I had a sip of coffee the other day.
Not really a big deal for most every other person in Los Angeles. But for me a big deal.
I'll explain. I haven't had a sip of coffee since I was 7. I tried a sip when I was 7, and thoroughly disgusted with the flavor did a spit take and I never had another go. Until Thursday.
I was at work and I had a cup of tea with a lid. Lipton tea is the preferred brand. No fancy peppermint chamomile earl sassparilla tea. Lipton. Simple. Bitter. Now on the stage were other cups identical to mine. I had set mine down and came back to it. Or so I thought. I picked up a cup, pulled off the top and took a drink.
The taste in my mouth was certainly not tea. It was bitter, true, but murky and cold, and pretty fucking awful. I made a twisted face and spit the coffee back into the cup after looking in it to confirm that it was not my tea. I then capped the cup and set it back on the stage. Someone had abandoned the coffee so there a long time ago so there probably was no chance this person would come back ad drink my backwash. I could have done a spit take but that would create a mess.
My mind wonders why people drink it. Why people love it. Why Starbucks makes so much money selling it.
I just don't understand.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Saturday, September 15, 2012
THE OFFENSIVE MACHINE
I propose that certain parts of the world change the name of the INTERNET to that of THE OFFENSIVE MACHINE.
Because they seem to be willing to burn and kill because they are outraged and offended by things they see on the internet.
The attacks on embassies in the middle east come to mind. The attack on the one in Libya is now thought to be a coordinated terrorist attack. It was well armed and well executed. More than your "angry mob" would be if they were merely offended. So someone used this bad trailer (posted to youtube on July 2nd) for a movie that will never be made to rally a mob to be used as cover for this attack. Funny how the timing was 9/11. So I find their offense scurrilous and opportunistic.
The mobs are not educated or very worldly and some could be illiterate. And add to that high unemployment and a bleak outlook on life. So when you don't have anything and little hope that your life will get better, it's easy for you to be manipulated and turned into an angry crowd.
So these countries which are exploding in outrage need to change the name of the internet to THE OFFENSIVE MACHINE.
Do an experiment. Go to Google and type in the most vile offensive thing you can think of. 900,000 options for you to see will appear within .53 seconds.
It's easy to be offended if you only read one book. It's easy to be offended if you don't think for yourself and believe what someone in authority (that you put in authority over you) tells you without question.
So, now I must post this to THE OFFENSIVE MACHINE. I have the right to free speech. freedom-of-speech It's in the Constitution of the United States. You may not agree with what I write. It may offend you. As far as I'm concerned you have the right to post any comment you like. I may get offended. (Probably not)
But to burn things and kill people because you are offended. That's just offensive.
Because they seem to be willing to burn and kill because they are outraged and offended by things they see on the internet.
The attacks on embassies in the middle east come to mind. The attack on the one in Libya is now thought to be a coordinated terrorist attack. It was well armed and well executed. More than your "angry mob" would be if they were merely offended. So someone used this bad trailer (posted to youtube on July 2nd) for a movie that will never be made to rally a mob to be used as cover for this attack. Funny how the timing was 9/11. So I find their offense scurrilous and opportunistic.
The mobs are not educated or very worldly and some could be illiterate. And add to that high unemployment and a bleak outlook on life. So when you don't have anything and little hope that your life will get better, it's easy for you to be manipulated and turned into an angry crowd.
So these countries which are exploding in outrage need to change the name of the internet to THE OFFENSIVE MACHINE.
Do an experiment. Go to Google and type in the most vile offensive thing you can think of. 900,000 options for you to see will appear within .53 seconds.
It's easy to be offended if you only read one book. It's easy to be offended if you don't think for yourself and believe what someone in authority (that you put in authority over you) tells you without question.
So, now I must post this to THE OFFENSIVE MACHINE. I have the right to free speech. freedom-of-speech It's in the Constitution of the United States. You may not agree with what I write. It may offend you. As far as I'm concerned you have the right to post any comment you like. I may get offended. (Probably not)
But to burn things and kill people because you are offended. That's just offensive.
Friday, September 7, 2012
More Paper From A Wall
I was back a the Orpheum Theatre, up in the grid and pulled some more of the newspaper that was put in the mold when the concrete of the structure was poured. I tucked them away and carefully peeled the 86 year old paper apart at home and looked at my discovery.
There was a bit of a picture. A premiere night for The Phantom of the Opera. You know, Lon Chaney's classic silent film. The picture was of Norman Kerry (1894-1956) and Mary Philbin (1902-1993). They were two of the actors in the movie as well.
There was amention of Agnes O'Malley. She was a publicist for the Mack Sennett Studios between 1924-1927.
Photoplay magazine was mentioned. A publication the was around from 1911-1980. Pretty impressive considering the magazine business.
Col. Hugh L. Cooper was mentioned. He was a civil engineer who worked on large water projects all over the US.
Kenneth A. Lewis, 12, a paper boy for the Illustrated Daily News was hit by a car. He was recovering. I couldn't find out anything else online about him.
Cecil Jensen was a editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune. Part of one of his cartoons was in the paper I pulled out. It was about President Coolidge but I couldn't see the rest.
Pete Sarmiento was a Filipino boxer of the time. There was a fight the paper was talking about.
