We went to the Los Angeles County Fair on Friday, September 18, 2009. I had never been to the Fair and wanted to check it out at least once while we still lived relatively close to it. The only fair I had been to before was the Puyallup Fair in Puyallup, Washington. I remember the pig races, the farm animals, and the showcasing of cattle to be judged. I remember parking on someone’s lawn where they had rented out spaces. It was interesting. In Alaska there used to be a fair in Haines when I lived in Juneau. They probably still have it. I never got to go because it went on during the school year, I believe. My wife went to the L.A. County fair several years ago. She enjoyed all the indoor and covered booths where vendors sold everything from cloths to hot tubs to nameplates and tattoos. It reminded her of Santee Alley in the fashion district of Downtown L.A. When we went to the fair we noticed a couple of places that looked similar to Santee Alley: the outdoor but covered Grandstand Pavilion in the middle of the fairgrounds and the indoor booths in the many buildings of the Shopping Place at the east end. My wife also remembered a place near the Fairview Farms section that sold the world’s best ice cream. One not so good memory she had was that it took forever to drive out of the parking lot.

We decided to go on September 18 because that was Azusa day at the fair. Just about every day honored one or two nearby communities. The parade would feature community members and there would be a presentation of community hero awards. September 18 was also Chino day. While looking up information about the community days on the L.A. County Fair website I came across a printable coupon for “buy one get one free” admission for “Azusa city employees, friends, and family”. We weren’t sure if that applied to Azusa residents but we printed the coupon just in case. My wife also had a coupon for $2 off each admission ticket from Inland Empire magazine. We looked up a schedule of events on the website. Some were scheduled and others went on all day. We picked out the ones that interested us most, worked out where they were, and made our own tentative schedule.

We also looked at the various eating choices and there were many. The website had an impressive picture of the giant grill of Juicy’s Barbecue. But there were many barbecue options including Big Bubba’s Bad to the Bone Barbecue. My wife had heard about a place at the fair that sold the “Colossal Gelato”, an entire pint of ice cream in a 16-inch waffle cone. The website said these were sold at Italian Ice Cream on North Magnolia Street. The walkways at the fair are labeled as streets even though they’re just walkways. My wife also heard about muffin-sized cupcakes. When I looked up cupcakes on the website, it said that a place called CB Cupcakes sold muffin-sized cupcakes in sets of 3 with 3 milks. Places also sold jumbo cupcakes, fried cupcakes, and cupcakes on a stick. A third food item we heard about was fried hamburgers. I found that this place called Ranch BBQ sold fried bacon cheeseburgers. The website said it was at Midway Plaza but we couldn’t find that on the map.

On Friday after making and having breakfast we went to the Blockbuster Video at Azusa Avenue and Puente Street to get tickets to the Wolfmother concert at the Wiltern on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 (see future review). We got them just after they went on sale at 10 am and got great seats in the Mezzanine section. After returning home and getting ready, we drove to Metrolink train station and caught the 11:55 am train going east. We had to buy round trip tickets between the Covina and Pomona stations even though the train was going to stop at a temporary station, Fairplex, between Covina and Pomona. The train came one minute early and wasn’t very crowded. Several other people looked like they were also going to the fair. It was our first time taking the train to go east of Covina. We passed Charter Oak High School and some industrial, commercial, and residential areas. There was an interesting looking white church with a domed roof. Most of the good scenery was north of the train tracks.

It was a short train ride, only about 7 minutes. Fairplex station was just a concrete landing south of the tracks. A Metrolink employee opened the long chain-linked gate at the southwest end of the station. This led to the large Fairplex parking lot. They had a large waiting area set up with many benches, a shade, a Sparklett’s water cooler, and even a couple of portable outhouses. However, we didn’t need to wait because the shuttle was already there to drive us to the fair. We could see the Ferris wheel and the fair in the distance to the Southeast. To the west was a grandstand for what looked like an auto raceway. They drove us along a designated lane in the parking lot. Closer to the fair we could see that the parking lot was already full of cars. There were pedi-cabs ferrying people from their cars to the entrance. We reached the entrance, the Yellow Gate at the northwest end of the fair. The fair actually had three entrances: the Yellow Gate to the southwest, the Blue Gate to the north, and the Red Gate to the southeast. They told us to return to the Yellow Gate to catch the shuttle 25 minutes before the Metrolink train arrived. The last one going west arrived at Fairplex station at 7:47 pm. That meant we had to be at the Yellow Gate at 7:22 pm.

The Yellow Gate was actually a couple of large tents opened at both ends. As soon as we got off the shuttle someone handed us “prize cards” that we were supposed to scan at these machines nearby. We couldn’t even get the machines to work by touching the screens even though it said to do that. We just left the cards in the machine’s disposal bin. There were several queues to buy tickets and some machines to just buy tickets automatically. We found a short queue to a window. I showed the seller my printed Azusa community coupon and he gave us the 2 for 1 discount without asking for any ID or any other confirmation that we lived in Azusa. We went through a turnstile where they took our tickets and we were at the fair. It was 12:30 pm, a half hour after the fair opened for the day. It was warm that day and had already felt warm when we went to Blockbuster at 10 am that morning. Now it was very warm, in the mid to high 90’s, I believe. Right after we entered a photographer snapped our photo and gave us a ticket to claim it later.

Our first activity was to have lunch. We went to Route 66 BBQ that wasn’t too far from the Yellow Gate. After I ordered we sat at a table in a covered area nearby and they called our number. At the counter they gave me to boxes with regular-sized hot dog buns and told me to go to the grill to get the foot-long hot dog and Cajun sausage we ordered. As I waited at just outside the grill, smoke from it blew in my direction. My cloths would smell like barbecue smoke for the rest of the day. The cook served the hot dog and sausage and I accepted the option of grilled onions and peppers on our orders. The foot-long hot dog looked more like 14-16 inches. As I walked by someone said, “Look at the size of that hot dog. It’s too big for the box.” It was good, though, and just tough enough on the outside to pack in the juiciness. It had a lot of flavor, too, as did the Cajon sausage that had a lot of spice. The grilled onions and peppers were also good. As we ate we watched people ride the mechanical bull next door.

There were many booths, vendors, and places selling food. They seemed to be everywhere, not just concentrated in one area. It was hard to distinguish the “streets” on the map making it easy to get lost. It was hot, too, and sometimes we had to stop and rest. We passed some mini monster trucks and some bungee rides. Nearby we could see the Carnival area with its roller coaster, large Ferris wheel, and other rides. There were actually three Ferris wheels at the fair: at the Carnival (the largest), at the Clocktower Plaza, and at the Park Square where they had a kids’ carnival. As we walked along Magnolia Street we didn’t see Italian Ice Cream with its Colossal Gelato. We were trying to get to the Home and Garden area but we somehow arrived at the covered Grandstand Pavilion. Not a bad thing because it had shade and we could rest a bit. We then walked south through the Palms Marketplace to the large pavilion in the Home and Garden section. Within it they had the Gateway to Africa exhibit with displays of African plants and life-size model animals made of flowers similar to Rose Parade floats. They had model elephants and very tall giraffes. Interesting plants included rainbow-colored roses. Some arrangements included tiles of lemons and pomegranates.

We exited the south end of the pavilion into the Home and Garden grounds. They consisted of hilly paths among green trees and plants. Just outside the pavilion was a small covered stand selling Hawaiian smoothies. They all had dairy so I couldn’t try them but my wife though she might like to try one later. It was hot so we climbed the paths slowly to the section called the Congo Basin Fly Zone. It was a landing with cages containing some large birds. We wanted to see the Congo Basin Parrot Show that started at 1:30 pm. Nearby was a place where they had this large outdoor chess set. We later saw a young couple actually playing chess with it. We waited until 1:30 and there was nothing going on. We thought we might be in the wrong spot. We walked around some more but then saw a gamekeeper at the Fly Zone start to gather people around, mostly kids. He brought out a small grey parrot and had it perch on a leather glove he wore. I don’t remember when the kind of parrot he said it was. He explained that it was a young parrot and that this species learned to talk by mimicking what it heard. This reminded me of when lived on Commonwealth Avenue many years ago near Koreatown and a neighbor’s parrot would imitate car alarms. The gamekeeper was trying to teach the gray parrot to say, “What’s cookin’, good lookin’?” We repeated it a few times and the parrot made a similar noise, though not quite decipherable.

Next, the gamekeeper picked up the Lanner falcon that we saw perched on a stump earlier. He talked about it and then did the same with the Augur buzzard or hawk also perched on a stump. He explained how the females were much bigger than the males because they had to protect the nest while the males hunted for food. The last bird he picked up was a tall light brown owl called the Eurasian Eagle Owl. It had also been perched on a stump in the same cage as the falcon and hawk. He explained that the owl’s favorite food is the skunk because the owl has no sense of smell. He let the kids touch it by stroking down its back with two fingers. The last bird he explained but did not pick up was the large Alyssinian Ground Hornbill from either Africa or South America (I don’t remember). It mostly walks around scavenging but can fly if it needs to make a fast getaway.

The parrot show ended and we walked around the garden paths a bit. They had some pens with real African animals: ostriches, camels, zebras, and miniature zebus. We returned to that stand near the Gateway to Africa pavilion that sold Hawaiian smoothies. The business was called Maui Wowee and my wife got the Lemon Wave smoothie that she enjoyed very much. It was one of the things that impressed her most at the fair. We walked back up the paths away from the Congo Basin and towards the Caring for the Land section. The paths were steep and became dirt and sawdust rather than concrete. On the side of a steep hill they had a genuine fire lookout station. I went up the stairs to check it out. It had a deck around a small shelter. There was this circular viewing device used to determine the coordinates of a fire after it was spotted. There was also a small bed for sleeping in the tower. From the tower I could see the Yellow Gate and the foothills north of Pomona far beyond. See the tower reminded me of a short story in the book T.C. Boyle Stories about a woman who lives and works at a remote fire lookout station. We then walked by some other Forest Service displays. I did a Smokey Bear bean bag toss and throw one of the bags through the hole. As prizes they gave us a keychain and a whistle. We were looking for the Smokey (spelled “Smoley” in the schedule online) Bear 65th birthday display and practice dialing 911 display but we could find them. We soon left the Caring for the Land and Home and Garden sections and walked back through the Gateway to Africa pavilion.

We walked back out past the Palms Marketplace and the Grandstand Pavilion toward the Grandstand building itself. We passed a place where people were queued up to get tickets to one of the fair concerts. Bands and artists from Good Charlotte to the Beach Boys were playing that year. We were headed toward the place where they were showing quilting, knitting, and arts and crafts in the Grandstand building. We made it to Broadway, the major walkway over which a chairlift rode so people could see the fair from above. The large Carnival Ferris wheel was at the northwest end of Broadway. Along the south side of the Grandstand building I spotted a booth selling apple fries. This sounded intriguing so I got some and we went into an air conditioned seating area and tried them. They were good with slightly tart apple flavor. They weren’t crunchy but still good. The booth that sold apple fries, along with some others we saw, also sold chocolate-covered bacon. A few places also sold “meat-lover’s ice cream” that I later learned was chocolate ice cream with bacon bits.

We then entered the Grandstand building into the Tapestry section. There they had quilts, needlepoint, knits, stained glass, dolls, and many other crafts. We saw one small stained glass of a rose made by someone from Covina that had won second place. Many crafts had blue ribbons for first place, red for second, white for third, and pink for fourth. A needlepoint from Azusa won first place.

We went to the neighboring Culinary Styles Gourmet Kitchen section of the Grandstand building that was just past the escalators that went up to the actually stands where people watched the horseracing. The Culinary Styles section had creative place settings that people entered to be judged in different categories. Only the winners were displayed. There were various baked goods, also judged, in glass display cases including cookies, cakes, and breads. One looked like a giant muffin. There was a section with benches to watch a show kitchen. We were going to see Cooking with George. George is the culinary coordinator at Fairplex. He’s a former Disney pastry chef who now travels all over teaching cooking classes including on cruise ships. He has written several cookbooks including one on cheesecake and another on sauces. All his books were there on display and for sale. George is a big jolly guy with a voice similar to Father Bill’s. He’s very funny, too.

