If you missed 90210 the first time around, it's hard to explain. It was an instantaneous, un-self-aware camp classic. It was absolutely unwatchable while demanding that you HAD TO WATCH. Tori Spelling, before becoming the wronged daughter, the wedded-and-babied reality show chick, was simply a spoiled, freakishly untalented actress -- who was cast, in her daddy's show, as the eternal virgin (eew!). Ian Ziering, before he danced with the stars, played the cool guy --... [continue]

Remember that woman who twittered the earthquake -- from her OB-GYN's office? She was in the stirrups when it happened. Whether you think she was an oversharer or a wildly tough chick, she's been done one better. Because now someone is having a baby, twittering all the while. For all we know, other women have twittered their labor already, but this is the first friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend to do so. We think it's cool. A little... [continue]

91-year-old Ernest Borgnine has written a memoir, Ernie, and not only does he have real stuff to talk about -- like winning an Oscar, working with Marlon Brando, Bette Davis, etc. -- he's been downright sassy on his book tour (if you haven't seen the YouTube clip, it's after the jump). He told the LA Times that older actors should still be in pictures. I don't know how Karl Malden is right now, but... [continue]

photo of the 2003 Pasadena Freeway bike ride by Virginia Renner Occidental Professor Robert Gottlieb's latest book -- Reinventing Los Angeles: Nature and Community in the Global City -- is going to be awfully tempting to Angelenos who care about urban planning, the environment and social change. Get a taste when he reads today at Dutton's at 2pm -- and then ask the store to order a copy for you. In his book, Gottlieb... [continue]

Eli Broad and Antonio Villaraigosa at the Grand Avenue announcement Almost two years ago, Frank Gehry, Eli Broad and the big developer folks from Related Companies announced the Grand Avenue Project. A blocklong development of housing, a hotel, retail & greenspace -- all designed by Gehry -- would complement Disney Hall. Getting the development together was tremendously complicated, and it probably wouldn't have happened without Broad's power and support. Since the exciting, fancy unveiling... [continue]

R&B singer Ike Turner, who some consider a father of rock-n-roll, did not go gently into that good night when he died at his home near San Diego in December. In fact, the 76-year-old was high, high, high on cocaine. The coroner reports that he died of "cocaine toxicity." And while it's sad when anyone dies of drug use -- because generally, we figure nobody starts partying with the idea that it's going to... [continue]

Last week, four men targeted a house on Avenue 54 in in Highland Park near the Gold Line. It was early evening - 8, 8:30 - and the team of robbers broke into the house, only to find its resident inside. The home's occupant was pissed. And had a gun. One of the four -- a 21-year-old -- was shot multiple times. By the time his buddies got him to Glendale Memorial Hospital, he... [continue]

Yesterday the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved additional steps for Project 50, a three year pilot program that will help get some of the most vulnerable people living on skid row into permanent housing. Volunteers completed hundreds of early-morning interviews to identify the 50 people who were in the most trouble -- people living on the streets with chronic illnesses, like liver disease and AIDS, many of whom are also mentally ill. Now a... [continue]

It's been 130 years since the Supreme Court has heard direct arguments about the method of execution -- back then, it was the firing squad. Today, it'll be on a Kentucky case; Kentucky, like California and 35 other states, uses lethal injection. In December 2006, a California judge found that, the LA Times reports, There was "more than adequate" evidence that the state was violating the U.S. Constitution after hearing testimony that lethal injection... [continue]

Yesterday the National Resources Defense Council and the California Coastal Commission celebrated a new court order against the Navy in a case over the use of sonar in training exercises. US District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper imposed a series of detailed restrictions on current Navy training practices. The Navy is in the habit of using sonar, which can be devastating to marine mammals, in a migration corridor. The judge, who has made clear her... [continue]

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, one of Hillary Clinton's national campaign chairs, is returning to Iowa to campaign for her, the Daily News reports. It is caucus day, so there's not much campaigning left to do. He was in Iowa the 29th-31st, came back to LA, and now he's off again. What exactly is he doing there? Is Hillary's campaign so worried about her numbers that they've put out an all-hands-on-deck, now or never call? Is... [continue]

Thefts of catalytic converters, according to one cop in El Segundo, have reached "epidemic" levels, the LA Times reports. Helpfully, the paper also includes instructions on how to go about stealing your own: Some thieves use saws, but the preferred weapon in Southern California is a ratchet with a 14-millimeter socket. The thief crawls under the car and unfastens the bolts holding the converter, a process that accomplished crooks can complete in 90 seconds.... [continue]

You're a good commuter: you use public transportation to get to work, paid your $62 for a Metropass. But come Tuesday, you're losing a couple of perks: no more free rides on the DASH (25 cents) or Commuter Express (90 cents). The Daily News reports that Metro officials picked up the tab for these services to the tune of $750,000 last year; earlier this month, they decided that you could pay it yourself. If... [continue]

Yesterday, as shoppers lined the streets of Old Town Pasadena, four shots rang out on Colorado Blvd. A 23-year old man, the intended victim, was hit once in the back. He's in stable condition at a nearby hospital. It is, the LA Times reports, the area's first shooting. Channel 9 happened to be there. Old Town Pasadena is filled with mostly mallish chain stores and dining establishments and a few independent restaurants, but it's... [continue]

Yvonne Braithwaite-Burke doesn't trust you to pay your Metro fare; NPR reports on moves to make Metro's honor system history. Is the city of LA feeling the writers' strike in its wallet? Today reps from the WGA and SAG will talk with LA economist Jack Kyser and the City Council Housing, Community and Economic Development Committe about the economics of the strike. (The MPAA has been invited, but hasn't RSVP'd yet). A lil' shake... [continue]

The LA Times reports that copper thieves have been stealing the wire from streetlights in areas across the city where they think they can get away with it. Scratch that, where they can get away with it. The bikepath along the LA River was such a target that the City of LA's Department of Public Works welded the boxes at the base of the streetlights shut. Didn't work. The copper thefts continued. At at... [continue]

As was reported yesterday, AT&T is pulling the plug on its payphones, and while they say independent carriers will pick them up, it's clear they're on their way to extinction. But the world won't be the same -- especially the movie world. Take this, the 1988 film Miracle Mile. With no pay phones, Anthony Edwards wouldn't be able to answer that call outside Johnnie's Diner and learn -- via a wrong number -- that... [continue]

It's happened again: a perfectly good dive bar is about to be remade as some overhyped, shortlived blech, as blogging.la feared. The Lowenbrau Keller has fallen into the clutches of restaurant developer The Wanton Group. Yes, they really call themselves that. The Lowenbrau Keller was almost impossible to find, hidden behind enormous overgrown trees with a hard to describe street address (on Beverly but it seemed like First, or Temple), too far south to...... [continue]

The Phil Spector jury, after 6 ballots, concludes that they are deadlocked at 10 and 2. Spector watched, leaning back, chin down, eyes fixed and unblinking. Mistrial for Phil! Once again, a celebrity gets into hot water and walks away relatively unscathed. Lana Clarkson -- pictured here, in an early appearances as a trophy wife in Fast Times at Ridgemont High -- didn't walk away at all. Her last minutes were spent in Phil...... [continue]

After seven days of deliberation, word came from the Phil Spector jury today that they were deadlocked. But the judge isn't ready to let them go yet. Turns out the jury is hung 7 to 5. Either 5 people are saying that reasonable doubt exists that Spector didn't shoot Lana Clarkson, or 7 are. That's more doubt than many courtwatchers had expected. The judge asked the jurors if anything else might convince them to... [continue]