We asked our favourite professional geeks to give us their top travel tips, creating a destination guide that’s perfect for those with inquiring minds. Read below for the best geek travel tips.

Geek tip: Rancho Obi-Wan

The not-for-profit Rancho Obi-Wan holds the world’s largest collection of Star Wars paraphernalia, including every book ever published about Star Wars.

Amy Ratcliffe, Geek blogger at geekfemme.blogspot.com says:

“Rancho Obi-Wan houses the largest private collection of Star Wars memorabilia and is also the happiest place on Earth. Besides seeing over 200,000 collectibles from the saga, you get to hang out with the enthusiastic and knowledgeable Steve Sansweet. Take a tour! It will be a day you will never forget.”

Mitaka, Japan Geek tip: Ghibli Museum

A beautiful museum celebrating the output of Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation house responsible for Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.

Ryan Estrada, Comic Book Artist (including DC comics online) says:

“The artwork in the Ghibli Museum doesn’t hang on the wall in frames. Loose drawings sit in piles on top of desks, next to binders of storyboards for every film they’ve made. Film prints sit in hand-cranked projectors ready for you to explore them frame by frame. Watch original animation, or even see it created right before your eyes. The art is there to be explored, not viewed.”

San Francisco, USA , Geek tip: The Musée Mécanique

Dedicated to arcade games from days gone by, exhibits include fortune teller, sex appeal metre, Regina Sublima original music box and a Wurlitzer Orchistrion.

Veronica Belmont, Tekzilla host (Revision3 internet TV) says:

“The Musée Mécanique at Fisherman’s Wharf is the only reason I’d ever recommend going near the tourist wonderland of Pier 39! It’s an awesome museum, filled with antique arcade games and peep shows. Bring your spare!”

To get more travel tips from celebrity geeks, check out the geek travel map on HostelBookers.com.

Well, of course, we’re in the age of Big Brother- but now he’s got even a larger partner–everyone commercial–and for that matter–private organizations that want to know what you’re doing online. Ahh, such is the life of the new frontier of the “Internet” that everybody thought would be the last “bastion” of freedom. Oh, but how things become and are complicated!

Here’s the 411 on the 911 from an Industry Insider:

In the tech community, everyone has pet stereotypes about different browser users. “Chrome users are nerds.” “IE users are old.” There’s no shortage of theories. What’s lacking is hard data about what these different browser users actually do online: how much they spend, how much more time they spend on site, how many more pages they view.

I’m in the fortunate position of being able to study and (anonymously) report on large amounts of data from a variety of ecommerce sites that my company, Strangeloop Networks, accelerates. In the past few months, I’ve conducted some in-house research to answer these questions.

Finding #1: People using newer browser versions spend more than people using older versions.

You might be saying “Of course, that’s obvious” to this one, but this is the first time I’ve heard this theory substantiated. The difference can be pretty staggering. On one site, I found the order value per visitor was 29% higher for IE8 users than it was for IE7 users. (If you’re using Google Analytics or a similar program to track your customer data, you can easily identify these numbers for your own site.)

Finding #2: IE users view more pages, spend more time on site, and have a lower bounce rate than Firefox and Chrome users.

Earlier this year, I gathered transaction data spanning hundreds of millions of unique visits for five ecommerce sites that Strangeloop is currently accelerating. I extracted data about page views, time on site, and bounce rate, and then sorted that data into the following browser/OS groups: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, iPad, iPhone, and Android (phone).

What I learned

These kinds of numbers easily lead to more theorizing. Are IE fans less tech savvy and therefore slower web users than the rest of us? Are they more likely to be using older systems with less processing power? But what about that lower bounce rate? Does it signify that IE users are better searchers and more likely to arrive at the right destination, or are they simply more easily satisfied than other users? These are questions that numbers can’t answer.

Finding #3: iPhone users view fewer pages, spend less time on site, and have a higher average bounce rate than users of other mobile browsers.

When we extended our study to mobile browsers — focusing on iOS and Android — we found that iPhone users sit at the opposite end of the spectrum from Internet Explorer users. In the same study I described above, we found that iPhone users used ecommerce sites very differently than Android users.

Possible theories? Apple fans might argue that the shorter time spent on site could be due to the (debatable) fact that iPhones are better-powered than other devices, but that doesn’t account for the differences in page views and bounce rate. Do these validate the stereotypes about iPhone users: that they’re impatient and will bounce from a site if they can’t find what they want right away? Or that they’re savvier than Android and can complete transactions faster?

(Photo Courtesy of Bloomberg.)

They have just released results that show when workers are “cut off from their email it significantly reduces their stress and improves their concentration.” 

Having a vacation from email and other electronics is a health issue.

According to a new study by UCI researchers  and the U.S. Army, shows, “stress was relieved when workers were temporarily taken off of email.”

“Heart rate monitors were attached to computer users in a suburban office, while software sensors detected how often they switched windows.  People who read email changed screens twice as often, and were in a steady “high alert” state with more constant heart rates.  Those removed from email for five days experienced more natural, variable heart rates.”

“We found that when you remove email from workers’ lives, they multitask less and experience less stress,” said UCI Informatics Professor Gloria Marks. 

She co-authored, “A Pace Not Dictated by Electrons,” with UCI assistant project scientist Stephen Voida and Army senior research scientist Armand Cardello. 

“The study was funded by the Army and the National Science Foundation. The participants were civilian employees using computers at the Army’s Natick Soldier Systems Center outside Boston.

Those without email reported feeling that they were better able to do their jobs and stay on task with fewer stressful and time wasting interruptions.”

“Measurements supported this. Mark said people with email switched windows on an average of 37 times per hour.  But those without access to email changed screens half as often, about 18 times an hour.

She suggested these findings could be used to boost productivity and suggested controlling email login times, and batching messages could be used to lower the stressful effect of email.”

“Interacting in-person instead of by email proved to be a relief,” Mark said. “Studies indicate people with steady high alert heart rates have more cortisol, a hormone linked to stress.”  Stress on the job has been linked to a variety of health problems.

Travelin’ Local  also offers a Second Application for this study:  Great Ways to Get Away!   

Email at home, along with all of our other electronic connections also calls for a few breaks away from your email too!

We suggest spend that you spend quality time at one of Orange County’s many beautiful parks; bring a good book and spend a day at the most beautiful beach that you can find;  lunch in the park with your dog at the  Huntington at the Park Bench Café;  camp at Moro Bay in Crystal Cove State Park; spend an afternoon on your bike or go for a walk; have a  good time playing with volleyball on the sand  or enjoy a trek through Laguna Canyon. 

Try a few– and Reboot Yourself!

First though, a word about SCAG:

SCAG is the nation’s largest metropolitan planning organization, representing six counties, 191 cities and more than 18 million residents. SCAG undertakes a variety of planning and policy initiatives to encourage a more sustainable Southern California now and in the future.

How much has Southern California grown since the last census?

[Ed.Note]. The only city that wasn’t included in this chart is the City of Los Angeles because its data is so large that the other Los Angeles County City information on the chart above isn’t visible

The City of Los Angeles’ growth rate between 2000 and 2010 went from a population is 3,694,742 in 2000 to 3,792,621 in 2010. A net increase in LA city’s population of 97,879 – a percentage increase of 2.6%.

City Of Los Angeles’ Chief Administration Office (CAO) Population Table

Since the 1990 Census, the Southern California region has grown from 14.6 million to 16.5 million. An increase of 12.81%. All of the counties in the SCAG region experienced a growth of at least 12% with the exception of Los Angeles County, which grew by 7.4%. In absolute numbers L.A. County grew by 656,286 which was the highest increase in the state.

City Population 2000 and 2010 ( .xls)

Are the census figures on track with SCAG’s previous projections?

The census counts were approximately 2% lower (340,608) than SCAG previous projections of 16,856,614. Most of the difference was attributable to Los Angeles County (277,516).

How do the census figures compare to the state’s own projections?

The state’s population projections were also higher than our census counts. The Department of Finance has argued that the difference is attributable to an undercount of the population in California, which has been reported as 529,782.

