We have to hand it to local novelist Sven Michael Davison. He has a flair for self-promotion.

Earlier this year, right after the publication of his cyberpunk futuristic novel State of Mind, he did a Q&A interview under the guise of his fictional lead character, Jake Travissi. This week, with all the OccupyLA business going down, he has blasted out a new press release that aligns both the novel and its author more directly with the movement:

Davison has worked as a trailer copywriter at Paramount Pictures and a staff screenwriter for several other smaller production companies. In the past two years he has experienced a seventy-five percent reduction in income, “short selling” a home, and doing what it takes to provide for his family and survive in this lean decade. He acknowledges there has always been a disparity in income and is thankful there are no more nineteenth century debtors prisons.

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David Andrew Armstrong was sentenced to seven years in prison for the death of NBC Universal studio executive and childhood friend Brian Kaplon.

Armstrong pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in September after he shot Kaplon (pictured) on St. Patrick’s Day in Porter Ranch while showing off his AR-15 semiautomatic rifle.

He was also ordered to pay $3.7 million to the victim’s family. Kaplon worked in the finance department at NBC Universal.

It’s going to be quite the 50th high school reunion next June for former Hollywood studio exec Sherry Lansing (pictured). Thanks to her pledge of $5 million to the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, she will be basking in not just the glow of her Fox, Paramount and philanthropic success, but also that of a major financial backer.

Lansing’s donation to the “Laboratory +” $55 million drive will go mainly towards the Sherry Lansing Theatre, a 250-seat auditorium to be used as the primary rehearsal space for the high school’s theater and other peforming arts programs. Per today’s announcement:

“Attending the Lab Schools was one of the most important experiences of my life,” said Lansing. “It shaped my value system. I think what I remember most is that the Lab Schools were a non-judgmental environment, where we were totally free to be ourselves. What was important was academics–not other values that people might think are important, such as social status or how you look.”

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Erica Zora Wrightson‘s essay “Artichoke,” published in the debut issue of Slake, was just named a 2011 “Notable Essay” in this year’s edition of The Best American Essays.

Says Slake editor Joe Donnelly: “We published this meditation on some of her final memories of her mother in our first issue, and co-editor Laurie Ochoa likes to say it was one of the first pieces she received that told her Slake was going to be special.”

Wrightson’s achievement is great news for a mag which is in the midst of a Kickstarter fundraising drive. The more attention the better.

Getty Images announced today that it has landed new video distribution deals with Bloomberg, American Museum of Natural History, MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, Barcroft Media and Boston PBS station WGBH.

“We are delighted to partner with these prestigious companies to make their video available to customers across all segments, particularly those in media, broadcast and education.” Getty’s Director of Video Partner Development Karen McLaughlin said in a release. “In addition, we look forward to generating new commercial licensing opportunities for these partners by making their content available globally on our websites.”

The partnership with Bloomberg is especially interesting, because one would think a for-profit media company with a TV wing and a huge multimedia imprint would know how to monetize its own video content.

Press release after the jump.

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Although fiftyish fading billboard bombshell Angelyne ditched Twitter personally in 2007 after a dozen or so trailblazing tweets, she remains a presence on the social media network. All thanks to her trademark pink Corvette.

The sight of Angelyne herself is not what it used to be. But her instantly recognizable mode of transportation remains unblemished, continuing to provide a thrill to anyone who catches sight of it on the streets of LA.  Even someone like @nerdist Chris Hardwick, responsible for picture at right. FishbowlLA would not be at all surprised if this Idaho gal ultimately chooses to be buried in the car or at least, per specific instructions, have her ashes dispersed from the passenger side window.

While Angelyne’s website has been downscaled to a trunk full of mags and her billboards are today less frequent, folks who come upon the Corvette in Chatsworth, a Pavillions parking lot and many other locations cannot upload Twitpics fast enough.

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This morning, much has rightly been made about the restrictions imposed by LAPD on journalists attempting to cover the clearing of the OccupyLA encampment. LAist tweeted last night that LAPD went so far as to prohibit journalists from tweeting who were embedded with the LAPD.

What was clear from watching live video footage of the raid last night, was that journalists who were not embedded with police–and subject to their seemingly arbitrary embargoes–were under certain risk of arrest should they attempt to cover the crackdown from inside the confines of a police cordon. This created a virtual media blackout of what was actually happening inside the zone where police were arresting people.

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A big complaint of Marti Rulli, co-author of the 2009 book Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour is that many journalists writing about the re-opening of the investigation into the drowning death of actress Natalie Wood have failed to actually read the book. She’s absolutely right on that point.

FishbowlLA has read the book. It is very cleverly structured, extremely well-written and though faithful to a single point of view (that of co-author and former ship captain Dennis Davern), full of details and context that would likely amaze many reporters. For example, how many of these journalists know about Wagner allegedly keeping Davern under the equivalent of house arrest for months on end after the November 29, 1981 incident, forcing the dutiful employee to stay at the Wagner residence and abide by a 10 p.m. curfew?

However, for the purposes of this item, the detail we want to share is a recollection from Davern about the ways in which the National Enquirer tried to get him to spill his story in the fall of 1983. After a snoop posing as a potential buyer of Splendour failed to get Davern to let him photograph the inside of the boat, this wining-and-dining individual—Peter Williams—brought along one evening a leggy, female accomplice. Per the book:

She, too, wanted “business-related” photographs of Splendour’s interior. Dennis refused, but Elizabeth invited him back to her apartment for dinner. “We were on the sofa in her apartment,” Dennis recounted, “and she put her hand inside my shirt… She started to take off her clothes, so I took off mine. We went at it…”

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While Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is singing the praises of how well the LAPD handled the Occupy LA raid, we wanted to share this clip of a photographer getting manhandled by the police.

I guess he wasn’t one of the “lucky” 12 media members that were credentialed.

Thelma Adams has just joined Yahoo! as a contributing editor to the site. The longtime Us Weekly film critic is being brought on to head the site’s awards season coverage for Y! Movies. Her first post went up late yesterday. Adams tells Yahoo’s Dylan Stableford this is her “first big jump from years in print media.”

We’ll see how she likes the online waters. Be careful! They’re filled with trolls!