Griffith Park Blog

Strange sort of suicide for The Walking Man.

Donna Barstow — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:56:20 +0000

I only bothered to read about the Walking Man because he was called The Silver Lake Walking Man.

Then I saw a small memorial for him on the Silver Lake reservoir path when I ran last night. I hate memorials – they don’t have them back east. It’s like there’s no real land here, or people don’t understand what a cemetery is. The flowers die in a day in the blazing sun, so you have dead flowers in worthless vases, or a dirty teddy bear. Ugly, smelly, and no, it’s not the thought that counts when it’s such a thoughtless thing to do.

Anyway, turns out he walked all over town locally, said his obit.

Abrams traversed 20 to 30 miles of pavement each day and wore out four pairs of shoes each year. He walked swiftly — often hunched over a newspaper — slowing only to shout hellos to friends or give medical advice to those who asked for it.

walking man mural

I can’t believe Tom LaBonge had to get his quote in someone’s obituary.

“He had the greatest tan of anyone in town,” said City Councilman Tom LaBonge, who lives a few blocks from the quiet hillside home Abrams shared with his wife. Whenever LaBonge spotted Abrams striding down the sidewalk he would stop to shout, “What up, Doc?”

(Btw, Tom LaBonge called me last week! No, not to ask me out, as one of my exes guessed. He got my blog confused with the OTHER Griffith Park blog, and was calling to correct the facts about something published there!)

I saw someone on Facebook link to the article in the Eastsider, and one of the commenters there, instead of expressing regrets about the WM, who I would have called Reading Man, said it was a suicide, and wondered why the news was covering it up. Turns out he was right.

Today the LA Times reported:

Marc Abrams, the doctor known as the “walking man” for his shirtless walks around Silver Lake, died by drowning himself in his hot tub, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said Monday.“He was found in the Jacuzzi with the Jacuzzi lid pulled over the Jacuzzi itself,” said Ed Winter, assistant chief of the Department of Coroner Investigations. “There was no suicide note found.”…

At the time of his death, Abrams was under investigation for prescribing drugs to a 25-year-old patient who died of an overdose, according to law enforcement authorities and a lawyer for the patient’s family.

What a strange way to commit suicide – drowning in the dark? Can one not lift the lid off a hot tub? There’s no air? And he was a fitness buff, too. He was probably proud of his tan, since he walked SHIRTLESS everywhere.

Poor guy.

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Bad restaurants and bad foodies.

Donna Barstow — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 00:02:05 +0000

Zocalo recently posted a chat in the weekly updates and announcements they send out, called What is the Cruelest Food You’ve Ever Eaten?

I haven’t been to Zocalo in a couple of years, but they do have some good events and free food, (which isn’t cruel at all). Their lectures are free, and they tackle a lot of serious and interesting topics.

But WTF? Is cruelty a viable subject for humor now? – desperate and fame-whorish, Zocalo. You had an opportunity to explore this disgusting practice, or at least look at both sides, but instead you treat cruelty to animals as a game, or entertainment. Why not ask who eats dogs? Or hobbles horses? Shame on you, Zocalo.

Of course, there’s always cruelty when you eat animals alive, which seems to be a big part of sushi now. Raw is unhealthy, and alive is repulsive to civilized people. But read the quotes below and decide for yourself .

From Roy Choi at Kogi:

I’ve killed a goat with my own two hands. I chased him around a dirt field in the desert, wrestled him to the ground, got him in a head lock, looked him in the eye, and slit his throat. We hung him, skinned him, drained his blood, gutted him, butchered him into primals, then sub-primals. We packed him up and took him across the border to Mexicali where we made birria, the most delicious birria.

This was not a cruel moment for me. It was seven in the morning and I learned about the spirituality of cooking and what my responsibility is as a chef. I did not kill this goat out of haste or carelessness. This was a tradition that my dishwasher Salvador’s family has been doing for many generations and he trusted me enough to show me.

