Pod Rows of Hell

Brill's plan to charge users $5 to $10 a month to read the news online

2009-08-14T16:11:00.000-07:00

"Journalism Online said its technology would give publishers flexibility in how they charge for digital content, including collecting monthly subscriptions or micro-payments for individual articles. Its estimates that a website that attracts 1 million monthly visitors could reap additional annual revenue of $5 million to $10 million.

The LA Times story fails to say how that money is to be made. But simple math says that each reader would pay an average of $5 to $10 for their news online.

I just don't see the product being that valuable.

Journalism Online is a startup created by Steve Brill, creator of CourtTV, and Gordon Crovitz, former publisher of The Wall Street Journal. They claim agreements with 506 newspapers, magazines and online news sites that reach more than 90 million monthly visitors - but they don't say who the clients are.

They likely are not the Tribune Co. (LA and Chicago), Gannett (USA Today), NY Times or the Wall Street Journal. Those who do not charge for the news will be the big winners if this idea actually takes shape.

Newspapers tried this model with classified advertising. Ah but Craigslist provided a better, national service for free. And it only takes one giving it away for free to ruin a business model in the online world.

AP's confiedential Play Plan for content leaked: Strengthen copyright, horde news, adopt Wikimodel (no mention of its volunteer contributors)

2009-08-13T14:36:00.000-07:00

The Associated Press has laid out a plan to put news behind a pay wall.

The confidential plan was not for distribution but was mentioned at the Nieman Lab and broadcast widely through Romenesko, a site I read daily. But who scraped who there and did it hurt or help?

I'll share some amazing numbers from the document (numbers I'm sure you have to pay for) later today.

For now some quick thoughts:

The document pointed to the success of the Wikipedia model - "standing, authoritative pages" (that's all you got - have you read The Long Tail or Clay Shirky - it's not that elementary).

The document fails to mention or acknowledge that Wikipedia is updated and maintained by any visitor to the Website who wants to participate. It is updated constantly.

The document also didn't say - there is no advertising at Wikipedia and only a few dozen are paid.

And oh year, no one pays to read the stories. Even the flimsiest newspaper archive (except the New York Times - YEA!) charges to search its archives.

"AP simply can't continue to provide the same quality of golabal news coverage under the current rules, where second hand news gets most of the eyeballs."

"Emboldened by the uncertain state of law around content use online ..." sounds like Jon Stewat making fun of George Bush talking about terrorists.

"AP News Registry is a way to identify, record and track every piece of content AP makes."

Big Brother?

The AP wants to be like Wikipedia Then they point out Wikipedia garnered only 6.8 percent of the audience who searched "Michael Jackson" in the month after his death. 6.8 percent made Wikipedia the second largest beneficiary of traffic?, slightly behind only Google News (7.1%). AP and Google already have a partnership.

The piece never gets into the fact that the market for news is so diluted that it seems impossible to discern the producers from the users. Will AP applaud bloggers for pointing people to news sites or will AP seek to punish bloggers for reprinting information?

Newspapers just don't get it.

2009-06-19T10:14:00.001-07:00

Why would you ever need to announce that you are killing a blog?

Much less one called White House Watch?

Sorry Dan Froomkin. Every day more evidence that newspapers just don't get it.

Washington Post Media Communications Director Kris Coratti tells POLITICO that "our editors and research teams are constantly reviewing our columns, blogs and other content to make sure we're giving readers the most value when they are on our site while balancing the need to make the most of our resources. Unfortunately, this means that sometimes features must be eliminated, and this time it was the blog that Dan Froomkin freelanced for washingtonpost.com."

Thanks for the tip, Jim.

What's black and white and red all over?

2009-06-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

End Times

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Newt Gingrich Unedited Interview

Your balance sheet. ha ha

Fear mongering courtesy of TIme and their reliance on bad research

2009-06-12T17:06:00.000-07:00

Reason presents

The Top 10 Most Absurd Time Covers of The Past 40 Years

There's one on Satan, cursing and of course I think the one that relied on the undergraduate research paper Andrew mentioned on internet porn.

APOC the musical

2009-06-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

Quartelife needs your quarters. I say If I give you a quarter will you call someone who cares?

2009-06-10T11:24:00.000-07:00

Seriously sad. Check out the email I got this a.m. Cue taps.

"quarterlife is in crisis.

In spite of thousands of amazing and creative members from sixty countries, we do not have the traffic to survive as an ad-supported social network. Even with our minimal paid staff (only two!), due to hosting, rent, maintenance, and insurance costs, it still costs WAY more each year to run the site than we receive in ad revenues. We simply cannot continue any longer this way.

The only alternative left is to ask you, the members of the community, to help keep quarterlife alive, to keep those hundreds of thousands of photos, videos, paintings, poems, songs, blogs – and human connections – online for the world to see.

We are asking you to contribute a voluntary monthly subscription fee of $6.00 or – if quarterlife has truly been an important part of your life – $10.00, in order to help the site survive. We know this is a lot to ask, but we still have great plans for quarterlife – new functions, new content, new services we want to offer – and without our basic expenses covered we simply can’t afford to grow in these new areas. Be assured that if we cannot raise enough, and quarterlife has to close down, we will immediately stop collecting those fees. And if by some miracle we collect more than we need, we’ll lower or even eliminate the subscription fee. This is not about profit – it’s about survival.

quarterlife has always been first and foremost a community – and no more so than right now. We have put off making this request as long as we could, but the situation is dire. We need everyone who believes in the humane and creative quarterlife vision to do what he or she can to help the site weather this crisis. Don’t assume others will shoulder the burden. And please know that along with your subscription we want to know your thoughts – on how the site should grow and how it can best affect your life.

Thank you, thank you, for the incredible experience quarterlife has been so far. With your help I know it can continue.

Marshall Herskovitz, Founder

To Subscribe, please visit www.quarterlife.com

Money makin' money makin - web economics transforming

2009-04-08T17:15:00.000-07:00

Today KCRW aired two stories that talk about pricing on the Internet.

