Yo..yo.. yo... SS3 in the hizzzzzyyy.... check it .....
Gallery # 310 .... Bottom row... Third from the left...
www.werenotafraid.com
For those not in the know please reference the 4th of July post from Wednesday July 6th, 2005
Cheers,
-Scott
Friday, July 29, 2005
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Blast from the Past ...
Had a really nice Saturday morning as one Mr. Randy Russell just happened to be in town on vacation. Randy was one of the neighborhood kids that lived on our street when we were growing up in the northern section of Huntington Beach. He moved to Long Beach just before High School but we kept in touch throughout the High School years and I jumped over to Long Beach on occasion for visits and such. We ended up sharing an apartment in both Laguna Hills and Seal Beach at some point in our 20’s. I knew he would be in town this weekend so kept some time free on the calendar.
Got a call from him Saturday morning and we decided to meet in Huntington Beach and cruise PCH looking for landmarks from our distant past. We met up in the shopping center at PCH and Warner and took his rental car out for a spin. Headed up towards Seal Beach and ended up at Ruby’s on the pier for breakfast. Mad Shrimp Omelette I must say. Nice walk on the pier watching folks fish and just hang out. Lots of surfers as well.
From there we decided to cruise up and down the main drag to see how much if at all the place had changed over the years. Couldn’t even remember where our apartment was. The placed looked that different. Spent about 30 min. driving up and down various streets but nothing was ringing any bells so we continued north and started out for another hangout from wayback. Belmont Shores in Long Beach. Made a left on Santa Ana off of 2nd Street and drove down to East Ocean where we found some parking. A stroll up the blvd. ensued in which we were trying to locate a little flat that he had rented for a couple of summers way back when. That area had changed a little bit as well and though we were pretty sure we had pinpointed the place, neither of us could say for sure. The parking lot across the street was a helpful frame of reference but the places we were looking at didn’t match what was in my memory. Of course that was many, many years ago and I didn’t reside there in those years. Actually, we should have kept going on up to Signal Hill. I know I could find the place he rented up there. That didn’t come to mind so we hit the beach as there was some kind of event taking place and we decided to burn every minute on the parking meter. So we hit the sand where the EZ-Ups and sponsor trailers were to find out that there was a Lifeguard competition of sorts taking place. So what the heck, we decided to watch a couple of races.
Took in the Mens and Ladies Run, Swim, Run which was pretty fun to watch. Competitors started much like a track meet. Standing start run down the beach to a marker and back then made a right and jumped into the ocean. Pretty good swim out to and around a buoy and back and then one more run up the same path as before. If I were to participate it would have to be renamed the Run, Crawl, Sink and Drown competition. We were somewhat pressed for time as he had to spend some time with the inlaws that afternoon but we did manage to watch the first lap of the Dory race. That was a hoot to watch. Looked grueling as well.
Headed back to the car and then back to H.B. where Randy dropped me off at my truck. Had a great time that morning visiting old haunts and reminiscing about days gone by. Especially our conquests of the ladies back in our youth. I hope he visits again and has more time to goof off. I hope it's not another 10 to 15 years this time around. As usual a short picture gallery of the morning's doings can be found here.
-Scott
Got a call from him Saturday morning and we decided to meet in Huntington Beach and cruise PCH looking for landmarks from our distant past. We met up in the shopping center at PCH and Warner and took his rental car out for a spin. Headed up towards Seal Beach and ended up at Ruby’s on the pier for breakfast. Mad Shrimp Omelette I must say. Nice walk on the pier watching folks fish and just hang out. Lots of surfers as well.
From there we decided to cruise up and down the main drag to see how much if at all the place had changed over the years. Couldn’t even remember where our apartment was. The placed looked that different. Spent about 30 min. driving up and down various streets but nothing was ringing any bells so we continued north and started out for another hangout from wayback. Belmont Shores in Long Beach. Made a left on Santa Ana off of 2nd Street and drove down to East Ocean where we found some parking. A stroll up the blvd. ensued in which we were trying to locate a little flat that he had rented for a couple of summers way back when. That area had changed a little bit as well and though we were pretty sure we had pinpointed the place, neither of us could say for sure. The parking lot across the street was a helpful frame of reference but the places we were looking at didn’t match what was in my memory. Of course that was many, many years ago and I didn’t reside there in those years. Actually, we should have kept going on up to Signal Hill. I know I could find the place he rented up there. That didn’t come to mind so we hit the beach as there was some kind of event taking place and we decided to burn every minute on the parking meter. So we hit the sand where the EZ-Ups and sponsor trailers were to find out that there was a Lifeguard competition of sorts taking place. So what the heck, we decided to watch a couple of races.
