Ken's Very Own Piece of the Web(TM)

Has Marriage Changed "Weird Al" Yankovic’s Music?

2011-07-28T21:37:00.000-07:00

I’ve been a fan of "Weird Al" Yankovic (WAY) for almost my whole life. And being the obsessively analytical guy that I am, I have analyzed his music many ways. His Al-bums typically have a polka-arrangement medley of recent hit songs (interesting how funny the actual lyrics of "serious" songs can be, especially with the WAY treatment) and the rest of the songs are an even balance of direct parodies of hits and original compositions by Yankovic, though often meticulously done the style of a famous musical act.

Some common themes of Al's lyrics, either for the direct parodies or the originals, have been...

television (and now emerging communications technologies),
food/eating,
...and...
dating/love/attraction/relationships.

I perceive that there has been a change in that last theme since Al finally got married (to a very lovely woman) and became Daddy to a girl.

Recently (7/25/2011), the Grammy Museum hosted Yankovic for an interview, followed by Q & A, and my wife and I were blessed to attend. Although this wasn't the usual WAY public event (concert or al-bum signing), the typical Al crowd, albeit only 200 of us, was there: people of very shape, size, color, age, style, and I'd guess religion, too. I wanted to ask him a question I haven't heard him answer before, and I think I succeeded in asking him something he hadn't even considered before – whether or not he perceived a change in his lyrics since marrying.

At first, Al thought maybe I was accusing him of going soft, because he mentioned that he's always been fairly family-friendly. But that wasn't what I was talking about.

Here's what I perceive. Sometimes the female characters in his songs were the ones who were dysfunctional or horrible people, and sometimes the males were. Since getting married, it has only been the males.

Let's go chronologically through the relevant songs...

Al-bum: "Weird Al" Yankovic

Song: "Such a Groovy Guy"
The song is about a guy who thinks he's all that, and he treats women like crap.

Al-bum: "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D

Songs: None relevant.

Al-bum: Dare to be Stupid

Song: "One More Minute"
About all of the painful/irritating things he would rather do than spend one more minute with the woman who has dumped him.

Song: "Girls Just Want to Have Lunch"
Women want nothing other than men to treat them to lunch.

Al-bum: Polka Party!

Song: "Good Enough for Now"
He tells her that he's not all that into her, but he'll use her for now.

Al-bum: Even Worse

Song: "Melanie"
He's a delusional, rejected, suicidal peeping Tom and stalker.

Song: "Alimony"
She's taken everything and is bleeding him dry.

Al-bum: UHF – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff

Song: "She Drives Like Crazy"
She's a very, very bad driver.

Al-bum: Off the Deep End

Song: "I Was Only Kidding"
His professions of commitment and love were lies, and he rubs it in her face, mocking her.

Song: "Airline Amy"
He's delusional and thinks he has a relationship with a flight attendant because she's doing her job.

Song: "You Don't Love Me Anymore"
Despite her repeated attempts to kill him, he thinks she loves him.

Al-bum: Alapalooza

Song: "She Never Told Me She Was a Mime"
He was clueless about how annoying she was.

Al-bum: Bad Hair Day

Song: "Since You’ve Been Gone"
He is miserable... but it was worse with her.

Song: "I'm So Sick Of You"
She's repulsive and annoying and clueless.

Al-bum: Running With Scissors

Song: "My Baby's in Love with Eddie Vedder"
His girlfriend/wife is obsessed with an unobtainable other man.

THEN....***Al got married.***

Al-bum: Poodle Hat

Song: "Wanna B Ur Lovr"
He offers a series of horribly lame and tacky pick-up lines.

Al-bum: Straight Outta Lynwood

Song: "Confessions Part III"
He forgets her name, is an unhygenics, disgusting liar who confesses to cheating and making a child with his "skank".

Song: "Close but No Cigar"
He doesn't think any woman in the world good enough for him, so he stupidly rejects women who are both highly attractive and intelligent women.

Song: "Do I Creep You Out"
He's an obsessed stalker.

Al-bum: Alpocalypse

Song: "If That Isn't Love"
He's self-centered, inconsiderate, clueless, but thinks he's helpful and loving.

Bad Hair Day is my ultimate example, as there are two songs strongly and clearly about lousy women and none about the man being bad. Dare to be Stupid is a close second, but Bad Hair Day is much stronger in this regard. Other songs that depict the female partner in a negative light are: "Alimony", "She Drives Like Crazy" (and there’s no counterbalance on UHF), and "My Baby's in Love with Eddie Vedder".

Contrast Bad Hair Day with Straight Outta Lynwood, which has three songs about the male partner being horrible, but, none about a female partner. It is noteworthy that he gives tribute to his daughter on the cover.

Now, the anomalies or exceptions would be the first, eponymous Al-bum, and Polka Party!, each of which have the one song about the bad male with none about a bad female. Off the Deep End has two bad male songs to the one bad female song, but the bad female in that song is homicidal.

I consider "She Never Told Me She Was a Mime", the one love song on Alapalooza, a wash.

Notice that since he married, there hasn't been a single song on any of his three Al-bums in which the woman has a problem; only the male.

This could be because when Al was a longtime bachelor, he (and his buddies) dealt with a lot of bad dates or difficult women, and that changed when he married. Now, the woman he loves has probably told him about some of the horrible dates and men she dealt with over the years. And as a father to a daughter, he's no doubt thought of what social scene his daughter is facing in the future.

Fortunately, WAY's songs as funnier than ever.

If anyone wants to pay me to lecture about subjects like this, I'm definitely open to making money.

There I am, with Mrs. Yankovic.

Dropping Someone Off at Disneyland

2011-06-12T19:03:00.000-07:00

I am going to note again that this disclaimer applies to things written on this blog.

Once upon a time, Disneyland (Anaheim, California) had this big, flat parking lot in front of the theme park entrance. If you were spending the day there, this is where you would park (presuming you drove there). If you were dealing with a disability, you were able to park right there in front of the entrance of the park. If you were just coming in to buy tickets or something at the outside souvenir counter, you could come it and use the 15 (10?) minute parking without paying. Same thing applied if you were dropping someone off or picking them up.
It was very convenient.

But in order to expand Disneyand from a park/hotel into a... ***RESORT*** ...the parking lot had to go. It was repelaced with Disney's California Adventure, a theme park themed around California, which is now Disney California Adventure, a theme park themed around... Disney... stuff. Also, there's the (Disney's or Disney... not sure anymore) Grand Californian Hotel/Resort/Spa/Whatever and Downtown Disney, which has shops and restaurants and live performers... like the theme parks do... but it doesn't have rides or the admission prices.
A large parking structure and several outlying parking lots have replaced the Giant All Inclusive Parking Lot (where many Disney cast members parked, too).
Now, if you're just dropping someone off or picking them up, you are presumably supposed to use the 15 Minute Parking Lot located along Harbor Boulevard, near where the entrance of the Giant All Inclusive Parking Lot used to be.
But there's a problem.

At least as half of the instances I have tried to use that lot, it has been closed off with orange cones. It wasn't closed for the day... as evidenced by the vehicles already parked there. But it was closed at the moment in time I was able to pass by in the thick Harbor Boulevard mix of vehicle and pedestrian traffic. This means I (and anyone in the vehicle with me) wasted time, gas, added to our carbon footprints, and added to Anaheim Resort area traffic... needlessly.

My guess is that the lot is temporarily closed so as to note which cars are still there fifteen minutes after it was closed, so those vehicles can be issued tickets.
I can't be sure, though, because apparently nobody is responsbile for the parking lot. I had long presumed Disney owned it. But Anaheim officers (police?) will be standing in there during the closures. When I've asked them, they have said it is Disney's responsibility... even though they are standing there... in unform. When I've asked Disneyland Guest Relations, I have been told it is the City of Anaheim's.
Ooookay...

I guess that means nobody owns the lot. Which would make it a great place for Disney enthusiasts to set up tents and squat, or maybe build a house. Or protest something or other, or advertise for a nearby gentleman's club. Bet you'd find out who owns the lot if you did any of those things!

This brings me to my ultimate point: Pretend that the lot doesn't exist.

If you are dropping someone off at the Resort, or picking someone up, I recommend clogging up the entrances to any of Disney's three hotels, the closest (and most expensive) being the Grand Californian. When you are approached by a friendly, helpful cast member (they are still Disney cast members, right? Or has that been outsourced), just let them know you are dropping someone off or picking them up. If they ask if you're checking in, say, "Not right now." It is the truth. If they notice you doing this on a regular basis, and ask you about it (has yet to happen to me), and they recommend the 15 Minute Lot, nod, don't argue. They don't make the rules, after all. Nod, and keep doing the same thing over and over again. Because if Disney really wanted people to use the 15 Minute Lot, they'd keep it open. They don't need to close it to do enforcement of the parking. I can think of three different ways to enforce the 15-minute limit off of the top of my head that have to be no more expensive than using a uniformed Anaheim officer.

You can also use Downtown Disney parking for dropping people off or picking people up, clogging those lots up and taking up cast member time, but the Grand Californian is closer, and a nicer atmosphere.

I'm not bothering to write directly to Disneyland about this. I know from past experience that if I rant about something online, enough people in power there will read it. Maybe Disneyland Resort Transportation and Parking is actually responsible for the 15 Minute Parking Lot, and maybe they will change tactics. Or give me a real explanation. I wouldn't be bothered as much about this whole thing if Disneyland was typically a poorly run operation. But it is usually a very well designed and operated place, and I like the Anaheim Resort upgrade in general. That's one reason why this matter irks me so much. It is an annoying, ugly blemish on an otherwise beautiful masterpiece. It shouldn't be an ordeal to drop someone off there, or pick someone up.

Observations of a First-Time Pollworker

2010-11-03T18:15:00.000-07:00

Several years ago, the County of Los Angeles decided to boost the number of people willing to volunteer as pollworkers by 1) letting County employees who are also registered California voters (regardless of where they are registered) serve as pollworkers in Los Angeles without taking personal time from their jobs, and 2) promoting said program. I was at Public Works when that began, and promoting and tracking Public Works employee participation of this program was assigned to me. I had that as one of my responsibilities until I took a promotion to come to Department of Agricultural Commissioner/Weights and Measures, but I'd never served as a pollworker.

I've been a registered voter in Orange County for quite some time, and have been a permanent vote-by-mail voter for a couple of years now, so my experience with voting at the polls in Los Angeles is a distant and outdated memory.

This time around, my boss encouraged me to volunteer, and I did. I attended a two-hour training session on a day off (pollworkers get some compensation for attending training), and I served all day at a polling place within Los Angeles County yesterday.

It's a long day. We were told to arrive by 6 a.m. to set up, as the polls opened at 7 a.m. I was slightly early, but so were others, so we were able to begin setting up. I was given a 1-hour lunch break, but I decided to return after 30 minutes away. The polls closed at 8 p.m. and then after taking everything down and doing the ballot organization procedures, I was released a little after 9 p.m. There were a few voters who thanked us for volunteering, and that was a nice touch.

We were a "Neighborhood Voting Center", meaning we had three precinct polling places in one room. All three had their own check-in tables, ballots, polling tables/stands, and ballot box. Fortunately, I was teamed with three women who were longtime veterans of pollworking and lived in the local neighborhood.

I was mostly dealing with the address list, which had the names and addresses and party affiliation of each voter registered in that precinct, listed by address. It was my job to keep copies of the list updated with who had voted, and keep a copy tacked to the wall for anyone to check. I also, at times, handled the alphabetical list where people were asked to sign their signature, and a bit of handing out ballots, and answered a lot of questions. Every vote – absentee, vote by mail, provisional, whatever - in Los Angeles County gets counted, even if the races are decided because there aren't enough ballots left to make a difference in the outcome.

Los Angeles County uses an inking system. The ballots are sent through a machine before they are dropped into the box to 1) count the number of ballots and 2) check for "overvotes" and other errors on each ballot – according to the election officials, the machines DO NOT count actual votes, as in tallying how many people are voting "YES" vs."NO". Someone who has overvoted or had some other error who doesn't want to fill out another ballot is allowed to deposit their ballot anyway – the pollworker simply overrides the machine, and ballots such as the provisionals can be slipped in the box without going through the machine.

Here are some observations:

1. If the votes really aren't being tallied by the machines, then most votes are not even arriving to where they ARE tallied until 9:30 p.m. or later, and THEN they have to be removed from the sealed containers and tallied. So when outcomes are announced at 8 p.m. or even 10 p.m., those announcements are based almost entirely on previous polling and exit polling. Some early voting might be part of that, but how many people really go vote early using one of the electronic machines? Our ballots were not sent in throughout the day. All of them were turned in together at 9:30 p.m. or later. That is standard.

2. I.D. is almost never required. Anyone can come in and claim to be one of the people on our list and vote. Yes, they'd be breaking the law, but how will anyone know?

3. I was told by more than one person that two of the people on the list were really one person – themselves. For example, Jim Smith at 123 Main Street and James Q. Smith at 123 Main Street. Jim could have easily brought along someone else and claimed that James was his son. Or, Jim could have come back later and voted as James.

4.Voters also told me that there were people on the list at their address who have moved away or never lived at their address in the first place. Those people, or someone pretending to be them, could have come in and voted.

5. Given observations 2-4, why is it standard to post the updated name and address list? I know it aids those who want to check to see who has not voted yet and call people to get out the vote, but why should election officials care about helping partisans in that way? Seems to me that fraud prevention would be more important. Wouldn't it?

6. There was at least one instance where I’m almost positive someone committed voter fraud. A distinctively dressed young man came in to vote, and noted his sister listed just after his name, and asked if she would be able to vote, given that she was in another city that day – a city that was sufficiently far away that it would take hours for her to come back. I explained what her voting options had been. I thought maybe she was a student attending college in this other city, or something like that. No, she was only there for a week. The young man voted, and maybe an hour later, he returned with his “sister”, who voted as his sister. I wasn't the only pollworker at our precinct who noticed this. If there was a way we were allowed to challenge this, we were unaware.

7. Despite this, and the long hours, overall, I enjoyed the experience. But then I'm the kind of guy who was happy to see people voting, even if I could tell from their party affiliation that they were likely voting in opposition to the votes I’d made. I believe in having a democratic republic, which means that people who disagree with me have just as much right to vote and just as much of a vote as I do.

8. Single people who want to get married and are politically active should consider volunteering as pollworkers. Why? They can ask to be placed in their own neighborhoods and they might meet someone who lives close to them who they don't bump into during their daily routines. They'll already know the person votes, and they can see their party affiliation (if that is important). Or, ask to be placed in a more upscale neighborhood, where sometimes it is hard to find enough pollworkers. You just might marry up!

It was a tiring day, and a disruption of my weekly routines. But unless the way we vote is radically changed, volunteers are needed, and I'm glad I was able to do my part to continue our democratic republic.

In Memoriam

2010-08-20T18:54:00.001-07:00

I noticed that the booklet for her memorial service listed the date of her death, and her birthday, but not the year of her birth. That was so Aunt Vicky. Very few people knew exactly how old she was, and that was the way she liked it. She even argued with paramedics who came to her home, not wanting to reveal her age. There are sources, including some “official” sources that got the year of her birth wrong.

Having a ceremony for the recently deceased is a unique rite in that the celebrated isn’t alive, and none of those who are present have had one of these rites in their honor; none of them have died. But every single one of of them will - barring anything of Biblical proportions happening. The same can’t be said of retirement parties, weddings, graduations, birthdays, or any other religious ceremony.

Aunt Vicky hated to be thought of as a grandmother. She was “Aunt” Vicky to quite a number of people of a wide range in ages. However, she did marry a grandfather, and thus became a grandmother. And even before that, she was like a grandmother to various kids, including me and my siblings. Heck, one of my sisters was named after her.

She was supposed to die two years ago.

That’s what the doctors said. She was in the hospital and it wasn’t looking good. They wanted to do a tracheotomy. It was time for the Last Rites.

But she made it out of the hospital. Without a hole in her neck.

And then there were other times it looked like the end would come any day. But she always managed to recover enough to make it clear she could be around for a lot longer. It was quite remarkable, and we joked that she would outlive us all. Unfortunately, recovering somewhat also allowed her to do things like fall down – something that can’t happen when you’re in bed, not moving.

And so the sharp downs and gentle ups that never quite got her back to where she was before the downturn finally came to an end on June 8.

Until that end, she kept up her appearance. That was the way she was.

On Friday, July 23, there was a church service for her that brought together family and friends. I was honored to be one of three “family” members who people who spoke about her. Her brother spoke, and another “nephew” from my generation spoke.

Afterwards, we gathered for a luncheon in her honor at the California Institute of Technology.

Aunt Vicky was one of those women who could tell a quite a story,and carry on a conversation about almost anything. She could make her opinions about everything very clear – from the state of the economy, to food at a restaurant, to how that other person was driving, to your weight and how it was going to kill you, to what you were wearing. She also wouldn’t discourage you from erroneously assuming she was a member of your ethnic group. She might even encourage that belief by drawing upon some of her vast knowledge of different customs.

She was one of those women who shattered glass ceilings, opening the way for women to follow. She did that at General Motors until she was recruited to come to NASA’s JPL in Pasadena, where she served on a committee that sought to reach out and recruit women and minorities.

When I came along, she was joined at the hip to my mother’s uncle. That’s how she became my Aunt, even though they didn’t make it official for many years. They would come to family dinners at our house, and have us over to their separate homes.

Aunt Vicky would even have me and my second cousin/best-friend/partner-in-mischief/younger-by-mere-weeks Shannon spend nights at her place and leave a pile of dirt in her bathtub after a day of playing. We couldn’t have been more than nine or ten when she had us dress up with jackets and ties and she took us to some fine dining lunch at what was then the Huntington Hotel. She wanted to show us how to do this as proper gentlemen, so she had us be the ones to approach the maitre d’. She ordered a hamburger and ate it with a knife and fork, though she didn’t allow us to order burgers.

A picture she took of us on that day is one my most treasured possessions, as Shannon was tragically killed not long after that, along with his maternal grandfather and only maternal uncle, when their small plane crashed in the Canadian wilderness.

With the passing of Aunt Vicky, all of my grandparents, both actual and honorary, are gone. It is the end of an era in my life. I miss them all. And I miss Aunt Vicky’s rice pilaf.

