The evening of November 30th Los Angeles was hit with what to some was a crippling wind storm. In some places sustained winds of 80mph and gusts of up to 100mph wreaked havoc on unprepared Angelinos. The next day the aftermath was everywhere. Fallen trees, broken branches, palm fronds strewn everywhere was the scene and no power was the condition in many parts of the city. A week later, from Hollywood to Westwood and from Lake View Terrace to City Terrace the streets are still littered with fallen tree branches, mountains of palm fronds and the occasional palm tree mounted on the curb, but hey, power was finally restored a day or two ago.
While I am marginally upset that this stuff hasn’t been cleaned up yet and fractionally more upset that a City Hall staffer told me to look at it from the bright side that mother nature just did a lot of tree trimming for us, I’m mostly upset that the Mayor and Councilmembers didn’t take advantage of this opportunity to talk about disaster preparedness. While many sections of the city were out of power, I saw how distraught some of my fellow Angelinos were because they couldn’t charge their laptops or cellphones or how impacted some people were because they had just bought groceries that day and they didn’t want their food to spoil and had to buy bags of ice to store in their refrigerators to keep the temperature down. At least these people could go to the Starbucks down the street and plug in or go to the market and buy ice.
Had this been a major earthquake where the whole city grid was cut-off, 7-11 isn’t going to have ice for your fridge and Starbucks isn’t going to be able to charge your laptop not to mention charging your cellphone will be futile because all communications will be down anyways!
The least our City leaders could have done was talk about how that same Mother Nature that just “trimmed our trees”, gave us that 10 minute order to disperse LAPD supposedly gave the City Hall Park occupiers. So what if National Preparedness Month was three months ago, the reality is this town sits on some pretty seismically active land and preparedness should be preached whenever possible. Once again our leaders show the kind of foresight that got us into this budgetary mess we’ve been in for years.
On August 13, 1846, early in the Mexican-America War, U.S. naval forces under Commodore Robert F. Stockton sailed into Los Angeles and raised the American flag without opposition. A small occupying force of 50 Marines, under Captain Archibald H. Gillespie, built a rudimentary barricade on what was then known as Fort Hill overlooking the small town (Los Angeles).
The harsh martial law of Captain Gillespie soon ignited a popular uprising among Californios and Mexicans led by General José Mariá Flores beginning on September 22, 1846. Known as the Siege of Los Angeles, Californios assembled a force to retake Los Angeles. Gillespie’s 50 marines were able to resist an initial attack on the government house in town and regrouped on Fort Hill, where they strengthened the fortification with sandbags.
As time passed, the Californio forces opposing the U.S. takeover grew to just over 60 men, with several Californio citizens voicing opposition. General Flores offered an ultimatum: leave within 24 hours or face attack.
Today, a mere three blocks away from a monument erected to honor those AMERICANS who fought to “Occupy Los Angeles”, Americans who have been Occupying LA on the City Hall Lawn, AMERICANS who have been fighting for what they believe in were offered an ultimatum by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; leave by midnight Sunday or face a forceful eviction. The similarities here are unmistakable.
While I’ve never been one to march, strike, protest or otherwise, I do believe that these people have a right to their peaceful demonstration and should not be removed. I don’t know why the Mayor decided to evict these people and I’m sure given his track record for corruption there is something in it for him, I won’t speculate and won’t allow others to speculate until there is hard evidence of such. I will however there Sunday night to document the forceful eviction of an otherwise peaceful demonstration with a handful of friends armed with our cameras.
This eviction goes against everything our nation was built on and everything Americans have stood for dating back to the founding fathers and exemplified by the 50 Marines who once, so long ago, held their ground against a hostile force. The Occupy LA movement on the City Hall Lawn exemplifies that very fire raging inside every American starting with the 56 men who on July 4th 1776 defiantly declared a nation’s independence.
The US Government has lost its noble way… Mayor Villaraigosa, you never had a noble way to begin with.
