A handout announcing Time Warner Cable Sportsnet broadcasting the Lakers 2012-2013 season Credit: Time Warner Cable

The 2012-13 NBA Basketball season is vastly approaching for the retooled and star studded Los Angeles Lakers. With the offseason acquisitions of two time MVP Steve Nash and the best center in the game Dwight Howard, Kobe and the Lakers are considered the team to beat in the Western Conference.

The Lakers also reached a 20 year, $3 billion deal with Time Warner Cable last year for broadcasting rights to over 70 Laker games a year. New team, new broadcasting deal, everyone should be happy in Laker-land. That is to say everyone except the fans.

Despite the new agreement, Time Warner has yet to strike a deal with local cable and satellite providers to broadcast actual games. Cable companies point to the exuberant amount Time Warner is asking for. At $4.00 a month for the TWC Sportsnet channel, it ranks as one of the highest number amounts for a subscription channel. This off the court storyline has left the Laker fan base upset and very putout. Time Warner insists a deal will be made with cable and satellite providers before the NBA season starts.

Will this situation change the way you watch the Lakers? With the start of the regular season a week away, do you think a deal can be reached in time?

Guests:

Andrew Zimbalist, sports economist; professor of economics, Smith College in Massachusetts

Amy Maclean, editor in chief, CableFAX - a cable industry trade publication

Actor Tom Hanks arrives at the premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures' "Cloud Atlas" at the Chinese Theatre on October 24, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Devotees of David Mitchell’s audacious, mindbending 2004 novel have been eagerly awaiting the filmed version of "Cloud Atlas." But how to film a story that weaves history, philosophy, science and suspense into six separate narratives spanning oceans, continents and centuries?

Filmmakers Tom Tykwer ("Run Lola Run") and Andy and Lana Wachowski (the "Matrix" trilogy) chose to split up the directing chores, casting actors in multiple roles and subverting the book’s chronology. The result is a collage of eras and landscapes — from a 19th-century voyage through the Pacific to 1930s Belgium, from California in the 1970s to post-apocalyptic Hawaii — arranged thematically to highlight the book’s underlying message of a universal human experience.

Tom Hanks, one of the film’s stars, likens each of his six roles in "Cloud Atlas" to “a piece of origami. … You keep unfolding, unfolding, unfolding, so all of our roles, all of our characters, are made up of many other folds of the other characters that we play.”

Guest:

Tom Hanks, actor, producer, writer and director, currently starring in "Cloud Atlas"

A foreclosure sign hangs on a fence in front of a foreclosed home on April 6, 2011 in Richmond, California. Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Real estate site Zillow already boasts an enviable database of homes for sale and a catalog of property prices nationwide, but the site’s latest development is an archive of foreclosed homes that aren’t yet on the market.

The 1.8 million homes, either bank-owned or in the process of foreclosure, were already publicly available, but will be free and much more easily accessible on Zillow. Users can flag homes as potential buys for the future, and realtors and sellers will be able to predict which will sell best. In these tumultuous times for the housing market, foreclosed homes have become a much-utilized commodity – in some cities, tour companies take potential buyers to foreclosed homes in droves.

How might free, easy access to a database of homes in the foreclosure process change the market? Should foreclosed but not-yet-for-sale properties be listed publicly? Do neighbors, employers and the general public have the right to know about your pending foreclosure? Do the benefits outweigh the privacy concerns?

Guests:

Kerry Vandell, dean’s professor of finance and director of the Center for Real Estate at the Paul Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine

Joseph Turow, Professor at University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communications and expert in online privacy

Nate Silver attends the 16th Annual Webby Awards at Hammerstein Ballroom on May 21, 2012 in New York City. Credit: Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images

Accurately predicting future events could not only save money, but in some cases such as in forecasting natural disasters, it could even save lives. Predictions and probabilities can get very complicated very fast, which is why prediction expert Nate Silver has dedicated himself to examining why so many predictions fail and to documenting his findings in his new book “The Signal and the Noise.”

The author researched predictions of everything from hurricanes, to basketball games, to the stock market in order to pinpoint where many prediction methods go wrong. Because prediction is not an exact science, Silver maintains that approaching the task with more humility may allow for more clarity when interpreting data. Silver asserts that in order to accurately predict something, one must clearly distinguish the clear signal of a circumstance from the background noise.

