we interrupt this program...
May I just make a few observations? I never post on this blog anymore and I feel like an outsider nowadays. I started Life on the Edge back in April of last year and it has since been graciously taken over by Calamari. Without him, it would not be the ever-expanding source of eccentric oddities and quirky Our-town news that it is today, so thank you, Marshall for your passionate efforts.
I also have to thank i might be giant for his committed and brilliant sarcastic comments. In the beginning I suspected you were my partner-in-crime, mjp. He's damn funny too.
Anywho, I wanted to complain a bit about the palm trees along Harbor Blvd. I know it's not a very well-thought-out, political, or socially intelligent thing to voice an opinion about, but it bugs me enough to come back into the fold and say something about it.
I have no qualms about the trees themselves. Thar perty. It's the little blue lights that were changed (from plain whites ones) to match the unmatching lights that uglify the bridge. Why???
I was so very satisfied with all the white lights that were strung around the trees. In fact, it was one of the few things I came to love about the waterfront. The white lights were so nice and it made me proud of Pedro, and even had a calming effect on me as I drove along Harbor Blvd to and from my house and the freeway. Now they are blue and I think it sucks! It's embarrassing really.
The bridge is embarrassing too. The two different blues are so tacky and everyone who comes (dares) to visit me from outside of Pedro has made negative observations about it. Each time I have to explain the story behind it, somewhat defending San Pedro, and somewhat disclosing my agreement about how tacky it is. It's much easier to point out the refinery or the cranes in hopes to steer their attention away from the "Big Bra" over the harbor (as Linda Bukowski once mentioned).
And what does everyone think about having to dial 11 numbers when calling your next door neighbors, or anyone else in the 310? Garrison Frost from The Aesthetic wrote me recently and mentioned how asinine this is. This link to an article in Palos Verdes Peninsula News comes via his site (entry 1306).
Okay I'm done venting. Back to your regularly scheduled program, and have a nice weekend.
20 Comments:
Great to see you a-postin' on the blog, Snoop.
I had not noticed the change in light colour on the palm trees yet, but I'm sure that anything that reminds me of the mismatched bridge lights (and the ridiculous politics that led to their mismatching!) isn't gonna turn my key. I get asked about the mismatched bridge lights by many a visitor to Pedro, and it's really embarassing to explain how they got that way.
About that eleven number dialing. I got into the habit of eleven number dialing years ago, I think during the 310 switchover some areas, including the one I was living in, were told to prepare for eleven number dialing, and I trained myself to do it and just never dropped the habit. I don't think we were ever really required to do it though. I can understand why people find it frustrating or silly.
Snoopy rules, and her new studio is tres fabulous, as the kids say.
Since I have no friends and never call anyone on the phone, I hadn't noticed the 11 digit thing. But just let me say, this is an outrage!
There.
Still doesn't affect me, but I wanted to show some communal spirit.
S was right before you deleted his comment. He shouldn’t have stopped at the fact that you’re just whiners, you longshoremen are also hypocrites. The corporations you condemn and despise are your life’s blood. Where would longshoremen be without shipping and the corporations that support the industry? Face it, guys. You’re all cogs in the machine. You think you’re sticking it to the Man while you workers are still fattening his coffers.
Carol, thanks to you, we know MJP is that fat hairy guy you hang out with
Bad form, censorship. I thought you guys were freedom fighters or something.
Delete posts as much as you want, but enough people know you've been forced into retreat. Not to fear, readers! I loved the post so much I e-mailed it to a friend. Here's the cut and paste text of the S's deleted comment, for as long as you cowards can keep it up before removing it again:
"Communal spirit. That's a joke, right? Communal between the same 5 of you who pat each other on the back day in and day out? I, for one, have been following this blog for a few months now and, after today's whinge-fest, am officially never coming back again. Not because you're especially wrong; I can agree with many of the opinions stated in this very blog. But underneath the hood, you're mostly a bunch of mean-spirited immature whiners. You guys employ pieces of logic to faulty or incomplete premises. You evade having to answer valid criticisms by focusing on something minutely wrong with a dissenting opinion (like a spelling error). When you're really backed into a corner, you resort to snarling back a stupid insult about something you presume about a person that you pull out of your asses. Post after post in this blog reveals the same pattern. That's basically all you folks have in your toolkit.
