L.A. Times - Dan Neil

'Soul Power'

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The documentary focuses on the music festival 'Zaire 74' that was organized to go along with the Ali-Foreman 'Rumble in the Jungle.'

Most everyone remembers "The Rumble in the Jungle," the 1974 heavyweight championship fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire, but who remembers "Zaire 74," the music festival that was organized to go along with it? "Soul Power," a vibrant and joyous new documentary, should end that anonymity.

Michael Phelps ads prove a new cultural tolerance of marijuana

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Super-swimmer Michael Phelps returned to big-time advertising Sunday with a TV spot for Subway titled "Be Yourself." Oh, the irony.

2010 Hyundai Genesis coupe 3.8 Track

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

2010 Hyundai Genesis coupe 3.8 Track Base price: $30,250

ACE Metrix gauges audience reception of TV ads

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The company tells companies whether their commercials are good enough, smart enough -- and whether, in fact, people like them. And in real time, too.

There's an old saying that half of all money spent on advertising is wasted. The eternal, career-wrecking dilemma for advertisers is that nobody knows which half.

Kevin O'Neill ready to move forward as USC coach

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

O'Neill, who has a hard-edged reputation and focuses on defense, says he expects nothing short of making it to the NCAA tournament.

Kevin O'Neill, USC's new basketball coach, said he was ready to move "forward" -- his view being that the glass is half full and not cracked and leaking all over the counter as the perception has been recently.

VW California Biker: a dream van come true

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The modernized Westfalia camper is available -- in Europe.

I would like many things. I would like a large four-bedroom ranch home to fall on Jon and Kate. I would like my life to be more like Bollywood. I wish my hair could talk.

2010 Mercedes-Benz E250 CDI BlueEfficiency

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

2010 Mercedes-Benz E250 CDI BlueEfficiency Base price: $48,000 (est.)

When cars were America's idols

Mon, 1 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

If you were to walk up to a typical New York executive in the 1960s -- think Don Draper in AMC's "Mad Men" -- and tell him that General Motors Corp. would be in bankruptcy by 2009, he would have thought you were delusional, or perhaps a Communist. GM was more than just the world's largest and most admired corporation; it was the final vindication of the American Way, the perfected and even divinely inspired example of democratic capitalism that stood opposed to the airless atheism and nullity of the Soviet system.

Yard work cleaned up

Sat, 2 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Compared to the typical two-stroke weed whacker, the propane-powered Lehr Eco Trimmer exhausts angel's breath.

The filthiest, most polluting, most awful thing in your home is not your kid's hard drive. It's your lawn and garden equipment, which is, even as you read this, outgassing carcinogens into the atmosphere as a result of a charming process called "evaporative emissions." Millions of these atmospheric cesspools are stewing away in garages and tool sheds across the state, venting volatile organic compounds into California's already troubled skies. And that's before you even pull the string to start them. Ick.

BMW 750Li: The dance of the electronic fairies

Fri, 3 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

This systems-heavy executive saloon might just be the best luxury sedan in the world.

I'm quite certain that somewhere right now, emotionally shattered BMW technicians are gathering in a church basement for a support group, huddled around the cookies and the coffee urn, their hands fairly vibrating with frustration. For as well deserved as is the title Ultimate Driving Machine, BMWs also have earned the reputation as the Ultimate Hangar Queen, taking up residence in dealership service bays and sending mechanics over the crumbling edge of insanity. Hello -- sob! -- my name is Dieter and I'm a BMW tech . . . . Hello, Dieter, keep comin' back. . . .