Pomona's Winning

No, Charlie Sheen isn't coming to town.

The OC Art Blog has just written this article on Pomona's Art Walk being better than Santa Ana's. I've been saying it all along, Pomona's Art Walk is one of the most unique Art Walks in California, that happens to come around every month!

"The Pomona Arts Colony, on the other hand, was started by artists. Living in this area because of the affordable rent, a group of artists banded together and decided to create a monthly art walk to drum up business for the community and the artists within. From a derelict and dangerous neighborhood, this area has bounced back with a fury, boasting numerous galleries, music venues, restaurants and bars, and shops of all sorts."

And while we're at it, this
Saturday June 18th is the Pomona Valley family Juneteenth Jazz & Art Festival:


You can find out more info @ Juneteenth America.

Cool Musical Google Logo

If you haven't noticed the new 'guitar' google logo, it's actually pretty cool! You can write your own songs and it'll record to a link. Here's a quick one I wrote.

Salsa Wars: El Darth Vader

This cracked me up... I loved it!

More Insanity By Our GOP Leaders...

I am amazed at the insanity of our GOP Leaders nowadays, and I'm not talking about moral values, gay relationships, adultery, pregnancies, photos etc... I'm talking about policies and things they spew and support. As a moderate, I wish for the day when the GOP will have Lincolnian-type of Republicans, because these useless thugs in power now are killing our country! Ever since the Newt Gingrich led butchering of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, it's been ugly. It's too bad most Americans don't take the time to actually think and look at facts. Oh well, I caught these few headlines today and found them crazy... at least enough to support my point.

GOP Congressman suggests to chop down all the rainforests to prevent climate change

Rep. Allen West suggests U.S. can’t leave Afghanistan because Americans are dying there

GOP Congressman demands TSA to racially profile passengers

Yes, Americans do love their socialized medicine after all. And that has put the GOP in a hole.

Gay Republicans: Our mission is to oust Obama

Rep. Walsh: Obama Was Only Elected Because He’s An ‘Articulate’ ‘Black Man’.

Introducing the GOP Green Jobs Plan: Repackaging & Rebranding old ideas that didn’t do well in their original form.

In other words, the GOP has a plan to make matters much worse.

And while we're celebrating the wonderful BUSH TAX CUTS of the past 10 years, here's some reading:

10 Years of the Bush Tax Cuts by Think Progress

Bush Tax Cuts: “Celebrating” Ten Years Of Fiscal Insanity

The Bush Tax Cuts: Ten Years Later

And no I am no 'lefty' and neither a 'righty', I'm a 'tweener', the one ya love to hate. Sometimes you need a little of this for that, and a lot of that for this. Balance, it makes the world a better place. But this is just plain craziness.

Don't Love Your Cereal Anymore?

I cannot believe the popularity and sales of these long time cereals we all know have fallen so dramatically. These particular cereals have been the staple of the traditional American breakfast cereal for so many years (at least for me). I guess Snap, Crackle and Pop haven't been 'popping much'. According to this Wall St. article:

"Six cereal brands have been hit particularly hard by American’s changing breakfast tastes. These include Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, Cheerios, Raisin Bran, Rice Krispies, Corn Pops, and Special K. Sales of some of these brands fell by double digits between 2007 to 2010, and those declines have continued..."

I also recall recently the mention of some preservative found in most cereals, was known to cause cancer. I remember seeing the news story on television and restricting my kids to cut back. I think it was Folic Acid, or one of those. I don't think that's the case though, I just think there are just so many more options now for a quick fix breakfast, plus the price of milk can get costly. We average 1 Gallon a day in this household!

Claremont Friday Night Live Continues!

This little event is a very relaxing and fun place to go with the family. I've been to a few with the kids and they love it. They love hanging out and playing on the grass, or perhaps taking little strolls through the little old downtown and buying things like ice cream and visiting the little shops. I personally am a fan of the Claremont Voodoo Society which does play on some Friday Nights, they are an awesone band. Here's some more info:

From Claremont Now:

"The unmistakable musical sounds of Friday Nights Live will continue to reverberate through the quaint Claremont Village here through Oct. 28.

On a recent Friday, scattered blasts of guitars, drums and vocals shot through The Public Plaza at 101 N. Indian Hill Blvd. and the nearby Claremont Chamber of Commerce at 205 Yale Ave.

