Currently, it’s screening here now at the Edwards University Town Center Cinema in Irvine. And it’s also opened in New York, Washington D.C.,  San Francisco, Berkeley and Las Vegas.

It may make you thirsty just to watch it as you picture the future with less water!

One of 400 entrees in April’s, Newport Beach Film Festival, this film may be the one that continues to have,  as it continues to pop  up around the country.  Perhaps, it’s because it its message needs to be heard now.

In the movie, Famiglietti describes the water crisis,  ” It’s been like watching a Polaroid develop. All of a sudden, you have a complete picture. It’s like an ‘Oh my God’ moment. You think, I can’t believe this is happening and I need to tell somebody about it.”

“I think California is in trouble,” he adds. “The combination of climate change, growth and groundwater depletion spells a train wreck.”

Famiglietti, a professor of Earth System Science and Civil and Environmental Engineering, runs the University of California Center for Hydrologic Modeling.

His recent turn to film, was put very succinctly by him, that without a change of course in the water crisis, “We’re screwed!”

The film reflects information that Famiglietti collected in global and regional data over a period of years via a NASA satellite mission called GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment).

Director Jessica  Yu, uses Famiglietti’s research and that  of University of Arizona’s law professor Robert Glennon, author of ‘Unquenchable,’ Scripps Institute of Oceangraphy researcher Tim Barnett, the Pacific Institute’s Peter Gleick, and writer Alex Prud’homme’s book, ‘The Ripple Effect’  all also show evidence of the huge loss of water around the globe and to appeal for action. The cast includes Peter Gleick, Erin Brokovich, Jay Famiglietti, Robert Glennon and Pat Mulroy.

Background on Famiglietti’s research

Check out Jay Famiglietti’s Testimony to the US Subcommittee on Water and Power 

It’s simple as Famiglietti explains, “The human race is soaking up water faster then it can be replaced. The old story of rain nourishing the earth–running into rivers that run to the ocean– then evaporating and returning to the clouds, no longer works.

Warmer clouds now hold more water. Then that water is released by storms that do not return all of the water needed to restore our aquifers, lakes and reservoirs.

“Satellite-based global-ocean mass balance estimates
of interannual variability and emerging trends in
continental freshwater discharge”

“Also, the Sierra snow packs is melting faster, and in the future some countries will be hit with a deluge of water while others will simply put, sink into drought.  This is the critical view that can now be seen from outer space.”

Famiglietti says this means a significant ecological loss for California, where farmers and conservationists continue to collide.

He’s quoted as saying, “We’ve been keeping a close eye on the Central Valley. The view from the ground is muddied by politics. The view from space is clear and undeniable. The aquifer has lost about one and a half times the volume of Lake Mead. That’s a huge amount of water.”

Data from Famiglietti’s GRACE project was displayed on Thomson Reuters’ electronic Times Square billboards in April.  This was one more way for Famiglietti to get the word out and to get us all moving.

Pass the word along and see Last Call at the Last Oasis soon.

Previously, I penned an article (in honor of National Chocolate Chip Day) entitled The Top Ten List for Chocolate Chip Cookies in Los Angeles.

Curiously, the Chocolate Chip Cookie was manufactured (baked) by accident:

The story is as follows:

It all started in the 1930s, at the Toll House Inn, which was owned by Ruth and Kenneth Wakefield.

Here, Ruth would prepare delicious, home-cooked meals that would be served for her guests.

One day, while preparing a batch of Butter Drop Do cookies, a favorite recipe dating back to Colonial days, Ruth cut a bar of our NESTLÉ® Semi-Sweet Chocolate into tiny bits and added them to her dough, expecting them to melt.

Instead, the chocolate held its shape and softened to a delicately creamy texture. Source: Very Best Baking

Be that as it may, I digress:

However, the History of Pies, is equally, if not more fascinating

• Pie has been around since the ancient Egyptians. The first pies were made by early Romans who may have learned about it through the Greeks. These pies were sometimes made in “reeds” which were used for the sole purpose of holding the filling and not for eating with the filling.
• The Romans must have spread the word about pies around Europe as the Oxford English Dictionary notes that the word pie was a popular word in the 14th century. The first pie recipe was published by the Romans and was for a rye-crusted goat cheese and honey pie.
• The early pies were predominately meat pies. Pyes (pies) originally appeared in England as early as the twelfth century. The crust of the pie was referred to as “coffyn”. There was actually more crust than filling. Often these pies were made using fowl and the legs were left to hang over the side of the dish and used as handles. Fruit pies or tarts (pasties) were probably first made in the 1500s. English tradition credits making the first cherry pie to Queen Elizabeth I.
• Pie came to America with the first English settlers. The early colonists cooked their pies in long narrow pans calling them “coffins” like the crust in England. As in the Roman times, the early American pie crusts often were not eaten, but simply designed to hold the filling during baking. It was during the American Revolution that the term crust was used instead of coffyn.
• Over the years, pie has evolved to become what it is today “the most traditional American dessert”. Pie has become so much a part of American culture throughout the years, that we now commonly use the term “as American as apple pie.”

Are you a banana cream pie lover? Or maybe the old standby and American classic – the apple pie, is more to your liking?

If so, today is the day to order yourself one heck of a slice and or make one at home to compliment tonight’s dinner. Below for your dining pleasure, we have an awesome pecan pie recipe that will make you “slap yo momma sideways”.

It’s from The Neely’s of the Food Network

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup dark corn syrup
• 3 tablespoons bourbon liquor
• 1 1/2 cups pecan halves
• 1/2 cup mini milk chocolate morsels
• 1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell
• Homemade whipped cream, recipe follows

• 4 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

“A strong and vibrant cultural community is vital to having a ‘creative class,’ according to the ideas of urban studies theorist Richard Florida.

The Rise of the Creative Class

In his book “The Rise of the Creative Class,” Florida explores what it takes to attract “knowledge-based professionals,” including scientists, engineers, artists, musicians, designers, writers, and any other professional who brings creativity to the task at hand.

The creative class, he says, “accounts for nearly half of all wage and salary income in the United States, $1.7 trillion dollars, as much as the manufacturing and service sectors combined.”

Travelin’ Local and many other people, institutions, and organizations throughout the Golden State could not agree more.

It’s just plain wrong that California’s priorities lie elsewhere than investing into the arts which has been proven to attract and keep the knowledge management class.

Shorting the future of our “Best and Brightest” by cutting off our collective noses despite our faces, by denying endowments for the arts, arts development, and for grants and prizes to individuals and organizations in the arts, is shortsighted.

Don’t get me wrong

I know there are many government programs essential for life’s basic necessities; but if art—and by definition a ample supply of artists–isn’t available to the masses, life indeed would be boring and according to the study mentioned above, a society and area requires a creative class to attract knowledge based professionals including scientists, engineers, designers and other professionals.

It is they who are drivers of local and regional economies so to deny the arts is to deny your future economic prosperity.

It’s a well known fact that, California is technically insolvent. That’s a nice term for being bankrupt–without the formalities, of course.

Because of California’s massive and ongoing Billion dollar plus deficits and our constant slashing of our budgets to try and balance our budgets, the good news is that Cities like Burbank and many others here, and across the nation, are taking the initiative and developing the cool mechanisms to support their own city’s arts programs and culture.

The City of Burbank Cultural Arts Commission just announced the launch of a new website that’s  dedicated to Burbank’s cultural venues, events, organizations, educational institutions and artists online.

A cultural first for the city, the website’s goal is to introduce and support the arts, deliver quality art experiences, and promote exciting arts-friendly venues for every generation.  Encompassing more than 50 cultural venues including dance, media, literature, music, theatre and visual arts, the website features a calendar of cultural activities, arts education programs and valuable contact information.

A colorful, online home for Burbank’s flourishing arts scene, www.burbankarts.com devotes special attention to arts education and includes more than 40 programs offered by Burbank High School, John Burroughs High School, Woodbury University as well as other creative institutions such as Video Symphony, Garri Dance Studio, Media City Ballet, Burbank Youth Summer Theater Institute and more.  Educational programs include dance, ballet, vocal music, photography, video production and theater.

“Burbank is a uniquely artistic city,” states Lynda Willner, Chair, Burbank Cultural Arts Commission.  “Already known as the media capital of the world, it’s also home to actors, painters, sculptors, animators, teachers, museum directors, ceramicists, singers, dancers and photographers – a truly vast array of super-talented and committed individuals. 

Their new Cultural Arts website will encourage a closer collaboration among these artists and their audiences, and will promote every form of creativity and imagination.

As a city immersed in the entertainment industry, Burbank has the rare opportunity to combine homegrown artistic talent with the ever-increasing needs of studios and post-production facilities seeking creative approaches to storytelling, 3-D animation, new media and design.

And now, best of all, the Burbank Cultural Arts Commission champions such arts programs, and believes in the uniqueness of art to both stimulate economic growth and transform lives.

[Ed.Note] Yours truly watching and being watched

 About the Burbank Cultural Arts Commission and the Cultural Arts Plan

The Burbank Cultural Arts Commission develops strategies to ensure that the arts are a unifying force in Burbank’s urban planning initiatives and to build upon Burbank’s commitment to the arts education community. The Commission is dedicated to stimulating local cultural arts awareness and event participation and to explore creative, leading-edge arts concepts.

Then, based on their Cultural Arts Plan, the Commission works to focus, develop and amplify the diverse and vibrant arts community to enrich the lives of Burbank’s residents. At the core of this effort is a stated commitment to ensure that the arts are accessible to all, and a vision to identify Burbank as a regional arts destination. Embracing a fresh approach to forming new partnerships representing all genres of the arts, the Cultural Arts Plan supports Burbank’s arts community and provides exposure and further expansion of that community. Copies ofthe Burbank Cultural Arts Plan are available online .

Amazing forward thinking by what some here consider only a Show Business and Los Angeles “Suburb.”

Even more amazing, is what the City of Philadelphia is doing with their Mural Programs:

As the Mural Capital of the World, Philadelphia has also initiated and sponsored a similar web based platform to support their City’s arts with the expressed mission that every city should foster in the U.S.:

The City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program unites artists and communities through a collaborative process, rooted in the traditions of mural-making, to create art that transforms public spaces and individual lives.

The Golden Rule

When we create art with each other and for each other, the force of life can triumph.hen we create art with each other and for each other, the force of life can triumph.

Their Palette of Core Values

Art Ignites Change

Art heals, art unites, and art changes minds in a convincing fashion. Art drives the agenda. Great art is never silent, can’t be ignored, and serves poorly the status quo.

Stories Must be Told

The sublime power of narrative drives our lives. Stories well told will shine transformative light into dark corners.

We Beats Me

It’s simple. We work in conspiring teams whose goal is gestalt. Everything we do is by and for the community. There’s no “I” in mural.

It Ain’t About the Paint

What we do is deceptively complex. What drives us is the opportunity to help life triumph over the forces of despair. We just happen to be good at painting murals.

Make Promises and Keep Them

We’re an antsy bunch, and proactively committed to the commitment to be proactive. When we walk into a room , we walk in ready to make great things happen. And when we say we will, we will.

Take Turns

There is no such thing as not my job. We expect to take on unexpected burdens when it’s our turn to do so.

Think Deeply, Create Fearlessly

The surface is something to get beyond. And because we have each other’s back, we go beyond in bold fashion.

Expect Permission / Ask Forgiveness

Bureaucracy has its place. Just not in our mindset.

The Biggest Risk May Be Not Taking It

Why look back on a life not lived? We see our chances and we take ‘em.

Art Is An Economic Engine

This is not art for art’s sake. Our institutional wisdom and intellectual property have value, add value, and are valuable. There’s no shame in earning fair compensation for unique professional expertise.

Yo, This is Fun!