I Was Quoted About Insect Traps

2010-07-18T10:57:00.000-07:00

Stephanie Walton of the Daily Breeze consistently gets things quickly, and gets them right - at least, whenever I've talked with her seen her print something with which I have been involved. She writes answers to "Ask Us" submissions made by the paper's readers. I used to get calls from Ms. Walton when I was at Public Works, and I get them from her now, too.

This time, the question was about possible insect traps someone was seeing around Torrance. One kind of trap spotted sound like ones used for trapping Asian Citrus Psyllid.

That pest now has been found in dozens of cities in the county, said Ken Pellman, public information officer for the county's Department of Agricultural Commissioner/Weights & Measures. The disease the species can transmit, Huanglongbing (HLB), which kills citrus trees, has not been detected in trapped specimens in the state, Pellman said.

I try to let people know what they can do, especially when an ounce of prevention is better than many pounds of cure. The Daily Breeze coverage area rangs from LAX to the ports, which means the area that will often get hit first with an infestation.

"We really need the help of your readers in preventing infestations of destructive exotic pests," Pellman said.

"Fruits, vegetables and other plant materials that come from outside of California may bring with them pests - such as insects, diseases and weeds - that don't belong in California. Those things are problems because they kill or harm native species, damage buildings, destroy landscaping and home-grown fruits and vegetables, and add extra costs to California's agriculture industry - costs that will get passed along to consumers."

Don't bug California!

It’s Alive and Oozing From the Vault

2010-07-14T20:45:00.001-07:00

The legends are true. Footage exists of some of the first projects of award-winning international independent experimental filmmakers Francisco Matamala and Ken Pellman.

Back in the tumultuous, war-torn days of the later mid 1980s, living along the tough streets of South Pasadena, California (the “free love” capital of the world) were two demented junior high school kids looking for a way out so they would no longer be constantly chased from Huntington Drive to the Rialto to Garfield Park by their hundreds of crazed (but hot) groupies. Pellman, the American-born aquatician, and Francisco Matamala, the Chilean-born genius, joined forces to take stop-motion animation to the next level.

Unfortunately, all they unleashed on the world was an film-based expression of something they called “Goremation”, which is certainly not to be confused with “Claymation” or a Presidential bid or climate change documentary.

Together, they wrote, produced, and directed the astonishingly well-titled silent motion picture “Laserfight”, a film about a treasure-seeking space traveler on a strange, hostile world full of peril: a rival, rough terrain, and a hyperactive food chain system where every single living organism apparently must constantly be moving and eating.

SEE LASER GUN FIGHTS!

SEE LIGHT SABERS – UH, I MEAN LASER SWORDS – IN ACTION!

SEE LOTS OF STRANGE ORGANISMS BEING BRUTALLY DISMEMBERED!

SEE… BLURRY SHOTS CAUSED BY POOR FOCUSING!

Amazingly, Matamala and Pellman did all of the lighting, choreography, cinematography, character design, animation, and special effects themselves.

Encouraged by loud audience reactions and awards, Matamala and Pellman both agreed to make a sequel. Oddly enough, it was titled “Laserfight II” The extreme demands of making the more advanced sequel required a third creative force: Todd Yamanaka. Together, the three wrote, produced, directed the grueling project, again taking on the lighting, choreography, cinematography, character design, animation, and special effects.

Now, after years of anticipation and public demand and intense negotiations with major Hollywood studios, both projects are being released for the first time on home video DVD.

…

Well, sort of. Much to the disappointment of Matamala, Pellman, and Yamanaka and legions of fans, the second half of the sequel never returned to the team after it was sent out for developing. You see, back in those days, video and digital technology in public schools was somewhat limited. So these motion pictures were shot on 8 millimeter analog chemical film, the kind that has to be sent somewhere to be developed, and the kind that deteriorates day by day. Matamala was especially hard hit by obvious conspiracy to steal the second half of the sequel – he never got over it, and about five or six years later he fled in dispair to his native Chile, where he threw himself into his work and was consoled by marrying a really hot wife and making adorable babies. Pellman likewise consoled himself by marrying a really hot wife and making adorable babies, but he only fled as far as Anaheim.

The entire first motion picture and what was returned of the second motion picture have been kept hidden deep in the vaults of the Pellman Archives for all of these years until very recently being exhumed for the purposes of being subjected to transfer to DVD.

…

The result was both better than I expected in parts and worse than I expected in other parts.

First, there’s the source material. Since we couldn’t watch the film until it had been developed and returned, we were unaware how much of the original movie had focus issues until it had been wrapped (I think I was not yet fully aware of my growing nearsightedness). We took greater care with the second production.

But speaking of the second motion picture, what we have of it was placed first on the DVD, and then the title footage from the first film was not included (perhaps it had deteriorated too much) and so the DVD watched straight through starts off with the first part of the sequel, never gets to the second part of the sequel (since we don’t have it), and then goes straight on to the entire first motion picture without any delineation. Eat your heart out, Christopher Nolan.

Other notes…

While making the first film, we pretty much were forced to change shots for each new day of filming, because the sets and characters were subject to vandalism and the equipment had to be moved. For the sequel, we were given our own tiny locked room because we were some of the few people who were actually serious about using class time to make a movie. (The instructor, who had impressive connections in the filmmaking world that she sometimes would bring in to class, wasn’t known for being a hard grader or a strict disciplinarian.)

We sculpted characters as we were inspired. We set about filming with a loose idea of what we wanted to do, and we would constantly brainstorm along the way. Two great characters that were in the lost second half of the sequel were a ninja-like opponent and a gigantic lizard. It is a shame they didn’t end up in the theatrical release or the DVD.

Finally, keep in mind that we were demented junior high school kids.

FOR A LIMITED TIME, you can view how the DVD transfer ended up by CLICKING HERE.

On the left, click on "Goremation".
You will be "treated" to the "highlights”. To see the whole thing, click on the tab that says "Entire YesDVD Video". There is no sound. Many blocks of clay died to bring you this.

If you order copies, I do not get residuals.

Coyotes in Ventura County

2010-06-12T15:23:00.000-07:00

One of the things my Department - Agricultural Commissioner/Weights and Measures - handles is protecting people from aggressive coyotes. However, we only do it unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County and with cities that contract with us. Currently, all of those cities are in Los Angeles County. But I spoke with Nancy Needham about coyotes within a Ventura County neighborhood, and so I was quoted in this story.

The L.A. County Agricultural Commission has a coyote removal program that uses snares to catch the coyote, which is then euthanized. It’s against the law to relocate coyotes, said Ken Pellman, spokesperson for the county agricultural commission.

Just for the record, the name of the Department is Commissioner, not Commission. The head of the Department is the Agricultural Commissioner for the county. We're not run on a day-to-day basis by a commission.

"We need coyotes. They perform a service. They keep rodent populations in check," Pellman said.

Many people love coyotes and are quick to point out the animals were here before we were, he said.

But the wily critters are not a protected species. Although coyotes cannot legally be caught with leg traps or killed with certain poisons, Pellman said, the humane extermination of coyotes is as legal as getting rid of rats.

He said coyotes that roam neighborhoods during the day and take pets out of backyards when people are present are a problem.

"They show aggression when they do not stay away from people. They become a danger when they are not afraid of people," Pellman said.

I was speaking more about infants and toddlers when I gave this crackerjack parenting advice...

"Children should always be watched. A child should never be left alone where coyotes have been trained to get food from people," Pellman said.

Ah, the circle of life.

Why "Weird Al" Yankovic Should Be An American Idol Judge

2010-02-10T20:55:00.001-08:00

The Fox television show American Idol is reaching a critical stage. Original judge Paula Abdul left before the current season. Original judge Simon Cowell will be leaving after the current season – and who knows about the last original judge, Randy Jackson? The show, which has catapulted dozens of artist careers and generated crazy money through ad sales, music sales, and texting/call charges is getting stale and is in danger of dying sooner rather than later.

There is much speculation of who could be a new judge on the show.

I think the show should bring in “Weird Al” Yankovic as a permanent judge. I’m not kidding. I know – funny music doesn’t get the respect it once did; as a result, some people dismiss Yankovic or mistakenly think he’s not all that talented. But they are wrong. Very, very wrong.

What is the job of an American Idol judge? From what I can tell, the judges must:

1. Be able to distinguish those who have singing talent and pop star potential from those who don’t – from a pool of 16-28 year-olds.

2. Be entertaining on both heavily edited and live television, mostly through comments, facial expressions, and body language.

3. Be able to offer constructive criticism and mentoring to aspiring contestants and actual contestants.

I think it is safe to say that Yankovic can do all three well.

Here are specific reasons why Yankovic would be good on AI.

1. He’s multitalented. He has lasted for almost three decades so far as a popular recording artist, songwriter, concert performer, and musician, also working as a film and television actor and writer, and a director of music videos. He does more than his well-known direct parodies of current hit songs (which he does very well). He also does original songs, many of which are done in the style of well-known artists. He also has experience in taking hit songs and translating them into another style (see his polkas), as some AI contestants attempt during their weekly performances.

2. He has closely studied pop music artists for decades. To be good at his main bread and butter, he’s had to scrutinize music artists, and carefully evaluate what they do and how they do it.

3. He recognizes talent in others. Ever see/hear his band at work? In his movie “UHF”, Michael Richards was cast pre-Seinfeld and Fran Drescher was cast pre-The Nanny. Enough said.

4. He has proven staying power. He has outlasted many of the acts he’s parodied.

5. He knows the music industry, and what is like to struggle through recording and touring and struggling for respect. He has not only had to deal with his own record company, but the record companies of acts he has parodied.

6. He is respectful of other artists. For example, he will not sell a direct parody without an artist’s blessing, even though he legally could. His parodies are more like a tribute instead of a mean-spirited dig.

7. He appreciates different musical styles and genres. Just look at the music he records and performs!

8. He is used to dealing with crazy people (record execs, artists, fans), so he can handle the crazies that show up during auditions.

9. He’s funny.

10. He’s intelligent.

11. He’s fun to watch. His facial expressions, body language, and quick wit would work well on AI. (He would also be good in interviews promoting the show.)

12. He’s family-friendly, both in his material and personal life. You won’t read about Yankovic driving drunk with a car full of strippers.

13. He has a daughter who is growing into the target audience of AI.

14. He has a highly professional, perfectionist work ethic.

15. He goes out of his way to be fan-friendly.

If not AI, then The X Factor or some other show should get Yankovic as a judge. I am NOT kidding.

Full disclosure: I do not make any secret of being a huge WAY fan.

UPDATE: I meant to do a search before I posted this. Sure enough, someone else has proposed this idea... they suggested it last year when Abdul announced she was leaving the show. Also see here.

Technorati Tags: American Idol,television,"Weird Al" Yankovic

The Wild Life

2009-12-12T10:42:00.000-08:00

I have neglected this blog. I've been a little busy. You can find my daily updates on Facebook. Figured now was as good of a time as any to update this blog, since I am quoted in today's Daily News in Troy Anderson's article. It is a story about how residents can protect themselves from wild animals (coyotes, bears, etc.)

Residents in the foothills and near the burn areas need to be cautious about wild animals displaced by the Station Fire and subsequent debris flows, said Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner's Office spokesman Ken Pellman.
He suggested residents keep a close eye on small children and avoid jogging or hiking near wildlife areas when animals are most active - dusk, nighttime and dawn.
"We want people to know the No. 1 way they can protect themselves is not to leave anything that could be considered food outside - whether that's food or pets," Pellman said. "People should keep their garbage cans tightly sealed and if they see a wild animal not to approach it, especially bear cubs."

You are warned.

My Latest TV Appearance

2009-08-03T20:57:00.000-07:00

For more info, click here.

Splash Mountain is 20, My Farewell to Bruce Gordon

2009-07-15T22:15:00.000-07:00

My latest column is now online at LaughingPlace.com. Splash Mountain at Disneyland is turning 20. I discuss the history of the attraction and write my farewell to the late Show Producer of the attraction, Bruce Gordon. He was a hero of mine.

Terminator Salvation

2009-05-24T23:30:00.000-07:00

[UPDATED] Kori and I saw "Terminator Salvation" on Friday, thanks to her sister and brother-in-law watching Keelie. We get out to see movies so rarely these days.

I liked "The Terminator", I liked "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" a lot (first film I saw at the Big Newport), and I thought theme park attraction "Terminator 2:3D Battle Across Time" was awesome (but in all fairness I did know one of the main creative forces behind it an I was interning for a company that was involved).

Here's a little of what I wrote about "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines"...

The film delivers what it promises, though it is no great leap forward like "Judgment Day" was.

I ended up referring readers of my e-mail review to a review by someone I know, who had pretty much said what I had to say.

I ended my review of T3 with this:

Pellman's Bottom Line(TM): Machines Fighting! Explosions! Car chases! Jokes!
Pellman's Rating: 3 Brooms(TM) out of 4
Pellman's Suggestion (Theater or Home Viewing)(TM): Theater!

The Fox Network recently ran two seasons of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which takes place after the events in T2 and goes in a different direction than T3 (hey, with time travel, anything is excusable).

And now we have "Terminator Salvation" (TS) with a different director (McG) and the same writers as T3, and still another John Connor (Christian Bale), Bryce Dallas Howard as his wife (instead of Claire Danes), no Dr. Silberman cameo (sorry!), and no Schwarzenegger (though we get a brief digital depiction of his character), who is busy trying to figure out how to prevent California from falling to pieces.

We get to see Kyle Reese again, albeit younger than he was in the original film.

Hey, and Danny Elfman is doing the music!

Anyway, T3 was rated "R" (violence), TS is rated "PG-13". Unlike all of the previous material, which mostly takes place in the audience's times, this film has no time travelers and takes place almost entirely in the future after Judgment Day - or the day the nukes were launched by self-aware machines in an attempt to crush humanity. As such, the film has a very different feel than all of the previous material.

It wasn't a good sign that days before TS was released, Fox announced that The Sarah Connor Chronicles wasn't returning. Presumably, the people making that decision had seen TS, and I would imagine if they liked what they saw, the TV series would have been kept. Or maybe I am overestimating TV network programmers.

All of the media I mention above is the extent of my Terminator knowledge. I have not read/played/seen anything else, like novelizations, games, comic books, etc. So perhaps some of my questions would have been answered if I had. Like... why doesn't Skynet send a really, really, really advanced Terminator (or heck, just a nuke) back in time to kill John's mother, Sarah Connor, when she is, oh, seven years old or so? Or heck, just push her mother down the stairs when she is pregnant with Sarah. Presumably everything hinges on John Connor being conceived, growing up, and leading a human resistance movement against the machines. However, Skynet always seems to find a way to launch Judgment Day no matter how many times the Connors and their friends change things. Are we to believe the human resistance would not also find a way? Maybe that will be addressed in any future films – if they can get greenlit. Ah, time travel always presents thorny issues, now doesn’t it? Just ask The Other Marty McFly. You are missed, Bruce!

TS gets into some issues about the nature of consciousness, and what it means to be human vs. what it means to be a machine. Only barely.

We finally get to see John Connor in action as an adult. But the more interesting character is Sam Worthington's Marcus Right, whose status as the film opens is the only reason the ending makes any sense. Early on, the film alludes to some people thinking John Connor is a prophet. Although he does have loyal "followers", he's not officially in leadership of the human resistance, as implied by the previous films - I'm assuming the events of this film are meant to explain how John gets to that position. The "prophet" aspect barely comes into play, which is a shame, because it could have been a very interesting angle on the sociology of the human survivors and factioning of the resistance.

Much like T3, if you like films with action, futuristic warfare, and things blowing up, this film certainly has those things (as my son, still in the womb of his hyperreactive mother knows), but it just doesn't have the punch that came with T2. There are some great special effects and other cool things the creative types came up with. You'll enjoy the film even more if you've never seen "Total Recall", ...and that’s all I have to say about that.

Unfortunately, Cindy hasn't posted a review of this film as of this writing, so I can't link to her review, which I'm sure would/will be great and say it all much better. UPDATE: Cindy has indeed posted a review, this time on her blog. Click here, but be warned... it contains spoilers.

Pellman's Bottom Line(TM): Machines Fighting! Explosions! Car Chases! Post-Apocalyptic America Without Jokey References to Current Events!
Pellman's Rating: 2.5 Brooms(TM) out of 4
Pellman's Suggestion (Theater or Home Viewing)(TM): Theater! – That is, if you really care to see it at all.

Official Website
http://terminatorsalvation.warnerbros.com/

KLSX Drops FM Talk, Goes Top 40 - Yuck

2009-02-22T18:26:00.000-08:00

"He knows changes aren't permanent
But change is"
-Rush, "Tom Sawyer"

This past Friday at 5pm, the Los Angeles area radio market "welcomed" a new Top 40 station. CBS replaced the previous format at 97.1 KLSX, which had been "FM Talk", also known over the years as "Free FM" - to contrast it with the subscription satellite radio services right after Howard Stern left CBS radio (and affiliate KLSX) for Sirius, and "Real Radio" - to contrast it with... uh... imaginary radio? I don't know.

But essentially it was all the same - talk radio on FM, geared toward a different audience then most AM talk, and quite different from public radio. I remember being disappointed when KLSX switched from music to talk. The KLSX call letters were a play on "classics", as in "classic rock", and I liked classic rock. For years after the station added Howard Stern as he rolled out his New York-based show in more and more markets, it was "Howard Stern all morning, classic rock all day."

But they added other talkers during the week, and eventually dropped the music from the weekends.

And it was generally not good. Howard Stern called it "Radio Hindenburg". At least KLOS 95.5 FM was still around to play classic rock.

Eventually, the situation improved and stabilized with the replacement of the original lineup. Tom Leykis, who had, some years before, been on L.A. talk station KFI AM 640, landed in the afternoon drive slot. Jamie White refugees Frosty, Heidi, and Frank, out from the morning co-hosting duties at music station Star 98.7 FM (where Ryan Seacret started his quest for world domination), filled in the time between Stern and Leykis. Tim Conway Jr. and a couple of different co-hosts had the night slot.

A few years back, Howard Stern left for Sirius, and CBS struggled to fill the void. David Lee Roth handled some of the eastern stations for a a short while before being given the boot. Adam Carolla, he of "Loveline" and "The Man Show" fame, got the western radio stations. Carolla stuck, though his co-hosts changed.

From what the hosts have said, and what has been printed in the news, it sounds like the demise of KLSX as "FM Talk" is a combination of factors, including the loss of Stern, the introduction of new ratings systems (portable people meters), new media and podcasting, and the general economic downturn.

