Monday, April 28, 2008

Who has time to worry about wildfires?

Wildfire threatens homes in residential community approximately 20 miles from Los Angeles


About 1,000 residents were evacuated from 200 homes in Sierra Madre this weekend. The city rests up against the base of Foothill Mountains. Today fire officials said the blaze is about 30 % contained.

This didn't stop a couple from getting married in the Angeles National Forrest on Saturday. The couple actually moved their wedding date up after they originally planned for a fall wedding in mountains (because it is high fire season then! ha) The couple and their guests were eventually airlifted out of there.

The couple actually hiked in the mountains along with a wedding party of about 50 people to camp and exchange vows for the weekend. It wasn't until Sunday morning that they were aware of how close the fire was.

This week is supposed to cool down, allowing firefighters to quell the blaze.

Friday, April 25, 2008

I know San Diego is not LA, but this is somewhat newsworthy...

A shark attacked and killed a 66-year-old triathlete this morning 20 miles north of San Diego in Solana Beach.

Authorities believe it was a great white. Witnesses, his group members from the Triathlon Club of San Diego, said they actually saw Dave Martin being lifted out of the water and drug under. Four of his group members brought him on the beach where he succumbed to his injuries.

Beaches near Solana were closed indefinitely this morning. No other shark sightings were reported.

Some people blame the shark attack to the rising seal population in the San Diego beach area.

"I love the seals, but it was clearly a mistake to open a McShark in the center of the open-water swimming community of San Diego," Mitch Thrower, another triathlete, told the Los Angeles Times.

A sheriff said he couldn't recall there ever being a shark attack in the area as far as he can remember.

Now, please watch this AP VIDEO. The guy on the right, I think he's a firefighter or something, says that they're "still trying to locate the shark." funny shit. really? You guys are going to waste tax dollars and your time to try and find a great white in the big blue ocean? What are you going to do, throw the shark in jail?

Friday, April 18, 2008

Who the f%*# is Sarah Marshall?





When these billboards were first put up a month or two ago, many people across the U.S. asked themselves, "Who is Sarah Marshall and what is this all about?"

Sarah Marshall of Glendora, CA said her parents began getting calls wondering if their daughter was the target of a hate campaign. Sarah Marshall of Fort Worth, Texas told the Los Angeles Times that she got a lot of e-mails and phone calls asking her if she and her boyfriend were OK.

These billboards serve as advertisements for the comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," which comes out today. The outdoor campaign includes New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles.

The film, produced, written and directed by comedic genius Judd Apatow (of "40 Year-Old Virgin," Knocked Up") is about a guy trying to get over his ex-girlfriend.

Apatow, as with most of his films, has generated a unique buzz for his upcoming movie and, overall, created a new genre of comedy. Check out the official website for "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," it's pretty cool and interactive.

Adam Fogelson, president of marketing and distribution for Universal Pictures, told the Los Angeles Times, "We wanted to people to ask the question 'Who is Sarah Marshall?'....And everything we hoped would happen has come to pass."

Here is the official trailer:

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Villaraigosa's former lover milks it for all it's worth

Los Angeles Magazine interviews Mirthala Salinas
The woman's affair with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa caused a stir in Los Angeles and marked the beginning of the end of his near 20 year-long marriage to wife Corina

Mirthala Salinas, 35, a former L.A. news anchor, agreed to speak for the first time about her affair with Los Angeles Magazine.

The woman continually insists that for a long time her relationship with Villaraigosa (who has been known to mess around) was just a friendship. Funny, friendship, this is what she looks like:


If I were a man, I'd find it pretty hard to be just friends with this woman.

Salinas' interviewer depicts her as a soft-spoken, gentle looking and acting kind of woman. Salinas claims that much of what attracted her to Villaraigosa was his help and consideration during her mother's battle with cancer.

Salinas claims she felt "special" having had an affair with the mayor.

