February 2007 Archives

So the kid was chillin' at her grandma's house, and Ilene and I got out for a rare bite to eat/moment alone. We high-tailed it to Follow Your Heart for a slammin' breakfast, and at the table next to us, a 50-ish couple was reading the Sunday Daily News. It's damn nice to see people reading the paper.

There, I said it, I blogged it, I'm outta here.

In "1900s House," Ilene chronicles the chain of events that stretches from our hot-water heater leaking like the Titanic, to replacing said heater ourselves ... IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT ... and then on to the little one throwing up all over ... and over (and on her favorite stuffed cat -- Chococat). Hot water -- that's ... hot.

Another day, another shooting and use of much tear gas:

VAN NUYS - A 34-year-old suspected gang member out on parole was was in custody today after a day-long standoff with police.

SWAT team officers used 100 cans of tear gas trying to get the gunman out of a relative's attic in the 7500 block of Sepulveda Boulevard, officials said.

"He was on drugs and beating up family members," said LAPD spokesman Kevin Maiberger.

Nice ...

And then there's this drive-by:

VAN NUYS - A 20-year-old man was fatally shot as he stood on his front porch, and police said today they believe the slaying was gang-related.

Mario Garcia Chiarinos and two women were talking on the porch in the 14400 block of Kitridge Street about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, when he was confronted by a man who asked his gang affiliation.

When Chiarinos declined to answer, the suspect shot him several times. Chiarinos was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Here, as in the Daily News HQ, in the bowels of the Jack Kent Cooke Memorial Hall, or, as it's known to everybody else who works here, 21221 Oxnard St.

The one awards show the Features Copy Desk works is the Oscars, and I'm listening to Al Gore do comedy -- he got a big-ass laugh for pretending to annouce his candidacy for president while the band began playing him off.

Funny stuff, Al. Remember -- Hillary has too many negatives, Obama's gonna fold like a cheap card table when the pressure gets too tough, and Edwards ... hell, he's nobody compared to you Al. So if "An Inconvenient Truth" does win the Oscar for best documentary, get on up there with Davis Guggenheim and announce your little heart out. Then it's time for "Presidential Celebrity Fit Club," to get in fightin' form and then ... on to the White House, baby.

Should I feel so moved as to post again on the Oscars, look for it -- and so much more -- at the Red Carpet blog.

Here's the post about new L.A. Voice stewards Ryan Knoll and Scott Schmidt taking over for Mack Reed, who explains the transition here.

Here's part of this monumental post in L.A. blogging history:

But I always stuck to the same dream: that I could give Angelenos a place online where anyone can say anything he or she wants about this city - unedited - about the people who run it and live in it and trash it up and make art and love their neighborhoods and distrust their elected representatives and slug it out on the freeways day after day after day.

After a time, that dream began to solidify. To my utter delight, LAVoice became all that - and more.

If you care about Los Angeles, and blogging, you owe it to yourself to read the whole thing.

I, for one, am glad to see L.A. Voice continuing, even with a couple of Republicans at the helm. I hate to say it, but Republicans seem to make the best bloggers, especially in L.A.

Ben & Jerry's pays tribute to faux newsman Stephen Colbert with a new ice-cream flavor, Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream.

Described by Ben & Jerry's as "the sweet taste of liberty in your mouth," Americone Dream consists of vanilla ice cream with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and caramel.

From the AP report:

The Vermont-based ice-cream maker is known for naming its flavors after people such as Jerry Garcia, Wavy Gravy and the band Phish — which Colbert sees as a political bias.

"I'm not afraid to say it. Dessert has a well-known liberal agenda," Colbert said in a statement. "What I hope to do with this ice cream is bring some balance back to the freezer case."

No word yet on a Ben & Jerry's flavor for Colbert doppelganger Bill O'Reilly. What do you think should be in his ice-cream recipe?

You might associate Laserium with Griffith Observatory -- and the '70s -- but now Van Nuys can lay claim to ... yes, I am declaring it so ... the official home of Laserium.

The Laserium Cyberstudio, 6911 Hayvenhurst Avenue, Van Nuys, is the place where Laserium reigns-- fueled by (what else?) Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon," as well as the music of the Beatles and Led Zeppelin.

The next Floyd show is on Saturday, Feb. 10, with additional shows scheduled through Feb. 24. Admission: $15.

