Archive for August, 2008

August 31st, 2008 by alephnaught

Santa Barbara

We woke up Sunday looking for something to do.  Aviva wanted to go for a drive.  I suggested we go out to Santa Barbara.  So Aviva, Basil and I packed into the Prius and headed west. It took about two hours to get out there because somebody got rearended on the highway; auto accidents around […]

August 30th, 2008 by alephnaught

The Lake Shrine

We decided to check out the Lake Shrine, which is run by the Self-Realization Fellowship and is located in Pacific Palisades on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean; the original shrine was dedicated by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1950.  This is a place for reflection and meditation. The grounds are beautiful, with several small statues mounted […]

August 27th, 2008 by alephnaught

Gedogen

I’m working on my second speech for Toastmasters, and decided to describe the differences in cultures I found in traveling from Jubail, Saudi Arabia to Amsterdam, the Netherlands.  Then I found this article in the New York Times, “Nudists Want State to Look the Other Way.” This article describes a continuing battle between nudists who […]

August 25th, 2008 by alephnaught

The new racism?

I just read the New York Times article “Blacks Debate Civil Rights Risk in Obama’s Rise;”  perhaps its time to stop managing public policy just on race, but instead start focusing on how to help poor people have better lives, regardless of whether they are in Appalachia or inner city Detroit. Perhaps Barack Obama’s nomination […]

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August 21st, 2008 by alephnaught

A new toy figure – Dan Board

I discovered a comedy manga set called Yotsuba&!, which is all about two sisters, their family and friends. In episode 28, Yosuba’s young friend dresses up in cardboard boxes to “become” a robot; they play together for a day and then “he” goes home. A Japanese company makes figures after the series, and the Dan […]

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August 21st, 2008 by alephnaught

Who is rich?

Found an interesting tidbit in the LA Times today in the article, “Wealth is key in candidates’ tax platforms.” When asked for the demarcation for defining rich in the US, Barack Obama drew the line at 250,000 USD. McCain “somewhat flippantly” set the bar at 5M USD. To which Obama said, ” I guess if […]

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August 10th, 2008 by alephnaught

A day in Pasadena

Aviva and I dropped off Basil at our dog sitter and drove to Pasadena. We ate lunch at Mi Piance; don’t bother, the space is uninteresting and the food wasn’t worth the cost (the service was pleasant and good at least). We then went to a travel bookstore, Distant Lands Travel Bookstore. We made reservations […]

August 9th, 2008 by alephnaught

Detroit mayor charged with assaulting officer

As an additional footnote to my previous post on Kwame Kilpatrick (“Hello dad, I’m in jail,” the title of which comes from a song by Was, Not Was, who were from Detroit), now he’s also facing charges of assaulting an officer of the court that was serving a subpoena. This would be funny from the […]

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August 8th, 2008 by alephnaught

Hello dad, I’m in jail

So first it was Marion Barry doing drugs and getting arrested while mayor of Washington, D. C. Now, the mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, has had is bond revoked for traveling outside of Michigan without getting prior consent from the court, violating his bond arrangement; he is spending at least one night in jail, and […]

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August 6th, 2008 by alephnaught

Buy tickets here, out of service

On Sunday I took my son to the Van Nuys FlyAway, a bus service that runs between Van Nuys and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). While we waited, we noticed the ticket machine outside the ticket desk – here’s what peeked our interest… Note the messsage – “Buy tickets here, out of service.”

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