Another list of things long gone - Part II

During my senior year at Samohi I moved from my mother's apartment in Santa Monica to my father's apartment in West Hollywood.  It meant more privacy and privileges and I was tired of being a "caretaker" to my younger siblings.  It also introduced me to a restaurant that I spent many mornings at before school.

Some people think I'm a creature of habit, routine and patterns.  My late father makes me look like a wildly disorganized person in comparison.  While his company's offices were on N. Westmount Drive in West Hollywood, he would eat breakfast every weekday morning (and many weekend mornings as well) at an upscale place called "Nibblers" in Beverly Hills.  It was a nice place in the ground floor of an office building on Wilshire.  He would pay for breakfast as long as I showed up before he left.  Then I could stay after he was gone to finish whatever I had ordered.  He said I could order anything I wanted (I was once tempted to order a New York Steak and Eggs, but never summoned the guts).  In 2006 I took a job in that very same office building and was hoping to once again eat at Nibblers.  Sadly it had closed.  Something else is there now.

Not far from there is a weird intersection where Melrose crosses La Cienega and there is a third street going off to the side on the Southeast corner.  That was once the home of The Melting Pot, a great place that served "nontraditional" type cuisine, some organic and some just done in a very new age way.  It was always delicious and the service was always fantastic.

I never had the chili at Chasen's but I did eat there a couple of times.  Only when dad was footing the bill, it wasn't something within my usual price range during high school or while I was in the military.  I wasn't star-struck by the location and its decor but it was very interesting and they had a pretty good steak.

At the "mouth" of the Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade, where Broadway crosses 3rd, there were two great restaurants I frequented during the 1990s.  I took a lot of first dates to the Broadway Bar and Grill on the West side of the Promenade.  Great food, decent service and a heated patio that was usable even on the coldest of date nights for ambience.

Across the "street" was the Broadway Deli.  A bit pricey but excellent deli fare.  Often visited post-movie for a late supper to discuss the film.

I went once to Killer Shrimp on Washington Boulevard, not far from the Venice Pier.  I'm sure the food was great for most, but I was not aware that everything was well "spiced" and I happen to be more than mildly allergic to many forms of pepper and at least mildly allergic to all of them.  I had the shrimp with angel hair pasta and it was burning my throat and nose after the first couple of bites.  I gamely finished my dinner and then excused myself for a trip to the ER for some antihistamines.

During the two or three months my 2nd wife and I lived in Santa Monica with my former step-sister, we would often go to the Sizzler on Wilshire between 20th and 21st.  I mention it only because I drove by one day and found it was closed.  I'd never seen a Sizzler close before.  I've since seen a few others.  One was in Manhattan Beach, also a favorite of the 2nd wife's.  It was an Italian place for awhile and I think it now houses a second location for Versailles.  There was also one in the Marina del Rey area that's long gone.

Speaking of chains, there was a Pup N' Taco on Santa Monica, between 16th and 17th for years.  It was sold to Taco Bell in 1984 and was soon gone.  It was a great place to go when sneaking off-campus at lunch at Lincoln Jr. High (much easier in those pre-fence days) to grab a quick dog and rush back to class to avoid a tardy.

There used to be a Jolly Roger restaurant at 707 N. Sepulveda Boulevard.  The ex and I went there occasionally after moving to El Segundo and it was good.  Then it closed and would eventually become one of my all-time favorite restaurants in the L.A. area or anywhere.  The Stick and Stein was my second home from 1994 or 1995 until I got sick in 2010.  It closed in 2011.  By the way, if you happen across a first person account written by the location's former magician, he decided to change my name to "Eddie".  I was the one who sat in the counter seat closest to the television and yes, I would be a bit huffy if someone was sitting in "my" seat.  But I never asked anyone to actually leave.  I did on occasion ask a person how much longer they would be staying.  If they were going to be there for an extended period, I'd sit elsewhere.  Often, when my seat was in use, the wonderful staff would seat me in an otherwise closed room, give me the remote for the big TV in there and check on me regularly.  I never met a person who worked there who didn't give good service.  Some of the former employees now work at another El Segundo Sports Bar/Restaurant.  I just don't get down that way much.  Oh, and in spite of what the first person piece author wrote, I didn't have a series of heart attacks.  At least not yet (fingers crossed).

Anthony's was an Italian place on Main Street in El Segundo that's now home to a Gene Simmons-owned place.  Back then it was known for the outdoor patio and the live music that would be played there on Friday and Saturday nights.  The food was only okay and same for the service.  But it was fun to go there and eat, and listen to the bands.

Last restaurant for this segment was also in El Segundo.  In fact it was next door to The Stick and Stein and George, owner of the Stick used to get incensed if anyone would park in his lot and then go eat at Woody's.  Woody's was a tiny little place but I ate there on occasion and it also served one other very useful purpose.  Until a Carl's Junior was built across the side street to the South of the Stick, the men's room at Woody's had the only men's room within walking distance that had a stall.  The crowds at the Stick were far too outsized to have a men's room with only one stall and two urinals.  The line would often be out the door and down the hall during major sporting events.  On Superbowl Sunday, you would go at home and try to sneak in when the action stops for just a moment.  Or run over to Woody's.

Michele Bachman does something smart and other headlines

In a surprising announcement, Minnesota's Michele Bachman announced that she will not seek reelection to Congress in 2014.  First smart thing she's done this decade.  Good for her.  Now about that probe into her campaign finances...

A 22 year old employee of Disneyland has been arrested in connection with the dry-ice bomb that went off in ToonTown, causing that part of the park to be evacuated for two hours.  No motive was disclosed.

France's first same-sex wedding takes place today, not long after the nation's President legalized such unions.  A large crowd, including a government minister, is expected.

A new study shows that in 40% of U.S. households with children under the age of 18, the mother is the top or sole breadwinner.

The driver of the car in which five teens died in a fiery crash in Newport Beach on Memorial Day, did not have a valid driver's license.  His provisional license had been been suspended when he was cited for a violation in April.

When James Lipton applied to become host of "The Actors Studio" on Bravo, one job was missing from his resume.  But he has now confessed that back in the 1950s (he is 86), he worked in Paris as a pimp.  Wonder how many of the people he has interviewed over the years were once clients of Heidi Fleiss?

Adam Levine from Maroon 5 doesn't hate American.  He did say "I hate this country" on his show "The Voice", but he was referring to those who live in the U.S. who didn't vote for his singers.  An easily prevented misunderstanding but easy to forgive.

A number of churches that were once sponsors of Boy Scout troops have announced that they will be severing their ties with Scouting now that gays will be allowed to join the Boy Scouts.

Courtney Cox has finalized her divorce to David Arquette.  They split in October of 2010 but have just now finalized the divorce.

Bruce Willis has listed his Beverly Hills mansion for sale for the low, low price of $22 million.

Actor Rick Schroeder has revealed that he had a huge teen "crush" on his "Silver Spoons" co-star, Erin Gray.  In other shocking news, the sun will rise again tomorrow at its regularly scheduled time.

In Longwood, FL, banks have imposed a dress code in an effort to cut down on bank robberies.  There are signs that say "Please remove hat, sunglasses and hoods before entering".

In an Italian library, the oldest known scrolls that constitute a complete Torah were found.  They date back to the 1100s.

The NCAA has ordered a female varsity golfer at a WCC university to reimburse the university in the amount of $20, for having used university water and a hose to wash her car.  Since the hose and water weren't available to non-athletes, it constituted a technical violation which the university self-reported.  The late Chick Hearn would have called this "ticky-tack".

Chivas USA is a youth soccer team that is being sued by two of its former coaches who claim they were fired because they aren't Mexican.

Kate Upton is up in arms because Victoria's Secret used photos of her taken in 2011 after a booker for the lingerie retailer/catalogue firm said they would never use her.  The photos appear on the latest catalogue's back cover.

Warren Buffett has ponied up $5.6 billion to buy NV Energy.  Meanwhile, Shuanghai International Holdings Inc., a Chinese company has bought Smithfield Foods for $4.72 billion.  This represents the largest purchase of a U.S. firm by a Chinese firm, to date.

Apparently for Patrick Stewart, "space" is not the final frontier.  A slice of NY pizza, correctly folded while eaten was.  The 72 year old actor tweeted a photo of what he says is his first ever slice of pizza.

A 73 year old man who suffers from dementia had been missing for 14 hours when TV reporter Norm Karkos was doing an update story on his disappearance in front of his home.  A man walked into the shot and it turned out to be the missing man.

Family Ties star Justine Bateman is 47 years old, and is currently a freshman at UCLA.  She is blogging about her experiences.

China plans a new export.  Baijiu is a 110 proof liquor, is flammable, smells like fuel, tastes like paint thinner and is the most popular "spirit" sold in the world.  Now there are some who want to export it to the rest of the world.  None for me thanks.

Threatening notes that apparently contained the deadly poison ricin were sent to New York City's major Michael Bloomberg.  Angry large soda drinker perhaps?

