photo courtesy Colin Remas Brown

While Los Angeles pines for an NFL team to come back, we should feel proud that Conan O’Brien didn’t retreat back to New York after his Tonight Show gig was abruptly cancelled.

Conan’s return to broadcast television at 11pm will be beamed from the site of his new studio on Burbank’s Warner Brothers lot, where fans waited outside in the rain as early as 7am for a chance to be part of the audience (see pic).

Does anyone have any doubts that he’ll not only beat Jay Leno in the ratings, but also Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert?

Some rights reserved by Veronica Jauriqui, used under a Creative Commons license.

Sorry, kids. There will be no bitching about how tack the DWP’s Holiday Light Festival this year. No arguing about how bike or pedestrian friendly it should be. That’s right – Santa Claus Tom LaBonge has cancelled the annual event.

Unfortunately, this isn’t some sort of mandate against the DWP for rate hikes and an aversion to accountability and transparency, but simply a matter of practicality. From LaBonge’s weekly update: “Due to the cost and amount of time need to halt a major construction project – the installation of a major water line, the River Supply Conduit – as well as the installation of the new zoo parking lot, it is in the public’s best interest to cancel this year’s event.”

However, LaBonge still hopes for “an alternative location for this great, free, family-friendly event,” and to contact his office if you have any ideas. Heck, leave a comment below and will nudge his staff to keep an eye on this thread.

Case in point: this YouTube video featured over at Huffington Post today, showing a pro-life advocate being body checked and even punched but an apparent crew member with the Jimmy Kimmel Live crew. Per info gleaned from the video, the pro-lifer was upset that the JKL crew was pointing a “high intensity light” at a teenage abortion protester on Hollywood Blvd. We see the pro-lifer then attempt to reposition the light when the crewman then essentially attacks the guy.

Granted, the pro-lifer shouldn’t touch the crew’s gear, but instead of asking nearby law enforcement or sercurity to take care of the guy, a crewman attacks the pro-lifer.

The typically opinionated Huffington Post take a non-objective stand in their post, and I’m somewhat disturbed that the commenters there can’t call a spade a spade and even indicate that the pro-lifer deserves the violence coming his way. Am I missing something?

Yes, slow news day. And its been a while since a reader complained our banal parking complaints. But we know some of you love this stuff, so here you go. Happy Easter!

Found at Ralphs on Hawthorne Boulevard in Rancho Palos Verdes.

photo by Colin Remas Brown

Tough looking nine-year-old girls yell, “We love Smack,” and I’m not surprised, I’m at the all ages Baby Doll Brawl.

Inside the Doll Factory, a cavernous Echo Park warehouse, the Black Diamonds are battling the Rotten Candy. These rookie L.A. Derby Dolls are eager and mean, obviously they have something to prove. For many this is their first bout and they want to impress the pack.

I’m here to document my friend Rhiannon kicking some Rotten Candy(ass), and she did. The stars on her helmet let you know that she’s the jammer, the point scorer for this one minute period in the game.

While I’m trying get at least a couple photos in focus I hear “Fleetwood Smack,” Rhiannon’s derby name, incessantly repeated over the PA system and screamed by her new fans.

When the game’s over it’s Black Diamond’s… 106 to 96.

Also on the bill are  Signals (ex Mae Shi), The Henry Clay People and Brandon Intelligator and the Sheriffs. Spinning rock n’ roll between live sets will be DJ Jimi Hey (All Night Radio / Beachwood Sparks).

And that’s not all! Right now, at this very moment, you’ve also win a free hi-fi mp3 off Dios’ new album, “We Are Dios.” The song is called “Stare at Wheel.” Download it by clicking here.

RSVP here if you dig the Facebook, otherwise just show up at the door – they’ll recognize you as a winner the moment you show up (although they may flatter you by asking for your id to “prove you’re 21″).

An LAPD “community alert” sent to me moments ago reads:

On February 11, 2010 the Hollywood sign will be covered up for an international campaign. The sign will be covered until further notice.

