: Donald Trump will bail out Ed McMahon

Mega-developer and TV personality Donald Trump has agreed to buy Ed McMahon’s Beverly Hills house for an undisclosed amount and allow McMahon to continue living in it. Details of the deal are still being ironed out, but Trump’s interest is regarded as an act of benevolence.

“I don’t know the man, but I grew up watching him on TV,” Trump said in an exclusive interview with The Times.

McMahon, 85, was facing foreclosure within two weeks on his Beverly Hills home of 18 years. The aging television icon, who was Johnny Carson’s sidekick for three decades, defaulted on $4.8 million in mortgage loans with Countrywide Financial Corp. He said in interviews that he was unable to work because of a neck injury that occurred about 18 months ago.

read the whole story here yo

slash pop up store slash movie hype event on 6th street downtown last night with my homegirls from metromix.

people talk trash about downtown LA and how dirty it is and how it smells like fresh pee and how the vermin roam and how the homeless harrass and how the heroin isnt as good as it used to be and how the loft spaces are too much even for the hipsters and how its not new york no matter what we try to do.

and most of that might be true but i gotta say this about it, at least its a taste of new york in our weird little petri dish of paradise, and new york cant say that they have a piece of LA in manhattan.

i gotta say it IS nice to walk 7 blocks and pass a lot of interesting things and be around tall buildings and smell interesting foods and see a mixed variety of cultures. it IS nice not to have to worry about where you parked. and it IS nice to see kick ass art, hear hip hop, eat free tacos, and see some bad ass mamacitas in tattoos and bleach blonde hair pose next to stand ups from the new pacino / deniro movie and be able to do it in a space thats bigger than a bread box.

new york has many things but it doesnt have lots of elbow room. it doesnt have the greatest weather of all times. and it doesnt have palm trees in the middle of nowhere.

plus it doesnt have me.

it was a free bar it was free convo it was free meeting with new people including this black girl from CAA who looked just like the singer of The Go! Team and i wanted to teller that but i didnt. i dont know why. do people like being thought about as looking like someone? ashley loved it. i didnt.

cougar texted me right as i was leaving the deal. “wanna snack”? she asked. we have this deal that she brought up, actually. she said she didnt wanna have any sex until we both got tested. i told her repeatedly that she was the only one i was getting with but for some reason she thinks that some of whats in here is true so i was all cool with me.

so when i replied letting her know that i had munched on free carne asada she just called me. some people hate texting. especially the older gen.

“are you avoiding me?”

nope.

“why cant we just hang out then?”

cuz you know we wont just hang.

“sigh.”

this was your master plan, baby.

“loud sigh.”

tell you what, text me tomorrow after you made an appointment with your doc.

“tell YOU what, tony, why dont you CALL me after you made an appointment with YOUR doc?”

which tells me alls not perfect in my little petri dish of paradise neither. which is just business as usual in the land of dreams.

but ive been bustin my ass on the Olympics blog, which you can see by clicking my header at the top of the busblog any time during the games

and now the answers, interspersed with photos that i didn’t use in the two Kris Krug photo essays that we have posted on the Times

Dan: Did you listen to the CD I sent? And if so, did you like it?

i did. i didnt. i like devil music. there wasnt enough devil in that stuff.

leah: what do you think i should do to improve my bloggy blog? p.s. hi!

baby you have one of the finest blogs of all time. you dont have to change one thing. your writing is great and cute. your pics are beautiful and only getting better. you write almost every day. i love your movie reviews. i love your battles with coke. i love your passion for wedding photography. if you put a gun to my head – something you did often when i visited austin – and made me think of three things that you could do to make your blog more pleasing to ME i would say: (1) more stories about my favorite band in texas (next to Honky) (2)move your ad over to the left column underneath your important stuff (3)more vids – no one knows about your fascinating accent.

The Holywriter: I’m restarting the blog for the millionith time, will you link me?

only if you pray for the Cubs to win it all.