The first was a reduction in price - Apple's iTunes, the Internet's dominant digital music retailer, is using a three-tier price structure: 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29.

NPR's Morning Edition said the big music labels had been pushing for the change. It allows them to choose different prices for their songs — depending on the song's popularity. Lowering prices on some songs sure takes out the sting of increasing prices for other songs.

The other story was a big price hike - from free to the moon.

Kodak, which has 70 million users (putting it on par with MySpace!), will soon start charging fees at the risk of photo deletion to store photos on its site.

Marketplace asks"Are Web fees for formerly free sites becoming the norm?"

How ridiculous and uninformed is that? No one will stay with Kodak, not when there are dozens of sites that are free and provide the same quality of service. Has anyone heard of Flickr?

LA Times business columnist David Lazarus said "the problem is most of those users do not buy things from the site -- prints and CDs and whatnot -- they're just keeping their photo albums on the Web."

So wouldn't the smart prudent thing to do is to say that to keep your stuff on our site, we'd like you to buy a certain amount of product, say $5 worth every year. I would think it would be a great marketing campaign to encourage people to make prints of their favorite photos for keepsakes and nostalgia.

Instead the hammers comes down: If you have 2 gigabytes or less stored online, you'll be paying $4.99 a year at least. If you have more than 2 gigs stored, you'll be spending $19.99 a year at least.

Again Renita Jablonski: "So is this the end of, as you call it, freeloading on the Web?"

Craigslist in San Francisco charges $150 to post a help-wanted ad. Kobe Bryant charges a $49.95 a year membership fee.

Lazarus then asks: "What about things that we all take for granted -- free e-mail from Yahoo and Google and Hotmail -- what if fees start getting attached to all of that?"

They compare fees for email to charging ATM fees, once a free service.

"I think it's a very good parallel for what we're facing in terms of the Internet, where things come out with no fees attached and gradually you see the fees starting to pile on as people start becoming accustomed to the technology and as the technology becomes a routine part of people's lives," Lazarus said.

Good point. Once the audience tries out your free service, they will pay for it if it's worth it and they have not other options - like the inside scoop on a basketball phenom's life.

But going back to the whole reason for the interview - Kodak. I think they will take a beating because you can't charge a fee for things your competitors give away for free. In today's world you have to be much more clever, and much more appreciative of your audience.

As Whitney said: The Children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way

2009-03-02T08:04:00.000-08:00

I drove to Phoenix this weekend and watched the assigned videos with my best friend's 10-year-old.

The knowledge these youngsters possess has always amazed me as every thing I knew growing up might have been advanced for my age but ideas, thoughts or experiences adults already possessed.

But not today's children. They are immersed in an easily accessible technology that their parents may have only dabbled in. Much different than the new things of the past.

So as he watched these videos I could see some lights go on (perhaps) - a revelation that his generation is learning things that his parents went to college for.

So just to explain the video a bit:

Shot on a sony handycam, with all style debt to Mike Wesch.
Unedited - Vikram and I talked about the scenes beforehand so we could just string together one take to the next. Whenever he's not in the movie, Vikram insisted on holding the camera. Film time was still about 2 hours.

The machine after the Legos pirate village, is a Lego robot with a motor connected by telephone-like wires and a flash drive you program on the computer.

Gunsmoke was playing on TV - this was one of the top shows from 1955 to 1975. I don't have the numbers, but as a corollary, 70 percent of TV households were watching "I Love Lucy." Today the number one rated show, CSI gets about 15 percent.

Cascading routers ... or is it modems

2009-02-02T19:23:00.000-08:00

I bought a wireless router nearly two months ago but I couldn't get it to work. I would have taken it back but I threw the box away. The trouble was I have a cable modem complete with a VOIP Gateway, another modem.

The Linksys directions weren't prepared for that and gave no direction on how to fix the problem.

At wit's end, I found the customer service line - 24 hours. After only a 10 minute wait, I got my operator.

I had hooked it up perfectly but he had to create cascading routers, or modems. And he did this pretty efficiently. While waiting for the computer to catch up, I asked what country he was located it.

When he said the Philippines, I figured we had something that connected us in this big world - bakitwhy.com.

He loved the name and told me that most Pilipinos in LA were nurses. He said he would be sure to check it out.

Breakin the rules

2009-01-25T22:56:00.000-08:00

This is just how backwards the media has become. It lists rules for the internet like these (thanks for the link Clint):

* Be careful who you 'friend'. Since this is a tricky subject, The Times suggests that its reports "imagine whether public disclosure of a 'friend' could somehow turn out to be an embarrassment that casts doubt on our impartiality."

* Don't specify your political views. This includes joining online groups that would make your political views known.

* Don't write anything you wouldn't write in The Times on your profiles, a blog or as commentary on content you share.

Do they not understand the boundary between your work and home life - much less being a real person. A reporter is not a movie star whose life should be under a microscope or a pastor who preaches piety and is the example to reach heaven.

This one is particularly irksome: "Don't write anything you wouldn't write in The Times on your profiles."

Think about how much that would be that you can't write anything you wouldn't want to be printed on your official work product? Come on. This is a new world. Stop treating reporters and your readers like children. Use more common sense. And let people be honest in the way they live.

I haven’t seen the mountain top

2009-01-19T19:34:00.000-08:00

The Kingdom Day Parade came through my Leimert Park Neighborhood today so I seized the opportunity. I'm in the right place at the right time - history is being made and I'm in the middle of it.

I also found that if I can own things that come to my area it brings a lot of traffic – because if you search the term “leimert” and any word that I’ve featured (such as King Parade) my blog comes up near the top of google.

I grabbed my iphone and my Canon PowerShot SC800 IS Digital Elph camera and video recorder and walked the parade route twice. It’s been three years since I’ve been a reporter and probably that long since I worked that hard on an assignment. Five hours and about five miles.

