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Do golfers lie?

Aug 31st, 2010 by

I don’t know, are golfers older and white, except for Tiger Woods?

irvine golf course fire set by golfer

irvine golf course fire set by golfer

Just came across this news on a fire that burned 25 acres in Irvine,  that the golfer claims was started by a golf ball hitting a rock. From the LA Times:

A golfer accidentally chipped a rock, setting off a 12-acre blaze next to the Shady Canyon Golf Course in Irvine, officials said.

McKeown said no charges have been filed against the golfer, whose name has been withheld. Apparently, the golfer was in the rough and was trying to hit his ball out of it when he accidentally swiped at a rock, which sparked the blaze at 12:07 p.m. Saturday, officials said.

McKeown said brush fires are not uncommon when temperatures reach into the high 70s and lower 80s and conditions are right.

Yahoo Sports seems to think this is really funny.

Over the weekend, a golfer’s routine swing in the rough at the Shady Canyon Golf Course in Irvine, Calif., struck a rock. Not so different from the way you play, right? Only this time, the impact caused a spark, and the spark set off a blaze that eventually covered 25 acres, according to the Steven Buck, General Manager of Shady Canyon Golf Course, and required the efforts of 150 Orange County firefighters, writes the Associated Press.

Wow. And I felt bad the time I shanked a ball through the window of a house too close to the fairway.

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Posted in Fire Department 101, People who don't know any better | No Comments »

Strange sort of suicide for The Walking Man.

Jul 27th, 2010 by

I only bothered to read about the Walking Man because he was called The Silver Lake Walking Man.

Then I saw a small memorial for him on the Silver Lake reservoir path when I ran last night. I hate memorials – they don’t have them back east. It’s like there’s no real land here, or people don’t understand what a cemetery is. The flowers die in a day in the blazing sun, so you have dead flowers in worthless vases, or a dirty teddy bear. Ugly, smelly, and no, it’s not the thought that counts when it’s such a thoughtless thing to do.

Anyway, turns out he walked all over town locally, said his obit.

Abrams traversed 20 to 30 miles of pavement each day and wore out four pairs of shoes each year. He walked swiftly — often hunched over a newspaper — slowing only to shout hellos to friends or give medical advice to those who asked for it.

walking man mural

walking man mural

I can’t believe Tom LaBonge had to get his quote in someone’s obituary.

“He had the greatest tan of anyone in town,” said City Councilman Tom LaBonge, who lives a few blocks from the quiet hillside home Abrams shared with his wife. Whenever LaBonge spotted Abrams striding down the sidewalk he would stop to shout, “What up, Doc?”

(Btw, Tom LaBonge called me last week! No, not to ask me out, as one of my exes guessed. He got my blog confused with the OTHER Griffith Park blog, and was calling to correct the facts about something published there!)

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Posted in From beyond the grave, Silver Lake | No Comments »

Bad restaurants and bad foodies.

Jul 1st, 2010 by

Zocalo recently posted a chat in the weekly updates and announcements they send out, called What is the Cruelest Food You’ve Ever Eaten?

I haven’t been to Zocalo in a couple of years, but they do have some good events and free food, (which isn’t cruel at all). Their lectures are free, and they tackle a lot of serious and interesting topics.

But WTF? Is cruelty a viable subject for humor now? – desperate and fame-whorish, Zocalo.  You had an opportunity to explore this disgusting practice, or at least look at both sides, but instead you treat cruelty to animals as a game, or entertainment. Why not ask who eats dogs? Or hobbles horses?  Shame on you, Zocalo.

Of course, there’s always cruelty when you eat animals alive,  which seems to be a big part of sushi now. Raw is unhealthy, and alive is repulsive to civilized people. But read the quotes below and decide for yourself .

From Roy Choi at Kogi:

I’ve killed a goat with my own two hands. I chased him around a dirt field in the desert, wrestled him to the ground, got him in a head lock, looked him in the eye, and slit his throat. We hung him, skinned him, drained his blood, gutted him, butchered him into primals, then sub-primals. We packed him up and took him across the border to Mexicali where we made birria, the most delicious birria.

This was not a cruel moment for me. It was seven in the morning and I learned about the spirituality of cooking and what my responsibility is as a chef. I did not kill this goat out of haste or carelessness. This was a tradition that my dishwasher Salvador’s family has been doing for many generations and he trusted me enough to show me.

First of all, he’s lying. No one could capture a terrified goat without help. He’s pretending it’s some sort of macho thing, but notice the “we”.  And a dishwasher thinks that how to knife a creature is a “tradition”? I hope I never meet him in a dark alley. Barbaric.

You should probably read Dr. Suess to get this one. Here's a Chinese restaurant that doesn't torture anyone.

