Pacific Dining Car

If I were reviewing the breakfast exclusively, I would have given them a perfect rating. The banana and pecan pancakes, Eggs Blackstone, fried potatoes, and the muffins are spectacular. The breakfast cooks know how to cook your eggs a perfect over medium or however you desire them and the coffee is first rate. The steaks are just plain hunks of dead, unseasoned cow flesh and that $55.00 price on the menu makes you think surely they must jest. On a brighter note, the creamed spinach is one of my favorite sides anywhere and the fried potatoes are similar but not identical to the ones that come from my own kitchen. If you are alcoholic, you can get a proper but expensive fix here. If you puke on your shirt in the bathroom, nod off on percocet, if the prostitute you came in here with starts to become belligerent and loud, or you and your friends are coming down slowly from acid, they aren't going to mind. Your money is still green here. Lots of high powered attorneys, judges and other assorted assholes routinely clog their arteries with Hollandaise Sauce in this dining room. If you were a fly on the wall, you would find this place very entertaining.

LA Fish Company

I feel very sorry for this company given that a large portion of their wonderful seafood used to come from Japan. But as the other reviews attest, this is one of the finest places for any great chef who knows their FRESH seafood. How fresh is the fish? Pretty fucking fresh. It is because of the confidence they have in the freshness of their product that it is all there on ice for you to inspect, smell, feel, and buy. Having worked at a Japanese restaurant for a few years, I am readily familiar with selecting fresh seafood. You are going to want to look at the eyes, gills, and the color. You are going to want to pick up the fish, if possible, and smell it. If you know nothing about fish, the excellent staff here will be happy to assist you. This is a wonderful place to bring your well behaved children who are interested in cooking. It is truly exciting to see a 200 LB Tuna on the cutting board and something that I would have given an eye tooth for as a child. Keep in mind, though, that this is primarily a commercial place, so don't bring your kids if they are little shit asses. I usually purchase Pacific fish from the closest place possible. Some of my favorites include the various rockfish species, corvina from Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands, Scorpion Fish, California Halibut, Albacore, Mahi Mahi,. and Yellowtail. I have never been disappointed here. When you come in, they will tell you what species of fish are on the ice and invite you to inspect them. There is also a white board in the first room with all the processed fish and frozen seafood in stock and the prices. There is a price/product list on the internet or available at the window. When you are ready, tell the guy what you want and have him cut it for you if you wish. Then go to the window and pay. Your stuff will be placed in a box with ice for the ride home. Keep in mind that you have to buy the whole fish. They will not sell you a pound or two unless you get filets.

Food Network

This critique is for Diners, Drive Ins, and Diabetes. This show is fucking disgusting. While I advocate enjoying good food and patronizing small businesses, this show is preposterous. Many of the children who watch this show and try to mimic this guy are destined for kidney failure before they can legally buy a beer. The host of this program, and anyone else who eats like that on a consistent basis has a mental disorder and/or has no education whatsoever. The Food Network should not be glorifying this lifestyle, it is irresponsible and wrong. Guy is one of the shittiest things to happen to entertainment since the invention of the snuff film, or perhaps the birth of Robin Williams.

San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant

The last time that I was at Pendelton, my friend and I took a long walk on the beach in front of this plant. You can walk right in front and see the intake, and the guard towers. It looks quite ominous. While some people marvel at the engineering and design of this place, I marvel at the stupidity of the people who have lived through Chernobyl and Fukushima and still supported reopening this place. History has proven the myth of harnessing the atom as a safe and efficient means of energy production as a complete and utter fucking fraud. Southern California Edison, the owner and operator of this evil facility should never be trusted with the future of California's coast. Our coastline and the people and animals that live here are far more important than this place and overwhelmingly outweigh its true value. I am so glad this place closed. As a result, we can all breathe a sigh of relief.

Pfizer

Pfizer manufactures substances which: 1) are not safe for human consumption 2) make tens of thousands of people choke on their own vomit 3) cause physical dependency 4) cause mental anguish 5) get the full approval of the Federal Government 6) generate hundreds of millions of dollars in profits annually This review is specifically for Xanax. While most people that take them will not develop a full blown addiction, others may quickly become zombies and eventually overdose. Most Xanax addicts are poly drug abusers, but Xanax is by far the most insidious drug in their routine. Want to stop? Good luck. Do you want to spin the roulette wheel? This week, another close friend lost her life and I am confident that the Coroner will determine that Xanax was the cause of her death. She probably got her first prescription back in the early 90's. Within a couple of years, her anxiety persisted, the bizarre behavior increased, there were brushes with the law, attempts to dry out, and was always back to taking huge quantities of these pills. Being one of the 10 most popular prescription drugs in the US, it is not a difficult task to get almost any doctor to write you a prescription. She enlisted a lot of unsuspecting doctors in three different counties to get a lot of pills. It was easy and cheap, and ultimately deadly. And her insurance company paid for it all. I want to reiterate that it never worked for anxiety at all but it was the proximate cause of death of a unique person, one who a lot of people cared about, who we have lost forever. If you have anxiety or lack happiness in life, a pill is ultimately not going to help you. Xanax has no medical value whatsoever, and Pfizer knows this. But hey, it sure is profitable. As long as everyone is getting their beak wet, they are going to continue to manufacture this poison.