Took in the Mens and Ladies Run, Swim, Run which was pretty fun to watch. Competitors started much like a track meet. Standing start run down the beach to a marker and back then made a right and jumped into the ocean. Pretty good swim out to and around a buoy and back and then one more run up the same path as before. If I were to participate it would have to be renamed the Run, Crawl, Sink and Drown competition. We were somewhat pressed for time as he had to spend some time with the inlaws that afternoon but we did manage to watch the first lap of the Dory race. That was a hoot to watch. Looked grueling as well.
Headed back to the car and then back to H.B. where Randy dropped me off at my truck. Had a great time that morning visiting old haunts and reminiscing about days gone by. Especially our conquests of the ladies back in our youth. I hope he visits again and has more time to goof off. I hope it's not another 10 to 15 years this time around. As usual a short picture gallery of the morning's doings can be found here.-Scott
Thursday, July 14, 2005
We're Not Afraid !!!!
Joe came across this story in the news today. Very interesting website a gentleman has put up that’s accepting photo submissions. The theme is to show terrorists here and abroad that their tactics are instilling exactly zero fear. This in the aftermath of the recent bombings in London. Poor guy has been doing the rounds with the media today and his servers are getting killed with traffic. Submissions are flowing in from all over the world. As of this post there were some 90 galleries up on the site but I’m sure that number will be in the thousands once they catch up and acquire the necessary bandwidth. Great way to kill a little time and some of the pictures are just great. Cheers to Alfie for getting this rolling!! Check them out at... www.werenotafraid.com
Here’s one of my personal favorites…
And Here's Mine...
Oh Hell, here's one more for good measure. My good friend Vicki Z. raised the letters on this in P-Shop..
Nuff’ Said
-Scott
Here’s one of my personal favorites…
And Here's Mine...
Oh Hell, here's one more for good measure. My good friend Vicki Z. raised the letters on this in P-Shop..
Nuff’ Said
-Scott
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
4th of July....
Hopped on the bike at 7am and started cruising around Lake Forest in anticipation of the annual parade. Lots of folks getting ready, prepping their vintage and classic automobiles and such. Kept going on down the main drag as I had some time to kill until the festivities began so I headed over to Sorrento Park to visit the Mikkelsen clan. No joy there as Mike's Murano wasn't in the drive and there wasn't any sign of life in the house. Not to worry, I used the gate to the back yard and got to spend about 20 minutes with the Rat Terriers. Spent another 10 min. trying to get all the hair off of my pants.
Jumped back on my sled and pedaled back up Trabuco, hung a right at Lake Forest, then a left on Toledo which was starting to fill up with folks with lawn chairs and the like. I ended up over by El Toro High and decided to swing by Sean Simon's place to see if he had anything planned for the day. Apparently so because no one was around. I figured if the family was attending the parade they had already dashed out to find a good place for viewing. My suspicions were correct as I found out today when Sean emailed me a picture from the local newspapers website. His youngest, Spencer was hanging with Grandma taking it all in. Here it is....
WAVING THE FLAG: Spencer Simon, 1, shows his patriotism while watching the Lake Forest parade on the lap of his grandmother, Sue West.
Headed back home and swapped out my backpack for a chair myself and grabbed the camera. Spent the next couple of hours sitting on the median and watching a cast of characters go by. There were some really nice custom hot rods. Got a nice little sunburn going on my shins and neck. Here are some pictures of the days goings on. This one's from another parade acutally but I just love the toothy grin the horse gave up for the camera. Nice choppers eh? Rode a little more afterward. Nothing spectacular but I did get in about 35 miles on the bike that day.
-Scott
Jumped back on my sled and pedaled back up Trabuco, hung a right at Lake Forest, then a left on Toledo which was starting to fill up with folks with lawn chairs and the like. I ended up over by El Toro High and decided to swing by Sean Simon's place to see if he had anything planned for the day. Apparently so because no one was around. I figured if the family was attending the parade they had already dashed out to find a good place for viewing. My suspicions were correct as I found out today when Sean emailed me a picture from the local newspapers website. His youngest, Spencer was hanging with Grandma taking it all in. Here it is....
