"Named after Southern California's Santa Ana Canyon and a fixture of local legend and literature, the Santa Ana is a blustery, dry and warm (often hot) wind that blows out of the desert. In Raymond Chandler's story Red Wind, the title being one of the offshore wind's many nicknames, the Santa Anas were introduced as 'those hot dry [winds] that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen.' Local legends associate the hot, dry winds with homicides and earthquakes, but these are myths.
"Another popular misconception that the winds are hot owing to their desert origin. Actually, the Santa Anas develop when the desert is cold, and are thus most common during the cool season stretching from October through March. High pressure builds over the Great Basin (e.g., Nevada) and the cold air there begins to sink. However, this air is forced downslope which compresses and warms it at a rate of about 10C per kilometer (29F per mile) of descent. As its temperature rises, the relative humidity drops; the air starts out dry and winds up at sea level much drier still. The air picks up speed as it is channeled through passes and canyons...." -- from the website.
<http://www.atmos.ucla.edu/~fovell/ASother/mm5/SantaAna/winds.html>
Media: IPSM Observed
Impractical Proposals SM benefited from kind notice last week from former LATimesman Kevin Roderick in his local media and lifestyle zine L.A. Observed, which does a great job covering local media and news. "Today's Blog" for October 21, for example, reports on the shutdown of an anonymous insider website about the daily activities, indiscretions and mishaps of Elay's mayor and councilmembers that has been must reading at City Hall; a note on the efforts to clean up the environmental damage at Rocketdyne's Santa Susana Field Lab near Chatsworth (Roderick is author of The San Fernando Valley: America's Suburb, so he pays close attention to doings in the Valley); a link to a Hollywood business story with a Black Dahlia twist; a reminder to listen to 89.3 KPCC's excellent weekly Journalist Roundtable that morning and Kitty Felde's Talk of the City look at the Indian gambling Propositions 68 and 70 in the afternoon; and a tip on an upcoming New York Review of Books-sponsored panel of journalists at Occidental College on "The Media and Iraq: What Went Wrong?" <http://www.laobserved.com/>
SM Library: Free access at library
The Santa Monica Public Library has added free wireless access at the temporary main library and the three neighborhood branches. To get on line, patrons need their own wi-fi-ready computer or PDA. The library already offers free internet access on some of its own computers at all four locations. The info line is 310-458-8600.
Blog: Baghdad Burning
If you were alive during the Vietnam era, this may have a familiar ring:
"The bombs being dropped on Fallujah don't contain
explosives, depleted uranium or anything harmful - they
contain laughing gas - that would, of course, explain
[Pentagon chief Donald] Rumsfeld's misplaced optimism
about not killing civilians in Fallujah. Also, being a
'civilian' is a relative thing in a country occupied by
Americans. You're only a civilian if you're on their
side. If you translate for them, or serve them food in
the Green Zone, or wipe their floors - you're an
innocent civilian. Just about everyone else is an
insurgent, unless they can get a job as a 'civilian'."
- Riverbend, an Iraqi civilian girl,
author of the blog Baghdad Burning
<http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/>
"The bombs being dropped on Fallujah don't contain
explosives, depleted uranium or anything harmful - they
contain laughing gas - that would, of course, explain
[Pentagon chief Donald] Rumsfeld's misplaced optimism
about not killing civilians in Fallujah. Also, being a
'civilian' is a relative thing in a country occupied by
Americans. You're only a civilian if you're on their
side. If you translate for them, or serve them food in
the Green Zone, or wipe their floors - you're an
innocent civilian. Just about everyone else is an
insurgent, unless they can get a job as a 'civilian'."
- Riverbend, an Iraqi civilian girl,
author of the blog Baghdad Burning
<http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/>
Theater: Last Night for "The Tansparency of Val"
"Life starts. People tell you things. Girls become boys. Facts become thoughts. Is my mother attractive? Is licorice really food? In Stephen Belber's new comedy, Transparency of Val, 'Val' is born. Within minutes, he learns part of the entire history of the world. By then, having finished college, he is faced with the task of actually living. It's not quite the coconut he was taught, what with all the twisted Buddhists, sexually-amorphous mates, and frighteningly friendly Nazis. But Val's a survivor, and like most good people, he'll endure. Unless he goes insane.
