The Forecast

It was supposed to rain yesterday.  Instead, it looked like this:

(Okay, the crappy Blackberry camera doesn't do it justice.)  I think that's one of my favorite things about calling California home.  I've lived places where a 30% chance of rain means it'll definitely rain.  Here, a 70% chance of rain means it'll probably be sunny.

Walking along the cliffs in the bright sunshine when it was supposed to be raining got Lennox Fleary's song "Days of Rain" stuck in my head.  Which is a good thing, because four hours later I was playing "Days of Rain" and a dozen other tunes in concert with Lennox and an amazing cadre of voracious musical animals: Daniel Estay (guitarist, singer, songwriter); Isaac Sturtevant (guitarist, keyboardist, singer, songwriter, and one-half of the Oregon-based indie band In My Opinion); Anthony DiRocco (drummer, songwriter, and the other half of In My Opinion); Keaver Brenai (singer, songwriter); and Marika Papazoglu (singer, songwriter).

Fell in love with Lennox's music from the moment I heard it.  He was playing the Saturday morning I walked into the Purple Church for the first time.  His music was the reason I went back the following Saturday.  Pretty amazing for me: a guy who HATES Christian music.  Just goes to show that good music is good music...and as "positive" and "encouraging" as K-Love can be, bad music is bad.  Okay, tangential rant over.

Speaking of opinions: in my opinion, In My Opinion rocks!  These guys have a wonderfully organic feel to their tunes...creative, poignant, bitter, fun.  Playing with them was a highlight of 2010.  We're hoping to arrange a few gigs together here in LA and up in Portland.  And if those shows work out, I hope we can have as many post-concert dinners like we did last night.  Though, it's tough to choke down food while being regaled with tales about poultry in trees at a gas station ("yeah, we've got a chicken problem"), torching furniture in the back yard, the Sheridan Mud Drags (the city's fire dept turns the hoses on a pile of dirt and the locals race trucks),  and turning the bed of a pickup truck into a swimming pool.  Abs hurt lots from laughing so hard.

Finally headed home around 1:00a.  Figured that would be a safe time to brave the 5 fwy traffic through East LA.  Irvine to Eagle Rock: 35 minutes.  I should say so.

The Addiction

It's amazing to me how dependent we become on routine.  How certain facets of our everyday lives morph from being insignificant to being indispensable.  And how so often, if we try to change things up, it completely knocks us off our game.  I know it's not just me.  Please let it not be just me.  I swear I'm not obsessive-compulsive.

For my wife and me, nowhere is this more evident than at bedtime.  I've gotten hooked on those Breathe Right nasal strips.  (Actually, the generic brand from Target is better.)  I don't snore--they just make my nose feel more open and me more relaxed overnight.

 

The last thing my wife does every night as she climbs into bed is lotion her feet.  She says she can't sleep otherwise.

Silence is also deafening for both of us.  If we don't have a fan, or some kind of constant white noise source, we go absolutely nuts.  No fan, no sleep.

 

I have to start the night on my left side--no exceptions.  If I don't, I feel unbalanced the entire night.  (I also have to--throughout the course of the night--sleep on each side equally.  This is done through groggy approximation: if I feel like I've been on one side too long, I must flip.)

We both have to have water nearby.  She sips.  I gulp.

I read somewhere that if we drive the exact same route to and from work every day, our brains actually age faster.  But the minute we introduce the slightest variation into that route, it stimulates brain function, literally keeping us younger.  (And I was so proud to have found the perfect back way to work...)

Do these habits, eccentricities, neuroses affect us similarly?  Should we be actively trying to banish all of this micro-order from our lives?  Are we addicted to routine?

Or does strict adherence to routine in these minor areas of our lives allow us greater spontaneity in the big things?

The Return

Two years since I last blogged? That's what it says.

Well, I'm back. Because I gave up e-silence for Lent. Not really. I've never really observed Lent at all. And I actually don't really believe in giving up stuff for Lent. Such a negative emphasis...and also gives folks way too many opportunities to brag about what they're depriving themselves of. Why not, instead of focusing on the negative things, take up new challenges instead? Like writing.

A couple of years ago playwright Suzan-Lori Parks embarked upon an ambitious project called 365 days/365 plays, in which she wrote a play a day for a year. "It's about embracing the spirit of the text instead of noodling some idea about things," she told The New Yorker magazine.

Okay. I like word hugs. I'm game. I'll write every day throughout Lent. Maybe it'll help me be more observant. Maybe it'll help me discover new joys in my everyday life. We'll see. Read it, if you like. I won't be hurt if you find this incredibly boring, though.