First of all, he’s lying. No one could capture a terrified goat without help. He’s pretending it’s some sort of macho thing, but notice the “we”. And a dishwasher thinks that how to knife a creature is a “tradition”? I hope I never meet him in a dark alley. Barbaric.

You should probably read Dr. Suess to get this one. Here's a Chinese restaurant that doesn't torture anyone.

From Charlie Grosso:

It was not until I was much older that I realized that Shark Fin is not a euphemism for anything. Shark fin actually is the fin of a shark. Then at some cousin’s wedding banquet one day, I discovered that the sharks are often caught, their fins cut off, and then released back into the water to meet their untimely ends.

Would I eat it again? I think I would. Not because I have no compassion for the shark but because not consuming my bowl of soup in a banquette of a hundred would not have stirred the consciences of the restaurant or the other guests. The only conscience that would be disturbed by my meager objection would be my own — at the fact that I wasted good, clean, edible food.

Yeah, that’s how I make my moral decisions: How many other people around me agree with me? What a jackass.

Javier Cabrol is the Teenage Glutster.

Which brings me to what I think is the most inhumane thing I’ve ever eaten in my entire eating career: live lobster sashimi. This dish made full use of those murky lobster tanks that are synonymous with seafood Chinese restaurants. The chosen lobsters were brought to our table for our approval, taken to the back of the house for five minutes at most, then brought back to the table, severed in half and facing each other. Not to mention still pinching with all their translucent flesh scooped out and served on their dislocated tails, all ready for our top-of-the-food-chain chow down. Their beady eyes followed our chopstick ends and they attempted to defend themselves one last time as we nonchalantly reached over for their ultra-fresh sinewy flesh.

My heart pounded and I got tears in my eyes when I read this. This is almost exactly how Hannibal ends. I see no difference between torturing cats, burning insects, killing people, and eating animals while they are still alive.

From Kat Odell at Eater LA.

Since I eat out so frequently for work, I eat a lot of foie gras and I do have to say I love it. There are more humane ways to produce foie that have been mostly explored in France, and it’s a shame that people in the U.S. don’t consider this alternative method (save for Dan Barber at Blue Hill).

Most people know that foie gras comes from geese that have force-fed. You know that pain when you eat too much? Think of your whole life in pain, with food clogging your throat all day long, not allowed to move -total torture. According to Wiki, only 5 countries left in Europe still allow this animal cruelty. Oh, and the gluttonous US, of course.

From Maite Gomez-Rejon at ARtbites.

The cruelest food I’ve ever eaten is live lobster at Sanuki No Sato, housed in an obscure strip mall in Gardena….Always game for trying new foods — especially those that will give me a good story to tell — I was anxious for our lobster’s arrival. When it came to the table it was enormously regal, its eyes staring straight at us, antennas moving as if pleading for help, its now useless armor cut open revealing perfectly sliced flesh.

Um, Maite, that was a terrible story, so, sorry, you will continue to be a bore wherever you go.

See a trend here? Sushi restaurants have been promoting this myth for years: torturing the creature makes it taste better. FDA and USDA, why can’t you crack down on this instead of your asinine regulations on the tiny stuff?

And who’s behind Zocalo?

Gregory Rodriguez, Founder

Thomas Tseng, President of the Board

Swati Pandey, Editor

They are responsible for glorifying this reprehensible topic – and making animal cruelty – their own word – an acceptable, even attractive trait for people who like to eat. They have a Code of Civility posted on their site:

At its lecture series events (”Events”) Zócalo seeks to create an open and civil environment of mutual respect, where all participants can feel welcome.

There is no respect towards other species, when you pick a topic targeting living creatures. I hope the agencies that fund this org will take a closer look at these practices and reconsider whether this non-profit (if it is one) meets anyone’s decency standards. Zocalo FAIL.

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Earthquake feels like seasickness. (Updated)

Donna Barstow — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 23:32:36 +0000

In my place the floor rolled long enough for me to find my shoes, get ready to grab the bird cage, and decide it wasn’t worth turning off the computer, my LIFEBLOOD.

