Random rambling as I think back over the last week or so

The order of these points in this blog entry have no meaning.  I just wanted to get down some of what happened in the last week.  I am starting with the light hearted stuff and as you get further down into my writing it gets more serious.

My friend Jared Scharff was part of the band for Sting's Rainforest concert which is very cool.  Jared tagged me on some of his photos.  Some of you might have seen Jared if you watch Saturday Night Live as he is the guitarist in the SNL Band. 

Jared's station at Carnigie Hall for the concert below.

Lots more cool photos that Jared has at http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=174804&id=529801052  If you are not on facebook the link may not work for you but I did post a few of the shots here along with the two that Jared tagged me on.

Jared is behind Sting and Debbie Harry.  Under the head of his guitar is some of his 65 Amps stuff.

OK ... this is just a cool photo of Jared and "The Boss"

And I posted the above photo just because I think it is a great candid photo.

Jared plays a 65 Amps Monterey and Tupelo.  There is a cool video on the Tupelo that I pasted here.




It was a busy week at 65 Amps.  Wylclef's guitar player bought an Elvis and a Tupelo on Friday, guess he could not decide.  Michael McDonald was at The Greek and their bass player Grabbed an Apollo bass amp, Sheryl Crow was on Late Nite with Jimmy Fallon with her own London if I recall, and Katy Perry's guitarist grabbed a Stone Pony to take on tour.  Yes, busy week at 65 Amps and that does not even take into account the normal stuff that goes out the door.

Continuing on the musician front, Carl Verheyen made the official announcement that the Supertramp Tour will be in Europe later this year.  Info and dates at http://www.supertramp.com/  Many of you folks know that Carl is perhaps my favorite guitarist and I could care less whether he is doing his Supertramp gig or touring with his own band.  I just like listening to the guy play.  Lots more info on his website at http://www.carlverheyen.com/

I know a number of amazing country players and the name Carl Verheyen may not come to many people's minds as a country picker but ....



On June 3 the Carl Verheyen Band will be at Musicians Institute in Hollywood from 4pm until about 7pm.   A DVD may be shot at this show.  I will be there as I was for the DVD shoot for Rumor Mill.

Here is a bit more on Carl that looks into some of his other work.



News of Homeboy Industries - lays off most employees as financial woes worsen.  The economy takes another organization away.

Homeboy Industries, the venerable L.A. institution designed to provide jobs and counseling to former gang members, laid off most of its employees Thursday amid worsening financial problems.

Father Gregory Boyle, who started Homeboy Industries more than two decades ago, said 300 people were laid off, including all senior administrators. Boyle said he has stopped taking a paycheck as well.

"We cobbled together payroll since November," he said. "But it was not enough to save us or rescue us."

Officials said about 100 people will continue to work at Homeboy, including at the organization's cafe near Chinatown, which will remain open. Homeboy will continue to offer tattoo removal and counseling services.

The Times reported last year that Homeboy had an annual budget of $9.8 million. Its businesses -- including a bakery and cafe staffed in part by ex-gang members -- made about $2.5 million a year. The group needed donations and other sources of income to make up the difference.

Homeboy has also employed its clients in silk-screening, landscaping, solar power and other industries.

-- Hector Becerra

Another story last week - In a Job Market Realignment, Some Left Behind
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/In-a-Job-Market-Realignment-nytimes-3478891081.html?x=0
The last part of the story caught my attention - “Sometimes I think I’d be better off in jail,” she says, only half joking. “I’d have three meals a day and structure in my life. I’d be able to go to school. I’d have more opportunities if I were an inmate than I do here trying to be a contributing member of society.”

More misleading information. Read the last two of the last three paragraphs. One reason the numbers are looking better is because many people have had their benefits come to and end. I also mistrust phrases such as "adjusted for seasonally ..... " Bottom line, more people than ever in the food lines at all the missions downtown and a population increase of homeless who had homes only a few months ago. - http://finance.yahoo.com/news/New-claims-for-unemployment-apf-1468613804.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=9&asset=&ccode=

Over at Union Rescue Misson the activity never slows down.  The crew from The Sportsman Channel came in and served a meal based on their own thinking.  On Monday night's dinner menu at the Union Rescue Mission: tacos made from elk, deer, sheep, wild pig, black bear and antelope. For pescatarians, there were yellow tail, tilapia and tuna tacos. Vegetarians were out of luck. About 250 pounds of fresh game meat was donated for the feast, sponsored by the Sportsman Channel as a part of its national "Hunt. Fish. Feed." initiative.  More on this in a story in the L.A. Times at http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/topofthetimes/topstories/la-me-0511-game-meat-20100511,0,967757.story

Here is a behind the scenes look

There was a lot of support in email and on telephone calls for the folks in Nashville who lost so much music equipment, touring equipment, homes, property and the list goes on and on.  I expect to be spending a lot of time in the near future in a support role with a lot of these folks.  Some of my friends (many of them are in my friends list on facebook) were called in to help and many photos have been posted.