We’re from Philly. We’re for Philly. And we’re having a hell of a good time.

Yo, and we’re Travelin’ Local here in Southern California, and we’re doing the same!

[Ed.Note] A smart way of saying “Life is a Bitch!”. Someone who has oppressed anger and fed-up with life, yet at the onset wants to look normal (Don’t we all?), would use a phrase like that.

It gives the connotation–and rightly so—that the user of the “phrase” is very happy-go-lucky, but on closer examination one realizes that the user is going through a hard time. (Dammit, I like “hard times!”).

O.K., alright, hey you–I heard it, actually in one of the sayings, “Sex, booze, rock and roll; Weed, speed and birth control; Life’s a beach and then you die; so fuck the world and let’s get high!”.

Whatever, here’s Los Angeles’ 7 day weather forecast to put the aforementioned into context:

(Photo credits: ABC7.com).

(Photo Credit in the slider and left thumbnail photo courtesy of Pbs.org.)

Beloved author and artist Maurice Sendak died Tuesday, May 8, 2012, at the age of 83.  He is best know for writing and illustrating the Caldecott Medal book Where the Wild Things Are, but he lent his detailed illustrations to many other children’s books, including one of my favorite childhood series: Else Homelund Minairk’s Little Bear books.

As a child, I recall being completely caught up in those simple stories of imaginative Little Bear — his travel to the moon and his encounter with a mermaid at the seaside — all via Sendak’s wonderful illustrations. The cover art, framed beautifully by twisting branches and flowering vines, is not typical of children’s books and Maurice Sendak would be proud of that…

Sendak’s creative artwork is a perfect example of how influential exceptional picture books can be in cultivating art appreciation for little ones.  In high school, I was constantly drawn to the detailed floral beauty of  William Morris textiles, as well as the pen and ink cross-hatch style of Edward Gorey’s illustrations.  I sometimes wonder if my early exposure and fascination with Maurice Sendak’s art had anything to do with forming my future tastes.

“Richly detailed Sendak illustration from Dear Mili, by Wilhelm Grimm” Image: © Maurice Sendak

As a child who was often sick and indoors, Maurice Sendak loved spending his time reading and drawing. I read somewhere that the first book Sendak read as a boy was Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper, and that he always kept his original copy of it as a reminder of the influence of great storytelling.

Other than having taken a few night classes in art after high school graduation, Sendak was basically a self-taught artist. This talent, combined with his admiration for Walt Disney’s Fantasia – which he saw at the age of twelve - inspired Sendak to pursue a career where he could utilize his artistic abilities.

 From Window Dresser to Wild Thing Creator

Here are some interesting facts and trivia about this very gifted man…

Before he wrote and illustrated books, Maurice Sendak was commissioned as a window dresser for F.A.O. Schwarz.

His first-ever illustrated book was a 1947 science textbook, Atomics for the Millions, co-written by his high school biology teacher. If you’re lucky enough to come across the first edition of this collector’s item in a used bookstore, grab it!  (Click here to see images from the book).

Maurice Sendak’s Caldecott Medal winning book, Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963, is one of the top ten bestselling children’s books of all time, about a mischievous boy named Max, his imaginary wild friend-things, and their rumpus in the forest.  It was originally conceived as Where the Wild Horses Are, but Sendak told People Magazine, “I couldn’t draw horses.”

Another bit of information many may not be aware of, is that Sendak (at J.R.R. Tolkien’s request) submitted two illustrations for The Hobbit’s 30th Anniversary Edition in the late 1960′s.  There was a bit of a mix-up and mislabeling of the artwork samples, so Tolkien did not approve the drawings.

The two men never did talk in person, because the day the publisher had scheduled their meeting, Sendak suffered a heart attack.  You can read more here about “the 1960′s masterpiece that could have been”, in this LA Times guest essay by Tony Di’Terlizzi.

In the late 1970′s Sendak began a second career designing sets for ballets and operas (both stage and television productions).  His chief musical passion was always Mozart.

Sendak described his books as stories “about human emotion and life.  They’re pigeonholed as children’s books, but the best ones aren’t — they’re just books”. (From a People Magazine interview in 2003.)

There is an elementary school in North Hollywood named for Maurice Sendak.

Opening Mother’s Day early with their special brunch  menu, The Tangata Restaurant (or translated as “mankind” in the tribal Maori language ofNew Zealand), features Southwestern decor enclosed by glass walls and a ceiling framed with stucco beams.

Located in the Bowers Museum’s mission-style courtyard, the 160-seat restaurant also offers al fresco dining on a large patio area.

While there, be sure to tour the Current Exhibitions at the Bowers now featuring both the Sacred Gold Pre Hispanic Art of Columbia, and the California Gold Exhibit.

The Bowers Museum is located at 2002 North Main Street, Santa Ana,CA

• The Ultimate Garden Tour with Sherman Gardens

The Sherman Library & Gardens is a 2.2 acre Corona del Mar museum of living plants, beautifully positioned among immaculate gardens, patios and conservatories linked with brick walkways and gurgling fountains. The Library is a well-known research center dedicated to the study of the Pacific Southwest.

The 16th Annual Private Gardens Tour is hosted by the Sherman Library & Gardens Volunteer Association. Sherman Library & Gardens is a non-profit Cultural Center, and proceeds from this event will help support its Botanical Collections and educational programs. 

To purchase tickets by phone call 949-673-2261, or you can also buy tickets online. 

• A Perfect Rose from Roger’s Gardens

Get free shipping and delivery on all Mother’s Day Specials that you order before May 10th. Roger’s Gardens has been a landmark destination in Orange County for more than 35 years.

This family-owned business has a passionate staff offering expert advice and service for all things gardening. Roger’s Gardens is located directly across from Fashion Island in Corona Del Mar. They have Mother’s Day Gift Baskets, pre-wrapped gifts and the perfect selection of individual flowers and arrangements.

• Brunch at Scott’s Restaurant

Their Mother’s Day Brunch, on Sunday– May 13 is from1 to 3 p.m.– is a natural.  Scott’s has been a favored destination in Orange County for many years. It’s loved and well known for its fabulous seafood (the lobster bisque and raw oysters are longtime favorites).

It’s also perfectly located nearby Segerstrom Concert Hall. You can count on the Mother’s Day Brunch to be sublime. It’s located at 3300 Bristol St., in Costa Mesa,CA, 92626

• Tour  the 2012  Pacific House of Design in Laguna Beach

The House of Design is an ingenious collaboration of music and design.  More than twenty carefully selected interior designers fromLos AngelesandOrangeCountytransform this home into a stunning retreat.

Located amidst 40 acres of coastal hills, this extraordinary 11,000 sq. ft. estate offers panoramic ocean, canyon and city light views from every direction. Contemporary in design, with a hint of craftsman, the Pacific House of Design blends perfectly into its natural setting.

Approaching the house from a private road, guests encounter a helipad surrounded by a circular driveway and multiple garages. The Infinity pool and numerous terraces surround the perimeter to create complete privacy.  This year they’re celebrating the artists of Laguna Beach.  As the primary annual fundraiser for the Philharmonic Society Youth Music Education Programs, the Pacific House of Design continues to draw an appreciative crowd.

General Admission is $40 and the House will be open through May 20.  Hours: Tuesday-Wednesday, from10 am to 5 pm.; Thursday,10 am to 9 pm; and from Friday to Sunday,10 am to 5 pm.

I’ve tried a few of the food trucks that are out and about in San Diego, and here’s a peek at some of my favorite food truck grub.

Tater Tots from Eat at Recess

Eat at Recess is a fun food truck with a school playground theme. Most of their menu items are named after playground games (such as “Red Rover” – a salad with hot sauce drenched grilled chicken with spring mix and buttermilk ranch dressing) or the different types of people you find as school (such as “The Bully” – a bacon BBQ cheeseburger).

The best thing that Eat at Recess offers up are their outstanding tater tots. Tater tots! Who knew tater tots could be so delicious?

You can get the tater tots three different ways – plain, with only Recess seasoning or “AP Tots” with truffle oil and feta cheese, or my personal favorite, the “Remedial Tots” topped with bacon salt, cheddar cheese and their tasty Recess sauce.

The tater tots are fried to a perfect golden crisp. The outside of the tots stays crispy and crunchy while the insides are soft and melt in your mouth delicious.

The bacon salt, cheese, and Recess sauce serves to add an extra oomph of flavor to these seemingly simple tater tots. If you spot the Eat at Recess truck out in your daily travels be sure to pick up a batch of these babies!

The Captain, Crab Cakes and You

“Two for the Road” is another great little food truck making its way around the ins and outs of San Diego. They serve up classic American food that’s sure to comfort your soul.

One of their in rotation items is this dish called the Cap’n Crunch Crab Cake. Yes, you read that right – it has Cap’n Crunch cereal in it! Don’t be too alarmed though, it’s not as if there are large chunks of cereal within the crab cake.

The cereal is used as a coating, the same way you would use bread crumbs to coat a piece of chicken for frying.

The Cap’n Crunch coating gives the crab cakes a little twinge of extra sweetness which I really enjoy. Now they do use imitation crab in these cakes, so if that bothers you… well, you should still try it anyway.

It’s got a wonderful taste and sweetness combined with the outer crunch and a tasty spicy lime mango dressing that is totally killer on the crab cakes. A must try if you ask me!

It’s also a good idea to pair any of their menu items with their half order of Parmesan fries. Their Parm fries are my favorite of the food truck bunch – always super crispy and tender on the inside and the grated Parmesan sticks to the outside of the fries giving them a good salty flavor.

Much better than some places where I’ve seen them use shavings of Parm that you have to pick up and eat separately.

Saving the Best for Last – Devilicious

Devilicious is by far my favorite of the bunch – from the creative menu items to the simple attention to details in their excellent food. Everything is always grilled or warmed or toasted (which I love) and cooked perfectly.

Their menu changes from time to time but one of their standards is their Lobster Grilled Cheese sandwich.

Lobster pieces are sandwiched between grilled, buttered sourdough bread and filled with melted cheeses and caramelized onions for that perfect bite of grilled cheese and lobster. It’s rich and decadent and transports you to food nirvana with the first bite.

The also have an “All Crab Crab Cake” sandwich on an English muffin that is truly to die for. This one is made with real crab meat and has never disappointed me. It comes with Devilicious sauce (a mix of mayo and Sriracha), greens and just enough binder in the crab cake mix to make it a perfect and delicious sandwich.

There are tons of food trucks out there on the scene with plenty of food truck gatherings so you can sample items from a few trucks at once to find your new favorite mobile food spot.

On Saturday, Americans across the country will gather to celebrate the 150th Cinco de Mayo. Donning sombreros and dancing to mariachi music, revelers will celebrate everything Mexican, and enjoy a shot of tequila—or three. The holiday has become ingrained in the American calendar, and in 2005 Congress passed a resolution calling on the president to recognize the historical significance of the holiday.

Contrary to widespread popular belief, May 5th is not actually Mexican Independence Day, and the holiday is primarily celebrated in only one of Mexico’s 31 states. So, why is Cinco de Mayo more popular in America than in Mexico?

The real story of Cinco de Mayo weaves together two concurrent wars—the French intervention in Mexico (also known as The Maximillian Affair) and the American Civil War. On May 5, 1862, defending Mexican forces under Ignacio Zaragoza defeated Napoleon III’s French army at Puebla, one of the most important Spanish colonial cities in Mexico.

At the time, the French army was considered to be the most powerful fighting force in the world, and the unlikely Mexican victory resulted in a decree by then-Mexican President Benito Juárez that a celebration of the battle be held each year on May 5th. Cinco de Mayo was born, but it was about to be kidnapped.

