30th Annual Long Beach Blues Festival

Coming to downtown Long Beach on September 5 & 6. This is  a yearly fundraiser for Cal State Long Beach KKJZ FM 88.1.  That is a GREAT jazz and blues station if you are within range of its’ signal and this event keeps it on the air for twelve months.

The  venue is Rainbow Lagoon Park and the headline performers include  Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Bobby Womack and the very unique voice and styling of Mavis Staples.  

This will be the 30th annual year for the this wonderful event.  It will also feature The Blind Boys of Alabama,  Funky Meters, Johnny Winter, Sonny Landreth, Betty Lavette, Homemade Jamz Blues Band, Diunna Greenleaf, Andy Walo Trio and the Hill Country Review.

The Long Beach Blues Festival has become one of the top summer venues in Southern California. Tickets, we hear, are selling  said to be almost sold out.  You can go to Ticketmaster as well as World of String in Long Beach.  Additional info is available at KKJZ’s website www.jazzandblues.org.  Tickets are from about $55 to $90. (for both days)

For those who have never been there….this is an annual  “happening”

For Josh

RE: the $250 million dollar QB club.

Waiting to hear from QBs for follow up story.   Hang in there.

FDA Alert

On June 19, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned consumers not to eat any varieties of prepackaged Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough due to the risk of contamination with E. coli O157:H7 (a bacterium that causes foodborne illness).

What’s up in Huntington Beach

Chili Cook Off this Saturday June 20 —Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads !

The 2nd annual Chili at the Beach in Downtown Huntington Beach will be held on Saturday, June 20th presented by the Huntington Beach Downtown Business Improvement District.  Activities include a chili-cook off on Saturday, a competition benefiting CHOC Hospital, prizes, children’s activities, entertainment, and Father’s Day Specials on Sunday!  Saturday the event is open from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Overnight Family Campout

Come enjoy a weekend full of outdoor fun.  Families are invited to come and enjoy activities, music, food, and crafts in Central Park.  Ten foot by ten foot spaces are available for reservation.  The cost is $10 per space and $10 per person, which includes dinner, snacks and breakfast.  This is a chance for families to have a low-cost camping experience and to play together in an outdoor atmosphere.  Check in will begin on July 11 at 12 noon and the event will end at 11:00 a.m. on July 12.  Pre-registration is required and space is limited.  For more information and reservations, call 714-536-5486.

The H B Children’s Library hits a home run with its 100 year Centennial Summer Reading Program!

Join  the Children’s Department for a special Summer Reading Program to celebrate the City’s 100 year Birthday.

Between June 23 and August 14, children between the ages of 2-12 can sign up and “read around the bases” for the “Home Run Readers: Celebrate 100 years of Reading” program, sponsored this year by Angels Baseball and the Beach Pit BBQ.

Register at the Central Library or at any of our four branch libraries, and earn a visit prize and raffle ticket for each weekly visit.  You can even earn special “base” prizes!

Raffle prizes for the Home Run Readers program include 4 tickets to an Angels game on August 25, Disneyland tickets, and lots more! For ages 13 and up, the theme is “Express Yourself @ your Library”.  Additional support comes from the Friends of the Children’s Library and local merchants who have generously donated great food coupons and other prizes to be handed out during weekly visits.

Registration is open June 23 through August 14.

Good News for the “Bird Farm”

The C-17 is still Flying and it looks like there will be more to come for this almost endangered species!

The Administration had been sending mixed signals to us on the fate of our “Big Bird.”
-In March the President supported continued production for the Boeing C-17.
-In April Secretary Gates wanted to cut production and spoke strongly that
would happen.

Now it looks like congress, and Californian solons have spoken and the chances are pretty good we’ll keep making the C-17 going at the Long Beach Boeing plant. That means a total of 5,000 jobs one third of which are Orange County residents.
We usually are not supporters of “pork barrel” projects. (Nobody likes “pork” unless it is their “pork”) but  there was no doubt that additional aircraft were needed https://www.whatsupinsealbeach.com/index.php?s=c-17 but Gates wanted to increase production of the Lockheed C-5,  a 40 year old design that did not compare with the phenomenal results our medical personnel have been having in removing battlefield casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan using the C-17s.

