I’m rather pleased about this.  Of course, it’s not the best solution, actually solving the oil spill would be the best solution, but at least someone’s stepping up and doing *something* — which is depressing, but it’s better than nothing.  I’m a bit concerned this is going to turn into another Centralia.

This is a bit of a shame.  Some of the characters are really nice people, this is how they’ve made their living for quite a while, and the tourists really do seem to like it…  (Though I admit that, honestly, I will not be sorry to see the ones with dirty, torn costumes gone.  I realize that times are hard, but they were a bit of an embarrassment.)

Frank Frazetta died a few days ago.  I rarely admit it, but I’ve always loved his women.  They’re strong and they look real, most of them have names, and even when they’re being carried off by giant monsters, they look like they could hold their own.  The nudity always seemed to be incidental, even though obviously that was the point.  Frazetta, overly sensational and pointlessly dramatic to the end.

Los Angeles, on the other hand, is “cleaning up” dispensaries.  Ah well, so long as they leave the reputable places alone, and they continue with the generous possession allowance for medicinal users (it’s still a misdemeanor for non-medicinal users, and unlike just about everything else they’re not pressing unreasonable dealing charges on recreational users), I’m alright with PR-based “clean up” efforts.

So, add the Up Helly Aa festival to the list of things I seriously want to attend and participate in at least once in my life.  Vikings, giant bonfires?  I’m in!

Here’s a website of gorgeous panoramic photography.  Above, Santa Monica pier at sunrise.

…and, yanno, not so far off if net neutrality isn’t fixed ASAP.

This article from Radar pretty well sums up the problem I have with the iPad, and why, despite being a pretty devoted Apple-phile in the past, probably won’t be buying one anytime soon.  It’s not that it’s not a nifty product, it just isn’t worth it.

“You aren’t buying a computer when you buy an iPad, you are buying a 16GB Walmart store shelf that fits on your lap – complete with all the supplier beat downs, slotting fees, and exclusive deals that go with it – and Apple got you to pay for the building.”

Oh it’s so true.  Californians are just about as blase as people can get about earthquakes.

If you somehow managed to miss the news, we caught part of an earthquake here today.  It was quite big, but here in the OC it was a rolling quake, they don’t tend to do that much damage, since the motion is smooth they’re quite gentle as far as earthquakes go…

Unless of course they’re very, very big.  Our ground here is a layer of dirt over a base of mostly sand, and a big rolling quake will cause that sand to act like a liquid, and that, my friends, causes buildings to literally sink into the ground.  Awesome!  …or not.