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Natalie Portman decorates the cover of January's Vogue, part of the flackery for "Black Swan." The magazine has posted a nice behind-the-scenes video of the fashion shoot, calling the setting "a onetime ritzy, now semi-rundown former hotel in downtown Los Angeles." I couldn't place it, but View from a Loft blogger Ed Fuentes thinks it's the Alexandria on Spring Street, possibly the old second-floor ballroom. "The windows face Spring," he emails. Not so surprising to see Portman in Downtown, though. She was spotted at last August's Art Walk.
Downtown note: Fuentes has the scoop on that protest poster in the Arts District over MOCA's Jeffrey Deitch. Noted: Which is not to say Fuentes has the scoop on the protest. Deborah Vankin in the Times has been all over the story.
* Update: Definitely the Alexandria's upstairs ballroom.