More on Malls

A view of Riverside, Calif., in 1966 that I found here.

As it says in Ecclesiastes, "Of the making of malls, there is no end." Following on our experience on Fulton Mall in Fresno, we came across three more major pedestrian malls in California, first in Riverside, then in Pasadena, and finally in Santa Monica.

Bracketed by Stupid

Saturday; we're now caught up as far as Saturday, when Melvin and I drove all over the Inland Empire, sightseeing, and ending up at a Rancho Cucamonga Quakes baseball game.

Roger Clemens, Crazy Man

Screen capture from Keith Olbermann's blog post, "Ten Years After,"
in which the sports and political correspondent calls Clemens, "hopped up."

The government's second attempt to try Roger Clemens on charges of perjury, making false statements and obstruction of Congress began a week ago Monday, while Melvin and I were in Los Angeles.

I have waited for this day since last July, when I facetiously accused the prosecutors of intentionally causing a mistrial.  In his opening statement yesterday, Rusty Hardin, Clemen's attorney, stated

"What guy ... would go to Congress and lie under oath, knowing what the consequences would be if he hadn't done it? What man, except a crazy man, does that?"

Exactly.

Castle, Ranch, Temple, Stadium

On Friday, Melvin and I continued south towards Los Angeles but then veered off into the high desert, ending up finally at a High Desert Mavericks baseball game. Before we got to the stadium, we visited a castle, a ranch and a temple.

Streets of Bakersfield

When planning our trips, Melvin and I consult many sources, including real live people we actually know. It turns out we both know folks who had lived in Bakersfield, land of the free and home of the Blaze, the third baseball team we saw on this trip.

Asked what we should see while we were in town, a co-worker of Melvin’s provided the address of where she grew up and suggested we could visit her childhood home. Sarah, the roommate of a bartender I know, told me she moved there for six months to be with a boyfriend. Love conquers all, but not life in Bakersfield.

So my pulse quickened when I came across “Origin of Country,” an article in the March 9, 2012 special travel section of the New York Times.  Sadly, it only mentioned attractions I had already read about.

The Soul of Wit?

En route from Fresno to Bakersfield we made a stop in Visalia. Ordinarily, I'd regale you with tales of our visit to that stadium, but truth be told most of what there is to say has already been covered at Baseball Stadium Reviews, right down to the rudeness of the fans and the coolness of Tipper the Cow. It is worth underlining that this is perhaps the most awkwardly laid-out stadium there is. (See above, which captures only part of it.)

We had front-row seats that were perhaps a little too close to the extensive netting.

Prior to the game we had spectacular salt-and-pepper shrimp at Pho N Seafood. That's about all I can say about Visalia. In truth, my head was still spinning from Fresno.

They Fought the Mall, and the Mall Lost

Hello, PBID Partners of Downtown Fresno. How are you, PBID Partners of Downtown Fresno? I figure you're tech-savvy enough to have a Google alert set up for yourself, PBID Partners of Downtown Fresno, so I'm glad we have this opportunity to talk. (While Rob and I agree on many things on this blog, I'm speaking only for myself here.)

For those readers of this blog unfamiliar with the PBID Partners of Downtown Fresno, let me introduce you. Readers, PBID Partners of Downtown Fresno is a Property-based Business Improvement District and perhaps better known as "Downtown Fresno," though that seems to be a bit of a misnomer. PBID Partners of Downtown Fresno, these are the readers—say hello.

It's All Nancy Pelosi's Fault

...like so much else in this country.

I took Tuesday morning off and Melvin at least didn't have to answer for other people's decisions and mistakes.  We left for Fresno around 2:00, passing in route many signs critical of current water regulations.  It took us four hours to get to the Central Valley city, leaving us just enough time for Laotian food and a baseball game between the Fresno Grizzlies and the Reno Aces.

Three Days in L.A.

Beginning in 2007, Melvin and I have generally included a spring baseball road trip to the south in our schedule. What started as avoiding uncomfortably hot weather took a turn with our April 2010 trip to the Gulf States.  While Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana would unquestionably get quite hot later in the baseball season, we constructed our itinerary around an annual conference being held in New Orleans.

The convention determined our destination again last year, but we ended up some place that is cold in April.  Melvin has worked the industry get-together all three years.  I attended the convention in New Orleans but did not last year, although I stayed in the conference hotel.  This year I came to the host city while the conference was going on but spent the weekend on my own (above).

Reading List

If this was a more traditional blog, Melvin and I would post more often, and that would mean a constant search for new content.  The easiest way to populate a blog with content is to comment on, or maybe just take note of, someone else's content.

There was just such an opportunity yesterday.  "To celebrate the return of baseball," the New York Times asked some of its staff "to recommend their favorite fiction or nonfiction books that revolve around the sport."  The selections appeared on page C4 of the local print edition and since they do not appear to have been published online, perhaps I actually serve a purpose by regurgitating them here.