blech.

“That cellphone users’ ‘Bill of Rights’ the California Public Utility Commission approved back in May? Yeah, they’re
not doing that any more. This past Thursday the Commission voted 3 to 1 to ‘suspend’ the Telecommunications Consumer
Bill of Rights, which gave subscribers 30 days to cancel their contract after signing up, required that rates be
spelled out more clearly, and that carriers couldn’t try to play off recovery fees (like for number portability) as
mandatory government taxes. Why the turnaround? The addition of new, more industry-friendly commissioners appointed by
Governor Schwarzenegger, who opposed the rules from day one. [Via TechDirt and Engadget]

Going through everything I missed the last few days and here’s some interesting LA bits I found in my RSS reader…

Media Bistro has launched Fishbowl LA - this is a gossip blog about LA media.

LA Press Club is awarding bloggers - or at least, has added blogging categories to it’s awards.

LA Voice was down - but is now back - server hell. We feel their pain.

LA Blogs gets specific - The most useful blog in Los Angeles just got better. Jonah says:

In response to some feedback from bloggers as well as a brainstorming session I had with Heather and eric, there are some new features being rolled into LABLogs. The LA Digest posts are now going to be broken into more specific categories to allow for easier browsing. As you can see, this post is all about eating in Los Angeles. I thought about breaking it down into more specific categories, like cuisine type and location, but I think that this format will encourage more Los Angeles exploration.

Everyone knows I have the utmost respect for Jonah and everything he’s done with LA blogs. I’ve met Eric a few times and he’s got some great ideas. I’ve never met Heather but I love her blog and always enjoy reading her comments. If these three are teaming up, I know the results are going to be exciting.

CD on Pedro Bashing - From the LA Times no less!

I should have had my camera with me today.

Came out of my office building after work and headed to the Back 40 where I parked this morning. About halfway there, a chainlink fence divides the lot, and perched on top of it were a pair of crows, yelling about something.

I glanced in the direction they were looking and stopped short, uttering a Keanu-like “Whoa.” A gorgeous red-tailed hawk was standing in the grass about 15 feet away from the crows. I realized in a moment the hawk was actually standing on top of the carcass of something I couldn’t identify quite yet. The bird occasionally reached its beak down and ripped a chunk out of its catch — what turned out to be another bird, a pigeon I think.

Disturbed by my approach, the crows gave their last yells and flew off, leaving me to watch the hawk ripping chunks of pigeon away, feathers flying, as it dug for the good meat. It spared me a few glances, but I was a good dozen yards away and not a threat as I stood there frozen for a few minutes.

Of course I didn’t bring my camera with me today.

I left the hawk in peace and continued to my car. As I was on my way out of the lot, I pulled up about where the crows had been and was able to watch the hawk through the fence, as even my car didn’t freak him out. Only another minute or two, then I continued my journey home.

Where I put the camera in my backpack.

For the past several weeks, Iíve been working with the Screenwriting Museum Project, a new non-profit in Santa Monica that is devoted to exploring the often-overlooked role of writers in film and television history. The first exhibit, currently scheduled to go up in March, is called ìTwelve Moments That Changed Screenwriting,î and Iíve been doing a lot of the research into which moments are going to make the cut. Amazingly, as of now, weíve only been able to find one book which covers screenwriting from a historical standpoint, and one book which covers television writing. Not surprisingly, they’re by the same author.

Iím hoping to get a blog started on the museum site where we can share some of things weíve uncovered in our research, as well as provide an avenue for people to share their own stories, anecdotes, or insights into Hollywood screenwriting and its neglected history. Until that happens, Iím going to post here about some of the things that I find, as a kind of open-source documenting of the process of developing this exhibit.

For example, one of the moments weíre targeting is the shift in control over television shows. One source, written in the early 80s, talks about a burgeoning trend of writers becoming producers in order to retain more creative control - specifically citing writer-producers like Norman Lear, James L. Brooks, and Garry Marshall, but also acknowledging that ìmany of the most able producers have traveled this road, but seldom have any remained in the category for extended periods.î
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According to this Metrolink website news story, things will be back to normal (or as normal as they can be after recent events) as of tomorrow:

Beginning Monday morning, Jan. 31, Metrolink trains will begin operating on their regular schedules on the Ventura County and Antelope Valley Lines. We would like to thank you for your continued patronage and support during these difficult times. Thank you for riding Metrolink.

On the front page, the site mentions that one of their own employees, Conductor Tom Ormiston, perished in the crash. His funeral is 11:30 tomorrow morning at Forest Lawn. (Details here regarding donations and cards.) nbc4.tv has a list of the other folks who were lost, lives cut short in this senseless tragedy.

Today I went out on my second whale watch tour out of Redondo Sportfishing - I’m still in training as a docent, and a little shy about taking the mic, but it was a fabulous trip in spite of my lack of narrative input!

The seas this morning were glassy smooth, with nary a cloud in the sky (okay, I’m a little sunburned).

The trip started with the promise of a whale that was spotted off Manhattan Beach and as we searched for it we came across a spirited pod of about 200 short-beaked common dolphins. They swam with the boat, as you can see from the photos below (click for larger 100k versions), the clear water made for excellent viewing of them swimming below us.


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Just wanna shine the Blogging.la spotlight on B.la commenter Don Garza who I found profiled and interviewed as downtown L.A.’s very own official town crier in the “Metropolis” feature of today’s Los Angeles Times Magazine (registration may be required).

The 33-year-old Don, as Kay Fanslow writes, is a “Gulf War veteran who has been diagnosed with demyelinating peripheral neuropathy, an autoimmune disorder,” and “lives on disability in downtown’s Central City East area where he volunteers as a community activist when not on town crier duty.”

Says Don, “I celebrate every part of downtown, whether it’s the streets, or artists-in-residence housing, or SRO-type housing or the new market-rate housing in the lofts. Neighborhood councils must have posting sites for agendas, minutes. Having a town crier go out and post in those places is something I’m supposed to do. I emcee the Artwalk in the Old Bank District. I come up with my own ideas on how to bring pageantry and ceremony to the community.”

As you might have heard Caryn is moderating a panel at artLA this morning called Art Criticsim Today: how techonology and accessibility are influencing art writing. Panelists include Tyler Green (MAN and Bloomberg), Doug Harvery (LA Weekly) and Christopher Miles (Artforum, Flaunt, and co-curator of THING at the Hammer). It takes place at the Double Tree Suites on 4th Street in Santa Monica - across from artLA (Civic Auditorium) in the Carousel Ballroom. It begins at 10am and tickets are $10. Anyway, since she’s going to be wrapped up with the panel she won’t be able to blog it, so I’m stepping up. There’s wi-fi at the Double Tree (unlike at artLA) so I’ll try to transcribe as much of it as I can, and post some images as well. That will be posted on art.blogging.la of course, and I’ll try to do it real time, so stay tuned.

UPDATE: Here it is!

I’ll dispense with my usual “Take A Hike” blatherings, in large part because today’s trek was at Runyon Canyon Park, and there’s little I can add to what I assume most might know about this popular piece of off-leash dogpark open space just a couple blocks up from Hollywood Boulevard. Suffice it to say there are tons of people with tons of dogs, and some of the most glorious views of the L.A. basin, such as the panorama below that I cobbled together from five snaps taken from the lowest of the three vista points found in the park’s 130 acres (click on it for a pop-up window for a much larger version).