More My Space Pictures

I have mentioned this subject before.

When the kids are over my house, or we are on an outing somewhere, it always seems to happen...they want the camera.

Next thing I know, I go to download the pictures on my camera card and I find things, just like these.

I am never sure why, but I think these may end up on their My Space or Facebook pages.

No matter what...they always make me laugh.




==========
Photo
#1 is "Other" Son #1

#2 is "Other" Son #2
and my newest...
"Other" Son #3 (check out that
Beatle Haircut on him.)


=========================================================


Since tonight is the New Year...have a very Happy one.

May the economy get better, may the political situation improve and may our troops come home. (I don't ask for much, do I?)

My best to you all, the faithful readers who hang out at my humble blog.

I truly appreciate the conversations, the love and the friendship.

"angel"

Eggplant Parmesan My Way

I mentioned that I made Eggplant Parmesan the other day. I normally make it straight. No unusual ingredients in it. This week I felt like making it a little different. Lots of veggies were added and it came out totally excellent!

Recipe follows:

Eggplant Parmesan

Sauce

1 Can Tomato Puree
1 Can Tomato Paste
1 small Onion
2 or 3 cloves Garlic
1 or 2 TBL Parsley, Oregeno and Basil
2 Bay Leaves
A little Olive Oil

Saute the onion and then the garlic for a few minutes in a little Olive Oil, then add the 2 cans of tomato (fill the cans with water twice and add the water into the pot). This will allow the sauce time to simmer, without burning.

Add the dry spices and bring to a boil. While you are waiting for it to boil...

Add about half a package or so of mushrooms
cut up about 2 or 3 zucchini's
cut up about 3 or so carrots

Add to the sauce, lowering the temp to medium or low. Cover and let it cook about half an hour or so.

Things that go into the final assembly
1 Lb Ricotta Cheese
1 lb Mozzarella Cheese
some grated Parmesan cheese, to taste
ground pepper to taste


Eggplant

Buy 1 or 2 eggplant
Peel them and cut them into thin slices.
Arrange them, in layers, in a large collender.
Salt the slices, at the end of each layer.
When they are all in there and salted, put a dish on top of them and then a heavy weight. Place a plate under the collender, liquid will begin to drip down, after a while. Let them sit like this for an hour or 2, to get the brown liquid to come out. It makes the eggplant less acidic in flavor, if you do this. After they have sat for a while, get a large fry pan and add olive oil to it. Lay some wax paper down and put a mound of flour on it. In a bowl, beat an egg with a little water, so that you can coat the eggplant.
You take a few slices of eggplant and place them in the egg mixture. Move them to the flour and coat both sides and then lay them in the hot frying pan, that you have lowered to medium temperature. Fry on both sides and then drain on paper towels. When you have them done, take a square cassarole or a rectangular pan and put some sauce in the bottom of the pan. layer the eggplant above the sauce and then add mozzarella cheese squares, ricotta cheese in little clumps and then some grated cheese and pepper sprinkled on top. Add sauce and then start again with the eggplant. Keep at this, until you have filled up the pan or cassarole. the last thing added will be the sauce.
Cover with aluminium foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour. The sauce will be bubbly and the cheese melted and it will smell delicious.

Cut into squares and enjoy.

Totally Yum!

The Valencia Town Center Fountain

My Water post for today.

Just outside the movie theater at our local mall, is this beautiful fountain. Being it's always very hot in this area, they try to cool things down with this fountain, which is counter pointed by a whimsical "Boy and his Dog" statue. It's a cute display, that helps the hundreds of people lining up for tickets each weekend, keep their sanity in our harsh desert climate.

I hope you enjoy.

The Numb3rs House - A Craftsman Gem

I know I am not the first to visit this house and I know I will not be the last...

Ever since I bought the DVD of the first Season of the CBS show Numb3rs, I have been enchanted with the house owned by the father of the 2 principals, Alan Eppes. For those who follow the storyline, in a later season, he "sells" the home to Charlie, his younger son, so that they can keep it in the family. It's a beautiful Craftsman Style house that is supposed to be near the make believe school that Charlie, works at: Cal Sci. Since Cal Sci is supposed to be Cal Tech, which is located in Pasadena, I and many others, assumed that the house they use in the show, resides in Pasadena. Nothing can be further from the truth. I happened to be web surfing one day and found an LA Times article about the house and some of it's history. I found the address, which is in the West Adams section of Los Angeles and realized that it's not too far from where I work. Yesterday, I had to drive down there for work and being it's the Christmas weekend, I figured people would sleep in and traffic would be light. Thus, I made the pilgrimage over to The Numb3rs house.
I arrived just before 10AM and the house was being worked on by the gardeners. Luckily for me, they moved to the back side, just before I parked the car and got out to take a few pictures.