Phaedra: I think I recall you mentioning taking a year off from da herb. What enticed your decision to do so? Do you miss it?

im a very fortunate man. people offer me lots of things: booze, cds, concert tickets, dates, books, you name it. one day someone passed me something to smoke and i was all hmmmm. i thought, i dont know this person. there could be anything in there. plus bros saliva was all over it. so i passed and decided not to smoke anything at all for a year regardless of how it’s presented. i do miss the communal aspect of it, but not enough to break my lil fast. in fact i might extend it to two or three years, who knows?

Gage: plane, train or automobile? Who do you think is the most overrated writer right now? Most underrated?

9/11 has sorta ruined plane travel. its such a hassle. and even though i drove around the country and parts of canada, im not super crazy about driving cars. so trains. i had great success with them in europe on many trips, and i took the subway to work here in LA for nearly 5 years. the most overrated writer right now is chris martin. the most underrated writer is our soon-to-be departing summer intern mark milian who scored this interview last week with the German inventor of the I Am Rich ap for the iPhone which got us hella visitors.

xtx: Did you hear Artie was in an outpatient rehab?

yes i did. i have met people who have a fear of success. it’s interesting to watch him struggle with it. seems to me he just needs Daner back. most suffering is due to lack of true love. artie is one of those rare birds who is on top of the world right now. it would be nice if he could actually allow himself to enjoy it.

Chris Carnaghi: Joe Lieberman or Country Joe and the fish for VP?

Ron Paul.

JackassJimmy: Do you listen to podcasts and if so, which ones do you recommend?

unfortunately i do not listen to podcasts and i will tell you why. i have the Sirius Stiletto and i have an iPhone. together those two products give me every audio option that i need in my socalled life. the sirius gives me days and days of howard stern shows, and the iphone gives me 8 gigs of music, which is way more than i need. i have love for podcasts, in theory, but if you notice, we dont do them at the Times, and i might be one reason why we dont – cuz i dont really believe in them.

Mike: Who’s better AVGN or Nostalgia Critic?

Guitar Heroine – and not just cuz shes smokin

Krista: Any good books I should be reading right now?

Lynda Barry: What it is, Scott McClellan: What Happened, Matt Welch: Myth of a Maverick (now in paperback), What We Do is Secret: Kief Hillsbery

bloopy: once again there’s a slight chance i may have to go down to LA for work in a couple of weeks, but as always i don’t know anything about the place. . . what are your three favorite places to eat down there?. . . and i’m talking anywhere from a greasy little hole in the wall to some posh joint that might turn me away ‘cuz currently i’m sporting a slightly homeless look. . .

hole in the walls are where its at bro: Jean P’s Soul Food Express home of 99 cent soul food. near usc.

Tacos “Arizas”. my favorite taco truck. it’s in Echo Park really close to The Echo but just off Sunset. i get the al pastor tacos even though i hate onions. somehow they magically disappear into the meat. i eat them right there on the card table.

Kanpai: in between a Quiznos and a Chicago Ribs joint on Lincoln near LAX is the best sushi in LA. costly, but deeeelish.

Times bloggers: Can we write about Edwards now?

who?

Alys: Would you rather be able to whip up a delicious dessert anytime/anywhere or always get good seats for you and your travelling companions?

i hate cooking. i hate whipping. and im not crazy about desserts. i would like some Bob Dylan seats at the Santa Monica Civic for next month’s show and im thinking about forking over $250. but the babe i wanna take might not be in town. and for that matter, i might not be either.

Ciavarro: Do you have any bastard children?

youd think at my age id have like a bakers dozen by now. but im such a freak about stds that i wear 7-8 condoms. so technically im still probably pure. but no, still a truly single man. never even had a “scare”.

