The past week I've had some jaunts around town, so I figured that this was as good a time as any to clean up a bunch of notes.

Last Friday, I drove out to Arcadia -- a town I've never been to before -- that's northeast of here, east of Glendale and then Pasadena.  I went to the Angeles National Forest Headquarters for no reason that makes a particularly good story.  Basically, it was to get a National Park pass, which I could have done by mail.  However, I not only was interested in going to the headquarters (I used to work for the California State Park system so I like such things), but also I noticed that the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, which was only about two miles away.

As I've written here, I love the Chicago Botanic Garden (which is actually in my hometown of Glencoe), a spectacular place that's rich and vibrant and expansive and beautifully laid out and organized, with an education center, cooking demonstration area, carillon, various lands, islands and more, which I call the Disneyland of Botanic Gardens,  So, I was curious about the Arboretum here.  And as a member of the Chicago garden, I had a reciprocal entry here, which is always a good thing.

(Somewhat nearby the Arboretum to the north and west are the Descanso Gardens.  I went there several years back -- happily, it's also on the reciprocal program! -- and it was expansive and enjoyable, though fairly basic in its grounds.)

I had a pleasant time at the Los Angeles Arboretum, though found it a bit underwhelming.  However, before going any further, it's important to note that this article is brought to you in living color on NBC --
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(Okay, for some people here they won't get that allusion.  Most will -- it's the NBC peacock that they used for years as their logo to promote the network.)

​There was a certain charm to the area which I liked, but it's fairly limited, and not very interestingly laid out, I thought, with little description of what was there and what you were looking at.  The centerpieces of the Arboretum actually have nothing to do with gardens.  One is a big bandshell where they have concerts for the Pasadena Symphony and popular artists -- it's certainly a great venue for that.  And the other is the Queen Anne House built in 1895 by an early owner of the property, which has been used as a movie location.  Unfortunately, it's not open for touring through, but you can only look in from the outside.
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While I was in the area, I also swung over to see the Norton Simon Museum -- but when I got there the parking lot was full.  And when I drove back to Colorado Boulevard to find somewhere else to park, it turned out that the road headed off without any side streets or off-ramp exits for a couple miles, so I couldn't get back to the museum.  And by the time side streets came back in, and I could turn around, I was far enough away that I decided not to turn back and just passed it up for another time.

But while driving back through Glendale to Eagle Rock, I finally got to stop at a restaurant for an early dinner that I've had recommended by several people -- Casa Bianca, which was highly-regarded pizza here.  I've never eaten at the place because they're not open for lunch, and driving through rush hour traffic to get to the distant place was of no interest to me, though a friend of mine does that on occasion.  I liked their pizza, it was very good -- but I didn't think it was "Great," or at least great enough to even consider driving this far for it, unless I'm already in the area like this time.
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And then yesterday I took again ocean trip with my cousin Jim Kaplan, who I've written about here previously.  He's worked in the marine industry for years, and has a small sailboat out in the marina, and every once in a while I'll join him.  As my article noted, it's often a great time and and misadventure.  The last trip, for instance, there was a squall.  This time, the motor went out as we headed through the marina out to the ocean.  I asked him if he'd every docked his boat using the sails only.  No, he said.  Do you think you'll be able to, I asked?  He laughed, "We'll find out!!"

The sailing though was very enjoyable.  Great weather, and though there were choppy waves, it was still a fairly smooth ride.  That's Santa Monica Piere off in the distance, as I briefly took the helm.

The good news is that we got the motor running after we re-entered the marina and turned into the channel for his dock.  So, we made it back in one piece.  And he told me today that he thinks he discovered the problem with the motor -- that it got clogged -- and he cleaned it out, and the thing seems to be running better than it has in a long while.

