Category Archives: Los Angeles

May 15, 2026 · 23:25

Into The Twilight Zone

One deadline met, barely, by the skin of my teeth, and it was the really, REALLY, hard, drop dead, serious consequences, everyone’s really, REALLY pissed at me one – the “slightly softer” one that everyone wanted was two days ago. See the Douglas Adams quote for refereAfter the long dnce.

But once again the hare has been extracted from the chapeau and the water has been turned into wine. Tomorrow we’re going to volunteer and participate at a local event for work (the same one I damn near killed myself at last year) and since that’s a three hour drive from home and we’re supposed to be there only slightly after sunrise (I know, RIGHT??!), we’re down in the charming and lovely suburb of Newbury Park. The local Courtyard by Marriott wanted over $300 a night, but for half of that we’re in a La Quinta that’s remodeling and desperately holding onto its status as “shabby,” trying to not slip over the edge into “sleazy.” It may or may not be winning that battle.

After this whole week, the long hours, the stress, the deadlines, then the three hour drive, we needed dinner. Little did we know that something (my money is on the stress from the deadlines and workload) had ripped a hole in the spacetime continum and deposited us deep in the Twilight Zone.

We drove across the freeway to a really nice Italian restaurant that had good online reviews. They said that without a reservation, they might have a table free in 90 or so minutes. Maybe.

We walked across the parking lot to a small shopping mall diner with generic American food (burgers, salads, sandwiches, various Italian-like entrees. As we approached, we heard music. At first, it seemed there might be (God forbid) karaoke. We should be so lucky.

The place was reasonably crowded, and we might be the youngest folks in the room. On “stage” is a guy dressed up like Willie Nelson, belting out “To All The Girls Who Loved Me.” He’s okay, the guy singing the duet with him needs to improve to merely be terrible. “Nails on a blackboard” level of bad.

Our “star” finally gets rid of his sidekick and does some Louis Armstrong. He’s passable.

Then there’s a quick costume change, and Elvis has entered the building.

Then the 90-year old close-up magician comes to our table and does a card trick for us. Again, he’s passable, likeable enough, but David Copperfield he’s not.

I’m waiting for dinner and watching the crowd. 35, 40, 50 folks, and they’re not eating and watching the show, they’re there for the show. There’s cheering, hooting, hollering, and I hate to be a curmudgeon… Okay, that’s bullshit, I love to be a curmudgeon, but the simple fact is these guys are okay, but they’re a long, long way from great.

I go out to the car for a moment and I notice that next door is an Indian restaurant, with a GINORMOUS big screen TV showing Bollywood musicals. There’s a big crowd in there to, dancing along with the action onscreen.

Taken one element at a time, none of this is too far off of the reservation. Taken as a whole, I expect to see Billy Mumy in the corner, mumbling about sending folks to the cornfield. And Fish Heads.

The food is marginal although the fries are good, which is good because I never got my potato soup. We get our bill and head out, and once the damp, foggy, coastal air hits it’s more than a little bizarre. I was standing by the car, looking into the Indian restaurant on the left and Elvis going for his third or fourth encore to a screaming crowd on the right, and I really do expect to see Rod Sterling (or a Candid Camera film crew) stepping out of the fog.

Tomorrow will be a long (but hopefully fun and not fatal) day, followed by another long drive home in LA traffic. Sunday we’ll do laundry, household chores, and try to find and even footing for next week and the next set of deadlines that are already way too stinking close. But tonight, for just a few moments…

 

 

 

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Filed under Curiosities, Entertainment, Los Angeles

March 15, 2026 · 23:26

Griffith Park Tower

A most very long day, up too early, up too late, way too many hours and miles of driving in the middle. It’s good to be home again. You have no idea what I would give for eight hours of continuous sleep. (I have a better chance of winning the lottery, I fear.)

Mount Sinai Memorial Park is a quiet and beautiful spot, with Griffith Park in the distance. High above there were hawks, screaming, shrieking, and being mobbed by crows.

Big antenna up there, with the Hollywood sign just on the far side of this ridge, facing south. There are plenty of hiking trails up there, but I have yet to participate.

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Filed under Los Angeles, Photography

March 1, 2026 · 22:54

City At Night

These go back to a rainy night in March, 2006. I was in a hotel near LAX and the 405 Freeway, taking long-exposure, hand-held photos of traffic on the freeway to see the visual effects.

I ***STRONGLY*** recommend viewing them while listening to the Doors, “LA Woman!”

