Eating Los Angeles

My summer is going to be half fun and half boring. I’ll tell you about the boring part in another post. For now, let me tell you about the part that I’m really looking forward to. The fun half will start in August when I go back home to Los Angeles. The best part of L.A. is the shopping and the food. I know, I know….you’re saying to yourself, “L.A.? Amazing Food? Heck no, it’s all about New York City, baby!” I have to disagree. While New York has some incredible restaurants, there are some places in Los Angeles that are unbeatable.

Starting with breakfast, I plan on eating my favorite pancakes at Dupars. It’s this old school diner with four different flavors of syrup: blueberry, apricot, blackberry, and maple. It’s always SO hard to decide which one to bless my buttery flapjacks with. Long story short: apricot always wins. For lunch I go to IN-N-OUT Burger.

So…this is weird…

two of my students were making this commercial for “Big Dump Burgers” and they wrote music for it.  They asked me if I would freestyle some words for the song and I did.  Thing is, the song turned out really weird, funny, and ADDICTIVE.  Students ask me to play the song everyday.  Here it is for your listening enjoyment:

Big Dump Song 

My students’ blogs…

while not EVERYBODY is blogging ALL THE TIME…there are some 188 blog posts that really stand out.  Here’s a list of some sizzling posts:

DDelacruz wrote a solid opinion on whether or not it’s o.k. to share music… 

SJones goes OFF about Valentine’s Day 

ARodriguez has something to say to McDonalds 

MJuan gives a great summary of the differences between family farms and factory farms 

LVentura wrote a beautifully simple love poem 

More than Meats the Eye

After watching 3 episodes of the Meatrix I think the meat and dairy industry need to make some BIG changes. Here are the top 5 nasty secrets I learned:

1. I never realized I am eating growth hormones and E Coli along with my juicy hamburger.

2. Next time I drink milk I’m going to think of those cows who are smooshed together and can’t even turn around.

3. If it doesn’t say organic I’ll be thinking about the cow’s blood fed to those poor calves.

4. The meatpacking industry doesn’t want you to know how dangerous the working conditions are for their workers. It’s the most dangerous job in the United States! They make them work too fast and sometimes they cut themselves or worse!

5. Chickens get their beaks cut off so they won’t hurt each other when they get packed so close together.

Watch the 5 Secrets Revealed

Future Me

Dear Future Me,

Life isn’t half-bad!  As I write this, I have a beautiful wife, a cozy apartment, and a job that gives me goosebumps every once in a while.  Most days I spend downloading new music, writing assignments in my blog, checking out other blogs (gizmodo especially), and eating kick-butt meals at New York’s finest.  I’m pretty sure my family misses me in Los Angeles, but I don’t think I’ll EVER go back there to live.  The weather is nice, but I’m addicted to the rhythm and energy of NYC.  I’m currently studying for my doctorate at Columbia (yes, I will be known as Dr. Lahana someday).

30 years from now I hope to be R E T I R E D.  Not that I won’t be working on things…I’d love to have already written a few books and be working on more.  Perhaps I’ll be teaching at Columbia on the side?  I hope to have traveled most of the world by 60.  This includes going to China, India, Australia, and Africa.   I also hope that in 30 years I’ll still have a good sense of humor and some hair left on my head.  Finally, by 60 I pray the future me will enjoy a large family in a home filled with laughter and love.

Hope this letter finds you happy and healthy!

-me

Dear Apple

December 2, 2007

Dear Apple,

About three months ago I bought a new MacBook Pro for about $3,400. We all know that’s a lot of money, but it was worth it to me. Why? Because it was just what I needed to do the powerful computing that I so enjoy. See, I am a tech teacher at the Island School on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and I do a lot of work in Photoshop, Flash, and Final Cut. I love to show my stuff off and teach students to do the same.

At first I was very happy with my MacBook Pro. It looked beautiful and it ran fast. A few of my friends drooled when they saw how bright and crisp the screen was. I even put a sticker of a pigeon on it to show that it was MINE. But guess what? About 2 months into the fun, it started doing weird things. I tried to shut the lid so that it would go to sleep…and it wouldn’t! It would stay awake and when I opened the lid it would be frozen. Then it got worse. A couple of weeks later it started making a funny clicking noise and then that was it! The hardrive crashed and I lost EVERYTHING. I know, I know, I should have backed up my data, but I didn’t, o.k.? I treated my Macbook Pro like a little fragile snowflake…there was no need for this.

So I got a new hardrive installed by professionals. I said to myself, “this stuff happens”. So a week later I am in the middle of my 40 page assignment for graduate school– and — guess what? Yup, the harddrive crashes again. I lose everything. Apple, why are you making products like this? Don’t you want to be seen as a company that is not only cool looking but reliable? When I Googled this problem lots of other people were experiencing the same thing.  You need to research this problem. I have over 30 macbooks in my computer lab at school and i was thinking about ordering more. But you know what? This is making me think twice.

