Dog with a View

Birdie enjoyed a misty morning view from the bay window of our Redesdale apartment. There's been squirrels sighted out there, you know.

Night Lights

Early evening view from our bedroom deck over Silverlake Boulevard.

Silverlake

We're heading home Friday morning after a couple of nights here in the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. It's a duplex tucked into a hillside, the landlord lives downstairs with her dog, Bambi. The view from the decks and the bedrooms is spectacular, reminiscent of a Tuscan village we're told, whatever that is. There's a garden below for Birdie to explore, the first avocado of the season is growing under the tangerine tree.

The Brothers Anderson

Turtle, Laredo, Hat

Laredo, Hat, St. Paul KT

Randy's younger brother Shel ("The Turtle") arrived here Sunday from Minneapolis and sat in on a poker game. Tomorrow Stan takes them to the nearby Bob Hope Airport so they can fly to Las Vegas for their annual "March Madness" madness. Their antics in the sports book there have received national press coverage and promise good times for at least the next week, as they handicap every aspect of the upcoming college basketball tournaments.

Marilyn is doing better now

Our niece, Shana, with her mother-in-law, Marilyn, last summer.
Marilyn has been hospitalized after a fall on the ice.

After a scary four days, our niece's mother-in-law is doing much better.

Last Thursday, Marilyn Erickson fell on the ice on her way to school, injuring her head. By noon, her husband Paul had taken her to St. Josephs Hospital in St. Paul. By seven that night she was in surgery. She didn't do as well as expected.

Things are looking up now, however, check with caringbridge.org/visit/marilynerickson for the latest.

Our thoughts are with Marilyn and Paul and the entire family in hopes of a speedy, full recovery.

First one!

Emily Kathleen -- Age 6 on May 1, 2012

Grandma and Grandpa will be home soon to inspect the damage and speak to the Tooth Fairy.

Home is Montreal

Spring break brought this French Canadian family to Hollywood for some beaches and fun . . . and the Los Angeles Galaxy Major League soccer games. The parents are both mining engineers and have searched for minerals all over the globe and thus are authorities on living on just about any continent. Even remote Northwest Territories -- and Africa.
Plus, she figured out how to light the quirky Fawlty Towers gas barbeque grill for Stan's sausages --- even though she's not that kind of engineer.
The kids have been enjoying lots of West Coast activities, but now it's back to school in Montreal.

Grumpy
Parisians?

French is their native tongue, but of course, they speak fluent English. We mentioned that threee Parisian gentlemen had recently departed the Fawlty Towers studio apartment and that they had complained about what a grumpy place their hometown was. (Nikolas at right)
These two cosmopolitan professionals agreed: If you want to go to France, go to Normandy where folks are nice, they advised.
We said we thought Parisians were cross with Americans because they don't even attempt to speak their language. No, that's not true, our French Canadian friends said. "They're cross with us too."
"But you speak French," we countered.
"No," they laughed. "We speak the wrong French."

We scale Mount Hollywood

Downtown Los Angeles over Stan's right shoulder; Griffith
Observatory over his left wrist. (Photo courtesy Helpful Stranger)

Harding, Wilson, Roosevelt
Golf courses owned by
the city. That's I-5 bordering it.

It's a winding 3 mile hike with moderate inclines, but the summit is very rewarding, with 360 degree views of a metropolitan area with a population of 17 million souls. You can see the nearby Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood sign, of course. And downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach and Burbank and beyond to distant islands in the ocean. The views are best on the days after a rain when the smog has cleared.
It was 70 degrees and sunny on Mount Hollywood when we began the ascent; a light breeze dried our sweat at the summit where hikers compared notes and drank from their bottles and unpacked their lunches.
The every day skies in LA are clearer than we expected. You can see stars shining brightly over the city on most nights. Draconian government regulations have cleaned up the air pollution to a point that shows great improvement over our visits here decades ago.

You can see our house from here!
Not really. We're staying just below the observatory
on Normandie Avenue.

Mount Hollywood rises in the center of Griffith Park, a massive natural recreation set aside that includes three golf courses (see photo), a zoo, observatory and a variety of entertainment venues, including a Greek theatre.
It's an easy hike with plenty of optional trails, lots of climbing men, women and children, dogs and horses. Conveniently, there's a watering tank near the summit where you can refresh your animal, as needed. Keep your dog leashed though -- coyotes abound and are always on the hunt for a tender morsel.

Nearby Mount Lee, with its iconic Hollywood sign, drew the
attention of this Norwegian hiker.

Hell on Wheels! Roller Derby Boot Camp!

Squeezing these skates, pads, helmets, gear and players into one sedan
 looked impossible, but the captain was up to it, cleverly employing all 
the stomping,  pushing and jamming tricks practiced in the derby arena.

A half-dozen brightly-clad ladies, fresh from the Roller Derby wars, packed up their helmets, kneepads and skates, then wheeled out of our Normandie Avenue digs this morning.

Red-haired roller-skatin' Momma loved

all the attention from Birdie.

They gathered in town for the 4-day Roller Derby "March Radness" boot camp hosted by the illustrious Los Angeles Derby Dolls.
Our bombastic neighbors came from Vancouver and Seattle for a weekend of good times and gritty competition. Birdie was an immediate favorite with the enthusiastic, fun-loving women, winning them with licks and yips.

NEW RECRUIT? Not a chance.  He can't even skate.

We have shared the venerable Fawlty Towers patio and spa with a variety of interesting guests this winter, but so far these are the first to sport red hair, tattoos and leotards.

Lorlee writes: 

We have attended a couple of events in Dallas (our league is the Assassins and one of the teams is the Dead Kennedys) Great fun and we plan to go back next month. Hair, tattoos and costumes are the most fun.