Congrats Ponch

Erik Estrada Receives Star on Walk of Fame



Now quit trying to convince me to buy property in California Pines, at three in the morning.

overkill

I ordered one box of contacts. The package it was shipped in could have held 20 boxes.

around town

NEED HELP PLEASE CALL POLICE

What do you think, should I call?


NO SCAVENGING (Dumpster Diving)

I finally started recycling again. Curbside pick-up is not offered for apartments in Culver City (I'll have to write the city council about that one) but there is a drop off location a few blocks from me. No sorting required. Paper, plastic, glass & metal all go into one bin. The question is why wouldn't you?


Scary, very scary. Venice & Centinela


Culver City is ready. Is your town?


Car of the week: Pimped Ford Tempo. Judging by the rear spoiler, there must have been too much lift.

year of the pig

This morning, two of the newspapers I read had swine photos on their home pages.

A swimming pig on Fowl Cay in the Bahamas.

Photo by EAP64, Boston Globe

Snort the pig at the Family Pet Expo.

Photo by Christine Cotter, LA Times

the sons & daughters of ham

I'm off the pig for a while. My bypass is scheduled for next week.

Lessons learned:

Leftovers beget leftovers.

A ten pound ham is definitely the family size.

Ham spread, I should have known better.

The red eye gravy was beyond good but any recipe that calls for the cook to "melt" pork fat can't be heart smart. The recipe called for a tablespoon & a half of coffee, so I tossed a tablespoon of coffee grounds in the pan. As I stirred the gravy, I realized the author meant brewed coffee. I stirred some more while I came to grips with tossing the gravy and starting over. When would you ever toss coffee grounds into a sauce.

A cow just flew by my window

Since David Lynch hasn't updated his weather report . . .

It's windy in the southland today. Bring in the lawn furniture and hang on to your car doors.

If my word is no good and you need a more reputable source . . .

High Winds Start Fires, Knock Out Power
Downed Power Lines in Studio City, B.H.
Los Angeles, Apr. 12, 2007 (CNS)

summer camp

I went swimming yesterday afternoon followed by a bit of archery in the evening. Today's activity is handicrafts. Popsicle sticks & glue aren't my favorite but I'm trying to be well rounded.



Note: If you decide to loose some arrows the entrance to the range is on Motor Ave between Pico Blvd and Monte Mar Dr. It's closer to Pico, just down/up the street from Fox studios. All other details are in the link above.

preventable?

Driver accused in crash that killed director pleads not guilty
The man at the wheel of an SUV that killed Bob Clark and his son had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit, police say.
Valerie Reitman & Andrew Blankstein, LA Times
4/6/07

Velazquez-Nava, 24, had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit when the crash occurred early Wednesday on Pacific Coast Highway, police said. He is a native of Mexico who federal authorities said was in the U.S. illegally.

Law enforcement sources said Velazquez-Nava pleaded guilty in 2005 in Los Angeles to a prostitution-related charge and was sentenced to two years' probation. He could face at least four to 10 years imprisonment if convicted of vehicular manslaughter.

Um, if he was in the country illegally why wasn't he deported in 2005?

And the answer is . . .

L.A. police immigrant policy faces another test
A group of city residents is preparing a challenge to the longtime LAPD policy that prohibits officers from inquiring about suspects' status.
Patrick McGreevy & Richard Winton, LA Times
4/11/07

The Los Angeles Police Department's landmark Special Order 40, which prohibits officers from inquiring about the immigration status of suspects, has come under an aggressive assault by anti-illegal immigrant activists who argue that it ties the hands of police.

I'm not in favor of building walls or the mass repatriation of undocumented immigrants but why once somone is arrested can't their citizenship be established? Citizenship seems like an easy question to ask and the answer should be relatively easy to verify.

leg update

I had a leg appointment today. A new medical student did my initial assessment. I felt like I was explaining a movie to someone who came in as it was ending. "So what happens during a bone graft?" I explained my procedure to him but I wondered if perhaps he should re-read that chapter or a professor/doctor should be the one explaining it to him.

The doctor said everything looked good. He took more pictures and video of the rebuild in action. He said my ankle's range of motion is good for this point in my recovery. Return in two months.

Overheard at County:

Morbidly obese middle age man: She gave me an enema. I've had things done I never had before (He makes a finger motion). I had a colonoscopy last week. They found one tiny p-p-polyp and cut it out.
Radiologist: You're too heavy for our equipment. We can't do the test they requested.
Obese man: Thank you Jesus . . . I can take this dress off.

Forty year old woman (reading and highlighting the Bible): Excuse me I was trying to save that seat for my mother.
Fifty year old woman: Oh, reading the Bible makes you rude. I though it was suppose to do the opposite. (She climbs over the row of seats)
Forty year old: I didn't think I was being rude. I was trying to tell you I was saving that seat for my mother.

around town

She was drinking Champagne and that's a dog in the baby stroller.


Guess what I ordered.


Pig sculptures made out of sausage. Twisted.


