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The District WeeklyWed. December 31
 

Looking back at the year in lists: From the best thing we read to four movies we’re sure we saw Bob Foster in and six places to screw dangerously


ILLUSTRATION by ROBERT POKORNY

Somewhere between that last slice of pumpkin pie and the final seconds of the ball drop is one of the year’s proudest journalistic traditions: lists. There’s a top 10 for everything―albums, movies, celebutante panty gaffes. So being the diligent card-carrying writers that we are, here is this year in lists: from seven reasons to save the breakwater and five ways we’ve died in our dreams to 11 things we like about Anaheim Street and the 12 people we wish would call us back.

24 THINGS WE’LL REMEMBER ABOUT FORGETTABLE MOVIES
1. Cloverfield: Nuking New York City is a good idea, with or without a monster.
2. Be Kind Rewind: Jack Black is the new Robin Williams, only less hairy.
3. Jumper: Stars Hayden Christensen and Rachel Bilson are building a house in Canada together.
4. Synecdoche, New York: Charlie Kaufman still hasn’t killed himself.
5. The Other Boleyn Girl: “Boleyn” is pronounced “Bo-LINN.”
6. 10,000 BC: Those were the days.
7. Horton Hears a Who: A person is a person, no matter how small.
8. 21: Hollywood subbed white actors for most of the lead parts, even though the real people in this based-on-a-true story were Asian.
9. Wanted: When Angelina Jolie stops being hot, she’s going to stop having a career.
10. The Ruins: Monteczuma’s appetite for revenge can’t be sated.
11. Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo: Cock sandwich.
12. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: Harrison Ford’s limp whip.
13. Forgetting Sarah Marshall: Who knew Veronica Mars had such a hot bod?
14. Choke: A cheap gag.
15. The Incredible Hulk: Ed Norton was better in the The Honeymooners.
16. Get Smart: Steve Carell should keep his day job.
17. The Dark Knight: Batman shouldn’t have a speech impediment.
18. Pineapple Express: Judd Apatow isn’t perfect.
19. The International: Clive Owen is the guy who does voice over on those Chevron commercials.
20. Eagle Eye: Shia LaBeouf’s Hebrew first name and French last time combine to translate into Praise God for Beef.
21. The Day the Earth Stood Still: Keanu plays Klaatu.
22. Australia: What Texas would be if it were a country.
23. RocknRolla: We’d divorce Guy Ritchie, too.
24. Zack and Miri Make a Porno: Kevin Smith is better silent.

BEST THING WE READ ALL YEAR
1. “I’ve abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system.”

12 PEOPLE WE WISH WOULD CALL US BACK
1. Craig Beck.
2. Phil Hester.
3. Steve Lowery.
4. Justin Hectus.
5. Suja Lowenthal.
6. Laura Richardson.
7. Dana Rohrabacher.
8. Mom.
9. Chris Pook.
10. Frank Colonna.
11. Gene Rotondo.
12. Vegan guy in Washington Mutual parking lot.

ONE PERSON WE WISH WOULDN’T CALL US SO MUCH
1. Ryan Smolar. (Kidding.)

10 BEST BITES OF 2008
1. Porky’s BBQ’s pulled pork sandwich.
2. Nosh Cafe’s sun-dried tomato quiche.
3. Michael’s on Naples’ lobster ravioli.
4. El Gallo Giro’s torta cubana.
5. Renu Nakorn’s nam kao tod.
6. Izakaya Zero’s balsamic-teriyaki spare ribs.
7. Toko Rame’s nasi bungkus.
8. El Rocoto’s jalea.
9. At Last Cafe’s arugula salad.
10. La Concha’s torta ahogada.

10 THINGS WE REGRET ABOUT 2008
1. Asking what our country could do for us.
2. Turning on the TV.
3. That one last beer.
4. Debbie Cook’s defeat.
5. Joking about Robert Kennedy Jr.’s trembling voice.
6. Not signing up for Beach Greens.
7. Letting the terra-ists win.
8. Prop H8.
9. Sarah Palin.
10. Ever using the word “pescetarian.”

10 THINGS TO DO IN 2009
1. Shower.
2. Sign up for Beach Greens.
3. Bid on the Tribune Company.
4. Turn off the TV.
5. Learn Mandarin.
6. Plant a money tree.
7. Invest in water, iodine tablets and Vienna sausages.
8. Watch Nova.
9. Start Tina Fey diet.
10. Become an expert.

