I voted this morning before going to work. I figured it’d take 30 minutes or so. There’s often a line at my polling place (the same polling place as Sean and Caryn, though I’m in a different precinct) because it seems most of us vote before work. I figured I’d finally take advantage of that law that entitles me to up to two hours off of work to vote.

I got there and the line was out the door, down the walkway of the Boy’s Club and up the sidewalk. I counted about 30 people in line in front of me. When I left about 35 minutes later, I counted 50 people in line. Granted, it was two precincts and it seems that the Orange table had more people than that Green table.
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The missus and I went and got our vote on early this morning, here’s a few fun facts:

- The line outside was real long, real quick. The guy behind Caryn said he’s been voting at that place for 12 years and he’s never seen a turnout like this.

- Some idiot in front of me though it would be a good idea to bring his kid and make jokes the entire time. “Hey Suzie, Are you basing your vote on foreign policy? HA HA HA” and “Hey Suzie, you can wear my ‘I Voted’ Sticker because that would be funny. HA HA HA” and “Hey Suzie, do you know how much I suck? Someone needs to kick me in the nuts right now. HA HA HA.”

- The same idiot’s special lady friend snatches (I said snatch) his “cheat sheet”, a little piece of paper with his voting choices on it to compare it to hers, which is some fancy printed thing that was mailed to her and told her who to vote for. Because god forbid she make a decision on her own. But it gets better. She finds a conflict. Funny guy and her voter guide have a different choice for something. Is this possible? So she starts complaining and demanding an explanation right then and there how he could possibly vote for this thing when the thing she got in the mail said to vote against it. Did I mention this was in the line, in the polling place?

- The poll-worker at the door pulled me out of line very early on and said I needed to go straight to the “green table” so I go inside and see this. Notice the table is black? Yeah, all of them were black. The Green Table, the Orange Table, everything. Black. Slightly confusing. So I go back and ask the lady who pulled me out of line and she says “THE GREEN TABLE. If you can’t find it ask Lauren.” Like I have any idea who Lauren is. So I start going around and looking at name tags. About 5 minutes later I find Lauren and ask her where the Green Table is. She says this is it, she’s sitting at it. So I tell her my name and she says I’m not supposed to be there, and to go stand by that wall over there. OK, this is getting stupid. I go stand by the wall and start getting yelled at by voters who think I’m cutting in line. As if. I tell them to chill the hell out and wait by the wall like Lauren said. 10 minutes later some dude asks “Do you have a ballot yet?” No I don’t. “Oh, come with me.” He takes me right back to where he was sitting, WHICH IS RIGHT NEXT TO LAUREN and gives me a ballot and then tells be to go wait in the line that is filled with the people who were yelling at me.

- There were people walking around inside with video cameras talking to people. That was weird.

- A lady gave one of the poll workers $20 to go get the rest of the poll workers some coffee.

- A lady complained to a poll worker that there were people going up to the booths talking to people who were voting and that people were wearing political pins inside and at the booths. He told her it didn’t matter. She got huffy and stormed out.

- The line was twice as long when we were leaving as when we went in.

- Also, no one ever asked for any kind of ID or anything prooving who I was.

Something very rare happened this morning…I got up early with no problem. I popped out of bed and into the shower to get ready to do the thing I have been waiting for four years…VOTE.

It’s my first time voting in California (my last being in Chicago) and overall it was a pleasant experience. I voted in Silver Lake and most everyone was ultra friendly – one woman even gave the head volunteer $20 so that he could get coffee and breakfast for the other volunteers. The voting booths weren’t really private (I like the curtains drawn, Wizard of Oz style) but the ballot itself was simple: put the ballot in, make a mark with your pencil, and hope that nothing messes up.

Turnout seemed to be really high. The line was to the sidewalk when I arrived but by the time I left, it was starting to go up the block. People who have lived in the neighborhood for years say that this is the most people they’ve ever seen. I might have mis-understood, but I remember hearing one of the volunteers saying that they already had more people than they had been expecting and that they now think voter turnout will be 80%. Regardless of who you are voting for, that’s fabulous.

I like voting in person – it’s an incredible experience to have. I don’t think I’ll ever mail in a ballot. You don’t get that cool “I Voted” sticker.