As the French were making war with Mexico, the American Confederacy was courting Napoleon’s help in its conflict with the United States. At the time of the Battle of Puebla, the Confederacy had strung together impressive victories over the Union forces. According to some historians, the French, who made war with Mexico on the pretext of collecting debt, planned to use Mexico as a “base” from which they could help the Confederacy defeat the North, and the Mexican victory at Puebla made the French pause long enough for the Union army to grow stronger and gain momentum.

Had the French won at Puebla, some contend, the outcome of the American Civil War could have been much different, as the French and Confederates together could have taken control of the continent from the Mason Dixon line to Guatemela, installing an oligarchical, slave-holding government.

That didn’t happen, of course. In the years that followed, Latinos in California and the U.S. Northwest celebrated Cinco de Mayo with parades of people dressed in Civil War uniforms, giving speeches about how the Battle of Puebla fits into the larger narrative of the struggle for abolition.

Since then, the holiday has been transformed, specifically after a wave of Mexican immigration into the United States following the Mexican Civil War. As Mexican immigrants flooded into the American southwest, they joined in the festivities with their fellow Mexican-Americans who were already living in the United States without really knowing the story behind the holiday, and over time the date came to be a showcase of Mexican ethnic identity rather than a celebration of the battle against the invading French forces.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Jody Agius Vallejo, a sociology professor at the University of Southern California, explained the Cinco de Mayo phenomenon this way: “It’s very similar to how Irish-Americans celebrate St. Patrick’s Day,” said Vallejo. “One way they can honor their ethnicity is to celebrate this day, even when most don’t know why.”

Here is the economic logic behind increased efforts to promote bicycle use:

Cars enjoy huge direct subsidies in the form of road construction and public parking spaces, as well as indirect subsidies to the oil industry that provides their fuel. These subsidies far exceed the tax revenue generated by car use (as this excellent discussion of the technical issues at stake in these calculations makes clear.)

Yet cars impose major social costs: their use contributes to global warming, traffic congestion, accident fatalities and sedentary lifestyles.

Bicycle use is good for both people and the planet. In a country afflicted by obesity and inactivity, people who get moving become healthier. Riding a bike to work or to do errands is far cheaper than joining a gym. Cutting back on gas consumption improves air quality, reduces dependence on imported oil and saves money.

Increased bicycle use is practical and feasible, especially if it can be combined with effective public transportation for long-distance needs. As John Pucher of Rutgers University (dubbed Professor Bicycle by some of his fans) explains, about 40 percent of all automobile trips in metropolitan areas are less than two miles – a distance easily biked.

For bicyclists, increased numbers often lead to increased safety. As bike paths on roads attract larger numbers of cyclists, the chance of car-related accidents declines, promoting further use. Safety appears to be a major factor for women in particular.

As more people ride to work, cultural norms shift — bike commuting begins to seem less quirky. Businesses begin to recognize the benefits of providing facilities for showering and changing clothes (cheaper per person than car-parking spots).

These changes, in turn, can promote more biking. Build it and they will come: increased supply can increase demand.

Major improvements in bike infrastructure wouldn’t just make it easier to get to work. They would also create work, a high priority in our high-unemployment economy.

Construction of bike paths offers more job creation per infrastructure dollarthan investment in roads. (For more details, see this recent study by my University of Massachusetts colleague Heidi Garrett-Peltier, who analyzed 58 projects in 11 cities, using an input-output model to measure employment impact).

Hats (and helmets) off to the bicycle activists and policy makers who work to promote bicycle paths and lanes. They are spinning us all in a good direction.

Federal spending on bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure has more than doubled since 2006 but amounted to less than $4 a person in 2010.

Here’s a snippet of an infographic by Kory Northrop, a graduate student at the University of Oregon,  that illustrates differences across states and highlights the top 10 major American cities for bike commuting that draws on data from the American Community Survey for 2009.

On Saturday, May 5, the 4th Annual BikeFest Tour of Long Beach presented by Wells Fargo, will bring cycling-related fun and festivities to Downtown Long Beach. In addition to four separate rides that appeal to cyclists of all skill levels, this event includes an all-day, family-friendly Finish Line Festival.

Proceeds will support pediatric cancer research at Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach, as they have since 2010.

The Tour of Long Beach invites amateur cyclists and bicycle enthusiasts to participate in one of four rides: the four-mile Family Fun Ride; 31 or 62-mile picturesque Metric Century Ride; or the 100-mile Cruz Gran Fondo, which loops twice through Long Beach, Cypress, Seal Beach and Signal Hill.

The Cruz Gran Fondo is new to the Tour of Long Beach this year and is named after Long Beach’s own U.S. Olympian, former Pro Tour Cyclist and Long Beach Bike Ambassador, Tony Cruz.

The Finish Line Festival is open to participating riders as well as the general public and offers a day of fun for the entire family. Attendees will join Tony Cruz at this free event which includes live entertainment, a kids’ activity area, BMX stunts, a free bike valet, vendor fair and food stands.

New to the Finish Line Festival this year is the Beachwood & Friends Craft Beer Garden, which will feature almost a dozen local craft breweries with samples of more than 30 unique brews – perfect after a long day of biking.

The beer garden is $20 for 10 five ounce tastings. Beachwood BBQ & Brewing, a local business which recently opened their second location on Downtown’s Promenade, is sponsoring and participating in the craft beer garden.

“The BikeFest Tour of Long Beach is the perfect way for cyclists of all skill-levels to explore our City while contributing to an important cause,” said Downtown Long Beach Associates (DLBA) President and CEO Kraig Kojian. “Since 2010, participating members of the community have helped raise nearly $200,000 to support the exceptional research at Miller Children’s, and we look forward to another outstanding experience.”

Travelin’ Local has written extensively about Long Beach and their commitment to becoming one of the most “Bike Friendly” cities in the nation.

The Tour’s bike rides begin in intervals, starting at 6:30 a.m. on Shoreline Drive at Linden, and end at the festival. The Finish Line Festival takes place from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Event Park at The Pike, located at the corner of Pine Avenue and Shoreline Drive.

On Friday, May 4, the Tour of Long Beach participants can pick up their bibs and registration packets from the Hyatt the Pike Long Beach (285 Bay Street) between the hours of 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.

The Festival highlights the many programs being implemented by the City of Long Beach, as part of their Bicycle Master Plan (BMP) – an award-winning progressive initiative to make Long Beach “the most bicycle-friendly City in the U.S.”

The BMP has been called one of the most ambitious of its kind, garnering attention regionally as other cities have modeled their own plans based on the success of the Long Beach strategy.

The BikeFest Tour of Long Beach is produced by the DLBA, in conjunction with Miller Children’s, with sponsorship support from Wells Fargo, The Long Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the City of Long Beach’s Bike Long Beach initiative.

Check presentations will be made at the start of the 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. bike rides. Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster will present the check to Dr. Amanda Termhulen, Medical Director of Jonathan Jaques Children’s Cancer Center at Miller Children’s. Media is invited to attend this event. Please call 562-436-4259 for details and information regarding parking.

For more information about the DLBA, its programs and services, please visit www.downtownlongbeach.org or call (562) 436-4259. For more information about the BikeFest Tour of Long Beach and to register, please visit www.bikefestlb.com.

The Awards for Excellence celebrates the best in accommodation and is completely impartial.

All the following “Best Hostels” designations are awarded based on customer reviews. So are you dying to know which awards LA hostels picked up?

Best Value Cheap Hotel | The Ritz Milner Hotel

If you’re looking for a value hotel in downtown LA this is the one for you. This boutique hotel is well known for its great staff who can advise you on everything that’s going on – and let’s face it, you are going to need some insider knowledge if you want to be partying in the right places.

And when you need to recover the next day from your hangover, you can do in style with a complimentary breakfast.  They also offer free Wi-Fi in every room–so you can post your pics up on Facebook and make everyone back home jealous.

Type of Room: Double with private bathroom, Twin with private bathroom, Single with private bathroom.

Best Location | Hollywood Youth Hostel

If location is all  important to you, how about staying on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? You can literally throw a small stone and hit it. Its only a couple of minutes walk to the Hollywood & Highland entertainment and shopping complex and the Metro, so you can easily get to the rest of the great sites in Los Angeles you want to visit.

If you want to chill out in the hostel, how about shooting some pool on their very own table. We know how important free stuff is to you and this hostel doesn’t skimp – they provide free Wi-Fi and tea and coffee all day.

Type of Room: Male and Female only 4 bed dorms, Male and Female only 6 bed dorms. Triple, double or twin private rooms with shared bathroom.

Best Staff | Duo Hostel

If you’re travelling alone it’s's nice to know you’ll be staying somewhere friendly. The Duo Hostel has some of the best staff in North America– you can’t get much better than that!  It’s not far from the Metro and its buses which will is able to transport you to downtown LA to hit up those awesome parties, LA Live and all of those hip new restaurants and bars.

And if you prefer to chill out in the hostel they have a flat screen TV and game consoles to keep you entertained.

Type of Room: 6 Bed Dorms

Pick the films you wish to see at this year’s biggest, most diverse, highest quality and largest show movies ever at this year’s Newport Beach Film Festival now.

It’s a week worth of magic as movie buffs, students, exhibitors, screenwriters, cinematographers and directors converge on Newport Beach. The Newport Beach Film Festival this season is expected to attract an estimated 50,000 movie lovers and will offer some 400 films from 50 different countries.

On opening night, as the directors signed in for the premier of their movie, Jewtopia, the crowd was an intriguing blend of locals and international guests, first timers and old pros.

One New York couple who just arrived to promote Mother’s Table smiled as they said they were pleased to be in California for awhile, but told me that “the ocean was cold!”

As the Newport Film Festival fans out over the Island Cinema, the historic Lido, the newly reopened Port Theater in Corona Del Mar, and the Triangle theaters, the big question is which film should you see?

The newly reopened Port Theater has gotten a lot of local and international press recently, as its grand reopening is in concert with the Newport Beach Film Festival. Be that as it may, recently Travelin’ Local traced the paths  of many of these historic movie theaters in our Orange County Historic Movie Theaters.  Some, like the Lido, are thriving, some like the Balboa are in the process as fundraising works to revive them,  and others like the Port, are showing up right now, and welcome  much deserved support.

To be sure, Orange County has a long and diverse movie history and love affair with Hollywood–from set locations to being the perennial playground of Hollywood’s rich and famous actors and actresses–to being a favorite filming location everywhere here throughout the OC.

Believing that by doing well and doing good, the Newport Film Festival also pioneered a Community Outreach Program that links  over 30 non-profit organizations in Orange County, in the arts, health and human services, the environment, education, children’s causes and alumni clubs. The Newport Beach Film Festival Community Outreach Program provides a forum for each organization to further its mission through the medium of film and co-host a film screening during the Festival.

Each organization is paired with a film that is likely to attract an audience interested in its cause. Groups in the program are given an opportunity to speak to film audiences prior to the screenings and display information at the theater.

Other venues this year include the Newport Beach Public Library, Orange County Museum of Art, the Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center and Sage Hill High School, home of a collegiate showcase featuring the films of young directors from nine campuses, including USC, UCLA, Chapman, Loyola, OCC and Saddleback.

The Newport Beach Film Festival organizers are very committed to working with young filmmakers,” as now it’s the eighth year of the youth competition.

Here’s some of what’s happening on Monday and Tuesday. (Be sure to check the Film Festival’s website for all of the films running thru Thursday.)

SWERVE – Monday evening, April 30, at 8 pm at the Lido.

Driving cross-country to a job interview, Colin plays it safe when he has car problems and takes a short cut to a one horse town. But as luck would have it, he comes across a fatal road accident. One of the drivers, Jina, is shaken, the other dead and beside him, a briefcase full of money. When Colin resists temptation and does the right thing, turning it into the local cop, his good deed causes a series of fateful events to unfold.