Guest:

Nate Silver, author of “The Signal and the Noise” (Penguin), runs the Five Thirty Eight blog for the New York Times.

Still of Tom Hanks and Halle Berry - stars of the upcoming film, Cloud Atlas. Credit: http://cloudatlas.warnerbros.com/

Larry is joined by KPCC film critics Tim Cogshell from Box Office Magazine and Peter Rainer from the Christian Science Monitor to review the week’s new film releases including Cloud Atlas, Chasing Mavericks, Fun Size and more. TGI-FilmWeek!

Films reviewed:

Cloud Atlas

Fun Size

The Loneliest Planet

Silent Hill: Revelation 3D

Chasing Mavericks

The Other Son

Pusher

The Flat

Lunch

Brooklyn Castle

Guests:

Tim Cogshell, film critic for KPCC and Box Office Magazine

Peter Rainer, film critic for KPCC and the Christian Science Monitor

US actor Tom Cruise arrives for the European premiere of the film 'Rock of ages' at the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square in London, on June 10, 2012. Credit: AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Tom Cruise filed a $50 million lawsuit against Life & Style and In Touch Weekly on Wednesday over stories claiming that he ‘abandoned’ his daughter Suri after his divorce from Katie Holmes. Both magazines are published by Bauer Publishing.

A story headlined “Suri in tears, abandoned by her Dad” was printed in Life & Style’s July 30 issue, and In Touch published a cover photo of Suri with a headline reading “Abandoned By Daddy.” To prove that these allegations are false, Cruise may have to open up about his marriage, his daughter, and his religion, all under oath.

This is not the first time that Cruise has sued tabloids. In 1998 he successfully sued the Daily Express, a British tabloid that alleged that his marriage to Nicole Kidman was a ruse to cover up his homosexuality. In 2001 Cruise sued Bold Magazine after it claimed to have a sex tape that would prove that he was gay. That suit was later dropped in exchange for admission that the tape did not exist.

Should Cruise open windows into his personal life to protect his reputation? How significant are gossip magazine rumors to celebrities? To readers?

Guests:

Royal Oakes, legal analyst, ABC News

Jose Lambiet, Veteran gossip writer and columnist; Publisher, GossipExtra.com

The U.S. Supreme Court. Credit: Alex Brandon/AP

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is calling for amendments that would limit government surveillance to only suspected terrorists and criminals. The organization also wants the government to be more transparent about how the law is being used and to place more restrictions on the information that is gathered about innocent Americans.

The Supreme Court heard arguments today (Monday) on whether plaintiffs represented by the ACLU have the right to challenge the constitutionality of the law that authorizes the National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct comprehensive surveillance of Americans’ emails and phone calls. The law that made the ACLU’s challenge possible is called the FISA Amendments Act of 2008.

The ACLU filed the lawsuit in 2008 on behalf of attorneys and human rights, labor, legal and media organizations whose work requires them to engage in telephone and email conversations with people outside of the U.S. The Justice Department asserts they should not be able to sue without first showing that they have actually been monitored under the program, but it also claims that the government should not be required to reveal whether plaintiffs have been targeted.

Is this a case of the NSA over-stepping their boundaries? Should the U.S. be able to spy on their own citizens without a search warrant?

Guest:

David Rivkin, Partner, Baker Hostetler law firm, Washington D.C., Previously at the Department of Justice among many other government counsel positions. Mr. Rivkin has filed Supreme Court and appellate amicus briefs in several leading post-September 11 National Security cases.

Children trick-or-treat on Halloween outside the house of Chris Hessler October 31, 2011 in Arlington, Virginia. Hessler's house is a local favorite with neigborhood children as its Halloween display becomes more elaborate each year. Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Americans love to be scared, and the number one day of the year that people revel in all things spooky is Halloween. Every year, in the weeks leading up to October 31st, teens line up at haunted houses, porches are lined with flickering jack o’ lanterns, the latest installments of horror movie franchises arrive at the local Cineplex and kids of all ages dress up in costumes for parties and trick-or-treating.

RELATED: Show us your Halloween costumes!

Halloween has become big business; American consumers are expected to shell out billions of dollars for costumes, candy and decorations in 2012, and the popularity of the holiday just keeps growing. It's gotten so big that its now the second most expensive holiday after Christmas. 

