The Bus Bench

L.A. Unplugged

It is everywhere, but like a snake it is nowhere: copper. Most folk in Los Angeles drive, and to you I state: look at the berm of the bridge the next time you are on a Freeway. The iron grates that allow DWP to enter the circuit have most likely been breached, and there is a damn good chance that the cut copper wires are sticking out from the respective cement hole. Moreover, in some places the wire is jutting out in fashion that suggests that the perpetrator merely leaned over the cement divider and cut the wire as far down as possible after quickly tearing off one side of the plate.

 

Any engineer can divulge the immense municipal cost of such widespread theft. It is within feet—in many instance, INCHES—to thousands of Angelinos daily, yet the Los Angeles City Council is whinging about deficits and all manor of crap that is obvious. I could make a living documenting the daily copper transgressions—I walk most everywhere, and I walk A LOT, what with my one-metre, New York-driven stride, and one of my guns is a camera. 

The following video—shot but a few feet from the government building on Los Angeles and 5th Street—exhibits evidence that government officials have apparently visited this site (unless there is a band of transit vandals with spare rolls of yellow "caution" tape) yet done nothing more than mitigate potential liability. I cannot state that, despite the dramatic loss obvious from Freeway street lighting copper theft, nearly as much has been done.

-BusTard

Things I can waste my money on, because I don’t have a car: Shojin Restaurant

Shoji it’s a vegan restaurant, but should actually just be called a healthful restaurant.

I’m vegetarian and lots of people think all vegetarians look like me.

“Like if Erkyah Badu and Lisa Bonet had a baby, but with even less money,” one of Browne’s many hecklers.

No you bastards, skinny and healthy looking, but actually most vegetarians are nowhere near healthy and they don’t even look in moderate shape. They look kind of round and soft. There is a reason for that, many vegetarians in general like that kind of vegan fare that’s at Greene Leaves and California Vegan, I’m not saying those places aren’t good, but those places are just fast food alternatives to McDonald's. It’s yummy, it’s good, but it’s not the kind of thing that you should be eating everyday  even if it’s food never had moms or dads. No care is put into the food, it’s like the Burger King of vegan food, which is what most Americans think is delicious then on the other side of the coin you have Real Food Daily…California Macrobiotic Style Vegetarian, which is over priced food that’s sort of mass produced with portions way too huge.

It’s sort of like trying to be green when you have a gigantic house, sort of doesn’t work.

I hate when people give me too much food, I don’t like Real Food Daily. I’ve never had meat in my life, my parents raised me as a vegan and I’ve never ever gotten that place. It reminds me of the food my mom used to cook and she was a hippie who lived in her car. I get why some people like it, but I just don’t. It’s sort of like some people like Italian and others like French, well Real Food Daily is Italian and Shoji is French.

The whole point of veganism is supposed to be not just I don’t like eating things with moms, but also about I don’t like this mass consumption way of life, I want balance.

Shoji is great in helping you achieve that!!!

It takes on a very Zen Buddhist philosophy of balance in the dining experience. When you walk inside it looks small, but once you sit inside it’s big. Big comfy seats, a table that’s just right, music turned up to just to the point that you don’t hear the table next to you, but you can hear the person you’re with fine.

The servers are friendly, but not too friendly.

It's very Zen Buddhist. It truly is a religious experience.

The food isn’t fast food cheap, BUT food is too cheap and people should respect food. It’s not just abundant, it shouldn’t be thought of  in that manner, you eat out you pay more than a dollar. If you want to be cheap stay at home and cook. I don’t want to be part of wage slavery and food that I don’t know where it’s been, I’d rather pay a little bit at a place that I know is mindful in what they do than go to fasty vegan food place that I know has never heard of the term mindful (see Orean Health Food Express, I hate that place, it’s one of my options though as a vegetarian who doesn’t want to live on french fries and is a pretty crappy cook.)

Shoji is based in the Zen Buddhist philosophy. It originated from Dogen Zenji, read up on his philosophy in this book: From The Zen Kitchen To Enlightenment: Refining Your Life

It’s cooked by people who aren’t just worried about your taste buds, but people who are concerned about your life. It’s so good, because it’s healthful.

Fresh carefully picked out vegetables, invigorating beverages, and very yummy appetizers. It's a complete experience. I had the Seitan Katsu Curry for an entree and for the appetizer I had the Fried Garden Seitan (don't let the fried or ketchup thing description be a turn off, the owners are from Japan, so some of the descriptions sound a bit odd, maybe they may read this and take the ketchup description off the menu, because every thing is very, very fresh and yummy, nothing that something as vulgar as ketchup should ever touch.)

