The Thoughts Of p08

Wicked

2012-01-29T13:54:00.000-08:00

Went to the Pantages Theater to see the play “Wicked” and had a good night. A few comments are appropriate about the theater before I say some good things about the play. I appreciate that some of the nicer venue have been restored to their former glory. The time that a theater was a glamorous building that was a part of the whole experience is being relived in some places today. I have been to the Beacon Theater in New York and it also fits into this category. The Pantages is a big comfortable place to see a show and deserves a mention as a part of the experience. A plain theater just does not make it when you are spending a lot of money and want a total evening of fun. The Pantages meets all of the criteria for a good show and even the people working there were of a caliber that added to the enjoyment.

But more importantly was the play itself. “Wicked” is a story that we all think we know. It is not a remake of “The Wizard of Oz., it is more than the back story of what occurred before the story that is the movie. The story involves the two witches that are a major part of the movie story and tells about their relationship with each other before the tornado and then gives us another side of that story and why that part of the story came about. You never will see Dorothy or Toto and none of the music from the movie is really used in the play. I never like to write about the contents of a production because you do spoil a story when you tell any part of it, not just the end. Let me just say that the songs are not something that I will hum for the rest of the day. They do convey the story and are good. I may use “No Good Deed” as a theme song because of its meaning, but that phrase has always been one that I feel is so appropriate.

Let me just say that if you have an opportunity to see the play, do it and you will have a fun night. Listen carefully and you will see how some things that you thought you knew are not the same in this telling of the story.

The Lot on Sunset, Part I

2012-01-15T11:11:00.000-08:00

Now that the move to the new location seems to be close to occurring some of us who have worked and volunteered at the studio should recall some of the highlights of the studio. I have seen so many events take place and have heard even more stories of events that took place and rumors of things that occurred that make interesting stories
My first time at KCET was to help at Auction. It was an annual event that gave the views a chance to bid on all types of items at just about any price level. Sometimes we had such a variety of items on the same cart that it was funny. One incident was five buckets of roof sealant as a group. Well each had five gallons of sealant and were very heavy. The producer insisted that we take all five to the set for each of the groups and they had donated a whole pallet of the product. Yes, it was uphill from the warehouse to the stage. One year it was apparent that not all of the volunteers were equally honest. We had a group of people who would be given the contents of one set-up to take to the stage and help arrange to make them look good for the camera and see that the talent knew what they would be describing. It appeared to the production staff that a few of the more valuable items had disappeared on the way to the set. A couple of us had to be designated to bring the more valuable items to the set and that led to confusion about what was on each cart. It all just added to the confusion. The two camera people who came close destroying the two cameras when they had a near collision while on the air will remain nameless.
Then I started to volunteer to answer the phones for pledge. It was actually more interesting and we were first trained by the director of volunteers Dotty Kemp. Dotty made working pledge fun and she always was in a good mood despite what was going on around her. She tried to make the breaks look different by moving the people around so that the front row looked different each break and besides gave all the people a chance to be seen close up on camera. She did her “witch act” to get people to move and it usually worked. Not all people were happy but it did work. It was always a pleasure to work with Dotty. Her work was at so respected that the award for the volunteer leader of the year at PBS (Public Broadcasting System) was named in her honor.
One time they had designed the set to look like a beach. Well the company mascot was KCAT who was a black cat that had moved onto the lot and took charge. She liked to sleep on the warm control counsels and became very mad and retaliated if locked in an office. The cat decided that the sand beach on the set was a great big litter box. The audience never did realize why all of the volunteers started to laugh, but it was apparent to everyone on the stage what the cat was going to do. The laughter did deter her from doing her thing and she actually looked very upset about being disturbed. I understand that the stage hands were not very pleased when they discovered that she had been using the sand pile on several occasions when she was not disturbed. KCAT was loved and taken care of by several people. That led to a fat cat who was very independent. I know that she hated the cat carrier and her visits to the vet. I’m sworn to secrecy about her final resting place, but will say that she will not be moving to the new location.
KCAT may be one of the ghosts that will remain on the lot. People have several stories of hearing and seeing strange things on the lot. One said that items on his desk had a habit of moving while he has out of his office. That ghost is the original owner of the studio who still likes his original office. Others roam the corridors and the stages. Some of the places on the lot did feel spooky and would lead themselves to a feeling that someone was present when no one was around.
Before this becomes a book let me just say that there are many stories and I will do several installments before the move from the historic lot. Many people who have worked at the station have taken this opportunity to revisit the lot and many more will come before the move. The bottom line is that the station may be moving locations, but the independent feeling of the station is getting stronger and will become more evident as time goes on.

Harry Morgan

2011-12-07T13:00:00.000-08:00

I must take a moment to say that Harry Morgan was more to me than an actor. He was able to make people laugh and think at the same time. I will always remember some of the lines that he read on the series. I know that I must give credit to those who wrote the lines, but I must also give him credit for how he did the reading.

One of the best lines in the series is just one line in one program. It also is important to all people who must give direction to others. Colonel Potter is asked why he gave an order and he replies that when he was given his rank they removed his need to give a reason every time he made a decision. It is important that we remember that in the reality of life. Decisions are important and not always a time or place when an explanation is possible. Sometimes it is the need for speed at the time or it can be that it is just the right thing to do at that point.
When Harry Morgan was made a part of M*A*S*H* it was something that I knew would only improve the series. I had been a fan since his days on Dragnet. He showed that he could do the very serious part of a program while still being able to show a comedic moment when it was needed.

So let us all think about all of the good that we associate with Harry Morgan and the good that he was able to show us, by his acting ability. No one person can make an acting situation look good, but it only makes it better when you have someone of great ability.

What Did They Say?

2011-12-02T21:00:00.000-08:00

Once again the television media has shown that the only concern on local news programing is the youthful look of the station. It seems that they only hire young people who look good on camera and do not consider the way they do the stories that they are reporting.
I know that they are hiring college graduates. The truth is that they are hiring those with broadcasting degrees that seem to have neglected the outside world, while they were getting this degree. When you see some of the reporting, you can understand the shortfall in their education. If all they know is how to hold a microphone and maybe how to edit a tape, then you can see that they have lived a sheltered life.
When a reporter does not know the difference between a power pole and a light standard then you wonder. This reporter was pointing at the light, that was on top of a broken cement light standard and said that it was one of the power poles that were damaged by the wind. Now I know that most of us will call it a power pole when in most cases it is actually a utility pole since it carries electric power lines, telephone cable and cable for TV. I give them that error since it might be difficult to tell the difference if the pole has fallen, especially at night.

Even the more prominent will make an occasional error. I do not think that any person should be expected to be perfect all of the time. On the morning news today the weather person gave the temperature in “Ohio” instead of “Ojai” a city in Ventura County. A couple of weeks ago the weather map on the 11 PM News had two San Francisco’s shown above Los Angeles. For some reason they had replaced San Luis Obispo which is half way between the two cities with San Francisco and so it looked like they were trying to move the two big cities closer together. Were they predicting what an earth quake would do? It was OK once, but it persisted for the entire newscast.
My problem is that they hire the field reporters who seem to:

1. Specialists in broadcasting and who do not seem to have acquired a generalist knowledge of the world around them. Yes, I know some in the broadcast industry who do bring knowledge of the world and who care about what is going on around them.
2. They have not gained the experience working in the field to be able to listen to the person that they are interviewing so that the questions that they ask make sense. When you ask a person something that person has just said it seems so dumb. If a person says that it will be cold tonight and you ask if that means that it will be cold tonight you are not listening.

3. I know it is hard to talk and listen at the same time and when you have a producer and director talking to you through your ear piece. It is OK to stop and take the ear piece out so that we know that it is not your fault that you do not sound professional.

These things are not earth shattering. They are what makes a professional broadcast. They are what give us the confidence that the person has done the work that is needed to give us the information we need to make the decisions that are important based on what is going on in the news.

When you use pictures that viewers have sent you, there is no need to show pictures of the same thing that your field reporter has just shown us. Use this cheap alternative to expand coverage and not just to make a viewer feel important.

I do not hate TV news reporters who are young. I just think that their education should be more inclusive of the real world. I want to laugh at the stupid things that anchors say to each other and not about the news stories that are reported.

Veteran's day 2011

2011-11-10T15:10:00.001-08:00

We have a new generation of Veteran and even more of them will be here very soon. The men and women who have served in the battles of Iraq and Afghanistan have shown us that we have more heroes in our young people. They have given us part of their young lives and we need to remember all who have served and returned to us by giving them the chance to live happy productive lives. Yes we do remember those who gave their lives and those who did not come back to us without injuries. The fact is that we need to help all who came home. Many do continue to suffer in silence because they do not want the rest of us to know that they have hidden injuries. Many are not able to ask for help and some who have been ignored are in need of many things that include housing and medical care. It is something that we all need to think about all of the time.
I was looking at a blog that I wrote in 2009 and it reminded me that it is two years ago and most of us do not remember the events of November 5, 2009. That was the day that Fort Hood became the center of the evening news. When one soldier went on a rampage and killed 13 and wounded 29 other people who were not in combat or even in a war zone. They expected to go on with a normal life that day. Even if they were preparing to fight in the future that day they expected to be peaceful and we do need to remember all of them as war casualties. So let us spend a moment today remembering them and their families.

Every couple of years I like to take a little time to think about all the Veterans in our community and how they served the remaining people of our nation. Most of us who were in the service spent our time doing what we needed to do in the background without any thought of being recognized for our service. Some of the people who I know did spend time in combat and should be acknowledged for fighting to preserve our nation. Yes, some think that the Viet Nam war was not our best image. The fact is that we sent out best people to a miserable place and they did everything that they could to win a war that they did not want to fight. Look at View Nam today. It will slowly change and may eventually become the country that we thought we were trying to encourage then. Knowing both those who fought in the war and who lived in the country and I know that the war was not easy on either group. But today let us remember those who fought and were forgotten when they came home.

The NFL, Who Cares

2011-11-07T21:00:00.000-08:00

I have just realized that I might be in the best of situations in respect to professional football. I have felt guilty because Los Angeles did not have a team that I could root for. I really do think that rooting for a local team is always so much more gratifying. It is always possible that you can still have loyalty to a team in a city you have lived in or where you grew up. I do not have any loyalty to the teams in Chicago and I was born in that city. I have spent time in other cities in other parts of the Country and do not find that I care at all for those teams. In fact, I never did think that the Dallas Cowboys were the “nation’s team”.

It just seems that I cannot find any energy to root for a team in some other city of California. The Raiders abandoned Los Angeles; The Chargers never liked us, and who in Southern California could root for a team in San Francisco?
Maybe I have a better situation. Since we do not have a team, we cannot lose a game. We cannot lose a Super Bowl to some weird team in the east. No one can bet against us because we have such a weak team. The results are that none of my friends in the east can give me a bad time if their team beats mine. They cannot think that I must root for their team in some game, especially in the Super Bowl.

So I will just enjoy my situation until they finally find a team that wants to play here. We have plans for a stadium and even someone who wants to paint their name on the top. All we need is a group of players to actually play here. The added feature would be that we would have four stadiums available for use if we actually bid for another summer Olympics. That just counts football.
You can root for anyone you want, and I will just enjoy the ability to pick out any team I want on any particular weekend. It also means that I can actually root for a team in the Super Bowl and not really care if they win or lose.

Good luck to all.

Abbie's - No, Pauley's Bakery

2011-10-08T09:05:00.000-07:00

For all the NCIS fans I must tell about my visit to Donna Bell’s Bake Shop located in the theater district of New York. (It is actually located at 301 W 49th street). This small bakery has many advantages in the business world. First the products that they are making are excellent and I do wish I lived in that area so that I could go back often. Second they have nice people working in the store. And finally they have Pauley Perrette as one of the founders. As a longtime fan, I had hoped I could meet Miss Perrette and would be able to do some joke about having to travel across the country to see someone who works in the same town where I live. I know that would have been fun for me, but just having some of the bakery goods made the trip worthwhile. We had gone into Manhattan to see a matinée of a Broadway play and were in early enough to have lunch and bought desert at the bakery. It turned into a perfect afternoon. Both the play and the bakery were just off of 8th Avenue and a carnival was going on that Sunday. It gave us a chance to walk down the center of the street. Being able to walk down the center of 8th Avenue on a Sunday is much more fun than walking on the sidewalk. Seeing fire station 54 located at the corner of 8th Avenue and 48th Street and it’s on going tribute to the fallen members of that team.
I had expected some grand place, but was pleasantly surprised to see a neighborhood bakery and the very comfortable atmosphere that it projected. I do not care if this sounds like an ad for the bakery. When I decided to stop at the bakery it was just because of Miss Perrette, but after going I know that I will go back to again enjoy the great food that they are producing. Next time I plan on trying the savory items that would make an entire meal. Check out the menu at Donna Belle's Bake Shop. It will show you the variety of items and that you can order for a party if you live in New York.

It was only one of the stops that we made on the trip and I will eventually talk about more of them, it is just that I was most surprised about this one and how good a small stop could become.

A Big Reunion - Is It Worth It?

2011-10-04T15:14:00.000-07:00

Do people or places really change? I attended 50th high school reunion at Fresno High School, Fresno, CA, this weekend. Yes I must admit that it was that long ago that I did actually graduate from high school. Afterward questions came to me. I think that the ones who you should be looking for are the ones who have changed. Those are the ones that you knew but that you did not really hang out with in school. They have lived lives and are open to talk to everyone. People do change and in many cases for the better. It may depend on where they have worked since high school. Those who have people skills and work with the public do seem to be more open to all of the people from school. No, I really don’t believe that. I feel it is the desire to see what happened to the people that we knew at a pivotal time in our lives. Some of them are the people who we wanted to know, but because we were all teenagers and knew that we should only be associated with those we thought of as perfect, we missed many people that we should have really known better.

It is so much fun to look back on the high school year’s from this distance. You can remember all of the fun times and can just forget those tests and other events that gave you troubles at that time. It is also fun to see the people now and then to remember what they looked like when you last saw them in high school. I did notice several things about the people that I saw this weekend. The women all had much shorter hair, but by this I’m reflecting on the style which was for much longer and hair that was piled high on the head. It seemed that the women care about their appearance, but that many have given up on coloring their hair. Not all have white hair, but thankfully most don't seem to like having their hair colored to an extreme. Many of the men had very short white hair.
It seems conversation hinged on being at events that brought us together, but not without a drink or two and some good food to give us something to do while we are talking. It also gave us something to do, in case of awkwardness, when speaking to people that you don't remember.
It is so different to see all of these people who you knew as students and who you wondered if they would ever manage to do anything with their lives. Over the years you did see some of these people but not many. It seems that as the time goes by, we all have many things that have occurred to us both in our private and professional lives. It seemed that in this setting, we spent most of our time talking about the public lives of our fellow students. I do suppose that if I was still living in my home town I would have had more curiosity about the personal lives my fellow alum. It does seem that many of the graduates still live in the same area. Many have lived in other parts of the world and then returned to the area.
I realized later that I would have loved to know how diverse our class has become. It did seem that most still lived in a relatively short distance from the school. I have always thought of us West Coasters as much more traveled then our friends on the East Coast. I kept finding people who live at or near where they went to high school. Some of the people seem to have moved to the smaller towns but still in that area. It also seems that most have done well with their lives and have visited many places, just that they seem to come back home to stay.
Well it was an interesting weekend and overall we did enjoy it. So my recommendation is go to the reunion and see that you are really no better or worse than the rest of the high school class you knew and hope that the ones you want to see will actually attend.

Sports And How They Affect Us.

2011-10-02T20:25:00.000-07:00

I had the chance to get a New York Met shirt with the number 41 and Seaver on the back. It was a very rare chance to visit New York and to see a baseball game where I could just enjoy the play without caring who was winning. This is a new stadium and does have all of the newest bells and whistles. None of those matters, all that we really go to a game to see is the play on the field. People can root for one of the teams and generally if you are for the visiting team you may get a negative reaction from the home team fans, but it is all in good fun. Especially if the home team wins. In my case the Mets lost and the home fans seemed to take it in stride.
Living in Los Angeles, you seem to build a wall that protects you from your home team self-destructing at the end of the season. It seems that we always have an optimistic view of the sports world at the beginning of the season and come back to reality some time during the season. Hopefully, it will not be on the last day of the season. You finally think that you can have a happy feeling and then they do something that will trip them up and you need to hear that worn out saying that never will make anyone feel better. “Wait until next year.”
We all have a team that we want to support in some sport. Many people actually take the time to have a favorite in every sport. It seems that if you have the time to watch a pro team in every sport then you may have too much time in your life.
A part of my life was made easier when the pro football teams abandoned Los Angeles. Now we may get a team and I will need to reevaluate my position on football. Of course if it goes at the speed that it seems to be moving, I will not need to make such a decision for many years.
So I will enjoy my shirt and maybe some time I will have the opportunity to talk to Tom Seaver again so that I can let him know how much I have enjoyed following his career and those things that he has done since his retirement from playing.

9-11 Will Be Forever

2011-09-11T02:16:00.000-07:00

The memories of 9-11 will be with all the people who are old enough to remember that date and what they were doing at that time. I was at home and watched the actions of the brave first responders. It is impossible to write about the people who ran toward the world trade center and wanted to do all that they could, to insure that everyone in the building survived. The members of the media, who were trying to cover an event that should never have occurred and that no one would ever have predicted. I was recently at the Newseum in Washington DC and the exhibit on 9-11 shows some of what the media did, including a tribute to the TV engineers that lost their lives on top of the World Trade Center where they tended to the main TV transmitters for the New York City area. William Biggart was a photo journalist who was killed when the second tower fell. His camera was recovered and his family has allowed it and the last pictures that he took, to become part of the exhibit. He is just one example of a person going to an event without thinking about what could happen to them.
As an aside I knew a photo journalist who turned in pictures of a huge oil pipeline fire while on leave from the US Army. The city editor was happy about the pictures, but gave him a really bad time because he had gotten so close to the fire.
We depend on the first responders to save lives and to help us return to “normal” after an event like this. Then we depend on the rest of us to give these brave people the help that they need after the event to recuperate from the mental and physical pressures that they face after such an event. The health of the survivors, their families and the first responders remains the responsibility of the rest of the people in this Country. They are the casualties of the war on terrorism. We also depend on the media, to show us those things that we cannot and should not try to see in person.
We give thanks to all of these people and want all of them to know that we will never forget what they did for the rest of us.

The Good "Old" Eight Track

2011-08-31T12:04:00.000-07:00

So I’m old fashioned and I live in the past. Well I do still have an eight track player and will keep it until I can show it on Antique Road Show. Some things are good ideas no matter how long ago they were produced. It is possible that the concept of the eight track player is still one of the better things that was ever invented. No not really, it was outdated almost before it was put into production.
You may think that because I love this outdated concept that I live in the past. Well my favorites do not influence what I enjoy today. I find that the flash drive and the SD card are the parts of today’s life that do make it possible to do things faster when you remember to use them. I still have found pleasure in backing up the P08 Thought Of The Day via a paper copy. It just feels good to see it in print. Maybe it is a dream state that someday it will actually be printed in book form. We all have our dreams about how the things that we are doing will come to some happy conclusion and that they will lead to better things in our lives.
It is possible that when they invented the eight track player the idea was so overwhelming that they actually thought the world would convert? The cassette player made it possible to carry information and more normally music to places where it had been impossible before. The physical size difference was the limit to the eight track player. Like so many other innovations it was not the quality that made it fade it was outside influences and its own limitations that doomed it.
Many people are not aware that the VHS system was the inferior of the two tape systems that came out almost at the same time. The slightly earlier Beta system was a superior record principal, but it lacked some of the features that were needed. It gave a better picture and sound. VHS just had the ability to record more on one tape and had more people behind the development and they were able to get key studios to release movies in that format. They just were not going to lose that battle and they did win. Beta did prove itself in the long run with many professional recording systems and broadcast use of this format as the basic media to record news and in house use as a standard to save programing.
Well I will save my eight track player and some day may actually plug it in and play one of those rare recording that I have in a box someplace. Or maybe I will sell them on e-bay to someone who thinks that they are a new way to store music?

The Emporor Has No Clothes?

2011-08-31T08:42:00.000-07:00

I may be a little late with the comment, but it finally has gotten through to me. What? The joke that is that has been foisted upon all of us is the Walt Disney Concert Hall. It was opened on October 24, 2003 and I have hated it since I saw the first drawings, although I could not figure out why I disliked the building so much.
Looking at the outside of the building and hearing all about the greatness of the design I thought that I alone disliked the design. I have tried to figure out why the design irritates me. I have been inside of the structure and it is like a different world on the inside. Once you go into the structure the outside is forgotten and you can enjoy a facility that does what it was built to do. The auditorium is acoustically pleasing and the site lines do give the audience the chance to enjoy the programs. BUT ----
Now I know what happened to the outside of the building. It is a joke on the world. Frank Gehry scribbled the joke on a napkin and the world took him seriously. It is in fact just a junk pile lying on the side of the road. The design probably was never intended for actual construction. It is not just unpleasant but it looks dangerous to the people and buildings in its vicinity. People have complained about the reflective nature of the building. I think that on a day that reaches over 100°it could be very unpleasant to walk near the building. I do not exaggerate when I give that temperature since it is very possible for downtown Los Angeles to reach over 100° on any day during the summer and for that matter any day of the year. The actual mess of a building just doesn’t do us any favors.
When you read about the design of buildings you find that there are two schools of thought. One says just design a building that you like and no matter how it looks in an area it will be accepted as art. The other is to look at the surroundings and build something that actually becomes a part of the surroundings. It is the same as when you build on a mountain top. Do you build a space ship and let it stand out or do you build something that looks natural and blends into the surroundings?
The Disney not only does not blend into the area, it makes the area look like it is a major junk yard that was ignored and then other buildings were built around it.
So the emperor has no clothes and the joke is on us.

Let It Snow????

