Every once in a while, our local news stations does something that drives me crazy. (At least the stations that we generally watch, KTLA and KNBC).
Both stations generally have helicopters with video cameras. Both stations love police chases. Both stations will drop all other coverage of events that are going on in the area and broadcast the chase. This happens all the time.
I think this sort of thing started back in the 90’s with broadcast of the OJ Simpson chase.
This past week such an event occurred. The choppers were hovering over the scene. The perp was out of the car and sitting on someone’s front porch with a gun. The LAPD SWAT team was engaged. Yellow tape was deployed. Black and White police cars were deployed blocking access to the streets. Must have been 20 black and whites plus all the SWAT vehicles. (Your tax dollars at work.)
So what did the guy do? We don’t know. We never found out. KTLA broadcast the entire episode with only two breaks for commercials. If it weren’t for the fact the news was only an hour, the coverage would have lasted until the chopper ran out of gas.
So no weather, no traffic, no sports (not that I give a whit about the Lakers). Just an hours worth of nothing. Of course the weather doesn’t change much every day. (warm and sunny). Once in a long while there might be some rain (couple of days a year.)
Luckily it was recorded on our DVR. So I hit the FF button to do the entire broadcast in five minutes.
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Archive for the ‘Los Angeles’ category
Alleged Local News
March 16, 2015LA Kings 2 – Boston Bruins 0
December 3, 2014Last night Paula and I attended a hockey game between the LA Kings and Boston Bruins at the Staples Center in downtown LA.
We got the tickets as part of an alumni get together event from Northeastern University. The event included a pregame get together in a conference room with other NU Alumni. We had a nice buffet dinner and snacks. Non-Alcoholic drinks were free. There was a cash bar with way over priced drinks ($6 for beer and $12 for mixed drink.
We were greeted by Bill Woodman Director of the NU Fund.
Once the pregame get together was done, we headed for our seats. The Staples Center is a huge place and is easy to get lost in it. Our seats were in the nose bleed section, one row down from the top. Here’s our view from our seats,
The Bruins seemed to not have any offense to speak of. They kept the game close but couldn’t get anything past the Kings’ Goalie. The score was 1-0 throughout most of the game. Kings added an empty netter late in the third period.
What amused me was the amount of entertainment during timeouts and between periods. Halfway through each period a swarm of scantily clad lady ice crew skated out to fix up the ice. I should have brought my binoculars. You can buy a calendar with pictures of the LA Kings Ice Crew. Such a deal.
Then there was the “Dance Cam”. A camera would spot light many fans up on the jumbotron while they showed all of their moves. Then there was one sad looking guy wearing a Bruins cap shown on the jumbotron who was loudly booed by the partisan crowd.
They also had a gimmick where a fan could win a ride on the Zamboni between periods.
Not only were the seats a long way from the action, but they were small and lacked any leg room. My right knee (the one where I had knee replacement surgery a few years ago.) was in constant pain from lack of room to stretch out. Luckily Paula had some ibuprofen for me.
We had a fun time. Though I really hate driving into downtown LA at rush hour. My thanks to Bill and the rest of the Alumni Office back in Boston for making sure that we all received our tickets and had a good time. Here’s the pointer to the Facebook Page for NU Alumni.
I’m looking forward to baseball season for an Angels-Red Sox game.
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Endeavour
September 27, 2014Our son (Neil) is in town to visit for a few days. We were looking for things to do besides eat and drink. We decided to go visit the space shuttle Endeavour up at the California Science Center in downtown LA.
The Endeavour was moved to the California Science Center in October 2012. It was quite an event watching the ship move through the streets of LA from LAX to Science Center in downton LA. Here is the Wikipedia Link. Here is a picture of Endeavour on the launch pad.
Currently the Endeavour is on display in a hangar-sized building at the Science Center. There are plans in place to move it outside and display in launch configuration with booster rockets and fuel tank.
Here are some of the pictures that I took.
I was impressed on how worn the shuttle looked. High mileage indeed.
On the wall in the hangar are posted brief descriptions of all space shuttle missions.
The mounting of the space shuttle is on four massive pylons with earthquake resistant disks.
The engines have been removed from Endeavour and replaced with nacelles. This is a model of one of the engines.
