:EDUCATED IN THE WEST

I mentioned in a recent post that a friend of mine was selected to this year’s Laker Girls cheerleading squad. Now, most of you know that the Lakers are my least favorite NBA team and that a certain Lakers player is my least favorite phliandering rapist athlete. However, I think I can compartmentalize [...]

Which band member is more yanked-up?
1. The double bass player in this video (”Aww, let’s pick it now, chillens!”)

2. The drummer in this video

When I first moved out to Los Angeles nearly a decade ago, one of my biggest fears was being the victim of random violent crime. I spent a couple of years living in the environs of a pretty bad neighborhood before eventually retreating behind the walls of a downtown high-rise apartment. In those [...]

Given that we’re in the thick of the presidential primary season, one can hardly be surprised by the army of network and cable news talking heads that have been deployed throughout the fifty states to discuss and over-analyze every little detail of the campaigns. The pages of every paper are filled with op-eds, endorsements [...]

For the City of Los Angeles, the 2007 murder total was its lowest in 40 years. When one thinks of L.A. and crime, many famous cases come to mind: The Black Dahlia, the Wonderland Murders, the Manson Family, The Night Stalker, just to name a few. Los Angeles has been the scene of [...]

I just spent about four and half hours at the Auto Show down at the L.A. Convention Center. I drooled over several cars, especially over the 480hp Nissan GT-R you see below. I really wanted to get these up as soon as I could. Because of this, I’ve only uploaded a portion [...]

Mind like parachute - only function when open.
Hasty conclusion like gunpowder. Easy to explode.
A detective without curiosity like glass eye at keyhole.
Ah, some very wise words from Charlie Chan, one of film’s greatest “hardboiled” dicks–or should I say “stir-fried?”
Hey, so it looks like if everything goes according to plan, I’ll be attending my first [...]

I was out in Hollywood with the Commander and Babs the other night in what would turn out to be a failed attempt to link up with TLC-NYC visiting from the east coast. We were to meet at the historic Roosevelt Hotel, but TLC had a work meeting, which left me to find my [...]

So, did anyone see me on The Tonight Show on Friday? No? Well, believe it or not, I was on “with” Jay Leno. And by “with” I mean that I was sitting four rows up opposite stage right about forty feet from him. Those of you who taped or TiVo’d [...]

Well, so it happens later tonight–my first ever attempt at attending a taping of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. You really need to set your VCRs and TiVos because you just might catch a glimpse of your friend Tojo in the audience. I need to be up in about five hours from [...]

My digital camera batteries died at the Auto Show, but I did manage to get a few pics. Click the steering wheel to see them.

I can check off another one those “things to do in Southern California” on my list now. That’s because this weekend I attended the USC-UCLA game at the Rose Bowl. It was the first UCLA game that I’ve attended and it was my first time at the Rose Bowl, UCLA’s home stadium in [...]

Well, well. It seems that I’ll be attending my first USC football game in quite some time. Yes, after witnessing the Trojans pump and dump the overrated Fighting Irish of Notre Dame by three touchdowns on Saturday, I’ll be in Pasadena this weekend to watch the Men of Troy try to wrap up [...]

I’m alive! More later, but do click the text and pics below.  I recently visited two poles of Southland cuisine: the old-school Clifton’s in the grittiest part of downtown L.A., and the trendy Father’s Office bar located adjacent to the “north of Montana” section of Santa Monica.  Both L.A., but as different as night [...]

It’s getting harder and harder to do anything now that I’m in this funk. It’s a sort of malaise. I can’t really do much about it right now. I’m not depressed, but I’m just a bit negative about all things. Maybe it’s this job. Five months now. I don’t [...]

Yes, I know that some of you are waiting for the the write-up and the pics from my little Fourth of July excursion to Chicago. That will all be posted in due course. But before I give you the low down on my trip to the Windy City, I wanted to first drop [...]

These are pictures taken from my perch on the 37th Floor of a downtown L.A. skyscraper. I’d say that this was a pretty clear day. You should see it when it’s really smoggy. There are basically two orientations here, one looking northwest and the other looking northeast. Look here on [...]

My camera phone just took a big dump. You get to see and smell. Captions will hopefully be added later since it’s late as I type this. I just got back from the late showing of Deepa Mehta’s Water at the ArcLight in Hollywood. It’s the last film in a trilogy [...]

You never know when serendipity will strike. That’s what I’ve always said and that’s what I continue to say. Some of you know that I’ve been working in downtown LA for the past several weeks. I take the 10 freeway from the Westside to downtown every morning. My journey ends under what’s known as Pershing [...]

In case you were wondering, she was on the Late Late Show again tonight. No, I didn’t go. After the fiasco last time (four hours for four minutes), I’ll just pass. Although, I still have those VIP tickets, which may go unused now. Anyway, no big news, except that I learned [...]