The craziest thing I’ve ever seen on a baseball field. Normally on any September 18th I’d be celebrating with empanadas and some of the old vino since its Chilean Independence Day. On this occasion I was celebrating with Dodger Dogs and $10 beers. Neither my mother nor I had planned to celebrate the holiday since it was a Monday so I invited her to a baseball game. It happened to be fleece blanket night which is her favorite promotion and I bought myself a Russell Martin t-shirt which I put on immediately. We got some decent field level seats on the 1st base side which drives me nuts for some reason, I prefer sitting 3rd base side but on this occasion it allowed me a chance to heckle the oft injured and overpaid Dodgers right fielder JD Drew as well as the San Diego Padres bullpen.
After just one inning my mother and I were just happy to have gotten our blankets since the Blue Crew was already down by four runs against Jake Peavey who would eventually win the Cy Young Award in 2007 but I consider the single most over rated pitcher in the league. The diehard in us however would refuse to leave a ballgame early. We were rewarded.
By the time Jake Peavey left the game in the 6th inning the Dodgers had come back to tie the game at four. But, much to my chagrin by the 9th inning the Dodgers were down 9-5 in what seemed like an insurmountable lead especially with Trevor Hoffman as the Padre closer, but instead of him walking out from behind the bullpen gate I see some guy named Jon Adkins who I’d never seen before and coincidently I haven’t seen since. This pissed me off a little bit. I felt somewhat insulted that Trevor Hoffman wasn’t coming in to pitch. I paid good money for this game and if I’m going to see the Dodgers lose I better get to see the second best closer the game has ever seen damnit! So I worked my way towards the Padres Bullpen and yelled something at Hoffman. I don’t remember what it was but I do remember a security guard grabbing me by the collar and saying, “Good job buddy, don’t do that again.” Hoffman wasn’t even warming up!
So this Adkins guy goes 1-0 (one ball – zero strikes) to Jeff Kent, the most prolific hitting second baseman in baseball history, on his second pitch Kent took him deep to center. Great! We’re still down by three runs. Oh look at that, Trevor Hoffman is warming up. I WILL NOT BE DENIED! Adkins then took JD Drew, the most prolific injury prone outfielder I’ve ever seen, to a 2-1 count and on his 4th pitch, Drew took him DEEP to right field. Back-to-back homeruns! We’ve seen this of course. No big deal. Oh look at that, Trevor Hoffman is coming into the game. This guy hadn’t blown a save against the Dodgers in over five years and had converted 24 consecutive save opportunities, you could almost hear Hells Bells by AC/DC blaring in the background, but of course this is Dodger Stadium… No Hells Bells for you! No way this guy had enough time to properly warm up. His first pitch to a rookie Russell Martin, who’s father had just come down to LA from Montreal to see him play, went yard. BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK! The crowd goes bonkers! This is rare. I’d seen this before but only on TV or on Sports Center. Next up was Marlon Anderson who was a late season trade acquisition and wasn’t impressing me at all. First pitch, gone! Everybody goes ape shit! BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK! This was just the 5th time in baseball history that a team hit four consecutive homeruns. Not sure but probably the only time four consecutive homeruns were hit in the bottom of the 9th inning to tie a game. Un-fucking-believable I tell ya.
Apparently Trevor Hoffman only needed two more pitches to completely warm up since he got the next three guys out fairly easily. Extra innings…
Aaron Sele comes in to pitch the top of the 10th. Great. After all that we get Aaron Sele. Basically we’re gonna lose now. Sure enough he gives up a double to Brian Giles, an intentional walk to Adrian Gonzalez and a single to Josh Bard. Padres 10-9 Dodgers. Will Trevor Hoffman go two innings? No. Enter Rudy Seanez. This guy is terrible. We still have hope. After issuing a walk to Kenny Lofton the entire stadium, 56,000 deep got on their feet as they heard Low-Rider blast from the stadium sound system. Nomar Garciaparra who had been battling injury after injury, who’s limp was now more noticeable than ever before, reminded everybody of Kirk Gibson although much like a pitcher in the middle of a no-hitter, nobody wanted to say anything. Nomar worked himself a 3-1 count which is a great hitters count and took the next Rudy Seanez fastball deep into the LA night sky. There was no doubt from the crack of the bat it was going to be a homerun. The Dodgers exploded from the dugout. Handicapped fans jumped from their wheelchairs. Girls ripped off their tops. It was pandemonium at Dodger Stadium.