The house is behind several large, mature trees and the first time I drove by, I missed it. On the second go round, I found it and a check of the address, confirmed that the house I KNEW was the right one, actually was. It's on a street that has many other houses of that type, but each one is in a different state of repair or disrepair. Lots of beat up cars in driveways, so you can see it is a mixed area of residents and financial situations. My work friend mentioned to me that letting movie and TV shows use their houses, is the main way many of the residents can make the repairs and restore these old gems, back to their former glory. This particular house is filled with priceless originals and when they shot Numb3rs, the owners put some of them away, to save them from possible breakage.

My former boss lives in this area and she has been invited to the progressive holiday party that they have each year for the West Adams Heritage Association. The Numb3rs house is often one of the 6 host houses. She hopes someday, to visit it. I can't think of a cooler thing to do.

A beautiful house and thanks CBS so much for showcasing it, in all it's glory.

The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society

What the heck is this book about? Potato Peel Pie? Say what?

I was given this book to read a few weeks ago. My boss said, "I think you will want to read this." I had forgotten that my friend Gina in Belgium, had just vacationed in the area of the Normandy Coast of France and she had been thinking of taking a day trip to one of the Channel Islands. At the time she mentioned them, I did a little research and learned that these Islands, just off the Coast of France, are actually English possessions. I guess I mentioned the Islands to my boss and she remembered my interest.
I glanced at the book and found that the story is actually entirely written as letters between people. I was not sure about whether I wanted to get into this or not, but then I read the first few pages...
I was hooked. Amazingly, to me, at least, the people who write the letters, become real people and the information the letters impart, tell the story of the Island of Guernsey's history, during the occupation by the Germans in WWII. The bad things that happened to the Islanders and how a small piece of serendipity, an off the cuff excuse to German soldiers, that the people who had left a (forbidden) gathering, were actually members of a Literary Society, going home after a meeting, turns into the single most important part of their lives. The next day, to back up the lie, they on the spot formed The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and each person is instructed to read books and report on them. They did this at first, to look legitimate to the Germans, who threatened to stop in on their meetings. Eventually, their newfound love of the written word, became each members way of coping with the bad times they were living through.

I highly recommend this book. It's very sad at times, but it's proof of man's resilience in the face of adversity.

...and about that potato peel pie? Yes, they would eat them, at the meetings.

Cross Country: Take 2 - We Begin Our Journey, NY To Benton, AK

Back in September, I wrote a post about when I came out to L.A. My college friend and I drove across this great Country of ours, to get from NY to L.A.

There were many stories to be told, about that journey. Here are some of the high and low points of that journey, as best I can remember.

Long Island, NY

We began our journey in NY on April 19, 1979. It was the Thursday after Easter and thankfully, a beautiful day. We said goodbye to my Mom and my baby brother and headed out. We quickly drove down the Eastern Seaboard, to Laurel, MD, where we developed a rattle in our engine. The attendant at this station said to add oil to the car and things got better. We camped at Lake Renovia, in Charlottsville, VA. As one would expect at this time of the year, when we woke up in the morning, it was freezing cold. We packed the car and headed out. Shortly after we began, we stopped at The Natural Bridge of VA, which was beautiful, but we felt, it was exploited, especially since it's a natural piece of the landscape. We continued on and traveled through the Blue Ridge Mountains and passed under Skyline Drive. We camped in Knoxville, TN.

Nashville, TN
The next morning, we drove the short distance to Nashville, TN and camped right outside Opryland USA. We set up our tent and we then went to Opryland. We managed to go to 4 theme areas (the themes are American Music). The Fifties, Riverboat, Contemporary and Lazar Rock. My favorite was the last one. We also rode some of the rides, the Wabash Cannonball, a log flume and something called the Little Deuce Coupe. We both wished we had more time to spend there, but we finally left and slept in our tent. It rained overnight and the tent made it. :-)
When we woke up, it was still lightly raining and so we put the tent in the back seat of the car, to dry. and headed out.




