My end of summer rant

So bin Laden wants to call Pakistani President Musharraf an infidel because he attacked the Red Mosque?

How very convenient that he overlooked his own role in the attack or destruction of numerous mosques in Pakistan, Afghanistan and even on the seventh floor of the World Trade Center itself.


Doesn't that make Osama bin Laden, then, an infidel?


Americans should note that while the intent of the attack on the World Trade Center was to strike at our economic system, the world-wide fallout of the sub-prime lending crisis would indicate that the greed of some Americans did more to accomplish the goals of Al Qaeda than Al Qaeda.


I doubt that we'll be rounding up unscrupulous home lenders and shipping them off to Guantanamo any time soon, though.

Yeh Hum Naheen

This is why people hate going Downtown

The question is, was this film made by San Franciscans who hate Los Angeles, or somebody who got really ticked off at their bank fees?

My Modernist Phase continues...

September 11, 2007

This morning on the news, there was a clip of Rep. Nancy Pelosi speaking where she referred to the victims of 9/11 as all being American. ln fact, citizens of over 90 countries were among those who died. There was one thing that they all shared in common, however: they were human beings.

Pentagon to US: "It isn't like you'd miss those states anyway if we had accidently armed those bombs"

"I have seem the enemy, and he is us"

I'm not a pilot, but I seem to recall seeing in my Dad's pre-flight checklist from back in the day, that the flight crew would have noticed something like nuclear warheads hanging from the wings. And while they've gone to great lengths to minimize the danger posed to the United States from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico by the nuclear warheads, how many more mistakes would it have taken to arm them? Just imagine the friendly fire toll by the conventional explosions that would have occurred, plus any background radiation from the damaged bombs. Darn! There goes Des Moines! Oops! Kansas City! Uh, oh; Little Rock!

With a military like this, who needs terrorists?

Maybe they just don't train 'em like they used to.


...On a lighter note, I wonder if next Mattel will announce a recall of the Bush administration for being coated with lead paint?

Miyoshi Umeki, 1929 - 2007

Miyoshi Umeki, the first Asian to win an Academy Award, has passed away at the age of 78. She was regarded by many as one of the trailblazers for accurate and dignified portrayals of people of color on stage, movies and television. Most boomers will remember her as "Mrs. Livingstone," the housekeeper on "The Courtship of Eddie's Father."

"The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman

As I read this book over the Labor Day weekend, no book I have read in recent memory have I had so many people come up to me and ask about it. Many heard Weisman interviewed while on tour, as had I, or had read reviews of the book.

It is an engrossing read, at once both terrifying and hopeful. Most of all, it reminded me of just how small a piece of the planet --and the universe-- the human race is. Yet a part of it we are, and The Wold Without Us served to encourage me to think of the impact that each of us has on the planet we live on, with each and every seemingly insignificant decision we might make as we go about our daily lives.

The Queen Americans ought to be thinking about instead the "The People's Princess"

Adrian's Lemon Juice Blog: Jeep Song Commercial: There’s a time for us to let go

Adrian's Lemon Juice Blog: Jeep Song Commercial: There’s a time for us to let go

A shoulda-woulda-coulda I'll regret for a long time

I made my list of some 80-odd favorite landmarks on both sides of the Bay, and ran from one to the other in a mad attempt to win my own scavenger hunt of memories...

One place I didn't make it to, but assumed would be there the next time I was in the City, was Red's Java House.

Now comes word that the Port of San Francisco is raising their rent five times over, thus ensuring that the best darn burger and cuppa coffee (and one of the best secret places to watch a sunrise when the East Bay is clear of fog) will be, no more.

There just wan't enough time to revisit all the places I knew in the City, I tried to tell myself. Choices had to be made; priorities to be followed. How was I to know?

If you've never been to Red's, or if you have, but not lately, you better get down there quick and enjoy one of those quintessential local experiences that is all too soon about to become a part of the past. And you'll get a damn good burger, too.

Then you will have the dubious honor of belonging to that illustruous club which can say with pride, "Ah, you should have been here back when..."

At least the Port of Los Angeles is safe... from reporters

The LA Airport police have already had their time in the spotlight wasting the public's dime (actually, about 10 million or so dimes). How ironic then, that right after Chief Bratton complained that the allocations for Homeland Security from the Feds shortchanging Los Angeles, some goon with the Port police should beat up what must be the smallest woman reporter in LA --on camera, of course. The sound of that thud as she hit the container sounded like a linebacker making a bone-smashing tackle.

I guess the Port will need those extra funds so they can beat up radio and print media as well.

The LA media has chased the story of the Mayor and his relationship squabbles to the exclusion of virtually everything else happening at City Hall. It can't be that slow of a news day, guys. And I seriously doubt that people in LA are that interested in the Mayor's marriage problems.

The questions hurled at the Mayor on Friday would have flunked me out of J-School. They weren't even worthy of paparazzi swarming around the latest celebrity scandal. Not even on Fox News. That said, no politician gets the privilege of control of what the press will cover (or not). But watching that goon smash that little woman against the cargo container might do more to hurt Mayor Villaraigosa's political standing than his impending divorce and relationship with a reporter.

At this rate, we can expect the police in Los Angeles to bash a reporter again about November 5th. And I'm not even gonna bring up the UCLA campus police incident inquiry. Oops --too late, I just did.

The distance from La City Hall to Terminal Island is about the same as from Miami City Hall to the Homestead airfield. That's a long way to go for a non-story. Aren't we glad that nothing more important or pressing was happening anywhere else in Los Angeles?

This was enough to make me relieved that I'm not on staff with a news outlet these days. However, what has me really concerned is, who's covering --or uncovering-- the real news stories while the LA media act like they've overdosed on South Park?

Fiesta Sol Benefit

On Saturday, August 25th, The Wall-Las Memorias in Los Angeles will hold a benefit pool party as part of their ongoing effort to support the Casa Hogar Las Memorias hospice in Tijuana, Mexico. Since 1998, Casa Hogar has served over 2,000 men, women and children living with HIV. For more information visit their website at http://www.myspace.com/fiestasol or call 323/257-1056, ext. 33.