With the iphone I took scene setting shots that I posted immediately to my community bulletin board/newspaper http://www.leimertparkbeat.com Those automatically post to my Facebook page where I’ve friended many reporters that might be interested in the topics on the blog. And I shot a picture of of a guy selling the day-after-Election day edition of the LA Times for $10 – I sent that to a media blog, LA Observed, that ran it immediately and linked to my site.

With the Canon, I shot the sounds and the sites of the parade – lots of marching bands, City Councilman Bernard Parks – and took higher quality still shots for later posts. I stopped work on the Website to post these blog posts for class. I think I’ll try to send that to LAist. Probably too late.

So the bottom line – this was a day I'll never forget. But a lot of work. But a ton of people will see it. And I just don’t know what’s supposed to come next. I guess that’s why I’m back in school.

Web 2.0 – The new Starbucks

2009-01-19T18:31:00.000-08:00

Few times during my life have I seen something evolve from the beginning into a great thing.

Algebra, motion pictures, cars, airplanes, computers all were well established before I was going to high school. There were some businesses that caught on that I noticed - I worked at a Subway in 1988. And more times that not, they passed me by. I thought Starbucks reached it's apex in 2000 when "The Simpsons" showed store after store in the mall closing and being taken over by a Starbucks. But here we are and there are more coffee stores than you would ever believe.

That's how I see the Web. It was kind of born in the public consciousness as I graduated college. I watched it grow and grow. And now I see it is much more powerful than Subway and Starbucks - it's enveloping TV, Hollywood, bookstores and on and on.

So it seems we're lucky to be where we're at - even though I often feel like we came late to the game. I see that we are really at the very beginning - Hollywood in the 1930s, Detroit in 1920 - just 10 years after the 2.0 revolution.

How do we feel?

2007-02-01T12:46:00.000-08:00

We feel fine is this bizarre website that gives you an insight into how people feel - right now - all over the English speaking world.
Connect.

James vs. Jerry

2007-01-02T15:42:00.000-08:00

I can't believe the hoopla and pouring out of love for Gerald Ford. This non-elected president did nothing in his nearly four years on the throne except survive two assassinations. His legacy though is felt today because he brought us Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and George Bush the 1st. Of course, he also pardoned that crook, Nixon, who many revere even today. And he's actually getting credit, because he happened to be president when the Vietnam War ended and the USA marked its bicentennial. Even when Ford showed up with the other living presidents on SNL cartoons, he didn't have any special powers.

At the same time, we have the death of James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, the Hardest Working Man in Show Business. He was a musical genius, a conducter, dancer and entertainer who changed the world over the course of 50 years. He survived possible career deaths several times, as he had problems with drugs and domestic violence. Yet with songs like "I'm Black and I'm Proud" and "This is a Man's World," he was more political than The Beatles.

Still Brown's Christmas death is overshadowed by the MSM as America's looks vainly at itself and tries to prop up another dead white guy.

Take some consolation in the fact that eventually, maybe tomorrow, Ford will become as forgettable as John Tyler and Chester Arthur. While James Brown's legacy will live on for generations to come.

Healing hands of time

2006-12-15T16:35:00.000-08:00

Sardinian Centenarian, 2003. New York Times
Rosa Frau will turn 102 soon, & her family is getting ready for the annual event, more & more awaited as the years pass by. In the kitchen, her grand daughter & daughters are cooking cakes for her birthday. Rosa is almost blind but she walk & she is in very good spirit.
She asks, "When am I going to die?" as she is taking her lunch: Spaghetti, Sardinian bread, & a pear from her garden.

Photo by Alexandra Boulat/VII

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The Turk behind the Genius dies

2006-12-15T10:03:00.000-08:00

Ahmet Ertegun, Founding Chairman of Atlantic Records, Dies at 83

His voice can be heard singing the chorus of Ray Charle's One Fine Chick; no hint of soul in his accent

NEW YORK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- December 14, 2006 -- Ahmet Ertegun, Founding Chairman of Atlantic Records, passed away today in New York City at the age of 83. He had been hospitalized with a head injury since October 29, when he fell backstage at a Rolling Stones concert at the Beacon Theatre in Manhattan.

Mr. Ertegun will be buried in a private ceremony in his native Turkey. A memorial service will be conducted in New York after the New Year.

Ertegun, a jazz fanatic who came to the United States at age 11 when his father was named Turkish ambassador, founded Atlantic Records with Herb Abramson in 1947 and quickly turned it into one of the leading independent jazz and rhythm-and-blues labels.

Their early client list included legendary performers like Professor Longhair, Ruth Brown, Joe Turner, Erroll Garner and Dizzy Gillespie.

Ertegun also helped Charles, Aretha Franklin, saxophonist John Coltrane and hard rock group Led Zeppelin became stars.

Best Los Angeles-bred band since the Beach Boys

2006-10-18T16:58:00.000-07:00

It was the sound of immigration, assimilation and ultimately of America, that filled Disney Hall Friday night.

The Los Lobos took the stage with three guitars and a bass and played the music of their fathers and grandfathers with a power and proficiency rarely seen.

This music of the border, of the campesinos and of East L.A., was catapulted into an art form in the immediately hallowed grounds of Disney Hall the same way Frida Kahlo raised Mexican folk art – with her collection of tin retablos and ex-votos paintings to the saints – into something more.

It wasn’t a typical show and it wasn’t a typical venue. But both were special.

Their first song in English was the bittersweet “age old song 'bout the home of the brave and this land here of the free,
One time one night in America.”

That’s where drummer Cougar Estrada came in as well.

He delighted as he played the congas with his left hand and with his right he used a stick to pound a large assortment of drums and cymbals. The ambidextrous display went on for nearly the whole show.

During one of the quick but frequent tuning sessions as the band members constantly changed one guitar for another, an audience paid heed to the obvious show of talent hidden by the drum set and yelled: “Who’s the drummer?”

Every one of the boys took a turn on vocals.