Moral of the story; “It aint over till its over.” Yogi Berra
*Post Script: After the game while in the Stadium elevator on our way up to our car, we met Russell Martin Sr.
As I approach this momentous milestone in my life I’ve thought back on many memories that have given me so many laughs over the years. So many stories from different times in my life continue to be told over and over never once thinking; I need new stories. I turn 30 in exactly 30 days and have decided to share these stories with everybody one at a time. Some are a bit embarrassing, others are risqué, and some have been known to make people laugh so hard they had to go hunting for their inhalers. So many of these stories have common themes that I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that my life isn’t as exciting as it may seem since the variety will revolve around a handful of major themes and a few major times in life. I’ve tried very hard to keep as many names secret but then again, so many of these stories have been told over and over again that the characters are already known. So here you have 30 vignettes in 30 days until I turn 30.
Lets start with the most recent story; a new story; something I have probably only shared with two or three people.
UNTITLED #1
For the second straight year I’ve travelled to our nation’s capitol to advocate and lobby on behalf of my favorite project in the world; The Hollywood Freeway Central Park. Last year I stayed with an ex girlfriend who was difficult to stay with for 4 days but still made the trip interesting at times. The rollercoaster stay was far too much drama for me to want to stay there again this second time around so I decided to stay with my colleagues. It also would have been quite awkward staying with her again considering she is now living with her fiancé. Regardless, I extended an invitation for her to come visit me so long as it didn’t conflict with any of the meetings or dinners I had scheduled; In other words, really late at night or really early in the morning.
After a long flight into Dulles and a fairly quick car ride into DC the pressure of our schedule was beginning to become a reality. After a quick shower and change of clothes I was on the rooftop bar of the W Hotel having cocktails with my colleagues and then we quickly went to a spectacular dinner at Poste in the Hotel Monaco. After dinner a few of us decided it was far too early for bed seeing as we were all on West Coast time so we hit up Old Ebbitt Grill for a nightcap or 8. After stumbling a block or so back to the hotel, I set my alarm for 7am and as soon as my face hit the pillow around 2am I was asleep. Normally 5 hours of sleep are enough for me but I didn’t get 5 hours.
At 5am I get a phone call: “Hey, I’m downstairs. Come get me.”
Really? The least I could have gotten was a warning. Maybe I don’t stay out so late or maybe I don’t go out at all. Regardless, I asked for it by saying “…really late at night or really early in the morning. “ Yes, I was excited to see her. No, I didn’t complain. We talked for a little bit, tried to catch up on each other’s lives, we laughed, joked and even opened up to each other a little once that comfort level we once shared had returned and then clothes started flying off.
At a little after 7am, my alarm had already gone to snooze twice when her phone rang. I immediately started laughing because I knew it HAD to be her fiancé wondering why he had just woken up alone. I had assumed she would ignore the call but instead she shushed me and said, “Shhh. Its him.” Right as she answered I was yelling out one of my favorite Princess Bride quotes: “HAHA! Your pig fiancé is too late!”
Moral of the story is, Princess Bride can be quoted no matter what life throws your way!
In a slightly less obvious use of pop culture and the neighborhood council today, I posted on my facebook status another quote from Fight Club only this time 2 people got it it. Unfortunately nobody from the NC got it. One person actually said he agreed with my comment. Goes to show Chuck Palaniuks writing is transgenerational.
