Pot Shots #22

Posted on August 8, 2024 by Sue Pascoe

 

What are Pot-Shots?

 

Ashleigh Brilliant writes:

WHAT EXACTLY IS A “POT-SHOT” OR “BRILLIANT THOUGHT?”

Pot-Shots are epigrams, composed according to the following very strict rules.

The length must never exceed 17 English words. Note that this is a maximum. Some Pot-Shots are much shorter. Hyphenated words count as a single word.

Pot-Shots must be easy to translate into other languages. Therefore there can be no use of rhyme or rhythm, idioms, puns, or other word-play.

Pot-Shots should be capable of being appreciated in all times and cultures. Topical and cultural references must be avoided.

Every Pot-Shot should be as different as possible from every other one.

Every Pot-Shot must be totally original, and unlike anything else the author, or anyone else, has ever said before.

The words of a Pot-Shot must be able to stand on their own, and not require any illustration in order to be understood or appreciated.

Whatever is being said should be worth saying and said in the best possible way.

NOTE: These are ideal standards, and I myself have failed to meet some of them occasionally — but in general I have adhered to them quite scrupulously

 

 

Posted in Pot-Shot | 1 Comment

Progress on the Dog Park, Maybe?

Posted on August 7, 2024 by Sue Pascoe

A dog park would provide a place for dogs and their owners to socialize.

By: CHAZ PLAGER

Look, I love my dog. And he loves our house. We’re lucky enough to have a spacious yard to put him in, with space to use as a toilet. But sometimes you want your dog to socialize with other dogs. It’s nice to watch him run around while you sit back and watch, instead of throwing him a ton of balls.

And the Palisades, as it happens, is currently lacking a dog park. When Councilwoman Traci Park first ran for the office of Los Angeles District 11 in 2022, one of her biggest promises to the Palisades specifically was that a dog park would be installed.  This gathered her a substantial amount of Palisadian votes that were likely instrumental to her win that year.

So, two years later… Where is the dog park?

Let’s start from the beginning. The movement for a dog park in the Palisades first started 20 years ago, led by Jan Chatten Brown. The plan was to have the park built in Potrero Canyon, which was the only open land at the time. This idea was rejected by rim owners, and the idea slowly fizzled out.

Many years passed until 2014, when a revival began with Palisades resident Leslie Campbell. At the time, the District 11 Council member was Michael Bonin. Leslie Campbell, as well as her group of friends, organized and went to Bonin to propose a dog park.

Bonin refused, and would continue to refuse for the next eight years. “I think he took particular pleasure in refusing to represent us,” said fellow organizer Lori Guggenheim.

In 2016, a tax measure, Measure A, was passed in Los Angeles, it was a new property tax with the intention of gathering funds for new parks in Los Angeles.

Campbell, upon hearing that the Brentwood area had gathered over $2 million dollars in funds from Measure A with no park to spend it on, saw an opportunity.

As the next election for District 11 approached, Campbell reached out to candidate Traci Park, offering to gather votes for her if Traci would put in a dog park when she got into office. Park agreed, and Campbell encouraged her online following of dog park lovers of 3000 to vote for Park.

Thanks to this substantial boost, Park won, and began working on the dog park. Just last summer, Park announced at an outside event, that a dog park would be coming to the Palisades, as the park had been approved by Parks and Recreation.

And on January 18, 2024, funding from the Los Angeles Rec and Parks Commission for the park itself was also approved. A second application for funding was also submitted recently, putting the dog park in the hands of the county, utilizing Measure A funds.

“Now that the application for funding is with the County of Los Angeles Regional Park and Open Space District, we are awaiting its approval,” Park’s office stated. “Usually, this process takes many months, but when it is done, the rest of the process is within the City’s purview.”

The park is planned to be built on the north side of Temescal Canyon Road, next to some existing park amenities. This is the second time a dog park has been planned to be built there. “I remember that when we first moved in, they wanted to build a dog park over on Temescal, but the neighbors complained it’d be too noisy,” one Palisades resident recalls. “It seemed silly to me, worrying about dogs barking when you live next to the freeway, but it’s nice to know that they’re seeing sense now.”

For those who aren’t closely following the development, two years is a long enough time to make people believe that it’s never going to happen. That’s basically forever! But make no mistake: Traci Park is not slacking on the project like too many politicians do with their promises.