Girl in Progress, Monday evening, April 30, 7:30 p.m. at the Port in Corona Del Mar

Grace, a single mom, is too busy juggling work, bills, and the very married Dr. Harford to give her daughter, Ansiedad, the attention she desperately needs. When Ansiedad’s English teacher introduces her students to classic coming-of-age stories, Ansiedad is inspired to skip adolescence and jump-start her life without mom. While Grace becomes preoccupied with the increasing affections of her co-worker, Ansiedad enlists the help of her loyal friend, Tavita, to plot her shortcut to “adulthood.”  (Director Patricia Riggen to attend!)

The Day I Saw Your Heart, Tuesday May 1, at 8:15 pm at Big Newport 5

Families are complicated…especially when Eli, who’s about to be 60, is expecting a baby with his new wife. Upon hearing the news, his two grown daughters, Dom, who’s trying to adopt, and Justine, who flits from one boyfriend to the next, are shocked. On top of all this, without Justine knowing, Eli has been making friends with all of her ex boyfriends, creating a bit of a problem when she is courting a new one. When Justine falls in love again and Eli is about to ruin everything, their family is on the verge of falling apart. Will they all be able to make peace before it’s too late?

Behind the Orange Curtain is a locally produced documentary that deals with prescription drug abuse among local teens. Three Laguna Niguel mothers set out to spread the word about the prescription drug epidemic in their films Overtaken and Behind the Orange Curtain.  ”The whole film is based on the fact that parents are sharing their stories about the loss of their children,” said director Brent Huff.  Overtaken already screened and is scheduled to be shown on the Cox Channel.  Behind the Orange Curtain has had three sold out screenings. Check the official Newport Beach Film Festival website to check and see if there are still tickets for movie’s last screening on May 3.

The Tuesday Night European Showcase

Will be held at Fashion Island, Newport Beach, CA 92660  - Hosted by LA Confidential, with entertainment and hors d’oeuvres by Newport’s best restaurants. Hosted Bar by Stell Artois and Absolut with entertainment by Orange County Aerial Arts. Price: $25 Party Only Age: 21 and over for post-party. Cocktail Attire Recommended.  Retail Partners: 7 For All Mankind, Ever, True Religion Brand Jeans.

Commonly, when people are going through economically strapped times, good nutrition and physical activity seem more like luxuries than necessities.

However, if you stop investing in your own, your partner’s or your family’s health by not eating healthy and exercising regularly, the costs that are cut in the short-term may become very expensive down the road if health problems or medical costs arise.

In general, Americans are struggling with their weight and finances, and when money is tight, trying to save and maintain a budget, and maintain health can seem like an impossible feat.

Managing Weight and Finances

It is important to develop regular exercise behaviors and good nutrition at an early age because poor lifestyle choices can have major health and economic consequences. Obesity has increased dramatically since 1991, and recent data show that approximately 35 percent of American adults are overweight and another 26.7 percent are obese.

“Overweight” and “obesity” are labels based on Body Mass Index (BMI). BMI is calculated from a weight to height ratio. A BMI is considered healthy when it is within a range of 18.5 to 24.9 for an adult. “Overweight” is defined as a BMI between 25.0 and 29.9, and “obese” is a BMI greater than 30.0.

Having a BMI in the overweight or obese category can increase the likelihood of certain diseases and other health problems.

Obesity is connected to excess death, which is defined as a premature death, or one that occurs before the average life expectancy. Obesity is associated with over 112,000 excess deaths due to cardiovascular disease, over 15,000 excess deaths due to cancer, and over 35,000 excess deaths due to neither cancer nor heart disease per year in the U.S.

In addition, it is estimated that health care costs of obesity reached $147 billion in 2008. On average, people who are considered obese pay $1,429 (42 percent) more in health care costs than healthy-weight individuals.

This Center for Disease Control State Mandated Program page for Obesity and Overweight State based programs, initiatives and information is a great resource.

Looking at finances, U.S. households’ ability to save is at historic lows, with household debt and bankruptcy filings on the rise and average household net worth less than $100,000.

Approximately 32 percent of working adults have not started saving for retirement, and the large majority of them say they have not done so because they cannot afford to save. In addition, another 43 percent have $10,000 or less in retirement savings.

Both health and wealth problems generally start small. Taking charge of your health and wealth one step at a time will get you back on the right track. The following information is meant to do just that by providing you with facts, ideas and reasons to get physically active and consume nutritious foods on a budget.

It should provide all Southern Californians–as well as everybody else–and if your single, and if you’re not–communicating money difficulties with your family and ideas on how to cope with financially tough times while still investing in your family’s future.

Nutrition and Physical Activity on a Budget

Nutrition: Increasing food prices and smaller incomes are growing concerns for many families. It is a common mistake to think that cutting back on food expenses means sacrificing good nutrition. You can be healthier and wealthier by getting wiser about meal planning and shopping.

Listed below are some ways to stretch your Food Budget and still make Healthy Choices

Nutrition: Increasing food prices and smaller incomes are growing concerns for everybody. It is a common mistake to think that cutting back on food expenses means sacrificing good nutrition. You can be healthier and wealthier by getting wiser about meal planning and shopping.

Listed below are some ways to stretch your food budget and still make healthy choices:

• Budget: Prior to grocery shopping, plan how much to spend and stick to the budget. To accomplish this, take a pen and pad or a small calculator with you and track the cost of what you’re putting into your shopping cart.
• Let MyPyramid.gov Guide You: The average family spends half their food budget on meat products, leaving less money for grains, fruits and vegetables, and low-fat dairy products. According to MyPyramid, your diet should be made up of grains, fruits, and vegetables, with a healthy balance of low-fat meats and dairy foods.
• Grocery List: Before leaving the house remember to check the cupboards, pantry, and refrigerator for items needed. Try to stock up on sale items that are on your list and that fit into your menu plan. Make sure you will use the item before it spoils/expires and that you have room to store it.
• Buy Store Brands: Buying a store brand or generic product could save you up to 75 percent on your grocery bill. Store brands are often the same quality as a name brand. Be sure to check the nutrition facts label for comparisons between name and store-brand products.
• Make it from Scratch: Many prepackaged, boxed, and canned foods are high in fat, calories, sodium, sugar, and cost, compared to foods prepared at home. They also may be lower in vitamins and minerals. You pay for the packaging and convenience but get less for your money.
• Check the Unit Prices: The unit price calculates the cost of a product per unit (by the ounce, pound, or number of items in a package). Looking at the unit price, you can find the brand that is cheapest, especially if you buy the largest one. Only buy the larger size if you think you will use it before it spoils and if you have the room to store it in your cupboards, freezer or refrigerator.
• Read Nutrition Facts Labels: These contain nutrition information and are found on most packaged foods. Use the label to focus on the facts that are most important, such as fat, sugar, and sodium content. These labels make it easier for comparing similar products.
• Eat at Home: Eating out can be expensive, and the food is often high in calories, fat, salt, and sugar. A spaghetti dinner could cost $10 or more at a restaurant but only a few dollars when prepared at home.

Physical Activity: Getting active does not have to break the bank, and people who participate in regular physical activity not only strengthen their bodies and minds but also their relationships. You do not have to join a sports league or fitness club to be physically active. Aim for 30 to 60 minutes (in at least three to six, 10 minute periods) of physical activity on most days of the week.

Consider these low-cost fitness alternatives:

• Step it Up. Take a brisk walk every day, whether it is a path through your neighborhood or laps in a local mall. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, or make a full workout of climbing the stairs.
• Make Household Chores a Workout. Mow the lawn, weed the garden, rake leaves, or shovel snow. Vacuuming and scrubbing count as a workout if you increase your heart rate.
• Join in the Fun. If you have children, don’t just watch them play. Join them for a game of tag or kickball. Walk them to the park, dance with them, or take a family bike ride.
• Dumbbells. Dumbbells are small, hand-held weights that you can use to strengthen your upper body. They are available in many sizes and you can find them in most retail stores.
• Jump Ropes. Jumping rope can be a great cardiovascular workout and an inexpensive purchase.
• Exercise Videos or DVDs. Create a health club aerobics class in your own living room. Pick a program that matches your current fitness level and is endorsed by a certified fitness instructor. You could also trade videos or DVDs with a friend so neither of you gets bored doing the same workout.
• Canned Goods. Many canned goods can serve double duty as hand weights.
• Milk or Water Jugs. Fill empty milk or water jugs with water and secure the tops with duct tape. To adjust the weights as your fitness level changes, simply add more water.
• Step Stools. A low, sturdy step stool can become exercise equipment if you use it for step training — an aerobic exercise resembling stair climbing.
• What to Avoid. Do not buy supplements/products that claim fitness benefits overnight or promise to melt away pounds without diet and exercise. Avoid equipment that focuses on one body part, such as abs or thighs.

Michele Obama’s Let’s Move Program – Click the Official First Lady’s Logo Below

Communicating Economic Changes Within Families

All members of a family are likely to feel the stress of difficult financial times, even small children. Honest communication about economic changes within the family is a good strategy to help all family members deal with changes to the practices and activities of the family. (Or if your single or in a relationship the following advice proffers prudent advice,too.)

• Make a Plan. Decide how you will communicate with all family members about economic changes. Visit with all family members about the changes, encourage everyone to express their concerns and ideas. Listen to the concerns of family members.
• Hold a Family Discussion. Talk about how the income loss affects money available for extra activities and allowances. Talk about family spending priorities. Discuss how each person will help control family spending.
• Give your Children Information. Talk about your family’s situation in a way that is within each child’s understanding. Even young children need to know that some things are going to change and that they are still safe.
• All Children Can Contribute. All children can help out in age-appropriate ways to the family well-being. For example, small children can help with simple chores like clipping coupons. Older children can help with household chores like lawn work, cleaning, or laundry.
• Focus on the Positive. Help your children focus on the positive aspects of their lives. Look at family and personal strengths and draw on talents and contributions of all family members. Recognize these contributions, no matter how small.
• Spend time Together. Make a special effort to spend time together as a family doing low-cost or no-cost activities that family members enjoy. Let every family member help plan the activities.

Resources 

SNAP-Ed: 

http://snap.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=15&tax_level=1&tax_subject=727
The community corner is a place where consumers can find information, tips, and tools for making healthy lifestyle choices. Select a topic to get started.

MyPyramid: 
http://www.mypyramid.gov/
Create a personalized eating plan and use interactive tools to assess food choices.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) 
Nutrition: http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/
CDC nutrition efforts cover a wide range of related topics. Phone: (800) CDC-INFO (800) 232-4636

CDC — Physical Activity:
http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/index.html
Find physical activity guidelines for children, adults, and seniors. Learn how to add exercise to your life.

Administration for Children and Families: 
www.acf.hhs.gov
Programs related to family assistance, child support, child care, Head Start, and child welfare.

Women, Infants, and Children (WIC):
http://www.dhhs.ne.gov/wic/
Provides nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and nonbreastfeeding postpartum women, and to children up to age five at nutritional risk. Toll-free Number: (800) 942-1171

Spend Smart. Eat Smart:
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/foodsavings
Three easy steps to planning meals, plan (reduce your food expenses by planning before shopping), shop (tips to find nutritious items and save at the grocery store), and eat.

However, you can also have fun in San Diego without having to pay for dozens and dozens of  things to do also!

Having fun during the summer in San Diego doesn’t require a lot of money. In fact, many things to see and enjoy in San Diego are absolutely free. With close to 100 miles of gorgeous beaches, some of the best weather in the world and many different summer types of venues, neighborhood and street fairs, concerts, a constantly evolving art scene and cultural events, San Diego offers a fun and inexpensive summer getaway.

