggest university now in L.A.

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 11:46am EST by Kevin

  The National Autonomous University of Mexico, said to be the largest in the western hemisphere, has operated out of the Mexican consulate here for three years. But now UNAM has... [...]
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  Angeles Crest reopens

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 11:40am EST by Kevin

  The highway is now open through the San Gabriel Mountains, though caution is urged due to crews clearing rocks and high winds.... [...]
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  LAT's "readers' rep" is leaving paper

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 11:28am EST by Kevin

  Jamie Gold worked in the Readers' Representative's office at the L.A. Times for ten years, since 2001 as the main liaison between readers and the newsroom "on questions of accuracy,...'" [...]
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  Call him Honorary Consul Dymally

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 9:05am EST by Kevin

  Mervyn Dymally has held a lot of official posts -- Lieutenant Governor, congressman, assemblyman for starters -- and even though he lost his last election bid last year, he isn't...' [...]
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  Morning Buzz: Monday 11.30.09

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 8:50am EST by Kevin

  Schwarzenegger's bad day at the track, Angeles Crest stays closed and an exit chat with CRA's Cecilia Estolano, plus more after the jump. From the long weekend: New Hollywood site... [...]
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  LA Sketchbook: Small is beautiful

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 12:31am EST by Kevin

  Steve Greenberg's first Jerry Brown cartoon for LA Observed, I do believe. Click the toon to see it bigger. More in the LA Sketchbook archive.... [...]
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  Snowy sunrise

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 10:12pm EST by Kevin

  This morning's view of the mountains from Rancho Cucamonga, by Guy McCarthy of Watershed News. More Sunday snow pictures in his Flickr stream.... [...]
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  Mike Penner's musical side

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 9:20pm EST by Kevin

  Kevin Bronson, the music writer formerly with the L.A. Times, remembers Mike Penner for more than his sports writing or his sexuality. They bonded over rock and roll. Penner was... [...]
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  New Hollywood site seeks writers

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 9:02pm EST by Kevin

  Hollywoodnews.com expects to launch in January with former Los Angeles Times film reporter Robert Welkos as the editor and Carlos de Abreu as CEO and publisher. Welkos posted about it... [...]
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  USC 28, UCLA 7

  Posted: November 29, 2009, 10:58pm EST by Kevin

  The Trojans dominated in a sloppy game by both sides, but what they'll be talking about for days (at least) is this: USC throwing a touchdown bomb one play after...' [...]
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  120 years before the Gold Line

  Posted: November 28, 2009, 5:50pm EST by Kevin

  An elevated portion of the Gold Line today runs past the Capitol Milling Company plant in Downtown. From 1889 to 1896, the Cape Horn Viaduct also carried passengers past the... [...]
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  Observing the L.A. River

  Posted: November 28, 2009, 5:13pm EST by Kevin

  Noah Sheldon is a New York photographer with a show currently at the Cherry and Martin gallery on south La Cienega. While here this month, he made some nice photographs... [...]
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  Street closures for Hollywood parade

  Posted: November 28, 2009, 3:10pm EST by Kevin

  Some streets are already closed for Sunday's Hollywood Christmas Parade, aka the parade that refused to die. Hollywood Boulevard from Orange Street to Highland Avenue and Orange from Hollywood Boulevard... [...]
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  Guerrilla '5 North' sign replaced

  Posted: November 28, 2009, 2:29pm EST by Kevin

  Caltrans has quietly installed new directional signs over the northbound 110 freeway out of Downtown, in the process taking down one of Los Angeles' all-time great guerilla art installations. In...' [...]
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  Mike Penner, 52, believed to be suicide

  Posted: November 28, 2009, 11:44am EST by Kevin

  Sad news at the Los Angeles Times website about one of their own. Mike Penner, the veteran sportswriter who in 2007 and '08 was known publicly as Christine Daniels, was...' [...]
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  Ironman of Channel 4

  Posted: November 28, 2009, 11:21pm EST by Kevin

  KNBC reporter Chris Schauble has apparently been chronicling his training for an Ironman competition in Arizona. He accomplished his goal this week: "I didn’t cry. I screamed when I crossed..." [...]
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  Radio traffic reports fading away

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 3:42pm EST by Kevin

  Cellphones, GPS and the struggling economy are conspiring to begin the die-off phase for regular traffic reports on your car radio, says Daisy Nguyen at AP. (She could have cited... [...]
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  Avery Clayton, curator of black archives

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 1:31pm EST by Kevin

  News is spreading fast via email and Facebook that Avery Clayton died of a heart attack on Thanksgiving. He was an artist and executive director of Western States Black Research... [...]
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  Avery Clayton, curator of black archives*

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 1:31pm EST by Kevin

  News is spreading fast via email and Facebook that Avery Clayton died of a heart attack on Thanksgiving. He was an artist and executive director of Western States Black Research... [...]
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  L.A. authors in Guadalajara

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 1:09pm EST by Kevin

  LA Observed contributors Veronique de Turenne, Jenny Price and Denise Hamilton will be heading to Guadalajara in coming days (or are already there) for the big book fair, which has... [...]
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  Frank McCourt claims cash squeeze

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 12:20pm EST by Kevin

  Frank McCourt's latest court filing in the case of McCourt v. McCourt makes for interesting reading, judging by the stories from John R. Emshwiller in the Wall Street Journal and... [...]
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  Villaraigosa to Guadalajara