"Transparency of Val, no less sweeping in scope than Plato's 'Allegory of the Cave,' tackles the life cycle, sexual politics, race relations, foreign affairs, and modern religion. And it's a comedy! Playwright Stephen Belber, no longer content with the realism that drove his previous dramas like Tape and Finally, chooses a dramatic style which allows him to tackle so many broad issues. Like every good absurdist, he begs a number of fundamental questions without presuming any answers." -- from the program.
The LA Weekly: "Playwright Stephen Belber puts a ‘90s spin on the Candide story....So long as Belber keeps his eye on the satiric ball, his play is lively and funny, but it keeps veering into allegory, fantasy, absurdism and New Age truisms....Director Kelly Ann Ford gives the piece a slick and clever production, well served by a solid cast (including Bob Wilson in several roles), but the play’s warring elements never quite gel."
Backstage West: "...Please keep your hands and arms inside the car at all times.
Dutifully warned, one sits back for a spin on playwright Stephen Belber's philosophically comic roller coaster. Val, a quickly developing newborn played with infectiously wide-eyed wonder by Guy Busick, learns all he needs to know about life within the first 10 minutes of Belber's tautly constructed first act....best are the scenes in which Ford lets the dramatic side run its course naturally. The cast's
handling, Busick's in particular, of Val's parents' separation and his father's eventual death are touching oases in Belber's otherwise fast-moving tale."
West Coast Ensemble, wcensemble.org
522 N. La Brea Ave., Hlywd.;
Tues.-Thurs., 8 p.m.; thru Nov. 11. (323) 525-0022.
"Transparency of Val, no less sweeping in scope than Plato's 'Allegory of the Cave,' tackles the life cycle, sexual politics, race relations, foreign affairs, and modern religion. And it's a comedy! Playwright Stephen Belber, no longer content with the realism that drove his previous dramas like Tape and Finally, chooses a dramatic style which allows him to tackle so many broad issues. Like every good absurdist, he begs a number of fundamental questions without presuming any answers." -- from the program.
The LA Weekly: "Playwright Stephen Belber puts a ‘90s spin on the Candide story....So long as Belber keeps his eye on the satiric ball, his play is lively and funny, but it keeps veering into allegory, fantasy, absurdism and New Age truisms....Director Kelly Ann Ford gives the piece a slick and clever production, well served by a solid cast (including Bob Wilson in several roles), but the play’s warring elements never quite gel."
Backstage West: "...Please keep your hands and arms inside the car at all times.
Dutifully warned, one sits back for a spin on playwright Stephen Belber's philosophically comic roller coaster. Val, a quickly developing newborn played with infectiously wide-eyed wonder by Guy Busick, learns all he needs to know about life within the first 10 minutes of Belber's tautly constructed first act....best are the scenes in which Ford lets the dramatic side run its course naturally. The cast's
handling, Busick's in particular, of Val's parents' separation and his father's eventual death are touching oases in Belber's otherwise fast-moving tale."
West Coast Ensemble, wcensemble.org
522 N. La Brea Ave., Hlywd.;
Tues.-Thurs., 8 p.m.; thru Nov. 11. (323) 525-0022.
Public Policy: The (Running) Cost of the War in Iraq
"War affects everyone, not just those directly involved in the fighting. This webpage is a simple attempt to demonstrate one of the more quantifiable effects of war: the financial burden it places on our tax dollars." -- from the website. <http://costofwar.com/>
You'll get pie in the sky when you die -- Joe Hill
The Preacher and the Slave
Long-haired preachers come out every night,
Try to tell you what's wrong and what's right;
But when asked how 'bout something to eat
They will answer with voices so sweet:
The starvation army they play,
They sing and they clap and they pray
'Till they get all your coin on the drum
Then they'll tell you when you're on the bum:
Holy Rollers and jumpers come out,
They holler, they jump and they shout.
