Oil On The Sidewalk

There are a lot of electrical items at the top of this electric power pole.

Beneath the power pole, there are puddles of oil on the sidewalk. Water from the recent rain is standing on top of the oil.

Here is another view showing oil all around the base of the power pole. The Oil splats in the foreground are in the direction of the prevailing wind compared with the power pole, and this oil might have fallen down from the power pole during windy weather.

The oil in the background is all around the power pole, and a bunch of the oil on the sidewalk has tracks through it. The electric transformer oil may contain toxic PCB's.

Up on the pole there is a 220 volt utility transformer and some high voltage, high frequency power filters mounted below. One of the high voltage, high frequency power filters is obviously leaking transformer oil, which falls down to form a (possibly toxic) puddle at the base of the pole including the nearby sidewalk.

It is a fact that the 220 volt utility transformer should be mounted lower than the high voltage filters. However, the main fact of this complaint is that one of the high voltage, high frequency power filters is obviously leaking transformer oil which is being picked up and tracked around the neighborhood on shoes, skate wheels, and bicycle wheels at the corner of Calora and Bonnie Cove.

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My Railroad Crossing Simulator

Coming to a school ground near you.

Learn how to cross train tracks safely.

RR Xing Sim_2012.jpg

Well, it's not really mine, but I helped!

Read More

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My Old Hangout

My old hangout is being renovated.

My old hangout is being renovated while you are viewing this blog. 

Someday I will hang out here again. 

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My Surveillance Trailer

This surveillance trailer turned up in the neighborhood recently.

Two cameras, solar Powered, with Wi Fi.  Who knows where the information goes? At the very least, yours truly is in the picture of Google Earth.  Or Google Earthlink.

On an un-related note, here is what happens to your package when you give me the WRONG ZIP CODE !

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My Public Library

During a recent visit to San Diego, yours truly saw a large building with a sign out front that reads, "San Diego Public Library" under construction.

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My Train Wreck (Not!)

During a recent patrol of the neighborhood, an item was found to be hanging in the fence, which could be an indicator of foul play.

Sometimes there is a sign nearby to indicate the location of an incident.

Look again in case that you missed it!

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My Helicopter

This helicopter used to be fun, but then his behavior became unpredictable and erratic. When I picked up the helicopter, I could feel that the red and black wires were very hot.

A closer inspection found that the black wire was actually loose in the connector.

After de-mating the connector, a black spot of burned plastic can bee seen exactly where the black wire had been connected loosely inside of the connector. The metal coating on the connector has turned black. There's the problem!

Even when the connector is mated together, we can see the black spot through the translucent plastic. This is what to look for on your electric powered helicopter.

The solution is to get rid of the connector and then carefully weld the black wires together.

Cover the black wire connection with electrical tape, then weld the red wires together. Tape the red wire as well. The resulting connection is probably lighter in weight, than the connector was. Removing unnecessary weight is key to successful helicopter performance. The helicopter works better than ever.  These red and black wires don't get hot anymore, hence the electric motors have a little more power.

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My Comicon 2012

This is as close as I got to Comicon 2012.

The most thrilling aspect of which was a Brony Train.

The only thing that could possibly be more fun than a Comicon would be a

Brony Convention.

There was actually a ton of it going on outside of the convention center. Actors in serious cosplay for upcoming TV shows like Coma or the Bates Motel, and these two.

Just hanging around on the street.

And the obligatory picture of the Batmobile. Everyone puts a picture of the Batmobile on their blog. These pictures were recorded on Saturday July 14, 2012.

