Taking a New Direction

Still evolving my own blog; never was really sure what to write about and I'm still not. However, I'd really like to document my regenesis....assuming I have the strength and willpower to have one. Why disclose that which may be embarrassing on a website for all to see? Well, I've always said I have nothing to hide and that I'm not a secretive person, so why the hell not, right? I guess at the very least this can serve to help as motivation to go from the bottom that my life has hit to taking control of and guiding my life in a direction which I had always hoped. Well, we'll see, but for the next several entries, be prepared for them to pretty much go down like progress reports.

New Digital Billboards

Has everybody seen the new digital billboards popping up all over LA? It's almost like a peek into Vegas for a moment with the bright lights and changing signs. My immediate instinctual reaction to these billboards was that they were not a big deal and were just a part of the evolution of advertising that is rapidly going on, especially in Los Angeles.

Then news stations began running stories about how these billboards could possibly be causing more accidents and are more trouble than they are worth. I guess I saw their point, but people need to be responsible drivers as well. Inattentiveness can't just be blamed on something else. And animated advertising has been near the roads and freeways in different areas (such as Staples Center) for quite some time, so what's the big deal? And to make matters even more confusing, I've noticed that traffic tends to slow down as you come up on the Amber Alert boards as well; should we get rid of them, too?

Ah, but this morning came along and my feelings changed. A new digital billboard was set up at the Culver exit on the Marina Fwy (Ca-90) this weekend and I got to see it in action this morning. Within 20 seconds, I saw three different advertisements flash on that billboard. And therein lies the issue I now take with these advertisement spewing screens. I have no problem if the image changes once every 30 seconds or every minute, but when something so bright continues to change formation and flashes different colors as you approach it is rather distracting. Definitely unnecessary for a city that is already overburdened with traffic and full of terrible drivers.

Smoke City

So the inevitable has happened. Smoke from the fires in the LA area, the Magic, Ranch, Canyon, and Slide fires, has finally engulfed the sky and grayish-browned out everything. I thought that when I got back home to the West Side things would look different, but I didn't recall seeing any falling ash in Calabasas. Yet the second I got home, little white flecks came floating by. I felt obligated to check out what I could from my vantage point, so I posted the video below for you to check out. What a crazy week!

Manic Monday

Insanity. That's the only way to describe it. It was only four hours and fifty minutes into the first red-flag day of the fire season before 80mph+ winds started ripping trees out of the ground and toppling telephone poles, triggering over a dozen fires. And of course, sick-minded arsonists had to start a couple more of their own for shits and giggles, but I'm not laughing. Granted, fires in Southern California really are not the biggest tragedy ever; loss of one's home is never fun to experience (says my roommate), and I'm glad I haven't had to go through it.

But for people across the rest of the country, us Southern Californians are as familiar with fire preparation as Midwesterners are with Tornado preparation. Since there really is no way to have control of the situation, you just have to keep a resilient attitude and be prepared when an event like this occurs. Rather than panic, worry, and waste energy on reflecting on the damage and carnage that these fires can wreak on property, valuables, and landmarks, it's a much better course of action to reflect on the amazing phenomena that these fires are. What was it like 200 years ago when there's no way fires of this magnitude could be contained? What about 2,000 years ago when natural fires may have burned for months? I suppose the best way to look at this is the cyclical way in which nature works. Out of the death of trees and brush, nutrients are passed through the ash back into the ground and so new vegetation can grow. Us humans are really just in the way of nature taking its course.

This is why it is smart to have Fire Insurance, people! If you don't have it, get it! If you rent, that's what renter's insurance is for! If you have these things and keep your most crucial documnets/posessions in a place that you can easily access in case of a need to evacuate, then you'll never lose more than a few replacable outfits and superfluous posessions. If you are that attached to your things, read the Bible and seek some self-actualization, because it's really not all that important. Just be sure to remember your photos and other memories before you take off!

All jokes aside, though, these fires are the once-a-decade kind of thing that leave an imprint for at least a few years. They can be scary, much can be lost, but let's remember that there are many other natural disasters with death tolls higher than the one life lost in the last forty-eight hours here in So-Cal. So cease with the apocalyptic attitudes, enjoy what you've got while you've got it, and let's remember, as soon as these Santa Ana's die down....it's still in the 70's at the beaches!!!