Do these numbers indicate that growth rates throughout the state are generally consistent?

The growth rates across the state ranged from a decrease of 2.4 % in Modoc County to an increase of 45.1% in San Benito County. However, the greatest increases continued to be in the Inland Empire and the Central Valley. These areas grew at a higher rate than the remaining portions of the state. The Inland Empire (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) added over 666,000 persons between 1990 and 2000. The increase is comparable to the entire population of Kern County.

Which areas of the region saw the most explosive growth?

The Inland Empire continued to grow at the highest rate both in the SCAG region and statewide. In Imperial County the City of Calipatria grew 171% between 1990 and 2000, with the increase primarily the result of the opening of a prison facility within the city. In Los Angeles County the city with largest percent increase was Lancaster. Orange County’s fastest growing city was Tustin at 33.2%. Riverside County’s fastest growing city was La Quinta with a growth of 111%, which was similar to the growth rate of Adelanto (113%) in San Bernardino County. Ventura County’s fastest growth city was Moorpark at 23.2%.

Which area of the region saw the least growth?

The slowest growing cities by County were Holtville (Imperial County) at 16.4%, Vernon (LA County_ – 40.1%, Villa Park (Orange County) – 4.8%, Norco (Riverside County) 3.7%, Needles (San Bernarndo County) – 7.0% and Ojai (Ventura County) 3.3%. In total there were 16 cities out of 185 that experienced a population decrease between 1990 and 2000.

Have Hispanics become the majority ethnic group in Southern California?

The Hispanic population now represents the largest ethnic group (40.57%) followed by White (38.85%), Asian (10.19%) and African American (7.30%). The white population represents the largest ethnic group in Orange County (51.26%), Riverside County (51.04%), and Ventura County (56.75%). The Hispanic population is the largest ethnic group in Imperial County at 72.22%. Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties have no majority ethnic group.

County Summary of Ethnicity, Population and Housing ( .xls)

“Not Even a Busted State Fisc can stop Jerry Brown’s Train to Nowhere”

Travelin’ Local is the leading travel and lifestyle magazine for Southern California, and we remain completely passionate, dedicated and focused on all the things that make Southern California one of the most unique and lovely places in the entire world to live, work, play, study and pursue life’s dreams.

Southern Californians are vibrant, hip, friendly, cool, and are among the most diverse ethnic and demographic groups in the nation and world. We’re  educated, physically fit, trailblazers for all forms and types of industry, education, business, fashion, film, television, music, biotech, high-tech, and cultural sectors–among an even longer laundry list in which we reign supreme–inter alia– along with our beautiful physical and urban architecture spread throughout our region. Of course, lastly, our coastline and beaches are divine.

Be that as it may, we are in the midst of a severe financial and budgetary meltdown statewide, and our fiscal house everywhere throughout our municipalities is currently in a state of paralysis, distress, mismanagement with potential bankruptcy and insolvency looming like the “Sword of Damacles” over our collective heads.

That’s why we see a direct correlation quite frequently–more often than not– between our transportation systems, modes of transport, and the proper allocation of funds for the right metro and transportation solutions and the wrong ones.

Well,  if our State Legislature isn’t stopped with this boondoggle called “High Speed Rail,” the potential fiscal and budgetary well-being for all Californians may be permanently and irrecovably ruined.

The Big Fix is In  - Our $100 Billion Dollar High Speed Rail Boondoggle

Bullet Train plan increasingly labeled as Irresponsible and Highly Speculative

“Responding to a growing list of negative assessments made by non-partisan sources on California’s high-speed rail project,” Assemblyman Martin Garrick, R. Carlsbad, 74th District, is co-sponsoring legislation that would halt the project and “spare generations of taxpayers billions in unneeded debt.”

California’s budget deficit has grown by $7 billion in the last four months. Uh oh. The good news in this debacle is that the state’s fiscal woes will make it nearly impossible to complete Governor Jerry Brown’s runaway high-speed rail train. The bad news is that the Governor is going to try anyway.

Transportation experts warn that the 500-mile bullet train from San Francisco to Los Angeles could cost more than $100 billion, though the Governor pegs the price at a mere $68 billion. The state has $12.3 billion in pocket, $9 billion from the state and $3.3 billion from the feds, but Mr. Brown hasn’t a clue where he’ll get the rest. Maybe he’s hoping Facebook will buy the train, though he’ll have a hard time convincing Mark Zuckerberg that it’s worth 100 Instagrams.

In 2008 voters approved $9 billion in bonds for construction under the pretense that the train would cost only $33 billion and be financed primarily by the federal government and private enterprise. Investors, however, won’t put up any money because the rail authority’s business plans are too risky. Rail companies have refused to operate the train without a revenue guarantee, which the ballot initiative prohibits. Even contractors are declining to bid on the project because they’re worried they won’t get paid.

Mr. Brown is hoping that Washington will pony up more than $50 billion, but the feds have committed only $3.3 billion so far—and Republicans intend to claw it back if they take the Senate and White House this fall. If that happens, the state won’t have enough money to complete its first 130-mile segment in the lightly populated Central Valley, which in any event wouldn’t be operable since the state can’t afford to electrify the tracks.

None of which is stopping Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who is putting the squeeze on California lawmakers to appropriate $6 billion—now. “We can’t wait,” he says. The White House wants to get the money out the door before the election. It’s worried that even some Democratic legislators are getting cold feet as logistical challenges and public opposition mount.

Polls show that voters by a two-to-one margin would kill the train, though Democrats refuse to put a referendum on the ballot. A number of municipalities are also challenging the train’s legality. Kings County in the Central Valley last year sued the authority for violating the ballot measure’s requirement that the first segment be operable.

Environmentalists may even file suit if the state uses revenues from its new cap-and-trade program to finance the train. That’s the Governor’s back-up plan when Washington and Mr. Zuckerberg ignore his pleas.

State law requires that the government spend cap-and-trade fees on activities that mitigate carbon emissions, but operating and constructing the bullet train would actually increase greenhouse gas emissions for the next 30 years.

Mr. Brown and the White House are betting that the state will be in far too deep when the money runs out to abandon this mission on Camino Unreal. The Governor also figures that the $100 billion bill will seem smaller spread out over 30 years. What’s an extra $3 billion a year when the state’s already $16 billion in the hole?

Here’s another idea. Maybe the state could pay contractors in Farmville currency.

(Photo credit via AP and article content from the Wall Street Journal and Travelin’ Local.)

Whether planning a weekend getaway or a long leisurely stay, visitors to San Diego have plenty of fun-filled summer activities to choose.

MAJOR EVENTS IN SAN DIEGO

• San Diego celebrates Independence Day with a variety of Fourth of July celebrations throughout the county. The Port of San Diego celebrates with its Big Bay Boom fireworks extravaganza over San Diego Bay, the largest fireworks display in the county.www.bigbayboom.com
• Visitors can be Super Man or Wonder Woman for a day at Comic-Con International, July 12 – 15, at the San Diego Convention Center. Comic-Con has become a signature summertime event for San Diego; it is the largest comics and pop culture event in the United States, attracting thousands of artists, celebrities and fans of comic books, movie memorabilia and all things related to pop culture. www.comic-con.org
• Residents and visitors alike show their pride at the 38th Annual San Diego LGBT Pride Parade and Festival, July 20 – 22, one of the most popular events of its kind in the country. Highlights include a mile-long parade through Hillcrest and two-day festival in Balboa Park. www.sdpride.org

