Yes, it’s Election Day today

2009-11-03 – 10:42

I want to remind my U.S. readers that today is Election Day. In particular, some of my family members get upset if I don’t put a mention of it in my blog. Of course, last November was an exception, since it was impossible not to know when Election Day was.

Nationwide, there are a handful of interesting contests. A few states have important elections in odd-numbered years, and a couple states, New Jersey and Virginia, are electing governors today. There is a special congressional election in New York that’s getting a lot of attention, and of course everyone is talking about the marriage referendum in Maine.

Here in Arizona, there are no statewide ballot questions this year, which is something of a relief. However, I live in the Paradise Valley Unified School District, where there is a question concerning a budget override. I’m rather unconvinced of the need for a new tax levy at a time when the price of nearly everything is stable or falling. I got robocalled several times by override supporters to remind me a student from the district got into Brown last year. Seriously, that’s all they had. Not that it mattered, because I voted no the day the ballot arrived in the mail.

Of course, my vote doesn’t really matter either, since budget overrides usually pass by overwhelming margins. This is because it’s typically only the voters with a serious interest in the outcome who bother to vote in special elections. Think about it. As a property owner, I look at my school district levy, which was a little under $1000 this year, and realize a small increase isn’t really going to change my lifestyle one way or the other. Only a sense of civic duty motivated me to get off my butt and vote at all, and let’s face it, that sense is pretty rare nowadays. On top of that, many of the individuals who’d have to pay for the override don’t get a vote at all. For example, the prior owner of my home lived out of state, so she would have had no say either way.

On the other hand, teachers and staffers at district schools, as well as members of their families, may individually have a great deal to gain or lose from a small change in the district’s budget. It’s likely they’ll also persuade some others who are sympathetic for one reason or another, especially parents of students. That’s who you’ll see voting today. You can bet the turnout will be low, but they’ll almost all be voting yes.

By Curt | Posted in Politics, Random | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

The price of free chicken

2009-10-30 – 11:42

Basha’s, a local supermarket chain here in Arizona, has been recently promoting rotisserie chickens for $4.99. I haven’t tried one yet, so I don’t know if it’s a good price or not. For me, the more interesting part of the promotion is the store’s guarantee that chicken will be in stock between 4 and 7 pm or it’s free.

So I ask, what’s the value of free chicken when there’s no chicken to be had? Even if the store offers you a rain check, which may be what the promotion is implying, is your family really going to prefer a free chicken tomorrow to a $4.99 chicken tonight? Personally, I don’t go out to buy a cooked chicken unless I’m ready to eat it.

This idea of attaching a price to things that don’t exist reminds me of the gasoline shortage several years ago here in the Valley. A number of gas retailers were accused of “gouging” consumers by raising pump prices well above the pre-crisis level. Of course, among the retailers that kept their prices low, most found themselves quickly out of stock. Not exactly a surprise.

If your car’s fuel gauge is on empty and you have to get to work, would you prefer a gallon of gas right now at $3.99, or would you prefer knowing the guy in front of you got the last gallon for $2.19?

Unlike your family, your car won’t be satisfied with a pizza instead.

By Curt | Posted in Random | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Pilgrimage to the City of the Angels (3/3)

2009-08-29 – 13:16

This is the final post in a three-part series.

Sunday was the final day of our trip to Los Angeles, and it wasn’t really supposed to be much of a day for us. The plan was to get up early, pack up our things, find a place to attend mass, and make the long drive back to Phoenix.

In fact, it turned out to be a day of pleasant surprises.

Once again, we arose early, and mindful of the mass we’d be attending, we wanted to eat light. We wanted to try something a little different than the deluxe continental breakfast at the hotel, so we walked a block to a nearby donut shop. We each had a donut and a drink, and although they weren’t the best donuts we’d even had, they were far being from the worst. The coffee was pretty bad, but everything was cheap. With a long drive later in the day, I didn’t want to start out with too much coffee anyway.