The first radio station I remember flipping was KMET 94.7 FM. My older sister and I used to listen to it – especially the Dr. Demento show on Sunday nights, but also the music the rest of the time. Coincidently, when KLSX started up, it was seen as being a slight recovery of the charm of KMET, as it had some of the personalities and other elements that had been at KMET.

Over the years, DJs and hosts come and go on various stations, and stations come and go – in recent years more often because a company decided to change formats, rather than another company buying the station. I remember 100.3 FM being KIQQ and also Pirate Radio (and also a bunch of formats that didn’t interest me in the slightest), but recently it became "The Sound" – which is okay. I remember 103.1 FM being "Mars" (which seemed like it was trying to horn in on the long-running KROQ 106.7) and more recently "Indie". But now, like so many other stations before it in the Los Angeles area, it is some genre of Spanish music.

For some reason, changes in radio seem to be a bigger deal to me and so many other people than changes on TV. Perhaps because we listen to the radio while stuck in traffic, or doing other activities we really can't do while concentrating on a TV show. Perhaps it is because of the interactive nature of shows that take calls, or that our hosts will be on the air for 3-5 hours at a time, often five days a week, while TV shows might be a half an hour a day, or as much as an hour, but are often only weekly.

I tend to listen to talk and news, in part because of my job and my commute (traffic reports). But I do check out music when the talkers take a commercial break, as they often seem to be on the same clock in terms of when they take those breaks. But I rarely find anything on Top 40 radio that I enjoy these days. So KLSX has been replaced on that preset button.

Changes are to be expected. Personalities grow, retire, or get fired, or get downsized, or die. Changes in populations and in music make format changes inevitable. But being the creatures of habit that we are, we tend to hate abrupt changes. And there have been a lot of those in recent months on Los Angeles radio.

Goodbye, KLSX.

Tag – I’m it!

2008-10-22T18:35:00.000-07:00

Lisa tagged me with this. I’ve known Lisa almost entirely via phone calls and e-mails and blog postings since she was working as a journalist a local newspaper and I was working as a Public Information Officer for Public Works. I think we’ve met in person a grand total of one time. She and her husband have an adorable little girl who isn’t much older than Keelie.

You're supposed to list five joys, fears, obsessions/collections, and surprising things, and then "tag" five people.

- 5 Joys...

1. God’s love.
2. Kori
3. Keelie
4. What God gave to Kori and I to share that made Keelie (yes, I'm a guy)
5. Green Corn Tamales combo with lost of salsa

- 5 Fears...

1. Exterior heights (think most roller coasters, cliffs)
2. A food scare that takes all peppers off the market
3. I don’t life my life in fear. What can I say? Everything is under control. If I can do something about it, I will – otherwise, why spend life worrying?

- 5 Obsessions/Collections

1. Disney
2. Theme parks
3. The original Splash Mountain (read about why)
4. “Weird Al” Yankovic
5. News/Information

- 5 Surprising Things about you...
Hmmmm... the most surprising would be surprising because I deliberately do not publicize them. I'll save them for a book. I should keep this fairly innocuous.

1. I am fascinated by the sociology of cultic organizations of all types.
2. I have never been cited or even pulled over for a moving violation (hope this doesn’t jinx that).
3. I’ve never had an appendectomy, wisdom tooth extraction, tonsillectomy, or broken bone, but had two eye surgeries as a child.
4. I was among the very first guests to ever ride Splash Mountain (due to the aforementioned obsession).
5. I was published in a glossy magazine within the past year under a pen name (no, it wasn’t a smut mag!)

- Tag 5 People...

Feel free to tag yourself. I look at this one like those e-mails that say “send this to ten people you know, including the person who sent it to you.” Think about that – if everyone really followed that advice, you’d be doing nothing all day every day except sending that same e-mail message back and forth to each other...over and over and over and over AND OVER!!! It’s a Kremlin plot to waste our time! So consider yourself tagged... if you want to be and have never been tagged before and you have your own blog. So there.

My Coverage of the Disneyland Ambassador Ceremony

2008-10-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

Did you know that the Disneyland Resort has Ambassadors? It's true. My coverage of the ceremony announcing the 2009 Ambassadors can be found on The Disney Blog.

It was nice to see some old friends and cover the ceremony. It was a busy day for us, and fortunately I was able to squeeze that in.

My Review of the New Imagineering Book

2008-08-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

My review of the just-released book _Walt Disney’s Imagineering Legends and the Genesis of the Disney Theme Park_ by Jeff Kurtti is now up at LaughingPlace.com. I really hope you’ll read my review - or at least pretend to. It wouldn't hurt if you bought the book through the website, either.

In case you couldn’t tell or didn’t know already, the book profiles the first Imagineers who created the first four Disney theme parks (and the Disney attractions for the 1964 World’s Fair in New York) setting off a revolution in placemaking that continues to evolve today.

Try, Try Again

2008-06-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

I get a kick out of how Universal and Marvel are like... "Uh, we'll just pretend we didn't release an Incredible Hulk film just five years ago and we'll release a completely new one with a new look, cast, and director." You have to hand it to them. They believe in the character, and believe a film franchise can be made out of the character, and so the were willing to go through all of the trouble to try it again. Is there another example like this in modern filmmaking? I don't know. Hollywood tends to react to disappointment with running away from doing anything that smells similiar, even if the problem was obvious, such as the wrong script or the wrong director or the wrong guy driving the 15th truck.

It's nice to see that they didn't give up on Hulk. I liked the TV show (reruns) when I was a kid. And the 2003 film had Sam Elliot, who I've met twice... the first time being when he filmed three scenes for a television movie IN MY HOUSE. He was nice to me and filled out this really long note/autograph to me and I was just a kid at the time.

Knott's Brand Continues Corporate Journey

2008-05-23T23:32:00.000-07:00

ConAgra is selling the Knott's Bery Farm jams, jellies, and preserves brand to the J. M. Smucker Company. ConAgra got the brand in 1995. This will mean the closing of their facility (and layoffs) in Placentia, which isn't all that far from the Knott's Berry Farm theme park in Buena Park, California.

I grew up on the Knott's brand. It was kind of cool having the theme park (and Chicken Dinner restaurant that started it all) not too far away, though it had been a long time since berries were actually grown at Knott's Berry Farm.

The theme park was sold to Cedar Fair in 1997.

In the mid-1990s I'd been hoping that the food and theme park businesses could be kept together by being acquired by Anheuser-Busch, which had a snacks business and a theme park business, which had done wonders for the Sea World parks. We could have had beer-battered chicken at Mrs. Knott's!

Alas, it wasn't to be. AB even sold off Eagle Snacks.

Film Review: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"

2008-05-22T17:09:00.000-07:00

A Film Review & Event Report by Ken Pellman
"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"
at Edwards Big Newport, Newport Beach, CA
Rated “PG-13” for adventure violence and scary images
124 minutes
Lucasfilm (via Paramount Pictures)
Now Playing Everywhere

I can recall going to see the first Indiana Jones film, “Raiders of the Los Ark", in 1981. I was just a boy at the time, probably the youngest edge of the target audience. After Disney obtained the rights to create theme park attractions based on the character and films, I waited eagerly for a Disneyland manifestation. That finally opened in 1995, and I was fortunate enough to watch the Temple of the Forbidden Eye built from the ground up, take a few test rides, and even work at the attraction in the summer of 1996.

The film series does not have the same hold over me as the “Star Wars” series, but the long-awaited fourth film did prompt us to break our cinema-going drought.

We went all-out, of course, seeing the initial, midnight screening at the Big Newport, where the screen is huge, the audience responsive, and the sound system so loud and pumped up that it “rattles your colon”, to quote ThemeParkAdventure.com’s Rick West.

The folks at BigNewport.com outdid themselves, again organizing a charity fundraiser as part of a campout line-up of fedora-wearing, whip-cracking Indy fans. There was an auction and an outdoor screening of two fan productions - "Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation" and "Indyfans and the Quest for Fortune and Glory".

In the crowd were many of the usual suspects and it was good to see our friends and acquaintances again. Thankfully, Keelie’s Aunt Kendra and Uncle Steve babysat Keelie, allowing Kori and I to mark my birthday and the anniversary of our engagement with a dinner out alone before we dropped in on the festivities.

Like the three other films, this one finds our hero in a series of perilous circumstances and dealing with mystical forces. Set in 1957, the Nazi villains are long gone, as are some of Indy’s friends and his father. The villains are Soviet communists. They are indeed the villains, but the film also takes the opportunity for some mild lamenting of “red scare” paranoia, with a moment that perhaps is a metaphor for concerns about the Patriot Act.

We’ve all changed a lot since 1989’s “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” – the audience has changed, moviemaking has changed, director Steven Spielberg has changed, and of course Indiana Jones has changed – but not too much. Special effects have definitely changed, with digital effects being used liberally and effectively – which has, perhaps, the biggest effect in making the feel of this film different from the other three.

Unlike the other three films, Indy is not given a new love interest. Instead, we get to see one of our favorite characters return. Shia LaBeouf joins the mix as Mutt Williams, and teaming up with Indy, is prominent and central through much of the film. So if Indy is too old for the ladies, Mutt can give them something at which to stare.

Some of the subject matter is sure to be of interest to Roswell conspiracy theorists. The “crystal skull” subject and exotic locale (the jungles of South America) is a nod to the Indiana Jones: Temple of the Crystal Skull attraction at the DisneySea theme park in Japan (or, perhaps, the reverse is true, depending on when the basics of the plot were decided). Like the previous installments, there are plenty of elements that would be ripe for exciting theme park adaptation.

Which brings us to one of the things people love about these films – the action. There is plenty of over-the-top action and the humor that often is intertwined. A nuclear test blast is thrown in for good measure. There are also a few nods to the earlier films and other wink-wink moments.
In the end, we have even more character development and depth, and the franchise is left wide open for more adventures.

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” <> http://www.IndianaJones.com

Pellman's Bottom Line(TM): You’re already going to see this if you are an Indy fan. Otherwise, see it if you want a good popcorn movie. It doesn’t pretend to be anything else.

Pellman's Rating: 3 Brooms(TM) out of 4

Pellman's Suggestion (Theater or Home Viewing)(TM): See this on a large screen. Get to the Big Newport if you can (300 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, CA).

-Ken Pellman
(c)2008 Ken Pellman, all rights reserved. This review may not be further stored or shared in any way, shape, or form, by any means, without my express written permission. The statements in this review, unless otherwise stated, are my personal opinions and are not presented in connection with any entity with whom I may be or may have been associated.

Things That Make Me Go Grrrrrrr

2008-05-09T16:05:00.000-07:00

While I was out running an errand today, I checked in with the love of my life via phone call. That's when she remembered something she'd noticed... someone broke the cover of one of the taillights on our minivan.

Grrrrrr!

I checked out the damage. It wasn't too bad, but of course now the whole thing needs to be replaced. (The taillight or at least the cover... not the minivan.)

The damage most likely occurred while the minivan was parked in our space of our condo complex carport. Some people seem to spend their entire life in that carport, including kids who are out there playing around. It is likely they were throwing something or kicking something and the object hit our minivan in the process.

We don't know for sure, because nobody left a note. Cowards!!!

But this is another incident that is pushing me down the path to the Dark Side of the Force... er, uh, I mean the path to becoming a grumpy old man.

Now, whenever I notice anyone in the carport doing anything but parking, unloading something, or leaving, I'm going to call the management company and complain, because I don't want to risk another accident damaging our minivan again.

I mean, it's not like the kids don't have a place to play. There is a nice, busy boulevard right outside where they can play in traffic, for example. And the Metrolink tracks aren't too far away. Okay, I'm kidding. Kind of. But there is a park nearby, and each condo here does have a backyard-or-patio.

I think we simply need to bring back child labor.

I Have the Perfect Face For Radio

2008-04-25T16:07:00.000-07:00

It's been too long since I've made an entry on this blog. In case you don't know, I've been regularly updating our family blog at http://kori-and-ken.blogspot.com. I've also been blogging on TheDisneyBlog.com, and every once in a while I write something on my MySpace blog found at http://www.myspace.com/kenep. I even write some other places under a handle. But this right here is my main personal blog. I just haven't had all that much to say recently that I've wanted to say publicly. I've been keeping stuff to e-mail.

Really, Kori and I have been keeping busy just being parents to Keelie, spending time with family, and me with my job-outside-the-house. Nothing too exciting or different to report.

Speaking of my job, right after I finally woke up today, I checked my phone and had a message from someone at KFWB who wanted to talk with me about gas stations. So, I recorded an interview with him over the phone. That's just the first part of the work for the radio folks. The then edit the interview to get statements they want to use, and write a script for the on-air anchor to introduce the piece.

The problem for me, is that if I want to hear how the report turns out, I have to keep listening. It's not like with television news, where certain channels have certain news hours, and that's it. KFWB is all news, all of the time, with a 20-minute news cycle, and not all coverage takes place during every cycle.

I enjoy doing this kind of work. I've had mostly good experiences with broadcast reporters.

Today on KFWB, there has been a lot of coverage about a fatal shark attack off of the shore of San Diego county.

Another "I'm Getting Old" Moment

2008-01-26T12:35:00.000-08:00

Recently, I fiddled a bit with our desktop computer over a weekend, downloading some stuff I've been meaning to get for a while. I finally re-installed AOL Instant Messenger - my main personal handle is KPSFH. They give you an e-mail account and full profile and everything with that now. Great. More spam.

But I was struck with the reality of not knowing exactly what I wanted to do with the profile. I used to use AOL IM to keep in touch with certain family members, friends, pen pals, girlfriends, and to meet people, especially with my hours being what they used to be. But life has changed. MySpace is a little better for keeping in touch with friends now. My hours are different, I have less time to be online, and I'm no longer a young single male who can flirt it up online. Being a not-so-young married father and Public Information Officer, I'm more guarded about my (= our) privacy. I know, I know... we have our blogs and all of that, but I'm careful about what I put on them.

It was just one of those "I'm getting old" moments.

So, for those of you who still use AOL IM, go ahead and add my handle.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-23T13:05:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas. Thanks for reading and thanks for your e-mails and comments. Check out or family blog over at http://kori-and-ken.blogspot.com/ for our final update of the year, and our annual Christmas letter.

Rest In Peace Bruce Gordon

2007-11-06T21:07:00.000-08:00

Walt Disney Imagineer, lecturer, author, unofficial Disney historian - and one of my personal heroes and inspirations - Bruce Gordon - died suddenly. He was found in his home today after friends grew concerned, went there, and called authorities. I believe the story broke online at LaughingPlace.com. Also noted on The Disney Blog and Blue Sky Disney. In recent years, Bruce had left WDI and was concentrating on writing books and, as I understand it, working for the Disney family.

I have a lot to say about Bruce, as he helped me live one of my dreams. But that will have to wait for later.

I Was Quoted About Medflies

2007-10-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

I've been busy working extra hours over the last couple of days. Why? Meditterranean Fruit Flies, or "Medflies" for short. It's a non-native pest that agriculture professionals want to keep out of California. There is a long, heated history when it comes to that fight, so when fertile Medflies are found, the news media takes note. Most people, however, would never notice the present-day methods used to eradicate this pest.

Megan Bagdonas of the Daily Breeze talked with me about the situation yesterday. Here are quotes from her article:

“The chances of a fertile female finding a fertile male is extremely small once there’s hundreds of thousands of these sterile males flying around,” said Ken Pellman, spokesman for the county Agriculture Commissioner’s Office.

[SNIP]

Adult Medflies are not harmful, but the eggs they lay inside fruits and vegetables hatch into hungry larvae that destroy agricultural crops. Officials say they don’t know where the South Bay invaders came from.

“We have inspectors at the airport and the port that examine for pests, but it’s possible they got through when a cargo door was opened,” Pellman said. “That’s why we tell people traveling not to bring in fruits or vegetables, especially from Hawaii,” which has a Medfly infestation..
[SNIP}

“If this fly gets a foothold in the state, prices of fruit and vegetables will skyrocket and organic farmers, especially, will have a lot more crop loss,” Pellman said. “An ounce of prevention is cheaper than a pound of cure.”

I Was Quoted About the Wildfires

2007-10-25T22:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I talked with an Associated Press wire reporter, Juliana Barbassa, about the impacts of the recent wildfires on agriculture in Los Angeles County. As a result, I was cited in this story, which has appeared on news sites (and, I'm presuming, in newspapers) all over the world.

Here's my section...

Even in Los Angeles County, where agriculture has been pushed to the margins by decades of development, small farms that linger among Malibu's million-dollar homes are reporting losses, said Ken Pellman, a spokesman for the county's agriculture commissioner.

One ranch in the hills above Pepperdine University lost 80 percent of the avocados grown on a three-acre plot, five trucks and all 52 goats they kept to abate weeds and prevent the spread of fire.

Fatherhood Changes Your Brain

2007-10-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

I had a period in my life when I questioned, partially based on my history and behavior, if I really did want to get married and have kids after all. I knew I had to figure that out, because:

If I married and had kids and really didn't want to, I'd be making a lot of people unhappy.
If I really did want that life, but didn't go out and get it, I'd end up unhappy.

So, for my own happiness...

If I really didn't want that life, I needed to avoid it.
If I did want that life, I needed to take the steps to get there.

I came down on the side of wanting a wife and kids, knowing that it would completely change my life - a life that with which I wasn't dissatisfied. I had seen how the lives of others were changed. I saw the tradeoffs as far as freedom, time, money, and energy, but I figured having a family and the husband-wife and parent-child relationships was worth it.

There must be some sort of brain chemistry that changes when a man becomes a father, especially if he did it intentionally. I think back to finding out we were expecting, and the ultrasounds, and feeling Keelie kicking. I'm still shocked over the profound feelings I had during the delivery and seeing Keelie for the first time. And now, as she isn't so fussy, as she straddles my leg and watches football (she really seems to like football) and makes soft babbles, I realize that I too have been hit by the magic crazy parent spell, where I'm not getting anything else done and not going out anywhere and I'm spending money all over the place... and I don't mind so much because I have this little expensive attention-hungry dependent poop machine in my arms, warming my heart. I would die for her.

I would die for her mother, too – the woman who carried her and gave birth to her, and takes care of her around the clock. I’d heard how much this experience would boost my awe of and love for my wife, and that didn’t seem possible before. Yet, that’s exactly what has happened.

Burger Continental Fire

2007-10-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

Egads! Fire at Burger Continental in Pasadena.