How to visit San Francisco

Residents of the City are famous for not being in agreement on anything, or at the very least, for being against whatever everyone else in the country is for. One point that visitors and residents alike may find common ground is that the best way to truly experience San Francisco is to immediately park your car. Better yet, don't bring it at all, now that the BART efficiently transports you from the airport to the heart of the City irrespective of the weather.

This, however, deprives you of the singular experience of crossing the Bay Bridge and being treated to any of a thousand-and-one different versions of her at first glimpse. Istanbul, Venice or Manhattan may be among that tier of cities which share the honor of greeting the traveller with such a mixture of pomp coupled with nature's own theatrical flourish, but it is San Francisco that will have the unparalleled choice of vestments with which to seduce you. From the moment the morning sun rises above the Oakland Hills and throws its golden rays against the gleaming city, to the twinkling of a million tiny lights that signal from the other side of the bay by night; pulling you in while shrouded in any number of shades of silhouette, mysteriously wrapped in its signature fog, which may be pouring in through the Golden Gate and over the hills in a wondrous spectacle without peer.

One may experience all that from the ferry, true, yet still you are deprived of the split-second moment when a small rectangular sign formally and crisply informs you in its official civil service capacity that you have just entered the City and County of San Francisco.

While driving on the Golden Gate Bridge is and of itself a singular pleasure, it pales to walking mid span along the eastern deck, with the swirling waters of the bay visible beneath you and the elegant deco towers soaring above. You might even be treated to witnessing a ship slide into the bay or out to sea, accompanied by the bray of sea lions and perhaps even the bellow of a fog horn.

There is that one particular block of Lombard Street which the City offers as an amusing paean to the automobile, but that, too, may be better experienced on foot, especially as the number of waiting cars lined up for blocks continuously multiplies.

Wear comfortable shoes for walking, and don't neglect a pair for climbing streets where the sidewalks become stairs; or for the truly adventurous, the paths that may precipitously ascend and incredulously demand you almost crawl on hands and knees to descend.The promise is always fulfilled that as breathtaking the climb, so too the view. If a journey begins shrouded in swirling mists that it is no trick seem to hum and whisper to you, have confidence that with a dramatic flourish the fog will rise or part or dissolve before you to present you the treasure concealed within its folds.

A necessary prelude to the view from the top of Coit Tower is an appreciation to the murals that wind around the interior corridor. Enter City Hall and crane your neck at the dome from within and you scarcely need to be reminded that it rises higher above you than that of the U.S. Capitol Building.

Don't delay meandering among the timeworn buildings of the Presidio as they slumber seemingly forgotten by time, for even now the work to reimagine new uses for them is taking place that will remove the experience of strolling through the past. It will be left to the citadel that guards the entrance to the Golden Gate while tucked partially underneath the Golden Gate Bridge to assure the visitor that it is all from another time.

At the eastern edge of the Presidio, experience the ancient majesty of the Palace of Fine Arts, as beguiling in sunshine as it is bewitching at night. When the fog dances around the building it will create a dream for you alone.

Walk from Fort Point along the Coastal Trail that faces away from the City to Lands End, on to to the ruins of the Sutro Baths, through Sutro Heights Park and along the aptly named Great Highway to the Dutch Windmill and the Beach Chalet to tour the almost forgotten quaint museum on the ground floor.

Visit the Laguna Honda when the mist is lurking there; explore the nearby trails of Mount Sutro. I won't dissuade you from succumbing to the wiles of Twin Peaks; the gusts atop the summit that seem as if they could pick you up and hurl you over the City and out to sea are the equal of any man-made amusement park's rollercoaster. Return late at night, though, to watch Coit Tower in the distance disappear before your eyes when the lights are shut off. Don't neglect, however, the climbs seldom frequented by visitors (or even locals) to the tops of Buena Vista Park, Corona Heights, Tank Hill or Kite Hill.

Few visitors to the Mission Dolores take the time to stroll through what remains of the mission's cemetery --the only burial ground in the City other than on the Presidio-- and fewer yet ever visit the Columbarium.

Prepare to be wowed by the opulence of the Palace Hotel Garden Court, a none-too-subtle reminder that the dot-commers were not the first ostentatious rich in the City. Save your appetite for Red's Java Hut at Pier 30, howvever, for the quintessential San Francisco meal.

I could not, would not, possiby divulge all of the places to experience the real San Francisco. Some must remain secret, others you will discover on your own. Some you will chose not to uncover, as an archeologist leaves part of a site undisturbed for the future. If you are fortunate (even above and beyond being granted the gift of visiting the City in the first place) as to have a local San Franciscan as your guide, possibly you will be treated to other haunts of the City. Some are as in plaint sight as Lotta's Fountain after the earthquake and fire of 1906. Others more ethereal will be visible for but a moment, revealed to you as would the secrets of a lover. That is what San Francisco will become to you.

No matter how much of the City is revealed to you or you think you know, you will always be aware there is some mystery left unknown.

It only takes a tiny corner of...

It's dangerous business, to visit the past expecting to find it as one thought it to be. Inevitably there is the shock and disappointment and realization, that, not only are things not as one remembers, but it may call into question as to whether they ever were.


From Tank Hill and Kite Hill to strolling along the streets and lanes of The City; from the highest vantage point to along the very shore of the Bay, there was plenty which was familiar and belonged uniquely to The City, even as particular landmarks and cafes and shops have disappeared or have been altered beyond recognition. This is a place, mind you, whose very edge has been pushed out far beyond its original shorelines; a city leveled and rebuilt more times than even most natives are aware.


The fondest icons of The City such as the Transamerica Pyramid or Sutro Tower were themselves initially spurned by the local citizenry, just as they fought long and hard to retain the foghorns that bellowed across the Bay long after they had been rendered obsolete.


