All posts by Stan Lerner

Dining

Three Things To Miss Downtown

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When it comes to Downtown , downtownster puts most of its effort into telling people what to do, but recently I’ve come across some what not to do’s. And with so many good choices Downtown I’d hate to see you waste your money on anything less than a great experience. SO BE WARNED!!!

Unhappy Hour At Chaya

About a month ago downtownster Shannon and myself stopped by Chaya Downtown to take a look around. The manager of the swank establishment asked us to come visit as his guest anytime. A couple of nights ago we took him up on his offer or at least what we thought was an offer.

“If you place your order in the next two minutes you’ll still get the Happy Hour price,” said the hostess.

“Classy,” I thought to myself. “And this place is dead,” I thought still further as I looked around at the not happening Happy Hour scene.

Shannon asked if the manager was there. We were informed that he was, but he was upstairs too busy doing paperwork to answer the phone. Apparently he didn’t realize that we were actually in the restaurant when giving this brush-off. Because about fifteen minutes later he was in the restaurant milling around—uncomfortably surprised to see us sitting.

I ordered the Tuna Melt and some Fish ‘n’Chips. The Tuna Melt, which was literally bite-sized, does not compete with Subway on its worst day. The Fish ‘n’ Chips were a soggy mess that seemingly came out of the frozen food section at Costco. Amazingly, our server was completely baffled when I asked for some vinegar—to give this cardboard concoction some taste. A few minutes later I was brought vinegar—not of the Apple Cider / malt variety, but of the clean your window ilk. Shannon had a sushi roll, which was unremarkable, and beer that was thankfully not skunked. This waste of time and calories totaled $25.86 plus tip. Seriously, with every restaurant in town offering Happy Hour, skip this one.

Fleming’s

If the Fish ‘n’ Chips served at Chaya for Happy Hour aren’t soggy and tasteless enough to make you never want to go to the UK—Flemings serves up the same Costco style frozen fare as a lunch special. So much oil went into my meal that OPEC had to raise its production for a week to make up for it. Thankfully, and I use this word dripping with sarcasm, the lack of taste one might find at Chaya was replaced by a freezer burned smoky flavor at Fleming’s. Continue reading Three Things To Miss Downtown →

People

A BLOGSIDE CHAT WITH SONNY ASTANI PART ONE

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A Blogside Chat With Sonny Astani

Concerto: an instrumental work that highlights a soloist.

Councilwoman for the 9th district Jan Perry graced downtownster’s first blogside chat. Jan, as we’ve come to know her, was an easy choice because her district is, as previously stated, the core of the biggest city in the largest state in the most powerful country on Earth.

Sonny Astani is a real estate developer, he owns the best location in the biggest city in the largest state in the most powerful country on Earth and he’s built a place for people to live there—Concerto (9th & Fig).

For almost 14 years I have dwelled in the building known as The Skyline (9th & Flower), which for the last two decades laid undisputed claim to the best address in South Park. Over the years I wondered if anyone would ever have the vision and courage to develop the sprawling parking lot immediately to the east of The Skyline’s elegant landscape. And then the word came one day that the empty parcel had been bought. With a signature, thirty million dollars was paid and the end came to a woeful parking lot too long the symbol of unmotivated land speculation. This struck a note.

An optimist by nature I just assumed something worthy would be built, and then proceeded with my own existence. So elated was I over Ralphs opening for business opposite my own abode I hardly noticed the asphalt being broken and carted off one block down. The good times were at their peak when I did notice the fence and deep hole—a lot of costly to move expensive earth had been displaced. And then there was a very tall crane from which a banner hung, which read Astani—and a second note sounded; this one more profound than the first. A plethora of individuals can buy, but few can build. Continue reading A BLOGSIDE CHAT WITH SONNY ASTANI PART ONE →

Arts & Culture

THE GUARDIAN PART 2

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Foreword by Stan Lerner: Sometimes the mind needs the type of rest that can best be found in the world of fiction. So take a few minutes each week and enjoy downtownster’s new superhero The Guardian. If you miss any installment of THE GUARDIAN each post ends with the entire story to date.

Part 2

Dr. Vincent steps over the security guard’s dead body just as the blood from the wound he’s inflicted begins to pool into a dramatic sea of dark red. It’s of no consequence to him as he is intent on joining his men at the bank of elevators.

In the security office a second security guard watches the wall of monitors as he has for the last twenty years. He is still a man in his mid-forties, not an old-timer, but a solid veteran. Of course being a veteran he should not be watching the television, brought into the office against regulations. The show goes on as he sips his fifth cup of coffee, then notices a monitor has gone out.

He shakes his head and picks up his radio intent on reaching his partner—not possibly imagining that he his dead.