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My Vogon Poetry

Brony Brony Lyrics
Sung to the tune of Mony Mony

Mony Mony" is a 1968 single by Tommy James And the Shondells

Here he comes now sayin' Brony Brony
Shoot 'em down turn around come on Brony
Hey he give me love and I feel all right now
Come on you gotta toss and turn
And feel all right, yeah I feel all right
I said yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
'Cause you make me feel
So good, so good, so good
So fine, so fine
It's all mine, well I feel all right
I said yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Well you could shake it Brony Brony
Shot gun dead and I'll come on home yeah
Don't stop cookin' 'cause I feel all right now
Don't stop now come on Brony
Come on yeah, I said yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
'Cause you make me feel
So good, so good
Well I feel all right
You're so fine, you're so fine
You're, and I feel all right
I said yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I love you Brony bro-bro-Brony
I love you Brony bro-bro-Brony sure I do
I love you Brony bro-bro-Brony sure I do
I love you Brony bro-bro-Brony sure I do
I love you Brony bro-bro-Brony sure I do
I love you Brony bro-bro-Brony sure I do
I love you Brony bro-bro-Brony sure I do
I love you Brony bro-bro-Brony
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Come on, come on
Come on, come on
Come on, come on
Come on, come on
Come on, come on
Feel all right, I said yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah
Wake it, shake it Brony Brony
Up, down, turn around, come on Brony
Hey he give me love and I feel all right now
Don't stop now come on Brony
Come on, I said yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah
'Cause you make me feel
So good, so good, so good
Feel all right, all right
Well I feel all right
I said yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Ride your pony, ride your pony
Ride your pony come on, come on
Brony Brony
Feel all right, I said yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah "Mony Mony" was credited to Tommy James, Bo Gentry, Ritchie Cordell, and Bobby Bloom. If that wasn't stoopid enough for you, sing along to a video or read these huge blocks of text
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My Thousant Times No

I found this tee shirt which has the word “NO” written on it 1,000 times.  It was on sale for half price so of course I bought it! 

Last night was July 12, 2012 and I attended a w00tstock 4.0.  As a result I am now reading Year Zero by Rob Reed. And you can’t have it!

Although it was a good show according to w00tsock standards, I would have liked to see and hear a little more of Molly Lewis. Good thing that I attended the Free Molly show a few weeks earlier, see next post.

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Meapless In Seattle Part Two

July 24, 2012 is a day that will live in history.

That's her name in lights up there on the marquee.

A few people were upset about the change of band, but they soon got over it. The audience learned to sing a Marian Call song about shark week. Molly really killed it with her rendition of "Poker Face". At the end of the show in a packed house there was a standing ovation.

These pictures prove that I was there. The people onstage wouldn't hold still long enough for a good picture and I didn't use the Edgerton flash unit.

A

 recommended.

UPDATE July 1 2012 There are some better quality pictures

Meap, Meap.band was scheduled to play the Triple Door in Seattle and just couldn't make it, a fact which became apparent a year ago. Who else could be counted on to fill every seat in the house on such short notice? Molly Lewis was given slightly less than a year to put a show together. Probably because she had actually played the venue previously. here.

My Pool Table

This pool table has seen better days.

In case you didn't know, a pool table isn't made to hold up your full weight.

 Be careful when bouncing on a pool table.

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Fled the suburbs to see @Girlinacoma at the Echo. Plex. As in nop. But where to park the SUV? As luck would have it, Echo Park is walled off for construction. Which means, I can actually park here! Otherwise I would still be driving around, looking for a parking space.  I love the Zone of Perpetual Construction! Nonetheless the park was walled off during the evening of April 27 2012 and I found a legal place to park on the street. End of sad story. (I never parked that close to Echo Park Lake Park ever, in my entire life! Personal Best! (high fives)).

After parking the SUV, while walking North along on Echo Park Avenue, I paused beneath a tree while an airship (i.e. the Goodyear Blimp) was passing by overhead. I briefly entertained the thought that I had crossed over to the other side of the Fringe universe. As I made my way toward the venue, the airship passed by a bunch of fireworks in the sky.

