JP Myers A Blog

What Happens Now?

2012-01-14T18:50:00.000-08:00

I'm at a loss. I haven't felt a reason to write anything for a few months. I want to keep up my chops, but I really don't have any to mention.

There are lots of things to talk about with the upcoming election and all. I am listening to talk radio and the primaries are interesting to me. I think Romney will be the nominee. I don't think he will beat Obama unfortunately. I think there was more interest when McCain was running. I still have a McCain yard sign and a ball cap leaning against the wall here in my office.

I think if you are conservative all this infighting needs to stop and all the candidates need to pull out and get behind a front runner. I think after South Carolina this will happen. To defeat Obama is a big task and I'm not at all confident that any Republican candidate can make it happen. It comes down to bigger government or personal responsibility and lower taxes. I think Obama wants to turn us towards a European style government. It's amazing to me that people don't see after years and years that this is not a good way to go.

So I'm gonna turn 49 on the 23rd of January. I thought I would have been hit by a bus by now. I never even considered in my mind at any time in my life the year 2012. It's seems unreal to me. Being kind of a Hypochondriac I wonder when I will be diagnosed with cancer. I know that's really weird, but I do think about death often.

In February I will be at my job for 15 years. I want to feel good about that, but I'm not sure it is a good thing. I'm not exactly happy there. I want to feel proud but my employers make it hard for me to do that.

I'm really in the dark about what this year will bring. I can't say I'm optimistic about it. For the first time in my life I just really don't know where I'm going or what this world holds in store for me.

I'll just ride the wave and hope for the best.

- JP

Holiday Talk Radio Leaves Me Wanting.

2011-12-27T23:45:00.000-08:00

Note to Robin Bertolucci, Program Director KFI Radio Los Angeles.

Just a couple comments if you don't mind. After hearing Sundays show with Wayne Resnick and guest Brian Whitman I gotta say, I wished you had used Brian as a substitute host during these holidays. Here is the link to the Sunday show: http://bit.ly/tsGDhX I know It's a slow time and the schedule was probably preset. And the ratings probably aren't a big concern this time of the year but wow these substitute hosts this week are painful to listen to. I'm just a working stiff that is back at work this week, and granted I am a chronic listener but can't we get some hosts that are a little more compelling? If you didn't hear the show on Sunday I get that, it's the holidays. It was one of the best shows I have heard in a long time. Hilarious impressions and old radio stories and people that he has known, frankly he stole the show. I'll just come out and say it. Please hire him. Lots of people here in LA miss him terribly. His past problems are long gone I have heard. He did 12 podcasts for the Christmas Holidays that were the old Brian back in action.

Here is a little critique for this week.

- So I heard that Wayne filled in for Handel. Didn't hear it. I was sleeping. Wayne is always great. Bill Handel has jumped the Shark, big time. And with KABC changing their morning drive show I would suggest you kick Bill to the curb. How about a morning show with Brian and Wayne? I'd listen to that.

- Lisa Ann Walter sitting in for the very good Bill Carroll - Love Lisa, good choice. One of the only female hosts I like. She's good at night too, just don't have her talk about Kim Kardashian. Is everyone at 7pm directed to talk about her? I don't think I care about that. That's not the Demo for that show is it? I hate it. Every host at 7pm in the last couple weeks is doing this. I don't get it.

- Kennedy sitting in for John and Ken. Bad idea. Nobody that listens to John and Ken wants to hear her (my opinion). Brian Suits yes, Kennedy no.

- Johnny Wendell sitting in for Tim Conway. Really bad idea. I would rather hear Michael Crozier than this strange guy.

Brain Whitman is just sitting in that hot box in that valley maaan, I would like to hear him on KFI. His politics are not conservative or far right, but I would welcome that.

Happy New Year to everyone at KFI,

JP Myers
Diamond Bar, CA

A Day In Brea

2011-12-24T18:00:00.000-08:00

Wow we just got home and I'm stuffed and exhausted. I was looking around for an Italian place for lunch today and found a place in Brea. We live in Diamond Bar just 10 minutes over the Brea Canyon. I love Brea, I really want to move over there. It has such a cool downtown area and the neighborhoods have these nice little houses and condos. Looks like a nice place to be. There is no reason to be in Diamond Bar anymore.

So I found this place on Brea Blvd called Lomeli's. It's at 600 S. Brea Blvd., Brea, CA. To my surprise it's been there since 1978! This always upsets me to find a great place like this that has been there all these years and I had no idea (gritting teeth). And on top of it, voted the best Italian in the OC Register two years in a row.

So the wife and I jump in the car and run over there. It's not busy and they bring us back to a very nice booth. The restaurant looks to have been remodeled in the last 5 years, turns out it's a new location, they were 6 blocks south for a long time a few years ago. All new everything including nice and classy smoked glass partitions on top of the booths. It's not a big place. Maybe enough seating for 60 or 70 people max. Off to the south side of the restaurant there is a wood frame over the booths with lattice and Chianti bottles and grape leaves. The typical traditional Italian restaurant but this place has a little something more. It has a classy feeling to it.

After being seated I look over and see a large booth by the hostess/cashier area. It is completely loaded up with to go boxes of what must be lasagne and who knows what. These boxes are very hi quality with the restaurants name and number, just good looking. You can tell they put a lot of thought into it. In an adjacent dining room there are even more boxes of food to be picked up. And they have even put out orange cones as a designated parking area on the street for people to come pick up their orders. On this Christmas Eve I guess it's a big deal to get stuff from Lomeli's! Who knew? I coulda had a dinner!

So I knew before we got there that the best thing to get was the Lomeli's Special. One small cheese pizza, spaghetti and ravioli, garlic bread. Soup or salad. Deb had the Minestrone, I had the salad.

First they bring a relish tray with peppers and carrots and ranch. Beautiful. Then they bring the soup and salad. Beautiful soup with pasta shells and great salad with slices of cheese on it and olives, just awesome. Deb and I always share and I tasted that soup and it was out of this world good.

Some Brea trivia: Union Oil made this area boom in the early 1900's, Brea the Spanish word for Tar. Baseball legend Walter Johnson grew up in Olinda (a town next door) at the turn of the century where he worked in the surrounding oil fields as a youth. In the Dunsmuir California ballpark in 1924, Babe Ruth came and played in an exhibition game.

At this point the smiling waitress puts this down......oh my god.

I put a piece on Debs plate then mine and sprinkled Parmesan generously on it and took a bite. Now look, here is one thing. I don't mess around talking about pizza. I am a huge fan of pizza. this is spectacular. The crust and the sauce and the cheese oh my god. It could not have been better. Out of this world.

She's back! The waitress puts down this huge plate with large spoons. It's the Spaghetti with the huge ravioli! ........and the meatballs! I serve it up and take a bite of the ravioli. Oh my god. I can honestly say I have never had it so good. These raviolis were about the size of half a slice of bread, huge. These were cheese filled, like ricotta. The best I have ever had. I'm not kidding.

And then the meat balls. I just was shaking my head as it was in my mouth. Incredible. Look at this photo. This place is just mind blowingly good. Is that a word?

This is a photo the busboy took, I had nothing to do with it.

My wife has such a great attitude. She always lifts me up. I thank god for her during the holidays and always. We both go though depression this time of year. Both her parents are gone. My Mom is gone. My Dad and brother live in other states. It's tough. But being able to go and have a great lunch like this is great for us.

Here is my very easily amused wife with our desert.

It's a long post I know but there is more.

Just a short comment about the wait staff there at Lomeli's, excellent and friendly. Never had a want. Thank you!

After this kick ass lunch we went into downtown Brea and walked around. Right there , brand new... Farrell's! This happens to be the first time people will be able to go to the new Farrells! Remember this great ice cream parlor when you were a kid? Well it's back! Today was an invite only, it opens officially Monday! And it's not just ice cream it's a full service restaurant with alcohol, oh baby.

So the moral to the story is go get some food!

http://www.lomelisrestaurant.com/

http://www.farrellsusa.com/

Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to all!!!!

- JP

Halloween on Halloween

2011-10-29T18:15:00.000-07:00

Today Deb and I had a really great time going on a tour of filming locations with our LA Radio buddy Brian Whitman. Brian is a fanatic about the old 1978 horror movie classic "Halloween" by John Carpenter. He knows all the little quirky trivia. The film takes place in a small town in Illinois. But guess what? With an only $300,000 budget it was all filmed in So Cal.

Brian loving this film and purportedly to having seen it over 100 times, came up with an idea for a personal private tour of the filming locations in South Pasadena. Some of the film was shot in Hollywood too.

He put up a facebook page and it sold out in nothing flat. Their were about 14 people on the tour. Brian brought everyone pizza and drinks and then we jumped in a few cars and visited 6 different locations.

Not going into too much detail if you haven't seen the movie it's about a psychotic killer that gets out of a mental hospital and runs around with coveralls and mask and a knife. I usually hate movies like this but this is a special one. Brian knows a quality movie. This film is more of a mood piece. It has great music and is shot beautifully.

The killers name is Michael Myers, just happens to be my brothers name, wierd. This is Jamie Lee Curtis' first film and it has the old veteran actor Donald Pleasence playing Michaels' doctor.

The special surprise that Brian had for everyone today is a friend of his, Peter Genovese at www.petergenovese.com, dressed up as the killer in coveralls and mask and looked just like him, even wielding the bloody kitchen knife, it was so cool.

Brian also had a new Web Talk Show there called TheFilmTalkShow.com with host David C. Morgan. They were filming at all the locations and talking to Brian.

And last but not least, what really got the ball rolling on this wonderful tour was that Brian took some volunteers and acted out a couple scenes from the film at the original locations. It turned into an independent film set with Brian as the producer and David as the Director. Brian got the volunteers to read from the script and walk and shoot it as if they were remaking the film. It was very very cool I must say.

The video that was shot will be edited and put on the web in the next couple days. My wife is in it and did a great job acting.

Thanks to the City of South Pasadena. Nobody called the police or complained about 14 people making noise in front of their houses. That's very cool.

It was a great day. Thanks Brian!

- JP

Click this link to see all the photos from today

Happy Halloween!!

Sunday..Sunday..Sunday..Funny Cars!

2011-10-16T17:45:00.000-07:00

Oh man did we have fun today. I have never written three blog posts in a row in the span of three days.

We left late and went to a regular haunt in Pomona. The Pomona Valley Mining Company. It is always a great place for brunch. Did you know that Brunch is a combination of the words Breakfast and Lunch? I asked my wife this and she gave me this fake smile and a fake "really?", pretty funny girl she is.

So we are waiting in the bar for our table and of course the amazing wife of mine makes new friends for life with this couple Lori and Randy. I was talking to Randy and he is just a cool dude, a white guy by the way and Lori is Filipino. Two mixed race couples with the same races. Randy knows what's up. And Lori is gorgeous. Deb of course got Lori's number and we are going to their house next week. This wife of mine is amazing.

So we get seated and don't see Lori and Randy again. We had some kick ass food with Champagne of course, with some orange juice. I love getting the prime rib with some egg's bennie and rice and bacon and crab legs. Then I usually go back for salad and fruit. Deb did the same.

We noticed a black lady sitting by herself. Beautiful woman over 50 with a hat and wearing a dress with jewelry and bright red lip stick. After a while Deb got up and went to the restroom and of course met this lady. They talked and were laughing as they walked back together.

Her name is Carrie Mathis. She is from Mississippi. She is a life long nurse and now first time writer. She is the author of a book called Overcoming Shattered Dreams: Ouch! That Hurt! She was the sweetest woman ever and we enjoyed talking to her for over an hour. She explained the intense childhood she had and couple rocky marriages. But what a sweet soul she is. Most of the time she was smiling and laughing and having fun talking to us. She's in her 60's but still looks very good. I was really admiring her, very easy on the eyes.

I was telling her she might want to get a facebook page up and promote her book. She's retired now and loves living alone and has a couple grown kids. But she loves her independence and plans to write more.

Click on book cover.

What an absolute cool lady. We had so much fun talking to her. We promised to get together soon and do it again. It's really amazing who you meet out in the world. Thank the lord for my outgoing wife that loves people.

On top of all this we have experienced this weekend, I talked to my Father in Minneapolis and my Brother in upstate new York. It has been one sweet weekend.

- JP

A great day at the mall, wait a minute.

2011-10-15T21:30:00.000-07:00

Well I didn't think I would be writing a blog post the day after I wrote a blog post, but this is just too good.

One of my heroes is Joel Osteen. He runs the Lakewood Church in Texas. He says often that if you are wronged or have a hard time in life that the Lord will pay you back double. Well we got that today.

We got up late and left the house around 1pm for lunch. We drove though the Brea Canyon and into Brea. We went to Outback Steakhouse. It was closed, I laughed my ass off. This makes no sense to me. We then drove over to the Brea Mall and went to Claim Jumper.

We had a great Bartender named Chris. He was very attentive. There was nobody in the restaurant except a few people so we had the attention of all the staff. We sat at the bar and ordered lunch.

Deb had a half chicken and sweet potato and veggies with corn bread on the side, she is telling me now as I type this. I had a Filet Mignon and mashed potatoes and salad. I don't normally have this kind of expensive meat for lunch but after the week I had, I was jones-ing for it.

It was amazing and I loved all of it, no complaints which is unusual for me just ask my wife :) Just a beautiful lunch.

After which we went over to the Brea Mall. I was OK with it. I wanted to walk around. I thought I would feel better getting some walking in.

Well...let me tell you something. I was stunned. This mall is beautiful. For me to say that is big. I hate malls and shopping but this place is really beautiful and huge. It goes on forever. There were thousands of people there today.

We hit the Macy's which apparently is only a women's store now. I did not find anything for men. But maybe it was my food intoxication. I didn't see anything.

We also went to the Apple Store. I have never been in a Apple Store and have never owned any Apple Products. I walked up and was looking at the new iPhone 4. I logged into my facebook account and posted a status update: "I'm in the Apple Store in Brea and playing with the new iPhone and loving it". Oh my god it's a kick ass phone, now I know why people love it so much. Pondering.......

After we walked around for a while and saw all the beautiful people, and my god there were a lot of them. We stopped and sat down in what is a total new thing to me.

Next to the Nordstom was a cafe, no a real cafe. A french cafe where you can sit outside and have a coffee or even a glass of wine! holy crap....what did he say? That's right a glass of wine. We got a table right on the sidewalk as it were of the mall. Deb had a Creme Brulee dessert and I had a glass of Chardonnay. This great place is called "Le Diplomate Cafe".

We talked to the owner Andre. Turns out they have been in this mall for almost 20 years. It's a French themed restaurant with art painted walls and tiled roofs and lamp posts. It's really designed well. It's actually a big place.

We sat in the front and watched people walk by. I had Deb pointing out to me all the hot chicks walking by (what a wife I have) and the sun coming though the atrium roof. I have not been this relaxed in months.

One of the best Saturday's in a long time. Not one thing to complain about, how often does that happen?

- JP

Observations From The Road, Extreme

2011-10-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

Ever since Wednesday and that shooting in Seal Beach I have been in bad shape. I was really stunned to hear about this event, and I was just down the road in Huntington Beach when it happened. I saw a twitter post and thought holy crap that guy could be coming this way. 5 minutes later someone posted that he was caught.

It's been down hill since that happened. I have moved since but I lived in Long Beach for a long time and spent a lot of time in Seal Beach. It's just so close to home. Those poor people facing this unimaginable event. I can not imagine the pain being felt. I just slipped into intense despair and depression. So much so that on Thursday morning my voice was almost gone, not sure why, stress maybe.

I follow the news probably too close and listen to a lot of talk radio. I think hearing everyday all the negative things going on and then to pile this on top just was too much. On Thursday I could not even turn the radio on to hear what was probably intense detail about what happened. I just could not go there. I bought a new audiobook and just cut myself off.

Wednesday was a full moon. I was noticing the traffic a lot more crazy than most days. My mind was swimming with thoughts of this awful person killing those innocent people. I was just sick to my stomach.

On Thursday at work I noticed people driving extra crazy. People were tailgating me and weaving into my lane, over and over and all day long. I was getting so angry and frustrated. It kept happening all day and until I got home at 10pm. I was just exhausted and angry and depressed.

Friday comes and I'm woken up by a Fed Ex guy and loud talking and dogs barking. I still felt this intense depression and sadness. I took a couple aspirin and went to work. After a few hours I felt a little better, but that depression still lingered in my head.

A fairly calm afternoon and then the very very busy drive up to the San Fernando Valley. And of course Friday is the very very busy drive back from about 8pm to 9 or so.

I'm driving back and I get to the East LA interchange and see this woman in a dark blue Camry. She is driving crazy, going back and forth in one lane and switching to another. She is doing this thing I know you have seen where people are driving in slow traffic then all lights go red and you have to slow to a stop behind the car in front of you. Well this woman would see the red lights and continue at a good speed and then slam on her breaks just feet before the car in front of her. I saw her do this probably ten times. I honked at her and was trying to get her attention. I saw in the car was an older woman with a scarf on her head and a baby in a car seat in the backseat.

I thought my God woman your driving insane. I saw a license plate frame on her car read "Lodi". She's from out of town probably.

So I lose track of her and after a few more minutes I am at Lakewood on the 5 south.

I am in the fast lane and see another car tailgating me. I can not believe how often this has happened this week, it's crazy. This person behind me is right on my ass. I tap breaks to give them a little message. After about three times of this person doing this, it happens. I'm looking in my rear view mirror at this car is coming...and coming......and BOOM! Smacks right into me, HARD.

I said to myself "great way to end this shit ass week!" I put on my flashers and try to move off the freeway to the shoulder. I finally get over and stop......and here is the kicker for the week ladies and gentleman.......nobody is there but me. I'm ok and the Van is not damaged, surprisingly.

A hit and run and I'm only 10 minutes away from clocking out on a Friday night. I call into to my co-worker. I got no license plate I have no idea what kind of car, nothing. I did not see this person or the car, but guess what? I think it was that crazy woman I saw earlier.

It's gonna be a great weekend.!! I'm sure of it.

Pray for the Families of the Seal Beach Shooting, they are gonna need support.

Click this link to donate to relief fund.

- JP

I thought I had hit someone, but no.

2011-10-08T01:05:00.000-07:00

Holy crap I got scared today. I was turning left and everything looked clear. I turned. After I completed the turn I see a flash in my left eye! A person, only a foot or so away from me by my driver door, oh my god! I stopped and rolled the window down and looked behind me. There was a young guy cussing me out. I thought, oh my god I almost hit this guy. I was really shaken up. I yelled "I'm really sorry, I didn't see you!" He was cussing me out. He really didn't look that mad and was walking away. I thought that I had somehow driven though a pedestrian cross walk and did not see this guy and almost hit him. I didn't know how this could possibly have happened. I'm usually hyper vigilant about safe driving because that's how I make my living. No bragging but I have almost 15 years with no tickets or accidents transporting blood though LA/OC. It's not luck, just ask my wife how critical I am of her driving. Only because I want her to be safe and not get hurt. Also I have gone though extensive safety training for years and years to the point where it's really insulting. I'm as good a driver as I can be after probably a million and a half miles in 26 years.

Ok so I continue on my drive up to the Valley today pondering this and feeling really horrible and thinking that I might have almost killed someone. I have never come even close to something like this before and it really freaked me out.

I came home and my wife and I talked about it. I went over and over this is my mind and boom! My wife said this..."he was probably holding on to your vehicle and skateboarding". A light went off in my head.

This kid looked to be about 20, very tall wearing a tee shirt and baggy jeans and under his arm was a long skateboard.

I looked up on Google and found this word "Skitching" meaning Skateboard Hitching. Squatting very low so the driver can't see you and taking a ride as they grab part of your vehicle. For gods sake I did this as a kid.

I'm thinking this guy was doing this and then let go as I finished my turn and stood up, that's when I saw the flash of someone. And here is the kicker, to throw you off they cuss at you like you did something wrong to fool you into thinking you almost hit them.

