How Old is Old?

It's amazing, the things you can learn just browsing through a university catalog. Our own Cal State Northridge offers a minor in gerontology. One of the required courses is, of course, "Introduction to Gerontology". It covers some of the things you might expect: issues of health, economics, social roles, etc. Among other things, students have the opportunity to engage in volunteer work at "agencies for persons over 55". I'm almost certain that isn't a typo. Fifty-five. Quite seriously, I would have expected people to be at least 70 before falling into this category. But maybe I had gerontology confused with geriatrics. Geriatrics is an area of medicine dealing with elderly patients. I've always expected that to mean people older than 70. (And a lot of people in their 70's will tell you they aren't elderly yet.) Gerontology is the study of the aging process, and includes more than just medicine. Let's face it, we are all aging all the time. Even so, in this era when we are told that "50 is the new 30", I don't think there are very many fifty-five-year-olds who are eager to find junior gerontologists following them around and taking notes.

What's Happening the the Valley

Gerald Fecht is the president of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley and a tireless blogger. While some of us struggle to post once or twice a week, Jerry sometimes posts several articles in a single day. He is well-versed in history and also seems to know everything that's happening right now. He posts photos from the museum's archives, as well as recently-snapped pics of public art, landscapes, buildings and people.

The museum's blog is a great place to find out about upcoming events as well as volunteer opportunities. I'm especially interested in the occasional walking tours, and hope to join one in the near future.

Take a look at http://museumsanfernandovalley.blogspot.com.

Will They Be Towed At Last?

A long stretch of Topanga Canyon Boulevard has received temporary no parking signs so that some kind of road work can be done. One section in particular has become notorious for the illegal signs that the city allows to park here. This morning, most of the signs had been removed. Someone had placed the no-parking signs prominently on the two that remained, probably hoping that the city really will enforce regulations and tow them away. We'll see what happens.

When I stopped to photograph them, I noticed that the license plates had been removed from both the trailers. Photographs taken in December reveal that these trailers did have license plates at one time. Without the plates, it will be difficult to identify the owners when -- or rather if -- the trailers are towed to make way for the road work. One can only hope that this will represent a meaningful financial loss to the scofflaws who put them here.

Yes, I photographed these same signs in December, six months ago. Despite repeated complaints by local residents to both Parking Enforcement and the Bureau of Street Services, the city will not do anything about this ever-worsening problem. Here you can see the weeds that have grown up around the anchor of one of the trailers, and one of the spider webs that is decorating the other one.

  

By the way, Carmen Trutanich, who claimed to oppose illegal signs and promised to enforce regulations against them as part of his campaign for city attorney, was sworn into office July first. It will be interesting to see if anything will actually change.

Agapanthus

Agapanthus is sometimes called Lily of the Nile, African Blue Lily, or similar names. There are several species of this South African native, but most sold in nurseries here are agapanthus praecox or its subspecies agapanthus orientalis, even though they are sometimes mislabeled as agapanthus africanus. Once established, they are drought tolerant, and do well in almost any area with well-drained soil. They like full or part sun, and bloom during spring and summer. Some produce white flowers, others are light blue or lavender. Hummingbirds love them!

Agapanthus has rhizomatic roots, and can be propagated by division. The best time to do this is in the fall when blooming is over. You can simply dig up a clump, divide it into a few sections, and plant each one separately. They will also sometimes spread on their own. When you are working with this plant, be aware that its sap can be extremely irritating, causing a poison-ivy like rash on the skin, and severe ulceration of the mouth and mucous membranes. I wear long sleeves and/or elbow-length gloves when I cut or replant them.

No Sense of Proportion

"Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey starts a run at Staples Center on Wednesday, a booking long planned in advance. In the pre-dawn hours before Jackson's memorial, the elephants walked from the train station to the arena, arriving some five hours before the memorial." This statement appeared on the website of our local CBS affiliate. I can think of no more fitting image for today's events.

In order to accommodate the motorcade of Michael Jackson's family on its way to Forest Lawn, the freeway had to be shut down at rush hour. Streets are blockaded around the cemetery, and also in a huge perimeter around the Staples Center downtown. In order to cover the memorial services, the LAPD has assigned every available officer and detective and is paying huge amounts of overtime. Our police chief has stated that the cost of all this is coming out of city money. He hopes that some of the donors who covered the cost of the Lakers' victory parade will also help with this. Good luck.

Television crews that started the day parked outside the Jacksons' Encino home are now parked outside the cemetery. Others are parked around the Staples Center. Local stations are giving these events wall-to-wall coverage, and national outlets are devoting a great deal of time to them as well.

I know there are plenty of other things happening in the world. But I'm having trouble finding out what they are. In the meantime, it seems fitting to remember just a few of the prominent people who also died during the past two weeks.