2011-08-29T21:30:00.000-07:00

One winter while I was attending Fresno City College in Fresno, CA we had the rarest of events for the San Joaquin Valley. That year the temperature was over 100° on 31 days and less than 32° for the same amount of days. It actually snowed enough to cause a complete stop to most life in the city. The school system actually had to call a snow day. In an area were smudge pots go out at 15° it is even rarer to see the temperature below freezing especially during the day. The two colleges in town just happened to be in the midst of finals. They determined that despite the 1.57” of snow on the ground that the school would be open for testing. It was just miserable to take tests, especially since the one that I do remember was for a speech class and was held in one of the temporary buildings that covered part of the campus. These buildings were uncomfortable in most weather. Heat, rain even fog made these buildings terrible. Snow made them cold and it is hard to take a test when you are trying to stay warm in a heavy jacket.

No one could really drive in the city because not many had actually learned to drive in the snow. I know that this amount of snow is really nothing but just consider the location and the rarity of the event. It was so much easier to just walk to school and suffer with the cold and wet. Yes, it was uphill both ways and I really did have a struggle to get to the test.
The other day I was reminded of this while I was thinking about the strange weather that seems to be more the normal, then the unusual in our current world. It was a pleasant evening and I have no idea why it came to mind but it did. I spent most of my growing up years in the San Joaquin Valley and so my memory of weather is mostly confined to that area. We were always assured that it would be hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It would be in the 100° area every summer. You would always get a heat wave and the temperatures would come closer to 110° just after Labor Day when school started. The school system knew that would occur, but never did install air conditioning. They would just open up all the little windows in the class room and let us suffer. I do not remember any consideration for hydration or heat related distress for either the students or teachers. All that people considered was the fact that the hot dry heat was great to get the raisin crop done and in from the fields before the rainy season began. If you don’t know raisins are just grapes that are placed on trays and dusted with sulfur to protect them from insects and then left to dry in the rows between the grape vines. No fancy processing is used. So the hotter and the longer the heat wave goes the better the raisin crop. So we just “enjoyed” the hot weather to help the economy. This was the same, all the way through high school.
Winter it was either cold in the high teens at night or sometimes it was very foggy. Those who know the valley have at least heard of Tully fog. This very dense fog comes in the delta that is San Francisco bay and flows into the valley. It is very dense for all of the area. The density makes it almost impossible to see anything on the road while driving especially on the major highways. You did not get out of the fog driving south until you start up the Grapevine on highway 99. The same is true today on Interstate 5.

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Weather information was confirmed from the official NOAA weather bureau site covering statistics for the year 1962.

photo's from 1962 Ram, The Fresno City College yearbook, Les Woods photo editor

I left My Heart...

2011-08-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

What is your favorite to visit? I was thinking about the many places that I have visited. I have seen many places and in fact have visited in at least 35 states and parts of three countries. I do not count my two hours in Japan as a real visit. In fact I have visited a couple of places that some think of as separate countries only because of their lack of thinking.
What was my favorite? I think that must be Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. It goes back to my early days in California. It was always a treat to travel to San Francisco. We lived in Fresno and if you have any way to get out of the very hot summer weather (100°+) you traveled to San Francisco. The difference would sometimes 105° in Fresno and 69° in San Francisco. While in high school I had the opportunity to do several field trips and the time I spent in San Francisco is what I consider some of the more fun parts of high school.
The picture that I took to accompany this article was actually taken in July of this year and yet it could have been taken on any of my trips to visit that iconic tourist destination. Some see this as a tourist trap, but I do see it as a working port and the historical aspects make it just as interesting for me on every visit. In my mind I can see the railroad cars being put on the barges for the trip to Oakland or further. I can imagine an actual working fishing fleet and not just sport fishing that seems to be in the forefront of the area now. Pier 39 is not the same as it was when it opened. The original thought of only local proprietors seems to have lost some of its luster with some large retailers now on the pier. The takeover of the K dock area by the sea lions has added to the charm. This trip we missed seeing them because it was the season that the mammals go south for the summer and to start new families. Yet hearing that they travel to southern California for this seems strange to me.

Changes do occur and the very famous DiMaggio’s restaurant is now a Joe’s Crab House. Of course many young people do not know the origins of this place and the importance of the name both to the seafood industry and to the history of baseball. This place is almost as important as the cable cars.

Going to that city without taking public transportation would be a crime. Only San Francisco has as many classic choices. The Cable Car, the trolley, and Bart all are great local transportation that also attracts the tourist. The trolley line down the Embarcadero uses vintage cars from lines all over the world that have been restored to their original look with the designs showing how they had looked in their original cities. I was on a car that originated with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). Was it déjà vu? Had my family or I actually been on that car when it operated in Chicago?
That is what the city does; it can be so many things to so many people. Yes Ft. Point is a must, yes walking out on the Golden Gate Bridge is great, and yes even following the construction of the revamped San Francisco Oakland Bridge is great and it will be even more when the new section is completed and replaces a very bland section with something worthy of that dramatic area. Still I feel that Fisherman’s Wharf is still my prime area of the city.

The Partial Bucket List

2011-06-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

My bucket list is now shorter by a couple of items. The movie of that title did give me the idea to write out a list and I will do it someday. I know that means that the list must start with the list. On a recent trip to the east a couple of items that would be on the list were accomplished and so they do not need to go on the list. If I keep this up maybe I will not need a list? I take no credit for the itinerary that my wife set up I just enjoyed most of the stops. These ramblings are in no particular order, just as I think of them and not as visited.

1. Falling Water: I love the outside design of Frank Lloyd Wright’s great house, and the location is so relaxing that you are instantly put into a peaceful state – but you could not live in the house very long. It seems that it is not real. It is just not livable and I think that is why it was only designed as a getaway from the real world.

2. Three Rivers: It was interesting to see the confluence of two major rivers making a third and to do it in the center of a major city, made it even more interesting.

3. Pittsburg: A major city that seems to have been ignored for a long time. You can see the old part of the city and the departure of the steel industry and that type of work. Of course seeing the pickle and ketchup king, made up for some of that. The movie industry seems to have found this city and two major films were in production while we visited.

4. Altoona Horseshoe Curve: One of the points on the radar of train watchers that attracts attention, because of the steepness of the turn. It also highlights how our nations rail system needs to be upgraded to eliminate some of these spots. This would increase the speed these trains can travel, which will help to attract riders.

5. Memorial Day Concert: Mentioned in a previous post, it is one more time when seeing an event in person is better than on TV. On another time, I hope to see the Fourth of July show on the Nation’s Mall.

6. Newseum: A very well done view of the news world, with an emphasis on the more current events. The 9/11 tragedy shows some very personnel accounts of people who were involved, including the members of the press and the TV engineers that died at the top of the World Trade Center.

7. Arlington Cemetery: Seeing the cemetery when the flags have been placed to honor the men and women who will spend eternity there, is must see. It also brings out the fact that these brave men and women should be honored every day of the year.

This list only includes some of the highlights of a very recent trip east. Every time that you travel you should try to hit a few of the places that would be on your list, even if you do not know you would have included them because you did not know that yet. So your list may not get any shorter, but then again it will not get any longer. Just remember have fun and work on the list.

In Memorium

2011-06-13T10:33:00.000-07:00

Another Memorial Day has come and many things should be remembered by all of us. The fact that many people think of all holidays as just another excuse to have a party is the sad part of the holiday. We should remember those who made this holiday a fact. It started as a way to celebrate a great victory and has evolved into a reason to think about all of our ancestors who gave the supreme sacrifice so that we could have a better life today.
Have that barbecue and think about those who cannot join us at the table. In fact leave blank a place, if only in our minds, for all of them. I find that I think of some, more than others and that it is not just on this one day. We have certain memories that are associated with those we have lost and it might be a sound or a smell or a location that will trigger these memories.
I was reminded of many of these events when I attended the National Memorial Day Concert in Washington D.C. The script carried many messages of hope and of remembrance. By using actors to help with the words of survivors and families it was a combination of professional reading and more importantly controlled motion that did make it feel right. Yes the people were present, but I know that they would have had more of a problem getting out the message that was delivered. I do appreciate that they are not public speakers and that they would have been pressured by the large audience in attendance, yet alone the knowledge of a much larger television audience.
I do have one question about the production. We did hear a sound check with one performer and he did an excellent production, but during the actual live show he was not coherent and rambled. You know that this is part of live productions and that those in “the truck” were having a fit because they knew that it could have gone so well and that it made the timing of the live TV show all but impossible. In fact one of the better musical numbers that must have been set as the close and to go under the credits was lost to the TV audience but that was one reason it was great to be at the location.
The location in front of the US Capitol made it just that much more of a special event and I know that the fourth of July show with the addition of fireworks must be even more of a spectacular event. Some other year I will make it to that show. Maybe I can also find an excuse to get to Boston for the fireworks on the “Chuck”.
You need to start a dream someplace and this one starts with memories of those in our past.

DC Another View

2011-06-12T11:59:00.000-07:00

Our recent sleep deprived trip to the other coast gave me the opportunity to visit many locations. Some places I had seen previously and some that I had not been to before. I really think that it is a conspiracy that forces us to either pay an exorbitant amount to travel or to travel at some strange hour of the day. On this trip it seemed that the only time we could depart a city was earlier then 6 am. It seemed that this trip was well planned, but it did ignore the fact that sleep may be needed by the body to keep it working.

One of the most interesting aspects of the trip was actually a return visit, if only briefly, to the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum that is located on the mall of the nation’s Capitol. We were looking for a short cut to get to the National Memorial Day Concert and planned on just going through the museum on our way to the Capitol building, for the concert. You cannot do that; you must look at the exhibits even if you do not leave the lobby. No place else will let you see so much history in such a small location. This picture tells it all. You have the Wright Flyer (1903), the Spirit of St. Louis (1927), Goddard rocket (1941), the North American X-15(1959), and Pioneer 10(1972). As soon as I saw this tabloid I had to take the picture when the reality of the situation became apparent to me. Yes, I know that this is not an original thought and that they have purposely set this up for the purpose of giving us this view, but it is so clear and so important in showing us this part of our history.
I like to think that, over our history, we have had many great people doing those things that we know are impossible and will never work. Yet this group of people have proven that all that we see is not only possible, but it can make our world a better place.
This little short cut reminded me of many things, especially that just because you have visited a place does not mean that you cannot make a return trip and see, not just new things, but see some things in a new light.

A List To Acomplish

2011-06-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

We all spend so much time doing the things that are expected of us that we seldom have the time to do the things that we want to do and that we know are just a waste of our time. These things are not extensive or not very important to anyone else. They are just the things that we want to do to amuse ourselves. Some of the time we just want to do nothing and the world around us will not let us take the time to just do nothing. If it was not for computers we would need to spend much of our lives doing what now takes just a very short period of time. The time that we have saved should be used to make our lives happier and not just better.
In the past we spent so much time just doing the basic things that we did not have any time to do anything else. Now that we have the extra time we should use at least some of it for the things that we did not do in the past. Here are some suggestions for the things that we could do.
1. Learn how to fly fish. Any time that you can stand in water and pretend that you are actually doing something that has some realistic results it is good. Be sure that you use the catch and release method so that you will not have to clean those messy fish.
2. Go sky diving. If you want to go up in an aircraft and jump out at an outrageous height so that you can get wind burn on your face and look weird. Just don’t do what a friend did and end up a ¼” shorter after the jump then you were before you left the ground.
3. Try driving a race car. This is one way to learn who your real friends are and who will visit you when you are in complete body traction. It would be better to use one of the simulators to try to learn, but those expensive driving schools do let you wear the fancy uniforms and the helmets.
4. Start a chess tournament. People always enjoy seeing a bunch of people sitting around and then banging on time clocks for days at a time. It is even more fun when you have them all trying to beat one computer that has no idea that it is the butt of a joke.
5. Learn to speak Klingon. You might try to learn this languages that is never used by anyone and that way you are wasting your time and besides no one will know that you are not really saying anything anyway.
6. Meditate. Sit quietly by yourself and do nothing for long periods of time. You can just say that you are learning one of the oriental arts. That way some people will actually think that you are accomplishing something when you are just staring out into space.
7. Write top ten lists for Letterman. Write those inane lists that normally have no purpose and do not seem to get many laughs. Sometimes the fact that a celebrity makes fun of themselves, does add to the humor but rarely do they achieve any purpose so they do fit into this usage.
8. Learn how to knit. Knitting can produce a legitimate product but in most cases a scarf that is ten feet long will not do much good and besides who wants a scarf that is red and white except the one day a year at your school’s homecoming game.
9. Be the designated driver for Lindsey Lohan This is a useless job since she is either going to court or serving time in rehab. If she ever does get straightened out, then maybe you could drive her to work and sit around doing nothing for the short periods of time that she will be working or more likely shopping. Than again you might want to keep the engine running if she decides to exit a store quickly.
10. Write lists of things that people can do in their spare time. If you have nothing to do and that is what you want to do then if you are seen writing long lists the people around you are less likely to think that you are doing nothing and that you are enjoying what you are doing.
The fact that you are actually enjoying what you are doing may not be of any practical purpose and that will make you feel good, but will annoy everyone around you.

Love A Veteran

2011-06-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

I have recently had the opportunity to see the change in the attitude of the American people. It seems that the way that ordinary citizen’s look at a member of the military has changed for the better. At one time a person who was wearing the uniform of the United States was looked down upon for serving our Country. Now it appears to have changed.

I was sitting next to a member of the US Army while I was at an airport waiting to board my flight. She was also waiting to board another flight. A civilian came up to her and made the comment: “Thank you for protecting my freedom.” I did not have an opportunity to ask her about that incident since she boarded her flight immediately after that incident. I will admit that it did make my day better despite not looking forward to a long flight. At one time I had a bumper sticker on my car that said: “If you value your freedom – thank a Vet.” I have had a couple of people leave messages on my car to say thank you. It was something that I had never expected and the bumper sticker was only on my car to remind people that all veterans have given part of their very ordinary lives to protect all of us. Many have given more than the rest of us and should be remembered all of the time. The fact that people are remembering the members of the armed forces and veterans, is a sign that the population has changed its attitude toward the members of the military.
My memory contains many things about being in the military and not one of them includes a thank you. I did have enjoyable times and it was not all depressing. The fact that a stewardess asked me to get the crew donuts in Atlanta does not count as a thank you. They were only desperate for the donuts and I was an easy mark on my way to basic training. The service we got from some airline staff, was more part of the airline respecting the money that the government was paying. Many people did hate the members of the military because, at that time, the military was fighting an unpopular war in Vietnam.
Was I hurt? No, but many of the people who I knew, did receive much more of an attitude from the public. They still have not received the thanks that they earned for what they gave to our Country, or are still giving to this day, because of what happened to them during Vietnam. So thank you to all, from those of us who did not see actual fighting and who only did what we were told.

And They Really Mean It!

2011-06-07T11:10:00.001-07:00

I have thought about this for years and must comment on the fact that not all road signs are meant to be taken with the same seriousness. Just think about all of the speed limit signs that you have seen in the last year. Not all of them have the same meaning. Some are there to let you know how fast that you can drive and not get a ticket. Others are to show that it is an area where an activity is taking place and that you should be careful to watch out for the dumb people who will be walking around in the road.

The most important speed sign that you will see is the one that tells you to slow down for a curve. Most of them are just a guess and indicate that you should be careful because you are entering into a transition and should be careful on the way in and then speed up to merge with the traffic on the new road. Some are an actual indicator of the speed that you need to use in a very tight corner. Those are the ones that need an additional warning. They should have a sign that gives the speed and has an additional warning sign that says: “AND WE REALLY MEAN IT”. This would tell drives that have not been in that area previously that they have reached a spot where it will be in their own best interest to slow down not just to prevent getting a ticket but to prevent them from having an accident. Most of the time it will take a driver several trips through that area before they really do believe what sign has to say. The reason for that is that we do not think that they do really mean the speed and if they did tell us that this was one of the times that they were putting up the sign for a reason and not just to make some people slow down and tie up traffic. It seems that in some cases they want one car to slow down so that all traffic is slower when entering another road and that way they do not have to put in the traffic lights that people hate on ramps.
It seems that all of us do want to obey the law. It just seems that in some places and at some times, we do not see the law in the same way that they have presented it to us. Location is important and we should all obey the law all of the time. It is that sometimes we just want to be our own person and not need to do what others want, at that moment. Just remember that, above all, be careful all the time. Not just when you are driving, but when you are the person walking in the road.

Day After Easter and Much More

2011-04-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

I have just found a holiday that I can fit into my schedule. It seems that I have missed it for many years and have not had the reason to enjoy the day after Easter as more than one more day to eat Peeps and chocolate marshmallows. The people of Buffalo New York seem to have come up with this holiday to celebrate many things but mainly the Polish heritage of the city. I think that because many of us have done so many bad Polish jokes over time, we need to celebrate and commemorate the less publicized and more important good works and honestly the important history of the Polish people.
Part of the celebration of any group is to party and that is because it is always important to know the part of any community that not only takes itself as serious but has the time to show that it also has a sense of humor. I was also impressed with the fact that as a part of the celebration they have some sort of water spraying event. It includes the world largest squirt gun.
That is actually a historic fire boat from the Buffalo fire department.
The Edward M. Cotter is, in itself, a treasure in that it not only represents the past, but is still doing its primary responsibilities of fire protection and helping keep the area free of ice, as an ice breaker around the Lake Erie area. It is considered the world’s largest squirt gun and should be considered a treasure by everyone in the nation. This designation is all in fun, but that is part of the fire tradition around the world. Firefighters do an exemplary job at what they do and at the same time that they serve, they enjoy the work and show it by the good work that they do, that is not really part of their complicated job. We know that a big part of the “firefighter” work day is in preparation for the jobs that they do and that most calls are for life protecting from accidents or illness as First Responder medical personnel.

My only personal contact with the good fire departments in different cities has been to observe them as paramedics and I will always be thankful to them for this very professional work. When the major response to my fender bender turned out to be very unneeded, I think that at least 10 fire people asked me if I was OK. Overdone – maybe, but the accident occurred next to a major rail line and I think that is what caused all of the fire trucks to be sent to the location (four automobiles and no injuries).
I will finish with a personal comment. When I watched the volunteers of the Hicksville, NY Fire Department work, I can honestly say that they were as professional as any group of paid workers and that they give the whole city a good name. The tradition of Volunteer fire fighter is very old and still is an important part of many cities around the USA.

The News Can Bring Us Closer

2011-03-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

We are enthralled by the pictures of Japan that are coming to us from Japanese Television, especially the programs that are produced by NHK. You will note that this is public television in Japan and already producing an English language program for distribution to stations in the United States.
It was the most watched tsunami in history and the pictures of mud flows and debris are astounding. We tend to look at cameras that look at everything and wonder who is watching, but all of these cameras in Japan have given us the opportunity to see what is happening and not need to get in the way. I have always been interested in those things that are going on in other parts of the world. Now I can see it from several points of view and see how other people see each other and also see us. You may notice that all the news sources are using the NHK world service because they are producing a constant stream of information for all of us. Many times we see the same picture in several program sources and should know that many times the news programs will share information because only one source has secured the information or just is “lucky” enough to be at the center of activity at the correct time.
Think about it on local television in Los Angeles we have KCET that carries news programs in English from Japan, the Middle East and Great Britain. Yes I did work at the station and do have direct contacts with the station. They have also used programing from Russian television (RT English language service is produced in Washington D.C.)

One day I was looking at these programs as they all covered the same story and you could see not just the difference in coverage, but the different attitudes toward the story. They were telling the story of the events in Egypt as they progressed. It was very enlightening to see this different point of view.
We have made the world smaller, but not yet have we made it better by using all of this information to let us better understand that all people may want the same things in life but not always in the same way. In Japan today, they all want the same things that we would want in the same situation. Food, water and shelter are the same all over the world. It is just that local customs must be considered. When we see that the Japanese Government is requesting assistance, we know that they are doing it despite the fact that they would really rather help themselves.

They really do need this help.

What Do You Believe?

2011-03-05T19:19:00.000-08:00

Medical advertising has become so popular today. It seems that all you are seeing on television today are ads for medicine or for automobiles. In fact the advertising for automobiles seems to be more enjoyable because they at least show nice scenery. The medical advertising I suspect is designed to show you the benefits of that medicine. I just wonder what they are trying to prove because the contents of the advertisements do not seem to have that result for me. Some of the disclaimers that I have heard definitely do not make me want to take that medication.
Here are just a few of the comments that I have heard and my reaction.

1. Sexually active people in separate bath tubs.
a. Is this a throwback to the era when couples on TV could not be shown in the same bed, even when they were married
b. How do they get the bathtubs in the package.

2. Four hours is a limit on an erection.
a. Who determined that four hours was the limit.
b. Was this determined to give comedians a better chance at a clean joke.
c. How many people consider it a goal to make them more employable in the porn industry.

3. Stop smoking can cause weird dreams.
a. Should you be telling people that the drug causes hallucinations?
b. What if you actually want to have weird dreams
c. What actually is a weird dream?

Not only medical advertising is annoying there are other types that can make you wonder what
they were thinking about when they are selling you the products.

1. It is now more proper to advertise toilet paper
a. Do we really want to see bare blue bear butts on TV?
b. Who is buying the bears the TP or is it a government stipend.
c. What bread of bear can speak English and walk erect?

2. Who makes TP that comes packaged without the cardboard core.
a. Is it made for the three bears?
b. If it is so hard that it is like sand paper what would it do to your rear?
c. If it is so soft how would you be able to use it correctly.

3. When did they remove the restrictions on competing products in the same advertising block?
a. How many ads for different brands of automobiles can be placed in one block.
b. Is it possible to have a whole day with only advertising for new cars?
c. Can they actually do an ad for every car company and not duplicate the company or the model of car.

All of these things are just a few of the limitless things that I could write about. In the future I may come up with more examples of the things that we are watching so that someone else can pay for our television programing. That is besides paying someone to bring you the program via cable or satellite. Do they actually think that we don’t know that some sorts of news stories can only happen during the same period when they are counting viewers for local television stations.

Sports ?