On May 13, the blues and folk rock of Claremont Voodoo Society played at the Public Plaza off Indian Hill while the American and blues sounds of Mystic Knights Trio performed at the chamber building off Yale.

"We love the music and being outside," said Claremont resident Patty Bogle as she sat next to her husband Tim Bogle at the Public Plaza. The couple, who have been married for 20 years, said they have been coming to the music series since 2005 and hadn't missed more than five or so days.

Nearby, Pomona resident Cary Augustine agreed with the couple's positive assessment of the event.

"I'll walk around here and see the other band, too," he said."

You can read some more detailed information over @Claremont Now.

A New Wave Of Crime Ahead

Yes, crime has gradually come down over the years nationally and locally. This is a good thing. San Bernardino alone sees a 14.8% drop in violent crimes alone. This is wonderful news. The Daily Bulletin has a great article with more detail here.

If you haven't heard already, Supreme Court orders California prisoner release. This has been happening for many years already. California already releases between 9,000 and 11,000 prisoners per month, but it returns over two-thirds of these on parole on violations, at a rate over twice the national average. I believe 7 out of 10 prisoners released will return to prison within the year.

Now you add a bad economy and no jobs even for normal citizens, what is there to do but survive? Many gangs are lying dormant, and thank god for gang injunctions. The old guys are getting out and with no options, it's time to revive the dormancy for drug sale and territory control.

It wouldn't surprise me if there are those 'private' for profit prisons behind this, because what will happen is crime will flourish to the point our governement cannot handle it (they can't already)? Therefore, the privately owned prison investors will be drooling like wolves for the taxpayers money. These prisons are even more horrible than governement run. Because PROFIT is the key, not safety.

Brace yourselves and hope this isn't the case. Many incarcerations are due to drug use or even possession or other minor things (people do make mistakes).

But I personally see almost on a daily basis prisoners exiting the greyhound station in Claremont. You can clearly tell who they are, with their plastic clear belonging bags, pants with no belts, tattooed up & down with a lost look as they walk down Indian Hill.

As a moderate, the liberal side of me says, "What's to help them do better on the outside? Perhaps a revamp of the parole violations, I mean, come on, for having a beer?"

Stolen Banners, $200 Reward

The DPOA is offering a $200 reward for information leading to the identity, arrest and conviction of the knuckleheads who stole the new Downtown Pomona banners. Any information received will be held in strict confidence. To date, 18 banners have been stolen.

For more information, visit Metro Pomona.

This is just really a shame... but I'm not surprised. I think lately the downtown has had events that are attracting more and more riff-raff and people who do these kinds of things. It's bound to happen when a little gem of an area starts getting known. Pomona is not singled out in this, it happens in Pasadena and Downtown Los Angeles to name a few.

We need to go back to the type of Art town it was. But easier said than done, because it is a bit more complicated. In fact, it's complex with the mix of bureaucracy, business, profits, galleries, vendors, donations and so many things.

Regardless, make a quick $200 and email metropomona. They'll keep everything confidential.

The Rapture

Photo Credit: J. Dyck

What Google & Facebook Are Hiding

A very interesting speak on what's behind on algorithms and other corporate interests behind what you do on the internet. Is personalization by a corporation for you a good ethical thing? This video is about 9 minutes and worth it for those thought junkies.

Arnold's Domestic Worker & Kid

I've just received this picture. Can't confirm that it's the real deal, but it probably is. This is supposedly the woman Arnold Schwarzenneger knocked up and had this kid with...



Here's some more of that 'Hot Stuff' for ya... while we're at it. LOL

F-You Hipsters

Warning, this video contains some profanity. Other than that, it's f**king funny! Hipsters, oh boy will we see them tomorrow walking around for Pomona's Artwalk. They can be found all over Silverlake as well, and many other artsy parts of Los Angeles. I don't hate hipsters, I just truly find this video LOL funny. I prefer hipsters over hoodlums or gangsters any day. They're non-threatening, if only a bit annoying. Kind of like lost no direction peeps in their own world.

Enjoy the comedy. I love the closing line.

Joyland, Abandoned Amusement Park

Located in Wichita, Kansas, Joyland has been closed down since 2006. Nature is slowly reclaiming the place and there is a collection of photos over at Buzzfeed.com which showcase pictures of the abandoned park.