I was so relieved after my wife and I talked. This is the only explanation for this.

Click on this to check this video of some crazy skateboarders.

- JP

Connecting Even Closer

2011-09-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

Deb and I drove over to the Nixon Library today to see the metal beams and the firetruck from the World Trade Center Site. On this 10th Anniversary of 9/11 I really thought it was important to connect to this event again even though I can still barely stand to think about how horrible this was.

I was living in a little studio apartment in Long Beach, CA 10 years ago. I was working the graveyard shift and had got off and drove home around 4am. I went straight to bed and woke up about 10:45 am. I did what I always do, turned the computer and TV on. Instantly I saw the images of the planes crashing into the buildings. After watching this in total disbelief and trying to figure out what was going on I just broke down.

Since that day it's hard for me to look at the video, it's just unimaginable. But today my wife and I wanted to be apart of the 10th Anniversary.

We had never made it out to the Nixon Library. It's really beautiful. We got an unbelievable parking spot right on the street and walked over.

A big crowd was present. We walked in and saw the firetruck that had been there and then those steel beams. Breathtaking.

Click on any of these photos to enlarge.

And then their are photos like this one below that really makes me emotional.

To imagine that this truck was there that day is just amazing to me.

Then we walked over to this huge 16 ton steel beam. Absolutely unreal.

To actually see this steel and touch it with my own hands was just incredible and intensely emotional and sad. Looking at the detail in it and seeing how thick it was and thinking how could this possibly have happened to this material. The forces were massive. To see it up close is overwhelming.

And then another heart breaking shot. Below.

Then this shot of the beams, really gives you an idea of how massive this building was. This is just a very small piece.

We walked into the library and saw a couple pieces from the Pentagon. I didn't know this was here and glad to get to see it.

It was an amazing day. Be sure to go look at a lot more photos (117) that I took on my Picasa Web Gallery: http://bit.ly/qx1n3k

- JP

Feasting and The Week Ahead

2011-08-28T15:40:00.000-07:00

This should be an interesting week. The week before holidays always fascinates me. It's kind of out of the ordinary the way people behave. I see it on the roads and out in public. The traffic should be insane. I'm not looking forward to that, I'll be out in it. But there is a sort of an excitement in the air. Also beware, people love to start early. You will hear about drunk drivers on like Wednesday doing crazy stuff.

We got to the grocery store and saw that it was surprisingly empty. Not sure why. I think people lay low the weekend before Labor Day. Deb and I have plans for Labor day but we bought our normal $100 worth of food.

Beside our regular meals I like to have ingredients around the house for us to throw a healthy salad together. I try to eat 3 or 4 healthy salads a week, usually before I go to work around 12pm. I'm still trying to get the little wee to do this more often.

I thought I would share the basic salad I eat and have for years. I first start with Iceberg lettuce.

Then fresh chopped Spinach. Bag or fresh cut. The fresh has not looked to good in a while so I am buying bagged lately. Be sure to look at the bag, some bags will have leafs that are already going bad and will look wet and dark green. If you have never had fresh spinach, it tastes great. Cooked spinach is awful stuff and smells.

Then I like to put in some Broccoli Slaw. I hate Broccoli but this is great stuff. It gives you the Cancer prevention we all need plus it tastes good. Tastes nothing like Broccoli, it's just kind of crunchy.

Next is Carrots. Some people hate carrots, I have always liked them. I don't eat them a lot, but I like them cut up in small pieces. The nutritional value of carrots is huge, Beta Carotene and all. It's like a natural sunblock. I usually get shredded carrots but could only get baby carrots today so I just chopped them up.

Now comes a very special ingredient, Cilantro. God I love this stuff. I chop just a small amount into the salad. You can over do it with this stuff, a small amount goes a long way. It will make the flavor pop and taste really fresh.

And then we have the basic salad for the week. I cover it with plastic and stick in the fridge.

So I would get up about 11:30AM, no breakfast..salad. Plop a handful of the "Basic salad" on a plate. Heat up either some grilled chicken or maybe some left over rib eye or Bumble Bee Tuna. Then chop up a half of a Roma tomato. A little cottage cheese and 5 or 6 or 7 little mandarin oranges. I love these oranges and they are like 50 cents a can. My mother used to put these on her salads, it's fantastic. Then I would have a couple saltines and something to drink and it's beautiful. And I love Newmans Balsamic Vinaigrette on the salad, it's wonderful.

One thing I should say about this is that it makes you feel good. You can actually feel more energy and a feeling of general well being. Now don't get me wrong. I am not a vegetarian. But I do believe that this choice once and a while is really positive. I love me some steak and chicken and I don't hold back on anything I want. If I feel like eating Pizza, I eat Pizza.

OK then. Here are a couple more things. From a request from the wife I made "Cunning Dip". This is a cream cheese based dip that my mother made all during when I was growing up. It goes back to the 40's in Minneapolis. It's Bullion dissolved in water and then the cream cheese is melted. Chopped onion added. A sprinkle of garlic salt and lots of dill weed. It's great with a cold Chardonnay. Deb's eye roll back in her head when she puts a chip in her mouth, with a generous portion of dip a top it.

Then I shoved in the oven a marinated Tri Tip and a couple of the most beautiful orange peppers you have ever seen.

Everyone have a safe Labor Day. And thanks to everyone that continues to come and read my blog. I really appreciate it. God Bless.

- JP

I'm doing this for free so I'm untethered.

2011-08-18T14:45:00.000-07:00

Just now I de-friend-ed LA Radio Legend Ken Minyard from facebook. He was at KABC radio for years in the 80's. He has recently been seen to be posting very left leaning comments about "the myth of lower taxes" Rick Perry's hair and Michelle Bachmann eating an enormous corn dog. Also lots of pro Obama comments. All of his recent comments are political and very anti right.

I intensely respect the right to free speech. I don't claim to understand what his point of view is all about, I only know that I don't agree with anything he believes in or posts. Not one thing. Ken has contributed to our culture in huge ways, but I just don't get him anymore. He's retired and feels he needs to use facebook to post complete left wing pap. I want to be blunt here and call him out. I get that freedom.

I have been wanting to post this for a long time. I have come at this blog and my presents on the web with one aim, to say it like it is. Just read my masthead. I wrote that masthead after someone was wanting me to take down some content, they wanted to edit me. I was not having any of it. I do not make a dime or am even trying to make any money on the Internet. I do have a book that's free to read on a facebook page that I was trying to get published, that by the way nobody gives a rats ass about, that's fine. I also have done a few projects in the last couple years that I did not finance in anyway but yet they were built.

I am completely untethered and I feel good about it. It frees me up to say what I feel, good or bad without worrying what people think. I know I have made enemies online and I'm OK with that too.

I have this thing called a job. I have had the same job for almost 15 years. I have been a blood courier for several big medical labs for 26 years now. I'm comfortable with the job. I'm not thrilled with it. If I had a choice I would not be doing this. I mean if I won the lotto I would not be one of these people that keeps their job. It puts a roof over my head and food on the table, just barely.

But one really positive thing that has evolved over time is that I am completely free to do what I want with out worrying about a thing. Now granted I'm not saying that anybody gives a shit what I have to say and I know over the last year I have learned this big time. I see how many people react or don't and no matter what you do, no matter how positive it is, they just don't give a shit. I'm becoming OK with that. It really hurt for a while. But you find out who the people are that really care and are allies. It's a really small group.

With me going to work everyday independent of anything and being able to say what I want online, it gives me tremendous freedom. I have no financial interest online or offline in anything. I don't worry that I will lose a friend because of something I have said. It's already happened, multiple times. And I also don't have the burden of kissing anyone's ass to maintain some business relationship.

I look for causes and interests that I think are important and I either support them or I don't. I see posts online that I either comment on or I don't. I feel no obligation or social pressure to move in one direction or another.

The people that know me know that I have done some good work and that I also have very strong opinions that may offend, I'm OK with that. I'm just being me. I can be kind and a very intense supporter of a cause and be totally caustic and down right rude, I enjoy this freedom. So goes the the human experience.

I make no apologies and ask for no support, anymore. I think I bring to the table occasionally something worth while, and sometimes I'm totally worthless, this is life.

Freedom reigns.

- JP

The Continued Protest For Justice, For Kelly Thomas, And Keeping The Pressure On.

2011-08-13T18:30:00.000-07:00

Deb and I got up early on a Saturday around 9 and got down to Fullerton around 10:30. Lot's of people in attendance in front of the police station. Bullhorns blowing and signs everywhere. It was really great to see that so many people still come out for this protest for justice for Kelly Thomas. We feel so strong about this and hope that we can expose these people for the excessive force and make them accountable for what happened. In my mind the fact that Kelly is dead is the only thing you need to know. If you are trying to bring a suspect into custody by handcuffing them to subdue them, and now he's dead, that pretty much says all you need to know. If 6 police officers can't control one man, then I think it's obvious that one or more just got really pissed at this guy and were trying to teach him a lesson, turns out they are the ones being taught a lesson now and it may last the rest of their lives.

We arrived and saw all the concerned citizens. I felt good that we could be there to participate. This is our right to express ourselves, this is free speech. We are lucky to have it and to directly use it in this manner is all American. To see all these people with their signs and bull horns and chanting was just wonderful.

We walked around and then we saw Ron Thomas talking to someone. Ron is Kelly's father. I had heard him on KFI with John and Ken. I got his attention and he talked to us for about 10 minutes. Very nice guy. I told him that I put up a memorial for Kelly on Find A Grave.com

http://bit.ly/n9U2MJ

I said to Ron after all his is over there will be a permanent memorial for Kelly. Find A Grave is the largest database of people that have passed on, 65 million people. He seemed receptive. Deb and I got to shake his hand and give our condolences. It was huge. I had no idea we would be able to do that today. Very emotional.

Later we met and talked to Cathy Thomas the Mother of Kelly. She was gracious and kind and we gave our condolences and told her the same information we had given Ron. I feel obligated to tread lightly on peoples lives like these two people, it must be so hard for them, they are just bombarded by media and people wanting to talk to them.

Very gratifying to be able to have done this today and see and interact with all the great people that came out. Like the wife says "makes me feel like we really did something with our weekend".

We went and had lunch at Heros http://www.heroesrestaurant.com in Fullerton after. I hope this town is getting some economic benefit from all this. Wow what a great lunch, we sat outside at a very cool table. Great service and really great food.

I hope this horrible event can have some positive impact on this town. Fullerton is a really nice place. I would not mind living here myself. Let's pray it does.

-JP

Here is link to all the photos from today: http://bit.ly/qRO2aS

(someone from the crowd says "wow look at JP's hot wife!")

Preditory Towing Companies and the People who Enable Them. Stop this Total Outrage!

2011-08-07T22:45:00.000-07:00

SUV towed with 5-year-old boy left inside
Click on the story to read about a Utah woman that got her car towed.

I am so god damn tired of this crap. I see this story about this mother that left her 5 year old boy in her SUV in an apartment complex for 5 minutes while he was sleeping. When she came back to leave a tow truck had towed her car away because she was in a handicapped spot. This is at 1am in the morning. The car with the child ended up in a tow yard! Police are blaming the mother. Are you kidding me? The complex has contracts with local tow companies for vehicles who park in the wrong spot. "I've never seen this in the ten years I've been in law enforcement," said Anderson. "A child is pretty precious and for someone to leave them in the back of the car regardless of whether it's five minutes or more, is pretty serious." That cop is a total idiot and is full of crap.

This is not an actual photograph of me, but my wife says I resemble this closely at times.

OK I get it, maybe it's not a great idea to leave a 5 year old in car for 5 minutes at 1am. This SUV did have blacked out windows and she probably locked it before she ran up to a friends for something. The kid was sleeping. But the real issue here is the city that allows a management company to have a contract with a towing company to come and take someones private property because they are parked in a handicapped spot at 1am! How about giving her a ticket? Know how this car got towed at 1am? That tow truck driver was lurking in the neighborhood waiting for someone to screw up so he could take a car to a tow yard and then make $400 for the company he works for. And the law makes it perfectly legal.

This goes on all over America all day and night. A towing companies business plan is based on this. Do you know I saw a tow truck driver almost everyday drive though a medical building parking lot looking for expired license plate tags? I would go to this building everyday and wait to see this guy. By the stupid ass laws in place he can legally take that car to a tow yard and make money. The city also probably gets a cut too. Some elderly lady is up at her doctors getting an exam and when she comes out her car is gone because she is two months late on her registration. This is total bullshit!

Last year my wife parked in our condos common drive way for about 20 minutes and our lovely in her late teens female neighbor called the number on the sign that says "Fire lane" and had our car towed. It cost us $400 and major anguish and stress. We thought it was stolen. She never came and knocked on our door. This is our world. We had to go down this dark street in Pomona and give a guy our hard earned money to get the car that we owned back, just outrageous. Makes my blood boil. I can see our car sitting behind a huge metal fence....can't have it till you hand over $400. God it was so painful I can't tell you.

Question. Why is there a sign in my drive way that says fire lane? It's not a fire lane...it's my driveway. A California Vehicle Code is printed on that sign and my home owners association and the City of Diamond Bar (where I live) and this crap ass state allows my driveway to be deemed a "Fire lane". God forbid someone would have to knock on a door to ask me to move my car. Do you think a car in a 15 foot wide driveway would hamper firefighters if they had to drag their hoses in to put out a fire? I think not. What if they had to pull the car out with one of there engines, that would be horrible right?

The quality of life is gone when someone can make laws taking away your private property. Kind of reminds me of property taxes, don't get me started.

So now we have a predatory towing company prowling a neighborhood looking to take someones car and look what happens.

This is wrong and bad things will happen as a result. It's almost like repo guys. They get shot at and chased down all the time. If you are going to make it easy for assholes like these companies to continue to do this we must yell and scream to change this. Wait till it happens to you and you will be more livid that you ever thought was possible.

I have been having an email exchange with the mayor with "it's my problem" type responses. Typical. I'd like to see someone just put that "Fire lane" sign on his garage door in his driveway and see what happens.

I can be irritating to the point of changing this, sure I can do that. :)

-JP

My extremely rare music video review.

2011-07-25T02:15:00.000-07:00

I do this maybe every 6 months or so. I go on Yahoo Music and look at the top 10 or 20 music videos. I'm usually surprised at how many good ones I see and hear. I do not listen to top 40 music radio or keep track in anyway of the trending hot tunes. I'm a talk radio guy and listen to podcasts mostly. But once and a while it's interesting to hear what's going on.

All These videos can be found at this link on Yahoo: http://new.music.yahoo.com/charts/

So here we go. The number one tune on Yahoo music right now is "Man Down" by Rihanna. Actually a pretty good Reggae tune. I really liked the way they shot this. Very good photography. I have never heard this woman sing and I think she is quite good. This tune is really authentic Jamaican. I did follow the news story about her getting beat up by what ever his name is. Chris Brown right?

Number 2 is Super Bass Nicki Minaj which I thought was just horrible kid stuff. I barely got though it.

Number 3 is Katy Perry with a tune called Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.). This is really a well done spoof video. Very funny and a very catchy tune. I really liked this.

Number 4 is Bruno Mars with The Lazy Song. I can take it or leave it. It has monkeys in it. It's kind of catchy, but not something I would listen to over and over. Sort of a novelty tune.

Number 5 is Oh my god Adele. I love this woman. I heard one of her tunes in a Starbucks about 3 or 4 months ago and just fell in love. I think she is incredible. She is a huge star in my book. This song is a classic in the making. Really interesting video too.

Number 6 is Lady Gaga and The Edge of Glory. I'm laughing right now as I type this. I have never understood this woman. I'm gonna play this video and see what I think, hang on....hmmm well I would say almost no thought went into the video, I did watch the whole thing. She's walking around on a fire escape with a camera following her. All the money was spent in the recording studio. It's a very elaborately recorded song where she sings "I'm on the edge with you" over and over. I think she might be out of ideas.

Number 7 is E.T. (feat. Kanye West) by Katy Perry. Well ahhh....why the hell would anyone put Kanye West in anything. I really can't stand this asshole. Just do a search for Kanye West Quotes and see what this forehead has said in public and said it into a microphone. Here is one of his quotes: "To use is necessary. And if you can't be used, then you're useless." — Kanye West. He a complete genius. I like this tune. I think Katy Perry is good. The costumes are way over the top and pretty dumb.

Number 8 is "Best love Song" by T-Pain. This is a guy doing a Will.I.AM impression. This is the not Black Eyed Peas. Never heard of this guy. It's obvious that he has nothing. It's lame auto-tune crap.

Number 9 is the best tune on this line up so far, I'm into you with Lil Wayne by Jennifer Lopez. Wow is this a great tune and video. I have always liked Jennifer. I have said for years that she will win an academy award eventually. She is a great actress. All of her movies are just great. My favorite being "Angel Eyes". But this song and video is very well done. She looks so beautiful too.

Number 10 Look At Me Now Chris Brown. If you want to see how low into the mud and shit this culture has sunk watch this video. This is a total embarrassment. Loser-oscity in full form.

Just looking to see if anything stands out between 10 and 20. Taylor Swift tune is OK. Pitbull is not bad, never heard of him.

Just listened to Number 13 "Just can't get enough" by the Black Eyed Peas. I have always like this band. Will.I.AM and Fergie are just the bomb. This is a great video. It will make you dance.

Number 15 is "Till the world Ends" by Britney Spears. I think this woman is vile in her personal life. She must get up and go to "The Britney Spears Factory" and put out pretty decent tunes and videos. I like this song and the video is well done. It's good dance music and she is easy on the eyes. I don't know who is behind the scenes, obviously someone smart.

Number 18 is Shania Twain with "Today is our day" I am so moved by this song. I have always liked her but this tune is just stellar.

It's fun to check out the latest tunes once and a while.

- JP

Friends, Dirt Roads, Guns and Cold Beer

2011-07-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I'm writing this blog after the weekend we had. I'm surprised I have the energy to do it.

Saturday we drove in to the OC and met some friends at a backyard get together. Met some really cool people and saw my buddy Brian Whitman, yea that Brian Whitman from the radio. I talked his ear off once again. He's such a friendly and sweet guy.

We had to leave a little early because we were getting up early.

We got up at 5:30 and drove to Black Star Canyon in Orange County. It's above Irvine and about 2 miles from Irvine Lake. If you take the 55 freeway and get off at Chapman and drive east, it's about 15 minutes up into the hills. I had never driven in this area and I was stunned at how beautiful it was. I think of Irvine and then some mountains and on the other side is Corona, there is much more to it. Well I gotta tell you it was quite an experience. We drove by Irvine Lake and it was wow beautiful. Then we made a left on to a road leading to a county gate.

We met our instructor Bo, who was teaching a Firearms Safety Training Course. We met 4 other people and drove into a locked area of private ranches. After about 5 miles or so on dirt we turned off and stopped. Bo got out and unlocked another gate to this private ranch. We drove up this little tiny one lane dirt road that was steep and rocky and bumpy and kind of scary.

This photo is from the gun range about 1500 feet up looking north toward Corona.

This was our little gun range, primitive as it was.

After many turns and spinning the tires in spots and just a pretty harrowing road we arrived at a small campsite looking landing. This was the gun range. Pretty basic. Just cutouts in the hill side where you would put a target. Bo set up two foldout tents and all his training materials. We brought chairs and we all bought our own lunches.

I was very impressed with Bo. He is a former Army MP and really knew his stuff. It was intense classroom training till noon. We broke for lunch and then went right into the live fire session. The firearm that was used for our training was a Ruger .22 semi automatic pistol.

Bo also had several other guns there for us to look at and hold. There was a small Ruger .22 semi auto, a Glock 23 (that was light and beautiful, really like that one). He also had a Ruger .357 Magnum. This thing is a frigging cannon.

So we did the live fire qualifying with just a box of 50 rounds each. To see my wife with this gun in her hand firing at a target was so cool.

