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Two good things about the LA Times, and one bad.

I was going to write just the good things. I hate that German word that means happiness in the misfortune of others. And in general, I’m proud of living in a city with a well-regarded big paper. But something bad happened in the Sunday paper, so I’m including that, too. I’m sure the Times wouldn’t have it any other way.

First off, I’ve noticed that in almost every issue now, they write something about animals or birds or the environment. They even had a Column One on the new director of the Humane Society, Wayne Pacelle! Ten years ago, if you picked up the paper, you would have thought we lived in Cement City, with a photo here and there of the beach or the mountains right next to us, but no information of these spots as habitat, just as vacation spots. In fact, I would say it’s only been the last 2 years that you could see the words treehugger, or animal lover, used to describe someone, and not hear the contempt dripping from those words.

Doomsday film
Photo by Jay Maidment, Rogue Pictures. The movie “Doomsday.”

And until a couple of years ago, every time I complained to the city about their atrocious tree hackers, (or even to the gp reps at Rec & Parks!) I would immediately proclaim my freedom from “those” groups, like the Tree People, or the Sierra Club, lest the city thought I was “one of them.” (I’m still not in either group; I respect the Tree People, but they’re sort of wimpy, and the Sierra Club is outright disingenuous, refusing to take a stand on hunting or overpopulation.)

Of course, the Times doesn’t deserve special commendation – all the media, after all, is warming up to the holistic/earth/natural movement that’s been growing. Still, the Times isn’t bucking the trend, so that’s good! And I like it.

Also, I don’t notice the weather report usually, but on the front page one day last week, they had the weather on the very corner tip, and it read:

Weather: Warm. Again.

I laughed at this! The Times made a funny! At least, I assume it did, and wasn’t just running out of ways to describe our boring sunshine. In any case, it goes in the good pile.

Now for the bad. Calendar had a section on Sunday called Shameless Loves, or something like. One short item was on a movie called Doomsday, about cannibals. I prefer to read movie reviews after I see the movie – especially for horror movies, as the reviews are kind of weird sometimes -but couldn’t resist taking a peek at this item. The author said she saw it opening night and the audience seemed to enjoy it. And then – PLEASE NOTE, SPOILER AHEAD!!! she writes:

…the small audience did grow more vocal as the movie went on, and toward the end when Sol – spoiler alert!-is decapitated, an ovation broke out.

What the HELL??? You just ruined the entire movie by giving out the ending, and your “spoiler alert” is directly in front of the word decapitated!! So freaking annoying. So I looked up the author, wondering if it was some freelancer for the Times, and, nope, it’s Kate Aurthur, who turns out to be the TV Editor! Gah! This is an industry town, she’s editor of the TV section, and she thinks giving the ending away is amusing? NOT. Don’t ask her to write reviews on any of MY tv shows, please.

Griffith Park is the 2nd biggest park in the US, and I'm just the person to investigate it! I've lived here for over 25 years. I was part of the PROS Committee in Griffith Park Neighborhood Council and am on the Housing & Tenants Rights Committee in the Silver Lake NC. I'm in the LA Press Club, and you can find some of my articles in the LA Weekly and the Los Feliz Ledger. I'm a cartoonist for Parade Magazine, The New Yorker, LA Times, Slate, & most major media. Questions and contacts welcome.

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