I spent a number of evenings in the skid row area of Los Angeles.  No matter what the news reports about things getting better I see the number of folks on the street and in line at the shelters and mission increasing.  More people are loosing their homes.  As people run out their unemployment benefits they are dropped off the lists of the unemployed.  This drops the reported figures.  The first wave of folks whose benefits are over are falling off the roles of the folks counted.  This makes things look better on paper if you believe what you read rather that what can be seen in front of your own eyes.

Below is a video from Union Rescue Mission about a cool fellow named Austin.  He is an Eagle Scout who took matters into his own hands, came up with a plan and ran with his idea.



Roof BBQ at http://www.urm.org/ with a lot of help from the folks from Wells Fargo.  Sort of makes me a bit more happy that they are the bank I use.

Wells Fargo Acts of Kindness Day on http://urm.org/ rooftop

It has been a busy week and there was a lot I did not cover.  On facebook I followed an amp through the final stages of assembly and test via photos and low res videos.  I talked about the stereo system at the shop over at 65 Amps on facebook, talked to a noted food critic on his quest for the perfect Won Ton Soup and we have plans to go to a place together to check out a few things.  I will stop now even though there is a lot more than went on last week.

It has been a hard week for a lot of people.

Well, the market is down a bunch this week. I got a twitter update from the EDD that I follow with a link to a story about better unemployment numbers. I posted that story with the comment.


More nonsense! Maybe look at the number of folks who are at the end of their 99 weeks as extensions have run out on them. Now they are dropped off the roles of the unemployed and hung out to dry. Bailouts for big corporations yet let the person who has lost everything go hungry or loose their home. This sort of BS makes me sick. The story can be seen at http://m.sfgate.com/sfchron/pm_21448/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=CbQiaA0q

There is flooding in Nashville where the photos look like a reinactment of Hurricane Katrina. Many of my good friends are scrambling to recover their instruments and equipment that is underwater. Most folks focus on the instruments and amplifiers and overlook things like computers, FOH consoles, monotor consoles, lighting computers, wireless systems and other boxes filled with software which has been dialed in over years on the road in some cases.

The economy continues to decline no matter what seems to be reported on Wall Street. I watch the population grow in the area known as skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, the city with the largest homeless population in the USA. More homeless folks in Los Angeles than the population count of Santa Barbara.

Today I spent the day at 65 Amps and spent a bit of time posting photos from my collections to help lift the mood out there in the world.

In an attempt to help some folks, and try to help the perspective for those folks that live in Nashville, those who are watching their fishing business and life work be threatened by an approaching oil slick, the families of the mine workers who have recently died, the families and loved ones of our military overseas far from home, the homeless, the hungry, those dropped off the ranks of the unemployed because their benefits ran out ... well ....

I am not an optimist or pessimist. I am a realist and I observe what goes on around me. So ... all you folks that can identify with some of what I have said above take comfort in this thought. Many of you do not live in Los Angeles. The worst traffic in the USA? The highest homeless population. And here is a bit of what has transpired in the last week or so when it comes to drug deals gone bad, gang activity, crime and drive by shootings.

Lets take a moment to look at the last week or two. The race of folks is noted in police reports for statistics as a side note.

5 shot, 2 dead in Hawaiian Gardens rampage [Updated]: A man carrying an AK-47 rifle and a can of gasoline....