Former Lakers star and Clippers GM Elgin Baylor is auctioning off a large amount of his basketball memorabilia.  Included in the auction will be his NBA World Championship ring from 1971/72.  He denies this move stems from any financial problems, but one can't help but wonder.  We know he made next to nothing during his time in the NBA and Donald Stirling was not the most generous of men when it came to his front office people during Baylor's tenure with the Clippers.

Am I a bad person??

Last night I stopped on the way home to pick something up.  Inside the store I was asked by a man for "some help".  At first glance I thought he would ask for money but that wasn't it.  He had a piece of paper that contained directions from Google Maps to an address that I eventually determined was about ten blocks from where we were.  I told him how to walk there.  His direction sheet showed how he'd taken the bus to try to get to the address on the page.  He said he was running late for his first night at work at his new job.  I repeated how to get there and then I left.

Now where he was going was on my way home.  I could have easily offered him a ride.  It would have been generous of me, but would it have been prudent?  I didn't do it because I felt it was too big a risk.  It was ten at night.  The piece of paper was worn, as if he'd had it folded up in his pocket for days, not hours.  Am I a bad person for being suspicious?  Am I a bad person for not being generous?  Was I guilty of profiling, racial, gender or otherwise?

I don't know if I was a bad person, but I know it wasn't a case of profiling.  I'd be suspicious of anyone dressed like that for their first night of work.  Even if it was a gorgeous young woman I would not have offered a ride.  I don't think it makes me a bad person.  It just makes me overly cautious.  At least that's what I think.

* * * * *

"Smash" was an NBC TV series that was about writing, producing and staging a musical on Broadway.  It was a good idea that was very poorly executed.  In the series finale, someone somewhere screwed the pooch and badly.  Anjelica Huston was the show's marquee star.  An Academy Award winning actress.  In that final episode, in the credits Ms Huston's name was spelled as "Angelica Huston".  It boggles the mind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNnB0GbFcn8

That's video of a pizza delivery driver committing the ultimate no-no.  Picking the toppings off of the pizza he's delivering.  Since this video is from Russia, I hope he wasn't delivering to the local leader of the Russian Mob.  He wouldn't take kindly to having his pizza picked over.

Is participation in varsity sports at the high school level a right or a privilege?  In NJ, a father is suing the track coach, the principal, the superintendent and the school board because his son was booted off of the track team.  The son did miss practice sessions but they were caused by an injury and a death in the family, so calling them "unexcused" sounds a bit harsh.  There's more to this, involving who was allowed to compete and allegations that the son was the fastest member of the team but was held out of races in favor of seniors who might well be running their last races.

I tried out for several varsity sports teams in high school and didn't make the team.  I didn't go out and file a lawsuit.  I made the varsity in a sport but almost never competed in league competition.  I didn't go out and sue.  In the military, "varsity" indicates the level of competition where one base's team competes against a team or teams from other bases.  I was a varsity athlete at that level in two different sports and made a varsity team in a third, although I had to leave the team because of work requirements.  So I feel moderately qualified to opine on this.

Making a varsity team and being allowed to represent one's institution is a privilege, not a right.  Little League may have rules requiring all players to get playing time, but that isn't the case with varsity sports.  You make the team based on ability, or at least on the coach's perception of your ability.  Coaches should have wide latitude in choosing who to play.  As long as the choice doesn't involve illegal discrimination, a coach is the best person to determine who makes the team and who is in the lineup.  I hope this lawsuit is quickly dismissed.

I laugh whenever I read about Keyshawn Johnson chasing Justin Bieber down to take him to task for speeding through their residential neighborhood.  I tried to find a metaphor to illustrate the message that Johnson might have been trying to send and thought of this:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnSAAVuEob8 The last two lines seem to say what Johnson's message is, and how Bieber SHOULD be reacting.

This Date in History:

On this date in 1328, Philip VI is crowned King of France.
On this date in 1453, Constantinople falls, ending the Byzantine Empire.
On this date in 1727, Peter II becomes Tsar of Russia.
On this date in 1790, Rhode Island becomes the 13th and last of the original colonies to ratify the Constitution.
On this date in 1848, Wisconsin is admitted as the 30th state.
On this date in 1886, pharmacist John Pemberton places his first ad for Coca-Cola, in The Atlanta Journal.
On this date in 1931, Michele Schirru, a U.S. citizen, is executed by firing squad in Italy for plotting to kill Benito Mussolini.
On this date in 1942, Bing Crosby records "White Christmas", best-selling Christmas single in history.
On this date in 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reach the summit of Mt. Everest.
On this date in 1973, Tom Bradley is elected Mayor of Los Angeles, first black ever elected to that office.
On this date in 1988, President Ronald Reagan begins his first visit to the Soviet Union.

Famous Folk Born On This Date:

Patrick Henry
Max Brand
Bob Hope
Stacy Keach, Sr.
John F. Kennedy
Al Unser
Danny Elfman
LaToya and Rebbie Jackson (six years apart, but on same date)
Annette Benning
Rupert Everett
Melissa Etheridge
Hornswaggle (he'll need a small cake)

Movie Quote(s) of the Day today come from the brilliant 1970 film "M*A*S*H":

[a gun goes off at the football game]
Hotlips O'Houlihan: Oh my God! They've shot him.
Colonel Blake: Hot Lips, you incredible nincompoop. It's the end of the quarter.

#2

Painless: [lining up during football game] All right, Bub, your fuckin' head is coming right off.
[the first use of the word "fuck" in a major motion picture]

Hard to believe and other headlines

Believe it or not, later on this summer you can get tickets to a live taping (is that like jumbo shrimp or military intelligence??) of 23rd season episodes of the Jerry Springer Show.  So that would make the episode that aired today claiming to be the 21st anniversary episode a rerun.  Doesn't matter, an episode of Springer is always guaranteed to provide laughs, boxing ring bells sounding off when people fight and an audience of young people chanting "Jerry, Jerry, Jerry".

Chaminade Prep was locked down for awhile today because someone mistook a tripod for a rifle.  They called LAPD who responded immediately. 

Doctors at CA state psychiatric hospitals are saying that the shortage of psychiatrists is approaching a level that is seriously compromising patient care.  At one state hospitals, the "shrinks" there are covering patient loads four times higher than the standard.  Not a good time to have a breakdown.

Secret files kept by Catholic orders on priests who were accused of molesting children will be released to the public by September, according to attorneys.  At a hearing on Tuesday, a L.A. Superior Court judge said the orders must release the files by then.

Liberty Reserve, a large digital currency company has been indicted for being involved in a $6 billion international money laundering scheme.  Prosecutors claim that there were 55 million illegal transaction in the case and more than 1 million users involved worldwide.

Dr. Lewis Yocum has died of liver cancer at the age of 65.  He'd been the team doctor for the Anaheim Angels for more than 30 years and was a renowned orthopedic surgeon who was an associate at the famed Kerlan-Jobe Clinic.

Stacey Keibler, currently best known as George Clooney's girlfriend was at the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Monaco.  The good news was she looked great in a red romper.  The bad news is she was posing for photographers in it while it was partly unzipped.

Jimmy Buffett's song "Margaritaville" only hit #8 on the charts, but it has become one of the most profitable songs in history.  Maybe that has something to do with the newest "Margaritaville" restaurant/casino/retail spot that just opened in Atlantic City.  It is the company's 27th location, and they include two U.S. resorts, one in the Caribbean and four casinos.  Not bad for 208 word, three chord song that couldn't crack the top 5.

What would you do if your child "borrowed" your credit card to go out for a night of drinking?  When they were only 16?  And when they ran up a bar tab of over $54,000?  Well, in this case that occurred in Kyoto, Japan, a court has ruled that the father is only liable for 800,000 of the 5.5 million yen bill his son ran up at a "hostess" bar, drinking wine, whiskey and beer.  No word on what dad did to the son.

Did you do a double-take while driving down the 405?  No, you didn't see a JC Penney's ad with a likeness of Adolf Hitler on it.  That was a teakettle that just looks a little like Hitler.

For Denise Garrido it was a dream come true.  A fairy-tale happy ending.  She was crowned Miss Universe-Canada. Then the following day, it was uncovered that she wasn't the actual winner; an error had been made in tabulating the scores.  She was stripped of the crown and it was awarded to the "rightful" winner, Riza Santos.  Ms Garrido has shown nothing but poise and grace in handling the situation.

Kenny Rackers is an Army veteran.  He is also the first American to ever win the historic Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling contest.  Good for him.

When your cat has been missing for more than ten years, you don't expect to get a call saying someone has found it.  But that's just what happened recently to a California woman.  Her cat Dallas had been gone for 13 years, but his microchip was still there and it led to cat and human being reunited.

Chief Keef is a 17 year old rapper who just got busted for the second time in one week.  First came the pot bust in an Atlanta hotel and now he was stopped for allegedly going 110 mph in a 55 mph zone in Illinois.  Worse yet, he had three passengers in the car and his permit only allows him to have one passenger in the car with him.

Eric Dickerson says that Keyshawn Johnson has it right, Justin Beiber is a speeding menace in the gated community where they all live.

