Beyond the South Bay in LA: Paris, France

After a 2 hour trip on the Eurostar (train) from London and through the Chunnel (the tunnel under the English Channel) traveling up to 186 mph we arrived in Paris...the city of love.

This was my third time to Paris but my 17 year old son's first time so we visited as many local sites as possible. The weather was mostly nice to hot with a couple thunderstorms in between.

Besides the Eiffel Tour the first thing that pops into my mind when I think of Paris is the food. In London there is a pub on every corner and in Paris there is a cafe on every corner. My son soon became a huge fan of the croque monsieur which is a is a hot ham and cheese (typically gruyère) grilled sandwich and everything you eat in Paris tastes good.

We visited the Louvre, Versailles, the Avenue Des Champ Elysees as well as some side trips to the Latin and Greek quarters.

FYI give yourself a couple days to visit Versailles, the garden alone is about 250 acres.

Notre Dame

Jardin Des Tuileries

Arc De Triomphe

Grand Palais and the Seine river

Eiffel Tour (yes tour and not tower)

View from the Eiffel Tour of the Trocadero

Musee' Du Louvre

Versailles (it looks like it is a painting even in person)

Basin of Latona fountain at Versailles


The Rhone fountain by Jean-Baptiste Tuby at Versailles

The Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles

We must have walked 5-10 miles a day as well as taking a few metro (subway) and taxi rides. At the end of our trip we were looking forward to the long flights home...so we could just sit, watch some movies and get some much needed rest.

Beyond the South Bay in LA: London, England

Buckingham Palace

Westminster Abbey

Holy cow did we get pounded in London...no...I didn't get pissed (British slang for drunk) but I got pounded as in £ ed. At 1 British pound = 1.8609 (closer to 2 to 1 with exchange fees) the U.S. dollar does not go a long way. Even if you eat a pubs and order fish and chips you will end up spending around $20 and that is just one medium sized piece of fish.

My son had his first international trip and we flew from LAX to LHR. I have been to London quite a few times so I have seen most everything so now I was able to show my son around like his own personal tour guide. He turned 17 in London.

We walked many miles every day and he quickly learned how to navigate the Underground/Tube (subway) which he was not so fond of...too many people I guess. He really loved London though...except for most of the food with exception of dim sum at Harrods.

On the right is the first and only beefeater/yeoman warder that is a woman. (You have to have 20 years of military service before you can become one.)

Big Ben and House of Parliament
(Big Ben is actually the name of the bell inside of the tower)

View of Tower Bridge from the river Thames

London Eye (ferris wheel) and our boat arriving to take us to Greenwich

Queens Guard at Tower of London

Admiralty Arch



Other places we visited was Trafalgar Square, Leister Square, British Museum, National Gallery, Odeon theater (Dark Knight movie), Victoria Station

Greenwich
(look closely at the sky...see the plane? That was one of the planes above the stadium at the
Red Bull Air Race)

Prime Meridian Line in Greenwich

The trip is half over...now we are off to Paris via the Eurostar. See you in Paris!

SmackFest to ShakeFest In The South Bay In LA

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Sorry not my best photos

This weekend was the SmackFest in Hermosa Beach. It is a Pro-Am charity volleyball tournament, the Southern California Foundation for Children. It is a lot of fun to watch especially the teams that are in dressed themed costumes.


ShakeFest was on Tuesday at 11:42 am and was a non scheduled event. Actually it was originally thought to be a 5.8 earthquake that was downgraded to a 5.4.

In the South Bay we don't get too many earthquakes or at least ones that you are aware of. The actual epicenter was about 30 miles away in Chino Hills but it was felt all over Los Angeles and there are reports it was felt as far away as Vegas which is more than 200 miles from the epicenter.

It has been about 14 years since we have had a sizable earthquake which was the Northridge earthquake. But according to Cal Tech this was about 1% of the power of that one.