View more by visiting the site.

Pit Bulls

As someone who used to believe that dogs are dogs, it's the owners fault if there's a problem with their vicious dog... I've recently changed my stance due to personal experience as well as witnessing others. I have become a believer that pitbulls are a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

Either way, interesting article by university doctors saying that pitbulls should be regulated:

"Among the grisly statistics the study cites: Pit bulls were responsible for 65 percent of all fatal dog attacks nationally in 2008. In Texas in 2007, seven fatal attacks occurred, six involving pit bulls. Someone in the United States is killed by a pit bull every 14 days. One body part is severed and lost in pit bull attacks every 5.4 days."

Click here for the rest of the story.

New Garden Painting

Well folks, I've completed a secret little art project I started earlier this month. It is an outdoor garden painting, that I like to call: Pomona Orange.

The image is from an old orange crate label created for North Pomona's Seth Richard Groves, in particular the one used for the Foothill brand. This lady is also used by the Piedmont Brand, but in that particular label she is more detailed in the painting (thus harder and more time consuming).

I have no clue who she is, but I see it as the Goddess of Fruit holding oranges with the view of the valley and foothills.

a close up of POMONA ORANGE:


and here it is at a distance:

I am constantly asked if I'm available for hire and the answer is yes. I am trying to put together a simple affordable price including all materials, but it is not yet finalized. I prefer to do stuff that is historic to the location of the home, this making it more valuable and ties it down to its roots literally. I'm not ready for any giant murals yet, but small little garden corners, in shade preferable, are the perfect little corners for me.

I used very basic acrylics, nothing fancy. It was a little difficult to paint over stucco with little brushes, as if I was painting over little glued pebbles. The round border is actual small stone tiles from the hardware store. Just to give it a more formal, yet informal look. And it sits right under an orange tree!

Anyways, until then, I think I have one more garden art project to do and will post it up when finished.

Richard McKee

La Verne's Professor Richard McKee passed away this weekend. He was one of the very few citizens who actually got off their asses and did something. The Claremont Insider has a great article for those who have no idea who he was:

"McKee fought every day to ensure California lived up to a simple and obvious idea. He believed the public has a right to know what the government it elected was doing....

It was a simple idea, and yet McKee spent more than a decade fighting nearly identical battles in city after city, county after county, as craven government officials decided it was easier to conceal than to reveal. The salary scandal in the City of Bell - the one that won the Los Angeles Times a Pulitzer - shows what happens when people like McKee are not around. He not only fought his battles, but he fought countless battles on behalf of people who did not know they had rights."

My favorite part of the article is this one:

"It's become fashionable to complain about too much or too little government on all levels, but 99% of the complaints come from people sitting on sofas in the comforts of their living rooms while the 1% represented by the likes of McKee actually do the heavy lifting. Let's get off our collective, lazy duffs and lend a hand."

There is also another article written by Gary Scott.

Why I Dislike Electronic Voting

A computer programmer is asked under oath about rigging elections. Remember both Bush Jr elections and their controversy (Diebold)?

1st In & Out Burger GONE!

(Original In & Out on Francisquito & Garvey)
The original and first In & Out Burger of Baldwin Park, CA is no more. Thanks in part to the expansion of the 10 freeway. Several years earlier, the In & Out University was also torn down on the opposite side of the freeway, in order to bring a newer In & Out with indoor dining, as well as a company store.

You would think the city would preserve this, but I don't know if they had a choice with the freeway (looks like it could've stayed). Here are some photos of the site:


(Photos by A. Belt)
UPDATE: Click Here for latest SGV Tribune Article.

I knew it, I remember in 2004 when the city council was told it would be preserved as a museum. One of the last family founders passed away in 2006, and now they sneak the destruction of this monument under the city's nose. These new people running with greed are quickly destroying the chain. They are expanding all over Utah and Texas now, with 11 stores planned to be built within the year. No more of the 'I can't wait to go to California, I WANT AN IN-N-OUT BURGER!'.

Dispute Over The Budget Debate

Senior Funnies

Here ya go Claremont...

Corporatocracy Now

I am completely aware of this happening, and hope others who are not can see. I'm in the political mood this morning, having some delicious YumYum coffee!

