Athenaverse

Saturday, May 19th

Ron Paul Has A Posse

Music: Land Of The Loops
Mood: cautiously optimistic
On Wednesday, the Republican Party held a debate for the declared Presidential candidates in South Carolina. The big story that has come out of the debates has been Rudy Giuliani taking exception with the remarks of Rep. Ron Paul, who said that the 9-11 attacks were motivated in part by the United States bombing Iraq for 10 years. Here is a clip of the exchange. The crowd at the debate was clearly in favor of Giuliani but for me, it was the first time in...well, ever, that I have heard a major party presidential candidate say something that I believe. For the unpardonable sin of having some common sense, the chairman of the Michigan is circulating a petition to have Ron Paul removed from future debates.

Here is a compilation of Ron Paul's responses at the debate that you might also enjoy. This is a link to Ron Paul's campaign site.

Ron Paul's name does not come up in many mainstream media articles about the Republican presidential nomination. If he keeps on giving answers like that, I can see him becoming the Howard Dean of this campaign but hopefully without the flame-out. When you think about it, Dean's campaign was doing just fine until the mainstream media endlessly replayed the out-of-context clip of him screaming. Does it really matter what Howard Dean had to say in the rest of that speech? Just something to think about if Ron Paul's candidacy catches fire and begins to pose a threat.

santo26 on 05.19.07 @ 04:43 PM PST [link] [1 Comment]


Thursday, May 10th

...And Now Catalina Island Is On Fire

Mood: :-(
catalina05_06 (608k image)
Catalina Island, May 2006

I just found out that there is a wildfire on Catalina Island. When I said in my last post there was only 4 things about LA I would miss, I have to admit that I forgot about a few, and Santa Catalina Island is one of them. 400 acres have burned so far, but since the island is 22 miles off the coast of Los Angeles and they have only one fire station on the island, the firefighters are in for a tough fight.
santo26 on 05.10.07 @ 08:40 PM PST [link] [No Comments]


Thoughts On The Griffith Park Fire

Mood: wicked wicked sad
Bee_Rock (569k image)
Bee Rock, September 2006

On Tuesday May 8, 2007, a fire broke out in Griffith Park, a 4200-acre park in Los Angeles. The park, which was given to the city by Col. Griffith J. Griffith in 1896, is a mix of wonderful hiking trails and destinations like the Griffith Observatory, the Autry Museum, Travel Town, the Los Angeles Zoo, and of course, the Hollywood sign. As of Thursday, May 10, the fire has been 75% contained, but over 800 acres, or a fifth of the park, has been burned. For a more detailed description of what has happened, check out the Los Angeles Times article complete with a map of the burned areas.

Among the areas that were burned were Dante's View, the Old Zoo, the Mount Hollywood, Fern Canyon, Vista Del Valle, and Coolidge Trails, Captain's Roost, and Bee Rock, which is pictured above.

I am at almost a complete loss of words to describe how sad I am. When I lived in Hollywood, I was less than 2 miles from Griffith Park and would go hiking in there as often as I could. The trails offered a measure of peace and quiet in the middle of the insanity that is Los Angeles; it was the only place I felt like I could do any thinking. My idea of a great afternoon in Hollywood was to take a trail that I hadn't been on before so I could connect it to my mental map of Griffith Park. In fact, the only things I really miss about LA are Griffith Park, Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Dodgers, and Pho 2000.

While I know that the flora and fauna will return, it is really sad to think of all those trails and areas as burned, and those are just the main ones. I wonder if people will even be allowed to hike or hang out in the affected areas during the summer, which is really horrible to contemplate. Griffith Park is one of the few places in LA where people come together and chill out. On a Sunday, you would see families having quincinera parties and BBQs, soccer games, drum circles, people zipping along on their bikes or trotting along on their horses, or just hiking and enjoying the incredible views. It is one of the only accessible open spaces for many people. I hope that Griffith Park is restored to its former glory soon for the sake of the citizens of Los Angeles.

PS-A big thank you is in order for the Los Angeles Fire Department and everyone else who is helping to fight the fire and were able to save all of the structures like the Observatory, the Carousel, and the Zoo!

PPS-219 pages!!!

santo26 on 05.10.07 @ 03:33 PM PST [link] [No Comments]


Wednesday, May 2nd

200 Pages

Music: ZZ Top
Mood: accomplished...wow!
Many of my long time readers may know that I am writing a book based on a movie, several scripts, and short stories that I have written. I began writing in January but have picked up a lot of steam lately. In the past few weeks, things have gotten pretty fired up, and earlier this afternoon, I hit the 200 pages mark. I would say that I am roughly halfway through the book right now, and have given myself until June 4 to finish it, which will be 6 months since I began writing.

I plan on doing more posts here as time permits. Check back early and often!

santo26 on 05.02.07 @ 08:10 PM PST [link] [9 Comments]




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