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The summer amusement park season is starting to ramp up, and West Inn and Suites in Carlsbad, has low room prices for families who want to visit Legoland California. Rooms for two adults and two children start at $159 a night -- and that includes breakfast and parking. The deal: Legoland California just opened its on-site hotel, but West Inn and Suites might be a cheaper alternative. It is 10 minutes away and offers freebies such as cookies and milk before bedtime, a hot breakfast buffet or a grab-and-go breakfast, parking, Wi-Fi and a shuttle to Legoland and other stops in Carlsbad.

  It may be the most heartfelt ovation Neil Diamond has ever received. One of the legendary singer's best-known songs, "Sweet Caroline", has served as an unofficial anthem for the Boston Red Sox the last several seasons. It is played during the eighth inning of every home game, with fans coming to their feet and singing along. In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings last Monday, and after the two people allegedly responsible for the bombings were found, many Red Sox fans were looking forward to the game Saturday against the Kansas City Royals.

Balloons in the Clippers' colors were hanging on Laker legend statues before the Clippers played the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday. When the news hit Twitter that the likenesses of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West and Chick Hearn had red and blue balloons attached to their limbs, Lakers fans were not pleased. The balloon prank wasn't the only jab that Clippers Nation took at the Lakers. Before the Clippers game, Coach Vinny Del Negro was asked if the Lakers have a chance against the Spurs in another first-round series.

BOSTON -- Hockey fans filled the streets around TD Garden, streaming into the athletic complex as they passed vendors selling T-shirts that read "Boston Strong Never Forget" with the date of the bombings. Half a dozen Homeland Security vehicles lined the front of the adjacent federal building and a handful of U.S Air Force personnel patrolled the grounds. Police were stationed at multiple street corners across the street. An American flag was wedged in the skate of the Bobby Orr statue out front of the arena.

Shortly after the gates opened for the second weekend of the 2013 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, those waiting to get in bore witness to a rare site at the now annual music party in the desert: patience. Security lines at 12:15 p.m. weren't all moving incredibly brisk - a 20-to 25-minute wait to get into the grounds seemed about right - but everyone was on their best behavior as security made its way through the backpacks of attendees. Perhaps the second week, in which most every band will perform in the same time slot it had last week, doesn't bring as much anticipation at the gate.

Even if the horror-thriller "Antiviral" wasn't written and directed by David Cronenberg's son, Brandon, this meat locker of a movie might still invite comparisons to much of the elder filmmaker's signature output. Stark, startling and weirdly inventive, "Antiviral" is set in a vaguely futuristic dystopia where the cult of celebrity has become that much more, well, cultish. The deal: Fans can get closer than ever to their favorite superstars by being injected with famous folks' viruses, which are harvested and brokered by high-security clinics.

I'm considering buying the Dodgers. New ownership seems wise at this point, though I will confess that my judgment may be impaired after wolfing down four Dodger Dogs the other night. Sodium poisoning soon set in, and then there was this 2-year-old billy-clubbing everyone around us with his little souvenir bat, sharp as an elbow. "Great, now he's armed," grumbled the guy next to me. I was with my peeps in the right-field pavilion. It's where the real fans reside, the working men and women of Los Angeles, plunking down $27 for admission and the all-you-can-eat buffet they serve in this part of the park.

- The fireflies in this coastal Ontario town had begun to materialize over the estate's sprawling lawn. Inside a macabre-looking residence, the actors Famke Janssen and Bill Skarsgard slipped through elegant rooms and chilly corridors, a bone-creepy tableau that might be described as "The Addams Family" meets Guillermo del Toro. Her voice musical but no-nonsense, Janssen issued an order to Skarsgard; he responded by trying very hard to look aloof. The location for the production of "Hemlock Grove" - a piece of small-town American Gothic about a murder, a shady company and rampaging werewolves - was quaint, even archaic.

If the Los Angeles Lakers flop in the NBA playoffs after avoiding the embarrassment of failing to qualify for the postseason for the first time since the 2004-05 season, many fans know exactly where they will place a load of the blame and how to fix the problem. “I think our coach needs to get it together,” said Liz Meres, 29, a longtime Lakers fan. “We don't rebound, get back on defense or hustle. Phil needs to get back with the Lakers so we can get another ring.” On the last day of the NBA's regular season, ESPN's Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne report that sources say former Lakers coach Phil Jackson is 'itching' for a return to the NBA. Now, it seems to fans, the Lakers are fighting for their coach's job. “If the Lakers lose tonight, I hope [Mike D'Antoni]

Tension around L.A. Live is growing as the Los Angeles Lakers' 82-game season boils down to what most fans consider a “must-win” game. “We have to win tonight because, if not, we have no chance against the Thunder,” said Luis Ramirez, 35, a 27-year fan of the purple and gold. “We can beat San Antonio because they are banged up, we match up well and Tim Duncan is old. " The Kobe-less Lakers are in the driver's seat to make the NBA playoffs for the 60th time as a franchise and can vault into the No. 7 seeding with a win tonight over the Houston Rockets.