Update on Ezra the Puppy

Our dogs Penny and Little despised little Ezra. They would bark and growl at her to the point that I would be afraid to leave her alone with them. I guess I wouldn't blame my dogs for being angry and depressed (they would mope all day). Ezra and I had become close. She followed me around, even when I was on the toilet, plopping down next to me. It really hurt to see her go.

John and I took her to the pound where they will keep her for a few months. They said that they kept nice dogs longer. Ezra wouldn't have any problems getting adopted because of her age and personality they said. I hope so. Meanwhile Ezra is number 2454 on the website of the Orange County Animal Care Center. I love that dog. Good luck to her.

Ramen on Fire

Hapa Asian Cuisine, the teriyaki & ramen fast food stand on 17th and English in Santa Ana, is no more. From the looks of things, the electrical panel caught fire and spread. Before I noticed the scorched panel, my thought was that the bastards who kept tagging the roof parapet walls had escalated their skulduggery to arson.

I wonder if the owner's going to rebuild. I wasn't a big fan of his food...last year he got rid of the monster-size California rolls I would stuff in my fat mouth for kicks...but I felt bad every time I went by and saw another spraypaint hit.

KFC, yeah you know me

I can't remember the last time I tasted Kentucky Fried Chicken. Although I distinctly remember the last time I ate chicken...that was in the spring of 1998 at this Oaxacan restaurant in West L.A. (the one where miscellaneous fools started signing their names on the walls after Edward James Olmos put his name up)...I guess you'd have to go back to the early '90s to find my last KFC experience. Crazy considering I loved KFC growing up. Corner of Monterey and Senter in San Jose, where this kid sadly named Anil (pronounced "A-kneel") used to work.

Well for months my brain's been wired to check out KFC exterior remodels. Funny considering I have zero interest in the actual food inside of there. Apparently the corporate KFC office requires each of their locations to upgrade the outside minimum every 15 years. Since they're bleeding customers to El Pollo Loco, Pollo Campero, Starbucks, etc., they're wise to brighten up their image.

Most coast along with a minor facelift, but others go with what they call the KFC Vision Design. The Vision Thing eliminates the tile roof towers and adds in a more contemporary look, with metal awnings and metal louvers running across the side walls of the building. They start with a standard design, but cities can tinker with the design before approving, so you'll see color and material variations from place to place. Like any proposal, a lazy city staff will let a lazy design pass through. I miss the giant rotating buckets, but they've been gone for a while. Overall, the Vision Design gets my vote.

Take a look at the photos...two are in Anaheim, and one is in Orange. Do they still give out sporks at KFC?

Stray Dog Rescued on Hairy Intersection

I nearly had a heart attack yesterday driving back from the video store. On the intersection of Garden Grove and Harbor, a little stray terrier was having a merry time romping in the middle of street traffic. John immediately said we should try to catch it before it resembled pizza pie. Agreed. We parked and began our search. I went one way and John the other.

He found her first, his hands under the dog's pits as far away from his body as possible. I understood why when I got nearer. The seven pound dog was crawling with fleas...hundreds of them! I thought of my car getting infested by the critters and I nearly balked, but what could we do, we had to do something. I remembered a canvas shopping bag in the car and we placed the little thing there. At this point, the dog which we later named Ezra even though she was a girl, was just taking everything calmly.

The moment we got home, we gave the dog a twenty minute bath - until the fleas drowned. Did I mention there were hundreds of them - in her ears, snout, body, derriere and what have you. We dried her and put Advantage anti-flea medicine behind her neck which should last a month. During this grueling experience, our two veterano dogs were putting on their best, most earth shattering barks to let us know they didn't appreciate the temporary addition to the family.

The puppy turned out to be even tempered and loving. She hardly made a sound - but that's probably because Penny and Little were putting on such a row. Anyway, I love her already and that's dangerous. We can't handle three dogs. We go on vacation often plus we have a tank full of fish, two parakeets, and a small parrot.

