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C. Frederick Wehba II is the Vice Chairman of Bentley-Forbes, a real estate investment company. He has a Blog that, not surprisingly, is a well-informed and insightful source on the business of development and commercial properties.

An excerpt from his biography:

“Mr. Wehba, along with members of the Wehba family, founded Bentley-Forbes in 1993. Since that time the firm has completed commercial real estate transactions valued in excess of $2 billion in markets across the United States.

Prior to founding Bentley-Forbes, Mr. Wehba gathered investment and financial markets experience through his association with two of Wall Street’s most noted firms, Shearson Lehman and Smith Barney.”

He has a calm, cool, conservative and thoughtful Blog that stands out from the others simply by the elegance of his prose and presentation. It’s not for everyone, especially if you are looking for angry rants. There are no hot bod celebrities, nude men or women…… just chilled real estate served straight up.

A lobbyist, Jack Abramofff, who ripped off Indian tribes to bribe members of Congress and earned tens of millions doing so, is indicted, and many legislators may face prosecution as well. The Prime Minister of Israel suffers a stroke and is near death. Hundreds die in suicide bombings in Iraq. 12 miners are killed when their poorly inspected mine explodes. Iran is near completion on a nuclear device. And George Will is gravely concerned about the NCAA, “who is going to police cultural sensitivity, as it understands that. Hence the decision to declare Chief Illiniwek [at the University of Illinois] hostile and abusive to Native Americans.”

He is vexed because some “overly sensitive people” are offended by Indian mascots at sports events. He approves of “The NCAA allowing Florida State University and the University of Utah to continue calling their teams Seminoles and Utes, respectively, because those two tribes approve of the tradition.”

But the tradition in Illinois, which even has included the blessing of the Sioux Tribe, is under attack by what Will terms, “campus speech codes —academic liberalism’s preferred instrument of social improvement.” Grievance groups have multiplied and are demanding redress for past wrongs, which Will thinks is highly ridiculous. “NCAA’s censors say: The Chief must go, as must the university’s logo of a Native American in feathered headdress. Otherwise the NCAA will not allow the university to host any postseason tournaments or events.”

Yet imagine if the Native Americans had won and named their teams “The Catholic Priests” and did dances around a crucifix at half-time? What if the Sioux Indians put yarmulkes on their heads and stuffed dollars in their jackets in a hilarious satire on Jack Abramoff and called themselves the “Greedy Jews”? Will thinks we are all way too sensitive: “When, in the multiplication of entitlements, did we produce an entitlement for everyone to go through life without being annoyed by anything, even a team’s nickname?” he asks.

The real target of Will is the idea that liberalism is anything more substantial than just a fashion, fad and fashion accessory. To his conservative mind, putting the spotlight on the most ridiculous and inconsequential debates in American society will somehow show how silly and misguided open-minded thinking is. Why should, Will wonders, any red-blooded American even care about naming sports teams after annihilated tribes? Just enjoy the show.

Listen up Focks News and Mr. Will!

Liberalism, and not debates about college mascots and Christmas trees in public spaces, is a deadly serious affair. It is the battle to keep evolution in our schools, to keep our country out of war, to pay for our health insurance even when we are too poor to afford it. Liberalism is not some episode of “All in the Family” when Meathead screams at Archie. Liberalism is the creed that will one day free us from hating one another because of “traditional values” and “religious differences”. Liberalism will save the planet, because it will state factually and without bias, that global warming and nuclear weapons will do us in. Conservative culturalists, like Mr. Will, would like to debate about insipid issues and ignore the rampant corruption and lies perpetuated by the Bush regime. Liberals have nothing to hide from except their own squeamishness.

George Will may hold lefties up to ridicule but his own arguments cannot even be respected in all seriousness.

I have been watching the latest HGTV “Dream Home” unveiling of a monster 5,200 square foot mountaintop mansion packed full of furnishings, knick-knacks, and a brand-new 2007 GMC Yukon.

Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, “Down the road from the city of Asheville”, HGTV calls the Lake Lure home , “one of the most dramatic locations ever”. Local craftspeople contributed traditional elements in the home: hand-made railings, forged hardware and bark siding. There are also a few rooms that every house needs: a wine cellar, a project room, a sitting room, a sky bedroom, an attic bedroom, a bunkroom, a doggy dream home, a fire pit, an exercise studio, a sauna bath, a guest laundry room (not to be confused with the owner’s laundry room), and seven bathrooms.

For ten years, HGTV has been promoting these obese fantasies and advertisers have jumped on the bandwagon. Literally every single item in this home has a link on HGTV’s website. You can buy candles, dishwashers, shower heads, lamps, quilts, rugs– every single thing your eye can see.

And what about the “lucky winner” who actually beats the other 40 million contestants and ends up with this bark covered dinosaur? Misery, the IRS, and debt. Don Cruz and his family won in 2005 and according to this article,they owed $600,000 in taxes and had to sell or else they would go bankrupt.

It’s fun, in a pornographic way, to look at these enormous and “amazing” places. But imagine if you could afford to live in one? You would need a staff of 12 just to dust the floors, clean the shelves, polish the 35 lamps and clean the 25 foot high windows perched above the cliffside. What if you needed to get a half gallon of milk and had to drive three miles down the mountain? This house is an albatross. The seven bathrooms, the endless kitchen countertops, the 30 foot high ceilings with light bulbs that will one day burn out, the electric and water bills! Who would have a moment to relax in running this monstrosity? It’s enough to make you want to rent a studio apartment in Manhattan.

