Last night, journalists gathered at the Koreatown bar HMS Bounty for Hacks' Lounge, a party usually hosted by Vanity Fair contributing editor Richard Rushfield. This time, however, Rushfield was absent-- reportedly on a vision quest in the Sequoias-- and LA Weekly wordsmith Paul Cullum took the reins.

Also in the mix were a number of television writers. Here's how to tell the difference between journalists and TV writers: when the check comes, the journalists are the ones in the bathroom.

Famous pundit Mickey Kaus surveys the crowd. A note about Mickey: when he was a teen, he arranged for the Velvet Underground to play at his high school. In fact, there's an early demo of 'Sweet Jane' circulating on bootlegs called 'Sweet Mickey' with a verse about welfare reform.

LA Times reporter Charles Duhigg with the History Channel's Danielle Parsons and 'Dennis Miller' producer Kevin Bleyer. Note to LA Times staffers: Charles told me he spits in the half-and-half in the break room.