“Harry, come in where the hell are you?” He turns back to the monitor and taps on its screen. “Twenty years and never had one of these go out.” He shrugs. “Well there’s a first time for everything I suppose.” He sips his coffee and adopts a more serious tone as he speaks into his radio this time. “Harry where are you? Harry, come in. Are you okay?”

The muscles of his face tense as he leans forward toward the monitor. On closer inspection it appears to be working, the blackness he’s seeing caused by some obstruction to the camera’s lens. And just as his mind processes the possibilities he is jerked out of his seat by a wire around his neck. Instinct to survive causes him to kick wildly as the man in the white coat quite calmly strangles him. With each kick his boots shatter the glass of one of the monitors he has watched diligently for the last twenty years—though, he gains no leverage to free himself. Only a fraction of a second before his right foot reaches the last monitor on the panel does his lifeless body go completely limp—dropping from midair to his attackers feet like a sack of potatoes. 

The storm outside has not abated; rather it has taken on a fury, appropriate to the presence of the dark figure that stands on the ledge looking through the stained glass dome of a part of the museum long closed to visitors. Continue reading THE GUARDIAN PART 2 →

Arts & Culture

THE GUARDIAN

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Foreword by Stan Lerner: It is true as stated in the most recent post of “Thought Tools” that wisdom is found in the unemotional ability to understand facts. But sometimes the mind needs the type of rest that can best be found in the world of fiction. So take a few minutes each week and enjoy downtownster’s new superhero The Guardian.

Beginning

Like a dream, Empire city at night lays between the world of all that is possible and the danger of such. One can imagine hovering above such a place. Staring at each and every rooftop, loud claps of thunder deafening to the ear, bright flashes of lightning blinding you in an attempt to prevent your from seeing. But your vision will not be denied. You see the black figure running on the ledges of the rooftops through the driving rain. So intent is your focus that you can see his feet land on the ledge of a slightly lower roof. The water splashes from the puddle—an enormous flash of lightning, much greater than the others. And the black figure is gone.

Through the sheets of rain the sign fades in and out. It reads: “MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY” but this sign is not welcoming. Rather, it seems to stand guard at the base of the massive steps that lead to the museum’s entrance. And still more lightning flashes cause it to transcend into menace as the white van pulls to a stop.

The rear doors open violently and ten men in white lab coats disembark running up the steps. The hand in the black glove pushes the doorbuzzer repeatedly—impatient. And then there is a dim light through the wet glass and the distinct silhouette of a security guard making his way to the door.

The elderly security guard looks out the door. He strains to see out of the glass, but the water and its refraction of the lightning make it impossible. All that is visible are several figures in white coats.

The old-timer shakes his head, annoyed and somewhat in disbelief. “Lab guys at this hour? What the hell are they thinking?”

The buzz of the doorbell is insistent. And builds to a crescendo congruent to the old-timer’s annoyance. Perhaps it is this state that pauses his thought process. He inserts his pass card into the wall and punches in his code to unlock the heavy wood and glass door. Continue reading THE GUARDIAN →

Politics

A BLOGSIDE CHAT WITH JAN PERRY

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Jan Perry A Blogside Chat

It is late at night or early in the morning, hour fifteen of work has passed by some hours ago, and as the quiet of the night will often lead me to, I find myself reflective. My screenwriting obligations have precluded me from blogging the past few weeks as much as I would liked to have, but many of downtownster’s twenty-four writers / soldiers of truth and enlightenment, have made up the difference. And to them I say, THANK YOU.

The fact that I have not posted more than a piece or two a week does not however mean that I have been remiss in working on stories. Admittedly, I am backlogged, there is simply more to write about than I have time in the day and that would be true even if I were not busying myself with two screen adaptations and a television pilot. But one story must begin and that is the story of something I think to be unique to downtownster—I call it the blogside chat.

We live in challenging times. And if we are to be honest with our collective selves, most generations can claim such. Of course the challenges differ from generation to generation, but almost all are challenged nontheless. What are our difficulties? How are they resolved? These are questions that should be first and foremost on all Americans’ minds. The answers to these questions and their many tangents are rooted in our ability to communicate with each other. And for the purpose of this blog, and all to come, it is imperative to recognize that communication begins with understanding the concept of common reality. Continue reading A BLOGSIDE CHAT WITH JAN PERRY →

People

A Blogside Chat–Jan Perry

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A Blogside Chat With City Councilwoman Jan Perry 

It is late at night or early in the morning, hour fifteen of work has passed by some hours ago, and as the quiet of the night will often lead me to, I find myself reflective. My screenwriting obligations have precluded me from blogging the past few weeks as much as I would liked to have, but many of downtownster’s twenty-four writers / soldiers of truth and enlightenment, have made up the difference. And to them I say, THANK YOU.

