A few weeks ago I was awaken at 4 am to a loud explosion. I could see out my window flames rising 20 feet into the air. It was the next street over, near the delivery truck entrance for the Ralph’s supermarket. The big 18 wheelers are always backing into that driveway (beep-beep-beep) so I thought maybe one of them hit a natural gas meter or something. The fire department quickly arrived and put out the flames. The next day I went over and could barely tell there had been a fire. A palm tree well down from the entrance had some burn marks. It must have been a car parked on the street that exploded. Not just burned, but exploded. Was it a mob killing? Check the papers the next few days…not a word.

Early yesterday morning I was driving home and I see a pickup truck sitting flat on its roof at the intersection of Fountain and LaBrea. Very nice truck, extended cab, black. Near by a small car showing signs that it had been clipped. Firemen and paramedics standing around. That one did make the news.

TheKid has a new haircut, which seems to be the latest fad at his pre-school. (Don’t want to be nit picking.) Looks like my brother at that age.

Last year, he wouldn’t let go of the side of the pool. This year he loves to jump into the deep end (with his vest). He’ll even on occasion go in with me without the vest.

a few thoughts:

• Tax credits only offset income tax that you pay. Most people without insurance are in low income jobs and don’t pay anywhere near $5000 in income tax. A tax credit will not give them any more money with which to buy insurance.
• Most people who have insurance receive it as part of a group plan from their employer. group plans have a harder time excluding people with pre-existing conditions. without reform, moving from employer based group plans to individual plans will result in more people being denied insurance.
• When an employer offers health insurance, especially when they pay for a good chunk of the cost, most employees sign up for it. That means that lots of young healthy people are contributing premiums but taking out few benefits. That means the healthy people are subsidizing the sick people. That’s how insurance is suppose to work. But move to individual plans, and many young healthy people will not bother to sign up. The total cost of health care will remain pretty much the same, but it will be spread out over fewer people.

The simplest solution to our health care crisis is the one proposed by presidential candidate Matthew Santos: removing the age restriction on Medicare. You can keep your private insurance, or you can sign up for Medicare. Unless they’re very rich, people over 65 don’t have a choice. They’re pretty much forced onto Medicare. If it is good enough our elderly, then why isn’t it good enough for the rest of us?

My previous services were in Manhattan, Beverly Hills, and downtown LA. This time it was at the Hollywood court house, 2 miles from my house. Easy commute and easy parking. But one thing about these satellite court houses is that they have to perform multiple court functions. Downtown, a courtroom is only used to try cases and other courtrooms are used for other things. So downtown, a court case will go 9-5 every day. In Hollywood, maybe 3-4 hours a day is available for the trial.

Downtown, the jury room will have a few hundred people available for jury pools, so only a fraction of the people will be sent to a specific courtroom at a time. In Hollywood, only 45 people are called in on a given day, so everyone goes to the courtroom.

So last week I called in Sunday night, Monday night, Tuesday night, and wasn’t asked to come in until Thursday morning. One and a half hours of orientation, then a half hour of sitting there before being released for lunch, told to be back at 1:30. Sat there for another hour, then called into a courtroom. A misdemeanor case involving a mother-in-law brandishing a gun to keep her estranged son-in-law away from her daughter. Everyone is spanish speaking.

First 18 are called up, 1.5 hours of interviews. Four are very clearly going to be dismissed, but everyone is sent home at 4 and told to be back at 1 the next day. Arrive Friday at 1, wait a half hour, more interviews, people dismissed, 6 more called up, more dismissals. 4 pm everyone sent home and told to return on Monday at 11. Monday wait a half hour, then only a half hour of interviews, and everyone released for lunch, told to be back at 2. More interviews, more dismissals. I’m the 4 from the last to be called. The defense has used up all their dismissals. The prosecution uses his last dismissal on me. The guy to my left is by default the 12 juror and the two remaining in the audience are the alternates.

So it took 3 days to go through all 45 to seat 12. They didn’t want anyone with any gun violence in their past. One young girl had witnessed a gang shooting at age 8. A retired bank clerk had been robbed. One guy’s brother had been in an accidental shooting at a neighbor’s house when he was 12. Another guy had been mugged. a few other gang related stuff. But they also didn’t want anyone who had a gun collection. No one with domestic violence in their past. No one who left their spouse and moved back in with their parents. They didn’t want anyone who spoke spanish either.

It took 3 days in part because the judge dragged things out. Once the girl said she had witnessed a gang murder at 8, and the bank clerk said she had a gun pointed to her during a bank robbery, the judge should have just moved on, but he went on and on asking about the details. (both were clearly emotionally upset during the questioning)

But now my duty is complete, at least for another year.

A few videos representing the youth of America.

Jonas Brothers: When You Look Me In The Eyes, andSOS.

Soulja Boy Tell Em: Crank That, and Yahhh

I’m not sure which one scares me more.

But there is hope.

For you novices, Nigahiga is currently the number one subscribed comedy channel on youtube. You got to watch a half dozen or so of their videos to fully grasp their talent. Ryan and Sean are still in high school in Hawaii, and Ryan is this year’s state wrestling champion. (I believe that Ryan accentuates his pidgin accent for the videos, as it tends to disappear in the occasional outtake.)

Kevjumba has the second most popular comedy channel. He’s in high school in Texas.

Not a kid, but another comedy channel worth following is What the buck, although it’s more pop culture commentary. At 3 videos a week, he always has something to say, including about the Jonas Brothers.

I could tell you about the last 24 hours, in which I sliced open my finger, then an hour later pull a tendon in my calf at the gym and now can barely walk, woke up this morning to my cat vomiting inches from my face, and then found out that I lost out on a project that I spent 3 weeks writing a proposal (and prototype) for back in November. The family run company is not in the US, and as recently as early January they said “we’ll meet and talk about it when we’re in the US in February.” Then today I see on their blog the announcement of their new site, meaning that they had been negotiating with someone else all along. What can you do?

Or I could tell you all about the really really big project (with investors) that has been consuming my every waking minute for the last three months, going without a salary, borrowing money to do so, that could still fall through because ‘the economics aren’t right’.

But instead I’ll stick with these video clips.

If you saw Sunday’s Oscars (held just a few blocks from my house) you saw Jon McLaughlin perform So Close from Enchanted. He cleans up pretty well! Here is a scruffier version performing his songs Industry and Beautiful Disaster.

One of my favorites, Rufus Wainwright performing Beautiful Child

Mandy Moore performing Umbrella, a cover of a song by Rihanna. I wonder which one is closer to how the composer imagined it.

And finally some comedy: Torchwool - Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre.

  Yes We Can - Barack Obama, by Will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas

  john.he.is

  No, You Can’t - John McCain

Now some amateur music for Valentines day:

  Remitocoko - Bleeding Love

First up is Yahir, from Hermosio, Mexico. He won the first season of La Academia, a Mexican talent show just as campy as our American Idol.

  Yahir - Detalles

  Yahir- La Locura

The following is from a morning talk show, so the quality is not the best, but I think it really shows the kid can sing.

  Yahir - Fue ella, fui yo

Here is where he won La Academia. Don’t spend too much time on it.

  When a Man Loves a Woman

Here is another contestant from the finals of La Acadamia.

  Victor Garcia - Unchained Melody (They love the english language songs)

Victor has gone onto bigger and better things.

  Victor Garcia - Invisible

  Victor Garcia - Menitrosa

Now something from 1996. Something about the video…jmt.

  No Mercy - Where Did You Go