"It never rains in California...."

Ha! Who says we don't experience autumn in the southwest? This picture - not very well composed (I was driving) - was taken in a random neighborhood on my way home from work the other day. The colors are brilliant and rival any I've seen in the east. Check out the black storm clouds in the background. The other was taken from by kitchen window a few hours later. The billowy storm clouds in the distance are illuminated by the setting sun just behind us.

Happy Thanksgiving

What are you giving thanks for?

Heaven and earth

It's sunset season here on the pacific coast. I don't know what it is about winter but it brings with it sweeping skies that play with the sun as it sinks in to the sea. Stunning.

Credit Card Crush

I use credit cards like the rest of the world but expressly for convenience. I'm not all that loyal either meaning if a bank makes me mad for one reason or another I defect. But as a rule I only use one card at a time, though I have plenty of open credit; too much in fact to be offered any more. I always pay any balance in full each month since I refuse to pay one red cent in finance charges. And, like everyone, I receive innumerable credit card offerings in the mail - each and every month for years upon years. I've always thought that this predatory practice was too tempting for people who really don't understand how credit works or who don't consider the consequences of excessive debt - aside from how expensive it is to market this way. So fully anticipating some kind of backlash in the credit markets this year I decided to conduct a little experiment. For the last 12 months I've saved all the credit card offers that came to me in the mail. There was a grand total of 123 credit card offers alone, not including HELOC offers. Is it any wonder we're in in the mess we're in? I suspect credit card default is the next shoe to drop. At least a few of these banks are in trouble or have been acquired by others, but this is breakout:
AMEX: 19
Chase: 26
Citibank: 20
US Bank:5
WAMU: 11
B of A: 17
Capital One: 21
One Card: 2
Discover: 2

Partying like it's 1999

So it's been pointed out that I'm a little too old for this but who cares I had fun. Our weekend started on Thursday night. It was a friend's birthday so we headed out to Lucky Baldwin's Pub in Pasadena. They were hosting a Chimay event and since my friend is a connoisseur of beer it was perfect. Chimay, if you're wondering is brewed by monks in Belgium and tastes exquisite. Evidently production and distribution is limited which makes it something to savor - and save for! It was a gorgeous warm fall evening and we had Baldwin's luck with us as we scored a patio table. BTW, the curry is amazing - "England's new national dish", you know. Props to Nick for organizing a really fun night out on a school night.

After dragging through Friday, I had that yummy beer on my mind. Score! and I wanted to share this discovery with someone who appreciates fine art.The stuff is $6 for a 12 oz bottle and worth every swirl on your tongue. Just as I was pulling in our driveway, so was our next door neighbor. So I invited him over for a tasting. That lead to cocktails and a spontaneous decision to continue the party in Hollywood. His friend who owns the Green Door on Ivar had us on the "list" and comped our entrance cover. Nice, but jumping the line where the whole of Asia was waiting to don the doors of this uber-Hollywood lounge was boss. Frank Stallone's band cranked out some bluesy covers for a while - yawn - but luckily we had a hook up at the bar. Dancing and frolicking followed by a late night nosh at Canter's famous deli (potato pancakes with sour cream and applesauce, oh yeah!) rang in a new morn. Or afternoon as the case may be.

Our dear friend is a HUGE 007 fan and he arranged for a dozen of us to go see the opening of Quantum of Solace. That's not the genre of movie I gravitate to but I'm always up for a party. And I was pleasantly satisfied with the film. Love the new Bond. Afterward we all made food at his place and played games into the wee hours. What a hoot, laughing so hard my abdominals hurt. The most hilarious part of the night though was Jerry's hair-brained idea to conduct an experiment. He said he'd seen it on youtube and wanted to test it. You put four cell phones together with a kernel of popcorn in the middle. Call the phones at the same time using four other phones. The theory is that there is so much radio activity that the kernel will pop like popcorn. Of course it didn't work but the antics that ensued were priceless, including a big drunken discussion about what makes the kernels pop in a microwave bag. Suffice it to say it went down hill from there. We had a big slumber party and woke up to more fun. The host made brunch and mimosas and we sat around solving the world's problems while wildfires tore through the Southland. When we emerged it was snowing ash and smelled like a gigantic camp fire. Such a fun weekend was dampened by the sadness of people's lives going up in smoke. Too bad we didn't have a little booze to dampen the fires.

