The Anchor Bar (Buffalo, New York)

There is a long and probably boring story that goes with these photos.

Many years ago...maybe 2002, my family finished with Oswego business and then took the NY State Thruway to Buffalo, NY to see Niagara Falls. We spent the day and then the night on the Canadian side of the falls. When morning came, I was driving all the way to Cleveland, OH. Not an easy trek.

When we drove over some elevated highway in downtown Buffalo, my Husband pointed down and said, "Wait, we didn't go to the Anchor Bar!"
Folks, it was 11:00AM and I was not stopping to go to some bar.

A missed opportunity that my Husband has never let me live down. :-)

So when we were planning this trip, I said to him "Why don't we drive to Buffalo and get the Anchor Bar off our Bucket List?" He agreed and so we chose the best weather day we could find, in a week of potentially crappy weather.

I had a meeting to attend with my Professor and so I left my Husband with the laundry and off I went to my meeting. We ended up getting out of town by around 11:30AM.
3 1/2 hours later, we were at the Anchor Bar.

We knew we would be hitting potential thunder storms after 4PM, so we knew not to stick around after we had our fill of yummy Buffalo wings and some Genesee Creme Ale. Personally, I liked it all and would visit it again, if we spent any time in the Buffalo area.

I would also say that it was worth the trip, but probably not something everyone would find doable.

Presenting The Class Of 2014

I made it back to Oswego, for the final few days activities.

While I was on Long Island, my teacher posted the official photo of the first Integrated Media class. 7 out of 8 of us were there for the photo. Andrew was missing, due to work commitments.

Presenting the Class.

Top row: Me, Kyle, Carly, Liz, Jamie and Dr. Mejias

Front row: Azania and Laura

I am so proud of all of us. They ended up being a wonderful group of Graduate Students and I am honored to have learned with them.

Some Friends I Managed To Visit This Trip

It has been 40 years since some of us have graduated High School. This made a friend of mine think of getting a group together and meeting up on Long Island, the place we were raised.

I knew that I would be on Long Island this week and so I suggested that whoever wanted to meet-up, to come to our favorite breakfast get together. It has become a tradition for me, my sister, our Husbands and our childhood friend to see each other and catch up.

One person took us up on the offer and she flew to New York and attended our meet-up.

It was great to see her, since the last time we did, she had no children and my son was 6 months old. Now days, her children are almost all grown up, as is my son.

The other one (the one who suggested it) could not make it and that saddened me.

In good news, I saw her Mother and her sister on Sunday (Mother's Day, if you forgot) and so I was able to catch up with her family, before I had to run to the City and pick up my Husband at the airport. An unexpected treat that I will always cherish. Especially since her Mom is the only one of our parents who is still alive.

Back in the day, our 3 Moms would play cards (Mille Bornes) at my house, and I distinctly remember those days. The kids would go in and out of the house. Playing with each other and doing kid things. It was a different time, a more innocent time...before 2 of the Moms ended up going to work, to make ends meet.

A nice visit to Long Island. Now back to Oswego, for the final week and lots of rain. Glad I have a car this time.

Puget Sound

My Water Post For Today.

Up the coast from California and Oregon, is the beautiful state of Washington.

In the Seattle area, you have a wonderful body of water called Puget Sound.

Everything that is anything, hangs around this area.

Of course the most notable thing that is there, is The Space Needle.

This photo was taken from the top of the Space Needle, in 1989.

It was sunset and the water is so clear and beautiful.

I hope you enjoy.

Tales Of The Saugus Cafe

I have mentioned the Saugus Cafe before. My family has been going to eat there for the past 30 years. It's well over 100 years old and has had a colorful history.

Back in the day, the cafe had its history right on the back of the menu. It was written by former SCV Historian, Jerry Reynolds. He was a very nice man who used to write for our local historical society. He died back in 1996 and we miss terribly. He compiled the history of the Saugus Cafe, from things like newspaper clippings and you get a real feel for how rural the area used to be.

I love eating there and enjoy the fact that for once, LA has some history.

Check it out, if you have never read about the Presidents and famous people who have raised a glass at the Saugus Cafe.

Tales of the Saugus Cafe.

On Long Island, Once Again

So I made it down to Long Island, safe and sound. Thank goodness.

I am here at my sister's place and hope to spend a few days seeing my family.

The trip had drizzle, but not rain and for that I am also thankful. You can see the extent of it in this picture of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Mostly just hazy and little bits of mist.

A kind of sad thing is that the bridge is slated to be replaced soon and people riding on the bridge can see the supports coming out of the water, off to the left of the bridge.

The bridge is so much a part of my childhood, that I am definitely going to miss it when it's gone.

A Sneak Preview Of My Graduation Outfit

Here it is, just a selfie.

