Spin

What do the Los Angeles Kings, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and California trial lawyers have in common? All think the news media no longer cover the universe -- or their corner of it -- adequately and all have hired journalists of their own. Sorry I couldn't provide a snappier punch line. But the latest journalism innovation -- in a season of unending innovation -- is no joke: Those who once were merely subjects of news coverage increasingly will be looking for ways to write the story themselves.

Do you remember those plexiglass dollhouses that museum shops sold for a while -- brightly colored things that looked like the "Brady Bunch" house as re-imagined by a unicorn? The new Venice restaurant Sunny Spot is a little like that, a bit of Midcentury Modern on an institutional strip of Washington Boulevard in Venice with a flat roof, acres of windows and glowing, color-washed dining rooms that can't quite decide whether they're outside or in. As Beechwood, this space felt slightly generic, a loungy "Playboy After Dark" kind of place centered on its fire pit. As Sunny Spot, it booms with reggae and supports both a serious cocktail crowd and a multitude of lobster-red beer guys fresh from an afternoon on Venice Beach.

In a rational world, a corporate chairman who presided over a huge unexpected loss would be raked over the coals at his next shareholder meeting and his job would be up for grabs. It's not likely that will happen to JPMorgan Chase Chairman and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon at the firm's annual shareholder meeting today. Partly that's because "shareholder democracy" is a joke at almost all big companies. Dissident shareholders typically rejoice at getting a 40% backing for their proposals.

As the major Hollywood studios line up for and against Redbox, Paramount Pictures is playing it down the middle. The studio, owned by Viacom Inc., has signed a first-of-its-kind trial deal guaranteeing that its titles will be available from the fast-growing $1-a-night DVD rental company through the end of the year. During that time, Paramount will study the effect of Redbox rentals on its total home-entertainment revenue, examining whether there is any decrease in the sales of its DVDs at Wal-Mart stores that house Redbox kiosks.

They're not the Emmys or the Oscars, and the gift baskets aren't full of expensive goodies. But for the people who break into television and radio programming every so often to tell you how traffic is on the 405 and 110 freeways, this was their day in the driver's seat. It was the annual Golden Pylon Awards, which were dished out today at Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant in the Grove. Pylon is the fancy word for traffic cone, which for drivers always signals trouble ahead.

They may rationalize to their heart's content, but spin controllers are just one more manifestation of a clay-footed power structure manipulating an increasingly powerless, frustrated public. ALLAN RABINOWITZ Los Angeles

Re "Military rebuts media on Iraq," Nov. 2 So now some of our tax money is going to be spent by the Pentagon to make sure that we all hear the preferred spin on news of the war. Where have we heard about this tactic being used before? Was it Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union? EMMAGENE COFFEY Palos Verdes Estates

I've read many an article on the plight of "street people" and people living in poverty. None has touched a response in me as Ray Perez's Jan. 25 article, "Well-Heeled Befriend Down-at-Heels." Three cheers for the group Street People in Need. And three cheers for SPIN's church, Our Lady Queen of Angels. I, too, feel that if we look each other in the eye, get to know each other and then try to help, solutions will come. Solutions that have evaded us in the past. LAURETTA CALLENDER Cypress

Neal Gabler notes that spin doctors and speech writers are now commonly credited in the press (Opinion, Feb. 15). Thus the American public is now aware of disinformation in the news. He concludes that by this loss of innocence we have "paid the bill" for the glut of fabricated information now jamming the news media. Gabler is partially right. We feel a great sadness at acknowledging that our leaders twist the truth, and that the press dutifully reports fabrications as news. But he has failed to account for the practical gain we have received by being informed of that fact.

"Jannat 2" is stuffed with the buffet-style storytelling that makes commercial Indian cinema seem gluttonously overwhelming by the standards of most Hollywood output. Would a moody Michael Mann crime drama be improved by a musical number? Could a Nancy Meyers crossed-wires romance benefit from a dense, intense thriller subplot? The film shares its director, lead actor and a few behind-the-scenes names with the 2008 Indian film "Jannat," but this sequel otherwise is a stand-alone affair, with new characters and a self-sustaining story line.

