Good old American capitalism tells us that competition is a good thing. For the next few weeks, though, you may be hard-pressed to find a Hollywood actor who will agree with such a sentiment.

That’s because the opposition of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) against the rival, albeit smaller American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) has divided Hollywood and invoked memories of the recent writers strike. The Guild’s contract with the industry expired at midnight Monday night, and members are quickly splitting into two camps about what to do next.

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It is sad and true…The Best American DJ Tour Competition has officially ended its run in Los Angeles last Saturday the 14th with an EXCEPTIONAL performance by Miguel Migs! Club Avalon was packed and the energy inside was at an indescribable level. Although everyone was dancing, a sharp change occurred at 1am: Miguel Migs slides into the DJ booth and slowly starts his set. You could see the swarm of people migrate towards the DJ booth as the music picked up a distinct beat and the moment fans had been waiting for had arrived: Miguel Migs was at work and the crowd was LOVING it!

I watched in awe as the dance floor became dense with bodies, each picking up the rhythm and moving to the incredible base booming out of the speakers. His music is definitely of an ineffable nature; the influences and beats present in his music is not just for the clubs or the dance scene, it is for every place at any time. There is an innate soul, a discernible rhythm, a movement provoking melody, and an irresistible hypnotic pull. Avalon, the crowd and myself were taking it all in; screaming, whistling and dancing as if the sun was not going to come up. Suffice to say Miguel Migs managed in an incredibly short amount of time to bring us all into a frenzied state of euphoria and keep us there throughout his whole set.

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That’s right…this is your last opportunity to see, in Los Angeles, the Best DJ Tour 3rd annual competition in the works and get your groove on! That’s right ladies and gentlemen, get out your glowsticks, put on the glitter, get decked out in your most fabulous club clothes and come witness this amazing annual competition!

Now in its 3rd year, America’s Best DJ Tour allows fans to vote for their favorite American born DJ. The competition caters to the well known names as well as to DJ’s just breaking into the scene nationwide. Over a time period of four months (May to late August) DJ’s will be hitting up the hotspots across the nation while participating in this competition. To view dates/tours for additional cities go to: djtimes.com and look out for your favorite DJ!

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“Sabor y Cultura”means “flavor and culture”. Stepping into the spacious, mellow cafe, it certainly looked like the kind of place that hosts a healthy attempt at “culture”: Local art hangs casually on the rich purple and light pumpkin colored walls, a local “community board” advertises local happenings, while relaxed, youthful Hollywood types tap quietly away at their laptops.

I loved the wide open windows that let in the cloudy-day light along with the calm created by some classic jazz music, but like a lot of cafes, Sabor y Cultura sells a little more than I personally think a coffee house needs to: A rack of snack-pack nuts, a glass case of jewelery and other odds n’ ends tend to ruin the aesthetic cohesiveness of a what could otherwise be a nicely concentrated local hangout.

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• Teen killed at Sun Valley party - A teen whose name was not disclosed died at the scene of a party in Sun Valley after being fatally shot early this morning. The shooting, which does not appear to be gang related, took place near Amboy Avenue and Neenach Street around 12:20 am, officials said.
• Car chase ends in crash - A car chase that began in Glendale and led police to Hollywood ended when the suspect’s car was hit by a police car, landing on the Walk of Man. It all started when police found the body of Grigor Grigoryan’s girlfriend in a Glendale home Friday afternoon. Grigoryan, 39, was called a “person of interest” in his girlfriend’s murder investigation.
• LAPD officer accidentally fires gun during vehicle pull over - Claudia Avila, a two-year veteran accidentally fired her handgun during an undercover investigation in Sun Valley on Monday, authorities confirmed yesterday. The incident occurred after Avila and her partner turned their vehicle in to a residential driveway, left their car and drew their weapons to “conduct a high-risk stop,” according to a department statement. “While holding her duty weapon with her right hand, Officer Avila attempted to put the vehicle in park with her left hand and accidentally discharged her weapon,” the statement said. No one was injured in the incident, however the department’s Force Investigation Division plans to investigate the incident.

hoto by VeryBadLady via Flickr

I read an article about female directors in Hollywood and it made me wonder: is Hollywood a town that is supposed to make dreams come true sexist? Women are fighting in wars, running for president, but they have yet to conquer one thing…the summer blockbuster. “According to Media by Numbers, all 30 of the 30 top-grossing films from last summer were directed by men.” So where are all the women? Don’t tell me they’re not in Hollywood. Women hold many powerful positions from studio executives, to producers, managers, and agents. They seem to be doing everything EXCEPT for directing the big films.