When we got back to his house, it turns out that one of his neighbors is the actor Matthew Modine -- who is running for president of the Screen Actors Guild.  The election is next week or soon after.  He came across as a very nice guy, and Jim is trying to get him to join us on an ocean voyage.  I don't know enough about the SAG issues, though Matthew filled me in some of them.  Obviously he's biased in his observations, but I know enough about Guild politics and issues to get a sense where things sit.  And from that and a short, very pleasant conversation -- hardly the basis for forming a deeply-informed opinion -- I hope he wins.

(As a side benefit, I also got to ask Matthew about a running joke in the Out and About with Jiminy Glick videos that I post here and something I've always been curious about, where Jiminy often refers to his four boys -- Morgan, Mason, Matthew and Modine.  The short version is that he's friends with Martin Short who plays Jiminy, and just came up with that one day and threw it in without asking permission first.  And Matthew finds it hilarious.  The other reference is to another friend, the son of actor James Mason, named Morgan Mason.)

Next time, Admiral Kaplan and I head out in search of the white whale...

​Very pleased to see UCLA win its 12th women's softball national championship, beating #1-ranked Oklahoma (UCLA was #2) two games to none in the best-of-three game series.  Big congrats.

By the way, even if you don't care one whit about this, do yourself a favor and still jump below the first video to read about and then watch to the two other videos afterwards on UCLA player Stevie Wisz..  (It's pronounced "Whiz.")  They're both short, the second one only about 10 seconds. I think it's worth it, and almost none of it is about baseball -- though that's the foundation that colors it all.

I like women's softball and watch it periodically.  In addition to the skillful play, the added pleasure is the joyful spirit of it -- the players often double as cheerleaders, working out team routines that they perform in the dugout,  It's a slower-paced game than baseball, and if the level of play isn't as high (flyballs can be sometimes be an advantage), there is also a quickness to it all, thanks to the distance between bases -- and the pitcher's circle and home plate -- being much closer.  There are also a lot more hugs than in men's baseball.

Though I had the Cubs game running on my tablet, I happily wore my UCLA baseball cap and cheered them during the finale as a proud graduate school alum.  I'm only sorry I didn't realize that the first round was being played at Jackie Robinson Field, because it's about two miles from me, and I'd have driven over.  I almost did, when I was watching their clinching game in that first round, but by that point there were only two innings to go, so I stayed in front of my set.

Here are the highlights of the final, exciting game that went down to two outs in the last inning.  Though the video says it's two minutes long, the highlights are only a minute -- the rest of jumping on another and celebrating.  Since there's no announcer, know that the first highlight -- a home run -- came from the first batter of the game.  And the second highlight, also a home run, came from the second batter. 

With UCLA holding a one-run lead going into the top of the last inning (the seventh) with two out, Oklahoma hit a home run to tie the game.  But then, in the bottom of the inning, UCLA got a lead-off single, and the runner was bunted to second, in scoring position.  But when the next better grounded to short, the baserunner was thrown out at third base.  That left a runner only at first with two outs -- however, a wild patch moved that runner to second base and again scoring position.  That brought in a fast pinch-runner, who barely slid in to score on a base hit on the very next pitch.  Which brings us to the national championship, a lot of jumping on another and celebrating.

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Which carries us to the tale and two videos I mentioned above.  The leading player for UCLA is its star pitcher and batter, Rachel Garcia who not only won the National Player of the Year Award...but won it for the second year in a road!.  Not shabby.

But my favorite UCLA player was Stevie Wisz.  She doesn't play much -- mainly as a pinch runner, sometimes on defense, and rarely at the plate.  I think she may have had three at bats this year.  But what stands out about her is her spirit which is effusive.  It's not just that she's already had two open-heart surgeries, because of a birth defect, but she has a third one scheduled -- in two weeks!  This here is a long and wonderful article about her on the ESPN website, and below is a brief video on the NBC Nightly News.
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But wonderful as this story is -- and it's awfully good -- it wasn't what got me to be a fan of Stevie Wisz.  It's something I saw about her before I even knew her history.  In fact, I didn't even know what player it was.  All I saw was a UCLA player in the dugout who was wearing a broadcast headset -- except it wasn't a real one, but something makeshift made with...bananas.  (Yes, you read that right:  it's made of bananas.)  She does a play-by-play of the game with it.  And it gets even better, because her teammates play along, and she interviews them on her banana headset throughout the game.