Another list of things long gone - Part I

I know this one will take awhile.  Restaurants that I really enjoyed eating at, that no longer exist.  The first and foremost can be found only in a few old relics among my family members, a sign that was rusting away last time I was in the Santa Monica Canyon and in the photo I use as my profile photo on Facebook.  Ted's Grill, located at 146 Entrada Drive.  It was opened in 1927 by Ted and Mabel Pemberton and purchased by my grandfather in the late 1930s or early 1940.  His name wasn't Ted, but since the name was already so well-known, he didn't change it.  Years later, people would call him Ted and he wouldn't correct them.   Tuesday night was fried chicken night and it was wonderful.  The steaks and seafood were excellent and my grandfather made amazing clam chowder and lemon meringue pies.  The place closed in 1975 when the owner of the land wouldn't renew the lease.

In the area where there is now a big supermarket and Big 5 store, on Wilshire at Franklin there was once a restaurant called Friar Tuck's.  I think there was another in the shopping center at Ocean Park Boulevard and Lincoln as well.  They made great burgers and fries.  I don't know when it closed.

Right across the street was a restaurant I was going to before I was old enough to eat solid food.  Uncle John's Pancake House was a place that my father took me before my first birthday.  He'd set the carrier with me in it on the table and sit there on a Sunday morning and read the entire L.A. Times from cover to cover.  He started taking me there as far back as I can remember.  They made pineapple pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes and Dad's favorite, pigs in a blanket.  When I first moved to Las Vegas there was one there as well, but there aren't any left anywhere near the L.A. area as far as I know.

LaBarbera's was a great Italian restaurant that I went to for years before discovering it was owned by the family of a classmate.  Loved the pizza.

The Norm's on Lincoln and Colorado closed earlier this month.  I ate there as a kid, and again as an adult when I was working in Santa Monica.  It was the one place where I liked eating tilapia.  Their lunch special was good.  It was near another place...

The Penguin, just a few blocks to the South where Lincoln and Olympic Boulevard intersect.  The sign in the shape of a penguin is still there but it's a dental office now.  It was my second wife's absolute favorite place to have a weekend breakfast.  Even once we moved to El Segundo, we'd still make the drive to Santa Monica to enjoy breakfast there.

When I was a teen, and again when I lived in Santa Monica as an adult, if I wanted a good burger/fries/salad combo, I'd head for the old Bob's Big Boy at Yale and Santa Monica.  The parking was sometimes challenging and so was getting a table at peak periods.  But the Big Boy burger combo made it worth the struggle.  It's gone through one or two incarnations since then.

It was the best late night place in town.  It was the best deli on the Westside, and maybe even in a wider radius.  It's been closed for over 20 years now, and only the sign and the memories remain.  Zucky's was in a word, awesome.  I always found the food and service first rate, and I was shocked at its sudden closing 20 years ago this past February.

Fratello's was another Italian place which I visited as both teen and adult.  I've never been a big fan of osso buco myself, but friends I dined there with raved about theirs.  In the 1990s, a friend became the karaoke hostess there, and so I'd go regularly to support her show.  To sing the night away while sipping on diet soda and water.  Good times. 

At the corner of 9th and Wilshire were two eateries that I loved in my youth.  A&W Root Beer was a place we'd often walk to from the Boy's Club to grab a burger and root beer.  Diagonally across the street was The Great American Food and Beverage Company.  Their "planked feast" was a ton of food served on a real wooden plank.  It was too much for even two people to eat.  They also served a gigantic ice cream dessert.  Katey Segal sang there before making it big, and Paul Scarne, nephew of the legendary magician Paul Scarne did close-up magic there.  I actually took magic lessons from him for awhile, but didn't stick with it.  However he was an excellent teacher and to this day, the one illusion I wanted to learn is one I can still do. 

Two blocks away was The Broken Drum, whose slogan was of course, "you can't beat it".  It was a regular stop in my days at a youngster at the Boy's Club.

Over on Santa Monica Boulevard, between 3rd and 4th Streets was the best place to get a hot dog at a sit-down restaurant.  Lum's had outstanding hot dogs.  Always great, always fast. 

I recall three locations of Hamburger Hamlet that I would go to, one in Brentwood on San Vicente, one in Westwood and one on Sepulveda, near National.  Great burgers, great steaks, great steak fries.  In the early 2000s, I used to meet a friend there to eat dinner in the bar as we watched Lakers' playoff games.

The Santa Monica location of The Pacific Dining Car, a wonderful steak emporium was once the home to Sir George's Smorgasboard, an all you can eat buffet that was a hungry kid's delight.

In the early/mid 1990s, I went to a lot of "gatherings" that were held at Flakey Jake's on Sepulveda at Pico.  A computer bulletin board system that I was a member of held monthly (bi-monthly sometimes) gatherings there.  Food was only okay, but great ambience and great place for a big group to gather.

Further North on Sepulveda was Victoria Station, in what looked like an actual railroad dining car.  That location closed before the one near Universal Studios, where I last dined on one of their excellent prime rib dinners one night in the mid 1990s.  My ex-girlfriend and I were going to see James Taylor in concert that night at the Universal Amphitheater and in return for her providing the tickets, I bought dinner.

Speaking of prime rib, the last stop on the first part of this tour down restaurant memory lane served some of the biggest prime rib portions I've ever seen.  They also had a salad dressing that got me to stop choosing my usual favorite of Italian dressing or back-up of French dressing.  Tractons, on La Cienega near Rodeo Road, had this amazing green goddess dressing for their salads.  The prime rib wasn't just huge, it was tasty too.

I didn't want to get up this morning...

Last night I was watching "Where Eagles Dare", a great war film, even though it was first released in 1969.  Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood were just dynamic in this adaptation of Alistair MacLean's terrific novel.  "Ice Station Zebra" and "The Guns of Navarone" are two of his other books that became excellent films.  So when it ended at 11:30, I figured I'd just go to sleep then.  But then "Uncommon Valor" came on and I had to watch at least to the point where Randall "Tex" Cobb gives a very young Patrick Swazye the "whole can of whup-ass".  At that point I was hooked.  So I was up way too late and even though I slept 30 minutes later than usual, I still didn't want to get up.  You can't catch up on lost sleep.  The equation never balances.

Congress seems to be going out of its way to put the U.S. Postal Service out of business.  Requiring them to pre-fund retiree health benefits 50 years in advance, refusing to allow service to be eliminated on Saturdays, slowing the rate of increases in the postage rates and more have resulted in the USPS losing $25 million.  Every single day.  Either was need a post office or we don't.  But Congress needs to fix the problems, or get the heck out of the way.  You can't privatize this service.  FedEx and UPS will not provide service to rural Americans at a fair price.

Kudos to a clever Burger King employee in Stockton.  Seeing two armed men robbing the Burger King where he works, one of the employees snuck out the back door.  He found the idling getaway car there, and quickly drove it away.  When the thieves found out that their ride was gone, they ran and hid nearby where they were arrested in short order.  Nice work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVXmMMSo47s

At 2:30 of this great Kinks song is the lyric, "...girls will be boys and boys will be girls..." and that's what happened at an elementary school in Milwaukee.  At least that is what was supposed to happen on "Gender Bender Day", which was later renamed "Switch It Up Day" after parent complaints started coming in.  A lot of parents didn't like the idea.  It was voluntary and something the kids had come up with themselves.  In the end, there wasn't a single student switching it up on the appointed day, although some teachers and staffers did.  A fun idea shot down by parents wanting to make political statements.  For those of you parents who thought that letting your boy or girl go to school for one day in clothing of the opposite gender would "mess them up mentally", you should have the word "CLUELESS" tattooed on your foreheads.

Apparently the state court system in New York isn't busy enough already, it is now having to determine if assistant managers at Starbucks who serve customers and thusly add to the tip jars on the counter by that work should continue to be denied a share of the tips.  When you don't hire and fire, and you do the same work as the servers, you should get at least a proportional share of the tips.  Hope the court agrees.

During a concert in Copenhagen, Beyonce got up close and personal with the fans in attendance.  One of them did what many of her fans would like to do, slapping her on the rear end.  Now if it had been Rihanna, some of the copious amount of fans she had disappointed in the last few months with her being late and treating them rudely, the fan might have slapped her elsewhere.  Not me of course, I would never hit a woman.  First.  I do reserve the right to defend myself if attacked, but I'd make every effort to do so without having to hit a woman.  Now where did I put that taser and mace?  J/K.

Will someone help NY Mets announcer Keith Hernandez take his foot out of his mouth?  On Memorial Day, when a batter had his bat sawed off during the Mets vs Yankees game.  Hernandez described the piece of the broken bat lying in the infield as a "dead soldier".  That's a term that's been in use for a very long time to describe such busted lumber, but the timing was wrong.  Perhaps it is time to just retire that term altogether.

Investors may find themselves shifting their money from mutual funds into directly held stocks and bonds because of the tax increases that begin this year under "Obamacare".  Because the capital gains tax rate is going up, those who hold mutual funds will find the gains on shares sold by the fund taxed on their individual return, even if they themselves sold no shares.