For the first segment, George demonstrated how to make two kinds of cheesecake: coffee liqueur-flavored and pecan-flavored. He offered lots of tips as he cooked such as that cheesecake tasted best on the third day after it’s made, how ice cream-like scoops are less expensive at restaurant supply stores, and how these scoops have numbers on them ranging from 8-60 that, I think, he said are the number of scoops in a pint of ice cream. He demonstrated the usefulness of a cheesecake pan with a removable bottom, and talked about how to prevent cracks in cheesecake, or just cover them up with whipped cream and the guests won’t know the difference. A couple of assistants helped him, bringing him ingredients and cooking utensils. He was funny saying, “Whoops,” when he spilled something and then saying, “Since I’m not a doctor, I can say ‘Whoops’.” One of the most impressive things he showed was how to crack and extract the contents of an egg using one hand only. You hold the egg with your middle and index finger, crack it between these fingers and pull back one side of the egg with your thumb using your index finger as a hinge. He showed a kid from the audience how to do it and the kid did a good job. George could crack eggs and extract the contents very quickly with one hand.

When George made the cheesecake, he put it in individual tiny containers so it could be served as samples to the audience. While it was cooking, he took a break and talked to individual members of the audience. I walked around looking at the place setting displays, desserts, and other award winning things in the large room. There was a table setting based on the TV show M.A.S.H. with metal trays, character’s names (e.g. Hawkeye, Trapper), and a stethoscope. Another setting had an “Under the Sea” setting and another used a “classic Hollywood” theme with pictures of classic movie stars such as Humphrey Bogart and Veronica Lake in the placemats. I looked at more of the desserts and baked goods. A third-place bar cookie was from San Dimas. There was a cake that looked like a pirate’s treasure chest. A chocolate dessert was shaped like a lady’s shoe and near it was an impressive gingerbread castle. There was another section showcasing homemade jewelry and another case with homemade jams, jellies, vinegars, and preserves. Prizewinning preserves came from Bob Blackard of Covina and Francine Rippy of Hacienda Heights. When I returned to the benches they were serving samples of the cheesecake that George had made. My wife enjoyed the bite of pecan cheesecake.

For his next segment George made the flambé dessert Bananas Foster and English Trifle. He talked a bit about the origins of Bananas Foster that’s from Nawlins. Usually, the banana is split down the middle lengthwise, but George cut it up into widthwise into small slices so he could pass out samples. He had a bit of difficulty getting the bananas to flame because there were so many in the skillet. He had to divide them into two skillets. English Trifle is made by stacking slices of cake, berries, custard, liqueur, and whipped cream in layers. George had his assistants serve samples of both desserts and my wife enjoyed the Bananas Foster.

After the demonstration we walked around the large Tapestry section with the arts and crafts. There was a quilt with cute little shirt patterns in its panels that my wife liked. We also saw an Elvis Presley woodcut portrait and an Elvis quilt in a separate display. My wife was surprised that the Elvis quilt didn’t have a blue, red, yellow, or pink ribbon of a prizewinner. One last interesting craft was saw was a jacket made entirely out of Capri Sun wrappers.

We went back outside to Broadway to watch the parade that would feature the communities of Azusa and Chino. Across Broadway we saw the large booth for Chicken Charlie’s that sold all kinds of fried foods: fried avocados, artichokes, twinkies, broasted chicken, even fried frog legs. Later I overheard someone say that frog legs tasted like fish and had the consistency of chicken. We also refilled our water bottles at the Sparklett’s booth nearby. The parade soon began. We watched from the south side of Broadway at the beginning. It consisted of high school marching bands, classic cars, and a pirate ship from which the pirates threw beads to the spectators. The pirate on the high back deck of the ship dressed like Captain Jack Sparrow did look a bit like Johnny Depp.

There was a classic red fire engine with a banner for the Azusa community heroes, Luis Miranda and Alyssa Zamora. We saw them later and I don’t think they were actually in the truck with the others throwing more beads. There was a barn-shaped float with someone in a chicken costume and others throwing more beads. There more classic cars including a red VW bus/pickup. The parade seemed to end but after we had crossed back to the north side of Broadway and started walking east to the next event, the parade continued. There were more classic cars, some with tricked-up suspension that allowed them to bounce up and down on each wheel. The mayor of Azusa, Joseph Rocha, rode by in an open classic car. A large camouflaged tow truck from Jan’s Towing in Azusa drove by. There were more high school marching bands, all wearing impressive uniforms, some with capes. Mounted police from Chino and other vehicles with Chino dignitaries drove by. Smokey the Bear and Woodsy Owl rode by in the back of a truck waving to the crowd. There was another, this time more modern, fire truck. A band rode by on a flat trailer performing the song “Car Wash” with the singer walking along beside the trailer. A golf cart drove by with a Miss Azusa runner-up and other members of the Miss Azusa court, though I didn’t see Miss Azusa with them. I remember her from the Azusa L.A. Dodgers Family Night the month before (see earlier blog). The parade continued with the very impressive team of Budweiser Clydesdale horses pulling a large coach full of beer crates. They were very large and well-groomed horses with white fur around their hooves. They were a team of many horses that stopped right in front of us and one horse looked over at us.

The parade went down Broadway and returned up another walkway to the south so we saw some of it twice. We made our way through the crowd on the north side of Broadway as we walked east toward the Shopping Place section of the fairgrounds. We were headed toward the Pepper Stage where the Azusa and Chino community hero presentations would take place. We passed the Kiddy Carnival at Park Square, crossed Palm Street where I noticed another chairlift flying overhead, and we somehow ended up in the long Building 4 of the Shopping Place section. We walked by more vendors selling just about everything and some giving demonstrations. When we exited out the east end of Building 4 we found ourselves at the southeast Red Gate entrance to the fair. Just outside this gate is the Sheraton Fairplex Hotel. We walked north to the Pepper stage that’s between Buildings 5 and 8. It was just past 5:30 but the presentation hadn’t started yet.

The community hero presentation began with Dan Harder, the director of Education for the L.A. County Fair welcoming Azusa (cheers from right side of the audience) and Chino (cheers from the left side). He described how this was the 87th annual L.A. County Fair and mentioned some of the features of this fair such as the Jurassic Planet animatronic dinosaur exhibit next door and the food vendors selling chocolate-covered bacon. He then introduced the mayor of Azusa, Joseph Rocha, to present the Azusa community hero awards. This was the third time I had seen the mayor. The first time was at the book signing for the book Azusa by Jeffry Lawrence Cornejo Jr. back in September 2007 when I actually met the mayor. The second was at the Azusa L.A. Dodgers Family Night in August 2009. Now I’ve seen Mayor Rocha as many times as I’ve seen Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles. I saw him at the Pobradores Walk from San Gabriel to Olvera Street in September 2005, the USC 125-years celebration in October 2005, and at the Get Out the Vote Rally with Hilary Clinton in February 2008. I wonder which mayor I’ll see next.

At the community hero presentation, Mayor Rocha had Azusa Councilman Robert Gonzales assist him. Mayor Rocha described how he and his wife had come to the opening Saturday of the L.A. County fair for 43 years through last year (2008). He was a teacher, now retired, and the fair would start the school year for him. This year, opening day was on a Friday for the first time and his wife wasn’t feeling well so they missed opening day. But he said he’d begin another 43 years. Wow, that means as that of September 2008 he had been to half of all the L.A. County Fairs held up to that point. He acknowledged the Miss Azusa runner-up and Miss Azusa court in the audience and went on to describe the first Azusa Community Hero, Luis Miranda, a longtime Azusa resident and now grandfather who helped out at the Azusa senior citizens’ home. Mayor Rocha said, “I want to be like Louie when I grow up.” He and Councilman Gonzales gave Mr. Miranda a plaque, certificate, and some flowers that they said were grown in Azusa. Mr. Harder also gave Mr. Miranda a plaque from the L.A. County Fair.

Mayor Rocha then called the next Azusa community hero, Alyssa Zamora. Miss Zamora was a sophomore at Gladstone High School and the Associated Student Body (ASB) vice president there. Before high school she went to Slausen Middle School in Azusa just like Mayor Rocha and Councilman Gonzales long before her. While there, she noticed that part of the street near the school had no sidewalk. People, including children and mothers with strollers, had to walk on the street to get by and there’s a lot of car traffic on that street because it isn’t far from the 210. Miss Zamora persistently lobbied to the city council and whoever else needed lobbying to get a sidewalk built. This year, it was built as a permanent monument to her efforts. Many people are now safer thanks to her. Like Mr. Miranda, they gave her a plague, certificate, and Azusan flowers. Mr. Harder gave her a Fair plaque and Miss Zamora thanked everyone for coming to support her. Now it was time for Chino to award their community hero awards. The mayor of Chino acknowledged both Chino and Azusa in the audience. He was joined by several others including the state assemblywoman from the Chino area. We stayed long enough for them to award the first community hero award and then left to see more of the fair.

We went to building 8 nearby to see the Jurassic Planet exhibit. They had all these actual-size animatronic dinosaurs that moved slightly and smoothly and also roared. Each was labeled with its name and name origin. Most were as tall or taller than people. There was Suchorusaurus (sp?) whose name means “crocodile mimic” because its head looked like that of a crocodile. The Compsognathus were these little thin dinosaurs that were about one foot tall. The goat-like Parasaurolophus had a sleek horn on its head and some hatching babies squirming around nearby. The largest dinosaur was the very big and tall Tyrannosaurus Rex whose name means tyrant lizard king. I was surprised how thin the Tyrannosaurus looks from the front in contrast to looking so big from the side. It was facing off against the armored Torosaurus (bull lizard) that looked a bit like a Triceratops only with two horns instead of three. There was Dilophosourus that they had colored bright green (I’m not sure whether anyone really knows what color the dinosaurs were) and the birdlike Muttaburrasaurus from the Muttaburra area of Australia. There were many other dinosaurs there from Africa, Europe, and South America. In the rest of Building 8 they had booths selling dinosaur- and science-related merchandise. Fossil fun was a sandy area where kids could hunt for buried fossils.

We left Building 8 and started looking for a place to get dinner. There were many options including barbecue, Italian food, and seafood. My wife saw a place selling buffalo chicken sandwiches. I got distracted checking out a place that sold scooters and power wheelchairs called Scooterville. I wondered if they were a Medicare supplier of durable medical equipment (DME). Finally I decided to have a turkey leg for lunch since I hadn’t seen them anywhere else except Disney’s California Adventure. My wife had a rib eye sandwich. We both enjoyed our dinners. The turkey leg had a great smoky flavor, though it also had more bones than I expected. It was a lot of food and I couldn’t quite finish all of it. We sat at some tables near the karaoke booth outside. A man sang “Disco Inferno” and did a pretty good job even though he said it was difficult. Another sang the epic song “The Day the Music Died”. Another did a soulful version of Elvis Presley’s “The Wonder of You”. The last song we heard and watched was a guy singing “Beginnings” by Chicago. The words showed on a screen so we in the audience could sing along.

It was after 7 pm and getting dark. We figured we should make our way back to the Yellow Gate to catch the shuttle to the Metrolink station. While walking down Magnolia Street we still couldn’t find the place Italian Ice Cream that sold the Colossal Gelato. Nor did we locate CB’s Cupcakes that sold the muffin-size cupcakes. We didn’t have time to see the Apple Orchard or the cooking demonstrations at the Fairview Farms section. But we still got to see and do a lot. The fair was still going strong. It wouldn’t let out until 12 or 1 am and I’m sure there was a big name act performing on the End of Summer Concert Series Stage. Back near the Yellow Gate we went to the photo place and gave them our ticket. But we didn’t like how the photo turned out. It was only 7:15-7:20 pm. We exited the gate and walked to the right where we thought the shuttles were parked. There were many pedicabs vying for the business of ferrying people to their cars. The parking lot was even more crowded than when we arrived.