Rob Lawrence: where’s the Flickr page for Zaca Lake? how many penises do you have? how long?

i have a folder here. if you cant see it, join flickr, add me as a contact, and send me a flickr mail saying you wanna be added as a “friend”. strangely i only have one and ive had it for a very long time.

raymi: because you are probably the most fashionable dresser i know, what is your fashion predictions for the next two years-ish, for women and men.

my fashion prediction for women in the next two years is that they will be doing what you were doing three years ago. except without as much style.

as for men. men will stop wearing pink. thank god.

Tonio K.: If your knees bent the other way – what would chairs looks like?

our current economy.

Rob Lawrence: what happens when you xerox a mirror?

and angel loses its mind.

timmay!!!!!: tits or ass?

glad you asked. unfortunately i dont think its that good of a record, really. i know hes a classic, i know hes a sorta genius. in fact a long time ago i had a chance to see the who at the la collesium, bb king with stevie ray vaughn at the greek, or him at the universal amphitheater. and i saw him with karen broome and we had a great time. and ive never regretted it. until i got the new record. now i wish i had seen stevie.

Sharp: Nas or Jay-Z? (Kanye is not an option)

at first i didnt get Jay-Z. it wasnt thuggish enough for me. i still dont get Biggie even though thats like Karisas jam. and even though on paper i should totally be down with Nas, he just seemed whiney to me. shouldnt there be joy in Some of your music? PE, NWA, even DMX as pissed off as he is has some fun with his tunes but Nas just depresses me and makes me wanna turn back on the metal channel on satellite. im pretty sure Beyonce is gonna ruin his flow but until then, JayZ.

David: Even though he made St Louis his bitch today, are you a little uncomfortable seeing Edmonds in a Cubbies uniform? Besides The Ting Tings, what other groups are you currently into? & if you make it to Vegas this weekend come have a few at the Double Down?

Edmonds was a California Angel, then he came to the Cubs. whats to feel uncomfortable about? best pickup we made in a very long time. every team needs a guy who hustles. you might not see it in the box score, and hes not the best Fantasy guy, but when you need a diving catch or a clutch home run or two, theres your guy.

i really wanna buy the new Grates record, but its only available on Australian iTunes, so i might just mail order it like in olden times. new musicwise i like Wallpaper, Ancestors, Lil Wayne, and Goldfrap. old school ive been listening to the reissue of exile in guyville, and im still rocking Dinosaur Jr.’s Beyond.

keir: 1) “Post Office” or “Factotum?” 2) Sandberg or Dawson? 3) Anaconda or IVBC?

not sure how to pick between the first two. or the second two. all classics. all worthy. we are so not worthy. but the last two choices are easy, at the Anaconda i saw Body Count, the Ramones, Bo Diddley, and a little band called Bad Neighbor who completely ruled. i also saw a lot of shows upstairs that i dont even really remember. the only thing i ever did at IVBC was play pool and drink beer in the daytime. a girl wanted me to kiss her there once and i said this isnt really even IV in here, lets go outside and keep it real. im glad they burned it down.

Ali: when do you plan on returning to canada….and what, if anything do you do on a daily basis, to change the world ?? 😛

id really like to go back to TO for new years eve but only if i have a date lined up as good if not better than the one you and i had last new years. although i seriously doubt anything could top the drinking, the duaneing, the karaoking, and the all nighting through the snow.

Scott: When you gonna come out to Japan?

i hear you have to be a gazillionaire to even daydream about japan. im just a workin man.

all photos by Kris Krug, photographer, used with permish

this might be the most powerful reason to adjust my diet

thanks general pitt

they just stand there proudly and glorious, varied and tropical.

they dont yearn to be oaks or miss their childhoods.

they dont whine to be transplanted or bitch when theyre trimmed.

parrots nest in their holey bits, ants march up their lower parts,
squirrels scamper, dogs piss,
tourists lean,
but theyre not mean.

o palm trees of foreign lands
watching patiently above the rock bands
who play on balconies next to the sea
o palm trees please talk to me

tony

palm tree!

