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NEW Let's Blog! Poll: on home evacuations at right

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UPDATE: Apparently, some people look on roadblocks as a kind of a challenge, just like them Duke boys. Here's part of a message posted to Comments (below) from "Fig:" "As a first responder, I've seen countless numbers of people deciding to remain at the scene of a disaster, only to be in the way when emergency help or rescue is needed.  During this weekend's slides, one of the civilian volunteers from the Sheriff's Crescenta station almost got run over by one of the TV media's news vans, demanding to enter to the scene at one of the "hard closure" roadblocks (and no it wasn't KCBS/KCAL, but rather that "Eyewitless" News station)."

ORIGINAL POST:   Something timely, as another wave of rain moves into Southern California: if an emergency team knocked on your door and told you that your house was part of a mandatory evacuation order, would you leave or stay?  I guess I'm a bit surprised it's even a question. But it turns out, residents are not legally obligated to go along with the term 'mandatory.'

Take the NEW Let's Blog! Poll, on home evacuations, on the right.

Mud- and debris- flows damaged or detroyed dozens of homes in La Canada and La Crescenta this past weekend. The L.A. County Fire Department acknowledges it didn't go door to door, or use reverse-911 calls to alert residents in the first round of rain. Later, it did.  But even then, some homeowners stayed behind, to keep an eye on their property, or believing that the threat was not worth leaving.

So what would you do? And if you'd stay-put, what would be your reasoning? I'm genuinely curious to hear what stay-behinds have to say. Take the poll on the right, and leave you Comments, directly below.

 

Let's Blog! LIGHTNING Poll: Super Bowl @ right

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Super Bowl:  Sunday, 2/7, on CBS2

And then, there's this one last thing about Super Bowl 44: the commercials. Ad Agencies roll out their best for the Big Game; you know, the

vs  

(Saints versus Colts, get it? See?: it's logos from the old tv show with that name, and a car Dodge used to make called the ... oh, nevermind.)

Do you have an all-time best (favorite) Superbowl commercial? From the past, or from this year's game? Remind the rest of us in Comments, below.

Monday, we'll get back to real business; but 'til then, a little fun never hurt anybody. My fav. was a FeEx spot with Burt Reynolds. Can't embed it, but here's the link. Then, there's the sappy stuff, like the Coke ad  that probably started the whole syrupy genre. Dated now, but try not to be cynical when you watch.

Man, that's acting!

 

Let's Blog! LIGHTNING Poll: Super Bowl @ right

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Super Bowl:  Watch it Sunday, 2/7, on CBS2

Well, this is easy. Who's gonna win the Big Game on Sunday?  Take the Let's Blog! Super Bowl Lightning Poll, on the right.

The Colts versus the Saints. But here's where it gets tougher: back up your guess -- I mean, forecast -- I mean, guess, with a point-spread, in Comments, below. And how did you arrive at your prediction: tireless studying of the game?; Manning's arm?; you like the Saints' logo? Share your expertise, in Comments, below.

Let's Blog! Poll: your "biggest concern," @ right

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SuperBowl:  Watch it Sunday, 2/7, on CBS2

Tailgate parties are the perfect laboratory for observing two of mankind's most significant characteristics: social interaction, and too much eatin' & drinkin'. Maybe that's three. Anyhooo, it's fun to see how fellow revellers mark their territories with their rides. Here comes the SuyperBowl... so, submitted for your approval:

The above Ford truck comes from Galpin Auto Sports in the San Fernando Valley. What I like about it, is its stealth factor. Drop the big-screen, and push the grill back into the bed, and you drive away in just a lowered black pick-up; right, officer? (Galpin has been the #1 Ford dealership in the world for 20 years: it does some amazing custom jobs for its calendars. )

Ah! This is the Brooks & Dunn Toyota Tundra: apparently suitable for off-roading.... It appears to be matte black: another good way to avoid detection.

But the ultimate, may be the simplist: just a whole lotta stainless steel cooking surfaces, and a fold-out sink to wash off the sauce. Bon appetit:

 

Let's Blog! Poll: your "biggest concern," @ right

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SuperBowl:  Watch it Sunday, 2/7 on CBS2

L.A. doesn't exactly have a dog in this fight (L.A. doesn't even have a dog in this pound. - Ed.), but the Superbowl is bigger than regional sports, so let's jump into fray, by talking about Superbowl Sunday... food. This year, the Indianapolis Colts play the New Orleans Saints. So for half-time, an Indianapolis chef recommends combining an Indianapolis favorite with a game-day classic, for --get this-- barbecued pork nachos. Some guy from Brennan's restaurant in New Orleans prefers oyster po'boy sandwiches. 

 I spent my high school years not far from Indianapolis; but outside of SoCal, New Orleans is my favorite 3-day-weekend-city in the world. So where should I come down? A politician would have a smarter answer, but I gotta go with the new Orleans po'boy. Anytime you put unidentifiable fried food onto bread that's oozing some alleged sauce...well, them's good eatin.'

