We told you they were coming to speak on global warming, now here's what happened at yesterday's Presidential Forum in West LA. For the second time this month, fire officials are preparing for more wildfires as dry winds approach. Mission Viejo in Orange County is dubbed safest city in America. Sorry Detroit, you're back at the bottom of this list. However, these numbers came from a private research group and people, including the FBI,......

In a marked departure from his previous, politically-charged directorial efforts, Rod Lurie delivers a thoughtful, often poignant film about family and morality in Resurrecting the Champ. Based in part on a Los Angeles Times Magazine article by J.R. Moehringer, Resurrecting the Champ tells the story of Erik Kernan (Josh Hartnett), a sportswriter living in the shadow of his late father, a legendary broadcaster. Erik is your classic hustler--quick with a lie and unwilling to......

- Hey, we're big fans of HBO's John from Cincinnati, but some find it "maddening to see a show this bad." - Sherman Oaks based Coast to Coast AM, a widely syndicated radio show about “the unusual mysteries of the world and the universe,” as lede for a New York Times Magazine article on the 2012 apocalypse as predicted by the Mayans. - A "no-kill" policy for abandoned and stray pets in Los Angeles is......

MONDAY: Never The Girl Next Door Gretchen Mol plays Bettie Page in the upcoming movie, The Notorious Bettie Page that opens April 14. Join Mol and director Mary Harron at Reel Talk with Stephen Farber at the Wadsworth Theatre in Brentwood. Tuesday: Decruited “We [in show business] are experts in the field of rejection.” It began in L.A. when Annabelle Gurwitch collected stories from comedian friends to produce an event called Fired. Now, it’s......

Two quick news bits out of the LA Times before the weekend The LA Times has announced the schedule and lineup for its Festival of Books, which if you're a bookworm, is something like the event of the season. This year's author list is a tad less intriguing than last year's, but it's not half bad. And we won't really get to see what the festival's made of until the panel list is released in......

LA native Josh Kun demolishes the myth of the tweed jacket wearing, Euro-centric cannon defending, Ivory Tower clinging English professor. As an intellectual jack-of-all-trades, Kun’s interest in mainstream and far-flung aspects of pop culture ensures he’ll never succumb to the latter component of the "publish or perish" maxim. In addition to his position as Associate Professor of English at UC Riverside, Kun contributes to numerous periodicals and is the author of numerous essays, such......

Over at the TEV book blog, Mark Sarvas spreads the rumor from Publishers Weekly that Steve Wasserman, the Los Angeles Times Book Review editor, may be leaving. Sarvas pretty much echos our feelings about Wasserman's editorship of the section. He writes: Now, since Wasserman's apparently only "likely leaving", we'd like to urge Wasserman in the strongest possible terms to follow your impulses and skeddadle. We'll even help you pack your books. Really, the door's......

LAObserved.com reminds us that the December 12, 2004 issue of The Los Angeles Times Magazine profiles KCRW's Frances Anderton. Ms. Anderton hosts the weekly radio program, "DnA: Design and Architecture," which focuses on LA designers and architects. The article also lists some LA landmarks that Anderton claims enrich her soul. Her list includes these gems: Theme Building, Los Angeles International Airport, Pereira & Luckman, Welton Becket & Associates, Paul Williams, 1961. My first love.......

Few people in Los Angeles are as plugged into the urban and cultural planning scenes and other fascinating areas of overlap as James Rojas. In addition to his 9-to-5 as a project manager at the MTA, James's irons in the fire include helming the Latino Urban Forum and lecturing on various planning and cultural issues at venues that range from the university to the community grass roots level. He's also co-owner of the Gallery......

The Fall Fashion issue of the August 15, 2004 Los Angeles Times Magazine provides LAist with much to chew on (and spit out in disgust). Henry Shea, a local media entrepreneur, has launched a magazine aimed at shopping in LA. Called Shop Lift, the glossy encourages Angelenos to discover treasures all over the city. Booth Moore, fashion critic for the Los Angeles Times, examines the power of local independent boutiques like Kitson, Fred Segal......

Stars literally get in the eyes of Mark Wasserman as he examines the sidewalks of his Hollywood neighborhood in the August 8, 2004 issue of The Los Angeles Times Magazine. Stars on the Walk of Fame become metaphors for his moods—evolving from alienation to acceptance—while he adjusts to living in Southern California. At first he sees them as lunch-meat, martial arts weapons and, finally, starfish. LAist can't wait to learn how Wasserman views the......