Your "radical" dissatisfaction with everything is as irritating as listening to some right-wing nutjob on the radio, and twice as inconsequential. Really. That's how bad you are. You're right up there on my list with Rush Limbaugh. The day I come back to read this blog is the day I hear from some outside source that it's actually accomplished something constructive. But I doubt that'll happen until you all go into group therapy to get over the fact that you were losers in high school.
So sayonara, suckers. BTW, don't bother addressing a rebuttal to me because, well, you can figure it out by scrolling up. Anyway, I'm sure you'll have to say something to each other about this comment to console one another. Oh, life's so hard on the edge."
Wowie....looks like I missed some drama. That's what I get for not spending my Saturday night on the interwebz. Was this the same person who submitted that thousand-word essay on how boring and not-worth-the-effort I was?
Incidentally, I think I'm the only longshoreman posting here. Could be wrong, though. Also, were I the one with moderatorial (moderatory? moderential? moderiffic?) powers, I wouldn't have deleted the post.
Anyway, if Annie (forgive my use of the diminuitive, but Anonymous is such an unwieldy name) is emailing copies of LOTE posts to her friends, that sort of implies that our readership is growing. Otherwise, why would her friend care? Thanks for the ego boost, Annie, and come back any time!
What the hell did I miss??? I was wondering why the comments read "3" but there were only 2 when I looked. I did not know there was any controversy until now. I also don't know what I said that could stir up such a problem. Because I don't like the stupid blue lights? WTF? Okay, this will be yet another public forum I will retreat from. I hate finding out I'm hated. carry on boys.
Oh, and what is this about MJP being fat and hairy? He has the butt of a baby's bottom and legs any woman would kill for.
Hmm...I wouldn't have deleted "sabella's gang"/anonymous' comment (I assume it was "sabella's gang," based on other comments here), I always find it amusing when the pot calls the kettle black, then comes back several times "anonymously" to defend itself.
So "sabella's gang"/anonymous, new Gateway under the 20 foot christmas tree? Sounds like you just discovered the internet in the last few weeks. Your outrage is very "babe in the woods," and gratingly charming, not unlike a baby crow trying to squeak/caw from a golden nest. It makes me want to take you on as my student and teach you the ways of the Shaolin data packet (if you can master it, your posts can walk through walls).
But I'm afraid we would not get along. You seem to have a very short fuse, and your buttons are easily pushed. You'll never snatch the pebble from my hand with that kind of attitude, I've got to tell you.
But keep reading, and keep sending those links to everyone in your address book. We're here for all of you. We do this because we love you.
Before I go away from here, I just have to say that I never had any intentions to make this a left-wing, or a politically slanted blog. I also don't see it as such, although to be honest, most of the topics on this blog don't entirely interest me. I am not smart enough, or perhaps too obsessed with art to really care very much about the latest POLA meeting or what second-rate articles are being published by [take your pick] harbor news rag. I just don't rightly care.
I thought it would be fun/funny/interesting to start a blog about all the odd things that go on around this town. What the cultural scene is like and get more art-minded people to post, comment, and plug their tidbits of life in Pedro as they experience it. My hidden agenda? I have no problem spilling it, as it was just to show off what a superior town San Pedro is, spark people's interest in visiting (I get lonely), and bring the harbor area in closer proximity to Los Angeles proper. And I say that as an outsider; not born and raised along side the "Longies." I am from the Southeast San Fernando Valley for cripes sakes! That is not particularly a fascinating place, nor has it been a town I could say was proud to mostly grow up in. It was full of child molesters, crackheads, gang bangers, and yuppies. I had a better experience in my young adulthood when I moved to Hollywood with the crackheads and film industry types, but still wasn't able to settle in comfortably until I came here.
For the first time in my life I am living in the greatest place there is. I really couldn't be more satisfied (well actually, I'd like the air quality to very much improve -- but there goes my unstoppable "whining" and complaining gene that can't help but rear its ugly head! How dare I!) In defense, I come from a long line of complainers and if you knew them you'd all be amazed at how tame I came out. My point is that I think San Pedro is an amazing town. I have a lot of pride about being here and I live happily with the love of my life who brought me here to visit Charles Bukowski's grave during the time we fell in love, so we stayed. So stone me to death and be justified!