Robert S. McNamara (1916-2009), "architect of the Vietnam War", former president of Ford Motor Co., former head of the World Bank, defense secretary under presidents Kennedy and Johnson, a man whose decisions affected countless lives and deaths and whose influence still has an impact on our lives.

Jean Dausset (1916-2009), a French doctor and Nobel Prize winner whose discovery made tissue typing for transplants possible. He established the Centre d'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain, for the study of the human genome. He also founded France Transplants and France Bone Marrow Grafts, organizations dedicated to delivering donor organs and bone marrow to needy recipients quickly and efficiently.

Bela Kiraly (1912-2009), one of the military leaders of Hungary's ill-fated 1956 revolution against the Soviet Union, later a member of the Hungarian parliament and government advisor.

Togo W. Tanaka (1916-2009), a journalist who documented life at the Manzanar internment camp.

Allan Klein (1931-2009), former manager of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, businessman who worked with many big names in the music industry.

Shi Pei Pu (1938-2009), opera singer and spy, whose life inspired the play and movie "M. Butterfly".

Kenneth Reusser (1920-2009), retired marine colonel who flew 253 combat missions in three wars, survived being shot down five times, and received 53 medals.

O. Carl Simonton (1942-2009), an oncologist who pioneered the use of guided imagery as a treatment for cancer patients.

Karl Malden (1912-2009), Oscar- and Emmy-winning actor whose career spanned six decades in film and television.

Alec Gallup (1929-2009), former chairman of the Gallup Poll, a company started by his father, one of the best-known and respected polling organizations in the world. In some countries the world "gallup" appears in the dictionary as the word for "survey".

Robert Young (1919-2009), Sonoma County grape farmer whose innovative methods helped produce some of the first vineyard-designated wines in California.

Farrah Fawcett (1947-2009), popular poster model and actress who made a documentary about her long, final illness.

Sylvia Levin (1917-2009), Santa Monica resident who registered over 47,000 voters in California.

Billy Mays (1958-2009), popular television pitchman.

Jerri Nielsen FitzGerald (1952-2009), a doctor who became famous when she treated her own breast cancer while working at the U.S. reasearch station at the South Pole in 1999.

Frank J. Low (1933-2009), an astronomer considered an "experimental genius". He developed and distributed sensors for infrared astronomy, performed the first successful observations above the Earth's atmosphere, and built high-quality, innovative equipment used in many significant observations and discoveries.

Ed McMahon (1923-2009), television host best known for his role as Johnny Carson's sidekick on "The Tonight Show".

Alexis Argüello (1952-2009), a boxer who won titles in three weight classes and was later elected mayor of Managua, the capital of Nicaragua.

Selfish

These gigantic trucks are always hazardous in city traffic. If you're stuck behind one, you can't see over or around it; if it is tailgating you (as they usually are), it completely fills the rear view mirror; and they frequently straddle the line that is supposed to divide the lanes. It often seems that the drivers just don't have a feeling for how big these things really are or exactly where they are positioned, or that they really don't care because they know they can bully everyone else on the road. They are clearly inappropriate for trips to the mall or the grocery store, but all too often they are found, like this one, arrogantly taking up four parking spots.


I agree that there are too many "compact" spots in most parking lots and that often they are too small even for truly compact cars. But this vehicle certainly could have fit within the boundaries. It's hard to say whether this driver consciously planned to use two slots, or whether it was just an instance of seriously incompetent parking coupled with an I-don't-care attitude.


I walked around this car and examined it carefully. There was no evidence of a handicap parking permit anywhere. And there were plenty of empty spots available and nearby.

By the way, all three of these vehicles were parked in the same lot at the same time. I snapped these photos one after the other as I was walking from my car to the store.

The Declaration of Independence

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Be Safe!

The Los Angeles Fire Department wants you to remember that fireworks are illegal in the city of Los Angeles, and in all other cities serviced by the LAFD. Every year, thousands of people are treated in emergency rooms for injuries caused by illegal fireworks. You may also have noticed that, in addition to the dry brush which already surrounds many of our neighborhoods, many people have stopped watering their lawns, leaving their houses surrounded by dry fuel. It takes only one spark to set off a serious fire. Please enjoy professional fireworks shows. Don't risk your life and your property.

SFV Guide

A blogger named Angela has just started "The Ultimate Guide to the San Fernando Valley". Determined to prove that there really is something to do in the Valley, she promises to write about dining, shopping, entertainment, special events, and other activities. I like her photos of her meals at local restaurants, and some really delicious pics from the Calabasas Farmers Market. A journalism student, Angela interviews people at the places she visits, and sometimes brings a video camera. Take a look.