11 MORE THINGS TO DO IN 2009
1. Start world’s largest ball of twine.
2. Finally buy that machine that squeezes our soap slivers into a bar.
3. Buy a cigarette-rolling machine.
4. Turn off the lights in the house.
5. Light candles.
6. Go through other people’s trash for aluminum cans.
7. Shower.
8. Stop washing hair so often.
9. Learn to make our own mayonnaise.
10. Sell tuxedo T-shirt on eBay.
11. Visit more thrift stores.

FIVE ALTERNATIVE NICKNAMES FOR LONG BEACH
1. Water World
2. La Mirada by-the-sea
3. Shafttown
4. LA 2
5. Portsrump

SIX PLACES TO SCREW DANGEROUSLY
1. The sex offender house in Alamitos Beach.
2. 16th hole at Big Rec.
3. On the breakwater.
4. Beneath the pier.
5. Long Beach Memorial Hospital.
6. Insight Indoor Shooting Range.

SIX SMELLS WE THINK WE SMELL UNDER THE BELMONT PIER
1. Urine.
2. Feet.
3. Chum
4. E. coli.
5. Catalina.
6. Waffles.

NINE PEOPLE WE WISH WOULD KNOCK ON OUR DOOR
1. Peter Joseph.
2. The Italian waitress from La Parolaccia.
3. Publisher’s Clearinghouse.
4. Our prodigal son.
5. John Hamm.
6. Judi Dench.
7. Thinis II.
8. Janet.
9. Chrissy.

SIX PEOPLE WE WISH WOULD STOP KNOCKING ON OUR DOOR
1. Dateline’s Chris Hansen.
2. The IRS.
3. The Big One.
4. Death.
5. Mom.
6. Auntie Gin.

10 THINGS WE HATE ABOUT YOU, LONG BEACH
1. Poison ocean.
2. Sidewalks on Third Street.
3. Parking lots at Trader Joe’s.
4. There’s no easy way to get to Bixby Knolls.
5. There’s no easy way to get out of Bixby Knolls.
6. The real Long Beach Loop—who’s your ex screwing now?
7. Lack of liquor store delivery service.
8. Raid, demolish and apologize.
9. Miami, FL.
10. The Queen Mary.

10 THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT YOU, LONG BEACH
1. Anywhere that’s outside the RDA.
2. Bouchees Bistro.
3. The Press-Telegram’s Kris Hanson.
4. The airport.
5. The Scorpion.
6. The Prospector.
7. The Varden Hotel.
8. Lite-a-Line.
9. Nation’s oldest tattoo parlor is still here.
10. It’s across the bridge(s) from San Pedro, which is the Long Beach of 1986 today.

THREE REASONS TO DESTROY THE BREAKWATER
1. Tourism.
2. Surf.
3. Finding out whether tidal flows will take our trash to Huntington Beach.

SEVEN REASONS TO SAVE THE BREAKWATER
1. San Diego.
2. Europeans in sandals.
3. Europeans in Speedos.
4. Huntington Beach.
5. “Dude.”
6. “Bro.”
7. Torpedo attacks.

SIX THINGS WE WERE SURE WOULD KILL US THIS YEAR
1. Nose cancer.
2. Cheek cancer.
3. Neck cancer.
4. Back cancer.
5. Tooth cancer.
6. Scalp cancer.

FOUR TRADER JOE’S STAFFERS WE LIKE
1. Robert. (His paintings can be found throughout this issue.)
2. Danielle. (We owe you a beer!)
3. Keith. (Ken? We were drunk, sorry.)
4. Joshua. (Technically, we met you last year, and you don’t work at Trader Joe’s anymore, but we still think you’re pretty sweet.)

TWO EXCUSES WE GAVE TO GET OUT OF WORK
1. We had to sign our divorce papers.
2. Barack Obama.

SEVEN STEPS TO PERSONAL HAPPINESS
1. Prescription-strength $8 Secret deodorant.
2. Claritin.
3. Obese kittens.
4. The Joe’s special.
5. Boilermakers.
6. Forgiving Kobe.
7. Finding Jesus.

FIVE WAYS WE’VE DIED IN OUR DREAMS
1. Airplane crash.
2. Airplane crash with Steve Lowery.
3. Fierce groining.
4. Submarine attack.
5. In our sleep.

