Click images for desktop size: "Entrapment" by Envy Many people don't get it that the largest ethnic group in LA are the Koreans.
You'd have to work pretty hard to not have Korean friends, 2nd and 3rd generation American friends. They're a diverse people and turned the quasi-ghetto, Koreatown, into its own bustling mini-metropolis which could never hold them. Which is how I think it should be.
In Ireland I heard this anecdote several times. "The main export of Ireland is its people. We can land anywhere and breed until its all Ireland. That's how we're going to bring about world peace or a better glass of stout."
As much as I understood that it seemed to apply to the Koreans in LA. They're just quieter.
When we moved into our house up in the Hollywood Hills one of my Korean friends gave us a present. It was a hand carved totem, nearly four feet tall. From the dark wood base two cylindrical figures grew. They cylinders ended in grotesque contorted faces. Down the cylinders, in Korean, were two slogans: "The Ugliest Man In The World" and "The Ugliest Woman In The World".
The idea was that if any evil demons attempted to enter your home they would be frightened by these leering faces. But what made it appealing to me and as cherished as another friends mezuzah was this: If any particularly nasty and fearless demons tried to enter your home they would see the two horribly ugly people and figure there was no greater evil that they could visit on you and leave to look for someone more fortunate that they could inflict.
I don't know if I liked the idea of empathetic, discerning demons best or the idea of conning the demons into leaving your happiness alone.
I gave the "Ugly Man And Woman" away when I left LA for good. I almost wish I hadn't. Not that I'm being inflicted by demons now, far from it, I mean except for the demons we bring with us. Everything is going pretty well. I just miss looking at that sculpture. It always made me smile and remember things.

This is very cool. MLB.com is doing a tape delay web-cast of the opening games of the Red Sox vs A's from Japan!

Click images for desktop size: "Pinup" by Unknown Its based on the new Silverfast tech that Microsoft is promoting. I've messed around with Silverfast, in my benign ignorant way and think its pretty good. I prefer it to Adobe's attempting to foist Flash as the de facto standard.
See, I don't always hate things just because they're Microsoft . . .
Each new tech reminds me of old times when it was cool to work in Mac or Linux. When it was new and time to explore. Now that Mac has scored big with iPod's and iPhones things seem a little sad. Mac is no longer the outlaw. Its the chic.
I liked being an outlaw and thinking, even if it was just self deception, that Apple gave a damn about me. That they were willing to work hard to keep me loyal and happy to give me reasons to stay loyal. Now they're just another big stinking company. You still find a lot of people in Customer Service who remind you of the old days, guys who'll bend the rules just a little bit because its the right thing to do.
WalMart is selling computers with Ubuntu (linux) pre-installed . . .
The only way to be an outlaw anymore is to write letters instead of emails . . .
That's exciting and boring at the same time.