We headed back to the room and started getting ready to check out. In the meantime, I called around to find out mass times. Typically, when Kathryn and I go out of town for the weekend, I call ahead before we leave to find out mass times at nearby churches, allowing us to plan accordingly. This time, I researched the nearby churches but forgot to write down the mass times. The church nearest to the hotel was the cathedral for the archdiocese of Los Angeles, Our Lady of the Angels, but we thought it might be nice to go back to St. Francis of Assisi where we were the morning before. However, when I called St. Francis for mass times, I ended up in a voice response endless loop, and naturally the office wasn’t open. So I ended up calling the cathedral and found its masses in English were at 8 and 10. It was already after 7 and we hadn’t showered or packed yet, so we planned for the mass at 10.

We checked out of the hotel and arrived at Our Lady of the Angels around 9:30. I’d never been to a church quite like it before. It sits on a massive complex, with its own multilevel parking garage and plaza, including a restaurant and gift shop. Its modern architecture, admittedly somewhat imposing and unpleasant when viewing it from the freeway, is much more appealing close up. It’s hard to describe the inside of the cathedral, but the way the lines of the structure itself came together with the sacred art adorning its walls really just worked for me. I guess I was surprised that concrete poured a few years ago could evoke the same emotions as stone laid centuries ago. I liked it.

We were also surprised to see a number of our fellow parishioners there. We had assumed most of them would go back to St. Francis, especially since many of them had chosen hotels closer to that church, whereas Kathryn and I had opted for the cheaper downtown option. Maybe the mass times were more convenient at the cathedral, we thought. It would become clear later why so many were at this mass.

Since we had arrived quite early, we had a lot of time to ourselves before the mass began, so we sat close to one another in our pew and admired the church. About 20 minutes before mass was scheduled to begin, one of the ushers asked the couple seated next to us if they’d like to present the gifts. They were reluctant, so the usher then asked us. For those of you who don’t know what this means, during some masses, before communion, the unconsecrated bread and wine are brought forward to the altar from some point in the church, usually by one or more couples chosen from among the faithful in attendance. Kathryn and I have done this a few times at our own church, and so we told the usher we’d love to help out.

Since every church presents the gifts a little differently, the three couples who would present the gifts gathered together to receive brief instructions from the ushers. At this point, we learned Cardinal Mahony would be presiding the mass. Oh my God, we’d be presenting gifts to a cardinal! We had seen His Eminence outside the cathedral, where he was blessing people walking out as we walked in. We assumed he’d presided the mass at 8 and that we’d have a different priest. Anyway, we were totally excited for this, and a bit nervous too!

Mass began with a beautiful procession, including incense, which started in the rear of this very large cathedral and took several minutes to reach the altar. Kathryn and I had moved our seats so that we didn’t have to step over people during the presentation, and as a result we ended up with great view of the procession. Then we had another surprise. Our own pastor, Fr. Vince, was in the procession! It turns out he was one of the celebrants of the mass. That explains why so many folks from the parish were at this mass. He was surprised to see us too and gave us a quick wave. However, he didn’t know we’d also be at the altar a little later.

In addition to Fr. Vince, a couple other priests were at the altar, including a bishop from South America who was raising funds for his very poor diocese. I regret that I’ve forgotten which diocese and which country. We felt a little sorry for our own pastor. After the bishop received such a long introduction from the cardinal, Fr. Vince got only a few words. I hope he was happy just to be there.

The mass was beautiful. The bishop from South America gave the homily. It was uplifting to hear about the faith of the poor people he shepherds. On the other hand, the readings for that Sunday were, for Kathryn and me at least, somewhat challenging, particularly the second one from Ephesians, and I would have enjoyed a bit more explanation. I guess we’ll hear it again in three years.

The presentation went smoothly. Kathryn and I were the second couple in the procession, each of us carrying a large pewter pitcher of wine. The bread was carried by the couple behind us. We bowed as we were instructed. Cardinal Mahony is quite tall.

After the mass ended, we ran into Fr. Vince in a side corridor. We all expressed our mutual surprise that he’d concelebrated the mass and we’d presented the gifts. He asked us if we’d been downstairs yet. Downstairs? We didn’t even know there was a downstairs. He told us it was the best part of the cathedral and that we had to check it out. So we gave him a hug, left him to his groupies that were starting to crowd him, and went off to find the stairs.