We shot 40 rounds at a target with Bo standing right next to us giving us tips. Going into this today I thought the handling and loading and the mechanics of the gun was going to be the hard part, nope. Actually firing this gun, keeping it steady, breathing right and squeezing that trigger to get an accurate shot was the hardest. The skills and techniques for being able to shoot are very difficult. I was amazed. Here are the targets that Deb and I shot today.

We actually took a test and got a nice certificate. This all ended around 5pm. The day flew by. Then we had that drive back down the hill, which was better than coming up. I think deb was really nervous. It was fine. Poor Deb washed the CRV 2 days before and now it was just filthy. We got home and just were wiped out. I need another day off and another cold beer.

-JP

Living for the Weekend, and the First Anniversary for The Norworth Monument!

2011-07-10T18:45:00.000-07:00

I woke up on Saturday in a pretty grumpy mood, my wife also confirmed this fact later in the day. I was grateful for her saying that and I apologized. This did take a couple hours. We left the house in Diamond Bar at around 12:30, headed for Long beach. We were going to the 6th Annual Bixby Knolls Car Show and Street Fair, in Long Beach, CA. About a 35 minute drive.

Of course this being summer we hit some traffic. I was not in the mood for this at all. I drive for a living and this is not the way I want to spend my non paid time off. But I smiled though it as I listened to my savior Leo Laporte on the radio. I was trying to get in a better mood, thinking about the wife and all, and the fact that there was a beer in my future.

We were going to hit a place for lunch before the event. The event started at 3pm. So we drove into Long Beach and got us a pizza and salad at the famous Ecco's Pizza on Bellflower, just south of the 405. Now I gotta tell you I used to live in Long Beach. And for years I have been going to this place. It's out of this world good. Just look at that Pizza! I have literally spent thousands of dollars in this place since 1985. I recommend it highly.

So then after lunch we hit the road for the Street Fair, just a few miles away. Thanks to Deb we got a parking spot right near the entrance in the shade. It was hot. I was expecting Sunday sunburn pain.

What a tremendous show of old classic cars. Just a huge show. I have never seen so many fantastic automobiles in my life. We walked up and down the closed off street of the almost 1/2 mile show. Back and forth till the sun was going down. We stopped off at the "Beer Garden" a couple of times to sit and listen to the great band covering among others artists, Steely Dan. The place was packed with lots of people. One of my favorite things in the world is people watching. Every color and shape :) Big Shout out to Sam. Sam has Downs Syndrome, but that does not stop him. He's out on that dance floor enjoying himself. Too cool.

In the center of the show were Dragsters. At 4:30 they started the engines on them. I don't think I have ever heard a noise that loud in my life. It was an experience to say the least.

The First Lady of Drag Racing was at this event, Shirley Muldowney. I'm not a huge race fan but I know her. I have heard about her all the time I was growing up. They had races at Pomona and I heard those loud commercials on the radio. "Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!"

She is signing posters and then gets in her Pink Dragster and fires up the engine. It was too cool! Loud as hell too. She looks like a really sweet lady and it was fun watching her. We had a great vantage point to view it to.

Just a tremendous time. I saw a '67 VW Bug just like the one my mother had when I was a kid. I looked at that and thought, wow it's so tiny. We went to Zuma beach and all over town and beat the hell out of that thing. I also learned how to drive in a '67 bug.

After all was said and done we started walking back to the car. Deb and I were talking about dinner. She mentioned OutBack. I was in that mood too. As we got close to the car we saw "Nino's". A local Italian place that I have driven by a million times but never ate there. So we agreed, let's go.

We got seated and man oh man we loved this place. They have Chianti bottles hanging from the ceiling, and all the ambiance of an Italian restaurant. Nino's has been in this location since 1958. It says it right on the building.

We get this beautiful young (dead ringer for Kathie Holmes) waitress. She treats us right and we love the hell out of this place. I have the ravioli, Deb has the Egg Plant Parmesan. The house wine is heaven.

The two owners are sitting in a booth near by. The wife gets up and goes to talk to the patrons. She walks up and introduces herself. "hello my name in Inga". Just incredible. Such a lovely woman.

Just a tremendous day. We had a safe trip home with the non-alcohol consuming wife. That's why I married her. Just kidding.

And one more thing is this marathon blog post:

That's right, it's already been a year. The Jack Norworth Memorial Marker is one year old. It was dedicated on July 11th 2010. It must be my advancing age, because it seems to me to be last month. Deb and I went on Sunday and gave the monument a sufficient bath and installed some new silk flowers to last the year. Living with a photo of this monument on my office wall is still mind blowing to me. And now with the additional Toto Marker I feel really good about having been apart of these projects. I hope my partners in the Jack Norworth Project remember and think about what we did on this day. Thank you Chris Epting and AOL. Jamie Chisick and Maria and Charlie Sotelo. Still my only hope is to get this story out to more people. My heart is so full I can't tell you.

- JP

All the photos from our day: http://bit.ly/mYhEDn

Link to Nino's Restaurant in Long Beach:http://www.ninoslongbeach.com/

Observations from the road

2011-07-01T08:50:00.000-07:00

I left the house at 7:15am this morning to go get some stuff for the day. I'm off till Tuesday and wanted to get it done early. I saw 5 LA County Sheriffs on this little 10 minute trip. They are out in force today and this weekend. I slide into the left lane to make the turn to get to the market. An LA County Sheriff motor officer comes up from behind me and stops. This is a two lane, left hand turn lane, he is in the left lane. A school bus is in front of me, in the right lane and next to the officer. He does not communicate in anyway to the school bus driver, I don't see him turn his head. The light turns green and we begin the turning arc. This motor officer turns and slides in front of the school bus then makes a right turn into the shopping center. He makes this school bus driver slow down and pretty much panic as this motor officer does as he pleases. He was either testing this school bus driver or he's just an arrogant asshole. I'm thinking the latter.

I am a big police supporter but this was just wrong and very dangerous. I don't know if this school bus had kids, I could not see that.

This motor officer joins a buddy in this shopping center parking lot to swap stories as they use this as a meeting place between giving people speeding and moving violation tickets. They looked to be on a mission. This is Snopp Doggs neighborhood, Diamond Bar. Very very expensive homes. People have money here. Great place for police to make there quota first day of a new month. A bag of chips in this Ralphs costs $5. They have really good sliced roast beef in this store. That is the only reason I'm am here. Well and the Red Stripe.

I come out of the store and slowly start making a right turn onto the street and this motor officer injects himself right in front of me and speeds on to the street. He never looked at me. Thanks man.

In my job I see all the time police taking major risks as they drive around town. And we have heard in the news many times police taking risks and making big mistakes where people get hurt. I have seen a cop driving on the sidewalk. I have seen cops driving at night with no headlights. I have seen cops making a right hand turns from the left lane. Police never go the speed limit, ever. I have seen all kinds of crazy stuff.

The point of all this is, and a plea to law enforcement. Drive safely and obey the traffic laws like we citizens have to. Or you will be looked at, as arrogant and looked down upon. You want respect from the public, earn it.

Everyone out there please drive careful this weekend. I would advise you to stay home, like me :) Happy 4th of July weekend everybody!!

- JP

Countdown Time

2011-06-15T03:00:00.000-07:00

Oh man this is it, after over 8 months it gonna be a reality. We have a just days until the dedication of the Toto Marker. The Toto Marker Project started October 16th 2010. The first post on the Toto facebook page reflects that date. It's been quite a ride.

It's funny, I have a Google news alert that emails me when the key words "Wizard of Oz" or "Toto" or various other things appear out in the world. I get sent links to stories, like a high school putting on a play or someone wrote an article about The Wizard of Oz. I can't tell you how many thousands of emails I have gotten over the last 8 months about "The Wizard of Oz" and "Toto" and all kinds of stuff to do with the topic. People having festivals and Andrew Lloyd Webber putting on a new production in London and bake sales and costume parties. This movie has lasted the test of time. It's really amazing.

I have had the Wizard of Oz stuck in my head for the last 8 months. I'm not saying that in a bad way. It's almost like when you go out and buy a new car, then you start to see that model all over town. The thing your focusing on seems everywhere.

I literally hear something about the Wizard of Oz almost everyday, it's kind of scary. This movie is so prevalent and alive in this country and all over the world it's mind boggling. I posted just the other day that I was listening to the audiobook "Bossypants" by Tina Fey. In the first 20 minutes she mentions Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion. I heard a radio host using references to Dorothy and tornadoes and "if he only had a heart" about a politician.

I hear all the time "I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore". This line from the movie is in hundreds of movies and TV shows . Check out this video. It's over 5 minutes long of clips from movies and TV shows where people say this line. It's totally amazing to me how hard wired into our culture this movie has become.

As a kid I sat on the living room rug in front of our RCA 13" Color TV and watched the Wizard of Oz for years. Year after year I watched this movie and loved it. It was a really big deal when I was growing up.

My parents moved us kids out here from Minneapolis in August of 1968. We moved into a show biz neighborhood, Sherman Oaks, CA. Little did we know that among other things that the Carl Spitz Ranch existed, and that Toto was buried there years ago. Only about 3/4 of a mile from where we were living. I also watched the Flintstones, one of my favorites . Not ever was I told that the Flintstones were made just down the street on Ventura Blvd at Hanna-Barbera Studios.

Hidden and forgotten stories need to live and be passed down. Let's share our culture and archive these things for future generations. We have done this with the Toto Memorial Marker. I can't wait till my 80th birthday in 2043, won't you join me? It will be at the Toto Marker at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Did I mention it's a permanent monument? ;)

- JP

Toto Canine Movie Star Memorial Marker

http://on.fb.me/adRmWo

Long Ago Life Threads and One Degree of Separation from James Arness.

2011-06-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

I remember a story my Mother told me when I was just a kid growing up in the San Fernando Valley in the 70's. It was about my uncle Jack Smight. He was an older brother of my Moms. Jack was in college in the drama department of the University of Minnesota in the 40's. After school he left for New York and got a job with CBS. He did well and ended up directing some live TV shows. In 1959 Jack won an Emmy for Best Direction of a Single Program of a Dramatic Series, Less Than One Hour on The Goodyear Theater, it was called “Eddie” played by Mickey Rooney.

Jack also did a live TV show from CBS Studio 58 in New York on December 8, 1957 called "The Sound Of Jazz" hosted by John Crosby. Among the legends performing were Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Coleman Hawkins, Jimmy Giuffre, Red Allen, Lester Young.

Back in 2003 Jack tells a story about Billie Holiday at CBS during the Sound Of Jazz. Apparently her test to see if someone was racist was this. She had this 7-up bottle that she would carry around the set and drink out of. She asked Jack if he would like a sip. If he said no it was somewhat an indication that he being a white guy would not want to drink from the same bottle as her. Jack said OK. Took a drink. It was straight Gin. Jack became a life long Jazz fan. He also did a program with Miles Davis and was friends with him for years.

Jack then moved out to Los Angeles and starting directing some TV shows. In 2003 a year before he died of cancer he told me in 1 of literally 4 times I was ever in the same room with him, that he had directed the pilot to the Twilight Zone. "Only the Lonely" was the 7th episode aired but the first one filmed, directed by Jack Smight. He did 4 other episodes.

Jack went on to make over 100 movies and tv shows. Notably some are wonderful and some are dogs. His full career listing is at the great Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0806915/

Some of the things Jack was involved in:

Twilight Zone 4 episodes 1959-61

Route 66 TV 1962

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour 1963

Dr Kildare 1963

A great movie that you never see anywhere anymore,
I'd Rather be Rich 1964 with
Sandra Dee
Robert Goulet
Andy Williams
Maurice Chevalier

Harper with Paul Newman 1966

No Way to Treat a Lady 1968
Rod Steiger
Lee Remick
George Segal

The Illustrated Man 1969
written by Ray Bradbury
Rod Steiger

The Traveling Executioner for TV 1970
Stacy Keach

Rabbit Run 1970
James Caan

For TV early 70'S
Columbo
McCloud
Madigan
Banacek

Midway 1976
Charlton Heston

Jacks career ended pretty much in 1989. He went on to write. He wrote a book about the Father Charles Edward Coughlin. Coughlin expressed sympathy for the fascist policies of Hitler and Mussolini as an antidote to Bolshevism. His weekly radio broadcasts became suffused with antisemitic themes. His book never saw the light of day.

I'm very proud of my Uncle and his career. Unfortunately there was no relationship there. My Mom and Dad moved us to LA in August of '68 from Minneapolis. I think my Dad may have thought he could get a job from Jack, it never happened. He ignored us as best he could. He barely had a relationship with his sister, my mother Mary Ann. They didn't speak for over 17 years in the 80's and 90's and there was no reason given. They liked each other fine but there was something keeping them apart that I still don't get. Relatives never cared about keeping in touch or having a relationship with us. I still have no idea why. It pains me to think about it still. Both Jacks sons know where I live and just don't want anything to do with me.

I'm sure by now you are wondering what James Arness has do to with my Uncle Jack. Well James Arness, who just died this week at 88 years old was friends with Jack. Peter Graves and Jack came out on the train and were met by big brother James in LA. Peter was Peter Arness and then changed his last name to Graves. James helped them with some contacts in LA. The details of that story I have never heard.

Peter was in a little jazz band that Jack was in. They used to practice at the Smight house in Minneapolis. Peter played piano. As a little girl my Mom told me, Peter would pick her up and throw her up into the air playfully. We saw Peter one last time at Jacks wake in 2004.

There is so much history in the early years. Thanks to my wonderful Mother for telling the oral stories I have retained them all these years. I think all family history is important to remember. It's so interesting to me but I'm sorry I didn't have more time with these people that are my relatives. It used to be the norm that family was important, that seems to have gone away. The events and people we interact with is important, save it for your family, they will want to know about it.

- JP

Sweet Strawberry's and Free Hotel Rooms

2011-05-24T00:20:00.000-07:00

I gotta tell you my wife is so talented when it comes to us going out of town. We don't do it often but find it important for our marriage and our sanity. We go out of town every few months and stay in a hotel. It really feels like we are treating ourselves. We either go to Palm Springs or like this last weekend to Oxnard, CA to the Strawberry Festival. We have done this 4 years now. We get a room at the same hotel by the 101 freeway. We stay at the Hilton Garden Inn. We park the car and leave it there all weekend till we go home.

We check in on Saturday around noon. Then we get on a school bus that takes us the 6 miles to Oxnard College. We eat and walk and eat and people watch and eat. Great bands and a really good time. I love taking photos of people and stealth-fully do that. Around 5pm we get back on the bus and go back to the hotel and jump in the Jacuzzi. Later a nice dinner at the Outback which is a block down, then back in the Jacuzzi. We always sleep wonderfully and into the late morning.

On this occasion because of some problems we got a free breakfast. When we arrived there was a dirty plate with a fork and napkin next to our door. Even after we left for dinner and came back it was still there, even after telling the front desk about this. Also the Pizza box near the elevator that wouldn't go away.

No matter where you go there are always problems and what we do, or I should say my wife does, is use those to our advantage to get our hotel bill reduced. One stay in Palm Springs we found cigarette butts in the balcony planter. Just that will get you a comped room. In our room we had a very noisy refrigerator that we had to turn off. When we arrived our room was not ready, only later talking to the manager she said they indeed did have a room for us, the girl at the front desk had major attitude. All these little things add up to getting money off your bill or your room comped.

And my wife has such a knack for this. Every time we go out of town she gets money off the bill. This stay with just these few problems we got our room comped and free breakfast. Our over night stay was entirely free. We don't look to cheat hotels we just expect them to do there job.

If I could make a big deal out of the kids in the jacuzzi splashing me and peeing in the water I would.

- JP

Garlic Fries!

A beautiful couple of days

2011-05-15T14:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a real mind blower the last few days. I have not written a blog post since mid March. I just didn't have anything to say. The world has been pretty depressing to say the least. But then we had this weekend, wow.

It started Friday. I got up early and drove to Hollywood. I had a 10am appointment to meet with Tyler Cassity the owner of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. My project partner Steve Goldstein was to be there as well as Roman Gal the Sculptor and Arsen the stone guy. We were to see the first life size model of the Toto sculpture that was to be made into bronze. I arrived before 9am and walked around for a while. My first stop when I am at H4E is to go directly to see Victor Fleming's crypt in the Abbey Mausoleum. Mr. Fleming directed The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind. At this early hour there is nobody in this huge building. I walked down to the end of this huge hall and sat in one of the two soft chairs they have there. I sat for about ten minutes in complete silence. I can look and see hundreds of crypts that are bathed in the sunlight from the skylights in the roof. I could feel a warmth. I felt a positive vibe. I was visiting their house. I wanted to be respectful. It set the tone for the whole day. Sitting there among all these people made me think about being alive and how I take it for granted. Being dead and being in this place is not anything I would complain about, a great place to rest forever. This building has been here for almost 100 years and it's so beautiful.

The meeting was in a back office of the main building at the cemetery. Tyler purposely put the model in this room because of the natural light coming in the window. Everyone was in a good mood and loose. I had not seen Tyler in such a easy and happy mood since I met him a few weeks ago. Everyone was laughing and joking. To walk in this room and see the life size sculpture of Toto was just incredible. I asked him if photos were OK and he said "sure". I was relieved. I was a little worried about getting photos, not sure if we were going to keep this whole thing secret from everyone. I always wanted all this to be as open as possible.

After seeing the model and taking some photos I asked Tyler if he had thought about what the base would look like. Roman picked up a piece of paper and starting stretching. We really had not talked about it before. I remember in the last meeting Arsen mentioned Rose Granite from India. I thought that would be a good compliment to the bronze.

Roman starting thinking about the height. We all agreed that it should be about 3 feet high. I said I think it should be about kid eye height. I also mentioned to Tyler I think old school large font TOTO and as simple as possible. I think simplicity brings out class and elegance.

All this time I'm thinking to myself, I need to remember this, I need to remember this. The meeting went on for a good 20 or 30 minutes and we talked back and forth. It was all so easy and enjoyable. Lots of laughs.

We also covered the date of the dedication in detail. We went back and forth with Roman and Arsen about what could be done and making sure we were not rushing them. Very confidently both Roman and Arsen said in 20 days or so it could be done. So we talked about June 18th and stayed with it. And from then on my mind is racing LOL.

Saturday My wife Deb gets up and goes to Wescom to pay our car payment. On her return she tells me that they will only accept a fraction of the full payment. They can not tell her why. I never got around to putting her on the account, so they can't tell her anything...stupid. We were just paying the bill every month, I didn't see the point to it.

So I dig around in my stack of old mail and found the latest statement. On the statement it says "if you would like to pay this loan off, please send $111.28. I was like...huh? That is the amount that Deb paid. I never open these things. I had also figured since we bought the car that 72 payments would end on August 8, 2011. How can it be paid off 3 months early? I still have no idea. But deb and I hugged and cried and were grateful to god. I called Wescom and they told me that indeed it was paid off. Stunning turn of events.

On Sunday we went to our favorite Sunday brunch place the Shilo Hotel in Pomona. We walked in and the dining room was dark. An employee said they shut down the brunch since last October. Wow we haven't been here since last October? Bad economy? I guess so.

So we drove down the street to the Pomona Valley Mining Company. It sits way up on this hill, cool old western type building. They have new management. It was really good and I don't have to eat (or can't eat) anything till next Tuesday!

We went to the market and got some grocery's. I had a stack of Toto postcards and were handing them to people and leaving them here and there. We learned that a person that works at the market is a OZ fanatic and has a whole wall in her house dedicated to the Wizard of Oz. It's everywhere after all these years. It's important to people. Remember June 18th!!

Now it's 4pm and I can just sit here and do nothing, ya baby!

- JP

A hundred years from now they will say, look what they saved for us.

2011-03-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

I'm getting a little push back, yea I know I get it, Toto all the time gets annoying. Some of my facebook friends are either not commenting on my posts or just ignoring them, it's OK. When you have to promote a thing like this you have to go all out and saturate. It can be a little much, I know. I apologize to my good friends for maybe over doing it a little, but hey that's what you gotta do to get it done. And guess what? We have done it!