Benton, AR
This was probably the worst event the entire trip across the country. Since it was late April, when we got to the Mississippi River, the spring rain had swollen the river to just about flood stage. Luckily for us, it overshot the banks a day or so later. So we made it across the river, going from Tennessee, to Arkansas. It was pouring rain and we decided to pitch the tent and then go out and get something to eat, rather then cook on an outdoor fire. We thought that was a good idea... (cue scary music)

So we go to a Pizza Inn in Benton, Arkansas and ordered a spicy Taco Pizza. My girlfriend is a friendly and chatty person, more so then I am. The result of this is that we struck up a conversation with the wait staff. They heard that we were traveling from NY to L.A. and they soon brought over a young man, who they said was thinking of moving to NY. So we told him some stuff about life in NY and then we discussed what movies were in the area and where the theater was. (can I tell you what a BIG mistake this was?) :-)
We drove to the movie theater and watched a movie called Psychic.(it was a scary movie). Lots of people getting killed and such. So we leave the theater at the end, spooked from the film. As I am driving my companion notices that we are being followed... Uh oh...

I drive to our campsite...mistake number 2...or is it 3?
The car follows us and we find out that it is the young man from the Pizza Inn. Great...
We decide to get back in the car and go get some help. (this is the first smart thing we have done yet)
Unfortunately for us...he follows us...up onto Interstate 30... We decide to go the way we came, north to Little Rock.
Since he is right behind us, a high speed chase ensues, in the pouring rain. We see a truck stop over on the right, a few exits up and we decide to call the cops at a phone in the truck stop. We pull in and we run out and find a phone. We call the cops and tell them we have this guy following us and we want out of their fair part of the State, pronto. All we want is some coverage, so we can pick up our tent and gear. The police meet us at the campground and watch over us until we can get the tent down and pack up our stuff.

We get right back onto the Interstate, this time going to the South and drive until we reach a town of a big enough population, that they have a place we can rent a room for the night. That place ends up being Arkadelphia, AR. We do not see anyone following us and we feel safe enough to get ourselves a room at The Town House Motel. We slept well...

The next morning, we showered at the motel (a good thing) and continued our journey in places such as:

Dallas TX

Tucson, AZ

Grand Canyon, AZ


To be continued...


Cross Country Take 3 is here.

Scenes Of Christmas 2008

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hope that Saint Nicholas soon would be there...


Yes, there was a party at the angel house last night. Unfortunately for me, 3 people backed out at the last minute, due to illness and lack of money (an unfortunate reality for many people this holiday season). For those who attended, there was Italian food for dinner and lots of good conversation and Holiday music, courtesy of The L.A. County Holiday Show.

My Ex-Boyfriend and his wife were our dinner guests. He and I and his wife, all grew up on Long Island in NY and so we have that in common. He works for Geni.com (which is a genealogy website) and his company is also involved in the new thing on the block...Twitter. Let me state that even in the 1970's, I NEVER had a doubt that he would go far in Computers.

In his long work career in San Jose, he has worked for among others, Palm. Never a dull moment, when he's around. They currently reside in their trailer that is parked in a mobile home park, just outside Van Nuys Airport. He commutes via public transportation (what a guy...a true New Yorker) and has adapted to the LA lifestyle, quite well. It was good to see them.

After dinner and conversation, we got invaded by the Marine and his entourage.They nicely asked if they could take my son away from me. My son had done the social thing for a good 2 hours, so I figured he deserved some time with his friends. He will return tomorrow, to open presents with our family.



==========
Photos:
First Photo is of
the presents under
the tree and the
stockings, hanging
on the fireplace.

Second photo is of
the invading hordes.


Third photo is of
other son #1 and
his girlfriend.
It was taken a few
days ago and since
she had to fly to
Utah, I thought I would
put her here, because
we all wish she was
with us today.

Snow Scenes...In Las Vegas!

It was the night before Christmas and all through the house...

Since I do not have any snow, to put us in a holiday mood, I will move a bit east. :-)

My girlfriend from Las Vegas, who we visited last month, posted over on her blog yesterday. She has some pictures of the snow fall that happened in Las Vegas last week. To say the least, me seeing her house and her dog, Bailey, out in the snow, was quite a shock. Click the link for more.