I loved it.  And it's part of what I was referring to of the fun in women's softball -- ratcheted up to a higher level.  And I had no idea who this was, I just loved her for it, whoever she was.  That it turned out to be Stevie Wisz bringing such joy to the game made it all the better.

This is just a much, much too-brief clip, maybe eight seconds.  I've tried to find longer footage, but thus far to no avail -- after all, there is little more adorable and funny than watching a ballplayer carrying on a long interview with a teammate into two bananas during a championship series.  How wonderful was it?  This was during a championship series when there was important action on the field, and ESPN kept the camera on Stevie Wisz interviewing a teammates with a banana (!!) for about a full 30-seconds.

​You'll have to make due with his.  It's plenty enough.

Last week, I mentioned that I have a cousin who lives in Venice, Jim Kaplan.  He grew up in an area known as Miller Beach on the shores of Lake MIchigan, near the Indiana Dunes.  It's the outskirts of Gary, but was a very nice area, just a few blocks from where my beloved grandmother (and his aunt) Rose lived, as well as several other relatives.  He's always loved boats, and for the past few decades even works in the boating industry -- at first on the commercial end, though later for a company that dealt with more technical, business and Navy-related matters.

Several decades back, during our younger, more carefree and idiotic days, when he was working for the commercial shop, he did a favor for a client and was paid to take an old, small boat from Los Angeles down to San Diego, which would have been a long and overnight trip.  He needed a few friend to help crew , and I joined in.  We started out very early, and the first day was enjoyable, and late in the day we even came across a school of dolphins.  (Sorry that they are mostly underwater here, I did my best...)
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As for the second day --

Well, did I mentioned that during that by the end of second day we had re-christened the bought "Kaplan's Folly"?  During the night, the creaky vessel sprung a leak, though we were able to contain it well enough.  But the early morning, however, that became more problematic.  And bailing out the boat because less-occasional, and more of our daily routine.

By noon, we figured that we had done our duty, because the alternative was sinking.  I think we had as far as San Pedro (which is near Long Beach) not quite half-way to our destination.  We pulled into the marina, called the boat's owner to explain the situation and say that we would be leaving the boat there, and it was now up to him to get it and figure out what to do with the dinghy.  And then we called one of the wives to drove down and get us back home.  It has remained a fond memory from afar, and something we still joke about from time to time.

​This is the most-memorable Kaplan's Folly at a time when it was still afloat...

Anyway, a few months ago Jim decided to act on his love for the lure of the seas, and bought a boat (not a big one, but nice, a sailboat/motorboat), and he goes out one afternoon a week like clockwork from Marina del Rey.  (Also at other times, including at night, but those are random.)  I join him from time to time. 
 
This is me joining him about a month ago on board the good ship Flying Fish III.
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As I said, he always goes out at least one afternoon a week, and that day was yesterday -- and once again, I joined him.
 
It was quite nice when we took off – that’s a couple of pelicans sunbathing.  (I wanted to get a photo of the large clan of seals we always pass by in the channel, but I always remember too late to have my camera ready, and by the time the boat has passed them the photo looks like you took a picture of a lot of duffel bags.  I had my camera ready this time -- but there were only two seals on the dock, perhaps the others were out fishing, so I let it pass.  But I was at the ready for the pelicans, at least --

As we headed out, there were also a lot of ominous, billowing, dark clouds in the distance, but from how the wind was blowing (which admittedly was strong...) it appeared like we would likely miss them, seemingly being blown in another direction.  As his wife later said in a bit of wonderment, “Didn’t you hear the storm warnings?  It was on the radio.”  Short answer – no. 

