Migun (Mee-gun)

Migun is Korean for "beautiful health". My brother asked my opinion about this company so I went to check it out because he was thinking of making a purchase. They produce thermal massage beds constructed by blending eastern wellness methodologies with western technology and can be demonstrated at showrooms sporatically located throughout the world. The only facilities in the LA area are not very conveniently located in Woodland Hills and Cerritos. The studios are franchised and offer the product for sale. However, the philosophy is that good health should be available to everyone so they allow you free 40 minute sessions to realize the benefits with the hope that you will be so transformed that you'll buy a bed. The basic principle is that sun energy is captured and delivered through jade heads built into the bed that move along the meridians in your body. You receive the benefit of both far infrared heat source and acupressure massage. Studies done at UCI medical school have shown that regular use of this bed also mitigates negative effects of hypertension and diabetes. I have only tried it twice and am in general good health so I haven't noticed much of a difference but I'm going to give it an earnest go. Try it out. A votre sante!

Mary, Mary quite contrary...

... my garden does grow very well, thank you. It is going bananas, actually! We had a problem with the initial plating of some seeds - either I drowned them, the birds ate them or the ground was still too cold. But we replanted corn, beans and summer squash and they are popping out beautifully. Should be a good summer if I can keep the bugs from chowing.

Victor Victoria

Lusty or Lesbo?

There was a time I would have stayed in and cried my eyes out refusing to let anyone see me like this but the beauty of being 40 allows for perspective. It's a little androgynous given my harsh features but it'll grow. I have bigger things to care about. For instance, I heard a story today that one of our nitwit councilmembers wants to hold local supermarkets responsible for the theft of their grocery carts. Ha! It turns out police policy is to book anyone caught with a shopping cart - many of whom do not have i.d. much less an address and, therefore, impossible to ticket. Arresting these petty thieves is obviously an arduous and expensive process keeping our police from catching bad guys but I'm not understanding the logic behind fining the stores. If the city officers were more conscientious about guarding the purse and able to manage the exorbitant budget given them they wouldn't have to waste energy on such ridiculousness.

Culture Club

Who says LA doesn't have any culture? It's laden with culture: harlot-starlet culture, motion- picture culture, gang-banger culture. Kidding aside, there is plenty to keep one satiated in this town and even enlightened.

Last night I spent the evening in Hollywood at the King King Theater. Friends of friends were producing a one night only gig called "The Medicine Show". It was billed as modern day vaudeville. The theater is hip and ambient - warehouse ceilings, exposed exterior walls, wet-bar, kickass DJ spinning sassy records, all comfortably occupied with a diverse crowd of thrill-seekers. The show opens with a so-so band while pliant burlesque aerialists twirl on swings and rings above head. The line-up included a fantastic magician who often works The Magic Castle here in LA. He chose me to be his assistant. I didn't want to be a spoil sport so I went along and jumped up on stage wearing a form-fitting dress. (This is a germane detail.) The skit was great and we had a lot of fun.

It was a multi-cultural affair - the talent and audience were of every hue and ethnicity. Much of the comic agenda was based in stereotypes and begged audience participation. After a moderately funny hispanic comedian and a very funny hispanic m.c., enter the final comedian, a black man. He launches his segment by applauding me and my "bubble butt" and carries on for 5 minutes about my backside. I was half-mortified but let him take the piss out of me anyway. It was a great night.

Tonight, I finally made it down to Exposition Park to the California Science Center to view the Body Worlds exhibit. I am so fascinated by this process of preservation by plastination. It is really a feat to have figured a way to inject liquid plastic into the tiniest capillaries and then strip away the fibers to reveal a tangible specimen. This year the exhibit features the heart including veins, arteries and capillaries. I loved how organs, healthy and diseased, were displayed side by side with their corresponding vascular web. I think I'm going to donate my body to plastination science in death. Not only is it a way to live forever but then everyone will get to enjoy my bubble butt.