Switchblade

CBS actually gave us a new episode this week...Switchblade. It's begins where the last episode ended, in the cargo plane on the way back after a failed mission. They have gotten rid of their wounded comrade, but still have the DOD "Suit" with them. They get orders while on the plane and have to extract a President of a Country and bring him along. Supposedly a walk in the park. As usual, things never turn out that way...
While this is going on, we see that Carlito is back "In Country". He's sporting a sling, to help him with his wounded arm and helping out at their "Front" business... Aerodyne Alliance. A woman walks into the office and his life and nothing is what it seems, there too.
While that is going on, Kim is lamenting how burned out she is. How angry she is at the entire situation and how much she misses her husband and especially her 3 children.

How it all shakes out, brings lots of action, and lots of things that I did not expect. Not my favorite episode, but interesting none the less.

Mulholland Fountain

My Water Post for today.


Probably the most photographed fountain in Los Angeles, is the William Mulholland Fountain, at the entrance to Griffith Park. Mulholland, if you know California History, is the man who bought land up in the Owens Valley and built an aqueduct to bring water to the small city of Los Angeles. With the water he provided, Los Angeles grew to be the 2nd largest City in the entire United States. So to say the least, the man played a critical part, in making the Los Angeles you see today.

The fountain is a place were many Weddings, Anniversaries and Quinceneras are photographed. It's a beautiful design, that blends in with much of the 30's style Los Feliz area architecture.
In a nice display of serendipity, a rainbow decided to show itself at the top of the picture and that adds to the beauty.

I hope you enjoy.

A Menorah At Children's Hospital

Since tonight we will celebrate the first night of Chanukkah, I thought this picture would be appropriate.

When I visited Children's Hospital a few weeks ago, I took a quick look into the lobby area. They had another Christmas Tree, tucked into a corner, as one would expect...but next to it was a large ornate silver menorah.
Hebrew letters inscribed into it. I don't know the story of the menorah, but there was a note attached, so it may be donated by someone.
It was lovely (I have a thing for silver ornate menorah, if you remember my post from last Chanukkah).
If I have the time, maybe I will return again, during the Chanukkah season and see it when it's lit.

Our Holiday Gift To L. A. - The Los Angeles County Holiday Celebration 2008

We used to call it, Christmas at The Music Center, back in the days that I worked it. Now days, it's much more PC term is the Los Angeles County Holiday Celebration (currently in it's 49th Year) and it will occur at 3PM on Tuesday December 24th. Shortly after my tenure working the show ended, they shortened the show to 6 hours, from the high of 12 hours. Yes, that meant that I would work a 14 or so hour day on those 8 Christmas Eve's. I still thank God that I only had my Hubby to worry about, family wise, because lots of our crew left their families high and dry each year that we produced the show. My guy came with me and we made it a tradition of our own, for those years in the 80's that I worked them. About a decade ago, they farmed the show out to an outside producer, so the work pressure on my humble station has been made much easier. Thank goodness for small favors.
The producer edits a "best of" show that is available one year later, to any whose local station wishes to carry it. You could check your local market, to see if they are carrying the show this Holiday Season (on the web page for the show, the link to click is on the right side).
For any who live in Los Angeles or are coming to the area, the show is free to anyone who wishes to walk in and take a seat. You stay for exactly as long as you wish and can move around at will. What performance lets you do that? :-)
The patio outside the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is decorated beautifully and there used to be vendors selling food and things. It was always my favorite thing to do, buy a pretzel from the vendor. It's such a New York Christmas "thang".
I haven't been there in years, but I hope they still do sell food for the people to buy.
If you are off, or if you work in LA, make a stop at the Music Center and start a new tradition. It's well worth the effort.

Wilshire Vermont Toys

I have mentioned Wilshire Vermont Station before. It's the only 2 story Red Line Station in the system and as such, there is an upper and a lower level. As you go down the escalator to the middle level, there are several toys hanging from the structures that make up the 2 levels. I missed my train today and so I rode over to this station and rode the escalator to the top. On my return, I took it to the mid level, to get this picture. Toys, bridges and even a unicycle on a wire, greet the commuters.
It's very whimsical and fun.

Rain And Snow

I took this picture on Tuesday.

We had rain most all day on Monday and along with the rain came a dramatic drop in temperature. The mountains have snow and I am sure the local ski resorts are jumping with joy.

Why do the words to "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" keep going through my head. The change of season...it's starting to feel that way, at least, to me.

Update on Wednesday night.