Slain pregnant woman apparently in "wrong place at the wrong time," LAPD says: Jana Collins was a newlywed. Unborn baby of pregnant woman fatally shot in West L.A. dies: A pregnant woman and her baby died Wednesday

Erwin Ramirez, a 19-year-old Latino, was shot and killed Sunday, May 2, in the 300 block of S. Harris Ave. in Compton

Olga Martinez, a 33-year-old Latina, was stabbed to death Sat., May 1, in the 11000 block of Glenoaks Blvd. in Pacoima

Joel Leach, a 28-year-old white man, was shot to death May 1 in the 1100 block of N. Alexandria St. in East Hollywood

Rita Morales, an 87-year-old Latina, was killed Friday, April 30, in the 7000 block of Eton Ave. in Canoga Park

Manuel Reyes, an 85-year-old Latino, was beaten to death Fri., April 30, in the 7000 block of Eton Ave. in Canoga Park

Vincent Ramos, a 31-year-old Latino, died Friday, April 30, several hours after he was shot in Long Beach

Allen Alexander, a 48-year-old black man, was fatally shot April 29 in the 1000 block of E. Mission Blvd. in Pomona

Michael McCall, a 44-year-old black man, was shot and killed April 29 in the 1000 block of E. Mission Blvd. in Pomona

Dante Willis, a 24-year-old black man, was shot and killed Thursday, April 29, at Exton and Hazel streets in Inglewood

Jonathan Val, a 17-year-old Latino, was shot to death April 28 in the 300 block of North Avenue 57 in Highland Park

Bahati Dunbar, a 40-year-old black man, was killed Weds., April 28, in the 12000 block of S. Main St. in Willowbrook

I will stop for now. I think I made a point. It has not been a good week for a lot of folks.

What kind of business has their objective to end their business? Union Rescue Mission

Today I spent the day downtown at Union Rescue Mission.  My head is filled with new knowledge and information but I walked away with a few heavy questions with no answer.  I also learned there are apects of what people think they know about URM which are not factual.

Before I continue, please excuse spelling and typing errors as well as the basic flow of this bit or writing.  I have a thousand thoughts in my head from the day.  I could have broken this down into many blog entries and perhaps should have done just that but don't worry, I have not even begun to start on this subject.

I cannot figure out how to wrap my head around a business model that makes no sense to me.  What I have been taught over the years does not seem to be applicable in this sort of business.  The business model of Union Rescue Mission is a 180 degree departure to any conventional business.  If one wants to get directly to the bottom line or cut to the chase so to speak, they seem to be in the business of putting themselves out of business.

Some forms of business such as police and fire services loves when business is slow.  Most forms of business do their best to grow and expand. 

Union Rescue Mission supplies food and shelter.  That is what most people think the downtown missions do.  It is a very small part of the picture.  URM supplies food, shelter, medical, dental, legal, training programs, guidance and the list goes on and on. They take people in who have nothing, who have lost their life, their way, their home, their job and more.  People that have nowhere to go.  They have many sub-objectives and all of these leads to one major objective, help people to become self reliant and productive.

URM puts as many people as they can on a road to being productive using various programs.  Get folks on their feet, get them help in a number of areas, get them trained, get them organized or back on track, get them out the door and hope they never see them again unless it is when they visit the many friends they made during the time spent at the mission.

If there were not a steady inflow of people in need they would put themself out of business and that would be just fine with them.

Unfortunately, there is not a steady inflow of people.  The inflow is not consistent, it has increased.  The economy is taking its toll on the resources and finances of Union Rescue Mission.

I am posting a video from URM where Andy Bales gives some figures about how donations have gone down while the necessary services required have gone up.  Not a comforting thought.  On the surface these figures look a bit scary.  It is considerably more critical than the video might indicate initially.  I am just starting to grasp how critical the situation is after learning a bit more today.

Here are a few facts or observations that I learned first hand:

Union Rescue Mission has stockpiles of cash and generate a substantial income?  Nonsense.  The have had to reduce staff and the remaining staff have taken deep pay cuts.  These folks were not in what most would define as a high income braket even before the cuts.  As a personal observation, one of the members of the executive staff takes public transportation to work each day and rides the URM shuttle from the bus stop to the mission.  What about the head guy, the man in charge, the head cheese.  Andy Bales.  The guy drives a Honda.  Not a Mercedes or BMW. 

"The Church" donates big money to the mission.  Uhhh, well ... more nonsence.  Churches take care of their own property and their own people.  Just because some of the missions follow religious doctrine don't believe for one second that the big Church in Rome or anywhere else is sending money to Union Rescue Mission.

So where do they get their money?  Many of you know the answer to this.  Donations.  Donations from big corporations, small business and individuals.  Sounds workable, right?  Everybody repeat after me, the new word of the moment .... NONSENSE.  The economy has taken a toll and continues to take deeper cuts each month.  The data is all around us.  Increasing unemployment and rising foreclosures on homes are only two of many indicators.  Business is changing.  Companies are trying to be viable again by reducing operating expenses and increasing profits.  This is most easily accomplished by reducing staff and reducing compensation to staff who remain employed.  As things improve these companies post profit on Wall Street in many cases but their remaining workforce who are employed have been transformed or educated.  Simply, they are thankful they are employed.  The lost jobs for those gone will probably never be replaced.  Money will be spent on less costly automated systems that do not require salary, benefits or retirement considerations.

