I support the overthrow of the Pig-fucking Saudi Monarchy

Aramco Services Co Neighborhood: Galleria/Uptown 2323 McCue Rd Houston, TX 77056 (713) 621-5404 I recently contacted Aramco Services Co. and subscribed to the beautiful free magazine entitled Aramco World Magazine. I don't know if I mentioned that the magazine is absolutely beautiful, and has an array of stunning photographs of the Persian Gulf with an emphasis on Saudi Arabia. The mission statement of the magazine is to educate the Western reader about the Arab World and the religion of Islam. The Saudis are incidentally the custodians of the two holiest sites of Islam, the cities of Mecca and Medina. Their government is a Monarchy, and they are in the unique position of sitting on the largest oil reserves in the world. The price is only increasing and the royal family is only getting richer. That is why they can afford to publish this lovely magazine and send it to subscribers like me free of charge. That is why they can get the District Attorney of Orange County to drop felony kidnapping and slavery charges when the Defendant is a Saudi Princess. That is why they can repress the Shiites with violence who traditionally come from the most oil rich regions of the country. That is why they can arm and fund Al Nusra, the Taliban, and any country that attacks the Indians. They can and do arm groups that inevitably will turn their weapons on Americans. But they don't talk about any of these things in their magazine. They don't talk about how many people in the Kingdom who are executed by beheading every year, nor about the people who have their right hands amputated because they stole something. They don't mention jihad. Along with the United States and Israel, Saudi Arabia forms the third nation in the Axis of Troublemakers. The United States Government and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have an unwritten agreement where we buy their oil in exchange for propping up their corrupt regime. I feel it is high time to rethink our relationship with these infidel thugs, stop selling them weapons, and stop purchasing their oil. Capital punishment is never a good idea, especially by beheading. I think if Americans really knew what this country was up to, they would probably start taking the bus.

Dal Rae not the Del Rey

Dal Rae Restaurant Categories: Steakhouses, American (Traditional) 10/1/2013 1 check-in here It was recently my eight year wedding anniversary and my wife declared that she was not having any Thai food. There she was barking orders at me to shower and put on something other than exercise clothes and take her to The Lobster. "How's about the Dal Rae?", I said. She likes the Dal Rae. The Dal Rae would be fine. I told her we would go after traffic died down a little, and got there at around 8. The Del Rae evoked memories of Continental restaurants that a few decades ago were a dime a dozen but have all but disappeared from the landscape and replaced with multiple fast food outlets and pretentious nouvelle turds. You are going to remember things from way, way out of the past such as dim lighting, cold salad forks, a relish tray on ice, and a captain walking around inquiring about how your special dinner is going. The only thing missing was the piano player. The menu is also a throwback to the past as well. Caviar, Sand Dabs, Rack of Lamb, Chateaubriand for two, Steak Dianne, and all those other old warhorses are all still served here. Lobster Thermidor and Cherries Jubilee on a menu these days are almost as rare as unshaven bush. Relish tray superb. Cold water. No strange looks when I said I was not having alcohol for dinner. Garlic cheese bread, another throwback to the 1950's was artery clogging nirvana. The iceberg wedge with blue cheese dressing served here makes you wonder who decided to get cute and put bacon and other monstrosities on this great salad. It is just lettuce, perfectly crispy and chilled with flawless blue cheese dressing on a cold plate. With a cold fork. Freshly cracked black pepper. My wife, the vegetarian, ordered the pepper steak and asked me if I wanted a taste. For a brief moment, I was back in 1981 at the Chinatown Velvet Turtle sitting there across from my dad high on Quaaludes with my Dutch Boy haircut, braces, and checkered Vans eating the best pepper steak ever! The garlic mashed potatoes had way too much garlic. It was a very good steak. This is the place to go if you want to be romantic. It was as if somebody flipped a switch in my wife's brain that suddenly made her think I was a real Don Juan for taking her here. I ordered Halibut ala Ben with a parmesan crust, lemon butter sauce, and caramelized onions on top. It was a great big portion of very fresh fish cooked perfectly. The baked potato that came with the halibut was really good, and the waitresses opened the potato and mixed it with butter, salt, sour cream, and chives at the table. And it came with asparagus, too. Even if you are of above-average weight and girth, it is a lot of food. Where the fuck is Pico Rivera? It is a lower-middle class community between the 5 and the 605 in a land where men once had jobs in the aerospace industry and dignity, and where you could still get away with drinking three martinis for lunch and driving back to work drunk in your Buick Electra without any consequences.