Go to Shojin, it will change your life. It should definitely be a once a week dining experience.

Browne

shojin

Japanese Vegan Restaurant

333 S Alameda, Third Floor of the mall, Little Tokyo. 213-617-0305 Hours 12-9 Wed-Sun

Some Public transit routes:  Montebello 40 (exit 4th alameda)  Metro 30 (exit 1st) ,31 (exit 1st), and Metro 62 (exit 6th and Gladys),  330 (exit 1st and central), Dash A (exit 4th and Hewitt), and Civic Center Red Line if you like walking

Live Nude Mass Transit

BusTard thanks for your interesting report on the MTA’s waste of money, but seriously why where you driving a car BusTard?

Are you a poseur...:)

I hope you weren’t in that car alone.

As many of you know one of my pet peeves are public transit advocates, with cars.

Why do I hate that? Because car driving mass transit advocates are total poseurs and part of the problem and just jumping on the bandwagon, because it’s the new hot thing, but yet they don’t want to actually do the new hot thing AND they never tell you about their car adventures, sort of pretending as if those adventures don’t happen.

Like a bulimic aerobics instuctor, yeah it looks so easy, because she's vomiting between classes.

If you are a public transit advocate and you have a car. Talk about that car since it is part of your experience.

It’s sort of like those greenies who just keep spending money and buying points to offset their carbon emissions by buying carbon offsets. And the most they can do is buy organic curtains, not use plastic, and buy an electric car, like that’s doing something.

Are you fucking kidding me?

If you want to feel good about doing nothing go to Treehugger. That’s the safe green site, we’re X-rated green…lol…

I’m hardcore and never thought I would be. I used to love cars, really love them and now I won’t even take rides from people. I’m actually as offended when someone offers me a ride as I am when someone offers me a hamburger (I’m a vegetarian.) I’m like, “Do you think I’m you? And why would I want to be you? You’re pretty disgusting.”

I don’t think these thoughts unless they try to force me in their car, trying to help. If you offer a mass transit rider a ride, and they say no, back off. Maybe it’s a life choice.

I don’t like it when people try to push their materialistic values on me, now of course I’m pushing my anti-car values on you here, but this blog is called “The Bus Bench.” You come here knowing exactly what I’m going to say or around what I’m going to say.

If you went to a porn site you’d expect to see a naked chick (or nude, but naked sounds better, though I guess they have naked guys in porn, but I don't think naked guys are that fun and I say that as a straight woman. Naked women are tons more fun than naked guys. I know I'm more fun.)

This blog is my mass transit porn site.

That being said Metro has a program where they will pay you 400 dollars a month to start a vanpool at your office. I’m conflicted. On one hand it’s good on the other hand, hey why not give people money to start a mass transit buddy club.

I don’t like  vanpools or carpools, yes it gets people some people off the road, but carpools means that everyone in the pool has to drive (or quite a few or it wouldn’t be fair.) And vanpools, well some of those people could still have cars. In order for you to give up your car you have to experience public transit on a regular basis and most people after they’ve worked all week aren’t going to go out and explore on the bus. Most people won't even eat a serving a vegetables that are not fried.

If driving is too expensive then don’t drive.

As most Americans won’t stop eating like pigs until they’ve been diagnosed with diabetes and have had a foot cut off, (because just the diagnosis won’t do,) most people won’t stop driving unless something has happened to their car or license.

Americans won’t stop driving until New York, Venice, and New Orleans have disappeared owing to the rising sea levels, yeah the signs are there, but it’s just American to have to be beaten over the head with something horrible, several times before you get it.

But I will give America this we’re number 14 in regards to highest car ownership (which means cars per 1,000 people.) We’re at 465, we could be lower, but at least we're not in the top ten!!! YAY USA!! USA!!!

Number one is Luxembourg at 647
Number two is Iceland at 601
Number three is New Zealand at 592
Number four is Italy 590
Number five is Canada at 561

Facts gotten from the Economist Pocket World in Figures, 2008 Edition…I love the Economist!!!

But if you insist on continuing your addiction to your car, but want a way to kill the planet as little as you can here’s some methadone for you at Metro. It pains me to link this. I feel like I’m enabling you, but I’ve gotten over the whole everyone can’t be a vegetarian thing, I suppose I can get over this.

edited 3/27 5:56pm because green isn't a good color for type against a flesh colored background and because Bert Green thought I was funning him, so I made it clear that I was funning with BusTard....

