Hey – that’s where I live!

Oh brother…

It’s tough being a lifelong fan of the San Francisco Giants in a town that at this time of year pretty much bleeds Dodger Blue. Local sportscasts don’t really cover the Orange and Black unless they’re playing a SoCal team or reporting NL West division scores to show how far out in front of the pack the Boys in Blue are.

Not so fast, though – right now, the Giants are in first place in the division with a record of 7-2. The Dodgers are 3 games back with a lukewarm record of 4-5. They have some hope, though – they’re only a game and a half out of first for the wild card!

The Giants are at Dodger Stadium for the weekend. This could be a very interesting weekend indeed!

Yesterday’s post about the cancellation of the Hollywood Bowl Easter Sunrise Service was a result of my questioning a member of the Los Robles Master Chorale as to why the event had disappeared from their website calendar. The sposoring group’s website hadn’t been updated since last year’s pageant, and today it’s down completely.

I sent an email to the LA Times’ arts and entertainment editor with the information. He said he was passing it along to the city desk. A couple of hours later an item popped up on the Times’ blog LA NOW about the cancellation. Since then, the story has been everywhere – KCRW, KPCC, KABC-TV, the San Jose Mercury News, UPI, the list goes on and on.

All this happened AFTER I tipped the Times about the story. Coincidence? I’d like to think that I started the whole ball rolling. There had not been word one anwhere on the Internet nor anywhere else about the cancellation prior to my contact with the Times.

It was ME who ultimately saved you from getting up at 4:30 Easter Sunday morning only to be met with a locked gate at the Bowl. You’re welcome.

Last Easter I was so pleased to be a singing participant in the 88th annual Hollywood Bowl Easter Sunrise Service. I was not going to be there this year, but it turns out that no one else will be there either. The pageant has been canceled due to recession woes and lack of funds. Here’s the LA Times story about it. Hopefully it’ll be back next year.

I’ve been in communication with representatives of the City of Los Angeles in recent days concerning roadwork that’s happening outside my apartment complex. First I wrote to the email address listed for my city councilman Greig Smith:

To staff:

I and dozens of other Los Angeles citizens reside on a stretch of Owensmouth Ave. in Canoga Park. We have an issue with which I hope Councilmember Smith will be able to assist us.

I live on Owensmouth Ave. between Parthenia and Nordhoff Avenues. Last week, beginning a resurfacing project, the city department in charge of street maintenance ground off the surface of that entire stretch of Owensmouth, leaving a striated surface on the street that has increased traffic noise and caused a bumpy ride up and down the entire length of the street along with cliff-like edges at the curbs which jolt the suspensions of cars entering and leaving the driveways along the street. The process has also left a thick layer of grime on every surface in the area, including cars, sidewalks and even indoor counter tops as the fine grit has found its way through every nook and cranny. Life is not good right now.

I note with great consternation that all work-related vehicles and equipment have disappeared from the scene, and no workmen have been on site since last Thursday. No work was done on Friday March 26, no work was done over the weekend, no work was done on Monday March 29, and no work is being done today, Tuesday March 30.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m looking forward to the resurfaced street, but I fear that this work will drag on for weeks, when it should be completed in the shortest amount of time possible. I fear that the demographic of my neighborhood has caused those in charge of this project to place an inappropriately low priority on finishing this job, and thus getting life back to normal.

Why are they not working on this today?

Much to my surprise, I got a response from the esteemed councilmember himself just an hour later:

Dear Mr. Phillips – Thanks for your email, I appreciate your taking the time to bring these concerns to my attention. I have asked one of our staff members who works on street issues to contact you. Take care, Greig.

Sincerely,

GREIG SMITH
Councilman, Twelfth District

It was another 25 hours before I heard from Sandy Clydesdale, who is Councilmember Smith’s district director:

Hello Mr. Phillips:

There is a lapse of time between profiling a street and paving it and it sounds like this is pretty much within the pattern.   However, please understand that with the current financial problems within the City, there have been many layoff’s and mandatory furlough days which are causing additional delays in programs.

I am sending this to the supervisor over the paving program to see what the timeframe is.

My reply:

Thanks for the reply, but your allusion to the city’s woeful finances begs the question – why schedule and start a short-term project to address a non-urgent issue like this if it can’t finish it in a reasonable period of time? How much of a ‘lapse of time’ should we expect? Again this morning, no one was working on the street.

Not only are the residents on this stretch of Owensmouth being severely inconvenienced, there are indications the US Postal Service has suspended mail delivery in the area due to the road conditions. I am finding this hard to believe, but I can’t argue with the fact that no mail carrier has been to our complex since last week (outgoing mail is piling up), and the mailman answers to no one, certainly not the city of Los Angeles.

Again, thank you for your attention.

Interesting wrinkle about the USPS, huh? No delivery on Monday or Tuesday (on Monday someone had put out a piece of mail to be returned to sender waiting for the next pickup; it was still sitting there Wednesday morning), but our mailwoman finally showed up on Wednesday. My email to the USPS about that is still unanswered.

Anyway, back to Ms. Clydesdale (or is it Mr. Clydesdale?) – this came on Wednesday:

I don’t even show Owensmouth on a paving list for this fiscal year so will have to see what Street Services has on this.

So now it’s vandalism! Quite an effort to make a mark in the neighborhood. Still no workmen on site Thursday morning. Then a ray of hope, in a note in response to my original email, this one from Keith Mozee, Chief Coordinator of Resurfacing and Reconstruction for the city’s Bureau of Street Services:

Good Morning Mr. Phillips,

The project on  Owensmouth Av., Nordhoff St to Parthenia Av began on March 22nd & 23rd  will be paved/completed Monday April 5th. Resurfacing projects are normally done in two phases with cold milling being the first and the paving operation follows 1 to 2 weeks afterwards. This is the normal time frame as all resurfacing projects through out the city are scheduled the same way.  I apologize for any inconvenience and a motor sweeper  will  be sent to the location Friday April 2nd.