This Date in History:

On this date in 1503, James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor are married by Papal Bull.  A treaty of everlasting peace between Scotland and England is signed.  It will only last ten years.
On this date in 1588, the Spanish Armada begins departing for the English Channel (it will take until May 30th for all ships to leave port).
On this date in 1830, President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Relocation Act, relocating Native Americans.
On this date in 1892, John Muir organizes the Sierra Club.
On this date in 1934, the Dionne quintuplets are born, first quints to survive past infancy.  Two of them survive to this day.
On this date in 1942, Germany retaliates against the Czech people for the assassination of Heydrich by murdering more than 1,800 people.
On this date in 1952, women in Greece are given the right to vote.
On this date in 1987, 19 year old Mathias Rust manages to evade the air defenses of the Soviet Union and lands his private plane in Red Square.

Famous Folk Born on This Date:

Jim Thorpe
Richard Reti
Ian Fleming
T-Bone Walker
"Papa" John Creach
Betty Shabazz
Jerry West
Maeve Binchy
Beth Howland
Rudy Guliani
Gladys Knight
Billy Vera
Patch Adams
John Fogerty
Sondra Locke
Kamala
Kirk Gibson
Ben Howland
Brandon Cruz
Armen Gilliam (gone too soon, RIP)
Glen Rice
Kylie Minogue
Marco Rubio
Ekaterina Gordeeva
Elizabeth Hasselbeck
Jesse Bradford
Colbie Caillat
Carey Mulligan

Today's movie quote comes from the brilliant war film, "The Dirty Dozen", with an all-star cast that included Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, George Kennedy, Robert Ryan, Trini Lopez and Jim Brown:

Major John Reisman: You've seen a general inspecting troops before haven't you? Just walk slow, act dumb and look stupid!

#2

Major John Reisman: [briefing the dozen] And kill any officer in sight.
Victor R. Franko: Ours or theirs?

#3

Major John Reisman: Which one of you guys wants to be a general?
[to Pinkley]
Major John Reisman: Pinkley?
Pinkley: What kind of general, sir?
Major John Reisman: Just a plain, ordinary, every day, home-lovin' American general.
Pinkley: I'd rather be a civilian, sir.

The headlines on Memorial Day

Senator Daniel Inoyue was a Democrat who represented Hawaii in the U.S. Senate.  He died last December after spending nearly 50 years as a Senator.  Beginning in 1987, he would annually introduce a measure into the Senate, moving the Memorial Day holiday back to its traditional date.  This will be the first year in over a quarter-century that this measure will not be introduced, by him.  Some feel the holiday loses some of its meaning by making it a holiday weekend.

Last night HBO premiered "Behind the Candelabra" a movie about Liberace's life.  Today the L.A. Times ran an article about the entertainer's five performances at the Hollywood Bowl.  Oh, and Memorable Entertainment TV also remembered the entertainer this weekend, running his guest-star episodes on TV's "Batman" Saturday night.

Also in the Times today is an editorial calling on the military and society to do something about the rise in suicide among military personnel and veterans.  A report shows that an average of 22 veterans committed suicide each day in 2010.

How did Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone celebrate his 90th birthday today?  It may have involved counting his money.  In the last six months, his net worth has risen by almost $1 billion.

A survey in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine shows that patients who had a voice in the choices made in their treatment end up paying higher bills. 

L.A.'s mayor-elect Eric Garcetti says he has no problem if the voters of California decided to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

Amanda Bynes now says she's suing everyone involved in her arrest and plans to "get into shape and become a rapper".  She's also claiming to be allergic to drugs and alcohol.  She certainly seems to ingest a lot of stuff she's allergic to.  Perhaps her anaphylactic reaction to these substances is to lose large amounts of brain cells.

In what is certain to do nothing but enflame its members, a Turkish government official said that Hezbollah (which means Party of God) should change its name to Party of Satan.

In Australia, a nurse pled guilty to murdering 11 elderly residents of a nursing home by setting fire to it.

The mayor of Osaka, Japan has apologized for suggesting that U.S. military personnel in his country should use the adult entertainment industry more frequently to relieve sexual frustration and aggression; but he did not back down from comments he made, justifying the Japanese military's use of forced prostitution during WWII.

Will Chris Brown go to jail because he wouldn't cooperate with the drivers of other cars his car struck in an accident?  Reports are that he left without disclosing his proper driver license and insurance information, which might create a "hit and run" situation.  Since he's on probation, if he's charged with hit and run, that would be a probation violation. 

Forbes Magazine listed "hot dog vendor" as one of a number of odd jobs that provide surprisingly good annual earnings, saying the top vendors earn over $100,000.

Lena Dunham is taking flak for a Tweet she sent out mentioning both Memorial Day and peeing.  A word of advice to those who have a real problem with this.  If you don't like what someone says, don't follow them on Twitter.  It really isn't that hard.

Major kudos to Robert Griffin III and his fiancee for sending a handwritten thank you note to at least one pair of Washington Redskin fans who sent the couple a wedding gift, even though they weren't invited to the wedding.

Another list of things long gone - Part IV

The fourth and final installment in the list of theaters I saw movies at, where the theater no longer exists.  This edition is for theaters outside of the Southern California area.

In 1978, I was stationed at Homestead Air Force Base in Florida.  It still exists, albeit in a different form.  Most of the base was destroyed by a hurricane.  Now it's a Reserve base.  I'm told the base theater, where I saw many low price movies on weekend nights is long gone.  I believe I saw "Grease" there in 1979.

In downtown Homestead, there was a Wometco Triplex that was later expanded to six screens.  A friend of mine and I went there to see the first local showing of "Rocky Horror Picture Show" at a midnight showing.  I shouted at the first appropriate moment, for someone who'd attended this movie at the Tiffany Theater more than once, and I was the only one to do so.  Needless to say I got a lot of stares.  I did not shout again that evening.

I took a girl I was dating during my time in Florida to the Breezeway Drive-In in Homestead on several occasions.  She liked drive-ins because the car I drove at the time permitted her to slide all the way over to my side for...appropriate body contact.

We also went to the Dixie Drive-in on South Dixie Highway once before it closed in 1978.

When I lived in South Florida, there was a mall known as Cutler Ridge.  It was the closest large shopping center to the base and at the time it had a twin theater.  I saw "The Deer Hunter" and "Dawn of the Dead" among other movies there.

The Movies of Kendall was a twin-theater not too far from Don Carter's Kendall Lanes, where I bowled league two or three nights a week during my time in Florida.  I have vivid memories of seeing two movies there, "Apocalypse Now" and "Dreamer", a movie where Tim Matheson played a bowler who dreamed of joining the Professional Bowler's Tour.

The Kendall Mall Twin was very near the really big mall in South Miami, Dadeland.  Dadeland was gigantic.  I think there are still five anchor department stores there.  The movie that really stands out in my mind that I saw at the Mall Twin was on May 21, 1980.  I stood for three hours in a rainstorm (it wasn't raining too hard) without an umbrella because I wanted to be first in line to see "The Empire Strikes Back".  Until I was victimized by a break-in at a mover's warehouse in 1985, I still had the ticket stub with 0001 on it from that show.

The Kendall Lakes Triple was another multiplex that sprang up as the Kendall area grew like a weed during the late 1970s.  I saw several films there on night after taking classes at Miami-Dade Community College's South Campus.

The Regency was further away, but it was worth going to because it showed second run features at low prices.  Saw "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" there a second time.

I went from Homestead to Andersen AFB, Guam.  The two theaters on the base, one indoor and one outdoor but not a drive-in are still there and in operation.  I include them only because I saw so many movies there in 1980/81.  Among the movies I saw at one or the other of those two theaters are "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "For Your Eyes Only" and "Up in Smoke".  We were hoping "Stripes" would make it there but it hadn't by the time by the time I left.

There was a duplex in Guam's capital city of Agana that is no longer there, although its name escapes me.  I remember going there to see a Jackie Chan film in 1981 but going to the wrong auditorium and ended up seeing "The Howling".  To this date it is the only horror film that ever scared me, probably because I wasn't expecting it.

Biloxi, Mississippi was my next stop, for roughly 2 and a 1/3rd years at Keesler Air Force Base.  There were two theaters on the base.  One in the main base area and the other in the student area.  I suspect both are there, although the base's website has no current information for them and the last "movie schedule" on that site is from 2011.

There was a fourplex called the Surfside Cinema, alongside Highway 90, famous for having been the road that Jayne Mansfield was riding on when she was killed in a car accident.  I remember it very well because I stood in a long line there on the opening day for "Return of the Jedi".  Again, I took a day off of work and was the very first person in line.

The Sand Theater was in nearby Gulfport and was a second-run house when I was stationed there.  Saw several early 80s films there in 1983 and 1984.  Saw "Tron" and "Porky's" there, both second viewings.

Edgewater Plaza was Biloxi's biggest shopping mall at the time and it had a weird movie theater setup.  There was one building with two screens outside in the mall's parking lot, and one theater inside the mall, also with two screens.  I took a date to see "Reds" in the outside theater and she fell asleep during the film.

I left that post in 1984 and it was off to South Korea, to Kwang-Ju AB.  Most of my movie watching during my year there was on the base's closed-circuit cable network where movies on VHS tapes were broadcast 24/7 by the base fire department.  There was a rundown AAFES theater on base, which I'm told still stands but isn't in operation.  I saw a few movies there in early 1985.

