Mack Reed getting out of the game

(Note: The Daily News blog server is ailing, so I'm posting here for the moment instead of the usual spot for this sort of thing.)

As far as I'm concerned, the top three L.A. blogs are L.A. Observed, Laist and L.A. Voice. Now comes word that L.A. Voice creator and ringmaster Mack Reed is leaving the blog in a couple weeks due to his other (paying) commitments.

Can you believe that a leading L.A. blog isn't a rampant moneymaker? I can -- it's tough out there, even for somebody with the talent and passion of Mack Reed.

But he wants L.A. Voice to keep going and is willing to set somebody else up in his seat to shape, run and grow the blog. He says it requires a commitment of 12 to 15 hours a week, but I can't believe he ever spent that little time on it, ever. Here's part of his pitch:

If you're interested in taking on a virtually non-paying, 12- to
15-hour-a-week job - for the chance to re-shape, grow and drive a
well-respected, L.A.-centric community blog toward being something brilliant,
edgy and cool, then maybe this gig is for you.Here's who I'm looking for:

Candidate:
A strong, clever writer with solid content-development
skills in Photoshop, HTML, Unix and a willingness to get your hands dirty with a
little code. I'll train you on our crazy-quilt platform and provide tech support
where necessary.

A die-hard Angeleno - someone who has a long history (7+ years in greater
L.A.) and a healthy love/hate (or love/love) relationship with all of Los
Angeles.

A serious blogger with an overwhelming desire to write two to six times a
day.

(Very important)
An open-minded citizen of the world, with strong
opinions but complete respect for all points of view - even the ones you
disagree with violently.

I sure do hope somebody comes out of the woodwork to run L.A. Voice -- I can think of a few current contributors to the site who would be great stewards of all that Mack has built. You know who you are ... but who's got the time for this kind of thing?

Another thing I hope for is that Mack Reed continues to contribute to L.A. Voice, or continues his blogging and writing in one capacity or other -- his voice is an important one both online and in the general conversation of Los Angeles.

And while I'm here, I'd like to thank Mack for linking to me back in the dayswhen 2,000 Days in the Valley was new, the Daily News didn't have blogs, and I needed all the linking and blogrolling I could get.

The best TV show you're not watching

It's "Campus Ladies," on the network you're also not watching:
Oxygen. It's also a network I'm not watching because, A)
I don't have cable, and ... B) I don't have cable. Oh, also,
I'm not a woman.

I've seen two episodes of "Campus Ladies" on DVD, fishing
them out of a bin replenished during the infrequent visits
of Daily News TV critic David Kronke. That and TiVoed DVDs
from Ilene's mom are our only sources of cable programming.

Anyway, I get the feeling I'm somehow supposed to know who
the ladies of "Campus Ladies" are. I don't. They are very,
very funny, though.

The premise of the show is that two housewives of a certain
age (and no, I don't know what that age is), one widowed,
the other divorced -- and both lifelong friends (can you
see why Oprahcentric Oxygen bought this?) decide to go to
college together.

They move into the freshman dorm, fall in with three college-age
friends, and hijinks most definitely ensue.

It's like a 3-minute "Saturday Night Live" skit extended
to a half-hour, except that it doesn't suck.

Is "Campus Ladies" better than my other favorite show,
"The Office"? No, but it's very close -- it's that good.