Now Watch This Drive

L.A. Then & Then

1917:Source.
1949:

The background process plate—film intended to be used behind actors in a car scene—offers an all-too-short, high-resolution view of Bunker Hill and today's Financial District in the late 1940's.

Source.

Bloated Torture & Horror

This monstrosity was linked in comments to a recent item (Thanks, Thunder!) & because we hate everybody & everything we wanted to be sure your eyeballs were as seared as ours were.

The Torture Never Stops

Today's Dodger game in the nation's capital postponed by rain: This means we'll have to be consciousawake by 1000PDT tomorrow to catch the double-header.

Fuck you, Dodgers Twitterer (1447PDT): Now it's on again, but we have to wait for an announcement of game time.

DOUBLE FUCK YOU, MORON (1456PDT): Story changed again.

Tonight's game has officially been canceled and there will be a double header tomorrow. PRIME TICKET Game 1, KCAL Game 2

(Had no idea how prophetic the headline would be.)

Like A Pig*

Just around noon, the two Internet temperature advisors on the devil-box advise us it's either 96°F or a mere 91°F. Outside. Only 83°F in the bunker. Humid, though. Expect a killing spree at any moment.

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*Do pigs really sweat that much?

Secret East Hollywood History

Didn't see it mentioned in the Yelp! link here,

Whitehorse Inn - Eat a free hot dog. Take a photo for the wall. Find out why the Blackhorse turned White. 1532 N. Western, north of Sunset

but one used to be able to see the guy in the back room & score blow, were one so inclined.

That would be maybe 20 yrs. ago, before the big quake of '94, when the White Horse was closer to the Pussycat Theater & before it moved into the new motel that replaced the dump condemned by the quake, but Yelpers imply the dame who "owns/runs" the place has been in charge since 198X. Of course, there usually is an unseen non-worker at "dive bars" who collects the profits, no matter who you may believe "owns" the dump.

Center-Right Nation

Stick it, libs. Big Hollywood is right!

The one in which his character died that isn't The Shootist.

Though the actor most widely known for his westerns died of cancer in 1979 at the age of 72, his popularity remains unparalleled. A Harris poll released earlier this year listed Wayne as America's No. 3 favorite actor after Johnny Depp and Denzel Washington.

Bloated Oaf Watch

Republicans still salivating about Joisey gubner Chris Christie throwing his big, fat hat in the ring should just clam up until his portliness actually moves to take off a couple hundred lbs.

Christie’s lackluster assessment is likely to ramp up attempts by GOP hopefuls to actively campaign for his approval, even as conservatives across the country continue to beg him to put himself in the race. 

So we're pencilling him in for 2016. Or 2020. Assuming he hasn't keeled over & been unable to get up before then.

Smarty 'Phones Are For Baby-Killers

If you have one, you're complicit. Note also how fucking stupid military procurement is.

And note where your tax money goes. Stop paying taxes, now!! And start taxing the shit out of these corporate welfare cheats.

Second Amendment Round-Up

Another macho gun-owner cops out:

Ralph Swagler, owner of the adjacent Locals BBQ restaurant, told the Nevada Appeal that he saw the gunman pull up in a minivan, get out and begin firing an automatic rifle at the IHOP. The gunman then reloaded and went inside, and Swagler said he heard more gunshots inside the restaurant.

Swagler said bullets fired from inside IHOP shattered windows and struck his building as well as an adjacent H&R Block office.

Swagler said he had a handgun and considered opening fire on the shooter, but he didn't want to engage a gunman who was armed with a fully automatic weapon.

Well, the answer to that is to issue full-auto penisesguns to every citizen. An armed society is always polite, after all.

Enemy Of Freedom

Do not give this dangerous plutocrat any money by going to see the S.D. Chargers.

Perry will be hobnobbing with a crowd of big donors and big pols -- backers who include ... San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos ...

Fed Up?

You can bet we're FED UP! w/ two-faced socialists like Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Gov. Rick Perry appealed for federal assistance to fight at least 63 blazes throughout the drought-dried state.

[...]

Perry, a Republican presidential candidate, cut short a campaign trip to South Carolina to go to Bastrop on Monday. He said officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency were expected to arrive in Texas as soon as Wednesday.