We now have a home for an American cultural icon. We have a VIP plot worth a hundred grand and a monument that could even be a bronze statue on a pedestal (there are things going on behind the scenes). Now I get it, some people might think that this is a little over the top, a big deal made over a dog that died in 1945. I have gotten some weird looks and a lot of people that are just not interested at all. I understand that there are more important issues in the world.

In the history of Los Angeles I have a hard time thinking about something like this and thinking that it just doesn't matter. Especially when I grew up in the neighborhood where Toto was trained and eventually died and had a grave site. I grew up in Sherman Oaks right next to this area. I went to elementary school at Riverside Drive a 1/4 mile from the Carl Spitz Ranch. I lived in this area from 1968 till 1976. I had never heard this story from anyone. This hits home, as close as it could be.

I saw the Huell Howser "California Gold" episode with my Project Partner Steve Goldstein standing next to Huell talking about Toto. They shot the current location where there now is bar and apartment houses and the LA river. There is no plaque or marker. This is a wrong that needs to be righted. How can anyone think that we should just not care about this?

We are in the year 2011. I thought I would have been killed by a run away bus by now. I can not even comprehend that we are this far along, I feel old. The only reason I feel strongly compelled to do something about this is for our culture and for future generations. I have a feeling in my head that if we didn't care about this and just forgot about it that people in the future, our children will be angry with us. These things need to be saved and we need to remember special things like The Wizard of Oz and Toto. This movie has given people joy and magic, Steve called it a touchstone. Shouldn't we pass that along to people a hundred or a thousand years from now?

This town that we live in has a bad reputation for not saving important things. How about a dumpster full of video tapes from The Tonight Show, it happened. How about currently this state trying to sell Union Station? There a thousand examples. Thank god for the LA Conservancy.

http://www.laconservancy.org/

Just last week the wife and I toured the original Hughes Aircraft Campus where the Spruce Goose was built near Marina Del Rey. Totally amazing. The company that bought the property is contractually obligated to keep all the old buildings when they renovate them for there use. It's important so save this history, right?

We need to save history, and oh my god Los Angeles and surrounding areas have a ton of stuff to save. This area has so much history you have no idea. Undiscovered by the main stream. This history of Los Angeles is rich and deep.

In 300 years someone will go into the Hollywood Forever Cemetery (and it will still be there, I guarantee it) and say "wow look at what they saved for us, this is important, thank god they made the effort".

Save the legacy and save the history of Los Angeles.

JP Myers
Toto Memorial Marker Project

PS - I'll be posting the dedication date soon, everyone is invited!!

Neighborhood Sidewalk Jewerly Anyone?

2011-01-20T17:25:00.000-08:00

I'm home with a bad back today. I picked up a box that might have been a little too heavy apparently. I don't have a history of a bad back. It's always worked for me pretty well. I do pick up hundreds of blood samples for transport a day and never usually have a problem. Goes with a new year of getting older I guess. I'm gonna be 48 this weekend. I have new glasses, and now back pain, par for the course. Ahh joy 2011. Getting older.

Anyway I'm just on the computer and trying to rest this pain from my back. I go out to the kitchen and look out the window. I usually see the neighbors walking their dogs. Using my front lawn as a toilet, which apparently is legal. I always see this older lady with her poodle. She's the neighbor cop for the home owners association. She takes notes. I once put my BBQ grill cover over my cement patio wall. I got a letter from the HOA the following Monday. It's a nice neighborhood generally. It's a well taken care of condo neighborhood. I'm around the 57 freeway and the 60 freeway in the Walnut, Diamond Bar, City of Industry area. And not by choice. I would love to move to Texas or Anchorage to tell you the truth. There is really no real reason to be here anymore.

Well as Tim Conway Jr says often, "if you can hear a train near where you live, something blew up in your life". I'm about 2 blocks from the Alameda corridor and the Metrolink. It's true I have no idea why I live here. We moved here because my wifes 93 year old mother lived close by, but she is gone now, god rest her soul.

Down the street we have a huge mobile home park with people that are scary. We have homeless people living in campers on the street. It all looks very normal but there is stuff going on here that is scary. I see guys walking past my office window that look like ex-cons. I see kids that look they are up to no good. We have people in pick ups scouring the neighborhood for scrap metal. We have a towing company "Dynamic Towing" that is lurking looking for cars to tow.

The Arco gas station is about a 3 blocks away and you can see the LA Sherrifs department there often. We have a lot of truck traffic and a new 130 million dollar railroad bridge. I've seen many gang types in this Arco. And as I have reported many nights, street racing in the industrial area just a mile or two to the east of us.

It's a nice looking neighborhood where we are. We have gardeners cutting the lawn and with leaf blowers, not just one day but two. I can always count on being awaken at 8am on Tuesday by a guy just outside my window with a loud leaf blower.

So anyway the point I wanted to make in this post was something very funny that just happened at 3:30pm today. I walked out to the kitchen to get a cracker. This old Toyota Camry pulls up right on the street outside my kitchen window. A woman is driving. Two young female Asian students are walking home from school wearing backpacks. This woman in the Camry pulls up and gets out of the car in a hurry. She parks the car well out into the street and very crooked.

This woman has shoulder length hair with a reddish purple dye job, a long blue cotton dress with flat sandals and a big cross medallion around her neck. She's probably about 45 or so, fairly attractive but in that "she might have a record" look. She jumps out of her car and flags down these students that are walking home.

She pops her trunk and starts talking non-stop to these two girls that can't be more than 16 or 17 years old. She pulls out of her trunk a black tray with jewelry in it. She's takes out a ring and shows it to the girls that are facing away from me. I can see this woman straight on, with only a window, a patch of grass and a sidewalk separating us. She never looks at me once as I eat my Gorgonzola topped cracker, and she never stops talking.

These young girls seem to be interested in what this woman is showing them. She then pulls out a catalog to show them undoubtedly what she doesn't have but can order. This went on for about 7 minutes. Then she says "thank you, good bye" with a wave and speeds down the street.

I occasionally see some old lady that can't park, make an event out of hitting cars as I look out from my kitchen sink, but I have never seen this before.

With this horrible economy I think people have devised ways, desperate ways, creative ways to try to make a buck. I am honestly scared when I see stuff like this in a quiet neighborhood like this. People are getting desperate. It was pretty entertaining though. I gotta go sit down my back is killing me.

- JP

Time...keeps flowing like river

2010-12-30T00:30:00.000-08:00

The last days of any given year always seem quiet to me. It's rather comforting and it clears my head. To see the end of 2010 is mind boggling. How is it possible that time flies so fast. I remember as a kid being so impatient to grow up as most kids are. My Mom would say "don't wish your life away". Now coming next month I'm going to turn 48 years old. I still feel like I just got out of high school. There never seems enough time to accomplish what you want and never enough money or energy for that matter. And when you have the time, like a weeks vacation it just slips by like a flash bulb going off.

In these times where most everyone I know is struggling financially, I know my wife and I are, it's all consuming to just make a living and pay the bills. And it repeats soo quickly, didn't we just pay the car registration? I have to get my license renewed again? It's been 4 years all ready? And then comes a marker of time and how old I truly am. I'm at the DMV, waiting. I have to appear in person to have a new photo taken, give a thumb print and perform a vision test. I'm looking at the eye chart....I can't read it. I stand on the little piece of green tape, a distance of about 15 feet or so...and I can not read the letters. My god, it's really happened. My eyes are officially deteriorating.

I leave and get back in my car and drive to work. I now have go have an eye exam and get glasses. I have needed glasses for a few years but could see distance ok and have been using reading glasses for seeing up close. I guess your age has advanced sufficiently enough when you can't read street signs and you have to wear reading glasses to eat, rim shot.

And already the years have passed where my dearly departed mother has been gone now for 5 years. Just unbelievable. Also this year my father turned 80 years old, he's in good health thankfully. I bought a new car (the one and only new car I have ever had in my life) and now its turning 6 years old, how can it be?

I have heard many people say over the years that as you get older time speeds up. I'm really feeling that now. The only complaint I have is, can the 5 incessantly long days I spend at work speed up and the nanosecond that the weekends last please switch places?

When I was growing up I could never even imagined the year 2011. I could not have closed my eyes and tried to see in my minds eye what that would be like. It was just so far into the future.

I remember when I used to collect coins as a kid. I had a roll of uncirculated pennys dated 1963. I put them in a little cloth bag and wrote on it with a marker "do not open till the year 2000". I thought by then they would be worth a lot of money. That's as far out as I could imagine the future.

It's almost as if you're life gets split into segments. You remember this part and that part and then now. In the scheme of things 48 years is nothing. The 1970's seem like they lasted 30 years and the last ten years feels like just a couple years.

I should say here that I am very grateful to have what I have. I have a great wife and nice place to live and 2 cars that work perfectly. We are really not in want of anything in the present. The future does worry me and I think about it more than I probably should.

Well you gotta ride the wave I guess. I always hope that the new year will bring good things and some kind of new success, we shall see. 2010 was quite a ride, hold on tight here comes another wave!

Happy and Prosperous New Year to all!

- JP

Thanksgiving Memories Not Forgotten

2010-11-24T10:25:00.000-08:00

I usually arrive at my Mom's house around 11am. Open the door and immediately the smell of the turkey cooking in the oven hits me in the face. "oh my god Mom, it smells incredible!" My Mom would use Manischewitz concord grape wine in place of the water asked for in the recipe for the stuffing. Mrs. Cubbison's of course. The smell of that wine was all through the house. Out of everything that was wonderful on Thanksgiving that smell still stays with me. I try to make a turkey with that stuffing every year. And I actually go outside on the patio and then walk in while it's cooking and smell that smell. The memories rush back of all those great days with my Mom.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It's just so beautifully basic. Go to Mom's. Hopefully my brother is there. He lives on the east coast now, so not in a long time. My Mom passed away in 2005 so it's been many years now that I am missing those days.

Before Thanksgiving Mom would get the house all ready. She would be cleaning and buying new candles for the silver holders. Wash the table cloth for the dining room table. Pull out the little turkey candles that were never lit. Dig out the good china and real silver wear. The vacuuming and dusting and getting out the old roasting pan. My Mom took it very seriously. I always loved helping her prepare the food. She would ask, "can you slice up these carrots?" or "fill this pot with water for the potatoes hon".

In the later years my Mother lived in Long Beach, California. She had a small one bedroom apartment right on the Bayshore Marina. She had a sailboat in the water right across the street from her place. She used to joke that she could sit on the toilet and see her sailboat. She would howl with laughter after she said that. In the evening after the sun was going down the city of Long Beach would flip the switch on the lights for these triangular wooden Christmas trees they had floating out in the bay. It was always an event and soo beautiful seeing those trees come on and seeing the colored lights reflect on the calm evening water. My mother loved this. Usually after that we would all sit down to the big feast.

Me or my brother Mike every year would put those big oven mits on and pull the bird out and lift it to the stove top. My Mom being a very slight woman, only about 5 foot tall could not possibly do this. Pulling the cover off of the bird to reveal the golden brown skin was awesome. During the day while it had been cooking, about every hour or so we would take the cover off and bast it with a turkey baster. After getting the bird out and onto a plate the burner would be turned on below the roasting pan and the gravy would be made right inside it. Turning and turning all that great mixture with a big wood spoon.

The meal was served assembly line fashion with each of us putting something on the plate then someone delivering it to the table. Turkey, stuffing, carrots, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, then a gravy pour all over it. And of course hot rolls, cranberries, and ambrosia. I was always so excited when it was time to sit and eat. The best meals of my life. Always with lots of laughs and talking and pass that and can I get more gravy, and hand me another roll please.

My mother always invited friends over and even our Dad who she divorced in 1971. The more the merrier was her motto. She loved to have people over and drink wine and laugh and laugh and laugh. She was soo much fun.

This year it is wonderful new friends and my great wife. Time marches on but those years at Mom's will never be forgotten. Miss you Mom and Brother Mike and Father John.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all. May God bless you and our country and our troops.

Like my Mom would say every year.....

- JP

The Gift of Time

2010-11-13T11:00:00.000-08:00

We are looking at nine days here. Vacation. Nine days of not doing what I normally do everyday. What will I do with myself? First things first, we went and bought a new little BBQ so the rib eyes are on tonight. After almost 14 years at the same job I get about a month off a year. Unfortunately for whatever reason it's quite hard to get these days off close to the holidays. I'm lucky to have a job I know that. I'm aware of several good people that are out of job. Almost everyday I think of a scenario where I go to work and am called into the office. I imagine them telling me in a matter of fact way that they will not be needing my services any more. In my paranoid vision I thank them and walk outside relieved. It gets pretty monotonous on my job. But as my father points out over the course of my life, "at least your not digging ditches". He's right. I got it easy really.

So of course with all this time, all the things I should do flow though my mind. All the chores that I have not taken care of. Oh shit my radiator needs flushing. Haven't done that since I bought my car in 04. This book here on my shelf, damn I need to read that. Crap this desk is soo dusty. I paid the insurance....oh man these bills here need to be paid. Hey hun remember we were going to drive out to Palm Springs for a couple days? Got to get the wife into a hotel for a couple days, she loves that, so do I. Damn I forgot to get some boxes at work for all this stuff. So much to do and soo little motivation. Damn my beer is empty.

We have busy lives don't we? The amount of detail and sheer maintenance that we have to do day in and day out is astounding. I have to shower and shave again? How many times in my life have I shampooed my hair for gods sake? Laundry again, geez. I need to just sit here in silence.

To be able to have the time is a gift. One of my favorite music CD's by Jean Luc Ponty "The Gift of Time". I usually squander it. By the time it's over I'm depressed out of my mind and dream of the next time I will have time off. I think of seeking some quiet time. Seeing a few good movies. Laying on the couch at 2 o'clock in the afternoon for a couple hours. Reading a good book. Having some wine while sitting on the patio in the sun and most importantly looking into my wonderful wife's eyes and thanking my lucky stars I have her.

Smelling the roses as it were. Even though it's hard to see the good in things in these hard times I think it's important to be grateful. Dennis Prager one of my favorite people in the world says that being grateful is the greatest source of happiness.

I'm gonna go lay on the grass with the sun shining in my face and eat a ham sandwich. Peace out.

- JP

If I say "Toto" you know what that means?

2010-10-19T00:05:00.000-07:00

I have written many times before that I grew up in Sherman Oaks. My parents moved from Minneapolis in 1968 to a little two bedroom apartment on Fulton Avenue and Magnolia. Over the 8 years we lived there I never heard a story about Toto, the dog from the Wizard of Oz being buried near where we lived. I can not believe that we sat and watched that movie almost every year not knowing this. It was a huge movie for me growing up. Nothing like that film.

Living in the part of the country where lots of things like the cartoons I watched were being made and not knowing how very close to that we were. I had no clue. I was oblivious. I don't think my Mom or Dad knew either. I'm sitting on the floor on a Saturday morning watching the Flintstones. One of my favorites. It was made in a building on Ventura Blvd right over there by Universal. A little place called Hanna Barbera. My world was Fulton Avenue. I walked to school everyday and back. Rode my bike around the neighborhood. It was a nice place to grow up. I didn't get around much as a kid. I would look at the mountains to the south and wonder what was on the other side.

So this is why I'm taking on this new cause. A co-worker of mine always mentions that she goes home from work and watches Huell Howser. She'll say the next day "Guess where Huell was last night?" Last week she was telling me about a show Huell did on famous pets. She went into telling me about Toto. She said the dog was buried on this Ranch on Riverside Drive and Whittset in the San Fernando Valley. It was called the Carl Spitz Ranch, before they built the Ventura freeway. I did a double take. What?

I went to elementary school at Riverside Drive Elementary on Coldwater and Riverside Drive. That is one light down from Whittset and three lights from my street Fulton. I have never heard this story about Toto....from anyone. How could this be?

I had a few days off this last week and tried to find out more. I went to Findagrave.com and saw a short description of the story and a photo of the parking lot and freeway where it once was. I know this guy Steve Goldstein that wrote this book called LA's Graveside Companion. I looked though the book and there was the photo and the story, all the way in the back. I was stunned. I emailed Steve and he told me more and sent me the link to the video he did with Huell. WOW!

I thought to myself this is like the Jack Norworth thing all over again. One of the most famous dogs in the world was buried near me and then plowed under by some bulldozer? No plaque, no marker? Why? Why has no one done anything about this? This is wrong.

So this weekend I pondered getting a Marker. I thought to myself, do I really want to do this again? Can't hurt to put up another facebook page. So I did it. Steve Goldstein and I are working together. And I'm confident it will get done.

Not sure of the location for the Marker yet, maybe a local pet cemetery. We have a donation tab on the page and almost 100 people. Help us out and let's get this done!

Please come to the page and Click the "Like" button. We need as many people as we can get.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Toto-Canine-Movie-Star-Memorial-Marker/122059101185330

- JP

Finally a Taste of Vietnamese

2010-10-14T20:30:00.000-07:00

We needed dinner. Well to be totally honest I was scared to try it. I grew up with my parents trying to feed me Chung King Chow Mein from a can that was horrible. I love Chinese and Thai food but this was hard core. Deb had a menu for a place that is right next to our bank here in Diamond Bar. Actually it's up on the hill with all the multi-million dollar homes. I don't think you can own a successful business in this kind of area unless it's really good. We would go to the bank and walk by it all the time. It's called the Saigon Noodle House. It does not look that special, but I have never been in the building. So we are looking over the menu. My wife loves Asian food, being Asian herself. I feel bad that she doesn't get more of it. I think she misses it growing up eating rice every day. She makes Filipino food often but it doesn't do much for me. On the weekends I usually BBQ Steaks and we have a lot of American food during the week. So I thought, I know she is really craving this so I looked over the menu and it looked good. I thought I can always get a pizza tomorrow.

This place has a huge menu. It took me like 20 minutes to look it over and choose something. I saw in the appetizer section, BAHN XEP CHIEN DON, it's Crispy Fried Pork Dumplings. I can do that. And then I saw PHO BO VIEN, beef meat balls that comes with Noodles to make a soup with side of Bean Sprouts, Green Peppers and Limes. OK I'll try that. Deb got number #25, COM THIT/BO/HOAC GA NUONG, or Grilled BBQ Beef. The sides are Steamed Rice, Slices of Cucumber, and ....wait for it....Fish Sauce..yikes.

Deb the sweetheart that she is drives a couple miles away and gets our dinner. I thought I would get out the camera and take some shots.

We unwrapped it and I was very impressed just how it looked. Very fresh ingredients, that was obvious.

I started to take some bites and was totally blown away. Flavors I have never had before. See the bean sprouts in this shot, that green leaf in there has the flavor of black licorice, amazing. And those little taco looking things are the dumplings, cooked to perfection.

This photo below is Deb's plate with the BBQ Beef, out of this world good. That's the fish sauce, that yellow liquid. I could not venture out that far.

These are the meat balls. The noodles are just next to that. They were supposed to go in the soup. I didn't figure that out till I was done eating. The noodles were so good on there own.

Really amazing food, we both loved it.

Here is the restaurant info and some reviews.

- JP

facebook strikes again

2010-10-10T23:15:00.000-07:00

Deb and I have been going non-stop all weekend. I need to get back to work so I can relax. We had 2 facebook events in 2 days. We drove to Calabasas on Saturday in tons of traffic to the Sagebrush Cantina for the "What the Hell Did Jesse Jackson Say" listener party put on by good friend Adam Bein. It was a blur. Everybody was there. We saw Tim Conway Jr. and his sweet wife Jennifer. We met Aron Bender and his amazing wife Len, wow is she beautiful in person, your a lucky man Aron. Board Op Randy Wang and Producer Jason Insolaco who I have been interested in meeting for years. Randy's awesome parents Pam and Father Bob were there, I love those people. We actually met Angel Martinez who does traffic, what a sweetheart.

