Having Flown

Just learned that Paul Weller has FIVE kids total. Gee. He used to be my hero, my god, the man I looked to for guidance and intelligence. Just read about his drunken spectacle with some girl 23. Lovely. Not. Meanwhile the people of Gaza are being brutally massacred, made possible with American tax dollars. Nobody ever asks us. Our biased media would make sure no well-informed decisions could be made even if they did.

Sadly, there is little I can do for the suffering people of Gaza. Bless all the protesters round the globe! The once-mighty Weller's embarrassing actions seem irrelevant by comparison.

Can 2008 really be ending? Gee... I am STILL working on that 1987 To-Do List.

I recommend you listen to this demo version of the Bee Gees' "Spirits Having Flown." It's what's getting me thru these days.

Many, many New Year's Goals. I got my car washed today. I think that is a good start.

Welcome the Return of the Sun!

Yay! We made it through the Solstice. Welcome the Return of the Sun. The days will get longer and Spring is on her way (well, three months, but coming!) Three nasty months of winter to endure, but the days will be longer again, day by day. Happy Marty. All hail the Sun!

Room Addition Update

I neglected to update this.... The New Room passed inspection (!!!) and has just a couple minor things left to be done. Then I can focus on filling it and paying for it... Here's a pic from the first weekend in September. Sure that was a month ago, but my updates are slow. This is NOT the finished product. Now it's got outside lights and a little concrete porch, and a lot has changed on the inside. I have the photos, just slow to put them up.

Rick Wright, goodbye

Pink Floyd's Rick Wright has passed away. Pink Floyd have been there with me for decades, so this is deeply saddening. Please check out one of my favorite of Rick's songs:
Summer '68.

Self-appointed band leader Roger Waters was cruel to Rick for years.... I wonder how he's feeling now? It was WONDERFUL to see all four of them together again onstage at Live 8. Friends or not, Pink Floyd gave us some amazing music. Group founder Syd Barrett had already passed on. Long live the music of Pink Floyd.

From my birthday event

Photo by Lopex. Dino and I in Ventura for miniature golf. I was all orange. He was all purple.

Hey, it's my BIRTHDAY!

From inside the house, from the window that's gonna be opened into a doorway:



From front porch, see how much longer the house looks:





After midnight uploads, more of the room.

Closet Bunny and Inside the New Room at the moment

KB and the Tar Paper

KB on the table, and various shots of the new room with tar paper and chicken wire.

New Room in Progress

Wow, Summer is here, was here, is fading fast, and not much in the way of blog posts from me. Biggest thing this summer is my new room. The house is really really tiny, so there is simply nowhere for all my stuff. I had bought the cargo container for some of it, but the temperature in there is easily 150, so not practical for books or anything of value. That is some INTENSE heat, you know! Paper starts to turn at about 60 degrees. So, my birthday present to myself (i.e. probably the next three years in debt) is this addition. The slab is 16' x 20', but once you get the frame and drywall, the interior will be more like 15' x 19'. Still, that's 285 square feet more than I had before and more the taxman can charge me for. Oh yeah.

Here we have before photos of the previous cat yard. Following that, I have some photos of the frame of the new room. Also a couple photos of our baby KB. These are NOT the latest pix of the room. In fact, it now has the scratch coat of stucco on it, but I've not seen that yet. I do, however, have the chicken wire pictures that I will post next.

My mother's (wise, really) belief was "you don't need to spend all that money adding on a room; you need to GET RID of a lot of this stuff." Easier to accommodate me than cure me though. Thus, the room is underway.

Not sure how you view these pix full size? Maybe click on them?

Original cat yard from the well side.



Original cat yard, southwest corner.



New room, well side.



New room, west side, from the immediate backyard (really the side yard).





New room from front of house, on left side, looking north.




KB loves to hide under the table.



KB's notorious porno pose.

I'm up to two packs a day

Well, the cigarette smoke continues to waft up thru the living room floor. It's HORRIBLE. Cannot stress that enough. The Valley has been a true toaster OVEN for over a week now. It never cools down not even overnight. Got up at dawn today and collected my coworker (a very athletic lady) and we went up to a local park to hike while it was "only" in the 70s at 6 a.m. Saw so many little white cotton-tailed bunnies! Wonderful to see all those bunnies. We were leaving the park just after 7 and that's when the masses of dog walkers were just arriving--way too late for that. It was already about 80 degrees. I took another walk round campus tonight after dark and it had to be 90 outside. If ONLY we had a ceiling fan in here, that MIGHT help disperse (right word?) some of the cigarette smoke. I live in a big ashtray and I HATE it. Have I mentioned how much I hate cigarette smoke? Been watching a lot of Spanish language TV lately, despite barely understanding a word. I swear they talk twice as fast I did at the peak of my spaziness (spazziness?) Have become addicted to a telenovela called "Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso" --and it seems to me paradise should have a d in it in both languages but it doesn't! It's a Telemundo remake of a Colombian soap of the same name, only it's really called "Sin Tetas" and yes, that means what you think. They changed it to the milder "senos" for the remake. The lead character is named Catalina and they say her name 20 times per minute. The guy who plays her boyfriend is HOT, some Colombian actor called Fabian Rios, who is NOT all over the Internet, much to my dismay. Here's a pic of the lovely couple.