A lost bunny on Easter is pretty sad.


It's April, where have they been storing the tree for the last four months?

And then there was ham

. . . and more ham. My roommate & I decided to cook Easter dinner. The only ham left at the grocery store weighed in at 10.86 pounds. Even when you factor in the bone, that's a lot of ham for two people. Ham sandwiches will be on the menu all week. I might see how many different ham dishes I can make before it spoils.

Is there a generic alternative?

Heard on the grocery store PA system:

"Travell, we are out of Preparation H. We are out of Preparation H."

There were two reactions, people either erupted in laughter or looked appalled.

things to do

Dick Nixon Library & Birthplace
Yorba Linda, CA

Upcoming Events
The Day Elvis Met Nixon
Date: January 8, 2007

The President and the King
WE'RE ALL SHOOK UP
FOR ELVIS, RN EXHIBIT

The historic 1970 White House meeting of Elvis Presley and Richard Nixon will be commemorated in a special exhibit opening on Elvis’ birthday, Monday, January 8, highlighted with the sartorial choices of the President and the King.

On special loan from Graceland, the exhibit will highlight the black velvet suit, boots, wing-collared white shirt and gold, diamond-studded belt worn by Elvis Presley during his White House drop-by December 21, 1970. The statesmanlike gray suit and tasteful tie worn by the 37th President also will be displayed.

Not to be outdone by the King's black velvet suit and boots.

Elvis would have been 72 on January 8, and President Nixon 94 on January 9. The iconic photo of their White House meeting is the most requested image from the National Archives.

The picture of Tricky D bowling or leaving on the chopper must be a close second.

The King requested the meeting in a hand-written letter on American Airlines stationery, which he presented to a startled guard at the northwest gate of the White House. Dear Mr. President, he wrote: First, I would like to introduce myself. I am Elvis Presley and admire you and have great respect for your office . . . Sir, I can and will be of any service that I can to help the country out…

The display also will include the gifts exchanged by the two iconic figures, from Elvis a commemorative World War II Colt 45 pistol in a presentation case, as well as family photos, and from RN, a set of Presidential cufflinks and an honorary Bureau of Narcotics Special Assistant badge requested by Elvis for his collection.

Elvis collected law enforcement badges? Did he think it would explain his medicine cabinet?

"Nah fellas, it's alright I've got an honorary badge. Colonel, where'd I put that badge the President gave me."

The exhibit closes April 9, 2007.

Permanent Exhibits:

** "The Structure of Peace Gallery features presentations about President Nixon's successful efforts to "bring the boys home" from Vietnam."~RNLibrary

That's a joke right?

** "The Watergate Gallery is our largest exhibit dedicated to a single subject. It describes Watergate as a political struggle between President Nixon and a Democratic Congress which had strongly opposed the Administration's policies in Vietnam during his first term."~RNLibrary

Again, you're joking right?

** The Presidential helicopter - "Visitors can board the helicopter. This is the historic helicopter that carried President Nixon from the White House for the last time on August 9, 1974 immediately following his farewell speech to staff following his resignation."~about.com

tweet! tweet!

My two week old niece (I think her mom might have helped) sent me an Easter package. She has excellent taste in candy and her penmanship is pretty advanced for her age.


SEG

Thanks Sophie!

upscale graveyard living

Between Heaven & Earth
The Playa Vista development has unearthed one of the largest Native American burial grounds in California. Tribal leaders want their ancestors re-buried, but the remains have been locked in a trailer for years
Dean Kuipers, LA City Beat, 4/5/07
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I guess the folks behind the development haven't seen Poltergeist. I doubt the promotional brochures mention that thus far 411 sets of remains have been unearthed at the site. Playa Vista's website touts the development as westside luxury re-imagined.

My previous gripe with the project was that one of the largest remaining tracts of open space (some of it wetland) on the westside of Los Angeles was going to be replaced with 5,846 homes & condos and that despite the $100 million dollars that the developer has committed to help mitigate the increased traffic those units will bring to already overcrowded roadways that there would still be increased congestion but this is just wrong.

big time hot fuzz

Last night I went to a free screening of Hot Fuzz (the new comedy from the makers of Shaun of the Dead) at the Billy Wilder Theater in the Hammer Museum. The theater which is less than six months old is very nice, though per usual the seating is not designed for anyone over six feet tall. The director Edgar Wright and costars Simon Pegg & Nick Frost, who are as funny live as on film introduced the movie. The bar had $3 beers, which didn't please the girl behind me in line. "Gross I hate Bud Light! This tastes like puke." The guy sitting next to me during the show had vampire breath. If I'd had a breath mint I would have offered it to him. As for the movie, very funny, go see it. I didn't stick around for the after party.

correspondence

I got an email about some new Henry Rollins dvd's and sent a msg. along the lines of how about a newsletter and not a sales pitch. I wasn't expecting a response. I hope it was Hank and not an intern.

