Amazingly, people have actually inquired as to why I haven’t put up my choices. So here they are:

Proposition 91 Transportation Funds
NO. No longer needed since 1A passed last time around.

Proposition 92 Community Colleges. Funding. Governance. Fees
NO. Lowering fees is nice, but locking in funds to do it isn’t. Besides, those who can’t afford the fees get fee waivers already, so why is this an issue? We already have quite a bit of state money locked into education (check out where Lotto money goes). This is spurious to us but grants control of funds to certain interested parties outside of the state government. No, really, we elected these officials to handle state funds, not to education lobbyists.

Proposition 93 Limits on Legislators’ Terms in Office
YES. I like what the LA Times said about this, and I’m paraphrasing: even if it gives a few slimeballs an extra two years in office, it also means better term limit rules in perpetuity (or until the next proposition comes along to amend this one). Right now, you can serve a total of 14 years, 6 in the senate and 8 in the assembly. This makes it so you serve a total of 12, regardless of where, so some might spend all 12 in the senate. Considering how long U.S. senators spend in the senate, I don’t see why this is a big deal — in fact, it means that a senator or an assemblyman could dedicated themselves to 12 years of service in one office, giving them experience and the ability to make change while still keeping them to a short enough term so as to prevent any sort of permanent control. Sure, this means some incumbents get to last longer, but so what? We can endure another two or so lame duck years and in return get a reasonable term limit rule for our state government.

Proposition 94 Amendment to Indian Gaming Compact
Proposition 95 Amendment to Indian Gaming Compact
Proposition 96 Amendment to Indian Gaming Compact
Proposition 97 Amendment to Indian Gaming Compact
YES. This expands the number of machines and increases the annual payments to the state by the four tribes with a gaming compact. Look, people want to gamble. If we didn’t have these resorts in California, people will go to Nevada, and Nevada gets a percentage instead of California. Screw that. Let it ride. As to other tribes getting economically devastated… find a better business or join the same business. In this regard, capitalism works. What I would like to see, though, is a proposition that establishes more state presence in dealing with addicted gamblers. Maybe next ballot.

Measure S Reduction of Tax Rate and Modernization of Communications Users Tax — City of Los Angeles
YES. I was a bit wary about this, since it meant extending the tax to all forms of communication, not just landlines. Since federal law prevents taxation of the internet, anyone who still wants to avoid paying taxes will just have to use Skype. Meanwhile, I love my city and I don’t mind this tax if it helps keep it running.

Now, as to the presidential primary. Well, the Republican Party decided to withhold their love for undeclared, non-party Americans like myself. Unlike previous elections, where undeclared, non-party members were invited to participate in a Republican primary, this year we are not. So I’m stuck with voting for a Democrat.

I’m voting for Obama.

Had I the choice, I’m actually pretty sure I’d've participated in the Democratic primary anyway, especially since McCain seems to be doing so well that he really doesn’t need my vote to win California.  Yes, I am angling so as to have an Obama versus McCain fight in November.  As far as I’m concerned, either of the two are the best of the lot, and I figure on being pretty happy with the outcome no matter what.

public noun getWheelNameAndType(wheel)
{


noun wheelNameAndType = "";
if (wheel.tire.wear >= 0.9)
{

decimal probability_NewWheels = getDecimalFromBiasedForumReader();
if (probability_NewWheels > 0.5)
{

decimal probability_KeepStock16 = getDecimalFromBiasedForumReader();
decimal probability_17InchWheel = getDecimalFromBiasedForumReader();
decimal probability_18InchWheel = getDecimalFromBiasedForumReader();
if (probability_17InchWheel > probability_KeepStock16 ||
probability_18InchWheel > probability_KeepStock16)
{

noun nameAndType = getWheelNameAndModelFromForumReader();
if (probability_17InchWheel > probability_18InchWheel)

wheelNameAndType = "17 - " + nameAndType;

else

wheelNameAndType = "18 - " + nameAndType;

}
else
{

wheelNameAndType = "Stock";

}

}

}
return wheelNameAndType;

}


REQUESTED VALUES:
1. probability_NewWheels = ?
2. probability_KeepStock16 = ?
3. probability_17InchWheel = ?
4. probability_18InchWheel = ?
5. nameAndType = ?

7000 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 769-8888
website

Sun and I began our Dine LA Restaurant Week experience with this restaurant situated within the Hollywood Golden Age ambience of the Roosevelt Hotel. Both of us opted to have the frisee lardon salad, which apart from the endives and pork belly also had a nice quail egg, sunny side up, on top. The pork belly was ridiculously good.

