The last four are not unexpected since they take place in Los Angeles, or are involved with movie magic. But I am just curious as to what section of the population in Los Angeles is renting “Sorry, Haters” to the point where it occupies the number one spot. I am not saying that it shouldn’t, I am just wondering who these people are and how they are able to wield such power of the city’s Netflix favorites list.

It is a big warehouse sized space with surrounded with climbing walls intended for a wide range of skill levels from beginner to advanced – those who can scale the 45 degree upside down slopes will have a good time here.

About a year ago I wanted to go rock climbing but could not find a good place to start, but now that I know about this place, I would suggest it as such.

The original building is still there, but modifications have been made to create the place that we know and love today. Thanks Echo29!

Anyways, the deal was he was soliciting donations for a “charity” that is seeking to change all this, and get us out of Iraq and all the other good stuff that we all want but can’t ever seem to get.

Now I don’t know if this guy was legit or not at the time so I told him, “Well, my policy is that I do not give money to charities on the spot, but if you leave me some information then I can look it over and come to a decision later. I like to know who I am supporting and want to make sure that this would be the best use of my charity money.”

Well, he seemed to not want to do it that way, and insisted that in order for things to work out for him and his organization, he needed to get the donations at the door. At that point I told him that I had to go.

Anyways, the point of this rambling anecdote. Search the charities you are about to give to using the Charity Search from the State of California to make sure that the people you are giving to are legit. I looked up the guy’s charity, and it turns out that it was not.

Anyways, since a lot of people are out there looking for money during the holiday season, its best to do your homework and give on your terms. Also, there are some good guidelines on charitable giving from the Office of the Attorney General. There are a lot of fake charities out there, so don’t get got.

Even more crazy is that none of the routes use the Metro Gold Line which goes from Pasadena to Union Station. And is easily the most direct route. Instead they are telling me to take all sorts of crazy buses to all sorts of crazy places, as well as take the Red Line. This is not the first time something like this has been generated by this so-called route planner.

Absolutely useless piece of crap.

I just used the System Map(PDF) to find a route. One that actually makes sense and will get me home faster than walking.

And yes, I know that route finding can be a particularly challenging computing problem, and I do respect those who get it right, but if you can’t get it right don’t offer it.

Obsessive lane-changing would be my number one guess as to the culprit. People who decide that they need to try and shave .5 seconds off of their hour long commute by switching into the lane next to them, only to slow it down when the person they cut off is forced to slow down, and when fifteen other impatient fools in rattling imports try the same maneuver.

Anyways, regardless of the exact maneuver, I have always thought that it was impatient drivers who create traffic and every time I see this I think to myself that if I ever run for mayor I will run on a platform of draconian traffic laws to stop this. Or at least give people who drive like crap higher insurance premiums or something.

What I am trying to get to is this…Traffic Wave Experiments…wherein an intrepid traffic researcher goes into the field and notices that his calm, collected behavior on the road actually reduce traffic around him. That by resisting the urge to be impatient he can dissolve the standing waves that are traffic. I like this. It almost makes me want to hop into a traffic jam to try it out. I think that we all should try stuff like this, and then pass it on to others.

I am sure that there are other ways that we, as Los Angeles citizens, can help fight traffic. What are your ideas? Besides “get off the road” or “ride a bike”.

And it reminds me of something that I witnessed in Burger King(the one on Grand and Cesar Chavez – is there any other?) a couple of years ago. So I am standing in line…and it seems unusually long for that time of day, so I look to the front and there is this lady ordering. She seems to be making a to do about something.

She asks the guy working there for a Whopper with no meat. OK…so she is a vegetarian. No problem I guess. Your way right away and all that. Not a problem. But then she keeps going. She asks if the grill has had meat on it. Of course. It’s Burger King. She asks how fresh is the lettuce. I don’t know I just work here. Are those heirloom tomatoes? What’s that? (OK I added the heirloom tomatoes part, but you see what I’m saying).

During this time I can see the guy in front of me getting increasingly frustrated, muttering curses under his breath, shifting and looking around. Then he pulls out his wallet, unfolds a piece of paper and reads it. It says in block letters: “I will not get mad”. He then composes himself a little while this lady continues to order her custom Burger, asking the employees to wipe down the grill for her, etc.

So yeah, there is a lot to overhear around Los Angeles.

St. Vincent’s Court is an interesting little place in downtown, just off Broadway. With its fuax francaise cafe facades and Middle Eastern/Persian influences, it can be a nice place to duck into for a cup of coffee or tea. Or maybe a kebap if you have not already stuffed yourself silly at Clifton’s like we did.

My understanding is that much of the clientele comes from the surrounding jewelry district/Saint Vincent’s Jewelry Center, and while it was pretty laidback on the Saturday afternoon that we were there, apparently it can get poppin’ after work. I don’t know what that means. That’s just what I hear.

Also, if you are looking for Middle Eastern goods, the delis in the area have them. I got a big tin of Turkish feta and a bunch of olives. They also have hummus and whole wheat pita if you are so inclined.

Either way. I feel like I had a lot of tamales last week – Dia De Los Muertes and all – but if I think I can hang I might go over and have me one or five of these masa missiles myself.