Here’s a list of 50 fun and free activities that visitors can no doubt enjoy during San Diego’s summertime months:

1. Put on your bathing suit, grab your towel and head to one of San Diego’s 33 beaches, all open to the public, and perfect for body surfing, boogie boarding, building sandcastles, collecting seashells and basking in the sun.

2. Bring a picnic and listen to Coronado’s Summer Concert Series in Spreckels Park on Sunday evenings throughout the summer. On the first and third Sundays of the month, come early and browse the work of San Diego artists during the Coronado Art Association’s bi-monthlyArt-In-The-Park event.

3. Soak up the international flavor at the House of Pacific Relations in Balboa Park during the free International Cottages’ Lawn Programs. A summer-long event, a different country is celebrated each Sunday through ethnic foods, songs and dance.

4. Head to the historic Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside on June 9 – 10 for the Annual Inter-Tribal Pow Wow. Hosted by the San Luis Rey Luiseno Mission Indians, this event draws tribal members from all over the United States for contest dancing, Native American arts and crafts, games and food.

5. Catch a magnificent Pacific sunset and watch sea lions play along the shoreline at La Jolla Cove, one of the most spectacular natural settings in the world.

6. Visit Seaport Village on weekends for free entertainment and hours of leisurely strolling and window shopping. Guests can also walk along the bay-front or sit in the grass and gaze at passing yachts and ships along picturesque San Diego Bay.

7. Listen to live bands lined along the 26.2-mile route of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon on June 3. The course begins in Balboa Park, runs through various popular locations around the city and ends at SeaWorld San Diego. Visitors can also stop by the marathon’s free Health and Fitness Expo on June 1−2 at the San Diego Convention Center.

8. Stroll through the 16½-block historic Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego. Once the stomping grounds of the legendary Wyatt Earp, the Gaslamp Quarter is now home to unique stores and numerous restaurants, nightclubs and bars, many of which are set in turn-of-the-century Victorian architecture.

9. Check out the La Mesa Car Show along La Mesa Boulevard in the village of La Mesa every Thursday night during June through August. In addition to vintage cars on display, guests can enjoy shopping, dining and live music.

10. Take free fly-fishing lessons from the San Diego Fly Fishers club on Sunday mornings during 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. at Lake Murray, located in La Mesa. If you don’t have your own gear, arrive early for a free equipment loan.

11. Sample some of the more than 200 varieties of fresh produce grown in San Diego at one of the region’s many Farmer’s Markets, held daily at locations throughout the county.

12. Enjoy free organ concerts during the Annual International Summer Organ Festival at Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park. Concerts are held on Monday evenings at 7:30 p.m. during June 25 – August 27.

13. Bike, walk or jog along Mission Bay Park’s many trails. Bikers, walkers and joggers share more than 20 miles of scenic paths winding through sunlight and shade near the shoreline with workout courses at planned stations along the route.

14. Attend the 33rd Annual Ocean Beach Street Fair & Chili Cook-off on June 23, featuring more than 200 vendors, local artists, food, a children’s area and entertainment on five stages.

15. Rollerblade, skateboard, bicycle or people watch along the Mission Beach and Pacific Beach Boardwalk, a scenic three-mile boardwalk running along the coastline of these lively neighborhoods.

16. Stargaze on the first Wednesday of every month from the Reuben H. Fleet Science Centerin Balboa Park during “Gazin’ with the Experts.” Members of the San Diego Astronomy Association set up huge telescopes and offer guests a great view of the moon, planets and brighter stars.

17. Join the festivities at San Diego’s many Fourth of July celebrations, held in numerous communities throughout the county. Coronado’s popular Independence Day Celebration on July 4 features a two-hour parade followed by a family concert in Spreckels Park and spectacular fireworks over Glorietta Bay. The Port of San Diego celebrates with the Big Bay Boom fireworks extravaganza over San Diego Bay, the largest fireworks display in the county.

18. Take a scenic drive to Mt. Laguna to hike, bike or picnic while enjoying the fresh mountain air whispering through the pines.

19. Hike the trails of Torrey Pines State Reserve and see the rare and elegant Torrey pine trees, a number of animal species and miles of unspoiled beaches below.

20. Visit Mission Trails Regional Park featuring a state-of-the-art Visitors Center where guests explore and learn about the wonders of nature and the native people who once lived on the land. The park also offers over 40 miles of natural and developed hiking and biking trails.

21. Go scuba diving or snorkeling off San Diego’s shores to see spectacular creatures of the sea. La Jolla Shores and Cove offer some of the clearest waters on the California coast, as well as miles of protected underwater preserve to explore.

22. Watch the 57th Annual World Championship Over-the-Line Tournament, San Diego’s original boisterous beach softball event, during July 14 – 15 and July 21 – 22 at Fiesta Island on Mission Bay.

23. Walk along the downtown Embarcadero and view impressive public art sculptures, tributes and memorials set along San Diego Bay. The artworks celebrate San Diego’s international ties, cultural diversity, military significance and unique oceanfront environment.

24. Join San Diegans in a local natural phenomenon, the grunion run, on warm summer nights when the tide is high and the moon is full. Guests can witness thousands of small grunion fish swimming ashore to mate and bury their eggs in the sand before riding the waves back out to sea.

25. Watch tail-waggin’, Frisbee-catchin’ and stick-fetchin’ dogs splash in the surf. Man’s best friend is permitted to roam leash-free at all hours of the day on designated beaches in Ocean Beach, Coronado and Del Mar.

26. Join the festivities of the Annual San Diego Pride Celebration, one of the most popular events of its kind in the country. Free festivities include a mile-long parade through Hillcrest on July 21, beginning at 11 a.m.

27. Celebrate the discovery of gold in the East County mountain community of Julian during the Julian Gold Rush Days, June 9-10, beginning at 10 a.m. The weekend includes gold panning, gold mine tours, face painting, historic skits and more.

28. Check out the local craft beer scene during free, daily brewery tours at Stone Brewing Company in Escondido. Beer lovers can go behind the scenes and sample several microbrews from one of the world’s top breweries.

29. Hang 10 at the California Surf Museum, which houses a permanent collection of historic boards, photographs and videos on Highway 101 in Oceanside. During free admission day on Tuesdays, visitors can explore its colorful and educational display on the sport of surfing and the legends who braved the waters over generations.

30. Take a walk through Balboa Park, the largest urban cultural park in the United States, and discover its beautiful Spanish Colonial-Revival architecture and glorious gardens. Also, visitors can take advantage of the Park’s variety of other free offerings, including ranger-led walking tours at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesdays and Sundays.

31. Dance along Fifth Avenue during the annual Hillcrest Cityfest Street Fair on August 12 featuring crafts, food booths, three entertainment stages and beer gardens.

32. Gather friends, family and firewood for a cozy beach bonfire at one of San Diego County’s bonfire-friendly beaches, located in Coronado, Ocean Beach, Oceanside, Mission Beach and Pacific Beach.

33. Go on a self-guided walking tour of The Stuart Collection, a display of contemporary sculptures scattered throughout the University of California, San Diego campus in La Jolla. Tour maps are available at the Gilman Drive campus entrance.

34. Spend the afternoon at Tidelands Park in Coronado. The park’s 22 bayfront acres feature four baseball fields, a playground, skatepark, picnic tables, small beach with an exercise course, boat access, fishing pier and bike and pedestrian paths.

35. Explore the clear shallow tidepools of La Jolla Cove and Point Loma when the tide is low and the pools are teeming with aquatic life.

36. Visit Julian in San Diego’s East County and enjoy this quaint, historic mining town that grew into San Diego County’s second largest urban center during the Southern California gold rush of 1869.

37. Take a drive to the top of Mt. Soledad in La Jolla, home of the Mt. Soledad Veterans War Memorial, for breathtaking, 360-degree views of San Diego. Spectacular views also await at the top of Mt. Helix in La Mesa, offering visitors a birds-eye glimpse of San Diego’s East County communities.

38. Experience the history of the local Hispanic community’s struggles and triumphs with a visit to the Chicano Park Murals, established by activists in 1970. This cultural park has received international recognition as a major public art site for its commanding mural paintings set underneath the San Diego-Coronado Bridge. Some of the murals narrate the history of Barrio Logan where the park is located.

39. Take in the action as fun-loving canines brave the waves during the 7th Annual Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Competition on June 16 in Imperial Beach.

40. Witness the living legacy of California’s birthplace in Old Town State Historic Park, San Diego’s first “downtown.” The six-block park features 12 acres of Mexican lore and historical sites presented in shops, restaurants, museums and several carefully preserved or restored adobe and wooden buildings.

41. Visit the U.S. Olympic Training Center, the nation’s first warm-weather, year-round Olympic training facility, located in Chula Vista. Free guided tours of the 150-acre lakefront facility are offered at 11 a.m. on Saturday; tours begin at the Copley Visitor Center. Self-guided tours are also available 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., Mondays – Saturdays.

42. Take advantage of San Diego’s warm summer nights and enjoy a number of free summer concerts held throughout the county.

43. Explore the mediation gardens of the Self-Realization Fellowship Ashram Center in Encinitas. It is here that Paramahansa Yogananda, one of the preeminent spiritual figures of our time, wrote his Autobiography of a Yogi. The meditation gardens are open to the public 12 p.m.- 4 p.m., Tuesdays – Sundays.

44. Walk 1,942 feet along the Oceanside Municipal Pier, the longest wooden pier on the U.S. West Coast; the pier is a perfect setting for fishing, walking and wave watching.

45. Browse through the Ocean Beach Antique District, located along Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach, offering the largest concentration of antique and collectible dealers in San Diego County. Here, guests can find one-of-a-kind antiques, mid-century modern furniture, fine estate sale items, vintage jewelry and specialty memorabilia.

46. Listen to the rhythmic sounds of jazz during the TGIF Jazz in the Parks concert series in Carlsbad. Concerts take place at Stagecoach Community Park, Poinsettia Community Park and Calavera Hills Community Park during June through August.

47. Celebrate summer with art, food and music during the Fiesta Del Sol summer music festival, June 2-3, at Fletcher Cove Park in Solana Beach. Guests can enjoy live performances, an international food court, beer garden and activities for the kids. www.solanabeachchamber.com/chamber/fiestadelsol

48. Walk along the Batiquitos Lagoon in Carlsbad and look for birds, insects, plants, fish and animals in one of the few remaining tidal wetlands on the Southern California coast. The nature reserve is open 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Mondays – Fridays, and 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays.

49. Have fun during the Festival of Bells, July 13 – 15, the anniversary celebration of Mission San Diego de Alcalá, the first of California’s 21 missions. Guests can celebrate the beginning of Christianity in the western United States with food, entertainment, dance and traditional activities like the blessing of the bells.

50. Experience the monthly Ray at Night art walk in San Diego’s North Park neighborhood, featuring art, live music and fresh food. Guests can stroll through 15 galleries and business venues displaying new and current works by local and nationally known artists. The event is held from 6-10 p.m. on the second Saturday of every month.

Like a lot of Long Beachians, I enjoy jogging on the beach. Taking in the sights of the majestic Queen Mary, oil islands, mammoth cargo ships and historic skyscrapers sure beats the silent TV screen on the hamster wheel at the gym. But there always seems to be one, unequivocal drawback: trash.

A good obstacle course has its pluses, but leaping over heaps of garbage – from fast-food containers to plastic bottle caps to syringes – washed ashore on the sand, doesn’t exactly perk my interest. For years, you can be hard pressed to find anyone actually swimming in the waters of Long Beach on any given day, even when it’s 100 degrees out.

The reasons are plentiful, but mainly, the water quality has been plagued for years by sewage spills and trash swept down the Los Angeles River and emptying into the harbor and on to the beach, especially after a heavy rainstorm.

Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and author Edward Humes digs deep into the source of our country’s obsession with trash that continues to accumulate. In his recently published book Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair With Trash, released in step with this year’s Earth Day, Humes exposes the wastefulness of American society.

He uncovers unnerving statistics, such as the fact that the average person shuffles 7.1 pounds of trash per day, and 102 tons in a lifetime. Humes traces the origins of this mounting trash heap to the advent of plasticization in 1960s and the reliance of cheap products from China. But, Humes also offers solutions, with ways to cut down or even eliminate a person’s trash production.

Humes and Seal Beach resident Kim Masoner, founder of Save Our Beach, which organizes monthly beach clean ups, will be at Barnes & Noble in Long Beach, signing copies of the new book tomorrow, April 28, at 1 p.m.

In Long Beach, the water is mucked up primarily by the Los Angeles River, which brings a deluge of bacteria from the dozens of cities downstream. Bacteria is the main cause for concern, says Heal the Bay, which according to an extensive source tracking study, showed “the vast majority of bacterial contamination at Long Beach beaches was a result of “pollution from the Los Angeles River.”

The bacteria is in addition to the surface trash: candy wrappers, bottles, – and just about anything imaginable, including the kitchen sink – that gets washed down the river, leaving Long Beach harbor as Los Angeles County’s dumping ground.

About 85 cities upstream dump streams of pollution, ending up at the shores of Long Beach. Other factors affecting recreational water quality include the amount of rainfall and the frequency and severity of sewage spills from upstream communities.

Of course, there’s the story of the federal breakwater that traps all of the bacteria and contamination to sit and stew in the harbor, which contributes to the high levels reported in the past from Heal the Bay. The negative perception of Long Beach’s water mostly comes from the fact that – upon exiting the murky soup – you better be willing to fight off a sickness, which has happened to me on most occasions.

‘Synthetic Sea’

The high levels of trash aren’t just limited to the shores of Long Beach. Since the late 1990s, the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, led by Long Beach native Captain Charles Moore, has documented and researched marine debris that exists in the Pacific Ocean, including the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” located in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre.

The island of about 7 tons of plastic spans an area twice the size of Texas, according to Moore, with widespread impacts on sea life, including fish, whales, dolphins and sea turtles that often eat or get entangles in the plastic. Here is a video on the garbage patch.

Great L.A. River Cleanup

Concurrently, trash-picker-upers are needed for this year’s Great L.A. River Cleanup, which is happening at the Golden Shore Wetlands, near the Port of Long Beach, from 9 a.m. to noon, also on April 28.

Friends of the Los Angeles River are providing each volunteer with cloth gloves, whole fruit, snacks and water. Volunteers also receive a free reusable grocery bag, T-shirt and raffle ticket on the day of the event. Last year, 4,000 volunteers pulled in 25 tons of trash from 14 Los Angeles River sites in three hours. To learn more about the 2012 cleanup event, visit www.folar.org.

Despite the hyperbole–the end-game is not yet in sight as the project is still slated for completion  a few years from now,  reaching Santa Monica (around 2015-2016) nonetheless it’s already being officially billed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other members of Los Angeles’ Transportation scene as a fait accompli.

The actual stop now is in Culver City, (technically the West side, of course), at the La Cienega – Jefferson Blvd. Station (its final completion date is late this summer), but Phase II of the Metro’s Expo Line, is slated for completion in 2016, and will take passengers all the way to Santa Monica—specifically to Colorado Avenue and 4th Street.

The first phase of the Expo Line will connect the Westside by rail to Downtown LA, Pasadena, San Fernando Valley, South Bay, Long Beach and dozens of points in between.

The Farmdale and Culver City stations will not be open at this time and will be bypassed by all trains. These stations will open at a later date.

With 10 new stations serving USC, Expo Park, and diverse LA neighborhoods such as Culver City, the Crenshaw District and Downtown LA, the Metro Rail system will expand to 80 stations and over 87 miles of rail to destinations across LA County.

Metro Expo Line Opening Cerremony

A ceremony was held Friday afternoon in Exposition Park to welcome the Expo Line as the latest Metro Rail project to grace the transit scene in Los Angeles County.

The Expo Line opens to the public on Saturday morning at 5 a.m. There will be free rides to the public on both Saturday and Sunday from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. with regular fare service beginning Monday. Details here.

The new Metro Line Features 

• 8.6 miles long
• Directly connects to the existing 70 station Metro Rail system
• Estimated ride time between Downtown LA and Culver City: less than 30 minutes
• Ten new stations, three of which are aerial *
• New public artworks at stations
• 5.9 miles of new bike lanes
• Start of construction: 2006
• Grand opening: April 28, 2012
• Powered electrically with overhead catenary wires

Bikes on Expo

So let’s join Metro in celebrating the opening of the Metro Expo Line. There’ll be music, entertainment and family fun at four stations, plus free rides on the entire line between Downtown LA and the Westside!

7th St/Metro Center Station - 7th Street between Figueroa and Hope

Entertainment at this station will include Double Gee NineNet, a Latino jazz band presented by Make Music L.A., as well as other bands and performers. Booths will include those by IRIS from Cirque du Soleil, the Music Center, AQMD, L.A. Kings, L.A. Downtown News, Coca-Cola, Downtown Center Business Improvement District, Snap Yourself! photobooth,Colburn School of Music and many more!

This is the new Metro Expo Line’s Route Map

Metro Expo Line Grand Opening Information

When:
4/28/2012 – 4/28/2012
10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Where:

Metro – 7th Street/Metro Center
660 S. Figueroa St.
Los Angeles, CA 90017

Event Website
MAP

Newport Film Festival – Now through May 3 - Set in the glamorous and beautiful Orange County city of Newport Beach, less than an hour from Hollywood, the Newport Film Festival openes Friday night  with the screening of “Jewtopia,” and a gala party. The Festival will run through next week offering some 400 films from 50 countries. Fifty thousand people are expected to attend the Newport Film Festival and  films will be shown throughout the city. The Newport Beach Film Festival offers film goers and film lovers a rare opportunity to meet Festival exhibitors directors, screenwriters and cinematographers. Check the site for your choices. Newport Beach, CA

Historic Movie Theater, The Port, in Corona Del Mar Reopens Saturday, April 28.  Dark for 14 years, The Port has been reskinned and will reopen with  the seminar, “Vision and Craft: The art of filmmaking,”  1 to 5 p.m., April 28 and 29.  The seminar is free with key filmmakers speaking on their craft.  The screening of “Kingdom Come,” on April 28, and the “Right to Play,” on April 29. will  also be screened  at the Port , as part of the Festival.  Port Theater, East Coast  Highway, Corona Del Mar.

The Iris at the Kodak Theater Playing now. Cirque du Soleil invites you to a journey through the world of cinema. This large scale production created exclusively for its permanent home at the Kodak in Los Angeles offers a new take on the art of cinema as an inventive spectacle that combines acrobatics, dance productions and live music.  It moves the audience through a mesmerizing journey blurring the lines between live performances and moving images.  The Kodak Theater, Los Angeles, CA.

Million Dollar Quartet Now thru May 6, Southern California Premiere at Segerstrom Center for the Arts and June 19 – Coming July 1 to the Pantages: Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash –the Broadway musical inspired by the electrifying true story, of the famed recording session that brought together rockk’n’roll icons Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins for the first and only  time. Partial Song List:  Blue Suede Shoes – Company Real Wild Child - Carl Perkins Who Do You Love? - Carl Perkins Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash Fever – Dyann  Memories Are Made Of This - Elvis Presle That’s All Right - Elvis Presley Peace In The Valley - Elvis Presley I Walk the Line - Johnny Cash I Hear You Knockin’ – Dyanne Party - Carl Perkins & Company Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis Hound Dog - Elvis Presley Riders in the Sky - Johnny Cash See You Later, Alligator - Carl Perkins Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On - Jerry Lee Lewis.  Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 

International Children’s Day Festival Long Beach, April 28-29. Traditional music and dance performances will represent many cultures for this special international child’s event.  Plus arts and crafts, martial arts demos and educational programs.  At the Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, CA.

Bungalow Heaven Home Tour Pasadena April 29, 19 a.m. to 4 p.m. Self guided tour of historic arts and crafts era  homes, live entertainment, mercantile and prize raffle. Check its site for the various locations on display. Bungalow Heaven is located north of the 210 Freeway between Lake and Hill Avenues, bordered on the north and south by Washington and Orange Grove Boulevards, Pasadena, CA.

Billy Elliot at the Pantages Now through May 13 -  Thrilling audiences worldwide, this is a joyous celebration of one young boy’s journey to make his dreams come true. The story follows Billy from the boxing ring to a ballet class forever changing his life. Directory Stephen Daldry, Peter Darling and Sir Elton John. The Pantages, 6233 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028. 

Laguna Beach ArtWalk The first Thursday of the Month, May 3. Running down PCH and encompassing a myriad of galleries, the Thursday evening artwalk is a favorite as gallery owners open their doors and entertain guests with snacks, wine and special exhibits.  Laguna Beach, CA

Miss Saigon at the La Mirada Theatre starting this weekend, running through May 6 – The classic love story of our time. La Mirada Theatre in La Mirada, CA

LA Dodgers Baseball Schedule –  Dodgers Stadium, Los Angeles, CA

LA Lakers, Upcoming Game Schedule – Follow the Lakers at home at the Staples Center and away.  The Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA

Bowers Museum  Gold Exhibit Pre-Hispanic Columbian Art, now thru July 1.  This Sacred Gold exhibit of over 200 pieces is on loan from the renowned Museo del Oro and the Banco de Republica, Bogotá, Colombia. It represents the work of a people who enjoyed  gold solely for its joy, creating nose rings, earrings, breastplates, and pendants,  as well as complex showy  body adornments and votive figures, all symbols of rank and power. The Bowers Museum,2002 North Main Street, Santa Ana CA 92706.

Scooters: Size Does Not Always Matter at the Petersen Automotive Museum, now through May 28. – More than 90 scooters from the AutoPed of 1910 to the alternative power machines of today. Petersen Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd  Los Angeles, CA 90036

Tanaka Farms Strawberry Tours, Now through June 24.  Kids and adults ride in tractor pulled wagons, learn how things are grown and pick their own strawberries.   Take a tour and get a glimpse of a real working farm. Weekends at the Tanaka Farms 5380 3/4 University Dr.,Irvine, CA 92612

The screenings of “Kingdom Come,” on April 28, and the “Right to Play,” on April 29, will  also be shown at The Port Theater as part of the Newport Beach  Film Festival.

The Newport Beach Film Festival runs from April 25 through  May 3, and  initial projections expect an attendance of over 50,000 people, making this cozy and intimate venue most welcome. The Newport Beach Film Festival will host and show approximately 400 films from 50 countries.

Even though the Port Theater has been closed since 1998, festival officials are happy that the venue – which has been revamped as a “luxury” theater, with food and alcohol service and 3-D capabilities – is open in time for the festival.

Also, the festival will use the newly renovated Island Cinema at Fashion Island, which served as its home base from 2000-2010, but was closed for most of 2011.

Also, due to the fact that the Island Cinema has cut its seating capacity from 1,700 to 670, the Newport Beach Film Festival will also screen movies at Starlight Cinemas at Costa Mesa’s Triangle Square, Edwards Big Newport, the Regency Lido Theatre, the Orange County Museum of Art, Sage Hill School

The Port, on East Coast Highway in Corona Del Mar, is a historic movie theater, dating back to 1950, that went dark in 1998.  Now it’s resurfacing with perfect timing, riding the crest of this weekend’s  Newport Film Festival, and raising all kinds of questions as it emerges.  Locals are speculating on what’s inside and what will happen next!