We found the shuttles to the right and the driver of the first one directed us to the one for Metrolink. They all looked the same. The Metrolink shuttle left right away even though it was early, and took us to the covered waiting area near the Fairplex Metrolink station. There were other people waiting there. The Metrolink staffers announced that the 7:47 pm train to San Bernadino was late. It arrived at 7:57 pm and everyone waiting with us went to board it. About that time another shuttle arrived with two people we saw earlier on the train in the morning. Our westbound train arrived after 8 pm, late due to the other train being late. We all boarded and this time couldn’t see much out the windows since it was dark. We were back at the Covina station in seven minutes.

Wow, this has to be one of the longest blogs I’ve written. I didn’t realize that we did so much at the fair in a little over seven hours. All this and we only did a small fraction of what was available. We didn’t see any of the farm animals or farm features except perhaps the Budweiser Clydesdale horses. But then again I had seen a lot of farm animals at the Puyallup Fair many years ago. We missed some of the food items we had heard about but we had lots of interesting fair food. Getting the fair experience was the main idea. It helped to plan ahead. We probably won’t be back for a few years at least. Now we have the memory preserved.

n Thursday, September 10, 2009 I was in the north wing of the John F. Kennedy Library at Cal State L.A. (California State University Los Angeles). I was on the ground floor about to leave when I noticed a display of chess sets in the western corner near the copy machines. I had a bit of time and the library wasn’t going to close for another 15-20 minutes so I walked over to check it out. The exhibit was in several shelves and island display cases. It had little cards saying when the set was made, who made it, and the country it came from if known. There were some fantastical sets such as one on a board that looked like an elevated fortress. The king looked like a conquistador and the queen was a mermaid. Most were made between 1960-1980, though a few looked military or Medieval in nature. They were all different sizes including large ones that could be put on the lawn. Each standard looking piece of this set was about a foot tall. The large pieces reminded me of a large set I saw in Seattle where the pieces were life size. That was many years ago, back in the 1980’s. I don’t remember exactly where it was, possibly in a park or industrial area. I just remember driving by it.

The sets in the CSULA display ranged from traditional wooden pieces to modern-looking sets made of glass, acrylic, and metal. One was just a set of black and white balls with the names of each piece on them in text. I’m not sure I’d want to play with that one. The sets from other countries were particularly interesting. There were sets from Nepal and Kenya. One from England had Michaelangelo’s David as King, a famous classic sculpture of a woman (not sure which one but it appears in Night of the Museum II, I believe), and Rodin’s The Thinker as the bishop. There was a set from Ecuador where the pieces were in a stand-up case that looked like a narrow house. The kings and queens were peasants, though well dressed. The bishops were priests and friars, with the black bishops Franciscans. The black knights looked like the heads of mules or donkeys while the white knights looked like llamas. The pawns were peasant workers with each of the black pawns holding one of these multi-pipe flutes. The most culturally different was a wooden set from the Philippines. Other than the rooks and the knights, each piece was a thin figure sitting on the ground with feet planted in front, arms crossed, and elbows on the knees. They had long, thin faces like Easter Island heads. The pawns were smaller than the others. The bishops, kings, and queens wore things on their heads. I’m not sure which was which but one had a bowl on their head, another had a pot, and the third a veil that looked like a sled. The knights were also the reclining figures only they had horse heads. The rooks were little nipa huts.

The last set I looked at was a large patriotic set from the United States. The king was Uncle Sam and the queen was the Statue of Liberty. The bishops were blind justices, the knights were bald eagles, and the rooks were miniature Capitol building domes. The pawns were kids each dressed in the uniform of a different profession. There was a graduate in cap in gown, a doctor with a disk-mirror on a headband, a fire fighter, a miner with shovel and helmet, a sailor, a soldier, even a welder with the heavy mask. The set was made in 1964 but it was appropriate I saw it that day because the next day, September 11, was Patriot Day.

I first learned to play chess from my dad when I was 5-6 years old and I played it off and on until I became a young adult. I was never particularly good but I still had fun playing with my brothers who were around the same skill level and playing some early chess computer games. I remember Battle Chess showed the pieces actually fighting with each other. But until I chanced upon the chess display at the Cal State L.A. Library, I never knew chess had so much artistic and cultural diversity.

Before August 2009 I hadn’t been to a L.A. Dodgers game since 2001 when I went on July 4th. I believe they were playing the Giants. We had seats in the loge level and after the game they let us go out onto the actual field to see the fireworks. I had also been to a game against the Padres in 2000 and a pre-season game against the Yankees in 1999. We saw Ryan Stiles at the game in 2001. For all those games I went with the young adult group from my church at the time. They were all fun but I remember it took forever to enter and leave the parking lot. That’s one reason I didn’t returned to a game for over eight years.

In June 2009 I read in the Azusa city newsletter that comes with the utility bill about the City of Azusa Los Angeles Dodgers Family Night. It seemed pretty good, only costing $15 per person. But what really sold it for me was that transportation to and from Dodgers Stadium was provided. We would save on parking and gas and we could just sit back while the shuttle bus made its way through the stadium traffic. I called the number in the newsletter and they said I could buy the tickets at the City of Azusa Parks and Rec Department. I assumed this was at the Azusa Civic Center on Foothill Blvd. at Dalton Avenue. But when I went there some employees told me I had to go to Memorial Park in western Azusa on Angeleno Avenue. It’s west of Azusa Avenue and San Gabriel Avenue and it’s a long park with soccer fields and basketball courts. The Parks and Rec Department is in the farthest south of the group of buildings on the west side of the park. I bought two tickets, choosing them near the aisle so we could easily come and go. They gave me seats in the Lower Reserve section 47, row U, seats 1 and 2. I also signed some waivers and picked up a notice saying where and when to catch the shuttle bus.

My wife posted the Dodger game as a calendar event on Multiply. Her cousin saw it and said she and her family were also going to the game. A friend of theirs who works for the city of Azusa got them tickets. They didn’t yet know where their seats were located. I gave them our seat locations and we hoped to see each other. We waited all through July and the first full week of August before game day finally arrived.

On game day, Saturday, August 8, 2009, we left home at around 4:20 pm, drove north on Citrus Avenue and turned left on Foothill Blvd. There was a blinking red light at the intersection, possibly due to construction. There was also a sign indicating where to go for Dodgers parking. We drove west on Foothill and turned right into the drive with the address on the notice I was given: 701 E. Foothill Blvd. But this just looked like a parking lot for Azusa Pacific University and not the former drive-in movie theater that was mentioned in the notice. We spotted the former drive-in and drove across some confusing driveways to get there. The parking at the former drive-in was bumpy and uneven. With care, we made our way to a spot. It was barely 4:30 pm, the beginning of the check-in time and there were already many cars parked there. We walked over to a flat area of the lot to the west where most of the people were going, many of them wearing Dodger hats and blue Dodger shirts. They had some tarps set up and some lists posted with seat numbers and names. Each list was for a bus.

There were many buses parked nearby from all different charter bus operators. Each bus was identified by the name and number of a famous historic or current Dodger. They had the paper outline of the jersey in the window on the door to each bus. There was one for Drysdale (#53), Koufax, Ramirez (as in Manny, #99), Lasorda, Scully (with a microphone icon instead of a number), Robinson (as in Jackie), Valenzuela, Garvey, Alston, Gibson, Cey, Piazza, Campanella, Wills, etc. We had trouble finding our names on the posted bus manifests. They didn’t seem to be grouped by seat number but rather by party and some parties were very large. We finally found our names on the manifest for bus number 36: Newcomb (as in Dan). I believe we were the only ones from section 47LR on that bus. There were lots of people milling around the manifests and meeting up with their parties. There was also a grill were they were serving hot dogs. After looking through two rows of buses we found Newcomb # 36. A coordinator for the bus named Dominique check off our names and gave us two tickets to get hot dogs and drinks at the grill we had seen. They had thought of everything: parking (free at the drive-in), transportation, even the food. But we had planned to eat at the stadium. There were some specific food items we wanted to try there. I did get a couple of extra bottles of water, though.

Dominique gave us more waivers to sign and some raffle tickets to write our names on and return to her. The bus was large and tall with a tiny restroom inside the back. On the outside sides of the bus were images of a dove and rainbow and the words “Luxury Motor Daytours”. A few other buses looked the same but most were from different tour companies. We boarded at 5 pm, filled out our waivers and raffle tickets and returned them to Dominique. It was very warm outside, around 90 degrees, I think, and we felt it better to wait in the bus. There were other people on board, some in large family groups of 6+. More people boarded as we waited. Some seated near us were very lively. Out the window I saw the mayor of Azusa holding up the Robinson paper jersey near another bus. He wore a shiny white Dodgers shirt with a collar and short sleeves. I recognized him from another city function where I met him. I counted at least 15 other buses and with about 48 seats per bus. That meant between 700 and 800 people were participating in Azusa L.A. Dodgers Family Night.

Our bus finally started moving at 5:45 pm, 15 minutes after the departure time given on the notice. The bus driver played the hip hop radio station 97.1 FM. We heard the song “Boom Boom Pow” by the Black-Eyed Peas for what would be the first of 3 times over the weekend. The bus exited the parking lot, drove west on Foothill Blvd, and turned left to go south on San Gabriel Avenue, the one-way street that eventually becomes the south lanes of Azusa Avenue. The bus got on the 210 to go west and drove to the 605 south to the 10 west. There wasn’t much traffic on any of these freeways. We didn’t hit traffic until we got on the 101 in Downtown L.A. It looked like we were going to the 110 north but, instead, we exited at Grand Avenue, drove north and then turned left onto Cesar E. Chavez Avenue. We rode west past the massive Orsini apartment complexes. After going under the 110, Cesar E. Chavez became Sunset Boulevard. We took this until we got to Elysian Park Avenue where the bus turned right. This avenue led straight into the Dodger Stadium parking lot. On the way they called everyone’s name. There were 32 people on the bus and 4 named David or 12.5% of the total. Dominique then drew two raffle tickets: the first for a Dodger player bobblehead doll and the second for a Dodgers poster. We didn’t win either of them.

The bus approached the entrance to the stadium parking lot and we saw that it costs $15 for cars to park there. It costs $35 for buses to park there so we were getting a great deal paying only for the two $15 tickets to the game. The bus parked in section 12 of the stadium parking lot along with the other buses and buses for other parties. Some of the buses looked very retro. We arrived at 6:30 pm. As we exited the bus, Dominique handed us bags of peanuts with Dan Newcomb #36 label stickers on them to remind us of which bus to take back. We followed the crowd up the hill to the west entrance of the stadium. We queued up to enter at 6:40 pm. People were going through security and that was taking a while. A sign said “Prohibited: glass bottles, cans, alcoholic beverages, coolers, bags larger than 14 inches, signs/banners, beach balls, or weapons.” When we got to security they checked that the bottled water that we brought was sealed and had us open our bags and my binoculars case. We entered the stadium at around 6:50 pm.

On our tickets it said that the game didn’t start until 7:10 pm. We decided to get some food for dinner before sitting down. We looked around. Some vendors were selling grilled Dodger Dogs and other food right out of big coolers. We were in a non-covered part of the concourse and had to go to a covered part to get the Brooklyn Dodgers pizza. It cost $8.75 and was a large rectangular section of pizza, much larger than one or two regular slices. My wife got the kind with Italian sausage, peppers, and onions. We paid with credit card since most of the counter vendors allowed that. We then queued up to get some garlic fries at Gordon Biersch. The queue was very long and moving very slowly. It was only 6:55 pm but we could already hear a woman’s voice singing the National Anthem. I decided to just get a Dodger Dog at a smaller, less crowded vendor and get the garlic fries later. My wife was already eating her pizza. I got the $5 Dodger Dog but we still had to queue up to get to our seats. I ate some of the Dodger Dog while we waited. It tasted great as usual with a strong smoky flavor.

