Before Sunday’s Lakers-Mavericks game, Dallas owner Mark Cuban suggested that Los Angeles should use their amnesty clause (fancy way of saying release) on Kobe Bryant in the offseason.

Kobe Bryant being Kobe Bryant, took Cuban’s comments to heart and carried the Lakers on his back in a 103-99 victory with 38 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists.

If that wasn’t bad enough for Cuban to swallow, Bryant tweeted the following after the game:

Amnesty THAT

— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) February 24, 2013

Welp.

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Oh my! George Takei clearly wins Twitter for the night. There will no doubt be 8,000 “Draft George Takei” Facebook pages by this time tomorrow.

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The odds-on favorite to win Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars tonight is Django Unchained. If and when Quentin Tarantino bounds to the stage, he will be handed his second such trophy by a 25-year-old UCLA Master’s film student for whom the “M” is silent.

Tatenda Mbudzi (last name pronounced “Budzi”) is one of six lucky film students replacing the traditional trophy models of shows past. In addition to Best Original Screenplay, he is scheduled to hand out hardware for Best Visual Effects, Best Documentary Feature and Best Supporting Actress.

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As Daniel Miller reminds in the LA Times, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is famously finicky when it comes to all injurious and unlicensed use of their golden trademark. However, even with some more high-priced assistance from Quinn Emanuel, it’s unlikely AMPAS can make the New York Post pay for this:

Today’s two-word exclamatory is another instant-classic NYP front page headline, transposing the business of a scandalous South African murder case onto the vaunted Dolby Theatre red carpet. With large-font, surround headline sound.

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During a Friday discussion sponsored by the Orange County chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (OCPRSA), Register publisher Aaron Kushner highlighted some of the newest components of his print media broadside. Or, as moderator Steve Churm framed it, “new chapter in American journalism.”

Starting in April, two magazines published by Churm’s recently Register-acquired firm (OC Family, OC METRO) will be bundled with the Monday print edition of the newspaper. Kushner also urged attendees to make sure their clients take advantage of his publication’s BUSINESSPremier program:

The membership program provides seven-day business subscribers with a once-a-week advertising presence in a community newspaper valued at more than $1,500, free help wanted ads and other business-building benefits.

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Chief LA correspondent Kate Aurthur shared a bittersweet bit of Oscar history this week at BuzzFeed. In 1980, after the death of her beloved father Robert Alan (aka “Bob”), she traveled to LA with mom to attend the Johnny Carson-hosted ceremony that included a nomination for dad’s original-screenplay work on the Bob Fosse film All That Jazz.

Aurthur isn’t sure why she waited this long to visit the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library on Vine and finally watch the 52nd Annual Academy Awards for the first belated time. But having now done so, she is struck by the ease of Carson as host, how much the show then was not about celebrity and some possible funny business related to dad’s final film project:

My mother swore that [Best Actress presenter and original All That Jazz star] Richard Dreyfuss did a little dance step to taunt Fosse as he walked out to the podium; I will confess I didn’t notice that when I re-watched it. But if you think annoying look-at-me theatrics at awards shows are a recent development — Anne Hathaway haters, take note — you should watch Dreyfuss.

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Will Emmanuelle Riva, the oldest nominee in Academy Awards history, pull off the unlikely upset in the Best Actress category and take the trophy away from Silver Linings Playbook’s Jennifer Lawrence? Can Daniel Day-Lewis cap his streak of memorable 2012 awards season acceptance speeches with one more rousing Lincoln moment? And will Seth MacFarlane zing and dance ABC to solid overnight ratings?

On Monday, February 25 at 8:30 a.m. PT / 11:30 a.m. ET, we’ll know the answers to these questions and much more. Join Gold Derby maestro Tom O’Neil, KCRW producer Darby Maloney (The Business), TVNewser senior editor Alex Weprin, GalleyCat editor Jason Boog and FishbowlLA co-editor Richard Horgan for a special post-Oscars Google+ hangout on the Mediabistro home page, FishbowlLA and at Google+. (You can also click into that link to request a reminder notification of the event.)

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The LA Times, as you might expect, has a gaggle of reporters set to cover the Oscars on Sunday. In the press room will be Amy Kaufman (after live-streaming the red carpet for The Envelope), Yvonne Villareal, Jessica Gelt and Jasmine Elist; Rebecca Keegan will be roaming around elsewhere backstage; and Steven Zeitchik will be sitting in the audience and later at the Governor’s Ball.

And… live from the paper’s downtown newsroom, film critic Kenneth Turan (pictured) and columnist Robin Abcarian will break in during each Oscar telecast commercial block to comment on what just transpired. The stream will be available on the LAT home page, at The Envelope and via latimes.com/Oscar. It’s the first time the paper has attempted this experiment for any telecast. During the actual show, the stream will feature Oscar tidbits, trivia and stats.

Sunday’s Calendar section will include four Oscar preview covers designed by artists Chris Gall (Tucson), Jody Hewgill (Toronto), Joe Morse (Toronto) and Adam Simpson (London). The artwork will also be downloadable for paywall subscribers.

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We can’t think of a more appropriate time for someone to start as style editor at a Hollywood publication than the week of the Oscars. Such is the case with Erin Weinger, who assumed her post this past Monday with the Web side of The Hollywood Reporter.

Weinger is reporting to culture editor Degen Pener and THR.com editor Chris Krewson. She comes to the trade from the firm of interior designer Kelly Wearstler, where she was the director of digital content for fashion. Prior to that, Weinger put together the kind of hybrid Web-print journalism resume that is “de rigueur” these days:

Following internships at Time Out Chicago and Angeleno magazine, her career in fashion writing began as a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times “Image” section, where she had a weekly column highlighting retail happenings in Los Angeles.

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