Update: apparently my area isn’t the only one with high voter turnout. This morning LA Voice talks about their polling place and asks you about yours. One things for sure, we aren’t apathetic today!

A friend once asked me, “whats it like to live in chinatown?” and I said I didn’t know, I only sleep here. There’s really not too much to do here in chinatown.

Growing up, the people that I saw and surrounded by were much like my parents,immigrants and hard laborers working in a restaruant kitchen or the butcher shop. I really didn’t know them and convesely, I was just the fat little kid who ran around eating my orangesicle ice creme. Well, thats what I ate man. Of course, there are art galleries here now that have replaced the dime arcade and soda stores I use to frequent, but watching art with a bunch of scensters and suckers isn’t what I consider “living in chinatown”.

Being an early person means voting at the crack of dawn. Thats something to do. There are other people here as well doing their civi duty – Mostly old chinese men and women – dressed in their 1950′s suit jacket or 1960′s stylish sunglasses. And if they were anything like my parents, they probably got them orignally on sale back in the day. I still don’t know these people I call my neighbors, what they do all day, what they think about…but at least I know they voted. Thats something I guess.

I know, I know. You’ve been told to vote by everyone and their uncle already. However, as your friendly neighborhood election official, I feel an obligation to ask you to vote. If you don’t know where your polling place is, you can go to LA Vote, My Polling Place, or My Polling Site to find out. If you haven’t received confirmation of your registration, just locate your polling place and bring a photo ID. If we can’t find you on the rolls, we can issue you a provisional ballot. If you’ve recently moved, or you have any other reason to think your registration hasn’t been processed, you can at the very least go to your local polling place and find out. It’ll be busy there, but we’ll make sure your vote is counted.

What do you get when you put two Jack Rusell Terriers, one French Bulldog, two Minpins, one Boston Terrier, a Pug, and a few mutts in one area? One hell of a good time, that’s what!

Just got back from taking the “LA Pinschers” (that’s Quint and Lebowski) to the Silver Lake dog park. And let me just tell you that they are now fast asleep in their little beds thus giving me a much needed evening of peace and quiet.

Ahhhh, children.

Although I’m certain that the residents of Overland between Olympic and Pico fought long and hard to have a traffic-slowing stop sign installed midway between the two major East/West traffic routes, I can’t help but feel that the conspiracy to slow me down is continuing. First it was the major re-piping of the sewage system under Olympic Boulevard near La Brea, then it was the overhaul to the intersection of Beverly Glen and Santa Monica, and now this. Don’t they know that Overland is a crucial shortcut to the 10 Freeway for me? Also, what exactly are they doing at Santa Monica and Beverly Glen? Every time I drive through that area I am routed and corraled into a strange new lane as they tear out the old asphalt and dividers in preparation for the new. What that new configuration will be is anyone’s guess. I guess we’re lucky that we don’t have something like Boston’s “Big Dig” fiasco to contend with, but like everything else in this city, the construction here in LA is sprawling, extensive and never-ending.

Plus, they keep cutting into my shortcuts.

There’s a billboard on the road out of Palm Springs that says something to the effect of “That’s not wind, we’re just blowing you a kiss.” If that is indeed the case then much of Southern California is in the middle of a huge wind orgy at the moment. How is it where you are? Or were, until your apartment got picked up and deposited in Rancho Cucamonga?

I discovered a delicious seasonal treat this weekend at Bennett’s Ice Cream, the Fairfax Farmer’s Market institution: pumpkin ice cream. I’m normally a chocolate freak, and I only ordered the ice cream because my better half is fond of the orange autumn gourd. But one lick (and several successive bites) later and I was convinced that Bennett’s had somehow concocted an addictive substance that should be added to the D.A.R.E. program list of illegal substances. Extremely creamy like a premium grade ice cream should be, the ice cream’s cinammon, allspice, ginger and nutmeg flavouring perfectly combines to evoke the memory of mom’s homemade pumpkin pie. Right up there with my favourites from Mashti and gleeful childhood memories of Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor (anyone remember “The Trough”?) now, this pumpkin ice cream is premium grade goodness on a cone.