“Traci has done everything she can to get this park built,” dog park co-founder Lynn Miller emphasizes. ”It’s in the hands of bureaucracy now.” And those anxiously awaiting a place for their dogs to play can rest easy— construction shouldn’t take longer than a year to start, once the County acts. Which could be just a little less than forever.

A dog park would provide a place for dogs to exercise.

Posted in Animals/Pets, City Councilmember Park, County Supervisors | 4 Comments

Diesel Bookstore in Brentwood Has New Owners

Posted on August 7, 2024 by Sue Pascoe

Richard and Heather Turner are the new owners of Diesel Bookstore.

Richard and Heather Turner took over ownership of Diesel Bookstore located at the Brentwood Country Mart on August 1.

“We’re not going to change Diesel,” they said. “We love it the way it is.”

Prior owners Alison Reid and John Evans announced last August they were selling after 16 years at that location. They were discerning about the sale because they wanted owners who “will respect what we’ve built and to carry on the valuable relationships with the customers and community.”

It appears they’ve found the perfect people to take over Diesel.

Richard, who plans to be in the store every day, said he’s had two reactions from customers: “they were worried I might change something” and yet others were filled with “gratitude for sustaining the store and keeping it going.”

He reassures that everything is staying the same, and that includes keeping customers’ favorite booksellers.

Richard, who grew up in Chatsworth said, “I’ve been a reader my whole life.” He said can spend hours at a bookstore and he used to frequent Dutton’s in Brentwood. When that store closed, Diesel became his bookstore.

“I left marketing to do consulting,” said Richard, who had worked in marketing and advertising, living in Hong Kong, Belgium and Texas. More recently “I’ve been working as a ghostwriter.” The change to consulting ensured the couple’s teenage daughter had a parent at home.

The bookstore seemed a perfect fit.

He had met his wife Heather, on a blind date at the House of Blues. Currently, she is CEO/co-founder at Tamarack Capital Partners LLC. Tamarack Capital, which acquires value-add institutional quality luxury, boutique, full- and select-service hotels and resorts in major U.S. markets. Her work involves a lot of travel. She was originally from Chicago and received her master’s degree in business administration at Harvard Business School.

Richard said he had often mused that his ideal job would be running a bookstore, with a coffee shop out one door and wine store out the other.

When Heather saw that Diesel was for sale, she asked him, “Do you think this would be perfect?”

The answer? “Yes.”

Heather will keep her “day job,” but Richard is giving up consulting so he can “spend his days at the bookstore.”

He will seek Heather’s help in selecting wrapping paper and gift cards. And already their daughter has asked if she could work at the store.

Only three days into ownership, his enthusiasm about the store was infectious. “I get to come here every day,” said Richard, whose favorite genres are history and literary fiction.

“The New York Times just published the 100 books of the century,” he said. Some of the books mentioned are at the store and Richard says he hopes the list will open up conversations from people about the choices and why some books are on the list and others are not.

He said his staff will continue to make their recommendations, and they will continue to host author events.

In September there are plans to have a “Anniversary, Welcome and Thank You celebration.”

In their farewell letter Reid and Evans said “We are grateful for your sticking with us through thick and thin, through the pandemic especially, for being able to be a part of this wonderful community of passionate readers. It has been a pleasure to talk books, and all else, with you and to share the book world.”

Richard said, “The pandemic was a reminder that independent bookstores need local support. Margins are thin with bookstores.”

The Turners look forward to meeting the community. They invite everyone to stop by and say “hi” and “talk books.”

Call (310) 576-9960 or [email protected]  or www.dieselbookstore.com

(Editor’s note: A nice welcome to the new owners from the community might be stopping by and purchasing a book, as a treat for yourself or as a gift.)

Posted in Books, businesses/stores | 3 Comments

Vivian’s Boutique by Nicole Opened August 1

Posted on August 6, 2024 by Sue Pascoe

Nicole Montanez is the new owner of Vivian’s Boutique by Nicole.

When brown paper went up in the windows of long-time clothier Vivian Foster’s store on Via de la Paz at the end of July, residents were concerned. For 38 years Foster had been a mainstay of women’s fashion in Pacific Palisades. She sold sizes from small to XX-large, and her clothing was fashionable and affordable.

On August 1, the store reopened with a new owner, Nicole Montanez.

