Fed up with the graffiti despoiling the area around the Malibu Canyon tunnel, Lynne Westmore Bloom decided to do something about it. During the night she suspended herself with ropes down the rocks above the tunnel’s entrance. She went to work to chipping away at the defacement. Finally, after several months of nocturnal labor removing graffiti and clearing out scraggly brush, in one night, October 1966, using ordinary house paint, she created her gift to Los Angeles commuters: a sixty-foot-tall naked lady.
MLK and AZ and the NFL
After four unsuccessful election attempts, Evan Mecham took office as Governor of Arizona in 1987. His first official act was to rescind his predecessor’s executive order creating the Martin Luther King Jr holiday in the state.
Canada and the U.S.Eh.
Time is running out if you are one of the many who vowed to emigrate to Canada. Less than a week remains until Inauguration Day and the new President of these United States. Have you learned what Loonies and Toonies are yet? And remember, no one-dollar bills and no pennies. Canadian elections are different from what you’re used to. Citizens complained about the length of the last election campaign – 78 days. Compare that to U.S. campaigns measured in years.
It will take some getting used to for you to let go of your cynicism and not be suspicious because Canadians are so darned nice. If you’re the intellectual type, read here about the origin of the all-purpose invariant tag “eh.” (And what is an “invariant tag.”)
Interesting side note: Several years ago, we sold our business to a Canadian firm. In the course of their due diligence, they were very, shall we say, impressed with what our company spent on employee health coverage… compared to their expense of zero.
To help with your transition to the new culture, watch this educational video.
The Other Swedish Pancakes
When I was growing up, a breakfast of pancakes was the reward for making it through Sunday mass. Upon returning home, our mother fired up the griddle – figuratively, it was an electric stove – and mixed up the pancake batter. When drops of water danced on the grill, it was ready.
Winter Greetings from Portland
Something To Make You Squirm in Your Theater Seat
James Baldwin was well established as a best-selling writer when The Fire Next Time was published. His first novel, in 1953, Go Tell It on the Mountain, was based on his growing up in Harlem. Subsequent novels explored then-taboo subjects such as homosexuality and interracial relationships. His essays delved into racial tensions and the experience of being black in the U.S.
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