2011-02-21T12:38:00.000-08:00

We have just seen the National Basketball all-star weekend show. It seems to me that most of this has left the actual sports arena and gone into just show business. I could not tell if the slam dunk contest was to show skill in the game of basketball or an audition for the Harlem Globetrotters or Cirque du Soleil? They seem to have gotten away from the sport and are just trying to see how extreme they can be. I do appreciate the athletic ability of those who are taking part in the contest, but show the same skills that you do when you are playing the game.
The same goes for the other contests that take part in this whole event. Some of the events looked more like what would take place at a church carnival. Then look at the big event. The all-star game was not really a contest of skill it seemed to be a shooting contest to see how many points every player could score. When a game with this caliber of player has this high a score you wonder if anyone did any defense or did they just rest when their team did not have the ball. The final score was the West 148 and East 143? Maybe this is the answer to the Los Angeles Laker problem. No one on either team wanted to play defense.
Yes, I know that local “heroes” did an outstanding performance. The problem is that we need them to be part of the teams that they represent and to play this team game as a team member. Bryant and Griffin are just part of the teams that they call home. When they play their role as a team member the team does better. We all dream of a playoff game between the Lakers and the Clippers because it would be good for the city. The league may prefer two cities playing, but as a home town person I find this intriguing. The fact is that the all-star game has gone so far away from a game and become an event and just an excuse to charge exorbitant prices, for people to see these big name players compete for a weekend.
Now we have a chance that the NBA team from Sacramento could move to Anaheim. We really could become the home of professional basketball in the Country. If that happens, then they will need to move the NBA Hall of Fame to Los Angeles. It will certainly become the center of professional basketball in the USA.
It’s time for sports to go back to being sports and not the show business that we see more than ever with all of the different cable channels showing these events.

Today's Language

2011-02-15T10:48:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wonder what if we really know what we are saying when we speak out loud. Is it just that some of the people are ignorant and they happen to be the ones that we are listening too? I initially thought that it was just that some of the popular personalities of our time come from humble origins. Then it was that maybe it is a sign of the deterioration of our educational institutions. Maybe it is a way for some people to look as if they come from a minority community. My conclusion is that it may be a combination of all the factors that are involved in growing up today.
One of example of this trend is the phrase that you hear at the biggest concerts and the most prestigious award shows: “Let’s put our hands together for…” Just take a second to consider what that actually wants us to do. It is not a request for applause or to “clap” for a performer who is coming on stage. It is a request that we place our hands together and hold them still. It is as noisy as one hand clapping. This is another phrase that has little purpose but in this case does give a good picture of the sound that I’m trying to illustrate. Take a moment to do exactly what is requested and see what it sounds like. It is the sound of one clap and then silence. I really don’t think that is what is desired and it would make some concerts much shorter. Just imagine what the Grammy Awards show would have been like without all of the audience noise. The program might have been a half hour shorter.
The people who we hold up as icons and who are looked upon as examples for the youth of any nation should be able to communicate without doing and saying things that make their fans look dumb. When someone dresses in a very creative fashion, do the young copy it or see it as what it is a costume designed to get the celebrity more publicity. The good deeds that the majority of famous people do are ignored, and that is the way that they want. It is the few that want places like TMZ to help continue their so called fame, that make the rest look so immature.
Young people will always look up to those that they see as role models and they will copy them. The idea is for the celebrities to do the right thing and let them start by using proper language, so that they will lead by example.

Super Bowl Reality

2011-02-07T20:15:00.000-08:00

Why is it that no matter how good the game all we think about are the commercials and the half time performance? I do think that this year they had a very popular act for the halftime show. The show is only done to hold the audience for the period between half’s of the game. It actually holds the people in the stadium for the time that they might want to do other important things. This year the Black Eye Peas did a good job considering the seemingly bad conditions that they were working with. First someone missed a mike cue and that at least showed that this was a live performance. Then the sound was not great I am presuming because of the acoustics in the building. No matter how much money you spend on a stadium it will be a stadium and not a concert hall. Then all of the effects seemed to get in the way of the music. I know that the effects are what the show’s producers are trying to showcase and it is never the music. Just think what halftime show everyone remembers? It is not about anyone’s musical performance. It will always be Janet Jackson and maybe that is because of the permanent repercussions that have resulted from that show.

As for the commercials, I tried to remember which one I had enjoyed the most after the game and could not come up with one that I really remembered. Seeing them again today I do think that the special effects people did a grand job on most of the spots. Just maybe the best ones were the simpler ones that did not have all of those effects. The exception was the Go-Daddy one that put Joan Rivers in that great body. The Chrysler tribute to the city of Detroit with Eminem was enough for me to want to go out and buy one of their automobiles. It is so hard to figure out what is an American manufactured automobile with the ones that you think were built here being done on another continent. The Canadian and Mexican factories seem to be in the same position of as the American ones.
It seems that we are so used to the fact that we can multi task that we must do several things while watching the game. We must eat lots of snack food preferably during the first half then chili or something similar during the second half. It also is a must to watch the commercials so that you can make comments about the work that was done to produce them. Not much is about the game itself. Of course if you happen to be a fan of one of the teams that might make the game more important. This year I was looking forward to a matchup of the Bears and the Jets that would have made for some real interest in the game itself
Now I will go back to waiting for summer so that I can bemoan the fact that the Dodgers and the Cubs will never see the World Series since past history and the divorce courts seem to be working against the teams.

Luckily I can root for either the White Sox or the Angels if I want a potential winner.

The Weather Or What?

2011-01-16T10:12:00.000-08:00

What is it with the hurricane predictions? Every year they tell us how strong of a season we will have usually at the beginning of the year and before any of the actual weather patterns have formed. They seem to want to scare the people on the Gulf Coast and to make the rest of us give more money to the charities that will be covering that area. It is really impossible to tell what the weather will be in this area that long in the future. If they are wrong and the season is mild they tell us that we were just lucky. On those rare occasions when we do have a severe season, then they can gloat. They will never really get it 100% and we just will have to keep watching and waiting. Going to Mardi Gras is always a good way to celebrate February and just think there will be a good chance that your trip is extended because of a weather problem while traveling.
The fact is that no one really knows what will happen with hurricanes. They usually start near the African coast and then travel across the Atlantic Ocean and we do not know what will occur with any storm. They can travel all the way to the coast of Mexico and they can just turn and travel up the east coast of the United States. These travels are affected by the same weather that causes the dry or wet years on the west coast and are not always reliable indicators of where the weather will travel.
Sometime in the future they may be able to control the weather. I do remember watching some TV program that made it sound like absolute fact that we would be able to control the weather. In fact they showed us a control center that was moving storms around so that the weather came at predictable and acceptable times of the day. They showed a storm being moved so that it would rain during the night and make travel to and from work easier. As an aside I wondered how those people who work at night felt about that concept.
Weather will always be one factor that we will have to consider when we deal with the most mundane parts of our life. It is not just the day of a big celebration that we must think about, but just a trip to the store. All things are affected by the weather. If you are holding a big party, you must think about the heat or rain if you want a part of that party in your back yard. It is especially impossible to actually predict the weather if you are working on an event that will occur next month or even more so next year. I do not see any major change in the situation in the near future. So let them guess, I mean predict, all they want we will have to live with the reality of the events when they actually occur.

Stop The Press

2011-01-11T11:19:00.000-08:00

I was watching TV when the phrase “Stop the presses” was used to indicate that something was so urgent that it required immediate action. This reminded me of the one time that I actually did get to say those words and the silliness that was associated with the issue.
If the truth is told, telephones and other direct forms of communication have replaced the person running from the news room to the press room and have done that for many years. The person running with the pages to be changed are more of a theatrical effect then reality.
I had the opportunity to participate in an event of this type only once while working for a newspaper. It was a Sunday night and we were preparing for the first edition of the Sunday paper that would be printed just after midnight on Sunday morning. We did many things to prepare and the last step occurred after the printing had actually started in the press room which was located three floors below the editorial offices of the paper. It was discovered that a women’s name had been misspelled in a list of local sports scores. This was in a list that was printed in very fine type. In fact it was in the bowling list of scores from a bowling tournament. I never did know it was even seen unless it was just pure luck on the part of the editors. I was handed the page to take downstairs to give to the press operators, just so that they would have a record of the change that was needed. In fact all that was done at first was to chisel off the first letter of the name and then a new page could be made for latter editions of the paper.
I hurried to the elevator and went downstairs knowing that they were phoning ahead to have the change made. In fact it was done before I arrived in the press room. As I said to the press operators I just had to say it one time: “STOP THE PRESSES”. In fact I was laughing when I did it and the press people just ignored it all. I had my moment of fun and the paper was partially protected under California law because it could show that it had found the error and that it was not intentionally doing anything to the person named.
We were all aware of the importance of making the change as quickly as possible because of a previous instance that had been much more expensive to the paper. A front page error was not caught until after the paper had been put on trucks and the first truck was traveling all the way across the state. It had to be recalled and the papers replaced after the truck had already started to make deliveries. Remember this was before cell phones and they could not get in touch with the driver until he reached his first stop. What was the error that caused that much trouble? Somehow (never officially explained) someone had managed to add a line of type to a story on the front page of the first editions of the paper. It called a candidate for governor a SOB. You may know the candidate. Let’s just say that he later resigned from the Presidency. All of this was done just to protect the paper from a lawsuit. The paper is covered by a law that says that. if good intent is shown. then the paper is protected from a lawsuit.
It just shows that immediate action may not always be as fast as you want. It also shows that you must consider all cases as important, no matter what the level.

News Should Be Accurate

2011-01-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

In the recent rain we have seen that most of the people who are reporting the news should have a much broader education. I keep hearing obvious miss statements on some subjects and I wonder if the reporters in the field or the producers of the news programs really care about the accuracy of the reporting. I know that some of the things that I consider errors are minor and are not the most important part of the story that is being reported. The fact is that if a reporter cannot seem to get the simple parts of a large story correct how do I know that that person has done any work to get the major parts of the story correct.

It seems that most of the coverage of the last rain event was to see how much mud was flowing from the areas that had been heavily damaged by the Station Fire. They seem to call every piece of equipment that they see removing mud a bulldozer. I think that this term refers to a track driven large piece of equipment that is used to scrape earth. They show back hoes or similar equipment that is used to pick up dirt in a bucket and place it in a dump truck to be relocated to a safer area. What is the importance of this misstatement? The idea that they do not know anything about the topic that they are covering and do not ask questions shows a lack of professionalism. They need to ask questions of the people on scene, to give us the information we need to know in these situations.

If you are covering a story about an aircraft then you should know what type of aircraft is involved. If the story has a number of people then you find out how many. Many times a story will tell of people being transported to a hospital that is not named. If you plan on driving in that area you would want to know where the ambulance traffic is on the road, so that you can avoid that disruption. They may give an approximate location of an event to try to control traffic and people who want to watch the event, but the hospital destination seems to be one thing that is always vague. If it is a matter of security then OK. If it is a matter of the officials not knowing because they are not sure which hospital will have room for the people then, tell us that they are not sure and we will understand. When the officials just will not tell you then let us know. It is the vagueness that sounds very unprofessional.
Living in Los Angeles we know that the people reporting on radio and television are always coming here from other areas because of the prestige of working on stations in the second largest city in the country. That can lead to interesting mispronunciations of names of cities and also showing off their lack of knowledge of where some of our cities are located. We do need the correct facts but understand this situation and just laugh at them. Some of the best reporters on the air today started out with these errors. They learn and we respect them for making an effort to be accurate even though we know that they want to move to the network and maybe get a spot in New York or Washington D.C.

The Hutzpah Of The Year Award So Early?

2011-01-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

I have read and heard many stories of how people seem to think that they are so smart that they can get away with anything, but this Orange County, California is way over the top.
A Jamaican immigrant had stolen someone’s identity and used it to buy an automobile. When he defaulted on the loan he reported that the identity had been stolen. Apparently he thought that if he reported the theft then the credit agencies would not use the default against the person whose identity was involved. The reasoning behind this was that the thief did want to continue to use the false identity and its apparent good credit in the future. He must have figured that the law was so lax that they would not suspect his actions. The man did plead guilty to six felony charges and will spend less than a year in jail. He is expected to be deported after the jail term. You wonder about the short term in jail and if this person was so smart that he got away with more or had a really good attorney to have only serve such a short time in jail on a really long list of crimes. I do hope that they keep him in mind when other crimes of this sort are reported.
Yes I do expect others to challenge for this title during the year but I do expect this one to continue to be a contender for a long time. This information from the LA Times on January 8, 2011.

Is Weather Predictable?

2011-01-07T21:10:00.000-08:00

Are we going into a new ice age? I’m really not sure, but with the cold getting more prominent and the snow that we had Sunday it is something to think about.
I seriously think that the facts will show that the weather is not consistent and that those who “forecast” what will occur in the weather. They really do not know what will happen and just think about all of the long range prognostications that have been made in recent years.
Where I live we have the predictions for the rain season on the west coast. We have El Niño and La Niña what are supposed to create opposite and extreme rain levels for the west coast. They also are seen as affecting all of the nation’s weather because what hits the west coast will travel east and affect all of the weather and in fact it could make your vacation longer or shorter depending on what the storm situation is that winter. So when they say that El Niño will be coming then we have a run on sand bags and everyone must prepare for a lot of rain. Then when it doesn’t come we are disappointed. If they say that we will not have the rain because of El Niña we should prepare for a dry year and hope we do not have the extreme water use restrictions. Those must start early and are really sensible in any year.Of course when the weather doesn’t work out the way that they expected then they just say that it is an instance when El Niño or El Niña just acted in reverse of what is expected. So all we can do is hope for good weather. In the long range we probably will have less water since those of us who live in Southern California seem to forget that the area is basically a desert and is normally dry. That is what causes most of our long range problems. In fact we waste most of the rain that occurs in our area and depend on water that is saved in the northern part of our state.

If we could really save all of our own rain we would have much less of a normal problem of moving water and balancing usage between agriculture and domestic usage. When they say that we will not have less than the normal amount of rain we must be cautious because you know that it is only a guess. This year we have proven that no matter what they say before the season starts it can be wetter than normal on some occasions. When it is wetter it just might make it miserable across the country. It could even lead to snow in places that “never” have snow. You might even have snow in beautiful downtown Burbank.
The truth is that we must all be prepared in advance for the weather problems that could occur. No matter what you think will occur being prepared will make you look good.

THE WORLDS BEST FRUIT CAKE

2010-12-25T16:00:00.000-08:00

It is time that I share with the rest of the world the recipe that may be one of the longest to prepare and that does not involve eggs or the orient. I have tested the variations of this great production over the years and I have discovered one thing that is important about the product is that it is best if you start on or about the first of the year if you want to serve it for the holiday season the next year. I will also include a basic recipe for the cake that does not include dried candied fruit for those few who do not like this usual ingredient. I invented this process in the dark ages before I had the great change in my life and met my wife. So the early cakes were based on commercial cakes that I would buy at the after Christmas half off sale. This process still will work. My first cakes actually came from Sears. I must thank the late chief mike Roy who was the original inspiration for the concept. His idea was for a way to serve stale cake, and I just embellished on it. I always had a love of his program especially since he answered a question for my mother. It was about how she could make Jell-o without the hard part on the bottom. This was on his cooking show and it was a staple of KNX radio when it first went to all news.

Here is the process:
1. Buy or prepare the basic fruit cake recipe. The size should be large enough to serve more people than you think will like it because everyone will actually want to eat some. It does not matter if it is a loaf type or ring type.
2. Place the cake in a container that will hold liquid. If the cake comes in a metal container then that will work.
3. Cut slits about every one inch along the length of the cake making sure that you are not breaking the cake into slices, these are only to allow the liquid to soak into all of the cake.
4. Open a bottle of Kahlua and taste to be sure that it is ok.
5. Pour some of the Kahlua on to the cake and be sure that all of the cake has some of the liquid on it.
6. Place on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator hopefully in a place where you will not forget about it.
7. Most important step Repeat Steps 4. and 5. every two weeks for one year or until you are preparing for your holiday party the next December.

One Day Before You Want To Serve The Cake

8. Do one final basting.
9. Cut the cake into one half inch cubes and place in a large bowl
10. Prepare whipped cream or dream whip by adding Kahlua to give it a nice color.
11. Add dream whip or whipped cream to the bowl of cake cubes. You will want just enough to coat the pieces and hold it together.
12. Place the mixture into a form pan that is the shape you want to serve. It will work best if you then return it to the refrigerator overnight to set.

Date and Nut Fruit Cake Recipe
Courtesy of Martha Levy

8oz Red Cherries
1lb Pitted Dates
2 cups Shelled Walnuts
¾ cup Sugar
¾ cup Flour
1 tea Baking Powder
3 ea Eggs

Set oven at 350 degrees
Mix together and bake in preheated oven

1 ½ hours for 1 large loaf
1 ¼ hours for 2 small loaves

Fred Foy (1921-2010)

2010-12-23T11:08:00.000-08:00

One of the great voices in broadcast history died. Fred Foy (1921-2010) was one of the voices that everyone knew in radio and television. His name is not as well-known and he was not very visible to the public, but his voice was recognized because of the work that he did. Just picture the William Tell Overture and the words "A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust . . . ." That is all, yet you know that the Lone Ranger is starting. He did this open for both the radio and television version of the program. This was a voice that was always recognized and that made us all children, no matter how old we were. Listening to radio in my youth it was always a fun Saturday morning to hear the radio versions of some early television programing. I am not quite old enough to have lived in the early days of radio drama but did get to enjoy the end of that era. Growing up in Fresno, CA we had many of the early programs that were still on the air and played on Saturday mornings. Fred Foy did the introductions on several of the classic shows. He was the voice of the “The Green Hornet’, “The Challenge Of The Yukon” (Sargent Preston Of The Yukon to us less technical folks) and several other shows. His voice was so well known that when the Lone Ranger was made into a television program they may have made many changes but his open was still intact and it made for continuity between the eras. Many of us will always be aware of the great voices of radio and will keep them in our minds forever. That is the benefit of radio you can always remember the sounds of your youth and the way that they affected your actions. So now I will put in the DVD and watch the opening just to hear all of the words and the inflections that I could never do. He will be missed and remembered every time we watch or listen to the Lone Ranger or find a radio station that is still playing the “old time” radio programs. They may be very dated and in some cases show the bias of the WWII time period, yet they do have an imagination that seems to be lacking in most of the broadcast spectrum today.

Kings Speech - A Review

2010-12-17T14:00:00.001-08:00

One movie that should be seen this awards season is the “King's Speech”. I had the opportunity to attend a screening of this movie at the Directors Guild Theater and it proved to be as engrossing and entertaining as I had hoped. The movie seems to be advertised as a very dry look at King George and what it took to control his stuttering situation so that he could become the leader that the British Empire needed in its battle with the Germans and in WWII. It is presented in a way that does not make light of the situation, but it does show the humor that can result from people’s interaction. It would be difficult to show this movie on broadcast television because of some of the language that is used as part of the voice training that the future king used, or to quote my wife “George Carlin would love this.”
The 1930’s were a very interesting period of time. Germany was building itself into a very powerful nation and was not yet known for the atrocities that would become known to the rest of the world later. The British government still felt that it could control the situation with diplomatic action. They did not want to have another war in Europe. The Germans had not just lost WWI; they had been completely destroyed especially economically. This lead to a situation where the people were susceptible to the actions of the radical political party and the situation were Hitler could gain control of the government. It was also not as good a time in the 1930’s as had been in the more glamorous 1920’s. This story is all about the period of time that came just before the start of WWII. It only uses the world political situation for the background to the situation of the British royal family. King Edward had abdicated the crown to be with his love. Of all things, she was an American who had been divorced twice and the King as head of the church, could not marry a divorced women.
It shows the beginning of broadcasting. What we take for granted today, was just in its infancy. Radio was just beginning to gain real importance and short wave broadcasts of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) were the source of information to most of the world. It shows the fear that most of us have when a microphone is shoved in front of us and we must read an important document. It also does show a little of the period newsreels, that were able to show the people what was happening. It ignores the fact that the BBC actually was broadcasting television programing and had actual program listings in the Times Of London. It mainly consisted of live broadcasts of classical music groups and an opportunity for people to see what they looked like on television. Televisions early days were ended, because of the war and the need to use the technology in the war effort. The war also led to the use of radar, in both the UK and the United States.
The king of England is not an absolute ruler. The government is actually headed by the Prime Minister, who is elected in the Parliament and then is presented to the King. The movie does show Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain as the ineffective leaders that they were. It does indicate that Winston Churchill was the better study of the times with more knowledge of the situation in Europe. It does cover the start of the war and the key address of the King to nation to help bring up the spirit of the nation. You cannot spoil the story by saying that it is an emotional speech that was broadcast to the nation and all of the British Empire. It showed the people that the King was able to overcome his limitations and would be the leader that the nation needed. History books do emphasize Churchill as the leader, but in Great Britan, the Royal Family is revered and their leadership was important to the people of the nation.
I purposely have not singled out any person in particular, because of the fact that every element of the movie works and it is truly a team effort. In fact classical radio station KUSC was playing some of the music from the movie last night as we were driving home. It just all works together. It is in limited release so you will need to work to see it, but you should try.

Happy Birthday Santa Clarita

2010-12-15T12:18:00.001-08:00

Last Wednesday was the 23 birthday of the city of Santa Clarita. It is just a short period of time in the history of this area, that has been inhabited forever. It had its own native tribes that have been lost to time and are now just trying to regain their name and place in history. I do not know enough about them to make more of a statement. I just fear that someone will discover enough of the tribe, to make it legal for them to build a casino. Wait, maybe that might be an idea that we could all get behind. Join with the city and build it on the city side of the 5 freeway. Building it closer to the mall might be a good idea but would add to the traffic and we do not want to do that.
Going back to our history we must remind people that gold was actually discovered here before it was found in northern California. The people in the north do not want to be reminded of this because then no one would visit Sacramento and Sutter’s Fort, because no one really wants to go to Sacramento for any time at all. Especially when the legislature is in session. Placerita Canyon is a very scenic area and it also had a great nature center to see, after you have been to the Oak of the Golden Dream, where the actual gold discovery was made.
Oil was here also and the first refinery in California is located near downtown Newhall (It is easier to find it that way, because we don’t call it downtown Santa Clarita). It was a very pure form of petroleum and was actually sold as it was pumped and before gasoline was popular. I think that we should try to find more. Than we would be able to declare ourselves a new state and get more for the oil. Then we would not need to tax residents and pay us all a portion of the income as a rebate for living here.
One of the nice reasons for living here is the ability to see what parts of the country we resemble. The movie/TV industry likes to work up here for many reasons.
1 We are close enough to Hollywood so that they do not need to pay the crew any of the away from home fees.
2) It looks like every other part of the country and if you do not have a palm tree in front of your house you have a chance to get paid when they use your house during production.
3) TV/movie people like to live here because we have so many police and fire personal living in the area and then working for departments all over Southern California.