“When I heard that Vivian was going to retire, I thought a store might be fun,” said Montanez, a Palisades resident. She rode her bike to the store, went inside and told Foster, “I want to buy it.”

Montanez, a nurse, spent July with Vivian, learning and developing relationships with people that Vivian knew and learning about the merchandise.

Montanez is carrying some of Vivan’s brands, but “I also added additional brands and expanded our merchandise,” she said, noting she now carries pajamas, lingerie and underwear. She will continue to carry clothes in multiple sizes.

She has reorganized the store, giving it a roomier feel. “I just want people to feel good,” she said. and pointed out that someone might not feel so good inside, and it might be as simple as coming into the story and “putting on something pretty that brightens your day.”

Montanez is well known at Palisades High School because she works there as the school nurse. “I’ve been a nurse for 16 years,” she said, and has worked in intensive care, emergency room, oncology and informatics.

She grew up in San Diego and is an alumnus of the University of Southern California. Not only does she have a master’s degree in nursing, but also in business administration. She plans to continue her position at PaliHi, as well as running the store.

“It’s fun to do both things: it uses the left brain – right brain,” Montanez said.

The store name will be Vivian’s Boutique by Nicole. “I wanted to continue Vivian’s legacy of having fantastic pieces that made others feel good inside and out,” Montanez said. “It was important to me to keep the name because of her legacy of 38 years in Pacific Palisades. I wanted to honor her and the history.”

Montanez invites residents to stop by for wine Wednesday or just stop by and say hello.

The store is located at 875 Via de la Paz and is open Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The phone number is (310) 573-1326 https://www.viviansboutique.com/

Danika Dallas-Blank holds up the pajamas that are sold at the store.

Posted in businesses/stores | 1 Comment

“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” a Tale of Wildfires

Posted on August 6, 2024 by Sue Pascoe

Smoke rises above the roadway as the Park Fire jumps Highway 36 near Paynes Creek in Tehama County, Calif., on July 26.                                                                                                                                      Photo: Noah Berger/AP

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by the Platters was number #1 on the charts in 1959 “. . .when your heart’s on fire, You must realize smoke gets in your eyes.”

Wildfire smoke contains large amounts of carbon dioxide, black carbon, brown carbon and ozone precursors. All are released into the atmosphere.

These emissions affect radiation, clouds and climate on regional and even global scales, according to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). The release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere contributes to climate change.

NOAA notes that the combination of a warmer, drier climate with the fire-control practices that were in place over the last century has produced a situation in which we can expect more frequent fires and fires of larger magnitude in the U.S. West and Canada.

Fire suppression practices have led to a buildup of fuels in forests, a breakdown in natural forest ecology, and increased risk at urban wildland boundaries.

According to UC Davis Environmental Health Sciences Center “wildfires affect every aspect of life and wildfires are a global threat.”

Areas of high-severity fire can impact tree generation, soil erosion and water quality, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

A reader properly chastised this editor for complaining that the smoke from California and Oregon fires were contributing to unhealthy air in Wyoming and South Dakota.

My South Dakota mom, 95, was having problems breathing because of the smoke that travels from west to east. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), most fire deaths are not caused by burns, but by smoke inhalation.

The Palisades reader wrote, “I returned a week ago from Montana, where 19 separate fires were burning at that time, causing hazy skies throughout Glacier National Park. There were also multiple fires in Washington state. Today there are four fires burning in Colorado and at least one in Utah. And, as of today, there are several fires in Wyoming.”

If you go to the Western Fire Chiefs map, you can see where the fires are currently, the size and the percentage contained.  https://wfca.com/fire-map It appears that California and Oregon have the largest fires in acreage size, with the least amount of containment.

“Seems to me that it isn’t just California and Oregon that are burning,” the reader continued. “Let’s be fair.  Smoke pollution travels far, can move across oceans and continents (ash from Australia’s horrific fires of 2019 fell on New Zealand’s South Island, 2000 miles away, which we observed that year dusting the glaciers.) Let’s have constructive conversations about how to mitigate the dangers, not point fingers and ‘other’ people or states we don’t like.”

What can be done? Currently, CalFire is working with a few prevention programs that include fuels reduction, prescribed fire burns and vegetation management. In January 2021, California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan was implemented. click here.

In the introduction of the plan, it was noted: “California is facing a growing forest and wildfire crisis. Decades of fire suppression, coupled with the increasing impacts of climate change, have dramatically increased wildfires’ size and intensity throughout the state.