The good news is that Los Angeles meterologists do a pretty fine job at predicting storm warnings..  Or at least did yesterday.  We were out in the channel for about an hour, most of the time it being in a windy squall with a few patches of lightning.  Fortunately we’d put in a sot of tent cover two weeks ago, so we were somewhat protected.  With emphasis on the “somewhat.”  Basically, as we said to one another, hey, we’re on the ocean surrounded by water – if it’s coming down from the sky, too, so be it.
 
This photo below doesn’t come even remotely close to doing it justice.  It just looks like an overcast day.  In fact, it was torrential at the time.  The camera just doesn’t pick up pouring rain, wind whipping, periodic thunder and distant lightning.  But if one looks close, you can see the left bench glistening (which is actually a pool of water) and the spread-out towel on the right, trying to soak up water to make sitting habitable.  And what should be a calm, blue, clear ocean not totally covered by pockmarks of rain -- isn’t.  And what you can also see is that no one else was devoid of sense to go out at the time.  (That’s Ship Captain Jim explaining that All’s Well.)  

​To be clear, It wasn’t even marginally dangerous in the slightest.  Just very wet.  And actually reasonably fun.  Just…well, very wet.  It was fairly calm, never got much waves, and the lightning was rare and far away.  (Maybe just three bolts in the hour at sea.)  And most-happily, if we hadn’t put up the tent cover two weeks ago – which whimsically enough was not for protection from the rain, but rather to keep the sun from beating down… -- it would have been far more uncomfortable  (In fairness, too, I could have gone underneath in the small hold, but chose not to – if my fellow shipmate had to be out there steering, I would not forsake my captain!  And on the plus side we did prove that the makeshift Kaplan Ship Co. tent cover is Storm-Worthy.  As are we.

It's the evening now, and I'm all dry.

A year ago, I wrote here about attending one of my favorite events in Southern California, the Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest, which I first went to about 30 years ago when they took over the athletic field at UCLA.  They've relocated to other venues over the years, and I haven't gone on an annual basis, but they seemed to have finally settled into what is known as the Paramount Ranch, in the middle of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, about 30-40 minutes to the north and west of Los Angeles.  It was an inspired spot for the event, not just for locale's natural beauty but also that it was filled with structures making up a Western town that was used for filming movie and TV Westerns over the years, perhaps most notably on the long-running series, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.  Rather than putting everything on the Main Stage, the structures throughout the Ranch (slightly more substantial that just the fronts or "shells" found on most movie lots, since filming would take place inside them) let the musical performances and various competitions branch out, and arts & crafts booths filled the "streets."  Since they've settled there, I've made the drive out a bit more often.  It's a wonderful place for it all.

Sadly,  last November, when the California Wildfires broke out, the Paramount Ranch was almost directly in the center of the Woolsey Fire, and the area was wiped out.  I wrote about that here.  But the show (or in this case, festival) must go on, and event organizers worked with the Park Service (which emphatically wanted them back), and the 2019 Topanga Banjo & Fiddle Contest -- the 59th annual -- took place this past Sunday.  And I made sure to go, not only to offer my support, but see how the place handled the changes forced upon them.
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I took a bunch of photos as I explored the area.  Below on the left, you can see the Western town last year with the buildings in the background and vendor booths lining the streets.  To the right, that's the scene today, with much of the area fenced off, the tree denuded, and rubble surrounding it.
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This is a closer look at the damage, along with the remains of those burned-down structures which haven't yet been cleared away.

Remarkably, though, two of the buildings survived.  I don't have a clue how.  And happily, one was the most iconic structure on the Ranch, the "church" on the outskirts of the Western town.  And there's no sign of damage, though perhaps it got repaired and painted over.

By the way, though a lot of people brought pets to the festival, that's not a dog in the center-right (aligned in front of the door).  That's the animal which belonged to fellow seated -- his pet goat.  It was well-behaved and seemed to be enjoying the music and having a fine old time.