We hope they won’t change their mind again.  This plane has come along to go to  the battlefields just in time.  We shouldn’t change horses when we have a winner!
For complete info go to OCR at  http://sciencedude.freedomblogging.com/2009/06/13/boeing-deal-would-extend-jobs-for-1500-oc-workers/36095/

Here Come The Developers Again!

The old power plant site on First street and to the San Gabriel River is  one of few possible sites left in California for an ocean-front hotel.

Its’  almost 11 acres of undeveloped land on Seal Beach’s coast and its been up for sale for almlost a year with expectations that the buyer would turn the site into a small hotel, not unlike the Seal Beach Inn; The Inn was demolished three years ago to build five upscale homes, some of which we believe are still unsold.

The owner of the land is a Limited Liability Corporation called, Bay City Partners, LLC, and they put it up for sale less than a year ago and are asking $26.5 million for the I0.7-acre parcel.  Seems like a fair mark-up since they paid $4.5 million for it in 2003.

It has been empty for nearly 30 years.

Estimates on building a 150-room hotel at the site were in the $32 million range  last year,  about $215,000 per room, Hotels on the beach in Orange County have been selling for about $460,000 per room according to estimates in August of 2008.

It goes without saying that the city has been very conscious of how that very prominent piece of land would be developed . As long ago as 1996 they voted against cramming in a lot of single family residences on the site because of: destroying views of existing homes, creating additional impact on existing traffic,  and the costs of other services. (Taxes on R-1 property rarely covers  the cost of the services provided by the city.)

Nearby resident Joel Davidson led a group of citizens who campaigned against the two story homes blocking the view of  existing residents when Bay City brought a similar plan before the council in 2003.  At that time, Rocky Gentner, a partner in the Bay City group said Davidson’s view protection ended at his property line and implied that therefore his argument was moot there’s a nice, thoughtful developer.  (Coincidentally, Bay City LLC was a prominent supporter of the pro-three story faction in the 2008 election. Since the defeat of the three story supporters the fence around the power plant property has been lined w/heavy green tarp.  Was that to block the view of the jetty, the marina’s and the landscape west of first street…. in the hopes that we wouldn’t know what we were going to lose if they got their new subdivision approved.) 

In 1996, after extensive meetings and with input from the citizens of Seal Beach, the City Council approved zoning for the property that would allow a 150 room hotel or smaller but let it be known that the open space should be substantial (about 70% )  and citizens should have access to the green space created and they did not want gated communities.  The majority of the land, some of which runs next to the San Gabriel river, would remain available for public use and as open space.

The land originally sold in 2003 (or 2000?) for a reported $4.5 million dollars. Whether Bay City LLC  are the original buyers (after the power plant removal) or not we aren’t sure, however, and and all buyers after 1996, bought it with full knowledge of the city’s zoning requirements and the neighbor’s views.

The city zoned the land as they did, and when they did, so that any prospective buyers would know that 70% of the land was to be left as open space and the city wanted a 150 room (or less) hotel for increased revenues for Seal Beach;  a desire that is even more needed in 2009.

Why Bay City has not been able to sell the land in the last year is anyone’s guess.  One reason might be the $26 and half million price tag.  A hefty price even for Seal Beach. Less than a year ago the firm marketing the land said there were several hotel developers interested and they expected the land to be sold in four to six months. Now Bay City has now come to the city with a proposal for creating 56 lots and building 35 two story homes,  21 “casitas”,  (size not available at this time) and a 75 room hotel with spa, restaurant and pool. 

This proposal seems to be even more egregious than the proposal Bay City brought before the planning  department 6 years ago. 

 

Some advice for Bay City Partners –  You should keep one thing in mind….. The citizens of Seal Beach don’t want to turn our town into another Huntington Beach. We saw what happened there.

We’ve got something magical in this city and we won’t let personal avarice take it away.

Some advice for Seal Beach residents – Watch to see where Bay City ads and/or financially supported stories appear to support the project and remember who looked for dollars rather than supporting the community. 