It turns out he was right. The sub-level of the cathedral is taken up almost entirely by a mausoleum. It’s very peaceful. One celebrity tomb we found belonged to Gregory Peck. However, the mausoleum remains mostly unused, with only a few crypts occupied and a few others marked reserved. Adjacent to the mausoleum is the tomb containing the remains of St. Vibiana, the patron saint of the original Los Angeles cathedral, which was damaged beyond repair by an earthquake in 1994. There is also a beautiful chapel on the sub-level. It would be the perfect size for a weekday mass, but I don’t know if they use it for that purpose. Even if you’re not there for a mass, I’d highly recommend visiting the cathedral if you’re in Los Angeles, if only to see the mausoleum.

Before we left, we did stop in the gift shop. We’ve been shopping for the perfect pyx for months now, but they didn’t have any at all. We’ll keep looking.

There was one lone protester camped just outside the cathedral complex. He carried a sign that said “Phony Mahony”. There also appeared to be a sticker representing a Bavarian flag on his sign. There was no further explanation, and I really didn’t want to engage the guy in a conversation.

The cathedral is located near several major freeways, including I-10, so getting back on the road again was a piece of cake. The trip home was a mirror image of the trip there. We stopped at the same Carl’s Jr. near Palm Springs for another Big Carl and at the same McDonald’s in Quartzsite for another coffee. A thunderstorm with some light hail kicked up while we were in Quartzsite. We let the wind die down before we pressed on. There was some flooding just off the freeway, but the freeway itself was fine. We arrived home safely before dark.

To those of you who already read the first two parts, thanks for your patience. The third part took longer to finish than I anticipated.

By Curt | Posted in Food, Religion, Travel | Tagged , , , , | Comments (2)

Pilgrimage to the City of the Angels (2/3)

2009-08-24 – 15:13

This is the second post in a three-part series.

For the most part, Kathryn and I slept pretty well the first night in L.A. I was woken up by a bit of noise around the pool area at midnight, but I got back to sleep pretty quickly. What woke me up was the sound of a beer bottle hitting the ground. Luckily it didn’t break. The managers must have given the folks a talking to, because they drank from cans the following night.

We woke relatively early Saturday, around 6:30 or so, knowing we had a big day in front of us. We had a light, early breakfast at the hotel, mindful of the fact we’d be attending mass later. The breakfast served was what a lot of hotels now refer to as deluxe continental, which means continental plus a waffle iron. Kathryn and I shared a waffle and each had some cereal and something to drink. After heading back to the room to shower and dress, we got in the car and headed over to St. Francis.

The mass started at 10 am, but I really wanted to get us there early, thinking that parking and seating might be at a premium. Good thing we did. We arrived around 9:30 and got one of the last few spaces in the parking lot. Most folks were milling outside the church, and we said some hellos to people we knew. We then went in and took a seat. The church filled quickly, and it was 10 before we knew it.

This was the first time we’d been to a profession of solemn vows, and I really didn’t know much about what was going to happen. Four brothers were professing, including the one from our parish, Br. Jeff. The church was full of Franciscan friars, including the associate pastor of our parish, Fr. Alonso, and the pastor, Fr. Vince, who was leading the choir. From my own experience, the closest thing I could compare it to is a wedding. Instead of a bride and groom professing fidelity to one another, these new brothers were professing fidelity to the order.

The liturgy was beautiful. The readings and the solemn vows were in three different languages — English, Spanish, and Vietnamese — reflecting the diverse cultural backgrounds of the new friars. This diversity was also reflected in the community in attendance. One of the most touching moments came at the end of the mass, after communion, when the assembly of friars all sang a hymn to their newest brothers.

A reception followed the mass, and although the food looked great, we didn’t stay long. We congratulated Br. Jeff, chatted with a few people we knew, waited for the blessing, and headed for the exit.