Not much has been officially disclosed,  on top of the fact that those who do know aren’t revealing much.  But the Film Festival people who have been there, say there are stainless steel portholes, reflecting its original nautical heritage,  lots of granite, stainless steel gates everywhere, a brand new State of the Art sound systems, digital  art projection  and a massive new screen.

In seating there is a permanent  set of seats in the rear with two more levels of changeable seating, probably reflecting potential plans for other special events to be held at the theater.  City officials have indicated there could be as many as 12 special events or more a year happening at the Port. The balcony also has a separate seating area.

And, of course , on the outside the original Port sign is there. But now a brilliant purple retro look traces an its all glass entryway.  A neon sign has been added announcing it as “New.” And now there’s an elevator in the lobby.

Through the years the Port has shown first run features along with independent and foreign films.  Some have said it may focus on one-off screenings, and special events, providing a lounge spot for private events.

The Port was about to be demolished in 1998, when it was bought by owner Fariborz Maseeh, a Newport Beach resident and philanthropist, who began a slow restoration, working his way through parking codes and city rules. Locals are watching for details and the issue of parking nearPacific Coast Highwaywill be one of the issues to be smoothed out.

As a historic movie theater,  with nearby cousins, the vibrant Lido and the legendary Balboa Theater, the Port looks like it will do its part  and then some to preserve  the presence of historic movie theaters in Orange County.

Recently we traced the paths  of many of these historic movie theaters in our Orange County Historic Movie Theaters.  Some, like the Lido, are thriving, some like the Balboa are in the process as fundraising works to revive them,  and others like the Port, are showing up right now, and welcome  much deserved support.

(Photos credits: The Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, Daily Pilot, Travelin’ Local)

“Responding to a growing list of negative assessments made by non-partisan sources on California’s high-speed rail project,” Assemblyman Martin Garrick, R. Carlsbad, 74th District, is co-sponsoring legislation that would halt the project and “spare generations of taxpayers billions in unneeded debt.”

$100 Billion Dollar Boondoggle

“At a time when the Governor is jeopardizing funding for education and public safety, spending $98.5 billion on a questionable project with a questionable business plan is bad policy,” Garrick is quoted.

Given the serious questions raised by independent sources and the fact that further investment from Congress and the private sector is not forthcoming, the wisest course of action the Legislature can take is to withhold funding for a project that is more of a fantasy than a necessity.

Even further, Sen. Doug La Malfa (R-Richvale) wants to give Californians an opportunity to back out of the train deal, to vote again in November on the project that has substantially changed since they narrowly approved the original version.

Being a Republican, La Malfa has no chance of getting his bill out of the parking garage in a Capitol controlled by Democrats, whose election campaigns are generously backed by labor unions seeking rail line construction jobs.

“I’m really tired of the jobs argument,” La Malfa says. “We shouldn’t be doing things just to create jobs. There has to be a public benefit. We could spend the money fixing highways and bridges. But it’s not as sexy to do maintenance.”

Then there’s Assemblywoman Diane Harkey (R-Dana Point), who is sponsoring what she calls a “lemon law.”  It would scrap the train project flat-out. That bill also is going nowhere.

Harkey has a backup idea: Ask the voters whether they’d like to convert the nearly $10 billion they approved for high-speed rail into money to upgrade regional train systems.

“I guarantee you they would say yes,” she told a Senate committee hearing where La Malfa’s bill stalled last week. “Tell voters this is for regional rail, and Jerry Brown might have a win. And he needs a win, because we’re going to have him [as governor] for six years.”

According to Section 1, Article 16 of the State Constitution, the Legislature may reduce the amount of indebtedness authorized by the voters. Assembly Bill 1455 relies on this provision in state law to reduce the amount of the high speed rail bond to the amount that has been spent thus far.

AB 1455 is needed to protect taxpayer dollars from being wasted on a project which was estimated in 2008 to cost $33 billion and has now tripled to $98.5 billion. According to a recent report issued by the California High-Speed Rail Peer Review Group, a committee created to advise lawmakers on the feasibility of building high-speed rail, the Legislature should not approve funding for the project until its concerns were addressed.  It is the latest in a string of reports from sources such as the State Auditor, Legislative Analyst’s Office and the UC Berkeley Institute of Transportation Studies that raised significant concerns about the project’s feasibility.

Howle’s report is the latest in a series of critical reports about the project, including by the Legislative Analyst’s Office and the rail authority’s own peer review group.

Gov. Jerry Brown is trying to push the nearly $100 billion project through the Legislature this year, hoping to start construction in the Central Valley by fall.

Howle’s report, a follow-up to her agency’s 2010 review of the project, questions the authority’s most recent ridership projections, saying the group that reviewed those numbers was “handpicked” by the authority’s chief executive officer.

She also accused the authority of failing to adequately manage its many contractors.

“Without sufficient staffing,” the report said, “the authority has struggled to oversee its contractors and subcontractors, who outnumber its employees by about 25 to one.”

Howle also said the rail authority violated a state rule prohibiting agencies from splitting contracts to avoid competitive bidding requirements, dividing $3.1 million in information technology services into 13 different contracts with one vendor over 15 months.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority’s most recent business plan, state Auditor Elaine Howle said in a report, relies on funding sources that are so uncertain “the program’s overall financial situation has become increasingly risky.”

Howle’s report is the latest in a series of critical reports about the project, including by the Legislative Analyst’s Office and the rail authority’s own peer review group.

Gov. Jerry Brown is trying to push the nearly $100 billion project through the Legislature this year, hoping to start construction in the Central Valley by fall.

Howle also said the rail authority violated a state rule prohibiting agencies from splitting contracts to avoid competitive bidding requirements, dividing $3.1 million in information technology services into 13 different contracts with one vendor over 15 months.

“In the year ahead, the last thing the Legislature should be doing is spending billions we can ill afford on an unnecessary project. AB 1455 offers my colleagues an opportunity to spare Californians from a financial disaster, and I hope they will join me in passing it into law,”  she said.

The weather was sunny perfect, the skies blue, and the USC Campus as usual cordial, inviting and the perfect place to now host the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books to Hold Court in the Inner City of Los Angeles.

If you can’t attend in person, it will be shown live on C-Span’s Book TV from the Festival also. C-Span2, Book TV’s Sunday coverage starts at 11:00 a.m. P.S.T. and 2:00 p.m. E.S. T.

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books began in 1996 with a simple goal: to bring together the people who create books with the people who love to read them. The festival was an immediate success and has become the largest and most prestigious book festival in the country, attracting more than 140,000 book lovers each year

Today I especially enjoyed one panel in particular–The American Century with authors: John Farrell, Clarence Darrow; Jim Newton, Eisenhower; and Richard Reeves, Portrait of Camelot:

Moderated by A. Scott Berg, the author of considerable biographies of Max Perkins and Charles A. Lindbergh, panelists included Richard Reeves; Jim Newton, the L.A. Times editor-at-large; and John A. Farrell, author of “Clarence Darrow, Attorney for the Damned,” which was awarded the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography on Friday night

And another with particular distaste with its emphasis on pure personal political ideology and opinions rather than about their books–Nonfiction: Narrating Disaster.

Frankly, at times, I was left a bit stunned by the largess of the panel offering barrels of political opinions and inversion of a panel discussion into group-think, but I digress.

Rodney King talked about the book that he coauthored “The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption,” when he expressed forgiveness toward the police officers who beat him over 20 years ago–and subsequently sparking what is now the 2nd decade marking the LA Riots that ensued soon after the Los Angeles Police Department officers were acquitted after being accused ofbeating Rodney King during his March 3, 1991 arrest.

His talk with Pat Morrisson will be shown on BookTV on April 24, for everyone who was not able to attend this astonishing event.

Anyway, tomorrow is Day 2 and the closing day for the 17 annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

Sunday WRAP: Everybody had their favorite panels, food displays, author presentations, interviews and the thrill of being at, and interactive with the entire event located at the lovely USC storied campus.

I particularly enjoyed the Panel discussion:  “Disposable Nation: Trash & Consequences” with panelists, Edward Humes, “Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash” Kendra Pierre-Louis, “Green Washed: Why We Can’t Buy Our Way to a Green Planet” Anna Sklar, “Brown Acres: An Intimate History of Los Angeles Sewers.”

The distinguished authors all wrote about and participated in the conversation from different points of views–ultimately what drew my emotions, thought and process from the panel discussion–is that we in the western world depend on consumerism, production, output and consumption as part of our perennial western way of life while our output measured in garbage, greenhouse emissions, quality of life,  pollutants, and sustainability are not equally oft balancing.

I’ve known about Edward Homes’ book, Garbology,  previously; and I thought Ms. Kendra Pierce-Louis’  pointed questions about the impossibility of balancing our consumption of goods and its concomitant affect upon our ecological eco-systems do not balance and cannot be met under our current methodologies of handling this societal issue.

I only wished for more answers than open rhetorical type questions of the panelists. In other words, solutions to this conundrum.

Star Chefs and Food Authors

Foodists could have done worse than to spend two sun-dappled days at USC last weekend for the L.A. Times Festival of Books. TV personalities and chefs including Michael Voltaggio and Chris Cosentino flaunted their skills at the Cooking Stage, Nancy Silverton dropped by for a chat, food journalists discussed their newest books and the smell of kettle corn wafted over it all.

Saturday, L.A.’s old guard met the new when Times deputy food editor Betty Hallock interviewed Silverton and Voltaggio. Our favorite discovery? That Voltaggio’s new system for meeting fan-diners at Ink. is to rendezvous at the valet stand following their meal. Then he sprints back inside. Otherwise, it’s hard to explain that he can’t chat, even at the open kitchen; he has dinner to make.

Ink., as well as Silverton’s  Osteria Mozza, indicate that fine dining doesn’t need china, white tablecloths or suited waiters, the chefs concurred. “It’s the same passion, just a different package,” said Voltaggio.

The chefs also discussed cookbook writing. It’s always “painful, awful … not a process I enjoy,” said Silverton. She’s published eight, most recently The Mozza Cookbook.

Voltaggio seem to agree, adding, “I hope I have the resume of Nancy one day, but the process is so challenging.” He and his brother Bryan wrote VOLT Ink. in just three months.

Chris Cosentino, chef at San Francisco’s Incanto who recently opened Pigg at Umamicatessen downtown, took to the Cooking Stage on Sunday. Instead of demonstrating the kind of offal dish that has bolstered his reputation as “the gut guy,” he prepared vegetables.

The recipe, from his new book Beginnings, was inspired by complaints that the organic produce at a local farmer’s market was covered in earth. Cosentino responded, “Catch up with reality!” and created “Dirty Vegetables” — beets and carrots topped with grated black truffle, the “dirt.” Cosentino’s son Easton helped out by peeling fava beans for a salad with strawberries.

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books 2012 Book Winners

Shakar’s “Luminarium” prevailed over four competitors that included two National Book Critics Circle Award winners: Julie Otsuka’s “The Buddha in the Attic” and Edith Pearlman’s “Binocular Vision: New & Selected Stories.”

King’s competition included A.D. Miller’s “Snowdrops,” a contemporary thriller set in Russia that was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize. The winning book was a departure for King, the author of scores of volumes of contemporary horror, suspense and science fiction whose early titles included “Carrie” and “The Shining.”

Winner of the Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction was Ismet Prcic for “Shards,” a provocative debut novel about a young Bosnian who has fled his war-torn homeland and is struggling to reconcile his past with his present life in California.

At Bovard, hundreds of book lovers filled the seats and listened with rapt attention as the contenders were introduced.

The pony-tailed Prcic bounded to the stage in black shirt and pants, with a patterned tie draped over his shoulders. “I dress myself,” he quipped, adding: “I didn’t think this was going to happen.” He went on to thank fans who read books “all the way through.”

