Category: Uncategorized

The corner of Victory and Sepulveda in Van Nuys.

These two images sum up much of what makes our life unpleasant in Los Angeles.

There are the grotesque billboards, ramming their bulk into the sky, obscuring our view of the sky. The overhead powerlines, suitable for the late 19th Century, obsolete in our own times.

There are eight lanes of road, clogged with solo drivers sitting in traffic. Isolated and frustrated. Burning fossil fuels that help to supply funds to terrorists. Air pollution that makes our city the dirtiest in America. An unpleasant and unsafe place to walk. Contributing to obesity.

A corner mini-mall without residental buildings. Making car trips necessary to do one’s shopping. A building which presents a parking lot as its facade, instead of greeting the street properly with windows and doors.

Solutions?

Impose a 50 cent gas tax to fund public transportation and discourage SUV’s.
Outlaw visually blighting billboards.
Open our zoning regulations to allow residential construction mixed with commercial buildings.
Narrow the width of wide boulevards to make pedestrians more important than cars.
Bury overhead power lines.

A few months ago, when construction crews began to add mass to this small house on the corner of Peach Avenue and Victory Blvd., we cautiously hoped to see something neat and landscaped emerge in this “Jack in the Box” adjacent home.

Alas, it was not to be. The workers poured concrete all around the perimeter of the house, entombing the back, side and front yards. Grass, trees, shrubs, flowers…..this home will have none of it.

Is this legal? Even if it is, the cruel and ugly addition to the neighborhood will engender more hostility and alienation. Just what’s needed on the happy corner of Sepulveda and Victory.

LA Daily News

Here is a list of upcoming neighborhood council meetings:

Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council, 6:30 p.m. today at Van Gogh Elementary School, 17160 Van Gogh St., Granada Hills. Call (818) 360-4346 or see http://www.ghnnc.org.

Tarzana Neighborhood Council, 7 p.m. Tuesday at Tarzana Elementary School, 5726 Topeka Drive, Tarzana. Call (818) 345-1966 or see http://www.tarzananc.org.

West Hills Neighborhood Council, 7 p.m. Wednesday at the 911 Communication Center, 23001 Roscoe Blvd., West Hills. Call (818) 719-8656 or see http://www.westhillsnc.org.

Chatsworth Neighborhood Council, 7 p.m. Wednesday at Lawrence Middle School, 10100 Variel Ave., Chatsworth. Call (818) 464-3511.

North Hills West Neighborhood Council, 7 p.m. Wednesday in Building 22 at the Sepulveda VA, 16111 Plummer St., North Hills. Call (818) 893-8613 or see http://www.northhillswest.org.

West Van Nuys-Lake Balboa Neighborhood Council, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Lake Balboa Studios , 7412 Balboa Blvd., Van Nuys. Elections will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 18 at the same location. Call (818) 374-9883.

North Hills East Neighborhood Council, 7 p.m. March 6 in the auditorium at Sepulveda Middle School, 15330 Plummer St., North Hills. Call (818) 891-0060.

Van Nuys Neighborhood Council, 7 p.m. March 8 in Room 1B at the Marvin Braude Constituents Service Center, 6262 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys. Call (818) 908-1840.

Sylmar Neighborhood Council, 6:30 p.m. March 9 in the auditorium at Hubbard Street Elementary School, 13325 Hubbard St., Sylmar. Call (818) 833-8737.

Granada Hills South Neighborhood Council, 6 p.m. March 10 in the conference room at Granada Hills Public Library, 10640 Petit Ave., Granada Hills. Call (818) 321-6259 or see http://www.OldGranadaHills.org.

Notices of neighborhood council meetings are published every Monday. Send information two weeks in advance, including time, date, location and a phone number. Fax to (818) 713-0058 or send e-mail to dnmetro@dailynews.com.

Here are some recent and upcoming shows on the History Channel:

Mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle
UFO Files
Conspiracy: Lincoln Assassination
Titanic’s Final Moments
Hell: The Devil’s Domain
Bigfoot and Other Monsters
Warrior Queen Boudica
Comets: Prophets of Doom
How William Shatner Changed the World
An Alien History of Planet Earth
Star Wars: Empire of Dreams
“Jaws”
Modern Marvels: Torture Devices
The Day the Towers Fell
Tsunami 2004: Waves of Death
Bible II Code: Apocolypse and beyond
Hitler’s Family
Nostradamus: 500 Years Later
History Alive: Helter Skelter

The NY Times reports that a group of 12 older friends have joined forces, financially, socially and emotionally to create a small, planned community for themselves.

“Glacier Circle” will be located in Davis, California and consists of eight town houses grouped around a courtyard. A “common house” will include dining facilities and a studio apartment that will be rented for below market rates to a skilled nurse.

The Times writes: “They are all accomplished professionals, and the market value of their homes allowed them to purchase land and build their dream at a cost of $3.2 million, or about $400,000 each, plus $350 a month in dues. They expect to collect $850 a month in rental income. Individuals own their own homes but share expenses of common areas.” The architect is Julie Haney.

The participants are retired professionals who include a psychologist, a health sciences professor, and an editor. Many of them met through the local Unitarian Universalist Church in the late 1960’s.

The new residents are survivors of the Great Depression and World War Two and are now embarking on their last mission–to care for one another and create an alternative to institutional care by sharing responsiblities, expenses and their time.

This idea of people buying and planning homes together comes from the progressive and humane nation of Denmark, which invests in pro-life concepts. Instead of exporting, producing and creating weapons of war.

The fact that Bode Miller will be leaving the WInter Olympics without having earned any medals seems to justify his critics. Heavy drinking, truth telling, not saying the “right’ things…from there it’s all downhill for this reigning World Cup champion.

Only a few weeks back, Miller was on the cover of Time and Newsweek.He spoke his mind on “60 Minutes” and to Rolling Stone magazine. He dared to say that he liked skiing drunk. He said Lance Armstrong and Barry Bonds were on steroids. This scared his sponsors which include Visa and Nike. They still hoped, and bet their dollars, that his forthcoming gold medals would be all that the world would remember.

Yet, his honesty is as refreshing as a cold Alpine wind. How many times do we have to endure a Cutie Couric corporate interview in which a silver medaled athlete answers in the usual cliches: “I’m an athlete. You have to have faith. I know I can win. I’ll do better next time.” Or they promise a brighter result tomorrow: “I’m tough. But you just have to keep going. I’ve got great coaches, my parents are wonderful and I have great faith in the Lord.”

Can’t America endure a guy who admits he hates fame, likes to drink, calls the whole thing a sham and refuses to answer the Today show with insipid utterances of phony remorse?

I hope Bode Miller continues to have a great time. Even if he walks away without those gold medals.