Curbed LA comments on the anger over the cancellation of downtown festivities on New Year’s Eve:

“Just wanted to rant about how Downtown LA can’t throw a fucking new years party if their life depended on it… after years of doing random concerts that never attracted a crowd, Giant Village last year was a moderate success. This year, Giant Village (which had a 6 block section of downtown closed off) had a great lineup and 15,000 people expected. Unfortunately, they didn’t plan for the rain and the thing got cancelled by the fire marshall because people could have gotten electrocuted! Downtown my be a real city center in a few years, but not yet.

Next year, I am up in mammoth snowboarding or at another city that has a real celebration!”
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Doesn’t LA have the world’s suckiest New Years celebration? Mayor Sam agrees. How do we compare to New York, Sydney, Paris or Hong Kong? We need something insanely cool and here is my suggestion:

I have always thought that Los Angeles should prohibit vehicles on the Hollywood Freeway from Barham to Melrose and open it up to pedestrians for a thrilling New Year’s Eve celebration. The city could hang thousands of Chinese lanterns along the highway, and light up the all the 1920’s buildings in Hollywood. Enormous light shows, great bands, and the nearby Red Line would help bring thousands to the celebration. Crowds would walk and promenade on the Freeway and take in those thrilling views that formerly were restricted to 70mph fly-bys.

The same helicopters that fly overhead to report on traffic accidents could monitor the gathering, and the event would attract worldwide attention. California is famous for its freeways, and the idea that they could be transformed into something safe, without drunk driving on New Year’s Eve, is an idea that should be put into practice on New Year’s Eve 2007.

Since the entire world watches the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day, why can’t they watch Hollywood party the night before?

Photo: Library of Congress

The following information is courtesy of:

LA Daily News

Here is a list of upcoming neighborhood council meetings:

Reseda Neighborhood Council will hold a board meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Canoas Banquet Hall, 18136 Sherman Way, Reseda. Call (818) 832-7540.

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.

North Hills East Neighborhood Council (forming), 7 p.m. Jan. 9, in the library at Sepulveda Middle School, 15330 Plummer St., North Hills. Call (818) 891-0060.

Van Nuys Neighborhood Council, 7 p.m. Jan. 11 in Room 1B at the Marvin Braude Constituent Services Center, 6262 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys. Call (818) 908-1840.

Sylmar Neighborhood Council, 6:30 p.m. Jan. 12 in the auditorium at Hubbard Street Elementary School, 13325 Hubbard St., Sylmar. Call (818) 833-8737.

Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council, 6:30 p.m. Jan. 16 in the library at Sherman Oaks Elementary School, 14755 Greenleaf St., Sherman Oaks. Call (818) 503-2399 or see http://www.shermanoaksnc.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.

Yesterday, NPR had a discussion about why movie attendance has gone down. Many reasons were given: the infantile plots, too many films competing for attention, the high ticket prices, etc. The usual solutions were given: pay Jim Carrey less money, make more “adult” themed films, write better dialogue and better stories.

There is great praise for the Arclight Theaters in Hollywood because they have assigned seating and high class presentation (yours for only $14 a ticket). People who are sick of the bad manners of others are flocking to the Arclight because rudeness is less on display here. I have been to Arclight a few times, and the only bad manners I witnessed was the cruising in the men’s rest rooms, (which must account for the healthy business and tons of hot guys in this location). But the Arclight does improve one’s movie going experience. That said….

I went to the Sherman Oaks Pacific Galleria 16 to see KING KONG last night. It was crowded and the theater was packed. Since this movie is an EVENT and a BLOCKBUSTER, I naturally expected a lot of kids and perhaps some talking.

After the 20 minutes of commercials, and the 20 minutes of coming attractions, the three hour film began. And so did the mobile phone conversation of a man (with his son) in front of me. While the movie actors were talking on-screen, this jerk was talking off-screen. I yelled, “Shut-up!” and this caused him to turn off his phone.

The question is: Why is it necessary these days to have to ask people to not use their mobile phone during a film? Isn’t this self-evident to people that it is the MOST RUDE AND OBNOXIOUS sort of behavior to talk during a movie?

Let’s be honest about why we choose certain theaters. Lots of it has to do with location and convenience, but the other unspoken part is avoiding unsavory people. That’s why I live in Van Nuys but NEVER see movies in North Hollywood and Panorama City. I think I’m somehow going to sit in a theater with “higher class” people when I go to Century City or Sherman Oaks.

Then I remembered: the rudest people are now the ones who live in the best neighborhoods. They are the women on their cell phones driving the Lincoln Navigator down Rodeo Drive; they are the CEO’s in the movie theater in Century City who check their messages every five minutes; they are the scowling faces I see at Peet’s Coffee in Studio City; they are the angry, overeducated people in line at Gelsons who also talk on their phones when they should be paying attention to the cashier.A generation of spoiled and self-absorbed children (who were born 40 or 50 years ago) have total disregard for the feelings
of anyone but themselves.

King Kong himself should teach a class in etiquette to the middle-aged in this city.