Pete Hautman won the Young Adult Literature prize for “The Big Crunch,” an adolescent love story. “I think I used up all my adrenaline,” he said in accepting the honor. “Speaking for all the authors desperate for affirmation, this is really cool.”

The prizes honor extraordinary literary accomplishment in 12 categories.

Contenders included poet Linda Norton, first-time novelist Chad Harbach (“The Art of Fielding”) and young-adult literature authors Maggie Stiefvater and Libba Bray.

Although most winners were announced Friday night, two recipients had already been identified. Receiving the Robert Kirsch Award, for the body of work of a Western writer, was Rudolfo Anaya, praised as the “godfather and guru of Chicano literature.”

The online writers community Figment was recognized with the Innovator’s Award. Previous winners of the Innovator’s Award, which focuses on cutting-edge business models, technology or applications of narrative art, were Dave Eggers and Powell’s Books of Portland, the first bookstore ever honored.

Other 2011 Book Prize winners:

Biography: John A. Farrell, “Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned” (Doubleday)

Current Interest: Daniel Kahneman, “Thinking, Fast and Slow” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

Graphic Novel: Carla Speed McNeil, “Finder: Voice” (Dark Horse)

History: Richard White, “Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America” (W.W. Norton & Co.)

Poetry: Carl Phillips, “Double Shadow: Poems” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

Science & Technology: Sylvia Nasar, “Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius” (Simon & Schuster)

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What do Sugar Ray Leonard, Judy Blume, Betty White, T.C. Boyle, Rodney King, Joseph Wambaugh and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have in common? They’re just a few of the high-profile personalities appearing this weekend at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

Now in its second year at USC, the 17th annual festival offers another robust two-day program of writers and celebrity authors unmatched by any other literary event across the country.

More than 400 authors are scheduled to appear in panel sessions and on eight stages set up across USC’s University Park Campus.

This year’s festival blends familiar features with newer events reflecting what’s hot today in the literary marketplace. While festival goers can stroll once again with their families in the Target children’s area or listen to novelist Anne Rice discuss her latest supernatural fiction (Sunday) and Ben Fong-Torres’ memories of his Rolling Stone days (Saturday), actor John Cusack will discuss not a book but his latest book-related project, the film “The Raven,” in which he portrays Edgar Allan Poe, on Saturday.

The U.S. Postal Service will conduct its opening ceremony for the stamp series “Twentieth-Century poets” Saturday at the Poetry stage; though graphic novels receive their fair share of panel attention, thanks to USC’s School for Cinematic Arts there will also be screenings of a director’s cut of the movie “Watchmen”and the documentary “With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story.”

The year has already been a busy one for the nation and the world, and the festival again demonstrates why it offers an ideal public forum for political and intellectual discussion.

Saturday panels devoted to current interest include two on the race for the U.S. presidency, the legacy of 9/11 and another on the drug trade and turmoil along the U.S.-Mexico border).

Twenty years have passed since the Rodney King beating and the L.A. riots, but the memories are still vivid for King, who also takes the stage Saturday to discuss his memoir “The Riot Within: My Journey From Rebellion to Redemption” with Times columnist Patt Morrison.

On Sunday KCRW’s Warren Olney interviews Gil Garcetti, Jim Newton and Connie Rice for “Los Angeles 20 Years After the Rodney King Verdict”; another panel celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Port Huron Statement (Tom Hayden will be there).

The craft of writing — fiction and nonfiction — is the subject of numerous events on both days. On Saturday KCRW’s Michael Silverblatt hones in on how Susan Orlean brought Rin Tin Tin and others to life in her bestselling books while, on Sunday, Times Book Critic David Ulin interviews novelists Steve Erickson, Hari Kunzru and Dana Spiotta about their Golden State visions in “Fiction: California Dreamin.’”

Events taking place in theaters and lecture halls require a free ticket for admission (a $1 service is charged for acquiring them online; some tickets should also be available during the festival).

The stages, however, offer plenty of non-ticketed, easily accessible events. The cooking stage sizzles with the gastronomic art of Michael Voltaggio, Nancy Silverton, Josiah Citrin, Debbie Lee and others; the USC Stage presents musical performances throughout the weekend while music of another kind can be found at the Poetry stage.

Visit the Target Children’s Stage and you’ll find “Wimpy Kid’s” Jeff Kinney along with “Saturday Night Live” veteran-turned-children’s author Molly Shannon on Saturday; Sunday’s highlights include appearances by Laura Numeroff and Julie Andrews.

For those eager for the weekend to begin, Friday night’s Los Angeles Book Prizes ceremony at Bovard Auditorium is still open to the public (tickets can be purchased online until midnight Thursday at the festival website). Contenders for the prizes, which cover 10 categories and look at the best books of 2011, include novelists Michael Ondaatje and Stephen King, poet Linda Norton, scientist Daniel Kahneman, first-time novelist Chad Harbach and young adult authors Maggie Stiefvater and Libba Bray.

Most winners will be announced Friday night, except for two award recipients who have already been identified. Praised as the “godfather and guru of Chicano literature,” Rudolfo Anaya is the Robert Kirsch Award-winner, which honors the body of work of a Western writer; and the online writers’ community Figment will be recognized with the Innovator’s award.

As the festival continues to grow and evolve, some things never change. Consider just two: parking and the weather. With such a large crowd of attendees expected, organizers advise festival goers to arrive early (the festival starts at 10 a.m. on both days) to take advantage of parking locations provided by USC (cost is $10 per day) as well as the Bullseye shuttle service running between USC and Union Station in downtown L.A.

Check your driving plans and where to eat (the food court, trucks and other dining options), or download an app for your iPhone or Android (for updates throughout the weekend), by visiting the festival website http://www.latimes.com/festivalofbooks.

Though lecture halls are shady and cool, attendees would be wise to bring plenty of sunscreen and hats for events at the outdoor venues and stages — hot, sunny weather is expected.

Dates & Location

April 21-22, 2012

Sat 10 AM – 6 PM
Sun 10 AM – 5 PM

The annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will be held at:

University of Southern California

Click here for map.

To locate USC on Yahooo! Maps or similar mapping software, you may use the intersection of Exposition Blvd and S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90089.

Tickets & Admission

General attendance is free!

For information on attending, see the Attendee FAQ.

Parking at the USC campus will be $10. Please go to the Getting There page for a detailed map.

Make sure to follow the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Twitter and Facebook for live traffic and parking updates!

(All text, info and pictures courtesy of LA Times and Travelin’ Local.)

Complete Earth Day Guide for this Sunday’s Celebration in Los Angeles and Orange County – “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”–John Muir, naturalist . Check this guide for events from Santa Monica to San Clemente,  Torrance to Anaheim, etc.

Million Dollar Quartet , April 24 -  May 6, Southern California Premiere at Segerstrom Center for the Arts and June 19 – Coming July 1 to the Pantages: Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash –the Broadway musical inspired by the electrifying true story of the famed recording session that brought together rockk’n’roll icons Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins for the first and only  time. Partial Song List:  Blue Suede Shoes – Company Real Wild Child - Carl Perkins Who Do You Love? - Carl Perkins Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash Fever – Dyann  Memories Are Made Of This - Elvis Presle That’s All Right - Elvis Presley Peace In The Valley - Elvis Presley I Walk the Line - Johnny Cash I Hear You Knockin’ – Dyanne Party - Carl Perkins & Company Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis Hound Dog - Elvis Presley Riders in the Sky - Johnny Cash See You Later, Alligator - Carl Perkins Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On - Jerry Lee Lewis.  Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 

Waiting for Godot, Mark Taper Forum, ends this Sunday, April 22 -  Together for the first time, Alan Mandell and Barry McGovern— two of the most distinguished interpreters of Samuel Beckett’s work — delightfully debate the meaning of life and the absurdities of human behavior in this elegantly engaging, fiercely funny, relevant and illuminating new production of this seminal piece of classic literature and play writing,  exclusively at the Taper.  Beckett’s  seminal work is widely recognized as the most significant play of the 20th Century.  Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA

Billy Elliot at the Pantages, Now through May 13 -  Thrilling audiences worldwide, this is a joyous celebration of one young boy’s journey to make his dreams come true. The story follows Billy from the boxing ring to a ballet class forever changing his life. Directory Stephen Daldry, Peter Darling and Sir Elton John. The Pantages, 6233 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

Run Seal Beach -  The 10K Course – 6.2 Miles Run will be on this weekend on Saturday, 4-21. This looped course starts at First and Marina Drive and heads down First Street. It then turns left on Ocean, continuing onto Ocean to Seal Beach Blvd, crossing Pacific Coast Hwy. Follow Seal Beach Blvd. to Westminster Blvd. Left to the San Gabriel River Bed. Turn left onto the River Bed Path and exit at the Marina Bridge. Left to First Street, right onto First Street, left on Ocean to the finish line at the pier and you’re there. Seal Beach, CA

American Idiot, Ahmanson Theater, Ends this Sunday Apr 22 - The New York Times calls the play thrilling and emotionally charged, as moving as anything on Broadway!” Based on Green Day’s groundbreaking rock opera of the same name, this daring new musical tells the story of three lifelong friends, forced to choose between their dreams and the safety of suburbia, and features the smash hits “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “Holiday” and “21 Guns.”  Ahmanson Theater, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012

Miss Saigon at the La Mirada Theatre starting this weekend, running through May 6 – The classic love story of our time. La Mirada Theatre in La Mirada, CA

LA Dodgers Baseball Schedule –  Dodgers Stadium, Los Angeles, CA

LA Lakers, Upcoming Game Schedule – Follow the Lakers at home at the Staples Center and away.  The Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA

California Wine Festival, April 20 Dana Point  Yacht Club,  and on April 21, at Doheny State Beach – Friday April 20, 6:30-9 pm – “Sunset Rare & Reserve” Wine Tasting, at the Dana Point Yacht Club, Dana Pt. Harbor  – Winemakers dust off their rare and reserve level bottles for a wine lovers fantasy night of sipping the “good stuff.”  On Saturday, 1 to 4 pm, thee Beacside Food and Wine Fest will be at Doheny State Beach. Unlimited wine, food and live music. Dana Point, CA

Newport Film Festival – April 26 – May 3 – Now a new major Film Festival  is now held in Newport Beach, a few blocks less than an hour from Hollywood  This Newport Beach Film Festival now annually hosts several premieres and galas for an ultimate cinematic experience. Films will be shown throughout the city that boasts one of the largest movie consumer groups in the world, a rich filmmaking history as well as fine dining, shopping and exceptional recreational activities.  The Newport Beach Film Festival offers filmgoers a rare opportunity to meet the exhibitors’ directors, screenwriters and cinematographers. Newport Beach, CA

Bowers Museum  Gold Exhibit Pre-Hispanic Columbian Art, now thru July 1.  This Sacred Gold exhibit of over 200 pieces is on loan from the renowned Museo del Oro and the Banco de Republica, Bogotá, Colombia. It represents the work of a people who enjoyed  gold solely for its joy, creating nose rings, earrings, breastplates, and pendants,  as well as complex showy  body adornments and votive figures, all symbols of rank and power. The Bowers Museum, 2002 North Main Street, Santa Ana CA 92706.

Scooters: Size Does Not Always Matter at the Petersen Automotive Museum, now through May 28. – More than 90 scooters from the AutoPed of 1910 to the alternative power machines of today. Petersen Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd  Los Angeles, CA 90036

Tanaka Farms Strawberry Tours, Now through June 24.  Both kids and adults alike ride in tractor pulled wagons. Learn how things are grown and then pick your own strawberries.   Take a tour and get a glimpse of a real working farm. Weekends at the Tanaka Farms 5380 3/4 University Dr.,Irvine, CA 92612