"Halloween was a $4 billion industry now it's an $8 billion industry. It gets longer and longer," said David J. Skal, author of "Death Makes a Holiday: A Cultural History of Halloween. "Our favorite holidays have a lot to do with each other, and there's always been this blurring. Tim Burton had it right with the 'Nightmare Before Christmas'."

As historians have examined the ways in which an era’s horror movies reflect larger societal fears, Halloween has long drawn criticism from more conservative types who feel that a holiday that glorifies vampires, viscera and witches is against their religion, or at least uncouth.

And as the commercialization of the holiday increases as time creeps forward, some parents have noticed that kids’ costumes have become increasingly gory. A sheet-over-the-head ghost costume just doesn’t have the same ghoul appeal to a youngster who lives in a world of blood spattered video games and TV shows full of zombies with a penchant for brains. Perhaps most disturbing is that costumes are available that allow kids as young as four or five to dress up as fictional killers like Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, or Jason Voorhees, all of whom all racked up significant onscreen body counts of unfortunate teens in horror movies from the 1980s and 90s.

"The rise of gruesome prosthetics in film have been mirrored year after year in more and more bloody and disgusting costumes," said Skal. "I don't read a lot into it, I don't think our kids are becoming psychopaths because of this."
That being said, how young is too young for Halloween’s gorier costumes? What does our obsession with being scared say about our society?

David J. Skal, lecturer, filmmaker and author of several books, including “The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror” (Faber & Faber 2001)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) takes the stage during day two of the Democratic National Convention at Time Warner Cable Arena on Sept. 5, 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Dianne Feinstein was thrust into the national spotlight in 1978 when San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk was killed by a gunman. Feinstein, who was president of the Board of Supervisors at the time, went on to succeed George Moscone, who was also killed that day, as mayor. She went to Washington in 1992 as one of the first two female U.S. senators, along with fellow Californian Barbara Boxer and was the first woman to head up the Senate Intelligence Committee. In that role, she used her office to call for accountability from the CIA and spearhead investigations into the agency’s Bush-era interrogation practices.

RELATED: Check out our voter guide to help prepare for election day

A longtime supporter of liberal causes such as gay marriage, gun control and immigration reform, Feinstein nevertheless has shown centrist colors, voicing support for the death penalty and voting in favor of the war in Iraq. She is known in Washington as a thoughtful and deliberate legislator who works toward bipartisanship in congress, as well as a tireless champion for the Golden State.

At a time when congress’ overall approval rating is less than 15 percent, Feinstein’s soars at 50 percent. She’s now running for her fourth term, and while her challenger, Republican Elizabeth Emken, has hinted that it’s time for Feinstein to step aside, she shows no signs of slowing down. Despite undergoing knee surgery last year, she seems as eager as ever to sprint up the Capitol steps. Yet there’s one exercise Feinstein has refused to partake in: she has continually sidestepped Emken’s challenges to debate, merely saying, “I’m running my own campaign.” And with polls showing the incumbent 26 points ahead, clearly she doesn’t feel the need to discuss it.

What are Feinstein’s plans for the next six-year term? What changes does she think the next administration will bring? How has she succeeded in a GOP-weighted congress? Feinstein will be 85 when her next term ends – will she be ready to retire?

Dianne Feinstein, U.S. Senator for California (D)

US President Barack Obama steps off Air Force One October 29, 2012 upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. Obama cancelled his appearance at a campaign rally in Orlando, Florida and returned early to Washington, DC to monitor response to Hurricane Sandy. Much of the eastern United States was in lockdown mode October 29, 2012 awaiting the arrival of a hurricane dubbed 'Frankenstorm' that threatened to wreak havoc on the area with storm surges, driving rain and devastating winds. Credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

The seemingly never ending election of 2012 has seen many twists and turns, but now mother nature has gotten in on the act and thrown a colossal storm into the mix. Hurricane Sandy is expected to make landfall somewhere on America’s heavily populated Eastern seaboard later today and the giant storm has already snarled travel and prompted evacuations and closures in many states – among them the battleground states of Florida, Virginia and New Hampshire.