youre nuts

palm tree!!

you need some rest

omg!

palm tree of the desert, palm tree of my dreams
palm tree of the summertime, palm tree of the forced rhyme

butterflies adore ye
so ignore the jealousy
of the maplewood, and the evergreen
and the wipporwill and the lesser trees.

but where are your coconuts
or bananas, where are your fruit cups
or fandangos
where is your toy suprise
wheres your blue eyes
wheres your hanging branch
for our tire ride?

oh palm trees of my day dreams
swaying gracefully in the heavy rains
never shiverring, always solid gold
soon you’ll make the
best
telephone pole

– busblog, 2/4/05

the times’ oldest and most popular bloggers get some love in one of the best newspaper-centric blogs out there. today it’s about how they will cover the conventions.

This time around, newspapers plan to cover the conventions in ways that seemed unimaginable eight years ago. The most obvious sign of change is the number of papers that have embraced — and now emphasize — blogging. Doyle McManus, Washington Bureau Chief for the Los Angeles Times, says, “I think that four years ago, newspapers were very tentative and uncertain as to whether blogging was something we ought to do at all.”

Now, McManus is a believer. Two of the most popular newspaper political blogs in the country come from Tribune newspapers: the Chicago Tribune’s “The Swamp” and the L.A. Times’ “Top of the Ticket” blog, which McManus says has been the paper’s “most successful blog all year, even more than the [Los Angeles] Lakers blog.”

The men behind “Top of the Ticket” are veteran Times reporters Andrew Malcolm and Don Frederick. The idea, as presented to senior editors in the early spring of ’07, Malcolm explains, “was to have a virtually ’round-the-clock blog with one man in D.C. and one in L.A. writing on a wide-ranging array of unpredictable subjects … to explain the political process in an unpredictable way, with some attitude.” According to Malcolm’s numbers, “Top of the Ticket” attracted 2.68 million views in May 2008 alone.

So what do Frederick, Malcolm, and their editors have on tap for the conventions? Videos, live chats, interviews with leaders and celebrities, “anything we can think of,” says Malcolm. The paper will also have a full-time videographer on hand and likely will contribute to Tribune’s television coverage. Malcolm will cover the GOP confab in St. Paul, while Frederick will head to Denver.

Malcolm’s agenda is typical of the methods other reporters will employ to help bolster their papers’ coverage. “We will be somewhat more focused on covering the conventions on the Web,” says Richard Stevenson, political editor for The New York Times. “Having a real-time update system will allow us to cover other aspects of the convention, rather than taking that single snapshot for the daily paper.”

top of the ticket is currently 94 with a bullet on technorati.

“how is it live if it’s been blogged?”

i sorta love it.

mostly because i saw it happen the other night during the men’s swimming, and then yesterday morning i didnt see it happen again, but then last night during the women’s gymnastics NBC totally did it again: they put the “LIVE” bug on the screen out here on the west coast when it was clearly a tape delayed event.

click here for the post/column/outrage. i just dont get it.

which i gotta say rules infinity.

your Vancouver brethren mr. kris krug is in beijing snapping photos, eating frog guts, and breaking hearts with our man robert scales of rain city studios (who has been in china for the last year).

caught kris on Facebook chat and asked pretty please if we could use some of his pics for the blawwwwg and he said sure thing bro.

and i gotta say, i had no idea it would turn out this good. but thats what you get when canada and america work together. as the d would say “thats bleepin teamwork!”

long live shaft

“The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office says a family member found Hayes unresponsive near a treadmill today.” – AP

proof that exercise will kill y– shut yr mouth– im only talkin about

ironically my favorite song of his is Chocolate Salty Balls from South Park. ironic because of its last line.

interestingly, this is true, however.

answers to your pressing Ask Tony questions coming later tonight, i sorta got my hands filled at the moment but youre next in line.

swear.