I hope they're up and running again ASAP. I love that place. Have you been there? Their menu is huge, and if you don't see something on the menu, you can probably order it anyway. It's been too long. We need to go back.

A Bug Flew Into My Mouth

2007-09-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

We're having these flying bugs show up in our home. I do my best to kill them like the sadistic, cold-hearted guy that I am - usually by smashing them. Well, a few minutes ago, while I was taking something to the bedroom, a bug flew into my mouth in the dark of the hallway.

Blech!!!

I spit it out into the bathroom sink and quickly gargled with mouthwash.

Maybe we need to keep a large spider as a pet.

Made the Papaer and the TV and Radio News

2007-09-27T22:18:00.001-07:00

Just doin' my job.

A coworker mine caught two more Oriental Fruit Flies close to each other, this time northwest of downtown L.A., so that meant more news media work. You may have caught me on KNX AM 1070 (where my childhood classmate Ms. Reyes does traffic!) or saw me on the KNBC-TV Channel 4 News.

Also, I was in today's San Gabriel Valley Tribune, talkin' 'bout a weed abatement issue. You see, Fire departments make sure that property owners with houses or businesses or some other structure on their property do proper brush clearance on their property. My coworkers enforce brush clearance on "unimproved" (unoccupied) parcels.

http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_7009642
Brittle Brush Beautiful, Dangerous
By Bethania Palma, Staff Writer
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

"Our people have been working with the residents," said Ken Pellman,
spokesman for the L.A. County Agricultural Commissioner. "It's ongoing."

He added that the county commissioner's office has "no dispute" with the state Fish and Game department.

Pellman said the threat of fire is mitigated by a paved emergency access road that separates the weeds from homes.

"It's not what we consider a real high fire hazard," he said. "It could burn, but it's not the highest priority."

The Silence Has Been...Uh, Silenced

2007-09-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

He never told me he was a mime.

More Oriental Fruit Flies

2007-09-07T14:12:00.000-07:00

This time, they're in the South Bay. While treatments are ongoing in the Glendale/Burbank area, treatments are going to start up in another area. I've already recorded an interview for radio.

Here is a quote from the Daily Breeze, based on a wire report prompted by our press release.

The fruit flies were found in county traps between Sept. 4-6 in the unincorporated Harbor City area and the city of Rolling Hills Estates. The Oriental Fruit Fly “is one of the world’s most destructive insect pests,” Ken Pellman of the County of Los Angeles Department of Agriculture Commissioner/Weights and Measures said in a
statement.

“A potential breeding population is indicated by the very limited time and distance between these detections,” Pellman said, adding that the California Department of Food and Agriculture would conduct the spraying, or “squirting.”

The spraying could start even earlier if more of the fruit flies are found. The “male eradication” program will entail squirting fruit fly “bait” on utility poles, trees and light poles. The bait contains a small amount of Naled pesticide that will kill the flies, Pellman said.

The story is also covered already here and here.

Two Tiny Fruit Flies Get Me on TV

2007-08-29T21:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks for two male Oriental Fruit Fly specimens founds in Glendale, I'm being quoted in newspapers, heard on news radio, and and seen on television news.

Yesterday, KFWB AM 980 and KNX AM 1070 both recorded phone interviews with me, and I heard some of my quotes on KFWB today.

Today, I did on-camera interviews with KTTV Channel 11, KNBC-TV Channel 4, and KABC-TV Channel 7. KABC has the video on their website. I haven't seen myself on KNBC, and KTTV's news airs in about half an hour.

I was also quoted on the KCAL-TV 9/KCBS-TV 2 news website:
"People can go about their daily lives without concern," said Ken Pellman, public information officer for the Department of Agricultural Commissioner/Weights and Measures.

I was also quoted in the Glendale News-Press:
Two Oriental fruit flies — which as larvae are among the most destructive insects to fruits and vegetables — turned up Aug. 21 and Friday in insect traps, which are used to monitor pest activity, said Ken Pellman, spokesman for the L.A. County agricultural commissioner.

In response, the department will conduct a large-scale eradication effort, applying pesticide-laced bait 6 to 8 feet up tree trunks and utility poles, covering about 600 spots per square mile, Pellman said.

The agent is designed to kill male fruit flies and is not harmful to humans, he added.

“It’s a really effective method we find,” he said. “Oriental fruit flies have been found before, but these eradication efforts have been very successful in the past, so that they don’t become established and get a foothold in the area.”

A wild fruit fly population could threaten agricultural crops, as well as vegetable and fruit trees in private yards, Pellman said.

“Hopefully, these were the only two, and that’s entirely possible because we do set up traps — there are traps everywhere — and we keep checking them for these pests, and quite often they don’t show up again,” he said.

Though Glendale has little agriculture, the pests can pose problems for plant nurseries, which could have controls put on their shipments if the area were to be quarantined over a fruit fly scare, Pellman said.

And...

The Oriental fruit fly reportedly has the potential to wreak more havoc than the infamous Oriental fruit flies, which are native to Southeast Asia and are found in Hawaii and other Pacific islands, can be brought in by travelers transporting fruits and vegetables into the continental United States, as well as in goods shipped into the country, Pellman said.

“There’s no way to know for sure, but with transportation being what it is, people travel, and they’ll bring back fruits and vegetables,” he said.

“Or relatives or friends from their country of origin will send them as gifts, or they could just stow away in cargo holds of airplanes.”

Inspections at shipping ports and airports are designed to keep harmful insects from migrating into the United States via produce, he added.

“We do have efforts to check at ports and airports and shipping to check for pests on shipment that’s entering, whether it’s fruits, vegetables or ornamental plants,” he said.

“It’s possible they can get through that way too, but we do have pretty good inspectors in that regard.”

KNBC-TV Channel 4 11pm News Rebroadcast

2007-08-28T05:23:00.000-07:00

Quite often, I'm up at strange hours. We have Time Warner Cable, and often during the 4am half-hour, I'll catch part of the rebroadcast of the previous night's KNBC-TV Channel 4 News at 11pm. Hey - there aren't a lot of options at that hour, even with cable.

Anyway, the news program is unusually quiet for some reason. The other channels aren't that quiet. The commercial breaks aren't that quiet. So I don't think it is a Time Warner Cable problem. I think someone at KNBC wants people to fall asleep watching Coleen Williams (which is a nice way to go) and then be jolted awake by the commercials.

Speaking of commercials, the bright spot in this half hour are commercials for Tito's Tacos. From the commercial, it looks like there is just one - in Culver City. Now, I've never eaten there, but I like Mexican food - real Mexican food or "trying to be" Mexican food. Okay, who am I fooling... I like food. But I really like Mexican food. And I like this commercial. It uses a catchy song (click on the like to hear it) and still images with graphics. It is an example of a good local commercial, unlike those cheesy ones you tend to see with the poor audio/video and atrocious acting.

I'm hungry now.

Siamese Faith Healer's Network

2007-08-12T14:32:00.000-07:00

Cable has come a long way since "Weirdl Al" Yankovic gave an accurate portrayal of 1980s cable. But I still have a gripe.

I’m sure I’m not the only one to notice that cable channel branding has lost its meaning. ABC Family running “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery”? And wasn’t AMC supposed to be for American Movie Classics? A lot of those films ain’t classic. TLC? A&E?, E!? The programming seems to be so similar for so many of the channels, with the only thing distinguishing them to the audience is the little logo in the corner of the screen. How many more shows featuring the following subjects do we really need?

-Plastic surgery
-Weight loss
-Cooking (maybe we wouldn’t need so many weight loss shows if we weren’t watching food preparation on TV all of the time)
-Addicts
-House remodeling/flipping
-Follow a celebrity around as he/she does nothing in particular
-Follow a (former) celebrity around who is trying to revive his/her career and/or is looking for “love”
-Watch a bunch of young attention addicts party and hook up and sometimes live together.

Lets just get it over with. Let’s simply have one show that repeats episodes over and over again: A team of celebrities vs. a team of nobodies compete for weight loss and career success while undergoing plastic surgery, dealing with addiction, preparing food, living together in a house they are renovating, and partying. It will be great to see the tension between the chefs and the dieters, the partiers and the people trying to keep the house in good condition.

I was prompted to write this because I’m exposed to a lot more basic cable programming right now, with the baby keeping us home and keeping us awake.

My Latest Column Now Online

2007-08-07T19:49:00.000-07:00

The moment you've been waiting for is finally here!

The latest edition of my Kenversations(TM) column was posted today at http://www.LaughingPlace.com.

In this column, I lament the closure of the Disney Gallery by sharing my Disney Gallery memories from the past 20 years.

Check out the column and tell me what you think by using the feedback form at the end of the column. You can also talk about the column with others by following the link at the end of the column to the discussion boards.

Remember - I also contribute to The Disney Blog at http://www.TheDisneyBlog.com.

My Baby Girl Was Born Five Weeks Ago

2007-07-24T20:12:00.000-07:00

I can remember the feeling I got when Kori and I were newlyweds and back from the honeymoon trip, and I was leaving for work and returning from work in a home shared by my wife...just like real a grown up.

Although I had looked forward to being married to Kori and getting to be with her all of the time, I hadn’t looked forward to the “boring” thing of settling down with a real job, the home, and living with someone else for the rest of my life. It wasn’t like I was dreading that - I just hadn’t been looking forward to it in the forefront of my thinking. I just looked at it like a necessity that went along with being married, like having to stop at the gas station in order to go on a road trip... only much more serious and deep than that.

Yet, once I found myself in that position of being the married man going off to work in my tie and returning to a shared home at the end of the work day– standing at that front door - I felt such a feeling of belonging and accomplishment, as if this was the way things were supposed to be.

That feeling was renewed with the pregnancy and birth.

Now that I’m a father, it just seems like “of course... this is the way it is supposed to be” as if it was a given all along – as if the uncertainty if whether or not I would get married and become a father never existed. Of course I would get married and become a father. After all, here I am now.

I’ve agreed out loud many times over the last ten months, and especially the last five weeks, that it is one thing to know something on an intellectual level, but quite a different thing to actually experience it. You can read all of the books and hear all of the stories from friends and family, but you don’t really feel it to the fullest until you experience it.

It is one thing to have a wife – a capable grown woman who has proven to be able to take care of herself - voluntarily changer her life to rely on me. It is quite different to voluntarily bring a baby into the world who now relies on both of us for love, for food, for shelter, for clothing, for health care, for protection, for cleaning, for affection, for teaching her how to survive and thrive in the world, and for her role models.

It is life events like this that cause me feel a deeper connection to my own parents, my sister who has two children with her husband, and other parents in my life. The emotions and perspectives shift. The contemplation of various life issues comes up in the daily thinking. I know studies show the brains of people are literally change when they become parents, and I can believe it, because I have experienced changes.

Suddenly, there is a tangible living legacy and I’m no longer the end of the line, but rather a link in a beautiful chain that I may live to see get even longer. It's a spiritual experience.

If you aren’t a parent (yet), you can understand the words I write. If you are a parent, you’ve probably experienced what I’m saying.

I'm so blessed to have both of these ladies in my life, and so thankful that our families and friends have surrounded us to share in the joy and to assist.

Thank you.

I Was Quoted

2007-07-21T20:20:00.000-07:00

Although I'm not being quoted as often as I was when I was with Public Works, it still happens from time to time.

This time, I'm quoted in the Capital Press in a piece by Elizabeth Larson and Bob Krauter.

Southern California agricultural officials are on high alert after the discovery of a light brown apple moth in the northwest area of Los Angeles County.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture confirmed the L.A. find Monday and also the discovery of the moth in Solano County, bringing to 11
the total number of counties where the pest has been found.

Ken Pellman, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County agricultural commissioner, said the single moth was picked up in a trap June 28 in Sherman Oaks.

"We're hoping that this was a one and only. We have traps out everywhere and we hope this is not indicative of an on-going problem," Pellman said.

County officials have placed an additional 25 traps per square mile in a nine-mile radius around the Sherman Oaks discovery to determine if more moths are in the area.

The Sherman Oaks find marks the first discovery in Southern California. The invasive pest, which damages hundreds of plants and fruits, had most recently been found in Napa County at the start of May. State agricultural officials reported that a single moth was trapped recently in Vallejo in Solano County. As of Wednesday, no additional moths had been discovered.

This is a foreign pest that destroys a wide range of crops and ornamental plants. We don't want it to get a foothold in the County of Los Angeles.

Not Going to See Weird Al

2007-07-15T11:54:00.000-07:00

This week, “Weird Al” Yankovic and his White and Nerdy Band will be performing at the Orange County Fair. This will be the first time I’ve missed a chance to see them in ten years. I’ve seen Al and the band perform at the Henry Fonda, the Greek (more than once), the OC Fair (more than once), the Grove at Anaheim, and in Brea – any location they were playing in the LA/OC area, often getting to meet Al and Bermuda, and Steve. Maybe even Jim. I even met Al’s mother (may his parents rest in piece), Al’s wife, and Al’s dog. I’ve also stood in line two different occasions to have Al sign CDs.

At the concerts, I’d cut loose and go hoarse with cheering.

But I need to be home with my wife and baby girl. I’m sure Al understands. After all, he and his wife have a little girl, too. At least I can see bits of the tour online, thanks for video sharing websites.

Keep In Touch, Darn It!

2007-07-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday afternoon and the air conditioners are keeping the condo nice. Keelie is screaming herself hoarse unless she is attached to her mother, eating or not. She also tends to like it when "new" people hold her. She likes to make a good first impression.

We still haven't settled in to a "new normal" yet.

In case you didn't know, you can see the latest pictures of Keelie and keep up with what we're up to over here at our "family" blog.

Anyway, the title of this entry was inspired by a former coworker who left an comment on the other blog. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I have his e-mail address. I'm not too hard to find if you know how to use a search feature. My name is not all that common. Oh, there are other guys out there with the name "Ken Pellman", but I'm not into the Amish lifestyle, eastern music, or lumber, so it really isn't all that hard to find ME. I'm the guy who has been a Public Information Officer for the County of Los Angeles for many years now, worked as a Disneyland cast member for "a long time", grew up in South Pasadena, California, graduated from Cal State Fullerton, is a "Weird Al" Yankovic fan, writes for LaughingPlace.com, blogs on TheDisneyBlog.com, follows most things Disney, and has long had a serious interest in theme park design. I like to make funny voices and even impersonations. I got married in December 2004 and we just had our first baby.

That's me. So, if it isn't clear that I have your current e-mail address, please give it to me - sfh[at]flash[dot]net. That is, unless you don't care to hear from me. If I don't have your e-mail address, I can't thank you for your nice comments. And please keep me updated on what you're up to. We're homebodies and we have a newborn, so it isn't like we're getting out and about a lot.

My First Splashdown - 18 Year Anniversary

2007-06-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe it has been eighteen years since I fulfilled a dream of mine, along with four friends.

I have lived longer since that day than I did before that day.

EW Checks in Again

2007-06-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

I got another e-mail from Entertainment Weekly. They are now offering a subscription to me for less than 38 cents (U.S.) an issue, plus gifts. Check out my last post on the situation here. Anyway, here is the e-mail itself:

Dear KEN,

We want you back as a subscriber so much, we're offering you ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY up to 89% off the newsstand price! You'll get
40 issues for only $20. Or use your credit/debit card and save $5 more!

Subscribe now and you will also get:

FREE Movie Screening Passes as they become available on a first-come,
first-served basis.

Respond by June 29th to ensure you receive the Fall Movie Preview and
the 2007 Photo issue, one of our most popular special issues!

So grab your chance to receive FREE Movie Passes, save up to 89% off
the newsstand price, and keep up with what's happening in the world of
entertainment. Click here to come back to ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY.

Sincerely,
Holley Cavanna
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Now, in theory, I could opt out of these e-mails. But I find them...entertaining. I'm still holding out for an offer where they actually pay me to subscribe.

Ramblings of an Expectant Father

2007-06-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

As I was putting together the latest big update to our blog, I decided that some of my comments were best placed here instead. So, here they are.

Another birthday has come and gone. Birthdays weren’t so much a big deal in my family of origin – don’t get me wrong, we got nice gifts – but in Kori’s family of origin they have traditionally been a big deal. So, it is a great time to pack on extra pounds with celebratory meals. I was treated to a meal out at work, and then there’s the monthly birthday cake. Kendra and Steve took us out to Amazon Brazilian BBQ. That’s one of those places where you have to show up very hungry. I love the alligator. Kori and I had previously gotten together with my mother, Chris, Kim, Mike, Blaine, and Macon to celebrate Mother’s Day, Chris’ birthday, and my birthday together. Kori’s parents also had us over to celebrate my birthday, along with Troy and Toby. Finally, Kori and I went to have some green corn tamales with my dad and Kathleen. It’s nice to be treated so well!

My birthday used to depress me, but ever since I proposed to Kori on my birthday, it can no longer depress me. Good move on my part.

Let’s see… Life is in transition mode as we prepare for Keelie. Typically, four days a week, it seems like all I can do once I get home from work is eat dinner and get ready for bed, and maybe watch a little television. You’d think three days a week off would be enough to catch up on everything, but it hasn’t worked out that way. I purposely moved my 30-minutes-a-day of exercising to the morning, and that has made my days better, even though it has meant getting up half an hour earlier on workdays.

One to two of my days off is/are typically taken up with honey-dos, errands/shopping, appointments, phone calls, and weekly reading. Half of another is taken up with church stuff. No complaints, though – this is a good life.

No complaints are far as having a lot to do, that is. I have plenty of complaints about getting the new desktop computer the way we want it. We’ve had plenty of problems with this thing, which came with Vista, including the machine not being able to get out of sleep mode, and Outlook (or Windows Mail, for that matter) not being able to send messages through AT and T. Even if Mail would work, I can’t transfer all of our contacts to it for some reason. After researching some of the problems myself and not being able to fix them, I spent a lot of time one weekend dealing with the store that sold us the system with Vista loaded (since they have a service for this kind of thing), and then the manufacturer, and then AT and T. In the end, we were referred to Microsoft. Haven’t contacted them yet.

Then there is the migration from our old machines to the new one. I did manage to backup the stuff on the 95 machine on zip disks. Can someone please tell me why Microsoft wants us to keep changing e-mail programs? Internet Mail, Outlook, Windows Mail… pick a program and stick with it, Microsoft!

And why can't I use the ampersand symbol on blogger? Grrr! That meanst I have to write it as "AT and T"

Okay, on to television.