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Filed under Art, Los Angeles, Photography

July 31, 2025 · 23:31

Forever Home – July 31st

I moved to Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley (or just “The Valley”) almost 40 years ago, and I’ve lived almost 35 of those 40 years in two houses that are within a mile of each other. I know those areas and streets like the back of my hand, and that’s a long, long time. Today I drove away.

I understand that I’ll be back, occasionally, infrequently, as the desire and requirements arise to visit the office or to visit old friends or collect mail from the PO Box that we’ve had for 35+ years (and still have). But on a daily basis, going to one of those two houses? Nope, today was it. The last of all of the “stuff” is out and at the new Forever Home.

You know, if I didn’t have almost 70 years of accumulated CRAP stored, you could almost fit two cars in there!

In an almost perfectly orchestrated “LA Moment” as I was stuck in horrible, dragging, pathetically slow traffic on the freeway, I was listening to “JACK-FM” on the radio. I used to listen to it all the time, but it’s been years now since I’ve tuned it in since I almost always am listening instead to SiriusXM satellite radio. But the moving vans have only AM or FM, so JACK was the best option. Then, Peter Schilling’s “Major Tom” comes on and I’ve got it cranked to the max. I’ve got the windows rolled up and I’m on the freeway at a standstill so who could it be bothering? 😇Suddenly, as we get to the first chorus, where the countdown comes in, I see the guy in front of me in a covertible Mercedes hold up his arm and in perfect synchronicity, stick up his fingers “FOUR!” “THREE!” “TWO!” “ONE!” “Earth below us / Drifting, falling…” I was doing it too (of course!) but quickly rolled down the window and stuck my arm out for the second chorus. It was perfect!

About 45 minutes later, while I was still stuck in traffic in a 15′ boat anchor somewhere around Pasadena, we got treated to Genesis’ “In The Air Tonight.” Still on incredibly loud. I’m guessing that my drop-top Mercedes friend was halfway to Las Vegas by that point, but I want to believe (nay, I HAVE TO BELIEVE) that we were still kindred spirits at the 3:40 solo drum break, pounding on our respective steering wheels like brothers from different mothers.

It was an LA sortof thing. Adios!

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Filed under Forever Home, Los Angeles, Photography

June 21, 2025 · 19:56

The Final Play

Tonight we’re back at the Ahmanson Theater, probably for the final time for a while.

This is the last performance in this year’s program, and with the anticipated move to a Forever Home up in Hesperia or Apple Valley, we are not planning on renewing our subscription. If there’s something we absolutely HAVE to see, we can get tickets for a single performance and drive down to the big city for a weekend. (Ditto of course for hockey games, football games, baseball games, concerts, plays at the Pantages, etc.)

The Music Center here is about 2-3 blocks from City Hall and the areas where the ICE protests were earlier in the month. To no one’s surprise, despite the grotesque, horrible, and bald-faced lies being spewed by Faux News and ICE and the lower-than-whale-shit chucklefuck in the White House and all of his evil cult minions, LA did not burn down, there isn’t chaos and warfare in the streets, and the streets are not full of bodies. It was boring, except for the traffic getting into valet parking due to all three theaters being live tonight, along with the Disney Concert Hall across the street.

Enjoy your weekend, stay safe – I peeked at the news and it’s getting insane out there. Literally.

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Filed under Entertainment, Los Angeles, Photography, Politics

May 31, 2025 · 20:00

Some Whacked Out Danish Prince Dude

Our final performance at the Mark Taper Forum this year (one more at the Ahmanson next month):

To recap, “Green Day’s American Idiot” was wonderful and “Fake It Until You Make It” was…not.

This is a “bold new reimagining” and so on, but Gina Torres is in it as Gertrude, so I’m along for the ride. “Depictions of blood and violence, themes of suicide, substance abuse, strong language, simulated sex acts, and nudity.” What’s not to love?!

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Filed under Entertainment, Los Angeles, Photography

May 25, 2025 · 23:41

501′ Overhead

FAA regulations say that over a populated area if you’re not landing or taking off you need to be at least 500 feet high. We had an LAPD helicopter the other day “orbiting” over a spot about two blocks away (never did figure out what the fuss was about) which meant for about 15 minutes, we had him coming back around right overhead every 60 seconds or so. As low as he could get, so, probably about 501 feet overhead.