We got to our seats at 7:10 pm. The game had just started with the Braves batting and the Dodgers fielding. Our seats were very good in a lower section of the top deck of the stadium. We were closest to the outfield with the closest outfielder to us being Manny Ramirez. The young Clayton Kershaw was pitching for the Dodgers and I didn’t see longtime Brave Chipper Jones in their lineup. Kershaw and the defense played well, dispatching batters quickly with strikeouts, caught pop flies, and first base tags. Between the first and second inning they showed Brian Baumgartner on the jumbotron at the north end humorously giving the stadium rules. He said, “I’m going to make you pick up every peanut you drop,” and “drink responsibly” followed by a wink. The last shot was of him in actual attendance of the game. They showed lots of fun things on the jumbotron during breaks in the innings such as the Kiss Cam where they would show a couple and the fans would urge them to kiss. This segment ended with a marriage proposal. There was also footage of Michelle Wie’s visit to the clubhouse earlier that day. When batters were up they showed a photo of them on the jumbotron and their autograph on the scoreboard.

Just before the top of the 3rd inning I went to try to get garlic fries again. The queue at Gordon Biersch was even longer and there were still people entering the stadium to see the game. I queued up at 7:42 pm and the queue moved very slowly. One worker at the counter took his time filling up the cups of beer for patrons. He held the cups at angles to pour out the foam and sometimes he had to start over. I noticed that people would order a lot and spend between $40-$50 for a group of 2-4. I watched the game on the monitors mounted on the counters and waited for at least two innings to get my $6.75 basket of garlic fries. About the only thing I really missed, though, was a base hit by Dodger Rafael Furcal. I made it to the counter at 8:15 pm after waiting in the queue for 33 minutes. After getting my fries I walked around looking for where they sold the ice cream in the cute blue plastic Dodgers helmets. I saw that they sold popcorn in white Dodgers helmets and other vendors sold ice cream in pellet form and bar form, but I couldn’t find the cute blue helmets. The garlic fries were worth the hassle. They were delicious and made with lots of real garlic. To my wife’s disbelief, I finished the entire basket.

We continued to watch the game. On the scoreboard they gave the names of large parties in attendance including the City of Azusa. This drew cheers from our section and the ones surrounding it. The game was scoreless through the first six innings with a few base hits for both sides. We saw the mayor of Azusa sitting in the section to the right of us in a lower row. Above us some high school ROTC students wore their full uniforms with red sashes and berets. We saw Miss Azusa walking around, greeting people, and posing for photos. She wore a white Dodgers shirt with her blue “Miss Azusa” sash, blue jeans, a shiny tiara, and these high shiny blue platform shoes with stiletto heels. On the jumbotron they showed some celebrities in attendance including Matt Lanter (?) and later they showed Tom Hanks.

Kershaw retired all the batters in the 7th inning and then it was time for the 7th inning stretch. To sing “God Bless America” they presented Daniel Noriega, an American Idol contestant who was appropriately from Azusa. He sang well, very loud and soulfully. However, he sang one line “to the oceans white with gold” rather than “to the oceans white with foam.” I guess us Azusans don’t know much about oceans. They then had the crowd sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” karaoke-style with the words on one of the many marquees and then played “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey with the words also scrolling across the marquee so everyone could sing along. In the bottom of the 7th inning, the Dodgers loaded the bases and had John Lonetta pinch hit for Kershaw. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to convert.

Around this time we saw a kid making his way toward us in our row. We recognized him as the son of our cousins who had said they were also going to the game. We spotted where they were sitting in the section to the left of ours. They came over to visit us and I also walked over to visit them. A fight broke out in the section to the right of ours and the fans around us seemed more into that than the game. They were also more excited about tossing around a beach ball that was gradually deflating. One fan/instigator in front of us got many in our section to call out “Manny!” as Manny Ramirez stood in the outfield. On hearing that he turned towards us and held up a hand in acknowledgement. We saw a little girl climbing up the steps who was wearing a Manny wig with a blue doo rag. The wig looked like her real hair.

By the 9th inning it was still 0-0. Dodger closer John Broxton retired the Braves in the top keeping them scoreless. The played the beginning of Europe’s “The Final Countdown” over the speakers between the top and bottom of the 9th. But the Dodgers also did not score any runs in the bottom of the 9th pushing the game into extra innings. Things heated up in the top of the 10th with Guillermo Mota pitching for the Dodgers. First a Brave got a base hit and then Kelly Johnson hit a 2-run homer to put the Braves up 2-0 by the time Mota retired the side. As the Braves took the field and the Dodgers got ready to bat they played “Holding out for a Hero” from the film Footloose and sung by Bonnie Tyler over the speakers. The Dodgers tried to be heroic in the bottom of the 10th. Pinch hitter Juan Pierre got on base and I believe he stole second base. Andre Ethier hit a double that brought Pierre home. Then Manny Ramirez was at bat with two outs and least one other player on base. I thought, “He could hit a home run.” The last time I saw Manny Ramirez play was in 1998 when I saw the Angels play the Indians at Edison Field. When Ramirez was at bat my friend with me said, “Manny Ramirez, he could hit a home run.” And just as he said that, Manny hit a home run. But this time in 2009 the Braves stole Manny’s chance to be a hero by intentionally walking him as the crowd booed. The next batter, Matt Kemp, struck out and that was the game.

At the 8th or 9th inning we thought about leaving. Many in the crowd were leaving but we’re glad we stayed until the end. Our section spend some of the 9th heckling someone in an Angels shirt. He only egged them on as he left, pointing at his shirt. We did leave right when the game ended and since we were near the aisle we beat most of the crowd out of the stadium. We returned to our bus that luckily still had the Dan Newcomb paper jersey in the window. Dominique checked us off. It looked like some from our bus had left early and were already there sleeping. It was 10:50 pm when we reached the bus and the remaining riders quickly followed. The driver turned off the inside lights so we could sleep and started moving at 11:01 pm. He joined the rest of the traffic leaving via Elysian Park Avenue but he turned right at Sunset Boulevard rather than left to go back the way we came. We wondered if he was going to drive to Glendale Avenue and then got on the 2. But then he turned right on Echo Park Avenue and we had no idea where he was going.

The driver also wasn’t sure where he was going. Echo Park Avenue became a steep, narrow drive lined with old, dark, quiet houses. It reminded me a bit of some scenes from Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch mystery Echo Park that I ready earlier in the year (see earlier review). The bus stopped and I think the driver was consulting a map. He then drove in reverse down the hill until he found a parking lot where he could turn around. After turning around the we went back down Echo Park Avenue and turned left on Sunset. Now we were going towards the freeways we had taken earlier. We turned right on Grand Avenue and passed the impressive new High School for the Visual and Performing Arts, also known as High School Number 9. We got onto the 101 south that turned into the 10 east.

There was more traffic on the 10. They were doing that road work I had read about in e-mails. We got through that and traffic was smooth. It looked busier going the other way. We took the 605 north to the 210 west. We exited at Citrus and returned to the APU west parking lot, the former drive-in. It was after midnight when we drove our car through the APU lots and returned home.

We had fun attending a Dodger game with many from our hometown despite the home team losing. It was nice not having to drive all the way to the stadium and park ourselves, though we had a bit of an adventure returning to the 101 freeway after the game. We probably won’t go to another game this year but may be go to another Azusa L.A. Dodgers Family Night someday. Maybe then my wife can have ice cream in the cute Dodgers helmet.

We visited the Grammy Museum at L.A. Live on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 in the late afternoon/early evening .  The museum opened in late 2008 and in the summer of 2009 they temporarily lowered the admission to $10.  It’s open until 7:30 pm on weekdays and since Michael Jackson’s tragic death in June 2009 they’ve had a special exhibit for him on display.  I left work at around 5 pm, met up with my wife at 7+Fig shopping center and we walked the mile or so to L.A. Live.  The Grammy Museum is on the east side of L.A. Live along Figueroa Street just south of the Fleming’s Steakhouse.  I believe they’re in the same building.  We bought tickets at the window outside.  The cashier complimented my wife on her t-shirt, a black shirt with the names of the Jackson 5: Michael, Tito, Jermaine, Jackie, and Marlon (actually order on the shirt possibly differs) in white letters on the front.

We entered the glass doors to the museum.  A staffer scanned our tickets, gave us a map brochure, and told us to take the elevator up to the fourth floor.  The lighting inside the elevator was deep blue like a disco or club.  The first exhibit on the fourth floor was called Grammy: The Greatest Music.  On two white walls facing each other they projected many video clips of the most famous performances at past Grammy Awards shows.  Many clips appeared at the same time and they seemed to blend in to each other artistically.  Some clips I had seen before from when I had watched the show.  My wife caught the clip of Shakira.  The sound played for some of the clips showed but not all of them.  It was still a bit cacophonous.

In the next room was a long computer surface called the Crossroads.  With it we could “click” or touch different musical genres as they floated by and learn more about them.  The screen changed color from red to blue to green.  They had so many different genres: Rock, Death Metal, Goth, Emo, Salsa, even some I hadn’t heard of.  However, I couldn’t find Hair Metal or Hair Bands anywhere.  When we selected a genre it gave a short description, examples of songs from the genre, sometimes a photo, and links to related genres.  I tried Heavy Metal, Glam Rock, and others but still couldn’t find Hair Metal.

In the same room past the Crossroads were these small booth-like rooms featuring different major genres collectively called “Enduring Traditions”.  They had screens in them showing videos of the history of the genre.  On their walls were photos and memorabilia in display cases.  There were four of these for Pop, Jazz, Folk-Rock, and Gospel.  The one for Pop had a letter from an unknown friend to Elvis Presley.  On the wall behind the booth were these stations called “Musical Epicenters” with a map of the contiguous U.S.   We could select cities such as New York, Seattle, and L.A., view a time line, and read about important musical historical events that took place there.  The one for Seattle had descriptions of early 60’s acts from the Pacific Northwest such as The Kingsmen who famously recorded the song “Louie Louie”.  (I actually saw the Kingsmen sing the national anthem at a Seattle Mariners baseball game at the Kingdome 12-13 years ago.)  To the right of the epicenters on a curved wall were more photos and descriptions of musical genres with stations for listening collectively called “Culture Shock”.  There was a large station for Grunge and some listening stations for 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and 00’s.

The next room, open to the previous one contained the Grammy Archives and Hall of Fame.  It had its own listening stations where we could listen to any song nominated for a Grammy.  The Hall of Fame itself was a white circular sculpture that looked like it was made up of many model microphones on the inside.  In the corner were actual outfits worn by musical icons such as Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, and BB King.  The suit that Michael Jackson wore for the cover of the Thriller album was previously displayed there but was currently included with the special Michael Jackson exhibit.

The next couple of rooms were called “Artistic Voices: The Creative World.”  In the first was a display case of influential instruments such as guitars used by Eric Clapton and Elvis Presley.  The latter one had most of his name on it: “ELVI  Guitar”.  Across from the display case they showed a film in which songwriters discussed what inspired them.  In the next room photos on the wall showed the first drafts of song lyrics and there were listening stations where songwriters such as Brian Wilson (“God Only Knows”) described how they wrote some of their most famous songs.  The room led to the stairs down to the next level.  The east wall was all windows and we had a pretty good view of the building across the street.

