Approximately 300 union members, activists, and Los Angeles Times readers rallied downtown yesterday to protest the potential sale of the paper to right-wing billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch.

The protest was held at noon outside the downtown office of the investment firm Oaktree Capital Management, which holds the largest share of the Tribune Co. Musician Ry Cooder performed for the crowd, singing “I Don’t Want Your Millions, Mister” with special anti-Koch lyrics added.

From the LA Times coverage:

The protesters targeted Oaktree because the firm manages pension investments on behalf of unionized government employees, including those in the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.

“We don’t want that kind of thing going on with our money,” said Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. “That’s like us selling you a car so you can run us over.”

The rumor of a Tribune Co. sale to Koch Industries has already inspired multiple online petitions and vocal opposition from unions and politicians.

The LA Weekly also covered the protest, and took some great photos.

Remember that great scene in Annie Hall where kids in an elementary school classroom speak directly to the camera and indicate what they will become as adults? On Friday afternoon, a charming echo of that classic sequence unfolded at the offices of JibJab.

The company threw open its doors to celebrate the success of StoryBots, a content App aimed at families with children ages two to seven. A gaggle of kids in the target demo, mostly sons and daughters of JibJab employees, were running around the offices Friday trying out different aspects of the App, which is free to sample and costs $4.99 a month for a full interactive subscription.

At one point, a majority of those kids were seated around the JibJab boardroom table, raising their hands as co-founder Evan Spiridellis asked various questions and played animated shorts. Judging by this future career-achieving group’s response, StoryBots’ upcoming Animal Songs are going to be very popular.

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Given how the Dodgers 2013 season was truly in danger of going to the dogs this past weekend after a Friday night Marlins loss, FishbowlLA is a little surprised at the lack of bow-wow references by local sportswriters in their coverage of the first of two much needed weekend victories against the Florida visitors. Especially since the right-field All-You-Can-Eat Pavilion section on Saturday night was full of four-legged fans whose owners had paid an extra $30 to put pets in those seats.

The Dodgers are the latest team to participate in an ongoing 2013 season MLB promotion that allows dog owners to bring their pets to the park. There will be another “Bark in the Park” opportunity at Chavez Ravine on September 28. The other SoCal event of this MLB type takes place August 25 at a Giants game (the Angels are not participating).

At press time, the only canine coverage we can find is a pre-event teaser on the CBS LA website and a couple of AP shots (#6, #10) in a post-game gallery shared by the Miami Herald. There’s also the above YouTube video, showing owners and their dogs walking the warning track before the game.

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It’s been three months now since Morrison Hotel Gallery opened for west coast business in the lobby of the Sunset Marquis.

The co-owners of the flagship gallery in New York’s SoHo district spent a great deal of time looking for the right “foot traffic” location here in LA. When you add in the historic record industry vibe of the renovated establishment they chose on Alta Loma Road, it’s hard to think of a better home for an outfit that represents about 90 top-flight music photographers.

There have been a couple of dedicated exhibitions so far at the LA space highlighting the works of co-owner Henry Dilz and moonlighting musician Graham Nash. There was also a launch event late last month for the iPad book Led Zeppelin: Sound and Fury by client Neal Preston.

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Fortune magazine’s three-day conference event “Brainstorm GREEN” got off to an intriguing start this afternoon in Laguna Niguel. Actor Harrison Ford, there in his capacity as vice chair of non-profit Conservation International (CI), participated in a 2 p.m. special session with CI CEO Peter Seligmann and Fortune managing editor Andy Serwer.

The first point made by Ford is a dramatic reminder of the surprising, costly and sometimes dangerous human reactions to environmental problems:

“For instance, what’s happening with the Somali pirates, you can look at that and recognize that it’s the collapse of the fisheries, the sustainable fishing, that men equipped with boats had no other options but to be involved in piracy, and that’s cost us and the rest of our NATO partners $2 billion to try and redress. That’s the national security connection to an environment issue, conservation issue.”