David Hidalgo’s voice never sounded better, fully capable of singing in a high cry or a low wail, while switching from guitar, to accrodian to drums.

Of course there was Steve Berlin on keys, Steve Berlin on soprano sax and Steve Berlin on baritone sax.

But they also brought in a harpist and a steel guitarist for a song or two.
Their ability to transform – no reclaim - hackneyed rhymes heard so often when you’ve had one too many margaritas back into testaments of a proud culture was brilliantly on display as they took a turn with “Guantanamera.”

They pulled off the improbable. It would be like returning “Good Vibrations” to the rock genius it deserves instead of the Sunkist commercialism it enjoys.

They had the tightness of a band that had played together for 30 years, but they lost none of the intensity, the same ways the great blues singers only improved with age.

Grillin' in the 'hood

2006-10-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

Earle's Grill on Crenshaw just north of Vernon is a lot more than you'd expect. It has the best chicken and turkey sandwiches, along with a wide selection of great veggie products. On Tuesday, they have skinny fries that you can top with veggie chili that is the bomb. Dwayne Earle, on the right, started the business with his family after running a hotdog cart for a decade. The business opened in 1992 and became a sensation, for those in the know. Last time I was there, Dwayne said he's going to franchise and is looking for investors. Soon lucky people all over L.A. will know that Tommy's is so 1980s and Pink's is so overrated compared to this tasty, and comparably healthy, treat.

Starbucks 4 Shcwarzenegger

2006-10-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

It may be a suprise to some, but the Governator gets his own damn coffee. Arnold Schwarzenegger, accompanied by two others, was seen at the University Village Starbucks across the street from USC picking up his java at around 11 a.m. He's scheduled to be at a groundbreaking for the World of Ecology at the California Science Center today.

Starbuck's part deaux

2006-09-21T16:56:00.000-07:00

The Holiday Bowl Center, featuring a Starbuck's, Walgreen's, Denny's and a Big 5, is the exclamation point to the revitalization of Crenshaw Boulevard that has been going on slowly for years. The historic center was created by freed Japanese internment prisoners. The coffee shop and signage were save. "Given the Bowl’s location on Crenshaw, it was important in the desegregation of Los Angeles, as it served an Anglo American, African American, and Japanese American clientele. The coffee shop, for example, featured grits, udon, chow mein, and hamburgers." -- according to the People's Guide to Los Angeles. Well now a second Starbuck's is about to open at Crenshaw and Vernon, a few blocks from my house. Thanks to lottaliving.com for the photos and Magic Johnson for the coffee. But please support the mom-and-pop shops first.

Second course

2006-07-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

The Duke of the Piano - allegedly one of the origianl Platters - sent me a personal invitation to attend his next gig: from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. July 22 at the Culver Hotel. Unfortunately I'm out of town. The Xerox and the envelope both make the claim. It doesn't mention his time with the Dodgers, the Bulls or his fights with Bruce Lee.

Home in NYC

2006-07-14T10:52:00.000-07:00

Her time in LA was fleeting, and now she's found a new admirer.

OOOOweeeOOOO-ooooo

2006-07-12T14:45:00.000-07:00

The mystical and magical theremin, best known for the above referenced refrain the "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys, was the featured instrument at a recent Sunday service at the Faith Lutheran Church in Inglewood. Far from the gospel choir we were expecting, the space-age instrument (which has no strings or keys and is not touched to make music) played by the eccentric Charles Richard Lester emitted the ghostly sounds of Bach.

Mark Goodall (pictured on the left) found Lester, featured playing his theremin iin the upcoming Spielberg film "Monster House," through a common love of vintage vacuum cleaners.

Lester, also the organ player at Faith, is rumored to be starting a band with The Duke.

Just another pretty face to leave L.A.

2006-06-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately the gold-kissed 1907 portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimt was bought by the cosmetics magnate Ronald S. Lauder for $135 million, the highest sum ever paid for a painting, and will be moved to the Neue Galerie in Manhattan.

Fortunately the Los Angeles County Museum of Art will continue to show the masterpiece, along with four other works that were recently returned by the Austrian government to the family of Maria Altmann of Los Angeles, through June 30, 2006.

Ode to Ford's Filling Station

2006-06-23T12:55:00.001-07:00

A sickening tribute to Ford's Filling Station makes the cover of CityBeat, written by the person the owner's roomate. He and/or owner Ben Ford describe the bartender as a "total rock star, aloof, detached, and a little bent." Buffy is his feminine counterpart. etc. etc. "A line is forming on the sidwalk, but no one's complaining about the wait," the author believes. Ben is anti-celeb, he contintues, but still the article mentions Han Solo, Indiana Jones, Uma Thurman and Kill Bill.

It's always the Drama with you

2006-06-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

Kevin Dillon, a.k.a. Matt's brother, a.k.a. Johnny Drama, was shopping Tuesday at the Von's on Fairfax and Pico. The store was packed because it was the last hours of TRIPLE coupon day. Dillon, in a ratty black T-shirt and jeans with a cell phone to his ear the entire trip, bought just an item or two. Couldn't tell if his calves were buff or not, but he has other issues: he's slight and short. No sign of Turtle, E or Vincent, but according to the L.A. Times: "The cast members, now friends, are often seen together around town."

Mountain High

2006-06-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

"What time is it back in California?" That's just how far away the top of Big Bear feels from home, even though it's a mere two-hour ride. After stopping at Blondie's we drove straight to the bike rental shop ($36 for three hours), caught the chairlift ($10) and started at the summit. We took a nine-mile trek and wound our way down the mountain, riding through streams, sand and rock. Starving at journey's end, we made it to the Sonora Cafe, bought a pitcher of margaritas and four dinnners ($59). Miss Big Bear was there. We skipped the Big Juan, a burrito the size of the Los Angeles phone book that comes with four meats - chicken, beef, pork and ? ($15). If you eat it in 45 minutes you get a shirt.

Hot Doughnuts NOW!