More About CicLAvia

I applaud this event which proves that people can be drunk, civil and good to each other on two wheels. It builds a sense of community among Angelenos, promotes health and fitness, and advocates a clean environment. These are things we can all agree on. In Los Angeles before the automobile, a lot of people assume that things must have been really easy and environmentally friendly. But that was not the case at all. People's horses urinated and defecated in the dirt streets of Downtown and when it rained, this mixed with the mud and, according to most sources, it smelled pretty foul down there. Men and women wore boots and had to scrape the horseshit off using the high curbs on the sidewalk. It was not very pleasant. I advocate a car-free Downtown Los Angeles and support many major streets being closed to private motorized vehicles. Now that we have technology that is cleaner than both cars and horses, it is high time that we stop getting drunk on oil every single day and directly supporting repressive dictatorships like the Saudis by purchasing their petroleum. CicLAvia reminds me of how much nicer things would be in this great city with the absence of private vehicles. Bicycle and pedestrian access should be facilitated at least to the extent that it is in Amsterdam, and a people mover or a street car should be readily accessible in most areas of Los Angeles County to reduce congestion, pollution, property damage, and bodily injury caused by motor vehicles.

CicLAvia

CicLAvia restores my faith in humanity. I put the words Los Angeles into an anagram generator and out of 742 words, these are my favorite: Legal Noses, Angels Lose, Eel Slogans, No Leg Sales, All Sense Go, and Long Ass Eel. While this has little to do with CicLAvia, I came yesterday from K-town and rode to Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights and back. The event was just splendid! The perfect way to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon. It makes me wonder why we cannot set up Downtown and K-Town more like Amsterdam.

Smoke House Joke House

Smoke House Restaurant 4420 W Lakeside Dr Burbank, CA 91505 (818) 845-3731 TV writers generally suffer from severe, life threatening alcoholism, and for many years, the bartenders at the Smoke House Restaurant have been across the street ready to postpone a viscous case of the DT's and steady those hands before, during, and after work. (If you know of a TV writer who writes prime time shit sober, then their children should kill them in their sleep.) On Sunday, you can re-enact a Roman food orgy and eat slice after slice of prime rib, unlimited cheese toast, sparkling wine, and Eggs Benedict until you have to loosen your girdle and take a nap, rolling over on your side so that you don't choke on your own vomit. All in a woodsy, red-leather booth filled room from the mid-1960's.

First City Credit Union Category: Banks & Credit Unions Neighborhood: Downtown 717 W Temple Street Los Angeles, CA 90012 (213) 482-3477 The first thing that you will notice here is that all of the tellers and managers move at a snail's pace. Opening up an account here is like checking out groceries at the Piggly Wiggly on the hottest day of the year in Memphis, except there is going to be no friendly small talk or Southern charm. It is going to take at least two minutes for the lady to get up out of her steel reinforced desk chair and waddle up to the counter to ask if she can help you but behind those eyes is really thinking that she would like to smack your boney honkey ass for making her get up. But if you don't care to open up an account here, the fee to cash a check issued by an account holder from this miserable, money grubbing institution is $10.00. I never reveal my current bank because I play a shell game with judgement creditors, but my current bank meets all of my needs with friendliness and exceptional skill. I would only return here to deposit a turd in the lobby. The parking attendant was exceedingly cool. He was the only redeeming thing about my experience here.

I have been frequenting Topanga State Park at night this past week. Partly due to the oppressive heat, but additionally because I am fascinated with all of the nocturnal animals that seem to come out and greet me on the trail. Unfortunately, my only camera is connected to my I-Phone, so there is no way that I can adjust it to a night setting. I would have very much liked a picture of the large male Great Horned Owl I saw on top of a yucca stalk on Thursday night.