This morning at the Marriott Downtown, Los Angles Development and Economic Corporation (LADEC) financial uber-guru Jack Kyser will be presenting the 2008-09 LAEDC Forecast Results, a 71-page document entailing the region's financial future. Highlighting a recession watch, the crumbling housing market, and growth opportunities such as tourism, one loosely dubbed as "Its NOT business as usual!" talks strike and its ill-economic impacts upon the city. From the Hollywood Reporter: The figure includes lost wages from......

a writer's perspective So now that the writers have voted overwhelmingly to end the strike, what next? Well, now we’re in the midst of the contract ratification process. Last week, interested writers were asked to provide the WGA with “camera ready” statements for or against the new contract. Over the next few days, guild members will be receiving ballots along with the pro and con statements, and will have the opportunity to vote as to......

The general consensus about last night's one-hour Golden Globes "Awards Show" (quotation marks make for great sarcasm indicators, yes?): Less than stellar. The snorefest reading-of-the-nominees and "the winner is" naming was about as thrilling as the reading of a will, with Time's Richard Corliss declaring in his post-mortem that the reporters delivering the news "all sank into a sea of blandness and blondness." Local Latino politicians are endorsing Barack Obama in his Democratic Presidental......

At this point my whole week is focused on getting to AMC's Breaking Bad which debuts this upcoming Sunday. AMC scored a couple Golden Globes with Mad Men, let's see if they can repeat the success. On face value Breaking Bad is more interesting than anything the Big Four have planned for us. Late night is troubling me lately since NBC and Comedy Central aren't posting their guests into the news feeds or their websites......

Jessica Morgan and Heather Cocks. Have you ever wondered why the very people that have tons of cash to drop at swanky stores can be such fashion trainwrecks? Often celebrities have the nerve to flaunt both their big paychecks and free designer clothes. Lucky for us, it's always fun to watch. That's where you'll find Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan of the super-popular Go Fug Yourself. Every day they skewer the super famous and......

Despite being thoroughly outed by Vikram Jayanti in his superb documentary, The Golden Globes: Hollywood's Dirty Little Secret, the Globes do retain some credibility in certain quarters. I don't buy that they are any sort of barometer for Academy Award nominations, but they do give nominees the extra media attention that may tip an Oscar nod their way. That said, here's what I thought about tonight's results and what they may portend. BEST MOTION......

So, looking forward to the Golden Globes tomorrow night? If you like lists being read aloud (and, really, who doesn't?) then NBC has a show for you. But, wait, there's more! Since the news conference announcing the winners will take one hour, NBC is filling the other two hours originally scheduled for the Globes with a "Dateline" special, including interviews to be conducted by Matt Lauer with some actors that are up for some......

As you know, the Golden Globes will not be so tony this year. Instead, it's a press conference. And as boring as a press conference is, what's even more, is superfluous picketing.The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has announced that instead of the usual televised three-hour gala on NBC, the HFPA will take complete control of its 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards Announcement and host a press conference open to all media to announce the winners......

As part of their Golden Globe Foreign Language Nominee series, American Cinematheque is screening The Diving Bell and the Butterfly tonight at the Aero Theater. Director and noted artist Julian Schnabel will be on-hand to introduce the film. It tells the wrenching story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the former editor of ELLE magazine who suffered a stroke at the age of 43 and spent the rest of his life able to move only one eyelid.......

Hey check it, yours truly was invited to contribute some commentary to this ABCNEWS.com article (I'm on page 2). Thanks for your support! So the Golden Globes got canceled and now maybe the Academy Awards will get canceled and this is conflicting me. On the one hand I will have a whole bunch more free time (hours upon hours) to watch my Tivo'd episodes of Grape Ape but I will have so much less lousy......

Sure, you could always stay in and watch reruns of [insert name of your favorite show here], but why bother when you have these things happening tonight to get you through hump day. WORDS The West LA Chapter of the Sierra Club hosts a lecture by UCLA Professor David Haake who’ll focus on the question, “Do green choices make financial sense?” The evening will also offer steps on how you can reduce your carbon......

a writer's perspective Something is wrong with my car radio. There’s a short in the wiring or something, so every time I go over any kind of bump, the radio turns off and reboots. Sometimes it works okay. Sometimes, the slightest movement shuts down the stereo. If I try to change the station, or turn up the volume, the radio turns off. If I make a lane change, the radio turns off. It’s really,......

Oh L.A. and your crazy kooky vagrants! Please meet Crazy Doll Lady (as we are calling her), pictured in the photo above. She and her scary puppet friends hang out around Sunset and Vine every day, and wait outside the Hollywood Public Library every morning for food handouts. Say hi to her if you see her...or drive by real real fast like I do! Even if the Globes are cancelled, Academy Awards organizers are......

The Hollywood Foreign Press has just announced that the traditional Golden Globes awards banquet and show are being canceled and will be replaced by a news conference format that NBC will air. According to Deadline Hollywood Daily, the new format will be an "hour-long HFPA press conference at The Beverly Hilton to be covered live by NBC News beginning at 6:00 pm PST on January 13." Faced with multiple threats from the 72 nominees in......

The deed is done. The first large production company, United Artists (UA), has made a deal with the WGA and is going to get back to work, according to the AP (via LA Times). UA's parent company, MGM, is not included on the deal. "United Artists has lived up to its name. UA and the Writers Guild came together and negotiated seriously. The end result is that we have a deal that will put......

With yesterday's revelation that all 72 actors nominated for the upcoming Golden Globes are expected to not attend the January 13th ceremony, the appeal of the telecast comes sharply into question. The decision was made by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) in order to show solidarity to their fellow strikers, and was announced by their union president Alan Rosenberg, who said: "After considerable outreach to Golden Globe actor nominees and their representatives over the......