The New 405-101 Interchange

Has anyone else driven it yet during rush hour? Have you noticed the difference? I go the opposite way of traffic on my way back from work and I have to admit, I was skeptical that any construction would help relieve congestion. I was proven wrong, though (happily). I've seen a noticeable improvement in the transition flow from the 405 to the 101 and have seen traffic actually back up due to 405 slowing and the interchange is just putting along. This band-aid was way overdue and has worked out so far, which is great news for LA commuters.

In addition, the carpool lane on S-405 through the Westside has been extended an offramp and ends now at the Santa Monica Blvd. offramp. That extension and widening has also helped traffic along the Westside, but is still far from complete. Personally, I can't wait for Cal-Trans to complete the section from the 10 to the 90. That always seems to be the slowest moving part of my commute, and since I actually use the Marina freeway, the extra lanes dedicated to the transition will definitely free up my drive and chop 5-10 minutes off my commute time.

LA traffic may suck, but it is slowly improving. Still, the only way to bring the demand for freeway space to the level of supply is to institute a highly intricate light-rail system, like the plans that are currently in their infant stages. Of course I urge everybody to support these mass transit plans, both in the implementation stages (like not putting up a stink about where the rail goes) as well as the financial backing in the voting booths in the upcoming elections this year and next.

How the hell else are we going to become the biggest and best city in the country!?!

I can't believe it.....Timbaland saved the day, AGAIN!!!

Good God, Tim is resuscitating careers these days the way the good Dr. was doin' it in the late 90's!!! Dre, now you have to drop detox and pilot a few more projects before you go and leave the game because Tim just set a new bar!!! He is the master of the beat behind this and the original paddle resuscitation performed upon the pop train-wreck formerly known as Britney Spears. Even when people have gone completely awol, they can still make intelligent career-saving decisions every once in a while. Though I do believe I remember hearing that Timbo sought out Britney. Let this be a lesson for all to perform works of charity; especially for those who may need second chances (see, even sarcasm has some truth to it...).


**update** damnit, you guys, you really let me post this??? Brit's track was done by Lago, not Timbaland. I still believe in the Tim, tho. Straight up the man! And he's collaborating with Madonna, if you haven't already heard....and that's not any misunderstanding, that truly is happening. Check Madonna's album when it drops in Nov.

Trojans are Pre-season #1? I, for one, am SHOCKED! Oh wait, no I’m not…

So USC has been picked by nearly every publication and sports authority across the country as the NCAA preseason #1 for football this year. Anybody surprised that the Rose Bowl winner, returning its starting quarterback and introducing the #1 recruiting class is being forecasted to go head to head with Michigan once again this year? Nope? Ok, good. Because I really don’t want to waste my time spelling out to you how stacked SC is since everyone else already has.

Now, as far as LA’s other team….how do they look to be shaping up this year? The Bruins are returning 20 starters this year, including QB Ben Olsen out of Thousand Oaks High School. I had the “pleasure” of competing against Ben in varsity basketball, but he is a much better football player, though he did have his growing pains last year. UCLA is also stacked with leadership, totaling 25 seniors. The AP has UCLA opening at #14, though solid performance early in the season could see them rise well into the top 10. They will be touting a veteran –line to help protect Olsen, and the Bruins actually have a formidable looking defense this year, returning 10 starters. Saturday marked the annual scrimmage in Westwood, with the coaching staff coming away pleased with the team’s performance. The Bruin squad looked sharp on both sides of the ball and they feel prepared for the 2007 season to kick off.

Should make for some exciting football this year in LA! Perhaps we’ll actually get to have two undefeated Los Angeles teams go head to head on December 1^st! Noteable games to be played in the City of Angels this fall:

10/6 - Notre Dame @ UCLA

10/20 - Cal @ UCLA

12/1 - UCLA @ USC

Sadly, the Trojans will be playing most of their big games on the road this season, but that always means better national coverage for the Pac-10, so we can’t really complain!

More Subway in LA!

Let’s face it; traffic in LA is a bitch. It’s not as bad as some places across the globe, but the gutting of an early 20^th Century rail system and growth prior to the grand implementation of the US Highway system has crippled the ability for our Freeway system to grow in any meaningful fashion. Slated to cost billions either way, which is better in the long haul; double-decker freeways, or an intricate and expansive rail and subway system for the city? The answer, for multiple reasons, is the latter.