Great job by Bernie Sanders once again, one of the very few Senators with balls. Wake up people, stop the us and them stuff with Republicans and Democrats, Bad guy and Good guys, this is a war on all of us by corporations and the richest 1%. And stop supporting their agenda because you think one day you'd be like them, trust me, they don't want you.

"One of the real senators, talking about the corporatocracy. Major corporations not only do not pay taxes but get huge tax refunds as they outsource jobs and pollution... Also remarks on the lies about Social security." - T. Stubbs



And despite the outcry of them needing tax breaks to 'create' jobs, we all know it's bullshit and they're stockpiling as much money as they can. It's such a shame our country allows this. Oh, yeah, but it's the free market!

Check out some of the latest headlines brought to you by our beloved GOP overlords:

The War On Child Labor Laws: Maine Republicans Want Longer Hours, Lower Pay For Kids (Don't say “cheap, plentiful source of labor” like it’s a bad thing).

Pell Grants Are Becoming 'The Welfare Of The 21st Century' (I assume ONLY the children of the wealthy should get a college education).

GOP Senator says ship the mentally ill to Siberia to freeze and die (Besides, we're overly populated anyways).

GOP Lawmakers Reject Measures Reaffirming Global Warming Science (Just 'cause scientists believe it and evidence supports it).

House Republicans propose deep cuts to Medicare (GOP's budget proposal gets rid of Medicare and Medicaid but preserves tax cuts for the wealthy and leaves the defense budget untouched).

Cannibalism in America, the Super Rich are eating America, by a fellow blogger (How much is enough? If ya have to ask, you don't have enough).

Strange Dancing Frog Legs

This is really freaky. But I guess it has an explanantion.



Over at HowStuffWorks, they say it's:

"Because these are fresh frog legs, the cells inside them are all still intact. The biochemical machinery still functions. There is still a source of energy for the muscles in the form of unused ATP molecules stored in the cells. All that the muscles need is something to activate them and they can still contract and relax (until they run out of ATP or something else shuts down the biochemical machinery)."

Sustainability Seminar 2011 - Pomona

The Pomona's Regenerative Cooperative will be hosting their annual Sustainability Seminar on Saturday, April 2th, 2011!

Native plants, bonsi gardening, home rain catchment, solar power and home energy efficiency, bicycle repair, natural homemade beauty products, sewing your own clothes, reducing toxic products at home, and salvage design will all be topics presented. A discussion forum will take place in the evening. A potluck lunch at noon, and dinner and a closing party will happen after the evening forum. Below is a 'flyer' of their event.

The Top 10 Craft Beers For P*ssies

While I don't think the word 'pussies' is a bad word when used as a synonym for 'wussies', I went ahead and added an asterisk in place of the 'u' to keep the headline safe. From who? No one, it's late and I can't think much.

But this is a good silly article for those regular 'light' beer or domestic drinkers... just check out how it starts:

"So you have found yourself on a date with that hot hipster chick from the office. Lucky you. She insists that the two of you stop by her favorite super-cool beer and wine bar because "Hipsters so don't hang out there." You know you have been tricked the second you walk into the joint and it's nothing but a sea of over-sized cropped lace tops, boat shoes and stupid hats. After a quick glance at the beer menu, you realize there is no Bud Light, Coors Light or any of the other usual suspects and you start to panic. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DRINK?!"

Here's the description of the number 3:


3. Mama's Little Yellow Pils, Oskar Blues - It's little. It's yellow. It's a pilsner. One delicious step up from a Budweiser, one huge step up in class.
Source: Top 10 Craft Beers for Pussies by ChowBella Blog

Half Of America On Facebook

Facebook may be getting closer to taking over America.

According to Edison Research, more than half of all Americans aged 12 or older are now on Facebook. The study showed that 51 percent of these Americans are on the site.

Now where do I click 'Like' on this one? There's no 'Dislike' button yet...

Source: HuffPost.

Life Is Crazy And So Are The Headlines

Been away from the blog so much lately, there's simply too much stuff going on. I have managed to do some more garden/backyard work in some of that time (including a cool re-claim of a bar table/setting) and hopefully will post pictures soon as Spring warms up.

Among other things, I've enrolled in the Pomona Police Citizen's Academy and it's been pretty awesome. It's a great experience to see the inner workings of this city's Police department. Hopefully I can post some more info on that once I've completed the program.

