It caught my eye : a cute little dinosaur cartoon then a matching plate frame. Then I noticed the model is the “Alero”. That was just about the last new car introduced by Oldsmobile before GM did a little corporate Euthanasia. Have they been to Cabazon and fell in love with the dino out there? Was the driver married to one? Which was it?
pic by me with the trusty cell phone, doesn’t get bigger but if it did there would be no point.
Here’s one casualty of the strike that few will shed tears over: award shows.
The first victim: The Golden Globes.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the producers behind the Globes, have failed to make an interim deal with the WGA, and according to Variety, this will could result in an untelevised awards ceremony. SAG is encouraging its members not to cross the picket line, meaning few actors will likely attend to present or attend the award ceremony.
The LA Times is reporting that your catalytic converters are the target of platinum-loving thieves.
This holiday season has seen an explosion in thefts of expensive, platinum-laced catalytic converters from parked cars, and authorities report that high-clearance sport utility vehicles are the targets of choice for thieves.
With a common socket wrench and 90 seconds, they leave drivers stuck with cars that sound like Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and facing repair bills topping $1,000.
“It’s an epidemic. It’s everywhere,” said Lt. Bob Turnbull of the El Segundo Police Department.
Happy New Year!
Leno, Letterman, and the rest of the late-night shows return to the air tonight. Letterman’s The Late Show and Craig Ferguson’s The Late Late Show are the only shows that will have WGA writing staffs. The others will… honestly, I have no idea what material they will use. The hosts are WGA members, so they cannot write their own monologues. I guess they’ll be improvising, and won’t that be fun?
David Letterman’s company Worldwide Pants negotiated a deal with the WGA and agreed to all the terms the WGA planned to offer the AMPTP the last time they walked out of negotiations. Since late-night doesn’t do much re-run business I’m not sure how big a deal this is financially, but the writers will receive a portion of online revenue and that — as well as the example to the rest of the companies — is huge. CBS is allegedly furious, but since Letterman owns his show they have to allow it (or let some other network have the shows, I guess). Hopefully NBC and the other networks will see falling ratings and will match the competition by making deals for Leno and the rest of the shows. (I’m not being vague on purpose, but I haven’t watched late-night television in a really, really long time and I don’t think I’ve ever seen any shows but Leno and Letterman.)
I hope the rest of the WGA writers get to go back to work soon. In the meantime, I am really happy for Letterman’s guys.
Since 1983 a group of pilots based at the Santa Monica Airport have been volunteering their time, skills and airplanes to transport patients who need to get to treatment, but can’t afford to pay airfare. This group became what is now called Angel Flight West and they have flown over 22,000 missions.
Angel Flight missions include carrying cancer patients for chemotherapy, surgery or other treatment, between their home and the treatment facility; carrying people with kidney problems to obtain dialysis or kidney transplants; carrying patients with heart problems for specialized diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up; and transporting children to and from “special needs camps” such as camps for burn survivors, camps for children with renal disease and camps for children with life-threatening illnesses. Angel Flight also responds to many other compelling human needs for which free air transportation would be of value.
Are you a pilot? Here is a great way to combine your love of flying with a way to help others in need. Check out the pilot requirements page to determine if you qualify. Angel Flight has other non-pilot volunteer opportunities as well to help with pilot recruitment, outreach, mission coordination and to act as mission assistants. You can donate money as well.
For more info and to volunteer, contact:
Michael Nanko, Angel Flight’s Executive Director
(310) 390-2958
(888) 4-AN-ANGEL
[email protected]
Angel Flight West
Clearly someone has not caught up on their recent Metroblogging posts.
Siouxsie, without the Banshees, hits the Music Box stage on February 15th and 16th. (buy tix here)
Not to kick off 2008 with a total bummer or anything, we thought we’d give away a handful of tickets by inviting our readers to create their very own “dead pool.”
In the comments, leave a list of five celebrities who you don’t think will live to see 2009. Be sure to leave a valid email, because this gives you two chances to win:
1. We’ll randomly select two commenters on January 31st who’ll win a pair of tickets to their choice of either the Feb. 15th or 16th Siouxsie performance.
2. If by fate a name on a commenter’s list happens to kick the bucket by January 31st, they’ll instantly win a pair of tickets (up to three winners eligible).
Entry “deadline” is 11:59pm, January 31st. To be eligible for option #2, your list of picks needs to appear in the comments at least 24 hours before your pick’s time of death. Picks must be human, and to validate celbritihood their obituary must be carried by the AP, Reuters, or other reputable news source. Death row inmates ineligible if they die by scheduled execution.
U.S. Courts have rejected an asylum plea by an L.A. gang member, who fears his tattoos will make him a target for rival gangs in his native El Salvador. He moved here when he was four, and is a legal immigrant.
On one hand, there’s something seriously wrong with a legal system that considers a kid who has been raised in the US since he was four years old to be any less a citizen than a child who was born here, but not necessarily as moronic as a guy who gets gang tattoos by his own free will then worries he might be targeted as a gang member.
Wouldn’t those same tattoos make him a target here in Los Angeles?
