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Let the Oscar speeches begin. Updated from time to time, newest at the bottom:
Sharon Waxman: Jon Friedman at CBS Marketwatch participates in the Sharon Waxman book tour. Interview excerpt: "'This week has been IN-sane,' she said with a weary laugh...'Oscar night is the hardest night of the year for me. It begins past deadline. It's four hours of pure pressure.'" Link via Romenesko and FishbowlLA.
Old man robs bank: The Citibank on ritzy Montana Avenue in Santa Monica was hit by a man described as "between 70 and 80 years old." He demanded cash, got it, then was seen running from the scene. Via the Santa Monica Daily Press.
"Good Day Live" axed: RonFineman.com says the national version of Fox's local "Good Day L.A." has been cancelled. Only Steve Edwards remained from the original hosting trio.
L.A. as gossip town: It's a) the LAT's fault, or b) the existence of the tabloids, or c) all of the above, that explains why Los Angeles media lacks a true gossip column. James Verini says in Sunday's New York Times that Defamer fills the void and gets three million page views a month. [But how many of Defamer's readers are in L.A.? His appeal seems more borderless.] LA.com and FishbowlLA also mentioned.
Memo to LAT: Responding to the NYT piece mentioned above, Mickey Kaus says gossip doesn't have to be about celebrities. He urges L.A. Times managing editor Dean Baquet to hire Lloyd Grove of the New York Daily News: "Grove has a girlfriend out here! He might want to move."
More LAT advice: Hugh Hewitt calls the Times "America's worst major paper," then urges Michael Kinsley to add Jack Kelly, James Lileks and Mark Steyn to the regular line-up of opinion columnists "and all complaints about the deep, deep bias of your pages are answered."
On Reading the Times: Patterico asked his audience why they do or do not read the L.A. Times. He got 79 responses.