ESPN’s new online hub for local sports, ESPNLosAngeles.com, officially launched today, providing a new source for LA Sports news, as well as a new home for several LA Sports writers, including the LA Times’ (former) Lakers bloggers.

Meant as a hub for local online sports coverage one could set as their homepage, the site features SoCal-specific “SportsCenter” segments, local breaking news, and direct links to pages for all the major pro teams, including the Galaxy, Chivas USA, the LA Sparks, as well as the Angels and Ducks. There’s also a “Headlines” tab you can click to view nationwide sports headlines, in case you care about what happens outside of our little bubble. ESPN launched similar local sites for Dallas, Boston and Chicago earlier this year, and the sports network opened a new broadcast studio (along with an ESPN Zone sports bar) Downtown at LA Live this past spring.

But the best part of the site is the local team blogs and columnists, providing quick-access to news and columns about your favorite teams that is also easy to subscribe to by e-mail or RSS feed to keep up on everything. The other ESPN city sites have Twitter accounts you can follow as well, but as of this writing, @ESPNLosAngeles exists but hasn’t tweeted a thing. The @ESPNLosAngeles Twitter account is also up and running, providing links to stories on the site. So far there’s a USC blog (but no UCLA blog yet), a Clippers blog (sort of – it links to the outside ClipperBlog.com, part of an ESPN affiliate network), and of course, that Lakers Blog, which is basically a direct transplant from the LA Times’ Lakers Blog. Brian and Andy Kamenetzky, who just yesterday afternoon announced their departure from LATimes.com, pick up at ESPN right where they left off, except now the blog is called “Land O’ Lakers”. The Lakers Blog was regularly one of the most-visited on the site, sometimes getting over a million page views per month. No announcement has been made yet as to who or what will replace the brothers at LATimes.com. It seems that, at least for now, a few different staff writers are taking turns contributing posts to the Lakers Blog to keep it going.

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That giant exhale you heard late Friday was not me thanking the sweet Lord that a horrific work week was over – no, that collective breath of hot air was courtesy Chief Bratton and the LAPD who are no longer the overburdened subjects of a federal consent decree.  Eight years ago, hot off various instances couched as “scandals” that turned out to be “standard operating practice and procedure” (think Rodney King and Rampart), the federal government demanded reform and appointed itself referee.  Under its gavel, it has witnessed the LAPD’s renaissance from an undisciplined fleet of ragtag racist officers to orderly, gentile frenemies, or so we are led to believe.  On Friday, the federal court determined that considerable progress had been made (i.e., the LAPD has proven that it does not target minorities (as much as it did 8 years ago)), accepted the joint recommendation of the LAPD and Department of Justice’s attorneys to terminate the decree, and ended federal oversight of the department.   Interestingly, under the transition agreement in place, the federal court reserved jurisdiction to oversee the LAPD’s antigang unit, the sore source of so many controversies, from Rampart to Alex Sanchez.

While I don’t doubt the LAPD’s progress, I also don’t doubt that there’s still much work to be done.  Whether this work may be done – or may be done more effectively – without judicial eye is another question.  Indeed, the ACLU is not terribly happy about the judge’s order; neither is Senator Tom Hayden. But, Eric Garcetti?  As you can see from his tweet, he’s pretty darn excited.   Who wants to garner a guess as to what Walter Moore tweeted from his French lodgings when he heard the news?  Hint: It’s not nearly as exciting as you would hope.

As someone who works in a hospital, I’m quite familiar with Teleflora’s annual Make Someone Smile Week. This July 19-26, thousands of Teleflora florists nationwide will deliver over 40,000 of their signature Be Happy® Bouquets to hospital patients, children in foster care, nursing home residents and many other people who do not usually receive flowers, but whose day will be brighter because of this surprise gift. It’s a really cool event.

Teleflora is hosting its first-ever Tweet-up tomorrow, Sunday, July 19^th to kick-off to the week long celebration  They will be giving away 100 Be Happy® bouquets for free to LA tweeps.  You can keep the arrangement for yourself or give it as to someone who might need a pick-me-up.

For more event details and to RSVP, click on the twtvite.

The LA Make Someone Smile Tweet-up happens tomorrow, Sunday, July 19th, 2009 from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm at Teleflora Plaza, 11444 Olympic Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA  90064.

Follow @teleflora on twitter and the hashtag #smile to keep tabs on the event.

Yesterday, a water main broke and flooded a parking lot + shut down restrooms at some LAX terminals.