California governor Friend Richardson was mentioned. (1865-1943) He served only one term I think.
There was a mention of Fanchon and Marco. They were a brother and sister producing team who put on lavish productions. They owned several of the theatres downtown. The name became synonymous with large over the top productions and became a part of the language of the day in Los Angeles.
All this I learned from just a few scraps of old newspaper and the internet to look it up on.
Also there was one part of a horoscope. Don't know what star sign but here it is:
Do not sign any contracts or enter into any agreements on this day. Relax as much as possible and be very careful in your diet. After 3:30 the vibrations change for the better.
Children born on this day will be marvelously intuitive. What they don't get by study and concentration they will get by intuition. They will become successful at any occupation where sharp wits and perceptive powers are necessary.
Kind of fun to see what the wall revealed. to me. I pulled as much out as I could. This will be the last of it. But the paper was from September of 1925. Didn't get the exact date off of any particular bit.
There was a bit of a picture. A premiere night for The Phantom of the Opera. You know, Lon Chaney's classic silent film. The picture was of Norman Kerry (1894-1956) and Mary Philbin (1902-1993). They were two of the actors in the movie as well.
There was amention of Agnes O'Malley. She was a publicist for the Mack Sennett Studios between 1924-1927.
Photoplay magazine was mentioned. A publication the was around from 1911-1980. Pretty impressive considering the magazine business.
Col. Hugh L. Cooper was mentioned. He was a civil engineer who worked on large water projects all over the US.
Kenneth A. Lewis, 12, a paper boy for the Illustrated Daily News was hit by a car. He was recovering. I couldn't find out anything else online about him.
Cecil Jensen was a editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune. Part of one of his cartoons was in the paper I pulled out. It was about President Coolidge but I couldn't see the rest.
Pete Sarmiento was a Filipino boxer of the time. There was a fight the paper was talking about.
California governor Friend Richardson was mentioned. (1865-1943) He served only one term I think.
There was a mention of Fanchon and Marco. They were a brother and sister producing team who put on lavish productions. They owned several of the theatres downtown. The name became synonymous with large over the top productions and became a part of the language of the day in Los Angeles.
All this I learned from just a few scraps of old newspaper and the internet to look it up on.
Also there was one part of a horoscope. Don't know what star sign but here it is:
Do not sign any contracts or enter into any agreements on this day. Relax as much as possible and be very careful in your diet. After 3:30 the vibrations change for the better.
Children born on this day will be marvelously intuitive. What they don't get by study and concentration they will get by intuition. They will become successful at any occupation where sharp wits and perceptive powers are necessary.
Kind of fun to see what the wall revealed. to me. I pulled as much out as I could. This will be the last of it. But the paper was from September of 1925. Didn't get the exact date off of any particular bit.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Forced Retirement
Or should I say, "Forced to retire."
One of the people I have worked for for the past 10 years or more is being forced to retire because of a medical condition. He had a really killer headache. So bad that he went to emergency room. They ran some tests and discovered a blood clot in a vein in his head. Normally in this situation you give the patient blood thinners or anti coagulants and the blood clot dissolves. Simple.
Not this time. On the other side of his head he has a small hemorrhage. It's not a geyser of blood, maybe a small trickle that stopped on it's own without causing a stroke. So because he has this bleeding on the other side they can't give him anti coagulants for the clot. It would cause the other side to bleed and maybe cause a stroke.
I talked with him on the phone. He sounded mostly normal. A bit slower and maybe a bit slurred. He told me what was going happen with his business, that I would still be in the same hotels I've worked for a decade or more. I wasn't really that concerned. I was more concerned that he was alright. But I seemed to detect in his voice a certain something. He was not normal. And normal for him is full of energy and always with a story or a joke. He's a big personality and a force of nature. This situation diminishes him.
So what can be done about the clot? Nothing. They are going to wait and see what happens. For someone like him, inaction is the worst thing to be the only action you can take.
I hope my call with him today was not the last time we talk. 2 minutes and 49 seconds of talking would be a sad way for over 10 years of friendship to end.
One of the people I have worked for for the past 10 years or more is being forced to retire because of a medical condition. He had a really killer headache. So bad that he went to emergency room. They ran some tests and discovered a blood clot in a vein in his head. Normally in this situation you give the patient blood thinners or anti coagulants and the blood clot dissolves. Simple.
Not this time. On the other side of his head he has a small hemorrhage. It's not a geyser of blood, maybe a small trickle that stopped on it's own without causing a stroke. So because he has this bleeding on the other side they can't give him anti coagulants for the clot. It would cause the other side to bleed and maybe cause a stroke.
I talked with him on the phone. He sounded mostly normal. A bit slower and maybe a bit slurred. He told me what was going happen with his business, that I would still be in the same hotels I've worked for a decade or more. I wasn't really that concerned. I was more concerned that he was alright. But I seemed to detect in his voice a certain something. He was not normal. And normal for him is full of energy and always with a story or a joke. He's a big personality and a force of nature. This situation diminishes him.
So what can be done about the clot? Nothing. They are going to wait and see what happens. For someone like him, inaction is the worst thing to be the only action you can take.
I hope my call with him today was not the last time we talk. 2 minutes and 49 seconds of talking would be a sad way for over 10 years of friendship to end.
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