Please let me know if you can explain why this happened twice to my harddrive and what you can do to repair our relationship.

Many thanks,

Lou Lahana

Bongo Bong

Manu Chao’s song Bongo Bong is such an auditory adventure.  Every time I hear it my ears start bouncing and my mind takes a put-put plane to a small village in rural Mexico.  The trees are lush and there’s a smoky tortilla smell in the air.  This song is blasting on a dusty old-school radio and the sun is hitting hard against my shoulders.  Me and my wife are drinking cold watermelon water and smiling as couples dance around to the music.

So many funky instrument are playing it’s hard to identify them all.  I think I hear a synthesizer playing some distorted piano, a set of drums, and a sample from an OLD game  (battle ship?).   You have to a song like this: so many layers, so playful, and so rhythmic– don’t you?

Save the Elephants!

Wow! I just saw an amazing documentary on MediaStorm.com called Ivory Wars.   It was about how elephants in Zakouma Africa face hunters who kill them for their ivory.  The Elephants live in a park that is protected by guards with automatics.  Still, when the elephants leave the park to find different kinds of food, they get shot down by the money-hungry poachers.

I think the elephants would be better served if the guards went along with them when they left the park.  Also, maybe funds can be raised to make the protected park lands bigger.  Another idea is to start an organization that would employ the poachers so they wouldn’t have to rely on killing elephants to make money.

You are fading…

but I can’t let you go.  I hold you lightly love you tightly.

You are my twirl swirl sweet golden light.

You are fading.

Time is not on our side.

As you slip slide twist glide and fall.

I still see your shine.

You are mine.

You are my mystery light flight falling calling back to me.

You are fading.

Double El’s Survivor Online Interview

Interviewer: What is your Avatar’s name? Why did you give him/her this name?

Your Avatar: My Avatar’s name is Double ELs. I gave him that name because my real life name is Lou Lahana and it has two L’s. I want my Avatar to be closely linked to me.

Interviewer: What are your biggest strengths?

Your Avatar: Double Els biggest strength is he can read minds. Do you see the circles behind him? Those are the waves that enter your brain and return back to him with your thoughts. He is a kind and understanding man, so unless you’re thinking REALLY evil thoughts, he’ll leave you alone. If you’re thinking kind thoughts, he’ll probably try and be your friend.

Interviewer: Why do you look the way you do?

Your Avatar: I wear my burgundy glasses so the thought-reading waves don’t enter my own mind. The leaves on my head represent nature. I love to spend time in forests and with wild animals. My long ears help me to receive the thought-waves I send out. The body suit I wear helps me to climb trees and pull myself onto branches.

Interviewer: Tell me about your companion.

Your Avatar My companion’s name is SUPER-SAMMY. She gathers food for me and protects me from people who wish to do me harm.

Interviewer: I noticed you have a lot of different colors, why did you choose these
colors?

Your Avatar: All the colors I wear are colors you can find in nature. I hate bright colors because they don’t seem real to me.

Interviewer: Do you look the same in real life? In what ways yes and in what ways
no?

Your Avatar: In real life there are a lot of ways I look like Double-Els. Both of us have beards and hair that’s combed on the side. He has a few more muscles then me…maybe. Both of us carry cell phones and have pet cats. Double Els looks different then me in a couple of ways. First, he seems to be pretty tall, which I am not. Second, he looks to be about 40 years old, while I am only 30. Last, Double Els looks a little more serious then me. I doubt he tells too many jokes throughout the day.

Interviewer: What do you think makes you different from other Avatars?

Your Avatar: My avatar has special powers to read minds and influence people. He is kind and peaceful.

Interviewer: What are your biggest weaknesses?

Your Avatar: Double Els’ biggest weakness is for animals. He has a hard time reading their minds and falls in love with them easily. That becomes a weakness with evil animals.

Interviewer: Can you tell me a story about when you’ve been a hero? (make this
up)

Your Avatar: One time I met up with a group middle school Avatars. We were chatting about the latest manga books, websites we like to hang out at, and pizza places we go to in RL (real life). Something struck me as weird about one of the Avatars named Mo Lester. He wanted to know everybody’s real names and where we lived. This avatar named Lil’ Poptart started to give out his info, when I quickly turned on my thought-reading waves. I realized that Mo Lester was really a 50 year old mechanic who had ill-intentions (if you know what I mean). I reacted quickly by banning Mo Lester from our chat group and warning Lil’ Poptart not to be such a knuckle-head by giving out his personal info to a stranger.