Nothing's impossible

I have just finished reading "A Life Decoded" - the memoir of the senior scientist who sequenced the human genome. While the bulk of the bio-technical terminology and concepts are well beyond the scope of my scientific comprehension, it is a good read and interesting to learn how science and politics are so closely entwined. What lead me to pick this title up to begin with is the possibility of knowing what lies within our DNA in terms of disease prevention. I struggled through the pages for weeks (one has to be in the right head-space to absorb such heady material) to find my reward in the last chapter. Many trials and tribulations lead Dr. Venter to and fro but his mind operates as a true scientist - curious to the core and determined to find answers to the hard questions. He was hell-bent on using his genome successes to benefit the world, if not humanity, so he turned to the sea. The oceans are brimming with millions of species of microorganisms. It is known that many organisms "eat" carbon dioxide which plays a key role in global warming.
Dr. Ventor and his team are trying to figure out a way to synthetically, genetically recreate more of these microbes. More carbon-reducing microbes = less carbon. Less carbon emission = less climate change. Boundless other outcomes and science could follow in this same vein. For instance, using scientific discovery to engineer artificial life form that could unearth, if you will, new alternative energy resources. Brilliant! At least someone is putting their genes to good use.

Count Your Blessings

Just a reminder about how fleeting life is. I hope you live every day to the fullest, experience everything beautiful, and love with all your heart.

Our friends/neighbors were on a chartered bus heading for Laughlin to celebrate a birthday. In an instant they went from dancing in the aisles to peeling friends off the pavement and out of the wreckage when the bus overturned en route. One passenger perished and 20+ others were moderately to critically injured. I can't even imagine the gruesome and horrific scene - like a very bad movie. Our friends were among the lucky ones escaping with a separated clavicle and broken vertabrae.

It's important to tell the people you care about how much they mean to you. And don't for an instant take life for granted; t's precious and short. We are all blessed in so many ways even during times of suffering.

WhooHoo !!!!

As I anticipated, Jackson is fully recovered. His lungs are clear; he has a big, strong heart; his gums are supple and pink; he's perfect in general - of course :]

Action Jackson

A follow-up to the doctor tomorrow will be more revealing but Jackson is doing remarkably well. We are planning a trip to Big Bear this weekend and I'm hoping the elevation will not prove problematic. His breathing and energy levels have resumed to normal I'm fully expecting a stellar report. Thanks to all who have expressed their concern and doled out abundant belly rubs!

Kermit was a pessimist

Thankfully you can't have a conversation, pick up a magazine or listen to the news very often anymore without some reference to sustainable living. I say "thankfully" because I think it is a really important conversation to have; not merely to jump on the band-wagon but to consider & discuss new ideas, to examine our footprint, and to understand our global connection to each other and our planet. I encourage you to go to this website and read through this amazing process to design and build an eco-friendly dwelling, which serves as a model for the surrounding community on a micro-level and the scientific community (and the world at large) in the aggregate. The Zero Carbon House Project, spearheaded by a man and his wife in the Shetland Islands, aims to produce and consume it's own wind-generated energy. They will grown their own food and produce electricity for their car - both will be made available to fellow islanders. While new technology is ever-evolving, with a little will it's easy being green (Kermit sang it's NOT easy being green - obscure reference I know). Building an entire green structure is still cost-prohibitive but we can certainly explore the possibilities one project at a time.

Welcome Home

My baby's home!
What an absolute relief. He's moving a little slow - it's a hot day after all - but I think he's happy to be in his own environment. We need to watch him closely over the next few days to make sure there's no infection but I think he'll be just fine. I love my monkey and I'm so happy he's home.

Making progress

Jackson's biggest threat now is infection. He is still on oxygen but they are slowly weening him off (from 40% to 20%) to see if he can handle the natural environment. He will have to be observed overnight but it is very possible that he will come home tomorrow. He's pretty lethargic, probably from the meds, not to mention the trauma, but he's cheerful. He has 2 IVs and is confined to a pretty small space. He has issues with claustrophobia (unless he just hates me mauling him) so he can't be too thrilled. The wonderful doctors and staff at City of Angels Veterinary Critical Care in Culver City have really been amazing.

Bob

We're not out of the woods yet but things are looking good. Jackson remained on oxygen overnight and his breathing calmed meaning he did not need a ventilator. He's still coughing intermittently but no more blood. When the doctors round this morning they'll assess where he stands and make recommendations for the next course of treatment. He'll probably go on antibiotics just in case there was anything funky in the pool and to mitigate pneumonia. At this point it looks like he'll pull through just fine. Thank the Lord.

