Results tagged “beijing”

2008 was a year where TV saw viewership decline for at least the 8th straight year. We saw even more film stars make their way to basic cable (USA, TNT, TBS, FX, etc.) to star in their own series and we saw the big three networks make even more forays into the realm of cheap reality TV at the expense of scripted programs.

SoCal native Kim Rhodes, 29, who has won four medals at various summer Olympic games for double trap and skeet shooting, found herself a victim when her custom made shotgun she used in the games was stolen yesterday.

"No one's ever done it," exclaimed SoCal native Misty May-Treanor after becoming beach volleyball gold medal champions for the second time in a row (remember Athens?) today. Congrats, girls!

LA Angels defeat Seattle Mariners 7-4. The Angels looked like they would suffer a letdown after their weekend sweep over the Yankees by falling behind the Mariners 3-0. But aided with a Juan Rivera solo shot and Vladamir Guerrero two-run shot in the fifth inning, the Angels came back to show who's king of the AL West. They got three insurance runs in the eighth inning and just continue to steam through any and all comers who stand in their way. Just to show how dominant the Angels are, at the All Star Break they had a six game lead in the division. As of this victory the Angels have a 15 game lead, and at 75-43 have the best record in baseball. In related news, the Angels flagship station AM 830 KLAA (which is owned by the Angels) will be a radio affiliate for Notre Dame Fighting Irish football.

Shocking news of a knife-attack on two Americans affiliated with the Olympics on the prestigious event's first day have local reverberations, as the victims' identities have been revealed. According to Associated Press reports, Todd Bachman and his wife Barbara were stabbed midday at the Drum Tower (pictured), a popular tourist location, by Tang Yongming, 47, from the eastern city of Hangzhou. Following the stabbings, the attacker committed suicide by leaping from the second level where the incident took place. Mr. Bachman died from his wounds, and Mrs. Bachman was hospitalized with injuries. The status of their Chinese tour guide, who was also a victim of the attack, is not clear.

The biggest problem with the Olympics television broadcasts over the next couple of weeks is that when you and I see them in the States, the events are long since over, they're history, they're not news they're "olds". While it's true that NBC is offering some events via live streaming online, there's a reason why you have that giant plasma screen TV in your living room - it's to watch TV, not your laptop.

• A steady stream of Koreans moving into the northwest San Fernando Valley suburbs is giving the traditional K-Town in LA City a run for its money. Now you Valley-ists might not have to travel over the hill for karaoke bars.
• Japanese and Los Angeles police detectives solved a 26-year-old case of a Japanese business man who allegedly shot his wife while the two were on vacation here. Apparently, the long arm of the law uses chopsticks.
• Following Steven Spielberg's diss to the Chinese government when he refused to work with them in the run up to the Beijing Olympics, the state-run media there is returning the favor.
• So much pork was secured by California state legislators last year you would be remiss if you thought Sacramento was a meat packing town. More than $1 billion in pork barrel spending was set aside for pet projects by California lawmakers last year who funneled money to their district. Thirty-five Democrats collectively secured about twice as much money as California's 19 Republicans, but many of the state's individual GOP lawmakers received more money than their counterparts in the majority.
• A man fired a gun into his neighbors home in North Hollywood today, killing him. While the gunman was subdued, a witness stabbed him. How's that for poetic justice?
• Is Hillary Clinton losing it? At a rally today in Ohio, a "visibly angry" Clinton chided Obama for putting out materials she said he knows are "blatantly false." She also derided Obama for having "speeches and the big rallies." "Hillary knows it's over," LA Daily Blog said. The polls are very close in Texas while Clinton maintains a larger lead in Ohio, where both states will vote March 4, which Bill Schneider of CNN called "an end-game" for Clinton.
• Tonight SNL's newest cast member, Casey Wilson, who honed her skills at the Los Angeles Upright Citizen's Brigade, will make her debut, and just in time to play Hillary Clinton. Good Luck Casey!

So the guys are in Vero Beach now, and now my sphincter pulsates in anticipation for March 31: Opening Day at Dodger Stadium.

Lakers 117, Timberwolves 92 - The Lakers sent a major sign to the rest of the NBA on their long road trip, finishing with a 7-2 record, acquiring Pau Gasol, and seeing Kobe pour in 29 points last night even with a dislocated finger. Against Minnesota, the Lakers got another solid performance from Gasol, who shot 9-of-11 for 19 points and blocked three shots. The team is off through the All Star game (Sunday) and will return to Staples Center next week.