Mass transit is not commonly used in the Los Angeles metropolitan area for two major reasons. First and foremost, people are married to their cars. The ability to come and go as one pleases and to have room to toss one’s excess crap cannot go unnoticed. However, it’s commuter traffic that does the bulk of the freeway clogging. So why do we need to use our cars to go to and from work? I’m not against owning a car, I’m just against driving it 400 miles per week the way I do!

Secondly, mass transit hasn’t become embraced by the Angeleno because it is not yet convenient. Buses still have to deal with LA traffic, so they are not the practical answer for your average professional commuter. Additionally, major arteries in LA are not serviced by lightrail or subway to connect them with the Metro network. Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Century City, Marina Del Rey, LAX, Warner Center, Burbank, and Culver City are all currently not serviced by the Metro-rail network.

However, were the “Subway to the Sea” completed or the Expo Line to be extended (which only makes sense), those who commute to the West Side from East LA would be able to do it in about 50 minutes if decent scheduling were implemented. Currently, that commute could easily be 90 minutes in a car. Economic savings in the form of gas, time, and automobile wear and tear would be realized for each and every commuter that this benefited, and they would not be few. Hell, if there were a Subway to Santa Monica, I’d move there immediately and try my hardest to get myself a job in downtown. With all of the revitalization that is going on in Downtown LA it truly is becoming the place to be…..that is a pain in the ass to get to!

The latest in the rumor mill of subway/light rail for LA is a Ventura Blvd. subway. This could easily get me to contemplate living in Sherman Oaks again, too. The new Orange Line is a failure for the specific reason that it does not directly service the dense Ventura Blvd demand. A subway would whisk commuters across the Valley floor, and has even been proposed to pass through Warner center and loop around past Van Nuys and Bob Hope airports before heading back to The Boulevard. It is my firm opinion that a Ventura Blvd subway would have dramatic traffic decongesting effects on the 101 freeway across the Valley. Not to mention the fact that LA has yet to have a lightrail or subway that services the terminals at any airport in the region. The Green Line stops a good mile from the main terminals at LAX.

So it should be no surprise that I am a HUGE supporter of a robust expansion of LA’s subway/lightrail system and I firmly believe that every Angeleno should be ready to foot the bill any way possible in order to make this happen. It is in all of our best interests for the sake of easing traffic on the roads and increasing economic impact in the area by freeing up more of our day either on the train with the ability to multi-task (I love the slogan Metro has: “Multi-taskers, we commute you!”) or by spending less time on the freeway. What an exciting time to watch Lose Angeles transform from urban sprawl to urban metropolis!

Disclaimer: College Sports Bias

I am a huge supporter of college sports, much more so than with professional sports. While I do intend to report on and give my opinions of the happenings in LA college athletics, I feel obligated to disclose the perceived biases that I may have so that it’s easier to understand where I’m coming from and how the topic will be covered on this site.

I attended a WCC school (Santa Clara University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the Golden State), so I will tend to give some extra attention to LA’s WCC schools, Pepperdine and LMU, especially as to how they fair against my Alma Matre.

As for the Pac-10 cross town rivalry, my school is also an SC and does not have a football team. So, ever since my Freshman year in college I have adopted the Trojans as my honorary college football team. This was in 2000 when they were terrible, so don’t call me a bandwagon fan; I’m better than that. However, basketball has always been my sport. I grew up going to UCLA games and basketball camps, not to mention both my Dad and Grandfather went to UCLA. That said, I lean to the West Side when it comes to basketball season. Still, I’d like to clarify that unless UCLA and USC are going head to head, I am a larger supporter of my city, so I never hold bad blood between the two schools and I root for both of them 8 Pac-10 games of the football season, and 16 games of the basketball season.

That being said, it’s abut time to get the 2007-’08 college athletics year underway!!! Football, soccer, and women’s volleyball outlooks to come soon!

LA needs a new Anthem!

It's been 30 years and we're still rockin' Randy Newman. Don't get me wrong, Randy Newman can make a great jingle, though he does deserve the grief that Seth McFarlane gives him. Numerous acts have put together decent anthems for New York, Atlanta has a great one (gotta love Luda), Will Smith gave Miami its biggest shout, and have you heard the new Common CD??? If you haven't, I've taken the liberty of adding Chi-Town's new anthem with none other than Kanye and Common. It kills. Yes, I've turned green with envy, and I beg for Snoop, Game, Dre, Counting Crows, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Linkin Park, shit, SOMEBODY to put up a new Anthem for the native Angelenos! Note: To Live and Die in LA is NOT an anthem, it's a tribute, similar to the Eagles' New York Minute. Don't make me have to try to write my own!

