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Another Day, AnotherMassacre
April 4, 2009
Today&;s shooting: Binghamton, New York. 13 dead April 3, 2009 Monday&;s shooting: Santa Clara, CA. 6 dead. March 30, 2009 Sunday&;s shooting: Carthage, NC 8 dead in a nursing home. March 29, 2009 March 10, 2009: Samson, AL 10 dead in two nearby towns. January 27, 2009: Wilmington, CA 7 dead in one family December 24, 2008; Covina, CA, 10 dead in &;Santa Claus&; massacre October 6, 2008; Los Angeles, 6 dead in one family That&;s seven U.S. mass killings of 6 or more people in six months, not to mention this year&;s international leader, the massacre of 16 in Germany. I may have missed some. Are people spinning out of control? Is economic despair the trigger for the trigger? What&;s going on?
Tags:family-killing, family-massacre, mass-murder, shooting-spree Posted in Crime, Economic Crisis | Leave a Comment &;
Lakers and Clippers, A Tale of TwoCities
April 3, 2009
Like many in Los Angeles, I became a Clippers fan because I could no longer afford Lakers games. But the Clippers were also, a couple of years ago, a promising team&;I had $15 seats with my sons the night the Clippers beat the Nuggets and vaulted into the second round of the playoffs! Sadly, things have changed, and only for the worst. I tried to buy Laker playoff tickets today, and they sold out in minutes, even the $215 American Express seats that were too rich for my blood. (That&;s nothing; seat prices go up to $3500.) And the Clippers? I just received a 0.10 offer from the Clippers for the last few games of this lost season. Of course there&;s a catch, but still, check out the un-NBA-like cheesiness of the dime photography.
Fast Break Friday: One Deal. One Chance. Right Now.
Get ready! At 2:00pm (PT) the clock starts ticking! Today&;s limited-time Fast Break Friday offer features 10-cent tickets! Buy one center section seat for $12 ($23 off!) and get the second ticket for only $0.10! This Dime Deal is only available from 2:00-4:00pm so sign up or log in to myClipper NATION to take advantage of this exclusive low-price deal. Two hours only!Link: Click here
Fast Break Friday Now!
Previous Week&;s Fast Break Friday Offers
Tags:Clippers, Lakers, Los-Angeles-sports, NBA-basketball Posted in Sports | Leave a Comment &;
L.A. Film Noir not: The BlackDahlia
April 2, 2009
I love LA, and I love films set in Los Angeles, from Bladerunner to perhaps the most typical genre, film noir. I finally saw Black Dahlia today on HBO, and it was as bad as they say. Worse, even. It was one big acting lesson for the wooden juvenile leads, Josh Hartnett and Scarlett Johanson. Watching Hartnett struggle to show grief and shock when his partner plunges to his death was a painful movie moment indeed. The director was in love with mood shots and voiceover, both of which can be overdone. Then there&;s the father daughter make out scene, not too much of a homage to Chinatown. Not a surprise to learn that it was an over-the-top but past his prime Brian DePalma, bhind the violence and leering sex. &;She looks like that dead girl. How sick are you?&; The line reading was so great that it repeated in the voice over. &;You&;d rather fuck me than shoot me.&; And the script&;well, the real Black Dahlia, of the dead woman found cut in half in 1947, is considered an iconic LA crime, although who know why compared to the thousands killed in &;gang-related&; violence over the last There&;s not much to hang your hat&;or the script-on, so a plot has to be invented, so the filmakers tapped the James Ellroy novel. But the A and B lines about a mob tie-up, girls reading for Hollywood screen tests and a Hollywood gothic family don&;t make much sense or cover incoherence with screaming and overacting and grand guignol. LA Confidental still rules, for three reasons: 1. Actual great acting, particularly the way under-utilized Guy Peerce, but also the world-weary Russell Crowe and Oscar-winner Kim Basinger. 2. Curtis Hanson, really a great, understatted director who can work in any genre and make you care even about a chick flick, In Her Shoes. 3. A well-written script that uses noir elemetns and period cars, sets and costumes but is not overwhelmed by them&;and deals with a continuing Los Angeles problem, our ambivalence with the LAPD.
Tags:Black-Dahlia, Curtis-Hanson, film-noir, Guy-Peerce, James-Ellroy, Josh-Hartnett, Kim-Basinger, LA-in-the-movies, Russell-Crowe, Scarlet-Johannson Posted in Los Angeles in the Movies, Los-Angeles | 1 Comment &;
Playboy: So Out ofTouch
April 1, 2009
Playboy has long pretended that it&;s for the 18 to 30 year old male. In fact, ever-youthful Kevin Bacon was rejected as an interview subject because he was too old, resulting in this wretched song.
The current issue (not the classic &;60&;s cover above) continues the weird dichotomy of 19-ish models and elderly authors who could be their leering grandfathers&;or great-grandfather, in the case of 83-year old Hugh Hefner. The issue contains the first of a four-part James Ellroy meditation on &;his childhood, [his mother's] unsolved murder and his teenage peeping.&; It also looks at &;how his mother&;s death drove him to search for the perfect woman, to seek out both prostitutes and (fruitlessly) women of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, to pass notes with his phone number in coffee shops, to send literally thousands of dollars in flowers.&; Not creepy at all, the 61-year old L.A. Confidential author says he &;never masturbated on neighbors&; lawns &; &;That was just hyperbole!&; &; but was a dedicated peeper and self-described &;perv&; during his teenage years&;.when he stole pills, underwear, a turkey breast and &;a five spot&; from this place he still thinks of as &;Cathy Montgomery&;s house.&;&; Now that&;s got to appeal to that cleancut college/military demo and the advertisers! Or at least to Skoal.
Tags:death-of-magazines, Hugh-Hefner, Kevin-Bacon, Playboy, Secrets of Men's Magazines Posted in death-of-magazines, Playboy, Secrets of Men's Magazines | 2 Comments &;
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