WAVING THE FLAG: Spencer Simon, 1, shows his patriotism while watching the Lake Forest parade on the lap of his grandmother, Sue West.
Headed back home and swapped out my backpack for a chair myself and grabbed the camera. Spent the next couple of hours sitting on the median and watching a cast of characters go by. There were some really nice custom hot rods. Got a nice little sunburn going on my shins and neck. Here are some pictures of the days goings on. This one's from another parade acutally but I just love the toothy grin the horse gave up for the camera. Nice choppers eh? Rode a little more afterward. Nothing spectacular but I did get in about 35 miles on the bike that day.-Scott
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Happy Birthday Angie !!!
July 5th marks the birthday of yet another in the "Cancer" club...
Best wishes for great B-Day to a great barserver and hot dog maker extraordinaire,
Insert drum roll here…… ……. …..
Angie!!! from Lake Forest Lanes… pictured here performing quality assurance tests on the new game in the lounge area …
Happy Birthday Angie !!!!!
Belated Birthday wishes as well to my cousin Allyson Davis Pollard, who as a matter of fact shares my birthday way back on oh, let’s see,.. the Fourth !!!!
Best wishes for great B-Day to a great barserver and hot dog maker extraordinaire,
Insert drum roll here…… ……. …..
Angie!!! from Lake Forest Lanes… pictured here performing quality assurance tests on the new game in the lounge area …
Belated Birthday wishes as well to my cousin Allyson Davis Pollard, who as a matter of fact shares my birthday way back on oh, let’s see,.. the Fourth !!!!
Saturday, July 02, 2005
Supreme BS
Here's a sampling of some of the commentary on the Supreme Court's ruling in the Kelo case back east. Saturday's OC Register is full of letters just like these from Southlanders. Nice to see people voicing their displeasure with the ruling and the governments pilfering of property.
Heck, just do a Google search on "Kelo Ruling". Tons of commentary in the Blogoshpere and people are really pissed about this one...
Saturday, July 2, 2005
Taking private property is what government does best
Susette Kelo and her neighbors were told by city officials of New London, Conn., that their homes would be seized and razed to make way for a commercial complex. The city officials cited the Connecticut constitution, which grants them the right to do so under the rule of eminent domain.
Eminent domain may be exercised by any government agency in order to claim private property from anyone within its jurisdiction, provided the owner is offered "just compensation" and the claimed property is for "public use." The right of eminent domain is granted under the U.S. Constitution and the constitutions of every state.
Kelo and her neighbors filed a lawsuit to prevent the seizure of their property, which worked its way to the U.S. Supreme Court under Kelov. City of New London.
Libertarian writers have brought this case to light by showing how government abuses the eminent domain law and its people. Abuses include the use of a heavy hand by city officials who condemn a person's property and then offer a price below actual market value.
While some of Kelo's neighbors have sold their property to the city, she and others want to remain in their homes, where they have lived for many years (40 years in Kelo's case). They argue that the city of New London violated the meaning of the law by taking their property for non-public use. However, the increased revenue garnered by the city will most certainly find its way into welfare payments, public work projects, salaries to public officials and the like. This may not be a direct public use of seized property, but the results will nevertheless end up as a public benefit. Why are libertarians so concerned that the seized property is being used for private use rather than for public use when they strongly favor privatization?
Once property is taken, the use to which the taker puts it is inconsequential. A bank robber who informs the teller that the money will go to a good cause is no less a thief.
So, why the big fuss over a handful of people in New London or over the other few thousand who are or have been in a similar circumstance? The taking of one person's property for the benefit of another without just compensation is what governments do. That's their business.
Let's not get riled up over their taking of a pittance of property value, when we have authorized them to take at the astronomical rate of billions of dollars a year. Governments have "eminent domain" over our lives and whatever we may produce as part of that life.
Let's just get used to it and be good loyal subjects.
Louis Carabini
Newport Beach
__________________________________________
Saturday, July 2, 2005
Can we save our homes?
The illusion of private property
We live at the government's pleasure. There are no such things as property rights; we cannot own property; we only lease it from the government. The property tax is the only tax that does not take into consideration the ability to pay. When we purchase a home, we only buy the right to live there. The government will be our landlord, it will fix our annual rent and we only live there at officials' pleasure (eminent domain). Don't pay your property tax and the government evicts you.