You should probably read Dr. Suess to get this one. Here's a Chinese restaurant that doesn't torture anyone.

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Posted in Creatures, People who don't know any better | 1 Comment »

Earthquake feels like seasickness. (Updated)

Apr 4th, 2010 by

In my place the floor rolled long enough for me to find my shoes, get ready to grab the bird cage, and decide it wasn’t worth turning off the computer, my LIFEBLOOD.

From the LA Times:

A 6.9 earthquake struck Baja Calfornia this afternoon, rattling a large swath of Los Angeles and Southern California.

The temblor struck about 3:40 p.m. about 108 miles east of Tijuana. In Los Angeles, the shaking persisted for several seconds. It was felt across Southern California, with skyscrapers shaking in San Diego. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

My friend Geri Mars, in Redondo Beach (45 min south of LA)  tweeted:

No wonder such great rolling motion. My large aquarium was sloshing. That woke up the turtles!

There was an interesting link to a place called USGS – don’t know what it means – called Did you feel it? (Since the LA Times hates to link to any place other than themselves (Internal Narcissism) you know it must be a good link.) As of this moment over 4300 people have said yes.  You have to answer a lot of questions. Nothing I like better than filling out a 6 page form in the middle of a possible emergency!

* LA Times reports:

No major damage reported in Los Angeles.

How does the saying go? When there’s no news,  they still turn it into news. I’m going to add important info to this report by saying,” The sun is out in Los Angeles.”

My earthquake cartoon for Slate today is in my editorial cartoons blog.

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Posted in Important Stuff | 2 Comments »

Sushi restaurant in Los Angeles serves whale meat and horse meat. Euwww!

Mar 16th, 2010 by

Found on CNN:

Prosecutors charged Typhoon Restaurant Inc., the parent company of Santa Monica’s The Hump, and chef Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, 45, with the illegal sale of a marine mammal product for an unauthorized purpose.

Although it is considered a delicacy in Japan and some other countries, meat from whales — an endangered species — is illegal to consume in the United States.

The restaurant pledged to set up procedures to ensure that it complies with laws and “becomes a good corporate citizen.”

“We sincerely apologize. We pledge to work hard to re-earn the trust of the public and respect of our customers.”

The investigation into the restaurant began in October, when two members of the team that made the documentary “The Cove” visited The Hump, officials said.

…A receipt from the restaurant at the end of the meal identified their selection as “whale” and “horse” with the cost — $85 — written next to them.

[Side Note.] Have you noticed the trend the last couple of years to write each sentence as a separate paragraph online now? All the big news sources do it – it’s part of the copywriter rules for teh LA Times!

horse sculpture by dan shouseAnyway, any restaurant that serves horse meat – with all the stolen and butchered horses in various states, especially Florida – should be shut down. I actually joined that famous food blog, Chowhound, just to ask a question about horse meat and which country does eat the most, because they are the ones forming a black market for the horse killings here in the US, and for all the horses shipped down to Mexico for slaughter. I guess now we know: it’s Japan, at least some of whom have so little self-esteem that they have to eat illegal and raw animals to feel like they are truly human.

For Typhoon Restaurant, a big fat #typhoon FAIL.

Interesting horse sculpture photo by Dan Shouse.

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Posted in Creatures | No Comments »

Mountain Lion sighting in Griffith Park.

Mar 15th, 2010 by

Got an interesting comment today to a post I made on mountain lions 2 years ago:

A good friend (we’re both ultra runners) spotted a mtn lion at the hub (5-way) junction up above the east side of the park in ‘09. I’m emailing him to get more information.

I run at least 60 miles a week on the fireroads and trails in the park and have for years, but I’ve never seen a lion, heck I saw my first bobcat only last week.

– Dan

Last time I talked with Animal Services, back in September, one of the guys mentioned a mountain lion, but I ignored it, because sightings like this are pretty iffy, and I’ve never heard a valid report from the rangers. I was running alongside Silver Lake reservoir one night, and a guy stopped his car and waved to me. UH OH! I reluctantly stopped, but he just wanted to warn me that there was a bobcat on the barbed wire fence that surrounds the reservoir. Well, um, I don’t think so! I’ve seen several raccoons up on that barbed wire. Ouch, with their long fur! And they do look a little mean! But never a bobcat.

mountain lion by streamingmeemeeIf someone has a picture or proof, feel free to prove me wrong. I would love for there to be more wildlife inside the Silver Lake reservoir, since the LADWP ruined it, by keeping it empty for 4 months, and then taking away half of the Meadows. (And thanks to Labonge and Garcetti! Spread the bad vibe!)

Dan may very well have seen one in the Park, however.

Photo by permission from  flickr.

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Posted in Creatures | No Comments »

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