I also have my oldest son getting ready to finish up his senior year in High School. He's been accepted to 2 universities so that's very exciting. I've also managed to snag some Lakers suite tickets once again for this Sunday's game. What better way to go than a suite? Free food and drinks! Woohoo! The only way to go to a Laker game.

Other than that, this crazy world remains that. Here's some nonsense happening in our modern world. Hopefully you've stumbled here with a nice cup of coffee (yes you, the 1 reader, if any).

Head on over to Texas and have a burger at Fat Ho Burgers.

Cocaine found at NASA once AGAIN.

1/3 of Staten Island is on pain pills.

Chinese farmer claims his sheep gave birth to a Sheep-Dog.

I hate to say this, but I must. Whats Black, White and RED all over?
(I know bad joke, but you get it right?)

I'm moving to Russia, here's the World Map Of Average Breast Cup Size.

Verizon DSL, FiOS And A Tip For Windows.

I've had Verizon DSL ever since I've moved out here. It's been great and does what it needs to do for only $23.99 a month. Sometimes, it does feel a bit laggy, especially when the kids visit YouTube.com., but we know how to deal with that and are used to it.

Last week my DSL did not work for 3 days, and it was after the one hour of over an inch rainfall. Naturally, this can cause moisture affecting the connection at the pole.

I decided, let me call Verizon to see if the Pomona/Claremont area has experienced any problems due to the rain. Well, that failed as I got a person from India on the phone. I am trying to ask a simple question for something local, but this person cannot help and they're reading a screen for every thing I say. I know all the procedures for DSL re-setting and explained what I did to them. Instead of getting irritated and call this person names, I said, fine, I'll do what you say again. And naturally, I did and it was the same routine. As she read the thank you and blah blah, she basically said she'll send a tech out... in SIX DAYS!

I told her, look, do you have a number I can call in case it works by then, I have a feeling it will. She gave me a number and I wrote it down. About 3 days later, all was well and the internet was fine. I wanted to wait a few days though, because when it wasn't working, it would seem to work for about 2 minutes then disconnect for hours again.

This morning was the appointment for the tech who was scheduled at 8am. I called their office around 7am to let them know it has been fine for 3 days. They said the tech is out already and to wait for his call. He arrived and called from his van, so I explained it to him and he didn't have to come in.

What a waste of time and money, this is complete bullshit. Not only for the fact that I had to wait six days, but Verizon is actually wasting money when they can have the local office's number on hand to verify a simple problem question that applies to the area.

And my rant now continues into the FiOS upgrade they're trying to force on us. I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but I believe they're 'hiccuping' the old DSL users so that you sort of have to upgrade to FiOS. Just like Microsoft does to old windows users when a new version is released, by constantly 'updating' your old system to a slow crawl.

While they say it'll be $39.99 for a year, it will then bump up to $59.99, more than double what I'm paying now. As a matter of fact, I took my computer to a friend who has FiOS and did some heavy downloading to test it. Yes, it is faster, but it farts along. What I mean, currently I download anywhere between 20K to 125k a second, whereas FiOS can go to 400K or so. But while it's downloading at 400k, it tends to fluctuate, it at one point went down to 19K for a while. Then back to 90k, then 200k, then back to 19k again. It was during the day and perhaps time does matter. My point is, unless I'm downloading gigabytes of stuff a day, it's pointless.

The funny thing was, after the tech left, I decided to do some surfing. It was fine for about 20 minutes, then it started to hang and sometimes lead to connection failures. I almost screamed and said this is going to be a really bad day. I did the following and it's back to normal, in fact, it seems faster! All thanks to the power of Google, not outsourced customer service.


So here's a little tip in case you're ever in my situation, or really, if your internet seems to hang quite a bit for no reason. This error will show if you ever try to 'Repair' your connection:

Windows could not finish repairing the problem because the following operation could not be completed:
Clearing the ARP cache
For assistance, contact the person who manages your network

The Microsoft Windows ARP cache will occasionally become corrupt and need to be cleared. The first symptom you are likely to notice is that connections to web pages will time out and fail. To fix this error, go to Start, Run, type CMD.EXE and then type NETSH and finally type INTERFACE IP DELETE ARPCACHE. You should get an OK prompt.