We met the great KFI news reporter Steve Gregory, this guy is just the nicest guy you could ever meet. We also had some old trusted facebook friends like the hugely prominent Southern California Architect and Photographer Tim Ruzic. He drove from Palm Springs for gods sake. A listener the very sweet Ilia Christina Ford was there and Singer Julie Esposito. I know I'm leaving out lots of people, I'm soo bad with names I can't remember who I talked to. I got a lot of great photos. Go there with you're mouse.

Photos

Are these sweet people or what?

Then today, Sunday (wipe my brow) we drove to Malibu, the wife and I. I got back in contact with a guy I grew up next to in Sherman Oaks. My parents in there infinite wisdom moved out here to Los Angeles in August of 1968 from Minneapolis. I was 5, my brother was 3. My Mothers brother Jack Smight (director) lived in Brentwood. He said yea move into the Valley. Thanks Jack. You got the sea breeze we got the hotbox, cheers. And on top of that Charlie Manson was living in Chatsworth, nice going Mom and Dad. But they got lucky and moved into this great 2 bedroom apartment on Fulton and Magnolia. They rented the place from Rosalie. She had 2 kids, Jon and Mark Friedman. Jon was just a few months older than me and Mark was 3 years older. I found Jon on facebook and some other neighbor kids. Jon and his wife live in Tucson and flew out went to a High School Reunion. We all met at Marks house on the beach in Malibu. I saw both these guys today for the first time in 34 years. Mark and his wife were great hosts and cooked some great food. Mike Seward a neighbor was there also with his great wife. After I got home and looked at the photos and I was really emotional. The Fulton Avenue part of my life was probably the most important part of my life and to see these guys today was just unreal. People that know me know that I have written a book about Fulton Avenue that is on facebook. The only regret that I have today is that my Mother who passed away in 2005 could not be here to see this. Thanks to the brothers Friedman, what a great gift you have given me.

- JP

All my photos are at: http://picasaweb.google.com/fultonavenue

And my book is at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fulton-Avenue-growing-up-in-the-San-Fernando-Valley-in-the-1970s/117356101648970

A total outrage, the story of the year

2010-09-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

I don't usually write political articles. But this week I was just blown away. First we have the biggest asshole in the pantheon of assholes here again in the US, the president of Iran. This guy needs to be taken out. I can't think of a guy more worthy of death than this twerp. He is such a destabilizing force in the middle east and a force for bad I can't tell you. This JO said last time he was here that Iran has no gay people, followed by laughter. People in this world just lie like it's nothing these days. No one believes that there are no gay people in Iran. Everyone believes that they are just are killed. So he stands there and lies and then we move on. Then he says the US was complicit in 911. I say go fuck yourself you little piece of shit. So much of this is just the way of the world these days. It's really depresses me. It sounds harsh maybe but I wish someone would just shoot this guy in the forehead. But then the mullahs are the ones that really rule Iran. I get that.

Then the absolute travesty and I think and the story of the year. I can barely write this with out pounding the table I'm soo pissed. This piece of crap "professor" Bill Ayres. Yea that Bill Ayers, the guy that we heard about during the presidential campaign was up for Emeritus Status from the University of Illinois and they denied it. Thank the Lord.

A professor emeritus or emeritus professor is a title that may be given to a full professor who retires in good standing. According to the American Council on Education it is typically awarded for "long and distinguished service". ^[1] Standards for granting professor emeritus status vary considerably from one institution to another. ^[2]

The term is also used as a title given to retired professors who continue to teach and to be listed; they may also draw a very large percentage of their last salary as a pension. The title may also be given to full professors who have left for another institution but are still working full time. The concept has in some places been expanded to include also tenured associate professors. In some systems and institutions, the rank is bestowed on all professors who have retired in good standing, while at others it needs a special act or vote. Depending on local circumstances, emeritus professors may retain their offices and/or other privileges in order to remain active in the academic community of an institution as a mentor or subject matter expert.

From Wikipedia: William Charles "Bill" Ayers (born December 26, 1944)^[1] is an American elementary education theorist and a former leader in the movement that opposed U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. He is known for his 1960s activism as well as his current work in education reform, curriculum, and instruction. In 1969 he co-founded the Weather Underground, a self-described communist revolutionary group^[2] that conducted a campaign of bombing public buildings during the 1960s and 1970s, motivated by U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. He is a retired professor in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, formerly holding the titles of Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar.^[3] During the 2008 Presidential campaign, a controversy arose over his contacts with candidate Barack Obama. He is married to Bernardine Dohrn, who was a leader in the Weather organization.

Billy's wife Bernardine Dohrn said this:

Dohrn was criticized for comments she made about the murders of actress Sharon Tate and retail store owners Leno and Rosemary LaBianca by the Charles Manson clan. In a speech during the December 1969 "War Council" meeting organized by the Weathermen, attended by about 400 people in Flint, Michigan, she said about Tate (who was 8 months pregnant at the time of her murder) "Dig it! First they killed those pigs and then they put a fork in pig Tate's belly. Wild!" She said of the LaBiancas (who were repeatedly stabbed): "Offing those rich pigs with their own forks and knives, and then eating a meal in the same room, far out! The Weathermen dig Charles Manson!" ^[14] In greeting each other, delegates to the war council often spread their fingers to signify the fork.^[15]

In 2008, Dohrn's husband Bill Ayers wrote that Dohrn was being ironic when she made the statement about the Manson murders.^[16] Ayers wrote that he always thought Dohrn's statement was intended to make a political point, "agitated and inflamed and full of rhetorical overkill, and partly as a joke, stupid perhaps, tasteless, but a joke nonetheless", and similar (he said) to jokes about Charles Manson that were being made by Hunter S Thompson and Richard Pryor. Ayers said he had been present at interviews with reporters in which Dohrn had tried to put her statement in context but the reporters had dismissed her explanation.^[16]

These are obviously bad people. But our President is friends with them. These people were in the living room of his Chicago home!

Then this week a panel denied him Emeritus status. This is from a Fox News post: Trustees voted after a speech by Kennedy in which he noted the 1974 book "Prairie Fire: The Politics of Revolutionary Anti-Imperialism," by Ayers and other members of the Weather Underground. The book includes a dedication to a lengthy list of revolutionary figures, musicians and others, including Sirhan Sirhan, who shot Robert Kennedy to death in 1968 after the New York senator declared victory in the California Democratic presidential primary.

How does this happen? How does a guy like this even get considered for this? Leftists in our colleges, that's how. We have to have this complete piece of crap actually come before a panel, which includes Chris Kennedy! Robert Kennedy's son!! And he actually has to say out loud that he thinks it's a bad idea that this guy get Emeritus Status because in his 1974 book there is a dedication to the man that killed his father!! Are you kidding me! This is actually happening in a university in America. Chris Kennedy has to actually defend a position on this? This world is doomed. I have never been this angry.

Bill Ayers stood in our presidents living room people! Is this real? Am I dreaming or sick? My god what has happened to us? How can the Kennedy's endure more than they already have?

-JP

A Countionary Tale, Back From .........................The Needle Fest

2010-09-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

I'm back, I'm out of that god forsaken prison they call a hospital. Try spending 22 hours laying flat on your back with an IV and a heart monitor, and peeing in a plastic tube and seeing the same commercial for The Culinary School in Los Angeles about 900 times. It's actually in Pasadena by the way.

I never saw this coming. Wednesday morning I wake up and I'm freezing. I get up and I have the shivers so bad I hurt my neck. I take some advil and now I'm sweating for 6 hours. I can't sleep my back hurts, my head hurts. Oh OK I have a really bad flu, shit. So I suffer hard till the next day with almost no sleep. Just as bad the next day. Wife says lets go to Kaiser and get checked out. I thought OK good idea. I was in really bad shape.

So at Kaiser this nurse practitioner checks me out. I have a blood pressure reading with both numbers below 100, not good. Also with the really bad lower back pain I was having she thought something was up. She checks with the doctor on staff and he comes over to me and says you have to go to the hospital. I'm like what? Could be a kidney infection. And with the dangerous blood pressure reading gotta do it. So they call for an ambulance!, can you believe this? I have never been in an ambulance, this is getting weird.

Now things start to spiral out of control. While we wait for an hour they put me on a gurney and try, yes try to put an IV needle in my arm. Problem is I'm so dehydrated my veins are almost non existent. These women put a tourniquet on my very hairy arm and tie that sucker as hard as they can, and I almost hit the ceiling, they were literally pulling the hair right out of my arm. They do this 4 times. Then the needle fest begins. They try my arm, no, my hand, then the other arm and hand. They might as well been stabling me with a knife, unbelievable pain. This sweet Filipino woman says "he's so sensitive" Jesus Christ. So they finally get it in and I'm relieved. Aren't they supposed to shave people that are hairy?

So the ambulance comes and we go to Kaiser Baldwin Park. Very odd experience for me. We get in a little exam room in the ER and get checked out. First thing the nurse does is pull that f-ing tape off my IV needle to put one of those ports on it so he can take blood. He rips off that tape FAST! It gets better. Then I go get a CT scan. Then we just sit there. I talk to a few doctors. Hours go by. Doctors come back and say I have stranding on one of my kidneys, but no bacteria in the urine. What the hell is stranding?, I still don't know. He tells me we need you to stay over night for observation. Lovely. We've had nothing to eat. Now it's 9pm, it's been 5 hours since we arrived. Cafeteria is closed but they can give us some frozen food. Huh? Nurse brings us two Lean Cuisine dinners, saltines, jello and a couple juice boxes. Mmm yummy. I was starving I didn't care.

Then some woman from member services or something comes to collect the $100 co-pay for the room. Hell ass. Then we wait some more. I'm peeing every 20 minutes with the saline IV. 10pm, 11pm. Nurse says we are going to put you in a transitional room before your hospital room is ready. Great. 12 midnight, nothing. I tell the nurse that if I don't get my room that I paid $100 for in the next 30 minutes I'm leaving. Deb was livid. 10 minutes later bingo!

Still lying flat on my back we travel way across the hospital (this place is huge). We get to a dark room with some older man already sleeping. I think great we are gonna wake this poor guy up. I get the bed on the window. All I want to do is go to sleep but no. Nurse keeps me awake till 1am. She then disconnects my IV hose for some reason and forgets to reattach it. She changes the IV bag and leaves. I had no idea it was disconnected. I wake up at like 2:30am to caress my plastic pee bottle and the floor is all wet. So now I gotta call her back in to fix it. Jesus Christ.

So finally I get a few hours of sleep. Then there they come to take my blood pressure again at 5:30am. Now I'm awake. Now where I'm situated I can not leave, I can not go anywhere. I have a heart monitor and the IV hose and the frigging tape keeps pulling my hair.

Breakfast comes at 7:45, good french toast and cheerios. I ask the nurse when do the doctors do there rounds? She says Doctors start at 9:30. Now the waiting starts. I want to get out of this place soo bad now you have no idea. 9:30 rolls around, 10, 11, 12. Deb shows up at about 12:30 and gets to experience me total jailbreak attitude. By this time I have been laying on my back for 22 hours. 1 O'clock rolls around. Then at 1:20 the doctor finally shows up and I say "I feel fine I want to go home please" She asks me a few questions and says OK! hallelujah.

It takes another hour to get out of there. The nurse comes in and takes off the tape for the IV and of course it's hell. I said just do it really fast. He had to cut some of my hair off or I was gonna bleed all over. When I got my clothes on I was soo frigging happy. I was walking up and down loving life. I hadn't walked in almost 24 hours.

I got antibiotics and should be just fine. Just a note here, I had only one low blood pressure reading and it was never low all the 20 times they rechecked it. I think the beers and the daily trip to Starbucks and the lack of sleep and stress can really get you, and Deb and I have plenty of that. I would suggest if you don't want to go though this fun experience use moderation. Big lesson for me. Thanks to my great wife Deb, best caregiver in the world.

Thanks to all of you that were concerned, it touches my heart.

-JP

The Long Hot Summer

2010-09-06T16:30:00.000-07:00

Every Labor Day reminds me of watching the Jerry Lewis Telethon. My Mom loved watching this show because we would see all kinds of big stars. In the 70's you would see big bands with Jerry conducting. Jerry would have people on like Norm Crosby, Elayne Boosler, Bob Zany, Chad Everett, Joey Bishop, Casey Kasem, Tony Orlando, Sammy Davis, Liberace and even a visit from Frank Sinatra. I would watch that segment with the sick kid asking the audience to donate. As a little kid this touched me and I wanted to help. I asked my Mom "can we call and donate something?" and she would always say "we don't have money for that".

When I was a kid Labor Day meant that school was gonna start soon. Back then we would get out the beginning of June and go back 2nd week of September. It was a nice long break, but it always went too fast for us of course. You would see all these back to school ads on TV. Both my brother Mike and I would moan when we would see these. It meant that we had to take advantage of the time we had left. My Mom would have to take us to get some new clothes which she could barely afford. Most years it was just a couple of Corduroy pants and a new pair of shoes. She was a single Mom and as she would say, "I can barely pay the phone bill". We didn't always get help from my Dad. Finances were very tight, but Mom would never tell us what was going on with it.

Growing up in Sherman Oaks, California in the 70's was interesting this time of the year. It was hot. I'm not kidding it was frigging hot as hell. We had no air conditioning. I'm thinking even a fan was too much of a luxury, I don't recall us having a fan. Mostly when it was that hot Mike and I would be outside playing with the hose or squirt guns or sitting in the shade somewhere.

We had to entertain ourselves, there was nothing to do or anything Mom was gonna give us to do. We were on our own. Movies? Mom would say, "I don't have money for that" Ice cream? no, a cold soda? no. Have a glass of milk and a peanut butter sandwich, she would say. If we stayed in the house too long she would say "go outside and blow the stink off of you".

One of the classic moments of the summer I remember was during the Labor Day Weekend. It's over a hundred degrees. We are outside with the hose on the sidewalk in front of the house on Fulton Avenue. It's late in the afternoon. The sun is high in the sky on it's way in a short time to travel behind our apartment building. The shadows are long and everything has the orange color of a hot day. After hours of running around out of breath from getting wet, we lay down on the hot wet sidewalk.

I remember putting my head down on the concrete and my arms by my sides. Just my swim trunks on. The sun is shining on my face and I could feel the hot and wet concrete. We let the hose run near by to keep it cool. Looking up at the sky I remember feeling soo good. That cool water and that hot sidewalk. Looking back now it's soo amazing to think that I didn't have a care in the world. Just laying there was the best feeling.

This front lawn in the summer was populated with kids, lots of them. The apartment we lived in was the only one on the street, it was a three unit triplex. There was a huge apartment complex about 5 blocks away, but mostly this was a neighborhood with houses and home owners. We were the poor kids on the block. Lots of show biz people in this area. I went to school with a lot of them.

This is a photo of my brother Mike at age 7 in 1971 on the front lawn of 5141 Fulton Avenue.

The weekend ended one year with ripping up the front lawn with a slip and slide. Undoubtedly one of the funnest times I remember as a kid. After a few hours of soaking the slip and slide and the lawn we had a huge puddle of mud! I can't believe the parents let us do it.

Then, one year the neighbors and Mike and I had a hours long water balloon and hose fight that went all the way around the building. I don't think I have ever had such fun and laughed that much. Simple summer fun.

I love that it's fall. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. Can we go straight to January after that, just for this year? I would love that.

I'll close with my brothers favorite departing message... Peace, Love, and Tesla.

- JP

Just you're average day.

2010-08-31T21:15:00.000-07:00

This morning I was outraged to hear that Hillary Clinton wrote some negative report about the Arizona SB1070 bill and gave it to the UN for some unknown reason, I always knew this woman was bad news.

Then on the way to work while driving in the fast lane at about 30 mph and the carpool lane hauling ass, a guy in front of me decided he was going into the carpool lane. This guy not being too bright like lots of people out here pulls into the car pool lane at 30mph, a van behind him going 75mph had to slam on his brakes and skid, missed hitting this moron by about 2 feet. This was about 30 feet from me. Quite a show I must say with all the noise and tire smoke.

Then I managed to step in some jerks hot green crewing gum with my new boots. I tracked it into my company vehicle and then into a post office before I noticed it. Of course I was unable to wipe it off with a starbucks napkin. I now have a coffee colored paper spot where the green gum was on my boots and on my vehicle floor mats. Thankfully no noticeable smell.

Then driving down Beach Blvd I saw a very large homeless guy walking on the sidewalk with this giant beard and head of hair. He was yelling something and continuously hitting himself in the head with his right arm. Then the really scary event of the day, at 5pm tonight the President spoke from his newly renovated Oval Office.

At this point I was overstimulated and I turned the radio off. I think tomorrow I will have to bring my binky to comfort me.

And this is only Tuesday.

- JP

My Last Mall Experience

2010-08-21T18:20:00.000-07:00

Well I know, people are gonna say "your so negative" I get that alot. I just like to tell the truth. I didn't make the world this way. A lot of it sucks, really bad as a matter of fact. I like to point out stuff that is out of this world bad and I'm sorry, I'm compelled to do it. I'll talk about fluffy bunnies and flowers next time ok?

This morning we got our air conditioning fixed and we are thrilled. Deb and I were in a good mood and we jumped in the car and went to get breakfast. We were going to go shopping for some shoes. I need some new shoes really bad and thought I could hit a lot of places all at once at the Mall. We drove over the hill from Diamond Bar to the Brea Mall. It's a nice area, great neighborhoods and a beautiful area. On the periphery of the Mall are several good restaurants.

I wanted to hit the Cheesecake factory and get me some Egg's Benedict, I always enjoy that. This place seems a little high end, they have valet parking in front after all. I have never understood this, do they park your car in the valley? Anyway, we parked next to the Sears, I never do the Valet. It was very warm but we wanted to sit outside on the patio. It was nice for about 5 minutes and then it got really hot and we had to move inside to the bar. I was handed a menu that had food on it that I was not able to purchase. On the menu Eggs Benedict is only available on the Sunday Brunch menu. The waitress told me that they only poach eggs once a week, then she smiled. I said OK. Isn't the real reason that the cook would have to make a special batch of Hollandaise ? I know it's a tough recipe, Jesus Christ. It was one of those occasions where you just feel that your restaurant experience is going to go in the dumper. It gets better. About 12 kids from a soccer team came in and sat about 20 feet from us. They were hooping and hollering it up with one parent supervising these kids, the coach. Why in hell would you bring a kid soccer team to the Cheesecake Factory? I wanted to just start telling Deb and dirty joke really loud with the F's and the C's to make them regret coming in. I was a little concerned about the latest egg recall so I thought maybe eggs was not a great idea today. Anyway I had a really OK Philly Cheese steak sandwich and a side salad and a bad tasting tap beer. Deb had a chicken salad sandwich and a bowl of soup. Deb went to the bathroom and came back and told me a story about a small boy who was looking up at her under the stall she was in. The manager had to come by an apologize. We paid the bill and left.

Is that a real Poncho or is that a Sears Pancho?

We walked back up to the Sears. They had several dozen clothes racks out on the sidewalk for some reason. They pay all that money for this enormous building they are in only to have a sale outside of some of the worst looking clothes I have ever seen. So of course my lovely wife has to find the bathroom again, even though she just came out of the bathroom at the restaurant seconds ago. I walk to the back of the store and find the shoe department. My god, what has happened to Sears? They had maybe 50 pair of men's athletic shoes. Nothing I would ever put on my feet. I was thinking I might be back when I'm 65 for those tennis shoes with the huge Velcro straps. I was stunned to see anyone still sells those gems. It took all of 2 minutes and I was headed for the door. This store looks like a bad Kmart in Rochester. Did I tell you I hate shopping?

I waited by the entrance to the actual mall for the wife. I called her on her cell and she did not answer. I was looking from the second floor over the railing into the mall, watching all the people milling around. It was weird to be back in a Mall, I never do this anymore, I'm starting to remember why. Time was going by and I called again with no answer. She sometimes takes a while, don't know what's she's doing in there. After a few more minutes she appears. She tells me she forgot her phone at home. Well it's just luck that she found me. I told her I was going to be outside.