The bear on the California state flag actually roamed part of the city and was shot just east of the city. It was huge and stood about 10 feet tall when it stood on its hind feet. It weighed more than 10 average people. This beautiful animal was mounted and moved to Sacramento for display.
This is home to Magic Mountain (the amusement park and not the mountain). It was originally built by two organizations, Sea World and Newhall Land And Farming. It was devised as a way to make more money from the land, than the farming. Newhall Land had become more of a land developer then a farm company by that time, anyway. Sea World has disappeared as a company, with all of its parks now under different ownership and Magic Mountain is part of the Six Flags Corporation. (They never change the number of flags like some college sports leagues.) Yes I know that this is on the County side of the freeway but only the tax collector really cares about that.

So Happy Birthday. Where is the birthday cake?

The Pass

2010-12-13T13:06:00.001-08:00

If you have ever traveled in the Los Angeles area you have probably gone through the at least one pass. All of Los Angeles is divided by several mountain passes. Cajon pass going toward Las Vegas, The Mulholland pass going from the west side to the valley, the Cahuenga Pass at Universal Studios, are just the more ordinary passes that we see all of the time. If you need to travel up the state the most important place on your trip might just be the Tejon Pass. Just think about it, what other place in the state has stopped all north and south traffic more often than this pass. Technically it exists mostly at the area known as the Grapevine but in reality is a series of mountain passes that control the route between three valleys. The route going up the long state is one area where you feel that you are out of civilization, yet you are surrounded by people. At either end you have a pass that goes between areas that are important to the state’s economy.
The larger is the Tejon pass that includes many areas of historic value and some very dramatic driving conditions. The freeway is the latest of a series of highways and may have finally eliminated one of the most dangerous sections of highway in the nation. It was one of the first roads that had a cement center divider to make head on collections much less common. Parts of the road carried warnings that suggested turning off of air conditioners to prevent overheating of your car’s engine. You were traveling up a very steep grade in temperatures that could be over be 100° or it can be covered in snow depending on the time of the year. Some areas have become destinations for travel from Los Angeles. Los Angeles area children go to Frazer Park for their first time to play in the snow. Fort Tejon was the home to the camel caravan that was to be the way to carry supplies to military outposts in the wild west before the Civil War ended this project. Unfortunately, camels did not like walking on the very hard desert without the soft sand of the middle east. This spot welcomes tourists for reenactments of civil war battles. This is one of the best examples of a military outpost in California that was not changed to protect the area during later wars, as were the coastal forts, especially around the San Francisco Bay area. If you watch very carefully at the Castaic end of the route, you may realize that the road sections are reversed. Because of the grade situation it is safer to reverse the lanes. You are not physically next to each other and you have to look closely to see the other side of the road. It is most obvious when the roadways cross each other at the ends of the section. Luckily there are no cross roads in that area that could cause motorists to become confused.

The smaller pass is the one between the Santa Clarita valley and the San Fernando Valley. It is ignored most of the time, but contains some very important vistas. The most dramatic view may just be the hill that looks so nice, but in reality is what is left of a land fill. They have built up a valley to the point where they had to terrace the land to keep it from sliding. It resulted in a very large landscaped hill that overlooks the freeway. This section was closed in the last two major earthquakes when freeway ramps collapsed. Ask any long term resident how much fun that was, especially after an earthquake messed up travel anyway. On the other side of the freeway was to be the site of another land fill, until it was stopped by the people who live in the Santa Clarita Valley and especially in the city of Santa Clarita. It now is part of an open space area, that is being constantly added on to a preservation project. This will allow the people that follow us, see a part of what this area was before we all moved here. Yes you can still see wild animals in this area. Coyotes, deer, and wild animals of many sizes are still in the area. Taking a hike you must be aware of the wild life, especially in the summer when rattle snakes do roam the hills and valleys. As the area is made more accessible to the public, it will be more well known but may be ignored, so that the wild life can still have this area to themselves. It is an interesting place to drive and if you are there during one of the normal periods of congestion you will have plenty of time to check out the view. Besides you can see a Metrolink train going into the longest railroad tunnel in the western United States, down below the pass.
It is an interesting area and sometimes we are so into the travel that we miss these views.
The idea is to just enjoy the area where you are and don’t miss it all, in your haste.

The Real Valley

2010-12-04T11:04:00.000-08:00

Many times we live in an area and do not know anything about it. Take the time to learn about where you live. I may live in the Los Angeles area, but the truth I that it is really a collection of local communities that just happen to be located in the same area. They have said that this is a city that is looking for a center. In fact it is a city that has a variety of centers. It can offer many things to many people. If you want to see an area that has a variety of places that you will want to see then you have arrived. Many of the areas of the city are named after the people who have gathered in that area. The problem seems to be that these change over a period of time. It just takes time for the city government to catch up with the ethnic groups that are associated with an area. Of course there are areas that have groups that are not ethnic and it would not be politically correct to name areas after these groups. That does not mean that they do not exist. It also means that these areas are the ones that have the most interesting things to see and do, because they are inhabited by the most interesting people. Just think if we made everything the same as some people seem to say, then any city would be very dull.
The Valley is more than just the home of the "Valley Girl". You may not have the high rise buildings that are in some center cities, but you do have areas with concentrations of buildings that makes it an area that is continually growing. Looking at the past in the Valley you will see that it was always an important part of the history of the city. Just think of what the world would be without Tarzana and the history that is included in that area. If it wasn’t for this area our literary culture would not be the same. Studio City is important with CBS Studio Center, where such programs as the Mary Taylor More Show was done. It has Burbank and the Warner Brothers Studios, which is where Conan O'Brien tapes. Also, it still has a part of the NBC broadcast facility, which is the home of Jay Leno. Universal City is on the edge of the Valley and it is becoming a major facility, with more going on all the time. NBC will eventually just be at Universal City and the Amusement part of the lot, though not really a movie studio any longer, is still a fun place to visit. The real studio part is so different and they only share part of the back lot. To have a fun time and not need to spend more money than you want, just go to City Walk and watch the people.

We cannot forget that Lockheed was an important part of our aviation history, even if it is not building aircraft in the area as it did when it started. Without the original Skunk Works, we would not have some of the highly sophisticated aircraft that we have today. North Hollywood is infamous for that B of A bank robbery that shows up on so many cable programs about weapons. That area is more importantly known as the home of Amelia Earhart, an important pioneer is the history of flying.

When you visit the Valley you might not feel that you are in a big city, it is in fact, larger than many of the cities of the area. If you look at the population of the Los Angeles part of the Valley, you will see that it is a large city in itself. Burbank, San Fernando and Glendale, which are contained within the boundaries of the Valley, are very respectable cities and represent important areas that are ignored by most people.

I spent many years living in The Valley and I am glad I did.

A Visit To An Airport

2010-11-29T12:10:00.000-08:00

Today seems to be the day that everyone is complaining about the treatment that we receive at airports. I do know that it is no longer any fun to travel. It is not that I have gotten older; it is how the people who travel are treated. As with most people who have trouble remembering things as in where did the flashlight that I just had disappear. I do remember better times in travel. So here are just a couple of comments on this subject.
On one trip to Denver we purposely arrived at the airport early on our return trip just so we could watch how the hub concept worked. We saw one airline have several flights come in at the same time and then all leave about a half hour later, again all at the same time. It just made the airport congested at certain intervals. You could actually go to an airport just to watch the people and the different aircraft from around the world.
A friend of mine who lived in Fresno was actually given a birthday gift of aircraft watching. She was given a round trip to San Francisco just so that she could go up to SFO and watch all of the different types of aircraft and watch the people. The trip was just to the airport and return, without even going to Fishermen’s Wharf.
I had been known to go to LAX just to spend time going to the different terminals. You could spend hours just seeing all of the people rushing around and the variety of aircraft. No one said anything and the viewing area was convenient to see what was happening on the apron. That was before that area became the tarmac. People actually went to just have a drink and watch all of the movement.
Even earlier, I had the opportunity to visit the Fresno Air Terminal (FAT) during weird hours. I could see the place during the night when not many people were around. Even then it was a magic place were the only concern was getting people on to flights and no one took much notice if all you wanted to do was to watch. The biggest crowd I have ever seen was in the FAT terminal when John F. Kennedy used this as a transfer point to do a dedication of a dam. The terminal was packed and no one seemed unduly concerned. We all just watched him change aircraft and were happy to be at this very little part of history.
Today all of these activities are not possible because you cannot get to the area where you can watch without having a ticket. Of course you do get to the airport earlier then you had in the past because you spend all of the time concerned about security. You cannot count on the fact that you will have time to eat when you are waiting for your flight. So travel if you must, but trust me, it is not much fun any more.

Black Friday

2010-11-29T03:00:00.000-08:00

The time has come for that weird holiday tradition: Black Friday. It is traditionally the start of the holiday buying season. It was always the day after Thanksgiving. Yet this year, more than in the past, it is being stretched out and started out earlier than ever. At first it was the ads that were “leaked’ early, now it has some stores starting early. Last year it was continued and some ads were for that Saturday. More places are open on Thanksgiving or starting the sale at midnight on Friday.
The part that most upsets me is the apparent lack of respect of the retail worker by the people who run these companies. How many of them actually had to work these sales? I think that they should be made to work the worst hours in the busiest departments. The truth is that the items on sale would be just as valuable to the customers if they were to start the sale at 8 am. It seems that a war is going on to position merchants as the first one people will visit. I have seen stores opening at midnight, 3am, 4am and 5am. They know that if they are first the people will spend all of their money with them and not visit anyone else.
Do you think that it is worth it to spend Thanksgiving night in a parking lot, to get some electronic gadget that you really can do without? My plan is to spend the time sleeping and if something is that great I will chance it and come in later in the day. If I do not get it now I will find it later. Besides someone will have another sale and many of the items on sale seem to be items that are going out of style very quickly.
Well enjoy Black Friday and I do hope that you can get what you want, without any trouble.

Royal Wedding Reasons

2010-11-20T16:22:00.000-08:00

Brides to be in Great Britain and all around the world are upset about the royal wedding that could occur on the date that they have chosen. They want the day to themselves or are upset about traffic well many more good things will occur. Just think of all the good that will occur especially in London.
1) Just think of all the souvenirs that will be available with the proper date on it.
2) You will know one style of dress that you can ignore.
3) Your husband will never be able to forget your wedding date. It will be in the paper every year.
4) When you tell people about your anniversary they will already know how long that you have been married.
5) Your invitation list just became smaller since the royal family will be busy.
6) You will know well in advance what theme has been taken.
7) April 29, 2011 is will be a holiday, making travel easier for your guests and besides with all of the security it should be safer for your guests to travel to your wedding.
8) Now you know what competition you will have for the flower vender, they won’t be using your caterer, or the hall for the reception.
9) You have advanced knowledge of what church is available.
10) The bill for your wedding won’t be as big.

Veteran's Day

2010-11-11T13:46:00.000-08:00

Veterans Day is an opportunity for all of us to remember the veterans that we know and the ones that we never met who have served and in some cases given their lives for us. I did serve my Country when it needed me to serve. I did not see combat and spent my time essentially waiting to see what the Communist governments would do next. I spent time in Korea while we wondered if the North Koreans would release the crew of the USS Pueblo or resume fighting the “police action” that they never have really ended. This gives me the strange honor of being a Korean War veteran and a Viet Nam veteran, since I did serve during that war. I feel humbled by those who did serve in more severe conditions and actual combat. This is especially true of my friends who were involved. So thank you all.

Bridges We Should See

2010-11-04T16:40:00.000-07:00

Has anyone else noticed how we are attracted to large bridges? Just think about those things that you remember from traveling. I cannot name all of the bridges that I have viewed or crossed in traveling, mostly around the US. I have seen some of the most famous bridges and some that have not attracted the attention that they should be given. I will just give my feelings about a few that most people know and I have pictures of a couple of them.
Let us start with the big number on the west coast. The Golden Gate Bridge is the most named bridge on this coast. It is majestic from a distance but you should walk out on the bridge to understand the size and see the view that you have from the deck. If you really want to “feel” the giant nature of a bridge go under it and look up. In San Francisco you can visit Fort Point which is a civil war era fort that is located under the approach to the bridge. You can really see the bridge from the top of the fort and experience the bridge. When you see that this area is splattered with paint from the work they do you, wonder if you should actually be there. It gives you a great reason to visit the city, if you really need another one besides eating sourdough French bread.

Then you can go back in history and see what could be built with brick and stone as a basis of the giant piers. The Brooklyn Bridge was opened in 1883 and connects Manhattan and Brooklyn over the East River. It is a classic looking structure but it has many of the features you would want to see on a modern bridge. They have a wide promenade for pedestrians and the subway also uses the bridge. If you have been to the Fulton Fish Market or South Street Seaport you have had a dramatic view of the bridge going over you. That this structure still exists is a monument to the designer and the people who built it.

You do not have to go that far from Los Angeles to find a bridge that combines classic architecture and modern function. The Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena is classic in its design and it high level of functionality are what made it so important that it was updated and saved when some said that it was no longer needed. It was opened in 1913 and then retrofitted and reopened in 1993. Known as “Suicide Bridge” it was modernized with high fences so that it would be less likely that it would be the destination for people who are inclined to end their lives.
These are only three of the bridges that I could discuss and in the future I will add to this list but think about it. It seems that all of tall bridges seem to have many of the same characteristics. They have a classic look, they are still not just needed but key parts of our transportation infrastructure, and they look good. Unfortunately they are also the destination of people who want to commit suicide.
A forth bridge in now on my list and that is the bridge over Black Canyon in the area in front of Hoover Dam. I think it will be on the list of most visited bridges for a long time. My next visit to Las Vegas will include a walk across this bridge to see it and the view that it provides of the dam.

Ambassador Auditorium

2010-10-25T11:40:00.001-07:00

It was fun to go to the Ambassador Auditorium to see the Pasadena Symphony and Anne Akiko Meyers perform. I think that some reviews will be lax in covering the event. I understood that the two performances on Saturday were very different in both technical and artistic merit. In the afternoon the staff had an opportunity to get the feel of the room with a partial audience. The fuller house in the evening made for a different acoustic sound. This is a new organization using the facility and it will take them a couple of concerts to find the voice of the house. It may be an old orchestra, but being they are in a new home, they will need time to adjust. Even the staff needs to learn the basics of the new home. The ushers still did not know where the seats were located. The chance of the performers to play together an additional time, gave the final show more depth.

The room itself has many benefits. I noticed that some of the lighting may have been set for the church services that are held each Sunday. You must remember that the venue is owned by a church. Good! It allows for multi-use.
It could be set up for any religion and give a new congregation a chance to have more people present. I can even envision a very orthodox Jewish congregation using the facility because of the configuration. It reminds me of a shul that I visited in Brooklyn, NY were the men prayed on the main floor and the women gossiped in the balcony. All of this would lead to a stable situation for the congregation which supports this great auditorium. I had heard about the greatness of this auditorium and I agree completely that it has a great sound and is just the right size for seeing and hearing a performance. So I for one, plan on keeping up with who is performing at the Ambassador and hope I will be attending again someday.

Anne Akiko Meyers

2010-10-25T10:45:00.001-07:00

I had the pleasure of seeing Anne Akiko Meyers in concert two times on last Saturday. Many people do know that I’m related to Anne and have followed her career from the beginning. It was a personal pleasure to be able to see and hear the performance which for many reasons was a first. This was the first time that the Pasadena Symphony had played in Ambassador Auditorium. It was the first time that Anne had the opportunity to play her newly acquired violin in public. It proved that her talent is not in what violin she is playing but in how she plays the instrument. She had posession of this renowned instrument for only a couple of days before she came to Los Angeles. This meant that the only time that she had to become acquainted with the handling of the instrument was at a rehearsal on Thursday. I have a feeling that it may be a couple of concerts before she is completely comfortable playing this violin. That is not a complaint but it gives her and the audience a chance to see her growth with a new voice. Anne was kept very busy not just playing but in giving autographs during intermission of the concert. I had the opportunity to speak to Anne but would have liked to spend more time with her and her new daughter. I do know how exhausting the performance was for her and to see all of the energy that she had at intermission was invigorating to me.
It was great to have a semi family reunion, too. There were many relatives present and we managed to talk for a little bit. As with many families, we have talked in the past about how we often only see each other at sad occasions and it was so nice that this was such a great occasion. I have noticed that in Anne’s publicity, little is mentioned of her mother or father. I do appreciate that she may just be protecting their privacy. Let me just say that my cousin was such a typical parent Saturday. It was fun to watch him take pictures of her and to hear his exuberance about her performance. Incidentally I must indicate that I agreed with him completely that her performance was extraordinary, especially in the evening show.

Well Anne, it was great attending such a great concert and getting to see you play in such an intimate venue. It is much smaller venue, then the last time I saw you, which was at the Hollywood Bowl.

Language And How It Confuses Me

2010-10-10T05:25:00.000-07:00

In my continuing battle to find what we are thinking when we say those strange things that we do every day I have a couple of more thoughts from a trip made back East. First this is not about the accents that every person has and that they will all deny. It is not about the way certain words are pronounced differently in various locations around the nation. I also do not have any complaint that the citizens of Canada pronounce some words differently. In fact some of these differences do come in handy to be able to know where you are traveling. It is just like that movie “If it’s Tuesday then it must be Belgium”.
This last weekend I had the opportunity to travel to the East Coast. The trip was on Jet Blue and I mention them because they did a good job of getting us to our complicated destination in a reasonable amount of time. I did find it of interest that 60% of the announcements at Kennedy in New York were in Spanish. That led to my question. What form of Spanish were they speaking? I do not speak the language and so I do not know the differences. Were they speaking in Purto Rican, Columbian, Catalonian, or Mexican? Secondly are public announcements made in the same language in all parts of the nation? Is Puerto Rican used in New York, Cuban in Miami, and Mexican in Los Angeles or San Diego? I have no problem with any of the usages and to be fair the flights that were involved were to South America and it was most likely better that both English and Spanish was used. It just brought up my question as to which version was used. When I was in college they were teaching Castilian Spanish and not even the Mexican speaking students could understand it or why they were not doing in dialect form this content or South America.
My other question has to do with the announcements about luggage security. I do understand that we need to watch those items that we are carrying around with us and will take on the flight. The announcement kept saying that we should “supervise” our posessions at all times. I think of that word meaning we should tell the luggage to be safe and not let anyone else do anything with them. You can supervise children and tell them not to talk to strangers but luggage? I think some other word would have been much more appropriate. You can secure your luggage (I know they do not have lockers at airports any longer). You can watch your luggage (of course then you can’t read the flight information board to see how many different boarding gates they will use before you actually get to the one where you board). You can stay close to the luggage (even when you need to use the facilities). There are several synonyms for the word supervise (manage, direct, control, guide) and the one that makes most sense in this instance is control. Then again this was at an airport that seems to be in flux about what is the primary language to use.
A good trip but then again language has come back to haunt me. More of these anomalies as I trip over them.

Travel Security

2010-10-10T05:24:00.001-07:00

We have come a long way in the improvements to the technical side of security at the airports around the world. They are always improving the methods that are used to look at people and what we take on airplanes. I understand that they are now testing equipment that will determine what is actually in those bottles that we want to have when we reach our destination. Think about it, we have been forced to go dirty because if you are traveling more than a couple of days you will run out of the basic hygiene products. That means either you buy more and throw away part of it or just go dirty. Did you ever find the brand that you use at home in those three ounce bottles or do you need to buy full size containers and loose most of it when you fly home. You can bring an empty bottle and fill it with airport water. JFK and Syracuse, NY water tastes better than the water in the fountains at LAX. Buying water inside of the secure area is expensive if it can be found. On the airplane you may be given water and they actually have the little bottles that would go through security. Now they are testing new equipment that will determine if the full size (over 3 once) bottles do not have banned liquids instead of what they say on the outside. This could save the travel public a lot of money. Besides in the battle of Coke vs. Pepsi you will be assured that you have your favorite. I do have one question. They are testing at only one airport? What good does that do? If you can take the larger size onboard at that one site what happens when you come home. So I will wait until they determine if this works or not and hope that I don’t have to travel much in the meantime.
One more thought. With all of the technical steps that are taken I think that I know what is the best way to spot those who have ideas that are not conducive to a safe flight. On my last trip I noticed more secondary screening. TSA specialists wandering around in the boarding area and asking questions. Nothing fancy, just people talking one on one to each other. Looking at the face of a person and seeing if that person is nervous about flying or about being asked more questions. I do not know what the results of this step has been and maybe I don’t want to know. I do know that I felt better knowing that those experts were around and that it was time for me to stand up, to wait for them to call by boarding group.
It was more entertaining then wasting time standing in line for more security at the entrance to the waiting area itself. So TSA keep up the good work and please don’t let the impatient or the dense ones get to you.

Military Intelligence Service Memorial Highway

2010-10-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

Military intelligence is generally considered an oxymoron but then is it really? I recently discovered a sign on the 23 Moorpark freeway near Thousand Oaks, CA. it dedicates the route to the military intelligence community. We all have our interpretation of the military and how it reacts to the situations that it faces. Some of the time the picture is not pretty and most of the time the people who are involved have no idea why they are told to do some things. A famous quote from the TV show M.A.S.H. that is read by Colonel Sherman T. Potter (Harry Morgan ) basically says when they gave me this rank they took away my explaining bone. This is just saying that because it is a military situation you are taught that you just do what you are told and then think about it once the mission is completed. It can also mean that some of the time people can later use this as an excuse for the acts that they did perform in the name of some movement. The refrain “I was only following orders” can be heard many times in history. It is important for us to balance those things that we do for the good of our Country with the morals that we have. It is hoped that these goals are mutual and that we can only do those things that are not only right, but make us feel great. Military intelligence should be the source of the information that allows our leaders to make the correct decisions and gives our troops the basis to make the best decisions. We are always hoping that our nation’s leaders who are making these decisions are people with the highest morality. When I first saw the sign on the freeway that dedicated that section to Military Intelligence I thought it was funny. Now that I have had more time to think about it I do understand. We are giving thanks and showing respect for the work that is not always acknowledged because if we acknowledged the people involved, they could be placed in more danger then they are usually. Also it just could be that this would make their work impossible. If you do a great job working for the CIA, your medal is kept by the agency to protect other people. I suspect that this is done by other similar organizations and we will never know what important work is done for us. I do appreciate the “need to know” principal and do realize that I do not know everything instantly. So thank you and it is great to see that you have been recognized even if it is in a remote part of the Los Angeles Freeway system.