My phones started ringing at 4:30 PM. It’s a recorded message from Monrovia PD advising that several wild animals have been caught in the foothills that carry the “Canine Distemper Virus”. The message went on to advise if you own a dog to make certain it has had the “CDV” vaccine as it is incureable and fatal. They advised that it is not fatal to humans.
They have additional information on the city web site HERE.
I would hazard the guess that this a problem for all of the communities in the San Gabriel foothill communities. Got a dog? Check with your vet!
Giving. An easy concept to grasp, but so hard to make a reality in the day to day orchestration of our lives. Here at blogging.la, we’ve been highlighting the twelve days of giving with some amazing ideas about how to give more back.
When writing this, I thought a lot about how I give…. Or don’t, I must admit. I’m remiss in the ‘giving’ department. I don’t volunteer, I don’t give a lot of cash to charities, but I do have the desire to make my community a better place through giving. But I’m a lazy girl.
One of my biggest obstacles is time. So I thought, “how can I incorporate a simple act of giving into my daily life?”I give freely to those I love and my circle of friends and family, but I have a desire to spread more giving in my interaction with strangers.
I drive daily, so maybe that’s the ticket.
Continue reading 8th Day of Giving: Yield
*Free stuff that gives back.
Happy New Year! (Sorry, didn’t mean to shout.)
Here is an easy way to start the new year off right: take your Christmas tree to any one of the 13 designated drop off site this Friday and Saturday (January 5 and 6) and get a free tree to plant, a CFL bulb and a coupon to receive a load of mulch for your garden. The City of LA’s Tree Recycling Program is all about the Three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Your trees are turned into mulch, they give you a new tree to plant and a compact fluorescent bulb to replace one standard bulb in your house to reduce energy. Win Win Win! (If you have an artificial tree, then you can pat yourself on the back while folding it up that you have already saved a few trees. Good job.) New to the program in 2008: Drop off sites will also take your leftover wrapping paper and boxes.
Check the full list of drop off sites to find one nearest you. You can also drop off your trees to local fire stations (also included in that link/list) but they won’t have the baby tree, mulch coupon or CFL bulbs to give away.
If you can’t get to a drop off site (or don’t want to wait until then) you can dispose of your tree in your green bin and it will be mulched like the rest of yard trimmings, but there are a few rules. You must take off all decorations and tinsel and the like. The tree must be cut into pieces to fit into the bin. Most importantly, it is illegal to leave a full tree on the sidewalk or in alley ways. (They will not be collected.) Why is it illegal? Because they are a fire hazard and if you have been keeping up with Ruth’s Posts on Red Flags or have seen the news in 2007, you know how serious that is.
Drop-off Dates:
Saturday, January 5 and Sunday, January 6, 2008
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
City Of LA Tree Recycling
And you can always call 311 for more info.
More info after the jump.
Continue reading 8th Day Of Giving: Recycle Your Tree, Get Free Stuff*
New Year’s Eve is always a bust for me. Always. I usually wind up being the guy holding some girl’s hair as she loses her cookies with the Countdown happening in the other room.
Last night, I was convinced to ring in the New Year in Orange County. We thought we were going to the Mardi Gras party where they drop the orange ball, with Bourbon Street Bars, and bands like Berlin and the Psychedelic Furs.
Apparently, there were TWO Mardi Gras parties in the OC.
We went to Mardi Gras Carnivale at the OC Fair. Lame drinks. Lame casino games. Lame entertainment. The most amusing moment had to be when the Donnas were performing. I’ve never seen so many confused middle-aged people in my life. Maybe they were expecting the Bangles.
Happy 2008.
Did Santa bring you a speedy new computer this year? Wondering what to do with your old one? If it’s not too terribly old, chances are a number of nonprofits would love to put it to use. LA County has an online materials exchange site, LACoMAX, where you can list materials you have to donate or, if you are a nonprofit or school, materials you need. The categories range far beyond computers and electronics to cover building materials, durable goods and more. The database is searchable so you can look here for an organization that might need your old electronics (or other items). If you can’t find a donee there, try Techsoup’s search page which pulls up organizations by zip code. The page lists both nonprofit and school-based recyclers and commercial organizations which may be a better bet for older equipment. Note that most nonprofits, schools, etc. are looking for machines with at least a Pentium II or III processor that are fewer than five years old. Techsoup also has a good ten step guide to donating computer equipment, which includes links to a number of disk cleaning programs (several of which are freeware). Don’t forget to erase all those embarrassing manifestos and nude pictures.
If donating your old computer inspires you and you determine to lighten your load further, the Department of Public Works has a short list of helpful links.
(Photo by ChrisL_AK used through Creative Commons license.)
Since it’s past 2 am on the New Year and nobody has come out to wish you all a Happy New Year, I’m just gonna do it: Happy New Year! May 2008 be filled with better tasting meals, less work related violence, empty freeways, and a partner you actually want to spend more time with. I didn’t get around to asking but I’m quite sure all the other blogging.la contributors also wish you the best in 2008. The one that wished for more generalized misery asked for anonymity, but don’t worry about it, he never gets his way.
For a slightly less annoying 2008! Hurrah!