2006-06-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

This doesn't seem to have been widely reported, but Krispy Kreme's tradition of giving away one free glazed doughnut hot off the conveyer belt, signaled by the neon sign screaming "Hot doughnuts now," has ended.
As of January - I try to stay away from donuts - they no longer give free samples reads the sign on the counter. And I can't believe there's been no outcry. Or is it just at the one on MLK and Crenshaw? I guess I'll have to be visiting a few more KK's in the near future.

A hard coconut to break

2006-06-06T13:35:00.000-07:00

Just bought Beggars Banquet at Amoeba Records last week and was surprised to find this is the best Stones album yet. Saw them in March at the Fabulous Forum in Inglewood. Yes they were old and they were inspired. A friend told me he almost turned down tickets to see them at the Forum in 1981. Why? Because they seemed so old then.

But you can't be too old when you are nearly killed falling out of a tree you were climbing for coconuts:

ROLLING STONES guitarist KEITH RICHARDS has returned to his Weston, Connecticut, estate to rest, following three weeks of treatment in New Zealand for the head injury he sustained after a fall from a palm tree in Fiji.
"He is feeling great, happy to be home and looking forward to getting back on the road with the Rolling Stones next month," the veteran rock band's Web site reported. While a revised itinerary will be announced shortly for the summer European leg of their A Bigger Bang tour -- originally scheduled to kick off May 27th in Spain -- French promoters already announced that two shows slated for June 3rd and July 2nd at the Stade de France in Paris have been postponed, while an August 8th date in Nice was still on. - Rolling Stone, May 23

The band's website didn't have much to say about the incident:

06.02.06 Keith Richards Is Given The All Clear To Get Back To Work As Stones Announce New Itinerary For European Shows

With the news that Keith Richards has made a complete recovery from his accident and is ready to return to the concert stage, The Rolling Stones have unveiled today their re-vamped European Tour Schedule.

05.24.06 THE ROLLING STONES FORCED TO POSTPONE SHOWS AS KEITH RICHARDS CONTINUES TO MAKE FULL RECOVERY
The first 15 shows on The Rolling Stones 'A Bigger Bang' European Tour from Barcelona, Spain on May 27 through to Zagreb, Croatia on July 5 have now been postponed.

05.01.06 Keith Richards Making A Speedy Recovery
Keith Richards was hospitalized for a mild concussion he suffered while vacationing in Fiji. Keith was injured earlier this week and flown to a hospital in Auckland, New Zealand for treatment. "Following treatment locally and as a precautionary measure, he flew to a hospital accompanied by his wife, Patti, for observation," said Stones' publicist Fran Curtis. Doctors say Keith is making a speedy recovery.

While at the Forum's b-list backstage area, a group of retirees who use their 401-Ks to follow the Stones around the world said this is the band's last tour. You heard it here first.

Ver Klimt

2006-05-31T10:13:00.000-07:00

Five paintings. One show. About 45 minutes.
There was a surprise in the amazing depth of the Beech Woods. And to see one of his gold pieces in person was great. But it was over in less time than it took to understand the tangled legal process it took to wrest the pieces from the Austrian government. But a friend of mine who I think may know everything said: "That, I figure, is what love looks like if you got the talent to show it." That thought changes the whole show for me. The show at LACMA - free after 5 p.m. - ends June 30.

Facing the final curtain

2006-05-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

That may be the way Johnny Recine would have put it, in the vocal stylings of Frank Sinatra.

But Recine no longer - that we know of - has a venue for his show of shows now that San Gennaro in Culver City has closed after a 12 year run.

The sometimes very good Italian restaurant with less than good service was a place that harkened back to another tiime where you could get a bottle of wine, two meals and dessert - plus an hour of song - for about $40.

Once we came in for a Seinfeld dinner at around 4 p.m. Johnny arrived shortly after, popped in a CD and started singing. He did three songs, having to retake one from the top, and we were the only people in the restaurant.

In a black suit and white shirt, he headed over to our table. He apologized for his voice and for bothering us. He said it was scratchy and he had a headache. This guy oozed Rat Pack and we were a little awed. He needed to practice for the dinner crowd having just driven in from Palm Springs - how Sinatra is that.

Well maybe Frank would have bought us one of San Genarro's famous $12 bottles of wine.

It's unclear what's going in to the space, two doors down from Ford's Filling Station. But it looked like someone ripped up all the seats and '80s decor inside the restaurant.

According to the City of Culver City's Website:
The Hull Building in 1925 to be the first hospital in Culver City. The architecture is recognized as Neo-Classical in style, with construction materials of tan and rose colored brick.

Although the uses have changed numerous times over the years, the Hull Building retains most of its original character. Its many occupants have included Freeman Furniture, the Sunset Drug, Ed Tinger's Culver City Flowers, Al Simon's Sada's Flowers, Kamin's Shoes, a boarding house on the second floor, the Bank of Orange County, and Italian restaurants-Riccardo's Restaurant, Bella Pasta and San Gennaro.

It was named after its first owner and builder, Dr. Foster Hull, Culver City's second City Health Officer. The Hull Building was recognized by the Culver City Historical Society as Historic Site Number Two. Stu Freeman of Freeman Property Management now owns the building.

Addicted to Jazz

2006-05-23T12:35:00.000-07:00

Jazz legend began at South Bay landmark

Chet Baker, who started at the Lighthouse, lived in the area during his historic career.

By Eddie North-Hager
DAILY BREEZE
Dec 07, 2003

In the late 1940s and the '50s, the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach was the jazz mecca of the West Coast. It drew top acts from all over, many choosing to stay for a while in sunny Southern California.

It was the perfect environment for a natural trumpet player who had almost no formal training to get a chance at stardom.

It was here that Chet Baker grew into a legend and was packaged as the James Dean of jazz. And it was here that Baker first delved into the addictions that would define him after his death in May 1988 at age 58, as much as his music did during his life.

The romanticism of Baker's lifelong and open drug addiction was always tied to his 200 records and acclaimed talents. But it seems to hamper his embrace by the public even 15 years after he fell from an Amsterdam hotel window.