SURF, CELEBRATE AND BIKE THE BRIDGE TO CORONADO

• Coronado’s Fourth of July Celebration is the most popular Independence Day event in San Diego County. On July 4th, locals and visitors alike converge for a full day of festivities, including a 5K/15K run/walk beginning at 7 a.m. at Tidelands Park, a rough-water swim at 9 a.m. at Central Beach and a patriotic parade at 10 a.m. down Orange Avenue, complete with military bands, floats and Navy aircraft. The day continues with “Art-in-the-Park” and an afternoon concert in Spreckels Park and culminates with a spectacular fireworks display at 9 p.m. over Glorietta Bay.http://www.ecoronado.com/4th
• On August 26, visitors have a rare opportunity to cycle over the iconic San Diego-Coronado Bridge during the 6th Annual Ride the Bridge-Bike the Bay. This noncompetitive 25-mile bike ride along Bayshore Bikeway also passes through Coronado’s Tidelands Park, beautiful Silver Strand State Beach and along Glorietta Bay, as well as through neighboring San Diego, Imperial Beach, Chula Vista and National City. Registration is required. www.bikethebay.net
• The 7th Annual Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Competition takes to the waves 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on June 16 at neighboring Imperial Beach. This popular tail-wagging event features dozens of dogs hanging 10 in the small, large and tandem (dog and owner on the same surfboard) categories; plus, expert surfers participate in the tandem event and perform radical tricks with their pooches. www.LoewsSurfDog.com

IT’S GOLDEN IN EAST COUNTY

• The 17th Annual Wings Over Gillespie Air Show, ”A Salute to 100 Years of U.S. Marine Corps Aviation,” takes to the skies June 2-3 and includes re-enactments of WWII and Vietnam War aerial battles with pyrotechnic displays, 40 aircraft (flying and static displays), live entertainment, a Kidz Zone and food and merchandise vendors.www.ag1caf.org
• Get your motor running every Wednesday night, June 6 through September 26, at the Cajon Classic Cruise, Southern California’s largest weekly classic car show, featuring classic and specialty cars on display in downtown El Cajon. www.ci.el-cajon.ca.us/events
• On June 16-17, the Julian Gold Rush Days celebrate the 1870s discovery of gold in the historic mountain town of Julian with a full weekend of activities, including gold panning, gold mine tours, historic skits and more. www.julianca.com/events/index.htm#June

• The San Diego County Fair takes place June 8 – July 4 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.This year’s theme, “Out of This World,” celebrates the exploration of outer space – the wonder of the universe, as well as the fun and imaginative world of science fiction and visitors from other planets. The Fair is the largest annual event in the County and features top performing artists and popular attractions like the International Beer Festival, livestock exhibits, home and hobby displays, woodworking and an award-winning flower show. www.sdfair.com
• The 26th Annual La Jolla Festival of Arts and Food Fair, June 23 – 24, hosts 200 award-winning local and national artists displaying paintings, sculptures, fine jewelry, photography and more. Guests can also enjoy a variety of cuisines in the festival’s food area, listen to live entertainment and visit the children’s area featuring interactive booths, hands-on games and activities. www.lajollaartfestival.org
• San Diego North County celebrates Independence Day with a variety of Fourth of July celebrations. La Jolla’s popular 4th of July gathering features spectacular fireworks overLa Jolla Cove beginning at 9:00 p.m. www.lajollafireworks.org. LEGOLAND California Resort in Carlsbad celebrates July 4th with Red, White and BOOM! Special family activities are available throughout the day with the fireworks starting at 8:30 p.m.www.legoland.com

And sometimes, you’ll find the perfect tiny Chinese restaurant inside of a nondescript strip mall. Being a little adventurous can definitely yield great food finds! This particular find is courtesy of my boyfriend. It’s one of the places he’s turned me onto and it’s definitely a place I would have never discovered on my own.

Mandarin Chinese Food is a small hole in the wall restaurant located in the southern city of San Diego–Chula Vista, across from Southwestern College.

It’s next to a 7-11, a Domino’s Pizza and a now empty grocery store. There’s not much else in the area and so it’s definitely not  a hard to miss place. But if you’re in the know, then you are aware of just how awesome this tiny little place is.

This restaurant is perpetually busy. The booths and tables are always full and there’s a line for take-out food whenever we come here. That’s because this food is a great deal and all of the the locals know it. I’m super happy to be “in the know” too; and now you can share Chula Vista’s little secret hideaway for awesome Chinese food.

You should start your meal with the bestest egg rolls ever. The egg roll has a perfectly thin, crispy wrapper. It’s mostly minced chicken with very little filler – just a few veggies and binding ingredients with a lovely spice that ties it all together. These egg rolls are the perfect way to start any meal at Mandarin. I’ve had a lot of egg rolls in my life, my friends, and I can safely say that these are the best I’ve ever had!

Another “must get” item are there insanely delicious Salted Pepper Chicken Wings. There are a few restaurants that do a version of the salted pepper wings, but down in the South Bay is where they are done the best. We prefer the version that’s done here at Mandarin.

You get about a dozen wings per order. The wings are perfectly fried and are sprinkled with a mixture of green onion, fried garlic, and red pepper flakes. It’s best to grab a wing and sprinkle a little more of this magic mixture on top as you take a bite. The combination of flavors will blow your mind and your tastebuds will thank you for this splendorous deliverance of wonderful flavors. It’s not really overly spicy, either – just a great flavor enhancement. Crisp, crunchy, and full of flavor from the garlic, peppers and onions.

The House Special Noodles are another really stellar item for sharing. It’ has soft lo-mein noodles with a combination of chicken, pork, beef and large shrimp with veggies. It’s low on the veggies and has a high ratio of meat. The noodles are tender and soft in a nice, simple sauce and the meats are all perfectly cooked with a great balance of the four spread throughout the dish. One order of this will feed many, so it’s great for sharing and for leftovers the next day.

Fried rice is always a great staple for any Chinese meal and the fried rice at Mandarin does not lack in any way. Lightly fried, it has fantastic mix of chopped fried egg, peas and carrots dispersed through the rice. It’s always cooked perfect, light and fluffy. So the “brownie points” keep adding–their fried rice doesn’t disappoint.

We’ve eaten other dishes on their menu (such as the Mandarin Chicken and the Sweet and Sour Pork), but all the dishes shown above are really and truly the staples that we always, always order here.

The food is consistently good and always reliable and we’ve never had a bad meal here. If you’re in the area or are craving some really good (and affordable) Chinese food, head down to Chula Vista and check out this wonderful little hole in the wall–Mandarin Chinese Food!

Baseball: The All-American Game

Presumably the Volt was an attempt by GM to help Obama with his pledge to put 1 million electric cars on the road in return for the tens of billions of dollars in forgivable “loans” that the company got from the Obama administration from the TARP bailout.

The hybrid gas-electric vehicle gets 25 miles on a full, overnight charge and costs around $40,000. To date, GM has sold around 10,000 vehicles. To put it in perspective, the Chevy Corvette has a sticker price of $49,600.

If the Volt’s not in the federal witness protection program, it ought to be.

“Sales also took a hit last fall when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a probe into why two Volts burst into flames days or weeks after severe NHTSA crash testing,” reports USA Today. Leaks from the cooling system were caused by shortages in the electrical system that prompted the fires.

But the discovery came only after weeks of bad press for GM. Eventually the car company offered to buy back every single Volt for any consumer who was unhappy.

But lack of sales- and production- hasn’t stopped the government-owned car company from mapping out a marketing strategy that might have been fashioned by the marketing geniuses of the IRS and the United States Postal Service combined: “The Volt’s technology and its recent accolade from Consumer Reports make the Volt a marketing tool for Chevy,” said Alan Batey, vice president for Chevrolet U.S. sales, at the beginning of December according to Bloomberg.

“This vehicle is about more than how many we sell,” Batey said. “This vehicle is a magnet around everything we are trying to do to showcase our brand.”

If that’s the case, it looks like a poor magnet and a poor tool. And taxpayers, who are still owed billions by the company, are about to get screwed even worse in the coming months.

The website ExtremeTech calculates that the car costs about 6.3 cents per mile when running on electricity at 13 cents per kilowatt hour. But that rate ignores depreciating the cost of a replacement battery ($8,000) over the life of the battery warranty.

The term “Going Green” has become a catch-all expression for anything that is eco-friendly, from reusable tote bags, electric cars, solar power, can, glass, and plastic recycling, and everything in-between.

 Understanding our Energy Requirements and the “Green Ideology” Unfortunately, where and when energy is involved, “going green” is more slogan than reality. 