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Michael Jackson was saved from foreclosure, but probably not for long. One celebrity lists her home, another takes a gander at it. The city council tries to prevent mansionization. These stories and more in this week’s real estate roundup.

Celebrity Real Estate

Christina Aguilera has placed her 5-bedroom Hollywood Hills home on the market. Aguilera bought another house in Beverly Hills from Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne last year, the same house in which the show The Osbournes was filmed.  The Hollywood Hills home is listed for $7.995 million, nearly $3 million more than Aguilera paid for it back in 2003. Adding more celebrity intrigue, actor Jason Statham of Transporter fame has apparently taken a look at the house with the possibility of buying.

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Time to let your minds go people and wandering into the stars people! Live for one night only, experts will be revealing some of the “biggest secretest” behind some of Hollywood’s biggest Blockbusters. Experts will be holding a conference at the Beverly Garland for one night only discussing the truth behind UFO’s, Magic and Mysticism in Hollywood films this Saturday May 17th.

There will be rare appearances from some of the great alternative authors, scholars of our time: National radio host GEORGE NOORY (Coast To Coast AM), JORDAN MAXWELL (Zeitgeist Movie), WHITLEY STRIEBER (The Greys, Communion ), DR. ROGER LEIR (Alien and Scalpel ), JAY WEIDNER (Alchemical Kubrick ), just added Mike Bara (NASA Dark Mission), Yvonne Smith (Chosen), and Dr. Louis Turi (Celebrity Astrologer)

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Where does one go to see Dueling Pianos, enjoy speciality drinks, get rewarded for acting out, and have a great time in general. Well if you are hip to such things, Hollywood is the place. However, to be more specific you might want to look smack dab in the middle of Universal Studios. For it is there that you will find Howl At The Moon.

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Thai town was the place to be Yesterday. A sea of people turned out for this year’s Songran festival, and rightfully so. There were just about a bajillion booths covering everything from the DWP to traditional Thai parasol painting. Three stages, two dozen food stands and a parade were only some of the highlights of this year’s festivities.

The big draw for me was the Curry King contest. As you can imagine, I was more than eager to
see a heated competition for this title, and my mind raced at the glorious possibilities of such an event… The reality, however, was nowhere near as exciting as my imagination had lead me to believe. About 6 restaurants had set up booths for the competition, including an Indian and Japanese curry places, and two booths were actually put on by the event itself! Beyond that, it was very hard to actually find out how the hell to participate in it.

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Well, no one who is high profile in Hollywood died this week. So maybe these headlines won’t spark the same vitriol they did last week. Only one way to find out:

• Uwe Boll - director behind such famously bad movies as Alone in the Dark and BloodRayne (really, what did anyone expect from a movie with this title) as well as the only director (that I’m aware of) to challenge his critics to a boxing match - is at it again. It seems there is an online petition calling for him to stop making movies that’s up to 180,000 signatures so Mr. Boll started his own petition and deemed it Long Live Uwe Boll, confidently speculating that it will get a million signatures. Both of these petitions are patently absurd for a number of reasons, one being that ONLINE PETITIONS DON’T DO ANYTHING. But here’s my question: why aren’t these anti-Bollers lobbying the studios. I mean, it’s not like he’s some independent producer…he keeps getting hired. Or, you could just not see his movies and spend your time on something more important, like feeding dogs and rescuing the homeless. Or something.
• Teen horror flick Prom Night was number one at the box office this weekend. I love a good slasher movie as much as the next girl, but I kind of miss the Scream franchise. Where are you, Kevin Williamson? Stop messing around in Palm Springs and make me some more cheeky horror movies!

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What are you doing in front of your computer on such a lovely day? Listen to your mother: you need to go outside and get some fresh air.

And what better reason to go out than to visit the Thai New Years Celebration, at the intersection of Hollywood and Western! You may have already missed the Buddhist Ceremony, but if you hurry there you can still see the Parade at noon, the Opening Ceremony at 1 PM and the Curry demo by star chef Jet Tila at 3 PM!

So run, don’t walk! It’s the largest US celebration of Thai New Years!