From the LA Times:

A 6.9 earthquake struck Baja Calfornia this afternoon, rattling a large swath of Los Angeles and Southern California.

The temblor struck about 3:40 p.m. about 108 miles east of Tijuana. In Los Angeles, the shaking persisted for several seconds. It was felt across Southern California, with skyscrapers shaking in San Diego. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

My friend Geri Mars, in Redondo Beach (45 min south of LA) tweeted:

No wonder such great rolling motion. My large aquarium was sloshing. That woke up the turtles!

There was an interesting link to a place called USGS – don’t know what it means – called Did you feel it? (Since the LA Times hates to link to any place other than themselves (Internal Narcissism) you know it must be a good link.) As of this moment over 4300 people have said yes. You have to answer a lot of questions. Nothing I like better than filling out a 6 page form in the middle of a possible emergency!

* LA Times reports:

No major damage reported in Los Angeles.

How does the saying go? When there’s no news, they still turn it into news. I’m going to add important info to this report by saying,” The sun is out in Los Angeles.”

My earthquake cartoon for Slate today is in my editorial cartoons blog.

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Sushi restaurant in Los Angeles serves whale meat and horse meat. Euwww!

Donna Barstow — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:03:48 +0000

Found on CNN:

Prosecutors charged Typhoon Restaurant Inc., the parent company of Santa Monica’s The Hump, and chef Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, 45, with the illegal sale of a marine mammal product for an unauthorized purpose.

Although it is considered a delicacy in Japan and some other countries, meat from whales — an endangered species — is illegal to consume in the United States.

The restaurant pledged to set up procedures to ensure that it complies with laws and “becomes a good corporate citizen.”

“We sincerely apologize. We pledge to work hard to re-earn the trust of the public and respect of our customers.”

The investigation into the restaurant began in October, when two members of the team that made the documentary “The Cove” visited The Hump, officials said.

…A receipt from the restaurant at the end of the meal identified their selection as “whale” and “horse” with the cost — $85 — written next to them.

[Side Note.] Have you noticed the trend the last couple of years to write each sentence as a separate paragraph online now? All the big news sources do it – it’s part of the copywriter rules for teh LA Times!

Anyway, any restaurant that serves horse meat – with all the stolen and butchered horses in various states, especially Florida – should be shut down. I actually joined that famous food blog, Chowhound, just to ask a question about horse meat and which country does eat the most, because they are the ones forming a black market for the horse killings here in the US, and for all the horses shipped down to Mexico for slaughter. I guess now we know: it’s Japan, at least some of whom have so little self-esteem that they have to eat illegal and raw animals to feel like they are truly human.

For Typhoon Restaurant, a big fat #typhoon FAIL.

Interesting horse sculpture photo by Dan Shouse.

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Mountain Lion sighting in Griffith Park.

Donna Barstow — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:01:16 +0000

Got an interesting comment today to a post I made on mountain lions 2 years ago:

A good friend (we’re both ultra runners) spotted a mtn lion at the hub (5-way) junction up above the east side of the park in ‘09. I’m emailing him to get more information.

I run at least 60 miles a week on the fireroads and trails in the park and have for years, but I’ve never seen a lion, heck I saw my first bobcat only last week.

– Dan

Last time I talked with Animal Services, back in September, one of the guys mentioned a mountain lion, but I ignored it, because sightings like this are pretty iffy, and I’ve never heard a valid report from the rangers. I was running alongside Silver Lake reservoir one night, and a guy stopped his car and waved to me. UH OH! I reluctantly stopped, but he just wanted to warn me that there was a bobcat on the barbed wire fence that surrounds the reservoir. Well, um, I don’t think so! I’ve seen several raccoons up on that barbed wire. Ouch, with their long fur! And they do look a little mean! But never a bobcat.