I wrote: “Going to neighborhood council meeting tonight. Its cheaper than a movie and there’s free food.” Of course Marla Singer says this when shes talking about support groups when she says: “Its cheaper than a movie and there’s free coffee.”
Since I work at a community center at night I can confirm, there IS free coffee and judging by some of the characters that show up, it must be entertaining. I guess that depends on the movie right? I mean, a support group like ‘Sex Addicts Anonymous’ is infinitely more entertaining than a movie like… say… Gallipoli.
Speaking of Fight Club, I noticed that even though I don’t like Brad Pitt, I have a lot of his movies and like even more of his movies. For example, I own Fight Club (obviously) 12 Monkeys, Inglorious Basterds and Se7ven. I also really like Oceans 11, 12 & 13, Seven Years in Tibet, Sleepers, Interview with a Vampire and A River Runs Through It. Maybe I should reevaluate my position on him.
Back in 2008 I suggested that Major League Baseball would benefit from an expanded playoff. Recently I heard rumors which asked if adding more Wild Card teams would do the season justice. This was not what I had in mind.
I believe one (1) more playoff series would be fantastic for ratings not to mention league revenue. In the World Cup, which we can all agree is a premier tournament, the final is decided in the last game of the tournament while on that same day a 3rd place match takes place. Brilliant!
What I propose is one best of three (3) series between the losers of the League Championship Series. I realize that this sounds like desperate move to see a little more Dodgers Baseball in both 2008 and 2009 but look at whos playing in the world series this year and tell me with a straight face that you actually care and I’ll call you a liar.
Lets take a look at the last 3 years.
In the 2008 ALCS, the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox in a thrilling 7 game series and in the NLCS the Philadelphia Phillies painfully beat my Los Angeles Dodgers in 5 games. Does anybody outside of Philadelphia or Tampa Bay with a combined population of less than 2 million really remember or care what happened in that World Series? Didn’t think so. Now Imagine a best of three series between the Red Sox and Dodgers. Can you see it? Can you see all the plot lines? Torre vs the Red Sox again. Frank McCourt vs the team he couldnt buy which is also his hometown team. Derek Lowe vs Terry Francona. JD Drew vs Dodgers Fans. Jeff Kents last chance at a Championship and of course who could forget Manny vs the Red Sox?
Now thats drama!
In the 2009 NLCS once again, my Dodgers were painfully defeated by the Phillies in 5 games and in the more interesting of the two LCS, the ALCS pitted the Anaheim Angels and the NY Yankees. Of course the Yankees won that series setting up an all East-Coast World Series. This years anticipation was to see either the first ever freeway world series or to revive an all-time classic rivalry between the Dodgers and Yankees. Well, what about an all West-Coast 3rd place series? I don’t need to get into how exciting a freeway series like this would have been for Los Angelinos and the Orange County. Not that I consider Anaheim to be a Dodger rival at all. I see them much like I do the Padres…. annoying little brothers that keep pestering you. It would be a HUGE success for the Anaheim people especially since here in LA we only hang up Championship pennants and only retire hall of famers…. that is Hall of Famers that are wearing a Dodgers cap in their plaque. Get what I’m saying? Intriguing no?
In 2010 the proposed 3rd place series would have been a rematch of the 2009 World Series. Do I really have to mention the benefits of that?
I guess what I’m saying is, in the last three years, two world series have been a total bore and the proposed 3rd place series would have made baseball, a little bit more exciting for everybody.
It is a rare occasion when I ever have fun at neighborhood council meetings or events. Granted, I didnt join the neighborhood council for its fun appeal and there have been some good times in the past. Lately however it seems its been an epic drag. I’ve taken to making pop culture references in my arguments at the risk of sounding unprofessional and silly but the purpose is to see how many of my colleagues actually get the reference or if they are as dull as I suspect. Don’t hate me if I’m still not 30.