My last assignment in the military was Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.  Strangely enough, I did not see a single movie at the theater on base.  There were just too many movie theaters in the city, and I did not live on base anyway.  The Huntridge Performing Arts Theate was only ten minutes away from my apartment and operated during my entire stay in Vegas.  It was a twin theater when I was there and I saw many films there.

Most of the theaters in town were Syufy theaters.  Eventually they would become part of the Century Theater Chain.  They had a location on Desert Inn, another on West Charleston and two more whose locations I can't recall at the moment.  During my time working part-time at KMZQ-FM, we had a promotion called "Klassy 100 Night at the Movies", where we would give listeners passes to a Tuesday night showing of any film playing at any Syufy location. 

In 1986, the Gold Coast Hotel/Casino opened.  A few months after the grand opening, they opened a new attraction, a twin-theater.  I saw "RoboCop" there.  They had the best movie popcorn in town.  It is now closed, and there's a big multiplex across the street at the Palms.

Although this theater is still open, I'll mention it because I believe it was the last movie I saw in Las Vegas.  In 1999, I was there for a weekend and I went to the UA Showcase right next to the MGM Grand and saw a late night showing of "The Matrix".

This wraps up my tour of old movie theaters.

Remembering the fallen

It's Memorial Day and I am sitting here remembering those I served with who died while on active duty.  A pilot who couldn't eject from his jet while on a training mission over the Yellow Sea.  Two guys who were just swimming at the on-base beach after a 12 hour shift, who went beyond the rope and were never seen again.  A young airman killed by a drunk driver while on the way to his duty assignment one morning.

In my mind, anyone who dies while wearing our nation's uniform deserves to be remembered today.  The 241 Marines who died in the bombing in Beirut and the 248 soldiers who died in a plane crash at Gander while on their way home.

Same goes for those who simply could not go on living after their experiences in combat.  When a military member takes his or her own life because they just can't go on living with what they endured, in my mind they also died while serving.  The question is, did we fail because we didn't prevent their end?  I have no answer to that question.  It is as they say "above my pay grade".

Many will spend this day as it should be spent.  Participating in ceremonies that pay tribute to the fallen.  Many will just enjoy a day off.  The ceremonies and the reflections won't be a part of their experience.  That's fine.  The men and women who served and died did it so that the rest of us would continue to enjoy the freedoms that include having a good time on a holiday.

There is a way you and everyone else can take part in remembering the fallen.  Today at 3 p.m., local time is the National Moment of Remembrance.  This tradition started in 1997 and President Clinton issued a memorandum directing all federal agencies and departments to take part and support this notion.  Please, at 3 p.m. today, wherever you are, spend a moment in silent reflection.

Today is for all of the fallen.  RIP ladies and gentleman.  We all appreciate your sacrifice.  We do pause to remember three names in particular today.  Lance Corporal Joseph N. Hargrove, PFC Gary L. Hall and PVT Danny G. Marshall, three Marines who were accidentally left behind during the withdrawal from Koh Tang island after the crew of the Mayaguez had been recovered.  All three were subsequently murdered by the Khmer Rouge. 

I read about a wonderful salute to a fallen Marine that pays tribute while helping those who are serving today.  Check out http://scmsg.org/sponsors and learn about Socks for Heroes.

* * * * *

I do plan to observe a moment of silence today at 3 p.m but seeing a movie in the theater will have to wait until tomorrow.  Not because I'm tired.  Because of all the classic war movies being shown today.  I watched "The Guns of Navarone" very recently so I'm not watching that, but "Where Eagles Dare", "The Devil's Brigade", "Kelly's Heroes" "The Dirty Dozen" and "The Longest Day" will all air today.  Great movies one and all.

The loss by the L.A. Kings last night was disappointing.  But they will win the series tomorrow evening on home ice.  Then off to the Conference Final and then the Cup Final.  The Kings WILL hoist the Cup again this year.

"The Green Berets" was on yesterday and will air again today.  I don't need to see the sun set in the East, watch "Mr. Sulu" getting blown up by a mortar, or see a demonstration of the Fulton Skyhook yet again.  But it is worth noting that the character of "Mr. Beckworth" played by David Janssen was loosely based on the real life exploits of author Robin Moore.  He wrote "The Green Berets" as a novel although much of it was based on his own experiences in Vietnam, travelling with real Green Beret teams.  When he wanted to write about the elite unit, the General coordinating his request insisted that he go through the entire Green Beret training program first.  Moore was so highly trained that toward the end of his time in Vietnam, the Green Berets he was "covering" allowed him to travel as the second American with teams of local 'strikers' on patrols.  This is a particularly jingoistic film, created by John Wayne in an attempt to counter the anti-war attitude prevelant at the time in the U.S.  It made money but did little to counter the unpopularity and distaste most of the public had for the war.

This Date in History:

On this date in 1703, Peter the Great founded the city of St. Petersburg.
On this date in 1813, American forces capture Fort George, during the War of 1812.
On this date in 1896, a F4 strength tornado hits St. Louis and East St. Louis, killing 255 people.
On this date in 1907, there is an outbreak of bubonic plague in San Francisco.
On this date in 1927, Ford stops making the Model T.
On this date in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge is opened to pedestrian traffic.
On this date in 1967, the USS John F. Kennedy, an aircraft carrier is launched.
On this date in 1968, Major League Baseball awards Montreal the first franchise in Canada.
On this date in 1986, Dragon Quest is released in Japan.
On this date in 1995, actor Christopher Reeve is paralyzed in an accident.

Famous Folk Born on This Date:

Cornelius Vanderbilt
Jay Gould
Wild Bill Hickok
Dashiell Hammett
Rachel Carson
Dolores Hope
Hubert H. Humphrey
Vincent Price
Sam Snead
Christopher Lee
Henry Kissinger
Sumner Redstone
Tony Hillerman
Lee Merriweather
Bruce Weitz
Pete Sears
Richard Schiff
Steven Brill
Todd Bridges
Joseph Finnes
Lisa Lopes

Movie Quote of the day today comes from "Platoon":

Chris Taylor: Day by day, I struggle to maintain not only my strength but my sanity. It's all a blur. I have no energy to write. I don't know what's right and what's wrong anymore. The morale of the men is low. A civil war in the platoon. Half the men with Elias, half with Barnes. There's a lot of suspicion and hate. I can't believe we're fighting each other when we should be fighting them.

What's news?

At this hour, Game 6 of the Kings versus Sharks playoff series is getting underway in San Jose.  A victory by the Kings sends them to the conference final for the second consecutive season and continues their defense of the Stanley Cup.  Go Kings Go!

Several passings to note this weekend.  Harry Birrell died at the age of 85 at his home in Thousand Oaks.  The name might not be familiar at first, especially since he went off the "air" in 1999, but he was a fixture in the L.A. newsradio scene for over 30 years, spending the entire time at KNX1070.  You can hear samples of his voice here:  http://cbsla.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/obit-birrell-bbr-1.mp3

You may not know the name Leonard Marsh, but odds are good you've had at least one bottle of the beverage he co-created.  He died at the age of 80 on 5/25/2013 in NY.  Marsh was one of the trio of men who created Snapple.

And Ed Shaughnessy, long-time drummer for the Doc Severinsen Tonight Show band had a heart attack and died at his home in Calabassas.  He was 84.  He actually started out taking piano lessons until at age 14 his father brought home a drum set.  From then on, he was a drummer and a great one.

"Blue is the Warmest Color" has won the highest award at the Cannes Film Festival, the coveted Palme d'Or.  A French film telling a lesbian love story, it does not yet have a U.S. release date.  It will open in theaters in France this coming October.  Runner up (winner of the Gran Prix) was a Coen brothers film, "Inside Llewyn Davis" and a Japanese film finished third (Jury Prize), "Soshite Chichi Ni Naru (Like Father Like Son).  Berenice Bejo and Bruce Dern won the Best Actress and Best Actor awards, while Amat Escalante of Mexico was named Best Director.

The weekend box office showed that word of mouth can hurt a film's opening.  The critics and early viewers have been very unkind to "Hangover III" which is why it didn't meet early predictions calling for $80 million in its opening weekend.  "Fast and Furious 6" is currently estimated to gross $98.5 million in its opening weekend, although revised numbers may push it over the $100 million mark.  Hangover III finished a distant second with $42.4 million while "Star Trek Into Darkness" finished third with a very respectable $38 million.  Meanwhile, "Iron Man 3" pulled in another $19 million to move into 5th place on the all-time box office list.  "Before Midnight" opened in very limited release and did very well, pulling in over $54,000 per screen.

President Obama went to Moore, OK and promised "sustained support" as they recover from the devastating tornado of last week.

When the U.S. Supreme Court considers the case concerning CA's Prop 8, it may decide to not make a decision on the case's merits, but toss it on a technicality.  That could throw the issue back into confusion as it would end the federal court issues, but there are unresolved issues at the state level.  SCOTUS could decide the group that sponsored the Prop has no legal standing to be pursuing the current case in federal court.