On Level 3 they had the special Michael Jackson exhibit.  It was in a round room where I believe they used to show a film about the life of a recording on the wall screens.  But this time they showed clips of Michael Jackson on past Grammy Awards shows.  They showed him with his brothers, collectively the Jackson 5, and a famous drummer presenting the award for best Pop Vocal by a Duo or Group in 1974.  The Jackson 5 actually performed lines from songs by each group such as “Love Train” by the O’Jays and “Cisco Kid” by War.  Then they showed a clip of the Jacksons presenting the award for Best Female Pop Vocal at the 1977 Grammy Awards.  This time they spoke in rhymes, almost rapping.  Michael wore a white suit while his brothers wore black suits.  Each nominee’s face appeared as a cartoon image on the screen as they were announced.  There was a clip of MJ and Quincy Jones accepting the award for Producer at the 1984 Grammy Awards.  MJ wore one of his shiny regal suits, his shiny white glove, and aviator sunglasses.  The next clip was a long one with MJ performing “The Way you Make Me Feel” and “Man in the Mirror” with a full gospel choir.  A display case near the screen showcased the Thriller album cover suit, some of his shiny regal suits worn on tour and his gloves.

The next room had many displays that had to do with the recording process.  There was also a special exhibit for Neil Diamond with many of his flashy (and silly, I thought) suits he wore at early concerts.  From the display I learned that Diamond didn’t start out as a singer but as a saber fencer.  He attended NYU on a fencing scholarship.  There was a station where we could record our voices speaking to a cheering crowd.  Along the walls were descriptions and photos of the history of sound recording from records to cassette tapes to CD’s, profiles of recordmen such as Clive Davis, sound engineers, and session musicians such as Bela Fleck (who I actually saw in concert with his Flecktones in Juneau many years ago.)  There were booths where I think you could record your own CD track.  On the outside wall of the circular room were photos from each Grammy Awards along with the major winners listed.  The display “On the Red Carpet” shows some of the famous outfits worn by performing celebrities at the Grammy Awards.  They included the marching band outfit worn by Kanye West for a performance and the famous green dress worn by Jennifer Lopez when she was a presenter.  There was a large screen showing famous performances at the Grammy Awards such as TLC in the early 2000’s and Stevie Wonder in the 1970’s.

Off to the side was a small room with trivia questions on turnable panels about notable Grammy winners.  On the other side near the stairs was a TV screen showing scenes from the Latin Grammy Awards such as Shakira performing “La Tortura” with Alejandro Sanz.  I remember watching the first Latin Grammy Awards on TV nearly 10 years ago.  Shakira won at least two awards that year and performed “Ojos Asi”.  They also showed clips of Juanes.  We went down the stairs to Level 2.  On this level they had the museum store and a row of large framed photographs along a curved wall.  But we didn’t have much time to look at them because we could hear the beats of Michael Jackson’s song “Billy Jean” coming from a dark open doorway to the right.  We followed the music into the Soundstage, a 200-seat theater where they were showing Michael Jackson music videos on a big screen.  I believe they also use this stage for musicians to give talks and perform intimate, acoustic concerts.  We saw the end of “Billy Jean”, all of “Beat It”, the full length of “Thriller” that features the Palace Theater that’s just a few blocks away on Broadway, “Bad” though I’m not sure if they showed the non-singing parts directed by Martin Scorsese, “The Way You Make Me Feel”, “Man on the Moon” a video I hadn’t seen before, “Smooth Criminal” and the beginning of “Dirty Diana”.  By that time it was 7:30 pm and the museum was closing.  A staffer told us we had to leave.  We left without seeing much else on Level 2.  We walked to Panini Café for dinner (see later review) before catching the subway and Metrolink train home.

It was fun visiting the Grammy Museum.  We didn’t get to see all of it but that gives us a reason to return someday.  I’d say it ranks equal to the Experience Music Project (EMP) museum in Seattle that we visited in November 2001.  Of the four major music museums in the U.S. we’ve visited the EMP and the Grammy Museum.  I’ve stood outside the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, TN.  The fourth is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH.  I don’t know if we’ll ever go there.  But at least the Grammys are just a train and a subway ride away.

My wife heard that the NBA L.A. Clippers were hosting a party at the ESPN Zone restaurant at L.A. Live on Thursday, June 25.  She first heard about it from an American Red Cross e-mail and later heard from an L.A. Live newsgroup e-mail.  June 25 was the day of the NBA draft and the Clippers had the first pick.  There was little doubt that they would select Blake Griffin, a star forward from the University of Oklahoma.  The draft began at 4 pm Pacific time and I’m sure people started gathering at the ESPN Zone before then.  My wife got there before 4 pm and watched the Clippers select Blake Griffin.  Everyone cheered and they immediately began selling Blake Griffin Clippers jerseys for $90 each.  She saw the famous fan Clipper Darryl in his red and blue suit and the Clipper Spirit Dancers.

We’ve been Clipper fans for a while now.  I’ve been following them since I moved to L.A. and I remember the humorous, friendly banter between the TV commentators Ralph Lawler and Bill Walton.  Walton has long since been replaced by Mike Smith.  The last time the Clippers had the number one draft pick was around the time I moved to L.A. and they selected Michael Olawakandi.  That didn’t work out very well.  Hopefully, Griffin will work out better.  His selection seemed to be a sure thing unlike the other picks in the 2009 draft that could have gone many different ways.  I had seen various predictions in Sports Illustrated and online.

I didn’t get off work until 4:25 pm so I missed the beginning of the draft.  I walked the mile or so from work to L.A. Live.  In the plaza they were having celebrations to inaugurate the annual X-Games.  There was a giant skateboard larger than a car and a radio station broadcasting and acknowledging the tragic passing of Michael Jackson a few hours before.  Tony Alva, a famous skateboarder depicted on the film Lords of Dogtown, was there signing autographs.  There was also a Dodgertown booth and Moon Bounce.  I arrived at ESPN Zone at 4:45 pm but the Clippers staffer at the door said I couldn’t enter.  There were others waiting outside, some wearing Clippers jerseys and T-shirts.  I wore blue jeans and a red T-shirt that I had to change into after work since it wasn’t casual day.  We formed an informal queue to get in.  It looked like the place was at capacity and they were waiting for enough people to leave.  I called my wife and she went outside to find me.  Right after we met up they opened the doors and we followed the queue inside.

Just inside they were selling the Blake Griffin jerseys along with other Clippers jerseys and T-shirts at a table.  Behind the table were stairs that led up to the second level, but only season ticketholders and other VIPs were allowed up there.  At another table they offered free samples of Jarritos, the Mexican soft drink made with cane sugar rather than High Fructose Corn Syrup.  They served the more conventional flavors of orange, lemon, and fruit punch and not the more obscure ones such as strawberry, jicama, and tamarind that we get at our neighborhood CVS.  Jarritos is offered as a beverage on the ESPN Zone menu.  We watched the draft on a flatscreen TV near the store at ESPN Zone.  There are many TVs there.  Every booth and table has their own TV, the bar has many, and one room that looks like a theater has several big screens.  Most were showing the draft though the latter room with the big screens showed other sporting events and a slide show of photos taken at the draft party.  When I arrived at the draft party they were at pick number 5 and the Minnesota Timberwolves chose Ricky Rubio.  For each pick the team on deck had 2-4 minutes to decide and NBA commissioner David Stern would announce their selection.  The draft took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

As we watched some plastic red streamers dropped down from the second floor.  We saw a tall gentleman walk by.  My wife said that, earlier, people were posing for pictures with him.  I believe he was one of the Clippers, though I’m not sure which one.  There were several Clippers sales staff at the party trying to sell season ticket packages.  A few of the Clippers spirit dancers also walked by.  We wanted to get a table and possibly order dinner.  ESPN Zone has a PB&J on their kids menu.  It looked like there were some booths available but the staff said that they were reserved.  We sat at a low ledge along the glass wall near the bar and then left at draft pick number 10-15.  We had dinner at the Lawry’s Carvery that’s in the same building as ESPN Zone.  The last time I ate at Lawry’s Carvery I had tried their roast beef sandwich (see earlier review).  This time I tried the beef brisket sandwich and it was also very good.  My wife had the southwest salad.  They were showing the draft on their flatscreen TV so we just continued watching through Utah’s pick at number 20.

I hoped the Clippers’ top draft pick means good things for the Clippers in the coming season.  Blake Griffin was injured before the season started.  I’m not sure if he’s back playing yet.  So far the Clippers have a losing record but I think they’re doing better than last year.

My wife read about the Fashion Empire 2009 Mood Indigo Fashion Show in the magazine Inland Empire.  It was to be a real fashion show showcasing outfits designed by students at the Art Institute of California – Inland Empire.  The school is located in San Bernardino and the show would be held in front of the cultural center at Victoria Gardens shopping destination in Rancho Cucamonga.  The institute has only been around for three years and this is their first fashion show.  It’s a fundraiser for the school.  In addition to fashion, the institute has programs in culinary arts, visual arts, media, and design.  The show was free to the public and raised funds through its sponsors including Red Bull, bebe, Miss Me Jeans, and Smartwater.  Inland Empire Magazine said it would go on between 5 pm and 9 pm on Saturday, June 6.

We decided to check it out since we had nothing planned for that weekend and no objections to free entertainment.  My wife had always wanted to attend a fashion show.  We decided to have a very early dinner at this deli called Guido’s that was also mentioned in Inland Empire magazine.  It said you could request a sandwich however you wanted it and if it was good enough they would even name it after you.  It also said that Guido’s was open until 4:30 pm on Saturday, perfect for an early dinner.  We left before 4 pm and got on the 210 east.  It was cloudy and it rained a bit on the way but that stopped and it seemed clearer once we got into San Bernardino County.  We exited at Archibald and drove south to Arrow Route where we turned right.  Near the intersection was a shopping center where we figured Guido’s was located.

We pulled into the shopping center and soon found Guido’s whose signs seemed to say it was primarily a pizza place and secondarily a deli.  It was before 4:30 pm but a small sign said it was closed.  That didn’t jive with the research we did and there weren’t any hours posted so we weren’t sure whether the regular hours were different or it was closed for unusual reasons.  Whatever the reason, we had to find somewhere else to have dinner.  We decided to go to The Hat that has a location just south of Victoria gardens off Victoria Gardens Lane and near the 50’s style diner Richie’s Real American Diner.  We left the shopping center, drove further east on Arrow Route and turned left (north) on Haven.  We soon turned right (east) on Foothill, left (north) on Day Creek that’s before the I-15 and finally, right on Victoria Gardens Lane and right into the parking lot.  While driving down Foothill before turning north onto Day Creek I noticed a restaurant called Joe’s Crab Shack.  Its logo was similar to the Joe’s Crab Shack where I ate in Nashville back in February.  I believe they’re a national chain.

The parking lot was crowded and many cars were going through The Hat’s drive through.  The inside of the restaurant was likewise crowded.  We’d eaten at The Hat’s location on Route 66 in Glendora.  They’re known for their pastrami sandwiches.  That first time I learned the hard way that an order of French fries was a big bag of them.  This time I had the pastrami dip sandwich and my wife had the pastrami burger.  I ordered a side of potato salad and made sure to ask beforehand how big it was.  Our respective sandwich and burger proved to be plenty of food but the potato salad was good for eating with the excess pastrami.

When we left The Hat it was after 5 pm.  We drove east on Victoria Gardens Lane and turned left (north) on Monet that goes right into Victoria Gardens.  We parked in the parking garage in the northern part of the gardens and walked to the nearby cultural center.  They had some fashion displays set up along with some tables selling CA Art Institute T-Shirts.  The elevated runway was in the patio in front of the cultural center theater and library.  Behind the runway was a black curtain backdrop with two screens on either side.  Around the runway were three rows of chairs that were fenced off.  There were lots of people walking around, many young people dressed stylishly.  We found a place to sit on the concrete ledge surrounding the planters where many others sat.  Near us we saw a stylishly dressed young woman interacting with what looked like family members.  Later we saw a couple of guys walk by who wore these things that looked like foxtails attached to the sides of their belts.  I thought they were a bit goofy-looking.

We waited for quite a while.  I had brought the book Echo Park by Michael Connelly so I had something to do and I nearly finished it.  Later another spectator told me that bringing a book was a good idea.  It looked like people were putting signs with name on the backs of the seats around the runway and programs on top of them.  I saw other spectators with programs and I tried to find where to get one but wasn’t able to.  Over the speakers mounted around the runway they played hip hop and R&B including a hip hop version of Tears of a Clown.  It wasn’t raining but it was still a bit cold.  They set up some heat lamps near the chairs.  Later some reps passed out free bottles of cold Smartwater for everyone.