What we have now is big companies cutting back on contributions, small and mid size companies just trying to stay in business and many individuals out of work.  The operating cash flow has dried up.  In California we have a water shortage, shortage of jobs and shortage of resources to folks like Union Rescue Mission.  I don't want to scare folks but URM is something of the lifeboat on a ship in trouble at sea.  The lifeboat may or may not be usable if and when it is needed by you.  You don't think it can happen to you?  I have heard this every day for months as I meet one new unemployed person after another, or somebody who has lost their home after loss of employment or financial difficulty.

Bottom line econonomics - Income is down and services needed are up.  The lifeboat needs attention in the form of paint, caluking and routine service but there are not enough funds to do this.  Don't look up though as you may become a bit concerned at the increasing clouds, wind, darkness in the sky and the waves are growing larger as well.

I have met many folks in the area known as Skid Row and have learned more than I could attempt to articulate in any media let alone writing.  I am not a writer.  I was never on the school newspaper.  I never took any classes other than basic composition stuff long long ago in some school somewhere.  I write technical material and can get those ideas and lessons across to many but I am weak when it comes to trying to express things I see every week.

People on Skid Row are not all crazy.  They are not all drug addicts.  Then again, spend a month or two sleeping on the street and being without a safe place twenty four hours a day and you will probably become a little crazy yourself.  There are a lot of great people that just need help or a helping hand.  Some need a safe place for a new start.  Many crave a chance for a better life.  I will post a few videos at the end of this blog.  One I have posted before on a student named Kenneth.  Spend a bit of time talking to some of the folks who are homeless and you may learn how full of dreams and strength some of them happen to be.

People on Skid Row don't work, do not want to work and just want to panhandle.  Not total nonsense but again, NONSENSE in most cases.  There are jerks and lazy people everywhere.  I was in the corporate world for decades and there were countless jerks and lazy people all around me every day.  Look at the news.  Some of the biggest names in the business world are now spending their time in prison.   By the way, most of the folks on the streets do have forms of income and many do have regular jobs.  Unfortunately the compensation may not be adequate to have a home and raise a family.

What is my point here?  I don't know.  There is just too much to think about.  When life gets a bit too complex for me I step back and try to simplify things into fewer objectives.  I will try to do that here.

1.    Go here and donate something to URM - https://secure3.convio.net/urm/site/Donation2?idb=606437098&df_id=1320&1320.donation=form1

A few dollars on a regular basis will go a very long way.  These folks need income they can depend upon.  URM does not have a stockpile of cash and the situation is critical.

2.  Go here and read a bit about Hope Gardens.  Some of this information is a little older but it is still quite important and current in the scope of the message.  The video I will post was done almost two years ago but is filled with good information.  Hope Gardens is run by Union Rescue Mission and without your help it may not have a stable future.  You can help.  Take a stand and make it personal.  Too many of us just leave these sorts of things to others.     http://campaignforhopegardens.org/

I am sure many of you saw the recent news stories about a person that went to the aid of another who was being stabbed.  The person was able to save the person under attack but was stabbed himself.  Security cameras showed people walking past the bleeding individual for an hour, doing nothing.  Psycologists on the news said it was human nature in society where we shut down and ignore situations like this one.  Self protection.  Feeling that somebody else will help or somebody has already made a call for help.  Well call me crazy as I have a very difficult time letting those shut down mechanisms blind me to these things.  Bottom line here .... I am telling you....  your eyes are open, look at what is going on, do something, others are not doing anything, YOU can make a difference.




Hope Gardens from Union Rescue Mission on Vimeo.


Kenneth | Stories from Skid Row from Union Rescue Mission on Vimeo.

For something good to be accomplished one has to actually do something.

You do have the ability to change things - really!

I spent a lot of today at Union Rescue Mission.  I took a number of photos which I will upload in the next few days.  Alex and Jacqui spent many hours with me and I would like to thank them once again.

But .... even though it has been a long day and the day is not over yet I just wanted to post this video.  The video is only a minute and a half but the message is powerful.  If you want to change something, not just be a cog in the wheel but be the wheel yourself, you can by being a part of this program where a little gift from a lot of people will make a huge difference.