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 12:43am EST by Kevin

  Mayor Villaraigosa begins a four-day working trip to Mexico later this morning, meeting for breakfast with business leaders in Guadalajara and tonight giving remarks at the University of Guadalajara's Museo... [...]
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  See from Malibu to Downtown

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 11:31pm EST by Kevin

  This is how nice a day we had for Thanksgiving: Veronique de Turenne could see Downtown Los Angeles from the cove that Here in Malibu calls home. Multiple, larger views... [...]
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  L.A. isn't Canada

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 11:24pm EST by Kevin

  Rich Hammond, the ex-Daily News reporter hired by the Los Angeles Kings, has been the only journalist accompanying the team on most road trips. This week they're in western Canada,...' [...]
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  Wanted: one film critic

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 10:55pm EST by Kevin

  Here's a hire that will be closely scrutinized and dissected, no matter who gets it: the LA Weekly is looking for a replacement for Scott Foundas. The L.A. Weekly is... [...]
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  Happy Passedover

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 10:45pm EST by Kevin

  A day-after-Thanksgiving poem from Tony Peyser: My wife Kathy recently announced that She would not be bereft over A new holiday after Thanksgiving where Each guest brought a leftover. We... [...]
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  In praise of Charis Wilson, muse

  Posted: November 26, 2009, 12:15pm EST by Kevin

  Author and Jewish Journal book editor Jonathan Kirsch blogs that his "very first experiment in the deconstruction and interpretation of sexual imagery" took place when, as a child, he found... [...]
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  All day on the SoCal rails

  Posted: November 26, 2009, 11:45am EST by Kevin

  The inveterate urban explorers at Southern California Transit Advocates came up with a pretty cool Day After Thanksgiving outing this year: they will ride all four Metrolink lines on Friday,... [...]
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  Thanksgiving Day in Los Angeles

  Posted: November 26, 2009, 11:12am EST by Kevin

  It's about 79 degrees in Los Angeles, a little warmer in spots, with essentially no wind. Up on Mount Wilson, the light is sharp. Thanks for everything. Cam grab at... [...]
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  Morning Buzz: Wednesday 11.25.09

  Posted: November 25, 2009, 9:50am EST by Kevin

  Quick roundup for getaway day: Roman Polanski was granted bail and possibly house arrest in Switzerland, but an appeal is pending. L.A. Now Pot dispensaries could continue to accept cash... [...]
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  Have you seen La Brea Woman?

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 3:45pm EST by Kevin

  Forensic artist Melissa Cooper says she created a facial rendering based on the Page Museum's solitary human skull, but she says the museum won't show her work out of fear...' [...]
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  Chicken Boy at Yosemite Falls

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 11:45am EST by Kevin

  Somebody had to represent Highland Park's favorite son in Yosemite Valley, and LA Observed was honored to make the introduction. That's Chicken Boy at Lower Yosemite Falls. Below is also... [...]
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  The view from Copenhagen

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 9:37am EST by Kevin

  Los Angeles native Steve Caplan sold his house in the Valley hills to move to Copenhagen, where his wife is from, to work on the coming United Nations Climate Change... [...]
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  Morning Buzz: Tuesday 11.24.09

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 9:22am EST by Kevin

  Color commentary all around on yesterday's LAPD brass shake-up, Schwarzenegger parks in the red, Sarah Palin and Latinos and Supervisor Ridley-Thomas dodges the media. Those and more after the jump.... [...]
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  Spray tan with the stars

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 10:13pm EST by Kevin

  This time it's the Wall Street Journal going behind the scenes of the hit show "Dancing With the Stars" on the front page. I'll leave it to you to decide... [...]
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  Tesla chooses Downey over Long Beach

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 10:07pm EST by Kevin

  Tesla Motors will build its Model S, four-door, all-electric sedan in the city of Downey, the mayor there told the District Weekly.... [...]
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  Rallying around the old Weekly

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 9:59pm EST by Kevin

  Former LA Weekly staffer Pandora Young takes some thoughtful umbrage at the Dennis Romero blog post for the Weekly about last week's USC/Neon Tommy story on the Weekly. Young at... [...]
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  LA Animated: sic regional transit

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 9:11pm EST by Kevin

  More LA Sketchbook by Steve Greenberg... [...]
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  LAPD memo: Beck makes some moves

  Posted: November 23, 2009, 5:39pm EST by Kevin

  New LAPD chief Charlie Beck has made his first substantial personnel moves. "The new organization includes six Direct Reports and the renaming of two Offices. I have made several selections..." [...]
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  Schwarzenegger picks a Gov Lite

  Posted: November 23, 2009, 5:04pm EST by Kevin

  The interim Lieutenant Governor won't be Richard Riordan, or Robert Hertzberg, or Laura Chick...or even Janice Hahn. It's state Sen. Abel Maldonado, Gov. Schwarzenegger's favorite Senate Republican. Maldonado is from...' [...]
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  Zócalo goes to Guadalajara *

  Posted: November 23, 2009, 11:04am EST by Kevin

  Zócalo Public Square is decamping in early December to the Guadalajara International Book Fair, with some assistance from the National Endowment for the Arts and the City of Los Angeles... [...]
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  Local journo leaves the business

  Posted: November 23, 2009, 10:54am EST by Kevin

  There could be a rush of these leaving the business items in the next couple of weeks when the L.A. Times drops its next, much-rumored layoff bomb. This one, though,... [...]