Good Bye 2008

Hermosa Beach December 2008

Earth Wind And Fire VIP Concert At Staples Center

View From Lexus Club Balcony At Staples Center of LA LIVE Christmas Tree And The Gay Men's Chorus Of Los Angeles Performing

Earth, Wind And Fire

Every year there is a VIP concert at Staples Center for those that are Premier Seat Season Ticket Holders, Suite Owners, Lexus Club Members as well as some AEG staff. Last years concert was Rod Stewart and this year it was Earth, Wind and Fire.

Before the concert there is dinner for everyone in Staples Center. The Lexus Club members and their guest have a special dinner in the club that included complimentary wine, beer and cocktails as well as non-alcoholic beverages. There several tables with everything from beef, pasta, fish, cheeses, sushi and a dessert table too.

Before the concert I couldn't remember one song that Earth, Wind and Fire sung but as soon as the concert started it brought back many fond memories of my teen years.

Can't remember what songs they sang? Here is their top 10.

1. Got to Get You into My Life - Earth, Wind & Fire, Lennon, John

2. Fantasy - Earth, Wind & Fire, DelBarrio, Eduardo

3. Can't Hide Love - Earth, Wind & Fire, Scarborough, Skip

4. Love Music - Earth, Wind & Fire, Scarborough, Skip

5. Getaway - Earth, Wind & Fire, Cor, Peter

6. That's the Way of the World - Earth, Wind & Fire, Stepney, Charles

7. September - Earth, Wind & Fire, McKay, Al

8. Shining Star - Earth, Wind & Fire, Bailey, Philip

9. Reasons - Earth, Wind & Fire, Bailey, Philip

10. Sing a Song - Earth, Wind & Fire, McKay, Al

Christmas In The South Bay In LA

Kids with Santa On His Float That Goes Down Every Street Of Redondo Beach Over Several Weeks is Pulled By The Redondo Beach Fire Department And Escorted By The Redondo Beach Police Department.

Seaside Ice Rink In Redondo Beach Near The Harbor

Kids with Santa On His Sled On A Trailer Pulled Through The Streets Of Redondo Beach By The Redondo Beach Fire Department And Escorted By The Redondo Beach Police Department

Ice Rink In Redondo Beach Near The Harbor

My Flyertalk.com Friends At A Christmas Party in Manhattan Beach Many Are Locals But We Had Some From NY, DC, IN and France too.

Who says you can't have a "real" Christmas in Los Angeles? So we don't have snow or really a real winter and we wear shorts all year long but we still have plenty of ways to celebrate the winter season.

L.A. Kings set to skate at Seaside Ice in Redondo

From staff reports

Posted: 12/14/2008 12:11:03 AM PST

Ice skate with the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night at Seaside Ice in Redondo Beach.

Current and former members of the hockey team will take to the rink from 8 to 10 p.m. The team is providing snow for its inaugural "Snow Day in LA."

Tickets are $15 for admission and $20 including skate rental. Guests can take pictures with Santa Bailey and the Metal Ice Crew.

For more information or to order tickets, visit www.

lakings.com/snowday or call 310-535-4463.

Seaside Ice is at 200 Portofino Way. Parking is available at nearby Redondo Beach Marina.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_11227035

Jesus Is Magic: Sarah Silverman In LA

He plays Sarah's neighbor on the show and was also the guy that security was giving a hard time to get in before the show. No respect...oh...wrong comedian.

We went to the new Club Nokia at LA Live in Downtown LA across from Staples Center to see Sarah Silverman and the cast from her show perform. If you don't know who Sarah is she is a comedian with a TV program and she is kind of raunchy and sounds a bit racists. She kind of like a young female version of George Carlin and you either love her or hate her...I love her.

The program started with several of her cast members performing stand up individually and followed by Sarah. The show was quite good and I highly recommend seeing her unless you are easily offended. I took pictures of her but for some reason they all turned out blank...hmmm. :)

LA Auto Show

Kiddy Go Cart

The LA Auto show is the first auto show of the year with many cars being displayed for the first time in the World so when I came here I was really excited about seeing some of the new designs especially the new hybrids but it was a bit disappointing unfortunately.

Yelping In Malibu

I went to my Yelp Elite event at the Beachcomber in Malibu. Yelp is a online group that reviews businesses and when one makes sufficient contributions to yelp they make you an Elite member. As a reward they have Elite events that you are invited to that includes food and drinks and sometimes a few more perks.