For the main course Sun had the pan-seared diver scallops while I went with a 6 oz. filet with both bernaise and bordelaise sauce (I wanted to try both and they obliged) The steak by itself was already tasty (style is similar to Ruth Chris — heavily buttered), but I have to say that the bordelaise was the better sauce (double dipping was also good, but very heavy in the gut).

Dessert for Sun was a crepe of some sort. I have to admit I didn’t pay much attention as I was preoccupied with my chocolate malt bars, a very pedestrian name for a very good dessert.

To sum up, we ate too much, but we couldn’t help it. I’d go back for the frisee lardon alone.

Except for the bad drivers, but that’s a complaint I have even on sunny days, so let’s not dwell and instead enjoy snuggling with a good book and some tea as a perfect match for the sort of wet weather that’s hung over the southland all week.

Speaking of books, I’m working my way through one called “The Silent Clowns”, so expect a pithy review on that sometime soon.  It’s slow-going, though, mostly because the book is an old copy from the late 70s that I purchased online and the bookstore shipped it to me without much protection, meaning the damn cover had detached from the rest of the book and the glue for the spine fragmenting from the stress.  The store refunded me the price of the book (not shipping) in exchange for removing my neutral review, but now I have to sit around hot gluing the spine to keep it secure enough for me to finish the book.

As for tea, Sun’s on that watch.  She got some tea from her friend for Christmas and she’s having fun trying them out along with a tea set we’d never used before.  So there you go, reading and tea drinking, perfect for a rainy day.

Only today it didn’t rain.

The irony.

Slow-paced movie with a big reveal that, in a way, ruins the magic all that pacing was building upon. There’s a bit in the end that tries to bring it back, but in the end, all I came away with was that while watching it did enjoy freaking myself out, but by the final credits I felt a bit cheated. Decent flick, but not something I’ll remember and readily recommend.

link

Decent biopic made captivating by Marion Cotillard’s performance.  Granted, the decision to use actual recordings by Edith Piaf meant that even when she was a diamond in the rough she sang perfectly and you noticed no actual blossoming of her talent, but this is a small quibble.  It’s a nice movie, about the same sort of thing as, say, Chaplin by Richard Attenborough — decent made captivating by Robert Downey, Jr.

link

Fun movie. Very enjoyable and though I caught it as a rental I certainly would have paid full price at the theater for it.

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Venice is certainly pretty in HD. This is a light-hearted romantic comedy and the actors do a great job of seeing it through. Of course, I’m already biased when it comes to period pieces, but this one is really not bad. Enjoyable as a rental, to be sure, and all the more so if you happen to have an HD player.

link 

If you don’t know anything about this film and don’t want to know before seeing it, then stop reading.

Right. Anyhow. So Abrams wanted to give America its own Godzilla. I suppose that’s fine. Nothing wrong with that. Choosing to shoot the whole movie as a POV from someone’s consumer video camera, while interesting, can lead to some very painful moments of cinematography. It also limits you to telling the story through just that POV. I remember watching 84 Charlie Mopic and liking the format, but that was with a “professional” army cameraman so the shots were far more steady. This one was pretty much designed to give some people a seizure.

That aside, it’s a good movie. The crowd I saw it with did not think so, though. Then again, I’m not exactly with the crowd when they start heckling before the first scene. Yeah, THAT crowd. The one that most Hollywood movies pander to: the lowest common denominator. The hero always wins. The dog always makes it. America is number one. So don’t take it from them. They’ll hate this movie. And because of the shooting style, so will quite a number of other people.

I would say it’s worth a matinee ticket. Not sure if it’s worth more than that, really. I mean, I liked it. But it wasn’t awesome. And take that with the knowledge that my expectations were not high. J.J. Abrams is not a draw for me, and the marketing was not convincing me otherwise. I went because it was the movie the group wanted to see… I could just as easily stayed at home, but since I’d been home all day, it was nicer to go out. And even then… it was good, but not great.

link

Actually, fairly close to the book in a lot of ways, and while straying for what I could call Hollywoodization just a touch, much of it remains fairly sensible and matter-of-fact about the enchantment of the story, which is what’s nice about the book. A touch of Princess Bride in it, but otherwise, intact.

Frankly, I’d've paid full price to see this at the movies. Sadly, the marketing campaign didn’t do it justice and I ended up waiting for it to show up on the Netflix queue. Fortunately, considering the long wait, it’s finding an audience in home rather than in theater.

link