APRIL ODD AND ENDS

The sun just set on the third straight sunny, southern California day, with temperatures close to or above a hundred degrees. That's not unprecedented, but it's freaky for April, never-the-less. It reminds me that summer is not far away, and I haven't been on a real vacation for a long, long time. Nor have I enjoyed the natural beauty of the world outside So. Cal. for what seems like most of the decade.

There's so much to visually experience in this state, from the interior pleasures of Yosemite and Mount Shasta, to the hundreds of miles of precious coastline. You could spend years just soaking in the views from Eureka to Rosarito Beach.

For years, one of my favorite places of repose has been Point Loma in San Diego. It's a thumb-shaped bluff of peninsula that creates an entrance to San Diego Bay. A national park and monument stands near the peninsula's edge, named for Juan Cabrillo, the first European to sail into the natural enclosure. From the site of this monument, looking east, one sweeping gaze can take in the entirety of the city, it's airport, the skyline, North Island Naval Air Station, Coronado and its bridge, and, on an exceedingly clear day, Tijuana. Fighter jets land, while submarines, freighters and the occasional aircraft carrier churn their way into or out of the bay. The sands on Coronado reflect the sun and, at one time, shone as white as snow. The scope of this view is more picturesque and fluid than any other in this part of the state. If you cross to the other side of the bluff, you can look out over a seemingly endless Pacific Ocean, especially breathtaking as dusk nears.

I went there with regularity in 1987 and the first part of 1988, during another particularly difficult time in my career (difficulty in radio means A) not working, or B) remaining in a job you've come to hate with the searing heat of a thousand suns, or C) having to present A-C music in an A-C style...which for me is like a cat having its fur rubbed the wrong way). The therapeutic properties of just looking out at this magnificent vista from a location like Point Loma cannot be too strongly emphasized. I remember that view more fondly than the on air situation I encountered during those years. The Spanish word for the Cabrillo National Monument at Point Loma would be tranquilo.

MANNY'S BACK

Since my last blog, all has been squared away with Manny Ramirez. Though the Dodgers had an eight game winning streak end in Houston this evening, Manny ripped a homer to the farthest reaches of that pin-ball machine the Astros call a stadium. Their pitching is young, the middle relief a question mark, but other than that, it's the most dangerous Dodger team I've seen since the 1970's. Why? Not only are they young and talented, with a world-class hitter and sure-fire Hall of Famer in the middle of their line-up, aside from Manny, they are superior defensively. This will make for an interesting summer for all us Dodger fans.

ADIOS, DESGRACIADOS!

That's become my favorite Spanish word, thanks to the telenovela, Dona Barbara. There are a ton of desgraciados in the storyline, and they are liberally refered to as such. The English definition, of course, can range anywhere from "wretch," "disgrace," or "jerk," to the penultimate BASTARD! Dona Barbara deals with a lot of desgrasiados, and can be one herself, a great deal of the time. The series ends in May, and I have to tell you, it's been a hoot. Spanish-language television is an adventure worth the undertaking. The stories are told with a lot of tears, a lot of action, and an honesty you don't get with its English language counterparts. Dona Barbara could not have dealt with her enemies as grotesquely on NBC as she has on Telemundo. Watching has been a fun experiment while I've had time on my hands. I can now refer to cretins in the radio business as DESGRASIADOS!! Maldita Sea!! (that one means "damn it. It's always the four-letter words we learn first, isn't it?).

SCRUBS

On the subject of TV, here's a show that's taught us the meaning of cultural phenomena like Soup Shower (the act of placing a bullion cube in the head of some unsuspecting schmuck's shower); Bacon Back (slathering Crisco on to some sunbather, instead of Coppertone); and Grill Face (the result of college girls, hopping on to some drunken guy's back while he's standing too close to a Bar-B-Q...the results being predictable, as he pitches face-first into the fiery place between the burgers and hot dogs).

Scrubs has also given us the startling medical statistic that, "...75 percent of all (baby) deliveries are accompanied by an accidental dukey."

Underrated and under watched, Scrubs may well have delivered more genuine laughs than any sit-com in the first decade of the 21st Century.

AND IN CONCLUSION

...with hope, friends, the summer will bring some much need and well deserved career news. Stand By, as they say...