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It’s not even close. With 5,399 online reviews, downtown Italian eatery Bottega Louie is miles ahead of the second “most reviewed” Los Angeles restaurant on Yelp.

This is no accident. The establishment works hard at cultivating its enviable relationship with customers. As Eater LA recently reported, Bottega Louie offers a New York-style special call-in number for VIPs.

And while most are probably not aware that today, April 24, is “Administrative Professionals’ Day,” that information is all over the Bottega Louie Facebook page. Several posts urge office supervisors to reward their underlings with the appropriate number of items from the restaurant’s separate Patisserie operation.

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It’s that time of year again. Ernst & Young has pared down its Greater LA Entrepreneur of the Year competition to a worthy group of semi-finalists. Finalists will be announced May 13 and a gala presentation held June 18 at the Beverly Hilton, hosted by FOX 11 news anchor Christine Devine.

“We typically have between 18-21 finalists and six or seven awards categories by industry,” Greater LA program manager Ashley Evans tells FishbowlLA. “The categories aren’t announced until the gala and are determined by our independent judging panel.”

From there, LA and other USA regional winners will convene in Palm Springs in November for the EY National Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, typically hosted by Jay Leno. One lucky U.S. winner will continue on to the World Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in June 2014.

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For years, lounge lizard extraordinaire Richard Cheese could never say yes to LA’s Grilled Cheese Invitational because of a same-time conflict in Las Vegas. But thanks to event founder Tim Walker‘s decision to move up this year’s edition by a week, these “two evil forces of cheese” will finally come together.

The 11th GCI will take place April 20 at downtown’s Los Angeles Center Studios (1201 West Fifth Street). Walker tells FishbowlLA this year’s interested media parties include CBS Sunday Morning, Yahoo as well as the usual blogger and local TV news suspects.

There’s even more exciting grilled cheese news from Walker’s end, courtesy of his day job as national expansion director for LA’s hugely popular Grilled Cheese Truck. To the three area vehicles and two others rolled out this year in Phoenix, more will soon be added.

“We’re looking to expand wherever there’s a city and people who like cheese,” Walker jokes. “Texas, Colorado are probably going to be next.”

“The Grilled Cheese Truck has managed to cultivate this whole world of weirdness, community and fun,” he continues. “I was doing various kinds of event planning, things like for example a Grammy after-party, and am thrilled to now also be helping spread the glory of grilled cheese further afield.”

Tickets for the 11th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational are $12 in advance, $15 at the door. Richard Cheese and his Lounge Against the Machine will perform from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. and if you’re interested in being a competitor, the entry fee ranges from $25 (amateurs) to $50 (pros). Either way, how can you not love an event featuring the competition categories Honey Pot, Kama Sutra, Love, American Style and Missionary Position.

We second the astonished tone of HuffPost Home associate editor Michelle Manetti.

In a weekend item, she expressed amazement that syndicated radio show legend Casey Kasem and wife Jean have their Holmby Hills home on the market for a whopping $42 million. What catches everyone’s attention is that if successful, the couple will reap something in the neighborhood of a 2500% profit. Not including any subsequent improvements, they paid under two million for the residence back in 1989.

Redfin.com has a nice portfolio of pictures. There’s a heart-shaped pool and sunken tennis court in the back, four fireplaces, and much more.

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Sorry, Gary Owens, but one of very best things to ever happen to “beautiful downtown Burbank” is now officially ear-marked for February 2014 east coast relocation. The Tonight Show will soon be Jimmy Fallon‘s to re-invent, within Lorne Michaels walking distance.

As LA Times reporter Joe Flint recently reminded, it was Owens who first coined the phrase as a radio announcer and then made it famous on Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In. Although NBC may well  find a worthy TV ratings successor to occupy the main studio at Alameda and Olive, it will never quite be the same:

Carson, who moved The Tonight Show from New York to Los Angeles in 1972, also used the “beautiful downtown Burbank” line but never tried to take credit for it.

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