An amazing visit to the San Diego Zoo

My family and I spent 6 hours at the San Diego Zoo on Saturday. I’ve been there before but my wife and sons have never been. I enjoyed the zoo the last time I visited. It is very large with nice exhibits and good access to animals. This visit, however, was amazing. There were two major experiences that made it great and two minor, funny, experiences.

Minor Experience #1: Probably the least ‘amazing’ but really funny is when we approached the zebra enclosure. The zebra was eating about 10 – 12 feet from where we were standing. As we approached, the horse’s penis started coming out of his sheath. And it kept growing and growing. It started out like a banana and slowly grew to something about the size of my arm with a fist-sized knob at the end. All the adults in the area were laughing and making jokes and several children were saying, “What’s that?” I joked that it was his “trunk” but Finnegan very loudly said “That’s his PENIS!” And he said that over and over again until we hushed him. The funniest comment I heard was something about “Viagra hay”. And, yes, we do have a picture.

Minor Experience #2: This was cool and surprising. We were watching the hippos from the glass enclosure where you can see them underwater. They were ‘fighting’ by rolling their eyes and opening their mouths and baring their thick tusk-like teeth at each other, nipping at each other. That was cool. What was surprising is when one of the hippos stuck his bottom up in the air and began spraying fecal matter all over the enclosure. It flew 20 feet in every direction. It was mostly full of plant material like hay. From Wikpedia/Hippos:

To mark territory, hippos spin their tails while defecating to distribute their excrement over the greatest possible area. Hippos also urinate backwards (are retromingent), likely for the same reason.

So I wasn’t imagining it and it has a purpose. I think the thing that struck me about the hippos was how much their eyes and the way they look around remind me of pit bull. Wary, aggressive, ready to take you out. Not an animal I would want to mess with, especially with that powerful, feces flinging ass.

Major Experience #1: We started out with this one. We got to meet a relatively new arrival to the zoo, a male tiger. He weighed about 300 pounds and was wandering all over his yard because he’d only been in it for two hours. He was scent marking the whole area. He roared a challenge several times and stared right at us on several occasions. Usually when I have seen a lion or tiger at the zoo, they are laying down mostly out of site. This was the first time I have ever looked a tiger in the eyes (I have petted and had my picture taken with a female lion cub.) I had never heard one roar live. At one point he bit a piece of bamboo and hearing it crack like a bone told me just how strong his jaw is. All in all, pretty amazing.

Major Experience #2: This was the most amazing. After a disappointing glance at the orangutans who were just laying down mostly bored, we went to the mountain gorilla compound. We could see a mother and baby wandering around in back and a big silverback sitting on top of a hill.  We moved around to the glass-enclosed area to try to get a better look.  Then a young male carrying a burlap bag came right over to where we were.  About a foot from me.  He was goofing around.  Then mom and baby came over.  Inches from us through the glass.  They stayed there for ten minutes.  Even the great big silverback came and stood there staring at the people gathered around staring at him.  He was about six feet from me and amazing.  They were all amazing.  The toddler/child gorilla began spinning in circles for fun.  The mom picked at something in her ear and sniffed it (just like I’ve seen so many humans do.)  I got to look closely at their fingernails which look more like mine than some other peoples do.  They are so similar to humans, especially behavior I see expressed by my kids.  I looked at mom’s ear from about a foot away as well and just thought how human it looked.  Now their feet look a lot different from mine.  They are a little more hairy.  Their noses are a bit different.  But I see a lot more in common than I see different.

We saw some cute smaller monkey playing and one get pushed into the water, some interesting looking water-fowl that looked like a cross between a duck and a vulture, a pacing black panther, two rare snow leopards, bactrian (two-humped) camels, lots of birds, some cool stick insects, rode in the gondola (which freaked out Finn) and saw a many other less interesting exhibits.  All in all however, it was a great day.

 

A New Job in Downtown Los Angeles

I started my new job in Downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday. I am working at an elite firm that does both Federal and State Criminal and Civil matters. Four former federal prosecutors, a former District Attorney, a former Public Defender, and several litigation specialists round out the attorneys. They are also great people. The casual atmosphere is a relief after hearing horror stories about what law firms can be like.

On Tuesday, I drove there. The traffic was awful – typical of what you hear about Los Angeles. This is really the first time I have encountered it in the total 4 years I have lived in Los Angeles. I know there is bad traffic – that’s common in every decent sized city in the world. Portland was just as bad at rush hour, if not worse, through some of the more congested areas like the Sylvan pass. But the idea of spending 3 hours (round trip) in that every day, accelerating and braking, was just insane. So I decided to take public transportation (Yeah, I know, this is Los Angeles.)