Give your money to Jesus they say,
He will cure all diseases today.
If you fight hard for children and wife --
Try to get something good in this life --
You're a sinner and bad man, they tell,
When you die you will sure go to hell.
Workingmen of all countries, unite,
Side by side we for freedom will fight;
When the world and its wealth we have gained
To the grafters we'll sing this refrain:
Long-haired preachers come out every night,
Try to tell you what's wrong and what's right;
But when asked how 'bout something to eat
They will answer with voices so sweet:
You will eat, bye and bye,
In that glorious land above the sky;
Work and pray, live on hay,
You'll get pie in the sky when you die.
The starvation army they play,
They sing and they clap and they pray
'Till they get all your coin on the drum
Then they'll tell you when you're on the bum:
Holy Rollers and jumpers come out,
They holler, they jump and they shout.
Give your money to Jesus they say,
He will cure all diseases today.
If you fight hard for children and wife --
Try to get something good in this life --
You're a sinner and bad man, they tell,
When you die you will sure go to hell.
Workingmen of all countries, unite,
Side by side we for freedom will fight;
When the world and its wealth we have gained
To the grafters we'll sing this refrain:
You will eat, bye and bye,
When you've learned how to cook and to fry.
Chop some wood, 'twill do you good,
And you'll eat in the sweet bye and bye.
-- Joe Hill (1911)
Jazz: Thom Rotella
And speaking of jazz, guitarist Thom Rotella continues to host a Sunday Jazz Guitar Brunch at La Vecchia Cucina, featuring guest guitarists....
November 7 - Larry Koonse
November 14 - John Pisano
November 21 - Mitch Holder
November 28 - Thom Rotella solo
Sundays 11am-2:30pm
(no cover charge) at
La Vecchia Cucina
2654 Main Street
Santa Monica
310.399.7979
<http://www.lavecchiacucina.com/>
<http://www.thomrotella.com/>
November 7 - Larry Koonse
November 14 - John Pisano
November 21 - Mitch Holder
November 28 - Thom Rotella solo
Sundays 11am-2:30pm
(no cover charge) at
La Vecchia Cucina
2654 Main Street
Santa Monica
310.399.7979
<http://www.lavecchiacucina.com/>
<http://www.thomrotella.com/>
It's not that bad
It's undeniably true that the driving issues in this campaign, besides security, were gun control, abortion and, most crucially, gay marriage. Karl Rove and his minions were extremely skillful at realizing a strategy that they outlined after the last election to build up a rock solid base of support among evangelicals.
How policies, such as the free use of guns and the criminalization of abortion, that together will result in uncountable deaths and untold suffering, become the "moral" choice I leave you to ponder. Why aren't the pulpits thundering about poverty and unjust war and the death of innocents in general? According to the New York Times, "voters who cited honesty as the most important quality in a candidate broke 2 to 1 in Mr. Bush's favor."
The most mendacious administration in American history gets the award for integrity.
A gang of crooks led by a known liar is the chosen guardian of moral values.
God works in mysterious ways, indeed.
The Democrats are not without responsibility, of course. Kerry tried to fudge every one of those same issues, especially abortion and gay marriage. And gay activists, by stressing marriage -- a vestige of religious ooga booga that maybe the state should get out of altogether -- over rights, about which most Americans agree, played into Rove's hands.
The administration will attempt to do the following: make the tax cuts for the rich permanent; privatize social security; pack the Supreme Court with right-wingers; overrule Roe v. Wade; expand the military; invade Iran; institute a draft; beef up the Patriot Act; continue to dismantle health and environmental protection laws; unloose the exploiters on those few public lands not yet despoiled; attempt to initiate a national sales tax as the final nail in the coffin of the progressive taxes; turn health care over to private business; and on and on.
You'll note that most of this agenda is about power and money, very little -- beyond tossing the bone of abortion to the Christian right -- about "morality."
