Wisdom Quarterly
LOS ANGELES, California - This city officially has too much to offer, "too much good stuff" as a silly commercial boasts of its outlets.
The City of Angels (El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula, "The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels on the River Porciúncula) really does.
Buddhist Pope cancels L.A. appearance
The 14th Dalai Lama -- who only represents a former theocratic kingdom/mountain empire (that in ancient times extended its influence west to Israel and south to Bangladesh), which follows a small but very influential brand of Buddhism called Vajrayana or sometimes Lamaism -- was on his way to Los Angeles when his doctor grounded him in Tokyo, a great place to recover from any mysterious illness.
Eh-hem. Well, we can only hope he's safe. Will he make it to USC by Tuesday? Probably not, students, so get ready for a stand in. (Are these tickets refundable a some sort of show is still put on?)
The Pope, a Saint?
There is no "avalanche of halos" the way there is at the Vatican since Pope John Paul II started handing out blessedness and sainthood (canonizing more people in one papacy than in all the papacies before him combined) making the Church more cosmopolitan but also making the faith more irrelevant. We obviously do
not have more "real" saints, just a cheapening of the label. Los Angeles Catholics were blase -- unless they were in Rome for the beatification -- over the dead pope's new title "blessed."
Pope John Paul II beatified at the Vatican
The beatification ceremony in St. Peter's Square with Jewish leaders' support marks an important step on the late pope's path to sainthood. Crowds at the Vatican
This might be the river Porciúncula, the city's famous namesake, which is cleaned periodically by thousands of citizen volunteers, good stewards of the planet. Saturday was all about pulling plastic from the flood control wash since most of the burned out VWs and heavy duty garbage was removed a few years back.
The Doodah Parade and BooksThe precursor to the more famous Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena is skewered on the same massive boulevard, but its date seems to get pushed further away each year. Maybe it's morphing into a Spring Fest in honor of Esther and Dionysus, given all the revelry, Paganism, and general good humor. The L.A. Convention Center's
Lea, L.A. ("Read, L.A." or the city's first Spanish book fair, after the Guadalajara Book Fair) rivals The Los Angeles Book Fair (held this year at nearby USC).
Permaculture Convergence
Three days of hippie camping in Malibu to talk all things organic, gardening, farming, and green living -- now that sounds like a great time if it weren't so cold at night. But it's great by day!
CRASS tears through town Britain's own anarcho-punk collective blew the windows out at the Glasshouse in the Pomona Arts Colony the night after it scared the chickens at the Fox Theater (a block away). We'll review the show soon because Eve Libertine's
doppelganger (Carol Hodges) was FANTASTIC! The crust's delight. We stopped talking about the rescheduled shows because it was generally assumed Steve Ignorant was simply going to sing all the male vocals and skip the best of Crass. But Hodges made it the full CRASS experience (minus Penny Rimbaud).
MAY DAY!See
photos from celebrations around the world. It's International Worker's Day on our day off -- and the marching will go on in spite of LAPD crackdowns in the past that reveal that we live in an
Orwellian police state with a lot of Huxley influences. Smaller crowds rally on their only day off in downtown L.A. under tight police control.
The Amazing Glut of AnniversariesShakespeare's birthday, Hitler's birthday, Japan's nuclear disaster monthly remembrance, King James' version of the Christian Bible (a pro-monarchy translation that became the world's most popular though far from its most accurate)... there are simply too many to track, but we'll add to the list to recognize some amazing coincidences.
"May you live in interesting times," the ancient Chinese compliment/curse runs.
