L.A. Times - Meghan Daum

Levi Johnston: He's hot, he's cute, he's playing hardball

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Who can resist this Playgirl-posing bad boy?

I'm not proud of this, but I sort of love Levi Johnston. I know he's an opportunistic buffoon. I know he's a grammatically challenged, Playgirl-posing, pistachio-shilling (yes, he made a commercial for nuts) media pawn who's not only taking the low road but ripping the pavement to shreds.

Cyclists and motorists on collision course

Thu, 5 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

A physician's conviction in a bicycle crash case reveals a noxious form of road rage.

On Monday, Dr. Christopher Thompson, the driver who abruptly stopped his car in front of two cyclists last summer, was found guilty of six felonies and a misdemeanor. The trial, which lasted three weeks and captivated the cycling community, revealed a particularly virulent form of road rage. Christian Stoehr suffered a separated shoulder and Ron Peterson shattered several teeth and broke and nearly severed his nose when the two hit the back of Thompson's Infiniti sedan on Mandeville Canyon Road.

Suddenly, America digs farming

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Huffington Post's 'hot organic farmers' and the Internet social game FarmVille may be signs of a growing interest in growing things.

Farming, which many city folk once associated primarily with children's books and distinctive if not entirely flattering tan lines, is suddenly in vogue. Never mind that most of the food we eat comes not from cozy acreages reminiscent of the setting of "Charlotte's Web" but from big corporate operations. Never mind that census data tell us that fewer than half of family-run farms show a positive net income (in other words, most farmers need day jobs). Even though farming no longer quite makes it as "a way of life," it's somehow become the next best thing (or maybe an even better thing): a lifestyle.

Columbine, O Magazine and suicide

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

An article in Oprah Winfrey's publication by Susan Klebold -- whose son was one of the high school shooters 10 years ago -- seems to diminish the enormity of the incident.

The November issue of O Magazine (that's the Oprah Magazine) features a series of articles about how to be "your true self," a guide to do-it-yourself hair coloring and -- thud -- an essay by Susan Klebold. In April 1999, her son, Dylan, along with his classmate, Eric Harris, killed 12 students, a teacher and themselves in a massacre that would thereafter be known simply as Columbine, the deadliest high school shooting in the nation's history.

Shriver and her cellphone

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Even the governor's wife apparently doesn't take talking hands-free while driving seriously.

As scandals involving the Kennedys go, Maria Shriver's failure to use a hands-free cellphone device while driving is a bit, well, anticlimactic.

Writing an end to the policy of 'don't ask, don't tell'?

Thu, 8 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

An article in a defense journal strongly argues for repealing the policy on gays in the military.

Essay contests don't generally get a lot of mainstream attention. The Secretary of Defense National Security Essay Competition, for example -- whose past winners and finalists have penned papers titled "Planning Convergence" and "Nation Building: A Joint Enterprise" -- has never made media waves. Until this year: "The Efficacy of Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the winning entry, is a breakout hit.

Polanski's pain isn't penance

Thu, 1 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Some argue that the director at the center of the controversial sex/extradition case has suffered enough. But personal ordeals are not the same as justice.

How lousy has Roman Polanski's life been? His mother died at Auschwitz; his pregnant wife was murdered by the Manson family; and in 1978, after pleading guilty to unlawful intercourse and serving an evaluation period in the Chino state prison, he says he learned that a judge who had led him to believe that he would serve no more jail time actually was considering a long sentence, followed by deportation. On the eve of his sentencing, the acclaimed director of "Rosemary's Baby" and "Chinatown" fled the U.S. and never returned.

Carrie Prejean vs. Perez Hilton

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The week's biggest nonstory was the beauty queen and the blogger.

It's been a notable week in not-really news. Songstress Susan Boyle, who supposedly delivered us from our shallowness by belting out a showstopper without the help of hair dye or eyebrow tweezing, continued to make headlines. The former vice presidential candidate's grandbaby daddy, Levi Johnston, went on "Larry King Live" and managed to say and be asked almost nothing. And Earth Day, with its myriad opportunities for celebrities to talk about CFL bulbs, filled talk shows like so many Styrofoam peanuts in a cardboard box.

The recession heats up romance novels

Sat, 4 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

In a down economy, sales of bodice-rippers are growing. Escapism is part of the allure, but there's more to the story.

Amid the ceaseless reminders that the economy is in a persistent vegetative state, it's easy to forget that some industries and products are thriving. U.S. News & World Report, which recently released its list of "10 Winners in the Recession," says that Hershey's chocolate increased earnings by more than 50% last quarter and the Burpee seed company has said it expects sales to increase by 25% in 2009 (and this was before the first lady's organic-gardening initiative).

Michelle Obama's no-win role

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Given all the symbolism and superficial clucking that surrounds her, the first lady is in a tough spot.

I'm having a hard time forming an opinion about First Lady Michelle Obama, mostly because there are already so many out there, and they're almost uniformly inane.