Progressives are actually in a great position. We are more organized and unified than at any time since at least the 1930s. We agree with at least half the people on the kind of country we want to live in. And we have the high moral ground on the issues that actually affect the way people live.
What is needed is a clear articulation of the values that drive most progressives.
And the creation of organizations for influencing policy and politics independent of the fatally compromized Democratic Party.
How policies, such as the free use of guns and the criminalization of abortion, that together will result in uncountable deaths and untold suffering, become the "moral" choice I leave you to ponder. Why aren't the pulpits thundering about poverty and unjust war and the death of innocents in general? According to the New York Times, "voters who cited honesty as the most important quality in a candidate broke 2 to 1 in Mr. Bush's favor."
The most mendacious administration in American history gets the award for integrity.
A gang of crooks led by a known liar is the chosen guardian of moral values.
God works in mysterious ways, indeed.
The Democrats are not without responsibility, of course. Kerry tried to fudge every one of those same issues, especially abortion and gay marriage. And gay activists, by stressing marriage -- a vestige of religious ooga booga that maybe the state should get out of altogether -- over rights, about which most Americans agree, played into Rove's hands.
The administration will attempt to do the following: make the tax cuts for the rich permanent; privatize social security; pack the Supreme Court with right-wingers; overrule Roe v. Wade; expand the military; invade Iran; institute a draft; beef up the Patriot Act; continue to dismantle health and environmental protection laws; unloose the exploiters on those few public lands not yet despoiled; attempt to initiate a national sales tax as the final nail in the coffin of the progressive taxes; turn health care over to private business; and on and on.
You'll note that most of this agenda is about power and money, very little -- beyond tossing the bone of abortion to the Christian right -- about "morality."
Progressives are actually in a great position. We are more organized and unified than at any time since at least the 1930s. We agree with at least half the people on the kind of country we want to live in. And we have the high moral ground on the issues that actually affect the way people live.
What is needed is a clear articulation of the values that drive most progressives.
And the creation of organizations for influencing policy and politics independent of the fatally compromized Democratic Party.
Jazz: Carl Saunders at Clancy's...
...with Andy Martin and Jerry Pinter!!!
Carl Saunders is one of the trumpet greats. After high school, joined Stan Kenton's Orchestra, then spent 20 years in Vegas where he played lead in show bands for the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennet and Frank Sinatra (also for Paul Anka and Robert Goulet, but let's not go there). His big band credits include Si Zentner, Harry James, Maynard Ferguson, Benny Goodman and Charlie Barnet.
The Group: Andy Martin(trmb), Jerry Pinter(s), Christian Jacobs(p), Kevin Axt(b), Santo Savino(d).
Friday, November 05, 2004 - 8:00pm to Midnight - $10.00 Cover
Clancy's Jazz at the Crab Shack
219 North Central Avenue
Glendale, CA 91203
818-242-CRAB
(Just off the 134 at Central/Brand Avenue)
Carl Saunders is one of the trumpet greats. After high school, joined Stan Kenton's Orchestra, then spent 20 years in Vegas where he played lead in show bands for the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennet and Frank Sinatra (also for Paul Anka and Robert Goulet, but let's not go there). His big band credits include Si Zentner, Harry James, Maynard Ferguson, Benny Goodman and Charlie Barnet.
The Group: Andy Martin(trmb), Jerry Pinter(s), Christian Jacobs(p), Kevin Axt(b), Santo Savino(d).
Friday, November 05, 2004 - 8:00pm to Midnight - $10.00 Cover
Clancy's Jazz at the Crab Shack
219 North Central Avenue
Glendale, CA 91203
818-242-CRAB
(Just off the 134 at Central/Brand Avenue)
Today Is the First Day of the Rest of Your (Political) Life
Progressives need to take a step back from the Democratic Party.
Who cares which corporatist they nominate? They will continue to lose until they start to provide a viable alternative to corporate power.
I doubt that there ever was a time in our history when the labor, civil rights, peace and environmental movements have been as unified; too bad they bet it all on a nag.