Back at the hotel, our minds turned to lunch. Before leaving for L.A., I did a search on Yelp and printed out a list of the top ten rated inexpensive restaurants in the neighborhood around our hotel. We passed one of them on the way back to the hotel, a Jewish delicatessen called Langer’s, so we decided to walk there for a bite. We shared a No. 19 sandwich, which is pastrami, Swiss cheese, cole slaw, and Russian dressing on rye bread. (In case you’re wondering, yes, Kathryn and I share our meals a lot. That’s why we both have such stunning figures.) The sandwich was absolutely perfect. It was one of those special moments where you realize your meal is at an equilibrium point such that changing any one thing would make it something less than what it was. Perhaps it’s not a surprise that Langer’s has been in the same spot doing the same thing for over 50 years. And it was a good thing we went when we did. The restaurant closes at 4 pm every day and is closed Sundays. Our late lunch Saturday was our last chance for this visit.

After lunch, we decided to walk across the street to MacArthur Park, just to say we were there. It looks nicer from a distance. When you’re close enough to see how bare the grass is and how strung out the visitors are, it’s hard to find it pretty. That said, the streets around the park were all quite lively during the day, and we didn’t feel particularly unsafe. People were walking everywhere. Shops all had business. I made a conscious observation of how few vacant storefronts there were. At home in the Valley, it seems like every other storefront is vacant in the typical suburban strip mall, yet in the middle of the urban ghetto in L.A., business was booming everywhere. I’m sure there’s a lesson to be learned here.

Our bellies full, we went back to the hotel to rest for a while, but not for too long. We still had more to do.

We decided the best way to see the ocean would be to take a drive up the Pacific Coast Highway. There was a lot of traffic in the late afternoon, but that just meant we were able to slow down and enjoy the view. We started the drive in Santa Monica and continued north and west to Malibu. We drove for about an hour, and then came back the same way, stopping in Malibu for a stroll on the pier. The air was so humid we could actually see the moisture. It felt like it could turn to fog at any moment, but it didn’t while we were there.

After the drive along the coast, it was time to head to another iconic restaurant, Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank. We arrived there around 7 pm, and we expected to wait a while for a table, but in fact we only waited about 15 minutes, which gave us time to get photos of the Big Boy statue out front. We each ordered an Original Big Boy Combo, which is a double-decker burger with fries and a house salad, and we shared an hot fudge ice cream brownie dessert. We definitely enjoyed the food, but I think what we enjoyed even more was the old-school coffee shop atmosphere.

Before heading back to the hotel, we took a detour to find a pharmacy to fill a prescription we forgot to take care of before we left Phoenix. Our GPS dutifully found the nearest CVS for us, which was luckily a 24-hour location. However, when we got inside, the pharmacy was closed! We asked the staff at the front counter what the story was, and they said only the store was 24 hours, but the pharmacy closed at 8 pm. Huh? It seems to us the only reason to keep a pharmacy open 24 hours is for the pharmacy. The rest of the crap they sell there you can get at a convenience store or wait until morning. Whatever. It wasn’t an emergency, and we decided to wait until the next morning.

So back to the hotel we went. Another cold beer from the sketchy liquor store down the street. I think the clerk recognized us.

That wraps up day two. Be looking for the final installment soon.

By Curt | Posted in Food, Religion, Travel | Tagged , , , , | Comments (3)

Pilgrimage to the City of the Angels (1/3)

2009-08-24 – 14:01

I haven’t updated my blog with any good travel tales for quite some time. However, Kathryn and I managed to pack a lot into our 60-hour road trip to Los Angeles last weekend, so I figured it was time for a new post.

When I sit down to write a new post, I often have the title in my head before the text. The word pilgrimage came to mind right away. Although I was a little hesitant to use it at first, I think it’s appropriate here. The timing of the trip was chosen to allow us to witness one of the friars from our church make his profession of solemn vows into the Franciscan order, as well as to support our choir, which would be singing at the mass. Los Angeles, a city named after Our Lady of the Angels of the Portiuncula, the place where the Franciscan movement began, seems like a particularly fitting place to celebrate such an event, especially in a church named after St. Francis.