Drowning

Jackson is trying not to drown. He has acute pulmonary edema (fluid on the lungs) making breathing laborious and he is isolated in an oxygen tank. The prognosis is neutral (50/50) but the doc is encouraged that he was able to get himself out of the pool and is not expecting to need a ventilator. We are praying that his body is strong and healthy enough to heal without complication which includes stress to other organs including the GI tract and kidneys. His heart looks good and clear but difficult to hear it beat with all the fluid. He is his normal tail-waggin' sweet self but a little sad that he can't come home with his momma. With any luck he will be home by Saturday. Say a little prayer for my baby - he's too young to go over the rainbow just yet.

Having a conniption

I'm pretty panicked right now. Jackson fell in our neighbor's pool. Surprisingly he was able to get himself out (I thought he would sink in such a situation). He was snooping around the backyard - like he always does - and toddled onto the pool cover unbeknownst to the danger lurking beneath. At first we thought he was just scared, shocked and stressed. But after an hour his breathing had not resumed to normal. He wasn't hyperventilating but it was a little labored. And then I saw blood. So he's gone to the doctor. I spoke with the vet while Damon was en route and although he has raised hounds himself he wasn't quite sure how to react. So as I sit here petrified trying to find info I grow more and more concerned that he may be suffering from bloat or has water in his lungs. That dog is my life. Pathetic but true.

So close and yet so far

Just in case there was any question I'm not always a bitchy bitter blogger. I do manage to have lots of fun in this life. Last weekend started off at Boogaloo's Blues Restaurant in Hermosa Beach listening to the outstanding Shari Puorto. She's fun, energetic & possesses pipes that'll blow your mind. She packed the house and brought it down with original songs and cool cover renditions. Then we hit the open road and blazed the Mojave desert for Las Vegas.

Ever been to Vegas without being in Vegas? Forget the glitz and glamour, folks. Get your mind off the gorgeous girls parading around in micro-minis donning buxum figures peddling cigars! cigarettes! And don't expect to get loaded on complimentary cocktails as you spin your savings away on black 11. Nope. Imagine gluttonous food fiends waddling to the buffet; you've never seen so many rolls - and I ain't talkin' multi-grain. Picturing it? Then imagine chain smokers wheeling oxygen tanks around oblivious to the threat of explosion they pose. This makes i.e.d.s seem like a game of tiddlywinks. Now, complete the picture by visualizing player's club members bungied to slot machines as if drawing their life's blood from it. This is the Vegas burbs, baby. Gives "sin-city" a whole new connotation. (Recall the 7 deadlies.)

Aside from spending time with Damon's mom, one of the highlights of the trip was visiting Hoover Dam. What an awesome spectacle of engineering wonder! Namesake of the 31st US President Hoover, the dam straddles the states of Nevada and Arizona on the lower Colorado river. Construction began in 1931 and by 1935 over six million tons of concrete rose from beneath the river bed to form the arch gravity dam which holds back 9.2 trillion gallons of water in Lake Mead. The operation supplies water and power to three states and provides steady irrigation to the entire southern basin. Truely a sight to behold and well worth the 30 minute trek from "Las Vegas".

Update on Jamiel's Law

Quel surpris! The corruption continues....

This case has roused intense passion and discord among city officials and the public it serves. The city leadership continues to defend and misinterpret Special Order 40 and labels dissenters as racists and demagogues. They've spent a lot of time trying to quell efforts to bring Jamiel's Law and our broken system into the light.

There's been a number of accusations. Jamiel Shaw Sr. says city personnel offered him payoffs including a position on a city committee if he would just tone it down on Jamiel's Law and keep away from the media. Then, Michelle Hennisee, LA prosecutor of alleged murderer Pedro Espinoza in trying to determine a motive for gunning down Jamiel Shaw concluded without merit or evidence that the victim was himself a gang member. According to Mr. Shaw, she informed him that she'd planned to proceed in this vein during Espinoza's trial. Rather than seeking the truth (which is more than likely a black/brown hate crime - something else our fearless leaders refuse to acknowledge) the prosecutor eluded to Jamiel's complicity since he was sporting a Spider Man backpack. The backpack obviously depicts known gang colors so he must have been affiliated with a gang or the gunman simply mistook him for one. D.A. Steve Cooley has since taken her off the case.