“The 2020 fire season broke numerous records. Five of California’s six largest fires in modern history burned at the same time, destroying thousands of buildings, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes, and exposing millions of residents to dangerously unhealthy air. More than four million acres burned across the state, double the previous record.”

The purple spot is the Park Fire and NOAA uses satellites to predict the direction of the smoke click here.

Posted in Accidents/Fires | 3 Comments

When Is Homelessness Funding Enough?

Posted on August 6, 2024 by Sue Pascoe

The money intended for the homeless is not making its way to help them.

By TIM CAMPBELL

One of the most common criticisms of the concentration of the nation’s wealth into the hands of a few uber-wealthy people is that there never seems to be enough to satisfy their needs.

How many mega-yachts does Jeff Bezos need? How many mansions will satisfy Elon Musk?  The question is not new.

In the 1879, Robert Luis Stevenson imagined the geography of San Francisco as a system for transferring wealth from working people to the millionaire’s atop Nob Hill: “From Nob Hill, looking down upon the business wards of the city, we can decry a building with a little belfry, and that is the stock exchange, the heart of San Francisco; a great pump we might call it, continually pumping up the savings of the lower quarters into the pockets of the millionaires upon the hill.”

Like the cardinal sins of bigotry, envy and gluttony, it seems avarice is forever hungry, and looking for new ways to feed its insatiable appetite.

One area we may not think about when considering an insatiable need for money is homelessness.

Most government and advocacy officials insist the only thing standing between homelessness programs and success is a lack of funding.

At the presentation of this year’s PIT count, City, County, and LAHSA officials said the miniscule reduction in homelessness (if indeed there was one) was due in part to the continuing—and increasing–flow of money into their programs, including at least $255 million for Inside Safe.

The amount of money being poured into homelessness programs is mind-boggling, both in volume and the number of sources. The County’s Measure H sales tax revenues bring in about $400 million per year for housing and supportive services.

The state Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) provides between $1.4 and $1.9 billion per year for the County’s mental health programs, including those for the unhoused.

The City’s new Measure ULA may bring in as much as $500 million per year for homelessness services, and Measure HHH provided $1.2 billion in bond money for low-income and supportive housing.

The City also benefits from state Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) grants for interim housing and support services. The total the City and County spend on homelessness is around $4 billion per year.

And yet we’re being told $4 billion is not enough.

This man is not being helped.
Photo: John Alle Santa Monica Coalition.

A coalition of nonprofits, labor groups, and developers recently qualified Measure A, known as the “L.A. County Affordable Housing, Homelessness Solutions, and Prevention Now” initiative for November’s ballot.  The Measure would replace Measure H’s quarter-cent sales tax, which is due to expire in 2027, with a permanent half-cent sales tax.  The Measure’s PR material says the anticipated revenue will fund more affordable homes, increase mental health services, and include strict accountability.  Let’s look at who’s sponsoring this measure where we are with some of the issues the measure is supposed to address.

The coalition sponsoring the measure is a Who’s Who of advocacy groups, labor unions and developers.

One of the leading sponsors is HOPICS, a nonprofit that contracts with LAHSA to manage a subsidized rent program for formerly homeless people.

According to a story in LAist, HOPICS mismanaged a $140 million subsidy program so badly, hundreds of residents are threatened with eviction.

Another sponsor is St. Joseph Center, a nonprofit that performs outreach and shelter management, with 2023 reported revenues of more than $49 million and whose CEO makes more than $365,000 per year.  Its co-sponsor and partner nonprofit, PATH, has revenues dwarfing St. Joseph Center at more than $159 million and its CEO makes about $379,000 per year.

Other sponsors include trade unions and construction interests that would financially benefit from a new revenue stream for housing construction. One such organization is California YIMBY, a nonprofit that ostensibly promotes affordable housing, but has been accused by other housing advocates as being little more than a front for tech-funded developments aimed at building housing for well-paid employees.

The measure’s sponsors assure us these and other organizations will be held accountable for the new revenue, with “strict independent oversight and audits.”

If the past is a precedent, such oversight means little. The City’s housing measure, Proposition HHH, has a citizens oversight committee, yet the City Controller has issued at least three audits of HHH, most recently in 2022, citing stratospheric construction costs and bureaucratic delays that have resulted in a reduction in the number of units to be built. Likewise, the City has an in-house Homeless Strategy Committee, which seems to do little other than routinely cancel its meetings.