Two weeks ago for example, we were discussing a post office that falls withing the Little Armenia neighborhood. When the question was brought up to possibly rededicate it several great suggestions were made for example, William Saroyan and Charles Bukowski. Both have there merit and both deserve to have their name immortalized on a Post Office wall but when you consider the content Charles Bukowski is the most logical choice. He wrote a novel called ‘Post Office’ for crying out loud and he lived in that very neighborhood when he penned it. For all I know he may have actually worked there. Of course, I had another idea and wanted to lighten the mood a little and test my colleagues knowledge of pop culture. I suggested we rededicate it as the Armen Tamzarian Post Office. I got one chuckle (Thank you Silent Android). Armen Tamzarian is of course a world famous Vietnam War Veteran of Armenian descent. If you do not know his place in pop culture then maybe you shouldn’t be reading this entry since he has graced our television screens for 22 years now in the longest American prime-time entertainment series.
Today while chairing a committee meeting we heard from a great developer that is creating low income housing in a neighborhood that is slowly gentrifying beyond the communities means. In short, yes the developer is asking for four code variances which if you don’t know, are exceptions to the law which of course means this could take forever especially when you have professional NIMBY’s holding projects hostage and will no doubt continue to held them hostage through appeals and lawsuits and litigation which in the end only hurt the community we are trying to help by leaving either a blighted lot or a rundown property in the middle of an otherwise thriving community. During this 105 minute hearing that oh-by-the-way was tabled I made yet another pop culture reference only this time it went unnoticed. Excellent. OMG I just wrote a pop culture reference into this blog entry without even thinking about it and most of you are probably wondering “wtf?”. Anyways, near the end of the hearing I made my feelings regarding the project known, since as the chair my primary objective is to make the meeting move smoothly rather than flood it with my thoughts. I said:
LA is a major city that needs to start acting like it. Transit oriented development is a must and affordable housing is a vital component of it. “These people cook our meals, haul our trash, connect our calls, drive our ambulances and guard us while we sleep”.
Of course that last sentence is a quote from Tyler Durden.
As the 2010 baseball season progresses and looms over my head like a Cambodian Mud Monkey ready to steal my soul once again, I look at my Dodgers and wonder ‘will this be the year?’ I took a careful look at our team and while the roster may have several solid, home-grown kids in the lineup such as Silver Slugger & Gold Glove outfielder Matt Kemp, Silver Slugger and MVP candidate Andre Ethier and former Silver Slugger & Gold Glove recipient Russell Martin, I can’t help but wonder what this team could possibly look like had we actually done a better job of drafting players in the past and theoretically kept them in the organization. I went back to the 1994 draft which was a pretty good pick in Paul Konerko and then began the study the following year which shows some lack of foresight. Of course any good Dodgers fan knows that Paul Konerko was eventually traded to the Reds for Jeff Shaw which eventually gave all Dodgers fans indigestion in the 9th inning. Please note that this only reflects the Dodgers 1st round draft picks in the respective years.
In 1995 with the 20th overall pick the Dodgers drafted LHP David Yocum. The following year Baseball America had him listed as the #7 top prospect in the Dodgers farm system. He never made the major leagues. In fact, I can’t find any record that he even played in the minor leagues. That very same year a skinny Puerto Rican was drafted in the 2nd round #49 overall by the name of Carlos Beltran. Carlos didn’t make it to the show full-time until the 1999 campaign when the Royals made him their starting center fielder and leadoff man, meanwhile that year the Dodgers where signing an aging Devon White *shudder* to a 2 year deal worth $6.5 million to be our everyday centerfielder and leadoff man. I’m in no way saying Carlos Beltran would still be a Dodgers but we would have never traded him in 2004 to Houston because we were actually having a good year then and we would have never had to suffer through Devon White, Tom Goodwin, Dave Roberts or Jose Cruz Jr. as our opening day centerfielders .
