When I finally heard about the crash, it sort of hit home for me. You see, I’ve spent pretty much all of my existance in La Mirada. It’s always been this insular sort of community that felt claustrophobic at times. A five mile blot on the landscape bordering Norwalk, Santa Fe Springs, Whittier, Buena Park, La Habra, La Palma and Fullerton. Most residents under 30 tell everyone they’re from either Fullerton or Whitter so they don’t have to explain where exactly La Mirada is.

But I digress. As I said, I’ve got sort of a connection to the area…

• My mom went to Neff High [blocks away from where the tower stood] before it was shut down and the area was turned into an industrial park.
• Since KFI was cranking out 50,000 watts, anyone in the immediate area could get the station by doing as little as picking up their phone. Our neighbors – who hailed from Missouri – fondly called it their “hold music”.
• When I was in high school the gearheads would take their cars out to Trojan Way [the drag where Neff used to be] to race. It ended up being a competition between the greasers and the ricers most weekends, but we had fun.
• When I had my first job [At Knott's Berry Farm] I got in the habit of running down Trojan Way – mostly because I knew I could get away with doing 80 down it. My car radio could only pick up AM, so there were plenty of nights where I’d get a closing shift and I’d cruise home to KFI. The signal would always be strongest once I pulled onto Firestone and cleared the Nabisco Factory. The smell of snickerdoodles in the air and Art Bell on the radio will always bring me back to 1997.

For the past four years I’ve passed the tower on an almost daily basis while heading into work. My AM radio has been replaced by an iPod, but I sort of took it for granted until it wasn’t there this morning. Since the Nabisco factory is closing down too, that bit of my life feels bare now.

Here’s to hoping they bring the tower back up soon. When they do, I also hope they make it a little safer for airplanes coming into Fullerton Airport.

They disbanded in the mid-90′s after Gabby went to jail, but reunited in 1999. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing them half a dozen times since then and they’ve always been great. I’d go so far as to say that they put on one of the best live shows in the county. If you’ve got nothing to do on the first Thursday in January, give the show a go. You won’t be sorry.

Tickets go on sale Saturday [12.11.04] for the January 6th, 2005 Cadillac Tramps show at the House Of Blues, Anaheim.

When I went to take a picture of the ladies with my cameraphone, they asked me nicely not to. I kindly complied and asked if I could take a photograph in the booth. They said they didn’t see a problem with that and directed me to the next lady who demonstrated the InkaVote [an ink based marking system] system to me. After I demonstrated that I had the hang of things by selecting “Bob Hope”, I was handed a ballot and pointed at an open booth. I voted, grabbed a photo of the process and wrapped my ballot in it’s little paper holder.

As I turned around to slide my ballot into the box I ran into a neighbor of mine. She’s worked at the polls as long as I could remember. If I recall correctly, the polls for a primary were hosted at her house when I was 10 or so. She asked me how my Mom, Dad and brother were – the normal small talk stuff. She also mentioned that they were expecting things to pick up a bit right before 9am. Another voter approached the box so we said our goodbyes and I headed outside.

Just as I was leaving, a gentleman in his 50′s who was sitting in the bed of his truck waved me over. He smiled at me and asked if I wanted a copy of today’s newspaper. He offered me my choice of the USA Today, LA Times, OC Register or Press-Telegram. Apparently he was going to hang out at the poll giving them away until he ran out of newspapers. I picked up the USA Today [For the Jon Stewart article in the life section, not the infographics] and gave him a few bucks to buy some more papers [or at least help him recoup his costs] and walked to my bus stop.

There was something sweet in the air today. Maybe the winds of change are giving us a hint…

I’m debating going, but I’m holding off on buying tickets until I find someone to go with. Anyone up for it?

The Pixies perform with The Mars Volta and The Thrills at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. Saturday, October 23 – 7:00pm

The thicker than deli cut [but thinner than skirt] steak is tender, juicy and full of flavor. The peppers snap nicely while the grilled onions almost melt when they hit your tongue. Now I’m beginning to see what the folks in Philly are all retarded over. The tastes blend together nicely and each sandwich is prepared with loving care.

They also manage to keep a nice selection of bottled sodas in the cooler and a decent sized Tasty Kakes display on hand. The televisions throughout the resturant play sports and only sports. It should be noted that if Philadelphia has a game that day, all TVs will be dedicated to it. If you’re easily irritated by vocal but otherwise harmless sports fans, get your order “to go”. An average lunch for two should set you back around $14 with beverages and sides. 1784 S. Euclid Ave, Anaheim, 714.491.2733

• Justin Mason pointed to a whole bunch of exceptional photos and post cards from the early days of Orange County. I don’t want to believe that South Coast Plaza didn’t always have loads of crap around it, but this picture tells a different story.
• For those of you who happen to be geeks of the Disney persuasion, this photo tour of classic Disneyland [see: 50's and 60's] is worth going over. It’s assembled from a whole plethora of classic tourist photos that really manage to capture the era.
• Those of you who are hep to the dying artform of Googie architecture know that Anaheim was a hotbed for it from the 50′s thru the 80′s. An archive of Anaheim’s way out [but now mostly demolished] buildings can be found here. The Anaheim Central Library has a great physical archive that you can spend an afternoon losing yourself in.

I’m well aware that I’m only scratching the surface – but I’m a lazy sod who loves audience participation. What’re your favorite virtual and physical manifestations of classic Orange County? Inquiring minds want to know.

• A $5 6 foot 6-6 pin firewire cable
• A handful of 1800mAh rechargables for $.75 a pop
• Two throwaway knives [AKA "Exhibit A"] for $5

I managed to walk away with everything on my list for $15. It’s a good thing I steered clear of the porn tent [that smells like desperation, if there is such a thing] or else I’d have spent double.
The ACP Compter Swap Meet is a bimonthly event. The next one is Sunday, November 28th. Bring some noseplugs.

Ha ha ha ha! It’s the worst blog ever! Are you dying to know what it’s like to sit in line at In-N-Out? Need a link to an LA Times story on Larry Agran that followed the OC Weekly’s scoop by, oh, five weeks? How about a comment (to a post on some Kerry folk holding Honk For Kerry signs) reading thusly: “I dislike anything which brings loud noise into an environment to which I retreat for relaxation and relief of stress. The honking of car horns bothers me. I don’t like it.”? How about many, many references to the Orange Curtain?
Then oh, baby, it’s the place for you.

We love you too, Becky… Even if your blog is missing permalinks and broken in anything that’s not Internet Explorer. We accept your faults, even if you can’t accept us for ours.

If this trash talking continues, you are so not going in our blogroll.

The civil citations carry fines of $100 for a first offense, $200 for a second and $300 for a third. Supervisors asked parks officials to produce a written proposal and timeline for the citation program and suggested they consider fines of less than $100 for minor offenses such as dog-leash violations.

Supervisors said they wanted rangers to continue to build a positive relationship with park visitors and use citations only as a last resort.

“Our rangers have a great relationship with the public,” Campbell said. “I don’t want this to be a fundraiser for Harbor, Beaches and Parks.”

I’ve had no problems with rangers in the past – in fact they’ve been even handed in every situation that I’ve had to deal with them. I just hope this little dose of power doesn’t turn them into dicks.

Still, I feel it fair to mention that The Disney Blog is reporting that former Pittsburgh Penguins and Hartford Whalers owner Howard Baldwin has put in an offer for Disney’s Mighty Ducks. There’s some speculation that if purchased, the Ducks may flock elsewhere. We’ll just have to wait and see I guess.