Overnight parking at LAX

For years I parked at the "Parking Spot" but they steadily raised their prices so now it's something like $20 a day for parking. Yikes. As much as I appreciated their service, the cost forced me to look for other alternatives.

I recommend Air Park Lax. They don't have valet, bottles of water or free newspapers but their service is good and their prices are great. Roof top parking is dirt cheap ($5.95) but for a dollar more a day, you will be happy you choose covered parking.

During major holidays you need a reservation. They book up fast.

www.airpark-lax.com

English Beat at Hollywood Park

The English Beat is one of my all time favorite bands and I was really happy to hear that they were playing in the area. Wow. The thought hadn't occurred to me that they would play at Hollywood Park - but let me tell you - it was a great concert. And suprisingly a really good venue.

The concert was outdoors which was perfect. The weather was nice, and once the music starts it so infectious, you can't help but move your feet. The stage/concert space is smallish , which I prefer, but small as the square footage was, the crowd spanned different ages, colors, styles of dress and backgrounds. I watched little kids and their impressive fast foot steps - no way could I even begin to keep up their pace.

Today I was catching up with a friend lives in Marin County (near San Francisco for those of you who don't know). She told me she saw the English Beat yesterday, which I thought was pretty cool since I went on Friday. Neither one of us knew the other was a "Beat" fan and a lover of ska.

So here's the low down, Hollywood Park is fun! Ok, so I got their at the 7the race (of which their were 8) but the crowd was filled with lots of people hanging out, enjoying each other's company, drinking beer and being casual. Hollywood Park is easy to get to, parking was free, entrance was $7 and another $3 for the clubhouse (which gives you access to the free concert) and beers were a couple of bucks. To bad I found all this out after there Friday concert series ended this past Friday. On the other hand - I look forward to catching their next concert line up. I'm really glad I went - the English Beat gave a great performance. Here's a link to Hollwyood Park's concert series:

http://www.hollywoodpark.com/visit/fabulous_fridays.html Here's a link to Dave Wakeling's website (he's the lead singer of the English Beat) http://www.davewakeling.com/home.asp

Hotline for Fire Victims

I just caught this on the evening news and wanted to post it for those who may need help.

800 927 HELP

As I understand it - it is a government hotline that provides guidance on issues from insurance, to FEMA etc .

www.FireSafety.gov

Have you thought of what you would do in case of a fire? Do you have copies of insurance papers, do you have photos documenting your belongings, do you have copies of all your critical legal documents? We all put it off because it is so unpleasant...but it would be more unpleasant if you had the opportunity to plan for the worst, didn't and the worst happened.

Here's some helpful info...

I googled fire saftey and recommend this site: wwwFireSafety.gov which includes information provided by theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention,the Consumer Product Safety Commissionand the U.S. Fire Administration.


Here's a quick snapshot of what's on the website:
Get a Smoke Alarm
Make an Escape Plan
Practice Fire Safety
Residential Fire Sprinklers
What to Do After a Fire Statistics

Also - - you might not be aware of all the various causes of fire....it's not just wildfires that we have to guard against.
Risk of Cooking-Related Fires Doubles on Thanksgiving Day; Safety Guidelines for Using a Turkey Fryer (PDF, 564 Kb, Adobe Acrobat PDF Help)

PC Notebook Computer Batteries Recalled Due to Fire and Burn Hazard (10/30/2008)

Ghost Tealight Holders Recalled by Trade Associates Group and Crate & Barrel Due to Fire and Burn Hazard (10/29/2008)

Serta International Recalls Mattresses Due to Violation of Federal Mattress Flammability Standard (10/28/2008)

Lastly, if you want to volunteer - do not let policy and procedures of non profits deter you. Although the Red Cross does great work - I do not agree with their policy on requiring training before accepting volunteers during a crisis or their policy on no dropping-off of clothes, blankets etc. (call us and we might accommodate your interest in helping is so off-putting to me.) For those intersted in taking immediate action - just do it! There are plenty of organizations that would love your help!

