Claremont's 7-11 Drama

The wife and I have noticed the building on Mills & Foothill for a while now. She's always saying, I wish we could move our L.A. office into this cool building.

Well, it's been cool and empty for a while now (as many other new buildings are).

But there is someone interested in it for sometime now. A 7-11 store wants in and they were denied. They are appealing this and you can read it over at the City of Claremont's Website. I must say thanks to Claremont Insider, who first broke this story (at least to my eyes).

Now, there are 2 sides in my opinion.

First Side: This is Claremont, and we all know how it works. 7-11 is known for bums, panhandlers and crime, no matter what city it's in. It's a property value dropper for many too. Sales to nearby college students would also create a 'problem' as well. And heck, there's an AM/PM down the block on Foothill & Claremont Blvd (which I believe doesn't sell alcohol), but anyways.

Second Side: 7-11 is willing to adjust its hours dramatically and become non-24 hours. Alot of college students are over 21, and they have the right to buy alcohol if they choose. Most of the students go to the 'scary' 7-11 on Indian Hill in Pomona to buy alcohol, I see them and have been with them before (And we all do miss Albertsons that had a better beer selection, don't we guys?). It would be nice to have one closer and it would be safer (Walking distance).

All in all, I think this 7-11 would be allowed, but ONLY if it was Pomona Adjacent, like drive-thrus south of the 10 (which they're currently fighting for a WalGreens north of the 10).

Oh the problems in life...

A Little Shakin' Goin On

I was up late last night and went to bed about somewhere between 3-4am. I thought one of the kids had gotten up or fallen off the bed as I was falling asleep. But it had a strange sound to it. Not enough to make me get up but I knew I wasn't nuts.

Yep, sure enough, this morning, I hear we had a magnitude 4.4 quake, and this time right from the Greater Los Angeles region. It's been a while, and again I'm reminded that we get'em here too. With the recent devastation in Haiti, Chile and Turkey among other places, i think we were due. I'm glad it was small and at a time when most are asleep.

Weird City Name Quiz

"Here's a quiz for anyone who has ever traveled the country, seen a sign, and asked, "Is that really the town's name?"

I took this quick little quiz and got a 64% correct (7 out of 11). A fun little quiz with 11 Questions to test your weird US town knowledge. You can check it out here at ------>MentalFloss.com

DPOA Ribbon Cutting

The Downtown Pomona Owners Association will be having their Open House/Ribbon Cutting ceremony TONIGHT from 5 PM to 7PM at their new office. These are the guys that are helping to make things happen in Downtown Pomona, which I am a BIG supporter of.

If you'd like to attend, the address is: 119 W. Second Street, downtown Pomona (next door to Joeys BBQ)

Congrats To Sierra Vista High Girl's Soccer!

Congratulations to the City of Baldwin Park's Sierra Vista High School Girls Soccer for winning their 1st ever CIF Southern Section Division VII Championship. They defeated top-ranked California Academy of Math and Science 4-3 in penalty kicks this past Friday at Mission Viejo High. It is the 1st school championship ever since the school first opened in 1961. They also won this game with one of their best players not available due to injury.

The SGV Tribune has the WRITE UP on this amazing victory. Congrats Lady Dons!

Global Warming

Around The Garden

Still not truly Spring yet and not much going on in the garden. There is some stuff blooming around here though. I can't wait til everything goes nuts in the Spring. Time for backyard BBQs once more. Thank goodness for all the rain we've had, and yes, more to come!

(click pictures to enlarge)
An Apple blossom from my 2 year old 6-in-1 tree. Hopefully it will start putting out apples soon. I hear it takes about 3 years, but with our wacky weather you never know.

I love perennials, hate annuals and I've never cared for bulbs, but I figured I'll try. And boy am I glad I did! Check out this wonderful Dutch Iris bloom!

Quick View In DTLA

A friend took this picture from the US Bank building, 70th floor this morning. Ears popping anyone?

(click to enlarge)

Life

This picture says it all, well, a part of it. Just been busy as heck the last few days... but I just realized my blog is now officially 1 year old! Hooray! I started in Mid-February of 2009 and here I am, still unemployed. I did work 4 months last summer under contract though. Regardless, I'll be back to post this week soon. Hopefully I got some good pictures of Friday's Big Band/Burlesque show at the Fox Pomona. See ya soon.

Health Care Systems - 4 Basic Models

The United States is the only industrialized nation without cradle-to-the-grave, universal health care. In no other developed country would a child with cancer have to go without care because an insurance company decided it was not profitable enough to cover him.

I recently read this little interesting excerpt over at PBS.org's FRONTLINE:

There are about 200 countries on our planet, and each country devises its own set of arrangements for meeting the three basic goals of a health care system: keeping people healthy, treating the sick, and protecting families against financial ruin from medical bills.

But we don't have to study 200 different systems to get a picture of how other countries manage health care. For all the local variations, health care systems tend to follow general patterns.

Click here for the four basic systems

and also:

Five Capitalist Democracies & How They Do It.

How Pugs Are Made

Fox Follies Next Friday!

Oh yeah baby, Click your heels and go back in time at the Fox!

On Friday February 26th, the Fox Theater will be hosting an awesome show that ya gotta check out. They will be featuring Big band orchestra & beautiful burlesque stars! Come dance, drink, mingle, and marvel.



Music by The Eddie Reed Big Band and Eddie Nichols.