These folks know how to get the most out of a dollar and I have seen what they can do and have done.  In a word - amazing.

http://www.urmblog.org/heroes-for-hope/

Click on the link above if you want to change a life.  Please forward this to folks that you feel would like to help.  Remember, to do good one actually has to do something.

The homeless, the economy, food, photos, meetings and escorts

The last week or so has been somewhat busy.  I don't know where to start so I will just start with today and work my way backwards I suppose.

Today the stock market was up 103 points.  Looking into my crystal ball .... the market was up today and had a large upward trend. My thought is that tomorrow or Friday, or possibly both days will be down days as profit taking and automated computer trading programs kick off for the end of the week and/or triggered by the upswing of the day.  I would venture to guess that there will be news stories making statements of an economy turn around sign even though the unemployment numbers increase (even though when they do not rise as fast the government paints a rosy picture) and the number of homeless on the streets of Los Angeles rise from week to week.

Over on my facebook wall I posted this:  Take a moment to consider helping in any way possible to the folks out there trying to help the less fortunate - Union Rescue Mission, The Midnight Mission or one of the others of your choice. I have the links below in other posts if you wish to learn more about what these folks do.

If you want to find these folks easily ....  http://www.urm.org/ and http://www.midnightmission.org/ are their respective links.

I spent a bit of time at Norm's Rare Guitars in Tarzana California one day.  Norm is a big supporter of The Midnight Mission with concert events, donated guitars for sale to raise money for the Midnight Mission folks and is a terrific fellow.

Norm is on the left in the grey jacket in this photo.

I had a long meeting with Larry Adamson, the CEO of The Midnight Mission.  I will be working with them on a regular basis in the near future.  Larry is one of those rare folks that can stretch the most out of a dollar.  I will be working with them and will also be working with Union Rescue Mission as well.

Tomorrow I have a meeting with the folks at Union Rescue Mission ( http://www.urm.org/ ).  I may take some facility photos to post at a later date.  Andy Bales is the CEO of URM and many of you already know how I feel about URM and the staff there ... first rate folks.

I keep stretching my time continually but it seems to be working.  I spend time at 65 Amps, spend at least half my evenings on the streets of downtown Los Angeles passing out snacks to the street residents who do not go to the missions for whatever reasons they may have (I cannot seem to understand the reasons myself), taking photos of the downtown architecture and events of downtown and whatever else I can fit in. 

This is home for many on the streets of skid row or elsewhere in Los Angeles

When I feel I am running out of time I think of folks like Andy Bales and Larry Adamson and how much they accomplish in a day.  At that point I feel like a lightweight but at least I am inspired to push things a little further.

I wrote two reviews on Yelp on a few spots where I ate in the last few days.  One was a Korean place and the other an Italian spot downtown. 

http://www.yelp.com/biz/korean-kitchen-hibachi-barbeque-los-angeles#hrid:jY-jvoqoPorNnm7150GeiA

http://www.yelp.com/biz/colori-kitchen-los-angeles#hrid:9aMnVxGsX-nTufDWCNvnrA

The Italian spot was payment for doing a bit of photography work for two gals that live downtown and needed some photos for their webpages on an escort site.  I don't ask questions and I do not judge people in this economy.  For me it was a dinner that was compensated at a nice place. 

Jeff Beck will be playing April 17, 2010 at 8 pm. The Midnight Mission states:  We have Pit, Row K and Row W tickets available. All come with a pass to the VIP Lounge. Our friend Norm at Norm's Rare Guitars donated them to us to auction on Ebay. Check it out on our website. It promises to be a great show!

http://www.midnightmission.org/frontstory3.asp

I took this photo with my cell phone one day and posted it on Facebook.

Some folks liked the picture.  I liked the building.  Some folks commented on the photo and said nice things.

I went to visit Don Garza but missed him.  But ... I took a cell phone shot going up the escalator at Pershing Square.

Sort of added an artistic touch to the cell phone photo.

I commented on a few new stories that I could not wrap my head around.  One story was about Tiger Woods.  Tiger Woods says missing son's birthday 'something I probably will regret for the rest of my life'  The story can probably still be seen here:  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2010/04/tiger-woods-masters-news-conference-son-birthday-regrets.html

My own comment on this story at the time:  GIVE ME A BREAK! How many men and women are in the Mid East serving their country who are missing births, first steps, first words, birthdays etc. etc. etc. I cannot believe tripe like this makes news.

I sent 11 quads of EL84 tubes to Chad Weaver (Brad Paisley).  That should keep things going for a while.