Here’s a picture of the space shuttle toilet. There was a video explaining how it was used.
Mock up of NASA command center.
Where the rubber hits the road (or runway).
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Location:Los Angeles, CA
Home
June 30, 2014Well we made it home yesterday. We started the day with packing our stuff and heading out to the hospital to pick up Mary. First stop was to gas up the rent a car. $3.50 / gallon. So we got to the hospital at about 0930. Paula finished packing up Mary’s suitcase then I signed the final discharge paper work. We gave the nursing and PT staff a box of See’s Candies. The nurse wheeled Mary out to the car. We got her loaded into the car.
Mary says who’s car is this? Rental car we answer. It was a short drive up to SLC International. Nice quiet Sunday morning. Absolutely nothing like LAX. We pulled up to the drop off area for Delta. Nice skycap helped us with our luggage. Gave Mary a seat while we waited for the wheel chair to arrive.
I took off to return the car to the Avis rental return lot. and headed off to Terminal 2. I went through security with little problems. I got an iced coffee at the Starbucks inside the terminal. Then I met up with Paula and Mary at the gate. SLC is a lot smaller and quieter than LAX. The flight was full. These post 9-11 days I never see a flight that is not packed with every seat taken.
The gate agent called Mary’s name so that we could get pre-boarded. We all got on board and settled before the throng came along. One of the benefits of being in first class, is I get a drink as soon as I get seated. The nice stewardess brought me a nice cold gin and tonic. Man it tasted good.
We had an ontime departure and ontime arrival. Nice woman from LAX met us at the gate with another wheel chair. I waited for the walker to be retrieved from the stowed baggage. The woman was very patient waiting for Mary while she went to the Ladies’ room.
By the time we got to the baggage claim, our baggage has arrived. The wheel chair attendant patiently waited while we waited for Mike to arrive from the cell-phone lot.
And finally, a quiet ride home. It sure feels nice to be home.
So now we have to start up her out patient physical therapy and make appointments with her personal care doc and her local orthopedic doc. Meanwhile, I’m off to pick up the mail and do the grocery shopping.
Later…
LAX
June 23, 2014Now I remember why I would rather drive to Salt Lake City. LAX. Daughter in law Theresa drove us to LAX this morning. All went well until we got to the terminals. Creep and beep, stall and crawl, four lanes of traffic doing about 2 mph.
We finally got to terminal 5 for Delta airlines. Got my bag checked. So far so good. Got through security with no problems. I bought an over priced bottle of water for $2.50. Then we headed for the bathrooms. Men’s room was dirty with paper on the floor, one of three urinals stopped up and over flowing. Paula reported that women’s just as bad and worse. Three stalls and line out the door. Paper and sanitary napkins on the floor. What a dump.
Terminal 5 is under construction but still that’s no excuse.
So next we look for some food. All we want is a muffin and cup of coffee. Went to place called Farmer’s Market. No muffins, no scones, yes coffee, but no ice coffee. $13 for two coffees and brownie and pastry. Other restaurants also way over priced. I would be happy with Mickey D’s or BK, not some upscale eatery with high prices and slow service.
They had a display for doggie treats. Paula wanted to get a treat for Beast. Overpriced and under serviced. Had to wait for an eternity to take her money.
Here’s the picture of the doggie stuff. Not worth the wait. Beast ate it but seemed to not care very much.
So finally announced boarding. We had booked first class (I’ll explain that in later post.). So we got on board and the stew brought me a gin and tonic right away. Feeling better already.
So now we are starting descent into SLC after having been properly medicated. Once on the ground, we need to pick up a rent a wreck ( actually the car is pretty nice, new Ford Edge) and off to West Jordan.
Later
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Location:West Jordan,United States
Los Angeles Union Station
March 30, 2014On Saturday, Paula and I did a tour of the Los Angeles Union Station in downtown LA. The trip was sponsored by the nice folks at the San Pedro Historical Society. The actual tour was done by volunteer docents from the LA Conservancy. We had a total of about 36 people that was split into three groups to do the tour. There are so many clocks through out the building to keep you aware of the time.
Here is the view of the main entrance.
The station has two gardens on either side of the station. I was first struck by the awesome view of the towering palm trees. There are many roses, greenery and fountains. Here are a few more pictures.
