Officer Dummy, Pacific Coast Highway

It's been over a year since I've posted anything, and it doesn't appear as though anything I've posted has been read. No matter.

The picture is of the CHP mannequin that hangs out on PCH (interesting that it uses the same letters). On this day he was right by Pepperdine, though he frequently gets moved up and down the coast. The idea is people automatically slow down when they see a cop car, and they have the extra cars anyway, so why not put them to good use.

My camera couldn't take a good picture of him inside the car. The reflection would bounce back at me, but up close, you'll notice he has no arms or lower half of his body. He does have a shirt with a pen in the pocket, cop sunglasses and a ballcap on. The inside of the care has no electronics, and I suspect the car has no engine.

Jury Duty Ventura

Jury Duty in Ventura is really a relaxing day.

In the dozen years I've lived here, I've been called for Jury Duty four times.

The first time I was called in with the first group and ended up the foreman of the first jury of the day. The lawyer and prosecutor were both very young, and after the trial they asked if some of the jury could stick around to talk to them about things they were trying to do, which I did. It took two days, and it was fun.

The second time, my group was never called, so I never came in at all.

The third time, I realized that I could call in and choose which day of the week I'd like to come in. That was awesome! I picked a Friday, knowing that cases don't generally start on Friday. The whole time I was in, no jury was ever called, and we got to go home at about a quarter to four.

This time, I picked a Monday because it is a busy week for me, and it was the only day that I could easily miss work without having to get a bunch of stuff organized.

Many people complain about jury duty, but like they taught us in Government Class in high school, a democracy doesn't work without people willing to do their civic duty. I suppose I'd have a different view if I weren't able to collect my normal pay while here, but since I do, it is interesting to see our justice system at work. What we prospective jurors were told was that many people ask for a jury, hoping that there won't be one. By us sitting there, many of those on trial will just go for a settlement or plea bargain instead of going to a jury. You never can tell how a jury will see things, and if your guilty, you'll most likely get a better sentence if you go for the plea bargain.

Since I've been here, I think I've seen every kind of electronic gadget available to keep people entertained. Laptops, cel phones, Kindles, and even the just released iPad are all here, as well old fashioned things like newspapers and paperback novels. There seems to be a greater cross-section of the public here too, perhaps a reflection of the economy and rising unemployment.

In Ventura, you don't have to stay in the jury room, though it's a pretty spacious spot. There is a TV room and a small business center with space for your laptop. Better still, however, is the cafe. The food is pretty good, and there is also a gourmet coffee shop.

I had my own mug, so I was drinking pretty good coffee for a buck (as opposed to the $1.89 that was charged if you didn't have a cup). Wi-Fi is available, the chairs comfy, the tables clean and plenty of outlets were situated throughout.

The other spot that I've spent time at in the past is the fountain in the courtyard.

Again, Wi-fi works and there are outlets on the pillars. Today, it was a bit chilly, so though I did spend some time looking at a mural based on Bless me, Ultima, it was too cold to stay outside very long. On a good day, though, there are several benches in both the sun and shade, making a nice place to read and people watch.

With a 90 minute lunch break, I was able to walk to nearby Chipotle and relax for lunch. There are several other places nearby to eat as well, including Jersey Mike's, Presto Pasta, I Love Sushi, and a few more, all in reasonable walking distance.

I'm posting at about 2:15 pm, and they haven't called a jury yet.

8:30 PM

I did get called with a group of 50 of my cohorts at about 2:30, but I had to ask to be excused. The judge said it was going to be a three week trial, and I couldn't do that. I was bummed.

But by the time we walked back to the main jury room, our day was over. We were all dismissed at 3:40.

Music on the Web

Some of the more clever people out there discovered this long ago, but I'm new to the digital download party. There's tons of music out there! I do miss buying lp's, and later cd's, but now it's hard to get to the cd shop, and I have no storage space anymore. Plus, some of the stuff I really want never made the conversion to the digital age, or did so so briefly I missed it. I don't usually download music that I'm willing to buy, but I have no qualms downloading stuff that I can't get on eMusic, Amazon or iTunes. I figure if it isn't on one of those, it's not anywhere. Good luck on your internet music searches.

It all started about 2 years ago, when I decided that I wanted to find "Potatoes," a comp that was on the Ralph Records label. There w

ere a few songs that haunted me for years, and I couldn't find a digital copy.

But a google search led me to the WFMU blog. I highly recommend it. Lots of music, but lots of other stuff, too. That blog led me to Kogar's Jungle Juice.

Kogar the Swinging Ape is here in the blog world. His collections of Lux and Ivy's favorites are amazing compilations of obscure rock and roll sure to appeal to any Cramps fan.