The County’s need for more funding is certainly questionable.

According to a 2023 report from the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights (a report I helped create), the County habitually underspends its current revenues. From the fiscal years 2018-19 through 2022-23, the County only spent about 78 percent of its Measure H revenues (page 6).

The report states, “Measure H budget category D7– “Provide Services and Rental Subsidies for Permanent Supportive Housing” directs resources to people in need of mental and/or substance use issues in county-provided homelessness housing. Each department attempts to use Measure H funds to combine treatment services with housing.”

In other words, expenses in this category fund supportive services critical to keeping people housed.  Yet so much is spent on housing, there is little left for services, as the report notes, “Therefore, the burden of providing supportive services and treatment falls to the Department of Mental Health, which was budgeted 10 percent of D7 funding and accounted for only four percent of actual expenditures. The department with the smallest allocated budget is responsible for critical health and behavioral treatments”. (pp 7-8). If the County is currently spending only four percent of critical funding on support services, perhaps the problem isn’t one of insufficient revenue. Rather, it may be misplaced spending priorities.

The new measure’s sponsors also claim funding will go towards “Expanding access to mental health care, addiction treatment, and other critical services to immediately support people in crisis.”

Again, the question of how current funding is being used comes up. For mental health services, the County already has a dedicated revenue stream, the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), generated by taxes on personal income over $1 million. Citing County budget documents, the L.A. Alliance report shows that in the five fiscal years between 2019-20 and 2023024, the County received about $7.65 billion in MHSA revenues, (page 13).

Over those five years, it budgeted only 64 percent of its revenue for programming, and spent only 71 percent of that, meaning it was spending less than half its MHSA revenues on services. A 2020 report from the California State Auditor revealed the County was holding funds equivalent to 175 percent of its operating budget. The County disputed that calculation but never offered an alternative amount for its unspent funds.

Of course, we already know local government has little to show for its current expenditures. An April 2024 State Auditor’s report showed there was no discernable progress on homelessness after state expenditures of more than $24 billion over five years.

Counties, including Los Angeles, were unable to show substantial progress in reducing homelessness despite steadily increasing budgets.  Clients in shelters and housing programs routinely fall back into homeless at far greater rates than they stay housed.

Perhaps adding more money to a dysfunctional system isn’t the best path forward. A car with a misfiring engine doesn’t benefit by filling up the fuel tank.  Giving more money to organizations already awash in taxpayer funds, or to government agencies that are unable to spend the money they already have, is not the answer to the County’s homelessness crisis.  Before we agree to yet another tax, we need to demand our local government effectively uses the resources it already has.

(Tim Campbell is a resident of Westchester who spent a career in the public service and managed a municipal performance audit program.  He focuses on outcomes instead of process.)

 

Posted in Homelessness | 4 Comments

Crime: Residential Burglary, Jewelry/Direction Scam, Post Office Nuisance

Posted on August 5, 2024 by Sue Pascoe

RESIDENTIAL BURGLARIES:

The vehicle (in the first photo) a black Chevy Suburban, has been seen in several burglaries throughout the Westside. The suspects are possibly three or four male blacks (based on security footage from a neighbor’s camera). During the commission of each burglary, two suspects – who are described as male black, wearing dark clothing, masks, gloves, carrying backpacks, and a handheld radio, climb over the victim’s rear fence and or wall to gain entry into the rear yard.

Suspects then smash a glass partition of the rear door and ransack the residence looking for jewelry, purses, and US currency. The suspects then flee back the way they came in and in the suspect vehicle. On two occasions, the suspect vehicle had been “Cold Plated” [using a stolen license plate from a similar looking vehicle].Please keep an eye out for suspicious activity. if you see a crime occurring call the Police immediately. If you see this or a similar vehicle hanging around the street let your neighbors and keep an eye out for each other.

According to Fox 11, around 11 p.m. August 2, a Brentwood couple arrived home from dinner and found their front door wide open, and all the lights turned on inside.

LAPD found a trail of damage that occurred when the burglars dragged a large safe that had been bolted to the ground through the home. The suspects then managed to get the safe into a getaway vehicle and left the scene.

 

JEWELRY/NEED DIRECTIONS SCAM:

Officer Espin said, “We have seen a couple reports of jewelry scams on the streets. A couple (possibly middle Eastern) will pull up in a vehicle and approach (usually an elderly person) and ask for directions.”