If you are reading this and don't like the fact that I pat my friends and my own boyfriend on the back (but only when he deserves it), and promote those I admire and work with, then go start your own damn blog where you can combat the world aspects you don't like, and pass your own useless gas.
As for deleting posts and censoring, I can only tell you that wasn't me. I know better than to do that because I would not like to be criticized for such a thing. At the same time, knowing which one of us deleted it I will assume he had good reason.
Goodbye and good luck. May the Harbor be with you.
As far as I know no post was deleted. There was a problem on Saturday where this post would display that 3 posts were here, but only two would appear when you clicked on the comments button. I thought blogger was having a hiccup or something, and I don't have any way of actually seeing what happened (blogger's back end is a little spare). From MJP & Snoopy's comments, I don't think either of them deleted your or any other post, and I'm pretty sure that only the three of us have the admin status that would allow us to delete your post. Given the content of the re-post, it doesn't seem like something (say a personal libelous attack, a physical threat or comment spam) that would be appropriate to delete here, or on any other blog. Outside of those three areas, you can say as much as you damn well please here.
That being said - if S' comment was actively deleted by any of our other authors, I'm sorry about that. From where I'm sitting it looks like a mystery of the internet.
None of the authors of this blog are longshoremen, FYI. None of us work for the Port or any associated business. I can't imagine that you've been reading this blog closely if you think we are longies. I've mentioned numerous times that I own Walled City downtown, and that I'm the Program Manager up at Angels Gate Cultural Center. Carol, as is clear both in her post here and on her own personal blog, is an artist by trade. If I'm correct, our other two authors don't even work in San Pedro. We have two longshoreman readers (to my knowledge), IMBG and Phill, and their inputs are always welcome here, even if I don't agree with IMBG very often, his perspective is more than welcome here.
None of us are freedom fighters, although we are all interested to some degree in local issues, I don't think any of us are championing some great cause here. If anything binds us together as authors, it's that we love Pedro dearly, warts and all. That doesn't mean we don't have opinions on things, however.
In retort to S' and our other anonymous commenter in this post - first there hasn't been a history of "I can't accept your argument because of your poor grammar/spelling" here. I've been on forums where that's a problem, and I haven't seen it here. That straw man don't fly here, and I want to thank our commenters and posters for debating about the content of each other's posts, rather than the delivery.
You guys employ pieces of logic to faulty or incomplete premises. - please feel free to jump in and debate the issue, or poke holes in our logic/premises at any time. Simply describing our arguments in a general way doesn't impress me. This is a place for casual debate, not a place to battle over logical fallacies while avoiding the debate.
I also don't think that there's a pattern of resorting to insult on this blog, in fact the only insults I reacall reading here have been anonymously posted, by posters who have very little else to say, other than to complain about this blog. I'd rather hear tour opinions of the issues, than your opinions regarding our "lack of girlfriends", "losers in high school" or whether we are "fat and hairy". There is no way to destroy the relevance of your position faster those kind of petty attacks, and frankly they usually reveal a lot more about the attacker than the attackee.
FWIW: Blogger problems
Blogger did a short power down & reboot last week, too, although that one was announced in advance. I jsut want to re-iterate that to my knowledge, and according to the two other admins on this blog, no one deleted anyone's comments. I deleted some comment spam related to roofing on a previous post earlier this week, which is the only kind of deletion that has ever occurred on this blog.
I'll take the time to encourage new commentors to not be anonymous and to introduce yourselves. The illusion of anonymity created by the internet is often more of a crutch than a tool, especially for novice users. Unless you are going to great means to be anonymous on the internet, I always advise people to never do, view or say anything you wouldn't in front of your own mother or the person you are talking to, face to face. Even if you want to post under a pseudonym, like IMBG does, that still lets us get to know each other better.
Yeah, so anyway, I'm working at Berth 245 in Long Beach tonight (Pacific Container Terminal), driving a UTR. Nothing special, just another night. Long about midnight, a fog starts rolling in, as it often does out there. Then more fog. Then more fog. Pretty soon it's getting really pea-soupy out there--to the point where I'm thinking I'm going to have to stand by on health and safety grounds if it gets any worse.