In 1996 with the 23rd overall pick the Dodgers drafted 3B Damian Rolls. This kid had some promise. The year after his draft Baseball America had him as the #6 top prospect in the Dodgers Farm system. While he never played for the Dodgers he has played in parts of five major league seasons with Tampa Bay and got as high as AAA Columbus in the Yankees system, which means he was good enough to play for Tampa Bay. That same year a skinny kid from Weir Mississippi by the name of Roy Oswalt was taken in the 23rd round. 23rd round! After winning a Gold Medal in the 2000 Olympics, which was of course managed by Dodger Legend Tommy Lasorda, he went on to a 14 win rookie season in 2001, a 19 win season in 2002 and a 20 win season in 2004. In 2001 the Dodgers paid Andy Ashby $6 million to pitch in two games and get hurt. Bet it would have been nice to have been able to call up Roy Oswalt! In 2002 the same Andy Ashby went 9- 13. And finally in 2004, the combination of Hideo Nomo, Wilson Alvarez, Edwin Jackson and Brad Penny (late season acquisition) couldn’t muster up more wins than Oswalt did that year. I bet it would have been nice having a 20 game pitcher in that October series against the Cardinals.
1997 was an interesting year. The Dodgers drafted 1B Glenn Davis 25th overall while there were two pitchers who were drafted after him that would have greatly improved the Dodgers in the future; Tim Hudson and Randy Wolf. I’m going to focus on the latter for these reasons. 1. Randy Wolf was drafted by the Dodgers in 1994 but didn’t sign. 2. He’s from LA and the Dodgers should scout better in their backyard 3. He eventually played for the Dodgers… twice! 4. He won 16 games in 2003. Imagine had the Dodgers drafted Randy Wolf in 1997, we would have had a hometown favorite who could have pitched for us from 1999-2009. I mentioned 2003 because that would have been Roy Oswalts down year where he only won 10 games. Glenn Davis of course never made it passed AA and is now out of baseball. Tim Hudson would have eventually left LA to play for his hometown Braves anyways.
In 1998 the Dodgers drafted Bubba Crosby. Remember him? No? Well, he played nine games for the Dodgers in 2003 and played three seasons with the Yankees in 2004-2006. He hit a total of four career homeruns, all of them with the Yankees. Shawn Green hit four in one game back in 2002! You know who else hits a ton of homeruns? Adam Dunn. The same Adam Dunn who was drafted by the Reds in the 2nd round that same year. The Same Adam Dunn who hit 40 homeruns five consecutive years. The same Adam Dunn who in 2004 hit a homerun in Ohio that didn’t stop travelling until it got to Kentucky off then Dodgers starter Jose Lima; may he rest in peace. Can you imagine that Outfield? I’ll explain later.
Which leads me to the 1999 1st round draft pick…. Nobody. We gave up our 1st round pick when we signed Kevin Brown to that ridiculous deal and later traded him to the Yankees for Jeff Weaver.
The 2000 draft is still making me pull my hair out. Probably why I buzz cut these days, easier to avoid baldness and gray hairs from stressed induced by the Dodgers. Ben Diggins was drafted 17th overall. Grady Sizemore drafted 75th overall by the Expos! Gahh! Ben Diggins was traded to Milwaukee in 2002 where he had an 0-4 record and was never heard from again. On the other hand, Grady Sizemore became the Cleveland Indians full-time center fielder in 2005 where he has been an All-Star, gold glover, silver slugger and a 30-30 man. Sound familiar? I swear I’ll get to it in the end.
Almost done. Swear.
In 2001, we also had to forfeit our first round draft pick because of Andy Ashby this time. You all know how I feel about Andy Ashby so I won’t go into it any further.
Now, from 2002 and beyond I won’t really say much other than who we’ve drafted mainly because they’re on the current roster and are making strong contributions to the ball club.
2002: James Loney
2003: Chad Billingsley
2004: Scot Elbert and Blake DeWitt
2005: No pick (Derek Lowe)
2006: Clayton Kershaw
Interestingly enough, in 2003, Andre Ethier was drafted by Oakland after Chad Billingsley and in 2006 2-time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum was drafted after Clayton Kershaw.