The City is in turmoil yet again over ambitious plans to build enough to make the current skyline virtually unrecognizable. Preservationists and the advocates of livable neighborhoods once again are sounding their call to arms. The piers and breakwaters are crumbling away as I write, and the means to save them remain ethereal as ever. Deep beneath the surface, the San Andreas fault bides its time before it throws all of the best laid plans to ashes as it has so many times before.


Yet the silhouette of The City approaching the Bay Bridge remains as magical and alluring as ever. The fog continues to pour over the hills in the afternoon, giving even the most dependable of views an ever shifting and evolving appearance. Millions of visitors still flock to leave their hearts there. The denizens remain as cynical and enamored as they ever were, passionate about their tiny piece of this great big world and comfortable in the knowledge that God has shown favor on them for granting them the rare privilege of living there.

"Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans," by Jean Pfaezer

You can keep your Steven King. This is the scariest book I've read in a while, and it's all true!

Pfaezler, a professor formerly at Cal State Chico, researched the ugly side of California history that the state, local Chamber of Commerce or visitor's bureau would just as soon you didn't read.

A lot of what she documents wasn't so much hidden, but ignored when it came time to recounting the "official" histories of many California communities.

It's a book you'll want to read with all the lights on and doors bolted.

Okay, Arnold, do you want the Mel Gibson or Isaiah Washington suite at the foot-in-mouth rehab?

Gov. Arnold Scharzenegger, who has done nothing to stop runaway production from leaving California to set up shop in Canada or other states, has basically told Spanish language media that they should drink the kool-aid. speaking before the convention of National Association of Spanish Journalists, Arnold exhorted Spanish speakers, "You've got to turn off the Spanish television set." Sacramento seems to be unaware of the financial benefits of California being the center of Spanish language media. For being such a savvy businessman, he seems rather willing to stick it to the entertainment media.

Perhaps he is unaware that Los Angeles, not Miami (yet), is the center of the Spanish language media. 38 million people -more than the entire population of Canada- watch Spanish language media in the US. 60% of bilingual households are cited as preferring Spanish language media, even though they may speak English outside the home.

Arnold also said, "...when I came to this country, I very rarely spoke German to anyone." Gee, Arnold, is that because not that many people in the US speak German?

The Latino vote is largely credited with giving Schwarzenegger, who had no previous political experience, his gubernatorial win. I guess he isn't running for office again. And he ought not to expect Spanish language media to carry any of his movies anymore, either. That goes for all of Latin America, too.

And when is he ever going to get around to learning how to say, "California?"

Summer is still officially 48 hours away, but it's already arrived in California!

Having a wonderful time! Wish you were here!

Just because I've not been posting doesn't mean I've just been sitting around the house...

One thing after another has kept me from posting; but I've not been sitting around going crazy over it.

The Getty just opened an exhibition of Manet's The Bar at the Follies Bergere. They've given it the royal treatment, with a room all to itself. Hard to believe that this painting is now 125 years old!

I took myself on an 'urban road trip' at the beginning of June, logging a total of 138 miles beginning and ending at my front door. I began with the centennial celebration of the Port of Los Angeles, which took me around some streets I haven't seen in decades. A definitive highlight was being able to climb to the top of the restored Point Fermin Lighthouse. The coastal fog obscured Santa Catalina Island, but it was a treat, all the same. I think it might have been the first time I've actually climbed to the top of a lighthouse!

I try to watch myself from opening my mouth on such excursions when not absolutely necessary (nobody wants to be that know-it-all on the tour bus who butts in on the tour guide). The employees of the POLA had scant knowledge of some of the sites, such as the former Fort MacArthur reservation, now home to the Angel's Gate Cultural Center, the Korean Friendship Bell and museum, the Fort MacArthur museum, youth hostel and marine animal rescue station. As it turned out, a number of the folks on the tour were locals of the port area, so we were all able to swap various stories about some of the sites.

Sadly, the tour didn't include a trip over the Vincent Thomas Bridge, although there are several monuments to mark the location of East San Pedro's Japanese-American fishing village and the fishing industry. Few Angelenos know of the existence of an entire community on Terminal Island that was shipped off to the Manzanar Relocation Center during World War II. Not only has every trace of the community been bulldozed, but virtually the entire Long Beach Naval Shipyard is gone; all across Terminal Island there is new construction as the port enlarges both the shipping container facilities and provides more slips for pleasure craft. The map they provided each participant with did, however, include a history of the fishing village among the many historic sites not covered on the tour. At last, there is more inclusion of one of the more shameful parts of American history --and Los Angeles history-- getting acknowledged.

After touring around San Pedro and Wilmington, it was on to the second Culver City Art Walk. This year there was 150% increase in the number of galleries over last year. The town is definitely on the art scene radar, now. It wouldn't be incorrect to say that Culver City has become quite an art town --not bad, considering it was practically an urban no-man's land just a few years ago.

Sunday I took in the Los Feliz Village Street Fair and the second annual Lummis Day in Highland Park.

...And there were a number of events I didn't even have time to get to ...yet.

Jimmy Carter was right ...but does anyone in the US government understand the implications of this (even off the record)?

Every statement of indignation by the Bush administration only underscores how spot-on his assessment is. It isn't like Carter is some crackpot off the street, after all.

And the MTA would appear to be trying to destroy mass transit in Southern California... just as millions of drivers begin to seriously contemplate giving up their gas-guzzling cars.

I guess it's official: we're going to Hell in a tacky knock-off handbag that doesn't match our shoes.

No more Veronica Mars. No more Gilmore Girls. So The CW wants to prove they can mismanage their best assets as good as ABC, eh? Lost is drifting aimlessly somewhere in the South Pacific (who has a pool to bet it gets cancelled before they get off the island?), and no word yet if Jericho will receive a reprieve. I guess that's a hint for me to get back to my reading.