Let me explain

To keep energy on an even playing field, I’m going to use BTU’s as a standard measurement.  Almost every type of energy, can be translated into BTU’s, using this calculator:

Or to quickly understand and visualize how energy types generate BTU’s, this should help:

Conversion Table of Common Energy Sources to Btu:

The Myth of “Going Green”

From the cross-referenced diagram and chart below, in order to increase the use of alternative energy, we would have to replace other types of energy supplies and their concomitant usage by source and sector:

Alternative Energy comprises only 7% of our Energy Supply

Broken down further, Alternative Energy is comprised of the following:

Most Renewable Energy Goes to Producing Electricity

Electricity producers consumed 51% of total US renewable energy in 2007. Most of the remaining 49% of renewable energy was biomass consumed for industrial applications (principally paper-making) by plants producing only heat and steam. Biomass is also used for transportation fuels (ethanol) and to provide residential and commercial space heating.

The largest share of the renewable-generated electricity comes from hydroelectric energy (71%), followed by biomass (16%), wind (9%), geothermal (4%), and solar (0.2%). Wind-generated electricity increased by almost 21% in 2007 over 2006, more than any other energy source. Its growth rate was followed closely by solar, which increased by over 19% in 2007 over 2006.

Why We Don’t Use More Renewable Energy

Renewable energy sources and generating technologies are environmentally benign compared with fossil fuel and nuclear technologies, but there are two main reasons why we don’t use more renewable energy:

1. Renewable Energy is Expensive and Capital-Intensive: Renewable energy plants are generally more expensive to build and to operate than coal and natural gas plants. Recently, however, some wind-generating plants have proven to be economically feasible in areas with good wind resources, compared with other conventional technologies, when coupled with the Renewable Electricity Production Tax Credit.
2. Renewable Resources Are Often Geographically Remote: The best renewable resources are often available only in remote areas, so building transmission lines to deliver power to large metropolitan areas is expensive.

Although “Going Green is a useful and nice slogan, in the real world, we need real fixes to get us out of our energy source and usage conundrum. This is one of the last great business, political, and energy frontiers, and I can hardly wait to see what the future has in store for us.

When you add in the cost of the battery depreciation, you get a calculation of about 14.3 cents per mile for the Volt. As the tech site notes: “A compact car getting 35 mpg would cost 10 cents per mile using $3.50-a-gallon gasoline.”  So in other words, the Volt, in addition to the high cost to purchase, costs 43% more to operate than a conventional car.

That’s why the Volt is the perfect car for the Occupy Wall Street crowd

It makes no economic sense no matter how convoluted its supporters make the economic argument or how much taxpayer support it’s given.  The Volt relied heavily on $7,500 federal government subsidies- and even then couldn’t make a go of it.

As one economist pointed out in the USA Today:

“The fact that GM is now facing an oversupply of Volts suggests that consumer demand is just not that strong for these vehicles,” comments Dr. Lacey Plache, chief economist for auto research site Edmunds.com. “The price premium on the Volt just doesn’t make economic sense for the average consumer when there are so many fuel-efficient gasoline-powered cars available, typically for thousands of dollars less.”

Even GM employees aren’t buying them: Eldon Renaud, president of United Auto Workers Local 2164 at the Bowling Green, Kentucky plant noted that his members were going “to use their [$7,000] profit sharing checks to put a down payment on the” Corvettes they manufacture.

Conversely, what does it tell you when GM won’t see a bump in production on a model they sell less than 2,000 of during a month when they pay record $7,000 bonuses to 47,500 workers?

USA Today goes on to point out that the Volt’s “average buyer has a $170,000 household income and doesn’t need to have a new-car purchase subsidized” by the federal government.

But that’s how The One takes care of the One Percent and an iconic car company goes from “Like a Rock” to “The Perfect Company for the One Percent.”

Obviously, when it comes to Satire and Irony, no author, can compete with GM’s nonsense.

Anyway, we need less cars on the road here period–while we strive to keep increasing our use of alternative, free, public, healthy and typical transportation alternatives for our fair city of The City of Angels.

Currently, it’s screening here now at the Edwards University Town Center Cinema in Irvine. And it’s also opened in New York, Washington D.C.,  San Francisco, Berkeley and Las Vegas.

It may make you thirsty just to watch it as you picture the future with less water!

One of 400 entrees in April’s, Newport Beach Film Festival, this film may be the one that continues to have legs,  as it still continues to appear around the country.  Perhaps, it’s because it its message needs to be heard now.

In the movie, Famiglietti describes the water crisis,  ” It’s been like watching a Polaroid develop. All of a sudden, you have a complete picture. It’s like an ‘Oh my God’ moment. You think, I can’t believe this is happening and I need to tell somebody about it.”

“I think California is in trouble,” he adds. “The combination of climate change, growth and groundwater depletion spells a train wreck.”

Famiglietti, a professor of Earth System Science and Civil and Environmental Engineering, runs the University of California Center for Hydrologic Modeling.

His recent turn to film, was put very succinctly by him, that without a change of course in the water crisis, “We’re screwed!”

The film reflects information that Famiglietti collected in global and regional data over a period of years via a NASA satellite mission called GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment).

Director Jessica  Yu, uses Famiglietti’s research and that  of University of Arizona’s law professor Robert Glennon, author of ‘Unquenchable,’ Scripps Institute of Oceangraphy researcher Tim Barnett, the Pacific Institute’s Peter Gleick, and writer Alex Prud’homme’s book, ‘The Ripple Effect’  all also show evidence of the huge loss of water around the globe and to appeal for action. The cast includes Peter Gleick, Erin Brokovich, Jay Famiglietti, Robert Glennon and Pat Mulroy.

Background on Famiglietti’s research

Check out Jay Famiglietti’s Testimony to the US Subcommittee on Water and Power 

It’s simple as Famiglietti explains, “The human race is soaking up water faster then it can be replaced. The old story of rain nourishing the earth–running into rivers that run to the ocean– then evaporating and returning to the clouds, no longer works.

Warmer clouds now hold more water. Then that water is released by storms that do not return all of the water needed to restore our aquifers, lakes and reservoirs.

“Satellite-based global-ocean mass balance estimates
of interannual variability and emerging trends in
continental freshwater discharge”

“Also, the Sierra snow packs is melting faster, and in the future some countries will be hit with a deluge of water while others will simply put, sink into drought.  This is the critical view that can now be seen from outer space.”

Famiglietti says this means a significant ecological loss for California, where farmers and conservationists continue to collide.

He’s quoted as saying, “We’ve been keeping a close eye on the Central Valley. The view from the ground is muddied by politics. The view from space is clear and undeniable. The aquifer has lost about one and a half times the volume of Lake Mead. That’s a huge amount of water.”

Data from Famiglietti’s GRACE project was displayed on Thomson Reuters’ electronic Times Square billboards in April.  This was one more way for Famiglietti to get the word out and to get us all moving.

Pass the word along and see Last Call at the Last Oasis soon.

Previously, I penned an article (in honor of National Chocolate Chip Day) entitled The Top Ten List for Chocolate Chip Cookies in Los Angeles.

Curiously, the Chocolate Chip Cookie was manufactured (baked) by accident:

The story is as follows:

It all started in the 1930s, at the Toll House Inn, which was owned by Ruth and Kenneth Wakefield.

Here, Ruth would prepare delicious, home-cooked meals that would be served for her guests.

One day, while preparing a batch of Butter Drop Do cookies, a favorite recipe dating back to Colonial days, Ruth cut a bar of our NESTLÉ® Semi-Sweet Chocolate into tiny bits and added them to her dough, expecting them to melt.