"I don't think we've ever seen a wildfire season like this" since the 1980s, Perry said after surveying the Bastrop fire by helicopter. "We've got a long way to go to get this thing contained."

Where's your gawd now, hairpiece? Still busy not-existing? Or real, but punishing you & your state for hypocrisy?

Wage-Slavery Celebrated

Get a job:Can't get a job:Gotcher "job" right here!

Before & After

City Life

It drizzled where we were yesterday. The sun also being out, we thought, Oh, must be a rainbow somewhere, but, being trapped in an urban canyon, we couldn't spot it.

Good News For Modern Man

Stats we like:

The growing number of Dutch churches no longer serving as such has led to a renovation boom, a national heritage foundation says.

As a result of the ongoing secularisation, only 7,000 of Holland’s 19,000 churches are still being used for worship. The other 12,000 have been given a new function or are on sale, according to the foundation.

“Giving old buildings such as churches a new lease on life also fits with sustainability trends”, the foundation says. And companies can distinguish themselves by moving into a church. “In Maastricht, for example, a former monastery now houses a bookshop.”

Reliplan specialises in selling heritage monuments including churches. The state agent operates in the Netherlands as well as Germany, Belgium and other European countries. Over the past 20 years, it has sold some 900 Dutch churches that acquired a new role, often a cultural one. The company currently has 63 churches on offer in the Netherlands.

12,000 down, 7,000 to go.

RUGS

Mom's

Red Gold & Green

If you know what we mean.

She's 230 Yrs. Old

On this date:

 In 1781, a new settlement was established along that river. The settlement came to be known as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciúncula or The Town of Our Lady the Queen of Angels of the Little Portion although its official name was simply El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles.

River, you say? Ha ha, whatever. And no longer a "very small parcel of land," but a hideous blot on the geographic & psychological landscape. 502.69 square miles of it. Progress!

Tower Of La Brea

Appeared as the "Daily Planet" building in the first season of Superman.

The pole on the roof was a dirigible mast. (How'd that work out?) Stupid sign used to advertise Mutual of Omaha.

In The Gutter, Looking ...

Two Faces Have I

Why are we not surprised that the above cretin is affiliated w/ Big Ho? Maybe we already knew, maybe we realized that all 30 or so right-wingers in "Hollywood" end up at Big Ho for at least one or two idiotic items. Not that Mr. Golub has cranked out much for Big Ho in the last two yrs. Too busy stockbrokering, maybe, or making the Internet uglier w/ this site-to-behold.

Cheap shots at ugliness aside, here's a bit of TPM's blood-libelous coverage:

In the past, Palin has protested loudly and publicly when comedy writers have attempted to use her son's handicaps to make jokes. The special needs community is, perhaps understandably, a particular sore spot for Palin -- though her outrage can sometimes shift with the political winds.

Back [sic] in February 2010, for example, she excoriated then-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel for calling liberal activists "retarded." A few days later, she defended Rush Limbaugh's use of the same word in a similar context.

CNN reports that Palin did not comment on the remark in her speech, nor did her team respond to CNN's request for comment.

For those too young & dumb to catch the reference:Note the similarities in vocal register between Eric Golub & Lou Christie.

Crikey, Golub is a real winner.

Palin “has such a value for human life, that she would even bring a child into this world she knew that modern medical technology would show that would be defective ideologically like Nancy Pelosi.”

Musical Interlude

Before re-plunging into the sewers of American politics, take a chill pill w/ Hamp.More tom, less snare!Even more tom!Bringing it back to the '70s w/ more bop-a-re-bop.False ending too!

Asshole Of The Wk., Pseudo-Aristocratic Division

A look inside something. Or a look at something previously hidden under a rock. Yes, the very, very Vadum (Vadense?) Matthew Vadum, who believes ACORN is still in existence & that the franchise should be very restricted.Know them by the company they keep: Mr. Vadum w/ convicted political criminal* G. Gordon "Rat-Eater" Liddy, he of advising how best to kill ATF agents ("Now if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms comes to disarm you and they are bearing arms, resist them with arms. Go for a head shot; they're going to be wearing bulletproof vests. [...] They've got a big target on there, ATF. Don't shoot at that, because they've got a vest on underneath that. Head shots, head shots ... Kill the sons of bitches.")