Both candidates have been reluctant to score political points in the hours before Sandy hits en force - campaign events have been cancelled and President Obama made his way back to Washington to switch from campaign to leadership mode – but will the truce hold once the wind have died down and the waters recede? Sandy provides sitting president Barack Obama with an opportunity to look and act presidential, provided FEMA and other government agencies don’t have a sequel to President George W. Bush’s widely panned response to Katrina in 2005. But Mitt Romney’s campaign has been surging with Election Day a week from tomorrow.

What kind of effect will Hurricane Sandy have on the campaigns in these crucial final days? How will Romney and Obama’s responses to Sandy’s destruction affect voters?

Mike Allen, chief political correspondent, Politico

Early voters fill out their ballots as they cast their votes before the general election in Miami, Florida. Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Voters using electronic ballots are on guard this year – as election day approaches, technical problems and controversial ownership issues haunt electronic vote machines in several battleground states. In Ohio, electronic ballots are cast with machines owned by Hart InterCivic, a company with financial ties to Mitt Romney’s Bain and Co., Tagg Romney’s Solamere, and several Romney campaign donors.

The links between the Republican candidate and the Ohio machines have sparked worry and discussion about the potential for a repeat of the 2004 Diebold controversy. In Pennsylvania, Virginia, Colorado, and Florida, e-voting machines have been reported to have hard-to-detect glitches which may be impossible to correct. Problems with voting machines can have a serious impact on an election this close, especially in hotly contested states, where a single machine with a significant malfunction could sway the entire race.

According to new reports, electronic ballots in battleground states could compromise the integrity of the election, prompting demands from anxious voters for paper ballot backup. Should states use electronic ballot machines to tally votes? How should the economic ties between candidates and the companies that own e-voting machines factor into their use in an election? Do you prefer to vote on paper ballots, or with a machine?

Lori Steele, Chairman & CEO, Everyone Counts, Inc. -- a San Diego based Internet voting company that provides services for governments across the country

A television reporter watches waves hit a pier before the arrival of Hurricane Sandy October 29, 2012 just off the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Much of the eastern United States was in lockdown mode October 29, 2012 awaiting the arrival of a hurricane dubbed 'Frankenstorm' that threatened to wreak havoc on the area with storm surges, driving rain and devastating winds. Credit: STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images

As Hurricane Sandy moves closer and closer to the East Coast, it promises plenty of damage and destruction. With winds reaching speeds of over 90 miles per hour, millions of people are expected to lose power.

New York City is already flooding, and expecting a storm surge of up to 11 feet tonight when Sandy is expected to make landfall. Meanwhile, cities near the water are already feeling the storm’s impact. Our team of reporters on the East Coast weigh in on the effects of Hurricane Sandy. How do you prepare for natural disasters?

John Lacorte, senior meteorologist, national weather service

Kitty Felde, KPCC reporter, KPCC reporter, currently in Maryland's Eastern Shore along Chesapeake Bay

Mark Austin Thomas, veteran news anchor; former KPCC mid-day host, currently in Park Slope section of Brooklyn, New York

Mary Plummer, KPCC producer for Take Two, currently in Manhattan, New York

Brian Watt, KPCC reporter, currently stranded in the Bronx, New York

An U.S. Customs and Border Protection bike patrol agent assists Mexican's being returned to Mexico after they were apprehended for entering the United States illegally June 2, 2010 in Nogales, Arizona. A fence which separates the cities of Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora Mexico is a frequent crossing point for people entering the United States illegally. During the 2009 fiscal year 540,865 undocumented immigrants were apprehended entering the United States illegally along the Mexican border, 241,000 of those were captured in the 262 mile stretch of the border known as the Tucson Sector. Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images

A recent poll from USC Dornsife and the Los Angeles Times shows a trend towards acceptance of undocumented immigrants in California. In 1994, Proposition 187, a ballot initiative banning undocumented immigrants from California public schools and hospitals, passed with 59 percent of the vote, though most of the measures were never enacted.

The new poll shows that today, the proposition might not pass at all: results were nearly tied. Though there are no propositions on immigration reform on this year’s ballot, the survey results are a sign of a shift in attitudes towards immigrants who enter the country illegally. Though some of this change has to do with the increasing Latino population, analysts argue it’s indicative of a larger movement towards tolerance for undocumented immigrants.

How might opinions on immigration continue to change? What kinds of propositions concerning undocumented immigrants might California see on future ballots?