I got up early on Wednesday and went to the grocery store just down the street from my home.  I bought a pass that lets me ride on both the bus, the train, the DASH (a downtown transportation bus), and a dozen other bus lines.  For $70.  And my office reimbursed me.  Versus wear and tear on my car, $3.50 a gallon for gas, the stress, and the fact that we only have one car so my wife wouldn’t be able to go anywhere during the week.  My company would have been paying $260 a month for parking so $70 for a bus pass benefits them as well.  Plus it is good for the environment.

I caught a bus at 6:40 and transferred to the train/subway at about 7:05 am.  I was off that and walking around downtown by 7:30.  I went straight to my office since I wasn’t sure how far it was away.  It is on Bunker Hill in the Bank of America building.  It is a pretty steep hill.  According to Wikipedia,  Angel’s Flight is a:

landmark funicular railway in the Bunker Hill district of downtown Los Angeles, California, which claims to be the “shortest railway in the world”. The funicular has operated on two slightly different sites, using the same cars. The first Angels Flight operated from 1901 until it was closed in 1969 when its location was redeveloped. The second reopened nearby in 1996, and closed again in 2001 after a serious accident. The second funicular still exists but does not operate, and it is scheduled to reopen in Summer 2007

I climbed the steps to the left on this defunct railway and my thighs were killing me.  They are a little to short from step to step, which just isn’t right.  My office is a block past those towers in the rear of the picture.

There are tons of stairs, cool buildings, fountains, and other things throughout downtown.  I’d always heard downtown LA sucked, but I have to disagree.  It is very interesting.  And pedestrian friendly.

It probably is dead at night and on the weekends but it is alive and exciting at lunchtime.  I’ve walked around the Civic Center where the courthouse is, where the concert halls are, other buildings, impressive fountains, other things.  I’ll take the camera and take pictures at some point.   I’ve walked down through the Central Library.  Over the the Macy’s shopping district.  It is pretty amazing.

My commute on the train is pleasant.  It is clean and quiet, I have always gotten a seat, there has only been one delay, and it comes every ten minutes so I hardly have to wait.  My commute from the train home on the bus is pretty slow — lots of traffic on Ventura — but since I am reading or writing it isn’t a big deal.

All in all this is a great change.  I miss my wife and kids though.  So I’ll write more when they are asleep or at work.  Later.

 

Winner!

I won a $250 gift card to Whole Foods.  So besides celebrity watching, I can actually go there to buy food now!

 

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!

My son received a Wii as a gift for his birthday (extravagant, I know, but… .) It came with a sport pack of 5 games like Tennis, Golf, Bowling, Baseball, and Boxing. It really is as amazing and remarkable as you’ve heard. I’ve played tennis, bowling, golf, and baseball in real life. On the Wii, Tennis is remarkably similar. You don’t have to run but how you swing, how hard you swing, what type of spin you put on the ball, all these come into play on the Wii. The same with bowling. How you flick your wrist determines the spin on the ball. Golf and baseball are less realistic, but the golfing is about as frustrating as I found it to be in real life. The boxing is the least realistic (since you don’t take a punch) but it is still fun. Overall, the Wii is a great time waster. Which is why I haven’t posted in ages.

Aside from all that, playing tennis and boxing has made me so sore. Muscles I haven’t used a lot lately are getting put to work. I wonder how many calories I am burning? That is not me in the picture but it represents how intense I get when I play the Wii

 

‘Humanity’s very survival’ is at risk, says UN

The speed at which mankind has used the Earth’s resources over the past 20 years has put “humanity’s very survival” at risk, a study involving 1,400 scientists has concluded.

The environmental audit, for the United Nations, found that each person in the world now requires a third more land to supply his or her needs than the Earth can supply.

Thirty per cent of amphibians, 23 per cent of mammals and 12 per cent of birds are under threat of extinction, while one in ten of the world’s major rivers runs dry every year before it reaches the sea.

Fear mongering? Exaggerating to make a point? Here’s the audit:

The Earth audit

– The world’s population has grown by 34% to 6.7 billion in 20 years

– Annual income per head has grown by 40% to US$8,162

– 73,000km2 of forest is lost across the world each year – 3.5 times the size of Wales

– 75,000 people a year are killed by natural disasters

– Three million die of water-related diseases

– Ten million children under 10 die

– Farmers produce 39% more from their land than in the 1980s

– 60 per cent of the world’s major rivers have been dammed or diverted

– Populations of freshwater fish have declined by 50 per cent in 20 years

– More than half of all cities exceed WHO pollution guidelines

Its bleak. Especially if you project twenty years into the future. Nine billion people.