First, a technical complaint. We have Time Warner Cable, which took over for Adelphia in a deal with Comcast after Adelphia went kaput. Some of the channels on our main television get choppy or just one come in at all. We’ve had someone to repair it at least twice, but the problem is still here. I got a call the other day while I was exercising from someone from Time Warner Cable looking to sell me something. Before he could, though, I told him we were unhappy with our service and told him why. There’s no glitch with them charging us every month, though. Imagine that. I have no idea why the guy was calling, because he didn’t bother to tell me after I calmly suggested we might want to switch to AT and T’s new television service. He did ask if the neighbors are having the same sorts of problems. I answered honestly – I don’t know, because I don’t speak Spanish.

Okay, now on to content.

Unlike a lot of the other people, we did watch The Apprentice this past season. If they come back for another season, that show needs an actor to be a mole on each team. Think about it – Trump and his kids could know who the moles are, and thus avoid firing them until late in the game, but nobody else would know (except the audience) that there are even moles on the show. They can use the justification that in the business world, you sometimes have to work with jerks. The actors can be offered a bonus if nobody ever figures it out or accuses them of being a mole. We also still watch each season of Survivor. I think it is time they amped that show up… maybe pit a tribe of law enforcement people up against ex-cons, or some other groups with known rivalries/animosities. Palestinians against Israelis? Democrats vs. Republicans? East Coast vs. West Coast? Americans-since-birth vs. naturalized Americans? North Americans vs. Europeans?

We also still watch American Idol, but it got boring this past season after that VoteFortheWorst candidate got the boot.

The Soup is a guilty pleasure that always makes me laugh.

Law and Order SVU is addicting, even when it plays to religious or political stereotypes. The writers must get tired, as evidenced when a bunch of the characters are sitting around in a room discussing a crime and they sound like they are delivering a monologue, only the lines have been distributed amongst them. Hey, I’m not throwing stones - it isn’t like I have anything on TV. But once… just once… I’d like Stabler to answer his cell phone while Benson talks to someone and NOT have the call conveniently have something to do with the case they are working on that moves them on to the next location.

For example:

Benson: “What was that call about? Is the DNA a match?”

Stable: “What? Oh, uh no. I’m supposed to meet up with one of
the kids to sign some paperwork.”

Oh well… television airtime is valuable.

Speaking of Special Victims, I catch some of those Dateline NBC episodes that are all about predators who use the Internet to set up meetings with decoys they think are 13-year-olds. That’s fascinating stuff, I don’t care how edited it is. Some people cite ethical problems with the production of the show, other people are upset that predators are being lured to their neighborhoods. Controversial stuff, to be sure.

Kori and I also watch Identity, 1 vs. 100, Jeopardy, and reruns of The Simpsons. Kori watches more TV than I do, programs such as Heroes, The Amazing Race, American’s Next Top Model, Dancing with the Stars, The People’s Court, and Dr. Phil.

Kori also seems to watch a lot of those true-crime show that take a whole hour detailing how one spouse killed the other, went on trial, and was convicted. What do you think - should I be worried?

It will be interesting to see how our viewing habits change after Keelie is born. Everything is supposed to change, right? Parents tell expectant parents that their how life will change, that everything gets more complicated, that everything is much more a hassle, that time, energy, money, and sleep will be short, and all sorts of other downsides... yet they also tell us "It's the best thing in the world!" Let me get this straight... we'll be frustrated, depressed zombies with no money and no lives, but it's a good thing anyway. Hmmm. That can only mean one thing... kids really are gifts with amazing powers.

In all seriousness, we expect life to be completely different. We made the decision to become parents consciously, and while no set of books or seeing siblings and friends with their own kids could really prepare us, we know we volunteered for this life change.

That’s all for now. Keep me updated on what you are up to.

So Few Places to Land My Private 747

2007-05-18T21:43:00.000-07:00

This story almost reads like a parody.

A visit to Thailand by Bill Gates has inspired the construction of a man-made island off the resort of Phuket, so the world's richest man and other billionaires can moor their huge yachts. Hoping to build an Asian playground for the rich and famous to rival the French Riviera and the Caribbean, cordless telephone tycoon Gulu Lalvani plans to build a doughnut-shaped island of 30 to 40 luxury villas and a hotel around a marina.

"Bill Gates was there last month with his wife on a 54 metre (177 foot) yacht and he loved it so much," Lalvani, founder of phone maker Binatone told Reuters in an interview.

"We sat on the beach together and he said it was one of the best holidays he'd had, and he would come back every year if only he had somewhere for his mega yacht."

My Latest Column Is Up at LaughingPlace.com

2007-05-18T10:14:00.000-07:00

The moment you've been waiting for is finally here!

The latest edition of Kenversations(TM) was posted today at http://www.LaughingPlace.com.
In this column, I advocate closing and tearing down the Disneyland Resort! Well, kinda sorta. I also offer an alternative plan for making the Disneyland Resort, and thus the Anaheim Resort and Anaheim in general an even better worldwide draw, while appeasing some Anaheim residents and politicians.

Check it out NOW!

Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

2007-05-14T05:28:00.000-07:00

I was quoted in the San Jose Mercury News. While I'm not appearing the media as often as I used to, I'm appearing in a wider coverage area overall. This one, by Julie Sevrens Lyons, is weather related again. She did a lot of legwork on this one, coming down to Los Angeles County and meeting up with a lot of the different people on location.

While the Bay Area is experiencing an abnormally dry year, with many agencies calling for water conservation and restrictions, Los Angeles and many parts of Southern California are suffering through their driest year since record-keeping began in 1872. And beyond the dramatic proof of the danger of fire, more subtle signs of drought are everywhere.

It was nice to see Adam Walden from DPW quoted (and in a picture). I worked with Adam and I've met his mother when she came over for dinner at my father & his wife's place through some relation to Kathleen. Turns out it is a small world after all.

The rainy season isn't over yet, but "unless we get some kind of storms on the caliber of biblical in nature, this will be the driest year on record," said Adam Walden, a senior civil engineer in the water resources division of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works. For the first time, Los Angeles has received what is normal rainfall for Death Valley.
And here comes my little contribution.

Drive beyond the city center, and you'll see sheep grazing on barren pastures. Deer looking for water in nearly empty reservoirs. And, in some places, bees. Lots of bees.

Two years ago, when there were record high rains, bees established colonies in outlying areas that had been less hospitable before. Now that they're dry again, the bees are looking for water in Los Angeles' suburbs.

Bees are a problem

The bees, including the aggressive Africanized honeybee, are going "where people have swimming pools, where they're watering their lawns," said Ken Pellman, a
spokesman for the Los Angeles County agricultural commissioner.

I Was Quoted About Bees

2007-05-09T06:47:00.000-07:00

I was quoted in the Los Angeles Times in a piece by staff writer Rong-Gong Lin II about the dry weather's effects on plants and animals.

The relentlessly dry weather has made this a spring like no other across the region, wreaking havoc on the ecosystem.

Downtown Los Angeles has recorded less than 4 inches of rain since July 1 — less than a quarter of normal. The region was hit Monday with another round of high heat, low humidity and dry winds, prompting officials to issue a red flag warning for brush fires.

And, of course, we have had the fires underway already. We had a lot of rainfall just two years ago, when the storms destroyed roads in the canyons and hills.

In urban areas, bees are becoming more of a nuisance as they try to find additional sources of water. Los Angeles County agricultural officials have detected a spike in complaints about beehives in buildings. There was even a report of a swarm forming inside a sidewalk water main in Highland Park.

"Once natural sources of water in the hills or mountains are dried up, there's so many backyard swimming pools and people watering their lawns, forming puddles — it's attractive," said Ken Pellman, spokesman for the agricultural commissioner.

In Defense of EHarmony.com

2007-05-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

I’ve noticed that a lot of people have gripes about the highly successful matchmaking service eHarmony.com, and that a lot of other matchmaking, dating, personals, and hook-up services like to compare or contrast themselves to eHarmony.com, which is inevitable given eHarmony.com’s success. Likewise, some people hate the success of others in general, and so bash the service.

I want to respond. Full disclosure: I’m happily married to a woman I met via eHarmony.com.

EHarmony.com isn’t for everyone. First of all, the guy who started it has made no secret that he’s trying to lower the divorce rate. Just read the book he wrote around the time he launched the service. How do lower the divorce rate with your customers? 1. Only take on individuals who stand a good chance of staying married. 2) Only match people to someone to whom they’d have a chance of staying married (do not match incompatible people, even if they are sexually attracted to each other). 3) Offer tools to help them stay married. 4) Encourage people who are not currently marriage material but want to be to get some help.

It is not really meant as a place for find a casual lay or a hook-up. It’s there for matchmaking for marriage.

The Huffington Post, promoting a sister business, offers criticism of eHarmony.com below.

Did you know that behind those eHarmony commercials that are hosted by their avuncular, relentlessly upbeat founder -- and that promise a lifetime of soul mate bliss -- is a company run by someone with an unabashed religious and social
mission?

Oh no! Someone who takes their religion seriously? Dr. Neil Clark Warren has made no secret of wanting to reduce the rate of divorce and increase marital happiness. What a horrible man, right?
A company that by its own admission has rejected over a million people for reasons that range from not being "happy enough" (on a happy-meter they handily provide) to being divorced too many times, to being gay.
Who wants to marry a depressed person? Being divorced multiple times before makes you a bad candidate for continuing to be married. I don’t know if eHarmony.com actually bans someone for being gay, but if you are looking to be matched with someone of the same sex, then no, eHarmony.com is not for you. Warren has offered advice to people seeking to set up same-sex matchmaking services, but his own professional practice involved marital counseling involving husbands and wives. In case you haven’t noticed, men and women are different. (If they weren’t, I guess there would be no such thing as “straight” and “gay”, now would there?) The dynamics between a husband and wife are different than the dynamics of any other relationship.

Dr. Neil Clark Warren, the evangelical-Christian-turned-entrepreneur who started eHarmony by leveraging the distribution power of Reverent Dobson's media network and his "Focus on the Family" organization, has been very clear about what he wants to accomplish, despite the recent and expedient secularization of his brand.

Whatever you think of Dobson or Focus on the Family, one of their main goals has been strengthening marriages and making them more enjoyable, so I guess that’s a natural fit for Warren, no? Evangelical Christians officially promote marriage over unmarried cohabitation and sexually-active bachelorhood/bachelorettehood, while much of society today encourages cohabitation and sex before marriage. So again, it was natural for Warren to start with that subset of society and expand to the larger society from there. It is a smart business model.

Actually, eHarmony isn't just a brand; it's an ideological vessel, a brandologue. As the first line of its Wikipedia entry states, "eHarmony is a Christian-founded, marriage-oriented matchmaking website." There's nothing wrong with that, it's absolutely legitimate for eHarmony to seek to accomplish its goals of encouraging faith and marriage via marketing. And I would defend their right to say it in a Voltaire-lite fashion, meaning I'm not so sure about the "to the death" part.

That’s very kind and tolerant of you.

But it's also equally legitimate for a competitor to call eHarmony out on its agenda, to shine a light onto who they are and what they believe so consumers can make informed choices, and to trigger a healthy debate over what
constitutes a productive and healthy relationship, straight or gay.

Sure, why not?

And that's just what's happening. This week, our agency launched an advertising campaign for our client Chemistry.com that takes on eHarmony boldly and
directly.

I’m sure this has nothing to do with how successful eHarmony.com has been.

There are TV commercials and print ads that challenge eHarmony's agenda and restrictiveness, and that invite women and men who are seeking a relationship on their own terms to join Chemistry.com.
Sometimes, restrictiveness is good. Sometimes, restrictions are part of what makes something work. For instance, what if a Jewish Community Center was run primarily by gentile Christians? How effective would it be as a JCC?

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people have joined eHarmony, and paid them dutifully each month, without knowing where eHarmony stands and what it believes. That's simply wrong.
It’s up to people to inform themselves and then make decisions based on that. How many people get jobs that require them to be members of unions that spend their dues money on causes they don’t support? Most people buy services and products from companies that support things they don’t, or whose shareholders do, or whose executives do. If eHarmony.com works for you, do you really care what Warren thinks? I have no idea or the politics or social views or even the lifestyle of my doctor. I know he has kids. That’s about it. He’s a good doctor. Now, he if he told me the best way for me to lose weight would be for me to eat Double-Doubles every meal, I’d look for another doctor. But I wouldn’t if I found out he supports a political candidate I oppose.

Not surprisingly, eHarmony has been clever enough to recognize that increasingly, consumers are putting their choices under a microscope. So as the company grew into a mass consumer brand, they began keep their agenda quiet and cut any ties that could restrict their growth. In fact, Warren ditched his close association with Reverend Dobson and "Focus on Family." In his own words, Warren admitted that the link would be a "killer." I'd actually have more respect for them if they didn't go through this convoluted distancing process, and had the courage to stand behind Dobson. But it seems to me that Warren, seduced by Mammon in the archetypal faith vs. greed struggle, decided to grow his business at the expense of his values. (I'm sure the venture capitalists that plowed more than $100 million into his business -- the fourth largest investment of 2004 according to Wikipedia -- had something to say about it, too.)
Huh? There’s nothing wrong with pursuing a strong, honest, legitimate business model. Making money isn’t a bad thing, and the Bible certainly doesn’t teach that making money is bad. Staying with Focus on the Family would mean reaching a segment of Christendom. Expanding beyond that means reaching out to Jews, Buddhists, atheists, and anyone else looking to get married. It’s a legitimate thing for a Christian to provide a helpful service – for profit or otherwise – to everyone, not just someone of the same exact religion. Isn't that a sign of inclusiveness? Warren need not repudiate Dobson, either, even though it sounds like something you'd like to see.
It's also clear that eHarmony's agenda pervades every aspect of its product.

You mean their agenda to match people for the long term? How evil.

Their emphasis on "compatibility" and their "compatibility" profile that leads to people getting matched on what's called homogamy (or sameness) are all part of their philosophical approach: people who share the same values --
preferably conservative -- belong together.

Preferably conservative? Only if you mean that getting married and staying married are “conservative”, but it would be absurd to say that conservatives have a monopoly, or even a handle, on that. It’s a good thing to match up compatible people. For example, if you’re going to be married, then unless you have a very extensive prenuptial agreement, you’re going to be sharing finances. If one spouse wants to donate to the NRA and the other wants to donate the same money to PETA, how exactly is that going to work?
I believe that what Chemistry.com has pioneered is the beginning of the next wave of marketing, as companies and brands define themselves in the competitive marketplace by not just how they perform, but their values and belief systems.
Wait, didn’t you just poke eHarmony.com or doing that? Your marketing is nothing new. This has been going on ever since Burger King bashed market leader McDonald’s by name in a commercial back in the 1980s with little Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Okay, well, here are some of the other general complaints I’ve come across:

I was sent too many matches! While this doesn’t sound like a bad thing, some people do feel overwhelmed. I tended to have a lot of matches. Some of them “closed” on me immediately or early on, or were just checking out the service temporarily and so never responded to me. But the trick when you have a lot of matches is to be ruthless in closing them. The site has told you a lot about yourself and what you should look for. I came to the site with a narrow profile of what I was looking for already. The moment I realized I would be less than thrilled with someone, I closed that match. You only need to find ONE person you can spend the rest of your life with. Unless you’re a polygamist. There’s probably a different service for that. I ended up dating three matches, one of them twice. One declined further dates with me, another I declined to date again, and the third match I dated was the charm.

I was sent too few matches! The service can’t match you up with people who don’t use it. This is why the service has expanded its outreach. The more people using it, the better for the customers. If eHarmony.com had only stuck with the Focus on the Family crowd, then only people in that crowd would be finding matches.

The sign-up process is too long. It’s a long process, but it is worth it if it pays off. Think of how many hours you spend doing taxes, or filling out loan applications, or employment applications. Shouldn’t you be willing to put some time into finding a person you plan to spend the rest of your life with?

I want to look for people on my own, not be restricted to the people I’m matched up with. You're not compatible with the people you're not matched up with. You are probably not compatible with all of your matches, but at least there's not an immediate glaring incompatibility. Anyway, if you were so good at finding "matches" on your own, wouldn’t you have already found someone to spend the rest of your life with? I used eHarmony.com because I was working a full-time job, a part-time job, and freelancing, so for me it was a matter of time. Actually, I was trying to prove that the right woman for me to marry didn’t exist, and it backfired. But I digress. My point is that you don’t have to be totally bad at picking people… online services are also good for finding people who don’t live in your neighborhood or who keep odd hours. The problem is, some people are horrible at picking people out of a crowd who are compatible with them and good for them. How many women do you know who keep picking abusive jerks? Or guys that keep picking women who drive them to insanity? EHarmony.com matches people based on things that make them compatible for a lifetime together – and those sorts of things are very hard to tell from a picture and what someone says about themselves. So, eHarmony.com matches you based on who you are and the limits you have set, and doesn’t allow you to search on your own. There are plenty of other services for doing that. The bottom line is, this complaint is like going to McDonald’s and complaining about how they prepare their burgers. There are dozens of other places to get a burger.

Some of my matches were liars. That’s one reason the application process is so long. They are trying to catch and exclude liars. However, a service of this size can’t investigate each user in person and make sure they are being honest. There are very expensive services that attempt to do just that. This complaint is really about the match – the individual, a complaint that has existed since the beginning of time, long before the Internet. It’s not eHarmony.com’s fault. In fact, you can report dishonest matches to the service.

Some of my matches were losers. You’re not obligated to keep dating these people. If every single person you’re matched up with a “loser”, then perhaps it is time for some therapy to figure out why you are compatible with losers. As a guy, though, I can tell you this... If you are a middle-aged overweight woman with three kids living with you and a mountain of debt, you’re probably not going to land a wealthy, gorgeous, romantic lawyer (unless he's a pedophile).

I was rejected for still being married. EHarmony.com doesn’t match married people. There are other services for that.

The site reveals height, but not weight. Okay, this is one complaint (mostly by men) that I can see as legit. Warren has said before that women have been angry being matched up to shorter men. Most women marry a man taller than themselves. So, eHarmony.com lists your height. Men are often chided as being “shallow” for wanting to know a woman’s weight, but the truth is, men are visual creatures, and if a man isn’t stimulated by what he sees, it is going to be awfully unlikely that he is going to pursue a woman and marry her - at least for the right reasons. What I suggest to a guy who is concerned about this is to make sure his matches send him some current full-body shots. Such shots should be easy for a woman to get, so there should be no excuse. Simply do not bother to spend time on a match if she hesitates. If she refuses, close the match. She's not confident about herself.