California Wildfires & the Mt. Calvary Monastery

Southern California has been hit again - first with the Montecito fires 2 days ago, Sylmar yesterday and Anaheim Hills today. Hundreds of houses of burned to the ground and over 10,000 people have been temporarily displaced.

Today when I walked outside in the sunshine, sunlight was filtered taking on a hauntingly beautiful quality. Air smelled of smoke and I found it harder to breath. White ash wafted back down to earth like snowflakes and I decided it was better to be indoors. Who knows what you might be inhaling...Apparently there was a small fire in Palos Verdes this afternoon that I didn't know about until my (curtailed) evening walk.

I am particularly sorry to hear that the Mt. Calvary Monastery completely burned to the ground. The monks provided spiritual retreats to individuals and groups. I visited many years ago - and was struck at the warmth and hospitality of the monks. The mountaintop sanctuary was breaktaking with its panaromic view of the Santa Barbara Coastline. The retreat house itself was a Spanish style house built in the 1920's that housed Spanish colonial masterpieces, Navajo blankets, wonderful books in their library - what a loss. Very little survived the fire - the large iron cross in the garden and a fraction of the beautiful mural at the entry way.

Here's their website: http://www.mount-calvary.org/visit.htm

Sonar, the Navy and Whales

It is very unfortuante that the government is allowing the Navy to use sonar....

Here's an except from an interesting article: Dissenting judge Ruth Ginsburg further said the navy had failed to obey the law by not supplying a full report on the environmental risks before beginning to use sonar, and just sticking to its preliminary report. At the start of the Supreme Court hearing in October, government lawyer Gregory Carre acknowledged that a preliminary navy study found that sonar could disorient 170,000 marine mammals, and leave 8,000 whales temporarily deaf.

Drilling, sonar, sewage negatively impact our own ecosystem. I did a google search to see what individuals, groups or countries are doing to help the environment in which we all live I am impressed by Tunisia's environmental policy which reads... (www.tunisiaonline.com/culture/index.html)

Tunisia's environmental policy aims to preserve the ecological balance, safeguard natural and human resources, and control all forms of pollution. It also seeks to reconcile development needs with environmental imperatives in order to protect natural elements (air, water, soil, and biodiversity), reduce existing risks to such resources, and improve the living conditions of the population.

It is notable I did not find such a policy for the U.S. but there are plenty of articles on sonar use harming wildlife.

NRDC: Protecting Whales from Dangerous Sonar
International campaign to regulate active sonar systems that harm marine mammals.www.nrdc.org/wildlife/marine/nlfa.asp - Cached
Whales Index Page - NRDC's BioGems
NRDC BioGems page to save whales and other marine mammals. ... Ear-splitting military sonar is needlessly threatening whales and other marine ...www.savebiogems.org/whales -
Is Navy Sonar Killing Whales? Holology by Freydis
This report studies the connections between Navy active-sonar and reports of whale deaths. ... sonar system could have caused a mass stranding of whales off ...www.holology.com/whale.html
Orca Network - News - Navy Sonar Blasts Whales
The Orca Network Lolita campaign: Enhancing awareness of a captive member of the Southern Resident ... US Navy Sonar blasts Pacific Northwest killer whales ...www.orcanetwork.org/news/shoup.html - 77k - Cached
Whale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pathology: whales, sonar and decompression sickness". Nature 428 (6894) ... "Sonar versus whales: noise may disrupt neural activity in deep-diving cetaceans" ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale - 68k - Cached
Sonar May Be Linked to Stranding of Whales LiveScience
The Navy's use of sonar during maritime exercises may have contributed to the mass stranding of more than 150 whales in Hawaii's Hanalei Bay two years ago, ...www.livescience.com/animals/ap_060428_sonar_whales.html - Cached

Getting Ready for the "Inevitable" - Earthquake in SoCal

I turned on the TV and for the first time, heard about "The Shake Out" - an emergency prepareness simulation scheduled tomorrow at 10:08 am. The news tells us "the big one" is inevitable - not a matter of "if" but when.

