FrogBlog | Translating Los Angeles – Page 25 – We like it here! One Germerican and one American translating Los Angeles for the World.

That's For Real, Man!

5 AM Saturday morning, off to Big Bear. Even though I do not mind waking up early to putter around the house, have some coffee, read the news on the computer – to actually get ready and leave the house at this hour is different. Let’s put it like that – I am not bright and chirpy and at the height of my mental faculties that early.

So it took a while to become aware of my surroundings while winding up the road towards the top. I did notice that some houses were already decorated for Halloween. Well, I though, up here in the mountains they certainly do thing differently – fake snow as decoration – but then, why not.

As I said before, my mind is a bit sluggish at that early hour. Fake snow… fake snow… Oh my God, that snow is not fake! That is not for decoration, that stuff is real!

And indeed, it was all for real. The night before temperatures had dropped to 18°F ( – 2°C) up in the mountains and it had snowed for the first time. On October 11th; even for those folks up there that was a bit too cold a bit too early.

Though it did look pretty, especially on the slopes, it was really, really cold, even after the sun came out.

All day long temperatures rose just slightly above freezing. But then again, when winding down the mountain on the way back the next day, the lovely warmth of the lowlands was appreciated even more than usual.

Small Is Beautiful

This is the second Smart I have seen in our neighborhood within one week. Two minutes later a Mini Cooper passed by.

The next 2 1/2 hours I spent counting Mini Coopers. The total came to 10.

This ties in with what I have noticed for months now: parking lots, especially at supermarkets, used to be filled with big bad cars – Explorers, Tahoes, Hummers, trucks large enough to transport whole households from one coasts to the other. Oftentimes I also saw the drivers of those big boats – women, obviously very pleased with the fact that they did not have to squish their three bags of groceries into a tiny car. I, on the other hand, was very often not pleased with the fact that said ladies, after having climbed on board, did seem to have some difficulties to navigate their whopping huge heaps of metal off the parking lot.

Today the big boats are gone. Where are they? Have they all been shipped off to some secret island, where they stand under a palm tree, dreaming of those days when gas was cheap and they could proudly display themselves on parking lots in between runs to the school two blocks away to drop off Junior or the little Princess?

I bet they would love to run over anybody who dares to proclaim “small is beautiful.”

Forever Strong

So the first American movie about rugby opened in selected cinemas on September 26th and of course we went to see it. Normally sport movies are not my thing – I’d rather work or do other things than sit and stare at a screen watching some actors pretending to be athletes; but once again, with this being the first US film featuring rugby – so, yes, that was a must.

First things first: the movie was not as bad as expected. It certainly is not a highlight in the history of cinema, just a pleasant run-of-the-mill story about sport being a way of redemption for some troubled young man.

But – and this is what made the film enjoyable, leaving the slightly cookie cutter-story aside – the rugby scene were marvelous (as they should be, especially as real All-American rugby players were involved). Yes, I know, editing and sound mix and whatnot do play their part; still, these scenes were so great, I could watch the film all over again.

Really – even though I do not like sport movies.

Could We Have Some Rain, Please?

Last year the rainy season started on September 23rd.

Today, on September 30th, we had 95° F (35° C) at 5:30 PM; in the Valley it was even hotter. These temperatures are supposed to last until the weekend. Whether there will be any rain later is still somewhat doubtful.

On the upside: the mornings are wonderful. It is cool and dark and quiet. No rain, but a wonderful waning moon hanging over the tree tops. Daylight and the heat are still a bit away (as it is only right and proper at 6:00 AM).

Rear End Of A Legend

In 1959 the craze for fins on cars reached its pinnacle. None other than the car maker Cadillac, famous for the most elegant and glamorous cars, set the record: with fins a breathtaking 42 inches (107 centimeters) high, crowning the rear end of the Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz.

To call this Cadillac a car is actually a bit of an understatement; land-yacht would be more appropriate. All models seated six and came with the famous 6.3-litre V-eight engine; the convertible had a whopping 345 bhp.

Fuel consumption was somewhere in the 8mpg range. With gas being slightly cheaper in the days of the glorious finned automobiles, nobody really cared.

And here is a Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz fin in all it’s shiny and chrome-glossy glory. Start drooling. I did. Plenty.

Lament Of A Siamese Cat On The First Day Of Autumn

It’s 8:20 AM.

Where is the sun?

What do you mean,

Autumn has begun?

Do I care what date it is?

Turn on the sun, if you please.

P.S.: The demands of the Siamese cat were answered at 10:14 AM.

This One Is For You

Yes, your very own friendly residential street in Long Beach.

BYOB

Yes, in California that means “Bring Your Own Bag.” Julchen (aka “The Beach Bum”) was kind enough to pose in front of the bags to give an idea of the scale of these reusable shopping bags. They are not tiny, they are sturdy and one can stuff them with an amazing load of groceries. Instead of using up 10 plastic bags, two bags do the trick – again and again and again.

These bags are available at IKEA. For the whopping price of $1.99 each. A bargain, I would say – and good for the environment.

Stylish

With the crazy summer being over (work wise – the madcap politics will stay with us for a while longer) it is time to wind down a bit. With a visit to the zoo, for example, to check out what is stylish in the animal kingdom – just in case one is into amazing headgear!

Pronghorn

Giraffe

Desert Bighorn Sheep

Markhor

Reading In Times Of Storm Surge

“Der Schimmelreiter” (The Dykemaster) by Theodor Storm paints a very good (and well researched) picture about life in the coastal regions of Northern Germany, which has been threatened by storm surges for thousands of years.

For the more Google-inclined some good links to check out are:

Maeslantkering
Oosterscheldekering

These are projects in the Netherlands, even more endangered by floods and storms.

Of course these storm barriers/levees are expensive to build and keep in running order. But they bring safety to the people living there, something they are very well aware of. Nobody complains about money spent on these structures. They are indispensable.