The Election...

So, yesterday I worked as a City Employee Pollworker at an obscure precinct for an ignored election in Burbank. It was an experience, to be sure. I am at once awed by American democracy and deeply concerned in its long term viability.

We had about 600 registered voters for our little area, 12 of whom showed up at the polls. I am not sure how many people voted absentee, as the paperwork that would have showed that never arrived. From conversations with my fellow pollworkers, it seemed that this vital piece of paperwork often shows up days after the election itself.

It was dull, friends, dull. I did get a fairly lengthy discussion about Burbank politics going with my fellow workers, but spending 15 hours in a flooring showroom off Hollywood Way is about as much fun as it sounds.

Was this because no one knew about this election?

I received no campaign materials for the one race in our area, the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees. In fact, I had to spend a fair amount of time researching who the hell these people were, what they stood for, and what, exactly, the LACC board does.

Perhaps. It still made me sad that people don't seem to care about this race. And, from looking at the results, it was an EXTREMELY close race. Maybe people just chose randomly. Check out the results here. 2:30 a.m. bulletin (LA City Clerk).

Fire Coverage

So, that fire got damn close to Burbank, eh? And, I'll note, a day after the LA Times wrote a lengthy piece about fire danger in 'dem hills.

Anyhow, here's a quick rundown of some of the news outlets running news bits about the fire:

- LA Observed, here
- LA Times, here and here (blog)
- Daily News, here
- Bloomberg, here
- CBS2.com, here
- Metroblogging LA, here and here
- Asymptotia, here

The Trash Can

Monday, May 7
It sits, motionless, on top of the scale. Why is it on the scale? Why do I need to know that our frosted-plastic and metal IKEA bathroom trash weighs two pounds?

A mystery, truly. But, as it is morning, 7:15 a.m. to be exact, I have neither the time nor inclination to explore it further. I place it on the wall, underneath the towel rack. It seems happy there. I shower.

Tuesday, May 8
I shower. It is 7:45 a.m., and I am running late. Still, never to economize time for cleanliness, I clean my ears with a Qtip. Finished, I toss them in the direction of the....what?! The can is again on the scale, Kate Moss-eque obsessed with its mass. I gently place it back to its true home, under the striped green towel on the rack. I hear the two of them are friends.

Wednesday, May 9
The can is on the scale again. I fear the can may be suicidal. I decide to lock it in the shower stall for its own good. More bulletins as events warrant.

Daniel Evans Photography

Just in case you forgot, I am a wedding photographer as well as a semi-dorky Burbank blogger... Here's the site www.danevans.org

Just visit it, man. Let me know what you think.

The Burbank Follower, Vol. 2, No. 28

MICKEY MOUSE SELLING...WAR?
OK, folks, the official odd news of the day: Hamas is allegedly using a Mickey Mouse rip-off to garner support for its struggle against Israel... among little kids? This looks to be an AP story, though reported by the Casper (Wyo.) Tribune. And from the story itself:
"A spokeswoman from Walt Disney Co.'s headquarters in Burbank, Calif., did not immediately return messages asking for comment about the use of a Disney-like character."
Awesome. Casper Star-Tribune.

HUGE TURNOUT FOR MURDERED DEPUTY
About 3,000 showed up Monday to mourn Detective Raul Vasquez Gama, who was killed May 1 after a vehicle rammed his surveillance van in North Hollywood. Gama died at St. Joesph's in Burbank. Daily News.

UPDATES ON KILLED MOM
Roxanne Todd Paul, murdered last week in Burbank by an ex-boyfriend, had a lot to live for. Man, this one just gets worse, don't it? Daily News.

The Burbank Follower, Vol. 2, No. 27

UNITED FLIGHTS FROM PALMDALE COULD AFFECT BURBANK
Or, perhaps not. However, Palmdale is a hell of a lot closer for many people that use Bob Hope. Is this good, bad? Know not, I. Daily News.


ONE DRIVER NABBED IN BURBANK DUI CHECKPOINT
Headline pretty much says it all. East of the 5 (Daily News blog).

Wow, not a lot going on this morning. More randomness later.

The Burbank Follower, Vol. 2, No. 26

UPDATE ON BURBANK SHOOTING
Updates on the apparent murder-suicide in Burbank early Friday morning. Roxanne Paul, who looks to be the murder victim, is the mother of two young children. Poor kids. The Leader article has a bit more in the way of details than the Daily News. Daily News. Leader.

GET ON THE BUS
A Sherman Oaks resident takes the Orange Line and Burbank Bus to Bob Hope Airport, pronouncing it just fine. Zach Behrens of LAist also calls the Media City "Bizarrebank," which is something I hadn't heard of. I suppose if you live in Sherman Oaks, most everything else is bizarre, though. LAist.