The fact that I have not posted more than a piece or two a week does not however mean that I have been remiss in working on stories. Admittedly, I am backlogged, there is simply more to write about than I have time in the day and that would be true even if I were not busying myself with two screen adaptations and a television pilot. But one story must begin and that is the story of something I think to be unique to downtownster—I call it the blogside chat.

We live in challenging times. And if we are to be honest with our collective selves, most generations can claim such. Of course the challenges differ from generation to generation, but almost all are challenged nontheless. What are our difficulties? How are they resolved? These are questions that should be first and foremost on all Americans’ minds. The answers to these questions and their many tangents are rooted in our ability to communicate with each other. And for the purpose of this blog, and all to come, it is imperative to recognize that communication begins with understanding the concept of common reality.

Think of concentric circles at the middle of which is the greatest common reality. The one thing we can all agree on—perhaps gravity. I know of no one that will step off the roof of the fifteen-story building, which I live in to prove me wrong. Interestingly, those who believe that they can fly without the help of modern invention are usually considered to have broken from sanity—they no longer share in the same common reality as the rest of the world around them. The results of an individual jumping from a building such as mine, arms flapping to no avail, are not comical—they are ruinous. And such is the fate of a society that has lost its ability to communicate and broken with itself.

Today, it is incumbent on leaders, and those with vision to communicate their ideas in the way that people not only want to hear but trust and understand. Continue reading A Blogside Chat–Jan Perry →

Opinion

TILLER THE BABY KILLER GUNNED DOWN IN CHURCH!

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Dr. George Tiller was attending church in Wichita Kansas when a lone gunman walked in and shot him once, a single bullet, bringing a violent and sudden death to one of the great mass murderers of our time. Warning: if you are a person that believes in the right to choose, or more simply put, that abortion is the innocuous evacuation of random uterine tissue—this post might not be for you. I’ll say this as plainly as I can. I am not a religious man. But I believe that life begins at conception and that abortion is the taking of an innocent life—the worst type of premeditated murder.

All of the world’s major religions agree that abortion is the taking of life and should not be practiced, except in the case of saving the mother’s life, and abortion was not practiced without major restriction in the United States until Jan 1973. At this point it would be urbane to launch into a major dissertation on Roe v. Wade, but I’ll spare my dear readers the girth of judicial malpractice arguments made by much wiser men than I—including Justice Rehnquist.

Suffice it to say that most of the great legal minds of today believe that Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that made abortion legal in all states, was a bad and severely flawed decision. If there are those among you who wish to comment on how the Ninth Amendment right to privacy translates to the right to commit murder in a case in which a plaintiff in her third trimester sued for rights she believed women in general are due in their first trimester—please do. I’ll be happy to respond.

So, the reality of legalized murder is what our country has had to exist with for the past 36-years. Again, it would be urbane to discuss the decline of our society from 1973 to date, but the facts of this are self-evident beyond any need for description. Not to say that there were no social ills prior to this benchmark, but they were not of the insidious nature of the ills of today. However, I digress. The discussion I would like to have, if only with myself, is how I feel about the murder of the murderer Dr. George Tiller.

George Tiller killed 60,000 babies during the course of his abortion spree and made a million dollars a year doing it. He was one of three doctors in America that would kill a baby in the third trimester. I’ve heard him in his own words say that he had the right to do this. “I have a right to make a living,” were his exact words. He went on to say what he was doing was legal. Right.

I believe in the rule of law. I believe that it is through legal means that unjust laws should be changed. In the past I chose to break laws I considered unjust—I don’t do this anymore. And yet because an unjust law has cost the lives of so many millions of our fellow Americans I can’t help, but to feel some relief that a man who has profited so much from legally sanctioned murder is dead. Continue reading TILLER THE BABY KILLER GUNNED DOWN IN CHURCH! →

Politics

THE GOLDEN STATE SHINES AGAIN

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Thankfully California voters made their will clear, as if it needed to be made clear, that the state’s government needs to come up with a solution to balancing its’ budget that does not involve borrowing money or raising taxes. Unfortunately, unlike the Governor, many politicians and big labor leaders have failed to embrace this mandate for real change. Instead came the age-old mantra that taxpayers can’t have it both ways. “If we can’t have more taxpayer money and debt, taxpayers can’t have schools, roads, health services, police, firefighters, AND NO MORE DESERT!” they say. Michael Hiltzik wrote, in yet another embarrassing LA Times’ cover story today, that it’s all a lie—in his bizarre mind Californians don’t pay enough taxes; and that part of his solution is to rethink Prop 13. Thanks LA Times—with great thinkers such as Mr. Hiltzik downtownster.com is sure to maintain its’ 100 percent monthly growth rate.

First, consider this to gain some perspective: the cuts that the LA Times refers to having to be made to avert “financial melt-down.” The “annihilating cuts” they call them, total all of 21.3 billion dollars. The politicians, labor union leaders, and LA Times reporters, and I use this term generously, all fail to mention that after this adjustment to the state’s budget California will still be spending more on services for its’ residents than it did in the year 2005. If you recall things were fine, maybe even better in 2005, so is this really such a calamity—OF COURSE NOT. Not when you consider that California increased its’ spending by 50 percent over the last five years—far outpacing inflation and population growth. So, with revenue down it’s time to cut back a bit—GOOD! Will 5,000 state jobs be eliminated? Yes! This is actually on the front page of the LA Times as if it were news worthy. THERE’S 34 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA five thousand jobs lost represents .00014706 of the population of the state, it is of no statistical significance.

But enough of this foolishness. It is easily concluded that the people who make their money off of the taxpayer dollar have an insatiable appetite when doing so. It is not so easily understood why writers that work for the LA Times don’t bother to write about the budget in a historical perspective.

HOW ABOUT SOME REAL CHANGE? California needs to completely rethink how it educates its’ students. By law the state spends more than 40 percent of its annual budget to produce some of the worst students in the country. Continue reading THE GOLDEN STATE SHINES AGAIN →

Politics

Obama vs Cheney

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Johanna Neuman of the LA Times asks in the May 17th Sunday Edition why former Vice President Dick Cheney doesn’t just go gently into the night—

Before delving into the substance of the real issue, which is the Obama Administration’s course of action since taking office and its’ ongoing criticism / blame of the Bush Administration’s policies / conduct and Dick Cheney’s counter condemnation thereof, any responsible writer has to condemn the Times for printing such a one sided distortion of the facts. It is exactly this kind of trash journalism that is destroying what was once a great newspaper. Let me give you one example: Neuman writes, “Dick Cheney has made the oft- repeated and truly incendiary assertion that Obama’s policies are making the country less safe from terrorism.” Really, is it “truly incendiary?” Any more so than the assertions’ of President Obama or Vice President Biden on the campaign trail or since taking office? But because Johanna Neuman and the LA Times want to discredit the statements of former Vice President Cheney, Neuman is allowed to use carefully crafted language to do so. This is a disgrace and should be called out as such.

In reality former Vice President Cheney has been on several talk shows defending the Bush Administration’s policies. In doing so he has stated that it is his belief that these policies kept America from being attacked again for a period of seven years subsequent to the 911 / attack. And he went on to say that the Obama Administration doing away with these policies, in his opinion made America less safe. Anyone watching Dick Cheney being interviewed would objectively conclude the following: Dick Cheney is a very smart, well spoken individual. The Bush Administration did in fact not allow another attack on America subsequent to 911. And that Dick Cheney believes what he is saying.

I have personally disagreed with the Bush Administration on a number of policies and actions, but for the good of the country both the media and the Obama Administration would be well served to listen to the former Vice President closely—in fact I can’t help but to wonder why he’s waited until leaving office to make himself so available. The Dick Cheney we’re now seeing is the Dick Cheney that debated Joe Lieberman to a tie, a debate that left everyone watching, wondering why the two Vice Presidential candidates weren’t the one’s running for President. So that Dick Cheney is back—GOOD.

Now let’s take a step back and look at some of the policy differences that have caused this argument and the LA Times to disgrace itself, again. The first major policy change by the Obama Administration to become part of the dispute was the President’s directive to close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility. Continue reading Obama vs Cheney →

Events

COUNTDOWN TO ART WALK

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So leave it to the LA Times to not mention that there is a Downtown Art Walk tonight. They did however mention that there is a Venice Art Walk this weekend and that it is the Granddaddy of Art Walks – but for the fact that it is not even half the size of the Downtown Art Walk. Anyway just a reminder to attend Art Walk tonight and remember that it’s about art and culture – so don’t behave like it’s a frat party. Also, even if times are tough think about buying some art and supporting your local artists and galleries. Maybe even pool some money with some friends – I call this art sharing it’s a nice thing to do—to buy a piece.

When you’re done walking around, join me and some of the downtownster bloggers at the MusicUnion Art Walk After Party, which is being held at Club 740 (753 South Spring Street). MusicUnion is a sponsor of downtownster.com and it’s founder Barrett Morris is a good friend of mine who really knows how to throw a party – and Art Walk has been needing a great after party for a longtime so help make this happen IT’S OUR COMMUNITY.

Okay, enough said I’ll see you all there! And be safe