Driving Music

It's not the most awe-inspiring of automobiles--the Ford Focus. But Ford has rolled out an awe-inspiring ad campaign for the Focus in Great Britain. This TV ad debuted this week to the tune of £45m. It features 15 prominent LA studio musicians playing 21 instruments designed by the Car Music Project. The instruments are also used in an Alesha Dixon music video...um...whoever the heck that is. Anyway, here's the video:

Kinda reminds me of this Honda commercial from a few years ago:

Tom Shady

Nobody's perfect. And during the NFL salary cap era, nobody should be perfect. It's not that I have anything against the Patriots--I'm mostly jealous of them--I just always root against the undefeated teams. (Can't wait until Memphis loses.) That's the first reason why I was a Giants fan last night.

The second is that the Giants beat my Packers. And it lends the Packers more credibility in their loss. (By the way, Brett Favre, please retire. It's Aaron Rodgers time.)

No other real wisdom here except that the Patriots didn't really get tested in the regular season--and when they did, they barely won. Their opponents' combined record was 120-136. They weren't as invincible as everybody thought and the Giants proved that all you need to beat them is average offensive production and to knock Tom Brady down. Five sacks did it.

No, Tom Brady, 18-1 isn't as good as 19-0, but at least you still have Gisele.

And by the way, my MVP was not Eli Manning--it was Justin Tuck: 11 tackles, 3 assists, 2 sacks, and a forced fumble.

And time stood still...

If you've never heard of the group Improv Everywhere, you should check them out.

www.improveverywhere.com/

This is their latest work. Described on their website as follows:

"On a cold Saturday in New York City, the world’s largest train station came to a sudden halt. Over 200 Improv Everywhere Agents froze in place at the exact same second for five minutes in the Main Concourse of Grand Central Station. Over 500,000 people rush through Grand Central every day, but today, things slowed down just a bit as commuters and tourists alike stopped to notice what was happening around them."

If this ever comes to LA, I'm so there. Of course, the LA version of this stunt would be more apropos on the freeways. Oh wait...that happens EVERY DAY. It's called the 405.

LA Metergate

A private parking ticket company...a $113 million a year industry...a class-action lawsuit...even a PBS documentary called "Pain and Parking in Los Angeles."

The biggest scandal in LA should not be the mayor sleeping with a Telemundo news anchor, it should be the unmitigated orgy of parking tickets cluttering windshields across the city.

My own windshield has housed a few of those dubious doilies recently and I'm not happy. There is a street near where I work that has free two-hour parking with no meters. It's a long enough street so I can park there and move my car every two hours (more than the required 500 feet) and not have to pay to park all day. (I know, you're thinking what a cheapskate I am, but hey, I usually ride the Metro but when I don't: free beats the $5 a day lot nearby or the $55 monthly fee to park in the structure at my building. Plus, I get a nice walk from the car to work all throughout the day.)

Recently, though, LA parking authorities have ramped up enforcement on this street. One day last week I counted six parking enforcement vehicles within the three blocks from where I work to where I park. They lurk in the shadows, clock-watching, and waiting for you to leave your car for two hours and one minute. Then they give you a ticket.

My first thought is, don't the police have better things to do with their time? I hear there are a few gangs in LA. Upon further investigation, though, it's actually a private company who runs parking enforcement here. It used to be Lockheed-Martin until a few years ago. Now it's the Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Systems company. (Pardon a brief digression here: what's the problem with hiring a local company to do this? Why must we send money out of the state of California when it could just as easily stay here?)

Back to topic. The privatization of parking fines brings up several questions:

1.) Is the company's profitability tied to how many tickets they issue?
2.) Are their employees granted merit-based promotions?
3.) Where does the money go?

The answers to these questions are simple and a bit disturbing. The more tickets Affiliated Computer Systems issues, the more money they get. As they contribute to the success of the company, ACS employees move up the corporate ladder. (The primo position in LA is "booter." There are more than 200 of these employees; and since unpaid parking tickets eventually end up either being deducted from California state income tax refunds or added to California state license plate renewals, the booters tend to focus their efforts on out-of-state vehicles--forcing these people to pay if they want their cars back.)

The one bright spot is that while parking fines account for nearly 2% of the city's budget and Affiliated Computer Systems gets as much as three bucks per ticket, the administrative costs of processing an appeal are greater than what ACS would pocket if the fine is enforced. Meaning, even if one loses his appeal, he still costs the company money.

You can bet I'll appeal every single ticket I ever get.