The criminals will make small talk, and possibly put fake jewelry on the victim  to distract the person and then remove your personal jewelry and flee the area. “Once you realize your personal jewelry is missing the suspects have already left,” Espin said.

POST OFFICE IRRITANTS: First Amendment “Auditors”

Over the past week, there have been a small group of First Amendment “Auditors” roaming the streets of the Palisades.

Auditors are individuals that make videos of their encounters. They often enter public property without identifying themselves or explaining their purpose.

Espin said, “These individuals will sometimes cover their faces with masks and walk around recording people trying to bait them into some sort of confrontation. These individuals are knowledgeable of the right to record on public property and what they are allowed to do on public space.

“They will even say things just to get a reaction from people (that is their right to freedom of speech),” Espin said. “I monitored the group from a distance the other day to make sure our community members did not get involved with the group.  My suggestion is to ignore these individuals and do not engage in any confrontation or discussion with them. Once they see they are not getting any reaction from us they will move on to another area.”

They do have constitutional rights to record from open public spaces.

According to a February 2024 story in AmericanPoliceBeat, “The internet is ablaze with videos of so-called First Amendment auditors. Provocative individuals, often referring to themselves as “journalists” go to extremes to conspicuously take photos and videos in or near public areas. Among their favorite haunts are police departments, city halls, libraries and other public buildings.

“Any police officer willing to take the bait of their disrespectful affronts is a prime candidate for a full-on internet exposé. Most of these videos can be found on social media and video-based online mediums such as YouTube.”

The author, noted that the group does not appear to be associated with any particular organization and suggested avoiding confrontation click here.

Posted in Crime/Police | Leave a comment

Celebrate Family Day at Will Rogers State Park: It’s the 80th

Posted on August 5, 2024 by Sue Pascoe

Will Rogers ranch home will be open for tours.

People will be able to watch polo on Sunday.
Photo: Rich Schmitt/CTN

Will Rogers Family Day will celebrate the 80th anniversary of widow Betty Blake Rogers gifting the family’s 186-acre ranch to California’s State Park on Sunday, August 11.

Festivities begin at noon with a polo match, and as Will Rogers said, “After seeing kids play polo against big guys, it only shows that horses are the greatest equalizer in the world. No matter what you weigh, the little fellow is your equal on a horse.”

Starting at noon there will be tours of Will Rogers’ Western Ranch House, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and contains priceless paintings and lots of western memorabilia. The tours will show off the newly repaired barrel piano. The 31-room ranch house was built in 1928. It underwent a $5 million restoration in 2003 and reopened to the public in 2006.

Children’s games and activities saluting the 1940’s will also start at noon. Youth will be able to make a “Will Rogers for President Pin.” There will also be a scavenger hunt, old-fashioned sack races and a photo opportunity with a pony.

From 1:15 to 3:15, the L.A. Jitterbugs swing dance troop will be doing a swing dance demonstration. They will also offer dance lessons.

Promptly at 2 p.m., actress Deborah Moore will portray Betty Rogers signing the park deed.

The party concludes at 4 p.m. with cake for everyone and the singing of Happy Birthday to the park. Come in your best 40’s attire and help celebrate.

No RSVP is necessary, everyone is welcomed to come out and have fun at  the park  located at 1501 Will Rogers State Park Road.

About Will Rogers . . ..

Will Rogers was a cowboy, vaudeville performer, comedic actor, newspaper social commentator, columnist and radio personality. Born to a prominent Cherokee Nation family in Indian Territory in 1879, Rogers’ vaudeville rope act led to success with the Ziegfeld Follies, 71 movies (silents and sound) and more than 4,000 nationally syndicated newspaper columns.

Will Rogers was the leading political wit of his time. He quipped

“There are men running governments who shouldn’t be allowed to play with matches.”

And . . ..

“A fool and his money are soon elected.”

And . . .

“Political elections are a good deal like marriages, there’s no accounting for anyone’s taste.”

He died at 55 on August 15, 1935, along with aviator Wiley Post in an airplane crash at Point Barrow in northern Alaska.

Posted in Kids/Parenting, Parks | Leave a comment

Marine Del Rey Summer Symphony Will Perform “Cinema Fantastique”

Posted on August 5, 2024 by Sue Pascoe

The Marina del Rey Summer Symphony, led by Maestro Steven Allen Fox, returns to Burton Chace Park on 7 p.m. on Saturday, August 10, with a family-friendly evening of music.