Oh yes, it’s that time of year again…World Vegan Week! And since I’ve been a vegan soldier for seven years now, this sort of thing gets me excited. Actually, I don’t really know what it means but I do know that Real Food Daily, the healthy eating place bien sur for all those celebs whether they are vegan or not, is appropriately celebrating. There’s something for everyone, including free coffee (again) for all those voters (you are voting, right?) and prizes. Prizes and yummy vegan treats? Count me in!

Here’s what the deal is for today, Monday, November 1st:

5% of sales will be donated to several charities that educate and feed people in need such as Food Not Bombs, VegFam, and Hippo

Ok, so that’s a bit hippie but the rest of the stuff looks good. Check out the week’s schedule on their site!

Happy eating!

This is going to be weird. On the eve of what’s certainly the most crucial election this country’s faced in my lifetime, I’m leaving. Well, not outta the country so much, just off the mainland to Santa Cruz Island.

I’m part of a short-notice trip arranged for a small group of Los Angeles Zoo volunteers who were essentially able to drop everything and spend the next four days roughing it and building pens that will help establish a breeding colony of the Channel Island’s endangered island fox. Believe it or not that house-cat sized bundle of adorability on the right is the top terrestrial predator over on Santa Cruz Isle, but is flirting with extinction thanks primarily to non-endemic golden eagles. Beyond helping save a species, the neato part is that we get to explore closed-to-the-public lands and shack up in a 120-year-old ranch house in the island’s central valley thanks to The Nature Conservancy.

The somewhat last-minute nature of the trip left me scrambling for (and getting and completing and mailing last week) an absentee ballot, and as I sit here at this later hour going over my packing list I’m left with the strange feeling as if I’m running away from the battle. Sure, the day before, the day of, the day after, and another after Election 2004, my ass is going to be about as isolated as one can be while only being 20 miles away from civilization. But given how gaggy the fever-pitch rhetoric is making me, getting away from all of it sounds mighty fine.
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Los Angeles doesn’t have a football team which I don’t think most angelenos care one way or the other. I certainly don’t since I like the Greenbay Packers and without a home team, this affords me a better opportunity to catch them on television. Yes, I know, I can always go to Hooters to see all of the cable televised games. But what is important is weather you should be a Packer fan or not…at least for today. There is an interesting trend that has occurred since the 1933. Whenever it is an election year, the outcome of the Washington Redskins game (in their last home game before the election) has also predicted…or determined the outcome of the presdidential race. If Washington wins, the incumbent stays in office. If their opponent wins, the challenger gets elected. The Washington Redskins play the Greenbay Packers this afternoon.

Final Score:
Greenbay: 28
Washington: 14

OK, 20 minutes ago I was walking into Gelsons when a scruffy looking guy who was sitting on the curb outside talking on a cell phone told the person he was talking to to please hold on a second and then proceeded to ask me if I had any spare change. For what? His roaming minutes? WTF?

Last night I went to my favorite local video store because I was in the mood for some 1950s-60s old horror movies (for reference I wound up getting The Bad Seed and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed). Video Journeys in Silver Lake has a great movie selection all around but they particularly have amazing horror movies. But yesterday I was in for a surprise…as I made my way around the corner I looked up to their television playing non other than one of my most favorite movies, Coffin Joe: At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul. My heart actually started beating fast. I am officially a nerd.

So, inspired by my experience and by halloween in general, I’m making six movie recommendations for you this spookola weekend. If you have any other suggestions, feel free to post them!

1. Spider Baby (or the Maddest Story Ever Told) : I love, love, love this movie. I watched it last halloween while it was raining outside. Fabulous.
2. Halloween : I like to watch this very appropriate movie while carving pumpkins.
3. House on Haunted Hill (with Vincent Price, bien sur. Actually anything with Mr. Price is worth a viewing) : a haunted castle, black and white, Vincent Price…do I have to say anything more?
4. Castle of Blood : another haunted castle, black and white movie. A little slow but worth it.
5. Devil’s Nightmare : one of my absolute favorite movies…it’s about the devil, sucubus, a family curse, and unsuspecting gluttonous victims.
6. Night of the Living Dead : zombie, zombie, zombie

Remember that post from awhile back about the city cracking down on Halloween-time silly string? Well, these went up all over Hollywood this evening. If you’ll note, according to the sign it’s illegal to even possess the stuff. They’re really not fucking around. A grand? That’s some serious overkill.