On a "lighter" note: only thirteen months after I suggested Annie Proulx for "One City, One Book," Frontiers magazine came to the amazing discovery while in Denver about the nationwide program, and have chosen "Light Before Day," by Christopher Rice as their first annual Summer Book. Japhy Grant has a great cover story on Christopher Rice in the June 5, 2007, Frontiers, and there's a link to Christopher Rice's website on the left. Rice is a Lambda Literary Award winning author of three novels; his fourth, "Blind Fall," will be released next year. "Light Before Day" was chosen in part because it is set in West Hollywood, but beware: it's not a book for the squeemish. You'll want to leave the lights on and don't let anybody tap you on the shoulder from behind while you're reading!

Quite a Spring day this is turning out to be

First came word that Donald Trump was fired. Then the news that Jerry Falwell was on his way to spending the rest of all eternity ...someplace really hot (no, not Boca Raton).

Almost makes up for the fact that tonight is the series finale of the Gilmore Girls.

When I went to vote today, I had to wake up the poll worker; I was but only the sixth person to caste my ballot today. If youth is truly wasted on the young, I might think sometimes that Democracy is wasted on Americans.

Bad cops - no donuts

As long as the LAPD is busting foreign little old ladies over the heads, perhaps Queen Elizabeth might want to skip LA on her itinerary. For that matter, the city can kiss their bid for the Olympics goodbye.

What really ticks me off about the May Day melee, is that for a week, the mayor and other officials begged schoolchildren to stay in school and miss the downtown march, and go to the rally in MacArthur Park instead.

Maybe we should send those "elite" Metro cops to Baghdad... oh, and someone remind those Iraqi "insurgents" that they shouldn't go around killing Indian citizens when they have an itchy trigger finger on their nuclear missles. Ya think?

To end on a lighter note, congratulations are in order to Naomi Hirahara for winning the Edgar Award.

Greetings from the police state of Los Angeles!

Whatever gripes I might have about the current state of journalism, at least I don't go around clubbing reporters or shooting them with rubber bullets. The LAPD veterans still don't seem to understand that their behavior looks like it came from the worst of the dictatorships around the world.

Kudos to Beth Dunlop for her inimitable insight into the saga of the Coconut Grove Playhouse, on the heals of her riff on the Carnival Center, in the March and April editions of Ocean Drive. Few and far between are the architectural critics who can so knowledgeably champion responsible development. Architectural criticism is so much more than commenting on the veneer. In Miami, to be against the construction of yet another crass condo tower in a flat real estate market ...well, it's nothing short of treason. Barbara Capitman would be proud.

If you still had dry eyes at the end of last night's Gilmore Girls, then get outta my kitchen! And Veronica Mars is back, too! How cool is that? Gee... am I allowed to be watching this? VM has been one of the best written programs on television as far as I'm concerned, so excuse me if I don't watch anything where a contestant can get voted off.

We Have Met The Enemy, and He Is Us!

After a point, I turned off the endless coverage of the Virginia Tech tragedy as it kept repeating the same information over and over, yet totally ignoring certain salient points.

The relatively few quotes from the writings of the young man responsible for the tragedy seem to point to his having been victimized at some point in his youth. This does not excuse his actions, or shift the blame in any way, but there is something in that which needs to be looked into and addressed.

100 per cent of all shootings are commited by humans. This should make the Martians very nervous. That the alleged perpetrator of this tragedy was an immigrant overlooks that he had been in the United States since he was eight years old. Not even our Founding Fathers would escape the suspicious label of immigrant under those parameters. Timothy McVeigh was not an immigrant (unless you ask a Native American). Was it any more or less relevant that he was a suburban-raised youth? An English major?

A number of the security experts weighing in have called for the need to create barriers for campuses to define their perimeters. One expert even went so far as to suggest that there should be but a single entrance/exit for college campuses. It would appear to me that the majority of campus shootings have actually been committed by a member of the campus community, thus a barrier in most cases would not prevent a perpetrator from committing the act, nor address the root cause. Furthermore, the possibility of panic and number of casualties might very well escalate were there no easy way for people to evacuate easily..

I'm all for getting rid of guns... all guns. Handguns, automatic weapons, nukes, you name it. Everybody's. I'd like to live in a world where armies had nothing more than Rice Krispies to hurl at each other, yet humans in their ingenuity have even figured how to turn airplanes into weapons of destruction. And don't get me started on tobacco.

To exist, in and of itself, is a potential pre-existing condition for our non-existence. Yet it seems counter intuitive to be pro-active by preemptively non-existing in order to prevent our non-existence.

.....

On an entirely different note, who'd have thought that in the end, Richard Gere would stick a metaphorical gerbil up his own butt? One would think that after all his advocacy on behalf of the Tibetan people, he'd be a little more familiar with Indian customs and etiquette.

National Poetry Month in LA

The Long Beach Poetry Festival takes place at various venues from April 10 - 14; and the Highways Poetry and Performance Fest runs from April 12 - 15.

And with no small degree of anticipation, natch, all the bibliophiles in Southern California are waiting for the LA Times Festival of Books at UCLA on April 28 and 29; an event which more than proves that, yes, people do read in LA. Who knew?

Yet more April events

The Queer Media Conference (Q-ME Con) comes to Los Angeles April 13 - 15; Dining Out For Life takes place on April 26 in various cities around the country and Dine Out LA will take place on April 19 at locations throughout Los Angeles.

Last, but not least, Big Sunday will take place across LA on April 29.

The Namesake

This morning I went to see the film by Mira Nair, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri's novel.

The film was extraordinarily touching. Even for anyone not of Bengali heritage, there are themes in the film that most Americans would identify with to some degree. For those like me, who weren't born in the States, who, as one reviewer stated, always get hung up on that awful question, "Where are you from?" it was a real punch in the gut. In a good way.

It's so much easier these days to find people who have grown up in multi-cultural households, or have one foot here in America and another dangling out somewhere an ocean away.

This is one of the few times in my life I will have seen the film first, then read the book. In part, because of the impending holiday weekend, I had looked forward to doing something special, and seeing The Namesake certainly filled the bill. Everyone connected with the film deserves whatever accolades come their way. The moody weather in Los Angeles might have helped somewhat, as it is overcast yet warm, and definitely with the kind of sky that lends itself to introspection. The sun keeps trying to break through the clouds, but it doesn't quite get there.