"People don't want to be connected with someone who was a notorious drug addict," said Gil Galbreath, a retired computer technician.

The 71-year-old is the unofficial historian of area jazz musicians. He first caught Baker playing with Gerry Mulligan at The Hague in Los Angeles in 1952.

"That was the hot ticket in those days," Galbreath said. "He was just a natural musician. And in some ways a real genius."

Baker, an Oklahoma native, moved to Glendale in 1940, according to his memoirs, Chet Baker: As Though I Had Wings. His father, a guitar player, first bought him a trombone, but quickly replaced it with a trumpet. His mother worked for the discount department store W.T. Grant in Inglewood.

"The schools in California were so much easier they let me skip a half-grade," Baker wrote in his memoirs.

The family moved to north Redondo Beach about 1942 where he quickly lost interest in school while attending Redondo Union High School. He joined the band but couldn't read music.

Baker skipped most days to hang out and work on old cars.

"I became disenchanted with school during my junior year at Redondo High," Baker wrote. "I cut lots of classes and spent every day on the beach or along the cliffs of Palos Verdes diving for abalone."

So, at 16 he joined the Army and eventually the Army band.

When he returned to the South Bay two years later, his family had bought a house on 16th Street in Hermosa Beach overlooking Pacific Coast Highway.

The home is still there, but was remodeled in the 1980s and now has two stories.

Current owner Lee Grant said he heard a rumor that Baker once lived there, but wasn't too interested.

"I couldn't hum a tune (by Baker) but I know he was an icon in the jazz world," Grant said.

In 1949 Baker enrolled at El Camino College with a major in music and minor in English.

While playing at the High Seas in Hermosa Beach, he first started smoking marijuana, he wrote. But he also learned his style.

"It seems to me that most people are impressed with just three things: How fast you can play, how high you can play and how loud you can play," Baker said in his memoirs. "I find this a little exasperating, but I'm a lot more experienced now, and understand that less than 2 percent of the public can really hear. When I say hear, I mean follow a horn player through his ideas."

A year later he dropped out of El Camino after a teacher told him he'd never make it as a musician.

Drummer Bobby White remembers going to the house of Baker's girlfriend in Lynwood for a jam session.

"He hadn't worked with anybody yet and I was working with Vido Musso at the York Club," White said. "They liked him so much they hired him right there. "We became good friends. We would drive around in his car, go to the high school and flirt with girls."

That gig led to Baker teaming with Stan Getz. They often played together at Baker's home. He was then living in a servant's quarter on The Esplanade in Redondo Beach, according to Baker's memoirs.

And Baker's first recording, "Out of Nowhere" with Getz in March 1952, is little more than a jam session, said William Ruhlman of All Music, a Web site.

"He had such an ear for music," White said. "He could sit down and just sing a complicated arrangement like nothing. It just came natural."

And, of course, Baker played at the Lighthouse. White still plays there every Sunday afternoon.

"Hermosa Beach in the summer of '50 was jumping with hundreds of beautiful young things lying all over the place," Baker said in his memoirs. "But inside the Lighthouse on Sundays was the best, with the beautiful people coming in the swimsuits."

Baker got anointed by saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker in 1952. In one of the great moments of jazz, Bird called Baker out of a crowd after listening to several trumpeters try out for a spot in his band. Baker played a few songs and the auditions were over. Their collaborations were captured on "Live at the Trade Winds," an Inglewood club.

Baker and Bird would drive to the Palos Verdes Peninsula and San Pedro and watch the waves, Baker said in his memoirs. Bird tried to protect Baker from the vices that hounded many jazz players.

Still Baker was soon arrested for marijuana possession and moved on to harder stuff.

He was at the peak of his success at the time, recording his signature hit "My Funny Valentine" with sax player Gerry Mulligan in 1953.

White was there, playing on "This Time the Dream's on Me," "Made in Mexico" and others.

By 1957, Baker was hooked. He was arrested again and became a fugitive before going to jail for a time. He went to Europe where his addictions included prescription drugs. He served 15 months in jail for drugs, became a tabloid darling and starred in some films.

He returned to New York in 1963 and came back home to the South Bay in 1965.

But it wasn't a happy homecoming.

The Daily Breeze's only articles on file, besides an obituary, cover his arrests on charges of forging two narcotic prescriptions while living at the La Pacifica Apartments in north Redondo Beach. He was on his way to a gig at Shelly's Mannhole in Hollywood and had been appearing at several Hermosa Beach clubs. Two weeks later he was arrested at a Culver City pharmacy on the same charge. He was convicted in October 1966.

He was in San Francisco later that year. And this was probably White's last meeting with Baker.

"The last time I saw him he was at the Fairmont Hotel with Don Cunningham," White said. "He was playing a club Sunday afternoon and I walked in and I couldn't believe what he looked like. He looked like a skull. He came over and sat with me during intermission."

About this time his career nearly came to an end. His front teeth were knocked out, almost certain death for a trumpet career.

"He was coming back from a situation in the San Francisco area where he ran into some bad guys," said pianist Frank "Strazz" Strazzeri. "It had to do with money and they ended up knocking his teeth out of his mouth. He started painting houses to make a living.

"He came back here and I started working with him ever since, until he died."

Strazzeri, now 70 and playing three times a week in Toluca Lake's Chez Nous, was an up-and-coming jazz pianist who moved to Los Angeles in 1960. While living in Las Vegas, he met Baker, who came to Strazzeri's door looking for drugs.

Baker was out of commission for a few years because of his teeth. But Strazzeri was there for Baker's comeback concert at the Melody Room, now the Viper Room, in Hollywood. His official comeback album was "She Was Good to Me," released in 1974.

"He would sing mostly at the beginning because his chops weren't good," Strazzeri said. "He had one tooth in his mouth and would play off one tooth and gums."

Baker recorded constantly and spent most of the next two decades in Europe.