Might it have been better if it was on the Ronald Regan 118 Fwy?

Hoover Dam And The Bridge

2010-10-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

. The Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge is going to become one of mankind’s finer construction projects. If you have never been to Lake Mead and Hover Dam you have missed one of man’s finest achievements. The new addition of the freeway and bridge in front of the dam is surprising in that it really doesn’t distract form the dam. We did a short visit and the experience is only tarnished by the fact that the bridge doesn’t open to traffic until November and if you want to walk on the bridge before it has traffic it will be open to the public on October 16. Personally we seemed to have missed all of the important dates. It does have a pedestrian walkway and a scenic parking area so that even after it is open you will be able to walk out on the bridge and view the dam. I think that many people will not try this because of the height of the structure over Black Canyon. Some people will complain about the bridge blocking the view of the dam. That is mostly related to those in aircraft who want to see the dam from the front. It adds a sense of a picture frame and makes this more of a marvel.

The construction did have many obstacles to its construction including wind and the tragic death of one worker besides designing signs big enough to carry the entire name of the bridge. Well the fact that last weekend was the 75th anniversary celebration of the bridge and should have been the opening. It will be great to see it in the highway traffic moved off of the bridge and a separation of the highway traffic and the tourist who like to wander across the highway as they visit the top of the dam. Because of the security that has been developed at the dam it will also save time in the trip between Phoenix to Las Vegas. I do want to thank those who have been working on this project for many years. The addition of a great parking structure that has been hidden in the side of the mountain and an underground visitors center have added to the experience without diminishing the view and have made access better for the average tourist. Everyone should take the tour of the dam at least once. There is no other way to really sense the size and complexity of the construction unless you actually go inside of the dam and then visit the generating facility. It was constructed with many art deco touches that show the era of construction. Even the restrooms that are hidden on the top of the dam show these touches.

Las Vegas

2010-10-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

Las Vegas seems to be the city that everyone loves to hate. Many people l have told me that they hate the city. It is a big city and that makes many people upset. I can only find one thing that I do not like about the city as a whole. The casinos still allow smoking. The minute that I enter I start to cough because I no longer have any resistance to cigarette smoke. I even ignored the store with all of the great cigars. The hotel were we stayed was totally no smoking. Most of the world has given good health the edge to the addiction of the few. The fact is that most of the people gambling were not happy because they were not winning. It is still a fun atmosphere and being in the city when it was not hosting a major convention made travel much easier. I do like many of the places that are not associated with gambling. The atomic bomb museum is actually educational and fun to visit. Hoover Dam is covered in another post since it is so large and now includes a majestic bridge that will make it easier to visit. Being a major fan of rapid public transit I will recommend taking the monorail to visit some of the places on the strip. This may not be the complete solution to the traffic problems but it is a start and if they do the entire planned route it will make it so much more fun. A connection from the airport to the strip and to Fremont Street (downtown) would be great. For now it only connects the MGM to the Rivera and all between on that side of the strip. Do see a show at one of the big hotels. They are expensive but several sources are available to get discounts on the tickets. I went to see Chris Angel and enjoyed the new twists on some classic illusions. Do expect pyrotechnics and extreme lighting. I personally would wear hearing protection and not bring young children (under 10) because of the sound levels and the strobe lighting. It is an adult show with content that some would not want any of their children to hear. I have only seen a couple of Chris Angel’s TV shows and the stage show is much better. Not just his attitude but the content is more entertaining. Circus De Sole seems to have influenced every show in town including this one. My technical minded son even found many things that he liked, despite his trepidations about seeing the show. If you plan on visiting the city I will let you know where I recommend that you stay. It is a hotel that is not on the strip and in fact is only opened about three weeks ago. Besides the desk clerk told us were to find the cheap show tickets. Do not let your conception of the city stop you from visiting and seeing the really great parts of that area.

The True Weather

2010-09-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

I live in a community that claims it never has any weather and that may be correct. I constantly hear people complain about whatever the weather happens to be that day. Most of the time the comments that other people make are laughable. I have lived in other areas and have been able to see what real weather is like. Fortunately I have avoided many of the worst of the weather types and do not claim to know all that is true about weather. I do know that sometimes where you stand can give you a biased view of the weather. I worked in a building that had a metal roof and even in a drizzle you could not have a conversation since it became so noisy. I have had many people tell me how heavy the rain is at that moment and inevitably when I check it out we are only receiving a light rain or sometimes only a drizzle. Most of the people have not lived in an area where the monsoons are a yearly occurrence. That is a real rain storm and it usually is not a short occurrence. Think of looking out the window and seeing a waterfall coming down outside. Worse, think about not having any shelter. To put it into perspective in California we think of rain in inches in a day while in many places they give the amount of rain in inches per hour. We have less rain in a year then can occur in one day. So before you complain about the weather remember where you are living and think about those people who really do have weather.

First Day Of Fall ? ? ?

2010-09-24T03:00:00.000-07:00

It happens every year. “The first day of Fall” comes and then we expect the weather to get cooler. We expect a weather change each time the season changes and that does not work. It is as silly as the expectation that we change our clothing based on Memorial Day and Labor Day. The basic weather changes are not geared to silly dates on the calendar. Some changes can be loosely related to the seasons, but remember that those were determined by people and do not really coincide to anything in nature. All nature really cares about are the changes in plants and animals that are related to the weather and the natural conditions that exist at any one moment. How many times do we have plants bloom and then before the flowers can turn to fruit it will freeze and the flowers drop off? Think of the times that it froze and all of the fruit that are just waiting for picking are ruined before they can be picked.
Just look at the typical year when just after Labor Day and then school starts it becomes unbearably hot and impossible for students to learn. Think of that, the need to have air conditioners in schools when it is fall and not summer school. This year in Los Angles is a prime example and probably closer to the normal then most people what to admit. On the first day of fall it is overcast and some places may be seeing light drizzle. This coming weekend it is expected to reach 103 in the valleys of California and that may not be a record high.

We must expect that the weather is always changing and that when we see the average temperature for any day that it is really just an average and consists of all the temperatures including the record highs and record low highs. We all have our favorite weather and if it is different no matter what, then we are happy and we make fun of everyone else and what they enjoy. So I will enjoy the overcast this morning and the hot weather to come this weekend and just wait for the rain that might come later in the year.

All that I can do is make sure that the drains are clear and that I have a hat to wear when it is needed.

The Size And Shape Of College

2010-09-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

I had a chance to visit Fresno City College last week during part of the ceremony to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the school. It is the oldest community college in California and the second oldest in the nation. I had not been on the campus in many years and the change is not just about the size of the school. I can remember parking in the area that is now a very nicely done plaza in the center of the campus. All we had was a parking lot between the main building and the library. I did notice that the attitude of the students seemed much different. When I attended it was a much younger campus and had less of the look of a college. We never did have groups of students gathered to discuss an issue or the issues of the day. That was one of the first things that I noticed on this visit. Of course the fact that my picture is no longer upon the wall in the student center was mildly disappointing. The book store and food area in that building seem so much more sophisticated than they were in the past. I found that the free speech area and the fact that a memorial plaza are in the center of campus are both very impressive. The information age is an important change for all schools and this one is no different. Many more ways are provided to communicate and to get information to those who are on campus. I did notice more emphasis on the security of the students with the ability to get in touch with campus security when it is needed. This is one of the unavoidable changes in society today. The need for most college campus to put telephones in public places to contact security is needed but it is still sad. These are the changes in the physical campus and they show the change in the education system that has again placed an emphasis on the community college. It seems that this comes about every time the economy makes the four year schools more cost prohibitive. It was true in the 1960’s and again today. The fact that the community colleges are more cost effective seems to be less important in a better economy.

All of these things are what makes our community colleges a more lively and better part of our local society.

The Changes In The Press

2010-09-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

During my visit to Fresno City College I had fun seeing what had occurred at the school since I had graduated. It was a great day to see how it had grown but it also seemed that the attitude change seems to be one of, what was done in the past was not good and that our presentation of the past must be the whole truth. An article in the school newspaper, the Rampage, that showed how little is known about what was going on in the past. When you try to think like those in the past you must first realize that those people are not living in today’s world. The article picks up on one day in 1963 that I will always remember and how we handled the events. It was November 22 1963 and the assassination of President John Kennedy. It happened that I was working for the Fresno Bee, the local newspaper, and left work before the events of the day and arrived on campus right after it occurred. My source of the news, was the head custodian on campus and my day seemed to go downhill from that point. Nothing was done on campus the rest of that day and not many public events occurred over the following weekend. The current article asked why we had so little coverage of the tragedy the next week. The author seems to ignore that part of our responsibility was to try to bring the school back to a more normal level. We were not just the mouthpiece of the college but we were trying to learn how to be journalists. We were limited, though, by the technology of the time. Our deadlines were days before the publication date and we had to plan most of the paper a week in advance. Not much of the country was back to normal for several weeks. That week consisted of much of the country watching their TV sets to see what was going on first in Dallas and then in Washington D.C. Most people just sat and watched the television network coverage that had very little to say but it put us in touch with the events. No one expected that Sunday that we would watch the live killing of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby. LIVE TELEVISION not what we have today where everything is delayed to make it cleaner. Then we watched the funeral procession and the funeral. I can still hear the slow drum cadence of the procession and see the salute of John Jr. to his father. We did what we thought was best. Look at the newspapers of that day and of that week. They were so focused on the tragedy, itself. Our job was to try to help the attitude of our peers. It was hard, but part of what we did as a college newspaper. I noticed that it was not many years later that the attitude of some on campus changed toward the job of the school newspaper and I know that I would have embraced those changes. I worked at the local newspaper and I did know that both papers had their role in bringing information to the public that they were aimed toward.
As a partial aside, you should know that even news organizations were slower than normal because of the reaction of their staffs to the events of the day. The next morning when I arrived at the Bee to work, the place was covered in wire service copy that no one had taken off of the wire service machines. They just left it all on the floor and went on with their immediate work.

Maybe we should look at the past in light of the past and not in today's light.

Bob Newhart

2010-07-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

Most of us remember Bob Newhart and know that he is funny. The point is that his quiet humor has been around for 50 years and that he continues to make us laugh with so little effort that we think that his work is minimal. Looking back at his carrier from this vantage point you can see that the number of projects that he used his talents to enliven were numerous. He was most famous for his ensemble shows that showcased many other great comedic voices that were known but became household names because they were in these shows. Suzanne Pleshette, Tom Poston, Marcia Wallace, and Jack Riley were only three of the many people who were on his several shows. It may be noted that all of the series that he appeared on all had his name in the title. That is more of a sign of his popularity then his ego. The television programming of that era was much more civil then today’s programming. The networks seemed to think that to sell programs they had to keep us from thinking. Married couples lived the perfect life. I know that as a psychiatrist Dr. Bob Hartley that Newhart played held many group sessions with the same patients who never seemed to make any progress. I think that is more about the casting of the show and the group of actors that were assembled to do the show. His secretary (Marcia Wallace) was so realistic that we believed all of the outrageous actions that made Dr. Hartley’s life difficult. This is the type of comedy that gave Newhart the chance to do three series that each are remembered because of their similarities and their unique personality.
That was not the start of the carrier. The term stand up comedian had not come into our lives but it was just comedy done when and where it would pay. Comedy albums and appearances on television were the places to make a carrier. Albums and the style of comedy that was more of an act then a series of jokes were what made the television shows possible. I will always remember that Newhart was from Chicago and that he had planned to become an accountant. He would refer to the Bob Newhart theory of accounting. “It is close enough.”
The reason for writing is twofold I have a good excuse to use the photo that we took while visiting Navy Pier in Chicago. The sculpture is by the EIS (pronounced ice) studios of Brooklyn, NY that is headed by Elliot and Ivan Schwartz and is actually a joint effort of the studio staff. The other reason is that this is a great excuse to write about Newhart who has always been one of my favorites and since we both come from Chicago it seems appropriate after a visit to that very interesting city.

Happy 4th or thoughtfull 4th ? ?

2010-07-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

For this Fourth Of July celebration we should take the time to remember all of those who have served the people of the country from General George Washington to the unknown privates who served with him. We should also remember all those serving today no matter where they are serving. We should remember the officers and enlisted in all of the branches of the military. Many will be doing their jobs as we celebrate. It may be at a front line base over seas or helping with the clean-up of the Gulf or with work to help with the weather related problems of Texas and Mexico. Thank you all and we do think of you all of the time. Remember all those who were responsible for our freedom not just those who gave their lives but those who survived and those who suffered after the battles. So HAVE A SAFE AND SANE WEEKEND.

What Is Reality?

2010-06-05T20:29:00.000-07:00

I Recently I have come across several situations that seem to show that we may not mean what we say or is it that we are too lazy to change those things that no longer fit the situation. If you have been on any US airline in recent years you have heard the flight attendants or a prerecorded message with the preflight instructions. Besides the use of the seatbelts and where the emergency exits are located comes the obligatory no smoking message. They always include the message that no smoking is allowed in the restrooms and that damaging a smoke detector is a federal crime. I do agree with the no smoking policy and even think that it should apply to everyone even dignitaries from other Countries. That is not what I am questioning at this time. I was on a trip last month and noticed on two different types of aircraft that both had working ashtrays in the restroom. I would think that the airline would have placed something more useful in its place. It just doesn’t make sense. Next is the restroom at a local company that still had an ashtray in place. I know that this company may not have wanted to spend the money to take that item off of the wall. They may want to save a little money – they may not have noticed or maybe they think that the state law that forbids smoking inside of buildings in all of the state will change. Both seem to be lazy and cheap actions that give the public a mixed signal as to their willingness to enforce the law.

Speaking of how we look at the law, you should think about the primary election coming soon to this state. We have a history of paid placement of propositions on the ballet. Organizations pay to have signatures collected and place issues before the public, a public that is not aware of the source of the measure. This election we have one that is paid for by a private utility and another that comes from an insurance company. You can sense where these measures are directed. One measures paid advertising, advises voters to only believe the state election pamphlet. But if you look carefully, the quote that they say is the unbiased truth, is actually a quote from the pro argument written by the people who put the issue on the ballet. That is just another thing that somehow doesn’t seem to balance out. I know that we must always make our own decisions and that we can not believe everything we see, especially before an election, but I do think that we should try to see that we do not deceive people and that we try to keep up with the times that exist now.

Fresno City College 1910-2010

2010-04-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

Before the year gets any longer I must wish Fresno City College a happy birthday! Opening on September 12, 1910 and it will celebrate its 100th birthday all of this year. I must admit that I am a little biased about this school since I was awarded a lifetime student body card for my service to the school. No, I was not there when it opened, but I think that some of my teachers must have been. The school was the first junior college in the state of California and the second one to be established in the USA. The school started out as a part of Fresno High School and as such it gained the reputation as a high school with ashtrays. So things have changed. Now you can’t smoke at any school. The time I spent there are very memorable. I was honored to be elected to the student council and that is how I was awarded the lifetime student card. I know that the responsibilities of elected government do go to all levels and in fact we actually did some things that affected the campus and we tried to make the college experience better for all the students. The school is more than part of the history of higher education in California. Fresno City College is now part of a multi campus system. In my day we had busses that carried students from the far parts of the district. I do remember how hard it was for some to reach the campus during the winter Toole fog season. I remember that once we had finals during a snow storm. Yes snow. The only schools that were open were FCC and Fresno State. I was doing some final in the old bungalows and it was cold. I walked to school that day just to avoid driving because I knew that no one actually had any experience driving in the snow and that parking would be worse than usual. I can now tell my son that I actually had to walk to school in the snow and it was uphill both ways.

When FCC students attend statewide events they are considered a top school. Just try to imagine what it was like to attend a college in 1910 when the school was founded. How long would it have taken to reach San Francisco or Los Angeles? I suspect that train travel was the best choice and that it was easier and faster to go to San Francisco then to Los Angeles. Car production was still at a minimum in 1910 with the Ford model T only starting in 1907. It is also important to note that in 1910 the population of the city of Fresno was 24,892. If you look up the population trends you will notice that in that era the population of the city tended to double every 10 years. The history of the school and the people who have attended have made an impression on me and many other people. The community college system now supports and supplements the college and university systems of many states. With the cost of education continuing to escalate they have become even more important than they were in the past. Join me and many others who appreciate FCC on September 10, 2010 for the Centennial Convocation at the college and many other events that will be held throughout the year.

Remembering Dottie Kemps

2010-03-29T13:43:00.001-07:00

I remember the first time I signed in at KCET to help on the phone banks for a pledge drive. I had no idea what would happen and how I would do the work that made a phone call an actual pledge. But that was when I meet Dottie. She always had complete control of the pledge set no matter what the directors and pledge producers thought. She taught us all how to do the job despite our inabilities. More important, she was able to get some of us to stay off of the front row of the phone bank so that you could see on air that we were actually live. She kept us moving around to add to that live look. Yes some are camera hogs and some just like to sit in one place all evening. Then again, some just liked to sit and talk when we were not on the air. The more important part of her job was to get enough people to work the phones at some of the weird times that pledge breaks were held. Then most of the pledge drive was actually held live on the air. Try to get 100 people to work on a Sunday morning and for a Barney marathon. “No child, Barney is busy and can’t come to the phone – but he said to tell you that he loves you and can I speak to an adult?” How do you explain that Barney is in Texas and this is tape? How do you get rid of the obscene caller who seems to be able to get into the system repeatedly and quickly so that he was annoying everyone on the phones? Dottie’s advice was to have us say “operator this is the call to trace”. I don’t know if it worked but it gave us something to try.

There are many stories about her and how she kept the place going. She was able to call on friendships that she made doing other volunteer work to bring in groups to work the phones. Getting all of the food that is needed to feed the volunteers. We were always reminded to bring in those little treats that we shared with each other to keep us going, all evening long. You can’t forget the shoes. No matter what we said about her foot pain she would not switch to a more comfortable shoe and insisted on the ones she felt looked best. Even the time that she was on crutches she came in every day, to work the set and keep us going. It took the effort of several just to get her to sit and let someone else do the running. No one could match her determination to do the job. I have known several who have worked later and they did a great job – but you could not match Dottie for her attitude and work ethic. Who else could keep the talent, the crew, the station management, and the volunteers happy all at the same time? . To show in what high regard she is remembered, they have an award that is given nationally to the best volunteer leader at all of the PBS stations and it is named for Dorothy Kemps.

All of us who worked with Dottie will always remember the time that we spent with her and how she made our lives better.

The Pioneer and Rock Radio

2010-03-08T15:14:00.000-08:00

I have taken a few days to think about this post. I read that Gene Chenault had passed away last week. I have often spoken about the history of rock radio, especially in the Fresno, CA market. Fresno is famous in marketing for some of the products that were first tried and sold in its limited market. Remember, that markets were more isolated before the introduction of satellite and Internet marketing. Some day’s people were bringing products to your door so that you could try them and tell about how you felt before the product was actually put into the national market. This era lead to innovation in broadcasting and newspaper sales. One of the changes at that time was the introduction of rock and how it leads to a different type of radio. I remember when KYNO changed to rock and took over the local radio band. I never had the chance to meet either Gene Chenault or Bill
Drake who turned their company Drake-Chenault into the powerhouse of radio programming that it was to become. I was not completely happy with the changes at the time. I know that I was definitely in a minority, within my age group. I was more of a news fan even then. The “much more music” and “20-20 news” were dynamic changes that started in Fresno and went all over the world. My first visit to a rock radio station was at 2 am on a Sunday morning with a group of friends from Fresno City College. We had a charity event and after it was over we took the result to several local stations. The DJ at KYNO must have been bored that night, since he let us come in and watch him play non stop music. He told us that he had no more advertising to play, until 5 am that morning.
The effect of that station, was to actually eliminate one of the competitors. The station changed its call letters to HARM or KARM when the FCC would not allow the “H” prefix that George Harm wanted and made him stay with the normal, so KARM changed to a format of pop music. The last day of rock on that station was a 24 hour playing of one song. I think it was an Elvis song but as an old guy I do not remember all the details.
I had not known that Leo Goldman who started KYNO, is the father of Carl Goldman. He and his wife, own the local radio station in my town. KHTS is not a big station, but it is important to our local community. The news feed that they send me on the Internet, is ahead of everyone with local news. This is what local radio does best. It reminds me of KYNO and the era when local radio was the most important to us all. From the start it was local radio that brought in rock radio. Not all of it was as innocent as people thought, but I just want to remember what the people heard.
Let me just add that one of my big memories of growing up, was winning a contest that provided the food for a picnic in my backyard for 13 people and the appearance of one of the local DJ's. I picked the morning drive and Sam Schwan actually came. I was impressed. One contest was to find the remote broadcast and get a prize – well I had a head start because they were parked on the street outside of my house. I remember listening to the clue and thinking they had to be close. When I looked out the window and saw they were still on the air I knew I had won.
The fact is that I have always preferred the traditional style and was more into KMPC and Gary Owen then KHJ and the Real Don Steele in Los Angeles radio. In fact when I moved to Los Angeles, it seemed that it had followed me with the same format and even the same person doing the news.
Now that I have read the obit in the Los Angeles Times, it brings all these memories back to me and I thank Carla Rivera for it.