Now these movements need to secure that unity by getting together behind a simple program:
single payer health insurance,
an increase in the minimum wage, and
the internationalization of American labor and environmental laws.
Lament that Bush won; shed tears for the country; but have no regrets that Kerry lost. He's just another symptom of our political dysfunction.
Joe Hill said, "Don't mourn. Organize!"
Who cares which corporatist they nominate? They will continue to lose until they start to provide a viable alternative to corporate power.
I doubt that there ever was a time in our history when the labor, civil rights, peace and environmental movements have been as unified; too bad they bet it all on a nag.
Now these movements need to secure that unity by getting together behind a simple program:
single payer health insurance,
an increase in the minimum wage, and
the internationalization of American labor and environmental laws.
Lament that Bush won; shed tears for the country; but have no regrets that Kerry lost. He's just another symptom of our political dysfunction.
Joe Hill said, "Don't mourn. Organize!"
Roosevelt: On the wages of fear
"...This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days." -- President Franklin D. Roosevelt, March 4, 1933
Election: List of ballot recommendations
President/Vice President: To defeat Bush, John Kerry and John Edwards
(but go to VotePair.Org <http://www.votepair.org/>and trade your vote with a third party (Green, Libertarian or Nader) voter in a swing state -- see Keep the Protest Alive, Trade Your Vote).
U.S. Senate: Barbara Boxer
The Props (see earlier posts, below):
Prop 1A: No
Prop 59: Yes
Prop 60: Yes
Prop 60A: No
Prop 61: Yes
Prop 62: No
Prop 63: Yes
Prop 64: No
Prop 65: No
Prop 66: Yes
Prop 67: No
Prop 68: No
Prop 69: No
Prop 70: No
Prop 71: No
Prop 72: Yes
Los Angeles County
Measure A: No.
Judges:
Office 18: Mildred Escobedo
Office 29: Gus Gomez
Office 52: Laura F. Priver
Office 53: Daniel Zeke Zeidler
Office 69: Donna Groman
City of Los Angeles
Measure O: Yes.
City of Santa Monica
City Council: Michael Feinstein, Herb Katz
(only: see Michael Feinstein and Herb Katz for City Council)
Rent Board: Jeff Sklar
Measure N: Increases the hotel occupancy tax from 12 to 14 percent (same as other municipalities): Yes
Santa MonicaCommunity College District
Measure S (authorizes the college district -- encompassing Santa Monica and Malibu -- to issue $135 million in bonds to replace or repair deteriorating buildings, construct and equip laboratories and meet new needs in emerging technologies): Yes
(but go to VotePair.Org <http://www.votepair.org/>and trade your vote with a third party (Green, Libertarian or Nader) voter in a swing state -- see Keep the Protest Alive, Trade Your Vote).
U.S. Senate: Barbara Boxer
The Props (see earlier posts, below):
Prop 1A: No
Prop 59: Yes
Prop 60: Yes
Prop 60A: No
Prop 61: Yes
Prop 62: No
Prop 63: Yes
Prop 64: No
Prop 65: No
Prop 66: Yes
Prop 67: No
Prop 68: No
Prop 69: No
Prop 70: No
Prop 71: No
Prop 72: Yes
Los Angeles County
Measure A: No.
Judges:
Office 18: Mildred Escobedo
Office 29: Gus Gomez
Office 52: Laura F. Priver
Office 53: Daniel Zeke Zeidler
Office 69: Donna Groman
City of Los Angeles
Measure O: Yes.
City of Santa Monica
City Council: Michael Feinstein, Herb Katz
(only: see Michael Feinstein and Herb Katz for City Council)
Rent Board: Jeff Sklar
Measure N: Increases the hotel occupancy tax from 12 to 14 percent (same as other municipalities): Yes
Santa MonicaCommunity College District
Measure S (authorizes the college district -- encompassing Santa Monica and Malibu -- to issue $135 million in bonds to replace or repair deteriorating buildings, construct and equip laboratories and meet new needs in emerging technologies): Yes
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