Only A Nobody Walks In L.A. - Ride Metro

The good thing about taking a vacation is that you gain perspective. You notice things.

San Francisco: drivers actually come to a stop when a pedestrian is trying to cross the street.

Los Angeles: if you are lucky you get a "rolling stop", or you can eyeball the driver to get his attention to slow down. Or take your chances if you have insurance. Basically, if you reach the corner before the driver keep one eye on the light, one on the lane and the third eye on the rest of the street. Pause for 1 second for the chuckle head who has to make the light. Move at a high rate of speed across the street.

San Francisco: I never waited more than 10 minutes to go from one place to another. They have busses, trackless trolley lines, real trolley cars, BART and Cal-Train. Folks in SF are spoiled. Yeah, yeah some folks have to commute long distances because they can't afford to live in the city. But once in the city they can motate just dandy. And you have a fair shot of getting home. The last commuter train is midnight. I recognize that they have a smaller area to deal with than Los Angeles but to hope perchance to dream this system will migrate down south.

Los Angeles: We have a framework in progress. If you have to be someplace show up a half-hour ahead of time to factor in jam up and slow downs. Make eye contact with the driver so there is a chance that he/she will open the doors. I'm not saying the system sucks. It is a lot better than it use to be - the Rapid busses help a great deal. But it ain't SF Muni. This is car country.

So this is my tip of the hat to SF and SF Muni - This ride by car would have taken maybe a half hour. It took about 1.75 hours and that isn't including the time it took for me to get into San Gabriel Valley in the first place.

I know. Get a car.

Sitting On Top of The World - Blogher At Last

Can't believe it.

I'm here. From Los Angeles to San Francisco to Santa Clara.

I had my doubts but the Angels were flapping double time. I am somewhat awake and ready to start some serious mouth flapping.

A tech conference with no booth bunnies. I never thought I live to see the day.

It will be a full day. I would like to know how I am going to get home but hey, one thing at a time.

Season of Us - Music At the Farmer's Market

Sometimes you need to get back to what is real. Food use to be real. It had a smell, a taste and an expiration date.

I like going over to the Farmer's Market when I get a chance during my work week. Sometimes they have performers. Bill and Stephanie make their living playing music.



This is just a little snip that I put together. Music does have a healing power. We all need to rev down at least once a day. Bill and Stephanie have music CDs that can help you do just that, very relaxing.

If this sample of their music has caught your interest you can learn more about them at their website http://www.seasonofus.com

Here We Are - Nina Paley's Sita Sings The Blues

It has been a long time since I had a flash animation movie I felt worthy of recommendation. Here is one with a twist or two. Take an ancient Indian story and animated it. Then use the music of Annette Hanshaw to tell the tale in what seems to me to be in "Bollywood" fashion.

Got my attention for sure. Read the FAQ's. There is more to the site than the movie. Nina Paley has got a tale to tell. Love found, lost and re-invention. A'int it always the way.

The animation takes about an hour on dial-up but worth it. The proper entrance is http://www.ninapaley.com

I've Got It - Art and Blues Part 4

Yes indeed the waiting is the hardest part. Please support independent artists and performers especially jazz, blues, alternative, traditional, folk, punk-rasta....

Oh heck, I'll make it easy on ya. If they don't appear on MTV, BET or CMT give as much love and money (buying a CD or mp3 will do) as you can.

More, More - Absolut Chalk Part 3

As the sun made way for the moon the artist finished up for the day as the band starts to set up.

In part 4 you'll get to hear Ricky P. and Blue Monsoon stir up a little dust. I have finished part 4. I've uploaded the video. The video does not want to play.

(Sigh.) This video blogging thing is gonna increase my hair dye budget by a power of 5.

More - Absolut Chalk Part 2

This is more of a slide show with a close look at some of the artwork from the event

Art is important to me because you need to have something other than your job for stimulation, even if it is just that another living soul is doing creative work.

It is inspirational to us working drones. Even the ones that don't know it.

Cha Cha Changes - Evolution Of Stoop

For the new folks dive in and welcome. Pardon the remodeling in progress. Long time readers of Stoop might notice a few changes.

I am including videos in the blog. I haven’t decided if I should set up a separate blog for videos (please no, not another thing to manage) or ditch the text (are you crazy?) I think, with more time, I can make this work. I can blend the two into a cohesive whole.

That time thing is a body wrecker. I have a job and attend evening classes. I still see clients every once in a while. I got to find things to record unless you want to see my surgical scars. Yeah, I though not.

Then there is the problem of acquiring sleep. And do laundry. And taking care of the home and hearth. Plus a girl has got to get her daily dose of information. I’m running a quart low as it is – need new stuff.

Maybe cuz of the events in London remind me about how temporary life really is. I want to try and pack it in just in case this is my last day. Did I do all I said I would? Did I keep my word to others and myself? Did I laugh? Have I created something of value to pass on to another person?

Have I had un-pure thoughts, and if so did I enjoy them? The answers are:

• Yes.
• No.
• Maybe.
  
• I’m working on it.

I'm Looking For Peace - Eyes Wide Open

Some days you do the best you can. You get up, go to work, deal with friends and family. Some days you would just like to vanish. It can get to be much more than any of us bargained.

There is pain. But it can't mean anything compared to the loss of a loved one due to war. So for the day after the Fourth of July let us try to remember that some of our babies will never come home. Course, I didn't think any of them should have had to go in the first place.

This is an traveling installation that I attended in March, 2005 at Memorial Park.

It is a display of boots that represent the war dead in Iraq and the civilians who have also died in the conflict. The movie is in QuickTime format and at 9MB it may be too much for dial-up folks.

The Cats Are Crazy – Keep Your Humanity

It has been a long time since any political or war based items have appeared in Stoop.

Maybe I just gave up. Or I got busy with other life bubbling up close to home. Maybe I thanked Spirit enough that my cousin is back in America so I didn't have to worry about attending a funeral.

Those of us who believe this war was wrong from the get-go are called anti-American, liberals commies and a bunch of other names. When we pointed out that there was no evidence of WMD, that war crimes are being committed in America's name and now certain U.S. crimes (such as breaking and entering) are now being classified as "domestic terrorist attacks,"
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4707465, we are accused of being nit picky or that what we see does not exist. In the long term, the benefits will justify the errors of the day.

Fine. Okay. There is another voice to be heard in this matter. A former Army soldier who served in Vietnam and is trying to educate the walking war wounded from Iraq. There is a powerful letter from Stan Goff, retired, US Army. No matter if you believe the war is just or a huge mistake, read this letter and then consider your position –
http://www.mfso.org/HoldOn.html

This letter is located at Military Families Speak Out, an organization of military families that oppose the war. The main site is http://www.mfso.org

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah - Chalk on The Walk Part 1

For some reason I can't link this photo to the video so click the link below.

Viva la video!

It was a good night in Pasadena. Creativity was flowing all over the joint.

Just wanted to share a taste of Absolut Chalk and the folks that gave their time and talent. There will be more. I got stuff on top of stuff. The video is in Windows Media Video format.