Observations of a First-Time Pollworker

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vote-by-mail voter for a couple of years now, so my experience with voting at the polls in Los Angeles is a distant and outdated memory.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

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

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

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

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.

The Wild Life

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

For more info, click here.

Splash Mountain is 20, My Farewell to Bruce Gordon

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

[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

"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!

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

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

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

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

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"

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

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

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

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!

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.