Strazzeri was the uncredited music supervisor for "Let's Get Lost," the movie about and starring Baker. It was released the year Baker died. And it portrayed Baker as a trumpet player who was unapologetic about his need for cocaine and heroin.

"He was always into drugs," Strazzeri said. "He never shook it. He never felt nothing wrong about that. People would say, 'Why are doing that? Why don't you stop?' And he would say, 'Because I like it.' "

But Strazzeri also remembers Baker as a great musician.

"He had great ears. He could hear things," Strazzeri said. "He could play something immediately. Others might take awhile to learn a tune. When he was young, before he started on the dope and was with (pianist) Russ Freeman, man . . . but when he was traveling somewhere along the line he started taking dope. I think that ended his trumpet playing days of like Dizzy Gillespie-power-trumpet playing."

Cheeky Gourmet

2006-05-23T09:11:00.000-07:00

It's something not seen in Culver City since John Wayne owned the Culver Hotel. A hip, young crowd gathered at a hip, new bar/restaurant called Ford's Filling Station. The small, crowded hang out offered us a table on the patio, but we chose to eat at the bar. Ford's is eponymously named after Harrison Ford's son, the chef and owner. The menu is big on beef, organic and Kobe. Which makes sense since the first Ford's Filling Station opened in Tulsa. My dining companion said he heard the organic beef hamburgers were fantastic. I thought that was what he ordered. I then ordered the flattened chicken.
I asked the bartender, how's the beef!?
Best thing on the menu.
Make it two, then.
But what we ordered wasn't the $14 hamburger but the $24 Kobe beef cheeks, the most expensive item on the menu as well. No turning back now, but I had to know which cheeks. I'm not sure which part of the anatomy would be more palatable.
The beef was like butter, falling away from itself like a soft string post roast a little bigger than a filet mignon.
Try the Kobe beef cheeks. Taste it for yourself and then decide if you'd like to know where it came from, or if you'd like to splurge on one of the best slices of meat you've ever had.

A Platter of Lies

2006-05-22T15:00:00.001-07:00

It was something we all wanted to believe. The man had come over and introduced himself as a member of The Platters, the legendary '50s group that gave us "Only You," "The Great Pretender" and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes." He sang and we believed. Believed because it was sad that this man once on top of the world was now singing to a an empty room in a hotel in Culver City. And he had The Jacket. A white suit coat with red letters that read "The Platters."

But it was soothing that a man near death found peace in singing his music for himself, if not for the crowds that were no longer there.

Even after a short conversation where he addmitted playing for the world championship Chicago Bulls, beating Bruce Lee four times and getting hit in the head with shrapnel in Vietnam, my companions still believed he was in The Platters and made the rest up.

Turns out there was a "Duke" in The Platters. But he sang none of the songs you remember.

-- The Platters Information site says "Since the early 1950s, hundreds upon hundreds of men and women have been associated, in some way, in a performing capacity with The Platters. As The Platters lineage continues to expand, tracking the all-time roster of The Platters proves to be a difficult, but a very interesting, task.

It should be noted that as original and other 'legitimate' members (those who replaced earlier members) of The Platters left the core group, many would start their own "Platters" group. As that group added and replaced members, those members suddenly have a tie to The Platters.

This sub-section of The Platters Information Site will attempt to trace the family tree of The Platters, throughout the various incarnations of the group. We hope to have complete details not only including names, but also the particular Platters "group" or "groups" they were with, as well as years of participation."

*****1969 Sonny Turner, John Rodgers, Bruce Caesar, Ron Austin, John Barnes, Duke Richardson, Herb Reed, Sandra Dawn, Ylona Austin, Elizabeth Davis, Sharon Robinson

The Siren Call of the Mermaid

2006-05-15T09:46:00.000-07:00

Past the charred remnants of Sharkeez, the billiard tables in Shark’s Cove and the revelers along Pier Ave. in HB is The Mermaid, a swanky dive right on the beach. It’s complete with a piano, horseshoe bar and two surly bartenders, who don’t take credit cards on busy Friday night. And it’s not 2-for-1 drinks either, contrary to some beliefs. Still highly recommended for drinks. There's room at the bar or in the gangster booths. At right is a photo of Ryan Abrahams' Crazy Hat Bar Crawl in HB that included the legendary Mermaid. Hat's off to ya, Ryan.

Some other reviews:
**************
Trip Advisor:

Traveler rating: 1 of 5 stars
Hermosa Beach: Mermaid Restaurant: "The bartender had a problem with my black friends"
Jan 18, 2006: A TripAdvisor Member, Los Angeles

Yes, this place has been around a long time. I dug the atmosphere - until we ordered drinks.

My friend offered his credit card to pay for the round. "I'm sorry, but this is a cash only bar". Okay, he goes off to find an ATM.

Meanwhile, we sat down in a booth behind a bar - and what did we see? A credit card machine. I think, “Interesting, perhaps it doesn't work.” I was wrong. The bartender (older gentleman) came around and proceeded to ring up two orders on credit cards.

So I ask, “Do you accept credit cards here?” He looks around and sees who I am with and replied, "Only when it's not busy".

Right. The place was pretty empty - there were no more than 20 people in the bar.

So no, I do not recommend frequenting this establishment.
*************
Trip Avisor:
Traveler rating: 4 of 5 stars
Hermosa Beach: Mermaid Restaurant: "Historic mainstay of Hermosa"
Jan 21, 2005: A TripAdvisor Member, Hermosa Beach, Ca

The Mermaid is a landmark of Hermosa Beach with a traditional 50's ish menu. Walking through the door tells you they've been there for a long time and have had no reason to change a thing! From the real piano bar, with stools all around to the red vinyl booths, it is just how it must have been when my parents ate there 30 years ago. The menu is basic and cheap with great selections. I usually get the prime rib for around $14. I've had better, but not for $14 or anywhere near. Several other choice items on the menu, lot's of great seafood and a fabulous variety of "comfort food", like meatloaf, turkey dinner, (to die for) as wells as good appetizers and desserts. You can't go wrong with the Mermaid in Hermosa! There is a full bar too.
*************
CitySearch:
It's the "Regal Beagle"
Posted by redmosquito on 06/16/2002

This place has a total "Regal Beagle" (from Three's Compnany) type atmosphere. It's a really fun bar to hang out with friends. You'll mostly find a lot of the locals hanging out there.