If you do get an error, you can visit the website I stole this help tip from, as there is another way to do it and this post is already way too long: Tech-Faq's ARP clear

My Drunk Kitchen

1908 - Pomona Winter Scene

It's hard to imagine a scene like this nowadays around here... I'm thinking this is near northeast Pomona and south Claremont more or less. I wonder if that's Pomona College in Claremont way in the back?

(Click to Enlarge)

Chase Your Checking Away

I do my major banking with Chase and have several accounts with them. Not by choice of course, I originally opened my account in 1993 with Household Bank. They were eventually bought out by Home Savings of America, which then became Washington Mutual. And of course, we all know they are now Chase. We have several free checkings that we've kept over the years for ourselves as side accounts. You know, for gas, lunch or extra little things instead of using our main account.

Well, the fees are here now! I had perhaps $30 sitting in my checking and now it's $20. As of 3/7/2011, they are adding a $10 fee. That is of course, UNLESS you meet one of the following criteria:

* At least one single direct deposit of $500 or more,
* A minimum daily balance of $1,500 or more,
* An average balance of $5,000 across all Chase deposit accounts (checking, savings, CDs) and/or investment accounts with Chase Investment Services Corp,
* Pay $25 or more in qualifying account fees (not including this monthly service fee)
While it was nice to have our own side checking accounts, which pay NO interest as it is, it is time to say:
Why? Well, for one, we bailed these mother f*ckers out with OUR money, and this is how they repay the people. And another thing, the hardest hit people who can't meet these requirements are poor people, which is most people (and growing).

and I borrow this quote from PND:

"This was the year America finally took on the power and greed of the Wall Street banks.

And the banks won.

They dodged the bullet of real reform, probably for all time. They bounced back to post huge profits, helped by legal theft from the middle class. They completed their takeover of both political parties – and bought themselves a new Congress even more pliable than the old one. Middle-class America is flattened, devastated and broke. The bankers that caused it all have escaped punishment. They’re raking in huge profits. Oh, and the tax cuts just got extended for high earners, too!"

Luckily, our main checking account will meet the requirement for what I hope will be a long time. We still have savings with them but they seem to be okay for now. We've also taught ourselves to NEVER use an ATM that isn't Chase, unless it's an extreme emergency.

Why? I'll give you the simple math: You pull out $20 at a 7/11 ATM, which charges you $2.50. Then within that period, you will be charged an additional $2.00 at your bank for using a non-Chase ATM. So that $20 you pulled out cost you $24.50, which means you paid 22.50% to get $20.

And you know what? It's only going to get worse.

L.A. City Elections Today

I'm thinking of heading down to L.A. for the after parties, why not? I am wishing Jose Huizar the best of luck. This guy ran a tough campaign and is a friend of my family. We are no longer in District 14, but continue to support him. It's been a crazy campaign against Rudy Martinez, but we'll see how it went tonight. For a list of all the certified candidates, Click Here.

Among other things, I stopped by Pomona's City Clown-cil meeting last night. No comment. ;)

And I attended the M3 Music Festival in Downtown Pomona on Sunday, and that was awesome. Ran into some old L.A. friends there and met Richard Blade. Until the darn clouds rolled in and took the sun away.

Update:Looks like Huizar is taking this one as of right now (11:45pm), he's at 65%. For all the L.A. election results you can go here: City Clerk Election Results

Parents Shouldn't Text

Claremont's First Friday Artwalk

Apparently, there are still ArtWalks in Claremont and have been for some time. I was under the impressions that they no longer had them. I remember going for one and the packing house lay an empty place with children workshops. Someone was telling me there wasn't much support for it, which also lead to their art gallery/museum closure.

Again, I'm wrong, and there will be one this Friday March 4, 2011. The times seem to be a mixture of either 5:30pm to 8:30pm, or perhaps 6:00pm to 9:00pm. I would advise being there at those times, as unlike the Pomona Artwalk, which can unofficially go 'til 11pm at times, this one I'm sure is on full schedule.

For more info and directions visit: ArtWalk Clremont.com

Earliest Monopoly Games Sells

This old round gameboard is made from oilcloth, one of 5000 made by Charles Darrow in 1933. This is the last original circular Monopoly game known to still exist. All hand drawn in pen and ink, with the pieces made of wood moulding. Darrow's game is based on political activist Lizzie Magie’s Landlord’s Game, which she created to point out social injustice at the turn of the last century. Darrow produced his game in Atlantic City, during the Great Depression when he was unemployed and had a family to support. He sold the rights of Monopoly to Parker Brothers Games in 1934, putting an end to his financial worries.

