Hooray for Hollywood

As the area gears up for the Academy Awards on Sunday, on my bike ride en route to Central Hollywood to do some precinct walking for Eric Garcetti's campaign, I happened upon the sight of Charlie Chaplin waiting for a DASH bus at Fountain and Vine(!).

Okay, sure it's one of those impersonator dudes who stand in front of Mann's Chinese Theatre, but you just can't pass this up. Where else but in Hollywood?

Cirrus-ly Speaking

Nothing more to say other than the simple beauty of the purplish cirrus clouds following the setting sun on a Friday evening.

Show Some Love For Children's Hospital LA!

East Hollywood's very own Children's Hospital Los Angeles needs your support!

The medical center is currently part of an Internet competition among 11 hospitals nationwide as part of the "Show of Love" program sponsored by the Colgate-Palmolive company and the Starlight Foundation to help seriously ill children cope with the pain, fear and isolation that often accompanies serious illnesses, such as Sickle Cell Disease. Each of the 11 hospitals will be receiving a Starlight Fun Center mobile entertainment units for pediatric patients, but the top three hospitals receiving online votes by February 27 will get a second one!

The "Fun Centers," valued at $4300 each, consist of a Sharp LCD HDTV, a DVD player, and Nintendo Wii video game console and are designed to help seriously ill children cope by providing fun and diversion at their bedside.

Currently, CHLA is ranked #3, right behind hospitals in Houston and Detroit. Keep CHLA in the running and support a winner in East Hollywood! The voting ends at 12 noon EST on Friday, February 27. You may vote once per 24-hour period from any single computer. Vote early and vote often!

To vote, visit this site:
http://www.colgate.com/app/Colgate/US/Corp/CommunityPrograms/show-the-love/vote.cvsp

Then select "Los Angeles - Children's Hospital Los Angeles," enter the capcha code and submit! It won't cost you a dime, only a minute of your time!

Metro Kettle Corn!

I happened upon quite amusing sight when I emerged from the Vermont/Santa Monica Metro station at the end of my commute: A kettle corn booth! Right smack dab in the middle of the station plaza! I love kettle corn! So I shelled out the $6 for a big bag...had to show my support.
Normally kettle corn booths are a common sight at county fairs or farmer's markets. This time, it takes on a decidedly more urban setting.

But perhaps we'll see a farmer's market in East Hollywood. SEE-LA, the Hollywood Farmer's Market operator, had been running a small Wednesday evening farmer's market at the old Sears parking lot near Santa Monica and Western since 2001, but had to move out due to the new Paseo Plaza development coming there soon. They're currently looking for a new home in East Hollywood, possibly setting up in Hel-Mel (a.k.a. the bicycle district at Heliotrope and Melrose).

Snow Wai!

One of the cool things about working in Pasadena, basically right below Mt. Wilson, is that, when it's cold, and after a rainstorm, I get to see a fresh blanket of snow up atop the San Gabriels. I caught a distant glance at it from East Hollywood right before I descended into the subway, and as the sun rose and my Gold Line train arrived at Sierra Madre Villa, there it was, some 5,000 feet above me.

It may not look much, and I'm sure some east-coast type people will crack up laughing, but up atop the mountain is one of the closes places us SoCal folks "go to the snow." Which reminds me, the last time I actually got up there to play in the snow was some 21 years ago.

Actually, once you're up there, it's a veritable winter wonderland, and thanks to the magic of the Mount Wilson Webcam you can see it in all its powdery glory.

I Made The Front Page!

Twenty years ago, as the editor-in-chief of my high school paper, and geared up to study journalism in college, if you asked me if my name make the front page of the Los Angeles Times, then I would have said, "Oh definitely." Of course, my name would have the word "By" before it, and I would be the one writing the article. Two decades later, my name's on the front page, but this time, I'm the one being quoted.

On Sunday, both my name, and one of my little creations - the BARACKCYCLE! bike ride - made the front page!

Link to the online article here:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-moment7-2008dec07,0,2308931.story

A few weeks ago - on my birthday, in fact, someone with a 415 area code phone number called my cellphone, and it was an LA Times reporter who had heard of the BARACKCYCLE V!: The Victory Ride on the Obama website was interested in covering the event for an inauguration-related article. I told him, "Sure!" and rounded up the troops. But alas, the November 29 ride was on Thanksgiving weekend, so the chances of a good turnout were slim. Most of the BARACKCYCLE! veterans were out of town or occupied that day, but we managed to get a good turnout of 15 folks, and the presence of Times reporter Peter King and photographer Kirk McKoy made the ride all the more interesting.

Man, it still hasn't sunken in...I made the front page of the L.A. Times!

A Dime vs. A Nickel

Like every other Filipino out there, I spent Saturday night watching the big Pacquiao vs. De La Hoya fight, which resulted in an 8-round TKO by the Pac-Man.

Call it ethnic pride, but I knew the Pacquiao would win...but not in this way. I figured it would go a full 12 rounds, a drawn-out bout of size vs. speed with the judges giving Pacquiao the decision, not the Pinoy pummeling of a 147-lb punching bag.

Once the starting bell sounded, I had to admit I had a few reservations with the taller De LA Hoya sparring against the more diminutive Pacquiao, sending there might be a little unfair mismatch action going on here.

But eight rounds later, I was instantly reminded of a quote by Carlos P. Romulo, a 20th century Philippine hero and once the president of the United Nations General Assembly. Romulo, an intelligent, industrious man, stood all but 5' 4" inches among his fellow global dignitaries, and his stature made for many comments and prejudgments by others. But he one said that he felt like "a dime among nickels" -- referring, of course to the fact that a dime is smaller in size, but larger in value to a nickel.

So on Saturday, December 6, 2008, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the world witnessed a nickel being defeated by a dime.

And here's a picture of myself with a fellow 5'6" left-handed Filipino Sagittarian (Taken June 14, 2008 at Lake Street Park in Historic Filipinotown):