They’re still repairing because I just saw @alixito tweet this:

That’s pretty much gotta suck for travelers all around because I’d much rather use the facilities at LAX than on a plane…

Hopefully, @matt_brewer is not in one of those terminals with no restrooms, as he just tweeted this:

D’oh.

[UPDATE:] As a result of this post, I had a spirited conversation with Sophie Jefferies from the press office at LA Phil that touched on new technology’s impact  and the challenges it presents in a public setting; as well as the attending etiquette and social participation insofar as attending outdoor concerts at the Bowl is concerned. She had a quibble with me using the word “prohibited” when the Bowl site says cell phones “may not be operated.”

We both agreed that consideration for others is essential in the uncharted territory we find ourselves in as technology advances. “For some people, their cell phones are a part of enjoying a performance, especially for younger crowds. It doesn’t seem to happen at classical concerts.”

She made some good points about different types of music drawing different crowds with different expectations; said the language on the site about cell phones and pagers needed to be updated (“People don’t really use pagers anymore, do they?”); seemed to think the provisions on the back of the ticket more accurately explained the venue rules (They’re actually stricter and threaten expulsion.); and told me that at the Incubus concert the next night you were the exception if you weren’t using a cell phone in some way during the performance.

One more thing– the other acts on the bill on Sunday evening were Blitzer Trappen and the super charming and totally amazing Jenny Lewis.

From the Hollywood Bowl site:

Turn off any pagers, watch signals, or other electronic devices. Note: Cellular telephones, pagers, cameras, laser pointing devices and recording devices may not be operated in the theater.

For me and probably others, cell phone use at Hollywood Bowl is ruining performances and up to this point nothing is being done about it. I went to the Ray LaMontagne/LA Phil  show on Sunday (LA Phil produces most of the summer concerts) and people were using their cell phones for texting and video recording so much it was impossible to enjoy the show.

At the beginning of the performance Anne Litt from KCRW, a co-producer of many Bowl shows, made an announcement asking people “to secure their open bottles and electronic devices” but she did NOT say that using cell phones is PROHIBITED at the Bowl, cell phones “may not be operated” as it states on their web site.

Six of the eight people in the row directly in front of me (in section K2) were texting, snapping  photos, recording video and talking on their phones DURING THE PERFORMANCES and I could see it happening throughout the audience in front of me. I did not see any usher telling people to stop. Read the rest of this entry →

Holy roving gourmet trucks, Batman! In conjunction with their Movie Night on the 27th, Dwell On Design‘s hosting a mass meet-up of some of LA’s hottest mobile food vendors. Kogi is rumored to show although not confirmed; but I’m most smitten by the Sprinkles truck, which, if I ever see it en-route, I will follow across the city like a crazy stalker.

There’s also Locali’s Icicyle, Barbie’s Q BBQ, Let’s Be Frank, CoolHaus ice cream, Tacos Ariza and the Green Truck. Here’s all the info on the mobile restaurant row; to check out the movie night (which for better or worse will prolly be overshadowed, at least among the twitterati & the blogospheroids, by the food trucks) go here. Dwell on Design is a design conference & exhibition, incorporating home tours, restaurant design spotlights, film screenings and seminars. And also, apparently, cupcakes.

Hat tip to Jeff & his peeps over at Thrillist for beating me to the punch on this one.

I first moved to Los Angeles in January (2002) from Madison, Wisconsin, and while there are about ten thousand reasons to be thrilled about such a move (proximity to an ocean, the ability to purchase a kosher hot dog, PJ Harvey concerts…), it being mid-winter, the reason foremost in my mind for a long time was the weather. I, in fact, reset the homepage of my web browser to weather.com, zip code 53703 so that every morning I could get my daily dose of Schadenfreude (“Gee it’s a bit chilly today, I may need a long-sleeved shirt and a jacket. Oh look, it’s -5 in Madison. Poor sods.”). At the time I thought I would never tire of LA’s long strings of sunnyday-sunnyday-sunnyday-sunnyday. My local friends, in contrast, were delighted about the rare occasions when it was overcast. For my part I thought anyone who had spent eleven long years in Wisconsin, as I had, had already lived through a lifetime’s supply of crappy weather. I have a friend who moved to LA from Minnesota who used to tell the folks back in Moorhead, “We know it’s winter because of the steam that rises off our hot tubs at night.” What’s so wrong with endless summer anyway I ask you?

 

And then it happened: I crossed the rubicon. Read the rest of this entry →

 

What a great day the LA BBQ Festival turned out to be.  Best part, you still have today to partake in the food, live music and fun of the festival.  The lines when we arrived shortly after noon were nearly 100 deep at the will call window and the crowd was really amped with excitement to get in and start the party.  