Okay… Now just think that had the Dodgers drafted the way I just detailed could have been possible, they would have had Carlos Beltran patrolling centerfield from 1999-2004 eliminating the need for Devon White, Tom Goodwin, Dave Roberts and even Juan Encarnation. The Dodgers would have been able to afford to let him go after that year because they had a stud centerfielder in the minors by the name of Grady Sizemore who would still be in center today. Can you imagine replacing a 30-30 centerfielder with another 30-30 centerfielder? So what about Matt Kemp? He would be playing left field because there would have been no need to trade for Manny in the first place. Randy Wolf would have joined the rotation in 1999 with Roy Oswalt joining in 2001 Adam Dunn joins the club in 2002 replacing an aging Eric Karros at 1B eliminating the need to sign the Crime Dog Fred Mcgriff and you’re looking at a 2004 Dodgers team with an outfield of Milton Bradley, Carlos Beltran and Shawn Green, and an infield of Beltre, Izturis, Cora and Dunn, a rotation with Oswalt, Wolf, Lima, Weaver and Ishii. This team could easily have won 100 games which is 7 more than they already won, payroll would have been relatively small because of the young players on the team and we quite possibly win a world series that year instead of still waiting for one today and I would have never had had to deal with Andy Ashby.
So I finally bit the bullet and booked my passage to Washington DC. I wish I could say this was a pleasurable vacation trip but most likely I’ll be working my butt off advocating for a new park in Hollywood. A park so special that my dream is for Hollywood residents to call it “The Park”.
This park will be 44 acres of never before used land. Never before because until we build it, there is no land. What? Yeah. The plan is to build over the 101 freeway between Santa Monica Blvd in East Hollywood where the freeway runs below city grade and extend it roughly one mile to Bronson Ave in Central Hollywood. Essentially making that part of the 101 a tunnel. I’m crazy you say? I’d have to agree with you except this isn’t the first time something like this has been built. There are ‘cap’ parks in San Diego, Seattle, Chicago and Boston. Right now the only major hurdles we have are economic. What else is new in this town. Thats what this trip is for. Asking the Federal Government to fund this project much like they funded our High-Speed Rail to San Francisco last month.
How can you help? You can write a letter of support. You can email them to me at Alfredo@LAnative.net or get them to me in person. I leave Saturday March 13th so get those in to me before then. Thanks. For more details on what this project is please visit: http://hollywoodfreewaycentralpark.org/
Seeing as this is my first ever trip to DC I plan on visiting a few museums and monuments and maybe some friends.
So I guess this really will be a pleasurable trip after all.
Today I tried to catch up on emails and work on the Slam. I had over 400 unread emails sitting in my inbox. While most were informational that required no response or were newsletters containing articles that I already knew their content based on tweets, it still tool a very long time to sift through everything. I also have three months of the Slam booked. I can’t wait till we start.
I have spent the last couple of weeks fighting a cold which has been harder than usual because I have been quite busy with rehearsals, neighborhood council, and have been forced to go outside in the cold at night. It has slowed my recovery time but I feel like I may be over the hump soon.
I had a dream the other night that i found interesting. Usually fever dreams tend to be pretty intense but this one was just strange. I went to sleep very early that night because I had a debilitating head ache but when I woke up early the next morning all I could do was chuckle at my dream. I was sitting on my front porch when two snakes slithered by having a conversation with each other. They were speaking in English in the truest form of the definition; British accents and all. I asked the snakes if they were really British when they turned to me and said, crooked fangs and all, “And we know Harry Potter.” At this point my cat Anakin, having seen the snakes from afar, decided he wanted to pounce on the snakes except his claws became red lightsaber claws and he mauled the snakes to hell. No word yet on how Harry Potter feels about the death of snake friends of his.