Dan Schnur, Director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC and adjunct faculty at USC Annenberg School

The Space Shuttle Endeavour is moved into the hangar in the California Science Center on October 14, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. NASA's Space Shuttle Program ended in 2011 after 30 years and 135 missions. Credit: Pool/Getty Images

In September Southern California residents watched intently as the space shuttle Endeavour took its maiden voyage in the skies and on the streets of Los Angeles. Now we’ll be about to see the spacecraft in her permanent resting place, at the California Science Center. The Endeavour will become the center piece of the 18,000-square-foot building until a new air and space wing opens in about five years. Once that move is complete the shuttle will be displayed vertically, as though it’s ready for take-off.

Does the new Endeavour exhibit make you want to visit the California Science Center?

Corey Moore, KPCC reporter

Garrett Reisman, former NASA astronaut who traveled to the International Space Station on the Expedition and Discovery space shuttles

A truck drives through a flooded street, caused by Hurricane Sandy, on October 30, 2012, in the Lower East Side of New York City. The storm has claimed at least 16 lives in the United States, and has caused massive flooding accross much of the Atlantic seaboard. US President Barack Obama has declared the situation a 'major disaster' for large areas of the US East Coast including New York City. Credit: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

Although Hurricane Sandy slowed to become a tropical storm as it pushed inland on Tuesday, it still managed to devastate the East Coast, which suffered high winds, floods and power failures. There were at least 39 storm-related deaths in seven states.Tropical-storm-force winds extended out 485 miles from the center of the storm, which hit land near New Jersey.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, “We had a storm of unprecedented proportions,” while speaking at a news conference and the Chairman of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority stated the storm was the most destructive in the 108-year history of New York’s subway system. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said his state, which received an expedited disaster designation from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), was hit the hardest and that the losses are “almost incalculable.” Larry checks in with New York Times reporter Michael Grynbaum and WNYC news host Richard Hake to get the latest update on Sandy’s impact. 

Michael Grynbaum, reporter for the New York Times

Kate Zernike, reporter for the New York Times in New Jersey

Richard Hake, news host ,WNYC

Rising water, caused by Hurricane Sandy, rushes into a subterranian parking garage on October 29, 2012, in the Financial District of New York, United States. Hurricane Sandy, which threatens 50 million people in the eastern third of the U.S., is expected to bring days of rain, high winds and possibly heavy snow. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the closure of all New York City will bus, subway and commuter rail service as of Sunday evening. Credit: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

Superstorm Sandy is headed north, and for much of the East, the worst is over. But with extensive flooding and major damages to several big cities lining the coast, this is just the beginning of a long entanglement with the storm and the wake of destruction it left.

Power outages are affecting millions of East Coast homes and businesses, New York City subways and tunnels are flooded, underground garages have filled with water, and cities up and down the coast are littered with debris from the storm. Because cities like New York don’t see storms of this caliber often, Sandy came as a surprise, even to local hospitals, whose backup generators began failing last night, forcing evacuations. Even though the storm is passing and the sky is clearing, rescue and rehabilitation efforts are sure to take a good deal of time and money for the cities hardest hit by the storm.

What will the economic impact be for cities whose public services have been damaged by Sandy? How long will relief efforts take, and at what cost? What effect, if any, will this have on the presidential election next week?

Jessica Levinson, Professor of Law, Loyola Law School; Research focus on election law and governance issues

Gregory Daco, U.S. Economist, IHS Global Insight

In this photo taken Tuesday, April 10, 2012, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Elizabeth Emken said it was time to retire career politicians like incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif. Emken, 49, who is challenging Feinstein in the June primary, said that Feinstein is "simply out of touch with reality of what we're facing in California." (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) Credit: Rich Pedroncelli/AP

Elizabeth Emken won a spot on the California GOP Senate ticket, beating out 22 other candidates to compete in a race against incumbent Dianne Feinstein. Emken has trailed Feinstein consistently throughout the campaign. A former businesswoman and lobbyist for autistic children, Emken’s short political career is eclipsed by Feinstein’s 20 years as a senator.

RELATED: Check out our voter guide to help prepare for election day

Emken coordinated advocacy for significant efforts to aid autistic children, including the Advancement in Pediatric Autism Research Act, and the Combating Autism Act of 2006 which authorized nearly $1 billion for autism research and intervention. Still, she has presented little challenge to Senator Feinstein thus far: Feinstein has refused to debate Emken, and Emken hasn’t been able to make up ground since Feinstein took a lead early on.

