In many ways, L.A. is the land of make-believe. Tinseltown is entirely founded on Acting. As in Pretending. And Drama. Right? So in a world structured on fictional situations with storybook characters, you’re gonna run into a lot of fake people. False fronts, and I don’t just mean the boobs.

Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park/Fort Minor) is kinda the opposite of that.

And to prove it, he’s working on an art show that responds to Hollywood’s celebrity culture. Entitled “Glorious Excess (Born),” Shinoda’s first series of paintings that touch on society’s obsession with cheap fame will be open July 12th to August 3rd at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown L.A.

Here’s one of Mike’s characters on his personalized iPhone. Cool.

Congratulations are also in order for Linkin Park’s new record hitting double-platinum and also “Hybrid Theory” reaching DIAMOND status. Which is something like 10 million albums, or 10 platinum albums. IN THE U.S. ALONE. It might be safe to say that it may be one of the last records to achieve that status because of the fate of music sales. Craze, Mike rattled off some statistic that in 2007, half of all high-schoolers didn’t buy a single CD!

Where are kids putting their money these days? Video games? Pogo Balls? Many say clothing. Which will definitely ring true in a month or so when these Mike Shinoda DC’s drop…

by bobbyhundreds