Place your trust and faith in the weather man

Can anybody really buy into any of this nonsense?.....

Gourmet Food Trucks

I have been writing a bit about the gourmet food trucks that show up all over the city.  Some have a fixed schedule.  Some show up at events. 

I posted some of my thoughts on facebook and thought I'd copy some of that dialogue here.....

Homelessness Up 50% In New York City

This is from Fox News in New York, today 8/30/10.  I have been writing on the increase of homeless folks I see on the streets of Los Angeles.  It looks as if New York is finding things just as difficult.

BY LUKE FUNK

MYFOXNY.COM - If you think you’ve been seeing more people sleep on city streets, statistics back up the perception. The homeless population living on New York City streets has gone up 50-percent in the past year, according to city statistics.....

Chinatown Summer Nights - Tonight 8/28 5pm until ????

Tonight is the last August event in Chinatown.  I have been to a few and have posted some photos and video in the past.  They have many things going on that interest a wide range of people.  Music, art, food and more.  I will be at the event tonight.....

Behind the Scenes - three days of what it takes to put on a show

Last February I spent three days with Chad Weaver and the Brad Paisley crew.  They had the Jimmy Kimmel Live show and a show at The Staples Center.

Chad Weaver posted some photos on his facebook page of a show a day or two ago at a large venue.  There has been a bit of commentary on the large venue.  Many people do not know what goes on behind the scenes so I thought I would post a few photos and videos here.

Below is the shot from Chad that started me thinking ...

Below are some of my own shots in a slideshow and a few videos. There are also some fun shots when Chad had a break......

5 Questions for Mark Horvath, Founder of InvisiblePeople. tv

A story worth knowing....

Read more on Mark Horvath....

Once-homeless filmmaker gives others a voice

This is a story about Mark Horvath.  Mark does some pretty amazing work when it comes to spreading the word on the homeless.  Mark is also on facebook and twitter.  On facebook you can find Mark at http://www.facebook.com/mhorvath

I have some of Mark's links on the right side of my blog here but if you want to learn a bit more without searching links - www.hardlynormal.com and www.invisiblepeople.tv are good starting places.

Some folks explain "Why I Took Social Security Early"

Elaine Armstrong, 63

At age 62, I was laid off from my job when the small landscaping company where I worked as a bookkeeper was acquired by a Canadian conglomerate. I had $10,000 in credit card debt at the time and aside from unemployment benefits, I had no other source of income..... her story and more ....

Kudos to the U.S. Department of Labor for keeping a keen eye on the situation

Our government with a close eye on the situation again - that word keeps showing up ... "unexpectedly". Kudos to the folks in our Labor Department.  The "big deals" in some business sectors are becoming less effective in helping the economy as the unemployment rate climbs.

Stocks drop as jobless claims rise unexpectedly
Stephen Bernard, AP Business Writer, On Thursday August 19, 2010, 10:36 am

NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks tumbled Thursday after two disappointing economic reports renewed investors' concerns about the pace of a recovery.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 127 points in morning trading. Broader indexes also fell more than 1 percent.

The Labor Department said claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week and the Federal Reserve of Philadelphia said manufacturing activity in the mid-Atlantic region has dropped during August.

more below ....

Not everybody is having the same problems as we are having in the USA

In spite of problems here in the USA it looks like things are working out pretty well in other places. Then again, I wonder how much better the picture would have been for China considering that a large chunk of their economic holdings ARE the United States?

China's Ag Bank confirms world's largest IPO

China's Agricultural Bank completes $22.1 bln IPO, world's largest despite market doldrums

Monday August 16, 2010, 7:04 am EDT by Associated Press

SHANGHAI (AP) -- The Agricultural Bank of China says it raised a world record $22.1 billion in its initial public offering last month, despite a tepid reception from investors, after exercising an overallotment option for its Shanghai share sale.

The bank, China's main rural lender, sold an additional 3.34 billion shares at the IPO price of 2.68 yuan ($0.39) per share as part of the overallotment, as expected, according to a notice Monday on the Web site of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The extra 8.94 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) raised pushed the dual Hong Kong-Shanghai IPO to $22.1 billion in total, surpassing the previous record set by the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China's $21.9 billion IPO in 2006.

Despite strong government backing for the IPO, the last by China's four biggest state-owned commercial banks, investors leery of the rural-oriented balance sheet and the market's overall outlook have shown lackluster interest in the shares.

In Hong Kong, whose market is open to foreign investors, the bank's shares rose a mere 2.2 percent on their July 16 debut, compared with double-digit gains in past years for high-profile IPOs. In Shanghai, where yuan-denominated shares are sold only to domestic buyers, the shares rose just 1 percent on their debut.

By midday Monday, the lender's shares were up 0.7 percent, at 2.71 yuan in Shanghai and down 1.5 percent, at 3.34 Hong Kong dollars a share, in Hong Kong.