California Adventure? According to Dawn Chmielewski, “Walt Disney Imagineering melded the interactive elements of a video game with the kind of immersive 3-D experience of an amusement park to create Toy Story Midway Mania, a ride opening today at Disney’s California Adventure park in Anaheim.” We can see it now, frazzled parents screaming at their kids to put down their damn Game Boys so they can, um, play a video game.

Gay-A-Palooza: The first gay marriages in the state inspire SWAT-team like coverage, with Tony Perry And Tami Abdollah covering a Marine’s wedding in San Diego, Carla Hall reporting from Beverly Hills, John Glionna filing from San Francisco, Bruce Wallace reporting from Tokyo, Duke Helfand, Jessica Garrison, Jean-Paul Renaud, Rich Connell, Sandy Banks, Dana Parsons reporting from L..A and Orange County. (Former LAT reporter Jean Pasco even got into the act, being quoted as the current Orange County recorder spokeswoman.)

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A Looming Question In The OJ Case: Why isn’t Thomas Riccio behind bars? It sounds as though the auctioneer who led OJ to the memorabilia dealers was playing reality show producer. Except illegally and in a way that could have gotten someone killed: He secretly taped the confrontation, and insinuated that he sold the tape to TMZ.

The Sex Pistols Reunite: Which totally explains why we’re seeing a rash of teenagers with mohawks.

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Since everyone has issues, we asked Moehringer to air some of his. Instead, he send us some thoughtful responses:

Q. Did you have any say in the how the film portrays the journalist character? And did you worry that people would mix you up with the fictional journalist?

A: I had no say in how the film portrays anyone. Zero. Which was fitting, because this film isn’t my story. It uses my story as a starting point, a framework, to tell a very different story, about a very different kind of reporter.

Of course I initially hoped to have lots of say. When I first sold the story 10 years ago, I asked to write the screenplay. Studio execs said no. They already had a screenwriter in mind. Also, they knew I’d be wedded to the facts, which they felt were not conducive to high drama. Maybe they were right. Reporter on the phone for five hours? Reporter reading a book about boxing? Such scenes might please journalists, but for a movie, I guess, you need a little more pizazz. The studio felt the reporter character needed to be juiced up, and I sympathize. Ask my friends. I’m boring.

I never worried about a mix-up, because whenever I watch a film I know that “based on a true story” can mean anything. Not long ago I saw that Adam Sandler comedy, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. Someone told me it was based on a true story. I thought that claim was the funniest thing about the movie.

Also, so much about Resurrecting the Champ is obviously fictionalized. It’s based on a story by J.R. Moehringer—but the protagonist isn’t named J.R. Moehringer. I trust that sends a loud and clear message to audiences right off the bat: License has been taken, facts have been altered. Also, the newspaper where I worked, the names of my bosses and coworkers, the essentials of my bio (I don’t have a wife and son), the location of the story, even the real name of the homeless boxer —- it’s all changed. So I assume audiences understand: Hollywood equals fiction.

continued…

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Resurrecting the Telephone: Columnist Dana Parsons does an admirable job defending J.R. Moehringer, saying a film based on one of his stories doesn’t tell as rich a tale as the one Moehringer actually lived/wrote. But Parsons writes the whole column without ever once calling his former colleague to find out what he thought about it.

Nothing’s Sacred To The Trib: KTLA’s historic digs on Sunset Boulevard is for sale by Tribune Co. The building has been around since 1919, or the beginning of time in L.A. years, and used to house Warner Bros. Studio. Now — who knows? — it could become a Quiznos.

Say “Hulu” to YouTube’s Rival: NBC and News Corp. finally named their YouTube rival, christening it “Hulu,” because “it is short, easy to spell and rhymes with itself.” Not unlike “poo-poo.”

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