Try to add a room, remodel or improve your land, and you need to get approval from the government first. After the approval, you will also receive an increase in your annual lease payment - the property tax. If you upgrade the property, government will raise the rent. Toss out Proposition 13 and watch our landlords - the government - raise our annual lease payments. How much can our city, county and state leaders raise our rent if given the chance? Somehow, I can believe our founding fathers never envisioned this mass insanity, the loss of our property rights, the loss of our property use and the inability to leave our property to our heirs.
Paul A. Angelotti
Placentia
__________________________________________
Not your castle any more
Your home is no longer your castle. It is now the mechanism for getting the highest and best tax revenue for local government. The Supreme Court ruled that a local government can seize your house, pay you what it thinks is a fair price and give it to someone else if that raises tax revenues and improves the community, in its opinion. This logic would let local governments seize every church and give the land to developers, since the churches pay no property taxes. This logic would let them seize every house and offer to sell it back to the owners for the same price since this will increase everyone's property taxes and therefore help the community with additional tax revenues. Anyone who thinks these prospects are far-fetched needs to only look in our backyard at Cypress, where the city attempted to take a church's property to build a Costco.
The rule of law and strong protection of personal property rights are two of the cornerstone rights that built the great country we have today. We just lost some of our greatness with these rulings. Some say that the Constitution is supposed to be a "living document," but to me it looks like it's dying.
Craig Trivelpiece
Newport Beach
_______________________________________
Forms of eminent domain
Why all the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the Supreme Court decision on eminent domain?
Hasn't the autocratic California Coastal Commission been exercising eminent domain action on landowners unfortunate enough to own land within the commission's purview? To further the humiliation, the landowner is not forced to sell his land to a private concern but keep it fallow for a bird, reptile, vermin or even a plant that the bleeding heart environmentalists claim is endangered. But he must continue to pay taxes so the subhuman species or vegetation can endure.
In addition, the landowner probably will be stymied by our liberal judicial system or the plentiful number of NIMBYS. Let's stop wailing about the legality of eminent domain and move on. We Californians should be calloused enough by now not to let a comparative decision by our highest court overshadow what has been the norm in our state for decades.
Bob Polkow
Huntington Beach
_____________________________________________
Back an amendment
We should all be very concerned regarding the Supreme Court decision on eminent domain. The city of Garden Grove was planning to take a large portion of a housing tract for its future Harbor Boulevard entertainment center. When the people found out they spoke up loud and clear. The city backed off, knowing it was an illegal and immoral use of eminent domain. But now the Supreme Court has given the city councils of America carte blancheto do whatever they wish with our property.
If you have a home with low property taxes under Proposition 13 you need to be afraid. The cities have an out: Just take your property and give it to a developer so they can build condos or apartments to get more revenue. Five justices, Democrats and Republicans, on the Supreme Court said so.
It's time to contact your representatives to get a strong amendment to the Constitution to protect our property from the government. Hopefully they will want to help, but remember they are part of the government too. The Constitution had it covered but five justices decided to read more into it. Makes you wonder.
Marilyn Ross
Garden Grove
Heck, just do a Google search on "Kelo Ruling". Tons of commentary in the Blogoshpere and people are really pissed about this one...
Saturday, July 2, 2005
Taking private property is what government does best
Susette Kelo and her neighbors were told by city officials of New London, Conn., that their homes would be seized and razed to make way for a commercial complex. The city officials cited the Connecticut constitution, which grants them the right to do so under the rule of eminent domain.
Eminent domain may be exercised by any government agency in order to claim private property from anyone within its jurisdiction, provided the owner is offered "just compensation" and the claimed property is for "public use." The right of eminent domain is granted under the U.S. Constitution and the constitutions of every state.
Kelo and her neighbors filed a lawsuit to prevent the seizure of their property, which worked its way to the U.S. Supreme Court under Kelov. City of New London.
Libertarian writers have brought this case to light by showing how government abuses the eminent domain law and its people. Abuses include the use of a heavy hand by city officials who condemn a person's property and then offer a price below actual market value.
While some of Kelo's neighbors have sold their property to the city, she and others want to remain in their homes, where they have lived for many years (40 years in Kelo's case). They argue that the city of New London violated the meaning of the law by taking their property for non-public use. However, the increased revenue garnered by the city will most certainly find its way into welfare payments, public work projects, salaries to public officials and the like. This may not be a direct public use of seized property, but the results will nevertheless end up as a public benefit. Why are libertarians so concerned that the seized property is being used for private use rather than for public use when they strongly favor privatization?
Once property is taken, the use to which the taker puts it is inconsequential. A bank robber who informs the teller that the money will go to a good cause is no less a thief.