I connected with a few old friends on Facebook which is always nice.

I will wrap things up for now and head downtown in a bit but before I end things here is the latest video from the folks at Union Rescue Mission -

Happy Wednesday and have a great remainder of the week.

Myles

..... because it is what nice and normal people do.

Daily life events - Last night I was part observer and part participant ... a fly on the wall in my own mind as I tried to understand an unfolding dialogue going on right in front of me.

Setting the stage:  Lady and man exchanging banter.  It is clear that the two of them know each other very well and have history together.

Lady states to the man - "you always want me to just make you feel better and fix things when you feel bad".  Her tone is if this is a bad thing, something that should not be expected by the man.  Her tone and expression seem to be chosen to either make the man feel as if he was foolish or just plain stupid and his expectations were ridiculous. 

The man attempts to point out how he does this for her as a matter of fact - fixes things, comforts her when she is sick, confused, troubled, concerned, or is just there to listen when she needs a friend or advice.  It takes the man over fifteen minutes to attempt to make his point as he is continually interrupted.  It seems to me that this lady is determined to exercise total control of the conversation.  I do not think the lady ever heard the man or understood his point.

Some people have logic that does not always seem human.

Well lady ....  when friends, couples, or any two people who know each other and have any sort of relationship interact or get together it is normal to expect that as human beings we try to help one another, listen to each other, offer support and comfort if possible.  .... because it is what nice and normal people do.

Spending Easter on skid row with old friends and new friends as well

Before I write anything I would like to thank Larry Adamson (the President and CEO of The Midnight Mission) and his staff for putting on such a spectacular event.  The event was truly the crown jewel in the Easter / Passover week festivities in which so many of the missions and shelters participated.  As a side note, if you click on the title of this blog entry you will be redirected to The Midnight Mission website where you can get the latest info, see how you may be able to help or donate to a great organization.

I spent April 4, 2010 downtown for Easter Sunday.  Easter weekend is pretty serious business for the missions down in the skid row area of Los Angeles.  Celebrations and activities abounded and the jewel in the crown of the events is hosted by The Midnight Mission. 

From 10am until 3pm 6th Street is closed between San Julian and San Pedro.  A stage is set up for live music and there is a strong focus on Blues with some terrific entertainment.  There are activites for children, art projects, great food including fresh baked goods and even the amazing Easter Bunny!  I do not know if the bunny was male or female but I will say it did not miss a beat during the entire event.  Energy +++ and made the Energizer Bunny look like a light weight!



From the Midnight Mission website on this particular event:

Easter/Passover Celebration 2010!

On Sunday, April 4th our staff, participants, and 200 volunteers come together to create a special brunch and celebration for about 2,000 of our closest friends... this year will be no exception!

We clear the street in front of our facility, set tables and chairs for our 2,000+ guests, most of who happen to be suffering from the condition of homelessness. We have an Easter Village for children, clothing giveaway and live entertainment.

For more information about the event or for sponsorship opportunities please contact, Mai Lee Community Relations Manager 213-624-4588. Volunteer opportunities, send an email to volunteer@midnightmission.org.

The link to the Easter event is http://www.midnightmission.org/frontstory1.asp

The Midnight Mission is quite entrenched in the music community with many supporters in the music industry.  One of these folks is a very close personal friend of over two decades, Norm Harris of Norman's Rare Guitars.  You can learn more about this store which is a part of music history at http://www.normansrareguitars.com/    Norm puts on events to support The Midnight Mission including the donation of artist signed guitars and major concert events.  Norm is a guy that walks the walk.

As a side note before I forget to post the link since I was talking about music, Jeff Beck will be playing for The Midnight Mission.  Here are a few details:

Jeff Beck Live in Concert!  Jeff Beck's show will be held in Los Angeles at the Nokia Theatre on April 17, 2010 at 8 pm.  Exclusive Orchestra tickets, Row W and Up Front Pit tickets, Row 3. Price includes concert ticket and pass to the VIP Lounge.

Jeff Beck is one of the UK's true music heroes, a visionary musician and guitar god admired by everyone from Eric Clapton, who he famously succeeded in The Yardbirds, to Morrissey, on whose new album Beck appears. He is recognized by his peers as perhaps the greatest guitarist of them all and has already been inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Yardbirds.

Proceeds to benefit The Midnight Mission.  Contact Georgia Berkovich at 213.624.9258 ext 1243.

