Kill All Leaf Blower Users

I hate the sound of leaf blowers in my Los Angeles neighborhood. I will these damn gardeners would comply with city law cease using loud equipment. The noise pollution is terrible.

Los Angeles Municipal Code, Chapter XI — Noise Regulation, Article 2 — Special Noise Sources, Section 112.04 (c).: Re: Powered Equipment Intended for Repetitive Use in Residential Areas and Other Machinery, Equipment, and Devices.

"I Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection (a) above, no gas powered blower shall be used within 500 feet of a residence at anytime. Both the user of such a blower as well as the individual who contracted for the services of the user, if any, shall be subject to the requirements of and penalty provisions for this ordinance. Violation of the provisions of this subsection shall be punishable as an infraction in an amount not to exceed One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), notwithstanding the graduated fines set forth in L.A.M.C. Section 11.00(m). "

Disable All SmartPhone Functions While In Motion (driving)

The threat of serious bodily harm or death justifies disabling all functions of smartphones at a velocity over 10-15 MPH. And yes, this would apply to the driver or a passenger in a car or in public transportation. I lean libertarian and the goal of staying alive does not conflict with my political philosophy. Smartphones are candy for the many ADD afflicted drivers out there. Defensive driving cannot fully protect us against the negligent behavior of smartphone users. (in response to this article)

Pacific Palisades: nothing like the founder wished

Did you know that the people in the Pacific Palisades are 89% white? No, diversity of skin color does not exist there in any significant way, at least not darker shades of skin tone. Traveling around the area gives me the creeps. Why? The white people there have secluded themselves from people different from them in skin color and culture.

The hypocrisy lies in the high percentage of Democrats and Liberals in the area. Democrats and Liberals claim to be the the party of minorities and people of color. But they sure don't want to live near those people. They may give lip service to thinking multicultural and being politically correct, but what they say and what they do are two very different and opposite things.

Final twist. Charles Holmes Scott founded Pacific Palisades in 1922 as a Chautauqua community for spiritual, philosophical and artistic people. I doubt his vision was compatible with the types of westsider Type-A people that live there today.

The Overuse of "Hipster"

Writers of restaurant and bar reviews excessively rely on the adjective "hipster" to describe eating and drinking establishments, especially in Los Angeles. Hipster, as described in Wikipedia, reads "young, recently-settled urban middle class adults and older teenagers with interests in non-mainstream fashion and culture." I would add that these people are simply pursuing trends in alternative fashions and lifestyle. I harbor no criticism of hipsters. Disdain describes my feeling towards the lowly scene writers who use the word "hipster" as a crutch to label the environment in restaurants and clubs. My suggestion: use the breadth of the English language to describe these places instead of that trite adjective.

Fake Breasts are a sign of female weakness

Millions of women have each spent $1,000's to enlarge their boobs (female breast augmentation).  Whenever I see these examples of large breasts, I do indeed heed their balloon shape.  However, I would not date almost any woman who has enlarged her breasts.

Unnatural and insecure are the thoughts that pop into my mind.  I have never heard a woman admit the real reason for enlarging her breasts.  But research studies and common sense will describe this action as a response to attract more males.  Very simple.  These chicks want to attract the attention of guys and want these guys to approach them.  And men's heads will turn; unfortunately we are hard wired to do so.  Sad to say these women are not confident with themselves psychologically to attract men based upon the qualities of their mind and instead have to resort to fake boobs to get guys.  It's a jungle out there.  

I'll end by adding that I would fornicate with but not seek a long term relationship with a woman who has drastically colored her hair.  Blondes may look hot, but again, the fact that they are insecure with their natural look turns me off.

Voice Mails IGNORED

In the past year I have noticed an infuriating trend: I call client's or friend's cell phones and leave a voice mail and then they call back without listening to the message. They simply call back the missed call number.

On a per call basis this is not an irritation. However, upon summing up all the messages left without the recipient listening to them, this amounts to a significant annoyance. Why don't you listen to the voice mail, idiots!? I now hesitate to leave a voice mail as more and more people do not check them. Chalk one more up to the discourteous behavior of people in the new tech age.

Zillow Falsification

Zillow displays a last sale price for my home. They claim they obtain their information from public sources. However, my local county assessor has no sale price information available to the public, as it is not part of the public record.

Therefore, where has Zillow obtained the sale price they claim for my home? I have no idea. In fact, their information is a lie and falsification because the source of their information has no sale data for my home.

I really wish someone would start a class action lawsuit against Zillow for providing false information. Zillow is a sham. Better yet, I hope the company fails.

Potential Benefit of the 2009 Recession

There are a few benefits that may arise from the current recession we are experiencing.  For many people, the Great Depression wiped away materialism to reveal the simple and genuine in people, their lifestyles, and the goods they purchased.  Let's hope the current economic hardship will strip such greed for goods from people and let us all rediscover inner value.

East is East in Los Angeles

Thank you Pat Morrison for writing about the idiotic trend of people calling Los Angeles areas, which lie west of Downtown LA, names such as "Eastside". Main Street has always served as the dividing line: go east from there and the streets are labelled "east", such as East Third Street; go west of Main St. and the streets are labeled "west", such as West Olympic Blvd.!

Some people want to call Silverlake, Echo Park and Mt Washington the Eastside. Rediculous. In the early 1900's there were two ends of the city. A west end at Western Ave and a east end at Eastern Ave. End of story.

3-31-09 UPDATE: The Los Angeles Times posted a story regarding this issue today.  I'm glad there are other people interested in fighting the ignorant geographical view of many people living in Silverlake and Echo Park.

Indie 103.1 Ceases to Broadcast

Indie 103.1 was my favorite radio station, which played alternative rock music in Los Angeles. I am truly sad I will not be able to listen to their fabulous broadcasts in my car, but I will continue to listen via streaming MP3 format over the Internet at home.

Resentment. The music now playing on 103.1 is the Spanish language beats of El Gato. It seems the Mexicans and other Latin American groups are slowly imposing their language on us natives and more and more media is published and broadcasted in Spanish. Unfortunate and upsetting.

The Use of the Word "Race" and Barack Obama

I take offense to people use of the word "race" to describe primarily the skin color of people, but also the body type and shape. We are all of one race, homo sapien. "Race" is a controversial term, which comes from historical attempts to categorise people according to their skin color and physical characteristics. The word has no scientific basis for divisions into biologically determined groups. Individuals, not 'races', are the main sources of human variation.

I view Mr. Obama as the progeny of a white parent and a black parent. I do not see him as African American, although I don't quibble with others' implementation of that label. Most importantly, when I think of Mr. Obama, his skin color is not the prominent characteristic that comes to my mind, which is not the case for many people. The primary traits of his that stands out is his even temper, diligence, and intelligence.