Burlesque dancing beauties are:

Eliza Bane
Charlotte Araignee
Le Meaux
Ava Garter
Flame Cynders
Lux LaCroix
Ruby Champagne
Jolee Blon

All happening at the
Fox Theatre Pomona
301 S Garey Ave
Pomona, CA 91766-1723

Friday February 26, 2010
Show Starts: 9:00 PM
Doors open: 8:00 PM
Genre: Big Band Music
Room: Grand Hall
Ages: 18 & Over
Admission: $20 (General) $30 VIP Floor Seating

Tickets for Fox Follies are available now at:

Glasshouse Record Store
248 W 2nd St., Pomona, CA 91766
Hours:
Monday - Friday 3:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Saturday 12:00 pm - 8:00 pm
(909)865-3802

Online Tickets available by CLICKING HERE.

Printable Parking & Directions available by CLICKING HERE.

Goodbye Foothill Cities Blog

It is with deep regret that I must mention the Foothill Cities Blog, which I have been reading for a few years, has decided to call it quits. They had great blogging coverage of the San Gabriel Valley for a long time. The reason I believe is a combination of financial, technical and real life craziness, which I can totally understand. Perhaps someone would like to purchase it and host it themselves?

Click here and read their final farewell.

Valentine Hiatus

A very long 4 day weekend just passed me and no time for blogging. I am the blogger's anti-blogger, truly. I had a conversation recently with a fellow blogger at the kick ass Pomona ArtWalk on Saturday and I had mentioned that I am not the typical blogger stereotype. I am social and always out and about with friends, doing things and partying. I've always considered most bloggers the nerdy hermit stay-in-my-room type. This used to be somewhat true many years back, but not necessarily nowadays. Regular Joes do blog, and regular Janes as well. Not to mention tons of unemployed intellects and those who are frustrated by the lack of jobs. The blogosphere is too huge to give it that stereotype now. I think I lost my point to the post, but probably something along the lines of 'I do lots of other things that make me too lazy to turn the computer on and rant/post' on my blog.

Anyways, all 2 of you, thanks for checking in... you didn't have to. Really. There are more important things to do, like making sure the toilet paper isn't down to cardboard in the bathroom.

Happy Friday, Burp!

This cartoon says it all...



on another note, don't forget the ARTWALK is this Saturday (Feb.13th) in Downtown Pomona, go to MetroPomona.com for more info!

Looong Weekend Just Past

Celebrating the SuperBowl and Birthday combined in the City of Montebello... what a great party! I think I've finally recovered today.

I'm still here, just not on the internet as much this week. It looks like rain again once more, so I am very happy! Not much to say as I'm heading out the door, but here's a funny picture I found on the net:

All Ages Dance Factory @ Glass House

Have that kid who isn't even 18 yet but wants to get out and hit a dance club with friends? Heck, parents can go as well, in fact, there's a bar for you to hang at 2 doors down.

This Saturday is the Dance Factory for all ages at the Glass House in Pomona. I will be taking 2 teens there to check it out! This is the 1st event of what is to be perhaps a regular thing... anyways, won't hurt to check it out. Here's the flyer:

New Stores For N.E. Pomonans & So. Claremonters?

I just heard news from my neighbors at Claremont Insider about some new stores coming our way (at least sources told them).

Yes, those of us here in Northeast Pomona along with the folks in Claremont south of Arrow, know what it's like to go shopping. We have to take a drive down Foothill somewhere or perhaps go to Montclair or Upland to get what we need. Sure, there are some cute specialty shops in the area, but for the major things we all need, we have nothing nearby like others.

Well, the little corner of Indian Hill & Arrow, where it is famously known for it's Veteran anti-war protests on Friday afternoon, is gonna get some new name brand stores. The Peppertree Center currently does have CVS, but it is also lacks appeal for anything. The little market there has been closed forever. The other shops, I could care less for, unless you like hookahs (LOL).

I am extremely excited that Fresh & Easy will be making it's way there! Woohoo! You got a customer for life here, I love that place. And also, a Walgreens, which to me isn't that big a deal, there's already a CVS. Did Walgreen's buy CVS? Or maybe CVS sold, whatever, doesn't matter, it's still good news.

They also mention another possibility for something called 'Cheese Cave'. I have no clue what this is. Perhaps a Wine/Cheese place? Or maybe an Italian restaurant? The location for this 'Cheese Cave' is not known, perhaps the Village as Claremont Insider suggests.

Corporations Are People Too

Not...

(click to enlarge image)

Fire Rock Pale Ale

Straight from the land of volcanoes and waves, comes the Kona Brewing Company. Another great American Brewery to support! Every time I taste and enjoy a well-crafted brew, I feel nothing but pride to know that my purchase is helping our country and people. Although this brew is mainly made in Hawaii, it is also produced on the mainland in Oregon and New Hampshire (under strict guidelines of course).

When I poured this into a glass, the colors were beautiful. Not too light and not too dark, but a nice golden light reddish brown. The taste is smooth and this one seems to balance quite well. It doesn't overdo the hoppiness, sweetness or nuttiness, but you can taste them all. This is a very drinkable Pale Ale, in fact, I am very impressed. I would definitely have these for a whole night at a party, no prob! Sip, sit back and think of a nice breezy hawaiian evening as the sun sets.

This baby gets a 4.2 out of 5 stars and now sits as one of my top 5 American Pale Ales!