SEVEN INSULTS BELMONT SHORE PARKING COMMISSIONER KURT SCHNEITER USED IN E-MAILS TO BELMONT SHORE RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT MIKE RUEHLE
1. “My word has always been good and yours has not.”
2. “Childish.”
3. “Someone of your caliber.”
4. “Flintstone.”
5. “Asinine.”
6. “Divisive.”
7. “Shit-stirrer” . . . oh, wait, there’s another:

THREE MYTHS ABOUT LONG BEACH DINING
1. “It’s close to me—I have to like it.” No, you don’t.
2. “There’s steak menu—it must be fine dining!” You know who else serves steak? Sizzler.
3. “You’re paying for ambiance.” Funny, no one told us that chair was on the menu.

SEVEN QUESTIONABLY EMPLOYED COMMENTERS ON THEDISTRICTWEEKLY.COM
1. John_B.
2. Andy.
3. howardx.
4. DWR.
5. lbresident.
6. LB City Girl.
7. Gerrie Schipske.

14 PEOPLE WHO INSPIRED US
1. Inventive architect Brian Ulaszewski, for bringing us Armory Park, an ahead-of-its-time solution that would replace the Sixth Street-Seventh Street-Alamitos Avenue traffic nightmare with a park.
2. Bicycling photographer Russ Roca (full disclosure: he works for us), for pedaling everywhere.
3. Santa Claus, duh!
4. Frequent Long Beach City Council speaker Laurence Goodhue, for his righteous finger-pointing.
5. First City Council District Candidate Harvey Cochran, for getting under Mayor Bob Foster’s skin every single week.
6. Tina Fey, for becoming Sarah Palin, and for making us laugh (even though this season of 30 Rock feels a little off).
7. Steve Lowery, for having the courage to still be metrosexual.
8. Terry Jensen, for having the courage to take on Measure I, the city’s spending-est ballot measure ever.
9. Delena Belanger, for having the courage to carry on.
10. Former Director of Library Services Eleanore Schmidt, for fighting city hall and winning—for now.
11. Heath Ledger, for being the best Joker ever and totally stealing The Dark Knight, with a little help from the script.
12. Friends of the Library, for helping keep Main Library open.
13. Howard Linn, for giving us the Art Theatre.
14. Jan Van Dijs, for giving us back our city one piece at a time—first by restoring the Ebell Club, and now the Art Theatre.

FOUR MOVIES WE’RE SURE WE SAW BOB FOSTER IN
1. Runaway Jury.
2. Collateral.
3. Shallow Hal.
4. Timecop.

THREE THINGS WE’LL MISS ABOUT 2008
1. Hope.
2. Change.
3. Chris Ziegler.

SEVEN EXCUSES WE’VE MADE TO COVER UP OUR HANGOVERS
1. The worst cold ever.
2. The worst flu ever.
3. The worst cramps ever.
4. The worst migraine ever.
5. The worst kung-pao ever.
6. The worst flat tire ever.
7. The worst house fire ever.

FIVE THINGS OUR FRIENDS DID TO HELP US WORK ON OUR CAR
1. Let us take them out to lunch.
2. Let us buy them suitcases of Miller Lite.
3. And Coca-Cola.
4. Found a roll of masking tape to stop the bleeding, when we cut our finger and we couldn’t find Band-Aids. (So we just wrapped it in a greasy shop rag and drove ourselves to the Eddie’s Liquor at Wardlow Road and Orange Avenue—and waited in line behind three people to buy the least-sticky Band-Aids ever.)
5. Did all the welding, all the bodywork—and most of the paint —equalling (in car guy terms) a $700,000 value (not really). (Yes, really). Thanks, guys!

SIX PEOPLE WE’RE STILL HOPING WILL SHOW UP
1. Bob Foster at the Press Club’s Measure I debate against Terry Jensen.
2. Laura Richardson at the mortgage office.
3. Mike Ruehle at our table at Legend’s.
4. The creative class.
5. Thinis II at Morningland.
6. Kraig Kojian.