And this below was the other building that survived the massive fire -- the Railroad Stage.  Again, how on earth it's still standing I don't begin to know how.  And it too looks pristine, and in fact was in such good condition that they held one of the competitions there, for cowboy singing.

As I wandered through the grounds, I made a few observations.  The first was obvious, how burned out so much of the area was, like this eucalyptus tree -- though as you can see, it not only wasn't killed of, but the leaves have started to come back.

The other observation was that if you hadn't been to the Paramount Ranch before (and didn't notice the blocked-off remnants of the destroyed buildings), you might not know how badly it had been destroyed.  While you can of course see in the picture below the burned-out shrubbery in the foreground and off to the left, the surrounding area in only four months has already started to come in green and almost lush.

And though longtime visitors could see and feel what was missing, a lot of crafts booths returned (though not as many yet as before), and the main park itself is surrounded again by forest land -- some of the lower vegetation has grown back, and a good part of the surrounding forest was spared.  So, for all that was no longer there, there was still the sensibility of being in a festive bowl of beautiful nature.

The festival wasn't as crowded as in the past, and while a bit of that may have been because some people weren't sure if it would be going on this year, I suspect most was because it was raining in Los Angeles that morning and drizzling and chilly out on the Paramount Ranch grounds -- though by about 11:30 in the morning it turned into a pretty nice day.

And the show did indeed go on.  Which was a joy to see. The crafts booths, food trucks, and main stage, but also -- even though they had makeshift stages and not the buildings as in the past -- areas for the side competitions,  performances, and jamming.  Here are a few, brief videos of all that, about 30-seconds each, starting with the Main stage. 

(Fun note: near the end, you'll see two young girls walk in front of the camera.  They had just performed in competition right before this current musician, so I thought it was very thoughtful of the one girl to clap for the fiddler during his performance.)

Though it may have been more than a bit barren compared to the past ("a bit more" being the polite term), this side stage was set up for bands to put on secondary performances, and in some ways the makeshift, vagabond quality of the tent added a great deal of charm.

They even still had their Dance Stage back.  It's not anything as part of the competition but more for entertainment and demonstration.  You should be able to make out the woman clog dancing off to the left onstage.

Finally, one of my favorite parts of the festivities is always the Jamming area -- where musicians just gather randomly and begin playing together.  This video is a little longer than the others above, about 2-1/2 minutes, but you get a sense of how one is encircled by so much music all around you, jamming anywhere you look, and there was a lot more off in the distance, as well.  And as the video moves about, taking it all in, it ends up right back where things started -- which is when I thought of the legendary folk song, "Will the Circle be Unbroken?"

It was wonderful to see the Topanga Banjo & Fiddle Contest back -- and for all that's missing, the circle went on.

A common sight in Los Angeles during "Awards Season" (basically for the Oscars or Emmys) are billboards all over town for movies or shows -- or sometimes actors -- that say "For Your Consideration," directed at voters from the organization in question  Or to be more subtle, some just say FYC, since at this point everyone in town knows what it means.  And the trade papers of Daily Variety and the Hollywood Reporter tend to be filled with full-page ads for this, as well, and are more often where you'll see "For Your Consideration" ads for individual achievements, including the technical crafts.  (Less so in this days of online content, but it's still prevalent.)

A couple days ago, I saw a rare and absolutely refreshing twist on this, killing two birds with one amusing but also admirable stone.  It was a billboard promoting the TBS show, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.

This is a two-part story.

The first part is that on Saturday, the former-Rodeo Road in Los Angeles (not "Rodeo Drive" in Beverly Hills, for those outside the city) was renamed.  Its new name is President Barack Obama Blvd.

