Laurie Winer, on the demolition of the Los Angeles Times by Sam Zell. It’s a tragedy, writ daily.

It’s impossible to tell! (My score:  6 out of 10.) Try for yourself!

You’d have something like this.

Shark Song from Whitehouse Content on Vimeo.

Sad to see that legendary comics creator Jerry Robinson died last night. Robinson was the creator of The Joker, and was a fixture at the San Diego Comic-Con. The ranks of Golden Age creators continue to shrink; last year, for the first time in the Con’s history, Mark Evanier didn’t put together a Golden Age panel because he wasn’t able to round up enough panelists. Jerry Robinson had been in comics almost from the beginning. I’m sure there are others, but the only remaining elders I can think of are Joe Simon and Stan Lee.

Patrick Meighan, a writer I know, and the husband of one of the most talented actresses I’ve ever worked with, describes what it was like to get arrested, and how it felt to stew in jail while a real menace to society goes unprosecuted. Now, more than ever, I regret having co-chaired a large fundraiser for Antonio Villaraigosa back in 2004.

My friend Larry Eisenberg writes about trying to put a live hen into his new production. Ultimately, he was too chicken (and so was she).

One of the great pleasures of being a delegate to the state Democratic party is personally getting to see John Burton in action. John brings the drama; John brings the comedy. Here he is, unvarnished as usual, explaining to the Daily Show just why California is F$#&*!d.

I’m not an aficionado of pole dancing (last time I was in a strip club was 15 years ago, for a friend’s bachelor party), but I’m finding it hard to imagine we’ll ever find one to top this. This one is erotic only insofar as the human body is naturally erotic; her strength and inventiveness are astonishing. This girl should audition for Cirque du Soleil.

The 45 most powerful images of 2011. Almost every one of them makes you glad you’re not in it. By way of example, here’s the same street corner before and after the May 22 tornado in Joplin, Missouri.