11 THINGS WE LIKE ABOUT ANAHEIM STREET
1. Employment Development Department at Pine Avenue, now a thrift store.
2. Street chicken at Gundry Avenue.
3. Graffiti murals at Homeland Cultural Center.
4. Vietnamese sandwich shop at Orange Avenue.
5. Scary liquor store at Cherry Avenue.
6. Generation Gap.
7. Casa Sanchez at Termino Avenue, Long Gone John-approved.
8. Iguana Kelly’s still reminds us of the Rose Room, and Mike Martt used to live behind it.
9. Pretty golf course at Pacific Coast Highway.
10. Midcentury houses in Park Estates.
11. Our impressive suite of offices.

FIVE BEST SIPS OF 2008
1. White Russian at the Flite Room.
2. Gimlet at the Madison.
3. Any beer at Beachwood BBQ.
4. Captain’s Dreamscicle at Joe’s Crab Shack.
5. Chocolate Monkey at O’Connell’s.

15 GHOSTS OF LONG BEACH PAST
1. Acres of Books.
2. Vanguard Collectibles at Temple Avenue and Broadway.
3., 4., 5. Crate and Barrel, Z Gallerie, the Vault 350 and AMC Pine Square, all on Pine Avenue downtown.
6. Thieves Market, Third Street and Pine Avenue.
7. Vint’s on Second Street.
8. Roberts Department Store, 5600 block of Atlantic Ave.
9. Former hotel at Anaheim Street and Lime Avenue.
10. Looff’s Lite-a-Line roof, south side of Ocean Boulevard just west of Pine Avenue.
11. American Hotel, Broadway at the Promenade.
12. Jergins Trust Building site, Ocean Boulevard at Pine Avenue.
13. Sophy’s on Anaheim Street.
14. Press-Telegram building, Sixth Street and Pine Avenue.
15. Long Beach Civic Light Opera, Third Street and Linden Avenue.

FIVE THINGS WE ADMIRE ABOUT ILLINOIS GOVERNOR ROD BLAGOJEVICH
1. His hair.
2. His can-do attitude.
3. His scruples.
4. His wife.
5. His dedication to practical jokes.

FIVE FAVORITE MOMENTS IN TV 2008
1. “I’m Chuck Bass.”
2. Conan O’Brien during the writers’ strike.
3. Tina Fey’s wink.
4. Tracy Morgan.
5. The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

SEVEN THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT LONG BEACH MUSIC
1. Crystal Antlers.
2. Mendee Ichikawa.
3. Long Beach Loop.
4. Fingerprints in-stores.
5. VIP Records.
6. Inflight at Night.
7. Dennis Owens.

WORST THING WE READ ALL YEAR
1. “A pediatric brain surgeon in Colorado Springs, Colorado was operating on a 3-day-old baby and found a foot growing in his brain.”

NINE PARTS TO THE PERFECT LONG BEACH BODY
1. Misty May-Treanor’s butt.
2. Bob Foster’s gavel.
3. Snoop Dogg’s lungs.
4. Cameron Diaz’s legs.
5. Jered Weaver’s hair.
6. Justin Rudd’s exclamation point.
7. Mike Murchison’s push-up muscles.
8. Anthony Batts’ head.
9. Dora Jacildo’s smile.

18 QUESTIONS THAT 2008 LEFT UNANSWERED
1. Why isn’t there even one sushi restaurant on all of Broadway?
2. What’s the difference between a Ralph’s Fresh Fare market and a regular Ralph’s market?
3. What does Tom Dean look like?
4. Why doesn’t Long Beach have an all-ages music venue?
5. Why didn’t the Queen Mary give its Sunday-brunch harp player another one-year contract?
6. What’s Dan Baker’s favorite hotel?
7. Where is the fair in farewell, dear?
8. Where is the good in goodbye?
9. Who was the proofreader on the new sign at the Prospector?
10. Is it okay to be inspired by the beauty of a sunset through smog?
11. Should it make us nervous that Chris Pook has been so quiet lately?
12. When are they going to repaint the Villa Riviera?
13. How do you pronounce Bouchees?
14. What accounts for the success of the dueling pianos format?
15. Why are there so many churches on Third Street?
16. How does Bill Pearl do it?
17. If an LED light show shines in an empty downtown, does it actually illuminate anything?
18. Would it have been more appropriate for Karen Carpenter’s name to have been on the Long Beach State cafeteria rather than the performing arts center?

TOP LISTS IN THIS ISSUE
1. 24 Things We’ll Remember About Forgettable Movies.
2. Best Thing We’ve Read All Year.
3. 12 People We Wish Would Call Us Back.
4. One Person We Wish Wouldn’t Call Us So Much.
5. 10 Best Bites of 2008.
6. 10 Things We Regret About 2008.
7. Five Alternate Nicknames for the City of Long Beach.
8. 10 Things to do in 2009.
9. 11 More Things to do in 2009.
10. Six Places to Screw Dangerously.
11. Six Smells We Think We Smell Under the Belmont Pier.
12. Steve Lowery’s Christmas List.
13. Eight People We Wish Would Knock on Our Door.
14. Six People We Wish Would Stop Knocking on Our Door.
15. 10 Things We Hate About You, Long Beach.
16. 10 Things We Love About You, Long Beach.
17. Three Reasons to Destroy the Breakwater.
18. Seven Reasons to Save the Breakwater.
19. Six Things We Were Sure Would Kill Us This Year.
20. Four Trader Joe’s Staffers We Like.
21. Seven Steps to Personal Happiness.
22. Two Excuses We Gave This Year For Not Showing Up to Work.
23. Three Things We’ll Miss About 2008.
24. Five Ways We’ve Died in Our Dreams.
25. Seven Insults Belmont Shore Parking Commissioner Kurt Schneiter Used in E-mails to Belmont Shore Residents Parking Association President Mike Ruehle.
26. Three Myths About Long Beach Dining.
27. Seven Questionably Employed Commenters on thedistrictweekly.com.
28. 14 People Who Inspired Us.
29. Four Movies We’re Sure We Saw Bob Foster In.
30. Seven Excuses We’ve Made to Cover Up Our Hangovers.
31. Five Things Our Friends Did to Help Us Work on Our Car.
32. Six People We’re Still Hoping Will Show Up.
33. Eleven Things We Like About Anaheim Street.
34. Five Best Sips of 2008.
35. 15 Ghosts of Long Beach Past.
36. Five Things We Admire About Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.
37. Five Favorite Moments in TV 2008.
38. Seven Things We Love About Long Beach Music.
39. Worst Thing We Read All Year.
40. Nine Parts to the Perfect Long Beach Body.
41. 18 Questions that 2008 Left Unanswered.
42. 42 Top Lists in This Issue.
43. The Single Best Way to Meet Your Word Count.

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  • Coastal Advocates
    Many of us have tremendous respect for Ms Shipske's wonderful body of work and for her ceaseless dedication to a long list of important concerns, most importantly, those of each and evry one of her constituents and those of this Municipality. She is brilliant, fair, accomplished, learned, subtly tenacious, formidable and astute.

    Also, she is unquestionably Ethical and driven by the quest to fairly apply the rule of law, and common sense and equity, towards all. Many in City Hall would be wise to take a lesson from her and her many fine friends and associates. Long Beach is a far better place for most of us to live and work due to fine individuals such as her. Many of us will not be the least bit suprised to see her gracefully attending to higher matters some day either. Bless you Gerrie, and thanks again for your exemplary service. Keep up the good work.

    PS : Ignore those few critics as do most of the rest of us !
  • TheShore
    I think you may have drank the koolaid.

    Just read her blog once and then ask the question "who is she working for?" She has accomplished very little other than asking lot's of questions of city personnel, and then doing nothing with the answers. It is YOUR tax dollars that she is wasting.

    How about her recent statement "Who Gave the City Manager Authority to Pursue Selling or Leasing the City Airport?". Why shouldn't the City Manager consider any opportunity to improve efficiencies, reduce costs, or generate revenues? Is leasing the Airport a good idea? Who knows? What are the benefits? What are the negatives? Will the noise ordinance be protected?

    Let's give Mr. West a chance to present the facts before concluding this is a good idea or a bad idea.
  • The phrase"drink the koolaid" is not only the most tired (and most --with the exception of "maverick'"--overused) phrase of 2008, but its users look more sheep like than the sheep they claim to be criticising. It's not clever, please make a resolution to stop using it.
  • Coastal Advocates
    The phrase springs from the mouth of Bill O'Reily regularly. You know, the adulterous phone sex with an intern pervert who 'bloviates' like Mr Snore too. Several hope that the putative 'Shore' was wearing his 'Factor gear' while trying to impotently launch yet another personal vindetta upon The Honorable Ms Shipske, or others.