I think, I may have a clue as to why I'm always jumping to view my birthplace every time I log onto Google Earth. The tug that accompanies my scanning it --even if a magnified view from space-- is pretty universal, I think.

It doesn't get me any closer to home in reality, (what is home, anyway?), but I'll take what I can get.

After thinking about the movie and the impact it had on me, I realized there was a memory long suppressed that it brought out: in junior high school, my mother mentioned that my parents had another name chosen for me before I was born. Now she is long gone, and there is no way for me to know what my other name was/is. I had asked my dad once, and he couldn't tell me. A name is such a simple, ethereal thing; it doesn't have anything to do with your DNA, won't change your race or height or eye color, yet gives you an identity. It presents you with a whole way of thinking about yourself and who you are. I'd forgotten for so long my wondering as a youth what my life would have been like had I been given my other name, and what was the reason for the change?

Not everyone seeing The Namesake may identify on with the movie on that level, yet there is still plenty for almost every human being to identify with. Too many "Americans" aren't aware of what forgotten memories lie beneath the surface of their consciousness.

What were they thinking?!? (Continued)

I read today that ABC is cancelling the series, "Six Degrees," after shuffling it around their schedule and not giving it any real promotion. Are they taking a page out of George Bush's Iraq playbook to run their network? The chorus is growing at every juncture about how they have split the airing of the most popular shows in order to showcase some of the most inane drivel. Of course, this is coming from someone who has made himself a near pariah in Hollywood by professing his hate of all things tainted with the brush of "reality television."

At this rate, I wonder if people are betting that "Lost" will get cancelled before there is any resolution to the puzzle.

With any luck, perhaps we can get the folks at ABC/Disney to run the 2008 Republican presidential campaign.

Sojourner Truth 1797 - 1883

Now I hears talkin' about de Constitution and de rights of man. I comes up and I takes hold of dis Constitution. It looks mighty big, and I feels for my rights, but der ain't any dare. Den I says, God, what ails dis Constitution? He says to me, "Sojourner, dere is a little weasel in it."

Proud uncle addendum

My nephew will be marching on April 22 in the Grand Parade of the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival in San Francisco. Clicking on the header at top will take you to the festival website.

The true human price of "staying the course" in Iraq

Long Beach gets an alternative newspaper (finally)

Set to hit the streets on April 11, the new publication, The District Weekly, has already been causing a lot of buzz. The word of mouth gossip has been the kind of Godsend publicity any start-up publication could only dream about. Here's to hoping they make it!

I say, sue the bums ...for starters

Authorities have been trying to dissuade the number of pet owners affected by the death or illness of their pets growing exponentially over the past few days from suing the various manufacturers of the labels of pet foods tainted with poison that have apparently originated in mainland China. The basic premise has been that juries are likely to regard pets as mere "property," and thus not likely to grant them the legal reparations they desire.

I seem to recall, however, that through the end of slavery in the mid-19th century, slaves were considered property, and it was not uncommon for lawsuits to be brought against a party that caused death or injury to the property of the slaveowners.

Hmmm.

There is also that tricky issue of the point of origin of the tainted pet food, China. What are we gonna do? Nuke 'em? Try getting them to admit to any culpability in this.

While no humans have (yet) to be stricken as a result of this incident, it has been hinted at a number of times by the media that there is a high probability that the tainted product may have found itself into the human food supply, yet it has been downplayed to the degree that we have thus far avoided the panic that accompanied Europe's mad cow scare.

As the globalization of of basic commodities continues, someone in the War Room better be keeping a close watch on this, as the next time it happens (and there will be a next time), it might well be baby food or good ol' apple pie.

One thing is certain, don't trust the authorities who have tried to deliberately downplay the extent of this contamination. Upton Sinclair is long dead, and it isn't likely that anyone will sound the alarm in time.

6th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival

Little Tokyo will hold their annual Cherry Blossom Festival on Saturday, March 31 and Sunday, April 1.

Mother Nature is providing pleasant Summer-like weather; there will be everything from food and cultural performances to art exhibitions and martial arts demonstrations.

...and cherry blossoms, too, of course. The James Irvine Garden, tucked behind the JACCC is one of the best kept secrets in Los Angeles. I can't for the life of me understand why more people don't visit it, but just as well it never gets very crowded.

These links are not for the weak of heart, but required viewing for anyone who considers themselves an American

The sales department of the Associated Press asked on January 16, 2007 that 4,000 images of Iraqi killed or maimed hosted by Cryptome be removed. The images came from the Associated Press archive at the New York Public Library, and are free to members. Methods for obtaining a library card for online access to the collections are described here:

http://www.nypl.org/books/cards.html

Once given a pin number with the card, log onto AP images here:

http://www.nypl.org/databases/remoteacc/apphoto/index.cfm

Cryptome offers a free DVD (190MB) of the iraq-kill-maim collection to public and edu libraries which do not have access to the Associated Press archive. Send requests to jya@cryptome.net.

Adapted from the http://iraq-kill-maim.org/ website. Clicking on the header at the top of this post will take you to a page about former Staff Sargent Eric Alva on the Human Rights Campaign website.

Ben Ferrer 1960 - 2007

The best tribute to Ben is probably to be found in his work. What his portfolio won't show you, however, is how Ben used to make my mother laugh. I am forever grateful for every moment of entertainment he gave her.

Ben will be fondly remembered by all who were privileged to share his company, watch him perform, or enjoy his artistry.

Saroyan Town Walk in Fresno, April 21, 2007

The William Saroyan Society will lead their annual walking tour of sites related to the life and work of William Saroyan through the heart of Fresno's old town on Saturday, April 21st. Click on the header at top for more information.

Call the Iraqi "insurgents" what they really are: anti-Islamic hoodlums who have killed more Muslims than the West for the past millenium

Gay's the Word Bookshop in need of support

Gay's the Word Bookshop, the premiere gay and lesbian bookstore in the United Kingdom, is facing the same challenges that have caused so many American booksellers to shut their doors. They're not going without a fight, however. Click on the header at top to go to their website.