Live music plays all day during the festival and you get a nice range of music to enjoy.  One of our favorites bands turned out to be “Petty Cash” a tribute band focused on the songs of Tom Petty and Johnny Cash.  Strange combo at first thought but they actually turned out to be pretty darn good.  The Petty stuff was done well, the Johnny Cash stuff stayed with his mainstays and fortunately didn’t stray into his really twangy country stuff.  Could have spent more time with just them but there were 4 other bands to rotate through. Read the rest of this entry →

Local “funny guys” Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel, and Scott Aukerman will be live Twittering the midnite opening of “Crank: High Voltage” tonite at the AMC Burbank 16, and invite you to bring your cell phone and join them, or tweet from the theatre of your choice.

Yeah, you read this right: they’re actually encouraging people to text during a movie! What kind of assholes would do such a thing?

Answer: apparently, assholes with rules. The flier for the “Twitpix” event has a few tips, including sitting in the back row so as not to disturb fellow film goers, and if someone complains to either comply or move. More here.

BTW, the guys behind this are pretty tight with that whole UCB Comedy Death Ray thing, so expect some special guests to show up.

On the theory and practice of being hypnotized in Beverly Hills Adjacent.

I went to a hypnotist the other day. I sat in the chair, he put some glasses on my face that flashed lights in my eyes, and I was like, so, hypnotized.

If my brain could twitter. It would have looked like this…

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LeVar Burton is starring in a new play opening this Friday at the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks. In The Caterer, @levarburton plays a man who sells you your appropriate death. It marks the Emmy-nominated actor’s return to the stage after a 25-year absence.

Reason #1 to see The Caterer: @levarburton is awesome. He called our fledgling little LAGenX radio show last weekend to chat about theatre, and to find out who we are. We’re not even sure who we are. But, we talked, and he tweeted about it. And we tweeted back. It was internet bromance. You can hear the interview here.

Reason #2 to see The Caterer: @levarburton is hosting an exclusive tweetup for audience members with tickets for Friday or Saturday night (Apr. 10, 11.) And you KNOW theatre tweeps like to party. From TheCatererPlay.com:

LeVar Burton will mingle and raffle off personal memorabilia.
Location to be encoded within program insert.
Must be 21 years of age to attend the after party.
Limited seating available.

See a show – Tweetup with the stars. Not a bad way to spend an evening.

Blogger Debbie Lopez is Twittering a 2nd grade field trip she’s chaperoning to the La Brea Tar Pits.

The average reader may not be too interested in updates such as, “Passing out bananas for snacks” or “We’re getting on the bus figuring out our seating arrangements,” but faculty of Beckford Elementary and the student’s parents may appreciate the microblogging of the day’s events… especially with updated notes on when the kids will be back at the school for pickup, safe and sound.

A very cool example of what Twitter can be used for.

Brace yourself, Burbankians. President Obama will be taping the Tonight Show today at NBC.

@ginayates forwarded today’s road closures in Burbank from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.:

* Buena Vista Street between Alameda and Riverside
* Riverside Drive between Keystone and Niagara
* 134 Freeway off-ramp on Buena Vista St and Riverside Drive

Let’s make radio history tomorrow morning.

You probably thought you’d be a movie star by now. Or running a fortune 500 company. Or settled down with Mr. or Mrs. Right. Ask yourself: Are you right where you thought you’d be at this age?

Tomorrow marks the launch of a brand new radio show by three thirty-somethings who are just trying to make it in Los Angeles. We want you to be a part of it. Just tell us what you want to talk about. On Twitter. Facebook. Skype. Whatever.

You’ve got problems. So do we. We’re here to listen. And make fun of each other.

Tune in to LATalkRadio.com, Channel 2, for the first broadcast of LAGenX, Saturday March 14 at 11AM Pacific. If you miss it, you can always download it later. We know you’re a slacker, just like us.

Let’s party.

Fan us on Facebook: LAGenX.com

Follow us on Twitter: @LAGenX

The Valley has seen its fair share of crime during the current recession. Car break-ins. Knock-knock bandits. And now, armed robbery with semi-automatic weapons.

Just last night, a woman was robbed at one of the busiest and most public intersections in the Valley, at Ventura Boulevard and Laurel Canyon. At 9:30.

Are you paying attention, Mr. Mayor? While you continue to play coy about your intentions to run for Governor, the city of Los Angeles is spiraling out of control. Do something, before citizens begin arming themselves for their own protection.

As for Erin Muir, he is her entire email account of what happened last night, posted with her permission:
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