    Funny, rather than accept our challenge of a televised substantive debate on the merits, facts and law, he again insists upon trying to 'single out', or 'marginalize' important, majority voices. Let him spew, he is far less relevant given the sweeping mandate of the last election and the abysmal string of controversies , mistakes and failures of his click's surrogate, Gary.

    So rather than respond to any relevant, or material issue, he again tries ineffectually to 'Deflect' attention away from his current distinction. Being chosen by a highly respected paper, as ''questionably employed'' raises the logical inference of, 'Get a life', or' help rather than harm your community through more productive use of you time' doesn't it ? '. Isn't this 'award' similarly tantamount to a 'Bunghole of the year' moniker as well? Shore, enjoy the distinction, you earned it, actaully, begged for it.

    Gerrie is selfless in her ceaseless dedication to her constituents and causes. Shores' hero, Gary, has the worst attendance record in recent Council history. Given Theo Douglas' praise of Gerrie here, and more, many surmise that her appearance upon the list was obviously 'tongue in cheek'. Suffice is to say, this may be yet another thing the Snore has yet to quite grasp. We pray for him too.

    Note to The Bore, yes, we are part of Gerries 4,000 plus member blog, and you are.?? ....pissed off at the powers that be? Sorry.

    With respect to these trickle down, cut taxes on the wealthy, business at all costs, de regulate until we implode, repacious capitalism greasing the axle with the sweat of the masses Ayn Rand pure unfettered capitalism stuff, well, count 8 Dems on Council, a Blue Dog as Mayor, majorities in the State and National Houses and Senate, and the blessed winds of long overdue change in the White House, and, well...Shore...take Jay Beeler to lunch for us. Maybe at the Nixon library?

    Better yet, tell us how many once centered Councilpersons, will bear the career hariming, somewhat indelible stain of listening to a few of your putative " gang of six'' hard right schemes? That same line that gave us the worst Ocean in California, and the worst Air in America ? And plenty of propsed Wetlands development or other 'secret committees'' foisting acrimony and disquiet all over the place?

    How about highly questionable, manifestly unethical, semi secret deals handing close friends Tens of Millions of easy taxpayer dollars?

    Go mix those 'efficiencies' of yours with a little more moonshine and send us a card from Idaho?

    Also, help the ''all growth is good gang'', keep trying to seat ''Revenue justifies Wetlands development Suja'' on the Coastal Commission too. Funny, we heard very important people raise Ms Shipske's name deservedly, and justifiably in response? After all, she has one heck of a resume, but again, you endeavor towards? Ya, menebership in that minority click that is basically OK with 12 stories of Hotel patrons at 2nd and PCH, peering into every home and bedroom within a mile radius ? The latest scheme bent upon siignificantly damaging a long list of Coastal Resources ? And so much more nonsense which you champion or tacitly endorse? We're not buying it Chief. But, enjoy the Award please?

    Finally, encourage Gary's committee to elect, or key friends, to push a little harder, maybe more blatantly, for Chamber of Commerce Robert too? Hey, he worked as a page at the Nixon Library, maybe he can get you a free pass?
  • I tried to watch some of O'Reilly last night. He looked "so" tired. I think he's beginning to realize his humor of hatred is beginning to fail. It's getting to be boring schtick and O'Reilly looks bored with it too.

    That all said...I couldn't agree more, Coastal Advocates!
  • Coastal Advocates
    Thank you kindly. You do fine work here. It ''matters''. Guess we got The Snore's pal, '' Long Beach Resident'' to post for the Chamber or hard right line of reasoning, over there on LB Post. We are pretty sure that he is one of Tom Dean's team, possibly one of a few leasing agents employed by Pacific Retail Partners, on Studebaker at Anaheim Rd. If not, we hear the identical canned spiel.

    As always, he is getting hammered. Also, we hear, that they get paid to do this at work ! Many of us do our essays here and elsewhere in addition to 70 or 80 hours a week of other serious duties. If you want his name, it is a fairly prominent one, have Dave email me

    And Happy New Year too !
  • Thanks LB City Girl! While we are making resolutions for better use of the English language, can we also resolve to stop using "so" as our national adverb? It is "so" overused in spoken English, and I am "so" over it! If you really need to modify that verb, phrase or clause; try mixing in a "hella" or "big time" for 2009!
  • I couldn't agree more, Evan!
  • Mike Ruehle
    Hi TheSHore,

    I'm not following you. Are you saying that it is OK for City Manager West to ask questions that may improve our city, however, it is not OK for an elected Councilperson? Maybe you can help me understand why we should "give Mr. West a chance to present the facts before concluding this is a good idea or a bad idea," but the same level of tolerance should not be granted to Councilwoman Schipske.