A 62 year old skydiver fell to his death this weekend at Lake Elsinore after he became entangled in someone else's parachute and couldn't free himself.

Unless you look closely at her arms, you might think that this photo was done by photoshopping in the image of Barbara Eden from her early days in the iconic "I Dream of Jeannie" costume.  But at 78, she's still able to wear the outfit and look amazing in it.  http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20703758,00.html

Was San Antonio Spurs star Tony Parker denied a table at a famed Memphis restaurant or not?  The chef says he was denied service because he didn't have a reservation.  Parker says he ate room service and didn't leave the room at all on the night in question.  Parker's story makes sense, because he rarely eats out when on the road, worried he might once again get sick when an opposition fan does something to his food.  That happened in a playoff series in 2003.

After the sun sets tonight, 30 or so minutes later you may want to look into the night sky.  If the sky is clear, you may see the incredible sight of not one, not two, but three of our solar system's planets in what appears to be close proximity.  Such planetary "conjunctions" are rare.  Look low on the western horizon.

Amanda Bynes is now blasting Rihanna on Twitter.  One of her tweets about the singer was quickly deleted, but it read "@rihanna unlike ur fugly faced self I don't do drugs! U need the intervention dog! I met ur ugly face in person! U aren't pretty u know it!" 

Meanwhile, Hulk Hogan decided to see if he could upset the stomachs of his Twitter followers by tweeting some really gross photos of his hand after a radiator had supposedly exploded on it.  The photos are pretty disgusting.

Back in February, Erica Nigrelli was three weeks away from her pregancy's due date when she collapsed in a high school classroom (she is a high school teacher and was there to visit a co-worker).  Her husband, also a teacher was two doors away.  He informed the paramedics that she was due in three weeks and they rushed her to a hospital, but her heart had stopped.  Doctors delivered the baby by emergency cesarean section but it was considered a post-mortem delivery.  But then they were able to restart her heart.  She, baby and husband/father are now all doing fine.  Amazing.

Another list of things long gone - Part III

Today there is a miasma of big stores, upscale eating establishments and much more sitting in a parking lot where there was once South Bay Bowl.  Also on that land was the Redondo Beach Cinema 3.  First it was three theaters in three separate buildings, then they turned one into a twin complex, then they made one a triplex.  Two of the three were torn down but the triplex stayed in operation until three or four years ago.  I remember being in the L.A. area for the weekend and staying at my mom's old house in Redondo and seeing "Rocky IV" at this theater.  I saw a few last showings of movies there when I worked at South Bay Bowl.

Not too far to the South was the Old Towne Mall where there was a Mann 6 theater.  Loved that place.  It was always packed on weekend evenings.  I saw a bunch of movies here and this was another theater that had a really good video arcade nearby.  In those days it was an indoor mall.  Today it is strictly an outdoor shopping center, and it has what may be the largest gym for MMA that I've ever seen.  Until April of 2010, I went to this location often as I taught tax classes at the H&R office in the Southernmost portion of the center.

At the Del Amo Fashion Center, the original theater that I remember was the United Artists Cinema.  It was a fourplex that added two theaters later on.  The theaters weren't much but the concessions were pretty cheap and it was never too crowded.  Plus there was a ton of parking in that part of the mall if you knew where to park.  It died out when...

The Mann 9 opened in a large building in one of the parking lot complexes at DAFC.  Big auditoriums, with stadium seating.  I remember taking a date there to see "The Firm" (maybe it was another Grisham movie) and because she was so late we had the choice of sitting in the front row which I hate, or standing in the back of the auditorium throughout the film.  I chose to stand.  Hate front rows that are that close to the screen.  Now it's a big L.A. Fitness center.

The Krikorian Peninsula Cinema 9 stands out in my mind because I remember going to a foreign language film there in the 1990s. 

In Burbank, the AMC 14 was replaced by the AMC 16 right across the street, which is still open and doing well today.  In fact it was at the AMC 16 that I saw "Fahrenheit 9/11" on opening weekend.  I also remember seeing "Star Wars: Episode I" for a third or fourth time at the old, torn down 14 theater complex, because it had the only "digital" version of the film around.

Saw several films in the early 1990s at the Pacific Triplex on Hollywood Boulevard.  It was damaged in the 1994 earthquake.

Can't remember the name of the theater that used to be on La Brea, to the South of Pink's Hot Dogs, but I definitely remember the last movie I saw there.  It was "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", one half of what is undoubtedly the most "eclectic" double-feature in the history of movie-going.  My friend and I went from this to a showing of "Dude, Where's My Car" at the now closed Hollywood Galaxy theater on Hollywood Boulevard.

Speaking of Hollywood Boulevard, what will probably be forever known as "Grauman's Chinese Theater" in my mind is slated to undergo renovation this coming September, to create the world's largest IMAX screen, or so I've read.  I remember seeing "The Lion King" there at an invited guest screening before it opened to the public, and remarking to my companion that the whole idea had probably been ripped off from the old TV show "Kimba the White Lion".  I didn't know that one of the authors of the screenplay was sitting in front of us, but she glared at me after I said that.  Ooops.

Went to a few films in the late 1970s at the old Pan-Pacific Theater, because in late 1976 I moved in with my dad and it was much closer than some of the theaters I'd been going to.  It's long gone.

In the 4th and final installment of this series, the theaters I went to outside of SoCal that are now gone.

A lazy Sunday morning

It felt so good to sleep in, intentionally this morning.  One movie today and I'm not too tired to go see it.  Hopefully SoCalTrivia tonight where we can once again dominate the competition at Roxanne's in Long Beach.  Tomorrow, there will be a ton of war films on TV, but I may sneak out to see a movie in the theater.  However, based on one commercial, there might be a chance to watch this scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXTTXNZucIU

Don't know why, but I really like it when I hear Randall "Tex" Cobb say "boy, using that Oriental martial bullshit on me is gonna get real expensive" just before he busts out a great combination of kicks on Patrick Swayze.

Today we remember six airmen who gave their lives in the service of our nation, although it wasn't in combat against another nation or organization.  They were flying in harm's way, in order to try to protect others.  Back in 1974, it was routine for WC-130 aircraft of the 54th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, flying out of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, to fly into the eye of typhoons to take measurements for forecasting purposes.  Swan 38 was one such flight in 1974 and in October of 1974 it disappeared while enroute to do one such "penetration" mission.  Four days of searching took place but no trace of plane or crew was ever found.  RIP.

Captain Edward R. Bushnell
1st Lieutenant Gary W. Crass
1st Lieutenant Michael P. O'Brien
1st Lieutenant Timothy J. Hoffman
TSgt Kenneth G. Suhr
Sgt Detlef W. Ringler

The men's basketball coach at Rutgers was fired because he humiliated and verbally abused his players.  A woman was hired as the new Athletic Director for the university.  Now it has come out that she left her post as women's volleyball coach at Tennessee because all 15 of the women on her team signed a letter saying that "...the mental cruelty that we as a team have suffered is unbearable".  The women also said that Julie Hermann had called them "...whores, alcoholics and learning disabled."  When asked, she said she didn't recall the letter.

This is why the old adage, "act in haste, repent in leisure" truly applies to major hires.  The fact a business or a school or whatever had to fire an important person doesn't mean that the vetting process of the replacement should be telescoped so that "new broom" can be brought on board.  Now they look even worse than before at Rutgers.  I'll go out on a limb and predict that Ms Hermann's tenure as the AD there will be short-lived.

Singer Billy Joel says that the depression that fueled his problems with alcohol does not stem from his own life experiences, but was caused by 9/11.  I am a Billy Joel fan.  Love his music.  But this just doesn't ring true to me.  He says he has a drinking problem, but he's not an alcoholic.  Sorry, but I've seen too many alcoholics try to convince themselves that they aren't what they are.  We joke "I drink, I fall down, no problem", but there are a lot of functional alcoholics in this world who tell themselves daily that they just have a "problem".  I was never an alcoholic.  I never had a problem with drinking.  The only reason I stopped drinking nearly 30 years ago is because of an accident I witnessed involving a drunk driver.  I hope Billy finds a way to solve his "problem".

I just finished reading a woman's account of how her celebrity marriage left her millions of dollars in debt.  She couldn't disclose the name of the now ex-husband because of "legal reasons".  It took me less than three minutes to figure out who her ex-husband is.  I won't disclose his name either because it isn't germane to the point of this graph.  When it comes to celebrities, there is very little you can't learn very easily thanks to the internet.  In the "old days" if you wanted to know what a celebrity's house looked like, you went and bought one of those cheesy "Maps to the Star's Homes" that people would sell on major streets in the wealthier areas of SoCal.  I haven't seen one of those people in ages.  I don't know if they still exist.

Speaking of bitter divorce, did you know that billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, who is now 95, disputes the claims of his ex-wife that he is a "prisoner" of his company and he denies that there is any reason she should be appointed as his "conservator".  He calls her a liar and with good reason.  The child that she claimed was hers with Kerkorian was actually fathered by another man and she falsified a DNA test to try to force Kerkorian to pay child support.  He paid it anyway, just to get her to go away.