The street is just over three miles and runs through Baldwin Hills and Crenshaw, largely black neighborhoods.  For those in Los Angeles not completely familiar with the location, it pretty much parallels Jefferson Blvd. just to the south, and sits between La Cienega Blvd. and Western Ave.  Its name and location actually is appropriate, being a part of sort of a "presidents row" of three other nearby parallel boulevard -- Washington, Jefferson, and Adams.

The street runs through a district represented by Democrat Karen Bass , who is my Congresswoman, as well, though I live more to the west.  Speaking about the new name, Rep. Bass said --

“I have lived in the area my entire life and I certainly remember when Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard was named.  This is a sign of hope looking into our future. And, frankly, given what's going on now in our country, I think it'll be uplifting.”

I haven't traveled on the now-President Barack Obama Blvd. all that much in the past -- but have done so, most recently when a friend and I who love such things discovered that there's a Chinese buffet there.  I look forward to going back, and for reasons beyond just the food which was good for a buffet though not wonderful -- though extensive, which is always a good thing for any buffet.  But I digress...

You can read more about the newly-named street here.

The second part of the story is about after they announced the name change on behalf of a U.S. president, and it got reported on "Fox News".  Things didn't go well.  I was going to say, "as you imagined," but apparently the level of hatred spewed forth on the conservative site's website went beyond even normally-expected level of public racism directed at any black public figure, but most-especially towards a former president of the United States.

I say "apparently," because I have my standards and chose not to read the User Comments.  I base by reaction  instead on having seen just one of the comments, which was pathetically low-life, and from the description of them as posted on the Raw Story website, where their article wrote pointedly about the "racist slurs and attacks" that were so egregious by noting -- "According to the report that set in motion a flood of vitriol that wouldn’t be out of place at KKK meeting..."

That seemed reasonably descriptive enough for me.  If anyone else would like to see the article and what all was regurgitated by the Republican base (giving appropriate meaning to the word "base"), you can read it here.

This is the Republican base.  The Trump base.  These are the people Trump has been focused on appealing to during his presidency.  Not trying to expand on those from the last election which he won in the Electoral College but lost by 3 million popular votes.  With an approval rating that's dropped to 39%, this racist, white supremacist base seems a poor foundation from which to run a campaign for re-election.  Most especially since Trump doesn't appear to have any plans to expand outside it.  But then, how can he?  What person who isn't so wretchedly racist would want to be a part of such a party?

But as I've said repeatedly, this isn't about Trump.  We know who he is.  This is about the elected officials of the Republican Party who enable it.  They are not all hate-filled racists.  They're just fine coddling and appealing to those who are.  Here's the thing:  this racist base has been a part of the GOP for a while, but I sense that it never would have felt comfortable being so public leaving such vicious, gut-sickening, racist invective on a mainstream website over nothing more than just naming a street after a President of the United States if they didn't feel covered by their party and its leader.

​Meet today's Republican Party.

Or drive down President Barack Obama Blvd. 

​I look forward to doing the latter.

As I've noted here, every once in a while I get burned out writing about Trump and am happy to let others jump in and carry the ball for a few days.  There are more than enough falling over themselves to chime in online, not to mention investigate (both in the judicial system and journalism) and report it all, so we're in good hands -- as the batteries recharge.

So, today instead I'll bring up something benign and of most worth locally, but which I've wanted to write about for a while, and this is as good a chance as any.

When I moved into my new home 2-1/2 months ago, a couple of things made me wary about the front door.  The first is that while it had a great lock with a wonderful "snap" (that I love), it didn't seem to lock smoothly, which struck me as pretty important.  Also, the door was set in a way that it swings closed and does so very fast, and then locks.  As sure as the sun rises, I was absolutely certain I would lock myself out at some point.  So, I made more spare keeps than usual and gave them to as many friends who live close by as possible.

