I am really bummed I missed the convention on Sunday but this made up for it. I’ll remember it every time I walk by his star. Safe journeys Scotty…

More of my photography can be found on my photoblog if you’re interested.
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I’ve been planning forever now to write entries about the Neckface show at New Image Art, the David Choe show at Kantor Gallery, and the “Yosemite Studio” open studio party a few weeks back. So how excited am I to discover local art phenom Jeff Soto has been writing dailies for Fecal Face this week and managed to cover all three in a single post! Now I don’t have to write it, and you get to hear about it all with commentary from the man himself (as well as much better photos than I had). While you’re there, you may as well go back and read the rest of the week. It’s alwasy interesting to me to read about the day-to-day life of a professional artist/illustrator, and he still lives and works in Riverside.

We’re making a bunch of changes around the site so you might notice a bunch of broken images here and there. Sorry bout that. We’re fixing things as fast as we can but it might take a day or so before we’re totally back up to snuff.

I know the collective baseball media hivemind is ready to gift Barry Bonds the NL MVP award yet again, but it seems to me in all the various stories, segments, and discussions about this topic, they 1) make it seem a foregone conclusion and 2) talk about his at-bat statistics. The award is *not* for best On-Base Percentage.

Someone on ESPN earlier today finally mentioned how mediocre the Giants would be without him. Perhaps, but the Giants are not breathing down the neck of the Dodgers and fighting in the wildcard race only because of Barry. I can think of at least one other player, pitcher Jason Schmidt, who they can thank for their success this year, among others.

I’m hoping that the other worthy candidates are truly and seriously considered for the award. And of course as a Dodger fan, I can name my candidate pretty easily. ;)

I was waiting in line to pick up the tix for today’s showing of Hero at the Arclight when around the corner comes none other than Nicole Kidman! She was there with some dude but was standing no more than 3 feet from me. I’m not usually a mark for celeb sightings but it was Nicole fucking Kidman at the Arclight! C’mon. That’s pretty damn cool. I didn’t realize she was 7 feet tall. Big girl but damn if she doesn’t have a tiny little ass that would fit on a butter plate. My m4d ph0t0g sk1llz failed me and I was too stunned to whip out the phone cam. I would be a bad paparazzi. But a decent human being I guess ;-) The only idiot who bothered her was an employee who ran after her to get an autograph on a napkin. I hope she was summarily dismissed then shot. That’s uncool for the staff to bug celebs like that. All she wanted to do was come see a movie.

Veteran KTLA Anchor Larry McCormick Dies

Larry McCormick, a longtime television journalist and one of the first African American newsmen in Los Angeles, died Friday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after a lengthy illness. Throughout his 43-year broadcasting career, McCormick hosted musical programs, radio and television talk shows, TV game shows, and did football play-by-play. He wrote, narrated and produced television and radio documentaries. He was 71.

Larry McCormick Obituary (Video)
Southland Pays Tribute to McCormick (Video)
LA Times story
Photos
More Video
Message Board for your comments
Larry Receives his Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Public Memorial Service Information

One of my former co-workers at the network sent me a link to this story. It seems that local talk jock Tom Leykis has been assaulted by a listener he pissed off in Seattle. (So far I haven’t seen any Seattle metbloggers pick up on this.)

I’m not saying Leykis deserved to be kicked in the head, but I do think it was just a matter of time before something like this happened. Most of Leykis’ listener events involve large amounts of alcohol and gratutious female nakedity (thanks to Teebubble for the great word). He had to know that one day things were going to get out of hand… beyond getting sued (which has already happened), that is.

Shock jock Tom Leykis says he was attacked in Seattle
Tom Leykis said his injury required 17 stitches.

Seattle police are looking for radio listeners who allegedly assaulted syndicated shock jock Tom Leykis outside a Seattle bar early Monday.

Leykis said yesterday that the attack left him with 17 stitches above his right eye. His call-in show originates in Los Angeles and airs afternoons on Seattle’s KQBZ-FM (100.7). Reached by phone in Los Angeles, Leykis said the attack occurred during one of his regular trips to broadcast from Seattle, where for several years he’s maintained a large fan base.

Leykis said he had stepped outside of the Five Point Cafe, 415 Cedar St., near Fisher Plaza, about 3:45 a.m. when a man began talking to him and another kicked him in the head. “I was minding my own business. It was a person who knew who I was from the radio.” [full story]

What I’m surprised about is that it happened in Seattle. Who’d have thunk it?

This story reminds me that Leykis signed the above headshot for me once upon a time (he doesn’t look like that anymore) & I’ve had it sitting in storage. Maybe this is a good time to sell it on eBay?

I’ve been singing the praises of my new neighrhood of Silver Lake ever since I moved in two months ago. But today I received a sign that perhaps its not the idyll I think it is. I got home today to discover that my apartment had been broken into. There were definite signs of forced entry on the front door. Inside, it took me a long time to figure out what had happened. Virtually nothing was gone. A photobox had been upturned and the contents scattered on my bed. A container where I keep my stash of pennies and laundry quarters was sitting, empty, on my couch. A handful of coins was scattered across my floor. “Take photos of the layout and the door damage, ” I thought. “Great, now where’s my camera? Hey, where’s my camera!”

So, a 2MB digital camera, about five dollars in pennies and quarters, and nothing else taken. Not my new TV. Not the DVD player and VCR sitting, disconnected and extremely portable, on my floor. All in all, could have been a whole lot worse.

Now, anybody know a good locksmith?

It’s not exactly rare to sight a pornstar in our fair city, but I’m guessing that it doesn’t usually happen inside a book store. Fans of both the written word and the tawdry flesh will be happy to hear that the latest stop in Jenna Jameson’s 10-city book tour is tonight at Book Soup (8818 Sunset Blvd). Mrs. Jameson will be signing copies of her new memoir How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale starting at 7:00 p.m. I’m willing to be that there’s already a line.

Extra Bonus: If you’re a McSweeney’s fan, they’re also hosting Dave Eggers presenting and signing Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans: The Best of McSweeneyís, Humor Category: 1998 - 2003 on Tuesday, August 31st at 7:00 p.m. Start flexing your brain now.

I’ve been pretty excited to see that one of my favorite street artists has recently been hitting up our fair city. You may have seen these hanging arrow mobiles before, and if you’ve ever wondered, they’re the work of Above. Not to be confused with the shoe tossing of Skewville, also visible in a few spots around town. So far, most of what I’ve seen has been in the Melrose/LaBrea (La Brea/Waring, Beverly/Detroit, Sunset/Fairfax, Santa Monica/Detroit) area but if he’s still in town you can be sure they’ll pop up in more spots. I’m dying to know how he got up at Sunset/Fairfax.