How presidential

Last weekend before attending a lame civil war battle re-enactment in Simi Valley (about an hour from our house) we decided to maximize the drive and stopped in to visit the Reagan Presidential Library. This museum is not unlike others in that many artifacts and remembrances of Reagan's whole life and careers are on display. But what's interesting here is that it houses Air Force One, used in service as recently as Bush 43's early presidency and his 5 predecessors. This picture shows us giving the presidential wave as we entered the surprisingly diminutive aircraft. The infamous plane was retired to make way for a more modern and technologically advanced world. We were quite rushed making this last minute pit-stop and didn't get to see every exhibit missing the oval office display and the president's burial site in particular. I guess we'll have to make another trip to take it all in. The highlight and most moving moment for me, however, is the 4 ton chunk of the Berlin wall. Its stature and symbolism take me right back to that momentous day of freedom and redemption when Reagan demanded that Gorbi tear down the wall. This place, for the scenic vistas alone, gets a couple of thumbs up from me.

Girly man has some balls

This is old news by now (since it's taken me so long to post this).

The governator wants to "temporarily" raise state sales tax 1.5% to close the budget deficit. Who's he kidding? If they get their grubby hands on our money we'll never get it back. Listen to what this naive soul had to say about it, quoted in the Silicon Valley's Mercury News, "What's attractive to me is that it's temporary. To me, that's fairly logical. That solves problems now and you know it's going to go away. You have a built-in tax break going in." Ha!
The economy is strained, people are losing their homes, their jobs, simply trying to hold on and our government wants to raise taxes; taxes on consumer spending, which is sadly the driver of our economy. If rising taxes in addition to rising prices make unnecessary purchases prohibitive people will refrain from spending causing further contraction - less spending, more job loss and the cycle repeats. Don't get me wrong, we NEED to stop the wild spending that has contributed to our current messy situation. I just wonder if taxing everything is the best approach.

Ciao...

....Bush and Cli't', oh and especially Dick. Sorry for the lame innuendo....I'm feeling inspired by Helen Philpot. :]

The election is over! Hallelujah. It's the end of an era - the god-awful Bush era and with any luck the Clintons too. Time for some fresh yummy meat and fresh ideas to restore our standing in the world and history. As you might guess I did not vote for the office of president. (Calm down people it doesn't matter in California anyway.) My non-vote was a vote more against government than a vote against the beloved Obama. I am extraordinarily hopeful that he has the leadership qualities to get us on the right track and not unhappy in the least that he was elected. I probably wouldn't have been unhappy with McCain either. Honestly, who could do worse than what we've endured during the incompetent Bush years? Except maybe the wackadoo Nancy Pelosi so I'll have to trust that Obama will keep her on a short leash.
Speaking of crackpots, we have a bunch here in California. Let me break it down for you. But first a little history. The state is nearly bankrupt. We have a $15.2 BILLION budget deficit. This on the heels of historic home prices, hence historic property tax revenues of which the state gets a portion. So we had 12 statewide propositions on the ballot, 4 of which authorized the sale of bonds totaling almost $17B in new spending - plus interest. Three of the four passed which means our debt burden is further deepened. This from the same liberal crowd who scathingly condemn the erosion of a national surplus. Some of the props were a good idea but there are consequences to bad governance. I guess that's not how Californians think. Keep digging a hole, maybe the congress will bail you out!
What gets me the craziest is that a proposition to prohibit the confinement of pregnant farm animals passed while one that would ensure parental notification for under-age abortions was defeated. Huh? I adore animals and I don't give a crap if someone wants to get an abortion but let's examine the logic. Animals being raised to get hauled off to slaughter for our consumption shouldn't live in a cage and young girls, who can't get a mole removed without their parents consent, can have major surgery unbeknownst to their caregivers. The same bizarre crowd chose to deny gays the constitutional right to marriage. I guess animals are more important than homos and children.
Maybe you think I'm the crackpot. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Live, Love, Laugh - Peace out

• 1 gorgeous fall day in LA - $0
  
• 2 cold beers - $12
• 3 slices of bagel crust pizza -$13
• a dozen rhythmic bongo drummers inciting gatherers to gyrate on the cool sand at sunset on Venice beach - priceless

When I'm not hating the icky people and unbearable traffic in LA, I love it. I know it's a big condradiction but such is LA. I love the spirited and soulful nature of people. I love that it is acceptable to be your free and true self, no matter how offensive it is and nobody cares. And if they do they can fuck off. I love that no matter what ails us or the tribulations we face we can come together as a people - harmoniously, peacefully - and celebrate life, art, music, love. Do I sound like a hippy or what? And no, the bong didn't come around to me! Who cares, man. Live and let live.