J.C. Penney and LivingSocial are just two of the ten brands that Wall Street is predicting will not be around at some point in 2014.  JCP is burning through its available financing at a very fast pace, and there is a good chance it may go the way of Montgomery Ward's and Mervyn's.  Time will tell.

This Date in History:

On this date in 1293, an earthquake strikes Kamakura, Japan, killing roughly 30,000 people.
On this date in 1647, Alse Young becomes the first person to be hanged in the British colonies in America on a charge of witchcraft.
On this date in 1805, Napoleon adds King of Italy to his titles.
On this date in 1857, Dred Scott is emancipated by his original owners.
On this date in 1896, Nicholas II becomes Tsar of Russia.
On this date in 1938, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) begins its first session.
On this date in 1972, the U.S. and the Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
On this date in 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that Ellis Island is mainly in New Jersey and not New York.

Famous Folk Born on This Date:

Al Jolson
John Wayne
Robert Morley
Jay Silverheels
Peggy Lee
Troy Smith (founder of Sonic)
James Arness
Miles Davis
Cliff Drysdale
Mick Ronson
Pam Grier
Hank Williams Jr.
Sally Ride
Bobcat Goldthwait
Genie Francis
Lenny Kravitz
Helena Bonham Carter
Zola Budd

Movie Quote of the Day comes from "The Green Berets", first U.S. film about the Vietnam War:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXTTXNZucIU

The quote comes at the end.

Hamchuck:  "What will happen to me now."
Col Kirby:  "You let me worry about that, Green Beret.  You're what this is all about."

Another list of things long gone - Part II

More of the theaters where I saw movies, that are now no longer movie theaters.

The Lido Theater was in the 8600 block of West Pico.  It survived until the late 1970s, and in the last years it was a "budget" theater.

The Bay Theater was in the Pacific Palisades and at some point during the 70s, they took the one auditorium and converted it to two.  We went to movies here once in awhile when we were in that area.

There was once a Marina Theater that was the only theater in the area until UA opened its multiplex in the shopping center nearby.  It was "second run" and that's where we'd go see stuff we'd missed in the first run.

The Beverly Center Cinema 13 is memorable for me because I went there on at least three blind dates in the early 1990s.  It survived until a couple of years ago, in various incarnations.

The Beverly Connection 6 was right across the street from the Beverly Center.  It did fine until the Grove opened a 14 screen multiplex not far away, with much better amenities around it.

The Tiffany Theater on Sunset was most notable for two things.  One was its use as an office in the TV series "77 Sunset Strip".  The other was the midnight showing of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" that began there in 1977 or so.  Audience participation was a must and people might look at you strangely if you didn't shout "asshole" when "Brad" introduced himself, or "slut" when he introduced "Janet".

The triplex on Beverly near Fairfax was a great place to see a movie.  If memory serves, the last film I saw there was a re-release of the great wuxia movie "Master of the Flying Guillotine".

The old Loyola Theater on Sepulveda, just to the South of Manchester still looks much the same as it did when it was a movie theater.  But now it's a medical building and the marquee makes that very clear in "permanent" lettering.

The Centinela Drive-in was another of the great drive-ins that once were found all over the area.  It was closed in the early 1990s and has since been demolished.

Same for the Studio Drive-in on Sepulveda, in Culver City.  Where it once stood, a new street now exists and it makes traffic flow better.  But I'd still prefer to have a drive-in nearby.

The Hawthorne Plaza Mall has been closed for almost 15 years, but it was pretty much dead years earlier.  At one point only half of the stores and one of the three original anchor stores were open.  It still sits empty to this date.  The six screen multiplex on the site was torn down years ago.

I saw many wonderful movies at the Manhattan Village Six when I was living in El Segundo.  It went from mainstream movie theater to art-house and then a mixture of the two under several different owners.  I actually saw the first "Twilight" film there.

Until I started writing this, I didn't know the UA Marina Six had closed.  I know I saw a movie there in late 2011 or early 2012.  The only reason I went there was that I had a coupon for a free movie that was about to expire and what I wanted to see was playing there.  I saw a lot of films there, most when I lived in the El Segundo area.  There were two big auditoriums and the rest were kind of small.

The best things about going to movie at the Hermosa Beach Sixplex on PCH were the awesome parking and the fact that there was an outstanding video arcade on the lower level of the complex.  They had Battlezone and other classic arcade games.  I remember seeing "True Lies" and "The Postman" there, among other films.  I believe I also saw "It Could Happen to You" there on a blind date.

The last theater for this round of long-gone movie palaces was the classic Bijou, also in Hermosa Beach.  In 1992 and 1993 when I was dating a woman who lived not far from there, we saw many films there.  It was a great place, ambience wise, although the sound wasn't great.  It was also a pain to park there.

Next time, further into the South Bay for more movie theaters that are no longer around.  There is a theater at the Del Amo Fashion Center, but there were two theaters before it on the same gigantic property.  One inside the mall and one outside.  Both are long-dead.

What's a GMO?

A protest was held in Los Angeles on Saturday calling for "proper" labelling of "Genetically Modified Organisms" and taking issue with Monsanto's continuing marketing of such products.

The L.A. County Board of Supervisors did not hold a vote to terminate the county's relationship with Teens Happy Homes, a foster care agency under fire because of allegations of financial malfeasance and child abuse.  Two of the five supervisors want to stop sending foster children to the agency's foster homes, but they couldn't find a third vote.

Ever wonder what 1,850 pounds of pot looks like?  http://t.co/DsyWnPk5hj
There's a photo of that much pot in a panga that ran around in Manhattan Beach.

A federal judge has ruled that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio violated the 4th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution in how he was using racial profiling in ordering his cops to detain people they suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.

Have members of the elite SWAT and SIS units of the Los Angeles Police Department been illegally re-selling guns for profit?  The FBI is investigating the allegations.

Larry Page, CEO of Google described people in the computer science industry as "...nerdy curmudgeons" in a recent interview.  He was talking about an upcoming film, "The Internship" starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson.  Most of the film involves Google.

Prosopagnosia.  Sounds horrible.  But it is simply the technical name for a condition in which people cannot remember the faces of people they meet.  Brad Pitt thinks he might suffer from it because he has trouble remembering people.

Another celebrity is dissing Justin Bieber.  This time it is SNL's Bill Hader, who was discussing various SNL guest-hosts with Howard Stern on his Sirius XM radio show.

A still working 1976 Apple computer was just auctioned off for almost $700,000. 

In Dagestan, a woman blew herself and injured 18 others in a so-called "suicide bombing".  Dagestan was once home to the Boston Marathon bombers.

Transgender MMA fighter Fallon Fox has won her third fight, but this one wasn't nearly as easy for her as the first two were.  When she steps up in competition level, she is not going to do well unless she improves her skills.

Elisabeth Moss doesn't hold back or mince words.  When asked why her former co-star Jeremy Piven left the production of "Speed The Plow", her response was that he was " being highly unprofessional"  Then when asked about Jon Hamm's manhood she smirked and mentioned that we've all seen the pictures.

If you've seen any photos of Scott Thorson from the last few years, you were probably surprised by how much he now resembles his former lover, Liberace.  As revealed in his book about the singer, that is now a made for HBO movie that premieres tomorrow night, that's because Liberace had his own plastic surgeon make Thorson over to look like him.

Amanda Bynes is now accusing the cops who busted her for tossing a bong out her window of sexual assault.  Her allegations are being investigated.

Someone needs to let TMZ.com know that 5150 is only proper code for an involuntary psychiatric hold in California, not in New York City.  They made reference to it in a story about Amanda Bynes.

Another list of things long gone - Part I

Since I had so much fun with the list of bowling alleys gone from the Southern California landscape, I decided to try the theme again, but with a different type of business/building that has slowly disappeared from the area.  Movie theaters.  Now we have the medium and large multiplex theaters, but the old single/twin screens seem to have almost all vanished.

The Brentwood Twin Theater was at 26th and Wilshire.  Why they called it the Brentwood, since it was in Santa Monica, was a mystery to me.  I remember seeing "Myra Breckenridge" (yes, I snuck in) and "Count Dracula" there, among other movies.  It was a long walk from home, but doable and it was even easier to get to by bus.

The Olympic Drive-in was at the corner of Olympic and Bundy and now there is a Cadillac dealership there.  My parents took us to a number of drive-in performances when we lived on Franklin Street, which was only five minutes away.

Westwood was home to the National at 10925 Lindbrook Drive.  Saw a lot of movies there during my days as a high school student, and when I was home on leave from the military.  Started going again when I got out and went often until it closed for good in 2008.

1314 Wilshire Boulevard is still there physically, although the NuWilshire theater is long-closed.  Among the many films I remember seeing there are "The Exorcist", "Like Water for Chocolate" and "The Impostors".

I never did see a movie at the Yale Theater, located at the corner of Yale and Wilshire during its brief run.  Probably because it showed XXX movies and I was never a fan of those.

Today is the 36th anniversary of the day I saw "Star Wars" on its opening day at the AVCO Westwood.  I heard a new theater is being built on the site of the old one.

