I was driving to Santa Monica from my house yesterday on Bundy and was waiting to turn left onto Pearl when I saw a small pink Porsche in the opposite lane, stopped even though the light was green. Eventually it started moving again (I think the driver was talking to someone in the lane next to him) and as it passed me I saw it was Jerry Seinfeld.
I knew from the LA Auto Show that Seinfeld collected Porsche. And it turns out that at one point in the 1990s he rented a hangar at the Santa Monica Airport to store his cars -- he has over 40. (We were a couple blocks away from the airport when I saw him so it's possible he still does.)
The car he was driving yesterday, which was a convertible, is not the car you want to be driving if you're trying to be low key. Then again, I can't recall the last time I saw him in the pages of People or US Weekly ("They drive million dollar cars, just like us!" wouldn't go very well in their celebrities are just like us section, I guess) so he must be doing a decent job of keeping the paparazzi at bay.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Arlen Specter
Just read that GOP Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is switching to to the Democratic party, putting the Democrats one seat closer to 60. (If Al Franken is ever seated they'll be at 60.)
There's some self-interest at play here. As Cillizza lays out here, Specter is up for reelection in 2010 and he was facing a very difficult primary challenge from former Pennsylvania Rep. Pat Toomey (who headed the uber-conservative Club for Growth from 2005 till recently).
Specter has long been one of the more moderate Republicans in Congress (he's pro-choice and as ranking Republican of the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee he tends to support more funding for those programs rather than less, especially when it comes to health programs).
On a personality note, Specter can be a cranky guy, at least when dealing with reporters. (Not that his constituents necessarily care about his demeanor with reporters; presumably, they elect him based on his stance on the issues). But he has also survived numerous health challenges. He was diagnosed with advanced Hodgkin’s disease in 2005 but still retained his chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee as it held hearings on Roberts' and Alito's confirmations to the Supreme Court. He was diagnosed with a recurrence last year. Part of his secret is that he plays squash almost every day.
There's some self-interest at play here. As Cillizza lays out here, Specter is up for reelection in 2010 and he was facing a very difficult primary challenge from former Pennsylvania Rep. Pat Toomey (who headed the uber-conservative Club for Growth from 2005 till recently).
Specter has long been one of the more moderate Republicans in Congress (he's pro-choice and as ranking Republican of the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee he tends to support more funding for those programs rather than less, especially when it comes to health programs).
On a personality note, Specter can be a cranky guy, at least when dealing with reporters. (Not that his constituents necessarily care about his demeanor with reporters; presumably, they elect him based on his stance on the issues). But he has also survived numerous health challenges. He was diagnosed with advanced Hodgkin’s disease in 2005 but still retained his chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee as it held hearings on Roberts' and Alito's confirmations to the Supreme Court. He was diagnosed with a recurrence last year. Part of his secret is that he plays squash almost every day.
Monday, April 27, 2009
The Santa Monica Library and Gay Marriage
The Santa Monica Library held an interesting event, called the Living Library Project, a couple weekends ago that let you check out people and talk to them for half an hour. They had a Mormon, fat activist, little person, homeless person, teenager and others. I ended up talking to the Mormon and a lesbian Jewish married mother about Prop 8 (barring gay marriage). I wrote about it in my inaugural column for CQ Politics.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Dodgeball open gym
At the open gym today I was standing by the sidelines because I'd been hit and overheard this:
Guy 1 (playing on the opposite court): Hey, baby, how do you know you're in LA?
Guy 2 (my court):
Guy 1: You're on a cellphone while playing dodgeball.
And sure enough, there was a guy in the other court holding a ball under his arm and talking on his phone. He hung up a minute later, managing to not get hit during his conversation, though also making no attempt to throw the ball.
Guy 1 (playing on the opposite court): Hey, baby, how do you know you're in LA?
Guy 2 (my court):
Guy 1: You're on a cellphone while playing dodgeball.
And sure enough, there was a guy in the other court holding a ball under his arm and talking on his phone. He hung up a minute later, managing to not get hit during his conversation, though also making no attempt to throw the ball.
Beverly Hills farmer's market
My dad, sister and I went to the Beverly Hills farmer's market this morning in search of kettle corn and produce. Normally we'd go to the Mar Vista or West L.A. markets on Sunday, but we were on our way back from breakfast at Milk, a fabulous ice cream shop/bakery that also has tasty, oversized sandwiches and salads.
Normally at a farmer's market the preponderance of goods sold are fruits and vegetables, with related cheeses, milk and breads also for sale. But half of the Beverly Hills stalls were related to health and beauty and had nothing to do with food. There were booths with information on how to have your hair naturally colored, teeth whitened or straightened and other beauty/health enhancing services.
When we finally got to the produce we were confronted by strawberries costing $23 for six cartons, $2 avocados and $4 artichokes. There was one intimidating booth that didn't even have prices. My sister and I concluded they'd followed the lead of the nearby Rodeo Drive shops, where if you have to ask . . . But if we had asked they probably would have discreetly directed us to the West L.A. farmer's market, we decided.
My dad got a massive bag of kettle corn (reasonably priced at $6) but we skipped the extravagantly-priced produced. As we were leaving, we walked by people learning more about alternative health options and other services to lose weight and look younger. But the tanning booth was full service: There was a man standing with his shirt off getting a spray tan in full view. I've never been tempted to visit a tanning salon and even if I were I'm not sure I would have chosen an open air booth exposed to gawkers like me to get a fake tan. But perhaps the it was cheaper because of the low overhead. The tan actually looked pretty authentic.
We ended up at the West L.A. farmer's market on Santa Monica Blvd., where the price points are more to our liking: three baskets of strawberries for $5 and three bunches of beets for $4.
Normally at a farmer's market the preponderance of goods sold are fruits and vegetables, with related cheeses, milk and breads also for sale. But half of the Beverly Hills stalls were related to health and beauty and had nothing to do with food. There were booths with information on how to have your hair naturally colored, teeth whitened or straightened and other beauty/health enhancing services.
When we finally got to the produce we were confronted by strawberries costing $23 for six cartons, $2 avocados and $4 artichokes. There was one intimidating booth that didn't even have prices. My sister and I concluded they'd followed the lead of the nearby Rodeo Drive shops, where if you have to ask . . . But if we had asked they probably would have discreetly directed us to the West L.A. farmer's market, we decided.
My dad got a massive bag of kettle corn (reasonably priced at $6) but we skipped the extravagantly-priced produced. As we were leaving, we walked by people learning more about alternative health options and other services to lose weight and look younger. But the tanning booth was full service: There was a man standing with his shirt off getting a spray tan in full view. I've never been tempted to visit a tanning salon and even if I were I'm not sure I would have chosen an open air booth exposed to gawkers like me to get a fake tan. But perhaps the it was cheaper because of the low overhead. The tan actually looked pretty authentic.
We ended up at the West L.A. farmer's market on Santa Monica Blvd., where the price points are more to our liking: three baskets of strawberries for $5 and three bunches of beets for $4.
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