Instead, the chocolate held its shape and softened to a delicately creamy texture. Source: Very Best Baking

Be that as it may, I digress:

However, the History of Pies, is equally, if not more fascinating

• Pie has been around since the ancient Egyptians. The first pies were made by early Romans who may have learned about it through the Greeks. These pies were sometimes made in “reeds” which were used for the sole purpose of holding the filling and not for eating with the filling.
• The Romans must have spread the word about pies around Europe as the Oxford English Dictionary notes that the word pie was a popular word in the 14th century. The first pie recipe was published by the Romans and was for a rye-crusted goat cheese and honey pie.
• The early pies were predominately meat pies. Pyes (pies) originally appeared in England as early as the twelfth century. The crust of the pie was referred to as “coffyn”. There was actually more crust than filling. Often these pies were made using fowl and the legs were left to hang over the side of the dish and used as handles. Fruit pies or tarts (pasties) were probably first made in the 1500s. English tradition credits making the first cherry pie to Queen Elizabeth I.
• Pie came to America with the first English settlers. The early colonists cooked their pies in long narrow pans calling them “coffins” like the crust in England. As in the Roman times, the early American pie crusts often were not eaten, but simply designed to hold the filling during baking. It was during the American Revolution that the term crust was used instead of coffyn.
• Over the years, pie has evolved to become what it is today “the most traditional American dessert”. Pie has become so much a part of American culture throughout the years, that we now commonly use the term “as American as apple pie.”

Are you a banana cream pie lover? Or maybe the old standby and American classic – the apple pie, is more to your liking?

If so, today is the day to order yourself one heck of a slice and or make one at home to compliment tonight’s dinner. Below for your dining pleasure, we have an awesome pecan pie recipe that will make you “slap yo momma sideways”.

It’s from The Neely’s of the Food Network

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup dark corn syrup
• 3 tablespoons bourbon liquor
• 1 1/2 cups pecan halves
• 1/2 cup mini milk chocolate morsels
• 1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell
• Homemade whipped cream, recipe follows

• 4 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

“A strong and vibrant cultural community is vital to having a ‘creative class,’ according to the ideas of urban studies theorist Richard Florida.

The Rise of the Creative Class

In his book “The Rise of the Creative Class,” Florida explores what it takes to attract “knowledge-based professionals,” including scientists, engineers, artists, musicians, designers, writers, and any other professional who brings creativity to the task at hand.

The creative class, he says, “accounts for nearly half of all wage and salary income in the United States, $1.7 trillion dollars, as much as the manufacturing and service sectors combined.”

Travelin’ Local and many other people, institutions, and organizations throughout the Golden State could not agree more.

It’s just plain wrong that California’s priorities lie elsewhere than investing into the arts which has been proven to attract and keep the knowledge management class.

Shorting the future of our “Best and Brightest” by cutting off our collective noses despite our faces, by denying endowments for the arts, arts development, and for grants and prizes to individuals and organizations in the arts, is shortsighted.

Don’t get me wrong

I know there are many government programs essential for life’s basic necessities; but if art—and by definition a ample supply of artists–isn’t available to the masses, life indeed would be boring and according to the study mentioned above, a society and area requires a creative class to attract knowledge based professionals including scientists, engineers, designers and other professionals.

It is they who are drivers of local and regional economies so to deny the arts is to deny your future economic prosperity.

It’s a well known fact that, California is technically insolvent. That’s a nice term for being bankrupt–without the formalities, of course.

Because of California’s massive and ongoing Billion dollar plus deficits and our constant slashing of our budgets to try and balance our budgets, the good news is that Cities like Burbank and many others here, and across the nation, are taking the initiative and developing the cool mechanisms to support their own city’s arts programs and culture.

The City of Burbank Cultural Arts Commission just announced the launch of a new website that’s  dedicated to Burbank’s cultural venues, events, organizations, educational institutions and artists online.

A cultural first for the city, the website’s goal is to introduce and support the arts, deliver quality art experiences, and promote exciting arts-friendly venues for every generation.  Encompassing more than 50 cultural venues including dance, media, literature, music, theatre and visual arts, the website features a calendar of cultural activities, arts education programs and valuable contact information.

A colorful, online home for Burbank’s flourishing arts scene, www.burbankarts.com devotes special attention to arts education and includes more than 40 programs offered by Burbank High School, John Burroughs High School, Woodbury University as well as other creative institutions such as Video Symphony, Garri Dance Studio, Media City Ballet, Burbank Youth Summer Theater Institute and more.  Educational programs include dance, ballet, vocal music, photography, video production and theater.

“Burbank is a uniquely artistic city,” states Lynda Willner, Chair, Burbank Cultural Arts Commission.  “Already known as the media capital of the world, it’s also home to actors, painters, sculptors, animators, teachers, museum directors, ceramicists, singers, dancers and photographers – a truly vast array of super-talented and committed individuals. 

Their new Cultural Arts website will encourage a closer collaboration among these artists and their audiences, and will promote every form of creativity and imagination.

As a city immersed in the entertainment industry, Burbank has the rare opportunity to combine homegrown artistic talent with the ever-increasing needs of studios and post-production facilities seeking creative approaches to storytelling, 3-D animation, new media and design.

And now, best of all, the Burbank Cultural Arts Commission champions such arts programs, and believes in the uniqueness of art to both stimulate economic growth and transform lives.

[Ed.Note] Yours truly watching and being watched

 About the Burbank Cultural Arts Commission and the Cultural Arts Plan

The Burbank Cultural Arts Commission develops strategies to ensure that the arts are a unifying force in Burbank’s urban planning initiatives and to build upon Burbank’s commitment to the arts education community. The Commission is dedicated to stimulating local cultural arts awareness and event participation and to explore creative, leading-edge arts concepts.

Then, based on their Cultural Arts Plan, the Commission works to focus, develop and amplify the diverse and vibrant arts community to enrich the lives of Burbank’s residents. At the core of this effort is a stated commitment to ensure that the arts are accessible to all, and a vision to identify Burbank as a regional arts destination. Embracing a fresh approach to forming new partnerships representing all genres of the arts, the Cultural Arts Plan supports Burbank’s arts community and provides exposure and further expansion of that community. Copies ofthe Burbank Cultural Arts Plan are available online .

Amazing forward thinking by what some here consider only a Show Business and Los Angeles “Suburb.”

Even more amazing, is what the City of Philadelphia is doing with their Mural Programs:

As the Mural Capital of the World, Philadelphia has also initiated and sponsored a similar web based platform to support their City’s arts with the expressed mission that every city should foster in the U.S.:

The City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program unites artists and communities through a collaborative process, rooted in the traditions of mural-making, to create art that transforms public spaces and individual lives.

The Golden Rule

When we create art with each other and for each other, the force of life can triumph.hen we create art with each other and for each other, the force of life can triumph.

Yo, and we’re Travelin’ Local here in Southern California, and we’re doing the same!

[Ed.Note] A smart way of saying “Life is a Bitch!”. Someone who has oppressed anger and fed-up with life, yet at the onset wants to look normal (Don’t we all?), would use a phrase like that.

It gives the connotation–and rightly so—that the user of the “phrase” is very happy-go-lucky, but on closer examination one realizes that the user is going through a hard time. (Dammit, I like “hard times!”).

O.K., alright, hey you–I heard it, actually in one of the sayings, “Sex, booze, rock and roll; Weed, speed and birth control; Life’s a beach and then you die; so fuck the world and let’s get high!”.

Whatever, here’s Los Angeles’ 7 day weather forecast to put the aforementioned into context:

(Photo credits: ABC7.com).

(Photo Credit in the slider and left thumbnail photo courtesy of Pbs.org.)

Beloved author and artist Maurice Sendak died Tuesday, May 8, 2012, at the age of 83.  He is best know for writing and illustrating the Caldecott Medal book Where the Wild Things Are, but he lent his detailed illustrations to many other children’s books, including one of my favorite childhood series: Else Homelund Minairk’s Little Bear books.

As a child, I recall being completely caught up in those simple stories of imaginative Little Bear — his travel to the moon and his encounter with a mermaid at the seaside — all via Sendak’s wonderful illustrations. The cover art, framed beautifully by twisting branches and flowering vines, is not typical of children’s books and Maurice Sendak would be proud of that…

Sendak’s creative artwork is a perfect example of how influential exceptional picture books can be in cultivating art appreciation for little ones.  In high school, I was constantly drawn to the detailed floral beauty of  William Morris textiles, as well as the pen and ink cross-hatch style of Edward Gorey’s illustrations.  I sometimes wonder if my early exposure and fascination with Maurice Sendak’s art had anything to do with forming my future tastes.