In a sidebar note of interest, two of the best gang crushing cops have been removed from the beat thanks to councilmember Janice Hahn. The LAPD fields complaints from the public regarding officer conduct and takes corrective action if the complaints pile up. The gangs are well aware of this policy and file complaints deliberately to build up the file.

Why is this happening? Ahhh, the $64,000 (adjust for inflation) question. The conclusion that I draw - with no basis, BTW, just because I'm cynical and suspicious - is that they are all on the take. Gangs wield so much power in this city and nobody possess the political will to take them down.

Mansionization shadows Homelessness

The council agenda for today opened the floor to public hearing on ordinances for both residential hotel preservation and mansionization baseline establishment; the former recognizes the roughly 18,000 units in LA reserved for and used by low income persons; the latter lays the groundwork for maximum residential square footage allowances in certain neighborhoods. The juxtaposition of the two back to back issues was glaring and serves as an appropriate analogy for the socio-economic struggles facing the city. In a passionate display of begging and pleading, people one step above homelessness fight to keep roofs over their heads contrasted by mega-rich developers determined to tear down modest homes and rebuild mega-mansions in their places - all in the same city, even in the same neighborhood.

As usual the city council aims to have it both ways - appeasing the political base while finagling to get every greedy dollar. This council doesn't want to appear responsible for throwing people out into the street so they pass the ordinance to preserve these hotels with the stipulation that at least 30% occupancy will be reserved for low income residents. They also included the caveat that the property owner may not demolish the building unless an equal number of low income units are rebuilt within 2 miles of the original site or pay a hefty fine for violation.

In the next segment we heard in grueling minutia the figures put forth by the housing committee (a 3 year study BTW -what did that cost?) about what constitutes a mansion. Homeowners are contending that their privacy is being encroached upon and neighborhood charm destroyed by behemoth structures replacing original modest homes. This issue was hotly contested and ended in a near stalemate given the tax revenue at stake.

It's a sad day when quibbling over mansions garners more attention than people living on the street.

Jamiel's Law

I wrote to each of the fifteen LA city councilmen urging them to consider Jamiel's Law - a proposal which would mandate that gangbangers are exempt from protections under Special Order 40. I heard only from the honorable hack and former police chief Bernard Parks who accuses me (and all form letter recipients) of "...blindly embracing the politically motivated misinformation...". He goes on to cite that it was the Culver City police, not LAPD, that released the illegal gang member who not 24 hours later shot and killed young Jamiel Shaw. Oh, so since it didn't happen in LA proper we should just ignore the crime. Right.

A little background...
Jamiel Shaw, a bright student and football star, was murdered 2 doors down from his house while his mother was serving her country in Iraq. His killer, an illegal gangbanger serving jail time for weapons violations, was released when he should have been reported to ICE.
Special Order 40 was instituted by LAPD Chief Daryl Gates in 1979. It isn't even a law, rather a policy whereby police officers may not apprehend persons merely to inquire about citizenship. It was designed on the notion that public participation is necessary to solving crime. The order would not deter witnesses from coming forward with information if they were offered immunity from the wrath of the INS, now ICE. The order has been parsed and misinterpreted to suit politicians and neglects to protect all law abiding inhabitants, legal and illegal.

I think that Special Order 40 should be rescinded altogether but Jamiel's Law proposes that ONLY gang members be questioned regarding their immigration status and prosecuted if found "undocumented", i.e. illegal. LA harbors an estimated 80, 000 gang members - many illegal. These maniacs are destroying our city. Why are we so concerned about their rights? What about our right to not be terrorized by these animals? I don't understand how it is racial profiling or racist to demand that known criminals be deported.

On this May Day, as we celebrate the immigrant contribution, let's consider the rights of the lawful and purge this city of the awful - awful, illegal gangbangers and awful, incompetent politicians.