So, why the big fuss over a handful of people in New London or over the other few thousand who are or have been in a similar circumstance? The taking of one person's property for the benefit of another without just compensation is what governments do. That's their business.
Let's not get riled up over their taking of a pittance of property value, when we have authorized them to take at the astronomical rate of billions of dollars a year. Governments have "eminent domain" over our lives and whatever we may produce as part of that life.
Let's just get used to it and be good loyal subjects.
Louis Carabini
Newport Beach
__________________________________________
Saturday, July 2, 2005
Can we save our homes?
The illusion of private property
We live at the government's pleasure. There are no such things as property rights; we cannot own property; we only lease it from the government. The property tax is the only tax that does not take into consideration the ability to pay. When we purchase a home, we only buy the right to live there. The government will be our landlord, it will fix our annual rent and we only live there at officials' pleasure (eminent domain). Don't pay your property tax and the government evicts you.
Try to add a room, remodel or improve your land, and you need to get approval from the government first. After the approval, you will also receive an increase in your annual lease payment - the property tax. If you upgrade the property, government will raise the rent. Toss out Proposition 13 and watch our landlords - the government - raise our annual lease payments. How much can our city, county and state leaders raise our rent if given the chance? Somehow, I can believe our founding fathers never envisioned this mass insanity, the loss of our property rights, the loss of our property use and the inability to leave our property to our heirs.
Paul A. Angelotti
Placentia
__________________________________________
Not your castle any more
Your home is no longer your castle. It is now the mechanism for getting the highest and best tax revenue for local government. The Supreme Court ruled that a local government can seize your house, pay you what it thinks is a fair price and give it to someone else if that raises tax revenues and improves the community, in its opinion. This logic would let local governments seize every church and give the land to developers, since the churches pay no property taxes. This logic would let them seize every house and offer to sell it back to the owners for the same price since this will increase everyone's property taxes and therefore help the community with additional tax revenues. Anyone who thinks these prospects are far-fetched needs to only look in our backyard at Cypress, where the city attempted to take a church's property to build a Costco.
The rule of law and strong protection of personal property rights are two of the cornerstone rights that built the great country we have today. We just lost some of our greatness with these rulings. Some say that the Constitution is supposed to be a "living document," but to me it looks like it's dying.
Craig Trivelpiece
Newport Beach
_______________________________________
Forms of eminent domain
Why all the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the Supreme Court decision on eminent domain?
Hasn't the autocratic California Coastal Commission been exercising eminent domain action on landowners unfortunate enough to own land within the commission's purview? To further the humiliation, the landowner is not forced to sell his land to a private concern but keep it fallow for a bird, reptile, vermin or even a plant that the bleeding heart environmentalists claim is endangered. But he must continue to pay taxes so the subhuman species or vegetation can endure.
In addition, the landowner probably will be stymied by our liberal judicial system or the plentiful number of NIMBYS. Let's stop wailing about the legality of eminent domain and move on. We Californians should be calloused enough by now not to let a comparative decision by our highest court overshadow what has been the norm in our state for decades.
Bob Polkow
Huntington Beach
_____________________________________________
Back an amendment
We should all be very concerned regarding the Supreme Court decision on eminent domain. The city of Garden Grove was planning to take a large portion of a housing tract for its future Harbor Boulevard entertainment center. When the people found out they spoke up loud and clear. The city backed off, knowing it was an illegal and immoral use of eminent domain. But now the Supreme Court has given the city councils of America carte blancheto do whatever they wish with our property.
If you have a home with low property taxes under Proposition 13 you need to be afraid. The cities have an out: Just take your property and give it to a developer so they can build condos or apartments to get more revenue. Five justices, Democrats and Republicans, on the Supreme Court said so.
It's time to contact your representatives to get a strong amendment to the Constitution to protect our property from the government. Hopefully they will want to help, but remember they are part of the government too. The Constitution had it covered but five justices decided to read more into it. Makes you wonder.
Marilyn Ross
Garden Grove
Had to do it....
My bangs and overall hair length have/has been driving me crazy for a couple of weeks now. Watched an epic battle between Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams this morning and then made a mad dash to Great Clips. Lynn broke out the weed whacker and various other tools and here's the end result.
I should be okay for another month or so.
Long weekend at hand. We'll see what transpires..
-Scott
I should be okay for another month or so.
Long weekend at hand. We'll see what transpires..
-Scott
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