Word first caught on about Villaraigosa's relationship with the woman when he was spotted at her apartment complex bringing over food for a potluck dinner, she claims.

"I don't care about people who have titles," she says. "I don't. And I know people see it as, well, he is the mayor of L.A. And they have every right to think that. But there is a word in English. Star...starstrike? Starstruck? I don't get like that. Sometimes people walk next to me, and they're a huge artist, and I don't know, because I'm not into that."

Well spoken by a journalist! Better to be oblivious, nonchalant and ignorant!

After Salinas' relationship ended with the mayor, she reconciled with her former boyfriend, a real estate agent. They are now engaged. Quick on the rebound. I wonder how her fiance felt about this interview.

As much as this interview was entertaining and informative, it drags on the drama. It wasn't necessary and almost a bit untimely, as the story of the mayor's affair broke last summer. Spare Villaraigosa's family and this lady's fiance, please.

Here's Villaraigosa's old press conference, where he confessed his relationship with Salinas.


Monday, March 31, 2008

There are fans, and then there are STALKERS

This lovely looking woman was arrested Sunday evening outside actor John Cusack's home in Malibu, after a cab driver made a call to police complaining that his passenger refused to pay her fare.

While deputies arrested Emily Leatherman, 33, Cusack flagged down the sheriffs, alerting them that he recognized the woman and that she had been stalking him despite a restraining order he had against her.

Leatherman had previously thrown a bag over Cusack's fence containing love letters, rocks and screwdrivers. Authorities declined to say what was in the bag she threw over his fence this time. I wonder...a sandwich? Her crazy pills?

Leatherman's bail was set at $150,000. The woman was also arrested last year outside Tom Cruise's home on suspicion of violating a restraining order he had against her.

Another great case of celebrity stalking belongs to actor Jodie Foster. Her most recent stalker, Michael Smegal of Massachusetts, was arrested after sending many written bomb threats to the Van Nuys, CA airport that included Foster's name. Foster also had a previous admirer, John Hinckley Jr., who attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan to impress the actress.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Eastwood becomes driftwood in Schwarzenegger's book

Clint Eastwood learned last week that the governator had dropped him from California's state parks commission after more than seven years of service. Schwarzenegger's brother-in-law, Bobby Shriver, was also dropped.

The governor said their terms had expired and he wanted to give other people the opportunity to serve.

The actor and Shriver believe, however, that the governor possibly decided against their reappointment because of their opposition to a plan to build the Foothill South toll road through the surfing haven of San Onofre Beach in Orange County. The project was rejected in February.

Schwarzenegger claimed that the toll road would alleviate traffic and reduce global warming.

Eastwood says he has no hard feelings toward the governor but was confused at his sudden removal after the governor had known about the actor's opposition to the toll road for more than two years.

Eastwood, however, clashed with the California Coastal Commission in 2006 when it rejected a golf course and housing development that he and his business partners had proposed at Pebble Beach.

Hollywood actors: always ready to play the role.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Justice served by LA Court after 25 Years

Willie Earl Green wore prison scrubs and drank bad black coffee for a quarter century in San Quentin State Prison. Green was convicted of a crime he continually denied he ever committed.

Last week, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephen A. Marcus threw out Green’s conviction of murder, saying the jurors could have exonerated him if they had known the full story. Four years ago, the only witness at the scene (a South LA crack house) came forward saying he wasn’t sure if he had correctly identified the shooter as he was high on crack the night of the killing.

While in San Quentin, Green worked at the library, earned his associate of arts degree and helped run a life-skills program for inmates. Green reunited with his wife Mary who waited for his release. They were introduced by a friend in 1991, six years after his conviction and were married within a year. They had never been together outside a prison, jail or courthouse.

Green enjoyed small luxuries like milk and sugar in his coffee and getting his first look at a cell phone when he was released. Green said he is not bitter—“The system that put me in here is the same system that got me out. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best system in the world.”