FDA Alerts Patients to Pacemaker Recall

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting patients to the Class I recall of certain Medtronic Kappa and Sigma pacemakers. These devices may fail due to a separation of wires that connect the electronic circuit to other pacemaker components, such as the battery. 

Patients with malfunctioning pacemakers may experience a return of symptoms associated with abnormal heart rate, such as fainting or lightheadedness. In rare cases, pacemaker-dependent patients may experience serious injury or even death.

There are more than 1.7 million Kappa or Sigma pacemakers implanted in patients throughout the world. Of those, only about 21,000 pacemakers are affected by this recall, most of which have been implanted in patients for five years or longer.

Medtronic Inc. issued a letter to physicians alerting them to this problem on May 18. The company communicated with patients via letter on May 27. 

The affected pacemakers are Kappa Series 600/700/900 and Sigma Series 100/200/300. Patients with these models of Kappa and Sigma pacemakers should determine if their pacemaker is part of this recall by contacting Medtronic at 800-505-4636 or going to their Web site at http://www.KappaSigmaSNList.medtronic.com.

Patients who have these recalled pacemakers and those who are unsure if their pacemakers are affected should follow up with their primary care physician or cardiologist.

Through standard medical device reporting requirements, the FDA became aware of possible problems and worked with the company to address them. The FDA classified this voluntary recall as Class I, indicating reasonable probability that the use of the device will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.

For more information: http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm165619.htm

PARIS SALE OF THE CENTURY!

PARIS SALE OF THE CENTURY
Auction
By wilm

I guess, technically, it really was an auction but that’s not descriptive enough.  Maybe a gala, an affair, a pageant, a real “to-do”, a moveable feast or, as my Dad might have called it,  a “heck of a shindig” ….had he been allowed in, which is doubtful.

When Christie’s held the soiree of soirees to unload  (pardon me “offer”) the effects of the life long partnership of Yves St. Laurent and Pierre Berge, at the Grand Palais exhibition space, it was a six day affair that was attended by more than 30,000 people. In addition there were over 10 auctioneers taking non-stop phone call bids for six days. St. Laurent, of course, died last year and my guess is that he and Pierre had pre-ordained the auction of what they had collected over their 50 years.

To have a successful gathering in Paris it was considered essential to have Yves St. Laurent in attendance.  Yves made this one through his collection.

The 10 page spread in the July edition of Architectural Digest is something to behold, especially if you are in-between jobs or on short rations, so-to-speak. I freely admit that my knowledge in the world of art is lacking. Without using a lot of cliché’s trying to support my ignorance (“I know what I like”, etc.) I confess that my admiration is usually limited to  saying ….”that cost how much?”

Well this collection is something you have to see to believe. Over 6 world records were set for art works and there must have been 50 set for furniture. Those of you who are true aficionados will revel in it and those who don’t know anymore than I do will share my astonishment.

The magazine spread displayed many of the items sold with a tag of what room they’d been in at St. Laurent’s digs.  The first page displayed 12 items of furniture and some bric-a-brac that sold for a little over $53 million. I liked a wooden sculpture that resembled a large nut cracker but I thought that $37 million was too much.  I wouldn’t have paid a penny over $35 million. There also were some lack luster jugs that sold for about $130,000 that  didn’t impress me but there was another pair of jugs that looked a lot nicer and went just under $3,000,000.  I think at that price they are called a “brace of vases”….with a long “Aaaaaa.”

The second and third pages were identified as “The Grand Salon 1976” but the total here was a paltry  $32 million. Admittedly that didn’t include whatever was paid for some partially empty liquor bottles but it did include an old leather chair that went for $28 million! ( I’m almost sure I saw its twin at a Belmont Shore garage sale just before Christmas.)  I did like the four nice wooden chairs that were a bargain, I guess, at $132,000, and also a very nice piece of wooden statuary of a pregnant pelican. I know, I know,  pelicans don’t get pregnant .. but I don’t think the artist knew.   Anyway it was only $774,000.