EVACUATION PROCEDURES TO BE UPDATED
Emergency procedures are slated to be tightened following an electrical fire Monday at John Burroughs High. School officials, believing the fire alarm to be false, kept students inside the school for 15 minutes. Leader. Leader Editorial.

PLATT PROJECT FACING FORECLOSURE
A proposed office and residential development on Olive Avenue faces foreclosure later this month, potentially dooming the project. Developers scaled back the Platt development in 2005 after residents complained the increased traffic and noise would be bad for the neighborhood. Leader.

Losanjealous Betrayal Review

Whoo! It got posted on Losanjealous. Read the exact same version here.

Well, Shut My Mouth - Seagate, Part II

Seagate might not be that bad, after all. After much hand wringing and phone tag, the company has decided to send me a 500GB usb-powered drive to replace my 300GB eSATA drive. Ahh, shucks. Still, it seemed like it was much harder than it needed to be, if only because the people in charge have to call you back, often days later, to answer relatively simple questions.

Still, OK. Seagate, you don't suck. I take it back.

The hold music is rather weird, though. It's very 70s-era organ music, the type you might hear while waiting for of those grindhouse movies that Quentin Tarantino loves so much.

The Burbank Follower, Vol. 2, No. 25

TWO FOUND SHOT TO DEATH
A man and a woman, both 28, were found shot to death at 3 a.m. in the 1700 block of West Alameda Avenue in an apparent murder-suicide. ABC7 via CNS. KNBC.

TENNESSEE RESIDENT HITS IT BIG ON "PRICE IS RIGHT"
Cookeville, Tenn. pharmacist woman gets her wish, chills with Bob Barker in Burbank. Ahh, rural news. Herald-Citizen. In case any of y'all are wondering where the hell that is, here's a map.

Seagate... Damn Their Eyes

OK, this has started to become extraordinarily irritating. First, I bought a hard drive from CompUSA that I can't use, can't return and can't sell. This, as better detailed in an earlier post, was frustrating in itself, but Seagate's technical support is one of the worst systems I have had the displeasure of running across.

The first, and biggest problem, is actually getting someone on the line that can solve your problem. I would like to return my brand-new, unused eSATA 300 drive. It works, as far as I can tell, anyhow, but I can't use it b/c my computer doesn't have the correct ports. Awesome. Because CompUSA is going out of business, they won't let me return it, and because it's a pretty common type of drive, I haven't had any luck selling it on craigslist.

This pretty much leaves a return to Seagate itself. I have called no less than six times, over the course of the past two weeks, only to be told that someone will call me back. No one, however, does. Or, rather, the only people who I CAN talk to tell me they can't help me, and that a mystery person will call me back.

Everyone who I speak to has an Indian accent, leading me to believe the call center is 4,000 miles away. The tech support people are unfailingly polite, and helpful as much as they can be. However, when an issue arises that requires the Scotts Valley corporate office to make a decision, everything gets lost in translation.

Either that, or they think that I will just go away. I did attempt to call the corporate office this morning, but was quickly shuttled to the same tech support hell as before. Damnit, the call center can't help me!

The joke of it all is this: it seems increasingly likely that my request to exchange products will simply be denied. It's not Seagate's problem that I bought the wrong thing, nor that the staff at CompUSA assured me that it would work with my Mac. However, since I'm stuck with the damn thing, I figure I should do everything within my power to make things right.

Wish me luck.

The Burbank Follower, Vol. 2, No. 24

SF RESIDENT STILL HATES LA... SORTA
A SF'er named Chuck Jordan blogs about his coming to terms with the beauty of Los Angeles... Or, at least, the tech reporter on KTLA and a damn fine sushi place in Burbank (Sushi Dake). Spectre Colie.

"IDOL" JUDGE ACTING BADLY
A flight attendant blog details boorish behavior on the part of "American Idol" judge Paula Abdul on a Southwest San Jose to Burbank flight. According to a related story in TMZ, the ill behavior took place mid-April. Singapore Airlines Cabin Crew Stories.

WWII BOMBERS TO VISIT BURBANK
Today, in fact. The B-24, B-25 & B-17 will be arriving this morning. Ventura County Star.

The Burbank Follower, Vol. 2, No. 23

FOUND MONEY
Well, it's sorta Burbank related, so I had to throw it in. A dude in Simi Valley (or so it appears from his blogger profile) logs all the money he finds (lost pennies, nickles, etc.) and writes about it. Turns out he found some at the Burbank Airport on the way to Vegas. It's a strange blog, but very readable. Found Money Jar.