Two more strikes against two power players in showbiz today as fallout from the WGA strike. According to a report on KTLA.com this morning, "The union representing striking Hollywood writers has denied requests to allow their members to write for the Oscars - Hollywood's biggest, most glamorous showcase - and the Golden Globes." Interim agreements and waivers were dismissed Monday by the WGA. The Hollywood Foreign Press, who put on the annual Globes gala banquet......

"Atonement" leads the pack of nominees for the 2008 Golden Globe Awards with seven nods, including top actor nominations for both leads, Keira Knightly and James McAvoy. "American Gangster," "No Country for Old Men," and "Sweeney Todd" also garnered nominations; you can read a partial list of the nominees here at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association website. Hayden Panettiere, Dane Cook, Ryan Reynolds and Quentin Tarantino read the list at the Beverly Hilton at......

A Word or 51: I thought I was watching my TiVoed Golden Globes broadcast last night but it turned out to be the Screen Actors Guild Awards with the same winners almost across the board. If the Oscars follow suit can't we just get rid of this circle jerk and have one stinkin' awards show? Tonight - Monday - January 29, 2007 UCLA @ Stanford (PRIME, 5:00 p.m.) College basketball Carnival Marathon featuring The......

#52 Bradenton cop arrests homeless woman and then ties her shopping cart to his cruiser and drags it to the station. - Tampa Bay 10 #53 Office Depot is moving its Successful Businesswomen conference out of South Florida - South Florida Business Journal #54 Four kangaroos die in three days at the Gulf Breeze Zoo - WFTV #55 California freeze will not really be much of a boon for FLA orange growers - Herald......

- Jeffrey Brett Goodin, an Azusa man who was found guilty Friday of sending emails to people to "update their AOL account," might get 101 years in the federal pen for "phishing" - Daily Bulletin - Snow in Malibu still wont slow drivers on the PCH - Daily Breeze - Lindsay Lohan checks into rehab even though she hasn't called anyone a dirty Jew - AP - First commercial jet with anti-missile technology leaves......

A Word or 30: Golden Globes redux: was happy that Sacha Baron Cohen won; Forest Whitaker, OK; Alec Baldwin, thank you; but "Cars"? "Grey's Anatomy"? No wonder I hate those award skeet skeet sessions. Tonight - Tuesday - January 16th, 2007 Blues @ Ducks (PRIME, 7:00 p.m.) "American Idol" (Fox, 8:00 p.m.) 2 hour season premiere "America's Funniest Home Videos" (ABC, 8:00 p.m.) A two hour death march of fun "The Unit" (CBS, 9:00......

The Golden Globes came and went, all while many, if not more, watched the second two hours of Los Angeles being terrorized in 24 on FOX. It was still brisk for the stars on the Red Carpet and the weather is expected to continue in the 60's throughout the week with the lows in the 40's. Luckily, the fire department has determined that the Red Flag will be lifted this morning. People celebrated Martin......

Overheard at the Golden Globe Awards: "'Everyone's drinking,' said Weeds star and supporting-actor nominee Justin Kirk. 'You sit at a table and they feed you and drink you.'" -- AP "Cameron Diaz was probably the worst dressed at the entire awards show." -- Worst Dressed List at HollyScoop "I love gay. I wanted to be gay," said Grey's Anatomy's Isaiah Washington on the red carpet. "Please let me be gay." -- AP. "Washington took......

A Word or 44: The first 1/2 of the "24" season premiere was quite good even though I don't understand how Jack found the terrorist dude before his house got blown up. Also, was there some anal play going on between Jack and the first terrorist guy? Kinky. Tonight - Monday - January 15th, 2007 "Lawrence of Arabia" (TCM, 5:00 p.m.) Quite possibly the best movie ever made. "Hamlet" (IFC, 6:00 p.m.) Classic Shakespeare......

No Shaq (bum knee). No Pat Riley (bum hip). No personal connections to the past on display tonight. Still, the budding rivalry of Kobe vs. Dwyane Wade is more than plenty when the Lakers and Heat play. The two best shooting-guards in the basketball face off tonight at Staples Center (7 on TNT) in a game with enough juice to make you turn away from the drunken acceptance speeches at the Golden Globes, at......

KABC has wasted no time in getting the awkward questions, stammered remarks, and best wishes to everyone coming down the red carpet. So far we've already heard them refer to Ben Stiller as "studly", and Naomi Watt's very current gown as "vintage". It's almost too painful to watch, but you know we'll keep doing it. Our highlight so far has been hearing Paul Giamatti say, in reponse to the interviewer asking if he'd ever......

Years ago there was graffiti downtown LA -- on a building that was razed for the Japanese American Museum -- that read WHEN WILL SHE STOP ACTING? We're assuming, when it comes to the Screen Actors' Guild Awards, which are televised to millions, that nobody stops acting. We expect everyone to be glamorous, exhilarated, appropriately humble, and fabulously ON. Since we're in LA, we know some winners already, even tho the local broadcast is......

LAist is going on a delicious spree from A to Z. This week, in honor of the Golden Globes, we give you G, and in particular, star-studded Geisha House in Hollywood. Celebrities got Geisha House's back, so yes, we know all about the star power, the ooh-la-la-ness of it all, but does anyone ever actually eat there? It appears that none of the waif-y eye candy, both male and female, do, so LAist went......

For his 19th Golden Globe nomination, Best Original Score went to John Williams for Memoirs Of A Geisha giving him 4 Golden Globes. Williams' name is pretty much synonymous with the film scoring category, but the New York Times backs up the case for his repeat nominations, accompanied by a pleasant audio slide show, in their Red Carpet section (NYT's version of LAT's The Envelope). Brokeback Mountain scored the Best Original Song with "A......