Here in our neck of the woods in the big city, between fires, crimes, accidents, rescues, and other emergencies, this happens three or four times a year. There are, of course, areas of the city where this happens three or four times a day. Here, not so much. (That’s a good thing!) How often does it happen elsewhere? In Springfield, Vermont in the 1970’s I don’t think I saw a single helicopter anywhere in five years. Your experience is somewhere between those two extremes.

But it’s a good excuse for me to grab the camera and go look at our personal air show.

Sorry about all of the spots – they’re from dust on the sensor of a decades-plus-old camera. Normally I clean up images I post here using Photoshop, but I just realized that I haven’t re-installed it on this new computer after I got it in March. Another task to add to the punch list for finishing up the install.

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Filed under Flying, Los Angeles, Photography

May 19, 2025 · 23:50

Cosmic Rays

Late this afternoon I was struck by a really neat idea that I wanted to ponder and develop a bit and then share with everyone here tonight.

Unfortunately, a billion years ago (give or take) a batch of gamma rays got emitted from the event horizon of a black hole somewhere on the far side of the Andromeda Galaxy, travelled through the cosmos, and then some time in the intervening five or six hours this afternoon they smashed through the handful of neurons that were holding that thought, and it’s GONE! (That might also explain some of the drooling…) The sense of how über cool the idea was is still there, but no trace of the idea.

Oh, well. Maybe a backup neuron will kick in and the thought will return. If so, you’ll be the second to know.

In the meantime, have a couple more cool pictures from a couple of Saturdays ago when we were at the Ahmanson.

Behold the intersection of Temple and Grand. Behind us to the left is the Ahmanson, and stretching off behind us to the behind-right are the Mark Taper Forum, the Music Center Plaza (which, you’ll remember, was full of a gala this night), the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and across 1st Street, the Disney Concert Hall, and across 2nd Street, the Broad Museum. But diagonally across the intersection is this giant tan, sandstone-ish structure, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

Time it correctly and get a day when the May Gray or June Gloom clouds are still offshore and you can see the almost full moon rising.

Not a bad spot to sit and eat the sandwiches you’ve brought for the pre-play dinner.

And for those who might still be spouting the right-wing bullshit about what a hellhole California is – I suggest a long walk off of a short pier.

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Filed under Astronomy, Los Angeles, Photography

May 11, 2025 · 23:56

Valet Musings

At the Ahmanson last night, dealing with the huge crowds for the Gold House Gala there, we used the valet parking. This is also a considerably easier arrangement for The Long Suffering Wife.

The play, “Life of Pi,” was very good, and the staging and animation of the animal characters was astonishing. We enjoyed ourselves.

When the play was over, the Gala was also letting out. Valet parking had quite the lineup waiting for cars to be delivered. While I expected to wait 20-30 minutes (or more) we only waited maybe ten minutes.

Two observations:

  1. In the long line of limos, Mercedes, Jaguars, BMW’s, and six-figure luxury cars of every description, it was a joy to see our little Hissy, our Honda Fit, pop up. She brought some much needed humility and real world class to the chaos.
  2. It was amazing how long some cars sat there waiting for their owners to pick them up. You turn in your ticket and then wait, so presumably if they show up with your vehicle, you’ve been there for a few minutes or more and are looking for your car so you can leave. Apparently not for the hoity and the toity amongst us. In particular, while waiting for Hissy, a Jaguar pulled up at the curb right in front of us (three lanes of cars moving through) and the valet driver shouted and honked and ran around asking folks to check their tickets for at least five minutes. Meanwhile, one of the three lanes is completely blocked. Suddenly this couple sitting on the benches right next to us startles to their feet and recognizes their car, not three feet away from them. REALLY??!! And then when they walk over and open the doors, NOW they see some friends and stand there blocking the sidewalk (and continue to block 1/3 of the valet lanes) while they schmooze. Really REALLY??!!! The entitlement and cluelessness was AWESOME! Or they were too drunk to recognize their own car and were now going to go get on the LA Freeways at 22:30. Or both.

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Filed under Entertainment, Freakin' Idiots!, Los Angeles, Photography

May 10, 2025 · 19:58

Ahmanson vs Gala

Back at the Ahmanson. I’ve heard of this production but know almost nothing about it. Should be fun!

Outside it’s busy. “Gold House” is having their gala and they’ve taken over the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the entire plaza between the theaters. Traffic and parking have been affected in turn.

Big money, apparently. Megan Thee Stallion is apparently their GOH tonight (we didn’t see her).

Rich or poor, it’s good to have boatloads of money! Or so I’ve heard.

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Filed under Entertainment, Los Angeles, Photography