I started thinking about giving Little back to my brother-in-law who dropped her on our laps when he and his then-girlfriend decided not to keep her. She's a weird little thing, always burping and dripping water everywhere because of her snaggle inbred teeth. The white puffer has a drinking problem as well. She is addicted to water, so she has a peeing problem. Plus I've never really cared for chihuahuas. Little out, Ezra in. But John shook his head at this blasphemy, signaling he loved Little.

I have to admit, I love Little, too, despite her weirdo character. So I guess there's no way we can keep Ezra. All we can do is find her a loving home. Good luck to us.

Nyala Ethiopian Restaurant Makes Me Want To Cry

My favorite Ethiopian restaurant has gone downhill. They used to have excellent service, bigger portions, and better tasting food. Now it's the pits, and even the flavor of the red dahl is off.

In the not so distant past, I contemplated having my wedding reception there, but certain relatives indicated they refused to eat food that "resembled excrement." I guess not everyone shared my taste. That was years back, and my most recent afternoons there left more to be desired. I gave it another go last Friday and tried their buffet. I was happy because I figured at least I could control the portions and gorge myself. But like I said, the taste was a little off. The stewed cabbage was too watery (though still good) and the dahls were subnormal. Plus, the servers took their sweet time polishing off their own lunch before acknowledging me.

Sorry, Nyala. I have to eat across the street now at the Vegan Ethiopian restaurant I can't remember the name of. The food is kickass, the service is excellent, and the portions are more than decent.

Santa Ana Library Charges for Movies!

The Santa Ana Public Library "system" (does a main library and a single "library learning center" qualify as a "system"?) is screwed up for many reasons, but for now I'll focus on the film collection. Their selection of DVD and VHS movies is abysmal, and the tapes are haphazardly organized on rotating wire racks. (Sure, I still watch VHS if I can't get my hands on the DVD version.)

There are a few movies at the Santa Ana Main Library I wouldn't mind checking out, if it weren't for the jacked up fees they charge. Get this...$2.00 each! What a rip! That's effective July 1, 2008 at the start of the new budget year, up from $1.50 each checkout. That 50-cent increase is a 33% increase...crazy! I can walk over to my closest video store, Videosky, and pay $1.50 for a movie rental. Come on, Santa Ana...free library idealism aside, you need to at least compete with the local video rental shops! And consider that Santa Ana isn't exactly swarming with folks in the position to cough up $2 for a library movie. About 16% of all Santa Ana households are living below the poverty level. Compare that to 7% overall in Orange County. Nice, huh? We earn less, but the City of Santa Ana sticks us with higher fees.

That's another reason why I rarely patronize the Santa Ana Library. I may be a Santa Ana resident, but I take my library business to the City of Orange. They have an extensive movie selection at the Orange Main Library on Chapman, they issued me a library card at no charge, and their film checkouts are free! Thank you, Orange.

LACMA & Broad Contemporary Museum

We waited until the lines dissipated to see the new Broad Contemporary Art Museum at LACMA. The cool recycled street lamps numbering dozens and spray painted white had teased us for a while. The stairs on the side of the building leading almost to nowhere with red railings nearly compelled us to join the lines of yuppies and art farts months ago.

Heck, we should've dove in because the Broad was well worth it. They had Jeff Koons giant animal balloons that were truly awesome. There was Ruscha, Jasper Johns, Warhol, Lichtenstein, and other brilliant artists. But I gotta say, the giant double-wide elevator impressed me the most. It had one of my favorite writer's quotes: "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stomping on a human face." That'd be Orwell, ladies and gent. What a plebian, eh?

We visited the Cheech Marin collection and were disappointed. There was a lot of grody art in there that looked like the book covers of tons of Latin-themed literature - like a kiddie-drawn girl on a bed weightless in the air. Dreamy shit...magical realism is such a yawner. There are a few exceptions like the work of Gronk. On the other hand, the Phantom Sightings: Art after the Chicano Movement was tremendous. I especially like Julio Cesar Morales' interpretation of illegal immigrants' attempts to slip into this country, such as hiding inside car seats. Very sad and funny at the same time.

Anyhoo, modern and contemporary art is the way to go. Adios for now.