The architecture is a combination of Art-Deco, Moderne, and Mission Revival. Our docent described it as “Pueblo Deco” architecture. When you arrive at the station you walk through a long tunnel with ceilings about 9.5 ft high. Then you reach the main terminal you are treated with site of arched ceilings with beautiful chandeliers.
The main waiting area has these beautifully restored cushioned seats. At one time they were made of leather. The leather has since been replaced by vinyl. They are very comfortable. You don’t see seats like this at a modern airport.
We visited what was once the main restaurant at the station. The restaurant was run by Fred Harvey. Fred Harvey was an entrepreneur who had developed many restaurants for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. These were among first instances of chain restaurants across the USA. Currently the restaurant has no fixtures, but you can imagine the grandeur that was once there. Notice the marble floors and the wrap-around bar. We were told that the area is available for rental for special functions (weddings, galas and such).
While we’re on the subject of the ATSF railroad, I found an interesting fact. The ATSF railroad never made it to Santa Fe. Apparently the terrain was too difficult. The ATSF railroad was of course made famous by the song of the same name. The song was made famous in the movie “The Harvey Girls“. Here is a You Tube link to Judy Garland singing “On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe” on her TV show.
One more thing. We told the docent that we would like to see some trains. This being a train station afterall. So here are a couple of pictures of some of the trains.
Be sure to follow the many hyper-links through out this post. There is so much to learn about this fascinating place.
TTFN,
Joe
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Location:Los Angeles, CA
Hollywood Park
December 23, 2013After we had lunch on Sunday, we decided to take a ride up to Inglewood to visit Hollywood Park on its last day of operation. Hollywood Park closed after about 75 years of operation, a victim of way too many opportunities to gamble.
So, I asked Paula, expert on all things California, she being a native Californian, “why is it called Hollywood Park, not Inglewood Park?” Her answer was that the park was built by Tom Warner of Warner Bros Studio along with investments by many Hollywood Movie stars of the late 1930’s. So it was named “Hollywood Park”
So we headed up the 110 to Inglewood on a beautiful December day. We arrived late enough so that the ticket takers at the gate weren’t interested in my $20, Woo-Hoo! We arrived in time to watch the 4th race.
We watched the 4th race from down by the winner’s circle where we could see the horses coming onto the track. Picture taking was a challenge. The finish area was in shadow, while most of the track was in bright sun. Then we went up into the grand stands for a better view of the goings on.
It was interesting to watch the many people studying their racing forms trying to intuit who the next winner would be. One man we talked to asked if we were betting? I said, “No, I’d rather throw a $20 bill over the railing.”
So it was 30 minutes of boredom followed by 90 seconds of action. No wonder all the action has moved to the sports book operations at casinos. You don’t even have to go all the way to Las Vegas anymore. So we stayed for about three more races and then headed for the gates. We didn’t want to be stuck in the traffic getting out of there.
So for the price of gas, we had a fun afternoon. No parking fee, no admission fee, no gambling. Done!
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Location:Inglewood, CA
Octoberfest – Los Angeles Style
October 14, 2013We meant to do this last year but never got around to it. So yesterday afternoon we went to the Octoberfest at Alpine Village in Torrance. This has been an annual affair for the last forty some years in Torrance. During the months of September and October, Alpine Village puts on Octoberfest on Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons.
The Sunday afternoon affair is a little bit more family friendly. People bring their entire family from infants to grand parents. The rest of the year Alpine Village runs a restaurant and gift shop. But on the weekends they move to the huge tent. My guess would be that it is the size of a couple football fields.
Get your tickets on line. This will save you waiting in the long line to get in. They encourage appointing someone the designated driver. I was selected for the job yesterday. They put a green wrist strap on you. This gets you all the soda and spring water you can drink for free. People are encouraged to come wearing lederhosen or Bavarian Dirndl dresses.
So we loaded Mary K and Paula into the Jeep and picked up Mike up in RPV. And off we went. We had some sausage and bratwurst for lunch along with the usual sides like sauerkraut and potato salad. Tables are rugged picnic tables capable of supporting a tuba player in addition to the food and beer. So Mike lines up for the beer while Paula, Mary K and I line up for food. Lots of fun;
Here are some pictures:
calherewecome 