H1N1 's Got Nothin on Accidentally Shooting Yourself

I will not be getting the H1N1 vaccine.

I don't consider myself a conspiracy theorist, but I get the feeling some pharmaceutical company is making a killing off of the 250 million doses the U.S. Government just snapped up (if you're interested, the manufacturers of the H1N1 vaccine are Sanofi Pasteur, Novartis, MedImmune and CSL Limited).

Despite a giant lapse in vaccination upkeep in my lifetime, I've never contracted SARS, Mad Cow, or the Avian Flu. I have never been poisoned by Anthrax or accidentally eaten a stray chicken tumor at Jack-in-the-Box. In fact, I've never had food poisoning (but I also refuse to eat at restaurants sporting "B" grades in the windows).

I did have the Chicken Pox once. I've had Strep a couple times. I somehow developed Scarlitinia and mild Scarlet Fever at the same time. I even had Pityriasis once, which was totally strange. So it's not as if my immune system is superhuman. I just never bought into the Scary Disease of the Year hype.

Government health officials say the Swine Flu has killed some 4,000 people in the United States since April, including 540 kids.

Yes, that's a lot of people, and please don't think I'm making light of the matter. But for comparison's sake, here are some other fun facts to consider before going postal on your local CVS for running out of The Shot:

In the same 7 months...

16,916 people in the United States were killed in accidents involving firearms.
19,843 people in the United States were killed in car accidents.
21,000 people in the United States were killed by the Influenza virus (the regular one).
42,261 people in the United States were killed by Diabetes.
253,750 people in the United States were killed by tobbacco.
326,601 people in the United States were killed by Cancer.
368,454 people in the United States were killed by Heart Disease.

Sources: http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/30
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/FASTATS/deaths.htm

Do Good, Give Thanks

Earlier this week I sat at a red light in West LA and watched a homeless man cross the street. A common scene, yes. But something about the look in this man's eyes just killed me. He exuded a sadness and strength that told the story of a life full of pride, love and devastation.

I don't know what his real story was. But I couldn't care less if he was a widowed war veteran or a man fallen victim to addiction or both. I wanted to help.

Remember when Obama took office and asked all of us to volunteer our time? That wasn't a one day thing. I admit, I haven't done my part. But there's no better time than Thanksgiving, and in a City of Angels, there are plenty of opportunities to give.

Thanksgiving 2009 is Thursday, November 26th

Dinners in the Park
Pasadena, Central Park
This Thanksgiving (and Christmas) day event, put on by Union Station Homeless Services, lasts all day, and volunteer shifts start at 9am. Last year more than 8,000 people enjoyed a hot dinner and holiday cheer. www.unionstationhs.org

Food on Foot
Hollywood
To register for Food on Foot's Turkey Day event, you'll have to donate $100. The money covers the cost of food, backpacks, and more. After all, turkeys don't grow on trees.

Gobble Gobble Give
Hollywood
No affiliation here. Just a bunch of people coming together to serve the community. GGG needs volunteers to cook turkeys the day before, as well as volunteers day of. You'll meet up at The Echo on Sunset to build meals, then make friends with a volunteer driver (that can be you, too) and pile in to deliver meals to those in need on the streets.

Salvation Army Thanksgiving Prep
Glendale
The Glendale unit of the Salvation Army will feed over 300 people on Thanksgiving day. They need volunteers to help prepare food and carve turkeys starting at 8am.

LIFE Choir Annual Thanksgiving Feast
Hollywood
This non-profit is looking for about 50 people to help set up and serve dinner for over 1,500 people. They'll have singers, magicians, dancers, and more on hand to provide entertainment throughout the day. Great opportunity to bring along the kids.

One Incredible Family
Playa del Rey *11-28-09*
This organization will prepare, assemble, and deliver meals to shelters throughout the city. They need all volunteers, including those who own trucks or vans for delivery.

Spencer Hospice Foundation
Based in Santa Ana
If you don't have a lot of extra time, this may be the opportunity for you. This organization works to fulfill the wishes of terminally ill patients receiving hospice care.

