Our Town

Just in case there was any doubt as to how little overlap there is between the general Silver Lake populace and the target demographic of Tyler Perry movies, “Xpo Terrorist” has brought the point home.

The above billboard, inscribed with the plaintive plea ‘Stop letting him make movies,’ sits at the corner of Fountain Ave. and Landa Street. For those unfamiliar with LA, we’re talking smack-dab in the middle of a proudly Bohemian burgh, where the music conservatory is owned by Flea and the nearby middle school has an environmental magnet.

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Max Schwartz still wants that one-on-one with Barack Obama. But for now, the Beverly Hills High School student is happy to settle for getting within about 30 feet of the commander-in-chief at LAX.

Per a fun write-up on Beverly Hills Patch, the ambitious senior was one of a dozen pool reporters accredited to cover the LA arrival of POTUS this past Wednesday. He tells Patch contributor Laurie Lande, who herself once reported for the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, how it all came about:

Schwartz called the White House press office at least monthly with interview requests and repeatedly phoned since early February when he learned the President was visiting Los Angeles… “I was added to the White House [press] email blast after several requests.”

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The LA Weekly‘s office in Culver City just got a new paint job, courtesy of graffiti artists How & Nosm. The giant mural took a week to complete and short film about the project is in the works and will be finished in March. We’re hoping it includes footage of angry local residents chucking eggs at the mural. The Weekly‘s Shelley Leopold writes that residents of motel across the street were none-too-pleased about the sounds of boom lifts in the early morning hours.

In the meanwhile, trailer after the jump.

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In LA, there are each year a number of intriguing celebrity-tinged stories involving fundraising campaigns for local schools. A FishbowlLA favorite was the time Johnny Depp passed on a personal piece of artwork to the Little Red School House in Hollywood.

James Figueroa, a reporter for the Pasadena Star-News, has shared the latest such tale. One that makes extra good sense when you consider the benevolent A-lister’s recent film credit and the fact that this particular film was shot at the very place where an urban garden was dedicated Wednesday:

Actress Cameron Diaz–who filmed Bad Teacher on Altadena’s Eliot Middle School campus during spring break in 2010–the Environmental Media Association and Sony Pictures helped fund the project with a $10,000 donation. Diaz was unavailable for the ceremony, but EMA board member and actor Mehcad Brooks, known primarily for a supporting role on HBO’s vampire saga True Blood, was on hand.

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Yesterday we shared with you some juicy snippets of a Mediabistro interview with Janice Min, editorial director of the Hollywood Reporter, in which she said that Los Angeles was seriously lacking in talented journalists.

“Hiring out here is hard,” Min complained. “There is not a bench out here at all. You struggle to find enough working journalists out here to staff your publication and to even interview.”

Min’s statements left many local journos rolling their eyes. “Gee, sorry we letcha down, Janice,” tweeted Jon Weisman of Variety.com. “That’s Minsanity,” quipped David Young of True Blue LA. LA Weekly‘s Dennis Romero called Min’s remarks B.S. “Tons of great journalists in this market,” he said.

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Over the Grammy weekend, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak decided to take a close-up look at free agent Gilbert Arenas. In no small part because Kobe Bryant has let it be known that he would welcome the addition of the former high-flying Wizard (pictured).

But since the Staples Center hardwood was overrun this weekend with music industry stars and the team’s El Segundo practice facility perhaps not quite a match for game-like conditions, Kupchak called on one of Bel Air’s well-heeled season ticket holders. Per Dave McMenamin‘s report on espn.com:

Arenas’ workout was held at the Bel Air home of Lakers season ticket holder and L.A. Gear sneaker mogul Steven Jackson. Jackson’s house includes a private basketball court, painted as a replica of the Lakers’ home floor at Staples Center. The Miami Heat practiced at Jackson’s home last month prior to playing the Los Angeles Clippers.

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There’s a very strange crime spree unfolding across LA, with high school music teachers blaming it on the rising popularity of a traditional form of Mexican music known as banda. According to the New York Times article by Ian Lovett, a theft in Bell is just the latest of many:

In the last few months, dozens of brass sousaphones–smaller tubas used in marching bands–were taken from schools in Southern California.

These mini-tubas can set parents back anywhere from $2,000 to $7,000. To frame the rise of the banda craze, Lovett talked to KCRW DJ Raoul Campos.

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From To Kill a Mockingbird to The Accused, the Oscars have always loved a good courtroom drama. But the one framing the Academy Awards this year is casting a pall over the upcoming 84th ceremony.

In Manhattan bankruptcy court yesterday, CIM/H&H Media LP fired back at Eastman Kodak, arguing that the once mighty Rochester company must honor the final nine years of a $72 million naming rights deal:

Signs on the Kodak Theatre, as well as in and around the shopping center where it is located, on street signs, freeway off-ramps, maps, and brochures, make undoing the agreement impossible, according to the filing. With the 2012 Oscars less than three weeks away, “disassociating the Kodak name from the theater before the Academy Awards show, the major event, is not practically feasible,” according to the filing.

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Talk about driving a hard bargain. The LA Times reports today that the naked man rescued by firefighters after climbing a Downtown LA radio tower only agreed to come down on the condition of hamburgers. Specifically McDonald’s hamburgers.

The man climbed to the top of the tower Wednesday night. At one point, police sources said, he asked for hamburgers from McDonald’s. Officials complied, and he agreed to come down after eating his meal.

Firefighters eventually brought the man down with the help of an impromptu pulley system. Wonder how much that rescue cost? If there’s ever been an argument for expanding the food stamp system, this would probably be it.

Photo Credit: KTLA-TV Channel 5

KCET is beefing up their programming for the month of March with a slew of new shows featuring the likes of Roy Firestone and Holly Robinson Peete.

Firestone returns as host of LA Tonight With Roy Firestone, a weeklong half-hour interview series (March 12-17, 10 p.m. and midnight) that invites celebrities who live in Los Angeles to discuss their lives and current issues in today’s society. Firestone will be joined by Andre Agassi, Burt Bacharach, Chris Botti and Steve Tyrell.

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