The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies announced the winners for the 2009 AltWeekly Awards in Tucson last Friday, and LA Weekly led the pack in the large-circulation division. The LAW has historically done well at the AAN awards, but with massive budget cuts and the recent firing of kick-ass editor-in-chief Laurie Ochoa, it seems plausible the paper's winning streak could slow in future years. Fingers crossed for 2010.

LAW won four first place awards in the following categories:

FOOD WRITING-
Counter Intelligence by Jonathan Gold

ARTS FEATURE-
No Exit Plan and The Life and Death of JT Leroy by Nancy Rommelmann

EDITORIAL LAYOUT-
Death of a Hollywood Beauty by Darrick Rainey

SPECIAL SECTION-
LA People 2008 by Laurie Ochoa and LA Weekly staff

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Our sister blog Webnewser has the disheartening news:

Evite laid off nine of its 38 employees as part of a reorganization by its parent company, IAC, paidContent reported.

Among those affected were general manager Rosanna McCollough and vice president of marketing Lariayn Payne.

After hearing about the layoffs, we felt a pang of guilt when RSVPing to a birthday party via Evite rival Socializr. Evite will always be our first choice for events when inviting folks to %#$@! stubborn to join Facebook.

Music producer Quincy Jones hasn't swallowed the cult of MJ Kool-Aid. In a no-bullshit interview with Details about his deceased friend, Jones talks candidly about Jackson's skin, his kids, and that damn chimp:

Q: Did you ever meet Bubbles?
A: Are you kidding me? He bit a hole in my daughter's hand! Rashida's hand. Rashida Jones - did you see I Love You, Man? That's my daughter. She was a little girl. And Bubbles bit her hand. Michael used to bring Muscles and Bubbles by the house all the time, you know.

Q: [I]t must've been so disturbing to see Michael's face turn into what it turned into.
A: It's ridiculous, man! Chemical peels and all of it. And I don't understand it. But he obviously didn't want to be black.
Q: Is that what it was?
A: Well, what do you think? You see his kids?

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The Michael Jackson memorial service at the Staples Center will be open to fans willing to pay the cover charge. RadarOnline.com has the latest:

Family, friends and VIPS will have seats on the main floor for The Tuesday, July 7th Staples service, first reported by RadarOnline.com, while the general public will be plucking down $25 to sit in the stands.

The memorial service will feel like a concert production featuring guest speakers, a lot of music and video screens inside and outside of Staples, a source close to the planning tells RadarOnline.com.

Michael Jackson's close friend Elizabeth Taylor is expected to attend, along with Diana Ross.

T-shirts that were going to be sold on Michael's upcoming "This Is It" tour will not go to waste. They will be sold outside Staples to people entering the service.

Will the memorial service make a profit? Who gets the proceeds?

Previously on FBLA:
The Jackson Memorial and the Actual Ringling Bros. Circus

There hasn't been an official proclamation or anything, but according to Entertainment Weekly, Neil Patrick Harris has signed on to host the Emmy Awards:

Multiple sources are now confirming that the legen...dary How I Met Your Mother cad has formally signed on to emcee the 61st annual ceremony, which airs Sept. 20 on CBS.

An official announcement is expected early next week.

He has his work cut out for him. The Emmys sorta sucked last year.

This is comedian Eugene Cordero taking on Jon & Kate Plus 8. Hilarious.

via Buzzfeed

You couldn't write stuff this weird: The family of Michael Jackson and the city of Los Angeles have been trying to coordinate a memorial for the swarms of mourners. The Coliseum has been mentioned. Reports vary minute to minute. We got several contradicting alerts, emails and tweets yesterday about the event.

But this is our favorite aside about the Staples Center, the LAT reports today:

The Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus has long been scheduled to appear at Staples next Wednesday through Sunday, July 12. Traditionally, the Parade of the Elephants - in which the circus' elephants walk, trunk to tail, through downtown to Staples -- is held as circus performers arrive in town.

This year, that parade was scheduled for Tuesday morning - followed by a visit by local elementary school children who were to aid in the animals' feeding. One source familiar with the planning process said that the parade would continue but that the schoolchildren would have to wait.

The Jackson memorial could double as an actual circus parade? Just by sheer coincidence?!

Previously on FBLA:

LAT Andrew Blankstein was on again and this time making an appearance was TheWrap's Sharon Waxman.

Nikki Finke is not happy with the Internet Movie Database. She writes on Deadline Hollywood Daily:

Bad enough that free IMDB (not pay IMDB Pro) has grown increasingly unreliable as a source of accurate and up-to-date showbiz info. But I'm suddenly flooded with angry emails complaining about IMDB's latest moronic decision: moving writers down to "Additional Details" so that now only directors and the major cast are at the top of the movie's home page there. This is an outrage! (And it's long been an outrage that below-the-line crew are relegated to a different page...)

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The frenzy continues. Our sister blog PRNewser reports that "The Jackson family just hired New York-based PR firm Sunshine & Sachs to handle all duties regarding the death of Michael Jackson." The PR firm released a statement that "the Jackson family is officially stating that there will be no public or private viewing at Neverland. Plans are underway regarding a public memorial for Michael Jackson, and we will announce those plans shortly."

MJ's will was filed this morning in L.A. Superior Court. The LA Times reports, the pop superstar "wanted music legend Diana Ross to care for his three children in the event his mother [Katherine Jackson] was unable to act as guardian, according to a will he signed seven years ago."

And the crazies are coming out of the woodwork. TMZ.com has the scoop on the lunatic legal claim of one Nona Paris Lola Ankhesenamun Jackson, who says she's MJ's wife and wants all his money and the kids. She filed a petition in L.A. County Superior Court and everything.

Laura Chick, the former Los Angeles City Controller and current state inspector general, is featured in the July issue of Governing magazine. Seems she's been busy:

It took Laura Chick barely a month in Sacramento to start making waves. As California's new inspector general charged with overseeing how the state spends its federal stimulus money, she exceeded her job description and pressed for posting online all the state's internal audits. She wanted any flaws in the way state agencies handle taxpayer money - whatever their source - to be accessible to interested citizens, to say nothing of the media.

That's our girl.

Previously on FBLA:
Laura Chick Slams City's Hiring Practices
Laura Chick Is California's New Inspector General
Laura Chick Tolerates A Room Full Of Journalists For An Entire Evening

found via LA Observed

Meltdown Comics is hosting a book signing with Grant Morrison this evening. Clive Barker will be there for a brief conversation with Morrison prior to the signing. Morrison has two new works to sign, comic Batman and Robin and the hardcover release of the series Final Crisis. Music will be provided by iheartcomix.com & DJ Franki Chan.

The event begins at 6 pm. Meltdown is located at 7522 Sunset Blvd. More info at the Melt Blog.