Stan’s Obligatory Blog

I’m going on a trip next week. Back to visit Texas and see all my friends there. This will be the first time I’m flying anywhere since last year’s trip to Texas. And I fully expect that there will be nothing like this. It’s going to be Great Fun.

I can’t remember how life was even possible before Google. On Saturday night when we went to the fireworks show, Lucinda’s friend noticed that the left-side back door of my car would not open from the inside. So this evening, I went searching on the Net and found this:

www.impalaforums.com/chevy-impala-7th-gen-discussion/232967-2005-impala-rear-door-child-safety-locks.html

And that was it. It was about five minutes total time for searching and then going outside to look at the door and turning the little lock thingy. So easy, but without the Net, I might never have found it. I am again in awe.

You must remember this
A kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh.
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by.

And when two lovers woo
They still say, “I love you.”
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings
As time goes by.

Today’s bike ride was another cultural history grave tour. Today we went to pay respects to Dooley Wilson, who is remembered best as Sam the piano man in “Casablanca“. Since one of the themes of that story is that of great unrequited love, it’s something that I and almost everyone else can certainly relate to.

It was a perfect day for riding. It promised to get hot later in the day, but it never did get very hot. So it was very nice.

We rode directly to downtown Los Angeles and then all the way through to the south end of downtown before turning west on Washington Blvd to get to the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery. We found Dooley’s grave near the entrance. I brought a shot glass along so as to be able to down some shots of Gatorade while reflecting on Wilson’s role as a cultural touchstone for our generation.

After leaving the cemetery, we rode north to Larchmont, where we stopped at Noah’s Bagels. Then we continued on north through Hollywood to Franklin Ave, where we turned east. Then I got a flat. So Jon took the obligatory picture before we continued on. The rest of the route was the most direct way home, up Eagle Rock Blvd and then across on Yosemite and then up the Colorado St hill into Pasadena.

It was a very nice ride.

40 miles.
cycling

On Saturday night, I took Lucinda and her friend Alisha to see a fireworks show for the 4th of July. As with last year, we went to South Pasadena, since they have a nice show. We found a spot on the football field right underneath where the fireworks were going to be going off. And it was a fun time.

I had Friday off work, so I had a chance to spend the day in Marina Del Rey and to just generally enjoy the beach breeze. This is a rare treat, living in Pasadena.

I headed over there on Friday morning. I’d brought my commuting bike so we could go riding along the beach. We went and took a little tour of the canals in Venice, and then we rode up to Santa Monica, passing through the craziness of Venice. It was quite entertaining, as always. I love a good freak show.

Saturday morning, we rode the other way down the beach. The 4th of July holiday was getting underway, and we saw a barbecue that was a 55-gallon drum, but decorated like a bull. Complete with nuts. Check them out in the picture. We also saw hang gliding instruction and a guy riding a streamlined recumbent bike. And of course, I got a new sign for my animal crossings gallery. We stopped for lunch in Manhattan Beach before heading back.

It was a nice little 28-hour getaway.

Tonight, Leslie and I went to see “Food, Inc“. This is the new documentary about the American food system, how it works, what’s in it, who controls it, and all those unsavory details. Think, “Super Size Me” meets “The Corporation“. Yick. Fortunately, I’d made us a nice home-cooked dinner before we went, since this film has a way of killing one’s appetite. Still, it was a good film, and definitely worth seeing.