Although the airship, the lighted display, and the fireworks were ostensibly for the spectators at Dodger Stadium, I knew that these things were intended for my enjoyment alone. Eventually I arrived at the nightclub in time to hear, and sing along with, a few songs from PinataProtest. Driving around and finding a place to park took up an hour of time, so I didn't see the full set. Note to Yahoo Maps: Sunset Boulevard and Glendale boulevard is a bridge, not an intersection! Get it right!

The place is very dark inside, but I brought a flashlight with me. Girl In A Coma took the stage at Eleven P.M. (it is a night club)  and entertained for an hour and a half including a few solo songs from Nina Diaz. To begin with, I was carefully shining the flashlight onto the floor which got me from here:

To here! Cell phone camera works OK from close up. Blogger wants me to put a GirlInAComa
hyperlink here.

For some reason I had a really good time. Anyhow...


In the old days there was a vacant lot where we could park our cars. Nowadays, we can't even park in our own neighborhood. Once upon a time, we could park on our own parking lot on Echo Park Avenue. Our parking Lot on Echo Park was a vacant .lot.


Song Fu, "write a song for something that you lost and will never get back." I am changing the subject, here is a Song Fu HYPERLINK from " PROMPT #3 via AMANDA PALMER " "Write a song about the thing you lost that you know you’ll never get back. I’d recommend starting with an object & then possibly veering into the metaphysical. Any style you choose."   ",  and here's a song.

My Vacant Lot's Not Vacant Anymore
(Sung to the tune of Secret Love as sung by Frank Sinatra ) Frank Sinatra Music et. al..

Once I had a vacant lot
A place where I could park the car
Grownups took my vacant lot
They said they won it in a war

So I told a friendly bar
The way that drinkers often do
Just the way to park a car
And why the sober driver do
Now I tweet it from the lowest hill
I can't even log in to Tumblr
At last my blog's an open door
My vacant lot's not vacant anymore

Now I tweet it from the lowest hill
I can't even log in to Tumblr
At last my blog's an open door
My vacant lot's not vacant anymore
My vacant lot's not vacant
My vacant lot's not vacant anymore


Also rhymes with days of yore, nevermore, more s'mores…

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A large steam powered clanking beast went thundering by today, just like in the good old days. I felt excitement because here along came free entertainment on the hoof and all I had to do was sit in the right place and wait for it to happen. Suddenly a large steam powered whistle noise came from around the bend nearby. Along came a steam powered train!

he steam powered train wasn't as loud this time since it was going downhill. Yesterday it was going uphill and that was really loud.

I am excited by steam powered machines. Click on this one to see the large size picture.
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My Depth Of Field

Road trip picture of a huge truck with lots of wheels. Items farther away are out of focus. Those out-of-focus items in the distance are outside the depth-of-field with this particular lens.

Click the picture to see all of it, since it is too big to fit on the screen.
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My Close Encounter

Lots of people snapped pictures of me recently, and those people should send copies of those pictures to me! Or at least send me a link in the comment section of this article. My brief appearance in this Cliff Broadway video is thinly approved. 


Actually is Orange County Convention Center

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Mayan Theater

March 22, 2012 cell phone pictures to prove that I was there. From the floor of the
 Mayan Theater             Jules DeMartino playing guitar, drums, and things.

Katy White playing the cow bell. My soul is on fire and the only thing that will put this fire out is: More cow bell!

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My Wondercon wrapup

The show is held in a cavernous building that defies belief. It was actually possible to sit in the front row for a bunch of panels. Compare and contrast Musician panel: Polite audience, moderator remains at podium, everyone listens takes a turn; .VS. Writer panel: Moderator roams around using wireless microphone, everyone listens and talks, then the audience rushes the stage at the end. When it's over the audience is supposed to leave! Or at least sit there and wave. Rant.

Rather enjoyed the Steampunk 101 panel (picture above). The panelists wore costumes! And the audience was polite which means the audience didn't rush up to the stage at the end.

Souveniers and things. Better pictures available elsewhere such as
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