EHarmony.com’s matchmaking business isn’t for everyone. It doesn’t do everything for you. I liken it to being a better place to meet someone than in a bar or on a street corner, where you know very little about them and by the time you find out you couldn’t possibly end up with them, you’ve already spent time, money, and energy on them. Using the service well help you to find a needle in a haystack by not matching you up with someone you are fundamentally incompatible with, no matter how cute.

It is up to you, once you get to open communication with that match, to figure out if the person is truly right for you. Keep talking, keep doing things together, and if there are any red flags or any other signs that this person wouldn’t be the right person for you, move on. It’s really not that complicated.

The service worked well for me, and has worked well for many others. It helps to already have a good idea of what you want out of a relationship, and what you need, and what you could not live with. The service does help with some of that, too.

Thankfully, if eHarmony.com isn’t right for you, there are many other options.

I Was Quoted on Brush Clearance

2007-05-05T19:22:00.000-07:00

In October, I moved via promotion from the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works (DPW) to the Department of Agricultural Commissioner/Weights & Measures (ACWM). ACWM is a lower-profile Department, and so typically, I will not be showing up on the news media as often as I used to.

Once of the things ACWM does is "Weed Abatement" - brush clearance. Owners of developed properties are contacted by the Fire Department and told what they have to do as far as brush clearance, and we contact the owners of "unimproved" parcels (vacant lots). This is done every year to help prevent fires from spreading and destroying structures and killing people.

Jason Wells of the Glendale News-Press (an affiliate of the Los Angeles Times) wrote about the efforts currently underway in the Glendale area.

Fire officials are calling on property owners to clear out brush from around buildings that could later become fuel for what is shaping up to be one
of the area's driest fire seasons on record. Glendale firefighters will be
patrolling neighborhoods through July that are at a high risk for brush fires to
make sure residents are complying with guidelines for creating 100-foot barriers
of cleared brush around buildings and other landscape maintenance, said Doug
Nickels, fire prevention coordinator for the fire department.

County officials will also be combing through the areas this month
to make sure owners of vacant lots have complied with notices ordering them to
clear out dry vegetation, said Ken Pellman, spokesman for the Los Angeles County
Weed Hazard and Pest Management Bureau. There is unusual urgency behind the
weed abatement programs this year because of record rain shortfalls for Glendale
and La Crescenta that resulted in a landscape of dry vegetation that would offer
little resistance to flames, officials said.

A report by the National Interagency Fire Center also warned that the potential for fires this season would be above normal in Southern California due to a dry winter and spring. "This year we are being more stringent because of the dry
conditions," Pellman said.
[snip]
The lack of rain this year may have cut down on that growth, but it has also made the vegetation highly flammable and able to quickly transfer flames from one lot to the next, Pellman said.

"That's where the problem comes in," he said. "If there's enough to be flammable, it's too much."

Owners of vacant property who have failed to heed county notices to clear vegetation will have to pay the tab for county workers who do it for them
starting on May 16, he said.

I Heard From EW Again

2007-05-04T18:07:00.000-07:00

Like a clingy ex-girlfriend who can't move on, Entertainment Weekly has mailed me yet again, because I'm a former subscriber.

I remember the numerous, increasingly desperate reminders to renew my subscription, and now there have have been several attempts, via phone, e-mail, and mail to get me to resubscribe.

While it is nice to be missed, it is getting ridiculous. Now they are offering 40 issues for a total $10. That's if I have them bill me later. If I pay now, I can get 57 issues for $10, a whopping 94% off the cover price.

I'm holding out for them to offer to pay me to resubscribe. That can't be far off. Guess those ciruclations numbers are really, really important for ad revenue.

I do like keeping up on entertainment news. There are, however, several reasons I let my subsciption lapse.

1. I got married, which meant less time to actually read the magazine and a tighter budget. I found that I wasn't getting very far through one week's issue when the next issue would arrive.
2. I am notorious for not being able to discard "information" such as magazines, and we need less clutter in our home, not more. I still have a bunch of old EWs that I need to throw out. There are some I will save, depending on the issue.
3. When I got married, I moved in to my wife's condo. She was a cable subscriber. There is cable programming that provides me with content akin to what I used to read in EW.
4. Likewise, there are many websites and online tools that provide me with the content I want, for free.
5. I thought that EW could have covered more kinds of entertainment - especially radio and theme parks.
6. EW often had a political tone that I found unnecessary. I didn't read it to get a writer's thoughts on a politician, political issue, or social - whether I agreed or not. I was reading to get information about what is going on in entertainment - period. (See, I put the period at the end of the sentance.)

Now that Keelie is on the way, I'm going to have even less time and money.

So, like I said... if they were willing to pay me to subscribe... I just might. Otherwise, it ain't going to happen. Sorry, EW.

-Ken

Windows Vista Sucks

2007-04-20T17:45:00.000-07:00

Pardon my language.

Can someone, maybe from Microsoft, explain why the @#%! we can't install the drivers for our HP Photosmart 2610xi on Vista? Why does Vista screw everything up?!? This is just the latest in the line of gripes we have about Windows Vista. Please MS... tell us what's up. The operating system came installed with the new system we purchased. Vista doesn't work with AT&T e-mail servers, either. Thanks Microsoft.

American Idol is NOT a Signing Competition

2007-03-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

Yes, I watch American Idol. My wife got me hooked. Really.

We hear over and over again from the judges that Americal Idol "is a singing competition."

It isn't. If it was, it would be on the radio. Instead, it is on television, a visual medium. Once it gets to the stage where the viewers are voting, it is a contest to see who can inspire, by whatever means, enough people to vote repeatedly for them. In addition to singing, the voters clearly take into account appearance, personality, background, stage presence, genre preference, and possibly some other factors.

What if someone was a really, really good singer, but just stood there at the mic, not moving and not even looking into the camera, had a huge, crooked nose and bad teeth, and came across as arrogant in the interviews? Would that person win? I rest my case.

Ken's Latest Column Posted (In Full)

2007-02-20T19:20:00.001-08:00

Ken's latest Kenversations(TM) column is now posted in full on LaughingPlace.com. The third and final part, about recent changes and trends in the theme park industry, went up today.

Part one is here - It is about major changes within the Disney Company in the last few years, and in the feature film industry, and animation.

Part two is here - It is about major changes over the last few years in cinemas, home viewing of feature films, DVDs, cable television, telecom, broadcast television networks, radio, and record companies.

Notable Car Accident in Our Neck of the Woods

2007-02-16T10:11:00.000-08:00

This happened on a ramp Kori and I take about once a week. There is supposed to be video here, but it never started on my screen.

A mother died but her 10-month-old boy strapped into the rear seat of the car survived Thursday when the vehicle flew off the Riverside (91) Freeway before it plunged nearly 100 feet, officers said.

Natalie Cantón, 21, of Chino died at the scene. Her baby, Aiden Koch, secured in a rear-facing car seat, survived virtually unharmed, California Highway Patrol officers reported.

It's sad, but at least the child wasn't physically harmed.

At 2:06 p.m., CHP dispatchers got a call about a single-car crash.

Officers said Cantón drove a black Acura Integra about 80 mph on the fly-over carpool lane on the eastbound 91 Freeway to the northbound Orange (57) Freeway. For unclear reasons, she stepped on the brake and lost control of the car before it went airborne to the right side of the road, officers said.

You do get very high off the ground on this transition.

Hink said the car seat most likely saved the child's life.

"Car safety seats are made for high-impact crashes," Hink said. "When the seat is secured correctly, the car seat becomes a part of the car. The child cannot move."

The Second Part of the Latest Kenversations(TM) Now Online

2007-02-14T20:21:00.000-08:00

The second of three parts to my latest Kenversation(TM) column is up at LaughingPlace.com. The first part is here.

In this part of the column, I talk about the big recent changes and trends in cinema, home viewing of feature films, DVDs, cable television, telecom, broadcast television networks, radio, and record companies.

Ken's Latest Column Now Online

2007-02-12T19:20:00.000-08:00

The first part of the latest edition of Kenversations(TM) was posted today at http://www.LaughingPlace.com.

In this three-part column, Ken examines the big changes both inside Disney and around Disney over the last few years - in media, entertainment, communications, and theme parks.

Check out the column and tell Ken what you think by using the feedback form at the end of the column. Talk about the column with others by following the link at the end of the column to the discussion boards. Then, spread the word. Don't forget to check back for the second and third parts!

(Cross-posted just about everywhere.)

I Hope San Gabriel Keeps the Dinosaurs

2007-02-09T18:58:00.000-08:00

Patricia Jiayi Ho of the Pasadena Star-News (and a bunch of sister papers) reports on plans to renovate a park that I remember vividly from my childhood.

The endangered concrete species in Vincent Lugo Park's sandy lagoon will likely soon have protected status.

City officials said they plan to conserve La Laguna de San Gabriel, known colloquially as Dinosaur Park for its statues of imaginary sea creatures, after a local group made the case the play area is a cultural and historic landmark.

I lived close to two parks, one just two blocks away, but this place, which was further away, always stuck out in my mind.

The Laguna was built in the mid-1960s by Latino folk artist Benjamin Dominguez. His handmade creations dot playgrounds in Garden Grove and Whittier Narrows, as well as in Texas and Nevada.

Laguna supporters have said that while playground items made of steel and concrete are not conventional art forms, they represent the unique vision and endeavors an immigrant man made in tribute to his adopted homeland.

I Was Quoted About Freeze Damage

2007-01-27T16:46:00.000-08:00

Jennifer McLain, Staff Writer with the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group, quotes me in this article, "Local Growers Suffer Through Harsh Winter":

"At farmers markets, people should expect prices to go up if they are going there for oranges, avocados or strawberries," said Ken Pellman, spokesman with the county's agricultural department.

It's my first quote since I transfered.

More on Stars Wars Stuff in Rose Parade

2006-12-30T11:55:00.000-08:00

Kenneth Todd Ruiz of the Pasadena Star-News covers some preparations of the Star Wars Stormtroopers for the Rose Parade:

The 200-strong detachment of stormtroopers from the 501st Legion, a global network of "Star Wars" fans, practiced the fundamentals of soldiering at Maranatha High School under the scrutiny of a real-life multinational force of military trainers.

"For a group without much marching experience, these guys are marching much better than any 18- or 19-year-old recruit," said Cpl. Anthony Toledo of the U.S. Army Reserve, who barked sharp orders, mostly consisting of the time-tested "lefts" and "rights."

There are pictures and video, too.

Star Wars Stormtroopers in Rose Parade

2006-12-24T11:23:00.000-08:00

Janette Williams of the Pasadena Star-News tell us the details:

Louisiana's Grambling State University Band in "Star Wars" costume, two floats and the stormtroopers - 200 enthusiasts from 35 states and 22 countries who are actually good guys raising money for children's charities when they're not being stormtroopers - will make up the parade's "Star Wars" spectacular, Holman said.

Television For the ADHD Folks

2006-12-18T19:46:00.000-08:00

Have you noticed how much reality TV is filler? If a show is an hour long, they might start with 10 minutes recapping previous episodes. Then, before each break, they tell you what's coming up after the break. Then, after the break, they tell you what happened before the break... like you have NO MEMORY. Then, the final ten minutes is "Coming up next week..." If they were honest, that would continue... "we'll spend ten minutes repeating this episode you just watched!"

Somebody behind "Texas Cheer Moms" on TLC has made an art form out of this. Bless them... they took about an hours worth of content and streched it out over a whole season.

Now, I know what you're saying... "Ken, what are you doing watching that show instead of watching a Strawberry Shortcake DVD?" Well, my wife watches the show. And if I want to spend any time with her, that means I see the show too.

Anyway, at my prompting, my wife timed how much original content there is in a 30-minute "Texas Cheer Moms" episode. Seventeen minutes. SEVENTEEN MINUTES. Now, it is typical to have eight minutes of advertisements, so that means in 30 minutes, there are FIVE WHOLE MINUTES of recapping/previewing what happened last week, what will happen next week, what will happen after the break, what happened before the break. That means you see the same whine from a high school cheerleader 27 times throughout the season!

And you know what? This is cable, which means we pay for this. And there are still advertisements.

As for the show itself... I keep expecting Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy to appear. I swear this looks like Guests' work, only he wouldn't repeat the same content to death... unless he was making a point about reality shows!

Los Angeles Times Checks in on South Pasadena

2006-11-19T08:59:00.000-08:00

A New Era in South Pasadena - Los Angeles Times
Change has found its way into a city long known for guarding its small-town, historic charm. Not everyone is on board with revitalization efforts.
By David Pierson

Quotes:
>>South Pasadena is the kind of town that takes its history seriously — a place that's proud of slogans like "South Pasadena — where the past is the present" and "South Pasadena: 1888 with all the modern amenities."
[snip]
Long averse to any change, South Pasadena has embraced an aggressive redevelopment strategy that has brought loft condos, high-end restaurants and trendy shops to a city that has prided itself on a Main Street USA feel even though it's less than seven miles from downtown Los Angeles.

City Hall is pouring millions of dollars into upgrading crowded intersections and repairing an antiquated water system.

The biggest project, however, is a proposed redevelopment of the city's downtown along Mission Street that could bring in dozens of new residential units, new storefronts, underground parking and perhaps a bowling alley.

There is even talk of acquiring the dilapidated Rialto Theatre — a jewel in the eyes of historic preservationists — from private owners in hopes of making it the centerpiece of a spruced-up city core.

The revitalization effort marks a turning point of sorts for South Pasadena, which for decades has focused much of its attention on blocking the extension of the 710.
[snip]
So far, officials have promised to build slowly and to approve only those designs that blend with the city's architecture. And most important to many, officials have said that no large chain stores or restaurants will be welcomed into the new South Pasadena.
[snip]
Fear of overcrowding is one of the reasons there was an outcry over a new housing development in the southwest corner of the city named the Ostrich Farm. The so-called live/work building with its concrete-colored interior and showrooms filled with midcentury modern furniture is being offered to tenants who are supposed to work out of their loft apartments.

Some council members and residents feared that the 53-unit building would bring in too many new residents and possibly burden the school district and overload city streets, which have been kept in a notorious state of disrepair over the years. The mayor also questioned whether residents were actually working in their homes.
[snip]
Some have called for the city to enact an ordinance that prevents chains from opening downtown. Others have expressed concern that the new town center will also add more pressure on the police and fire departments, which are understaffed, forcing the city in recent times to explore contracting with the county for services.<<

I suppose everyone tends to think their hometown is something special, but when major metropolitan newspapers do stories like this, it backs up that notion.

More Evidence?

2006-11-13T20:12:00.000-08:00

KB Home CEO Leaves After Options Review - Houston Chronicle
ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer

Quotes:
>>The resignation of KB Home Chairman and Chief Executive Bruce Karatz in the wake of a stock options scandal leaves the company without the man who built it into one of the nation's top homebuilders during the past two decades.
[snip]
Karatz, 61, was the latest corner-office victim of so-called backdating of employee stock options without properly accounting for the maneuver.
[snip]
The situation also prompted the company to fire the head of its human resources department, Gary A. Ray. Richard B. Hirst, executive vice president and chief legal officer, resigned.

The inquiry revealed that Karatz and Ray had selected the grant dates for the stock options, and no other senior executives had a role in establishing incorrect grant dates.
[snip]
KB Home refused to comment further on Monday.
[snip]
Still, the loss of Karatz came as KB Home and other homebuilders are struggling through a housing market slowdown.<<

I know someone who interviewed to work with them.

Using A Touch-Screen At The Local Fast Food Joint

2006-11-11T13:57:00.000-08:00

Jerry Hirsch of the Los Angeles Times tells us about fast food eateries using computerized touch-screen kiosks to take orders.

Devices such as touch-screen ordering kiosks — whether in the drive-through lane or inside the restaurant — promise many advances for quick-serve eateries, analysts say.

"It cuts down on labor, ensures accuracy and is often faster and easier for people to use," said Darren Tristano, a restaurant industry analyst with Technomic Inc. in Chicago.

Yum Brands Inc.'s KFC is testing indoor self-serve kiosks at three locations in Florida. Elsewhere in the state, McDonald's Corp. franchisee Gary Moulton has spent more than $100,000 to install two or three touch-screen systems inside each of his six restaurants.

The investment is paying off. Moulton said customers using the kiosks spent an average of 20% more per order than those who ordered at the front counter.

"The kiosk will always suggest an item like a drink or a dessert if it is not ordered," he said. "Front counter servers don't always do the same."

Paul Knight, who sells such machines for NCR Corp. of Dayton, Ohio, notes another potential advantage for restaurants.

"Anonymity encourages people to make larger orders," he said. "They are not embarrassed to super-size something because they aren't doing it face to face."

I remember ten years ago or more that the Taco Bell by Cal State Fullerton had touch-screen ordering.

Chains including Yum Brands-owned Taco Bell have experimented with touch-screen ordering, but the companies haven't expanded the programs, citing problems with the software or insufficient customer interest.

Yup, see. I was right. This technology can also help get people around language barriers. I would think raising the minimum wage and the increasing costs of employing people would also contribute to the use of these machines. Instead of several employees taking orders, one employee can service the machines at various locations to work out bugs.

Plans Revealed for Mixed-Use in South Pasadena

2006-11-10T09:37:00.000-08:00

Cortney Fielding of the Pasadena Star-News tells us about plans for South Pasadena:

Visions of stucco high-rises and chain restaurants were laid to rest at the Community Redevelopment Commission meeting when Torrance-based Decoma unveiled its vision for a 145,000-square-foot Midwestern-style development comprised of small boutiques, high-end dining and second floor office space and condos surrounding a public town square.

Heavy on brick and plaster, the project spanning three city blocks from Hope and Oxley streets to Fair Oaks and Mound avenues will house 18 existing downtown businesses and add an estimated 15 new shops and restaurants to a city desperately searching for new sales tax revenues.

I think this town will always hold a special place in my heart, whether or not I ever live there again.

Wendy's Sells Baja Fresh

2006-10-13T06:37:00.000-07:00

Stories about food chain sales, openings, and closures interest me. Gee, I wonder why.

Nancy Luna reports in the Orange County Register that Baja Fresh has been sold for $31 million.

Quotes:
>>David Kim is the key investor in the deal, which includes other private stakeholders. He runs RD Restaurant Group in Anaheim, which operates and franchises hundreds of Sweet Factory, KaBloom, Cinnabon and Denny's locations.

