The Tribune Co., which whether we like it or not owns the L.A. Times among other papers, declared a $4.5 billion loss in its last earnings report. Smack in the middle of that was a $3.8 billion write down that they're euphemistically calling good will.
Not sure how much good will there is in any dealings with the L.A. Times or its parent firm. But the term is generally taken by Wall Street to mean what a company is worth even if there's no cash to back that up.
Good will indeed!

LAT has two great opposing stories today:

Gas Prices Have Rock Tours Reelin'

and

Gas prices Not Seen Impacting Arts Attendance So Far

In other words, those who have, still have. And those who don't, don't to the point that they can't even rock out about how little they have. Nice.

The LAT Calendar section offers up a new feature-- 60 Seconds With... which, with any luck at all, will mean that My Favorite Weekend is dead. Bob Saget answers Mike Flaherty's questions about his naughty bits, or rather the naughty bits of his act, and it all goes meta at the end.

For the Record:

Double suicide: An article in the July 25 Calendar section about the suicides of artist Jeremy Blake and writer Theresa Duncan reported that Duncan graduated from the University of Michigan. A spokesperson for the university said Duncan was enrolled for a single semester in 1985 at the University of Michigan-Flint.

Told ya so. And really, it's not Duncan who should be taken to task here, as lots of people fudge their resumes, but rather those self- important professional journalists with their ever-so-many layers of editorial control.

Next up, "Theresa Duncan worked hard to get out of Lapeer, Mich."

Duncan was born in Lapeer, moved to Detroit as a teenager. Doesn't seem all that hard.

And of course: "sometimes crafting lengthy, heavily researched ruminations on subjects mundane and arcane". Maybe not so much.

FBLA had been worried that the LA Times wasn't going to opine on Mayor Tony and his hot tamale. Today's op-ed reminds readers about other pols who couldn't keep their pants zipped. Hard-hitting, it's not.

Cheaters who prosper
Mayors, presidents -- many have strayed. But do naughty Republicans fare better than naughty Democrats?
July 6, 2007

Compare and contrast:

The honorable thing
Rocky Delgadillo's pattern of misconduct makes him unfit to serve as L.A.'s city attorney.
July 3, 2007

Regarding Paris
An open letter to Los Angeles city and county officials.
June 9, 2007

Steve Lopez writes a sternly-worded column:

As I've said, I'd be less interested in all of this if Villaraigosa had been a great mayor. But you have to wonder if his failed agenda is connected to his extracurricular activities. And I'll let you know when I get answers to the questions I asked Villaraigosa's office Thursday.

The LA Times needs to work a little harder on security. Audrey Davidow sort of ruined Entourage for us. Writing about Zorianna Kit's house, which she and husband Bo Zenga share with HBO's Ari Gold, Davidow blabs:

By season's end (spoiler alert), the boys will relocate again, this time to a modern mansion nestled in the "bird streets" above Sunset Boulevard. Gold will move too, to a sprawling French Revival-style mansion in Brentwood.

Spoiler tags? In a print edition? Thanks a bunch.

We also love that Mrs. Ari (who may or may not be Dena, Rachel or darling) is "old money". What's old money in pay-cable land? Her dad was The Millionaire?

LA Times writer Mary McNamara moved into the critic's chair, and all those years of writing nicely--maybe too nicely-- about the stars have fallen away. She roasts Bravo's reality series, Hey Paula, to perfection, and carves it up. She writes:

But what Abdul may think makes her look wacky in a lovable and artistically driven way instead creates a portrait of a tightly wound, isolated woman who clearly thinks she is a much better version of what she actually is.

McNamara's talents had been wasted on those celebrity profiles--as a critic, she's got claws and a fresh manicure.

The LA Times needs some copy editors a little more in touch with pop culture. In a piece about indie doc. maker Ondi Timoner, we read

When I told Billy Corrigan of the Smashing Pumpkins I was making a movie about mind control,' Timoner recalled over lunch at Ammo, a Hollywood restaurant near her office, "he said, 'That's so funny. I often thought that cult leaders were lead singers who can't sing.

Or they're imaginary lead singers, like the aforementioned Corrigan. Billy Corgan, on the other hand, with the same band, just started a US tour.

Or is Timoner to blame? Nothing worse than name-dropping when you get the name wrong.

Obviously, FBLA was premature in thinking that the LA Times "My Favorite Weekend" section had hit rock bottom last week. Today's semi-someone, Bijou Philips, offers a little-known natural history factoid:

Did you know that coyotes won't eat Chihuahuas? They respect them as fellow desert creatures. There are packs of wild Chihuahuas in the deserts of Mexico.

Feral Chihuahuas can be found a little closer to home, although a pack of them roaming free is pretty much Pink Dot for coyotes.

Still, reading the musings of a mind uncorrupted by knowledge is fascinating, in a way.

Sandra Tsing Loh proclaims the official end to My Favorite Weekend in the LAT. Today's celebrity, songstress Tiffany, confided to a breathlessly waiting public that:

The dirty rice at The Blue Bayou Restaurant, adjoining the Pirates of the Caribbean, is "off the hook."

Loh says:

The already-staggering Thursday section has officially hit bottom, with a big clanging sound.

continued...