As I was getting home from the ALS Network LA Walk & Ride To Cure ALS on Sunday evening, it got pretty.
The GOP misinformation machine would have you believe that SoCal is a cesspool of vice, trash, grafitti, and crime.
Obviously. Why would they lie about something like that?
Filed under ALS Network, Christmas Lights, Critters, Los Angeles, Photography, Politics, Sunsets
If you live off in the country or a rural-ish area or even a small city where things are a bit more normal and less “cool,” you might be lucky enough to not yet have seen one of these abominations in person.
In Los Angeles, we’re not so lucky. I present to you the Tesla Cybertruck, officially the ugliest, most useless, most disfunctional piece of shit ever put on the American roads.
For months now I’ve been seeing them almost daily just driving to the office and around down, but this was the first time I had seen one parked (at my office) and got up close to it. It’s worse up close, just hideous.
From all of the constant reports of massive recalls, to social media postings about how fragile and troublesome they are, to just the simple ugliness of everything about them, it’s astonishing that there are Elon Musk cult brodudes that are paying $100K to $120K or more for them, only to have them be broken and useless at the drop of a hat.
We are indeed living in the stupidest timeline. Even aside from the politics of the day, the MAGAts, the new American Nazis, and everything involved with our deteriorating and collapsing society, THESE are the clearest sign that we’re devolving into a dystopian nightmare.
My money says that the Venn diagram comparing Cybertruck dudes to MAGA cult members is a perfect circle…
Filed under Curiosities, Los Angeles, Photography, Politics
Wandering into the kitchen just before 21:00 tonight I looked out of the windows into the back yard and saw the honkin’ huge Moon, orange as a pumpking, rising in the northeast.
It’s a couple of days past full moon, but still really bright, and being so close to the horizon and shining through Los Angeles’ haze and light pollution, it was far, FAR from white.
Further out in the yard the color became more prominent.
I stood out here for a while, the owls hooting in the trees, the orange moon rising, and some occasional fireworks going off in the distance, presumably in celebration of the Dodgers’ win over the Mets that sends them to the World Series against the Yankees next weekend.
If the weekend has to end (and it really SUCKS that it has to!), this (and the Chiefs’ win to put them at 7-0 and the Kings’ win over the Ducks) isn’t a bad way to enjoy it.
Filed under Astronomy, KC Chiefs, Los Angeles, Photography, Sports
Starting with a performance at the Mark Taper Forum.
A MUCH smaller space than the Ahmanson.
And while it might again be pushing 100°F in The Valley, down here in Downtown after sunset it’s downright chilly.
Filed under Entertainment, Los Angeles, Photography
With some of the most magnificent modern architecture in the world being on display with our sports stadiums, I’ve heard it said that they are our modern-day cathedrals, the equivalent of Notre Dame in Paris and St. Paul’s in London.
Given the way we worship our sports teams and players, that might be more true on a couple of different levels.
SoFi Stadium is covered with this translucent film to keep everything dry, but it’s open at the ends and sides, so if we really get a storm it might be dry-ish.
Still, it’s gorgeous and geometrically intricate and amazing. That’s a LOT of steel and concrete in very delicate balance, fighting off gravity.
The pillars, the curves of the structure, seemingly defying gravity. A much different vibe than Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Much more sterile and cold.
Hovering up near the top, I couldn’t help but wonder how many calculations were done and what their models and assumptions were regarding earthquakes. The Newport-Inglewood Fault system runs all over this area, from the Newport Beach area up along the coast to the UCLA – Century City area. It’s now believed to be capable of delivering an earthquake in the M7.5 range, which is massive. Aside from all of the other damage that would cause to houses, businesses, utilities, highways, and highrise office buildings, I was wondering where the breaking point is here – in the roof structure or in one of those massive columns?
I don’t want to be anywhere near here if and when we find out. In fact, when that day comes, I wouldn’t complain if I’m in Kansas City or points east.