You can read the more detailed article over at Daily Mail UK.

This Sunday @Fox Pomona:

(Click Image For More Info)

Double Bevmo Visit

My birthday has passed now, about 2 weeks ago to be exact. I received 2 wonderful gifts from my sisters, $75 total in Gift Cards to BevMo. While I generally go to BevMo for their awesome wine sales, I don't frequent them as much as Liquorama and Walnut Liquors for quality microbrews.

I started off with a trip to the BevMo in Rancho Unga-Bunga (Cucamonga). I figured, okay, this is the I.E., there ain't shit to do out here so I'm assuming there might be plenty of beer connoisseurs out here. I realized it must be inventory day, the store seemed rather small and it just so happened they were working in the beer section. The isles were small and it felt crowded, especially with the annoying worker going back and forth without saying excuse me or anything. I also noticed alot of their beers were past their prime and dusty. Some beers noted 'drink by November 2010'. Yuck... so I spent alot of time not only looking at varieties, but pulling bottles out for dates. They either state the day their made or when to drink by for best flavor. I wanted to try the Alaskan IPA 6-pack, but the date freaked me out. I ended up settling for a 22oz of it, along with some Big Sky IPA from the state of Montana. Grabbed an Alesmith IPA 22oz for tasting as well.

While I was there, 2 tall blondes were looking for beers in the same aisle. As I mentioned, it was crowded just with us. Lo and behold, I hear a 'pop' and 'smash' and witness one of the girls drop a 22oz. of Coastal Fog. Cleanup on aisle microbrews please! Dingbats... I left the store and wasn't satisfied with it, this one sucks. I guess I.E. loves their monster drinks, domestic beer and sideways flat bill caps.

Later that evening, I drove to the BevMo in Glendora. Ah, this one seems a little more roomier and the staff is pretty friendly. Walked towards the back where the beer section was once again. The aisles were a bit wider and there was a worker doing the inventory/stock thing again. This guy was courteous as he worked. I asked him questions and he was very helpful. He didn't mind stopping and helping me look for something, or to even explain his experience with the brews. I felt at home here... although some beer here also was past its prime as well.

Left home with a Moose Drool Brown Ale 6-ack from Montana, Deadlift Imperial IPA 4-pack, Lagunitas IPA 6-pack, Coastal Fog IPA 12-pack, Sam Adams Noble Pils 6-pack, several Stone 22oz and others. The staff was friendly all the way to the register. They probably thought I was some kind of drunk buying all this beer.

Nah, I'm just stashing away in the garage for the Spring to come backyard BBQs. I will however, sift a taste of these fine brews tonight with the wife!

It's Raining! Vote For Franz

Finally... took a while there. Sure, the sunny days were nice of course. But not yet please! At least it still got a bit chilly at night though. Regardless, I'm outside enjoying the on/off pouring rain.

And while I'm at it, I think I'll sing this song performed by a Pomona artist/local named Franz Keller:



By the way, he's in some kind of contest and would appreciate a click on the THUMBS UP icon!

THIS WEEK: Boys Basketball CIF Playoffs

CIF-SS Boys Basketball Playoff Schedule


All games start at 7 p.m.

Wednesday's first round:

Division 1AA
Leuzinger at Chino Hills

Division 1A
Diamond Bar at Cajon
West Covina at Capistrano Valley
Tesoro at Walnut

Division 2A
Ontario at Rowland
Eastside at Glendora
Baldwin Park at Foothill
Don Lugo at Ayala

Division 3AA
Arroyo at Nogales
Claremont at La Verne Lutheran

Division 3A
Calabasas at Diamond Ranch
Temple City at Bonita
Agoura at Damien

Division 4AA
St. Francis at Sierra Vista
Northwood at Northview
South El Monte at Atascadero
San Luis Obispo at Bishop Amat
Servite at San Dimas
Tahquitz at Mountain View

Division 4A
Workman at Whittier Christian
Rubidoux at La Puente
Wilson at Desert Hot Springs
Ganesha at Ontario Christian
Covina at Morro Bay

Artwalk & Other Things

The kids were off this past Friday, so it made for a very long weekend. Made some time to attend the Pomona ArtWalk and it was a wonderful one. The area was packed, especially with Snoop Dogg performing at the Fox. The Art was incredible too, lots of new stuff, especially the Bunny Gunner with it's 'All You Can Eat' Art buffet. Ran into some old time friends and had a few drinks around town as usual. Ern's Loft Beats was happening too!