So then I went about finding the Psychotic Pineapple's classic "I Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Get Rid of You," a single that I remember having back in high school. I'd play it whenever it was time to break up with someone. It was a simple song with a cheesy keyboard that I thought was great. I uncovered that when on the blog The Tuna Melt, which also had Gary Myrick's "She Talks in Stereo."

Other searches have led me to "Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg," Mick Jones's original mix of "Combat Rock," which is interesting, and "Chaos in New York," which seems to be a soundboard recording of one of their nights at Bonds in 1981 which is excellent. I found that on the blog, Iz Prve Ruke (Rick's note: April 29, 2013, Iz Prve Ruke is down).

One of the more interesting music blogs I came across is The Crime Lounge, which has most of the James Bond soundtracks, as well as many other soundtracks that fall into the secret agent/lounge music style.

At the moment, I've got the 9 minute version of Buffalo Springfield's "Bluebird" playing that I just found by entering "Buffalo Springfield 9 minute Bluebird" on google. It led me to the blog Record Fiend. It sounds as awesome as I remember it

when I first heard it 30 years ago.

Santino's Pizza, Ventura

I love the old school Italian pizzerias, with the red checked table clothes and the Chianti bottle candle holders that you can sometimes find in the older parts of LA. You know, like what Buca di Beppo wants to be but isn't quite. Ventura has a couple of old Italian restaurants, like Ferraro's and the Spaghetti Factory, (both of which I'll get to in another post) but yesterday we headed out to Santinos. A 30 year old family run pizzeria located next to Ventura college, we went because of the "Family Special," a large, one topping pizza with four small salads, all for $25.95, but discovered that the special isn't offered Friday or Saturday. We ordered that anyway, for the additional $5 or so dollars. They have a fresh salad bar, and while we ate that we could see the pizza chef twirling the dough. He didn't throw it in the air, which is what I was waiting for, and as far as I'm concerned, the mark of a good pizza maker. Still, he did spin the pizza with some skill.

We went with the white topping, which I found to taste like a garlicy ranch dressing, and with the very pleasant wait staff and quick order-to-table time, it was a good family pizza night. I think the best pizza in town is still Toppers, but this was good, fresh and fast. The kids liked it, so we'd go back again.

There's also a bar that serves the full restaurant menu, a banquet room (where my daughter had her AYSO banquet last year) and a small game room. Would I drive out of my way for it? No. If it was suggested, would I go? Yes.

Angelyne

If you happen to be around 40 and spent anytime on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood during the early 80's, you remember seeing the above billboard (there were several around town). If you drove down the Strip on a Friday or Saturday night, you probably spotted Angelyne's hot pink corvette, and if you went into the occasional club, you might have actually seen Angelyne in all of her fake boob and bottle blonde glory. I was lucky enough to have an in the flesh spotting in the doorway of the Whiskey A Go Go, I think while seeing X but I could be wrong about the band.

So what does this "famous for being famous" lady of Hollywood and Beverly Hills have to do with Ventura? Oddly enough, I passed her latest hot pink corvette with the "Angelyne" vanity plate driving down Main Street as I was about to park in front of the 99 Cent Store.

And it's not the first time I've seen her in town. I've seen her coming out of Gloria Jean's Coffee Bean at the Pacific View Mall, where I've also seen her car on a few occasions.

It was a few years ago when I first spotted her car at the mall, and I turned to my wife and said, "Look, that's Angelyne's Car!" My wife and the kids all looked at me blankly, as I quickly tried to explain who she was. All I could come up with is that she ran for Governor when Uncle Arnie won, and that she was also in the opening credits of "Moonlighting," and that she drove around in a pink corvette. My wife gave me the big deal look, but it was a little piece of my history that somehow followed me to Ventura. I don't know why she's here, but I still think of it like a celebrity sighting.

Oh, by the way, the pic is from PopSugar City. Thanks to them.

Dec. 1, 2013 Update

For some reason, this had four hits in the last couple of days, so I went back to reread it. I was still pretty new to blogging when I first posted, so I adjusted the punctuation a bit, and checked to see if Angelyne had her own blog. She doesn't, but she does have her own Twitter, which I just looked at. It has a post from Kim Kardashian and lots of talk about gods and fairies. She also seems to have a relatively new Facebook page as well.

I still see Angelyne from time to time. From what I can gather on the internet, Angelyne lives in Calabasas, which isn't that far from Ventura, so that would explain her sightings here in town. Recent video, which you can find plenty of on YouTube, reveals a woman who appears older than god, heavily made up and with a mistaken notion of how attractive she is.

Then again, I'm posting about her again, and like I said, there's plenty of video on YouTube, and plenty of postings on the internet.

I'm not sure if it's beauty or a train wreck, but we all want to look.