If London, which considers itself to be one of the world's most foremost literary cities, filled as it is with more than half a millenium of literary history, can't keep one of it's more important independent bookstores open, then the result will be considerably more ominous than the sun setting on the British Empire.

The New Seven Wonders of the World

Time is running out to get your vote in on the "New Seven Wonders of the World." The "New Seven Wonders" will be announced on July 7, 2007. Thus far, most people seem to still be thinking in an out-dated idea of just what the seven wonders ought to be.

Click on the header at top to go to the New Seven Wonders of the World website. And get thinking.

Memo to the suits at ABC

I've had it up to here with that little animation of dancers that keeps appearing on my favorite shows. Do you put in on during the news, too? There are certain programs which are just not going to have the same potential audience. This is no way to garner interest in your dumb show. It's easily the most irritating television animation since the Ali McBeal dancing baby craze started.

Luckily, I've got books a-plenty to read in the meantime. Not everyone who turns on the tube, after all, spends all day, every day staring at whatever crap the networks deem to throw at us.

By the same token, I've grown paranoid about even mentioning which shows I do like, since they seem to get killed off faster than you can say "Who's really buried in Ken Lay's grave?"

There have been more brave souls around Hollywood of late who question the methodology that the networks employ to determine the actual number of television viewers, but no one expects (openly) for there to be any radical overhaul of the system by which Hollywood gauges ratings.

In a real departure of the "speak no evil" policy in this company town, the LA Times even did a piece on how irrelevant those little statuettes are to a movie's long-standing popularity. They even intimated that the nonsensical game of judging everything by opening weekend numbers may be erroneous-- although they didn't explore the means by which such numbers are manipulated.

I just want to throw out to some bored-out-your-skin e-geek out there (and we know you're out there) that you give ABC a taste of their own medicine and hack into their network feed, and put those damn dancing fools someplace that will bring the issue to the bigwig's attention. If we don't do something now to display the immediate potential for viewer backlash, there will only be more of those damn things in the future to come.

c

"The Perfect Fake" by Barbara Parker

Anyone who knows me knows I love maps. And I love mysteries. Especially by Miami authors.

I had the good fortune to be covering the Miami International Book Fair the year that Barbara Parker's first mystery was published, and I've read every one since then as soon as I could get my hands on it.

"The Perfect Fake," Parker's newest mystery, not only centers around Miami and maps, but the Miami International Map Fair, which is kind of like the ultimate Star Wars fan convention for lovers of maps. I doubt that anyone in Miami is better suited than Barbara Parker to craft a first rate page turner from it.

My only mistake was starting it as we went through Daylight Savings Time, as it is one of those books that makes you hang on for just one more chapter a couple of times over before going to bed.

If there's one question I hear posed to mystery authors as opposed to most writers of fiction, it's the old stand-alone or series conundrum. Here, Parker has deftly shown she can give her series heroine a rest as she returns to a stand alone, yet keeping her beloved Gail Connor conected to the story, but just out of sight.

The only thing that sucks about reading books is that they take a year or more to write and can be devoured in a matter of hours.

And Miami is so far away at times....




If you click on the header at top you'll be taken to a picture of one of the scenes from The Perfect Fake. It's not Miami, but I won't give away any more of a spoiler. Click on the link to the left for Barbara Parker's website for a bunch of cool visuals that go with the book. It'll soon be evident why Barbara Parker is one of my favorite authors!

~SAVE THE DATE~

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
and
Maria Shriver

are pleased to invite

The California Recovery Team
Advisory Council

to their home in
Brentwood, California

for a
Cocktail Reception
Wednesday, April 25, 2007

and the
California Recovery Team
Executive Committee

for
Cocktails and Dinner
Wednesday, June 6, 2007




Founding Members to the Executive Committee
who make a minimum donation of $250,000
may rest assured that not one red cent of their donation
will go to helping California schools or the environment

...and maybe you can help decide just what the heck it is that California has to recover from

2007 Asian Pacific American Book Festival "Celebrating Stories, Transforming Lives"

On Saturday, May 12, 2007, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the 2007 Asian Pacific American Book Festival will take place at the Japanese American Museum in Little Tokyo.

The authors involved at this point include Noel Alumit, Cecilia Brainard, Sesshu Foster, Naomi Hirohara, Russell Leong, David Mas Masumoto, and Rick Noguchi.

Firehouse Dog

I just ran into Scotch Ellis Loring who told me he's contributed music to the movie, "Firehouse Dog", due out April 4 (he's in the film as well!). Check it out!

What were they thinking?, Part Two

A number of local papers reported on the recent tragic death of a 29-year-old adult film star because of his steroid abuse. Maybe I'm overly sensitive to the way it was covered, but it seems that as much or more was said about how great he looked dying at 29 (!) as about the consequences of his abuse of steroids. I have to say, I'd never heard of the young man before his death was announced, but his was not the first, nor I fear, the last, casualty of steroid abuse I'll hear of.

Given a choice between "dying like Elsie" or living, I think I'll choose the later.

For the "What were they thinking?" file

The Los Angeles City Planning Department isn't making many friends with their decision regarding the preservation of industrial space in downtown Los Angeles.


Granted, I wasn't privy to the process which lead to their decision, but even without being affected as a stakeholder in the outcome, there seems to be a lack of "big picture thinking at play here. For one thing, the industrial zone to the east and south of downtown Los Angeles is a vestige of an age when it was on the outskirts of town... now that same area is surrounded by the urban megapolis. The changes in industrial land use may make the region less feasible for heavy industry than it was a century or more ago. The intransigence of the Planning Department in regard to residential use not only shows a closed-mind attitude for the 21st century vision of the city, it also doesn't take into account that some of the land they wish to "preserve" for industrial space was at one time residential. And no one can deny that if there is a critical shortage of industrial space in Los Angeles, the availability of affordable housing is even more acute. Perhaps the Planning Department has a way for the future workers in the industrial section to commute from Arizona.

