By Neil Rubenstein
Observer Columnist
Save the date because you don’t want to miss this year’s Taste of Soul Festival on Crenshaw Blvd. between Martin Luther King Blvd. and Rodeo Road with food booths, live entertainment, children’s area, shopping and more. October 17 is the big day, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
I’m not a beer drinker, but perhaps you are. Cousin Neil “accidentally” walked into a warehouse where I just bet over 1,100 different brews are on the shelf from all over the world. Drive down to nearby 4935 McConnell Avenue in Del Rey, (310) 306-2822, and check it out. Beer heaven is only 15 minutes from most any place in Culver City.
Have you heard of a new company called Vortex Bladeless? Well, buckaroo, you will and soon, because they have discovered a new method to harness the energy from the wind. Due to hit the market by 2017, Vortex Bladeless boasts it can capture 30 to 40 percent of the wind’s power; additionally, their product will cost 53 percent less to make and 51 percent less to operate than conventional ones. The big plus is it’s neighbor friendly because they make less noise.
Those who were living in Southern California 30 or 35 years ago might remember when the Mediterranean fruit fly was a very serious agricultural threat that could damage a wide variety of tree fruit. I recall small crop dusters would spray quarantined areas at sunset. Culver City was quarantined and we were told either garage your car or cover it up. It seems the spray could mess up the vehicle’s paint job, but it was safe for humans. I didn’t believe them either. Jerry Brown also was governor then.
Now that the California Department of Food and Agriculture found eight guava fruit flies a little while ago, 80 square miles in the Long Beach area are now under quarantine.
It’s been reported that sometime between April and June 2016, the entire Expo line will be open from Santa Monica to downtown Los Angeles.
Are you a history nut? If you are I just bet your toes are tingling, because it now looks like researchers have found a key that may unlock the only library of classical antiquity to survive along with its documents, raising the possibility of recovering vanished works of ancient Greek and Roman authors.
Researchers for the first time say they can read letters inside the scrolls without unrolling them by using a laser-like beam of x-rays. The library is in a villa in Herculaneum and was destroyed in 79 AD by the eruptions of Mount Vesuvius. Well over 200 scrolls have been found thus far.
Have people called you a clown and now you want to be trained and get a fun job in the circus? The Imperial OPA Circus School of Atlanta is starting to offer classes in a variety of circus acts. The initial classes started in January 2015, and will be held on Saturdays.
Yesterday I finished reading the Army Times. It’s published by the Gannett Company and is full of interesting information that civilians never hear. For example, as of May 22 we have troops in Afghanistan, Cuba, Estonia, Iraq, Kuwait, Lithuania, Philippines, Republic of Georgia, Romania, Slovenia and South Korea. Many are in those countries on maneuvers. It shows America’s commitment.
If you have $1,890,000 don’t do anything foolish and pay off student loans, buy stocks and bonds, or get real estate or commercial property. Now that you got rid of those dumb suggestions, let’s buy a Koenigsegg Regera. This Swedish car goes from 0 to 60 in 2.5 seconds and the horsepower is more than 1500. Check out Popular Science, June 2015, page 14.
Not very far from our California State Senator Holly Mitchell’s office, an SR-71 is on display in Exposition Park. In 1998 the Air Force retired the spy plane, as it was known. Now Lockheed and Aerojet are working on a replacement that will go 4,000 miles per hour and be a reconnaissance plane with strike capability. Hopefully it will be ready by 2030.
It is rumored that one reason the powerful elite is hyperventilating at City Hall these days is it now appears the average citizen is waking up. Those who can smell the coffee realize the people now know the $10,000 and more per month pensions are ridiculous and unsustainable.
According to the Wall Street Journal of June 5 former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, a Democrat, was able to do some pension reform. He and former San Diego Council Member Carol De Maio, a Republican, are now both working on a proposal to be on the November 2016 ballot to give the taxpayer more voice regarding benefits to city employees.
Sacramento says there are 459 cities in California. From the figures our City Hall sent the State Controller’s Office for year 2013, we were ranked 398th from the top in best financial condition. That does not give me a warm feeling.
For those who missed an article, all my commentaries can be found at http://www.culvercityobserver.com by placing Rubenstein in hat website’s search box.
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