The Old New Jersey

2010-02-11T03:00:00.000-08:00

We had left D.C. to get away from a very busy day in the city and wanted the quiet. Unfortunately we also had a long drive to do this and had dinner in Atlantic City. I have been to this city a couple of times in the past. It was a small town with a famous boardwalk and known for the relaxed atmosphere that was just pleasant. It felt like it must have been even a hundred years before. Once the casinos came to town it all changed. The small houses and business that were the neighborhood behind the boardwalk was quickly removed to provide parking for the big hotel casinos. It made this just another gambling center. This last trip showed it needs to do something to integrate the boardwalk with the city that is on the other side of the parking lots. By the way the first thing that you see when you enter the city is the parking lots for the employees. They must come from outside the city and park where they can be bused to work. They apparently do not employ many people from the city or they are made to go out of their way to park and get to work.

Barney

2010-02-10T03:00:00.000-08:00

Well I did find a place in New Jersey that is actually nice.

Yes this is me and no one is forcing me to say this.
The fact is, that much of the state is OK. The problem is that some of the state does deserve the less then stellar reputation that it has.
We did have the chance to visit Barnegat Light House on our recent trip to Washington D.C. The lighthouse is a key part of the commerce of our nation. Even today it is an active part of the safety of those who go to sea in ships. Remember that no matter how fancy the equipment on some ships some do still depend on the light house to get safely back to port. The time we spent at Barnegat Light was an enjoyable period of time.
The light house was open to the public and you could feel the difference in the people of yesterday from those of today. We feel so cramped in the small rooms, now days, but the light house was a family business. Not just the keeper of the light, but the whole family had a part in the safety that was needed to do this job. I wonder what it is like to work and live in these sparse quarters. The families were on their own most of the time. No, I didn’t walk all the way to the top of the tower but the view is shown live in the study center at the base of the tower. It is so nice of them to allow those of us who do not do long flights of stairs to enjoy the view.

I really would not want to be here in a Nor’easter. This is the small town on a spit of land, that can easily be overrun by high tides and things. It's what you expect the Jersey shore should be. Summer fun obviously happens on the road to Barney. It is the place that people go to have a great time and get away from the city life and the pressure of work. Some of us do know that places like this must exist for our sanity.

Since I prefer sunsets to sunrise I think that I will stay with the west coast and the areas on Highway One for most of my coastal visits...but it was a nice day trip and I was glad to experience it.

Super Bowl Sunday 2010

2010-02-08T14:00:00.000-08:00

Well the Super Bowl is over and we can all claim that we knew New Orleans would win. Or so we can tell all of our friends at work. We know everyone will be writing about the big weekend today. It is just that with over a million people watching the event many will find a need to make comments.
To start I find that it is encouraging to actually watch a Super Bowl game were the game was better than the commercials. Many years of attending Ken Kurtis’s world famous Super Chili Bowl party and most of the time we spend checking the commercials and eating snacks during the game part. Many times the game was so dull that you wondered why those two teams were playing. This year both teams showed great total play and an honest effort to play good clean football. It was a minimum number of penalties against either team it was a nice game to watch. The fact is that both teams seemed so intense and really worked to play hard and safe was an indication of just how much both teams wanted to win this game. The fact that no one seemed to have a major injury also indicates that the teams were concentrating on the game and not on the player in front of them. Yes they did play hard. Yes they did what they needed to win. They did not seem to be playing in anger just intensely or showing that a good sport can play a good hard game and that the team that makes the fewest mistakes and gets the good plays at the right time will win.
So if you watched for the commercials SO SORRY. It was not the best group of commercials that I have seen on the big weekend. I did watch the special that CBS ran last week were people voted on the best commercial of the last ten years. I do not know who voted – but I think that it was just not even close to a true winner. Whoever picked the top three commercials for the final vote missed the fact by more than a mile. The other problem was that if this was a national vote you might let the west coast actually vote. By doing the usual three hour tape delay and cutting off the votes from the west coast you do not have a true contest. CBS seems to like it that way. This year most the messages would not make the top 100 of the voting. A couple might make it and maybe one or two actually will sell a product. Doesn’t a good ad need to sell a product? Oh well that seems to be forgotten with all of the companies out to do image advertising. Let us hope in the future it does return to a football game that has big name and big money advertising. If they ever return to LA maybe we would not need Super Bowl parties to go to we might actually get to go to the game.

What Day Is It Anyway?

2010-01-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

I found an interesting fact in the newspaper the other day. It pointed out that the date 01-02-2010 was actually a palindrome. It reads the same backwards as forward. So that if you write it as 0102-20-10 You really have the same date as when it is forward. That eliminates the tricky subject of the date looking strange. Now we can go on to the more important topics. To start with so many people must have too much time available. The first topic is how to pronounce the year. Is it 20-10 or is it two thousand and ten? Of course it must be 20-10 since that is the fastest and easiest way to say it. Besides will it be 20-40? Or will it be two thousand and forty? Since I probably will not care about it that year why do I care about it now. The main thing is that we are lazy and will do whatever makes it easier. They also want to seem cool when they talk to each other. I just can’t wait for the next big combination of numbers to make another fun combination. Just think we have 10-10-10 still to come this year. It just keeps on coming.
While I am at it I have gotten tired of all the discussion of the start of a new decade. We still have a year to go. So many people seem to think that the decade goes from 2000 to 2009. That does not make any sense. In most people’s world the numbers in a decade should go from 1-10. So doesn’t it make more sense to have 2001 to 2010. If course that means that we really did not start the new decade until 2001 and that the fuss that was made on January 1, 2000 was just silly. I think that it was all of those 0’s that made people think it was more important to most people. They all thought that because it was beyond many people’s thoughts when computers started it was going to be a big mess. Now the next big disaster will come in 2012. Just maybe those people designing calendars just ran out of room. If the doomsday predictors are correct maybe we should just like today and not worry about what will happen after that date. We probably will not be around to worry about it all. If they are wrong we just go on living our lives. We will leave it all to those intelligent people who talk so much on radio and television.
So what date is it anyway?

What Did They Say ?

2009-12-20T19:14:00.000-08:00

We seem to have forgotten how to use our language. I do not claim to be the person who knows it all about the content or structure of our language but I do know some things and I know what sounds proper. It may be that we are seeing more influence of other languages. It may be that we are folding to the pressure of those who are just learning the language and try to put the words into a structure that they feel more comfortable using. All of this having been said, it does not cover those who presumably have been educated in the use of the English language all of their lives and yet make these very apparent errors. A couple of the examples that I have seen over the last few years are so apparent that you wonder why no one else notices or says anything to the people doing this to the language. I have heard several people use these words in strange sounding sentences.

1. Appreciate. “I would like to appreciate the following people for your work.” Would it not show more of a sense of appreciation if the person said: “I would like to show my appreciation to the following people for their work effort?” It would take a couple of more words, but it also shows that they do appreciate that persons work and want to show them that they are not just saying something but do feel that the person deserves the recognition.
2. Disrespect. “You disrespected me.” I find this all very disconcerting. It would be not just correct but also would show much more of an understanding of the people around you if the sentence came out as ”you are not showing any respect for me.” Or “What you said is disrespectful” If you say something about a person that is disrespect. If you make a comment about what the person is doing shouldn’t it at least sound like you really do know what you are talking about?
3. Ingenious. I have heard several people use this term and I am sure that it is usually used just to sound fancy and that no one really does know what it means and that we just suspect that the person saying it actually knows its meaning.

When you use the language in a way that sounds as if you are not in command of its use you are lessening its impact on the listener. It also makes you sound ignorant. The problem becomes one of you not knowing how to properly show the position that you want to take. In some languages it could be as simple as the gender influence on some words. This can turn a complement into a disrespectful statement. We do all need to watch not just what we say but how we say it.

A Visit To History

2009-12-19T22:00:00.000-08:00

Just visited Washington D.C. and over the next few posts I will let you know about some of the things that I saw on the trip that both impressed me and depressed me.

I do hope that people will give their opinions on these subjects.

Washinton D.C. - An Overview

2009-12-19T19:12:00.000-08:00

This recent trip to the Nation’s Capital has given me new insight into the city and how it is part of our nations past and current news. Now that I have had a chance to let my reactions sink in I do have a couple of comments.
The capital can be divided into very distinct areas of interest. There is the historic, the monuments, the real city and the center of government of our nation. Each of these areas of interest will definitely take then one day of your time to really get the full picture. The Capital Mall is the center of most of the buildings that will interest those from out of town. If you really want to see the Capitol Building and the White House you are best off speaking to your local member of Congress way ahead of the visit. The staff of the member can get you tour tickets to the White House but they will need time to get you on the tour you want. As for the Capitol building you might get a more personal tour if your member of congress knows you or you become acquainted with the local representative of that member. Remember that members of the house are always up for reelection and want that local constituent to tell friends how well they were treated while in the Nation’s Capital. After several trips to the city I realized that this was the first time I had actually been to the front of the White House and that my previous trips had just skipped that area for some reason.
For the best view of the history of our Country, visit the many buildings of the Smithsonian and see the individual areas of interest. Many of the items are original and obviously in no other location. My greatest remembrance will be standing only a few feet from the Spirit Of Saint Louis and knowing its full history and importance to our present day travel industry.
If you visit the monuments be prepared to have an emotional time. The Lincoln Memorial is grand and the words that you have read other places are more remarkable when set in granite. The Vietnam Memorial is more personal and when you read the names. You see that war is indeed something that involves people. It is probable that you will look for those you know who are on the wall and then you may want to know if an acquaintance is on the wall and hope that the name is not there. Also, you feel an emotion from those who you will see that you know have come to visit one of the people who they have lost.
The Library of Congress is both the current and the historic. It is changing to keep it current while it is a symbol of our past and a desire to be the central library of our nation. Only in this area will you see so much that actually is all of the categories rolled into one and you might need to visit some sites more then once to get the true feeling of the location.
Many people think that this is a city that you should avoid because it is so congested, but it has its ways around, so that you can avoid the traffic. Use the subway or other local transportation so that you can park away from most of the traffic. They take children to visit the Capital but it takes an adult to appreciate all of its importance.

Getting IntoThe White House

2009-12-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

Since my visit to Washington DC and the White House many people have compared our visit to that of the couple who were able to so easily get into a major party and get very close to the top leaders of our country. When we went on the tour of the White House it was necessary to make arrangements two months in advance. We contacted the office of Senator Barber Boxer and thank her staff for the nice job that they did to help us go on the tour and it did make the trip worthwhile. We needed to have valid ID and to follow the rules to get into the building. Just think no purse, no backpack, and worst of all no cameras. You could take your cell phone. The complete list will come to you when you arrange the tour. When you get to the gate to enter the area you are checked against the list for that tour. You can’t even be chewing gum when you enter. That is before you are screened at a level that is beyond what you expect at an airport. You are checked by several people and the several secret service agents that are casually in the area just talking to people. I do not know and actually do not want to know what other things they were checking. Sometimes it is best not to know. So that couple half hardily tries to get on the list and then they decide just decided to fake it all. It seems that the White House was not able to handle the large crowd that was anticipated, and a couple that took advantage of the situation. Our tour was lead by a member of the secret service.

We saw many staff people who obviously we’re not doing anything except watch us. That is besides the uniformed officers that are all around and especially on the perimeter of the grounds. The security may have been intense BUT it was all designed to make it safe while at the same time allow us to enjoy our short time at the center of democracy. Even Barbara Walters must go through tough security to enter an event at the White House. She commented on a recent event while on her show the View. I suspect that some people in the current administration just wanted a more open picture of the event that was a first for the new administration. I think it will be considered just the first time that the public will see that the people in government are just like the rest of us. They do try to do so many things that at times do not come out as well as they think that they will. That is why we have the form of government that allows for such things and still keeps going.

America's Small Town

2009-12-02T00:11:00.000-08:00

Planning to visit Washington DC makes you think that you will be going to a big city. If you take the time to study the history of the city, you will find that, in fact, it is just a small town with a big reputation. The original plan for the city shows it was physically larger but part was given back to the state of Virginia as part of the strategy to prevent the Civil War. Also, it did make sense to make the border at a river. In the Civil War that would have made it easier to defend. On television they have all of these conspiracy theories to show how the plan for the city developed. Just maybe it was because they wanted the city to look like a formal European garden. The design of the city does have one major problem. The city was built in an era that will never be seen again. If you try to drive around the central part of the city you know that traffic is always a mess. Today the large blocks that contain the major buildings that are the center of our Government, are all congested all day.
Some things have been done to help. I noticed one building where the central court had been converted to parking. At the treasury building, they actually do use some car pool vans to help. Many of those going to work do use the subway system. Of course that is not perfect, but does help the city survive the automobile age that we now live with. This is just a small town in size and attitude. The beltway concept that is designed to cover the attitude of government employees also applies to those who live in the city. They seem to be isolated as a part of the city. Part of that is the out dated concept that the National Government needs to govern the city. It is just a city like any other and the fact that it houses the Government is not as important as it was at the start. Should the National Government make the traffic laws around the area that contains Wall Street? In fact it may be a worry, that if the Congress loses this power the members of Congress would actually need to pay parking tickets or that diplomats from other Countries would need to follow the traffic laws. I have visited the city several times and noticed a couple of major things. In general, the city looks cleaner, BUT then the National Mall looks like a mess. It may be because it was fall and a major event was planned for the next day. The general opinion that this area that is, in fact, the Nation's front yard and needs to be cleaned up to represent the Nation best to all of our visitors. The current look is closer to that of a foreclosed home.

If my Congressman could do what he says he can do, maybe he could lead in this area and help us make our Nation’s Capitol look its role.

FDR

2009-11-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

One of the more interesting stops to visit in Washington DC is the FDR Memorial. It seems that many people do not know of its existence. The feeling of this large site is that of entering a series of rooms and yet being in a garden. This area was designed by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin. He is well known for his work on fountains and outdoor areas. I visited this area in October 2009 and it happened to be the same time that the architect died. He lived from July 1916 to October 2009. In the obituary written in the Los Angeles Times it states that among the details he included in the design was an exact placement for each of the 4,000 stones that make up the water falls that provide the divides between the rooms. I also discovered that a photograph in my family room is from an earlier work of his, a fountain in front of the Ferry Building in downtown San Francisco. I have always felt that this structure makes the whole area. It is the same with the FDR Memorial. It is the fountains and the calming sound of the water that gives the area its feeling of serenity and makes you want to stop and read the inscriptions. Each of these rooms is one area of the FDR legacy. On entering, you see him sitting in a wheel chair. During his lifetime that was one on the biggest secrets. Now days, if a man of that stature was in a wheel chair, I would hope that it would not be a limiting factor for a man in public life. The depression and war are also part of the structure. The five sculptures have captured not just people but the mood that the era represented.

Five Leonard Baskin, Neil Estern, Robert Graham, Tom Hardy, and George Segal did works of art that made these subjects come alive. Master stone carver John Benson made the words permanent and at the same time fit the placement in the stone. It is listed by many tour sites on Google as a must see site. It should also be seen as a more human and respectful site that seems much more natural and less formal then some of the other sites on the mall.

Consumers Need To Know

2009-11-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you go on a trip and find people and places that surprise you. On my last trip I did meet many interesting people and that did not surprise me. I have been around television and broadcasting for a long time and have always known what the CEA(Consumer Electronic Association) was and have been to their big show in Las Vegas a couple of times. I had never associated the group with a physical location or a building with the name on the top. When I discovered that they had the building next to the hotel I was using, it made sense. I suspect that a major part of any national organization of that type is to lobby the members of the national government. So their being located in Crystal City, Virginia was not a surprise. I was trying to get away from thoughts of work so I did not go in to visit. It shows that no matter how you want to get away from it all, some of it will follow you. I know that the people at the CEA would have been nice if I had taken the time to say hello but I had things that I wanted to do and those things were definitely not thinking about television sets. Yes I will talk about the part of broadcasting that I did see. The difference is that when I did deal with broadcasting it was with the actual broadcasting and more about getting the message out and not what you see it on. The show that they sponsor is fun and I keep saying that I will go back soon. Not just because it is in Las Vegas in January but because it is the place to see the future of an industry that is in constant flux. Today what we see in stores is not anything near what we will see in the future. The LCD screen that is now the predominant screen will phase out as the LED version becomes more prominent. The emphasize will be on energy consumption and the physical size of the unit. Using less electricity and being thinner will make them more popular with consumers. I know many people will love them because they are the new thing and not because they are more ecology sensitive. Go to a store and stand in front of a wall of LCD sets and you will feel how much power is being wasted. All of the extra energy is turned into heat and at home that is nice in winter, but if you are running air conditioning you know your bill is higher. Well, all of this is why a group like the CEA plays a part in making the case to the federal bureaucracy for those who sell electronics and gives those of us who deal with the industry, a place to see what is coming hopefully before we need to sell it.

A Day To Stop And Remember

2009-11-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

Today is a day to stop and remember those who were injured or killed in the service of their country. We remember all of them for the service given to all of us. Yesterday the country stopped to show respect for those were killed or wounded at Fort Hood in Texas. We do not expect things like this to occur on a military post anyplace in the world. We think of them as secure areas where the members of our military service can prepare for dangerous duty or to recover after coming home. I have visited a couple of bases in recent years and they are not the same as they were in past years. Today you are expected to have a reason for coming on the base. You are looked at suspiciously when you enter and must prove who you are. I can remember when the front gate was just a ceremonial entrance with guards just looked at the people as they entered. Today is a time when all of us are saddened that a member of our military was so distraught with his life and place that he acted in such a horrendous fashion. This is a man who should have known by his own training that he needed help. If he truly did find the actions of our country contrary to his religious beliefs or to the ideology that he held above his oath to his country then many better ways did exist for him to let the world know how he felt. It may be good that this person is alive to tell us why he acted. Many believe that his death would have been an easier way to end the agony. The fact is that his death would have only caused more questions that would not have ever been answered. I do hope that now we will get the answers that the families of those involved are entitled to know. I do hope that the results of this event will be more security for the military members and their dependents that are living on the military bases all over the world.

Veterans Day is the day to let the families of all those who have served our country not just in war but have given their time to serve in all the ways that the country requests. We now have a volunteer military and we know that those in uniform are not forced to serve. If you see a member of the military during your daily routine please join me in thanking them for the sacrifice that they make daily to serve us. Knowing the pressures that are placed on the members of the armed service and in many ways even more so on the family members who do really serve along side of the service members and who do have more of a struggle to survive. The service members do depend on each other and us so that they can do their best to serve us.

I SAY THANK YOU TO ALL WHO SERVE NOW AND TO THOSE WHO SERVED IN THE PAST.

Safety First

2009-11-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

One of the old traditions of flying seems to be going the way of the propeller. On a recent trip we were actually not shown the flight safety information by the flight crew. The aircraft was configured so that the passengers could all see monitors hung in the center aisle. Yes the same small monitors that show the bad movies or TV shows. Before the flight they were used to show the safety message and to inform passengers about the safety measures needed to evacuate the aircraft. They could actually show the emergency lighting and how the exit rows are lighted. I want to thank the airline for this update of procedures. Actually on one of the flight segments I did see one passenger read the emergency card. Most of us who have flown many times just ignore the whole process. This is not to say that this is not important. Using video will actually get the attention of a generation who do not read and depend on video for all of their information. Of course they will never see this post. The main benefit of the newer process is that it allows close up pictures of the equipment and to show all of the process in detail that a person standing at the head of the aisle cannot really show. I understand that one airline is famous for the humor of the flight crews I do hope that this new technique does not eliminate the humor just changes the topic of the humor. As with any change it is both good and bad. We will miss the flight attendants rushing to get the briefing in before they must sit down for departure. A procedure that I do not take lightly since I do appreciate that the crew does need to show a good safe example for the passengers who do not understand what can happen to a moving person during takeoff. We will enjoy a better safety message and more information that is now possible. In the future maybe a more complete and more detailed message is possible.

And Now A Word From The Sponsor

2009-11-04T06:00:00.001-08:00

Well not quite that but a rhetorical question. Is Washington D.C. the only city where advertising signs tend to lean toward the major military vendors? The only place where I have noticed signs in the subway system advertising the major providers of military equipment. I have seldom seen an ad for a radar system. Advertising for military aircraft. Boeing selling the new tanker aircraft to the Air Force. These things are just a part of what makes this city different. You know that you will not bump into the President while on the subway. Members of congress are in limited numbers on public transit. I presume that those who are the object of this advertising are the staff members of congress members and the staff working in the military establishment. They did advertise very heavily in the Pentagon subway station. The tourists seem to just ignore the signs as a part of the local picture, but they are more the targets then most of the locals who are on the train with them. Tourists may visit with members of congress or say something when they next see a congressman campaigning back at home. Remember that members of the congress are always planning for the next election. If you live in a city that does have major defense industries or an area that hopes to have one of the contractors build some big plant then you might see targeted advertising that shows how a particular project will affect you. We all know that the goal of the big companies are out to make a profit and in some cases keep the money being spent in this country. The big effort by Boeing to keep the new tanker that the Air Force needs from being built by Airbus, is just one example of this major effort of an industry that usually is very under the radar, to keep its constituency informed of its needs. With all of that said, it does make for a different type of advertising then we usually see. You expect soap, movies, and restaurants but not defense contractors. This does give you an early indication of who runs the city and who is important to those who live in the city. So visit the Capitol and enjoy the sights but do remember where the money is and who does the spending.

The Nation's City

2009-11-02T14:00:00.000-08:00

Washington D.C. is like no other city in the world. It has an area that cannot be replicated. Even Las Vegas has not tried to copy it. When you travel to the city you are impressed by the buildings that have been built to impress everyone. It is not just the Capitol building and the White House that impresses. I will write a separate entry about the White House. The public areas of the Capitol building equal and surpass most art galleries with the statuary and paintings that represent all of the states. The inclusion of statues of important people from all of the states, makes it both of artistic and historic importance. The mall is indeed a gathering place and with the monuments to key people and moments in our history makes it an important place and it has been said that it is the “nation’s front yard”. This is the only negative note on the area. The mall needs much work to make it a park that we can be proud about. Most of the grass was dead and not because of the time of year. Even with the Marine Corps Marathon preparations and the rain on the day I visited it is apparent that much work is needed to bring the area up to what is needed for us to be proud. Many thousands of people do use the area all of the time. That does not mean that we cannot maintain the landscape in a fashion that will set the tone for the city. It obviously needs more funding. Let us set aside the funds to do so.