I finally got through the paperwork and managed to make it happen. I will be walking down the aisle next Saturday, as the first recipient of a Masters Certificate in Integrated Media and Social Networks.

Being it is not a full Masters, I will not get the "Hood" that comes with a Masters, but I have the ropes for the School of Communications Media and the Arts. I am happy with that. I also have a tassel with the green and gold. I was surprised at that, because back in the day, we had black tassels and only the ones who graduated with honors (Magna, Summa, Cum Laude etc) received the green and gold. I have mine, because I did graduate Cum Laude (thank you Stereo 1.) :-)

The full Masters Degree is almost available and yes I intend to, at least check it out. I have no idea if I will take them up on getting it, so that is why I am going to walk this time. Between being broke and not sure how much more that Masters will take in time and money, it is doubtful I will finish it.

I will be driving Downstate to my family today. After I pick up my Husband, we will return for the final week of Graduation related stuff.

The Integrated Media Stats For My Class Project

Since I had to compile this report for class, I thought I would post it here for you to see. If you clicked on any of my posts from the past 2 months, your numbers are in there. Thanks for that.

Here are the stats:

1. Huell & Luis - 4,903 total page views (the vast majority of them coming from Facebook), Facebook Likes 2.9K, (E-Blast sent out on 3/2)

2. That’s Amazing! Huell Exhibit at Chapman - total page views 4,721, Facebook Likes 3.4K (E-Blast sent out on 4/1) (Digital Download sent out on 4/6)

3. Huell Food - 1,075 total page views, Facebook Likes 555 (E-Blast sent out on 4/15)

4. KCET and Star Wars 784 total page views, Facebook Likes 235 (PBS Engineer’s Chat had quite a lovely discussion going on after I posted the link. They were trying to figure out what type Grass Valley Switcher it was.)

5. Videolog Reunion - 412 total page views, Facebook Likes 371

6. Clete Roberts - 516 total page views, Facebook Likes 233, (E-Blast sent out on 3/14)

7. Cosmos - 413 total page views, Facebook Likes 94

8. Penn & Teller - 283 total page views, Facebook Likes 17, (Digital Download sent out on 3/23)

9. History of News Pt. 2 - 278 total page views, Facebook Likes 40

10. American Bandstand - 143 total page views, Facebook Likes 132, (Digital Download sent out on 4/27)

11. HTT Steambath - 139 total page views, Facebook Likes 4

12. Pledge Drives Past - 160 total page views, Facebook Likes 44

13. The Flying Wing - 92 total page views, Facebook Likes 5

14. History of News Pt. 1 - 38 total page views, Facebook Likes 2

15. Holiday Show - 15 total page views, Facebook Likes 4

16 History of News Pt. 3 – No Web Stats (It posted on 5/2), Facebook Likes 12

The Grand Total of Page Views 2/24/14 to 5/1/14: 14,250

Yes, it is not perfect, but I am happy with what I accomplished in 2 months.

The Trip I Didn't Take

So my trip to Oswego began uneventfully. My flight was on Jet Blue, where they advertise that the first checked bag is free. I rarely check bags, so this is normally not an issue with me. Well, this trip I decided to take advantage, since I KNEW the plane to Syracuse is small and my bag won't fit. Thus, I stupidly decided to check it. The one good thing I did was, I took out a change of clothes and my sleeping pajamas. I figured that would guarantee that the bag made it to me, with no problem. Man plans and God smiles.

I arrive at Syracuse Airport and the baggage comes out. There are only about 20 or so people on the flight, so the baggage distribution went very quickly. Unfortunately for me, I turned out to be the only one without a bag.

A woman immediately came up to me and took me over to the baggage claim office and we filled out a form. At the time of the claim, she mentioned that there were 2 emails about bags in Fort Lauderdale. We both ignored those, since I was traveling nowhere near Florida. Well, it looks like the bag had other ideas.

My idea of what happened.

The bag was mishandled right from the start. It was routed to Ft Lauderdale, instead of with my flight. (Even though it says SYR)

Flt 100 LAX 9:49P arrives FLL 5:45A

Flt 502 FLL 8:45A arrives JFK 11:30A (This is fact, as you can see on the bag tag)

Flt 316 JFK 1P arrives SYR 2:07P (slow delivery to me)
Or
Flt 1515 JFK 535P arrives 7:04P (really FAST delivery to me)

Bag here around 7:30P.

Halleluiah! I don't have to go shopping tomorrow.

Spaghetti And Meatballs My Way

First off, I am writing this post in the Jet Blue Terminal at JFK. Definitely a favorite, when I travel. :-)

One of the last things I did before I left LA, was cook some home made spaghetti and meatballs. Over the years, I have actually changed how I do this typical Italian dish and I thought I would mention some of it, here.

In my old age I have tried to put more "healthy" options into the dinner, so I can sneak some veggies into my families diet. (shhh, don't tell them that.)