If someone has a picture or proof, feel free to prove me wrong. I would love for there to be more wildlife inside the Silver Lake reservoir, since the LADWP ruined it, by keeping it empty for 4 months, and then taking away half of the Meadows. (And thanks to Labonge and Garcetti! Spread the bad vibe!)

Dan may very well have seen one in the Park, however.

Photo by permission from flickr.

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You could hug a Dalai today.

Donna Barstow — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:51:11 +0000

The Dalai is coming, the Dalai is coming! To Los Angeles!

Saith the LA Times:

The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism arrived in Los Angeles on Friday and planned to spend the weekend here in support of Whole Child International, a nonprofit organization that works on behalf of orphaned and abandoned children. In an interview with The Times, he acknowledged that there had been no progress in the latest round of talks with China over his call for greater autonomy in Tibet.

Hmm, I don’t know what that means.

His L.A. visit included a luncheon speech Saturday and a public address scheduled for Sunday at Gibson Amphitheatre, where he will be joined by musician Sheryl Crow.

I do recognize the name of Sheryl Crow, however. It’s too bad that a religious leader has hired Sitrick to get more PR… JUST KIDDING! Apparently, they’re just “good friends.” I don’t have a cartoon of Sheryl, but will an artistic image of Sheryl Crow using for commissioning a Genuine Oil Painting of Sheryl Crow in highest professional quality, completely 100% hand-painted by high-skilled oil portrait artist. Art style: art-nouveau do?

Anyway, the reason I noted this is because I was wondering what to do for my next cartoon for Slate, and I had been reading about Tiger Woods’ impending conference, and then Dalai Lama’s secret visit to the White House, and things snowballed from there. This cartoon is in LA Daily News today. (print only) It’s not in the LA Times because, well, the Times Sunday cartoons are outsourced, and run by a cartoonist in Lexington KY.

From the LA Times:

As expected, Woods did not reveal when he would return to playing golf, saying he will return to therapy Saturday “for guidance on the issues he is facing.”

Wearing a dark blazer and a blue shirt, Woods often had tears in his eyes during his statement, telling a group of reporters he was responsible for the scandal that has engulfed his family.

UPDATED: 8:47 a.m.: Woods also appeared angry when he asked the media to respect the privacy of his family.

The LA Times cares about your feelings.

I am one of the very few (seemingly) who believe Tiger Woods was hung up by his toes for his very personal issues. I wouldn’t read anything about it. Jimmy Kimmel’s jokes were stupid, and I never laughed. I DON’T CARE WHAT PEOPLE DO IN THE BEDROOM. And who am I to judge his marriage dealie? Maybe they had an open marriage.

More about the cartoon, the Dalai, and even Tiger Woods over at The Opposite of Wrong.

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Mike McBride kills a pig.

Donna Barstow — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:49:43 +0000

Mike McBride kills a boar. Well, he didn’t do the actual knifing, or shooting, of course, but he likes to take all the credit at California Fish and Game, the biggest killing operation in California. In fact, he likes to claim all the animals Fish and Game kills each year. National Guard, take note of your competition!

From the LA Times:

A wild boar that reportedly chased people and smashed into a wrought-iron fence in Loma Linda on Wednesday was captured and will have to be euthanized, officials said.

The boar was spotted roaming a residential neighborhood about 8 a.m. and was finally corralled and sedated by animal control officers, who summoned state Department of Fish and Game officials.

McBride said his agency was told by local authorities that the boar had chased people. The animal, described as dark with a long snout, also charged into a wrought-iron fence and damaged it, he said.

There’s no report online that says the boar charged anyone. I’ll bet $100 he made this up. And with no other source, this “charging”, as if he was a pride of lions, is getting quoted everywhere! Plus, who cares? A dog will “charge” someone who comes too close, too. Maybe Mike should stay away from any animals…

From the Press-Enterprise:

“It charged a wrought-iron gate and did damage. It’s 200 pounds of muscle,” said Mike McBride, an assistant chief with Fish and Game.