Do not be alarmed, the sign will remain in place and there will be no changes done to the sign. This is just an informational e-mail so we do not receive phone calls from worried citizens.

Carolyn Ramsay with Councilman Tom LaBonge’s office would provide me with no additional information besides that they were participating in the secretive event. “You’ll have to wait til Thursday,” Carolyn repeated to me when I pressed for information.

*UPDATE 4:59pm: The media point person with the Hollywood sign itself, Betsy Isroelit, told me that the sign cover up would have nothing to do with an Amnesty International announced day of support for human rights Iran also scheduled for the 11th, or the Winter Olympics, beginning the following day. Zach at LAist is also digging into this.

**UPDATE 7:54p: The LA Weekly reveals that the alteration is planned to coincide with an announcement by the non-profit “Trust for Public Land,” which, based on the group’s purpose, could theoretically be purchasing the land around the Hollywood sign, which has been at risk of being used for private development over the past few years. Details will be announced at a Thursday 10am press conference at the Hollywood W Hotel.

Worth nothing: Carolyn insisted this has nothing to do with the fake Hollywood sign vandalism that pop star Ke$ha hoaxed her fans with a few days ago.

Ke$ha’s viral video of her defacing the Hollywood sign… again, a real defacement of sorts will be occuring this Thursday so DO NOT BE ALARMED.

The final choice of Grinch is intended to be representative of the feelings of common Metblogs audience, which I don’t believe this year’s “contest” accurately depicted. Open web polling, the system I used to make the final pick , is open to “ballot stuffing,” manipulation, and even well intended campaigning.

In the case of the 2009 Grinch of the Year “contest,” it was the campaigning that did it in.

Technically speaking, Russell Brown received the most votes after being nominated by Kim Cooper, who used used multiple platforms, including her business mailing list and Facebook account to encourage people to vote for Mr. Brown as Grinch of the Year.

And, technically speaking, Kim Cooper was not violating any rules (of which there were few) of the Metblogs Grinch of the Year contest.

However, it didn’t seem that the average Metblogs reader was even aware, or had much concern, for Russell Brown’s involvement with the LA Downtown Art Walk. And a few of those aware, many of whom expressed a fondness for Kim Cooper, believed this was largely a business or personal issue between her and Mr. Brown.

In the future, with similar contests, I’ll need to consider other methods to award titles – perhaps allowing for open nominations, but leaving the final vote to Metblogs authors or choosing a panel of judges from among our readers or broader community.

Now, I’m tucking the Grinch award under my arm and keeping it myself until next year. If you have any issue with this, feel free to chide me in the comments where I’ll be enjoying my last can of Who-Hash.

• Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, for being “a worthless, do-nothing mayor who’s fast turning this city into a former shell of itself…” “for grandstanding something for political gain, when he’s travelling he’s grandstanding for political gain… (and) his dictatorial role on the metro transit board.”
• Russell Brown “who simultaneously claims to represent major property owners as paid rep for the Historic Downtown Business Improvement District (HDBID) and the wider community — including the transient and disenfranchised — as unpaid President of the Downtown LA Neighborhood Council (DLANC)” and for “halting progress with downtown’s artwalk.”
• Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, “for raising my taxes by 10% while simultaneously slashing state-funded programs and services, bankrupting our state, and standing by while our state unemployment has ballooned to 12.5% (the highest ever),” and for “planning/threatening to close our state parks.” While these issues affect the whole state, as one reader notes, he is still technically an Angeleno.
• Michele Mowry, LADOT’s Bicycle Coordinator, “for arguing in Bicycling Magazine that when it comes to cyclists on the streets of Los Angeles, ‘There’s no more room!’ She later pointed out, in LA’s Transportation Committee, that it’s a little easier to do effective work in Portland (because) ‘They’re White!’”

Vote Here

“Winner” will be announced next Wednesday, December 30th.