{"id":6398,"date":"2012-10-05T11:25:12","date_gmt":"2012-10-05T18:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/?p=6398"},"modified":"2012-10-05T15:03:24","modified_gmt":"2012-10-05T22:03:24","slug":"friday-news-chum-drag-queens-vintage-plates-disney-hats-mimis-screen-games-and-vanpool-vans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/?p=6398","title":{"rendered":"Friday News Chum: Drag Queens, Vintage Plates, Disney Hats, Mimi&#8217;s, Screen Games, and Vanpool Vans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-4928\" title=\"userpic=1963-license\" src=\"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/userpic1963-license.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"100\" height=\"50\" align=\"right\" hspace=\"10\" \/>Well, it&#8217;s Friday at lunch&#8230; time to clean out the accumulated links that didn&#8217;t form a theme. Actually, the first four links do have a theme, which I call &#8220;Dressing It Up&#8221;:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Being a Queen<\/strong>. Some of my daughter&#8217;s favorite shows are those from RuPaul. So I thought of her when I saw <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lasvegasweekly.com\/news\/2012\/sep\/27\/duct-tape-divas-conversation-local-drag-queens-fam\/\">this article in the Las Vegas Weekly about the life of a drag queen in Las Vegas<\/a>: what goes on behind the scenes, the families that the shows create, and what it brings to the performers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Plating It.<\/strong> One of the bills signed recently by Gov. Brown <a href=\"http:\/\/latimesblogs.latimes.com\/california-politics\/2012\/10\/california-dmv-vintage-license-plates.html\">permits cars to obtain &#8220;vintage&#8221; California plates to match the vehicle<\/a>. Yes, this means you could get the 1960s yellow on black plates (I fondly remember WVB 978 and PJX 816) or the 1970s yellow on blue plates (there I remember 1FEB470).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tracking the Hat<\/strong>. An interesting article from the OC Register about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ocregister.com\/articles\/hats-373694-disney-davis.html\">new interactive mouse-ear hats at Disneyland, which communicate via IR signals with attractions to light colorful LEDs in the hat<\/a>. These hats can transmit as well, and they are thinking about using them to track what attractions you visit or give you birthday surprises.<\/li>\n<li><strong>French Food.<\/strong> An interesting article from the LA Times on how <a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/business\/money\/la-fi-mo-mimis-restaurant-new-concept-20121004,0,1338318.story\">the restaurant chain Mimi&#8217;s is trying to update their style and menu with a French theme. They will try it first at the Santa Clarita location<\/a>. I&#8217;m not sure it will entice me to try the updated restaurants, tho.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Lastly, a few additional articles of interest:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Games to the Screen<\/strong>. They obviously didn&#8217;t learn from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1440129\/\">Battleship<\/a>. They are now talking about bringing <a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/entertainment\/envelope\/cotown\/la-et-ct-hungry-hungry-hippos-action-man-monopoly-movie-20121004,0,4066248.story\">Hungry Hungry Hippos and Monopoly to the silver screen<\/a>. This is on top of other projects like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/2012\/01\/31\/us-candyland-adamsandler-idUSTRE80U2CQ20120131\">Candyland<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1379164\/\">Stretch Armstrong<\/a>. And people wonder why I prefer live theatre.<\/li>\n<li><strong>New Vans<\/strong>. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/driveon\/2012\/10\/04\/fiat-ford-ram-general-motors-nissan-commercial-van\/1598577\/\">This article on the commercial van competition <\/a>caught my eye because I drive and operate a vanpool. We had been driving a <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ford_E-Series\">Ford Econoline<\/a> E-150, but recently downsized to a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.toyota.com\/sienna\/\">Toyota Sienna<\/a>, which we love. The article notes the Econoline ceases production in 2014, and there will be a new crop of vans coming out, ranging from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mbsprinterusa.com\/\">MBZ Sprinter<\/a>, the various <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ford.com\/trucks\/transitconnect\/\">Ford Transit series<\/a>, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nissancommercialvehicles.com\/\">Nissan NV<\/a>, a new <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ramtrucks.com\/en\/2012\/ram_cv\/exterior\/exterior_tour\/\">Ram Commercial van<\/a>, and possibly <a href=\"http:\/\/www.allpar.com\/cars\/adopted\/fiat\/vans.html\">some Fiat models<\/a> as well.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bad Timing<\/strong>. Word is starting to leak out that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/news\/local\/la-me-shuttle-anger-20121005,0,98874.story\">the access to the Shuttle as it slowly moves across LA will be <em>very <\/em>limited<\/a>. But that&#8217;s not what worries me. It is the timing. <a href=\"http:\/\/latimesblogs.latimes.com\/lanow\/2012\/10\/endeavour-officials-reveal-more-details-of-shuttles-move-through-la.html\">According to one article I read<\/a>, Endeavour will leave LAX and hit Westchester Boulevard about 2 a.m. Friday 10\/12. From there, the shuttle will roll toward Sepulveda Boulevard, where it will sit in a parking lot for about nine hours beginning at 4 a.m. as crews de-energize and raise transformer lines ahead on the route. By 2 p.m. Friday, the shuttle will depart down Manchester Boulevard toward the City of Inglewood, entering city limits about 4:15 p.m. The shuttle will make another six-hour stop in Inglewood as crews work on another transformer and should cross I-405 Friday night. The orbiter will pass Inglewood City Hall about 8 a.m. Saturday. An hour later, Endeavour will make a 30-minute stop at the Forum. Endeavour will cross back into Los Angeles city limits about 11:30 a.m. Saturday, and at about 2 p.m. will stop at the intersection of Crenshaw and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards for another planned public viewing.\u00a0 So why does this worry me? Our van leaves the ranch S of LA at 330p. This means we will likely be crossing the initial traffic jams of the first movement. In particular, it means that traffic may be stopped on Sepulveda and Lincoln N of LAX at around 3pm Friday. Of course, <a href=\"http:\/\/laist.com\/2012\/10\/04\/photo_randys_donuts_installs_mini_e.php\">one answer might just be to stop and get some donuts<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bad Timing (Update). <\/strong>ETA: The <a href=\"http:\/\/laist.com\/2012\/10\/05\/lapd_wants_people_to_stay_away_from.php\">street closures have been confirmed<\/a>: On Friday October 12, 2012: (a) Lincoln Boulevard between Sepulveda Boulevard and Manchester Avenue; (b) Westchester Parkway between Sepulveda Boulevard and Airport Boulevard; (c) La Tijera between Sepulveda Boulevard and Manchester Avenue; (d) Manchester Avenue between La Tijera Boulevard and Crenshaw Drive (City of Inglewood). [I&#8217;d also expect there to be rolling closures of the N\/S cross streets]. On Saturday October 13, 2012: (a) Manchester Boulevard between (Inglewood Forum) and Crenshaw Drive; (b) Crenshaw Drive between Manchester Boulevard and Crenshaw Boulevard; (c) Crenshaw Boulevard between Manchester Boulevard and Martin Luther King Boulevard; (d) Martin Luther King Boulevard Between Crenshaw Boulevard and Figueroa Avenue. [Same note about rolling closures] I guess this means we won&#8217;t be taking the airport shortcut home!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Well, it&#8217;s Friday at lunch&#8230; time to clean out the accumulated links that didn&#8217;t form a theme. Actually, the first four links do have a theme, which I call &#8220;Dressing It Up&#8221;: Being a Queen. Some of my daughter&#8217;s favorite shows are those from RuPaul. So I thought of her when I saw this article <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/?p=6398\">Read More &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-chum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6398"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6408,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6398\/revisions\/6408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}