Emken is running on a standard GOP platform, unpopular in California’s liberal stronghold cities, and is down 17 points, according to a recent poll from USC Dornsife. How does Emken run an election against an opponent who won’t engage in debate? Is there hope for the underdog in elections like this one?

Elizabeth Emken, Republican nominee for U.S. Senate running against Dianne Feinstein

Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, Calif. Credit: Jae C. Hong/AP

Last week, the Beverly Hills Board of Education witnessed a presentation on the future of technology in the Beverly Hills Unified School District. As with other school districts all across the country, Beverly Hills is focused on the use of iPads in the classroom.

Ever since its introduction, the device has been utilized by students in a variety of ways to enhance the learning experience, and now educators and administrators predict that one day the tablet will completely revolutionize the way teachers teach and students learn. However, it’s difficult to make long-ranging plans for how to use this technology, as within five years the newest iPad today might be completely obsolete. Also, there’s no correct way to roll out the iPads, so schools have to look at the sparse examples already out there and basically use trial and error to figure out their own schema. Beyond these initial problems, though, educators are absolutely blown away by the ways in which their kids can use the technology, as well as the positive impact they’ve seen in the classroom.

How is Beverly Hills already using iPad technology in the classroom? How successful has it been thus far? What challenges does the school district face? What effects will this type of technology have on students down the line and throughout their academic careers? What will it take for iPads to be in the hands of every student in the country?

Janet Lambert, Beverly Hills Unified Middle School History Teacher at Hawthorne School, which has been running a pilot program for the use of iPads

Brandon Martinez, assistant professor of clinical education Rossier School of Education at USC

Governor Brown visits KPCC. Credit: Mae Ryan/KPCC

California Governor Jerry Brown is making the rounds a week before Election Day and his next stop is AirTalk. The politics of the Golden State are a complicated business and Governor Brown will give his top down appraisal of a variety of issues - from the role of organized labor in state politics and the prison realignment to this election year’s bevy of ballot initiatives, including Brown’s signature Prop 30.

RELATED: Check out our voter guide to help prepare for election day

Prop 30 is designed to help California’s struggling schools with an infusion of cash that would be raised by increasing taxes on those who make more than $250,000 a year and temporarily bumping up the state sales tax a quarter of a cent. If approved, Prop 30 would prevent $6 billion in cuts from being instituted in the middle of the current school year as well as curb steep tuition hikes for college students.Detractors feel that although California’s schools could use more funding, yet another tax hike isn’t the way to do it.

Which way do you plan to vote?

What is the best way to help California’s schools with their budget crisis? What effect would the passage of Prop 30 have on schools? On taxpayers? What are the most important issues on the ballot this year?

Jerry Brown, Governor of California

Jon Coupal, president, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association

"Not Exactly Cooperstown: An Unorthodox Look at America's Most Orthodox Game" is a baseball documentary released in 2012 by Evzone Media & Experiential. It is produced and directed by Jon Leonoudakis. Credit: Evzone Media & Experiential

“The People’s Baseball Hall of Fame” is how some describe The Baseball Reliquary’s Shrine of the Eternals, where inductees are voted in by fans of the sport. The Shrine honors a diverse archive of individuals, some of whom were never players, but who have impacted the game in various ways throughout the pastime’s storied history.

Founded in 1996, The Reliquary, which manages the Shrine of the Eternals, is a nonprofit educational organization with no ties to Major League Baseball. According to its website, the Reliquary is “dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history.”

After discovering the group in 2002, baseball fan and filmmaker Jon Leonoudakis felt compelled to capture a year in the life of The Reliquary on camera. Leonoudakis is now showcasing his work in a new documentary “Not Exactly Cooperstown,” named to distinguish the The Reliquary from the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. With the documentary, Leonoudakis explores not only the scholarly side of The Reliquary, but also the non-conformist and irreverent appreciation that many baseball fans share.    

The South Pasadena Public Library will screen "Not Exactly Cooperstown" on November 9th at 6:30 PM

Guests:

Jon Leonoudakis, producer and director of the baseball documentary, Not Exactly Cooperstown

Terry Cannon, founder and executive director of the Baseball Reliquary