More rain and thus, more snow in the areas surrounding Los Angeles, including Palmdale and Lancaster. The commute home last night was horrid. The Santa Clarita parking lot was filled with cars. It is normally totally empty at night. Many many Lancaster and Palmdale residents were trying to get home. So many, that the train station was filled with people and the train was already jammed. Here's a picture of that scene.


I have a company party tomorrow, so I will (hopefully) be driving to work. I am sure it's going to be a mess, on the train.

Baking With The Pizza Screen

My work partner gave me a pizza screen a few weeks ago and I brought it home, but never got to the store that sells pizza dough. So it sat here, for a few weeks, big, round and lonely. On Saturday, I finally got some pizza dough at Trader Joe's (if you have a store near you, they make great pizza dough!) and tonight I decided to make a pizza and take the screen out for a spin.

I have owned a pizza stone for 2 decades and besides having to heat the thing in a very hot oven for half an hour, it gets messy and it's tough to clean. You have to leave it in the oven to cool completely, before you can deal with it, or else it will crack.
So I was looking forward to pizza, with ease of cleaning and that's exactly what I got.

The screen goes into the oven, fully loaded with dough and sauce and toppings. You cook it for about 10 or 15 minutes (I had the oven at 400 degrees) and then place the cheese on it and take it out when the cheese is melted and the dough is done. I let it cool on the screen for a few minutes and then placed it on another surface, for cutting. A few seconds later, the screen was back to room temperature and ready to clean.

I am totally impressed with this product and look forward to an occasional custom home baked pizza in my life again.



================
Photo:
Pizza on the right
and the cleaned
screen on the left.

SAG Vote

I have written about this on other places, but wanted to discuss it for a minute here.
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is all in the news right now, because they are calling for a Strike Vote to be sent on January 2nd. They want to try to force the Motion Picture big 4 to come back to the table and talk some more, ending the deadlock that is currently going on.
My personal opinion is this. Have they been watching Wall Street? Have they seen the economy recently? What are these people smoking? They expect to get concessions? From companies that have not yet recovered from a crippling strike just 10 months ago? I just shake my head and pray that a Strike Vote is not given and somehow they decide to take what AFTRA has already agreed to. It's the right thing to do for Hollywood...and for the Country right now.

Chinese History...In A Fountain

My water post for today.

Once again back at Union Station.

This fountain was created to showcase the many things that were discovered, as they dug out the Red Line Subway, that began operation in the early 1990's. If you know the history of Los Angeles, the land that Union Station is on, was the original Chinatown for the city. The chinese workers who were brought in to work on the railroad, had to live somewhere and this, the original settlement, is where they put down roots. They were relocated in the 1930's a few blocks over, to make way for the building of the station. As they excavated the site in the late 1980's, they found all sorts of artifacts of the lives of the original residents and comissioned a work of art that would put these things on display. So if you look at the sculpture closely, you see dishes, milk bottles, drug bottles and silverware, all embedded into the concrete. Water slowly drips down from a pipe and it meanders along a channel, again filled with artifacts. There is bench seating on either side of the channel and at the other end, another place where water enters the area and slowly joins up with the water from this end. I like the fact that they could have done anything with this space, but that they CHOSE to honor those who came before.

Enjoy.

My Husband's Antique Love Seat

When I met my husband and we began dating in earnest, he mentioned that the antique love seat that his Mom had brought all the way from Chicago, was to be his, upon her death. It's a beautiful carved wood chair that has been reupholstered many times over the years and unfortunately, has become very fragile, due to age.
His Mom made sure we got the chair and it has been a part of our lives for over 10 years. I always have something on the chair, to keep people from sitting on it. Better safe then sorry.
When my husband and I went to the Antiques Roadshow a few years ago, we brought pictures of the chair to the Keno Twins, to ask them if it had any value. They said that unfortunately it was worth a couple of hundred dollars, but nothing spectacular. That's fine by me, since we were not planning on selling it and I think I would have had to reevaluate our life, and security procedures, if it was priceless. :-)
This time of year, it gains lots of holiday cheer, from both sides of our lives, on top of the normal pillows and stuff.

I hope Hubby's Mom and Grandma would understand. :-)

Children's Hospital Outdoor Holiday Decorations

I took a detour into the heart and soul of the Children's Hospital campus the other day. On top of the many buildings they have been building these past few years, they built a totally underground parking lot for the patients to use. What did they put on top of it? A beautiful park like area for parents to bring their sick children to. A bit of calmness in a very dense piece of real estate.
As the holidays come, they decorate the area and it was worth my while to go take a look. They have a huge stage where they perform for the patients, a large lighted Christmas tree centered in the middle of the stage and lots of smaller displays around the walkways. It's a very cheery space that has just a bit more beauty this time of year. This is due to the late change of season, going on right now. So there you have all these decorations amidst trees that are aglow in their fall colors.