The Lunar New Year has officially started, and pigs are like soooo last year. To usher in the Year of the Mouse and Rat, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles is hosting the 109th Annual Golden Dragon Parade and festival on February 9th and 10th. Performers from Beijing will lead the parade, followed by assorted city officials (Villaraigosa et al.), Mickey Mouse as grand Marshall, flower drum dances, a plethora of beauty queens, and lots of floats, costumes, and dragons.

• With exactly one year to go until a new president is inaugurated (and one more year of Jon Stewart's hilarious Bush headlines), the field of Republican hopefuls just got smaller. After poor showings in, well, every primary, caucus and poll, San Diego Congressman Duncan Hunter is ditching the presidential race. No word on what he will do now, but rumors are flying that Hunter will continue to build that fence along the Mexican border he started months ago.
• And speaking of the election, Gov. Arnold is holding off on endorsing a Republican candidate, preferring to stay "neutral." For now. Some are postulating that Schwarzenegger is waiting to endorse someone in the Republican field to see if his friend and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an Independent, will enter the race.
• It's been a rough Saturday night/Sunday morning in LA County as 11 people have been shot at two separate parties in Long Beach and Compton. The first shooting happened late Saturday at a birthday party in Long Beach, when several gang members apparently crashed the party and started a fight. The second shooting took place early Sunday in Compton, when four or five men turned up to a party and started shooting partygoers, shooting eight and leaving three in critical condition.
• Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is expected to address the Chatsworth/Porter Ranch State of the Community Breakfast next month. It's the first time the mayor will speak to the group about issues affecting the area. Yawn. The interesting thing about this is that in the the Daily News headline, they referred to the mayor by his first name: "Antonio to speak to area chamber." I didn't know the Daily News and the mayor were such good friends.
• The Dodgers will play two March exhibition games against the Padres in Beijing. While some veteran players are privately saying they don't want to go, Matt Kemp sounds downright giddy about the trip. I hope the old versus young rift that ripped through the clubhouse late last season does not carry over into this season. Isn't this why we go Joe Torre?
• Several gay porn sites have posted pictures of under age water polo players from Orange, LA and San Diego counties without them knowing. Authorities think a campus police dispatcher may have played a role in taking the pictures. Gives a whole meaning to block that ball, doesn't it?

While the controversy over Beijing's Olympic-themed float in Tuesday's 119th Tournament of Roses Parade has not managed to stir up LA's Chinese-American community, as New Year's Day draws near, murmurings of anti-war protests have begun to surface. The protests are linked to a group called the White Rose Coalition, and involve well-known activist Cindy Sheehan, whose soldier son was killed in Iraq. According to a press release:

Local and national pro-Impeachment and pro-Peace American citizens will stage non-violent protests and demonstrations throughout the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, on Tuesday, January 1, 2008 beginning at 7:30 a.m. with support from Cindy Sheehan and the Camp Casey Peace Institute. The convergence of activists is called the White Rose Coalition, in honor of the resistance movement in Munich in 1942.

While hundreds of volunteers are stealthily working into the wee hours to affix flora to framework and as people begin to plan for finding space along the parade route, an unexpected battle has been waging between human rights groups and the City of Pasadena.

Relatively speechless tonight because there's so little on TV and yesterday was pretty lame as well. The final schmaltzy segment of Tin Man aired to much disappointment, and Nip/Tuck started out great but fizzled about halfway through the episode. Tonight though, Tyler Perry actually returns to the show he created and that's a big deal so check TBS at 9:00pm. [Please note how I'm specifically not mentioning the Julia Roberts special on AMC as she...

As expected, I was relieved to see that Chicago won the chance to host the 2016 Olympics - something I stated in a post that Tony was nice enough to link to today. In that post there are some nasty comments that I would like to respond to. The overall message of my article was that Los Angeles doesn’t need the Olympics, and no amount of name calling changes that opinion. In recent history,...

From our enemies friends at Chicagoist... Well, whether you love the idea of the possibility of the games being in Chicago or hate it, we are the United States candidate to hold the 2016 games. Although the International Olympic Committee has no requirements to switch up continents for the games, the 2008 games are in Beijing and the 2012 games are in London so it seems likely North American will host the 2016 summer games....

On 13 November, 2002, I had this silly idea that I would write a play every day for a year. It would be about being present and being committed to the artistic process every single day, regardless of the ‘weather.’ It became a daily meditation, a daily prayer celebrating the rich and strange process of a writing life ~ Suzan-Lori Parks Hey, LAist writes everyday too. How strange that we share this habit with...

Quentin Tarantino, mah-jongg, art galleries, lofts. L.A. Times profiles the new Chinatown:

The vast majority of contemporary architecture aims for the middle, or winds up satisfying few elements of collectively desirable criteria. Then there's the rare architect whose work advances distinctive style and material innovation, along with as-crucial intangibles (think timelessness and elements of context).