What you see here on my counter, is some of what I do.

1 can of tomato puree
1 can of tomato paste
1 can of (low salt) V8
about 1/3 of a bag of baby carrots
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 onion (chopped)
1/2 a box of chopped mushrooms (cut them small)
about 2 tbl of olive oil.

So I brown the onion, mushrooms and garlic in the olive oil (garlic goes in last) add in the chopped carrots toward the end. When all is brown and lovely, I add the puree, paste and V8.

Cook for about 15 minutes and then shut off the heat for a bit. Puree the mixture, with my immersion blender, when it has gotten cooler, until all the veggies are gone. The carrots are the hardest to remove, but it happens.

After this is done, I turn on the heat again and add the spices.

2 Bay Leaves

2 Tbl Basil, Oregano, and Parsley

Black Pepper, to taste

For the meatballs, I usually do the usual, which is:

A lb or so of Ground Beef (at least 80 or above)

About a cup of bread crumbs (Italian seasoned)
If you want, substitute some Panko Bread Crumbs. I used both this time.
2 eggs
2 Tbl of Cheese (your choice) I used Kraft :-)
A bit of Pepper, to taste.

Fry in 2 Tbl of Olive Oil and brown on all sides. Drop into the bubbling sauce and cook for at least an hour or so.

Seriously, it doesn't get better than this.

Enjoy.

Morro Rock At Sunset, Central Coast

First off, Happy Cinco De Mayo!

My Water Post For Today.

Morro Bay, just north of San Luis Obipso, is a wonderful place. Small town America, with a big rock and power plant in the harbor. You can't beat it for quirkiness.

This photo was taken at sunset and the rock gives it a very dramatic look.

A very peaceful place to spend some time.

I hope you enjoy.

A note to all, I fly out to New York tonight. Next time we talk, I will be back at my old school. See you then.

The Scene Inside Union Station's 75th Anniversary

We made it to Union Station in time to enjoy the party that was going on, in honor of its 75th Birthday.

We only had 2 hours to check everything out, but that ended up being enough time. Thank goodness.

First off, they had areas of the station open that are just about never open to the public. This was the first one.

You see it in commercials and movies all the time, but it is closed off to the public. It is the old ticketing area of the station. A beautiful area of Union and you can see it looked great, as the welcoming area for the public.

This next area is only something you can only peep at through windows.

It is an original Harvey House Restaurant and it is just as stunning as the ticketing area.

I found that there were booths in a back room, that reminded me of booths in a rail car, and a bar area, again reminiscent of rail car lounge areas.

My favorite photo. The two brothers in front of a Railway Express Agency truck. It is lovingly restored and fully operational. It normally lives in Travel Town in Griffith Park, but they brought it over to harken back to the old days of rail.

Did I mention that their father worked for Railway Express? Well, yes, he did. So I thought this photo was important to take.

In other things, there was the most rolling stock on the train tracks then I have ever seen. We went through 2 out of three displays and enjoyed showing my brother-in-law the cars we have slept in on our trips across the country.

They had more paperwork and souvenirs then I have ever seen in one place, too. I loved it all!

It was well worth the price...which was free. :-)

Happy Birthday Union Station - 75 Looks Good On You

Union Station turns 75 today.

Since it is right around National Train Day, they decided to combine both events into one big party!

That makes my Husband and I interested and so we asked his brother to come along and hopefully that is where we are today.

More when I know it.

Happy Birthday Union!

The Cactus Garden

Last month I mentioned that we went to the Ethel M Cactus Garden. If you missed my original post, you can catch up, HERE.

They have a very wonderful exhibit of many styles of cactus, that can (for the most part) be found in our deserts. Mostly California, Nevada and Arizona's cactus and plants.

One of the most impressive things for me, was this wonderful Acacia tree.

I must admit that I don't think I have ever seen one before, at least not in Los Angeles. It had fern like branches on the tree and being it has such an unusual shape, it is known as a Twisted Acacia.

Most of the rest of the garden is filled with prickly pear cactus (including Cow Tongue Cactus) and Saguaro Cactus.

Some Cholla Cactus (including Jumping Cholla) and Joshua Trees.

Quite a group of plants and a pleasure to wander through.

SoCal Connected Returns

We are in the final countdown for our relaunch of SoCal Connected. It will hit the air on May 14th, when I am in Upstate New York.

Our show will be very different from last year. The stories will be web based and if you look at the logo, it's different there, too. I haven't seen the animated version yet, so I hope that helps.

HERE is one of the articles announcing it. It has a better photo attached to their article, so you get to see it.

When I saw the photo that the LA Times article chose, I was shocked. If you really want to see that one, you will have to find it yourself. :-)

It does feel good to have our News Department ramped up once again.