We walk by a woman's shoe store that Deb has been to several times. She actually gets 2 pairs of nice sandals for $15. OK we are doing great.

We pass by the food court then walk into Macy's. Starbucks now has a store inside of the Macy's. There are people sitting drinking coffee right next to the bedding section. I can see the sheets section while I put half and half into my coffee. I'm old school I guess. Back when I was a kid the Mall was a big deal. This just confuses me. We find the shoe department. All the men's shoes I see I can fit in the trunk of my car. Zero selection. I think to myself why am I here? I love my weekends and when it goes south I get upset. I wait all week to enjoy a couple days off and then when time is wasted like this it makes me crazy. So the topper, ready? We are walking back the way we came though the mall. I'm seeing people and hearing languages I never thought I would hear. Did all the Irish people move back home? I feel so alone, it's a joke, don't get crazy on me. Deb stops abruptly as she likes to do when she sees something interesting. A woman is giving out free hand lotion. I turn and see one of these Skate Board shops that has shorts and shoes. I go into to check it out. Deb is talking to the lotion lady. I see nothing I want to buy, what a shock. I walk out of the store after about 2 minutes and...she's gone. Deb likes to wonder off sometimes. I sit on a "mall chair" and wait for her to reappear.

Nothing for over 10 minutes. She does not have her phone so what do I do? I close my eyes an imagine I'm at home on my patio with a cold one. After what seems like a long time a flustered wife reappears. She walked the entire length of the mall and even went out to the car searching for me. I was in the same spot all along. Can you guess what we did at this point? That's right ladies and Gentleman we went home. With our new air conditioner we plopped ourselves down and both took a long nap.

So long Mall. I'm done.

- JP

Happy Birthday Mary Ann, we miss you.

Real full screen movies on YouTube?

2010-08-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

The anticipation of a few days off really f's with your head. I took off Thursday Friday of this week thanks to the generous people where I work. Then unfortunately my next days off are some 11 weeks away. How in the hell will I get though that? God all mighty I can't bear it :). Well I need to take a deep breath and enjoy these few days. I find watching as many movies as I can when I have time off really a good way to spend time. They stay with you. After the fact I think about these movies, especially if they are really good, for days and days after. I remember going to see movies in a theater when I was a kid. My yard stick for a good movie was when I would open that lobby door on the way out after a movie and walk out on the usually sun filled sidewalk (I liked matinees) and I would literally feel buzzed. If a movie was really good and it affected me, it would be in my head and I would be thinking about it for a long time.

I have Netflix and saw a few movies in the last few of days which I will talk about, but was looking around for something different to watch and went to YouTube. I don't normally find anything I would want to watch on YouTube. I went to the main page of YouTube and clicked on browse. Then I saw a link for movies. There was a banner for a film called "Chrystal" with Billy Bob Thornton. I loaded it up and then saw I could increase the resolution to 420P and then clicked full screen. I was astounded how good it looked. There were 4 ads during the film but I was OK with that.

This film was brilliant. I usually always like Billy Bob. He's a quality actor. He out does himself in this film. It's 20 years after he gets drunk and drives his little son and wife into a ditch. His wife is almost disabled. His son is ejected and never found and he goes to jail. It's a powerful film that takes place in Arkansas. The cinematography is gorgeous and worth a look.

I love Ben Kingsley. Ever since I saw Gandhi in the theater years ago, jeez that was in 1982? wow. I thought he was just fantastic in that. Recently he has done superb work. We watched a film called You Kill Me. He is a Russian hitman and his employer wants him to go to AA becuase he drinks too much. Luke Wilson is great as his sponsor. Of course Kingsley handles this premise sweetly. It's a similar character to the one he plays in Sexy Beast, another great film. One of my favorites is The House of Sand and Fog, killer.

2 Days in Paris is interesting. I don't know these actors at all. It was sort of like boyfriend goes with girlfriend to Paris to visit her parents and is sorry he did. I liked it, different.

We watched this sort of documentary about love called Paper Heart. A very unlikely actress named Charlyne Yi goes on a road trip and asks people on camera what they think love is. She explains in the movie how she doesn't think she knows what love is at all. During the filming she gets chummy with actor Michael Cera from Arrested Development fame.

It's a sweet film and well done.

The next one is Julie & Julia. Julia Child's story of her start in the cooking profession is intertwined with blogger Julie Powell's 2002 challenge to cook all the recipes in Child's first book. First class film with Meryl Streep as a dead ringer for Julia Child, Amy Adams, and the one and only Stanley Tucci. I really love this film.

And last but not least, I know this is a long post, Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges as a country singer. I can totally see why he won an Oscar. The character Bad Blake he plays is so fleshed out. At 57 years old Blake is just playing dark bars and even a bowling alley. He meets beautiful Maggie Gyllenhaal who plays a reporter. They get involved but it's not meant to be. Robert Duvall is also in this film. Does it get better than Robert Duvall? Colin Ferrell is pretty damn good too. I love the look of the film. Definitely check this out.

- JP

facebook has Real Value

2010-07-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

If I say facebook has real value I can hear some people out there say "go outside! your addicted! You have a serious problem, your a nerd. How about meeting some people in person why don't you? It's a big waste of time!"

Well maybe for some people it could be an addiction and a major unproductive distraction. I may be guilty of that as well on occasion.

I wanted to write about facebook because it's becoming a really big deal in the world and in my life.

facebook has just passed the half a billion user mark. A few facebook facts follow. On average, 200 million people log onto facebook daily. They stay for an average of 55 minutes. The average user has 130 friends. One study shows that women have 55% more posts on their facebook walls than men.

The CEO and founder of facebook, Mark Zuckerberg is 26 years old and is worth an estimated $4 billion dollars.

In 2009 15 billion photos uploaded in total, an average of 220 million new pictures posted each week, and at its busiest, 550,000 images being loaded each second using well over 30,000 servers. People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on facebook.

It might sound like I'm overstating it but I can say with out a doubt that facebook has changed my life in the last year. It's changed my wife and it's changed many of our friends. Those changes are mostly good. Some of the changes for me are really amazing.

I think I got on facebook last year sometime. I can't really nail it down, maybe it was February of '09. I got to know several people that work in Los Angeles Radio. I friend-ed them and saw what a lot of out of work people were up to on a daily basis.

After 97.1 the FM talk station went belly up and with the advent of hottalkla.com and listening to a lot of podcasts, facebook became a daily thing to check in and see what was going on with some people that I knew. OK so you only know some people on facebook and never meet them in person. But what I wanted to do was to take it to the next level and meet them in person.

So Randy Wang and Gina Grad who worked for Tim Conway Jr. at KSLX 97.1, started doing a podcast called "The Pretty Good Podcast" It was great to hear some people that were attached to the old show at 97.1. And they really did a great and entertaining job. Then they had a couple listener parties. Now this was taking it to a whole new level. People that I met on facebook I was now going to meet in person. It was a thrill. We went to the Draft (a bar in the valley). We walked in and there was Randy Wang (Tims board op) and later walks in Gina Grad. This was very cool. We met a lot of other people for the first time that came to the party because of the podcast and facebook. A friend now for a while, Tim was there. This was the first time we met, he drove from way out in the desert. And also for the first time that day at the draft was Greg. A really fun guy to hang with from silicon valley that drove all the way down from San Jose just for this event.

After this event and meeting lots of others from facebook I was blown away. Deb and I had actually made friends, long term friends. There was another event about a month or 2 later and the same people were there and new people and more friends were made. This was amazing. Everyone we met was amazingly normal, shocking. I smoked a cigar for the first time with my buddy Greg and John and others. That's a too cool.

Then in January of 2010 on my birthday we had reserved a huge table at a Italian restaurant and about 30 people showed up. In February we did another lunch at the same place (Palermo on Vermont in LA). With a bunch of the same great people showing up and we started calling ourselves "The Lunch Bunch". We did 2 subsequent events in Huntington Beach and one in Pasadena. Great times, great people and lots of screaming and hollering and laughing as my Mother would say.

So I'm totally thrilled about meeting all these great people and hope it continues for years to come. I think this last year has had real value and is almost unmeasurable in what it has added to my life, and my wife feels the same.

Then comes April 18, 2010. To kick it up a huge notch and experience the real power of facebook this happens, the Jack Norworth Memorial Marker. In a previous post I lay out the time line for this, which you can read in detail. After putting up a facebook group page for what I thought was a good cause, a fire was started. Jack Norworth the author of the American Anthem "Take me out to the ball game" is buried in a small cemetery in Anaheim. I learn this from Huntington Beach author Chris Epting at a book signing on April 18. The facebook group page goes up. I email another facebook friend Steve Gregory from KFI radio. I tell him about the facebook page and the story of Jack. He loved it. He sends reporter Shannon Ferren out to interview me on May 7th. This interview is heard by Charlie Sotelo and Jamie Chisick. They both contact me wanting to help. Chris Epting tells AOL, who he writes for. This all comes together and is culminated on July 11th. Now 100 feet from where Jack Norworth is buried stands 1000 pounds of the most beautiful granite I have ever seen. A tribute to Jack and his Song.

I wake up most days and am still stunned at how this happened. I can not overstate the value of people coming together and doing something. This all facilitated by....yes that's right facebook. There is no way this would have happened without facebook. The ease of direct communication and collaboration made this project happen in only 3 months.

There are pitfalls using facebook of course. I have seen in the last year squabbles and arguments and de-friendings. One thing you must do on facebook is to be very careful what you say. It can come back to bite you on the ass if your not careful. But the upside and the positive value that can be had is mind boggling.

After all that has happened I thought I should bring it all together and write this post. This next weekend Deb and I will be going to a house warming for a good friend we met on facebook. We are looking forward to it. I'm hoping to meet more people and hopefully make more connections for new projects. I'm just wondering now, what can't be accomplished with facebook?

- JP

It's speculation, but it's fun

2010-07-24T00:19:00.000-07:00

Wow I totally missed this article on July 16th in the OC register. Jack Silver the past Program Director at 97.1 is now at KABC. Both him and Bob Moore were partners at 97.1. This is really big news. I think KABC is about to change into what it has never been. I think the quotes from Jack that are in the article are complete bullshit. Jack says he likes Peter Tilden, that's total crap. The fact that Jack likes sports programming for the station is complete crap. I think Jack will get rid of the Dodgers, lets pray.

What Jack Silver likes more than anything in the world is money coming in by the truck load from advertisers. That's really all his job is. This is what the radio business is, advertising. Back in the day when 97.1 was on the air in it's heyday you had Howard Stern doing the morning show and Tom Leykis afternoons, both being the heavy hitters of the station. Both these shows brought in tons of ad money. When Howard left Tom was not enough to keep the station in the big green. I think the station was doing OK but never anything like when Howard was there.

Then the economy went in the tank. With these new developments now I think the radio business might be coming back. If Bob Moore and Jack Silver have the balls to just turn KABC upside down and attract younger listeners and big advertisers again, it might be really good times again for the radio business.

Can you imagine this, dump Peter Tiden. Howard Stern may come back to terrestrial radio. This might be his way back in. I know it's a stretch but you never know. Even bringing back Doug McIntyre in the morning would be a big boost I think for the early mornings. Anything is better than Peter, sorry man. Keep Frosty, Heidi and Frank, their ratings are up.

I think Sean Hannity is incompatible with a new KABC. I was a fan, I have listened to Sean for 10 years. I'm done. It's the same show day in and day out. After a long run you have to do something new. Mark Levin is a easy dump. He's in DC for gods sake, bye Mark. And then the total embarrassment of KABC, putting Moe Ansari on at 6pm, my god I have never seen such a horrible decision in radio in my life. It was only for the money decision. Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.

I'm not sure who to put on at noon maybe a new David Viscott call in show or something like that, how about Mother Love LOL. But the afternoon could be huge if Tom Leykis came back on AM radio and did a political talk show like he did at KFI many years ago. I know Tom is known for T and A but he's a hell of a good broadcaster and could do a great political show. Imagine Tom opposite John and Ken. The only problem I see with this is that Tom is pretty liberal. He doesn't admit it but he leans pretty steeply left. When he was with KFI in the early 90's he had great guests and did a very compelling show and.....was number 1 when he was fired from KFI.

Then the evenings, bring back Al Rantel. I can also see in this mix Brian Whitman or some funny evening show. Maybe some new people that are currently doing podcasts. Adam Corolla doing an evening show is something I would listen to.

Also check this out. Let's say Tim Conway Jr doesn't like his raise for a contract renewal in a few years he could end up back at Jack's doorstep and his old 7 to 10 time slot.

It's pretty exciting. I think the main push is to put a huge dent in KFI's numbers. And if there is anybody that can do it, it's Jack and Bob with David G Hall in the wings to consult. And almost certainly the major first push is to get Tom opposite John and Ken. If they can do that watch the fire grow. Yea baby I love this stuff!

- JP

The Timeline

2010-07-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

The Jack Norworth Memorial Marker is in place. It's still unreal to me. When I'm 80 it will still be there. How many things can you say that about? I'm so proud to have been apart of this amazing project. I'm posting the Timeline of events that led up to the Marker. I think it's important to have it as a historical record. It's a little long so I apologize. It's interesting to me to see the events as they happened. I went back and copied all the posts from facebook and put together highlights. It's a lot of detail but it's edited and may not include everything. It is the basic Timeline.

- April 18, Bella Terra Barnes and Noble, Huntington Beach, CA. Book signing for "Los Angeles Historic Ball Parks" by Chris Epting. Chris was doing his talk on this great book. He was talking about the first Wrigley Field in downtown LA, Babe Ruth playing an exhibition game in Brea. Then Chris starting taking about this guy, Jack Norworth who wrote the famous song "Take me out to the ball game" Chris explains that he is buried in a small cemetery in Anaheim. In his book there is a black and white photo and a short paragraph. It takes up only about a half a page. I interrupted him with "what cemetery?" Chris wasn't sure exactly. I was blown away by this. After we left the signing I couldn't stop thinking about this.

- April 20, I put up a Facebook Group page called "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" Monument for Jack Norworth. This was a Tuesday. Before I went to work I went by the cemetery. It was a cold and rainy day. I walked around and searched for it but did not find the headstone. I didn't have any idea where it was at all. I figured I'd come back and get a map.

- April 21, I went into the office and asked for help finding Jack's grave site. Nobody in the office knew who I was talking about. A guy named Jim Miller got a large book with big pages showing all the plots. We walked out to the area and he found it after about 5 minutes. I told Jim the whole story. He didn't know anything about it. We talked for a while, he was pretty happy to hear about this.

From this date to May 7th I just emailed anyone I could think of. I called Jim back several times asking if they had done any research to find family members in there files. After a few more phone calls to Jim he told me that I would have to talk to Dee the manager.

I had an idea. I emailed a guy that I had talked to on facebook several times and he was always responsive and a cool dude, Steve Gregory from KFI radio here in LA. Steve is a top notch reporter on KFI and is on Tim Conway Jr's show often. I told Steve about the drive to get Jack a new headstone or monument. He responded very positively and said that he definitely wanted to do a story on it. A couple days later he told me that he was swamped with work and was giving the story to reporter Shannon Ferren.

- Friday May 7th, Shannon Ferren of KFI radio calls me and we arrange to meet at the Melrose Abbey Cemetery where she will interview me. Shannon arrives after me around noon. With her tiny little digital recorder and the standard KFI mike flag and microphone. We walk out to the grave site. Very casually she leans the mic in my direction and I just start talking. I told a short version of the story in about 2 minutes. We walked back to her car and she told me it would be on the air the following week. Then we said goodbye and I drove to work. After that interview I felt very confident that something would happen. Lots of people were about to hear about this for the first time.

- May 11th, The story by Shannon Ferren airs early and is replayed over and over throughout the day and into the next morning. None of the hosts including John and Ken choose to talk about it. I thought John Kobylt being part owner of a minor league team would at least mention it. Even to this date and several emails to John, he has never responded.

- May 12th, I got 3 calls when I was driving in Huntington Beach on my route. One from Maria Sotelo of Hi-Desert Monuments and one from Jamie Chisick a huge baseball fan. Maria explained all that we could possibly do. She subtly told me that she was going to donate her services. Never once mentioned how much anything would cost. Jamie called me and offered money and I told him I would call him back If we needed it. I also got a call from a reporter from the Orange County Register that wanted to do a story but thought waiting for more to develop would be the way to go. He wanted me to call him back if something did.

- Monday May 17th I met Maria from Hi-Desert Monuments at the cemetery. I got a great education on headstones. She told me that she cleaned Jack's headstone (She had come down during the weekend) and determined that it is in pretty bad shape. The stone is pitted and the nature of the thin etching makes it non-repairable. And as it turns out, not high quality stone. So after talking for a while we decided to go talk to someone in the office and get more info. We talked to the Manager Dee and got not quite warm reception. She told us that "We couldn't do anything" she kept saying that over and over. Without permission you can not touch the headstone or do anything to it. We asked if they would contact us if they found any family members. We left kind of disappointed. I didn't know what we were going to do after this. It was kind of a let down.

- May 19th I communicated with Tim Wile the Director of Research at the Baseball Hall of Fame. He had responded to an email I sent asking about living family members. His responds was that for a very long time they had been trying to find family with no luck.

During this period I was just emailing everyone I could think of. I was thinking that I hit a brick wall. For almost a month not much was happening. Then.....

- June 17th Chris tells me that he is writing an article about Jack

- June 21st Chris Epting writes an article for AOLnews.com called "Stepping Up to Bat for Jack Norworth" http://www.aolnews.com/team/chris-epting/

- June 22 Maria posts this idea: Possible idea. Plot opposite Jack's headstone is only $3500. Hi-desert monument would do the memorial stone gratis. And we could have an actual person in the grave site that we would donate the plot to like a cancer patient that can't afford it. The plot thickens people. I never even considered this. I thought it was a great idea. Chris thought we could start a fund raiser using his book Roadside Baseball. He was willing to donate 300 copies of his book, wow!

During this time AOL got involved. Chris was on the phone with them and they were really into it. They were going to cover some of the cost. We didn't need to do a fund raiser at all.

- June 23rd I got a message from Maria that they were designing the Marker. She sent me a graphic of what it would look like.

- June 24th Chris tells me to keep July 11th open. It sounded like a done deal at this point.

- June 26th I left for Minneapolis for my Dad's 80th Birthday. I would be coming home by the 30th.

- July 1st Chris posts this on facebook - Chris Epting All - JP will fill you in soon but let be known that the efforts of he and Maria Sotelo will soon be rewarded on a grand scale. I will have a story breaking this Sunday on AOL News about a bit of history that will be made in the next week. Sorry to be so cryptic, but this has been an exhilarating, intense week in re...

- July 4th I was on a podcast talking about the Marker, What the Hell Just Happened with Greg and Simon, I skyped in. It was a great time and it turned out well.

- July 6th I posted the unveiling ceremony would be on July 11th. Chris Eptings' new article on the Jack Norworth Memorial Marker on AOLnews.com!!! http://www.aolnews.com/team/chris-epting/

During this time Chris called and arranged for a donor that had called me after the KFI interview, Jamie Chisick to donate the remaining amount to buy the plot for the stone memorial.

- Wednesday July 7th I went to the office of the Melrose Abbey Cemetery and signed the papers for the purchase of the plot.

- Thursday July 8th the Marker was delivered by Maria and Charlie. Deb was there and I had just enough time to drive by on my route and see the stone on a pallet. Amazing.

- Friday July 9th the Marker was installed by the crew at the cemetery. I drove by around 4:30 and saw the finished marker. A reporter for the OC Register was there interviewing Dee the manager. The reporter asked me some questions and when I was kneeling down looking at the Marker on the phone with Deb the reporter took a photo of me that ended up in the paper.

- Sunday July 11th at 10am the ceremony took place with Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers. With 100 people in attendance and the historic Jack Norworth trophy there we all sang the song and pulled the covering off to reveal the stone. It was quite a day.