I hope you enjoy.

Salvation Army At Union Station

Probably one of the best things about the Holiday Season is the fact that The Salvation Army sends a band to play carols for us. There is nothing quite as wonderful as walking through the tunnel to the music of the season. Though I now freely admit that I never give them any money...I know, I know, bad angel. :-)
In spite of that, I enjoy their talent with their instruments. It makes the boring part of the commute, something to look forward to.

Mack and Crystal

Happy 39th Birthday Max Martini!!!!!

As I do occasionally, I was looking at You Tube at work late one evening this week. When I am there after business hours, I have a tendency to listen to something, rather then hear the sound of nothing. I happened to put the name Max Martini in, just to see what came up. To my surprise, the scene with him and Summer Glau came up. It's from the 2nd season episode which I have written about before, Johnny B. Good. The person who posted it is obviously a Summer Glau fan, since he mentioned that she is currently in The Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles....but for this Max Martini fan, I have no problem with that.
The clip has almost no audio, just the song "Black Holes In The Sand" by Gravenhurst, playing. It's intense and if you are not into soft sex on the screen, I definitely advise you not to view. If you don't mind such things, It's a well shot, fabulous scene, from an episode which they really should have submitted for an Emmy.

The climatic scene...from Johnny B. Good. Enjoy.

Birds Dressing Up For The Holidays

Yes, I admit that it was a humid day, with possible rain in the forecast.

On a day like that, the birds (as I found out last year) tend to not want to fly. When I came to this corner on Monday, there were a huge amount of birds hovering around this entire intersection and then as one, they all dropped onto just about any surface they could. I grabbed the camera in my pocket and there you go. Birds decorating the Blockbuster Building and making it look like it has Christmas lights strung on it. :-)

I thought it was a cheery thing, to brighten my day.

My Home - Holidays 2008

Remember this window? Last year it had a tree in it. After the holidays came and went, we bought a new TV Stand (actually it's a sideboard for a dining room) for our family room. That put my other TV into the living room. In the bay window of the living room. So there I was last weekend, trying to figure out what to do with the tree this year. I refused to move the case with the tapes and the TV on it, so I had to find a new location for the tree. We moved the couches around a bit and finally squeezed enough space on the side of the fireplace, for the tree itself...but no train board.



So there it is, in all it's glory. I decorated it totally in white lights this year, which is a first for me. My son keeps saying..."But Mom, it's WHITE." (Deal son). :-)
I love how it came out. It shows off my angels well and my entire married life and life with my son. My two cats (who are no longer with us) turn up on the ornaments, too. I always think of the people who have given me these ornaments that mean so much to me. (by the way, thanks Ed for the newest angel).
The only bad part of the all white lights is that they are different from traditional lights and don't take my lighted ornaments. Most of them are fine without the light, but my shuttle craft loses his Spock Voice. :-(
What to do, what to do. My brother in law came over and we decided to plug that ornament into the lights that are surrounding the TV and tapes. So there sits a shuttle craft amidst the pictures of family and friends and my Chanukkah things.

"Shuttle craft to Enterprise, Shuttle craft to Enterprise.
Spock here, Happy Holidays. Live long and prosper."

As my husband said, I think Leonard Nimoy would be pleased.

Oh To Be A Bottle Of Water

My water post for today.

I couldn't resist adding this shot to my water posts. :-)


It may not bring any serenity to the men who view this blog...but the Unit Women will understand.

Thanks Max. You are always the BEST!



Normal water posts will continue next Monday.

Christmas At The Magic Castle

When we visited The Magic Castle last weekend, they had decorated it for the holiday. Real nice display both outside and inside. The inside ones had the cutest garlands with magic stuff on them. I was impressed with their creativity and dedication to their "theme". The outside was tasteful and understated. It put us right in the mood, before we even stepped onto their property.











With a little luck, I will occasionally post holiday displays from other places, as the season progresses.