While on my little 'walk and drink', I got word that there will be a place in downtown Pomona serving NOTHING BUT American Made Microbrews on tap. I am excited and my palate and liver are doing flips over this. I was told this will happen as soon as the last drip of Newcastle is finished from tap. I will keep you posted as to when this happens.

What else is in the news? I'd like to congratulate the city of Baldwin Park's Sierra Vista High School 'DONS' for their great basketball season. The Freshman and JV teams won league, and the Varsity is playing their CIF Playoff game at home against St. Francis on Wednesday 7pm. Varsity finished 2nd in the Montview league, with a 12-2 league record.

(Delan Diaz of Sierra Vista HS)
What else, what else... hmmm. I'm a little upset with politics locally right now, but I'll get over it soon and I hate to vent this second. On a lighter note, it was recently my Birthday and I received $75 in gift cards for BEVMO. There, that made me S M I L E !

Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day yesterday (if you care for it).

The New Indentured Servitude

(Click To Enlarge)

And While We're On The Jobs Topic...

New Bill For Unemployed 99ers

As many of you are or may know someone who's been unemployed for a while now, it's good to hear that some in Congress are trying to introduce a bill to help the 99'ers. These are those who have exhausted all their unemployment benefits and are no longer collecting. The bill is to add another extension of 14 weeks to everyone.

Most of the 99'ers have worked in between (like myself) but the jobs are temporary or aren't long term for many reasons. I have a relative who has had 3 jobs since being laid off his main job for about 1 1/2 years. The jobs lasted only 2-4 months due to cuts at work. So back they go to unemployed and searching. The most wonderful thing about the benefits is that this money is pumped right back into the economy keeping it rolling, it's the most effective way.

The 'give the super rich tax breaks and it'll create jobs' is plain bullshit. You give them more money and they keep more money. Just look at how much cash is being held by corporations today, more than ever in history! Not to mention record profits continuing for them...

Anyways, here's the article from the: L.A. Times.

City of Pomona Cultural Plan Passed

(Photo by REN)
"After a year of hard work by a group of diligent and dedicated citizens under the stewardship of Terry Wolverton, a grant from the NEA, fabulous support from Emiko Ono and the Cultural Arts Commission, the City of Pomona unanimously passed a Strategic Cultural Arts Plan last night."

In 2010, the City of Pomona was selected to join four other municipalities throughout Los Angeles County to receive support from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts to develop a Cultural Plan for the City. Spearheaded by the Cultural Arts Commission—Rochelle Bryant, Earnest P. Campos, Douglass Dorado, Mickey Gallivan, Joy McAllister, Cindy Moore and Rita Romero—the cultural planning process has allowed Pomona to engage its residents and other stakeholders in considering how arts and culture can improve the quality of life for those who live and work here. Over 100 representatives of the arts, business, social service, educational and civic communities have advised this plan.

Visit for more info: Pomona Cultural Plan

(thanks to A.S. Ashley and Andi Campognone for the heads up!)

The Sam Adams Family For Winter

We have some guests over at the 'Skrip' house this winter. And I will say, they're certainly a tasty bunch. Let me introduce you...


Standing from left to right are: Boston Lager (Father), White Ale, Latitude 48 IPA, Chocolate Bock, Winter Lager, Holiday Porter, and the Old Fezziwig Ale (Mother).

What a gorgeous shot of the kids, surrounded on both ends by their parents!

2nd Street Cigars

No, not on 2nd Street in Downtown Pomona, but on 2nd Street in Downtown Los Angeles.

I was there for a fundraiser last Thursday and it was a blast. Dignity Cigars was hosting the event for the Youth Speak Foundation. There were also a variety of Red and White wines, as well as cheeses to go with it. Here are some shots of the event:






For more information on 2nd Street Cigars, visit their website.

Photos by Rudy Espinoza