At 7:32 pm people sat down in the seats around the runway.  They had to be local or Art Institute dignitaries, family members of the students, designers, or possibly fashion industry insiders.  We stood on the ledge to see better making room for others to sit.  Soon, a man in a tan suit walked out onto the runway and welcomed us to the show.  He introduced himself as the publicity director at the Art Institute of California – Inland Empire.   He thanked several staff and administrators at the institute and also thanked the mayor of Rancho Cucamonga, Donald Kurth, who was seated in a seat near the runway.  The mayor stood up and waved.  The publicity director left the stage and was replaced by a juggler in a black 20’s-style outfit and hat.  He had a white clown face and was always smiling.  His image was projected on the elevated screens as it would be for the next two acts.  He juggled three balls and sometimes balanced one on his neck.  He added another ball and then another.  Electronic music played over the speakers and it accompanied the juggler well.  After juggling five balls he went back to his case and got some hoops.  After juggling them he got a string and rolled and tossed a yo-yo-like pulley across it.  He even did that with two pulleys.  He put them away and got out three pins to which he soon added another one and then another.  He left the stage to applause.

Two women in fishnet stocking and rather scanty dress appeared on stage.  They brought out these large metal hoops with torch-like ends on them.  They lit these ends to create hoops of fire that they twirled around themselves like hula hoops.  It was very impressive.  They walked up and down the stage twirling the hoops.  Next they put the hoops away and spun torches on the ends of lines.  The electronic music was faster for them.  It slowed down for the next act, flexible acrobats in shiny outfits.  Their feats were static displays of balance and flexibility.  Next four thin bolts of curtains, two on either side of the runway, dropped down and two performers in white outfits used them to climb, twirl, and do controlled falls.  The music was still slow and sounded a bit like water droplets.  The finale was all four of the acts on the runway at once: the juggler; the fire ladies, one eating fire and the other waving multipronged lit torches; the static and the curtain acrobats.  The music was a bit faster.  As they exited through the back of the stage the announcer told us to put our hands together for “Cirque USA”.

The lights on the runway dimmed and it was darker out since it was nearly 8 pm.  The runway faced out of the plaza towards Victoria Gardens and from that direction came two sheriff deputies on motorcycles.  They parted the crowd in front of the runway and behind them followed a black Rolls Royce and a black Bentley, both looking like fairly current models.  Speaking of models, they exited the cars, one at a time, faced the crowd from the end of the runway and walked to the back.  They were wearing stylish outfits, presumably student designs.  The music was loud, instrumental and celebratory, a fitting soundtrack.  They were real professional models, all tall and thin.  They walked with slightly reserved swagger.  They didn’t go overboard showing off and striking poses but they definitely had a presence.  They stood very straight and walked with a casual determination.  There were 2-3 men and 5-7 women.  The men were all Caucasians and looked the same apart from their outfits.  The women were more diverse: a blond Caucasian with long hair, another with short hair, an African American, an Asian, and possibly others.

After each model arrived they walked to the back of the stage.  From then on the show continued: one model would walk up and down the runway and right after they left through the back another would appear.  There were never two on the runway at the same time.  The lighting was such that the runway was very visible and conducive to photography once I figured out the right camera settings.  It took me a while and I took many blurry photos that I soon deleted.  The screens did not show the models but rather sunset and colorful backgrounds to match the mood.  The outfits were very stylish and interesting.  None looked ordinary but some looked like things regular people could wear and also look stylish.  One men’s outfit consisted of a thick dark blue sweatshirt with a large hood and no sleeves, jeans, and a foxtail attached to the side of the model’s waist.  So this foxtail was actually a fashion statement and not just a goofy trend for young people.  Several of the men’s outfits modeled included a foxtail on either the left or right side of the waist.  I still thought they looked goofy and wouldn’t be very functional.  They might even get in the way or get caught in things.  My wife thought they should wear them in the back of the waist.  They came in dark colors, usually black or blue with white tips.  Several months later I saw someone on the subway wearing a foxtail and a black leather backpack that looked like a Teddy bear.   Later my wife saw someone wearing a foxtail in the parking lot near PCC.  Recently we received this e-mail called “People of Wal-Mart” of photos of people at Wal-Mart dressing funny.  One photo showed a guy wearing a foxtail.

Other interesting outfits included a men’s T-shirt with a large image of the front of a shoe and a short white and black women’s dress that looked like the face of a panther or other wildcat.  Outfits came in bright and shiny colors, had ruffles, and included other accessories such as hats and belts.  Some looked like casual outfits with style and others were more elegant.  Each time a model walked the runway lots of cameras flashed.  At the end all the models came out accompanied by the student who designed their outfit.  I recognized that stylishly dressed young women who I had seen early talking to people near where we sat.  She had designed what appeared to be a long formal dress of gold and other colorful fabric (I wasn’t able to get a good photo).  After they all departed the publicity director returned and stated that some of the outfits were designed by first-year students.  With a “Go Lakers!” from him the show ended at around 9 pm.

The crowds scattered and we checked out the Rolls Royce and the Bentley still parked in the plaza.  That student designer I mentioned walked out on the runway with who looked like a friend or fellow student in the gold-colored gown.  There were no other runway walkers.  The crowd dissipated and we headed home.

What a great idea to have a fashion show at Victoria Gardens for student designers.  It’s nice to have one for the common people and in their backyard rather than some exclusive place in New York or Hollywood for insiders only.  With the music, style, and atmosphere, my wife enjoyed the energy.  It was entertaining and interesting.  I’m glad it was free and that my wife read about it.

I took a trip to Baltimore, MD from Tuesday, June 2 to Thursday June 4 to attend a conference for work.  I had never been to Baltimore before though I had been to Washington DC and Annapolis, MD many years ago when I was a junior in high school.  In Washington DC my History/English Honors block class and I participated in the Close Up program.  I remember one of my classmates wanted to go to Baltimore—I believe he wanted to see John Hopkins University—but we didn’t go there.  Perhaps he went there separately, I’m not sure.  Maybe I’ll ask him sometime.  The closest we got was Annapolis where we visited the U.S. Naval Academy.

This latest trip was originally supposed to go to Fargo, ND but two months prior was switched to Baltimore.  To get there I had to take the red eye flight out of Ontario Airport.  My flight left at 12:55 am in the morning of Tuesday, June 7.  I arrived at the airport at around 11 pm on Monday, June 1 where I was to fly out of Terminal 2 on Continental Airlines.  As usual, they didn’t accept liquids in containers larger than 3 oz so I figured I could buy some bottle water after going through security.  However, at that hour nothing was opened, not even the Harbor News airport shops.  I eventually found a vending matching that’s down the hall to the left after going through security and past gates 207, 208, and 209.  At 12:05 they had already started boarding first class.  When I boarded a family asked if I could switch to a window seat so they could be together.  I said I preferred my aisle seat and they were able to get others to change seats.  My manager, who was taking the same flight, had the seat in front of me.  It was a full flight despite being a red eye.  Soon the TV monitors folded down from the ceiling of the plane to show the safety briefing.  During this nearly three-hour flight from Ontario to Houston they showed the movie Paul Blart: Mall Cop.  Most of the other passengers slept and the lights were kept off.  I couldn’t sleep and I watched some of the movie.

We arrived at Houston before our 5:49 am (local time) ETA.  I remember the last time I was at George H.W. Bush Airport (IAH) in Houston and we had to walk a very long distance to get to our connecting gate.  This time our connecting gate was the same as our arrival gate and we were taking the same plane.  I had some breakfast at a bagel place though this carnitas place I saw later looked like it had better food.  Our flight from Houston to Baltimore started boarding before 7 am.  There were many eighth grade children on the flight going to visit Washington DC.  There’s a program for eighth graders to visit DC for three days.  I think I remember hearing something about it when I was in eighth grade though it wasn’t until the eleventh grade that I made it to DC.  I swapped seats so one of the kids could sit near his group’s leaders.  The flight attendants had to swap kids out of the exit rows because they were under 15 years old.  This may have delayed the flight a bit.  Other than the boarding, the kids were fairly calm and quiet.  The in-flight movie was New in Town with Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr.  I ignored it and again did not sleep on the plane.

Our flight arrived on time at around 11:30 am local time and we caught a cab to our hotel.  The cab drove on the freeway and we spotted the stadium where the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL play and Camden Yards ballpark where the Orioles of MLB play.  The latter had an unusual brick exterior.  With very little traffic on the freeway and surface streets the cab ride took less than half an hour.  We arrived at our hotel and we could feel the humidity as soon as we got out of the cab.  We entered the modern but elegant hotel lobby.  We weren’t sure if we would have time to get our rooms but we decided to try, anyway.  The desk clerk thought my manager was Filipino and started speaking Tagalog to him.  He’s actually from Mexico.

Our rooms were on the 8th floor and very far away from the elevator down several long halls.  My room, number 8064, had a view of a parking garage and alley.  The hotel itself is across the street from the inner harbor with its many piers, shops, restaurants, and tours.  We had a quick lunch in the food court (mine from the forgettable Moon Wok) in the Gallery Mall attached to the hotel and accessible from the 5th floor.  This floor was the location of the conference and the hotel’s restaurant, the Water Table.  After lunch we were right on time for our first meeting at 1 pm.  To start the meeting, the manager from the North Dakota company that was in charge of the meeting deadpanned, “I’d like to welcome you to Fargo.”

The meeting got out at 5 pm and I decided to explore the Inner Harbor.  I crossed Pratt Street and passed the building with the Spanish tapas restaurant, La Tosca; the eatery Five Guys Burgers and fries, a chain preferred by Michelle Obama in DC; and the Cheesecake Factory.  I passed the Baltimore World Trade Center that’s the tallest building in the U.S. with a pentagonal base.  It’s right on the water and it costs $5 to go up to the top floor to see vast panoramic views of Baltimore.  It was less than half an hour before it closed at 6 pm so I didn’t go up.  Many buildings such as the aquarium are on long piers that extend into the harbor.  Large bridges connect the piers making it easy to get around.  The sun was out and it was warm but also very humid.  Still, there were many people out jogging and sightseeing.  I walked toward Power Plant, an old industrial building that now houses an ESPN Zone restaurant, Barnes & Noble bookstore, Hard Rock Café, and other shops and restaurants.  I walked up the pier that’s one bridge before Power Plant that includes Baltimore Aquarium.  I ran into one of my colleagues from the conference and we took some photos of the U.S.S. Torsk submarine, the inner harbor, and Federal Hill park across the bay.  The Torsk is parked along the dock and has a mouth with teeth painted on its bow.  I believe they offer tours but it appeared to be closed at the time.  It’s parked near the Chesapeake, a vintage steam-powered Coast Guard cutter with a bright red and white hull.  We parted and I promised to e-mail him the photos we took.

One the pier between the Torsk and the Chesapeake was a dock for the water taxis.  I decided to take one to explore the harbor a bit more.  They cost $9 and that allowed getting on and off the taxis until 11 pm that evening.  While waiting I watched people cruise around the harbor in recreational paddle boats including ones that looked like purple dragons or the Loch Ness Monster.  There were a couple of sailboats anchored in the harbor.  While waiting I saw a couple, older than I, take a small zodiac boat out to one of the sailboats.  I guess people can just anchor their sailboats right there in the harbor.

A water taxi finally stopped by the dock and I boarded.  They collected the $9, gave me a book of coupons for nearby restaurants, and stamped my hand with the blue image of a water taxi.  The water taxi was flat and mostly covered.  There were benches all around and several other passengers boarded and disembarked at the various stops.  We rode past the World Trade Center and the U.S.S. Constellation, built in 1854 and the last ship powered by sails that was built by the U.S. Navy.  We stopped at the Harborplace stop opposite the Constellation and then headed out into the Bay.  We had great views of the harbor, the skyline, Federal Hill Park and the Rusty Scupper restaurant on the other side of the Bay.  We passed the aquarium, a covered outdoor concert venue, and what looked like waterfront condos and apartment complexes on the other side.  We then stopped at a pier farther down at the Harbor East stop near the Marriott where we all got off.  Down the street I saw a fountain with a large gold statue.