The other day, the hinky front door got hinkier, and it became difficult to unlock.  Not a good thing.  Actually, it did unlock fine, just not smoothly, it became a two-handed job where you have to grab the handle and pull the door towards you, and turn the key at the same time.  (I'm mentioned the door issue before closing escrow, but the inspector didn't seem to thing it was worth noting.  Like a few other things I've had to repair.)

Though the door was passably okay, I thought it best to deal with it now, rather than later.  And checked out Angie's List, which I haven't used much, but have had very good luck the couple times I have.  And chalk up yet another.

If you live in Los Angeles, the fellow is David Leiderman at D Locks.  Though he's based in the Valley, he'll go all over -- and as it happens, when I called he was in Santa Monica about 10 minutes away, and had just finished up his prior job.  So, great timing.  

He showed up fast, was very personable, explained everything well and in detail, has a great and wry sense of humor, and got it all fixed quickly and properly, at a very reasonable price.  But the best thing is that I explained that I had another door issue -- that swinging shut fast thing.  And even though it wasn't really a locksmith matter, other than the door locks when it closes, I said I wanted to at least mention it.  And I'm glad I did, because it turned out he knew the issue and was able fixed it and in only about five minutes.  At no charge.

(I had an odd moment a couple weeks later, when the lock wouldn't turn without much difficulty.  David was very responsive, thought it was a minor, understandable issue that was explainable (short version, he thought it might be weather-related and described what why) but had an employee call me a few days later when he was in the area to come over.  I wasn't going to be in then, so we put it off -- and the matter hasn't cropped up again in the past month.  And all seems well.)

So, I now know of a very good locksmith if I need one.  My only quibble is that he doesn't take credit cards, but that's not a deal-breaker.  The wonderful service is what matters.  And I like too that he's a licensed locksmith.  So, if you're in L.A. and want to add a locksmith to your list of Home Service People to Call When In Need, you can find his website here, or call 818-209-0973.  Or write David@Dlocks.net.  Actually, it's worth checking out his website anyway, even if you don't need a locksmith right now or live in another city -- that's because he has a very information FAQ section with things to know about problematic locks and ways you might be able to fix some basic things on your own.

I've written about a few such business near me who provide great service at fair prices -- I write letters of complaint all the time, and I always figure that if I'm going to complain when things go wrong, I have a responsibility to praise those who do things right.  So, I'm very happy to add one more to the book...

The Wallis is a wonderful theater, and very good venue for the show.  When I saw it back in Glencoe, it was a jewel box of a theater done almost in the round, which is an ideal setting, though one few places can duplicate.  But the Wallis has an intimate feel to it, and should be a wonderful spot for the show.

This isn’t a “You should consider going if you live in Los Angeles" recommendation.  This is a “If you don’t go you will be doing yourself and your loved ones who you should go with a disservice.”  It’s not that I can swear you and Stella absolutely will LOOOOOVE the play.  I think most people will, but it’s an offbeat folk tale, so who knows.  But I know it's borderline impossible to no greatly appreciate the tremendous theatricality AND (most importantly) this isn’t a play you can see any time, some day in the futurein a revival.  It’s unlikely anyone else will ever do this show, it’s the PigPen Theater Company or nothing, and I don’t know if you’ll ever get the chance.

The show is unique and superbly, joyously done.  And it’s a joy for adults and kids.  This is not a “kids show.”)  When I saw it, the audience was probably 90% adults.  And they were enthralled.

You can get a link for tickets here.

Just get tickets.  Now, when you've finished reading this.  Do yourself a favor.  Because you likely won't get a chance to see it again.
  
And here is that original article I wrote about the show back in 2013 (before the Writers Theatre had built its new, impressive theater center with two stages and an auxiliary arena).  It includes a couple of videos from that 2013 intimate production -- neither of which, as I said, will give you a full sense of the show.  But it's close enough.

Back in May, I wrote here about going to Topanga Banjo & Fiddle Contest.  I've written about it several times, and have been going to it for over 25 years.  Not every year, but often, dating back to when they held it at UCLA on the athletic field.