“Richly detailed Sendak illustration from Dear Mili, by Wilhelm Grimm” Image: © Maurice Sendak

As a child who was often sick and indoors, Maurice Sendak loved spending his time reading and drawing. I read somewhere that the first book Sendak read as a boy was Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper, and that he always kept his original copy of it as a reminder of the influence of great storytelling.

Other than having taken a few night classes in art after high school graduation, Sendak was basically a self-taught artist. This talent, combined with his admiration for Walt Disney’s Fantasia – which he saw at the age of twelve - inspired Sendak to pursue a career where he could utilize his artistic abilities.

 From Window Dresser to Wild Thing Creator

Here are some interesting facts and trivia about this very gifted man…

Before he wrote and illustrated books, Maurice Sendak was commissioned as a window dresser for F.A.O. Schwarz.

His first-ever illustrated book was a 1947 science textbook, Atomics for the Millions, co-written by his high school biology teacher. If you’re lucky enough to come across the first edition of this collector’s item in a used bookstore, grab it!  (Click here to see images from the book).

Maurice Sendak’s Caldecott Medal winning book, Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963, is one of the top ten bestselling children’s books of all time, about a mischievous boy named Max, his imaginary wild friend-things, and their rumpus in the forest.  It was originally conceived as Where the Wild Horses Are, but Sendak told People Magazine, “I couldn’t draw horses.”

Another bit of information many may not be aware of, is that Sendak (at J.R.R. Tolkien’s request) submitted two illustrations for The Hobbit’s 30th Anniversary Edition in the late 1960′s.  There was a bit of a mix-up and mislabeling of the artwork samples, so Tolkien did not approve the drawings.

The two men never did talk in person, because the day the publisher had scheduled their meeting, Sendak suffered a heart attack.  You can read more here about “the 1960′s masterpiece that could have been”, in this LA Times guest essay by Tony Di’Terlizzi.

In the late 1970′s Sendak began a second career designing sets for ballets and operas (both stage and television productions).  His chief musical passion was always Mozart.

Sendak described his books as stories “about human emotion and life.  They’re pigeonholed as children’s books, but the best ones aren’t — they’re just books”. (From a People Magazine interview in 2003.)

There is an elementary school in North Hollywood named for Maurice Sendak.

Opening Mother’s Day early with their special brunch  menu, The Tangata Restaurant (or translated as “mankind” in the tribal Maori language ofNew Zealand), features Southwestern decor enclosed by glass walls and a ceiling framed with stucco beams.

Located in the Bowers Museum’s mission-style courtyard, the 160-seat restaurant also offers al fresco dining on a large patio area.

While there, be sure to tour the Current Exhibitions at the Bowers now featuring both the Sacred Gold Pre Hispanic Art of Columbia, and the California Gold Exhibit.

The Bowers Museum is located at 2002 North Main Street, Santa Ana,CA

• The Ultimate Garden Tour with Sherman Gardens

The Sherman Library & Gardens is a 2.2 acre Corona del Mar museum of living plants, beautifully positioned among immaculate gardens, patios and conservatories linked with brick walkways and gurgling fountains. The Library is a well-known research center dedicated to the study of the Pacific Southwest.

The 16th Annual Private Gardens Tour is hosted by the Sherman Library & Gardens Volunteer Association. Sherman Library & Gardens is a non-profit Cultural Center, and proceeds from this event will help support its Botanical Collections and educational programs. 

To purchase tickets by phone call 949-673-2261, or you can also buy tickets online. 

• A Perfect Rose from Roger’s Gardens

Get free shipping and delivery on all Mother’s Day Specials that you order before May 10th. Roger’s Gardens has been a landmark destination in Orange County for more than 35 years.

This family-owned business has a passionate staff offering expert advice and service for all things gardening. Roger’s Gardens is located directly across from Fashion Island in Corona Del Mar. They have Mother’s Day Gift Baskets, pre-wrapped gifts and the perfect selection of individual flowers and arrangements.

• Brunch at Scott’s Restaurant

Their Mother’s Day Brunch, on Sunday– May 13 is from1 to 3 p.m.– is a natural.  Scott’s has been a favored destination in Orange County for many years. It’s loved and well known for its fabulous seafood (the lobster bisque and raw oysters are longtime favorites).

It’s also perfectly located nearby Segerstrom Concert Hall. You can count on the Mother’s Day Brunch to be sublime. It’s located at 3300 Bristol St., in Costa Mesa,CA, 92626

• Tour  the 2012  Pacific House of Design in Laguna Beach

The House of Design is an ingenious collaboration of music and design.  More than twenty carefully selected interior designers fromLos AngelesandOrangeCountytransform this home into a stunning retreat.

Located amidst 40 acres of coastal hills, this extraordinary 11,000 sq. ft. estate offers panoramic ocean, canyon and city light views from every direction. Contemporary in design, with a hint of craftsman, the Pacific House of Design blends perfectly into its natural setting.

Approaching the house from a private road, guests encounter a helipad surrounded by a circular driveway and multiple garages. The Infinity pool and numerous terraces surround the perimeter to create complete privacy.  This year they’re celebrating the artists of Laguna Beach.  As the primary annual fundraiser for the Philharmonic Society Youth Music Education Programs, the Pacific House of Design continues to draw an appreciative crowd.

General Admission is $40 and the House will be open through May 20.  Hours: Tuesday-Wednesday, from10 am to 5 pm.; Thursday,10 am to 9 pm; and from Friday to Sunday,10 am to 5 pm.

I’ve tried a few of the food trucks that are out and about in San Diego, and here’s a peek at some of my favorite food truck grub.

Tater Tots from Eat at Recess

Eat at Recess is a fun food truck with a school playground theme. Most of their menu items are named after playground games (such as “Red Rover” – a salad with hot sauce drenched grilled chicken with spring mix and buttermilk ranch dressing) or the different types of people you find as school (such as “The Bully” – a bacon BBQ cheeseburger).

The best thing that Eat at Recess offers up are their outstanding tater tots. Tater tots! Who knew tater tots could be so delicious?

You can get the tater tots three different ways – plain, with only Recess seasoning or “AP Tots” with truffle oil and feta cheese, or my personal favorite, the “Remedial Tots” topped with bacon salt, cheddar cheese and their tasty Recess sauce.

The tater tots are fried to a perfect golden crisp. The outside of the tots stays crispy and crunchy while the insides are soft and melt in your mouth delicious.

The bacon salt, cheese, and Recess sauce serves to add an extra oomph of flavor to these seemingly simple tater tots. If you spot the Eat at Recess truck out in your daily travels be sure to pick up a batch of these babies!

The Captain, Crab Cakes and You

“Two for the Road” is another great little food truck making its way around the ins and outs of San Diego. They serve up classic American food that’s sure to comfort your soul.

One of their in rotation items is this dish called the Cap’n Crunch Crab Cake. Yes, you read that right – it has Cap’n Crunch cereal in it! Don’t be too alarmed though, it’s not as if there are large chunks of cereal within the crab cake.

The cereal is used as a coating, the same way you would use bread crumbs to coat a piece of chicken for frying.

The Cap’n Crunch coating gives the crab cakes a little twinge of extra sweetness which I really enjoy. Now they do use imitation crab in these cakes, so if that bothers you… well, you should still try it anyway.

It’s got a wonderful taste and sweetness combined with the outer crunch and a tasty spicy lime mango dressing that is totally killer on the crab cakes. A must try if you ask me!

It’s also a good idea to pair any of their menu items with their half order of Parmesan fries. Their Parm fries are my favorite of the food truck bunch – always super crispy and tender on the inside and the grated Parmesan sticks to the outside of the fries giving them a good salty flavor.

Much better than some places where I’ve seen them use shavings of Parm that you have to pick up and eat separately.

Saving the Best for Last – Devilicious

Devilicious is by far my favorite of the bunch – from the creative menu items to the simple attention to details in their excellent food. Everything is always grilled or warmed or toasted (which I love) and cooked perfectly.