So Cal Fires

The skies are bright orange/red from the fires

Although there was a small fire nearby in Palos Verdes most of sky is filled with the ash and smoke from the valley (20+ miles NW) and from OC ( 30+ miles E) from the South Bay.

When we have these huge firestorms most of our fire departments from all around come together to help.

Pray for the firefighters!

The Great Southern California ShakeOut: THIS IS JUST A DRILL!

At 10 a.m. on November 13, millions of people throughout Southern California participated in the ShakeOut Drill, the largest earthquake preparedness activity in U.S. history and there were more than 3 million people that participated in the state of California.

As a member of the Redondo Beach Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member we had a drill at the South Bay Galleria that included CERT members from Manhattan Beach, Lomita, Torrance, El Segundo as well as our local fire department and ambulance services.

Pets and Critters In The South Bay

Remy

My Cat Remy In The Beach Reporter

Our Neighbors

Our Neighbors

My cat Remy made the local paper so I thought I would just say a quick shout out to our pets and critters!

We love our pets in the South Bay and on any given day you can go to the dog park or walk along the Strand to see home much.

In the South Bay in LA there are dogs, cats, bird and horses as well as some local wild animals like squirrel, opossums, foxes and I have once been awoken to a raccoon stuck in a tree when the sprinklers turned on. In PV there have been sightings of some wild cats too.

Election Day In The South Bay In LA

Every year, no matter if it is only a small local election, I vote. I just don't vote by responding to phone calls or by party affiliation I vote by spending hours, usually days, reading up on the politicians and propositions. I read the rebuttals and find out who is supporting them and who is against them. Most of the time I can not find out enough info from the election info sent out so I have to go online and do my own research.


I won't go into who I voted for or what propositions I voted for or against because I try to keep this non-personal but all I will say is it is great people got out and voted this election and I hope that this enthusiasm continues for future elections. All I ask is to do your research before voting. Don't listen to ads on TV....matter of fact ignore them completely and really look what you are voting for or against.

[we will now tune to our regularly scheduled program]

Dodgers vs. Phillies Game 3

Last night we went to see the Dodgers play the Phillies in the new Baseline Box Seats.

Here is the scoop. The Dugout Club is better because of it's location from behind home plate and next to both the Dodger dugout and the visiting dugout but the new Baseline Box Seats are cooler because of the actual seating.

If you have ever been to the box seats at the Hollywood Bowl it is kind of like that. You have 4 people per box with a table in front and a shelf below that to put your things. The seats are actually located where the field use to be so you are really close to the baseline.

Just as the Dugout Club, it has complimentary food such as a tri-tip station, pasta station, salads, sundaes, lattes and of course Dodger Dogs, peanuts and Cracker Jacks.

Oh yeah...about the game...Dodger won!

Oktoberfest The Best In The West....Torrance, CA

Every year the South Bay In LA celebrates Oktoberfest at Alpine Village in Torrance, CA. Last year they tore down the old Oktoberfest area and built a new tent. Every year I come here with my SO and a good friend that is a Swiss German to enjoy the festivities very much like being in Munich.
Alpine Villages flies over bands from Munich for the celebration. In LA we have a large population of people from all over the world and Germans are just a few.

Over the years I have met many people here that are ex-pats from Germany as well as many Americans too.

If you come here you will see the young and old from many places across the globe to enjoy the yearly Oktoberfest celebration.

Down And Out In The OC:

In my past life I worked at the Disneyland Resort for 17 years but I haven't been back since I quit in 2007 so when a friend called to invite me to brunch at Club 33 it was not hard to convince me to go.

Club 33 is a private club located inside the Disneyland park. I am fortunate enough to know several of their members so I have been going there for almost 15 years.

There has always been a wait list of several years to become a member but apparently someone posted their email online and they received more than 10,000 emails asking to become a member so the wait list is currently closed.

The brunch offers several items on their menu such as lamb, salmon, flat iron steak and pasta. There are also a couple buffet tables with salads, smoked salmon, lobster and crab claws, and a dessert table too [top photo] .

Club 33 members receive a card that allows them and their guest to enter both Disneyland and California Adventure. If you are invited and the member is not there you go to guest relations to pick up your admission ticket that also works at both parks. So after brunch we decided to hit a couple rides at Disneyland like the Haunted Mansion [see above photo].

Afterwards we headed to the California Adventure and rode California Screaming [below photo].