I go often to the AMC Century City 15, but there was once an AMC Century City 14 and I went to a lot of films there.  The one that sticks out most in my mind is "Schindler's List", which I saw with someone who was a good friend at the time (we're still in contact today).  I was so blown away by what I saw, I went directly after the film to the gym and started running on the treadmill.  I would probably have run all evening except eventually the treadmill timed out.

I mentioned Picwood Bowl in my tome on long-lost bowling alleys and next to it was the Picwood Theater.  That location has almost always had a theater nearby.  There was a four-screen theater in the original Westside Pavilion and I go often these days to the 12 screen Landmark in the other part of the Westside Pavilion that was added on.  Movies I remember seeing at the old four-screen theater are "The War At Home" and "The Whole Wide World", among others.  Last film I saw at the current theater there was "The Iceman".

There was a theater on Motor Avenue called "The Palms" and I believe I saw at least one movie there.  "Blazing Saddles".

The Mann Plaza stands out in my mind for one particular movie I saw there.  Paul Rodriguez in "A Million to Juan".  I went with a friend and aside from us there were only two people in the single auditorium that had more than 500 seats.  Our experience was indicative of how badly the movie flopped at the box office.

The Fox Venice Theater is noteworthy because its exterior remains much the same today as it was when it showed movies.  Today it is an indoor swap meet.

I remember seeing a lot of movies at the old Criterion on the Santa Monica Mall, which is now the AMC Criterion 6.  It was the Mann 6 at one point and I saw "Searching for Bobby Fischer" and "The Fugitive" there back in the 1990s.

One more for this first part of what I didn't realize was going to have to be a multi-part series, since I'm still on the Westside.  What is now the first AMC dine and view theater in Marina Del Rey was originally a Cineplex Odeon.  The movie I remember most going to there was the second time I went to see "Star Wars: Episode I".  I'd already seen it at The Village in Westwood, but wanted to see it again.

I'll do this again soon.

Saturday schedule

I had plans to see a movie today.  Actually I had plans to see two, but the showtimes didn't make that a possibility.  But since I was out too late, up too late watching TV and did not sleep well, I'm passing on a movie today.  For now.  If I feel less fatigued later, maybe I will change my mind.  But since I have two screeners to watch, I'll get at least one of those done today.  I will go see "Before Midnight" tomorrow morning, "Fast and Furious 6" on Monday and then take Tuesday off since I have advance screenings to go to on Wednesday and Thursday.  There are three more films opening next weekend that I want to see ("After Earth" is not one of them).  Staying home today also makes it much more likely that I will get to those two half-finished film reviews.  I do have a few errands to run, so I will get out of here at some point today.

Thanks to the three members of Good Day L.A., my favorite morning news program who gave me a follow-back on Twitter.  It made my day.  They do a great job of news gathering and providing just the right amount of insightful commentary without overstepping the line between journalist and commentator.  While my old news team was close to awesome, I can easily imagine working with these folks, they are very good at what they do.  That I spend a good deal of every weekday morning watching them says I think highly of their news coverage.

Saw a photo of Goldie Hawn looking gorgeous at a benefit at Cannes.  I still remember the day when I was hard at work in my office and turned to see her in the doorway, knocking on my door.  I'd found someone's car in my reserved space and had blocked that car in.  She apologized profusely and asked if I could find a moment to let her out as she had to go to a meeting.  I couldn't say no, as I would have done if it were a student (students who parked in my space had to wait until a few minutes after class had let out before I would "free" them).  In her case, 67 is just a number.

Dr. Dre is taking flak for choosing to donate $35 million in collaboration with Jimmy Iovine to create a new program at USC.  Some are saying he should have given the money to a historically black college or university where it would have been a "transformative" gift.  I'm always amazed at how people are so free with how they feel the money of others should be spent.  Walter Kimbrough is president of Dillard University, one of the HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and he criticized Dr. Dre's choice.  Interesting, since Mr. Kimbrough's entire college education was done at schools and universities that were not HBCUs.  Undergrad, Master and Doctorate all done at public universities.  Support of education is what's important.  The program that Dre and Iovine are creating will be transformative in the lives of those students who will benefit from it.  Their generosity should be lauded, not taken to task.

President Obama forgot to salue the Marine guard on duty at the entrance to his helicopter, Marine One.  As soon as he became aware of his faux pas, he went back down the steps, shook the Marine's hand and spoke to him privately for a moment.  I'm sure that in this life of that Marine, the President speaking to him directly and shaking his hand will be a lot more memorable than just having his salute returned.  The people making a big deal of this are off-base.  Clinton and Bush both forgot to salute at least once.  Heck, IIRC, Bush once didn't put his hand over his heart when he should have, to salute our flag.  Obama meant no disrespect.  He was preoccupied with a major speech he was about to deliver.  I'm not a big Obama defender, but on this one he deserves a pass.

Memorial Day weekend has begun.  So I'm going to use my blog over the next three days to pay tribute and honor some of our fallen whose names are mostly lost to history.  Today we salute the following fallen servicemembers:

Air Force

Major Richard L. Bakke
Major Harold L. Lewis Jr.
TSgt Joel C. Mayo
Major Lyn D. McIntosh
Captain Charles T. McMillian

Marine Corps

Sgt John D. Harvey
Cpl George N. Holmes Jr.
SSgt Dewey L. Johnson

All eight of them died at "Desert One" a staging point in the Iranian desert when there was an accident in the middle of aborting the mission to rescue the American hostages taken when the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was overrun.  The mission failed because of a combination of really bad planning and interservice rivalries, and as a result these eight men lost their lives.

36 years ago today, I was a bad person.  I cut school.  I didn't go to class because I had to stand in line to see a movie.  "Star Wars" opened on this date 36 years ago and I was there.  I saw it at least 25 more times before the end of that year.  My dad and I were in Victoria, BC and we saw it there (he didn't like it).  I saw it that year in California, Mississippi and Florida.  It is no longer my favorite film, but it is still an amazing achievement.  Kudos to George Lucas on this, the real Star Wars Day.  Oh, BTW, I got someone to forge a note from my parent to excuse my absence.  Given the opportunity, I'd do exactly the same thing so I bear no guilt.

Laws based on age are absolute and arbitrary.  That's a given.  But is the case of Kaitlyn Hunt, who is being charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious battery on her girlfriend, who is 14; a gay rights issue?  I don't think so.  Any parent whose underage child is having sex with another child who has just turned 18 can and often do file a complaint with the police.  I was smart enough to know that once I was 18, I could and would go to prison if I had sex with a minor girl.  I continued to date high school girls for another year or so thereafter, but I didn't put myself in risk of going to prison.  Just not worth the risk.

The father of Katilyn Hunt argues that his daughter has done nothing wrong because the sex was consensual.  Sorry Mr. Hunt, but the age of consent in Florida is 18.  There is an exception for an adult of 23 years or younger having sex with a minor who is at least 16, but that's not the case here.  So consent is not an issue here.

The smart play here is for the two girls to end their relationship until the younger girl is of age.  Work out a plea deal to a misdemeanor charge.  The younger girl's parents need to back off and support their daughter being a lesbian since that is who and what she appears to be.  But that probably won't happen.

This Date in History:

On this date in 240BC, the first recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
On this date in 1085, Alfonso of Castile takes Toledo, Spain back from the Moors.
On this date in 1659, Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England.
On this date in 1865, an ordnance depot in Mobile, AL explodes, killing 300 people.
On this date in 1925, John Scopes is indicted for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution, in Tennessee.
On this date in 1935, Jesse Owens sets three world records at the Big Ten Track and Field Championships.
On this date in 1953, the U.S. conducts their first and only test of nuclear artillery.
On this date in 1962, JFK tells Congress the U.S. will put a man on the moon before the end of the decade.
On this date in 1968, the St. Louis Gateway Arch is dedicated.
On this date in 1977, the Chinese government ends a ban on the works of Shakespeare.
On this date in 1986, Hands Across America takes place.

Famous Folk Born on this Date:

Ralph Waldo Emerson (still waiting to see someone build a better mousetrap)
John Mott
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson
Gene Tunney
Hal David
Robert Ludlum
Beverly Sills
Irwin Winkler
Raymond Carver
Dixie Carter
Ian McKellan
Jessi Colter
Leslie Uggams
Frank Oz
Bob Gale
Stan Sakai
Paul Weller
Mike Myers
Anne Heche
Octavia Spencer
Alberto Del Rio (for those of you who are WWE fans... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pv03f6m87o)

Movie Quote of the Day and all weekend will be from well-known war films.  Today's is from 1979's "Apocalypse Now":

[while flying in a helicopter with Air Cavalry soldiers]
Chef: Why do all you guys sit on your helmets?
Soldier: So we don't get our balls blown off.

#2

Chief Quartermaster (QMC) Phillips: My orders say I'm not supposed to know where I'm taking this boat, so I don't! But one look at you, and I know it's gonna be hot!
Willard: I'm going 75 klicks above the Do Lung bridge.
Chief Quartermaster (QMC) Phillips: That's Cambodia, captain.
Willard: That's classified.