Their menu changes from time to time but one of their standards is their Lobster Grilled Cheese sandwich.

Lobster pieces are sandwiched between grilled, buttered sourdough bread and filled with melted cheeses and caramelized onions for that perfect bite of grilled cheese and lobster. It’s rich and decadent and transports you to food nirvana with the first bite.

The also have an “All Crab Crab Cake” sandwich on an English muffin that is truly to die for. This one is made with real crab meat and has never disappointed me. It comes with Devilicious sauce (a mix of mayo and Sriracha), greens and just enough binder in the crab cake mix to make it a perfect and delicious sandwich.

There are tons of food trucks out there on the scene with plenty of food truck gatherings so you can sample items from a few trucks at once to find your new favorite mobile food spot.

On Saturday, Americans across the country will gather to celebrate the 150th Cinco de Mayo. Donning sombreros and dancing to mariachi music, revelers will celebrate everything Mexican, and enjoy a shot of tequila—or three. The holiday has become ingrained in the American calendar, and in 2005 Congress passed a resolution calling on the president to recognize the historical significance of the holiday.

Contrary to widespread popular belief, May 5th is not actually Mexican Independence Day, and the holiday is primarily celebrated in only one of Mexico’s 31 states. So, why is Cinco de Mayo more popular in America than in Mexico?

The real story of Cinco de Mayo weaves together two concurrent wars—the French intervention in Mexico (also known as The Maximillian Affair) and the American Civil War. On May 5, 1862, defending Mexican forces under Ignacio Zaragoza defeated Napoleon III’s French army at Puebla, one of the most important Spanish colonial cities in Mexico.

At the time, the French army was considered to be the most powerful fighting force in the world, and the unlikely Mexican victory resulted in a decree by then-Mexican President Benito Juárez that a celebration of the battle be held each year on May 5th. Cinco de Mayo was born, but it was about to be kidnapped.

As the French were making war with Mexico, the American Confederacy was courting Napoleon’s help in its conflict with the United States. At the time of the Battle of Puebla, the Confederacy had strung together impressive victories over the Union forces. According to some historians, the French, who made war with Mexico on the pretext of collecting debt, planned to use Mexico as a “base” from which they could help the Confederacy defeat the North, and the Mexican victory at Puebla made the French pause long enough for the Union army to grow stronger and gain momentum.

Had the French won at Puebla, some contend, the outcome of the American Civil War could have been much different, as the French and Confederates together could have taken control of the continent from the Mason Dixon line to Guatemela, installing an oligarchical, slave-holding government.

That didn’t happen, of course. In the years that followed, Latinos in California and the U.S. Northwest celebrated Cinco de Mayo with parades of people dressed in Civil War uniforms, giving speeches about how the Battle of Puebla fits into the larger narrative of the struggle for abolition.

Since then, the holiday has been transformed, specifically after a wave of Mexican immigration into the United States following the Mexican Civil War. As Mexican immigrants flooded into the American southwest, they joined in the festivities with their fellow Mexican-Americans who were already living in the United States without really knowing the story behind the holiday, and over time the date came to be a showcase of Mexican ethnic identity rather than a celebration of the battle against the invading French forces.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Jody Agius Vallejo, a sociology professor at the University of Southern California, explained the Cinco de Mayo phenomenon this way: “It’s very similar to how Irish-Americans celebrate St. Patrick’s Day,” said Vallejo. “One way they can honor their ethnicity is to celebrate this day, even when most don’t know why.”

Here is the economic logic behind increased efforts to promote bicycle use:

Cars enjoy huge direct subsidies in the form of road construction and public parking spaces, as well as indirect subsidies to the oil industry that provides their fuel. These subsidies far exceed the tax revenue generated by car use (as this excellent discussion of the technical issues at stake in these calculations makes clear.)

Yet cars impose major social costs: their use contributes to global warming, traffic congestion, accident fatalities and sedentary lifestyles.

Bicycle use is good for both people and the planet. In a country afflicted by obesity and inactivity, people who get moving become healthier. Riding a bike to work or to do errands is far cheaper than joining a gym. Cutting back on gas consumption improves air quality, reduces dependence on imported oil and saves money.

Increased bicycle use is practical and feasible, especially if it can be combined with effective public transportation for long-distance needs. As John Pucher of Rutgers University (dubbed Professor Bicycle by some of his fans) explains, about 40 percent of all automobile trips in metropolitan areas are less than two miles – a distance easily biked.

For bicyclists, increased numbers often lead to increased safety. As bike paths on roads attract larger numbers of cyclists, the chance of car-related accidents declines, promoting further use. Safety appears to be a major factor for women in particular.

As more people ride to work, cultural norms shift — bike commuting begins to seem less quirky. Businesses begin to recognize the benefits of providing facilities for showering and changing clothes (cheaper per person than car-parking spots).

These changes, in turn, can promote more biking. Build it and they will come: increased supply can increase demand.

Major improvements in bike infrastructure wouldn’t just make it easier to get to work. They would also create work, a high priority in our high-unemployment economy.

Construction of bike paths offers more job creation per infrastructure dollarthan investment in roads. (For more details, see this recent study by my University of Massachusetts colleague Heidi Garrett-Peltier, who analyzed 58 projects in 11 cities, using an input-output model to measure employment impact).

Hats (and helmets) off to the bicycle activists and policy makers who work to promote bicycle paths and lanes. They are spinning us all in a good direction.

Federal spending on bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure has more than doubled since 2006 but amounted to less than $4 a person in 2010.

Here’s a snippet of an infographic by Kory Northrop, a graduate student at the University of Oregon,  that illustrates differences across states and highlights the top 10 major American cities for bike commuting that draws on data from the American Community Survey for 2009.

On Saturday, May 5, the 4th Annual BikeFest Tour of Long Beach presented by Wells Fargo, will bring cycling-related fun and festivities to Downtown Long Beach. In addition to four separate rides that appeal to cyclists of all skill levels, this event includes an all-day, family-friendly Finish Line Festival.

Proceeds will support pediatric cancer research at Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach, as they have since 2010.

The Tour of Long Beach invites amateur cyclists and bicycle enthusiasts to participate in one of four rides: the four-mile Family Fun Ride; 31 or 62-mile picturesque Metric Century Ride; or the 100-mile Cruz Gran Fondo, which loops twice through Long Beach, Cypress, Seal Beach and Signal Hill.

The Cruz Gran Fondo is new to the Tour of Long Beach this year and is named after Long Beach’s own U.S. Olympian, former Pro Tour Cyclist and Long Beach Bike Ambassador, Tony Cruz.

The Finish Line Festival is open to participating riders as well as the general public and offers a day of fun for the entire family. Attendees will join Tony Cruz at this free event which includes live entertainment, a kids’ activity area, BMX stunts, a free bike valet, vendor fair and food stands.

New to the Finish Line Festival this year is the Beachwood & Friends Craft Beer Garden, which will feature almost a dozen local craft breweries with samples of more than 30 unique brews – perfect after a long day of biking.

The beer garden is $20 for 10 five ounce tastings. Beachwood BBQ & Brewing, a local business which recently opened their second location on Downtown’s Promenade, is sponsoring and participating in the craft beer garden.

“The BikeFest Tour of Long Beach is the perfect way for cyclists of all skill-levels to explore our City while contributing to an important cause,” said Downtown Long Beach Associates (DLBA) President and CEO Kraig Kojian. “Since 2010, participating members of the community have helped raise nearly $200,000 to support the exceptional research at Miller Children’s, and we look forward to another outstanding experience.”

Travelin’ Local has written extensively about Long Beach and their commitment to becoming one of the most “Bike Friendly” cities in the nation.

The Tour’s bike rides begin in intervals, starting at 6:30 a.m. on Shoreline Drive at Linden, and end at the festival. The Finish Line Festival takes place from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Event Park at The Pike, located at the corner of Pine Avenue and Shoreline Drive.