As San Francisco, Minneapolis, Miami, and many other cities have found, the areas previously utilized for industry have proven adaptable to high-tech firms, and new ways of comfortably mixing live-work space as opposed to single-use zoning. Given the changes in the Southern California industrial landscape, I'm not sure the Planning Department even has a firm grasp of who the willing industrial users of the area would be --if they still exist at all.

Sam Hall Kaplan, in the March 12 edition of the Los Angeles Downtown News, wrote a brilliant (as always) piece on the subject. As he knows most of the players and the process with both an insider's and a professional and academic viewpoint few others possess, it would do the public officials (and anyone interested in the future of cities) to read his column.

As for the rest of us, get some popcorn and a comfy seat to watch the jousting among the players as this drama plays out.

So, the heat fells Bush, Sr; Will global warming get Bush, Jr?

John Inman 1935 - 2007

John Inman, the actor who delighted American audiences in the long running BBC series, "Are You Being Served," has been remembered around the world for his long and varied career. I'd much rather see Entertainment Tonight or one of the other info-tainment shows dedicate an hour special on him than any wanna-be celebrity whose chief claim to fame was merely being ...famous.


And at least John Inman could act.

Inman was survived by his partner of 35 years, Ron Lynch, which is in and of itself an achievement that should be honored.

Peace is Every Step Peacewalk on March 17

The fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq will be observed by a walking meditation at the International Buddhist Meditation Center, 928 South New Hampshire Avenue, in Los Angeles, on Saturday, March 17th, beginning at 9 a.m.

Click on the header above for more information.

It's Time Again for ArtNight Pasadena March 9

14 venues throughout Pasadena will throw open their doors for free on Friday, March 9, from 6 to 10 p.m., the city of Pasadena once again presents ArtNight Pasadena, with shuttles running continuously between the various sites. Over the years, I've found myself drawn more to the smaller sites --especially those featuring student art-- as opposed to the more traditional locales such as the Norton Simon, but one of the fun aspects of the event is that you're never pre-committed to any particular itinerary or order ...and the one expectation to keep in mind is that you can't see it all, so enjoy what you do see and forgive yourself for not getting to anything you didn't.



Click on the header above for a link to the ArtNight website.

Click here at your own risk (if you dare!)

Global Warming and San Francisco

In reading about the effect that sinking fill is having on San Francisco, coupled with global warming, I couldn't help but notice how similar the projections are for The City to the 19th century shoreline. Apparently, the sewers are already having a problem with salt water in some of the low-lying parts of town!

It's especially poignant given that glossy cover photo on last month's San Francisco magazine, showing all those pie-in-the-sky SoMa highrises in various stages of planning or construction. You don't want to "get in on the ground floor," so to speak.

I guess the bay will eventually reclaim that which was taken away from it over the past 150 years.

If anyone doubts this, they need only look at a photograph of the Valencia Hotel from the 1906 earthquake...

From fog to rain back to sun again...

As I arrive home this morning, I have a leak in my roof that is raining over my stereo and my books (not good).

The rain has passed, thank goodness, and the now sun is shining as I walk by the ripped awnings from one of the big post-awards show parties flapping in the wind. It takes 'em weeks to set up for all the parties around LA, and usually mere hours to tear it all down.

Meanwhile, I'm waiting for the owners of my building to patch the roof ...for the third time. At least this time the manager saw the water streaming down the plastic I put over my furniture and out into the hallway, so he can't deny he doesn't know there's a problem. This should be my biggest problem, no? Well, bigger than my bags not making it to my destination with me.

Another performance I missed...

Noel Alumit's new book, Talking to the Moon, had its official publication party last Saturday night at Skylight Books in Los Feliz. Hopefully, I'll get to catch him in March at Vroman's in Pasadena.

Be sure to ask for it at your local independent bookseller, or maybe you can still get a signed copy from Skylight Books.

Noel's book tour is posted on his blog, The Last Noel, to the left.

The best performance you DIDN'T see at the Kodak Theatre...

Andy Towle has a YouTube link on his Towleroad site (look for a link at the left) to Jennifer Holliday belting out her signature number from the roof of the Roosevelt Hotel, where she is appearing at the Cinegrill.

It sure beats Robert Opel's streaking the show ...come to think of it, it was a better performance than most of this year's singers on stage at the Kodak.

I guess this means that the Academy better think twice about not extending an invitation for a diva to perform; the next time, someone might find a way to hack into their broadcast feed.

Not exactly a New Year's Eve performance at Lotta's Fountain, but no mistake about it: she sure did sing.

Monday morning creekside mist and hilltop fog

The sky is mottled greys from dirty white to pewter... the streets glisten; the moss seems to be slowly creeping over every surface it can reach. It's thickest on the tree limbs hanging over San Ramon Creek, but even the asphalt parking lots are slowly submitting to a thin blanket of green, as unwilling to start the week as the schoolchildren being ushered off by their mothers.

The raindrops can't be felt, yet they dance invisible to the eye upon the surface of the swimming pool; only the fog will enjoy the pool today.

If there's any sun to be had, it won't be around these parts. The top of the hill is cloaked with a covering of impenetrable fog. Commuters scurry with a resigned air that it will turn to rain soon enough... and quite likely before they arrive to work.

The creek is fasting moving and silent. The decorative fountains splash more loudly in front of brooding buildings up and down the street.

The crackle of bacon from the kitchen foretells that soon enough, it will be time for us to return home.

If you're in need of an entertainment fix, click here

Not that I don't think Ellen wasn't funny, but these guys are wicked.

All 's Quiet After Hollywood's! Big! Night!

Now that the awards season is over (or is it?), perhaps I can get back to my regular vapid television schedule. Unfortunately, even the BBC won't let the dead rest in peace or allow the short-circuiting celebrities to get out of the limelight for a hot minute; so I have a stack of reading to attend to, including Barbara Parker's newest mystery novel, and a bio of Robert Moses.

