Last week's LA Weekly had a cover story on the vice scene in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles. That's the area where the bums (homeless) hang out.
The title on the cover reads:
"Skid Row's Super Dope Cops: hustlers, gangsters, addicts and narcos are all trying to get their chippy on where it's always mardi Gras on crack"
Then on Dec. 23, there was a big article in the newspaper (L.A. Times) on a Skid Row drug sting. The day before, undercover detectives, posing as drug dealers, arrested 14 buyers, including a 23 y.o. Hollywood actor.
I was trying to figure out if I had wandered through that area (6th & Spring), last spring, when I toured downtown L.A. at night. During the day, I was attending a conference. At night, I'd get together with a friend who knew some of the history of downtown L.A.
He'd lead a group of conferees, usually fellow Vancouverites (I'm not one, but I can blend in) to grab a bite at various old eateries. And along the way, he'd point out different places (the library, Union station, Disney hall, etc.)
I don't think we ventured into the Skid Row area. No one came up to us trying to sell us drugs... not that we were seeking to buy such stuff.
Makes me wonder whether they teach about vice-ridden areas in urban planning at UCLA (where my friend is a grad student).
Been reading the L.A. Times every day.
On Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, there was a picture of a woman from Baltimore (Amanda Charrier) on the front page of the paper. She was kissing her significant other (?) goodbye, curbside at the airport (LAX), as she was about to return home to Baltimore.
[Disclaimer: I have no connection to the aforementioned woman and decided not to name her kisser to protect the innocent.]
Surf's Up!
Pacific storms have started sweeping into the Northern pacific coastline of North America, and large swells are hitting some Southern California shores. Gotta check out the wave action.
Yeah, I'm in SoCal and enjoying the warm weather. It's twice as warm as Baltimore.
The change I'm trying to adjust to is time zone. I'm still on east coast time.
Speaking of east coast, my sister and her daughter will be arriving from NYC, today. I'll have to find out how the transit strike has affected them.
Talked to my dad about Medicare drug plans, since the enrollment deadline is coming up. He said that he and mom are already covered by Blue Cross/ Blue Shield. He tried to compare different plans, but gave up because he was inundated with info. He didn't have time to wade through it all.
One thing I've been meaning to comment on is how certain well-known people sound alike. I'm sure everyone has their prime examples. Mine happens to be 3 men, whose voices I've noticed over the years. They seem to have a certain munchkin-like quality, that makes it difficult for the listener to take them seriously, at times.
I'm talkin' 'bout:
Sam Yorty (L.A. mayor 1961-73)
Louis Leakey (archeological anthropologist)
Imad Moustapha (current Syrian ambassador to the U.S.)
The only one living is the last guy. This makes it a little hard to directly compare them, but they all seem to share a voice that resides high up in the back of the mouth. It's a little hard to describe, as I'm not linguist, but I want to say it's like a combination of guttural, nasal, and squealy (squeally?).
I can't remember if Yorty squealed with excitement, but their voices made/make them perfect for cartoon characters.
(Hmm, as if Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, etc.) had come up with their voices.)
I used to regret never having learned to surf, despite growing up mostly in Southern California near the Pacific ocean.
But maybe that renders me unruffled by the closure of Clark Foam, this week. Apparently, they supplied polyurethane foam blanks to 2/3 of the nation's surfboards.
In a letter to customers, the company's founder and owner, Gordon Clark, said he would close his factory after 44 years in business. He gave his reason as county, state and federal regulators and regs. At least one of the of the substances used in his factory is highly toxic. (Toluene diisocyanate causes cancer, asthma, etc.)
So there's been a run on boards at small shops in California. Boardmakers needing foam blanks have placed orders to Australian firms.
Yet boards made in Asia (Thailand, China, Vietnam, etc.) are starting to sweep the market. With new manufacturing techniques and materials, boards can be made that are lighter and stronger than the traditional hand-formed ones (polyester/fiberglass/polyurethane).
Eventually, I'll bet serious surfers will have to go to Mexico for custom-made boards (if that isn't already the case).
I borrowed a bunch of books and magazines from my local library, and discovered, in the course of perusing them, these interesting comparisons of China and India that are over a 150 years apart.
The first is from a book by an English woman who traveled outside her country only twice in her life, to places like Edinburgh, Scotland and Brussels, Belgium.
Obviously, her comments on China and India are based on heresay, but it begs the question as to how she came upon her information and whether any of it resonates today. (Actually, a tiny sliver does.)
The second is a critical article in a business magazine about the problems India faces in modernizing it's society, and competing with China. It provides a counterbalance to previous articles I'd seen that seemed to give India the advantage in the race of the developing economic juggernauts.
(excerpts follow)
The clumsiest people in Europe; or Mrs. Mortimer’s bad-tempered guide to the Victorian World by Mrs. Favell Lee Mortimer
Edited by Todd Pruzan (Bloomsbury, 2005)
Far Off, Part I: Asia and Australia Described (1852)
(scroll down)
| In China | In Hindostan |
|---|---|
| There is one emperor | There is no emperor, and the English govern the country |
| They seldom wash themselves | They bathe often |
| They are grave and silent | They are merry and talkative |
| They are industrious | They are idle |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
India’s bumpy ride: a tech revolution, a new middle class, a sizzling economy. But it still can’t get the basics right.
By Clay Chandler / Fortune, Oct. 31, 2005
“As recently as 20 years ago the two countries were on roughly equal footing. Both were large, predominantly agrarian countries with GDPs of less than $1 trillion and per capita incomes of about $300. Both had effectively withdrawn from global commerce. Today China’s economy is more than twice as large as India’s and:
(scroll down)
| (All figures as of 2004) | China | India |
|---|---|---|
| Economic growth rate (annual) | 9-10% | 6-7% |
| GDP per capita | $1100-1200 | $500-600 |
| % of population living on < $1/day | 13 | 31 |
| Foreign direct investment | $60 billion | $5 billion |
| Literacy rate for population > 15 years-old | 91% | 61% |
| Exports | $600 billion | $105 billion |
| Urban population | 40% | 28% |
Households with tv’s | 370+ million | 80 million |
Mobile subscribers | 360+ million | 60 million |
Internet users | 110 million | 30 million |
“India…excels at the impossible, turning out hundreds of thousands of brilliant engineers a year. Its software houses manage complex data across thousands of miles of undersea cable for the world’s most sophisticated clients. India has world-class business leaders and, unlike China, solvent banks. And yet India flubs the obvious stuff. The national roadway network is a shambles and the power grid even worse. Nearly a third of India’s population – and more than half its women – can’t read or write. India has moved grudgingly to lower tariffs and balked at turning money-losing state-owned enterprises over to the private sector. Red tape and corruption discourage foreign investment, as do restrictions on how firms deploy workers.”