LA Observed contributor Cari Beauchamp's new biography, "Joseph P. Kennedy Presents: His Hollywood Years," is about to be released and she has a piece in the new Hollywood issue of Vanity Fair that details Kennedy's secret liaisons with Marlene Dietrich. Great pull quote: "When asked why she had so many sexual partners, Marlene shrugged. 'They asked.'" Also in the issue: A fun Todd Purdum story on growing up in old Beverly Hills (think Fondas, Sinatras, Candice Bergen, Robert Wagner, Mia Farrow) plus features on architect John Elgin Woolf and John Ford's movies from Monument Valley, a graphic on who sits where in L.A.'s hottest restaurants, a short piece on incoming L.A. Philharmonic music director Gustavo Dudamel and Annie Leibovitz portraits of people with power in the Obama Administration, including the website team. Did they jump too soon including Rep. Hilda Solis in the cabinet section? Also: Tom Carson reviews Cari's book in the new Los Angeles Magazine, praises her prodigious research and exclusive details, and talks about how the Hollywood years played a major role in solidifying the Kennedy fortune.

More by LA Observed contributors:

• Mark Lacter has a piece in the new Los Angeles on the future outlook for Downtown as the boom begins to fade.
• TJ Sullivan proposes that newspapers and AP withhold their web content from the unpaying masses for a week to help make the point that news ferreted out by journalists is valuable — and he's soliciting names for an online petition. Check out his argument at Native Intelligence.
• Sara Catania has learned the value of good shoes in her training for the Los Angeles Marathon, now in the 19th week at Run On: "These days the list of things I’m willing to spend $100 or more on is pretty short: groceries, ballet and gymnastics lessons for the kids, the mortgage. Shoes? No way."
• Bill Boyarsky argues that after all is said and done, the solar energy initiative on the ballot as Measure B is good for Los Angeles.
• Adrienne Crew checked in on UCLA's three-day conference on invective called "Savage Words: Invective as a Literary Genre," in a post at Native Intelligence.
• Jenny Burman went to Skid Row for a leisurely lunch at the Nickel Diner and do some exploring for Chicken Corner.
• Veronique de Turenne spotted a gorgeous rainbow just above the water off Paradise Cove.
• Also: David Rensin was on KPCC's Off-Ramp this weekend talking about surfer Miki Dora, the subject of his latest book...Eric Estrin is contributing regularly to The Wrap....Phil Wallace hosts "Monday Morning Quarterback" Monday 10 a.m. to noon on KSCR, 1560 A.M. Petros Papadakis of Fox Sports Radio will be a guest....and Bruce Feirstein skewers the NBC fall schedule on page 242 of the new Vanity Fair.

Two-minute video: From Downtown to Vernon to Santa Monica in one day this weekend, with a mini-replica of the Eiffel Tower, pig murals at Farmer John, the Los Angeles River and tourist-eye scenes of the bay on a weathery Saturday.

More LA Observed video at YouTube