Hume Lake Campground

This review is for Hume Lake Campground in Sequoia National Park. The sites are spacious and private, and you have a couple of sections to choose from. Ours was in an area with some sequoias and cedars, ferns, wildflowers, and wild strawberries. There were a ton of Stellar Jays all over the place and we saw a very tame mule deer clearly very accustomed to humans. I believe there are 75 campsites and a few have a view of the lake. Hume Lake is a man made lake in Sequoia National Park about 6 miles from King's Canyon which can be seen from the dam and on the hill on the west shore of the lake (there is no trail, it is about two miles to get to the top). It used to be a logging camp. Imagine that: this forest was once clear cut because it had commercial value. I am sure glad that I don't have any commercial value and that nobody wants to chop me down. This is an excellent place to consume mushrooms. I would recommend the Liberty Cap variety and suggest about 3 grams for an optimal dose at this place. Watch Hume Lake turn very quickly into Shroom Lake and fortify your soul in the forest. In the evening, there was a layer of steam on the surface of the lake that was particularly cool. It was as if there was a wheat field on the surface of the lake. On the first day we were there, a lady named Dianne gave a presentation on the birds of prey in the parks and showed us a Red Tailed Hawk, a Great Horned Owl, and a Barn Owl. I had never been that close to a hawk before, and I felt like I should have been wearing a tie or something, it was so special. You can walk around the lake (3 miles) and head up a very cool canyon of a fork of the King's River. You should not try and swim in the river as you could easily drown trying to get out on the mossy rocks, but it is safe to swim in the lake. Across the lake is a Christian Camp where you can get gas and buy goods in their general store if needed. Many nice people that look like Ned Flanders wander around this side of the lake thanking the lord for such beautiful scenery. The campsites are $20 a night, admission to the park is an additional $20 for a trip you will never forget. This is a great campground for children. People thought this was:

Ice House Canyon Trail

The other day, I took the Chapman Trail, which was entirely new to me. You have to walk up the Ice House Canyon Trail for approximately a mile, and then you will see it on the left hand side marked by a sign. I found it to be almost empty, in contrast to the dozens, if not hundreds of people on the Ice House Canyon Trail to the South. The Chapman Trail offers some beautiful scenery as you traverse moderate switchbacks through chaparral, oak, cedar groves, unspoiled meadows, towering yucca with giant white flowers across a background of blue sky. Eventually winding up at Ice House Saddle, I can hardly wait to go back here. In fact, I think I will tell them I am sick later this afternoon so I can get out of the office and back on that trail. Healthy rodent population, trees look green and healthy for the most part, plenty of birds but I didn't see any raptors at all. You are going to arrive at the wilderness boundary at the 3 mile mark, after which you will need a permit(Baldy Ranger Station). Get an adventure pass to park(Big5). This is a really sacred place, and whatever little words I put on the internet don't do it much justice. Spring is an absolutely stellar time to come out to either of these trails. The scenery includes red, white, pink, blue and purple wildflowers, a billion shades of green, endless blue skies, all backed up with a chorus of that babbling brook off to the side of the trail. There is some damage here caused by the bark beetle, but it is not too extensive. When I arrived yesterday, the parking lot was full, but I had no problem getting a permit from the Ranger Station and made it to the top in a leisurely two hours. When you get to the top of the saddle, there are several other trails to continue on if you so desire. I posted some photos so you could see what I am talking about. The trail goes uphill for about 4 miles, following a creek for the first half of the hike. There are several areas where the freezing cold water is deep enough to take a swim and several places where you could just spend the whole day taking in the greenery and the scenery with a picnic basket. There is a lot of shade, but you will still need some sunscreen. You are going to see a ton of squirrels, birds, and chipmunks on this trail. There are also bear and deer so if you decide to camp here, get a bear can and don't bring chapstick or lotion into your tent. You are also going to see a ton of people, but nothing compared to the trails in Griffith Park or Runyon Canyon and the flash mobs that suddenly appear there at 7AM. The Cucamonga Wilderness which you pass through about midway up the trail is stunning. These mountains are majestic and almost impassable. You are going to belvedere yourself when you see the views as you are climbing through this wilderness. You need a wilderness permit to hike past this boundary and can obtain it at the ranger station. Keep in mind they are not open every day. Call in advance. As you get towards the saddle, the trail narrows a bit, and the chutes are probably a hundred feet down or so. Tell your children to be careful here.