 

Southern California Wildfire

Wow. More than 1,000,000 people have fled this fire. And here I sit, in the middle of it, in Sherman Oaks, CA, untouched.

More than a dozen wildfires blowing across Southern California since Sunday have killed two people and forced the evacuation of more than 350,000 houses, encompassing nearly 950,000 people based on average household size. More than 40 people have been injured, including 16 firefighters.

Katrina brought in tons and tons of salt water; Denver (and much of the midwest) had massive snowstorms; and now southern California burns like never before. Wow.

This map is of San Diego County October 23, 2007 about 4:30pm

 

Wildfires, Loss, and Values I will teach my children

We have raging wildfires here in Southern California today. This building is “Castle Kashan.” From the link:

In Malibu, about 700 firefighters worked to protect hundreds of homes in several upscale communities nestled in the hills. About 1,500 people were evacuated and the blaze destroyed a church and several homes, one of them the landmark Castle Kashan, a stately fortress-like home with turrets and arched windows. Chunks of brick fell from the exterior of the burning building overlooking the coast.

No residents or firefighters were injured, Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said.

The castle belonged to Lilly Lawrence, the daughter of a former Iranian oil minister. She said she was able to gather a few things before the fire engulfed her home, including some jewelry and memorabilia that included Elvis Presley’s Army fatigues.

She didn’t seem too worried about losing most of her belongings in the fire.

“My parents taught me not to allow my possessions to posses me,” Lawrence told KABC-TV. “So, that’s the story. The house is a house.”

I am impressed with her attitude and hope to impart a similar one to my children.

 

Birthday Party, sticks and stones, and asthma

We celebrated Kiernan’s 8th birthday today with his friends from school. We didn’t do the greatest job on decorations but we’re very ‘hands on’ for party games and whatnot. I threw myself into games like Green Light/Red Light, Zombie Tag, and more. It was fun and everyone had a good time until Finn stabbed Kiernan in the ear with a stick. He’s so used to having his brother’s undivided attention, the kids were really hyped up, he was getting tired, I don’t know why he did it. Luckily it didn’t get in the ear drum but the inside of his ear bled a lot and Kiernan was freaked out for a minute. I feel bad for Kiernan but at least it wasn’t one of the other kids. I don’t really understand why Finnegan does some of the things he does.

One of the children from Kiernan’s school had to have an inhalation treatment before he could play. I was concerned for him the whole time we were there, watching for any signs of distress. All that worry and he was fine. Me, on the other hand, with these huge fires in Malibu sending massive volumes of smoke into the air, and I already have a cold- I came home and still feel wheezy after taking my asthma meds. I haven’t really needed them since we moved but I spent a good ten minutes chasing kids while I was playing a zombie so… It was worth it.

 

The Wizard in the Closet

Artwork from Gina Pitkanen, one of the best illustrators alive.

J.K. Rowling revealed that Albus Dumbledore, the heroic headmaster at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series is gay.

She was asked by one young fan whether Dumbledore finds “true love.”

“Dumbledore is gay,” the author responded to gasps and applause.

She then explained that Dumbledore was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, whom he defeated long ago in a battle between good and bad wizards. “Falling in love can blind us to an extent,” Rowling said of Dumbledore’s feelings, adding that Dumbledore was “horribly, terribly let down.”

Dumbledore’s love, she observed, was his “great tragedy.”

“Oh, my god,” Rowling concluded with a laugh, “the fan fiction.”

Rowling told the audience that while working on the planned sixth Potter film, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” she spotted a reference in the script to a girl who once was of interest to Dumbledore. A note was duly passed to director David Yates, revealing the truth about her character.

This will create small stir within certain circles as well as add fuel to the fire of fundamentalists who will now link homosexuality and witchcraft and these books. But I think it is great. JK Rowling, for whomever gets this piece of information, allows us to all know ‘one more gay person’ even if they are fictional.

 

Halloween Costumes For My Boys

I have two boys, 5 and 7. The seven-year-old’s birthday is on Halloween. He’s having a big party this Sunday. And we have no Halloween costumes at all for them. What’s strange to me is that this year, unlike last year, neither of them seem very interested in dressing up. When I was their age, I was really into Halloween. They are aware of it but just aren’t focused.