However, in addition to this particular motivation of the trip, we had other plans in mind. Kathryn wanted to see Michael Jackson’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as a way of paying final respects to the pop legend. We both also wanted to check out some of L.A.’s iconic dining establishments, the places that make us salivate when we see them on the Travel Channel. Finally, Kathryn requested we see the ocean at least once while we were there. Could we drive to California, accomplish all this, and be home in 60 hours?

You betcha.

We got underway around 8 am Friday, and as is often the case with road trips, we were ready for a break within a couple hours. There aren’t many choices in the Arizona desert, so we stopped in Quartzsite to share a breakfast sandwich and a cup of coffee at the McDonald’s there. Lo and behold, almost a dozen of our fellow parishioners were also there. We were going to play it off like it was a big coincidence to run into them, but then we just admitted we were also heading to L.A. for same reason they were.

Underway once again, we stopped a couple hours later near Palm Springs for lunch at Carl’s Jr. Here in the Valley for the last several days they’ve been advertising a new sandwich called the Big Carl. Kathryn and I hadn’t been to a Carl’s Jr. in ages, but we’d been drooling every time we see the new commercials. We each got one, and they were indeed big and quite delicious. No one else from the church was at this stop, though. Maybe they pressed on. Maybe they prefer McDonald’s. Maybe they were playing nickel slots at the Agua Caliente casino on the other side of the freeway. We can’t say for sure.

We arrived at our hotel around 3 pm, which conveniently was check-in time. We picked the Comfort Inn City Center because it was inexpensive and centrally located. On the other hand, it was in a seedy neighborhood, a short walk from MacArthur Park, a somewhat notorious landmark. I took some comfort in the fact the parking lot was blanketed with security cameras. The exterior of the hotel looked decent, and our room had been at least superficially remodeled recently. We weren’t planning to spend a lot of time in the room, and with proximity several major freeways, all things considered, it was a decent value.

One thing we noticed right away was, although it was about 20 degrees cooler in L.A. than Phoenix, we were much more uncomfortable there. The humidity was really taking a toll on us. I’ve lived in Phoenix for five years now, and people here keep telling me I’ll get used to the heat. Well, I haven’t, but I’ve definitely gotten used to the dryness. I felt damp the entire time I was in L.A., even at night with the air conditioner cranking away. I’m a very light packer, and I wished I’d brought another shirt or two.

Following a brief rest after arriving, we decided to start crossing items off our list, so we drove over to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Driving around Los Angeles on the surface streets was relatively easy. We found free parking on a side street near La Brea and walked the entire length of the Walk on Hollywood, skipping the parts on Vine. Kathryn got her photo of the Michael Jackson star, which still had a crowd gathered around it. Although we’d both been to the Walk of Fame before, separately, this was the first time either of us noticed that some celebrities, like Harrison Ford, have more than one star. Maybe there’s more than one Harrison Ford.

Next on our list, since we’d already passed it on La Brea, was Pink’s Famous Hot Dogs. We arrived there around 7 pm, and we were delighted to see the line was half as long as when we’d passed by a couple hours earlier. I was less delighted to find out I had to leave the car keys with the parking attendant, although I surprised Kathryn by not going into my usual cold sweat about it. After almost a half-hour in line, we ordered and were served promptly. Kathryn had the chili cheese dog. I went all out and got the bacon chili cheese dog, which also came with diced tomatoes, and we shared an order of onion rings. It was indeed worth the wait. The dogs were excellent, and the onion rings were very good too. Next time we’re in town, we’ll be back, and we’ll go at the same time. When we pulled out of the parking lot, the line was back to where we had seen it earlier. I guess we found the lull.

Kathryn and I are hardly night owls, so after a long day on the road and with a busy day to follow, we headed back to the hotel to retire for the evening. Before we turned in, we walked down the street to get a cold beer at a nearby liquor store. The clerk worked from behind bulletproof glass. Charming.

That wraps up the first day. I’ve decided to split this update into three posts, one for each day. Be looking for the follow-ups over the next 24 hours or so.

By Curt | Posted in Food, Religion, Travel | Tagged , , , , | Comments (1)