From: "2.13.61"
Subject: Re: 2 New Rollins DVDs Now Available!
Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2007 17:07:11 -0700

Carl, with the daily dispatch thing, I don't get a chance to do a
newsletter as often. We just got the DVDs in and were letting people
know. take er easy cheiftan!
Henry

Henry Rollins: Dear Ann Coulter

does a bear sh&* in the woods?

Yes, and apparently they use Charmin Fresh Mates. Attempts to confirm the behavior with world renowned bear expert and Ursus Mark I-VII suit inventor Troy Hurtubise were unsuccessful.

what's for dinner?

People eat pet food. Isn't it a matter of time before a human is felled by tainted kibble?

natural intrusions

Esquire, 4/07
Answer Fella

Why do folks like the smell of their own farts but detest the smell of others?

. . . Jim Dawson, author of Who Cut the Cheese? A Cultural Histroy of the Fart. "If someone farts in our presence, they're invading our space with the essence of their excrrement. Their stink is a natural intrusion upon us."

pet peeves

Note to handicapped drivers:


The unmarked area is what you're aiming for.


Imagine the car is in motion.

Let's look a little closer

"Remove from mirror before driving vehicle"

around town

Easter exploded over on Barman & Coombs in Culver City. At least the fence is keeping them in.


It is never appropriate to use a cartoon of an animal to advertise that you serve it. From the lip smacking on the sign, I'd say the Kimchi Pig is a cannibal.


The Omen was the last movie advertised before they shuttered the Blockbuster. Appropriate, I wonder if they knew.

outrage

At the risk of this becoming a bacon site:

Street vendors feel the heat
Change hasn't been good for cart owners, who say they are being pushed out as downtown gets a taste of gentrification.
Anna Gorman, LA Times, 4/1/07

In September, Los Angeles police officers launched a crackdown on street sales, enforcing laws that had been largely ignored for years, impounding carts, issuing citations and arresting vendors for misdemeanor crimes.

The enforcement is part of the Safer City Initiative, designed to reduce crime in and around skid row.

"We are not the hot dog patrol," said Police Capt. Andrew Smith. "It is but a tiny slice of the enforcement we do. But part of changing the culture of lawlessness is enforcing the laws that are on the books."

Smith said the vendors can still sell food on the streets, as long as they follow the law. For Arias, that means having the required business and health permits, using precooked hot dogs and moving her cart every hour. The law also prohibits her from grilling hot dogs with bacon, a popular Mexican treat whose preparation county health officials consider unsanitary and unsafe.

In addition, Smith said much of the downtown street vending is unsanitary. "If you were a county restaurant, you would have a C-grade…. "

"There are absolutely no safeguards whatsoever in terms of sanitation," Powell said of the illegal vendors.

Even with a special vending district, Arias said, she still expected competition from illegal vendors — or piratas.

"The only way we can get rid of piratas is if we are allowed to cook with bacon," Arias told the group.

"We have to focus on one thing," Corpeo interjected. "Do we want to focus on the issue of bacon or on the issue of selling on the streets?"

If I was going to clean up downtowwn Los Angeles, I'd start with the drug dealers & homelessness, the LAPD has chosen to go after hot dog vendors.

If you haven't eaten a bacon wrapped hot dog you should. Bacon dog vendors are a fixture outside LA concerts and sporting events. The dogs come standard with onions, peppers & mayo. As the hot dog and bacon cook their grease is spooned over the onions and peppers. The carts are often little more than four wheel dollys supporting metal sheet pans wrapped in foil with charcoal heating the pan.

Having never gotten sick after consuming dozens of the dogs through the years I don't get the health department hysteria. I've gotten far sicker from legitimate restaurants such as Togos & In-N-Out Burger, both of which boasted an "A" rating from the health department.

I'll continue to assume some gastrointestinal risk and eat the dogs, provided there are dogs to eat.

custom marketing

Here are the ads that appear when you click on the cluster maps icon to the right. This might have something to do with the pet pig feast and bacon posts from a few weeks ago.

Oscar mayer
Browse a huge selection now. Find exactly what you want today.
www.eBay.com

People are bidding for bacon & hotdogs on ebay?

Poultry Export USA
Export of Poultry and Meat Russia, CIS, Black and Baltic Sea
www.sjsusa.com

Something about this seems shady. Russian Poultry? Sounds like this could lead to some sort of customs investigation.

Beef Bacon
Saving can be so easy! Find all around beef at amazingly prices.
www.Best-Price.com/Beef

NO, Bacon is PORK!

Meat Processing Supplies
Beef Jerky and Sausage making supplies. Meat Grinders & Smokers.
www.onestopjerkyshop.com/

"What are you up to today?"
"Ah, I'm just grinding some meat. I should be done in a little bit."

Turkey Meat
Hormel® Natural Choice® Deli Meat - The Great Taste Comes Naturally.
www.hormelnatural.com

There's nothing natural about Hormel.



Meat
Looking to find meat products? Browse our meat directory.
MeatCatalog.net

Browse our meat directory!?