Gung Hey Fat Choy

Happy Year of the Ox!



Los Angeles' historic Chinatown's 110th Golden Dragon Parade is this Saturday from 2 to 4 PM. The parade will include a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Broadway opening of Rodgers' and Hammerstein's “Flower Drum Song." Nancy Kwan is the parade's Grand Marshal.

Pam and I will not be attending the parade this year because we'll be in the bay area for some family events (one sad -- a memorial and one happy -- a birthday celebration), otherwise we'd be there.

I have photos and video from last year's parade.

Farewell Indie 103.1 FM

It took me by surprise. Reading through Twitter and seeing this from @lametblogs:

BREAKING: Indie 103.1 No More?: Twitter is abuzz with news that Indie 103.1 is seizing their broadcast

(Yes, they wrote "seizing" instead of "ceasing"). Slightly more information was posted here. Indeed the official site had the statement that they were going internet-only.

I turned on the radio, and tuned to 103.1 FM. In between each song was the same announcement:

This is an important message for the Indie 103.1 Radio Audience -

Indie 103.1 will cease broadcasting over this frequency effective immediately. Because of changes in the radio industry and the way radio audiences are measured, stations in this market are being forced to play too much Britney, Puffy and alternative music that is neither new nor cutting edge. Due to these challenges, Indie 103.1 was recently faced with only one option --- to play the corporate radio game.

We have decided not to play that game any longer. Rather than changing the sound, spirit, and soul of what has made Indie 103.1 great Indie 103.1 will bid farewell to the terrestrial airwaves and take an alternative course.

This could only be done on the Internet, a place where rules do not apply and where new music thrives; be it grunge, punk, or alternative - simply put, only the best music.

For those of you with a computer at home or at work, log on to www.indie1031.com and listen to the new Indie 103.1 - which is really the old Indie 103.1, not the version of Indie 103.1 we are removing from the broadcast airwaves.

We thank our listeners and advertisers for their support of the greatest radio station ever conceived, and look forward to continuing to deliver the famed Indie 103.1 music and spirit over the Internet to passionate music listeners around the world.

My next stop was LA Observed, since Kevin Roderick is great at posting breaking news. His post referenced Franklin Ave.. (No surprise, since Mike Schneider keeps abreast with the LA radio scene). Mike's post confirmed the rumors that the station is going Spanish language/music with a memo from the station's onwers.

After that, my next and final stop was to Indie 103.1 DJ Tedd Roman's twitter. He described hearing the news, visiting the station's offices, and other stuff.

So, this leaves one less listenable radio station in the LA/Orange County area. Granted, with the proliferation of on-line, satellite, and other options, I was not listening as often as I used to. Still, 103.1 FM was one of my radio presets. Not anymore.

I don't know how well the on-line only version of the station will work. I personally do not have high hopes, as it will be music only. How will that be any different than finding music on pandora radio, last.fm, or any of the other on-line outlets?

Happy Feast of Fools

Today is the sixth of January. For those who celebrate, it's the 12th day of Christmas. For others, it's the start of King Cake season. And for me, it's a chance to remember one of my favorite shows at Disneyland -- The Festival of Fools.

Here's video of the show:
Part 1 of 3
Part 2 of 3
Part 3 of 3

Winter Break is Over

The past month was a pretty slow one. However, it's a new month, and a new quarter, so that means I should have lots of work-related stuff going on. Today I fly up to San Jose to visit a customer for a few days. Fortunately, I'll be back in time for the first Downtown Art Walk of the year.

I'm not the only one who's returning from a break. Today marks the return of Blossom Cafe after two weeks of vacation and remodeling. Yes, they'll still be sporting their C grade for a few more months, but the remodeling is not related. I'm looking forward to seeing what changes they've made. I'll see them when I return from San Jose.

And one more thing. Last year at this time, Franklin Avenue had a "contest" called "The Bloggiest Loser" in which several members of the blog-la-sphere attempted to lose weight (a'la "The Biggest Loser"). The contest was not a success as folks stopped sending updates almost immediately. Though I did not participate, and though Mike is not having the contest this year, I will be recording my weight here once a week in an attempt to see if I can shed some pounds from my ample frame.

So, my weigh-in for today is 257.4 pounds. That puts my BMI at a whopping 38 (as the Wii Fit says, "That's obese!"). So, if my first step is to get the Wii to tell me "That's overweight." instead, means I need to lose roughly 55 pounds. If I wish to have my Wii Fit no longer say I'm overweight, then I would need to lose a further 35 pounds after that. For now, my goal is to shed the 55 pounds by the end of the year. That's just over a pound a week. Obviously, this means more activity and healthy eating. Traveling doesn't make this easy, but I will be recording my endeavors here.