"The hospice team works with the patient and their family to fill out a simple application, which is translated into a wish card ornament. The SHF then supplies you or your company with as many wish card ornaments as you think you can fulfill. You then choose the ornament with a wish you would like to purchase, and the Spencer Hospice Foundation will collect the Thanksgiving gifts on or near November 18th and holiday gifts on December 11th. Wishes may include a box of chocolates, clothes, music CDs, gift cards, food and other small things that make a BIG difference in enhancing the quality of life."

It's simple, it's easy, and it makes everyone's day a little brighter.

If you can't make it to one of these opportunities, there are plenty more out there. Websites like Serve.gov, LAWorks.com, and VolunteerMatch.org are easy to search by zipcode and by interest. You can even create your own volunteer event and list it with these sites to get the helping hands you need.

Photo credit: "The Soloist," Nathaniel Ayers plays outside Disney Concert Hall by Flickr user LadyDucayne

iWatch, uWatch, We All Watch

So, because apparently there's nothing more interesting going on in the world than debating the weirdness factor of LAPD PSAs, I bring you...iWatch.

For those who haven't read the headlines (fun stuff like "LAPD Creeping Out America," or "Terrorism: Important or Incredibly Creepy?"), I will attempt to explain the dilemma here.

LAPD has a new program. It's called iWatch. It's a way to report suspicious, possibly terrorism related activity without feeling like an asshole if it turns out to be nothing. The End.

So here's the video. You watch, then we'll discuss.





I admit, the still frame image of Luna Lovegood is a tad disconcerting, but that's all I've got.

No it's not original. No it's not very creative (I think every PSA I've ever seen follows the same We-Are-of-Varying-Ethnic-Backgrounds-and-We-Care-About-Our-Siblings-So-Lets-Say-Part-of-a-Sentence structure), but you know, it kinda gets the job done. It's semi dramatic. Terrorism is dramatic. I think it works, and I gotta say, I'm going with the LAPD on this one.

That being said, friends and lovers, I'd like to hear your thoughts. Can someone explain to me why our lame PSA is national news? I've perused the comments on other blogs, news sites, etc., and when you take away the "GOVERNMENT=SATAN" explanations, you're left kinda empty-handed.
Please, somebody, News Me.

DineLA October 2009

FYI, my J. Gold Essential Blog Part 2 has been updated to reflect those restaurants on the J. Gold 105 that are also participating in DineLA Restaurant Week 2009.

Check it out here.

Chambonea y mas!

Sitting in Dodger Stadium, I often find myself silently grooving to Rafael Furcal's sweet at-bat music. Of course, I have no idea what the lyrics are or what they mean, so I can't really get down like the rest of the upper reserve section.

Luckily for me, Roberto over at Vin Scully is my Homeboy made a list of all the at-bat songs for my favorite Boys in Blue.

Furcal= Chambonea Omega. Not sure if that's a two-word title or an artist and track, but in any case it loosely translates to something having to do with being lucky. Or lazy. One of the two.

Enjoy the rest of the list and bust out those iTunes gift cards. Time to get your driving-to-the-playoffs mix CD ready.

Photo: Rafael gets high.

The Essential Blog Part 2: 99 err...105 in '09

**9.17.09** Updated- those restaurants on the J. Gold list that are participating in Dine LA Week have been noted. Click here to see a list of all participating restaurants and their special, Dine LA week menus- valid October 4-9 and 11-16.

Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic, Jonathan Gold (@thejgold on Twitter), of the LA Weekly, published his updated list of the 99 Essential Los Angeles Restuarants on Thursday. That afternoon, I spent the better part of an hour tracking down a west side newspaper box still stocked with this essential edition of the weekly Los Angeles rag.

Sure, I could have read the list online, but this was equivalent to the difference between casually downloading the latest single or being first in line at Best Buy the morning of your favorite band's newest release.

Having The Hard Copy somehow validated my J. Gold obsession. And because I dug through the bottom of the box to get the most pristine copies, (knowing full well I would never need all four of them, but would love and cherish one with the same pleasure my younger sister relishes on her prized, "old school" copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), I have somehow proven my devotion to the gods of journalism. They are sooo gonna find me a job.

But I digress. Gold writes of food with delicate, poetic passion and grace. Here's to another year of eating my way through LA, GoldStyle.

The Title: A Sidenote I numbered this list after typing it out...and came up with 105 Essential LA Restaurants. I checked it twice against the LA Weekly's website and couldn't seem to find a mistake. Thinking perhaps this had something to do with the accidental omission of the beginning of the list in print (see LA Weekly's editor's note here), I went to the source.

