“What’s for lunch?” said the California King Snake (Lampropeltis getulus).
“Not me,” answered the Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis).
Well, good luck. California Kings Snakes do not only like lizards, rodents and birds, they also do not mind having a Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis) now and then; it’s good that they are immune to the toxins of venomous snakes.
I knew it, the day would come, and today it happened. The cats have hogged the trackball.
What’s next? Online orders at “Chez Chat” – the place which advertises with the slogan ‘We spoil the coolest cats in town with purrrfect service?”
Are they going to have Finch a l’Orange and Buffalo Mice delivered?
One thing is certain; I will keep a close eye on the credit card statements.
“Architecture is form placed between the ground and the sky.”
(Eero Saarinen)
Buildings at Grand Avenue near 3rd Street
Even though most hummingbirds in SoCal wing it over to Mexico to spend the winter there, some stay, so that one can watch them all year long. In Spring, however, the main flock returns and one can see them everywhere.
Apart from their amazing flight abilities they also have a major attitude – they fiercely defend their territories and their feeding sources. Watching a full-blown hummer battle is quite a sight; these tiny birds really have a go at it. They do not hurt each other, but if the intruder does not fly away after an initial bluffing charge, occasionally one can see a feather or two fly.
This little member of the species however had nothing to fear. Either no other hummingbirds had discovered its feeding source – or it was replenishing spent energy after driving away all rivals.
The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Downtown Los Angeles is not a building easily overlooked. Opinions about it vary, but can be basically divided into two camps – “love it” and “hate it.” That goes for the exterior. As far as the interior is concerned, the acoustics, the verdict is a unanimous “exceptionally fabulous.”
And then there is the roof garden, another one of those little secrets known only to those who like sticking their noses behind the scenes. When one goes to the web site of the concert hall, one has to poke around a bit to find the garden mentioned at all; even then one is left with the impression that one has to take a tour to be able to go there.
Well, that is slightly misleading. The garden is public, open all day, no tour is needed and there is no entry fee.
Best of all – the garden is beautiful. The contrast between the plants and the trees and the metal exterior of the hall is striking. Light, shadows, reflexions, striking angles and nature’s beauty combine in a way one does not see very often.
The garden is an oasis of deep serenity against a backdrop of steel. Oh, and by the way – going up don’t touch the handrails or lean against any panels unprotected from the sun. They get hot; frying egg temperature hot.
Go just about anywhere in Los Angeles and you will find a location used for filming, although the location used might look a bit different when one sees it later in the movie.
The Cedar Grove is a good example – it is a pretty spot, a miniature forest, green and peaceful and pleasantly cool in summer. In the movie “Van Helsing” it probably looks more like this:
Which means, yes, one of these days I will have to watch “Van Helsing”.
Comes winter time, Santa Anita Park, the oldest horse track in California, opens. The track is considered to hold the best racing in the country during the Winter-Spring Meeting. Even without knowing that, any trip to Santa Anita is fun and highly entertaining.
On driving in one can see people like this – these guys are serious about horse races:
The buildings still retain their Art Déco motif:
And when finally the horse one has bet on has won – then it was indeed a fun afternoon at the races:
It is quite amazing how the felines in this house react to being photographed; Julchen poses to no end, she loves having her picture taken, she could be a regular Marilyn Monroe, making love to the camera. Well, at least she always adopts the role of sweet kittie, harmless, gentle and subdued:
Which she is not, actually (at least not very often).
Iko-Chan hates the camera as an intrusion into her privacy. She regards the flash as a personal insult, the very thought of being frozen in any moment of time on a hard drive annoys her. Most of the time she adopts the role of the very angry diva, ready for a hissy fit:
Which she is not, actually (at least not all of the time).
…then see what happens. This applies to all sports, but for Rugby in SoCal this formula has shown amazing results. In 29 youth clubs located between San Diego and San Luis Obispo more than 2,000 players aged between 5 and 18 are active. They love the sport, the camaraderie, the ability to get involved in a game which is very physical and at the same time based on respect for the rules and the opponent.
One opportunity to see the results of the careful nurturing of young players is the FYR High School Rugby International Invitational in Fullerton. This year the tournament was held during the Easter weekend and it was truly an international event:
Teams from California, Utah, Oregon, Wisconsin, Australia and Canada took part in two days of exceptionally good rugby. More than 700 young players were present to play and to pit their strength against each other.
Quite remarkable was the fact that so many girls teams took part in the tournament; even more so, that five female teams from Canada were present. Apparently this was a first in the history of High School Rugby tournaments in all of the US.
In the finals the Boys Cup went to the LA Cougars, the Girls Cup to the Columneetza Team from British Columbia.
They all started young and now they are the new breed helping to build the presence of Rugby in the US.