Are you prepared for the big one? You can download the Los Angeles Fire Department Emergency Preparedness Handbook here

More Chino Hills earthquake info received from USGS email

== PRELIMINARY EARTHQUAKE REPORT ==



Region: GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIF.
Geographic coordinates: 33.959N, 117.752W
Magnitude: 5.6 Ml
Depth: 12 km
Universal Time (UTC): 29 Jul 2008 18:42:15
Time near the Epicenter: 29 Jul 2008 11:42:15
Local standard time in your area: 29 Jul 2008 10:42:15

Location with respect to nearby cities:
3 km (2 miles) SW (235 degrees) of Chino Hills, CA
8 km (5 miles) SE (127 degrees) of Diamond Bar, CA
9 km (5 miles) NNE (23 degrees) of Yorba Linda, CA
11 km (7 miles) S (178 degrees) of Pomona, CA
47 km (29 miles) ESE (103 degrees) of Los Angeles Civic Center, CA


ADDITIONAL EARTHQUAKE PARAMETERS
______________________________

__
event ID : CI 14383980

This is a computer-generated message and has not yet been reviewed by a
seismologist.
For subsequent updates, maps, and technical information, see:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/ci14383980.php
or
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

CISN Southern California Management Center
Caltech Seismological Laboratory
U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond the South Bay In LA And Behind The Orange Curtain

The Orange Curtain is a term we use meaning the border from Los Angeles County and Orange County. Many people might believe that all of So Cal is liberal but they would be wrong because OC is very conservative and I believe that the term orange curtain comes from this fact.

Apparently, the owners of the Angels didn't get the memo that OC is not LA....whatever.

I lived and/or worked in OC for almost 25 years but since I quit working for the Disneyland Resort I rarely come here. I miss my Mickey Mouse job but I certainly don't miss that 30 mile drive.

Yesterday we decided to go see the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" play the Red Sox. I am actually a Dodger fan first, Angels fan second and Red Sox fan third (go to Fenway once and you will become a fan too).

It was a picture perfect day. We had great seats right behind the Red Sox dugout. It was a sold out game and the stadium was about half Angel fans and half Red Sox fans. Several of the players came over to the fans and signed autographs before the game.

The Red Sox got in a couple runs and one of them being a home run and the Angels couldn't get any. It was looking grim for the Angels and after the sixth inning I couldn't take the heat any longer...literally...I thought I was going to have a heat stroke so we headed into the Diamond Club to watch from the shade. In the 7 inning, of course, the Angels made 4 runs and ended up winning the game Angels 4, Boston 2. Next time I need to bring a hat and find a seat in the shade.

I believe this is relief pitcher David Aardsma

A Revolution in Carson On The Fourth Of July 2008

This Fourth of July was one of those, "what do you want to do holidays?"

There are many choices of ways to celebrate the Fourth Of July in the South Bay in LA.

First a yearly tradition in the morning is the Iron Man in Hermosa Beach. It is on July 4th in the morning. It starts off as a 1 mile run in the sand, followed by a 1 mile surfboard paddle then you must chug a six pack of beer without puking. Boy doesn't that sound like a blast? Well it's not for me but you would be amazed how many people show up and do it.

If that is not your thing there is theVILLAGE RUNNER 4TH OF JULY 5K RUN in Redondo Beach.

No matter where you go the beaches are packed.

There was also the USS Gary at the Port Of Los Angeles for the Navy Days LA 2008 offering free tours of the ship.

In the Beach Cities fireworks are not allowed and the police do come looking when they go off. So you have to head to either another surrounding city where fireworks are allowed like in Hawthorne or Lawndale or go to a firework show.

There seems to be firework shows everywhere. At El Segundo they have a yearly show, Redondo Beach has a show off of the pier and a party with bands and food at Seaside Lagoon which I did last year and it was a lot of fun.

Lawndale's High School, Wilson Park in Torrance and San Pedro all have great firework celebrations.

We decided (surprise, surprise) to head the the Home Depot Center in Carson. The LA Galaxy was playing the New England Revolution. It was a great game and Beckham's goal was a highlight in the evening but as I said in my title it was a Revolution and the Galaxy lost.

After the game we found seats on the patio at the American Express Club to watch the firework show. Actually, it was very impressive and this is coming from someone that worked at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim for 17 years and watched fireworks nightly in the summer.


After the firework show the players were milling about having a good time before heading home.

If you haven't been to the Home Depot Center yet you don't know what you are missing...check it out it is a lot of fun.

LA Galaxy vs. New England Revolution

It Was A Sold Out Event!

My photos do not give the firework show justice.