For more info go to: http://www.shakeout.org

Opening of Spit Studio in Hermosa Beach

I had the pleasure of attending a gallery opening in Hermosa Beach called Spit Studios. The gallery is located a short walk from the corner of Pier Ave and Hermosa Ave, amid restaurants and shops and is a welcome addition. My interest was originally piqued when I had read that Bo Bridges was the artist and I had equated the name with the actor. Different person. But no matter, kudos to Bo Bridges, the artist, for creating a gallery in a unique space filled with photographs that reflect a hip, California-inspired lifestyle.

Here's a about about the artist from his website: ....His move to Hermosa Beach, California in 2000 put Bridges in the heart of the action sports industry, where he could shoot surfing, skateboarding, and BMX as well as lifestyle year round. He now counts many of the best athletes in all these sports as his primary subjects.


I was drawn mostly to the great ocean shots (not limited to only CA) and had an appreciation for the different printing applications used - photography on canvas, on metal, some huge wall mounted images, others creatively displayed in groupings. One of my favorites was an image of girl skateboarding on the Strand - very original and definately upbeat. The gallery also had handcarved, mod looking stools - and if you didn't catch the marketing postcard - you probably wouldn't have realized the functionality that these pieces of art were meant to be sat upon. Definately cool.

The opening was well-done with entry permitted if you had RSVP'd in advance. Cadillac was giving away free stuff outside like luggage tags, wine stoppers, eye glass cases with a very low key- no sales pitch approach (thank you!). Inside a DJ spun songs from a loft, drinks and chicken hor d oevres were served upstairs and there was a goodie bag for attendees. Nicely done.

It was really nice to have a new gallery open in the South Bay and I wish Bo much success on his new venture. For more info: http://www.spitstudio.com/

In praise of Fresh and Easy

This year I have drastically changed my grocery shopping. When I was traveling extensively, a neighborhood Von's and Trader Joe's were my staples. However, I rarely shop at Von's now. Von's is a rip-off. Everything in the store has gone up by dollars not cents. And I don't like the way they remodeled making it impossible to shop with a cart in the produce area. It's annoying and overpriced and there are always lines. No mas. Trader Joe's - still a great store - but I realized that I was drawn to their speciality items like their papaya salsa - nearly 4 dollars that doesn't make a meal and pretty soon you can be down $60 without real food in the house.



Then a new player comes into town - Fresh and Easy. The first go through I was mildly impressed. But I received a $5 coupon off $20 of shopping and I was motivated to go back. I spent more time perusing the isles and now I am a fan. They have a fairly good offering of staples, produce and convenience items. They are situated in shopping centers with plenty of parking in convenient areas. There are no lines. The prices are very fair and in some cases, down right cheap. They have a food sampler were there are at least 3 items you can taste. Fresh and Easy has a "Reduced" area - 50% off for those items that are expiring that day. My thought - stock up and freeze those items - for example a pizza for $2, rice pilaf for $1.50, chicken enchilda meal for $2 etc. Layer on top - the $5 coupon and what a deal - and the food is good! It's tasty. It's healthy. It's easier and cheaper than buying all the ingredients to make your own. Two thumbs up.

Get Out and Vote

This morning, after punching my ballot and leaving the polling place with the "I voted" sticker on my chest - I felt an unexpected feeling. I felt lighter. Optimistic. Energized. Excited. Ha-cha-cha - good bye President Bush, hello CHANGE. I was really suprised at myself - that I felt a physical reaction in my chest and throat after voting - and as I looked out toward Los Angeles, I smiled.

It's about time we have a leader who can bring together our citizens and get us back on track to being a great nation and a global leader.

It really felt like my vote really mattered and THAT is very energizing.

Let's make this world a better place.