Where was LifeBoy?

2006-05-09T09:32:00.000-07:00

Baja Sharkeez Burns In Hermosa Beach
Firefighters From Four Departments Respond

The fire at Baja Sharkeez restaurant was reported at about 4:30 a.m. Firefighters from El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Torrance responded, according to NBC4's Robert Kovacik. Because of the intensity of the fire, firefighters were forced to work on it from outside the building.

Fire walls between Baja Sharkeez and surrounding restaurants kept the fire contained to just one structure. Most of the roof of Baja Sharkeez collapsed by the time the fire was contained a couple of hours after it started.

Fire officials said the fire may have been smouldering overnight, and arson investigators were at the scene to determine the cause.

No injuries were reported.

-- via NBC4.TV

To Sir, with love:

2006-05-08T09:50:00.000-07:00

Derived his stage name from his grandfather's nickname "Clove King". His grandfather was a spice trader in Zanzibar.

Is of half Indian and half English descent. His father, Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji, was a Kenyan-born physician of Indian descent while his mother, Anna Lyna Mary Bhanji, was an English-born fashion model of Jewish-European extraction.

His paternal family was from the Indian state of Gujarat, the same state Mahatma Gandhi was from.

It's been a tough week, apparently

2006-04-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

Thursday, 4.13.06

Morning BuzzA light serving today since I'm driving back to L.A. from upstate, but you should turn the page anyway for some Devin Brown news, some media tidbits and a clutch of new blogs. Plus the front pages, of course. Click on the Morning Buzz.

Wednesday, 4.12.06

Morning BuzzAntonio plans to impose a trash fee as the build-up to The Big Speech continues...Monique Moret names names in the Fleishman-Hillard trial: recognizable names...plus racism in the LAFD, black market breasts, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Bill Keller, Amy Harmon, Mickey Kaus, Mark (Defamer) Lisanti, Nikki Finke...the hits keep on coming when you turn the page.

I'm still on the road, so posting will remain unpredictable today. But I'll be back in L.A. Thursday evening to participate in a Press Club panel on media websites with Don Barrett, Ron Fineman and Matt Welch.

Tuesday, 4.11.06

Morning Buzz
Travel day

I'm indisposed Monday in some meetings and checking out colleges with the junior member of the LAO team. Here are some selections from the past week here on LA Observed, case you missed 'em.

Friday desk-clearing

Light posting this weekend, but first...

Where have you gone, Joe Romanesko?

2006-04-14T13:53:00.000-07:00

Romenesko
Your daily fix of media industry news, commentary, and memos.

Add/View All Romenesko Feedback Print this Page

FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2006
There will be no Romenesko postings on Friday
I'll be back on Monday.
Posted at 7:12:09 AM
E-mail this item | QuickLink this item: A99947

Plugging away

2006-04-03T11:22:00.000-07:00

I wrote a letter to NPR ombud asking why it is ok for the anchors to interview journalists all the time instead of reporting the news. It kind of grates on me. Newspapers would never have one journalist interview another (esp. at the same outlet) about how the war in Iraq is going or anything else.

Then I realize, that's exactly how blogs work (check out the Garrison Frost mention on LA Observed - It's like a paid ad.) I bet the aestethic will be giving a plug (of one kind or another) to LAO today.

There's still hope

2006-03-31T16:10:00.000-08:00

Why did it take so long for newspapers to dump stock tables
Ryan Sholin's J-School Blog
More observations from the "Who Needs Ink?" panel discussion:

Dan Gillmor: Citizen Journalism doesn't mean that everyone's a journalist; it means that some people "from time to time, commit an act of journalism."

Jerry Ceppos: "Why shouldn’t every newspaper be famous for something? When you try to cover everything, you cover nothing very well."

Joan Walsh: Yesterday’s wire stories? Ditch 'em. Everyone read those online last night. --

From Romanesko

Fire at the refinery

2006-03-31T15:55:00.000-08:00

They say it's just a gas release, but I've never seen a plume that big before.

Klebold?

2006-03-31T15:54:00.000-08:00

It's time for a 5 o'clock surprise.

He's always so negative

2006-03-31T15:46:00.000-08:00

Hey, what’s with that pod rows of hell blog? Even theaesthetic.com is updated more frequently.

-- Abe Lincoln

Who won the NCAA pool?

2006-03-29T16:11:00.000-08:00

Hey, what time is it?

2006-03-29T09:17:00.000-08:00

CNS reports that Californians passed Proposition 215 in 1996, legalizing the use of medical marijuana. In 2003, the state Legislature passed SB 420 to clarify the proposition.

Whatever happened to the Animanl Control guy?

2006-03-28T13:50:00.000-08:00

Ed Boks, general manager of city animal
services in Los Angeles, is a blogger himself and apparently hates the Animal Defense League.

ZahniserObserved.com

2006-03-28T13:49:00.000-08:00

This place is not LAobserved. Noticed a call in our media
log from David Vaniser. Made appropriate corrections.

St. Eligius

2006-03-28T13:47:00.000-08:00

The wife no longer wants to drop me off at my office, a five minute drive past her office.
Instead she parks at her place and I have to walk. On
the positive side, happened upon a sad little "Medical
Walk of Fame" with hand prints and shoe prints in the
side walk feather David Morse and Ed Begley of St.
Elsewhere and two people from Ben Casey.

Where's Josh?

2006-03-28T13:45:00.000-08:00

-- Amy Alkon tracks down, calls and demands fifty
bucks from a guy who signed her up for a ton of bogus
email because he was mad at her anti-SUV rants.