Got a favorite/traditional Superbowl Sunday food item? Share it, in Comments, below.  Your recipe could win you box seats at Sunday's game!  (Legal disclaimer: that last sentence is an outright lie, that has no basis in reality. Your recipe will NOT 'win you box seats at Sunday's game. Who writes this stuff?)

 

Let's Blog! Poll: on your "biggest concern," at right

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OSCAR (TM) NOMINATIONS LIVE, TUESDAY, 2/2 ON CBS2 NEWS 5-7 A.M.

Tuesday morning's Oscar(tm) nominations really do represent Hollywood's Biggest Morning of the year: and to me are much more interesting than Hollywood's Longest Evening of the year -- the awards ceremony itself. Here's why: first, you get all the info., fast. There's no excess baloney, except for the occasional nominee readers who think they will be more hip if they go 'off the script' to ad-lib something clever; or to let us know the Academy made a good choice, selecting a film/actor that the presenter liked.

Next: on the morning of the nominations, everybody gets the same amount of attention, before the studio hype-machines kick into high gear and push their big-budget projects so hard, that little guys get pushed out.  Also, it's a short window before the studios turn on each other, and leak reasons why the competition doesn't deserve to win. ("Their movie wasn't an accurate portrayel," "Their production didn't hire authentic extras," "Their project didn't use recycled water bottles."  And on, and on.)

Also: we don't have to sit through the endless, show-stopping (and not in a good way. -Ed.)  song-and-dance numbers that Hollywood can't do as well as Broadway. And did I mention, reaction shots from audience members that sometimes last longer than the screen time they got in their movie? ...If they even made a movie? Plus, get this: this year, the Academy(tm)  caved to pressure from the big studios that were tired of their jillion-dollar smash-em-ups getting edged out by tiny art films that nobody in 9/10ths of the country goes to see. An Oscar --or even a nomination-- means more box office $$. So this year, there are 10 (!) films nominated for best picture, instead of the old five. Which means on Oscar (tm) night, we'll get to see 10 clips instead of the usual five. Buckle up. It's going to be a looooong night.  Which is why I much prefer to quickness of Tuesday morning's announcements. Agree? Disagree? Leave your Comments, below.

Let's Blog! Poll: on your "biggest concern," at right

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I'm... confused. Is it really necessary for a grocery chain to tell customers they can't shop in their pajamas? Apparently, the answer is 'yes.' Here's the Associated Press article:

 

Let's Blog! Poll: on your biggest concern, at right

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And I thought my fraternity was lamer than Animal House: police back east at Rutgers University have arrested six 20-something sorority sisters on suspicion of beating pledges with paddles. Repeatedly. Full article, here. I love how the sorority reps reportedly said this *wasn't hazing. (Ever get hazed? Leave your Comments, below. -Ed.)

My question: why would these pledges come back after the first time?  Or -- oh, I don't know -- the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh time?

I joined my fraternity because on-campus housing was full, I needed a place to live, and they had to accept me: I was a legacy. A "legacy" means another family member has preceded you. But here's what it really means: the freshmen and sophmores my older brother had terrorized when he was a junior and senior, now were juniors and seniors themselves, and my brother was nowhere near to protect me, the new freshman. So I found an apartment pretty quickly. But you know the one thing they say about fraternity/sorority brothers and sisters: you build relationships that last a lifetime. Today, excluding my real brother, I stay in touch with exactly zero of them.

 

Let's Blog! Poll: on your biggest concern, at right

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Get ready to leave your Comments, below. I've always been of mixed emotions on the topic of America's manned space program. 40 years ago, the world felt the thrill of humans (our guys!) going to the moon: I was a little kid, but I remember being amazed that something as tall as a skyscraper could get off of a launch pad.

Then I covered the Shuttle program in Florida and California, and was furious at what I still maintain was human arrogance that led to the deaths of the Challenger and Columbia astronauts. Now we see in the Orlando Sentinel newspaper that President Obama is going to scrap President Bush's plan to return man to the moon:

NASA's plans to return astronauts to the moon are dead. So are the rockets being designed to take them there — that is, if President Barak Obama ets his way. When the Whtie House releases his budget proposal Monday, there will be no money for the Constellation program that was supposed to return humans to the moon by 2020. The troubled and expensive Ares I rocket that was to replace the space shuttle to ferry humans to space will be gone, along with money for its bigger brother, the Ares V cargo rocket that was to launch the fuel and supplies needed to take humans back to the moon. There will be no lunar landers, no moon bases, no Constellation program at all.

It  takes a lot of money to develop a manned space program. Money we don't have. We've been to the moon: do we need to go back? NASA in SoCal does amazing work in earth- and environmental- sciences at the Jet Propulsion Lab, and at the Dryden Flight Research Center: wouldn't it be more practical to focus on that? Then again, if nothing else, a moon program would mean lots of (government) jobs....

Should the U.S. drop its planned manned moon missions, or drop them? Parents: you were around last time. Leave your Comments below, and get your kids to weigh in with their own opinions.