It was the animal’s behavior, however, that sealed its fate, he said.

“If it wakes up, how do you control it?” McBride wondered.

What the hell, animals aren’t supposed to have muscle? Apparently, McBride believes that wild animals should be weak and fat, and carry guns. I’m just not sure whether Mike is trying to terrify the public, or….whether he feels a little deficient in the you-know-what category, and has to maximize the ferocity of the animals he kills. Since the only thing the animal did was ram a gate, WHILE TRYING TO ESCAPE FROM PEOPLE WHO WANTED TO KILL HIM, WHICH THEY DID.

And Mike prefers his animals tranquilized, asleep, or preferably dead. If you can’t control wild animals – and apparently Fish and Game can’t, only kill them – let’s give the job to someone who knows how to load the tranquilized, helpless animal on the truck, take it to a forest, and let it walk out of the truck. It’s not rocket science. Apparently, you prefer to load corpses on the truck.

No matter how much McBride crows about how many animals his department has killed, it’s not actually Fish and Game that does the deed: they get permission from Mommy, the USDA, which sends hunters. Here is a report on how many animals they killed in California in 2007 alone: 64,293. Let me repeat that: the agency that claims to protect the state and our natural state and our wildlife killed 64,293 animals and birds in one year. They call this “Wildlife Services.”

Hey, the 2008 reports are up now! Here’s the main page, where you can see how many animals they kill every year, in each state. Not for disease. Not because the animals were suffering. No, every single animal is killed because a farmer or civilian complained. Oddly, although the reports are separated by animal, no wild pigs or boars are listed killed in California. Do they have a different name, or did Mike want to start a new category for pigs?

In 2008 they killed…wait for it…79,751 animals in California alone. Add 291,406 animals and birds they have “dispersed” in this state, either by gun or pyrotechnics, whatever that means, some of which presumably died, due to loss of habitat, food, shock, etc.

The USDA killed over 15,000 more animals this year than last. Uptick in animal bad behavior, I guess. What do you think could be causing it, gangs? The USDA did free some animals (from the traps they set to kill all the others): 1,082 were let go. Less than 2%. Hallelujah.

Scott C’s comment on CBS:

Firstly I’d like to know why I can’t read the other comments due to the Sempre Energy ad box and the news sidebars – why are these not shuffled out of the reader’s view? Anyways, I JUST SAW THIS STORY AND AM FURIOUS!! Why in the @!$# does Animal Control/Services, Wildlife Services and the ilk, which are all funded by our taxpayer dollars, feel the need to kill wildlife? There was NO REASON that the wild boar could not be released back into the wild, except for the ineptitude and laziness of those that feed the catch-poles to the I.E. shelters. It’s so much easier just to “put them down” (i.e. slaughter) than to drive them out to where they came from. The last bastions of nature which we call National Forests and Parks, etc. All for ramming a few pieces of outdoor patio furniture, how thoughtful. To all involved, shame on you and may your next hike be met with Mother Nature’s finest.

Hivehand comments:

Just saw this on the news and was wondering why this animal will be euthanized? Did it have rabies?

No, but wouldn’t that be a great excuse for California Fish and Game, hivehand! The LA County Health Department said there hasn’t been any animal with rabies for over 10 years.

Oh, and the Loma Linda animal services are totally wussy.

Photo of dangerous boar from KNX.

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Tiger Woods, Meet Mr. Oak.

Donna Barstow — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:58:18 +0000

Tiger Woods had an accident November 27th. Tree was unharmed, however. From the AP:

The Orlando Sentinel reported that an orange and white barricade sat on top of a hole in front of Woods’ home. About 10 feet away, there was a tire track near an oak tree in his neighbor’s yard. The tree had a few scuff marks but was largely unscathed.

Woods also hit a fire hydrant at the same time (2 AM on his driveway), although no report yet on whether water issued forth.

Tiger Woods was taken to the hospital and released.

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