Filed under Disasters, KC Chiefs, Los Angeles, Photography
It’s a total bitch to set, it’s wildly inaccurate, goes off whenever it wants to, and in general is about 99.99999% useless.
But boy, let me tell you… When it DOES decide to go off, it’s effective as all get out.
This morning’s epicenter was only about 13 miles from our house, so we got a pretty good jolt.
What’s really bizarre is that I heard it coming before I felt it and before the alarms went off on the phone and Apple watches. (Being so close to the epicenter, the emergency alert and the shaking arrived pretty much simultaneously, leading to the inevitable “NO SHIT, SHERLOCK!” screams of terror.) It sounded to me a lot like a very low flying helicopter. We get helicopters screaminging over all the time (we’re at the very top of a decent-sized hill) and it sounded like a police or fire/rescue helicopter going like a bat out of Hell. A local brush fire starting up and there’s a water drop incoming? Someone fall and break their leg (again?!) over on Castle Peak? Another police chase on the freeway and the news helicopters are racing to intercept?
Nope. About three seconds later the first jolt hit, the windows rattled, the dresser drawers threatened to dump their content, and the local electronics started wailing their warnings.
That’s okay, I wasn’t going to sleep in later anyway.
Filed under Disasters, Los Angeles, Paul
I’m often referred to as being clueless, so we’ll see if being here tonight helps.
I do wonder if the finale and resolution changes from performance to performance – has anyone else seen this production so we can compare notes?
LATE EDIT – I checked with one of the ushers about the ending changing from show to show. “Sadly, no!”
Filed under Entertainment, Los Angeles, Photography
Back at the Ahmanson for “A Strange Loop.” Going into this one cold, no clue what it’s about except for the emailed warnings about “…explicit language, references to internalized racism, homophobia, HIV stigmatization, sexual assault, and scenes of an adult nature. The show uses theatrical haze, strobe and flashing lights, and sudden loud noises.” So, unlikely to be musical comedy.
As the days get longer, we get to see a bit more of the Downtown LA area and Music Center when we get here early.
The iconic LA City Hall, on the far side of the Great Park, with the Hall of Justice on the left (I think).
The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is at the other end of the Music Center plaza. Despite the dozens and dozens of times I’ve been to the Ahmanson, I don’t think that I’ve ever been to the Chandler. Something to check off the list in the next year!
The Mark Taper Forum is the round building on the left, with the Ahmanson behind it, and the LA Cathedral sunlit on the right across the street.
We ❤️ LA!
Filed under Art, Los Angeles, Photography
We normally would have been seeing “Funny Girl” at the Ahmanson two weeks ago, on April 6th, but I was three large states away, so we rescheduled.
No, I haven’t become homeless – that’s my two-day old Kings playoff beard! Yes, I know the looks are almost identical…
Let the festivities begin!
Filed under Entertainment, Los Angeles, Photography
In the middle of watching the hockey game tonight (it was good, Kings 5-0 over the Blackhawks) we got a blaring warning emergency alert, followed by the robot voice synthesizer from the National Weather Service warning about severe weather, up to and including hail, thunderstorms, and a possible tornado. WTAF?!
We didn’t get more than a few drops here, most of the action was east of Downtown LA and in the San Gabriel Valley, all thirty to fifty miles to our east. (Southern California’s a big place.)
By late tonight, the leftover remnants were over us, and with the quarter moon (that bright spot in the lower right) lighting them up from above and the light pollution from the city lighting them up from below, they looked pretty cool!
The big takeaway lesson for the evening, however, was that it’s so much harder to get down on the ground and then back up to my feet than I remember it being when I was younger. This sucks! (For the record, I was laying down on my back on the patio to try to stabalize my arms when holding my phone to take these 10 second exposures, rather than just walking inside the house to get one of the dozen or so tripods I have… Okay, so, the true takeaway is that I’m an idiot, but that’s not exactly news now, is it?)
Filed under Los Angeles, Photography, Uncategorized, Weather
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