Downtown Walnut Creek was so quiet tonight, with Main Street covered with a wet sheen, you'd've thought they were filming a car commercial.

In case you haven't heard, the insurance companies have quietly declared that policies on planet Earth carries too much of a risk, so they're closing up shop and heading to more profitable pastures.

Oh, and we're apparently going to Hell in a handbasket.

If I didn't know better, I might think that the right wing is planning on jump-starting the last last days of humankind before the 2008 election -- or the terrorists in the Middle East beat 'em to it.

Just as long as I have enough acai to get me to the promised land...

It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine...

Barbara Gittings 1932 - 2007

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THIS IS AN ANNA NICOLE SMITH-FREE ZONE

Please be patient...

Blogger keeps acting up on me (although it could be my server that's the problem...)

They wouldn't dare...

As 50 million viewers around the world tuned in last night, we saw Adam Rodriguez get shot at the end of the first half of a two parter.

Now, I'll admit, CSI: Miami isn't exactly Shakespeare. In fact, the only reason I turn it on is to see Miami, and see how they fool around with Miami-Dade geography. Apart from the establishing shots, most of the show is filmed in various sites around LA. It's always fun (for me) to see what stands in for Miami in Los Angeles.

Adam Rodriguez I'm sure is more of an actor than just a pretty face... but, he is one heck of a pretty face. While speculation runs around various message boards about his fate (I won't reveal any spoilers here), I'd just as soon see Caruso's character get offed before anything happens to Rodriguez.

It seems every time I get to liking something too much on television, it seems to get taken off...

Some people just don't get it....

Venues where Charles Knipp, performing as "Shirley Q. Liquor," is to perform have been meeting with protests. He claims that he turns the stereotype imagery around in his act; I only know that he turns my stomach.

What a lovely way to get Black History Month off to a roaring start...

I know it's a full moon, but what the heck is up with Virginia?

The state legislature wants to make it illegal to feed, cloth or administer medical aid to suspected illegal aliens? And make the children of aliens ineligible for citizenship (which thankfully falls under Federal, not state, jurisdiction)?

l think someone ought to remind Virginia that in the 17th century, the Roanoake Indians had a capitol punishment policy for illegal aliens, too. All those pesky Europeans kept landing boat after boat of undocumented workers up and down the Eastern seaboard.

It's time that people stop looking at Islam as a "warlike" religion and start examining how barbaric some "Christians" are behaving.

There's an IRS investigation into the tax-exempt status of All Saints Church in Pasadena, one of the foremost faith-based charitable institutions in Southern California, due to their their opposition of the war in Iraq based on their faith. They're almost single-handedly restoring the reputation of organized religion through their good works.

The First Congregational Church in Long Beach, also, is being threatened by the law, because the pastor considers it part of their Christian duty to allow the homeless to sleep undisturbed outside the church. Not inside the church, mind you, but outside. Doesn't that technically make all Americans equally guilty, if anyone, anywhere, must sleep outside? Of course, if any one is homeless or hungry, anywhere, aren't we all guilty anyway?

Instead of thumping bibles, maybe some of those in power should try cracking them open and reading 'em. There's a lot a good stuff to be found there (other than the slavery and misogyny and other icky parts).

This is why I should not have a second cup of Starbucks ...especially during a full moon.

Reuiescat in Pace, Molly Ivins

We won't see another one like her. And as been said many times over, we need her now more than ever. I guess we'll just have to imagine how she would observe the final days in office of George Bush --assuming he doesn't pull a Hugo Chavez, of course.

2007 International Day of Poetry: March 21

Best public apology of the week: Gavin Newsom; Worst public apology of the week: Adult Swim (with Joe Biden close behind)

If you don't want to support a "Living Wage" you can make your own damn bed! "

Today on KPCC, Larry Mantle's program had two segments that were more closely related than many would realize.

There's more rumor than fact swirling around the deal to have the "living wage" ordinance for LA Airport area hotel workers become reality. One business owner last weekend huffed he would be forced to lay off a number of his employees if the minimum wage was raised.

Like Manhattan, San Francisco and the Florida Keys, the cost of living --especially housing-- has risen so dramatically that service sector employees can no longer afford to live in the communities where they work. Los Angeles is seeing more and more workers being nudged into virtual slavery for a job. A minimum wage worker in L.A. basically has to work more hours in a week than exist just to afford rent.

Of course, they could always do away with that cumbersome little amendment to the Constitution prohibiting slavery. It isn't like the conservatives haven't tried over the last 25 years to gut the rest of the Constitution as well.

Larry Mantle's program also focused on the gridlock that grips much of Southern California, further complicating the commute of service sector employees, and the quality of life for all residents.

Contrary to popular opinion, LA hasn't always been at the mercy of runaway sprawl. There have been many attempts to look at regional and local planning issues together in a way that improves the urban environment for everyone.

Too many individual stakeholders have been allowed variances or the permission to opt out of certain conditions, like having a reasonable number of parking spaces, or offsetting the impact of new projects on traffic and utilities. The Hyperion sewer project, years in the planning and construction, was obsolete almost as soon as it was online.

Although the time allotted to the topic was brief for the scope of the issue, I'm sure Larry Mantle is still hearing from listeners. He probably has enough material to devote to a full length book by now.

Getting the stakeholders involved to see how their individual actions impact the whole would be a Herculean task, at best.

It's only January, but it seems we have a hands down winner for the 2007 "There goes the neighborhood" award

A Malibu estate was quietly sold to the son of an 'alleged' (no one has lived to say for sure) cannibal dictator, who threatened to kill the American ambassador in 1996. Teodoro Obiang purchased the home next door to Matthew Perry for more than $35 million. That should be reason enough to keep me out of the 'bu for the foreseeable future...

Miami may still be the current undisputed champions for wackiness, and they did get OJ Simpson, but I guess Southern California has found a way to make up for all the runaway film production by challenging Miami's preferred status as home to foreign torturers and henchmen.

So, Trump wants to host a golf tournament, eh? We've got just the place...