Thank you for the response, Mr. Mozee, but would you kindly verify that completion date of April 5 that you mentioned?

I ask because an official notice showed up on the front gate of my complex yesterday stating that the paving would *begin* on April 5. Will it indeed be done in one day?

There wasn’t anything happening on Owensmouth again today, so I tend to believe that you will miss your Monday deadline. How long will it really take?

Mr. Phillips,

The paving process will begin on Monday morning as stated on the flyer that was posted, and take two days to complete. The crew will be starting of at approx. 7 am, and if you could notify any of your neighbors to have their cars moved off of the street by the time indicated on the “NO PARKING” signs, it would greatly expedite our work not having to tow any cars.

Thanks, Mark

I hope everyone had a great Valentine weekend. The weather in Los Angeles was just glorious – temps in the 80s, clear blue skies, not bad for mid-February.

Rhonda and I had a spectacular Sunday, taking a trip to the Americana At Brand complex in Glendale. On the way home, we were listening to K-EARTH on the radio as they were taking Valentine dedication requests all weekend long. There was one in particular from a woman in Tarzana who was dedicating ‘Now That I Found You’ by The Foundations. I thought that was a sweet little moment…until I started thinking about the lyrics:

Baby,
Now that I’ve found you
I won’t let you go
I built my world around you
I need you so
Baby even though
You don’t need me,
You don’t need me oh, no (emphasis added)

Oh well, here’s hoping your day was better than hers.

My RP Rhonda and I had the good fortune to join a sold-out crowd at the Hollywood Bowl for the Sing-A-Long Sound Of Music on Saturday Sept. 26. I have some pictures to share with you of this fantastic event. Read more…

I haven’t posted much in the way of personal stuff this summer, so here’s a little catch-up.

Although we’re still a couple of weeks away from the official autumnal equinox, summer’s done with the end of the long Labor Day weekend and the fall is approaching. Although, as I noted on Facebook earlier today, Southern California is likely to be subject to six to eight more weeks of summer weather – it’ll be in the mid nineties for the rest of the week.

We also have the major portion of fire season to come in the next couple of months. There’s been nothing in my immediate vicinity (yet) but the enormous Station fire on the northeast side of the LA Basin is stubbornly hanging on. The smoke in the bowl of the San Fernando Valley was easily visible yesterday as I came home from a weekend in Santa Barbara and Ventura.

Los Robles Master Chorale starts its 2009-10 season tonight with the first rehearsal of the newly-reauditoned 85-voice group, holiday concerts scheduled for December. This is also the inaugural season for The Consort Singers, a 24-voice group drawn from within the Chorale. This smaller group will be a little nimbler than its larger parent, and thus will be doing more outreach activity. Its first performances will be in November, an all-a capella program.

Also of note  – get it? Chorale, Singers, music, we sing notes? Get it? Ahem – the Chorale will be taking much of the program from its Spring 2009 concerts ‘on the road’ with a long weekend trip of some of the old missions in southern California next summer.

The reunion about which I’d posted several times last spring and summer came off without a hitch the first weekend of August. Some 80 people came together at Merced First Baptist Church to reminisce and worship together, and it was just fantastic. I couldn’t have hoped for a better turnout, and my only regret that we didn’t have more people and more time together. A bunch of us stayed to participate in the Sunday morning worship and that, too, was a glorious time. Several of us ministered with the worship team, I sang a solo, and about 20 of the alumni formed the Reunion Choir and sang a song at the end of the service. The church will be celebrating its 70th anniversary next year, so maybe we’ll see everyone again sooner than we thought we would.

My friend Elaine from Minnesota came out here three times over the summer, once to celebrate our birthdays at the beginning of May during which she also came to hear both Chorale concerts and to squeeze in a birthday visit to Disneyland, again over the Independence Day holiday, and yet again for the reunion in August – an embarrassment of riches after so many years away from one another. I was hoping to return the favor for the Minnesota State Fair last weekend, but unfortunately I couldn’t pull it together this time.

Other highlights include a couple of movies (Star Trek, Julie and Julia), a concert (Liza at the Hollywood Bowl), a trip or two to my favorite beach in Camarillo, the afore-mentioned trip to Santa Barbara. All in all, a fun summer in a lot of ways, and in some ways a bit of regret along the way. So here’s to you, summer – I’m happy to see you retire, and looking forward to the filtered-light days of autumn followed by the chill of winter – at least as chilly as it gets around here.

I was all set to watch a local fireworks display this evening, put on in conjunction with the Valley Cultural Center’s annual 4th of July concert in Woodland Hills. They were expecting upwards of 25,000 people for the concert and the fireworks display to follow (I kinda doubt that number). The fireworks were to be launched from the rooftop of the Marriott Hotel tower, so I figured that anywhere in the vicinity would yield a  pretty good view. Wrong again. They didn’t much clear the treeline from where we were, and since we were a half-mile away, they pretty much disappeared in the surrounding streetlights. I’ll know better next year.

I must say, though, that the ad hoc illicit displays in the surrounding neighborhoods were very impressive. In fact, they rivaled the displays from the fairgrounds after the stock car races that we’d watch from the street corner by my house when I was growing up, waving the sparklers with the white-hot metal wires, feeling the sparks fall on our bare legs. OOCH! OUCH! MORE! MORE! Now what sparklers are allowed are made of wood, and barely throw off any heat at all. Too bad for the kids of today.

Hope you enjoyed the holiday!