As everyone who follows the show knows, the next to last episode of of that season deals with the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Having not been alive during that time, I was struck by the depiction of everyone’s response–glued to the TV, crying, a personal sense of devastation–and how the only event in my lifetime that ever generated a similar response was the 9/11 attacks (with Hurricane Katrina the only other event even in the ballpark).

But when put in light of what happened September 11, 2001, I can’t possibly imagine ever being as upset over the assassination of a president as people in the 1960s were over JFK (whether I had voted for the person or not). Would I be sad? Absolutely. Angry. You bet’cha. Scared for the country? Of course–who knows what the aftermath might be.

But the personal level that people felt JFK’s death in 1963? No. Ultimately, the president is only one person, and one by the nature of his job has willingly assumed risk. Compared to the vast numbers of innocents in the World Trade Center and New Orleans… the magnitude simply doesn’t compare.

The sad steps by which a nation lost its innocence.

Flash forward nearly one year and the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power has solved the riddle of the bursting water mains. Their answer?

Exactly what my wife and I said a year ago.

Really? It took that long to figure that out. This post has nothing to do with the two of us patting ourselves on our backs, and everything to do with how pathetic it is that the LADWP took so long to come to that conclusion.

Seriously, I should have walked down there and delivered the answer to LADWP myself.

One would hope that any scientist on staff with half a brain saw the root cause immediately and that it just took months for the bureaucracy to release those very findings. What, then, does that say about the bureaucracy of such an organization? Yes, some time would be needed to prove the assumption, but a series of simple tests that would not take long could easily show that these stresses were indeed the root cause. It’s unfortunate, since the water conservancy programs do serve a good purpose.

And we wonder why the government never seems to get anything done.

I recently launched a new website, Food Trucks dot info (http://www.FoodTrucks.info).

Food Trucks dot info is your resource for Los Angeles food trucks:

• Twitter feeds for every truck collected in one place.
• Periodic featured trucks with more detailed information.
• Food truck reviews.
• News on new trucks.
• Map of popular LA truck stops.

And if you haven’t already, please also visit my sports site, Deep Into Sports (http://www.DeepIntoSports.com).

Deep Into Sports launched a year and a half ago and has rapidly grown during that time. I recently realized that while I linked to it from the main NateBarlow.com site, I never “announced” it on my blog. Deep Into Sports is a site by people deep into sports, for people deep into sports, who want their coverage to go even deeper into sports. We strive to provide fans with unique viewpoints and creative perspectives beyond that which they receive from the larger, “corporate” sports news sites. As they say on the gridiron, go deep!

Enjoy, and I look forward to your feedback.

FOR AUDIO SAMPLES OR TO DOWNLOAD:

Film Music Downloads

TO BUY ON CD:
Amazon.com (CD)

If the former, one must chalk it up to the bizarre world of Hollywood, some wannabe trying to be funny but coming across as simply bizarre. If the latter… well, that, too, would be truly Hollywood, marketing oneself in the most blatant of manners. And what sells better than sex?

If prostitution was indeed being promoted, I must admit to admiring the pure brazenness of the car’s owner. Such a completely public flaunting of legality lands the driver in the same league as the bong vendors on the Venice boardwalk and the stoners who dare to smoke pot on the street (the smell of which, incidently, I caught a whiff of on the sidewalk outside of work that very morning). Regardless of my opinion of their activities, I have to respect the absolute attitude, the completely cocky confidence it takes to do such so openly.