Another water taxi came to take us to Fell’s Point.  This ride didn’t have the scenic skyline but was still fun.  We saw some kayakers and one of them, a muscular dude paddling shirtless, tried to keep up with us.  He succeeded for a few minutes.  It was a bit cold and windy.  I expected the water taxi to give us a tour but they didn’t say much more than necessary.  One of them chatted with the other riders.  We neared Fell’s Point where there was a paddlewheeled boat docked.  Next to where we would dock were a couple of other water taxis with the names “Indefatigable” and “Insatiable”.  After we docked I noticed there were some small dead fish floating in the water nearby.

I could have taken another taxi further down to the Canton neighborhood but I heard it was raining down that way so I just took the same taxi back to the Harbor East stop near the Marriott.  This time there were a lot of sailboats out cruising around.  I guess the wind was good for that.  In the distance on the far shore I saw a tall back water tower that reminded me a little of the tall red and white one in “friendly” El Monte.  Wow, feeling homesick on my first day away.  I caught another water taxi bound for the inner harbor.  This time it stopped near Pier 5 where I didn’t remember the taxi stopping before on the way out.  I decided to get off, walk around and maybe find a place to have dinner.  It was after 7 pm Baltimore time.  Another passenger who disembarked with me noticed that some people at a nearby outdoor restaurant were waving at me.  I looked and saw of a couple of my coworkers and other people from the conference waving to me.  I kind of wanted to avoid anything work-related but felt it was most proper to walk over and join them.  They were seated in the outdoor section of McCormick and Schmick’s, a fancy seafood chain restaurant.  There’s one in Downtown L.A so it was my first choice (when I travel I prefer to eat at uniquely local restaurants) but I figured their crab had to be local.  The others had already had dinner so I ordered my dinner while they ordered dessert.  They were sharing their desserts by the time they brought my crab cake and mussels with curry sauce appetizers.  The crab cake was pretty good and I could see and taste the chunks of crab meat.  It had a lot of flavoring from the mayonnaise and spices.  I had thought the crab flavor could stand on its own and later I would learn it could at Ciao Bella (see later review).  One of the conferencegoers at the table said the best place to get mussels in Baltimore is this place in Fell’s Point called Bertha’s.  What really makes their mussels good is the sauces they use.  Another conferencegoer mentioned that the original Rusty Scupper restaurant had burned down and the one there now is a rebuilt one.  From where we sat we could see the outdoor conference venue on the next pier that had no concert going on that evening.  On the end of the pier we were on was this small elevated circular building that looked like a wide water tower.

After dinner we walked back to the hotel crossing bridges between piers.  There were still many people out even though it was getting dark.  In the lobby I ran into more people from the conference that I had met at previous conferences.  I chatted with them a bit and then returned to my room.  Since I hadn’t slept the night before I fell asleep right away despite the time change.

The next day, Wednesday, June 3, I woke up at 5:20 am and couldn’t get back to sleep.  That was strange because it was 2:20 am Pacific time.  Since I had a lot of time before the conference started at 7:30 I decided to check out the fitness room at the hotel.  It’s on the 4th floor and requires a room keycard to get in.  It’s actually a very large room with several treadmills, recumbent stationary bikes, and a few upright stationary bikes.  Each of these has its own personal flatscreen TV.  Headphones are provided along with towels, cups and filtered water.  There are several weight machines and a rack of free weights.  I was able to do most of the workout exercises I normally do midweek at a larger gym.  The fitness room has a great view of the Power Plant and the buildings to the north.

I considered having breakfast at the restaurant in the hotel, the Water Table.  They had a crab omelet that looked pretty good.  But after showering there wasn’t time for a leisurely breakfast.  I just got some cereal at the ground floor café in the hotel.  At the conference they had some bagels, juice, and bottle water.  As I stated, the conference was organized by a company from North Dakota (hence Fargo was the original location).  To begin the conference they mentioned some differences between Baltimore and Fargo.  They then described how the line of the Red River, North Dakota’s eastern border, was traced on our nametags and the pads of paper they gave us.  They also gave us small bags of chocolate-covered potato chips or “Chippers” from North Dakota.  Potatoes are a major crop over there.

The conference lasted all morning and afternoon.  For lunch I went to Saladworks in the Gallery Mall food court. I had a wrap and the server mentioned that it had cheese even though that wasn’t stated on the posted menu so I was able to have them hold it.  I sat with a coworker and some colleagues from the North Dakota company.  After the conference got out in the late afternoon they had a cash bar in the ground floor café along with snacks of bread, crackers, cheese, veggies and dip.  Again, I mostly hung out with colleagues from the North Dakota company.  When this got out I had dinner with my coworkers and other colleagues at Ciao Bella restaurant.  I’ll describe this in a separate review.  The dinner got out late and that night I did not sleep well probably because of the time change.

As a consequence, I slept in a bit more than the previous morning and got up at 6:20 am on Thursday, June 4.  After showering, I packed everything up and checked out of the hotel.  I had them store my larger bag, got some breakfast in the Gallery Mall, and then went to the conference.  I had to present at one point and I think that went OK, though the lack of sleep did not help.  Things were busier this time.  I had to work through my morning break and most of my lunch.  I just bought a premade ham and turkey club sandwich from the ground floor café and had it during the lunch meeting.  Still, the conference got out at 2:15 pm, 45 minutes early.  My manager and I didn’t hang around.  We caught a cab to Baltimore airport (BWI) first thing.  Again, there was very little traffic, but at the airport the security queue was long and very slow.  We saw another conferencgoer there who we thought had left at noon.

Since we had arrived so early we spent a lot of time waiting in the airport.  Our first flight to Houston was on an older 737-300.  The video monitors were mounted over the aisles rather than folded out over the seats.  Again there were eighth graders this time returning from their trip to DC.  It sounded like most of them were from Oklahoma.  They showed the movie The Pink Panther II that I mostly ignored.  They served a very small cold turkey sandwich without cheese.  I supplemented it with the peanut butter-filled pretzels I had gotten from Trader Joe’s before the trip.

We arrived on time at George H.W. Bush airport and our arrival gate was in C Terminal.  We checked the monitor and noticed that our departing gating was in E Terminal that was far away.  Luckily we found our way up an escalator to a tram that took us right to the D and E terminals.  The monitor said our flight was leaving half an hour late.  We had dinner at the food court where I had a rather weak non-dairy smoothie and we split my manager’s food from Panda Express.  When we got back to our gate the plane was already boarding.  It was now leaving on time.  We boarded the usual 737-800/900 with its fold-down screens.  The movie was Hotel for Dogs that I ignored.  We arrived on time at Ontario airport and after deplaning I called my wife who was waiting in the airport Cell Lot.  She picked me up a few minutes later.  I was only gone for three days but it seemed like a whole week.

During the week of May 17-23 we had seen signs for the Christmas Carol Train Tour while walking through L.A. Union Station to work and school.  It was a very early promotion for the Disney CGI-enhanced movie A Christmas Carol based on the Charles Dickens story and starring Jim Carry as Scrooge and the three ghosts.  The train contained animation, exhibits, an original edition of the book A Christmas Carol, and other things related to the film.  HP provided the technology and Amtrak provided the train.  It was kind of like a mobile Disney ride and would stop in 40 cities in the US over the next seven months leading up to the film’s release on November 6.  Only unlike most Disney rides, this one was free.  The first stop was L.A. Union Station on May 22-25.

We thought we might check it out since we didn’t have any plans for Memorial Day weekend.  On Friday, May 22 I did “recon” and checked out what was happening with the train tour on the way home from work.  I walked up the ramp for the platform for tracks 11B and 12B where the sign said to go.  I then walked to the far end of the platform and turned left to track 13B where the train was parked.  It was decorated with a long movie poster for A Christmas Carol.  On the far side of the train was a long queue of people, mostly families with children.  The queue wrapped around railes back and forth “Disneyland style”.  There were some booths set up, one of which was raffling off an HP laptop computer.  A Disney employee passed out a brochure with Christmas Carol word puzzles and another employee at the end of the queue held up a sign that said the wait was 1.5 hours.  I also saw some people dressed as carolers walking along the queue.  I soon left to catch the 5:20 PM San Bernadino train to get home.

We decided to go to the train tour on Sunday and take the Metrolink train from Covina to Union Station.  We had originally planned to take the 2:27 PM train there, arrive at 3:10 PM, and take the 5:25 train home.  That would give us enough time for a 1.5 hour wait in the queue and the 45-minute train tour.  However, my recon had shown that the wait would likely be longer than 1.5 hours so we decided to take the 12:57 PM train that arrived at 1:40 PM.  This would allow enough time for a 3-hour wait and the 45-minute tour.

On Sunday we went to mass at 9:30 AM rather than the usual 5:30 PM.  I put on suncream to prepare for the 1.5+ hour wait outside.  This is probably the first time I’ve worn suncream for a Christmas-related event.  After brunch we caught the 12:57 PM Metrolink train.  It wasn’t very crowded compared to the weekday trains, though we did notice some families on board.  It arrived at Union Station early, at 1:30 PM.  After exiting the platform we noticed that the queue for the train tour extended all the way down to the track 3B/4B platform.  Again, it was mostly families with children.  Disney employees in white T-shirts directed the queue, made sure the platform ramps weren’t blocked, and passed out more purple brochures.  We queued up at 1:35 PM.  By 2:14 PM we had entered the tunnel up to the platform for tracks 11B and 12B.  An employee said the wait would be at least 2 more hours.  Another employee came down the queue asking if anyone wanted a temporary tattoo.  Another passed out a different brochure that required naming all the cities on the tour and tracing the route.  I noticed that the train would later go through both Santa Fe (6/2) and Albuquerque (6/5-6/7) along with Portland, OR (7/1), Seattle, WA (7/3-7/5), and Baltimore, MD (9/30) where I would go between June 2-4.  The tour ends in New York, NY on Oct. 30-Nov. 1.

By 2:27 PM we were high enough on the ramp to see the train and by 2:35 PM we were on the platform.  Around 2:45 PM a well-dressed juggler on stilts came by and performed for us.  We finally reached the end of the platform at 3 PM and I was making some use of the suncream I wore.  There were more jugglers.  One on stilts held another guy up who juggled with a third juggler, also on stilts.  Near the end of platform 13 two men and two women in Victorian costumes sang carols and talked to people in the queue.  There was a chimney from which artificial snow blew out.  By then it was about 3:10 PM and we still hadn’t joined the Disneyland-style wraparound queue that was an additional 1.5 hour wait.  At that rate we wouldn’t reach the front of the queue until 4:40 PM at the earliest and finish the tour at 5:25 PM, the time that the train we planned to take home would leave.  We decided that we wouldn’t make it in time for that train and we didn’t want to wait around for the next train that left at 7:45 PM.  So we left the queue and caught the 3:25 PM train home.  We got to see some jugglers and carolers but we couldn’t hold out for the long haul that was even longer than we planned.

After we got home I read on latimes.com that around 30,000 people waited in line to see the train tour over the weekend and they usually had to wait 3-5 hours.  I guess when anything is offered for free in this economy, people jump on it.  We’ll just have to wait until actual Christmas comes later this year.

Even though Bike to Work Week officially ended on Friday, May 15, the bicycle activities continued through Saturday the 16th.  My wife had read about the first annual City of El Monte Bike Rally in the Metrolink Matters newsletter.  It actually went by other names.  The registration form called it the Tour of Two Rivers.  The route ran north along the Rio Hondo, cut east across El Monte, ran south along the San Gabriel River and then went through Whittier Narrows park.  Most of it is made up by a network of interconnected trails, parks, and green spaces surrounding El Monte and known as The Emerald Necklace.