CHEAP TIX GONE
The much vaunted Skybus $10 tickets from Burbank to, ahem, Columbus got snapped up almost as soon as they became available. Leader.

Betrayal - The Losanjealous Review

Robin Roy (Emma) and J. Richey Nash (Jerry) share a moment
photo by James Carey

"Betrayal" by Harold Pinter
Directed by James Carey (no, not THAT James Carey)

The Attic Theatre & Film Center
5429 W. Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90016
Playing until May 12, each Thursday through Saturday @ 8 p.m. Tickets, $20

To begin, a small rant:

For the love of the ever living g*d, why the fuck does every damn theater in Los Angeles County insist on calling its space a theatRE?! We’re not in the UK! We don’t use cheques, the last letter of the alphabet is pronounced “zee” not “zed,” and cricket is a cousin of the locust, not a game.

I mean, really.

A can of pickled herring from the private stock of Dan the LA City Bureaucrat to the best answer to this question. Post your answer in the comments section. And no whining. My decision is final, damnit. It’s my smelly fish, and I’ll give it to whom I please.

I grew up in a part of San Diego called Rancho Penasquitos, which is Spanish for “Rancho Penasquitos.” The main shopping area, which came complete with a Jack In the Box AND a El Pollo Loco, was known as the Penasquitos Towne Centre. This irritated me, and not only due to the dearth of dining options, but because a friggin’ strip mall does not bring to mind Jolly ‘Ole England. It calls to mind Jolly ‘Ole Topeka, hardly the place I want swimming to mind when thinking upon the halcyon days of my youth.

But, anyhow...

“Betrayal” is an excellent play. You should go see it. It has two things I love: a plot (weirdly missing from a lot of current shows) and a twisted time frame. That is, the taleis told backwards, opening at the point where an affair between Emma (Christine Stump/Robin Roy) and Jerry (J. Richey Nash), the heart of the plot, ends.

And then Emma's husband Robert (Christopher Cappiello) shows up, revving up the play's engine and motoring it backwards to its beginning. It's like a stop-motion film of flowers blooming, whithering and dying, only in reverse. It's all the more wrenching, looking at that reformed whole, as we all know Emma and Jerry's love is doomed.

The play has a staccato feel, the lines coming at you fast, deftly transversing the tragic and farcical scenes, and keeping the whole sordid business from collapsing under its own weight. But it slows down too, abruptly switching gears into a series of pregnant (and ultimately stillborn) pauses, making the audience squirm a bit. Emotion! It's what's for dinner.

Burbank Craigslist Ad O' The Day

I need to borrow a wheelchair... Not for filming

Reply to: sale-322937317@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-05-02, 9:42AM PDT

Hello: I know this is a random request, but my grandma's coming into town this weekend with my mother, and we want to go on a couple of tours and maybe do some shopping. The problem is my grandma gets winded very easily. She doesn't have a wheelchair of her own (yet), and I was hoping if by some random chance anyone had one, you could loan it to me just for Saturday May 5th. Nothing fancy, just need it so she can keep up with my mom as we shop our hearts out. It would be for the The Valley (including Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena)and I need one that folds down so I can put it in my little car. Also, if you know where I can rent one cheap, that would be swell also. Thank you kindly. Cheers! Kat

Location: The Valley
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interestsPostingID: 322937317

The Burbank Follower, Vol. 2, No. 22

NEW MAYOR ELECTED
Following the installation of the two newest council members, Gary Bric and Anja Reinke, the Burbank five unanimously selected Marsha Ramos as the new mayor. The largely ceremonial job has a one-year term. The council also bid farewell to the two outgoing councilmembers, Mayor Todd Campbell and Jef Vander Borght. Much praise was heaped on the two, though the Leader only quotes city officials. Did no one in the community want to weigh in? Leader.

BURBANK HOUSING CORP. FACES AUDIT
The Burbank City Council ordered an audit of its own housing authority following allegations that a recent apartment complex purchase resulted in windfall gains for the seller, developer David Augustine. I believe the Leader was first on this story. Nice job, guys. Leader.

Craigslist Ad O' the Day

And now, for a feature that needs no introduction...

---

Overweight Spanish Speaking actress wanted

Reply to: gigs-322385591@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-05-01, 11:22AM PDT


we need an overweight actress that can speak spanish for a 1 hour shoot. Pay is $40


Location: Burbank
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
Compensation: $40

PostingID: 322385591

The Burbank Follower, Vol. 2, No. 21

BURBANK SCHOOL SMOKED OUT
A malfunctioning transformer forced the evacuation of approximately 2,600 students Monday morning at John Burroughs High School. No one was hurt. CBS2 (via AP).