Thank you to Chris Epting and his family. Thank you to Maria and Charlie Sotelo. Thanks to my lovely wife for putting up with me, I love you. Thanks to all at the Melrose Abbey Cemetery. Thanks to AOL and Jamie Chisick and his beautiful family. Thanks to all the supportive friends on facebook.

One last thing. I will be starting a ritual of sorts. I love going and seeing this Marker. I will as of the 16th of July, every Friday I will be going to the cemetery at 12 noon and spend an hour there. I will probably bring my lunch and hang out before I go to work. Join me. - JP

It should be interesting

2010-07-07T00:15:00.000-07:00

Indeed it will be interesting. As this week progresses I will know more about what exactly will happen next weekend. What we know for sure is Saturday we will be at Farmers Market in Los Angeles to help Chris Epting launch his great new book "Hello It's Me, Dispatches from a Pop Culture Junkie". I'm reading it now it's great. It's at the Shine Gallery from 6 to 8pm.

What will actually happen next Sunday is something to seriously contemplate. The Jack Norworth Memorial Marker will be unveiled this coming Sunday at 10am at the Melrose Abbey Cemetery in Anaheim, in a plot only about 50 feet from Jacks headstone. Chris Epting (team leader) Maria and Charlie Sotelo (from Hi-Desert Monument) and I, JP Myers will be there. We also will have a Hall Of Famer there, Rollie Fingers. I'm also told that a bus load of kids in uniform will be there from the Laguna Beach Little League, with the Norworth Trophy in hand. They give that to the MVP of the league every year. We have no real idea what kind of media will be there. I've heard maybe CBS Sunday Morning and CNN and others, we will shall see. KFI Radio will be there, I have confirmed that. The Cracker Jack Company has expressed interest also. This entire event except for the actual memorial stone (Hi-Desert Monuments are providing that) is being taken care of by the folks at AOL and one other contributor. Chris writes for AOLnews.com and they are very excited about this. Multiple people from AOL will be flying out from I presume New York to attend. Chris says that we are making baseball history. It seems surreal that this has happened so fast. I'm very grateful to have been part of it and helping to light the fire.

So make a note to be there next Sunday, it's open invitation for the entire population of the world. And if you have not joined the cause go to the facebook group and do so.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=110706285632195

Also 2 articles by Chris are up:

Baseball Fans Rally to Honor Forgotten 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' Scribe

In The Pipeline: 'Take Me Out' to the monument

- JP

We watched some Indie films

2010-07-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

I've been on vacation for a week and after I got back from Minneapolis midweek I fired up Netflix and went right to my favorite category to look for something interesting. The Independent films. Deb and I got very lucky and saw like 4 films in a row that were just great. Some nice friends of mine on facebook wanted me to put a list together of some films I have recently watched. Here we go.

The first one we watched was a British film called "Happy go lucky". This is a Miramax film with the lead played by Sally Hawkins. I have never heard of this actress. The film starts with this primary care teacher in Britain that is in a good mood always. Nothing breaks this girls smile. It's a remarkable film. I highly recommend it. I love Sally Hawkins!

This is a classic film with Ralph Fiennes and Live Tyler, don't miss this one.
Jaded Russian nobleman Evgeny Onegin (Ralph Fiennes) leaves his sophisticated social circle in St. Petersburg after unexpectedly inheriting a country estate from his uncle. Onegin's rural neighbor introduces him to the lovely Tatyana Larin (Liv Tyler), and their mutual attraction is instant. The impulsive young woman declares her love, and Onegin -- affronted by her frankness -- rejects her, setting off a chain of events that results in tragedy.

The actor Michael Shannon steals this movie, just excellent.
Set in southeast Arkansas, this cautionary indie tale from director Jeff Nichols tracks a blood feud that erupts when two sets of half-brothers come to blows at their father's funeral. The first-born siblings dubbed Boy, Son and Kid -- impersonal monikers that embody their father's indifference toward them -- explode in anger upon meeting their counterparts, who have real names and reaped the rewards of their father's later success.

The writer director of this film is Linas Phillips. He has a unique look and always a huge smile. This travel log is brilliant. I love this movie.
In this low-budget indie comedy, Linas (Linas Phillips), attempting to heal the wounds of an ill-considered romance with a married woman, leaves Seattle in a tricked-out VW bus, bound for New York -- and maybe a little adventure. Phillips not only stars in the quirky cross-country odyssey, but also directs and co-wrote the script for this oddball road movie with fellow cast mates Davie-Blue and Jim Fletcher.

Carey Mulligan playing opposite Peter Sarsgaard is just great. Another British film that is so enjoyable. Alfred Molina playing the Dad is fantastic, does this man ever have a bad performance?
Jenny's (Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan) Oxford-bound teen life is a bore in 1961 London until she's given a different kind of education after being immersed in the beguiling but hazardous world of much-older David (Peter Sarsgaard). Even Jenny's parents, Jack (Alfred Molina) and Marjorie (Cara Seymour), are intrigued by him, but her unimpressed teacher (Olivia Williams) works to keep Jenny's entire future from crumbling under David's influence.

Now this blog post could go on for days, so here is a list of the films Deb and I have watched over the last few months. These were viewed all on Netflix.

Law Abiding Citizen

Wonderful World

Surrogates

TiMER

The Legend of 1900

According to Greta

In the Electric Mist

Neverwas

Echelon Conspiracy

Shanghai Kiss

Troubled Waters

Keith

Wake

Up

Uncertainty

Hollywood Homicide

The Badge

The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry

Suspect Zero

Play the Game

Spy Game

Mammoth

Spread

Ash Wednesday

The Flats

Good Intentions

Humble Pie

Southlander: Diary of a Desperate Musician

Desert Blue

Spin

Dare

Bella

- JP

What a day

2010-06-26T18:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the wife who got up at 4am to take me to Ontario Airport for my two flights to Minneapolis. I only got 4 hours of sleep so it was not easy for either of us. The flights were really pretty painless, it was just a tiny bit bumpy. I'm in Minneapolis and it's kinda hard to believe. Going all this way is not very difficult. It's pretty amazing that you can go all this way in just a few hours. After I landed I went to the bathroom, and when I came back my bag was on the carousel, that never happens. I got an almost brand new Chevy Cobalt. I remember from 3 years ago how to get to my Dad's place. He was in the parking lot when I pulled up. I gave him a big hug. He looks pretty thin but is still very sharp.

We hung out for lunch and then back to his apartment for about an hour, it was almost 5:30 before I knew it. I was pretty tired but also hyped up. His energy level is very low lately. So we said our goodbyes and I went back to the hotel and just laid on the bed for a while. Then I walked downtown about 4 blocks to Brits. A really cool pub. A huge pub with a giant bar and they even have a pitch on the roof. I met a very cool dude named Mike who is from Kenya. He was just married to some White American chick for a year. We really hit it off. I enjoyed talking to him. I will no doubt see him again tomorrow.

Then I walked a couple blocks north on Nicolette to a place called

.....The Local. I walked into this former bank building and was stunned out of my shoes. Estate wood everywhere, etched glass, little dining rooms hiding. Circular bars, wood, more estate goodies. I was stunned. I have never seen a bar like this, it's absolutely huge and beautifully executed. I found a seat and got me some Fish and Chips and a Stella. I talked to my bartender and said "Is the sun shining in the morning inside here? I want to come photograph this place" he illustrated how beautiful it is and that mornings have been busy because of the World Cup. This place really blew me away.

I paid my check and headed for Haskels Liquor on 9th street. When I got there at 8:30PM......it was closed. Shit. I walked back to the hotel with a major threat of rain. It was soaking me. It was warm and wonderful and wet. I was in a dream. I was feeling like this was a planned event. That I was supposed to be there. It was thrilling. The huge skyscrapers in downtown are formidable and the designs are unique. At 9:30PM it's pouring rain and lightening and thunder.

So no beer. I went to the Hotel bar and got a double Barcari and coke....$12. They are thankfully open till midnight. And to honor my Dad I will end with.....

Double Rim Shot.....cymbal.

-JP

Buzzing Activity

2010-06-18T00:15:00.000-07:00

Soo much is happening. The Lakers pulled out a victory tonight. And of course all the PHD's went out and caused trouble. It was very entertaining to watch and listen to. Tim Conway Jr. did just a superb job as well as Aron Bender on KFI tonight. I'm gonna go over to the Marconi awards and nominate those guys. Just really great coverage. Tim stayed till 11pm. I was riveted to the radio, great job Timmy.

Well this post is just informal. I have not had one idea for a couple months. I think I might be depressed or something, so I have not written a blog in a while. It's been stressful with the family lately. My Dad is going back in the hospital too.....when I'm going to be on vacation in Minneapolis. I'm really looking forward to getting on a plane and going to see my Dad. It's been over 3 years. We will have 2 days together then he goes in for a procedure. I love seeing where I lived when I was 5 years old. Minneapolis is an interesting place. To see the house I moved away from in 1968 is really a trip. And to see the house my Mom grew up in on 12th avenue is mind blowing. I'm sure after the 4 nights I will be there, coming back to Diamond Bar will be a good thing. I can't be way too long.

The big news of this blog post is that Author/Facebook friend Chris Epting is writing an article for AOLnew.com that will appear sometime in the next several days. It's an article on Jack Norworth, the author of the song "Take me out to the ball game" and the facebook page I put up. I'm really excited about it. It should get a huge responds. I'll post as soon as I see it.

One last thing. Our good friend Wendy Hall is traveling east and we wish her gods speed and have a great time.

- JP

The Birthday Girl and Good Times

2010-05-27T00:15:00.000-07:00

Well we finally got to 6 years married. Deb and I have been together since 2000. We got married 6 years ago in Morro Bay. We had a great little wedding in a chapel in Morro Bay. We didn't mean to get married on Deb's birthday. We had gone to the courthouse at San Luis Obispo. I think it was a Tuesday. We walked into the City Hall. I walked up to a window and asked about where we go to get married. The woman behind the counter told me it was only Spanish speaking weddings today. I was floored. So we left. I was shaking my head all the way to the car. So the next day May 26 we went and got married at the Garden Wedding Chapel in Morro Bay.

So today Deb got off work a little early and wanted to hit one of her favorite restaurants called Akasaka in Walnut. It's a great Japanese restaurant.

I had the Beef and Teriyaki chicken and Deb had a similar dish with tempura.

The manager usually comes over and talks to us, real nice guy.

I usually get this beer. It's funny as hell because when the bill comes it says "Jap" beer. I told the owner about this and he doesn't give a crap.

It was a great day. I love my wife and being married. Happy Birthday and happy 6th Anniversary Deb, you're the best.

-JP

Flawless Sunday Good Times

2010-05-09T17:40:00.000-07:00

First let me say Happy Mothers day to all. This photo to the left is my Mom about 12 years ago. She passed away in 2005. I really miss you not being here.

Well we just got back from a great day, around 4. Deb is conked out on her usual Sunday nap to recharge for the week.

We started Sunday by our usual ritual of sleeping in and then purposely laying in bed awake. We get a sense of the weekend and that we don't have to go to work by laying in bed and not doing anything. I would highly recommend this. It gives you a sense of satisfaction for all the hard work you do all week.

Deb, though her skills of persuasion, had called and finagled a reservation for brunch at a very popular place a few miles from the house. Right on the border of Pomona is a place called The Shilo Inn. It's a hotel and also has a great restaurant and bar. We are pretty much regulars, they know us when we walk though the door. It's really they know Deb. My wife makes friends like I get bills in the mail. She can literally take an elevator ride and make life long friends. It's a gift she has.

I wanted to give my wife a special day because she works her ass off all week. She's a great mom with two kids in their 20's. Deb has the big 5-0 birthday coming up too this month. She in no way looks that old. My wife is still hot. I try to tell her that often. We also celebrate our Moms that are not with us anymore. We lost both out Moms in the last couple years.

So anyway we get seated and wave over the Champagne guy. Deb always wants to add some orange juice, I like it too. She doesn't drink much and is my designated driver. That's why I married her...that's a joke people. Then we get up and walk over to a banquet room outside of the restaurant where they have set up a fresh food station. They used to make fresh Eggs Bennie, now they are in a heated serving dish, still really good. You can get an omlette or pancakes or waffles. I walk over and get me a slice of Prime Rib, that looks outstanding. A little creamy horseradish , some beautiful rice pilaf and I'm headed back to the table. On the way back I see beautiful crab legs sliced in half, just the way I like it. The wife has 2 plates of stuff when she comes back. Including sushi. It's all very well made and fresh food. You can not leave Shilo unsatisfied that's for sure.

As we sit and enjoy the fare we are listening to a couple cool guys play some Jazz and R&B. Maybe it's this band but Shilo attracts a lot of upper middle class African Americans. I have never seen such beautiful people in my life. Everybody is all smiles and happy. We saw lots of Moms out with their families. We saw a 94 year old Mother dancing on the dance floor that got huge applause. I saw kids talking to parents (rare) and kids running to get food. I saw probably 5 kids walking by with just a slice of chocolate cake. Carrying it with both hands carefully like it was a gold bar.

The wait staff is great at Shilo. We have known Richard for along time. He always comes over and says hi. Very attentive. My champagne glass was always filled. I went back for a salad and some more prime rib and a couple more crab legs. I was getting stuffed. Deb had finished before me with a desert plate. I went and got two thin slices of chocolate mousse and another slice of chocolate something cake.

I was on a huge high at this point. I was looking at everyone in the restaurant and just feeling good. I recognized that this was an important moment. I looked and saw nothing but positive things, positive people, great food, family's talking, great music, positive everything. I was amazed that this could be happening. I wanted to savor it. I almost felt tears. I thought my Mom would love this. These moments I think are so important to recognize, because come Monday morning it won't be like this no matter how good your attitude is.

I didn't want to leave. We sat there for a good long time. Deb was talking to some people around us. I was watching all these beautiful people walking by and listening to the Jazz band and drinking my champagne.

We left and got on the freeway for the last thing of the day, to visit Debs parents at Forest Lawn in Covina. I'm one of those people that actually enjoys going to a cemetery. I think they are beautiful places and they make me feel good. I look at the headstones and wonder who these people are. And I love to lay on the grass and look up at the sky.

It was so funny. Today I was laying on the grass while Deb was spending time at her parents grave site. I was just laying there relaxing and I heard this woman. She said "excuse me...sir?...excuse me!" I sat upright. This woman said "are you ok?" I said "yes of course, just enjoying myself". She says "oh I thought you might have passed out". Do people get so worked up at a cemetery they pass out? I guess it's possible. Our mothers do have a strong power over us. Happy Mothers Day to all and Mary Ann my Mom, miss you terribly.

-JP

The Weird Proximity of Events

2010-05-05T01:15:00.000-07:00

It's been so crazy the last couple of weeks with my Dad in the Hospital. He's still there but hopefully getting out this weekend. I've been wanting to write a couple different blog posts but have not had the time.

Last weekend we were going to have friend over for lunch and I wanted to research something before she got here. Our friend Wendy is very much interested in Cold Case Crime files. She has a great blog at:

http://losangelescoldcasecrimes.blogspot.com/

and a cool food review site at:

http://losangelesfoodreview.blogspot.com/

So here's the deal, I wanted to look for some crime file out here in my neck of the woods, Diamond Bar. Or at least something interesting I could tell Wendy about. I thought I probably would be able to Google something, probably in the Pomona area and I would tell her about it when she got out here. Well what I found stunned the hell out of me. I gotta tell you not in my wildest dreams would I ever think I would find out information like this so close to home.

I did the Google search and Richard Ramirez, The Night Stalker popped up. I did several searches and tried "Murder Diamond Bar" and on the third results page was a Wikipedia link to Richard Ramirez.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Ramirez

I read this:

Elyas and Sakina Abowath

August 8, 1985

Two nights after the attack on the Petersens, Ramírez lashed out again, this time in Diamond Bar. Elyas Abowath, 35, was shot in the head and killed while he slept. With Elyas dead, Ramírez molested Elyas Abowath's wife, Sakina, 29. He raped her, sodomized her, and forced her to perform oral sex on him. Experts who profiled him believe that this was the way he preferred to attack, by killing any men and raping the women.

Only living about 2 miles from this, it was such a weird feeling to know this happened there, and I could drive to the house, which I did. I had never been this close to such a place. I thought it would be something I would want to at least see.

read a detailed account of the event (extremely graphic)

This is from a scanned book on Google books.

from The Night Stalker: The Life and Crimes of Richard Ramirez

By Philip Carlo

go to Chapter 15 page 139.

It really sticks in your head when you can be this close to something so horrible even if it happened a long time ago. I remember being in my 20's when this was all over the news. It was very scary. People were actually terrified this would happen to them. This kind of event lasts well into the future, it resonates. I read the printed account and saw the house and it's just unbelievable what humans can do to other humans. Everyday I hear on the news all the bad stuff going on in the world. It seems far away and I just go along in my day and it doesn't effect me that much. Then when you come across something like this it hits you in the head. It's like my friend Chris Epting the Pop Culture author says, being in a place where something historical happened, even though it's unspeakable and intense you feel it somehow, where something happened. I'll never be able to drive down the 57 freeway and not think of this event. It's burned into my memory for good or bad.

And here is the kicker that blew me away. Sakina Abowath is still in Diamond Bar all these years later.

- JP

$27 Kick Ass MP3 Player

2010-04-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

I just had to write about this to let anyone that cares know that you don't have to buy an iPod to have a great MP3 Player. I recently needed to buy a new player so I could listen to Audible audio books. I had this generic player for the last year.

It was a little tough to use. When I got out of the car I had to hit that red power button or it wouldn't bookmark the spot where I needed to come back to. This was tough getting used to, but it worked for the last year. For $37 on Amazon, I got my money's worth.

So I looked on Audible.com for the kinds of players they support for audio books and saw this one made by SanDisk. Now SanDisk is the cool company that makes great Flash Memory Cards. I actually just bought a 4GB card for my Nikon and it was only $22. That's a huge deal. I also have a great Flash Memory Card reader by SanDisk that I think I paid $6 for. See where this is going? I looked on Amazon and saw the SanDisk Sansa Clip+ MP3 Player. It was 2GB and only $27? This can't be good, it must be a cheap piece of crap...wrong. I looked at many reviews and all said it was a great deal.

And folks this is not just a great MP3 Player, this is a marvel of modern technology. I got this via ups in 3 days and was stunned. I opened it up and was so surprised how small it was. How could this tiny little player do all these things. Check this out. It has a cool screen with a pretty easy menu system. You push the power button on top and you see the blue logo for Sansa. Then you scroll down and see that it has not only a music area, artists, podcasts, audiobooks, it has an FM radio built in. It has voice recording with a built in mic. It has a graphic EQ screen. It has this thing called Slot Radio where you can buy a mini memory card with a 1000 songs on it and slide it in. And of course support for Audible audio books.

You know I never had an iPod so maybe I'm behind the times, but this MP3 player just blows me away. Miniaturization has gotten to such a level that is unreal. Pretty soon we will have our full blown PC's cliped to our ears, like an earring or something.

One thing I forgot to mention is that with this Sansa you can get separately this FM transmitter. Plug it in to your cigarette lighter (that's what they called it back in the day) and hit the up or down button to say 88.7FM, then tune your car radio to that and bingo, audio from the MP3 Player. No more Larry Miller ads!

To see this fantastic thing in action be sure to take a minute to see this youtube video by Digital Trends. I hate taking the time to watch videos but this is very worth it. Click on the photo below to view.

- JP

Two Amazing Talents

2010-04-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

I was stunned when Brian Whitman called me on Friday and said "we just finished, probably the funniest podcast I have ever done". Brian Whitman and Josh Robert Thompson get together at the Wang hang for a podcast on HotTalkLA.com. First both guys were sporting the "Conway" vernacular with "look at you man, no look at you man". Then the sparks flew with impressions from both of these very talented guys.