When I got to the fourth and fifth pages, “The Grand Salon 2008” I finally saw something I recognized….(see I’m not totally a tyro)  A Matisse that sold for $10 million and a de Chirico for $14,233,226.  Imagine adding twenty six dollars to a $14 million dollar bid to win? That called “chutzpah.”

I thought one of the highlights of the auction happened before it began by Mr. Berge, apparently he  is not only an unique collector but a businessman with a great knack for negotiation. Prior to the sale a dispute had unfolded over two Qing dynasty bronze animal heads, a rabbit and a rat, originally looted from an imperial palace in China by British soldiers in 1860 (who else?) but purchased legally. China had demanded their return, but a French court ruled the evening before the sale that the auction of the heads could proceed as scheduled.

The issue had become a heated one in China, stirring nationalist indignation. Mr. Berge countered that the heads belonged to him, saying, however, he would gladly give them to China if Beijing would “observe human rights and give liberty to the Tibetan people and welcome the Dalai Lama.”    The heads were sold.

I know Yves was a brilliant and creative man but some of these things must  have been purchased when he was in one of his drug induced hazes. Of course that would  then that beg the question, what about the bidders this year who were willing to pay more than  St. Laurent did when they bought these things.

Which begs the next question….what the heck do I know?

The grand total of the sale was almost one half a billion dollars!  Perhaps not enough to help GM or AIG but certainly a wonderful contribution for “”Research on Aids” and a host of other charities created by St. Laurent and Berge.

A most noble gesture by two true “Renaissance Princes.”

Go to:http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0224/1224241708940.html  Or:
http://themoment.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/hammer-time-yves-saint-laurent-and-pierre-berges-art-collection/
Or:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/02/christies-auction-sabotage-lifestyle-collecting_chinese_sculptures.html

Or :

www.architecturaldigest.com <http://www.architecturaldigest.com>
(July issue of  Architectural Digest was not on line as of Tuesday , June 9, 2009)

Snoop Dogg and Willie McGinnest Come Home to Long Beach

Two Poly high Jackrabbits have long wanted to do something to help the kids from the neighborhood where they grew up.

Finally there is a project  that will work for them. It is the construction of a $140 million dollar Community Center that will be constructed at the old Hamilton Bowl at Walnut Ave and Pacific Coast Highway next to Long Beach City College BTD Campus. (Where Park’s gasoline used to give away a new Cadillac every three months.)

Rapper “Snoop Dogg”  (AKA Calvin Broadus) and 15 year NFL star Willie McGinnest are just two of many Poly High graduates to make it to the “Big Time” but they both agreed this would be the ultimate “big time” for them.

Willie and Snoop appeared with 6^th District Councilman Dee Andrews , also a track star at Poly and CSULB and NFL, and Snoop Dog spoke to the audience and said that he is going to produce and release a song and all the proceeds will go toward the construction and could be as much as $10 millon. The Salvation Community Center will be known as the “Kroc Center” since the late widow of Ray Kroc, McDonald’s heiress, Joan Kroc, made a very large donation toward the construction of the center.

McGinnest remembers playing baseball at Hamilton BowlSnoop Dogg said “it would mean the world to me to also put on a benefit concert at the center.”

For more info go to Press Telegram at:http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_12564274

New Smoking Ban at Farmer’s Market

The Long Beach City Council approved a measure on Tuesday that would add bus stops and farmers markets to the list of no-smoking zones later this summer.   Currently the City of Long Beach prohibits smoking at beaches, parks, hospitals, bars, restaurants, school campuses and most workplaces.  

Quoted by the Press Telegram, Councilman Robert Garcia, who sponsored the ban with Suja Lowenthal, said “It’s a common sense approach. I don’t think people want to be shopping for fresh produce and inhaling cigarette smoke at the same time.”

The ban which was could result in fines $100 to $500 for anyone caught smoking within 20 feet of banned areas is set to take effect later this summer.   Watch for new signs to be posted soon. 

For more information on the new ordinance please read the full story in the Press Telegram  http://www.presstelegram.com/search/ci_12557157?IADID=Search-www.presstelegram.com-www.presstelegram.com&IADID=Search-www.presstelegram.com-www.presstelegram.com

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