Extra Extra: Prepare to Rock

• Can we please do the OPPOSITE of adding fuel to these fires? A Sun Valley day laborer has been charged with arson after he was caught attempting to start a blaze in the Woodland Hills area earlier this week.
• Do you use your cell phone? Of course you do. The future of this important device lies in the hands of visionaries, such as the ones who are attending MobileCampLA on Sunday. And you too can learn and teach others about your mobile skills. You can't beat this for free with an RSVP, can you? Mobile gaming, entrepreneurship, social mobility and presence, near field communication, physical hyperlinking, mobile storytelling, the importance of open standards, protocols, platforms, linux based devices, and mobility on other continents. Is there a "hack my cell phone bill to be free" topic?
• An awesome multi-media experience, sponsored by Disney, UCLA, and the California State Park system, is coming to downtown Los Angeles: "'Junction' brings to life the rich history of the people and places of this corner of Los Angeles and showcases the interwoven relationships of the city's reinventions and rhetoric, its mythologies and massive infrastructure, and the movement of its peoples."
• Two more bodies were found dead at a home in Highland Valley, an unincorporated neighborhood near Poway where fires burned down a number of out-of-the-way homes. Authorities are still surprised that casualty rates have been so low.
• This is why I love Catholics: the Vatican is clearing up a 700-year-old misconception about the Knights Templar, and they are commissioning a super cool expensive book to display Pope Clement V's official pope-y documents that concluded that the Knights were not in fact guilty of heresy.
• Historic preservationists are suing the Los Angeles School District over their plans to raze the Cocoanut Grove ballroom. The LAUSD scoffs: '"The conservancy would be a lot better off trying to sue to suspend the laws of gravity," said Kevin Reed, L.A. Unified's general counsel.'
• So who's really in charge of the Santa Monica Midnight Ridazz? Alex Thompson of BikeRoWave sure isn't, but somehow a bunch of Santa Monicans are up in arms over the "reckless" behavior of these activist-riders, and they're looking for somebody to blame. Yay for anarchy!
• More fun from the LAUSD: only one San Fernando Valley school is now eligible for reform efforts aimed at improving educational standards in the L.A. area. Originally six schools were slated for improvements.
• Yes, Virginia, East Hollywood is a neighborhood, and what's really important to remember is that the Smog Cutter is located in Virgil Village North. That's specificity for you!
• Screw the fires, all I really care about is Orlando Bloom not going to jail! The actor will not be charged with a hit-and-run after his allegedly-paparazzi-inflicted accident earlier this month.
• Another great contest for Los Angeles film fans, this one involving a great cause: head on over to Cinematical to win tickets to the DGA's screening of Darfur Now, "a call to action for people everywhere to end the catastrophe unfolding in Darfur, Sudan."
• I don't know why I didn't put this at the top of the list -- why don't we make up for it by using some nice bold lettering? The Most Important Event of Your Weekend and Possibly Your Life: Guitar Hero III comes out THIS SUNDAY. See you all on the other side of ROCK AND FUCKING ROLL.

Photo by edenjet via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr