Uh, Smokey, this looks like trouble...

The forest fires in LA became a fixture in our lives while we were out there. The city is such a mess of concrete that it seems like it's be impossible to incinerate it, but the forest surrounding the city is desert delicate. So much so that Mack's dad once got pulled over for throwing his cigarette out the window while he was driving.

One of the biggest fires last year, the one where a bunch of celebrities lost their homes, threatened to take out the Getty Villa and lots of them have come dangerously close to the incredible Griffith Observatory, the incomparable Hollywood Bowl and the famed Hollywood sign. During that one, we went to get in our car and saw these chunks of dust swirling around, thinking what could this be? Then we realized the fire was making it rain ash in our neck of the woods, so much so that a layer had landed on our car and had to be dusted off.

I found this footage of the fire they're dealing with now, and whoa. It is unbelievable.


This is not going to be good for the housing crisis...

Goodness Gracious

A year and a half ago, I put "learn poi" on my Google To Do List. And then I stared at it until this past January when I finally got sick of looking at it and signed up for a poi class.

Poi is basically spinning wads attached to strings around your body. Sometimes those wads are just bags of beans, sometimes they're glowing eggs, and sometimes they're balls of fire.

Last night was a ball of fire night.



I especially like the commentary by Victor, a long-haired Harley biker dude who taught me that you're only supposed to sport a braid after you've had sex with someone. He sounds almost girlish in his fire watching delight.