The website at Hot Talk LA.com says Brian David Whitman welcomes Josh Robert Thompson to a very special podcast - that's 2 guys and about 114 voices! Prepare to hear Robert DeNiro and Louie Anderson's new cop flick, as well as Jack Nicholson's cinematic reunion with Morgan Freeman!

This is not Robert De Niro, it's Josh Robert Thompson. Thee most amazing impression I have ever seen. Josh not only looks like Bobby, he sounds exactly like him. Go to his youtube channel and watch this if you haven't seen it, it's amazing.

This is Brian Whitman

Brian's back with a vengeance and funny as ever. Brians' impressions are just incredible. I really miss hearing them every night with Tim. Both of them were literally standing for the recording in Randy Wangs' studio apartment and go about schooling each other on how they do impressions. They go back and forth and describe the voices that they do and the improvising is hilarious. By the way, this is adult material, I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

Josh says in his character Darnel "I love the Bible, my favorite book is the book of Genesis, you know Phil Collins".

It goes on and on and it's all laughs. It's never happened before, these guys doing a show together, so this is very special. I used to hear Josh doing Fake Arnold on the Conway and Whitman show. Once in a great while they would actually talk to Josh as Josh and thank him for coming on the show and plugging his website.

In recent weeks Brian has been on a FM Talker in Boston filling in. I wish Brian the best of luck while he is still looking for a new job. God speed my friend. I hope we see both these guys in major media very soon, they both deserve it.

Check out this podcast and tell your friends. It's a good time.

The Podcast click on this my brother...

Josh Robert Thompson's Facebook

Joshs' Youtube Channel

Brian Whitmans' Facebook

Brian Whitman on Youtube

- JP

Top 40 music? Really?

2010-03-28T13:00:00.000-07:00

Once every 6 months or so I go listen and look at some music on Yahoo music. I look at the top 100 videos just to see what's out there. Most of of the time I hear a couple good tunes but am not impressed. This time I have looked at no less than 10 really great songs with incredible videos. I'm really surprised this time. I went to this link: http://new.music.yahoo.com/charts/

Number 1 I can do with out right away. "Tik Tok" by Keisha was 256 last week so that should tell you something. It's terrible.

Number 2 is "Her Morning Elegance" by Oren Lavie. I have never heard of this person. I loaded the video and wow. The song is very cool, very sparse and low key. I was blown away by this video. It's just a shot of a bedroom but who ever lays on the bed is moving to an unbelieveable stop action dance. This is some of the best stop action photography I have seen in years. This is a must see.

Number 3 is a tune I didn't see until I rewatched these videos. "Again" by Flyleaf sounds like Evanescence. It's pretty good, the song is ok and the video is just OK. Derivative I would say.

Number 4 "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga is really pretty good. I'm not into all the hype about Lady Gaga. But who ever is behind all this is working very hard at it. They are putting a ton of time and money into this stuff. This video is really good, weird and worth watching.

Number 5 is Shakira with "Give it up to me". Now I love Shakira, I think she's hot and has a great voice. This is a really good tune. The video is ok, I like the dancing. But Little Wayne? Why would you put this guy in anything? It looks like someone just grabbed some schlub off the street.

Number 6 is "Sweet Dreams" by Beyonce. I like this tune very much, the dancing is good. I think she can do no wrong really, she's hot as hell and that voice is just so good.

Number 7 is Miley Cyrus with "Party in the USA" It's fluff but it's good what can I say. This girl has a huge amount of people behind her and a lot of money. She looks good and the tune is great.

Number 8 is Taylor Swift with "Fifteen" It's good for what it is. She's beautiful and has a great voice. The photography in this video is especially good.

Number 9 is a quirky little tune called "Fireflies" by Owl City. I have never heard of this band. This is one good tune and video. I was very impressed by this one. Check it out.

Number 10 "Empire State of Mind" with Jay Z and Alicia Keys. This totally blew my mind. Filmed in Black in White at the beginning then goes color. I'm not a big rap fan but this is done well. And Alicia Keys just kicks ass in this. This might be the new anthem for New York, "lets hear it for New York".

Number 10 is Justin Bieber with "One Less Lonley Girl". I wouldn't even mention this but people are talking. Conan O'Brien is talking about this kid. The song is pop fluff, but not bad. I was thinking man this kid looks like an Osmond. I'm showing my age but it's striking.

Number 11 I'm gonna skip becasue it's Britney, can't do it.

Number 12 is Kelly Clarkson with "Already Gone" looking like a totally different person. Big production values on this video. I think it's great. She sounds wonderful and the song is good. I've always liked her, she just looks like a real person to me.

Well that's where I end this. I saw a video from some others but I'm just gonna take a pass. Their are other good tunes in other categories like Michael Buble and Norah Jones. I just wanted to take a look at what supposedly gets the Top 40 marker. I would say not bad, for this economy and the state we are in it's good to see that the music still marches on.

- JP

Forcing though a dry spell

2010-03-24T00:05:00.000-07:00

I have been having writers block for the last week. I've been at a complete loss. And to tell you the truth I have been in kind of a funk. A lot of stuff has been going on in our State and in our Country that has been very traumatic to my brain. I'm having a hard time processing it all. Sometimes it all seems like we are so powerless to do anything positive. Seems to be slipping away sometimes. Who knows what's in store for us with all the negative economic news and now a huge change to our Healthcare System. It all seems very scary to me. And prayers to our Facebook and real friend Wendy who lost both her dogs in the last weeks, rest in peace Nikki and Floyd.

On a lighter note I wanted to mention some new stuff that is fun and promotes escapism, haha. A new Podcast that I wanted to recommend from a couple of Facebook buddies of mine called "What the Hell Just Happened". Greg and Simon up in the Bay Area are coming together to do a weekly Podcast. They talk about some odd and funny stories and some serious ones and generally have a good time. It's a cool show, these guys have great chemistry and it's a cool perspective from up north. Greg is a good friend that drives down from San Jose to attend all these crazy Facebook lunches we have been having over the last few months. He's an aspiring voice-over guy, if you have any work for him email the show. He's got a great personality and is very funny. Simon is a Brit with a unique perspective and also very funny and runs the board. They call each other dood and joke around. It's a lot of fun. I give this Podcast my highest recommendation. Uncensored so no kiddies :)

whatthehelljusthappened.com

Then today I had a back and forth with the one and only Phil Hendrie on Facebook. Just to get him riled up, I made a rude comment about this photo with the tight necklace. He came back with a vengeance and said something about my big nose. I deserved it and told him that I felt privileged to take shit from him because I was a big fan. If you know Phil and you confront him or insult him, look out because he is the master of ripping new a-holes, you will not escape his wrath. I'm a huge fan of Phil's from way back in the first days of his show on KFI.

Phil Hendrie is on KTALK 1150am from 10 to 3am

Brian Whitman and George Noory together on Kerri Kasem's Podcast. This was recorded at the Premier Studios on Ventura in Sherman Oaks in George Noory's studio. This is a must hear show. Brian is a huge fan of Georges and showed him how he could quite competently fill him for him when he's on vacation, Brian says into the mic "for Coast to Coast Am...this is Brian Whitman". Brain also did a bunch of impressions that were great. I had no idea that George was this young and thin, who knew? This is for the hard core fan, you can't miss this Podcast. Click on this banner to go to the podcast. I heard that Brian may be filling in for someone at a Boston FM Talk station soon.

One more thing. We watched a cool little indy movie on the weekend that I wanted to recommend. It's called "Humble Pie" The lead is played by Hubble Palmer as Tracy Orbison, what a great job this guy did. William Baldwin is in this film and plays a real dick. A lot of great players in this film, love this movie. Check it out on Netfix.

- JP

Friends

2010-03-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

Another successful Palermo Facebook Lunch is in the can. We did expect more people but I'm grateful for those who showed up. I can not say enough about all these great people that came. Deb and I don't have many friends so I really cherish these times. Some people may poo poo Facebook and think it's a a waste of time but it's been really amazing. The key to being on Facebook I think is to take it to the next level, meeting people in person. I gotta tell you that I'm thoroughly blown away. I'm normally a pretty big cynic but it warms my heart to think such people exist. To be in an environment where people are talking and laughing and eating and having a good time really hits you in the head and stays with you for a long time. We all have separate lives, but to come together and do it up like we did is just so tremendous. It's all laughs and hugs and food and smiles and positive energy, who has too much of that? With all that we experience all week, all the negativity and bad news and problems to come together and just have fun is incredible. This photo is of me and Wendy Hall, this woman is just soo great, thanks Wendy!

That's my buddy John, and a new person Heather, she's very cool, then you can see Tim and Linda.

Click this link for all the photos

Thanks to everyone that came, lets do it again.

This is the stuff that counts.

- JP

World's Shortest Railway Back In Business

2010-03-11T01:00:00.000-08:00

On January 23rd 2001 my mother, my girlfriend and I went to downtown LA. It was my request to do some photography, walk around and get some lunch and a couple beers on my birthday. We were planning on hitting the Bonaventure, the LA library and MOCA (the Contemporary Art Museum) . A lot of people don't realize how cool Downtown LA is on the weekends. It's quiet and clean and really great to walk around. All the buildings are beautiful, it's a photographers dream.

So we finished with MOCA and walked around the adjacent buildings and saw a platform. We walked over to it and saw that it was an old inclined train that goes down Bunker Hill called "Angels Flight". I was stunned. I didn't know about this and thought it was the coolest thing ever. It was very cheap to ride down the hill, maybe $3. So we saw the train travel up the very steep hill toward us. We boarded this wooden car that was level to us but going down this hill. The car was built on an angle and made it look a little strange. It was a very odd looking. Painted Orange and Black with just basic wooden seats inside. You felt like you really had to hold on as you went slowly down this very steep hill. I was floored at how cool this was. After we were famished and walked about 30 minutes over to the Pacific Dining Car and had some food.

Well this is where it gets interesting. On February 1, 2001, (9 Days after we rode it) Angels Flight suffered a serious accident that killed passenger Leon Praport, 83, and injured seven others, including Praport's wife, Lola. The accident occurred when car Sinai broke loose and sped backward for almost a block before smashing into another rail car at the bottom of the hill, killing an 83-year-old man and injuring seven others. Federal investigators concluded that faulty mechanical and brake systems, combined with weak oversight, were to blame.

I was stunned to hear this news. I think we dodged a bullet. I didn't notice anything wrong with the train when we rode it. It was really scary to think that it had been only 9 days after we rode it that it crashed and killed someone.

Well in a new story The California Public Utilities Commission has approved the safety certificate for the historic Angels Flight rail line in downtown L.A., nine years after a fatal accident closed it. Its reopening is still uncertain.

LA Times Article

From Wikipedia:
The history of Angels Flight is long. Built in 1901 by Colonel J.W. Eddy, lawyer, engineer and friend of President Abraham Lincoln. The counterbalanced cars, controlled by cables, travel a 33 percent grade for 315 feet. It is estimated that Angels Flight has carried more passengers per mile than any other railway in the world, over a hundred million in its first fifty years. This incline railway is a public utility operating under a franchise granted by the City of Los Angeles.

The railway was closed in 1969 when the Bunker Hill area underwent a total redevelopment which transformed it from a declining community of mostly transients and working-class families renting rooms in run-down buildings to a modern mixed-use district of high-rise commercial buildings and modern apartment complexes. All the components of Angels Flight were placed in storage in anticipation of the railway's restoration and reopening.

After 27 years in storage, the funicular was rebuilt and reopened in 1996 a half block south of the original site. Although the original cars were used, a brand new track and haulage system was designed and built, a redesign which had unfortunate consequences five years later. This is a true LA Landmark that should be celebrated.

- JP

Drinking Presidents

2010-03-03T01:00:00.000-08:00

The president smokes we know that.

With a new health report from the White House and the President besides having elevated cholesterol is drinking too much. Or should I say his doctor is telling him to moderate his drinking.

“Drinking beer doesn't make you fat, It makes you lean....
Against bars, tables, chairs, and poles.”

I think he likes an occasional brew.

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”

And maybe some wine. I actually like him better now that I know he has a pop here and there.

“Worthless people live only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live.” - Benjamin Franklin

Did you know that a lot of presidents drank? All these proceeding facts might be apocryphal . John Adams could really tear it up. When he got into Harvard at age 15, he was regularly drinking beer for breakfast.

"Somebody left the cork out of my lunch." W.C. Fields

Martin van Buren used to drink so much that, apparently, he developed an Andre the Giant-esque tolerance. He could drink for days and not show any signs of being intoxicated, so his friends gave him the nickname "Blue Whiskey Van".

“I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day.” - Frank Sinatra

Franklin Pierce might have been America's MOST alcoholic president. He drank hard for his entire adult life and kept going right on through his presidency. When the Democratic party decided not to re-nominate Pierce after his first term in office, he told reporters, "There's nothing left but to get drunk." Holla, Franklin Pierce.

“Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.” - Ernest Hemingway

James Buchanan. Buchanan, basically, centered his presidential life around drinking. He would get angry when the White House would only be stocked with small bottles of champagne. Every Sunday he'd go to a distillery to pick up a 10 GALLON jug of whiskey. He'd drink cognac... and up to two BOTTLES of other alcohol... every night.

“I went on a diet, swore off drinking and heavy eating, and in fourteen days I lost two weeks” - Joe E. Lewis

Ulysses S. Grant. Grant has the biggest drinking reputation of any U.S. president. Some reports said that, during Civil War battles, he'd just sit there, drinking, all day long. When he was on his death bed he passed out and a doctor was able to revive him... and give him a couple of extra minutes of life... by giving him brandy.

“I drink too much. The last time I gave a urine sample it had an olive in it.” - Rodney Dangerfield

Chester A. Arthur. As president, Arthur would drink wine and after-dinner liqueurs pretty much nightly. He gained about 40 pounds in office, a lot of which was from constant drinking (and having friends over to drink). He would get drunk so often on Saturday nights that he'd need a carriage to take him to church the next morning... even though the church was, literally, less than a block away from the White House.

“Sometimes too much to drink is barely enough.” - Mark Twain

Grover Cleveland. Cleveland had a huge beer belly... because he used to drink beer daily. [Insert your own joke about how if he'd just drank on non-consecutive days he could have lost weight here.]

“I once shook hands with Pat Boone and my whole right side sobered up.” - Dean Martin

William Howard Taft. From what I can tell, Taft was like the big fat guy in any group of friends who made things more fun. He wasn't that huge of a drinker himself but he was definitely the frat guy in the 5XL Hawaiian shirt making sure all of his buddies were getting drunk. He was the Bluto of presidents. During his first year as president, one of his aides wrote, "The President never takes anything to drink but is most profligate in making others imbibe."

"What I'm trying to say is, I'm not a drinker - I'm a drunk." — The Lost Weekend

Franklin D. Roosevelt. There are rumors that FDR was a big drinker. He always just seemed to find his way around alcohol. One good example: A doctor put FDR on a low-fat diet, to try to help his hypertension and heart problems. But FDR became underweight, so the doctor told him he'd have to put on weight again. FDR's plan to gain it back? Drinking mass quantities of egg nog.

John F. Kennedy. There's no actual proof that JFK was a drinker. But I have an Irish friend named Molly who's one hell of a drinker, and it's led me to believe that certain stereotypes exist because they're just true.

George W. Bush. Bush famously was arrested for driving under the influence in the '70s and, according to the Liberal Media, he spent his entire time at Yale drunk and much of his adult life as an on-and-off alcoholic. Typical Liberal Media.

By the way I stole this content from a website called www.11points.com, because top ten lists are for cowards they say. I'm posting this becasue I think it's frigging funny as hell. I have no idea if this info is true. Maybe LA's Historian Doug McIntyre can chime in.

"My uncle was the town drunk - and we lived in Chicago." — George Gobel

Salute!

- JP

This Week in My Radio

2010-02-25T00:20:00.000-08:00

I'm getting into a routine this week. I come home and have dinner and clean up then turn on the radio and listen to Red Eye Radio with Doug McIntyre. It's great hearing Doug again, he's back in his element. It's 2010 and it has been some years since The Red Eye flew. I was working grave yard for 5 years and Dougs' show was a staple of my night. He sounds very upbeat and happy. In these times it must feel good to have a job and some success even if it's in the middle of the night. I really hope Doug does well, it sounds like it could be a very big syndicated show. Doug has several stations already on board and more to come. Good luck to you my brother. (photo of me and Doug from 2001)

Also this week the new guy in town made his debut, Bill Carroll. He told a touching story today about his son. I think he's 5 years old or something. Bill gave his son his wrist watch and told him "your going to bring this to me in Los Angeles". Bill is living in LA without his family till they can sell their house in Toronto. Bill told his audience that he is really missing his family and has not been separated from them for this long ever, it's been about a week so far. He said that Skype is helping. Skype the Internet service for voice and video over the net. They had a Skype connection between LA and Toronto. The family saw Bill in LA and he saw them. They had the line just open and ate breakfast together. His kids could see him and talk to him. He said it helped a lot, except when the connection finally ended he missed them even more. I was touched by this. I love when talk show hosts share their life on air, its very compelling. I like Bill and I think his show will be great for years to come, welcome my friend.

I have been listening to Conway every night and he is just kicking major ass. Tim is full of energy and sounds soo happy. Tim an Aron Bender are just great together. Tonight (Wed) Tim Conway Sr. called in and talked to Tim about how disappointed he was that Bryan Suits was gone. It was hilarious, Tim Sr. never mentioned or told Jr that he was happy for his new show and congrats or anything. He just wanted to hear Bryan Suits. Very funny stuff. Tim Conway and friends will be at Pechanga March 13th.

www.pechanga.com

One last radio news item. David Weiss, Dennis Millers' sidekick on his radio show for the past 3 years on KRLA 870am is leaving the show. David Weiss AKA Salmon would make a funny comment and pretty much interrupt and or walk on Dennis' punch lines constantly. He seemed like an OK guy but I always thought him talking over Dennis was horrible. He walked on hundreds of Dennis' punch lines. I wanted to call and say "when Dennis is talking....don't talk" David and his wife are both TV writers and really doesn't need this job. David worked with Dennis on the HBO show. Not sure if Dennis will be adding anyone new.

Tom Leykis is returning to local radio. Starting Feb. 25 (that's today), he will be on KGIL/1260 AM – “Retro 1260 AM” - from 8 to 10 p.m. Thursdays with his lifestyle program called
“The Tasting Room.” An article in the OC Register tells all the details. Tom also has a new website up. www.tastingwithtom.com

I still have 20 hours of Atlas Shrugged to go. I keep seeing Charlize Theron as Dagny Tagert, she would be perfect.

I pull into a Starbucks parking lot and fire up the Netbook to check my mail and stuff everyday. Starbucks gives anyone 2 hours of Wi-Fi for free everyday. It's true, you can't beat free.

- JP

Saturday with the Wife

2010-02-20T15:50:00.000-08:00

We slept until 10:30 this morning. We both needed it. We talked about doing that last night and around noon today went to a great local Japanese restaurant called akasaka for lunch. It's right next door to us in Walnut. We have been here several times. It's always really good.

The wife was looking quite fetching today.

We had the usual Chicken and Beef Teriyaki,
with a great salad (the dressing is killer).

That little white blob on the right is some really good potato salad. Then we have Shrimp Tempura, with sweet potatos, eggplant, asparagus. And then some beautiful tender medium rare beef. Oh yea and on the side (left) is a rice bowl. And of course I had a Sapporo, large one.

Every time we go I crack up when the bill comes. Check out the entry for the beer. It says JAP beer. What's up with that? I even brought the owner over and asked him if he knew about it. He didn't care of course. I thought that was hilarious. Click on the image to see it clearer.

So then we are off to grocery shop. This is our ritual every weekend. We usually go to Walmart for essentials then to the grocery store. When we go on Saturday the Walmart greeter we always look forward to seeing is John. Love this guy.

Then we are off to this huge box store with great prices called Winco.

Then Deb always has to say hi to her buddy Sheri.

Then we come home and unloaded everything and put it away. I'm on the computer and Deb is snoring in the next room. Happy Saturday everyone!

- JP