The concert is free, no tickets are required. Seating is festival-style, available on a first-come, first-served basis. Participants are urged to bring a picnic, a blanket, and a jacket (the ocean breeze can be quite cool once the sun goes down) for a summer evening of music by the water. Chace Park is located at 13650 Mindanao Way, Marina del Rey.  Parking is available in Marina Parking Lot 4.

This free 2024 Summer Concert Series provides an evening under the stars as the orchestra joins with the SoCAL Chorale, directed by Marya Basaraba, to present epic choral soundtracks from Star Wars, Avatar, Conan the Barbarian and The Lion King. A number of singers in the SoCAL Chorale also sing with the Brentwood Palisades Chorale.

The concert will include thrilling music for symphony orchestra with full choir from major scenes in movies that includes: Independence Day, Avatar: The Way of Water, Saving Private Ryan, Conan the Barbarian, Star Wars – Duel of Fates, Edward Scissorhands and The Lion King

Cinema Fantastique was created by Steven Allen Fox and Victor Pesavento and is produced by Victor Pesavento. For information about the full Summer Concert Series click here.

Founded in 1964 as the Westchester String Symphony, the Orchestra is now a professional symphony orchestra that also includes talented amateurs and students from the local community. Three to four concerts are held in Culver City each season and in the summer the Symphony moves Burton Chace Park in Marina del Rey, where it performs as the Marina del Rey Summer Symphony in the Marina del Rey Summer Concert Series presented by Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors click here.

Posted in Music | Leave a comment

The Other Side of the Olympics

Posted on August 4, 2024 by Sue Pascoe

SWIMMING WITH KATIE LEDECKY:

Katie Ledecky won two gold medals, a silver and a bronze at the Paris Olympics.

Swimming with Katie Ledecky at the Maggie Gilbert Aquatics Center in November 2019 was the closest this editor will ever come to a gold medal.

After Ledecky, 27, set a new Olympic record time of 15:30.02 in the 1500 on July 31, I casually mentioned to my daughter, I had swum with Ledecky at the PaliHi pool. “You practiced with her?” my daughter asked. Well, not really.

She was swimming sprints with seven other world-class male swimmers, including Sunset Mesa’s Jordan Wilimovsky under Coach David Kelsheimer. After I finished my laps, I watched for a while and was simply amazed. Just a few lanes away, was one of the top swimmers in the world.

At the Paris Olympics, she won a gold (1500), a silver (4X200 meter relay), a bronze (400-meter) and in the 800 freestyle she picked up a second gold on Saturday. This is her 14th career medal and her ninth gold.

Ledecky set a new Olympic record in the 1500 with a time of 15:30.02, finishing a full 10 seconds ahead of her competition.

She has said she wants to continue swimming through Los Angeles 2028, and perhaps even beyond. “I don’t feel like I’m close to being finished in the sport yet,” she told yahoo!sports.

MEN’S GYMNASTICS:

Not to take anything away from women’s gymnastics, where the US has won numerous gold medals, but the men’s coverage is more difficult to find.

My son was in gymnastics until about seventh grade, when he was injured playing soccer.  He was tiny and could do flips and all sorts of twists and turns on the vault and floor.

But, there were two events that were excruciating to watch, the rings and the pommel horse . . .and the worst was the pommel horse. It is considered one of the hardest pieces of men’s apparatus to master and according to British Gymnastics “It is unforgiving and had been known to ‘buck’ many a gymnast.”

An athlete continuously balances and swings while supporting the body weight on one hand. A good pommel horse routine covers all three areas of the horse, the middle and both ends, while a gymnast performs the required scissors elements among continuous circular movements. The only part of the body that should be touching the apparatus is the hands.

Young boys don’t have the body strength yet, and moms sitting in the audience routinely looked away while their young gymnasts gamely attempted it.

Stephen Nedoroscik

When I heard sports reporters bemoan that American gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik, 25, was only on one apparatus in the team event, I realized they had no idea how good he must be on the pommel.

Nedoroscik helped the team win the bronze medal and then on August 3, he took the bronze medal on the pommel horse with 15.300 points. Nariman Kurbanov of Kazakhstan took silver with 15.433 points. Two-time world champion Rhys McClenaghan captured gold and Ireland’s first medal in Olympic gymnastics.