The website page for this event is - http://www.midnightmission.org/frontstory3.asp
 
I will be posting photos from Easter Sunday on this blog post which means it will be updated over many days with a few of the photos.  I will also provide a link to all of the photos I took at the event and the photo album might take a week or more to complete but some photos will be posted here in smaller format.

The link to the entire photo set is http://www.flickr.com/photos/myles111us/sets/72157623769798512/ but it may be as long as a week before all the photos are uploaded as there are about 100 photos that need to be edited or tossed out in many cases.





Part of the group "Rebellious Blues Dogs". The keyboard player is cropped out of this shot (sorry).

In the center on the red bass is Big Mike, a very cool fellow. At the front of the stage the sharp dressed man in the gray suit is Don Garza. You can find Don on my facebook page in my top friends.

The band can be contacted at stonefre1313@verizon.net and do blues, swing, Latin rhythm and more.



Some folks might recognize LAMP from the movie The Soloist. This is where Nathanial Ayres lives.











In the photo above check out the fellow dancing and the fellow seated with two thumbs up. Great music and terrific folks.

I may post more photos later as they are editied or sorted but if I do not the photos will be uploaded for the next week to http://www.flickr.com/photos/myles111us/sets/72157623769798512/

King Taco ???? - American Idle ????

Today I was somewhat all over the map.  I went to http://www.65amps.com/ in the morning, went back to my place and took the gas piston out of my autoloader shotgun and tossed it into a jar of Slip 2000 choke tube and piston cleaner to let soak while I was gone for the day, jumped on the Metro red line and headed downtown.  I was not sure of my plan for a destination other than I wanted to have lunch in a new place.  When amp work is slower I tend to leverage my postion in this current economy as one of the millions in that new reality show on life ....  American Idle.

Once I arrived at Untion Station I was faced with two options.  North to Pasadena or South to East Los Angeles.  Mexican food seemed to jump into my mind so South I went.

I ended up here ....

These photos will be by waltarrrrr on Flickr as they are better than the photos I took via my cell phone

So ... yes, I ended up at King Taco and folks on facebook were already aware of this as I uploaded info and data in real time.
 
King Taco.  A chain.  Before you freak out and figure how can a chain be cool think of this for a moment.  These folks started out .... well .... let me grab this from their website
 
King Taco History:



Founded in 1974, King Taco began its operation from a converted ice cream truck. The Mexican fast food favorite has since expanded to 20 popular locations throughout Los Angeles County. We service a wide variety of authentic Mexican foods, King Taco has been recognized by prominent food critics and has also placed within the top 100 of Hispanic Business Magazine’s “Top 500 Hispanic Businesses.”

Mexican food lovers attribute King Taco’s success to its use of fresh ingredients and consistent quality.

Bottom line....  if these folks can raise enough cash over the long haul to build and expand their chain then they must be doing something right somewhere.

You can see their menu here - http://www.kingtaco.com/menu.html

I was at the 3rd street location in Los Angeles but their other spots can be found here:
http://www.kingtaco.com/locations.html

A few more shots from today, the below photos are my photos.

That's all for now.

Number of People Living on New York Streets Soars

I have copied this story to post it here.  You can see the original story by clicking on the title of this blog entry which will redirect you to the original story as long as it remains posted.

The percentage of homeless to overall city population in Los Angeles is the highest in the nation.  Perhaps this is due to the more mild weather.  The population figures are mentioned in this article.

Above photo:  A woman sleeping on the street last Christmas Eve in Midtown.   Damon Winter/The New York Times

The Bloomberg administration said Friday that the number of people living on New York’s streets and subways soared 34 percent in a year, signaling a setback in one of the city’s most intractable problems.

Appearing both startled and dismayed by the sharp increase, a year after a significant drop, administration officials attributed it to the recession, noting that city shelters for families and single adults had been inundated.

Robert V. Hess, the commissioner of homeless services, said in a subdued news conference that the city began feeling the increase in its vast shelter system more than two years ago. “And now we’re seeing the devastating effect of this unprecedented poor economy on our streets as well,” Mr. Hess said.

The city’s annual tally indicated an additional 783 homeless people on the streets and in the subway system, for a total of 3,111, up from 2,328 last year. That is in addition to almost 38,000 people living in shelters, which is near the city’s high.

The count came from an annual census of homeless people that is typically conducted on a cold January night, when more than 2,500 volunteers walk the streets and subway system between midnight and 4 a.m. to search for and identify the homeless. It took place this year on Jan. 25.