A season that started so disappointingly for the Angels was quickly forgotten among the roaring crowd of 27,288 at Angel Stadium on Wednesday night watching Jered Weaver throw the first individual home no-hitter since Nolan Ryan in 1975. Backed by chants of "Weaver, Weaver, Weaver," the 29-year-old right-hander was surrounded by teammates near the mound after Alexi Casilla's deep fly ball to right field was caught by Torii Hunter, giving the Angels a 9-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

TV westerns, game shows and variety shows have come and gone. But when it comes to prime time, TV has rarely experienced a cop-out, despite the seemingly endless recycling of formulas dealing with the central themes of good and evil, crime and punishment. The creative forces behind CBS' new "NYC 22" hope that their series demonstrates that there is plenty of life left in the well-tilled cop show territory. Its A-list pedigree is an immediate attention grabber: Executive producers include Oscar winner Robert De Niro and novelist-screenwriter Richard Price.

Steady rain all but canceled Friday afternoon's one-hour practice session for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Reigning Izod IndyCar Champion Dario Franchitti drove one lap around the 1.97-mile course on the city's seaside streets, then pulled his car in for the day. Scott Dixon, his teammate at Target Chip Ganassi Racing, also attempted a lap but hit a large patch of standing water, spun and crashed lightly into the wall. No other drivers went out on the 11-turn course.

There's only one rival that may be able to trip up the seemingly unstoppable "The Hunger Games" at the box office this weekend: a trio of out-of-shape goofballs. Although the fantasy epic starring Jennifer Lawrence looks primed to claim the No. 1 spot for the fourth consecutive weekend, it may face some competition from a new spin on "The Three Stooges. " After 21 days in release, the adaptation of Suzanne Collins' bestselling novel has already grossed more than $300 million domestically and could take in $18 million to $20 million more this weekend, according to those who have seen pre-release audience surveys.

First-time feature director Kat Coiro gives an oft-tread story a snappy new spin in the hip and enjoyable comedy "Life Happens. " After underdog Kim (an endearing Krysten Ritter) loses out for the last nearby condom to brasher roommate Deena (Kate Bosworth, also fine) during the BFF's simultaneous one-night stands, Kim ends up a devoted but ill-prepared mother of a baby boy. With the child's me-first, surf star dad (Rhys Coiro, Kat's husband) decidedly absent, Kim must navigate the demands of single motherhood, her thankless job assisting a hellish canine patron (Kristen Johnston)

Re "Dog Bites Man in Baghdad," Commentary, Oct. 28: Max Boot believes the real news is Iraq's return to normality. Imagine this "normality" in the Iraqi mind: an unjustified invasion and occupation causing the deaths of over 10,000 countrymen (and counting), creation of both a breeding ground and magnet for Islamic extremists and an escalating chaos caused by 25 daily attacks against U.S. soldiers, with bombings of Iraqi police headquarters, the United Nations and the Red Cross. A mere dog bite, for sure.

It's a ritual that's beginning to make me feel less responsibly health conscious and more reliably heading toward old age. Every Sunday, I count out seven days' worth of a dozen different pills and load them into the daily compartments in my plastic medication bin. That's "geezer status," my daughter jokes, as I slip an extra set inside my purse, in case my memory-enhancing gingko biloba fails and I forget to swallow them before I leave home....

The Labor Department's latest employment report is wishy-washy enough to invite wildly divergent spins from the Obama administration and its Republican rivals.  Said Alan B. Krueger, chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisors: "There is more work to be done, but today's employment report provides further evidence that the economy is continuing to recover from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. " Said Mitt Romney: “This is a weak and very troubling jobs report that shows the employment market remains stagnant.