kidsmoke

Tonight I went through the intersection where the Riverside police were ambushed (and 1 killed) last Thursday. 3 of its 4 corners held shrines...a lovely wreath on a stand, a cross, and a cluster of tall glass candles flickering in front of the Parent Navel Orange Tree, which is at that intersection. (This tree is the one that began the entire Southern CA citrus industry, literally. It's still living & still producing oranges after all these years! It's nicely fenced off for protection.) Passing through the intersection, and seeing all the candles, flowers, and the cross made me think of

Thanks for that suggestion, Tweedling! I have some Amazon birthday money to spend and that might be a really nice use of some of it!

Wow. Intense! I hope you all can keep your power. Stay warm and safe.

So if the meteorologists are right, the Northeast is due to be seriously slammed with a "monster storm". I hope you've all got the supplies you need to cocoon for awhile and not need to go anywhere! Be safe and don't try to drive anywhere if it can wait. Let us know how you are faring. Lovely pictures of fresh snow are encouraged!

I must be spending too much time on facebook. I really wanted to "Like" your post, and Shug's.

There's a seriously weird, paranoid vibe around right now. He took his truck up into the local San Bernardino mountains and torched it. No one knows where he is now, but I'd presume that if no one is reporting a stolen vehicle, he's still up there. It's a smallish community, and it's damned cold tonight. Police have been said to be going literally door to door. And thanks, Ghost.

Thanks, A-man. I'll have to look for that film. Even if it's lousy it might be interesting. You have a veritable encyclopedia of a mind...I'm always amazed at all the details you know. I love Dirt Farmer and want to get Electric Dirt, based on what I've heard about it. That's adorable that Levon was happy taking "hillbilly" roles. I'm glad he wasn't cast in Deliverance.

Knowing the LAPD, I suspect that a good deal more than half is true. What a lousy story, all the way around. His violence isn't going to solve anything, and it's just going to bring a lot of misery - already has, to the families of his victims. I expect it will end with him losing his life to his "cause". I do agree with you that maybe bringing the LAPD's actions to light could wind up being beneficial, but how sad that this is how it had to play out.

Here's the CNN link: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/07/us/lapd-attacks/index.html

I do. My dad worked his whole life in the aerospace industry so we kids were always interested in space flight. Dad worked on the Saturn V rockets that boosted the Apollos into orbit, and later he worked on parts of the Enterprise & Columbia space shuttles. Pretty cool stuff to have been a part of! I'm looking forward to seeing Levon in that movie. I loved him in Coal Miner's Daughter. It seemed like acting came naturally to him. Maybe if he hadn't been so busy with his other job he'd have been a famous actor.

We got an automated phone call this morning from my daughter's school district, advising that all schools were in session today. My husband asked, "What is today? Why wouldn't schools be in session?" We thought it was weird but proceeded as usual, thinking maybe some kids had been spreading rumors as a prank or something like that. It turns out to be far more serious. Last night a pair of Riverside police officers were ambushed at a major street intersection about 5 minutes away from our home. One officer is in the hospital in intensive care, but looks as though he'll survive. The other offi

I've never seen "The Right Stuff" but have it on loan from the library & plan to watch it as soon as life calms down. (My stepmom's funeral is tomorrow. What a rough couple of months it's been!)

Thanks for the photos!

You lucky man. Enjoy every minute!

That's great news! I was just admiring Levon's acting chops last night, as my daughter and I watched "Coal Miner's Daughter". He was a man of many gifts.

I loved this.

Damn. I want him for my team!

Even as we speak, these records are being written in the dank basements of fundamentalist churches. Geology is a fascinating subject. Any thoughts of going back to school and pursuing your passion? You're a young pup yet. That fellow on the insurance commercials doesn't seem too bad. Sounds like fascinating work, Anthony, but I'm not even sure where to begin with questions since I know so little about this line of work. Does it involve a lot of considerations of seismic response, living as you do in southern CA?

Paleontology was never my strong subject, but I'll keep this idea under advisement. Also architecture. Meanwhile, the powers-that-be have decreed that is is unfeasible and also unethical to clone a Neanderthal. So you won;t have to worry about that.

That's such a fun interview, and so relaxed.

I do love that parody. Darth Nixon.

That's fine, Oil Can. It's more the self-promotional stuff we're trying to quash.

So true, Chinese Apple. But it's a great ride when it happens!

Thanks everybody. It was a good day with many very sweet moments!

I've been through that stretch of Texas, Tweedling, and I can attest to its utter flatitude. Didn't get to see a sunrise or sunset, but I remember you could see for miles and miles in any direction. I'd love to see a sunrise there. I think there are ways to create helium artificially, or to extract it from air, but they are prohibitively expensive.