Check out Common's Southside with Kanye West.....

Okay, okay, so I've got a story to tell.....

I'm surprised I've actually held out this long, and I should have posted on Monday, but whatcha gonna do? So I had an interesting Saturday night, and of course I'll post a pic when I get home and have a chance to upload it; I wouldn't want anyone calling B.S. on me for this.

Saturday night a bunch of us from work went to the Brea Improv to see Tracy Morgan. Side note: Tracy grew up with my man Tyrone in the Bronx. So we were rolling as entourage for the evening, got to chill in the greenroom and hung out with all the comics after the show.

I was talking with Tracy about his fancy accessory that he has to wear for about another month and he was saying how inspired he feels in his sobriety and how he finds decompressing after a show so much more relaxing when he's just sipping on a water or a redbull. And believe me, it was just redbull. With the bracelet on, he has to be extra careful so he even sent back an open can that the waitress brought and asked for an unopened one.

Highlight of the evening, though, was an inebriated porn star. During his show a couple of girls started yelling at him in an attempt to participate in the show. Not a good idea, and Tracy did a good job of making fun of them and moving on with his show. However, after the show, the drunker of the two, who I later learned was none other than Porn Star Sativa Rose, got in Tracy's face about him being rude to her during the show. I interrupted her and walked her away from Tracy while she continued babbling (her friend seemed pretty embarrassed by the whole thing) and then proceeded to hop on and mount my man Tyrone, who was standing. She then air-humped him in the middle of the room, causing even Ty's mouth to drop wide open.

Tracy's only comment on the scenario: "They like it raw out in Brea, don't they!?!"

I've been cheating on Kelly.....

Yeah, so my music crush has all but officially changed. Especially with all of the negative energy surrounding Ms. Clarkson (a.w.k.a. my future baby's Mamma) and my falling hard (pun, no pun, works either way) for Joss' sound, voice, and let's face it, she's drop-dead gorgeous. Since we're living in Fantastyland at the moment, would any man treat this goddess better than I? I think not! So let me introduce you to my new "girlfriend of the music industry," Joss Stone. I'd give her more than just a little lovin', and at least two times a day, just as she says she needs it!

Plastic Surgery: Getting a Facelift!

So.....other than callogen (aka a playlist and stockticker), any other ideas for bells and whistles I should add up in this heezy to make it more maneuverable/enjoyable? I definitely need to re-write the links in again. I believe I had CitySeach on there with my reviews as the connector, CafePress (I need to design a few shirts or sumthin' first), I'm going to add the LA Times' Bottleneck Blog for sure, and I need some suggestions beyond that.......

Message to Congress: Impeach!

Data rolled out on Friday that Congress' approval rating is at a ghastly 24%, the lowest since August of 2006, five months before the Dems took control of both houses. Why is congress getting an even worse approval rating than the President? Well, we know that Bush is a stubborn, unintelligable asshole with his own agenda and nobody else in mind, but in November the voters put their trust in Congress to put him in check. I was driving through downtown LA and as I passed the Hill St. overpass at the beginning of the Arroyo Seco Parkway, there was one word on a sign that said it all: Impeach. C'mon, the guy has defied Congress, pissed off 80% of the country (take Texas out of the picture and I'm sure we can add at least 5 percentage points to theat figure), doesn't think we should be doing anything about global warming, won't make a push to work on getting OUT of Iraq, has seen gas more than DOUBLE during his administration, oh, and let's not forget about the weakenign of the dollar. Guy's on a friggin roll. Dear Congress, I promise that if you impeach, your approval rating will skyrocket. Just be sure to include Cheney in the indictment!

Under Construction

To anyone who actually reads this blog other than me....lol!:


I will be making some changes and updates to this page. I have recently (and probably, finally) figured out how to manipulate HTML and how it all works (all over again, learned it about 10 years ago and forgot it, plus that's probably waaay outta date). I'll be adding in some music from imeem, some homemade Youtube stuff (including my Ruff Riders promo, if I can ever find it), and other interesting additions which will be enhancements off of the stock ticker that I've already added (I'll be changing that, too, to reflect my portolio). Hopefully this makes it look a little sweeter and motivate me to keep up with this blog. Anyway, check back in periodically, as these updates will be up and rollin' as soon as this weekend!