Wendy's bought Baja Fresh for $245 million in 2002, making Kim's deal sweet, say analysts.<<

Wendy's bought for $245 million and sold for $31 million? Sounds like a dot.com deal.

>>Baja Fresh operates 300 restaurants, including 23 in Orange County.
[snip]
The sale comes as Wendy's looks to shed its secondary brands to focus its energies on reviving sales at its flagship hamburger chain, interim Chief Executive Kerrii Anderson said.
[snip]
When Wendy's bought the Thousand Oaks-based Baja Fresh in 2002, it was one of the hottest concepts in the growing fast-casual segment. The chain caught the attention of health-conscious consumers with its "fresh Mex" fare and self-serve salsa bar.<<

I love the salsa bar. If they get rid of that, I'll never forgive them.

>>Wendy's bought Baja hoping to put some muscle in its own earnings. But, soon after the acquisition, rival chains with similar strategies and faster service began winning the attention of diners, including Chipotle and Jack in the Box's Qdoba Mexican Grill.<<

I Was Quoted

2006-10-10T20:54:00.000-07:00

Jennifer McLain of the Pasadena Star-News (and sister papers) quotes me in a story about "garbage collection":

Quotes:
>>"We're going to be doing this all over the county," said Ken Pellman, spokesman for the county's Department of Public Works. "Rowland Heights and Hacienda Heights will be among the first to get this."
[snip]
The board is expected to vote by the end of the year, Pellman said.<<

I won't have the chance to speak for Public Works for very much longer. I'm on the move.

Pasadena Shakers Closing

2006-10-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

Pasadena Star-News - Shakers Movin' On, Landmark Eatery to Close

Staff writer Kenneth Todd Ruiz talks about the closing eatery, where I ate with a couple of my buddies on the night of my bachelor party... eh, get-together.

Quotes:
>>Sunday is Shakers' last day at the corner of Arroyo Parkway and Cordova Avenue.
[snip]
Most patrons say Shakers' convenience, comfort and the people on both sides of the counter account for its appeal. Many enjoy the food, but it's not the first thing that springs to mind.

Manager Lupe Garcia Woodward - who said he met his wife more than 20 years ago while employed at the Shakers in Glendale - hopes all the customers and employees make the move around the corner to the Central Park Grill on Raymond Avenue when it opens under the same ownership.
[snip]
Shakers will live on in name at other locations - owners Henry Yost and his son, David, own one in South Pasadena, two in Glendale, and Wild Thyme in South Pasadena. They are also part-owners of Beckham Grill in Pasadena.<<

Pasadena has seen condo building rising everywhere, and other new development that crowds the long-established streets.

"Weird Al" Yankovic Shakes My Hand

2006-10-02T21:09:00.000-07:00

Or, maybe he's just trying to get me to wake up, or we're going to thumb wrestle. A kind soul took this picture at the recent signing and e-mailed to me. Holy cow I'm white & nerdy.

Yeah, that's really "Weird Al" Yankovic under that cap and hair.

Another Negative Story I Could Have Been Faced With

2006-09-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

A Pasadena firm that interviewed me and didn't hire me has negative news to deal with.

It's just uncanny how these places get hit with bad news after I get turned down in favor of someone else.

Of course, the way the mind works, I wouldn't have noticed if the same kind of bad news was happening before, or happening to places that didn't interview me at all.

Went to the "Weird Al" Yankovic Al-bum Signing

2006-09-26T23:20:00.000-07:00

In case I haven't told you a billion times before... I'm a huge fan of "Weird Al" Yankovic. His latest Al-bum, a dual disc work, was released today. Al announced a couple of weeks back that he'd be doing a signing at the Virgin Megastore in Hollywood.

Great... I figured my buddy Craig and his wife and I would all go there like we did last time, only this time my wife would be there, too.

Since it is a busy time at the office, I wasn't going to take any time off. My plan was for my wife to drive up to the office to meet me, and then we'd go from there.

Craig and his wife couldn't make it, so Craig asked me to pick up a copy of the Al-bum for him. Kori wasn't feeling cheery enough either, so she declined to meet me at the office and told me to go it alone.

So, I slogged through traffic to go to the Virgin Megastore on Sunset in Hollywood. I hadn't been there since Al signed his previous al-bum there.

The problem was, the signing was actually at the company's Hollywood & Highland store. This, I didn't discover until after I had picked up the al-bums and the DVD set of Al's Saturday morning TV show.

Horrified, I slogged through more traffic and parking adventures and made my way to the end of the very long line in H&H Virgin Megastore. Then someone told me I was going to need a wristband. Yeah, like last time, when I went to pay for the al-bum days in advance and got a wristband that meant NOTHING as I waited in line behind many people who didn't have wristbands? Like that?

Well, apparently this time they really meant it. You needed a wristband. To get a wristband, you had to buy the al-bum in the store. Fortunately, I showed them my receipt from the other store and explained my situation, and they gave me a wristband.

I was in line behind two animation students from CalArts, so we started to talk Disney after they saw me pick up a paperback copy of Disney War.

The line snaked through the store as monitors overhead showed either a live shot of Al at a table getting carpal tunnel syndrome, or video from the dual disc. The music from the al-bum played on a loop.

At one point, the line snaked right past the fully-accessible "Adult" section. Yeah, considering half of Al's fans are kids, that was really well thought-out.

Many times, staff went down the line, telling everyone they needed wristbands and that they can only have ONE thing signed. Many times they did this. Many, many times. If that was going to be the case, Craig would have to go without.

Heck, as we approached the heavily-guarded signing area, the staff wanted to see exactly what it was that was going to be signed, and the wristbands were taken away - presumably to keep us from getting back in line to get a second item signed.

I opened the little lyric/credit booklet to page I thought best, and I slipped Craig's copy directly underneath it so it looked like just one booklet. I slipped in my business card with Craig's surname on the reverse side.... just in case.

Sure enough, when I finally reached Al, he signed the first booklet to "The Pellmans" and signed the second one, which he did not hesitate to sign (Al is very, very nice and patient with his fans), to Craig's family. I was so concerned about violating the "rules" that I didn't enjoy the moment as much as I should have.

Al shook my hand, I thanked him in general, and I thanked him for turning me on to Ben Folds.

Having had two items signed, I turned around to see the security staff glare at me like I had just released 27 rabid wolverines in their store. But hey, they had slipped someone to the table between me and the guys from CalArts, who graciously agreed to take my picture when I was with Al, so if they can do something like that, why can't I get two items signed?!?

Upon exiting the store, I bumped into Kevin, who remembered me as the Disney guy... Like me, he's gotten married since we last met. It was nice to see someone I recognized besides Al.

I made my way back to my car and drove the long drive home. The signing had started at 7pm, I had gotten in line before 7:30, and it was about 10pm when I got out of there.

Al is my favorite performance artist, and I'm glad he manages to be so cheery, patient, and friendly as he spends time with fan after fan after fan after fan.

Okay, time for my "nap" before I have to return to the office in the morning.

KB Home Facing Slowdown

2006-09-22T10:29:00.000-07:00

Scott Reckard and Annette Haddad of the Los Angeles Times tell us that waning home sales are taking a toll, and that KB's revenue growth has slowed.

Westwood-based KB said it was releasing only limited financial results for its fiscal third quarter because of an internal probe of its stock option practices. Other companies caught up in the growing option controversy have had to restate earnings after similar investigations.

KB said revenue rose 6% to $2.67 billion in the period ended Aug. 31. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected revenue to come in at $2.61 billion. A year earlier, revenue soared 44% from the same period in 2004.

KB Home also said home orders in its U.S. and French markets plunged 43% from last year's third quarter. On the West Coast, orders plummeted 58%.

This kind of news seems to be happening to companies a certain someone interviewed with and was subsequently not hired. It's getting eerie, like this person was being protected from being a new hire facing a layoff.

My Latest DVD Reviews Now Online

2006-09-07T20:33:00.000-07:00

Go to LaughingPlace.com to read my reviews.

This time, I review two DVDs featuring Disneyland Park. Each one is presented as an OAKFAN Production, meaning they aren't official Disney DVDs. They are from the "Bringing Disneyland Home" series - "A Sights & Sounds Home Video Tour of the Happiest Place on Earth" and "The Golden Horseshow Shows Edition".

Some of these enthusiast-made DVDs are excellent, some less so. You'll have to go to LaughingPlace.com to find out about these DVDs...unless you've seen them already.

-Ken

I Was Quoted

2006-09-04T08:41:00.000-07:00

New Signs Aim to Reflect Identity in Unincorporated Areas
By Jennifer McLain - Whittier Daily News Staff Writer

Quote:
>>Rowland Heights and Hacienda Heights are the next in line to get upgraded street signs, Los Angeles County officials said.

Although a timeline and cost have not been finalized, Ken Pellman, the county's Department of Public Works spokesman, expects the signs to be installed within the next year.

"These signs are part of a larger effort to recognize and distinguish communities that are in the unincorporated areas of the county," he said.<<

There's a lot more. Good article.

Hometown Company Does Good

2006-09-03T10:35:00.000-07:00

Walter Hamilton of the Los Angeles Times updates us on how Trader Joe's is doing in Manhattan. Until recently, they were headquartered in South Pasadena.

Quotes:
>>Since opening near Union Square in March, Trader Joe's has caught the fancy of finicky New Yorkers.
[snip]
Though its stores have sprinkled the East Coast for a decade, Union Square marks the Monrovia-based company's first toehold in New York City.
[snip]
Privately held Trader Joe's won't divulge financial information, and company officials declined to be interviewed about their Greenwich Village outpost. But analysts estimate that the store is probably one of the highest grossing in the 256-store chain.
[snip]
Because of a quirk of New York law, Trader Joe's must run the wine store separately from the main market, and grocery employees are limited in what they can say about it.<<

I wish there was one closer to where we are living now.

Hometown Girl Brings Down Powerful Molestor

2006-08-20T15:32:00.000-07:00

Victim's Resolve Brings Down a Star of Science
By Peter Y. Hong - Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

The girl set the showdown for the oak-shaded lawn in front of the South Pasadena public library, a lovely spot for an ugly encounter.

She was a high school student with a painful secret that surfaced on her wrists, scarred where she had cut herself.

He was William French Anderson, world-renowned scientist, the father of gene therapy and a martial arts expert with law enforcement connections from the FBI to the chief of his hometown police department in San Marino.

Pillar of the community.

Without children of their own, the Andersons had long taken on what they called "surrogate children," guiding nine through college and in some cases medical school.

In Los Angeles, the girl became Anderson's next protege. Like him, she had early speech problems, talking only to her more outgoing twin sister in their own language.

The girl learned English in school but continued to let her twin speak for her. She had few friends and had been acting up at school.

I've cut out some of the sick details.

The girl lived with her family in a simple hillside house in South Pasadena, a short drive from Anderson's much grander residence, a spacious Cape Cod on a row of mansions across from the Huntington library and gardens. The twins built a treehouse in Anderson's backyard and had their friends over for get-togethers. Anderson bought the girl her prom dress.

It's quite an article. Check it out if you have a moment.

I Was Quoted A Bunch of Times

2006-08-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

Well, actually, in some cases, just cited.

Tour Buses Anger Residents
By Jennifer McLain Staff Writer - Whittier Daily News

Quote:
>>Ken Pellman, spokesman for the department of public works, said the new resolution - which also applies to six other unincorporated areas - simply addresses commercial vehicles that don't belong in that neighborhood on an ongoing basis.

"The thing about tour buses is if they are there momentarily, it's not the same type of problem as trucks parking there overnight," Pellman said. "If there are too many cars from people who aren't residents, that is a separate issue."<<

Depending on the conditions in the area, they can aske for "no parking any time" restrictions.

County Panel to Study Energy
By Reina V. Slutske - The Signal Staff Writer

Quote:
>>Certain departments have already taken steps to aid energy efficiency. Ken Pellman, spokesman for the Department of Public Works, said projects such as implementing light-emitting diodes for traffic lights and solar panels for bus stations are on a smaller scale to help.<<

Public Works is also involved because we use a lot of vehicles (some hybrids) and because we are involved in street lights, promoting recycling, and we can use energy-efficient designs for constructing County government buildings.

County Acts on Impromptu Car Lot

Quote:
>>COVINA - Help is on the way for unincorporated Covina residents itching to rid their streets of used cars for sale, officials said Wednesday.

The county Board of Supervisors has approved restricting parking on Shadydale Avenue near Badillo Street and Sunset Avenue, said Ken Pellman, county Department of Public Works spokesman.

Residents said the impromptu used car lot hits especially hard during the weekends.<<

Official: No 'Blanket Solution' for Parking
By Serena Maria Daniels - The Signal Staff Writer

Quotes:
>>An effort by the county Board of Supervisors last fall to decrease traffic congestion along a section of Lost Canyon Road has led to what some are calling a vandalism zone.

While the number of reported vandalisms is not considered a trend by local law enforcement, county Department of Public Works officials say that if residents are concerned about existing parking conditions they need to bring them up so that the department can investigate their needs.

"There can't just be a blanket solution that we feel is right," said Ken Pellman, a spokesman for Public Works.<<

Meaning... we need the input of residents with the understanding that if a change is possible and is made, it is likely to change other things as well, like speed limits and traffic conditions.

>>Pellman said that any issue involving parking on private property cannot be dealt with by the county, rather it must be taken up with the homeowners' association.

Kulikowski and Nunnery both said they were not successful in reaching representatives from their homeowners' association and want answers as to what they can do about the situation.

"I deal with the same thing," said Pellman of his own neighborhood. "If there's not enough parking in a complex, it becomes tough as to where someone is going to park."

Pellman suggested that residents who have an issue with parking conditions in their neighborhood can bring it up with Public Works, which conducts studies to determine the best solution for those types of problems.

"We measure things like traffic volume, traffic speed," said Pellman, adding that the stretch of Lost Canyon Road is a relatively new area, with a speed limit of 35 mph. "If there's something that people aren't happy with, that's something we'll look into."<<

I think now would be a great time to remind anyone reading this that this is MY personal blog, written on my own time, using my own resources, and so I'm certainly not speaking for anyone other than myself.

Checking in on My Hometown

2006-08-13T10:09:00.000-07:00

South Pasadena Busy With Upgrades to Facilities
By Cortney Fielding Pasadena Star-News Staff Writer

Quotes:
>>After decades of stagnation, major public construction projects have begun sprouting up throughout South Pasadena. Designed to both revitalize the city's appearance and accommodate increasing demands on its infrastructure, everything from streetscapes to sewers are in line for revamps.
[snip]
When the Grand Reservoir was built in 1882, South Pasadena was home to almost as many ostriches as people.

Last spring, workers began the $6 million teardown of the decaying reservoir, followed by the installation of two steel tanks estimated to hold 1.25million gallons each.

In September, a completely new Grand Reservoir in the city's northwest corner will come on-line, complete with up-to-date technology and electrical systems.
[snip]
Other projects in the works are designed to alleviate traffic congestion, particularly in the areas affected by gaps in the 710 freeway. But the city will be spared the bulk of the $16 million price tag - almost 90 percent of funding will come from federal money secured by former Rep. James Rogan.<<

It's a very nice place and there seems to constantly be production of feature films, television shows, and television ads there.

Bygone Aquarium

2006-08-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

Aquarium on the Pacific
Hermosa Beach's ultramodern aquatic zoo gained wide attention during its 10-year run.
By Andrea Sudano - Daily Breeze

Quotes:
>>These days, sharks and piranhas stalk Pier Avenue only at bars on Saturday nights, but they had a permanent home in Hermosa Beach in the 1950s.

Octopi, sea horses, giant turtles and the like once filled the giant glass-fronted tanks of the Ocean Aquarium just south of the pier and west of The Strand, drawing nearly 2 million visitors in its nearly 10-year run in town.
[snip]
The underwater zoo clocked about 1.8 million visitors, including more than 25,000 group tours from the Boy Scouts and other youth and school organizations.

Kids and adults alike were fascinated by the daily animal feedings, suitable for viewing and participation.
[snip]
In its time, the giant fish bowl was considered one of the largest and most modern aquariums in the country. Other tanks tried to replicate its "modern appointments," the Breeze wrote.
[snip]
While Marineland of the Pacific -- a descendent of Hermosa's aquarium, according to a book detailing Hermosa Beach's history in pictures -- entertained tourists on the Palos Verdes Peninsula for more than 30 years, the Ocean Aquarium wasn't nearly as lucky.
[snip]
An apparent squabble between McBride and the city over a 40-year lease calling for the development of a new pier caused both parties to hire lawyers in January 1956.

According to a Breeze article, the city was offered the aquarium's land and several nearby parcels for $85,000 in June 1958, and bought the land several years later.<<

I love reading about the history of lost attractions, especially about ones in southern California.

I Got Quoted Due to Terrorism

2006-08-11T09:17:00.000-07:00

Tight Focus on Security Changes Rules For Travel
Article Launched: 8/11/2006 12:00 AM
By Fred Ortega, Pasadena Star-News Staff Writer

Quotes:
>>The disruption Thursday of a plan to blow up airliners en route to the United States from the United Kingdom has suddenly and radically changed the way people travel - in some cases, perhaps, permanently.

Within hours of the arrest of 24 suspects in London - believed to be about to smuggle liquid explosives hidden in household containers aboard up to 10 transatlantic flights - authorities had gathered at Los Angeles International Airport to announce the stringent new travel restrictions. They include prohibitions against bringing any liquid in carry-on baggage onto any commercial flight originating out of the United States.
[snip]
At local general aviation airports such as El Monte and Brackett, things remain the same as they have been after the Sept. 11 attacks, said Ken Pellman, a spokesman for the county's Public Works Aviation Division.

"We are telling pilots to be on the lookout for anything unusual, making sure our fencing is in good repair," said Pellman. "General aviation is a different animal than commercial airports. These are small planes that people look after much as they would their own cars, so we are just asking that they take the same precautions as always, making sure they are locked up."<<

The paper has extensive coverage, including graphics of what can be carried on to commercial flights and what can't.

I've Joined The Disney Blog

2006-08-11T07:57:00.000-07:00

Yes, I didn't have enough to do, so now I'm also contributing to The Disney Blog - http://www.TheDisneyBlog.com. If you bookmark The Disney Blog and LaughingPlace.com and visit them both frequently, you'll be up to speed on everything that's happening at The Mouse, why it is happening, and what it will mean for the future.

