Assorted search queries

Addressing some search queries too late for the searchers.

how was television years ago It was a mystical place full of wacky neighbors, bionic women and people stranded on a desert island. And everybody watched the same shows because there were only four channels. There's nothing like that on TV now.

massage parlor west hollywood full service Yeah, you definitely want the full service. For the self-service you might as well stay home.

NP: "Be Still," Blue Lit Souls, The Stairwell Years
WC: 48,842, ECD: 20 Jul 2007.

Alternative fuel cars in the wild

I've spotted a couple odd alternative fuel cars the past few days. Last Friday, parked on Fourth Street in Santa Monica, I spotted a zebra-striped Zap Xebra. It had a forty-foot extension cord in the back seat.

Then this morning, I saw the BMW Hydrogen 7 cruising down Pico with a middle-aged guy behind the wheel.

NP: "Hold on, I'm Coming," The Blues Brothers, Live in Montreaux
WC: 48,842, ECD: 20 Jul 2007.

Bike to Work Week: The first morning

The distances according to my bike computer and bikely are remarkably close: Just a .1 mile difference which might be explainable by my not taking exactly the route I planned in bikely. This also marks the beginning of my Y membership, which I opened with my first serious weight-training workout since grad school. My arms are shaky now. Maybe not the best idea. I imagine that a bit more exercise through the week should help avoid that problem. No real asshole drivers in the morning.

NP: "In the Cage," Genesis, Live bootleg (damn displayless shuffle)
WC: 48,842, ECD: 20 Jul 2007.

Bloom Cafe

Nalleli and I decided to check out Bloom Cafe (5544 W Pico, LA, CA, 323/934-6900) since they promised ingredients from local organic farms on the flyers that they put in the lobby of our apartment building. On arriving, it was clear that we weren't the only ones seduced by the promise of free range meats and organic eggs. The restaurant was nearly full for Saturday lunch and we managed to get the last open table in the place.

We split the chorizo omelette (I had hoped to try the Thai linguini, but apparently that's only available after 5p) and were both rather pleased with it. The toast came with fresh strawberry jelly which was an especial treat after getting accustomed to the sorts of jelly and preserves that come in little single-serving packets.

Our only complaint was the noise level, which I think was partially contributed to by the barely audible music (barely audible because everyone was talking louder than it). Turning off the music might have allowed the diners to not shout to each other. Or maybe it was just the people at one table since after they left, the volume did go down a bit.

I did discover that the restaurant isn't exactly new. It's been open at least since November, although it used to be exclusively breakfast and lunch which is perhaps why I'd never noticed before it.

NP: "Pretty Things," The Gentle Waves, Amos House Collection Vol. 2
WC: 48,842, ECD: 20 Jul 2007.

This week at the Beverly Hills Farmer's Market

it's Mother's Day, so big crowds. Nothing says "I love you mom" like a trip with her to buy produce.

It's also the second Sunday of the month so the petting zoo and pony rides are up. Nalleli and I danced to "Georgia" played by saxophone guy after a Quesadilla breakfast, then on to the produce. Cherries are looking pretty good this week, but the greenhouse tomato guys only have beefsteaks and heirlooms. We found a few small beefsteaks for salad. Lots of avocados but Nalleli just bought guacamole at TJ's yesterday. It still amazes me that there's fresh corn in May. We'll have elotes tonight. Egg lady is out of the current generation of chickens but she'll have some two-pounders next week. Only one farm has onions but celery and carrots are in abundance.

We biked this week, our first real bike trip of the year (what a bum I am), and a nice way of opening up the biking season with bike to work week upon us. I've got a route mapped out on Bikely. It's almost exactly 8 miles by that measure, although having spent a lot of time dealing with Google Maps for work lately, I've learned that their distance calculations are not always accurate courtesy of the vagaries of the Mercator Projection. I'll see what my bike computer claims tomorrow morning. I'm a new member of the Santa Monica Y which means that I'll be able to ride earlier and shower there rather than putting my bike on the bus rack to get to work. That does mean that there will not likely be many (any?) entries in books on the bus this week. I will come up with something to keep BotB junkies happy at the end of the week regardless.

NP: "Washing Of The Water," Peter Gabriel, Us
WC: 48,842, ECD: 20 Jul 2007.

Books on the bus

Bonus route this week, the #3 to LAX from Santa Monica. My wife hit me repeatedly thinking that I was too obvious in my attempts to see the titles of people's books. I decided not to do books on the planes though, although I did notice somebody writing a novel a couple rows away and across the aisle. The presence of two Spanish books belies the fact that I often see foreign language books on the bus, but usually I see Russian, Persian, Chinese and Hebrew and I've yet to be able to catch a title on any of them.

• La Voz Del Lago
• False Memory
• The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation
• The Fountainhead
• Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy's Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard
• La Hija de la Chuparrosa
• The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
• No Place Like Home
• The Bone Collector
• Suffering, Politics, Power: A Genealogy in Modern Political Theory
• A Very Good Year: The Journey of a California Wine from Vine to Tabl

NP: "Blood On The Rooftops," Genesis, Wind & Wuthering
WC: 48,842, ECD: 20 Jul 2007.

Mystery search query

"la Century City riot"

Are the agents getting restless?

NP: "NPR: Fresh Air for Monday, May 07, 2007."
WC: 48,842, ECD: 20 Jul 2007.

Books on the Bus

This week, for the first time, repeats! There were two books (listed below with a (2)) afterwards that I saw twice this week. In both cases, I think it's because I saw the same person. And one more book (with a (*)) which I saw someone else entirely reading on the bus. It's not the book that I would have expected to be my first two-reader book.

• The Two Towers (2)
• Carrie (2)
• Pride and Prejudice (*)
• Accounting
• Frogs & French Kisses
• Skin: A Natural History
• The Grapes of Wrath

NP: "Anacaona," La Sista, Majestad Negroide
WC: 48,570, ECD: 16 Aug 2007

Looking for a place to write

So yesterday after getting my hair cut by the old guy in the tiny barbershop next to the dance studio by 4th and Broadway in Santa Monica, I spent a little time looking for a good place to finish a second draft of a story. I started in a comfy chair in Borders but found that the chairs, while nice for reading, are awful for typing. From there I walked up to the Apple store, figuring I can at least get my e-mail and read the new blog entries that showed up in my RSS feed when I was last by a net connection. It turns out that I was able to be remarkably productive sitting in the chairs in the "theatre" area of the store, even with all the noise and chaos of the store. Who'd've guessed?

NP: "Rapt In You," Lowen & Navarro, KSCA Live From the Music Hall, Vol. 1
WC: 48,570, ECD: 16 Aug 2007