Los Angeles Magazine announces nominees for “Mr. Los Angeles” & kicks in the WTF!? meter
April 7, 2009 at 3:58 pm in LA, Media, Rants
That's Mr. Los Angeles, not Mr. Louisiana.
Recently, Los Angeles Magazine has taken it upon themselves to crown Tom LaBonge, “Mr. Los Angeles.” No offense, to my City Councilman, but while I’d whole heartedly support him being called “Mayor of Hollywood,” I don’t believe he represents L.A. as a whole.
Apparently, the folks at the magazine had second thoughts, and have now decided to poll their readers on who deserves the “Mr. Los Angeles” title. Unfortunately, while they have a couple of worthy choices, there is at least one glaring omission, but even more WTFs?!
First up, LA Observed’s Kevin Roderick. Indeed, K-Rod, as some of us at Metblogs like to call him, is a blogging God. My daily read of his “Morning Buzz” supplanted my browsing the L.A. Times a few years ago. And he clearly has a love of the city. I’d even call him, “The King of Los Angeles New Media,” or “The Mayor of Wilshire Blvd., ” but not Mr. Los Angeles.
But largest WTF on the list is Wolfgang Puck. Do I even need to explain this? Heck, Bob Baker, of Marionette Theatre fame, a Los Angeles institution, deserves the title 10x more…. and even then doesn’t come close.
Also on there: Dodgers announcer Vin Scully and radio personality Eddie “Piolin” Sotelo both seem to have too targeted an audience to fit the role. If having enough money to buy the city is a qualification, Eli Broad is on the list. Jay Leno is also on there too, and like Broad, he’s also done a lot for the city, but for Leno it seems more like by default of his job with the Tonight Show keeping him in Burbank.
Among the worthy: LA Times Steve Lopez documents the city’s residents on a regular basis. Charles Phoenix delights in showing off the city’s cheesy underbelly on regular tours and slideshows. LA Mag’s resident “LA Wikipedian” and notable LA Conservancy member Chris Nichols seems like a solid pick (and who I long theorized was the actual City Nerd). And then there’s Huell Howser, the ultimate LA City Nerd, who’s made a life out of revealing LA’s secrets and history to a loyal audience. He’s easily my pick of the nominees.
But how could they not include Ray Bradbury on there? Are there any other residents who better represent L.A.? Or at least anyone else who deserves more consideration than Wolfgang Puck? (yes, readers, I’m asking!)
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