Turns out that cheap buzz you've been getting from Trader Joe's staple swill might actually be a legitimate wine tasting experience: Charles Shaw Chardonnay has won the top prize at this year's California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition. This is great news for those of us who buy the stuff by the case - and although we may fondly recall many nights (and days) (and, um, softball games) spent chugging wine from a box,... more ›

Everybody knows that when you get into a car accident, everything goes in slow motion. Time suddenly slows to Matrix speed. Every detail normally blurred and insignificant, is now in HD detail, and crystal clear like wine glasses washed in Cascade. That's nothing new. But what everyone might not know is that afterwards, you have to talk to a lot of people. A shower of people that appear like worms out of the muddy ground... more ›

Saturday night was the 49th Annual Hollywood Stars game at Dodger Stadium. This has been a long-standing tradition at Dodger Stadium, beginning in 1958, the year the Dodgers came to Los Angeles. A few years back, they changed the game from baseball to softball, and they started letting people sit on the field to try to catch home runs. There used to be some reasonably famous people playing and Jon Lovitz and Billy Crystal... more ›

Apparently Sting is sufficiently pleased with the damage that he's done to Adult Contemporary music, serving up some whiteboy quasijazz, softball world music, and most recently semi-classical lute numbers. After over 20 years of not being in Police any more, the only good thing he's ever done, Sting, it appears, is ready to get the band back together for their 30th anniversary. Fox News reported yesterday:The signs are strong, with enough clues available so... more ›

Mayor Tony plays softball in Dodger Stadium, poses with Playmates, meets the President of the Dominican Republic, and introduces Al Gore before a screening of the former VP's new film - all captured by LA Observed. It's good to be #1. more ›

Shanghaiist probably knows a little more about China than the Chicago Sun-Times. Giving them the benefit of the doubt on that one. The city does to have a music scene. Don't even front like they don't. They also have Dorito bananas and white guys shopping for wives. What they don't have is any more tolerance for jaywalkers. more ›

Bettman and the NHL owners should be ashamed that they let this happen. After finally getting the players to agree to a salary cap, how could they not let it go up to $49 million? How could they cancel a whole season on being $6.5 million apart? The idea of a salary cap is 100 times more important than the actual cap number. Getting the union to agree to a cap is one of the greatest accomplishments in NHL labor history. But the owners blew a chance to save their season and their sport. more ›

The NHL's problem is that it's pretended hockey is a major sport for over a decade, and the reality is that with pathetic TV ratings, falling attendance, and an overambitious expansion, hockey barely registers a tick on the sports radar screen these days. more ›