In the LAT: skid row, Vincent Gallo, basketball blogging

Steve Lopez’s series about life on downtown LA’s skid row (should ‘skid row’ be capitalized? My feeling is ‘no’) is, rightfully, getting a lot of attention and praise even from the paper’s more vocal critics. Today, Mayor Villaraigosa makes a cameo. Meanwhile, latimes.com senior editor Richard Rushfield blogs from the Hollywood Film Festival, at which he consorts with tourists in from Winetka, IL, and ventures to the after-party at the Tropicana. The tourists are underwhelmed, even by Vincent Gallo, who apparently isn’t famous in Winetka.