Mr. Vadum seems to have a problem w/ smiling convincingly.

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*Which is worse, Vadum's lies about his bête noire, ACORN, or Liddy's involvement in Watergate, CREEP & Nixon's plumbers?

Context (2054PDT 3 September 2011): Get off the vote.

Gawd Loves Our Team

Notre Dame Stadium evacuated due to heavy rain & lightning, a first. The Fighting Pederast PriestsIrish were losing to the U. of South Florida, 16-0. We're hoping for a bolt of lightning to whack Touchdown Jesus.

This one.

Not this one, previously whacked by nature.

What a country, that we should have two "Touchdown Jesuses." Beat that, furriners!

The Nasty Broadcasting Corp. is now running a Notre Dame-Utah game from last yr., in case anyone cares.

Why Don't We Eat Breakfast?

Because the current Yankee breakfast is bullshit, Adventist/Puritan/corporate style:

Seeking to provide sanitarium patients with meatless anti-aphrodisiac breakfasts in 1894, Michigan Seventh-Day Adventist surgeon and anti-masturbation activist John Kellogg developed the process of flaking cooked grains.

[...]

"Cold cereals are an invention of vegetarians and the health-food industry, first through Kellogg's and then through C.W. Post, which steals all of Kellogg's ideas," Smith explains.

"These companies realized early on that people like sugar, and kids really like sugar -- so they shifted their sales target from adults concerned about health to kids who love sugar. It's a thoroughly American invention."

Republican Vet Speaks

Robin Abcarian reports:

Palin has been adept at raising small sums — in the first half of the year she raised nearly $1.7 million, spent close to $1.6 million and had $1.4 million on hand. But one veteran Republican strategist familiar with her operation guffawed at her fundraising skills.

"She is not capable of raising anywhere near the amount of money necessary for a serious presidential campaign," said the strategist, who like several others interviewed spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid damaging professional relationships. "Maybe a couple million. Not $50 million."

This strategist said Palin is "fundamentally a media candidate" whose product is not policy, but books, reality television and her million-dollar contract with Fox News. Keeping herself in the limelight, he said, is the key to "renewing that fan base and monetizing that stuff in the future."

So. Nah gunna happen, even if she throws her hat in the ring.

Also, Abcarian on Palin & the C4P faithful.

Telethon

A read-a-thon by Harry Shearer on Jerry Lewis & the 1976 MDA telethon. The one where Sinatra brought Dino to make up or whatever w/ Jerry. We're curious as to the rag where it first appeared.

Later (0420PDT 23 September 2011): We are advised that it appeared in Film Comment.

Our Favorite Brand, Hint Hint

Our birthday arrives soon, & if those has-been Beatles were bigger than Jesus, surely Xmas isn't a bigger deal than said anniversary.

Touch This & We'll Break Your Arm

We believe we still have a single of this one, but why should we get up & look?Can't find the version, but we didn't look very hard or long.

Raiders Suck Way Through Pre-Season

Felt as if we should run something texty, if not actually textural. Which would involve typing something, which might just strain our brain, if not our fingers.

So: We're glad the Southland fire season is at last underway, & sincerely hope that this yr. all suburban sprawl is reduced to ash (Also: More & larger earthquakes, hurricanes & typhoons please!); we could not give less of a flying fuck at a rolling dough-nut about the DC comics "re-boot" (Or is it a "retcon?" Either way, we'd as soon never hear/read either term again about anything except restarting one's devil-box — wait, one can simply say/type "restarting.") or world-class* war criminal/evil doer George Lucas & his latest alteration of his pathetically juvenile space fantasy series for the fucking Blu-Ray™ release; the President of The United Snakes can go fuck himself; will you people stop w/ the Twitting already? (We're far enough behind on the shit in the reader as is.); we're as sickened by reading about "cocktails" & their invention as we are about "food" & its preparation: You drink booze to get drunk, not to be stylish or whatever the fuck you're pretending, just as food fetishization is sad sexual sublimation in the neo-Puritan fear of STD world; we don't have a bang-up ending, merely a whimper ...