The show is maybe over the top and maybe sadly based on some reality in Colombia-- a young girl wants to live the wealthy party set lifestyle and tries to do it as a drug dealers' party girl, only her chest isn't big enough for their taste. No lie. So she's desperate to get implants. Yes, that is the plot. I KNOW there's truth in it though. Oscar, the Colombian member of the former Latin gang, told me --when I asked if I could fit in in Colombia--that I would have to have some surgery first. He said all the chiquitas down there have had huge implants. Tragic. He got mad if you made jokes about Colombia being all about drug dealing though (but it's TRUE!) The woman who plays the mom on the show is NOT old enough to be her mom, and has a HUGE rack that is on full display all the time. It's very distracting, and no wonder the daughter would feel obliged to seek surgery! And her mom has her eye on the boyfriend... who had a NASTY scene where he was, um, "holding" a pair of mama's knickers in the bathroom. Ewwwwwwww. But now I need to find other shows that Latin Hot Stuff is in, especially any where he has a lot of shower scenes.

June 3, 2008

Wow, I almost never post! Today was a big day. Cris is going back to Chile on Thursday, and Oscar returns to Colombia on Sunday. And you're asking, who are these people? I joined a Latin gang. Juancho already returned to Mexico. And there's Bita--she's Persian. So today I took Cris and Oscar to the Getty Center--my second time there. Here I am with Cris by this big piece of "art" at the Getty:


I like the train ride up. And I gave the boys a tour of UCLA. Here's Oscar looking like he belongs there, and Cris who was a great sport about sticking his head in the bear's mouth:





Later we met Bita for dinner and we were going to go to this rock outcrop called Stoney Point, but they had red cones up so you couldn't park. Somehow I got forced onto the 118 freeway, and when I got off at Rocky Peak to turn back, I discovered you could park THERE and hike. Despite my paranoia about mountain lions and my lack of suitable shoes, we walked up a long steep trail and watched the sunset. Pretty cool. Bita was very concerned we got pix of the shoes she had on. She is very photogenic. Here she is showing off the shoes way up on top of a rock. You can't really appreciate how high up we were, but she looks great as always:



I was simply orange. Tomorrow I interview new students, and the next session begins next week. Always time to work. My roommate is in Korea for the next month. Danny graduated! He is so sweet. He returns home at the end of the summer to go in the army. I'll miss him so! I fully believe he'll be back. Tomorrow night Lopex and I go see MONGOL on the big screen, yeah! Asano Tadanobu as the young Genghis Khan. Hot or what! Our roadrunner Curio returned after an absence of a few months, but he's very busy hunting. Got a new roof on my house. It's very white and supposed to lower the temperature a bit even. My other neighbor Johnny saw that we were trying to take down that big old shed and he volunteered to do it if he could take the metal parts. Do all the labor AND haul it away? You rock! Be my guest! The price of gas is INSANE and now it costs a small fortune to go home. Even though the desert is just full of sharp pointy things that want to scratch and prick you (and embed their sharp selves deep in your skin), I love it so much.... Alas, I have to return to the Big City for work. I have really neglected my friends and I feel bad about that. I MUST catch up with people. I miss people! Sharon is off to the UK for the Ropes first overseas dates! Mega cool. She rocks.

Lopex is now in her new office location, out of Santa Monica and now in Sherman Oaks. The Valley in summer....

I tried to use Facebook cos young 'uns I know keep telling me to go there, but you have to be under 21 or something to use it.... I hate it. I don't have the patience for that or myspace. My Facebook name is Picosita if you're so inclined. Check out my flickr account, HollywoodLegend. That's where most of my photos go. Wait, I can make a link....Click HERE.

Long Time, No Post

I'm no good at keeping a blog, am I. Our roadrunner Curio disappeared well over a month ago. My mother saw a roadrunner just once since then, but not sure it's him. Spring is in full bloom though and he may have gone off to find a mate. The hunting must be good too. This strange flower appeared in our yard for the first time--three of them actually. My mother reckons it's the desert lily. Didn't survive long.



Much like my radishes--planted a bunch of seeds again, in containers and outside of containers; bought special soil, Miracle Gro, all that... and a few sprouted, all died. Some didn't bother to sprout at all. Best were the radishes--they bloomed nicely, but then strangled each other and died before becoming radishes. I can't grow anything but mold.

My nose surgery didn't happen--I was supposed to have this surgery to dig out a possible skin cancer. Now I'm to seek a second opinion. Biopsies are very expensive! I didn't go see Ray Davies or Grant Lee Phillips, and now I look set to miss both Mike Peters and Carlene Carter (her first LA appearance in ten years!)--they play on the same day, next Friday. I just can't motivate myself to buy a ticket, drive, be out at night, be around other people, etc.

Finally got a cargo container at the house. Just a 20' this time. Here it is pre-paint.

