"Hal 9000"

On the day before Halloween, Google shut me down, because "Hal 9000" detected that this blog was a spam blog... It seems like they have let me back on if I fill out the "word verification" do-hickey... This is only a test.

"Live Through This..."

"Our Lucky Day"

As Marisol flipped through the air three times, time itself slowed down and she saw her life pass before her eyes as she said the Our Father prayer to herself.

The news reports said it was a "Major Injury Accident" on the 710, one of the worlds most dangerous freeways with all of the semi-trucks coming from the ports of L.A. and Long Beach.

When one of the firemen saw the damage to her overturned car and Marisol's nearly uninjured condition, he said "This is your lucky day, you should buy a lottery ticket."

On the ride home, Marisol said it was a miracle and maybe we should buy a lottery ticket, I said "We don't need to, we already won."

(Image shot with Marisol's camera phone. Click on image to enlarge.)

McCain, Obama & Keith-O The Clown (Intro Sketch)

(Please Note: I am working on a much larger piece for my magazine Verge of LA. This is just a sketch of the setup/intro that I'm throwing on my goofy blog. Nobody panic. At least not yet!)


We live in a crazy world. Most of us know it. We know there is a Hell on Earth, but we don't really know it. Not like John McCain. We've all gone crazy in our own "room." Usually the door is unlocked or we have the key to let ourselves out. John McCain also went crazy in his "room," but he couldn't just open the door and walk away. All he had to cling to was his religion, his country and mostly his fellow captives.

John McCain has seen the Gates of Hell. He has been broken, he's been humiliated, he survived.


Barack Obama is tripper too. I like the dude, he seems cool. Obama even went to Occidental College, the hip little liberal arts school right in Eagle Rock near where I used to live. One day I was with Marisol at the funky diner, right near the corner of Eagle Rock and Colorado (I can't think of the name). As a mixed-race couple, we noticed, to our astonishment, that there were at least five other multiracial couples eating at the diner all at the same time. We felt like we belonged.

I can tell you that Barack Obama is one of us. More than you may even know.


When I was at North Hollywood High in mid eighties, I remember my dad telling me about the new sportscaster on "channel 2" (as we used to call CBS here in LA). My dad said that the new guy Keith Olbermann is "too smart and funny for local sports, he needs something bigger." I've always listened to my dad when is come to comedians. Growing up he turned me onto early Woody Allen, Saturday Night Live and David Letterman.

Olbermann has been on my radar for nearly 25 years. He has always been a brilliant comedian to me, I've never thought of him as an actual newscaster. In the last two years he has proven that point to the rest of the world.

Sweet Leaf Kisses Mama for Gogol Bordello

Sweet Leaf tenderly kisses Mama in order to borrow her new Gogol Bordello CD... Shot by Marisol with her camera phone on August 19, 2008 in Beautiful Altadena, California... The Experiment continues...

"The Clam Thrower"

The following story was in my mind as I threw the clam back into the sea...

Based on The Star Thrower, by Loren Eiseley

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean. He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "It made a difference for that one."

***

"The Clam Thrower" shot by Marisol in Pismo Beach in the center of the Beautiful Republic of California on Sunday August 17, 2008. Captured with our "point and shoot" ViviCam 5385.

Pismo Beach: "The Morning After (Mr. Wong's Chinese Sunset)"

Sunrise on the balcony of our room at Henry's Kon Tiki Inn overlooking the ocean of Pismo Beach, in the Beautiful Republic of California... Shot August 15, 2008... The Experiment continues...