It wasn’t the soccer injury that stopped gymnastics for my son. While we were in the doctor’s office, the doctor had done an x-ray and said with my son’s growth plate, he most likely would be at least 6’2”.

Most male gymnastics are 5’3” to 5’10. Given my son’s impending size, the three- and four-times a week trips to Culver City to the gym did not seem reasonable. He’s now 6’3”.

Frederick Richard

Male gymnastics take a back seat to the coverage of women in the U.S. American Gymnast Frederick Richard (who is 5’5”) said his plan long-term is to bring as many eyes to the sport as possible. “People don’t see gymnastics from the men’s side,” he said. “You see basketball every single day, when you pick up your phone, when you walk down the street, turn on the TV. You don’t see talk about gymnastics.”

Amen.

 

BEACH VOLLEYBALL’S PARTAIN:

Miles Partain at the Paris Olympics.

Pacific Palisades Miles Partain (6’3”) and his teammate Andy Benesh (6’9”) have made it to the round of 16, which plays Monday, August 5, against Italy.

The US team lost their first match to Cuba, then bounced back to beat the Moroccan team, The duo had a three-set victory over Brazil and finished 2-1 in Pool D.

Partain and Benesh, according to NBC, parted ways with their coach, Mike Pacek, ahead of the win over Brazil’s George Wanderley and Andre Loyola.

During the match against Brazil, the NBC Olympic Beach Volleyball announcer went into detail about Pertain and that he was not only athletic, but smart – which helped him while playing.

The announcer said that Partain had graduated a semester early from Palisades High School and was valedictorian. The announcer added that Partain had also graduated early from UCLA with a degree in applied math.

The announcer added “Pacific Palisades is THE hotbed for beach volleyball.”

Nice publicity!

STEVE KERR GUIDES BASKETBALL:

Coach Steve Kerr helps the US Olympic Basketball team.

The United States basketball team had a 104–83 win over Puerto Rico on Saturday. The U.S. finishes group play 3–0 and moves on to the knockout round, facing Brazil on August 6.

The knockout rounds begin with eight teams in the quarterfinals. The semi-finals are August 8, and the final is August 10.

US players Stephen Curry, Anthony Edwards, LeBron James, Kevin Durant Jasyon Tatum, Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis are all NBA superstars – but to meld together as a team, you need a great coach.

Look to Palisades High School basketball standout Steve Kerr, who graduated in 1983 and is now the head coach for the Golden State Warriors. Kerr has nine NBA titles, (five as a player and four as a coach).

His Olympic assistants are Ty Lue (Los Angeles Clippers), Mark Few (Gonzaga) and Spoelstra (Miami Heat). Kerr put Lue in charge of defense, Spoelstra in charge of offense and Few in charge of what he calls specials teams, which includes zone offense and zone defense (because zones are utilized more in college) and out of bounds plays.

The Palisades-Malibu YMCA were selling tickets for a chance to win a dinner with Steve Kerr. The winner will be able to ask Kerr any questions they might have about the Olympics or the NBA. The tickets were sold, but one could call the YMCA and see if there are any that someone might give up for the August 12 drawing. Call (310) 454-5591 and ask for Executive Director Jim Kirtley.

 

 

HOOPER PLAYS WATER POLO:

Former Highlands resident Johnny Hooper represents USA in water polo.

The U.S. defeated Montenegro 12-7 to move to the quarterfinals, which will be played on August 7. The U.S. will finish pool play on Monday against defending the world champions, Croatia. The top four teams in each group move on to the knockout round.

Palisadian Johnny Hooper, is participating in his second Olympics on the water polo team. He first played for the U.S. Olympic team in 2020, where the USA took sixth place.

The 6’1” player was on UC Berkeley’s men’s water polo teams for four years. The son of Gary and Mimi Hooper, he attended Village School in the Palisades and Harvard-Westlake, where he helped the water polo team win the Southern Section Division I championship against defending champion Santa Ana Mater Dei.

In Qatar in February, Hooper scored a goal in a shootout loss to Montenegro and the team took ninth. The team took first place in the 2023 Pan American Games. Hooper currently plays professionally for Telimar in Italy.

He speaks fluent Japanese – and many might agree with his choice of a favorite food: Bay Cities Italian sandwich.

 

 

 

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