On the positive side. The memorials to WWII, Korea, and Vietnam do respect those who served. The Women are memorialized for their service and it is nice, even if they are segregated from the acknowledgment of the Men’s service. There are monuments immortalizing a few of the great men (no Women) who have served our country. The monuments do need much more individual treatment and I will go into some detail on some later. The city itself is just a big city but with a very good transit system. On our recent trip the only time we needed a car was to travel out of the area. Riding the metro subway system we were able to visit the central area and even get out to the area of Arlington Cemetery and the Mall at the Pentagon. I find it intriguing that the Pentagon has its own subway stop. The variety of people on the subway was great with civil servants, military, tourists, and the rest of the population all riding together. The weather may affect the surface travel but I suspect that most of the subway system does well in the winter. So let me say that for an old city that the Congress does not seem to think is mature enough for self government it is OK. We had just a short visit to the city but I did come away with many things to write about and many nice people who I may mention along the way.

Customer Service

2009-10-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

It must just be me. I think that the economy is really starting to effect the way that people act while they are shopping. People seem to think that however they act in public is ok because they are spending the money. The truth is that decorum is always needed in a society. When it gets busy each person is responsible for their own action. If many people are trying to get service from one sales person then it does make sense to pay attention to what is going on around you. When someone else is being helped it does not make the situation better if you interrupt. I was in a local Sears store last week when I noticed a couple of women at the counter. I thought that they were together by their action. It turned out that one was waiting for the sales person to complete a transaction for another woman before he finished processing a return for that women. She spent the entire time she was waiting and the time she was helped leaning over the counter or fixing her sweat pants that kept slipping. Yes she was extremely over weight. She was indigent that she needed to provide information to the store since she did not have a receipt for the item that she was returning. Apparently this was the second person who was helping to settle the problem. As she left all she could do was complain that the first person was purposely giving her problems about her return. Not a word about how the second person had gone overboard to help her and had been very professional about his help to her. Yes I did thank him for helping me and told him how well I felt he had helped the customer ahead of me. This is only one of the incidents I have seen lately. Is it the full moon or is it the weather or is it just that some people do not feel that they need to act polite in public. One customer objected because of a joke. The sales people were “silly” and not interested in helping. This customer was not just rude to one person but to several employees of the company, and was given good service despite this. The fact is that sales people who last more than one day are interested in helping and try to know as much about the products they sell as they can learn so that they do not look dumb to the public. People should remember that everyone is the same and we are all out in public being watched by everyone else so that they can make fun of you. So act as if you were on center stage and the world is watching. You are not alone and should act as if all the rest of the people actually care about your actions.

Letterman's Folly

2009-10-06T13:58:00.001-07:00

The more that I hear about David Letterman and his actions the less I consider him as a person. When he was forced to let the truth of his actions become public, it was only because of the fact that he would either pay a large sum of money or make his actions become public. Apparently over time Mr. Letterman liked to have very private moments with the women members of his staff. In fact a child was born to one woman who had been on his staff. He did later marry this women and does brag about their son.
Well that is not the real issue. At the least this series of actions is a moral failure and should be against the policy of his employer.
Is Mr. Letterman an employee of CBS and violating corporate policy?
Is he an employee of his production company and should he fire himself? Or should CBS end his contract for moral reasons.
I know of other lesser known people working in the broadcast business that have lost their jobs for far less obvious reasons then are apparent here. One case I was aware of was a technical employee who had a photo calendar showing women in very limited amount of clothing (not nudity). The calendar was hung on the back of a door that was only closed when the work area was not being used. A female employee of the company happened to see the calendar and reported it to a supervisor. The male employee was fired. I am not commenting on this issue specifically just commenting on the extremes of the two cases. It should become clear that someone needs to look into the issues that are involved in Mr. Letterman’s situation. How free was the relationship involved in the sexual relations that were going on with employees on his television show? How free can a person be when the boss is the one who is asking you to have sex? Is this really just a return to the old movie industry casting couch? At least one of the women also did appear on his TV show.

So I guess the time has come to stop laughing at the situation and let an independent agency look at the ethics and the morality that seems to have been a failure here and maybe, if the Internet is correct, as a more pronounced situation at CBS.

Changes For The Better? Part I

2009-09-29T11:14:00.000-07:00

As an old person I occasionally will notice those things that occur very differently now, than they did in the past. Some of the time it is an improvement that actually does make a product better. Most of the time it is just an advertising gimmick to get us to purchase more, or to return to a product that we had been buying in the past, but not anymore. But that is not the problem. It seems that some of the old rules have gone away and the results are very strange. Let us try to remember how it was and see if any of this actually makes any sense.

1. Commercials for competing companies do not come back to back.
How many times have you seen several automobile ads run in order during the same commercial break? It seems that they are the only company who wants to advertise in some programs and so that means that they must follow one another. What position in the set is actually of any value?
2. You do not follow a story about a product with the competitors product.
Watching a couple of programs this morning I noticed some very interesting contrasts. First on a news show they did a story on flavored chicken wings and followed it with an ad for breakfast at a fast food place. The second was a product placement for a toy that was followed by an ad from a competing toy company. In both, all of the effort for the placement of the product was lost because the advertising department seems not to watch the show or see the script ahead of time. That may be good for freedom of the press but it does really make it confusing for the audience.
3. The stories on television and in the press are actually edited and checked for correct facts.
I noticed a story in a local newspaper that had included a picture to illustrate the story. Unfortunately the picture was in error and did not really convey the message of the story. Knowing where the picture was acquired it was apparent that it was laziness on the part of the producing news agency and the newspaper. It resulted in the error that could be confusing to anyone who did not read the story or was not sure of how the system works. I e-mailed the newspaper and was told by the editor that they did not really check the wire service stories and maybe they should. What maybe they should? I have worked at a newspaper and my memory was that every piece of copy was checked no matter what the source. As I said I am an old person and I even remember them checking the stories that came in about major breaking news to see if the wire service was correct. Wire services were always sending corrections that were caused by the pressure of time on reporting. In this case it might have been a current news story but the picture was a file photo that just came from the wrong file.
So why is modern better? Maybe the truth is that it is cheaper to make the mistake and pay for the error, instead of the expense of correcting the error before it becomes public. It is all about “saving money” and that seems to be the bottom line now.

Just A Few Pictures

2009-09-21T11:44:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about how our lives have been changed by the internet. One way that I have noticed has not actually been changed is how we want to see pictures of ourselves in many places.
When I was in college one of the best indicators of how active you were was how many times you were in the yearbook at the end of the school year. It was the goal of some people to see how many pictures of yourself you could find in the book. One year we almost had a contest to determine the person with the most pictures. The year that I knew the staff photographers, but was not on the staff I did have a huge amount of coverage. The next year I did cut down because of was too busy editing the book. The details of that project are another topic. We just hung out at events that we knew would be covered and were around when they were taking junk pictures that eventually were used to fill in spaces. Sometimes it was a need to fill a spot and the fact that were in the area that made the picture possible. Has it changed today? No now only the media has changed. Now we try to see how many pictures we can find on Facebook or some other similar site. We want to be friends with as many people as possible so that our picture will not only appear in the photo albums that we post but in as many places that we do not “control”. I have found that it can be more fun to post both my picture and that of my alter ego. It may be the same concept as the clown that can act more natural in makeup. The fact that it is how I want to look makes in part of the game. I think that the only place some people need to be seen is on the post office wall, but then that group of people probably does not have facebook pages. So I suspect you think that I will use a picture of myself with this post – well no that would make this a silly joke and those who know me know that I never do silly jokes only intellectual and very high brow humor. Think about It. I now can have all of the pictures that were not taken and actually get more coverage then I had before. We do love to be seen. Unfortunately most of us do not do anything that will make it to the press. So use facebook or one of the social sites, it is much safer than the other means of getting publicity.

Fire In The Sky

2009-09-01T12:20:00.000-07:00

I live in an area that is always close to disaster. If it is not an earthquake it is a fire, a mud slide, or very hot temperatures. Today we are watching a fire. It has become the number one story for most of the news organizations across the country. It should be nice to be the center of the world – but is only true when you talk about the Emmys or the Oscars. Our main concern here is the massive smoke cloud that covers all of the Los Angeles area. Some residences in my area are in much more danger, then I am. Now we are watching the fire cover so much area that it covers more area then a large city. We watch the TV stations cover this event and see the little digs that they make at each other. Now the main concern is if we will have "over the air" TV for much longer, since the fire is very close to the top of Mt. Wilson, which is the area that contains the transmitters for the Los Angeles area. The concern becomes of importance since many forms of communications are involved including FM radio, emergency communications and TV. The TV stations will need to communicate with the cable companies to continue to broadcast – but that does not help those who only use the over the air signal of the stations. The most important thing that most of us will face is that smoke. It is difficult to breath at times and the fact that many people have breathing problems without this added irritant is a factor of life in this area. We can work to eliminate the smog and we can clean up how we live our lives. We try all of the time to make our city cleaner and healthier. This situation is harmful to all of us, from the little inconvenience that it causes to the school sports teams, to the major problem for the young and those who need clean air to live.

You may ask...Why do we live here?

It is the average day, when no one is talking about us, that makes us love it so much.

How To Spoil A Good Movie

2009-08-26T21:51:00.000-07:00

The more I learn about the process of movie and television production the more I think about what I know and the less I watch what is on the screen. I had learned many years ago that the production time involved in making what is referred to as a one camera shoot is very involved and can be very confusing. I have had the opportunity to visit the set of a one hour drama show and that gave a picture of the slow process involved in just making one small element of a bigger production. Just using one set for several sequences of one production that are in different parts of that production, can be very confusing. It does make sense though to shoot all of them at one time, even if they are out of sequence. That means that consistency must be considered and someone must take extensive notes just to see that the continuity is correct. It may be that the location of the last part of a production is only available when shooting is starting and that it must be done before anything else. So that once you see how it is done you may not be able to concentrate on the stability of the story you keep seeing the complications of the production. I once had the opportunity to watch a TV music special in the control room of a TV station. The director of what was being produced was watching a show that was on the air. He was redirecting the show to match the beat of the music. It was completely different than the original and despite the fact that I originally enjoyed the music I could not watch that show again (it was repeated several times) without seeing all that the original director did, that was not quite correct. It was a live show and it was done without a technical rehearsal. You see not just with your eyes, but your brain. You can see many things that are going on around the picture, when you know more about the production. It is more than actors just saying words.

So maybe it is best to enjoy the magic and let others do all of the work.

Welcome Senator Franken

2009-07-08T14:22:00.000-07:00

I find the swearing in of Al Franken to be of interest since he was so well known as a humorist and a liberal talk show host. If the time he spent as a humorist and comedy writer is being held against him then I wonder what these people think about the other members of the US Senate. I know that Charlie Cook is quoted as saying “A comedian would not be an effective senator – but then again, a comedian wouldn’t have won." That phase of Franken’s life has to be over. I seem to remember that Mark Twain was asked to run for a political position and that he stated that he did not want to compete against the professional humorists that were already in public life. I have noticed that many of the members of the congress are really comedians who do not seem to be able to get a gig at comedy club.
The article in today’s LA Times seems to indicate that as a new member Franken was very quiet on his first day in the Senate. Most new members are quiet and do not really do much until after spending some time to adjust and to become a member of the club. I do remember that one member of congress stated that in the house it took one term to learn were the rest rooms were located.
With most of a six year term remaining Franken has plenty of time to learn the way of the Senate and to make his mark. One day does not make a term of office and even if I never did find his comedy appearances very funny I do see him as a valued member of the Senate.

Senator Franken I do wish you well and know that you are a serious member of the Senate. Just remember that many Republicans are hoping you will fail, BUT do not let them ruin the good time that you should be able to have in office. If you can achieve your political goals and help the people of your state, do it. Also if you can make the members of the Senate feel good by not being overly serious, do that.

Mc Namara's Revenge

2009-07-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

Robert S. McNamara (1916 – 2009) has passed away and I was not sad at first. I had for years blamed him for my being in the military. Now after all these years, my thoughts have changed a little. I know that it was my own idea to join the Army. I know that my mind was way out in front of my body. I had reasons for changing the course of my military time, moving from officer candidate school to eventually the same area at Ft. Gordon GA (the White barracks) where I attended signal school. I know that the long time I spent in basic training were the results of the program Project 100,000 that was designed to provide more troops for the military. It was set to provide men to do the ordinary jobs, so that the more physically proficient could do the combat roles. It was completely different than that.
Many of the participants did have a high education level and those people did do more skilled jobs including serving in combat areas such as Viet Nam. Yes some were eventually ground troops who did a lot of very messy fighting. I did end up in communications, the military police, a base librarian and yes I did do reenlistment interviews for a somewhat lazy second lieutenant. What I now like to remember is that without this program I would have missed meeting my best friend. I would never have spent 11 months in South Korea. I would never have known the area were the TV show M.A.S.H. was set. I do not want to write a book about my experiences at this juncture. All I want to say is that as Mc Namara’s feelings about the war changed my opinion of him changed. Not just because he was more in agreement with me but because, with time, I remember more of the fun times I had and have come to believe that he did help me.

Historians have written that Project 100,000 was not a success, but it was not a total failure, either. Some of us did come out of it better people.

To those who did not make it home, the rest of us do know what you had to go through to accomplish those things that you did accomplish.
We are here to remind the current generation of your sacrifice and to remind people that those who gave it all in Viet Nam are just as good as those who fought and died in any other fight.

It's Over - - For Now

2009-06-16T12:11:00.000-07:00

Well the big day has finally come.

The government has been trying to get rid of the analog spectrum in broadcasting for many years and all of the delays seem to be out of the way. We should all be digital by now. The television broadcasters have been able to turn off of their old transmitters and they are able to save on their electric bills. Besides, they have the opportunity to add additional streams of programming within the same space that they had before. Now they will have to figure out what to broadcast that will both attract advertisers and viewers. Some of the early choices are news, weather and old movies and TV shows. Local programming is a choice but that actually costs money. One alternative might be to join with local colleges or even high schools to produce programming that is now being shown on local campus and show all of the community what the local schools can produce. The big cities may be first to add additional chanals, but that does not mean that they will be adding anything that is better then can be produced in the smaller markets. More channels, but not much more to watch.

Star Treck or Star Dreck?

2009-05-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

As soon as you mention that you have seen the latest Star Trek movie the same question is raised. How was it? Meaning not just how good was the movie but how did it compare to the past. I’m sorry trekkers it just doesn’t have it. This movie tries to put as many high tech effects into a movie as if trying to get into the book of records. Star Trek started out on television where high tech was an expensive luxury that the networks and the studios avoided to keep the costs down. It was all about how much story you could get into the 45 minutes of program that you had in an hour. Going to better effects was great but look at the importance of the message. You should remember that Gene Roddenberry was trying to tell stories and using the concept that people on earth were not so different from each other. It was all of us against some people from other worlds. We all worked together and then we joined with those on other planets to advance all of us against some forces of evil. The story here is basic and could have been told better without some of the very splashy effects. Cinema for cinema may play well in the festival circuit but don’t try to force it on the majority of the public that just wants a good evening. Two people in line waiting to get into the film were women comparing the baby sitters they got for the evening. Did they want a fun evening out or a serious discussion of film style? When the shaky camera effect was at the start of the movie I knew that I was in for an evening of effect movie making. I have heard that even the director had to admit that he over did at least one effect. . It is enough to recognize the locales of the movie. When I read the credits I want surprise like is that were they filmed that scene? I did realize that part of the movie was made at Cal State University at Northridge, but not while I was watching those scenes. Yes I do know Vazquez Rocks when I see them despite all of the added effects. Some places are nice and since this one was actually in the original series it was a nice connection. Maybe the director’s cut of this movie will actually be shorter with more story emphasis and less on speed of camera movement. I found I was listening to the background music many times during the movie and I know that the best music scores are invisible and heard clearest during the credits. By the way, I talked to a blind attendee who did not have the same sense that the music was overpowering and that the actors’ audio downplayed. Maybe the theater I was in needed to be balanced better. I was sitting in the center of the theater. It was a good touch to use the original theme music if even briefly, but why run the opening and closing credits together? Did they think that we would leave if they ran the opening credits first? One comment I overheard covered not just this movie but ALL of the previews that were presented before it. “Now I see what the effect of the writers’ strike was and what was written “after” the strike”. I attend movies to have a fun time out. I do not want to see the technical side. I also find that I am going to fewer movies and enjoying them less.

The Converter Box Revisited

2009-04-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

I have waited long enough to go into my rant about the change in date on the converter box. The government did have good reasons for the delay. Unfortunately, most of the reasons were caused by the government. The people in charge did know how many people would probably need converter coupons. They put that artificial 90 day limit on the coupons to rush people to action. Unfortunately, they did not consider that the manufacturers of the new equipment did not know what they were doing and had to reinvent the equipment to allow for the fact that people would need to watch both analog and digital television on the same "ancient" piece of equipment. Then they decided that a delay from February to June would solve the problems. That meant more expense for broadcasters. That also meant more confusion. Now stations are going to change as if by random chance during this period. Also the fact that those selling the converters seem to have decided that they only needed to have them available before the first deadline and the boxes are now in very short supply while people with the coupons have expiration dates that they need to consider. It all seems to indicate that people do not seem to talk to each other. One major retailer told me that there will be no market for converter boxes after June 14. Of course that is based on the flawed concept that everyone who needs a box will do so ahead of the deadline.

REMEMBER that all television stations are now broadcasting in digital, along with the analog so that if you need a box, get in as soon as you can to start getting all of the additional programing that should already be in place.

Probably more after I get to talk to some commercial broadcasters at the National Association Of Broadcasters convention next week - if any can afford to travel to the show.

On The Super Chief

2009-02-11T09:55:00.001-08:00

Our family has been discussing travel and going across the Country. I will add my version today. My first real Cross Country trip was on the train. We took the Super Chief from Chicago, IL to Albuquque, NM. This was in the time that the Santa Fe Rail Road actually had passenger trains and there was a sense that trains would always be the way to travel across the country. We did this trip several times and these memories are actually a compilation of all the trips. We would get a compartment to fit the family. I remember being given some change to go to the club car and buy myself a soft drink. I feel sorry for the young people of today that they would not be given this freedom even in such a confined area to actually go off by themselves. I was able to be a real person and see this small part of the world on my own. The train was a small city and I now feel that it was so much better for my father to be able to take this long trip without needing to drive. Not all of our trips were all fun. One trip we were delayed by bad rain that washed out a bridge that forced them to back up the train for several hours until it could reach a point where it could take a different route to get back to our original planed schedule. We actually ended up at about eight hour late. The best part of the trip was seeing all of the country without needing to worry about where we were or finding the next bathroom. The private railroad industry did have more at stake and the small things that they did at the height of train travel, were all to make the people want to come back. The food service was always top flight. I only remember the white linen service and the waiters who were so attentive. I now know how much hard work was put into the serving of meals for a car full of people with only a small staff working from a very small kitchen. They served three meals a day with more than one sitting at each meal to accommodate all of the people on the train. The staff also had several Pullman cars with sleepers and compartments that had to be serviced while the people were in the club car or the observation car. It is the only real way to see the Sierra Nevada especially in the winter. The cold snow is so much more enjoyable when you are not driving and all that you need to think about is the view. Yes this is not on the trip on the southern route but I have done both the northern and southern routes across the country. Some of the fun is still possible. A one day trip between San Francisco, CA and Los Angeles, CA will give you some of the flavor of Cross Country travel. Besides if you plan it right, you can see the sunset on the ocean at Santa Barbara, CA. Or at the right time of year, enjoy the smell of garlic when you travel through Gilmore, CA. I used to also love airplane travel, but then they eliminated all the fun at airports and they decided that the people on the planes were a commodity and not people.

Have fun and travel to see the people and places around you.

THE REAL HEROS OF TODAY

2009-01-20T10:32:00.000-08:00

On this very important day in the history of the United States and the world as a whole many people will be shown and praised as important. The new president, vice president and those of the administration and the other branches of government are all important. Let us thank those who we see and do not name. The floor director who told the new president it was ok to walk out on the podium. She was only acknowledged with a hand shake by outgoing President Bush. His years in office have shown him who is really important on this type of occasion. In the many replays of the events of today think about the broadcast staffs who were not seen but spent many hours in the cold of Washington D.C. so that we could enjoy the festivities and feel that we were part of the two million people who braved the weather and crowd to be at the inauguration. We must thank those members of the military that spent many hours waiting for the brief time when the motorcade would pass them so that they could salute those in the cars. Thank the police and the military who are responsible for the security of not just the new president but of all those in the capital today. These are the people that we depend on for this day being a glorious day for us all to remember as a highlight in our history. They will not be remembered but we should. I have heard of troops being returned from the war zone to help with security today. The importance of this move is that the best training anyone could have to be prepared for anything that might come is combat. We listen to the big names of the broadcasters and the pundits who we will see on the air and yet it is those who we do not see that makes this day possible. So I say thank you to all those people what were shown but not acknowledged. Thank you to all the people who went to the capital to show all of our support for the new president and his administration.

WHAT WOULD ANSEL ADAMS DO?

2008-12-31T09:05:00.000-08:00

I was talking to some people who were looking for a digital camera that would take black and white pictures. For some reason the thought came to me: What would Ansel Adams think about the digital age in photography? I know that he did some color work but of course most of the pictures that he produced were in black and white. He used a very large format and did take his work to a higher level with excellent darkroom work. I do know that the development of the zone system which gave the images a true spectrum from pure black to pure white by Adams and Fred Archer and made black and white photography a challenge for all of us who wanted to do all of the work ourselves. The new digital cameras will only do those things that the manufacturer has set in the camera. If you want to do many of those things that you want to try then you must get a more advanced model that will allow you to work your own magic. It is not always possible to fix what the camera has recorded later on the computer. You may not have a darkroom but you can use the computer to do many of the same things.
As for Ansel Adams would he have made the same pictures? NO! He was not limited by the use of the same formula all of his career. His work would have been shaped in a different direction today. He would have had to work with today’s cameras and had some of the same problems that today’s photographers have had to endure. Think about the slow speed in resetting on all but the most recent digital cameras. To get some of those famous pictures he had to get the right moment and the right exposure to insure that the picture he took was the one that he saw in his mind. Today we are sometimes limited by the fact that our equipment may not do what we want when we want it to do something. I know that Adams was limited by the equipment but he was in complete control and had the ability to adjust many things that today are automatically done by the camera. Is that really better? I do think that a photographer of the caliber of Ansel Adams can always do a better job than a computer that is set for the most general situations.
Could our first photographers do as well today? Yes! The reason is not the technology. It is because they had the ability to see what is in a good picture and they knew what to do to achieve that goal with the equipment that they had available to them. They would have used today’s level of technology to advance their art. Some of the newest cameras I think would actually get in the way of their creativity and they would have to show were they could go around the technology to show us the pictures that they felt.

THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY ?

2008-12-09T09:41:00.000-08:00

Well that time of year has come and people’s thoughts are split between what to give as presents for those around you and an introspective look at what the past year has meant to your life. This time I just want to write about what this season and how most of us see the world around us. Those of us who work in the retail world spend all of our days either dealing with the pressure that some people make for themselves or trying to keep all of those products that people seem to think are great presents on the shelves. Some people just do not seem to be able to enjoy anything about this time of year unless they are putting a lot of pressure on other people. Some people seem to need to have the first or the most expensive items to give or just must have it all for themselves and they are taking advantage of any reason to have those items. Yes there are many people who are still kind and those who are fun to talk to and to serve because they can take the time to be cordial even when you know that they are in a hurry. It seems that when this time of year comes there are always people who will do almost anything to save money and they do not care who gets in their way. Every city has its stories of violence. Yes I mean black Friday and the events that make the news. That group of people who you want to put in a room and ignore because you do not want them around you. Actually most of that type person should be sequestered all of the time. No matter what you do to protect them they will try to do what they want and not what the group needs to do to be safe and successful. I do not really want to dwell on that group of people. I just want to emphasis that they are not of any nationality or religion or social status. Rude ugly people come from all parts of society. Even those who you can see are used to having money can become ugly when the economy makes them lower themselves to shop where they can save money and not have the luxury service that they had in past years.
I do want to thank those who can stop and have a nice word to say while they are forced to deal with the rude and the rushed who do not want to give them the time that they need. We who sell to them do try to deal with both groups and try to give just that little extra to those who are nice to us because they know that at some time they may be the one who is selling a product. Just think that if you do any type of work that involves a product of service you will need to sell it to someone else so that you can make that money you will want to purchase items for your holiday list or even as a present for yourself.
So let me remind everyone that that person who is the clerk you are interacting with may become your customer latter. I know that many of my customers are friends and I do see the same people when I go out shopping and I remember who were nice and where I will not spend my money.

Did You Vote ? ? ?

2008-11-04T15:50:00.001-08:00

Well, if you did not have time to vote or if you forgot to vote - good. If you did not make that extra effort to think about the candidates or the issues that were on your ballot, then the rest of us are better off if you did not vote. I have stopped reminding people of the importance of voting. I have come to the conclusion that my Conscience is clear when I take the time to make a clear decision about who is best qualified for public office and how the issues on the ballet will effect the people in my community. If you did not vote, then you are depending on me to make the right decision so thank you and if you do not like the way that I voted, next time its your turn to vote.

AND HOW DID I VOTE ? ? ?

2008-11-04T15:33:00.000-08:00

People will ask how you voted on an issue and I always want to say something - but I really feel that that is none of anyones business. We have a system of voting that allows us to vote in private and not have others look over our shoulder and using that information to do things to us that makes us their servants.
We can not be paid in any way for our vote and the ballot is our own, not to be seen by others. We do not need to tell anyone how we voted and after we leave the privacy of the polling place should just ignore those who are asking questions and allow the count to show what the people want. I have a standard answer for survey takers of any type and generally do not even let them get to the point of telling me why they are taking the poll and it universally will stop them from asking any more questions. I just offer to sell them my information for $150.00 an hour with a 2 hour minimum. That is enough for most of them, the rest may want to work for me.

Customer Service ?

2008-09-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

We all know that most customer service is done by people who live in areas that are so far away that no one knows anything about the culture of the people that they are serving.
How are they trained? They seem to be trained to lie and to put off the customers so that the customer will just give up and not get the service that is being requested.
I have had the occasion to request the replacement of a defective part from two major companies in recent weeks. The experience was so completely opposite from the two companies that I have been astonished.
I will start with the bad. I needed a replacement spray head from a product that does seem to work to keep the ants out of my house. The company apologized for the problem and said that they would send an upgraded spray head. Well after two weeks I followed up and was told that I the part was shipped but that a second one would be sent and I would have it in three to five days. After another week I checked in and was told not to bother them for another week. Then I was told that they would not check up on it or get me to a supervisor but would maybe send my money back. The people just know how to delay and to sound good but not to really help.
The second company is so good that I will tell you who it is. I had a printer head problem with my Kodak printer. I called and the customer service representative stayed on the phone while I checked out the printer and when we could not get in to print clearly she had a new print head sent to me. I received the new part with new ink cartridges the next day. They requested that I send the old parts back and included the label and instructions for the return. The whole process took just two days from my initial phone call to the repair of the equipment and had my printer back in service.
Can every company do that? Maybe no but they can get service done in a reasonable amount of time and not promise things that cannot be achieved. I do not want the world I do not just want to be made to feel good. I just want to have the products that I purchase work or have the company stand behind what they sell. On those occasions when the product does not work they need to provide service that is quick and does solve the problem.

Metrolink's Saddest Day

2008-09-17T20:57:00.001-07:00

I have had a couple of days to think about the horrific Metrolink accident that occurred in Chatsworth, CA. I have had the pleasure of riding on the Metrolink trains and find that the service is always up to the standard that I have expected. Yes I have had the delays that sometimes occur and I have seen what rain and snow can cause. Yes some of the areas that the line serves does get snow. Even extreme heat will cause the trains to run slower because of a danger of track expansion.

Since everyone has an explanation of what caused the action I think that I should add mine. Complacency is the cause of this accident.

1. The engineer may have done the same thing so many times that he was running on what he thought should occur and not on what was actually occurring. Others working that day could have been doing other work that caused them to expect someone else to do the job.

2. The system has not had an accident that was caused by the two trains on the same track at the same time and so thought that the present system would always work. Yes it did have a serious accident involving multiple trains but that was ruled a murder by the courts and all of the train equipment was on separate tracks.

3. Those in charge of the system are purchasing some additional cars that have crumple zones at the end of the car but that would not have stopped a locomotive from doing severe damage to a car when it is pushed by two larger locomotives.

4. Politicians do not want to spend money on ways to provide safer commuter service. They decry the cost of fuel and the amount of traffic on the highways but do little to get better systems in place.

All of these things are part of the problem and I do not mean to downplay the loss of life that occurred but they were not caused by the action or lack of action of one man. They were caused by the lack of action by a lot of people who are very good people but have not work creatively to find a cure to a problem that will not go away. We do need a better way for people to get around town. We need a way to save lives on the highway by making traffic safer and can eliminate air pollution by helping the traffic move smoother.
L A needs a better way to get to the airport without using freeways and it is taking forever to accomplish that goal. LAX is overcrowded and could use a better way to travel around the airport. Think of the better airports now and JFK and Newark (Yes I am praising a place in New Jersey) have far superior systems in place. San Francisco is connected to Bart. Chicago is connected to the subway. The list of cities that have found a better way goes on.

Vacation Rambling

2008-08-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

I had the occasion to visit our nation’s Capitol recently and now that I have had a chance to let my reactions sink in, I do have a couple of comments. Unfortunately this was a quick trip and only involved one day of time in the Capitol area.
The Capitol can be divided into very distinct areas of interest. There is the historic, the monuments, the informational and the current. Each of these areas of interest will definitely take more then one day of your time to really get the full picture. The Capitol Mall is the center of most of the buildings that will interest those from out of town. If you really want to see the Capitol Building and the White House, you are best off speaking to your local member of Congress way ahead of the visit. The staff of the member can get you tour tickets to the White House. They will need time to get you on the tour you want, at a good time and without your waiting in a long line. As for the Capitol building, you might get a more personal tour if your member of congress knows you or you become acquainted with the local representative of that member.
After several trips to the city I realized that this was the first time I had actually been to the front of the White House and that my previous trips had just skipped that area for some reason.
For the best view of the history of our country visit the many buildings of the Smithsonian and see the individual areas of interest. Many of the items are original and obviously in no other location. My greatest remembrance will be standing only a few feet from the Spirit Of Saint Louis and knowing its full history and importance to our present day travel industry.
If you visit the monuments, be prepared to have an emotional time. The Lincoln Memorial is grand and the words that you have read other places are more remarkable when set in granite. The Vietnam Memorial is more personal and when you read the names, you see that war is indeed something that involves people. It is probable that you will look for those you know are on the wall and then you may want to know if an acquaintance is on the wall and hope that the name is not there. Also you feel an emotion from those who you will see that you know have come to visit one of the names.
The Library of Congress is both the current and the historic. It is changing to keep it current, while it is a symbol of our past and a desire to be the central library of our nation. Only in this area will you see so much that actually is all of the categories rolled into one and you might need to visit some sites more then once to get the true feeling of the location.
Many people think that this is a city that you should avoid because it is so congested, but it has its ways around that, so that you can avoid the traffic. Use the subway or other local transportation so that you can park away from most of the traffic.
They take children to visit the Capitol, but it takes an adult to appreciate all of its importance.

CONVERTER BOX - SOME DETAILS

2008-08-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

The big day is getting closer! Just listen to the scare announcements on all of the TV networks and even the local stations. They have been pushed to do all of those commercials and even the weird crawl to let us all know that the television we are watching now will change in February of 2009. Well some of the things that you should know are not quite what they are telling everyone.
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1. If you are on a cable system or use a satellite provider you Can ignore the rest of this for the next five years
2. All television sets will continue to work past that date.
3. You do not need to buy a new television set to see your local stations.
4. Some television stations will actually still be broadcasting in analog after February and if you happen to know that your area is serviced by a “low power” station those are the ones that are exempt from the conversion. I have only heard of one station that is planning on becoming a full power station at the time of the conversion. Most are just local stations that broadest recorded old shows and in some cases have joined to do religious programming.
5. The first converter boxes did not account for the stations that were staying on analog and you might need to check them currently to see if you will need to do anything special to see the low power stations easily
6. The way that you change channels on your set will change. You will need to use the remote that comes with the converter box and if you now have a universal remote it might not work with the converter box.

The world of television sets is very simple and the three types of sets all do have some advantages
1. CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)– This type of set is very old and it is based on a glass picture tube t adds all of the weight to the set and they are in most cases only available in standard definition with less lines of picture then on the high definition sets. Lowest in cost
2. Plasma – A set that uses the same gases that are in neon signs and change colors based on the amount of current that goes into the capsules of gas. These sets now can go up to 150 inches in size and have a half life (half life or when the TV set is not as bright) of about 15 years. These are the sets that produce the most heat from their pictures. The middle range of cost and a couple of hundred dollars less then the LCD.
3. LCD (liquid Crystal Display) – The set that comes on your cell phone and on sets that are all the way up to about 55 inches. These use a number of liquid crystal capsules that change depending on the electoral charge to show the colors. These sets can not only go high definition but are capable to go even higher in future sets. The best picture on these sets is programmed at about 30 years. The most expensive but also the one with the sharpest picture.
You need to see if saving money is what is important to you then the ability to have what is newest on the market. If all you want to do is see the basic TV picture then just get the converter box or upgrade to the CRT set with the digital tuner installed.

BEWARE OF WHAT YOU ARE OFFERED!
I fear that some people will see the bargain sets that some people still have and will end up with a set that only receives an analog signal. Remember that a set that is sold in the US must be able to receive a digital signal. If you are getting such a bargain then as you should know it is something that you should avoid. I do know that all of the people who I have talked to about the types of sets really do now know what they are buying.

Remember that if you need a converter box then before you go out to purchase the unit you should get the coupon that will give you $40. to use for your purchase. These coupons are only good for 90 days and will not be renewed or you can not get a refund on the $40. If you get the wrong converter. They are only good for the basic box. If a store does not have the box find another store that has them. The illustration
shows the places to get the coupon.

Vacation Time

2008-08-19T10:49:00.000-07:00

How do you really tell all the things that happened on a vacation without boring your friends and collegues to death? If you tell all of the things that happened in even a week long trip you will certainly cause their heart to stop from just plain boredom. At least the ambiguous slide show has been eliminated from the post trip schedule. Now it is the e-mail from the location or the after trip message with all of the pictures. At least that does make you edit some of the worst out of the selection just because it saves you bandwidth. It is also easier for others to just ignore the pictures because you are not present to see their true reaction. No one really will believe you when you describe the torture of an airport terminal filled with thousands of pieces of luggage because a simple chip in a computer failed and the old fashioned manual system could not keep up with the pressure of all the luggage that is generated at a peak travel time. How do you describe the pressure of trying to find food before a flight that is scheduled to board in ten minutes and that you are sure will be late – but the airline has yet to change the schedule boards. All you can do in that case is guess or hope that the gate agent gives you a correct up date. (She did and we did have plenty of time to find a quick McDonalds location in the terminal and actually finish eating before the flight boarded.)
Can you really tell about the feeling that you get when you visit our heroes of the past at Arlington National Cemetery. Not just the Kennedy family but the markers of those who have protected us since the beginning of our nation. When you have the honor of watching dignitaries from another country leave a wreath at the Unknown Solider you feel a part of the ceremony and that you have had a small part in the respect that these people were showing. The dignity of a honor guard preparing for a funeral. Yes they are in public but they are human and they did show respect by their actions while waiting to start. Could you really say that you are not affected by the sounds of the salute or of the playing of taps? Tradition must give you the emotion that you feel at these times. I have had the honor of attending several veterans funerals but the location here makes it so much more special even when you do not know the people that are involved.

If you have a few moments go over to the area next to the cemetery which is now the Navel Annex and will eventually be added to Arlington. It is the home of the Air Force Memorial. It is new and only dedicated in 2006. Its soaring beauty and the stainless steal rendition of the bomb burst or missing man formation are just stunning in the way that they have been presented. The quotes from the past and the remembrance of those who have won the Metal of Honor are simple and are right in making them perfect. The quote from President Bush just hits it directly out of the park.
There are always too many things to speak about and as I said all of them would take forever. Just say that when you visit the East Coast you should prepare yourself for rain. Never worry about time. Despite what those in the Northeast say the transportation is always slow. Do take the Acela to travel at least once. It is not truly the fastest train but it is the most comfortable. Some day we will have a rail system that will accommodate truly fast trains traveling at fast speeds. Check out the slower trains and you will see that the time difference on the schedule is more of a factor of additional stops and not of the train speed.
I know that the most relaxing vacations may be at home but travel does give you a way to see other people and that is the truly best part of any trip.

Go West Young Man ?

2008-08-13T12:09:00.000-07:00

I have taken one more trip to the East Coast and I find that my thinking about the East Coast has not changed much over the years. Some things seem to be the same whenever I travel to the East. No matter what time of year some things seem to be the same.
I have always found that people are the same and I will not include that in my discussion. Good people are all over and the bad ones are few and equally spread out. Most of the bad experiences are caused by people who are stressed on the job and that is usually caused by a situation where they have no control.

But let us get started on the things that I have considered.
1. The sun rises in the East and that is cold and at such an early hour. The sun setting over the ocean on the West Coast is warmer and friendlier. Just think about the possibilities of a nice glass of wine while watching the sun slowly sink in the west. Think of the pleasant beaches that are available most of the year.
2. Who wants to hide inside in the summer when one of those thunder storms hits and you must not only protect yourself from rain but from hail and the possibility of lightning. It seems that all that these storms seem to do is to increase the humidity and make our life more miserable.
3. Compare summer in New York and in San Francisco.
a. New York hot humid and muggy most of the summer with only a few days that are pleasant. Include the above mentioned rain storms and you have even more of a muggy mess.
b. San Francisco actually has a cool season in the summer and it is hard to think that the fog makes the city softer and the sounds from the fog horns making the early mornings more soulful and less hectic feeling. I have come to the city from 100 degree weather and found it in the mid 60’s. It can be quite a shock but in a very pleasant way. From shorts and t-shirt to a jacket and long pants all in one day. The winters do have rain and that can be as dangerous on the hills as the snow in New York City. I do know that New York City does not get as much snow as some other cities that are inland but that does not change the fact that snow is cold and tends to look so dirty after a couple of days.
4. Shrimp is better then lobster. Besides how often can you spend $50.00 for a lobster dinner for two? Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey or in San Francisco are both places filled with tourists and yet a place were you Can get a great meal and have a fun time. Manhattan may be filled with fun places to eat but I have had better food in the West.
5. Let us list some of the better food and where you can get it.
a. Bagels are better on the West Coast. Most places that now make bagels are just making imitations and the true form does not include raisins or cinnamon. Some people will laugh when I say that the plain bagel is the only true form but that is true despite the fact that I eat mostly the onion form. I do understand that some things develop to sell more products I just do not need to purchase these imitations.
b. The New York pizza is over rated and places in Chicago and Los Angeles do make a great pie.
c. No matter how many times I have tried Chinese food in the East it is better in the West and the only place where I have had great egg foo yung was in Sherman Oaks California and it is not around any more.
d. All beer is not the same and the majority of brands in the East do not compare to the better brands in the West. Sam Adams may be the only exception but if I have to choose I think that Olympia is the best and it does have the best looking brewery.
e. Wine in the Napa valley has always be the choice of most of the world and Long Island and the Hudson Valley will always be also runs.
f. Corned beef well I must admit that the best does come from Chicago and that few places on either coast can compare. Langer's in Los Angeles makes about the best sandwiches in the Country and the East Coast has gone way down hill. I must include my mother’s secret: when you order a pound of corned beef always get in cold so that you do no pay for all of the water that is still in the brisket when it is hot. Cold corned beef is corned beef warm is just a slice of brisket. The Irish do make a good brisket but a deli that makes in themselves and does it right does so much more for a sandwich. It is truly a crime to put catsup on such a sandwich and it should be eaten plain or with mustard to have the true experience.
g. Then there is Bob’s Big Boy were you Can get the combo with the sauce that made it famous only on the West Coast and the staff actually know that it can be ordered with avocado slices on it. In the East it comes with no flavor and despite the picture in the menu the waitress has no idea what you are talking about if you ask for avocado. They may not longer be in Glendale, CA but they are coming back.
You should have gotten my point by now you can see that I justified in my belief that West wins but I will continue to travel to the East in hope that I will find a difference.

East Coast

2008-07-27T12:10:00.001-07:00

I always have noticed that the East Coast is different. The fact that the weather is different and that the normal in summer is the thunderstorm and that they actually get warmer after you get drenched. the fact that the humidity will wilt you and that if you take a shower to cool off you need another shower to cool off from the humidity that gets you after you leave the shower. Then the fact that the best pictures are sunrises because you have the sun rising over the ocean and not the prefered pictures of the sunset. You really do get a nicer warmer picture of the sunset over the ocean then the cold view of the ocean and the cold dawn. A place where you need to fix all of the damage that was caused by the way that you need to salt and destroy the roads, so that the cars can actually drive in the snow.
Why do I travel to the East Coast to this mess? Well the people here seem to survive and the history of our Country did start here, so that there are many places to see and enjoy and there are people who I do like to see some times. It does all balance out and I will not dwell on the places that I have visited that I do not like . . . .

Is It All On Time ?

2008-07-23T11:22:00.001-07:00

Is everything in your life set up with a timer?
I seem to think that many of the every day elements in my life come with a timer function so that I can live without having to bother to start or end their function. It just seems that the more that I set up a life were I do not have to bother with the simple things the more complex it seems to become.
Here is a list of some of the things that I depend on to keep my life going in the silly pace that I seem to think is necessary.
1. The air conditioner is on a step down timer so that it will only cool or heat at a people friendly temperature when there are people in the house.
2. A timer makes sure that the lower voltage lights come on at dusk and make the outside of the house look nice.
3. The pound is on a timer so that the fish will be happy.
4. The sprinkler system is timed to get a nice looking lawn without a hassle each morning.
5. And then there is the VCR to set for a copy of my one show that I record.
All of these things are designed to make life easy but do you notice that most of them are electric and that adds to the things that need to be adjusted for the changes in season and I have not included many of the other devices that have clocks and need to be constantly set. Thankfully the computer will at least correct itself from another time source so I have one clock that does not need to be reset for daylight savings time despite the fact that they can not determine when we should do the change from year to year. All of these factors are the way that I make things do what I want until there is a power failure of some mechanical problem that I can not determine until it is too late to correct. We will eventually be controlled by one central computer that will control all of these functions and may be so complex that all we will want to do is sit and stare at a blank wall because nothing will actually work when we want it to work.

Can Can Or Not ?

2008-07-22T08:40:00.001-07:00

I may sound like a prude but I just have a weird feeling every time that I see the dance team at the local high school. I see more and more. I have stated that I wonder if they are teaching the young women to become dancers in Las Vegas. They are very agile and they are dancing to the latest music. I will not be a hypocrite and claim that they are not fun to watch. I just wonder what educational value the groups have. Maybe it is just the value of being a member of a team? Maybe it is learning to take direction? Or maybe it is just being on a team and getting a PE grade.
It all reminds me of one part of the history of dance. When the infamous club The Moulin Rouge in Paris, started having women performing the Can Can in the 1830’s it was the most risqué dance and it could lead to arrest for the performers. It was just so decadent. These women were showing their legs and they actually were so rude that they raised their skirts and showed their underwear. It was one of those events that young men had to see as part of their education. Even the rich from the U.S. would send their young men, to see the show.
Well now you can see much more just by going to a local school and watching the dance team do a performance. I know that some people think that I have taken this too literally but I think that I can get enough enjoyment from watching adults perform. I do know that, as in most activities, those who do the best in adult life start learning early. It is just that they have taken it a little too far to soon. Dressing six year old girls as adults and having them do dances that show way too much, does not make any sense. I do not want to blame, but what are the parents thinking and do they see their children as achieving some goal that they were not able to reach in their youth? Well no one will read this but if anyone does what is the reality??