There were more homeless people found on the streets in every borough. The largest increase was in Brooklyn, where an additional 228 people were counted, more than double the total in January 2009. Manhattan had a 47 percent increase, or 368 more homeless people. In Staten Island, there was an increase of 45 percent, or 54 people; in Queens, a 14 percent increase, or 14 people; and in the Bronx, 6 percent, or 10 people.

Volunteers found 109 additional people — an increase of 11 percent — on subway trains and in stations.

Some of the homeless were found in out-of-the way corners in Queens and Staten Island.

A higher-than-usual concentration of homeless people have been recently seen in Pennsylvania Station. And a pocket of homeless men in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, appears to be new immigrants from Poland, trying to find work as day laborers.

The homeless population on the streets this year was down 29 percent from 2005, the first year of the count. The numbers had been steadily declining each year until the latest tally.

New York officials said the city still had a relatively small population of homeless people on the streets when compared with other large American cities.

There is one homeless person for every 2,688 people in the general New York population, compared with 1 in 154 for Los Angeles, 1 in 1,810 for Chicago and 1 in 1,844 for Washington. Among other cities conducting homeless counts this year, only Seattle, which showed a slight decrease, has so far announced results.

Mr. Hess promised that there would be new measures to encourage more of the homeless to get off the streets and into shelters. In the next month, the city will open two new housing facilities with 105 beds. And street-outreach workers will survey people to help understand why they are homeless.

Mr. Hess said he wanted to allow more people to go directly from the street to a shelter bed without an intake process and to cut out some of the bureaucracy that deterred them from entering shelters.

Tim Marx, the executive director of Common Ground, a nonprofit organization that provides homeless street outreach services in Brooklyn, Queens and parts of Manhattan, said he was not surprised by the increase.

“It just says that we have to keep up our efforts and intensify them,” Mr. Marx said. “The more people we have on the streets, the more they are making demands of our emergency shelter system, emergency rooms, detox centers and jails.”

Bill de Blasio, the public advocate, said he saw the count’s results as a sign that the administration needed to revamp its policies.

“Based on the increase reported today, I hope we can agree that we need to change our approach,” Mr. de Blasio said in a statement. “I continue to believe that we can do more to take on the growing problem of homelessness, including expanding prevention programs, re-examining our housing policies and maintaining support for critical services — such as drop-in centers and faith-based shelter beds — that often are all that stands between single homeless adults and the streets.”

The count has attracted its share of skepticism since it was first conducted in 2005. Advocates for the homeless have questioned the city’s methodology and have frequently accused the administration of underestimating the number.

The city says it follows a national standard and includes decoys as a way to measure the accuracy. The decoys, who are volunteers, station themselves around the city and note whether the official counters come by. In January, 90 percent of the decoys were counted, so the city assumed that 10 percent of the homeless were missed and adjusted its tabulation accordingly.

Last year, city officials said that the count revealed a 30 percent drop in the street homeless population since 2008, an announcement that was made at an elaborate news conference attended by volunteers, formerly homeless people and Linda I. Gibbs, the deputy mayor for health and human services, who spoke briefly.

This year’s event was quiet and spare by comparison. Ms. Gibbs’s commissioner, Mr. Hess, made the announcement in a conference room, seated at a long table.

A version of this article appeared in print on March 20, 2010, on page A1 of the New York edition.

Activity statistics: February 2010 - Union Rescue Mission

The figures are in for February of 2010 and just as expected there was more going on in 2010 than went on in 2009 for the same month.

http://www.urmblog.org/2010/03/17/statistics-update-february-2010/ is the link directly to the Union Rescue Mission report but a few high points are ....

URM= Union Rescue Mission
WSP= Winter Shelters – Downtown, Glendale, Culver City, and West LA
HG= Hope Gardens Family Center

Total Dental Clinic Visits = 515
Total Legal Clinic Visits = 108
Total Mental Health/Counseling Sessions = 131
Total Medical Visits = 637

Meals served:
URM: 80,424 avg/day: 2872 12% increase
WSP: 44,094 avg/day: 1575 (2009 Data only includes 1 winter shelter)
HG: 12,600 avg/day: 450 (same)
Total: 137,118 avg/day: 4897

Nights of Shelter:
URM: 23,851 avg: 852 19% increase
WSP: 20,913 avg: 747 (2009 Data only included Downtown WS)
HG: 3,312 avg: 118
Total: 48,076 avg: 1717

The above link will direct you to the full report with a lot more information and data.  You may also click on the title of this blog entry to be redirected to the official URM website and the complete data.