Should've gone ahead and gotten the 40' as the price was almost the same. The new roof will be put on my house soon. Would've already been done except MEGA STRONG WINDS won't stop blowing this year.

Lots of birthdays in April!

Still reading short horror stories from Ramsey Campbell. Good imagery but let-down endings. Have been watching lots of Beatles footage on YouTube late at night. FINALLY saw the Daleks! After years of hearing how brilliant they were...watched the first UK film version with them, with Peter Cushing as the Doctor. I had not realized they were little creatures inside protective suits! I had a terrible time understanding when they talked. Was that film representative of them on the TV show or a bit different? I'm wasn't that inspired to find out.

My Hywel Bennett collection has been expanding slowly. Not updated my fan page yet though. When to find the time! Website stuff takes me ages.

Sad passing of Charlton Heston recently. I am always thinking of Karl Malden. He is well into his 90s. He should live forever!

I always have a huge stack of homework papers to read--more than I could ever keep up with. Don't watch much TV these days although thanks to reruns, I am actually watching Family Guy when I run across it! Saw a couple episodes of Bones. It wants to fill the void left by the X-Files, but it's just not appealing enough. I almost fear the new X-Files film...the first one wasn't something I wanted to watch a second time, and I LOVED the show so much. Sad that Agent Doggett wasn't brought back for this film. Don't like the idea of new characters.

2008 marks 60 years since the Naqba in Palestine. Of course, President Bush and various Euros will go to the colony of Israel to CELEBRATE the tragic event.

Thanks to YouTube I was able to watch the documentary on Enoch Powell and his famous speech in 68 about how masses of immigrants would make the native British strangers in their own land. That has surely come to pass. Heartbreaking. I keep wondering if the 60s British style looked as cool to people then when they all looked like that? I think people really DID know they were part of something special though.

The Housing Bubble is slowly starting to contract but has a long ways to go. The American dollar has been made worthless by the so-called Federal Reserve (who are not "federal" at all but a PRIVATE bank with control of our money supply!) We've never paid so much for gas. That's my report for now.

Lots to catch up on

Always time to go to work, so I haven't updated things. In brief: my nose IS gonna be cut up--in case there is basal cell cancer under the angiofibroma --sp! That happens the day after St Patrick's. This is now the year of the rat, and it started out well, but then went back to the old stuff. I got to speak to Gruff, Guto, and Huw of Super Furry Animals when they did an in-store appearance and Lopex got some great pix. Also took a pic of a guy with Alice Cooper, as Alice was just walking in the store alone! Surreal stuff. The HEAT has returned to SoCal but will probably turn cooler again soon. Am doing a little bit of exercise lately in hopes of losing weight, but then I go on an eating rampage and undo it. Did a lot of driving recently as I brought my mom back here to see the eye doctor, and I myself had a doctor's appt and she wants me back on the iron supplements. My night class is HUGE this time, filled to capacity at 40 students. Yikes! That's a LOT of essays to read. Am meeting a Japanese pal weekly for a little J-study. Not much, but an improvement up from zero! Need to add some pix and stuff...

Rainy January

If you like rain, we got it. Mega rainy times in SoCal. There was even thick fog as I returned today with visibility all of 20' in front at one point. Scary actually.

The gas station



The intersection (dirt in the road, not snow!)


Spent some quality time this morning with "My Mom's Dog" (pix should be below), a bit with Curio, and finally agreed upon a plan for adding structures to the homestead: oh to have a compound! Of course all is on hold just now that the ground is soaked. Waiting for rain to end and then dry up.





Curio is more stand-offish than the coyote, but thanks to a zoom lens... !!



As you can tell, I've just been out in the desert, my happy place. This time round finally made that big drive round the park to the east, way down to a spot on the map called Desert Center. Saw a younger guy with a huge mohawk and mostly trailers in need of repair. Post-apocalyptic Chud-dom. I pulled off one exit too early and discovered the General Patton Museum! A gas station, a fast food place, and a half dozen tanks on display! Would go back for that (cutting thru the park, NOT taking the long way). Daylight had turned greylight, so no pix this time.

Along the highway we spotted this tiny purple flower (weed?) growing in endless patches. The rain probably brought it out. My mother is always in search of ground cover that would grow out there, so I pulled over and plucked some out (being careful not to touch it directly, just in case). It seemed to be attached by a thick stem to a giant nasty green weed. Here is a sample. The flowers are an inch across at most. Any clue what it is? It might be "purple desert mat" or something like that. Name that weed!




Haven't checked the online news in two days. Hate to think of the horror in the meantime.

I made a new webpage

I actually did do a bit of cleaning-sorting-organizing in my mad explosion of a bedroom today. And then? I spent time I did not have on a new webpage, probably to be soon abandoned as they all are... This one is a fan page for Welsh actor Hywel Bennett, as he didn't seem to have one. Check it out if you like.

http://georgie.likes.ducks.googlepages.com/home

2008 or 1960?

Starting the year off with some VINTAGE Bee Gees. The twins were TEN here. Yes, ten! (Their birthdays being late in the year, surely they'd not had them when this was done). Even Barry looks SOOOOOOOOO young. Bless their little hearts!