Now I consider Laserium "before my time," but maybe that's not entirely accurate. Anyway, the laser-light shows at the pre-refurbishment Griffith Observatory were a SoCal staple ... for reasons that need no explaining. Experience it again in the majesty that is Van Nuys ... and wait ... there's more.

The Cyberstudio will, at some point in the near future, according to the Web site, give way to a bigger, better 80-foot Laserium Cyberdome:

A completely new form of LASERIUM featuring revolutionary new technology and interactivity will premiere soon in the LASERIUM CYBERDOME at a Southern California location to be announced.

Watch an online movie about it here.

The astronaut love triangle story is the talk of the newsroom today. The question of who was schtupping who is left somewhat ambiguous, and I'm erring on the side of nobody was schtupping nobody ... but this astronaut sure went crazy and tried to kidnap the woman she saw as her rival for a fellow astronaut's affections:

Police said Lisa Marie Nowak, 43 -- a Navy captain and married mother of three -- drove 900 miles, donned a disguise and was armed with a BB gun and pepper spray when she confronted a woman she believed was a competitor for the affections of Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, an unmarried fellow astronaut.

Oefelein, 41, piloted the space shuttle Discovery in December. He and Nowak trained together but never flew a mission together.

Nowak told police that her relationship with Oefelein was "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to an arrest affidavit. Inside Nowak's vehicle, which was parked at a nearby motel, authorities found a pepper spray package, an unused BB-gun cartridge, latex gloves and e-mails between Colleen Shipman and Oefelein.

And here's the Depends angle (you know there had to be a Depends angle):

Nowak raced from Houston to Orlando wearing diapers in the car so she wouldn't have to stop to go to the bathroom, authorities said. Astronauts wear diapers during launch and re-entry.

Makes going into orbit a bit less romantic and a bit more rash (as in red and prickly), doesn't it? And the fact that it happened in Orlando, Fla., just makes me think that Calfornia has quite a rival for weirdest state in the Union.

Anyhow, read the story already, because this is prime water-cooler talk for the next few days.

Photos: Astronaut Lisa Nowak before ... and after (in her booking mug shot).

It happened at 5:25 this morning. Injuries were minor:

Police were investigating the cause, but initial reports said that the bus was headed south on Van Nuys and the taxi was headed west on Oxnard when the crash occurred, police said.

See ... it's a bus crash ... and NOT the Orange Line.

Remember this guy? The Rev. Ted Haggard, pastor of the giant New Life Church in Colorado, has been through three weeks of intensive counseling, saying his homosexual contact was limited to the man who accused him ... of having homosexual contact.

Seinfeldism warning ... not that there's anything wrong with that.

Now Haggard and his wife want to pursue graduate degrees in psychology and get the hell out of Dodge (a.k.a. Colorado Springs, Colo.):

Haggard mentioned Missouri and Iowa as possible destinations. Another oversight board member, the Rev. Mike Ware of Westminster, said the group recommended the move out of town, and the Haggards agreed.

"This is a good place for Ted," Ware said. "It's hard to heal in Colorado Springs right now. It's like an open wound. He needs to get somewhere he can get the wound healed."

I'll let Eric Gorski of the Denver Post supply the main points:

Haggard, 50, resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals and was fired from the church he built from nothing into a 14,000-member congregation after a former male prostitute in Denver alleged a three-year cash-for-sex relationship.

Haggard admitted to "sexual immorality" and a long battle against feelings contrary to his beliefs. He admitted buying methamphetamine but said he never used it. Haggard did not respond to interview requests.

Among other things, the overseers urged Haggard to enter a 12-step program for sexual addiction, Ware said.

Ralph said three weeks of counseling at an undisclosed Arizona treatment center helped Haggard immensely and left Haggard sure of one thing.

"He is completely heterosexual," The Rev. Tim Ralph of Larkspur, Colo., said. "That is something he discovered. It was the acting- out situations where things took place. It wasn't a constant thing."

If you'll remember, and I know you will, the Rev Jack Hayford of the Church on the Way in Van Nuys was part of the religious-counseling team "treating" Haggard.

The Rev. H.B. London, one of the ministerial types involved in this whole mess/process, thinks Haggard's desire to enter the field of psychology isn't unusual:

"Many of us that go into the healing, helping professions do so out of some sort of dysfunction or traumatic event in our lives, and we want to do what we can to help other people avoid what we've gone through," he said. "He is certainly gifted and intelligent and has an intuitive side to him. And he has life experience. Those are good credentials."

Attention Midwestern states: Some guy and a big bag of bullshit are coming your way.