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*Just as disgusted by "world-class" since we first heard it drawled from the mouth of H. Ross Perot some 20 yrs. ago, but couldn't resist the double alliteration w/ "war criminal."

Music Not For The Masses

Who are we kidding? Can't get much more commercial than Spear & Uhuru.This one from the sad file of discs we once owned.

A = A

Where A = asshole. Steve Ditko goes Objectivist.

We see "for an equal value" there, but where does almighty profit enter the equation, Randian superman?

Did You Ever See A Bat ... Walking?

It was probably rabid, so stay the fuck away.

People who encounter bats should be especially careful because a healthy bat is usually skilled at avoiding people, officials said.

The rabid bats found locally include ones found walking on the ground and during daylight, uncommon behaviors for a bat, officials said.

As opposed to bats found walking on what, exactly?

Anyway, chances of an encounter are higher than average.

So far in 2011, 22 rabid bats have been confirmed, according to the veterinary public health division of the county health department. In a typical year, about nine are found.

In the Santa Clarita Valley alone, tests indicated rabies in nine bats.

No word on squirrels & other rodentia w/ bubonic plague this season.

US$1.00, US$2.00 On Sunday

If we hadn't already given up on daily purchase of the local fish-wrapper, this would have sealed (Unsealed?) the deal.

Talk about paying more for less. After slashing staff, budgets, freelance rates and page counts, the LA Times is raising the price of its print edition.

The cost of the weekday paper will increase to $1.00 from 75 cents. The Sunday edition will increase from $1.50 to $2.00. Changes go into effect on Labor Day.

So far we’ve seen mention of the price increase in the Washington Post, The Sacramento Bee, Newsday, and NBC Los Angeles. But we can’t find any information in the LA Times itself.

The paper last increased newsstand prices two years ago. when it went from 50 to 75 cents for the weekday edition.

Page count last time we bought the damn thing (for reading while on public transit): 50. That would be 2¢ a page, at least some of which still have ads on them.

Another (And Firmer) No To Slave Labor!

Hmmm. S'pose we could get a job as a guard somewhere that deserves to be shot up? Of course, any operation that needs to be protected from the wrath of the people should be shot up. Or burned to the ground.

The 23-year-old guard, Vishram Singh, posted at the Govindpuri Extension office of Muthoot Finance Ltd, was apparently frustrated with his long working hours and meagre salary. Sources said Singh, who hails from Etah in UP, was also sore about having to stay back after the normal closing time of 6pm on Thursday.

"The guard suddenly opened fire while standing at his post at the entrance gate on the first floor of the building. He began shouting and cursing everyone, claiming he was being overworked and underpaid, and that he would seek his revenge,'' said joint commissioner (southern range) Amulya Patnaik.

No To Slave Labor!

Well over halfway through Thursday & nothing to amuseirritate has yet appeared in this space.

Although our desire is for others to be irritated (We're in an almost constant state of irritation as is.) this is irking us.

Frank McCourt is offered $1.2 billion for Dodgers

The all-cash bid comes from Bill Burke, founder of the L.A. Marathon, plus 'state-owned investment institutions of the People's Republic of China' and unidentified American investors, a letter sent to Frank McCourt says. Burke and a spokesman for McCourt have no comment.

We'd as soon not have the PLA owning "our" former Brooklyn Bums, thenkyew veddy much.

Nor are we that happy about Bill Burke, either.

[T]he L.A. Marathon has no roots in the local running community, no runners' advisory boards, not even a local running club as a sponsor. Instead, the L.A. Marathon was created out of thin air, legislated into existence almost overnight by a City Council still intoxicated by the "spirit of the Olympics," not to mention the prestige and money that the event brought to Los Angeles. And while such glamour events as Boston and New York command sizable corporate sponsorships, none can match the L.A. Marathon for its ability to mold itself to the needs of Fortune 500 companies, marketing firms and public relations outfits. "The Los Angeles Marathon was created from a top-down process, rather than the usual bottom-up fashion," observes Jeff Darman, a noted road-racing expert. "It's not as much a race as it is a marketing organization."

Bet the Chinese love that.