Lemonade

This was a welcome sight on a gloomy day.

These people sure like yellow.

It was too chilly to eat outside but it looked like people were taking advantage of the Lemonade menu indoors.

Lemonade is on Lake between Green and Cordova, part of The Commons. Should be a good spot. I haven't eaten there yet. Have you? What's your verdict?

Itchy

I don't know why I like to travel in the fall, but I do. All year long I'm fine right where I am, then November comes around and bam! I've just gotta get out of town. And stay out! You'd think the cops were after me or something.

Put me on a plane and send me someplace. I'm ready for an adventure.

It Doesn't Take Much

Boz doesn't care about petty politics. He doesn't know about choices, good or bad. He likes to run in open spaces and Johnson Field is fine with him just as it is.

"Boz," I said, "the field is a dumping ground for silt!"

Boz likes silt.

Guest Author: E. Max Hengst, and LAFD FF/PM

Each day, Max Hengst sees things most of us will never see. He felt he had to write about them. He told me he's a little concerned some people might be uncomfortable with the profanity he uses in the book. But to write about his work without using profanity might just be dishonest, and Max is a straight talker. 
Please welcome today's guest author, E. Max Hengst.

I wrote this book because you can’t make this stuff up. I am still serving on the Los Angeles Fire Department as a Captain and have seen it all. Every firefighter and paramedic (FF/PM) says they are going to write a book. I decided to do it about four years ago. It took approximately three years to write.

What you will read will make you laugh at the insanity as well as cry at the horror people are exposed to. In the beginning the book starts out profane. That was done to show how we really are. It is amazing to see what people do to each other. It’s a good thing there are those who will drop what they are doing at the sound of the bell to help others, strangers, to clean up the mess. Unfortunately some of my brothers and sisters on the department don’t come back.

The politics on the department can be appalling. I guarantee the majority of us didn’t sign up for the politics. After the shock and excitement of responding to calls in high incident areas wear off, the politics of saving those in need becomes more apparent.

Many of the incidents that we respond to stay with us and there are not enough chemicals or therapy that can erase them from memory. Calls or runs, as we call them, are the worst when children are involved.

Many people decide to write a book of this nature once they retire. Even though I am currently on the department I decided to go forth with this project because as a writer there is that need to write and I didn’t want this book to sit in manuscript form collecting dust. Let the chips fall where they may. After writing I tested it with my colleagues and fortunately it came back positive.

I have been living in the San Gabriel Valley most of my life. I came to Pasadena after an ugly divorce. I like Pasadena because it is close to work and I don’t have to travel far for any of my wants, needs or interests. I notice the Pasadena area also encourages the arts and that is a good thing for any writer. 

I will be signing LAFD FF/PM; Memoirs of an "Outside Dog" at Vroman’s bookstore on Colorado Blvd. on December 15th at 7:00 PM. I hope to see you all there. I hope to pique your interest.

Update 3/18/12:
Max was quoted today by Steve Lopez in an article on the front page of the Los Angeles Times.

Fantasy Day

I was raised on library books and outdoor play. Sometimes the family watched Bonanza together and, when the Beatles were on, The Ed Sullivan Show. We weren't allowed to watch TV as long as the sun was up.

But some people grew up watching TV. A subset of those people, who were weaned on TV in the mid to late 1990's, got hooked on animé. And a subset of those people fell in love with an animé called Tenchi Muyo!.

Animé is big business now, with conventions all over the country where fans dress up as their favorite characters, join in fashion shows, learn martial arts, buy products and meet the actors who bring the characters to life.

Tenchi Muyo! was one of the first Japanese animés dubbed into English. People remember it fondly as their "gateway animé," literally the one that got them addicted. I was fortunate enough to voice a character in it, the space pirate Ryoko. When I started I had no idea what would happen with the show or with animé in general. None of us did.

Here's a picture of the audience who came to the reunion of the "Ladies of Tenchi Muyo" at the Pacific Media Expo this past weekend at the LAX Hilton. I joined Rebecca Forstadt, Sherry Lynn and Ellen Gerstell for a Q and A. The room filled up more before we finished, and we got to meet many of these people and chat with them afterward at the autograph signing. They were delightful. Everyone--everyone--was nice. Some voice actors regularly visit these "cons" but as I've only voiced the one show, I hadn't been to one since the early days. It was awesome.

Rebecca and I joked in the green room about how after it was over we'd have to go back to our real lives. Yesterday I did some bookkeeping, uploaded a bunch of photos and tried to clean off my desk (ha!). I answered a question from my husband and autographed a couple of checks. It was awesome.

Not once, ever, have I dressed up like Ed Sullivan.

Zen Monday: #170

Zen Monday's the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what I think the photo's about. There's no competition, no right or wrong. Just have fun.

I look for a photo worth contemplating or, failing that, something odd or silly. Or all of those things, if I'm lucky.


And, plus, in addition, also: I have a new piece on Patch today.

Apropos

This picture is apropos of nothing, a shot I took on Pasadena's east side maybe two years ago on a blustery day a lot like yesterday. At the time, this was at the back of a furniture store. It may still be at the back of a furniture store, but a lot can change in two years. It's just off of Rosemead Blvd., about a half mile south of the 210 freeway.

All you have to do to find good photographic subjects is get out of the car and walk. Anywhere. Try it.

Here's an exclusive offer for readers of Pasadena Daily Photo: you may remember that on October 28th I announced Ibarionex Perello's Digital Camera Bootcamp. Pro photographer and teacher at the revered (and expensive) Art Center College of Design, Ibarionex is someone I not only admire and recommend, but also someone I really like. For the November 19th workshop only, PDP readers can take his workshop for $50 by entering the Promo Code "perellovip" when checking out. I don't do a lot of advertising here but jeez, that's a super discount and it's just for us.