I registered for the bike rally through active.com.  It cost $5.00 plus a $3.25 service charge.  The proceeds from the rally supported the American Diabetes Association.  The purpose was to encourage people to be more active and improve their physical health.  El Monte is a working class community that has a high rate of child and adult obesity like many cities in the San Gabriel Valley (SGV) including Azusa.  They marketed the rally as an opportunity for families to come out and participate together.

This wouldn’t be the first bike rally in which I’d participated.  Back in late April or early May of 2006 I rode in the City of Angels Fun Ride.  It began at the LAPD academy in Elysian Park near Dodger Stadium.  There were many bicyclists in the ride, probably the most I’d ever seen in person.  I remember all of us assembling and a sound system playing the song “Bicycle Race” by Queen.  The route went through the Echo Park neighborhood, Downtown L.A., past the Music Center to Staples Center, down past USC, north again through the Central City East district into Little Tokyo, past Union Station, through Chinatown, Echo Park again, Silverlake, down Hollywood Boulevard, up the Cahuenga Pass and through the Lake Hollywood neighborhood.  There was a large staging area for a break at the Ford Amphitheater.  We then rode past Forest Lawn and finally through Griffith Park and back to the start in Elysian Park.  Overall, the ride was 34.1 miles long.  I enjoyed very much the ride through all the neighborhoods, seeing the famous and historic buildings.  While riding down Vernon Avenue, an edgier neighborhood, some residents came outside and looked us over curiously.  It was thrilling and a little scary going down the steep hill on Grand Avenue.  The latter part of the ride through Lake Hollywood and Griffith Park wasn’t as interesting, but the hills provided a good workout.

The Take of Two Rivers would differ.  It was only 16 miles long, mostly followed narrow bike paths rather than neighborhood streets, and had far fewer participants.  But that didn’t make it any less interesting.  My preparations for the ride began on Thursday, May 14 after I had returned home by bike from the train station.  I had actually observed Bike to Work Day for the driving part of my regular commute (see earlier blog entry).  When I got home I folded up the back seats of my car and put my bike in the back so it would be ready for Saturday.

On Saturday I got up at 7 am, had a light breakfast, dressed for the ride and put on suncream.  The website said that check-in began at 8 am and the ride would start at 9 am.  I left home not long after 8 am, drove west on the 10 and exited at Santa Anita Avenue.  This is the same place we exit when Mom and Dad (my in-laws) drop us off at the El Monte train station after having dinner at their house on weekdays.  However, exiting from the east is a bit trickier.  I had to stop at a stop sign and then cut across three lanes to turn right (north) on Santa Anita Avenue.  Pioneer Park, the starting point for the ride is on the left side of Santa Anita Avenue going north.  It’s after Ramona but before Valley Mall and Valley Boulevard.  I learned that we pass it when Mom and Dad drive us to the El Monte Metrolink station.  I turned left into the parking lot south of the park.  There were lots of cars from which people were unloading bikes, but there were no available parking spaces.  I tried the smaller parking lot north of the park and still had no luck.  After racking my brain I went to the only public parking lot I knew of in El Monte: the Metrolink station.  It’s only a mile away from the park so I figured I could just bike from there.  Parking at the El Monte station does not require a permit.

I parked at the station, biked west on Valley Boulevard and turned left on Santa Anita Avenue.  It was around 8:40 am and not long before the ride started.  Pioneer Park is not very big.  They had booths set up under shades.  One of them was the check-in booth for the ride.  I checked in and they gave me a number: 468 out of what I later learned would be a total of 500 riders.  They also gave me a 1 Bag At a Time brand reusable grocery bag containing a T-shirt, water bottle, and course map.  I stashed these in my backpack and walked my bike over to where riders were assembled for the start.  There were far fewer riders for this ride than for the City of Angels ride.  Similar to that ride they wore helmets and many wore cycling jerseys.  They had mountain bikes, road bikes, and hybrids.  A few had those retro-looking bikes with big handlebars.  I didn’t see any recumbent bikes.  It seemed like there were more families with children than at the City of Angels ride and more Asians and Latinos than Caucasians.

The entrance to the course was at the northwest end of the park underneath the Metrolink track.  Getting onto the course required the mayor of El Monte, Ernest Gutierrez, to cut a red ribbon with an enlarged pair of scissors.  Before cutting the ribbon, the mayor and a few other dignitaries gave speeches.  The mayor mentioned that they’ve tried many things to improve people’s health in El Monte, some effective and others not so much.  He mentioned that the healthiest city in the U.S. is in Colorado.  Assemblyman Mike Eng (husband of current Congresswoman Judy Chu) spoke about how he gained 14 pounds during his first week in the assembly from eating junk food.  His doctor told him he was a candidate for diabetes.  Either he or the mayor said they would do the ride but their bike had a flat tire.  Another speaker mentioned that El Monte just got a new Sam’s Club and encouraged us to stop by there during the ride and spend some money.  He also mentioned that there would be rest stops along the way with fruit and cookies from Von’s and students from the El Monte School District would distribute them.  Next the mayor cut the ribbon to shouts of “You can do it!” from the riders.  They then let the riders onto the course in groups of 10-12, asking that the faster riders go first.  I left with the 4th or 5th group.  It was 9:00 am or not long after.

At the beginning the course ran north along the Rio Hondo on a narrow concrete path with a dotted yellow line.  I rode fast, trying to keep up with or even pass others in the group.  It was nice weather for riding: warm enough that the air didn’t feel cold, but not hot enough to induce sweat.  They had forecasted a warm day but it was still morning.  At the start the Rio Hondo didn’t have much water in it but that would change after passing what looked like a dam further up.  To my right was the El Monte Airport.  Each mile of the course was marked with a large sign stating the number of miles and a sponsor such as Mayor Gutierrez, the City Council, the El Monte Police Department, or in memory of someone.  The course was flat except at points where the road crossed the river and the path would slope down under the road and then back up.  One street we rode under along the Rio Hondo was Lower Azusa Road.

The first rest stop was at the 3-mile marker and also where the course turned east away from the Rio Hondo.  It looked like they were still setting up the rest stop so I kept going.  We then rode through the streets of a decent-looking El Monte neighborhood of one and two story homes with well-kept yards.  Volunteers would sometimes stop us to let cars cross the street and then have us ride through.  We rode about a mile through the neighborhood streets and eventually rode on Lower Azusa Road into a small corner of the city of Arcadia.  Here we made a sharp right to ride south along the west side of the San Gabriel River.

The San Gabriel River seemed to have less concrete and more vegetation than the Rio Hondo.  It also didn’t have much water, at least at the section north of the 10 freeway, and looked more like a wetlands than a river.  The ride south along the San Gabriel was the longest continuous leg of the course at nearly five miles.  With a headwind and several stronger riders passing me, it was grueling, but very scenic.  I lost a lot of steam.  It seemed like there were many riders going in the opposite direction.  They must be the usual recreational riders on the trail, separate from the bike rally.  I passed three schools: a high school with soccer fields and two games of youth soccer going on, an empty grass field behind Twin Lakes School (that reminded me of Twin Lakes park in Juneau), and another high school south of the 10 with “Home of the Vikings” painted across its outer walls.  There was a baseball game going on in its fields and along the chain-link fence were homemade signs saying things like “Go Bike Riders” and “Now Entering Vikings Territory”.

Before riding under the 10 I passed the cow and horse pens that I normally see from the Metrolink train on my route to work.  I smelled the pens before I saw them.  I passed a police officer on horseback.  Further down near the 60 I passed another set of cow, horse, and pony pens.  These were at the same level as the bike path.  There was another rest stop nearby, but I kept riding to get out of range of the farm animal scent.  Before the 10 I approached the Metrolink train track elevated over the bike path.  A train passed over it and I waved.  I ride that same train route to and from work every weekday.  Further down the San Gabriel River more water was visible.  Indeed, the river seemed quite full and the water level high.  From what looked like an island or perhaps the opposite shore a couple of campers (possible homeless) gave us friendly cheers and waves.  Further down I saw someone fishing on my side of the river.

I stopped to drink from my water bottle right before the 60 freeway.  About a half mile after passing under the 60 the course turned right away from the San Gabriel River, into a wooded park, Pico Rivera Centennial Park, I believe, part of the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area.  It was still on a concrete bike path.  Now there was bush vegetation on either side along with some old and now unused power line towers.  The course crossed a busy street manned by cops to ensure us cyclists could cross.  It was still Whittier Narrows and another turn led into El Bosque del Rio Hondo, but not before another drink of water.  This part was even more wooded though I could see some large recreation fields beyond the trees.  At another rest stop a city worker handed me a bottle of San Gabriel Metropolitan Water District brand water.  I kept riding to a part of the course covered by a chain-linked canopy.  On my right was what liked like a rifle or possible an archery range, though it seemed like people were using it to fly model airplanes.

At about mile 14 the course left Whittier Narrows and it was back to the neighborhood houses on my right and the Rio Hondo on my left.  I heard a rooster crow just like across the street back home.  Further down I passed some outdoor exercise equipment similar to the equipment along the Cedar River in Renton or at Savikko Park (Sandy Beach) in Juneau.  In the El Monte park I also saw some men who looked like immigrant day laborers sitting down and watching us ride by.  There was only a mile or two left and I rode fast to make up time, passing a few people.  I could have passed one person right before the finish line, but I let her go ahead.  In all, it took me an hour to finish the course.

Not very many other riders had finished the course at that point, but they kept coming in.  I parked my bike on an elevated rail set up for that purpose.  While doing so I saw a guy from my Indoor Cycling class who said “hi” and remarked that there was no need for spinning today.  I agreed.  I walked around the booths.  There was one for the nature in Whittier Narrows that had a live owl on a perch, a live tarantula in a cage, and several other animals.  Another booth measured people’s body mass index (BMI).  I didn’t try it because they had one of those portable electronic devices that measured body fat.  The last time I tried one of those it said I had too much body fat.  There was also a table for the Emerald Necklace chain of parks with maps and photos that were taken along the course.  The El Monte Police Department and El Monte School District had tables with the latter giving away bags of apple slices.  I had some.

I spent some time talking to Carlos V. at the booth for the U.S. Census.  They’re starting to conduct the 2010 Census by hiring lots of temporary workers and sending out questionnaires.  The counts will be used to determine the number of congressional districts and federal funding for schools and other services.  Carlos said that the Census has a permanent office in Van Nuys and temporary offices all around the region.  They hire statisticians on a temporary and permanent basis.  He asked me about the ride and described how he was trained as a teacher and currently works in public relations for the census and does some real estate work on the side.  I have the same first name as his son.

I learned that my registration fee also covered lunch provided by Von’s Federal Credit Union.  There was a lunch ticket attached to my number and I used to get into the enclosed pavilion where they had tables serving roast beef, turkey, and ham sandwiches, bags and chips, and cookies.  I chose a ham sandwich and fritos and a cookie for my wife.  On the way out I got some cold bottles of SGV Metropolitan Water District drinking water from a cooler and had lunch.  That was nice of Von’s to provide lunch.  While eating I heard from an announcer that they sold out of all 500 numbers and had to turn people away.  They’ll have more numbers next year.  There were still people, mostly kids, finishing the ride an hour after I finished.  I saw a rather heavyset man with a number describing how he rode the entire course.  Another guy joked that he did it twice.  There was a stereo playing music.  I didn’t hear “Bicycle Race” this time but I did hear “Give a Little Bit” by Supertramp.

After finishing lunch I retrieved my bike and practiced putting it on a bus rack with the El Monte Transit bus they had on display.  A bus driver gave me some pointers.  It was after 11 am and I felt like I had done everything.  They were going to raffle off various items and my number came with a free raffle ticket but I felt like I had done enough and it was starting to get warm.  I rode back to the El Monte Metrolink station, stowed my bike in my car, and drove home.