But it's not that bad yet, so I'm tootling along, carefully, from the railyard on Pier J to the container yard on the PCT side of the terminal, when out of the mist comes the very last thing I would ever have expected to see on a container terminal out on a pier in the middle of nowhere: a young woman in a black party dress and heels, pale-skinned with deep red lipstick, her long raven hair combining with the black dress and the makeup to give her a sort of a gothy appearance, walking unsteadily out into the middle of a busy traffic corridor and waving her hand limply at the yard equipment thundering by her.
I'm so taken aback at the incongruity of her presence in this place--Where did she come from? How did she get here? How did she get onto the terminal?--that I just drive slowly by her, slack-jawed, and go past her by a good hundred feet before I come to my senses and start to make a U-turn to go and see what on earth she needs. By that time, another UTR driver has already stopped to talk to her, so I pull out of my U-turn and continue on to the tophandler, saying "What the FUCK? Did I just IMAGINE that?" out loud even though I'm by myself in the cab of the truck.
At about two in the morning, the fog gets so bad that I really do stand by on H&S, and so do the other drivers. At this point, so close to quitting time anyway, management just says the hell with it and decides to call it a night. But the fog is just as bad outside the terminal as inside it, of course, so some of us are hanging around in the parking lot and bullshitting.
One of the guys hanging out turns out to be the driver who had stopped to talk to the apparition in the party dress. He says that she mumbled something to him about being lost, and he told her to stand by the fence as far away from the moving yard equipment as possible while he got on the radio to call somebody to take care of her. Instead she went wandering off into the container yard. Of course, neither of us has any idea what became of her.
The closest place to Berth 245 where you would expect women in party dresses to be hanging around would be the Queen Mary, and I have no idea whether anything was going on there tonight. If not, she must have wandered all the way out there from downtown Long Beach. Sports bar at the Pike, maybe?
I hope security or a superintendent or someone found her, escorted her safely the hell on out of there, and called her a cab or something. For all I know, she may still be in that yard, passed out under a wheeled container.
Fuckin' Super Bowl Sunday, man. Puts New Year's Eve, St. Patrick's Day, and every full moon to shame.
Your post really bummed me out. I keep trying to convince myself that this town is going to get better. I've lived here my entire life. I've owned 3 homes here. I want to raise my family here but I am not sure anymore. I use to like the weird looks when I'd tell people I was from San Pedro. I liked being able to dispell people of their notion that San Pedro was a pit. Now, even I'm not sure anymore. The graffitti is out of control. Pacific looks worse than TJ. The lights look like crap. Gaffey street is one of the ugliest roads in America. That new Sav-Ons is ugly. I love my house and my view but I'm tired of the thumping bass on the passing cars. bummer.
This chain is already way (too) long, but having dropped in after a late night work session, I cannot resist a brief comment.
The mismatched bridge lights don't bother me much but seem to me symbolic of the crazy-quilt of personalities that make up San Pedro. From the poor vatos (and vatessess?) that boom their boxes in the streets, to the extremely thoughtful and erudite public-process participants that are so vocal and active here, I see a range of humanity that defies any possibility of categorization. Except for their heterogenicity (surely i've misspelled at least two words so far), the only thing this populace seems to have in common seems to be a love/hate relationship with San Pedro itself (they all talk about it constantly). Having lived in places much more milk-toasty, I just gotta love it all. Except for the hate. For example:
You come to an 4-way stop with a car directly opposite you, and one to your left (or right). The car opposite you has the right-of-way, while the car 90 degrees from you is ahead of you, time-wise. The directly opposite car advances through the intersection, and you figure you might as well move on through too, being that the middle guy has to wait anyway. BUT NO, you've proceeded out of turn, and the middle guy is seriously agrieved, letting you know about it with bleeping horn and gestures. Sheessee, this would never happen in Torrance. That's what i mean about the hate.
Anyway, to come clean on profile, I've only lived here 4 years, don't work immediately in town or as a longshoreman (p.s. - red rides sidesaddle), and had nothing to do with deleting anything (as if i would know how). Rave on, San Pedro.
There are no intersections in Torrance with fewer than sixteen lanes and a traffic light, so your scenario could never take place there. But the important thing is that you didn't misspell "misspelled."
calamari 4:58 PM:
Thank you.
Anonymous 9:22 PM:
Don't forget the air pollution. If we don't fix that, we will all have to go in the end.
I always say that no one drives me out of my home, but some days I have to wonder.
Not to add to anyone's indigestion, but is anyone planning to listen to Bisno today at the Rotary?
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