The Missing Unit Episode - Sex Trade

I was asked which of the first ten Unit episodes from this year, is my personal favorite. So being that I have been documenting each episode, I decided to reread them first. At the same time, I am going to place them over on the left hand side, for easy finding, in the future. As I went along, I came up one episode short and I finally figured out why. I am missing the show that aired the week I was traveling to NY and Washington, DC. I did view it on Monday evening in NY, but I never posted my thoughts on it. In the spirit of completing what I have, here's a review (with 20/20 hindsight) of Sex Trade.

The mission itself seemed very strange...of course this whole season has seemed strange and off center, due to the relocation of everyone. The plot revolved around these women who were sex slaves and even though Jonas (with his incredible moral center) tells them he will get them out and attempts to do so when the mission is complete, he fails. This along with a little boy he left back in South America, weigh heavy on his soul, you can tell from his expression at the end.

The Wives, who are in place at their new location, are given new occupations. Tiffy can teach again (yay team, no more poll dancing), Molly is head of Aerodyne Alliance, the fake company the men work for. Kim, who is childless due to the powers that be sending her 3 children to her parents, gets to be nanny for this guy who has a very young child.

All in all, not my favorite episode, but since it was a set up for what follows, it had to be aired.

Look! It's A Snow Man At Union Station

I couldn't resist this cute guy. He's standing in front of the Christmas tree at Union Station and greets the passengers as they enter the building.
He's so surprising, that many of them, including me, stop to check him out.

Probably their best display yet. :-)

Misled And Misguided

Ouch, that must have hurt!

As sweeps month came to an end, The Unit gave us episode #410, Misled and Misguided. The men are asked to basically work a suicide mission that Bravo Team has already failed at. They run plans, over and over and end up dead each time. Even with those depressing results, when the final ask comes, Jonas makes the decision and he and the team reluctantly say yes. They are immediatley wheels up, to go and neutralize an Anthrax Lab.

Meanwhile, Kim is sent back undercover and ends up a pawn in a deadly game.

Exciting scenes and the end of part of the story arc that has been going on since Episode 1 of this season. Glad to see it over.

This show ended with a To Be Continued at the end. So we end up with a completed mission and then immediately go into a new one. We will see how that goes, when next The Unit airs new episodes, probably in January.

Taking It To The Next Level - The Analog Shut Off Is Coming

We are down to something like 76 Days left until our Analog Transmitter, that has been broadcasting our signal since September 1964, will go silent forever. The analog shut off is coming on February 17, 2009 and hopefully everyone is getting their game together, for the transition. As part of that education, we, along with all other Los Angeles broadcasters, turned off our analog transmitters for a few seconds, to give our viewers the chance to see if they are Digital ready...or not. Here's what it looked like, right from Master Control. If you saw this sign, you are good to go. If you saw nothing but snow...you are in trouble and need to take action before February. We have another turn off coming on December 17th and probably more, as we get closer and closer to the final day.

I am seriously thinking of being there, when we do the final cut off. Am I crazy, or what? lol

It's A Glamour Profession - Stars On The Hollywood Walk Of Fame

Since I was up close and personal to several Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, I thought I would post a picture of some of them.

Right at the front of Capitol Records, they have several recording stars and then others. From what I could see, Garth Brooks, Bonnie Raitt, Joan Crawford, Rory Calhoun and Brian Aherne are there. Others that I did not see, but carry the exact address of Capitol Records, John Lennon (they hold a candlelight vigil by his star each December 8th), Natalie Cole, Anne Murray, Helen Reddy, Bob Seger, Beverly Sills and the Steve Miller Band. There are about 16 more stars that carry the address of 1752 Vine and don't seem to be connected to recording at all. So it looks like in more modern times, recording artists who mean something special to Capitol records have been given a star on the second row of stars, right by the entrance. An interesting factoid, I guess.

The thing that always bothers me as a person is that they do not seem to take good care of the stars on the walk. You would think that something so important, should be cared for, but that does not seem to be the case here. As with so much of Hollywood, the glamour is only skin deep.

Bridgeport Waterscape - Where The Birds Are

My Water post for today.

I have mentioned the Bridgeport area before. This is the place where they are having problems with non native birds, taking up residence. Well the birds in this picture are not in danger of being run out of the area by the locals. :-)

The waterscape is a wonderful area to walk around. Staying on the shore, or going up onto the bridges that cross the water. It it located immediately adjacent to 2 large roads that intersect, just feet away from it. Adding to that, it sits in an area that has the tendency to reach temperatures of over 100 degrees, most summer months. The fact that it can pull off coolness and serenity, is a good thing.

I hope you enjoy.