"Has to do with the missing As: we knew the count was short, but not why; added some. Once in print, hard to rescind," said the man himself, @thejgold in a direct message via Twitter.

More is better I say, though I have to wonder which restaurants were added after the fact. In any case, rock on.

Links open to Yelp page, except for Street and Tavern, both of which seem impossible to find on Yelp.

*been there
#new to the list

1. *Akasha- DINE LA
   
2. Alcazar
3. Angeli Caffe
4. Angelini Osteria
5. *Animal
6. Anisette- DINE LA
   
7. A.O.C.
8. #Auntie Em's
9. Babita
10. Beacon: An Asian Cafe- DINE LA
    
11. Bistro LQ
12. BLD- DINE LA
    
13. *Border Grill- DINE LA
14. #Bottega Louie
15. Bulgarini Gelato
16. #Cache- DINE LA
    
17. Campanile- DINE LA
    
18. Casa Bianca
19. Chameau
20. Chang's Garden
21. #Chaya Downtown- DINE LA
    
22. Chichen Itza
23. Chung King
24. #Church & State
25. *Ciudad- DINE LA
    
26. Comme Ca
27. Cora's Coffee Shoppe
28. Cut
29. Daikokuya
30. #Drago Centro- DINE LA
    
31. 8 oz. Burger Bar
32. *El Huarache Azteca
33. El Parian
34. Elite
35. *Euro Pane Bakery
36. Fab Dogs
37. Flame
38. Fraiche
39. #Gjelina
40. Golden Deli
41. #Golden State
42. Golden Triangle
43. #Good Girl Dinette
44. Grace- DINE LA
    
45. The Grill on the Alley
46. Guelaguetza
47. #Huckleberry
48. The Hungry Cat
49. Il Moro- DINE LA
    
50. Jar
51. JiRaffe- DINE LA
    
52. *Jitlada
53. Kagaya
54. Kiriko
55. Kobawoo
56. #Kogi
57. Krua Thai
58. *Kyochon
59. La Casita Mexicana
60. La Mill
61. *Langer's
62. Larkin's
63. Let's Be Frank
64. *#Little Dom's
65. *Los Balcones del Peru
66. *#Loteria Grill- DINE LA
    
67. *Lou
68. Lucques
69. Ludo Bites
70. M Cafe de Chaya
71. Marouch
72. Meals by Genet
73. Melisse
74. #Mo Chica
75. #Moles la Tia
76. *#Mozza
77. Musso and Frank Grill
78. *The Nickel
79. Nobu Los Angeles
80. *Oinkster
81. Palate Food + Wine
82. Park's Barbeque
83. Phillip's Barbeque
84. #Pho Minh
85. Pollo a la Brasa
86. Providence
    
87. Renu Nakorn
88. #Riva
89. Rivera- DINE LA
    
90. Rustic Canyon
91. Sanuki No Sato
92. Sapp Coffee Shop
93. Sona
94. Spago- DINE LA
    
95. *Square One
96. #Street- DINE LA
    
97. Tacos Baja Ensenada
98. #Tavern
99. Terroni
100. Tirupathi Bhimas
101. Urusawa
102. Vincenti
103. Wolfgang's Steakhouse by Wolfgang Zwiener- DINE LA
     
104. #Wurstkuche
105. Zelo Gourmet Pizzeria

Photo: One I wish had made the list: Don Chow Tacos

9.1.09- Amended to add Providence, thanks to a savvy commenter at Eater LA. :)

Bye Bye Modern Communications, Hello Martial Law!

The Station Fire, currently burning out of control in the La Canada area of the Angeles National Forest, is rapidly approaching the communications towers of Mt. Wilson.

Most firefighters have been pulled from the area, and though some crews are still working to clear the brush around the historic Mt. Wilson observatory, officials say they expect the fire to reach the area within the next few hours.

Why such a big deal?

Mt. Wilson is home to almost all radio, television, cell phone, national security, and police communication towers in the city of L.A.

Best get your tweeting done now, kids. You may not get a chance later tonight.

Check out the current view of Mt. Wilson, from Mt. Wilson, here.

Photo by L.A. journalist T.J. Sullivan, www.tjsullivanla.com