It's grown significantly, and moved around, but they finally found a wonderful home several years back at the Paramount Ranch, which is where a lot of TV shows and movies have been filmed (most notably, perhaps, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman).  In addition to the gorgeous local in the middle of the forest, there's a Western village built there for use in filming, which is far more substantially built than most movie sets.

Or was, I should say.  I was looking at a map of the Woolsey wildfire last night, and Paramount Ranch looks smack in the middle of it.  I have friends who live reasonably close by, but on the outskirts enough that at last report their home was fine, though they had to get evacuated, and a neighbor only a street away lost their home.

​But I can't imagine Paramount Ranch surviving.  Beyond it being all wood, it looks to be at Ground Zero.

I have no idea if they'll rebuild.  On the one hand, there isn't all that much to build, it's just a collection of a random structures of a Western town that aren't much more then shell.  And it's a great site for location filming.  On the other hand, since so much of the woods around it will be destroyed, the environs won't be as lush.  It will come back -- when I worked at Will Rogers State Historic Park, and the Topanga Fire burned much of the grounds (though the ranch house and barn and other facilities were save), the greenery was back within a year.  Not as thick and vibrant, but there was a foundation -- though not immediately.  And I don't know if there's enough filming to justify it.

I also don't know what the plans will be for the Banjo & Fiddle Contest.  They could certainly still hold it there.  But there won't be all the structures where they held various contests, nor so much of the surrounding greenery. (Though some may be back.)  That said, there were a lot of years when the festival was at places there were no more than big athletic fields, so they might stay -- particularly since the grounds are so vast, which would still allow them to put up their own makeshift stages.

Sad as it is, in the end, the structure there are just shells.  It's a wonderful locale, but they aren't homes.  It's the 250,000 people who've had to evacuate, the very real towns that have been wiped out, and the 48 people who thus far have died that are the tragedy.

May the winds die down soon and bring the fires to an end.

As you may have read -- or seen on the news -- today was the day the folks were once again mobilized to gather across the country to show support for protecting Robert Mueller and his investigation, and protest Trump's action of firing Jeff Sessions.  (That latter phrase is still one I have a difficult time typing without being amazed at the turns life takes.)  At five o'clock local time in whatever city one lived in, organizations sprouted up to get people together.

I decided to go, because what the heck it seemed like a proper deal.  Driving there I was trying to remember the ones of these I'd gone to, and I think we're up to five.  I'm not a sign carrier, but I do want to lend my support. 

I'd seen some footage in New York of their protest, and it looked like a pretty good turnout in Times Square.  The one here in West L.A., at the Federal building in Westwood wasn't as impressive.  I heard someone say 200-300 people, but I think that upper end was his heart speaking.  It looked closer to 150-200 to me, 

In fairness, there were still some people arriving when I left.  I stayed for about half an hour, though because there were no speakers, and no marching, and it was just standing around holding signs and trying to get cars to honk, and I didn't have a sign (which as I said is my thing...), and the signs that were there were pretty thin and uninteresting -- I'm guessing the most-creative folks stayed home, and were saving their gems for the next major event -- I didn't feel like staying around any longer.  I did get one chuckle:  when I arrived, I passed a van in the parking lot, and the couple looked like they were preparing their signs.  As I was leaving, a half hour later, they were still there, preparing their signs.  Though the signs looked well-prepared.  In fact, they sort of looking pretty prepared when I had arrived.

In additional fairness, this may not have been the only protest in Los Angeles.  I may have gotten my text message alert because I had long-ago signed up for the West L.A. area.  It's possible -- and I suspect likely, as I think about it -- that there not only were other similar protest groups around the city, but a big one in downtown L.A.

Although this song isn't directly appropriate for the occasion, it overlaps enough so I figure I'd toss in a bit of entertainment.  This is Tom Lehrer from his great album, That Was the Year That Was, with his song about protests, "Folk Song Army."