Linkousine Liberals
There's been a lot of crime here in Venice recently, and I wrote in a tweet, "No, I don't want to move. This is my home. We need to elect pols who w/stop crime instead of enabling it, as self-serving incompetents @mayorofla @ericgarcetti & @mikeboninLA have. (Bonin is our TERRIBLE City Councilperson.)
Love this dude:
Mason is an interesting young woman.
Crid at May 18, 2021 4:35 AM
This is her life now.
The answer, by the way, is a salt lick. In my new home in the Ohio River Valley, no salt lick is required... The deer come out to sleep in the glade fifty yards from my rear window after fresh snows. They're so photogenic & beatific that I actually sent Amy a snapshot a few months ago.
There is life after California.
Crid at May 18, 2021 4:43 AM
And the thing is, it doesn't snow that often, not nearly as often as it seemed to forty years ago, growing up here. (That may be because 62-year-olds in a pandemic aren't as inclined to drive around on slicked roads to chase tail and smoke weed with friends near the campus, or it may be because global warming.)
And the thing is also, the deer ONLY come out to sit in the glade after the freshest, most attractive snows, the kind where everything seems quiet and pristine. And they're only there between about 9:30pm until 5:00am, about six at a time. Four of them sleep while two others swivel their heads every two minutes, keeping watch. Then they stand up & amble off, silently as ever. ("We're through being comically pretty for you now," they will mutter. "We'll be back to indulge your childish Disney fantasies about a loving animal kingdom after the next moderate-to-heavy snowfall.")
When I arrived L.A. in '89, Venice was known for drug-dealers and gangs. About two years later the nearby Promenade was christened, and the whole strip of Ocean Avenue on down Neilson Way was cleaned up. In '92 a producer at work married a doctor and they bought a house there. And Harry Shearer moved to the place at about the time he started making Simpsons money, so it was obviously game on for gentrification… But the riots and the quake didn't help.
Amy, IIUC, you got there towards the end of the decade, just as the place was really starting to rock. I'll always envy your courage and vision for moving to that place at that hour and powering through into an independent career, and doing it without a lot of industry connections (yet).
But you were at THE right place and THE right time. When we see how California neighborhoods (and politics) blossom and wilt, it's not clear that Venice (and the larger metropolis) are going to get their shit together within the present generation. They certainly ought to, but it's not apparent that they will.
I'm not saying pack up and move to rural Kansas. But consider a moderate-to-large adjustment to circumstances in these changing times... Maybe someplace nearby, or similar but in another town. It won't be as difficult as last time, and the rewards can be considerable.
Crid at May 18, 2021 5:18 AM
It is equally your privilege's to stay as it is to move. Your choice, your consequences.
Ben at May 18, 2021 5:37 AM
If you have an Alexa device, you might be interested in Amazon Sidewalk. As in how to disable this "feature".
https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/amazons-sidewalk-network-is-turned-on-by-default-heres-how-to-turn-it-off.html
I R A Darth Aggie at May 18, 2021 7:09 AM
No means no unless..
https://twitter.com/ZeroT_H/status/1394396507818926081
Sixclaws at May 18, 2021 10:29 AM
Goddess - your home is Israel.
The Jewish Homeland.
..and by the time you finish the paperwork and get a plane ticket I'm sure things will have quieted down ...
BenDavid at May 18, 2021 11:36 AM
I'd vote for you for city council.
jdgalt1 at May 18, 2021 11:36 AM
Americans don't do homeland.
Crid at May 18, 2021 12:57 PM
Has anyone else been impressed by how the Nebraska film industry is set to change entertainment standards for the world?
Meanwhile, I'm enjoying a lovely cabernet from Casper, paired with a brick of individually-wrapped slices of American cheese, straight outta Fon du Lac.
The saltines add a crispy, um, saltiness to the platter. In the glow of the 700 Club coming from the TV, it's quite enchanting.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at May 18, 2021 3:53 PM
I highly doubt that.
Those rockets were launched, knowing what Israel's response was likely to be, because someone wants the Middle East to go to war. Someone wants the disruption; most likely Iran.
Conan the Grammarian at May 18, 2021 4:31 PM
In the glow of the 700 Club coming from the TV...
I’ve been using the 700 Club on the steering wheel of my car. It’s worked great: 100% effective in preventing demons from stealing my car.
JD at May 18, 2021 8:59 PM
Conan:
Those rockets were launched, knowing what Israel's response was likely to be
........
But neither side is following the old "Cycle of Violence" pattern this time.
1. For the first time large numbers of Israeli Arabs have takrn to the streets of major Israeli cities to loot, burn synagogues, and lynch their Jewish neighbors.
Some say they're inspired by BLM and EuroMuslims.
Some say recent cultural and political developments in Israel convinced these people that Israel is now decadent and ripe for conquest.
This is underreported overseas. The civil unrest in major coastal cities is the big news here.
This has shattered the Ashkenazi elite's illusion that prosperity, exposure to democracy, and “rational self interest” would keep Israeli Arabs from joining in violent Arab nationalism.
It turns out that not all cultures are alike… And what Western Lefties consider “rational self interest” is considered weakness by others… Who’d a thunk it?
2. Unlike other "cycles of violence" this time the Israelis are not hurrying to assure anyone that this is a limited action. Netanyahu and others have repeatedly emphasized that this a long-haul operation according an established plan - and brilliant tactics like the tunnel attack seem to support the idea that Israel, too, has decided that the time is ripe for a more comprehensive response.
That may be because much of the Arab world no longer stands with the Palis and their Iranian backers. Trump's Abraham Accords built on the desire of many Arab states to seek rapprochement with Israel due to the Iranian threat. The election of Biden - like the election of Nobama - is driving these states into alliance with Israel.
So 50 years after Leftie dreamers snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, we may finally, decisively win the 1967 war...
BenDavid at May 19, 2021 1:22 AM
Breath held. Be in touch!
Crid at May 19, 2021 1:53 AM
Y'know, if'n youse wanna handle this without our involvement, that would totes fantabulow.
Crid at May 19, 2021 2:03 AM
Goddess - your home is Israel.
The Jewish Homeland.
I seriously doubt that. From what she's written in the past, I believe Amy's Jewish the same way I am--by ancestry, but with no connection to the religion. I don't know how she feels about Israel, but you couldn't pay me to set foot there.
Rex Little at May 19, 2021 6:23 AM
Crid:
Y'know, if'n youse wanna handle this without our involvement, that would totes fantabulow.
----------------------
1. In fact we are, by default. And America hasn't given Israel a penny for decades now - it's all been the US guaranteeing loans that Israel paid off, defense technology exhange, and arms sales which Israel paid for.
2. That's so 80s...
Actually the isolationist impulse is very 30s - but two World Wars. the Cold War, and later developments have established that America can't go back to isolationism, and, uhhh, *stuff* that happens "over there" impacts Muricans.
Also been made clear that Muzzie extremists view themselves as taking up an historical religious/cultural batttle against all infidels, everywhere (Big Satan, Little Satan - everyone gets a medal!).
... or maybe a year of lockdown has caused you to forget that....
Ben David at May 21, 2021 1:02 AM
Wouldn't it be cool if we could wave a wand and give everyone one free move in their lifetime? A wave in the wand and you can start over in the place of your choosing.
I feel like it would solve so many problems.
NicoleK at May 21, 2021 6:12 AM
Big Satan, Little Satan... I want to be Slim But Fit Satan.
NicoleK at May 21, 2021 6:13 AM
Leave a comment