Dubai Digs

2006-08-06T20:53:00.000-07:00

Man-made Island Nears Completion
By JIM KRANE, AP Business Writer

Quotes:
>>With 14,000 laborers toiling day and night, the first of Dubai's three palm-shaped islands is finally about to get its first residents.

The Palm Jumeirah, a 12-square-mile island group, is part of what's billed as the largest land-reclamation project in the world, the product of five years of brute hauling of millions of tons of Persian Gulf sand and quarried rock.
[snip]
When fully complete by 2010, the Palm Jumeirah will be an offshore city, with some 60,000 residents and at least 50,000 workers in 32 hotels and dozens of shops and attractions, Nakheel said.
[snip]
The $14 billion project is a key part of this booming city's ambitions to rival Singapore and Hong Kong as a business hub, and surpass Las Vegas as a leisure capital.
[snip]
Nakheel's two copycat Palms, the Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira, have also been delayed by design changes and other factors, Kazim said. A nearly finished fourth Nakheel archipelago, shaped like a map of the world, has attracted few buyers and remains mostly unsold.
[snip]
Meanwhile, laborers living in a cruise ship moored offshore are scrambling to finish enormous concrete houses that are crammed together on the palm island's 17 "fronds." The fronds are narrow peninsulas as long as a mile, attached to the island's main trunk. Nakheel will hand keys to owners of 1,350 homes by Nov. 30, Kazim said.
[snip]
The 1,500 room Atlantis Hotel is already under construction by South Africa and Dubai-owned Kerzner International, and is expected to be finished in 2009. The hotel will be similar to its Atlantis hotel in The Bahamas.

A redesigned Trump Hotel and Tower on the island is also expected to open sometime in 2009, Kazim said.<<

Can Disney be far behind?

The 'Nigerian' Scammers Keep Going

2006-08-06T11:14:00.000-07:00

Nigerian 419 Scam is Back, With a Twist
A 'buyer' sees your house advertised online and makes a nice offer. But first, you're asked to send some cash.
By Gayle Pollard-Terry - Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Quotes:
>>When real estate agent Jennifer Caveness decided to sell her Huntington Beach town house recently, she listed the two-bedroom, two-bathroom property in the Multiple Listing Service, the traditional method of attracting sellers. She also advertised it on two popular websites, CraigsList.com and MySpace.com.

She quickly became the target of a new twist on an old scheme — the Nigerian advance-fee scam called 419 after the number of the West African nation's criminal code that prohibits this type of fraud.

For years, con artists have sent e-mails offering to share millions of dollars if the recipients would pay to cover the transfers costs, administrative fees, customs or bribes they say are needed to get the money out of the country. Or the e-mails promised big international lottery winnings after the payment of upfront fees.

Of course, the payoffs never materialize.

In the fraud's latest incarnation, home sellers are being targeted.
[snip]
Caveness canceled the deal and reported the incident to the FBI's Internet-crime complaint center. The agency, which is working with the Nigerian government, will look at names and similarities to determine whether a pattern exists and if these individuals are part of a larger scheme. The FBI, which receives 20,000 Internet-crime complaints a month, advised The Times against revealing the names of the men who contacted Caveness in case there was an investigation already underway involving them; also, Nigerian criminals have been known to threaten their online victims.

Peter Brust, former chief of the cyber-crime division at FBI headquarters, said that the new versions of the 419 scams are increasingly more believable. "It's not like they offer you millions of dollars," he said. "They read the newspapers and they know what's possible on the Internet, like the social-networking sites." The scam artists not only work out of Nigeria, he said. Other top spots include the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and South America.
[snip]
Where to turn for information on cyber scams:

• Internet users who suspect they are victims of cyber crime should go to http://www.ic3.gov - The Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership of the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center, collects complaints, develops information and, when necessary, refers the allegations to the proper federal, state, local or international authorities for investigation.

• The FBI also recommends a consumer-advocacy website, Looks Too Good to Be True (www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com), for prevention tips, victims' stories, a test to determine how vulnerable you are to Internet scams or to order free fraud-prevention DVDs produced by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, one of the sponsors of the site.

• Complaints can also be filed at http://www.ftc.gov - the online site of the Federal Trade Commission.

• Information from the federal government and technology companies on how to protect yourself online is available at onguardonline.com/crossborder.html.<<

Stay vigilant. For research and hilarious entertainment, I recommend you check out http://www.419eater.com/

In-N-Out Burger Matriarch Passes Away

2006-08-05T18:38:00.000-07:00

Ailing leader of In-N-Out Burger Dies
Esther Snyder, 86, and her husband founded popular Irvine chain.
By NANCY LUNA - The Orange County Register

Quotes:
>>Esther Snyder, the ailing matriarch of In-N-Out Burger – one of Southern California's most popular fast-food chains – died Friday. She was 86.
[snip]
Snyder met her husband, Harry, while she was working as a manager at a Seattle restaurant in 1947. Harry, known as a stickler for neat attire, sold baked goods to the restaurant. The two moved to Baldwin Park, married and founded In-N-Out in 1948.

From the beginning, the Snyders' strategy was simple: Serve fresh burgers in a clean, customer-friendly environment. She kept the books, while her husband ran the day-to-day operations of his unique "two-way speaker" drive-through concept.
[snip]
Up until the end, she was passionate about that tradition. In a rare video message made for employees late last year, Snyder – dressed in a blue smock – said she still made spot checks on eateries to ensure workers were preparing meals correctly, and with a smile.<<

Sad news. I hope the place doesn't change. Without them, I might actually be a healthy weight.

Preventing Pollution

2006-08-04T17:29:00.000-07:00

Click HERE to see a "vidcast" about preventing runoff pollution. I have a short appearance in the short video, which was made by the City of Bellflower.

-Ken

I Was Quoted on Parking

2006-08-04T13:13:00.000-07:00

Truck Parking To Be Limited
County ban aimed at commercial rigs
By Jennifer McLain - San Gabriel Valley Tribune Staff Writer

Quotes:
>>Semi-trailer trucks that have plagued some area residents soon will be prohibited from parking on certain streets in unincorporated areas, county officials said Tuesday.

"This is just about commercial vehicles that don't belong in some neighborhoods on an ongoing basis," said Ken Pellman, county Department of Public Works spokesman.

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday adopted a resolution that prohibits parking of commercial vehicles in the unincorporated areas of South Whittier, Rowland Heights and Altadena. Pellman expects it to be enforced as early as September.
[snip]
In several weeks, Pellman said he expects signs to be posted in the affected areas, including Nogales Street in Rowland Heights, Marengo Avenue in Altadena, and Meyer Road in South Whittier.

Signs also will be posted that prohibit parking in certain areas from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.<<

Be careful where you park.

I Was Quoted

2006-07-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

Builders Allowed to Start Water, Work Flowing Again
By ALISHA SEMCHUCK - Antelope Valley Press Staff Writer

Quotes:
>>Suspension of construction water resulted from a severe decline in District 40's storage tanks. Ken Pellman, a spokesman for Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, said the district has 40 water storage tanks throughout its service area, which can hold a total water capacity of 45 million gallons.
[snip]
Though the storage tanks weren't overflowing at full capacity, Pellman said District 40 deemed it safe to furnish water to developers at this time.

"We were waiting for (the tanks) to get to 60% or 70%," Pellman said, meaning at least 27 million gallons of water was replaced. "We were satisfied with that. So we restored construction water."
[snip]
"We still ask people to conserve," Pellman said. "Sensible conservation really won't take much effort.

"We're trying to keep service levels functioning properly. We don't want (water) pressure to be lost. If need be, (construction gets) turned off. Our priority is to serve existing residents and businesses."

L.A. Water Works urged Antelope Valley residents to conserve water in a news release issued July 12, around the same time developers were asked to find an alternate water source.

"It's not an ideal situation," Pellman said. "We don't want to interrupt construction. At the same time, we want to ensure that people have water to drink, and for their other needs."<<

Another Send-Off

2006-07-27T21:07:00.000-07:00

My friend Marina has left the office for another corner of the County. We had her Happy Hour after work today. She's going to be missed!

-Ken

Guess What? I Was Quoted Yet Again

2006-07-25T20:25:00.000-07:00

County Overhaul of Trash Service Could Boost Costs
By Jennifer McLain - San Gabriel Valley Tribune Staff Writer

Quotes:
>>For the county, this allows it to deliver more uniformed services to its residents, plus reduce the amount of haulers that currently drive through the streets, said Ken Pellman, public information officer for the department of public works.
[snip]
"The county is currently reviewing the proposals. The proposals are evaluated on the basis on seven criteria including price. The waste hauler who scores the highest will be awarded the contract subject to the Board of Supervisors approval," Pellman said.
[snip]
"Cost of trash services may or may not go up," Pellman said. "The franchise agreement has provisions that controls rate increases."

A request for proposal is also being developed for other communities such as Hacienda Heights.

"We will be doing this for the different coverage areas we serve in the county," Pellman said.<<

I Was Quoted Again

2006-07-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

It's Crunch Time For AV Water Users
By ALISHA SEMCHUCK - Antelope Valley Press Staff Writer

Quotes:
>>"We had people working on (interconnections) around the clock," said Ken Pellman, a spokesman for the Department of Public Works.

"It's now operational," he said Thursday, though developers were still left dry.
[snip]
"These days, with that hot weather, we've had demand as high as 90 million gallons per day," Pellman said. "That's our absolute peak. Summer usage is three times as high as winter. In winter, we might use 25 million gallons per day."
[snip]
Pellman said between AVEK and District 40's wells, they should have about 75 million gallons of water per day. Yet, AVEK is grappling with its own issues right now.
[snip]
Meanwhile, Pellman said, although they would like the storage tanks to reach 100% capacity - a combined total of 45 million gallons - right now they would settle for somewhere between 60% and 70%, a minimum of 27 million gallons, in order to "reinstate construction use."<<

She did a lot of research on this article.

I Was Quoted

2006-07-13T19:08:00.000-07:00

In three recent newspaper articles:

'This is not a used car lot'
For-sale vehicles provoke resident backlash
Ruby Gonzales Staff Writer - San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Quotes:
>>COVINA - Shadydale Avenue residents are fuming because a nearby street corner has become a mini car lot for people who sell used vehicles.
[snip]
Two residents have collected signatures from 78 percent of homeowners who want parking restricted, said Ken Pellman, county Department of Public Works spokesman.

He said the proposed parking ban will come before the county Board of Supervisors on Aug. 1.

He said the county received complaints from two residents in April or May.<<

Major Road in Val Verde Set for an Upgrade
By Kristopher Daams - Signal Staff Writer

Quotes:
>>County public works officials originally intended to reconstruct a section of deteriorated pavement in June on San Martinez between Neuraschel Street and Parker Avenue near Val Verde Park.

"We've held off for the sake of a more permanent solution," said Ken Pellman, spokesman for the county's Public Works Department. "The potholes along this roadway are largely due to spring water flows from Val Verde Road, so we're now looking at extending the storm drain in San Martinez."

"It's something our crews could easily see for themselves," Pellman said about the large collections of water that would accumulate during rainy seasons.
[snip]
The project should be completed by early fall 2007.

"In the meantime, we have been doing repairs to specific spots on the road since we wouldn't be reconstructing the entire stretch until after the storm drain work," Pellman said.<<

Local Activist Wants County to See the Light
By Kristopher Daams - Signal Staff Writer

Quote:
>>Another traffic study of the same intersection is set for September and the results will be looked at by the same officials the following month, said the department's spokesman Ken Pellman.<<

My Latest DVD Reviews Now Online

2006-07-13T18:35:00.000-07:00

Go to LaughingPlace.com to read my reviews of "Jeff Lange Remembers Disneyland's 40th Anniversary" and "Jeff Lange Remembers Disneyland's 40th Birthday", two fan-created DVDs.

-Ken

KB Home Wants of Slower Sales

2006-07-11T22:04:00.000-07:00

KB Home Warns of Slower Sales as Inventory Grows
From the Associated Press - Los Angeles Times

It's still not too late to reverse the bad news trends by hiring a certain job candidate.

Jackpot-Winning Ticket Sold in South Pasadena

2006-07-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

Pasadena Star-News - $110 Million Jackpot
Lotto lowdown: $550,000 to merchant, but where's the winner?
By Cortney Fielding Staff Writer

Quotes:
>>It was California's largest jackpot in four years and the sixth highest in state history.

The numbers drawn were 2, 9, 12, 20, 34 and Mega number 16.

Until Wednesday night, no one had won the top prize in the twice-weekly game in 23 rounds, setting a new state record.

Standing behind the counter of Foremost Liquor Market as reporters peppered him with questions, Sidhu was all smiles.
[snip]
Sidhu has owned the store for three years; it's been in the neighborhood for three decades.<<

I really hope the winner is a resident of my hometown.

>>If the ticket holder chooses annual payments, they will begin at $2.75 million and graduate to more than $5.6 million by the 26th year, before taxes.

If the cash option is chosen, the winner will receive a lump sum of roughly half the jackpot amount, or about $57 million, according to Lottery officials.<<

Yeah, but what will it be after taxes? $30 million? Peanuts!

Happy Ending After a Vicious Murder

2006-07-07T10:29:00.000-07:00

A Love Lost 'A Lifetime Ago'
Kristin Burt's husband was gunned down 10 years ago this month in Fullerton. Since his death, she's given birth to his son, raised him alone, and worked hard to find a new best friend.
By NANCY LUNA - The Orange County Register

Quotes:
>>A few years ago, an allergy attack left Kristin Burt gasping for breath, her face swollen.

She called for an ambulance. Then, during the ride to the hospital, it happened.

The paramedic stared at her. "Kristin Burt. Kristin Burt," he chanted, trying to make the connection.

Burt calls it the JFK syndrome - the moment when her name or face (even her face bloated by an allergy attack) becomes unmistakably familiar to strangers. The medic finally remembered she was married to Don Burt, a rookie CHP officer gunned down 10 years ago this month in Fullerton. Kristin Burt was seven months pregnant at the time of the killing, which made headlines for weeks.<<

I was living literally across the screet from the murder scene. I remember that evening... I was on the phone, talking to a friend, and I heard a series of pops. I joked about it being gunshots and the neighborhood going down the tubes, but I figured it was fireworks.

And then I heard sirens.

And more sirens.

And more sirens.

I finally went outside to see more black & whites in one place than I'd ever seen before, and I watched as an ambulance passed by, carrying Officer Burt.

>>He was shot in the head and neck by gang leader Hung Thanh Mai after a traffic stop. Mai was sentenced to death four years later.<<

Too bad he'll probably live a long life in prison and die of natural causes.

>>Then, when she wasn't looking, she met Aussie-born Russell Cooper. The two were attending a gathering of mutual friends at TAPS Fish House & Brewery in Brea in early 2001.
[snip]
After hours of talking, the strangers didn't seem so strange. Both were adopted. Both were born in 1967. Both were single with one child. His daughter was Emma, the name she had wanted for Cameron if he had been a girl. And both were tired of "going nowhere" relationships.
[snip]
Recently, Burt gave Cameron a quilt of his dad's clothes - square patches pieced together of Don Burt's favorite plaid shorts, shirts and wool CHP uniform. Burt also gave her son his father's old hairbrush and watch. He clings to each memento - treasures of a father he's now getting to know.

On Feb. 1, 2003, Kristin Burt and Russell Cooper married at TAPS in front of 40 friends.<<

It's a great story. Check it out. I'm so glad things are turning out well for her and her child. Officer Burt gave his life protecting a stretch of freeway I still use all of the time, and I'm glad his murder hasn't murdered the souls of the family he left behind. Russell Cooper sounds like a good guy.

Being the Guy = Exterminator

2006-07-06T22:25:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it is the hot weather, or what, but we're getting a lot of insects and bugs and the like. There was an ant trail outside by the front door. I slew a couple of large spiders in the bathroom. There have been little flying bugs, I think originally attracted by bananas. Yesterday, I came home, my lovely wife greeted me at the door, and then she exlcaimed that a wasp or some similar stinging flying thing was in the corner of the doorway, building what must be a nest. Looks like something that Shelby could have squeezed out in the backyard. This nest, or whatever it was, was between our screen door and our regular door. Clearly, the screen door is more for security purposes than to keep the critters out.

Being the guy, it is apparently my job to slay these foul crawlies, or otherwise get rid of them.

Ahhh, the joys of being male.

Goodnight!
-Ken

My Latest Column Now Online

2006-06-27T20:22:00.000-07:00

The first part of the latest edition of Kenversations(TM) was posted today at http://www.LaughingPlace.com

In this multi-part column, we go back to 1990 Disneyland, when the park was celebrating "35 Years of Magic".

KB Home Reports Plunge in Orders, Slashes Forecast - Los Angeles Times

2006-06-16T15:50:00.000-07:00

KB Home Reports Plunge in Orders, Slashes Forecast - Los Angeles Times

I interviewed to work with them once. They didn't hire me. This seems to happen to companies who don't hire me.

I Was Quoted

2006-06-08T22:56:00.000-07:00

Park Coming After 12-Year Wait
BY EUGENE TONG, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Daily News

Quotes:
>>The board is expected on Tuesday to vote on the Pacific Crest Park project, which would install $843,000 worth of lawn, trees, parking and other improvements to the lot next to Mountainview Elementary School in the 22200 block of West Cypress Place, where officials promised a park a decade ago.
[snip]
"It's a good sign when you see us requesting bids from contractors," said Ken Pellman, spokesman for the county Department of Public Works, which is heading the construction.
[snip]
Officials said it took time to raise the required funds from park fees paid for by developers. According to county Public Works, the county only completed acquisition of the park site in March 2000 from Pacific Bay Homes, which built the surrounding subdivision.
[snip]
The proposed park's features are less than those of parks operated by the city of Santa Clarita, which include swing sets and even wireless Internet access. But Pellman said the county could improve the park later.

"There's always a possibility we will go back and do more to it," he said. "Improving parks is what we do. But we're working for county (Department of Parks and Recreation). It will be up to them."<<

Keeping Busy

2006-06-03T17:00:00.000-07:00

I've been keeping busy, and so blogging has suffered. Lots to say. For now, though, I wanted to say that while the wife was working last night, I took off for a work-related event at the Ritz Gardens Banquet Center in the Whittier area. If was for the 6th Annual Community Awards Banquet, presented by the Whittier County Community Coordinating Council.

I was a guest of Supervisor Gloria Molina, and was there because of my involvement in getting the South Whittier Shuttle launched...more precisely... getting publicity for the launch.