Bye, Bye Ortega! Leftovers From City Hall reports on PSN’s Fred Ortega’s last day at this link. It looks like Jennifer McLain will take over West Covina reporting and some new guy named Don Edelweiss will be the newest Ham And Egger in Pasadena.

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Time for another installment of my new comic strip, You Can’t Fight City Hall!


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Kelly LC Russell is a writer. Kelly LC Russell is a grrlie. Kelly LC Russell likes to blather. Kelly LC Russell lives on the West Coast. So, it makes sense that she has a blog called West Coast Grrlie Blather. It’s not as much political as it is really, really good photography.

Let’s see what happens when this Pasadena photo-storian grapples with The Proc in the Aaron Proctor Interview Series:

The Proc: Why did Cynthia Kurtz steal your hairdo?

Kelly Russell: She wanted to be recognized in District 1.

The Proc: How do you think the blogosphere has impacted the local Pasadena political scene?

KR: Openness is good. Politicians and policy makers know we’re watching them, and we’re conversing with each other about what’s going on in a very public forum. Look at Paul Little—he left City Council and got a blog.

AP: What’s it like living in the Northwest?

KR: We always know where the tv remote control is, because we’re always turning the volume up to drown out the sound of helicopters. We don’t moan about it, we just do it.

AP: What’s the “LC” for?

KR: 150. I’m dyslexic.

AP: You’re originally from England. Should I call you a traitor?

KR: Nationalism is kitsch.

AP: Whitney Houston told me to ask you “How do I know if he really loves me”?

KR: Girlfriend, you know he really loves you if his name isn’t Bobby Brown.

AP: What do you think of Steve Madison?

KR: My Maserati does 186.

AP: What’s your favorite summertime activity?

KR: The Obon Festival at the Pasadena Buddhist Church. One bite of the teriyaki chicken reveals the entirety of the eightfold path.

AP: Thanks for that Doctor Who TARDIS piggy bank. Did you know that when I put money in it, it disappears into another time and dimension?

KR: Yes, and and I know that Sid Tyler can retrieve it.

AP: Is there such thing as East Coast Grrlie Blather?

KR: There is—after I knock back a few at the Algonquin Hotel.

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Rock on, and thanks Kelly. You’ll go down in history with everyone from Bill Bogaard to Whazzat Kangaroo in the Aaron Proctor Interview Series.

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Hulk Hogan is such a douchebag. It sucks, too. He was a hero of mine growing up (and a hero when Kelli was growing up, too). I mean, in a way, he saved the wrestling industry when it was down in the doldrums in the late 90’s by becoming a villain…one of the few things he ever did the right way. You know, I could deal with him thinking he was the wrestling business, I could deal with his lies about “inventing theme music” and “inventing t-shirts” - I could even deal with him being a dick to younger wrestlers and not realizing he was far past his prime. All of this stuff as of late with his son’s drag racing car crash (which ended up permanently paralyzing the other dude) and his affair with a girl that looks like a Dateline NBC decoy - it just proves a few things to me:

  1. Hulkamania is dead as a doornail in my book.
  2. Ric Flair was the wrestling business, not Hulk
  3. All of the stories about him being a dick to other wrestlers, promoters, etc. - I now fully believe them.
  4. He and his son are being outed for the fakes that they are.
  5. I’m a little weirded out about his affair with the chick that looks like his daughter.

Did anyone see Hulk’s pathetic ass on Larry King the other night? I can’t believe he’s still going through with the whole reality show thing.

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I went to John and Ken’s protest in Memorial Park yesterday afternoon. The whole reason for it was to show just how stupid State Senator Jack Scott’s idea to ban mylar balloons is. These guys are awesome and you should really listen to their show on KFI - they make a LOT of sense. A lot more sense than all the fucking pundits on any other shows I hear. I got a bunch of pics and videos I’d like to share with you:


I arrived at the park a little after 3 pm. There was a small crowd on hand which got quite larger as the 5 o’clock hour approached. The theme was “Jack Scott: SOB.” Obviously, SOB stood for “Save Our Balloons” - then I realized, he’s an SOB for being another California Liberal trying to take away yet another personal freedom. Funny how Democrats whine and cry about the children and then want to take something away from them.

John & Ken were set up in the park on the Raymond Street side.

Tables were set up by the balloon industry where you could sign petitions and get a free balloon to show your support.

This was GREAT - a balloon effigy of Jack Scott himself. Here’s another shot of that:

Free balloon animals for the kids by Buster Balloon and Annie Bannanie!

I *finally* met Frank Girardot in person. Such a cool guy!

A member of the Balloon Council (guy in sunglasses, Pete McDonough) talks to some nobody from the Star-News.

Around 3:30 p.m., a big paddy wagon from the Pasadena PD showed up. Wow, way to look out for the Northwest. I guess Bogey told them there’s conservatives in Memorial Park, so they need to be on the look out.

I spoke with Tara Silva and Francine, two women from the Balloon Factory all the way up in Lancaster, CA. They made the drive to show their support. Tara said that this whole balloon ban was “outrageous”. They mentioned how they’ve never had a power outage due to a balloon or anything like that.

And hey…look who else I ran into?

Brian Fuller! Candidate for Assembly against “Fat Tony“. Obviously he’s not as stupid as Fat Tony is, a friend and supporter of Jack Scott’s proposed mylar balloon ban.

Video:

John & Ken go over PG&E’s top ten power outages of 2007, none of which are related to Mylar balloons.

The balloon effigy of Jack Scott.

“La Raza” likes John & Ken (dude’s words, not mine)

UPDATE:  Not my video but a cool video of little kids stomping on the Jack Scott effigy.

I don’t care what others say - I think this protest drew a lot of attention to this issue and how our tax dollars are not at work when we elect people like Jack Scott. For more info on how to Save Our Balloons, visit John & Ken’s website or listen to their show on KFI.

Be seeing you,

- AP