    Isn't it one of the responsibilities of city staff to respond to the requests and questions of City Councilmembers, regardless of what is done with the answers? Does that not include City Manager West, who is the staff top executive, not an elected official representing a constituency? Personally, I like that Councilwoman Schipske asks questions in a public forum rather than doing things behind closed doors out of public purview. We don't agree on all issues. But I'm OK with that as long as it is above board.
  • Tamara G
    This is John B.'s wife (yes he has one) and I can vouch for the fact that he is employed. His job does not suffer from his time spent on this site. However, my "honey do" list does. I often refer to this site as the other woman and am resigned to the fact that I am just going to have to continue to share him.
  • Last time I checked, I am employed by the City of Long Beach as the councilperson for the 5th District.
  • Andy
    And in your spare time, could you do some First District work, too? :^) We're missing something.
  • PatBryant
    Actually, it would be nice if Gerrie would do some work for the 5th District. Last time I looked, she was sending out a press release flattering herself about some stand she supposedly took about something. Of course, that was before someone complained and she changed her position . . .

    What happened to her "real" job at the Teacher's Association of Long Beach? Oh, that's right, she traded her vacation time for cash and then was fired because she forgot to inform the Board before she took the money.
  • Wow..........bitter much, PatB?

    I think Gerrie does a great job. She may not always make decisions I aree with, but she definitely has her heart in the right place.
  • PatBryant
    Maybe "frustrated" would be a better description than "bitter" . . .

    When I watch the Council meeting, Gerrie always seems to be the loose cannon on the deck.

    While I don't think that her numerous agenda items are self-centered, they do appear to be structured to try and please this group, then that group, then another group, etc. No one ever asks how much it would cost in real dollars or staff time to implement her suggestions.

    Next time she proposes something, think about what it will cost YOU if the proposal passes. When the City has a tight budget, spending money on non-essential items means that less money is available to be spent on higher priorities.
  • Andy
    My employer would love it if I spent more time on their sites and less on yours. But their sites aren't nearly as entertaining and they don't care when I bitch about the RDA. Oh, to be independently wealthy, scarily obsessive, and be labelled with the title of "gadfly".
  • jane
    Thinis II? WTF? O.K. it's filler, I get it. But you know this is a con I hope?

    Maybe you don't know, but inside that complex (AKA Morningland, AKA Morningland Monastery, AKA the Urban Monastery) are some individuals that have not seen their friends/families in 20 to 30 years. Not because they don't want to, but because Gopi Saravati and Gopi Chokru do not allow them to. Many or most of the people there are as good as missing from the face of the earth. They are locked in and the world is locked out. Can we call a CULT a CULT, por favor?

    Maybe this will help your readers understand just what is going on at that big ugly complex on 7th street...happy viewing and remember, just say no to mind control in 2009!

    http://tinyurl.com/7ozn7y

    Cheers!
  • DWR
    Likewise here, Mr. B and LB City Girl.

    12/31/2008 @ 1020PM; There's less than 2 hours left in 2008 and I've come up with this New Year's resolution the District Weekly can hold me to:

    to NOT click on thedistrictweekly.com for all of 2009.

    Kudos to the District Weekly for reminding how better time management is always a worthy New Year's resolution for nearly everyone. You know, like quitting smoking, watching less TV, exercising more, cleaning out the garage, blah, blah, blah...

    While 2008 has been a blast here on the District's blog, may 2009 be a more peaceful and prosperous year for the nation and the planet.

    Happy New Year everyone.
  • And yes, Wasabi is at Broadway and Pine. They have lovely miso soup.
  • Ellen
    Damn! Good call, guys! Sorry we missed this.

    Also, we love that you comment on our site! DWR, please don't make us hold you to that resolution.
  • Was wondering whether you question the fact I am employed, or that the employment I have is questionable? er, I mean, my choice of profession?

    I mean...I'm kind of wondering about it too. So if you find anything out, please let me know.
  • tecumseh
    isnt wasabi at broadway and pine?
  • My employment isn't in question, only my work product.

    Or, so my boss repeatedly tells me.
  • RyanSmo
    Ouch! (kidding)
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