Browne

Rare Drive on Freeway Shows MTA Taking Taxdollars for A Ride

I elected to borrow a colleague's car to do some work out toward Arcadia. As fortune would have it, I ran across one of those MTA Metro Freeway Service Patrols on the eastbound 60. He was doing a good clip—say, 85 mph or so—and I happened to get a photograph of him as he whooshed by. (I have a back-up digital camera with a stabilising device that allows for photos in motion to be captured rather nicely—even at nearly 100 mph!) Whereas I imagined I would have a nice stock photo, it turned out that our running Metro man was piloting a vehicle with a distinct "out of service" magnet. (When I caught up with him later—he slowed down, I might add, and that is why I caught up with him in the 22-year-olde jalopy I were driving—I got a video on the passenger side that showed that same magnet. But I am only showing the photo here.)

Now, as the budget for this free towing service for owners of private motor vehicles is some $22.2-27 million, I am curious why there are so few (I do a fair amount of Freeway-spotting on the bridges over the 5 and 101 Freeways) of these trucks despite Metro's claim to assisting some 300,000 (yes, more than HALF A MILLION) drivers annually. And then when I do spot one, he is well above the speed limit as well as sporting an out of service sign when the excessive speed he is enjoying clearly exhibits a vehicle with no need to be taken to a mechanic.

Somehow, I doubt that I will ever be obliged an answer by Pam from Santa Monica, let alone Metro CEO Roger Snoble.

-BusTard

   

   
Metro Freeway Service Patrol

 

Number of Tow Trucks on Patrol	152
Annual Budge	$27 million
Number of Freeway Miles Served	450
Number of Tow Truck Beats	41
Average Number of Motorists Assisted per Month	25,000
Number of Motorists Assisted Annually	300,000

 

Refigerator Magnets: They Ain't Just For Breakfast Anymore!

And now for some mindless fun. I simply could not fathom why someone would buy a new motor vehicle and then tape some stupid drawings on it. "Unless the drawings were by their kids," someone said when I remarked out loud. "OK," I replied, "now I CAN fathom why someone would buy a new motor vehicle and then tape some stupid drawings on it."

Ya learn something new every day, I suppose.

 
-BusTard

Freeway Fire: 101 South on Monday, 24 March 2008

All those cars on the Freeways at rush hour are certainly frustrating in the late Springtime heat, especially when your car suddenly erupts in flames. Slightly more frustrating is watching the LAFD firetrucks go north past you and get stopped by all the vehicular traffic in front of them, on the Freeway off-ramp, on the E. 4th Street bridge, on the 101 S. on-ramp and then the 101 south itself. The CHP were on hand but doing little to mitigate the problem. (There is another part to this story, and depending on the court case set for 21 April 2008, I will show the videos that exhibit a lack of concern on behalf of at least two CHP officers who figuratively fiddled while a car on the freeway burned not a hundred meters away. There might even be a newsworthy mini-scandal or two that folk might easily divine upon watching the video that clearly shows the two officers' faces as well as picks up the strange dialogue they offer to the camera.)

I could be self-righteous about how Los Angeles needs a comprehensive transit plan yet has not had one for some 20 years. I could kvetch about the lousy performances of CEO Roger Snoble, the noble rooster-cum-mayor Tony V and everyone else who could do something about the outrageous traffic congestion and lack of a public transit plan. But I will not. Just watch the video and pray that the next vehicle to burn, burn, burn, is not yours.

 

 

-BusTard

Easter Egg Hunt for New Transit Ways

Last Wednesday, Pam from Santa Monica wasted our hump-day lunchtimes with pleas to give unpaid ideas about transit funding (while those wasting the money in the first place were content to sit back and plan for more ways to waste public monies, eh, Roger Snoble?) even as she granted we little people naught but canned answers and ludicrous excuses. Thanks, Pam; feel free to stay in Santa Monica next time, seeing as you have too little time to offer Metro between your SM city council agenda and the occasional month in Australia.

Anyhow, this weekend I were invited to pop over and help hunt Easter Eggs. being a person of considerable impatience, I elected to accept the invitation as well as introduce a scheme to just get through with it. (I found out that the kids—and especially their parents!—did not shar emy appreciation for using a backhoe to find easter Eggs.) Along the way, I realised that, just as it will be an emergency thoroughfare for military ground forces should a county-wide crisis occur that renders inoperable the infrastructure, the L.A. River is a viable alternative to the Freeways as well as where the trains do not run and the buses no longer run.

 

(Cheers to Browne for being on-hand with the little cam!)