On Friday, May 4, the Tour of Long Beach participants can pick up their bibs and registration packets from the Hyatt the Pike Long Beach (285 Bay Street) between the hours of 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.

The Festival highlights the many programs being implemented by the City of Long Beach, as part of their Bicycle Master Plan (BMP) – an award-winning progressive initiative to make Long Beach “the most bicycle-friendly City in the U.S.”

The BMP has been called one of the most ambitious of its kind, garnering attention regionally as other cities have modeled their own plans based on the success of the Long Beach strategy.

The BikeFest Tour of Long Beach is produced by the DLBA, in conjunction with Miller Children’s, with sponsorship support from Wells Fargo, The Long Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the City of Long Beach’s Bike Long Beach initiative.

Check presentations will be made at the start of the 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. bike rides. Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster will present the check to Dr. Amanda Termhulen, Medical Director of Jonathan Jaques Children’s Cancer Center at Miller Children’s. Media is invited to attend this event. Please call 562-436-4259 for details and information regarding parking.

For more information about the DLBA, its programs and services, please visit www.downtownlongbeach.org or call (562) 436-4259. For more information about the BikeFest Tour of Long Beach and to register, please visit www.bikefestlb.com.

The Awards for Excellence celebrates the best in accommodation and is completely impartial.

All the following “Best Hostels” designations are awarded based on customer reviews. So are you dying to know which awards LA hostels picked up?

Best Value Cheap Hotel | The Ritz Milner Hotel

If you’re looking for a value hotel in downtown LA this is the one for you. This boutique hotel is well known for its great staff who can advise you on everything that’s going on – and let’s face it, you are going to need some insider knowledge if you want to be partying in the right places.

And when you need to recover the next day from your hangover, you can do in style with a complimentary breakfast.  They also offer free Wi-Fi in every room–so you can post your pics up on Facebook and make everyone back home jealous.

Type of Room: Double with private bathroom, Twin with private bathroom, Single with private bathroom.

Best Location | Hollywood Youth Hostel

If location is all  important to you, how about staying on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? You can literally throw a small stone and hit it. Its only a couple of minutes walk to the Hollywood & Highland entertainment and shopping complex and the Metro, so you can easily get to the rest of the great sites in Los Angeles you want to visit.

If you want to chill out in the hostel, how about shooting some pool on their very own table. We know how important free stuff is to you and this hostel doesn’t skimp – they provide free Wi-Fi and tea and coffee all day.

Type of Room: Male and Female only 4 bed dorms, Male and Female only 6 bed dorms. Triple, double or twin private rooms with shared bathroom.

Best Staff | Duo Hostel

If you’re travelling alone it’s's nice to know you’ll be staying somewhere friendly. The Duo Hostel has some of the best staff in North America– you can’t get much better than that!  It’s not far from the Metro and its buses which will is able to transport you to downtown LA to hit up those awesome parties, LA Live and all of those hip new restaurants and bars.

And if you prefer to chill out in the hostel they have a flat screen TV and game consoles to keep you entertained.

Type of Room: 6 Bed Dorms

Pick the films you wish to see at this year’s biggest, most diverse, highest quality and largest show movies ever at this year’s Newport Beach Film Festival now.

It’s a week worth of magic as movie buffs, students, exhibitors, screenwriters, cinematographers and directors converge on Newport Beach. The Newport Beach Film Festival this season is expected to attract an estimated 50,000 movie lovers and will offer some 400 films from 50 different countries.

On opening night, as the directors signed in for the premier of their movie, Jewtopia, the crowd was an intriguing blend of locals and international guests, first timers and old pros.

One New York couple who just arrived to promote Mother’s Table smiled as they said they were pleased to be in California for awhile, but told me that “the ocean was cold!”

As the Newport Film Festival fans out over the Island Cinema, the historic Lido, the newly reopened Port Theater in Corona Del Mar, and the Triangle theaters, the big question is which film should you see?

The newly reopened Port Theater has gotten a lot of local and international press recently, as its grand reopening is in concert with the Newport Beach Film Festival. Be that as it may, recently Travelin’ Local traced the paths  of many of these historic movie theaters in our Orange County Historic Movie Theaters.  Some, like the Lido, are thriving, some like the Balboa are in the process as fundraising works to revive them,  and others like the Port, are showing up right now, and welcome  much deserved support.

To be sure, Orange County has a long and diverse movie history and love affair with Hollywood–from set locations to being the perennial playground of Hollywood’s rich and famous actors and actresses–to being a favorite filming location everywhere here throughout the OC.

Believing that by doing well and doing good, the Newport Film Festival also pioneered a Community Outreach Program that links  over 30 non-profit organizations in Orange County, in the arts, health and human services, the environment, education, children’s causes and alumni clubs. The Newport Beach Film Festival Community Outreach Program provides a forum for each organization to further its mission through the medium of film and co-host a film screening during the Festival.

Each organization is paired with a film that is likely to attract an audience interested in its cause. Groups in the program are given an opportunity to speak to film audiences prior to the screenings and display information at the theater.

Other venues this year include the Newport Beach Public Library, Orange County Museum of Art, the Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center and Sage Hill High School, home of a collegiate showcase featuring the films of young directors from nine campuses, including USC, UCLA, Chapman, Loyola, OCC and Saddleback.

The Newport Beach Film Festival organizers are very committed to working with young filmmakers,” as now it’s the eighth year of the youth competition.

Here’s some of what’s happening on Monday and Tuesday. (Be sure to check the Film Festival’s website for all of the films running thru Thursday.)

SWERVE – Monday evening, April 30, at 8 pm at the Lido.

Driving cross-country to a job interview, Colin plays it safe when he has car problems and takes a short cut to a one horse town. But as luck would have it, he comes across a fatal road accident. One of the drivers, Jina, is shaken, the other dead and beside him, a briefcase full of money. When Colin resists temptation and does the right thing, turning it into the local cop, his good deed causes a series of fateful events to unfold.

Girl in Progress, Monday evening, April 30, 7:30 p.m. at the Port in Corona Del Mar

Grace, a single mom, is too busy juggling work, bills, and the very married Dr. Harford to give her daughter, Ansiedad, the attention she desperately needs. When Ansiedad’s English teacher introduces her students to classic coming-of-age stories, Ansiedad is inspired to skip adolescence and jump-start her life without mom. While Grace becomes preoccupied with the increasing affections of her co-worker, Ansiedad enlists the help of her loyal friend, Tavita, to plot her shortcut to “adulthood.”  (Director Patricia Riggen to attend!)

The Day I Saw Your Heart, Tuesday May 1, at 8:15 pm at Big Newport 5

Families are complicated…especially when Eli, who’s about to be 60, is expecting a baby with his new wife. Upon hearing the news, his two grown daughters, Dom, who’s trying to adopt, and Justine, who flits from one boyfriend to the next, are shocked. On top of all this, without Justine knowing, Eli has been making friends with all of her ex boyfriends, creating a bit of a problem when she is courting a new one. When Justine falls in love again and Eli is about to ruin everything, their family is on the verge of falling apart. Will they all be able to make peace before it’s too late?

Behind the Orange Curtain is a locally produced documentary that deals with prescription drug abuse among local teens. Three Laguna Niguel mothers set out to spread the word about the prescription drug epidemic in their films Overtaken and Behind the Orange Curtain.  ”The whole film is based on the fact that parents are sharing their stories about the loss of their children,” said director Brent Huff.  Overtaken already screened and is scheduled to be shown on the Cox Channel.  Behind the Orange Curtain has had three sold out screenings. Check the official Newport Beach Film Festival website to check and see if there are still tickets for movie’s last screening on May 3.

The Tuesday Night European Showcase

Will be held at Fashion Island, Newport Beach, CA 92660  - Hosted by LA Confidential, with entertainment and hors d’oeuvres by Newport’s best restaurants. Hosted Bar by Stell Artois and Absolut with entertainment by Orange County Aerial Arts. Price: $25 Party Only Age: 21 and over for post-party. Cocktail Attire Recommended.  Retail Partners: 7 For All Mankind, Ever, True Religion Brand Jeans.