Westward Ho!

Et Tuna, Brute?

i've been obsessed with TUNA lately, as i've tried to increase my weekly fish intake. i've developed THEORIES about tuna preparation the way i used to do with pizza. i want to try every food purveyor's version of it, to see what makes each one good and bad and different. i did find the perfect tuna salad about a month ago, and i ordered it again tonight to make sure. yep, still perfect.

i get it from this chinese guy who runs a health-food stall in the university village food court. he charges $4.50 for a gigantic, fresh salad topped off with a jumbo ice cream scoop's worth of tuna salad and half a whole wheat pita. i was at a cafe in hollywood two weeks ago where essentially the same dish (tuna salad w/ greens and a small hunk of bread) ran me back $7.99, and it wasn't as good either.

the UV guy's iteration of it is special, and it wasn't until tonight that i figured out what the heck was in it. pretty sure he uses a yogurt/tahini concoction instead of mayo, plus there's diced carrot, garlic, maybe some celery too, definitely a touch of mint... but it seems like the secret weapon is a one-two punch of a sweet sandwich-style pickle (gherkin? could be wrong) and PICKLE JUICE. god, it's brilliant. i want more.

Hal Bastian on Taxis Downtown

Hal Bastian of the Downtown Center BID posted the following message last night on the New Downtown yahoogroup. I hope he doesn't mind me blogging it here. The "ode" he mentions refers to a poem a listmember wrote about the difficulties of hailing cabs downtown.

For those of you that don't know, I'm working on a plan to change our
culture here in Downtown so that you can hail a cab for a short trip.

Taxis generally wait for hours in a line making no money at Downtown  hotels.
All they want is a fare to LAX.

Right now there are many obstacles, not the least of which is that fact  that
a cab would get a huge ticket if it stopped in a "No Stopping" zone  (all of
Downtown between 7-9am or 4-7pm) to pick you up if you tried to  hail one.
After 7pm, we could look for a taxi in a Dash bus zone,  since Dash stops at 7pm.
I'll fix that later!

If we make Downtown more taxi friendly, we can hail them and the  operators
can make more money doing short trips on a natural meter (no  zones--they are
too hard to understand) than they can making no money for  hours.

I am working with the City to exempt taxis from no stopping zones while  they
are actively picking up and dropping off fares, like every other city in 
America.

Then, we'll have to teach people how to hail a cab!

Taxis can connect the city day and night. The taxi drivers will make  more
money and we will have a great way to get around. We'll be better able to 
patronize our restaurants and bars, Staples Center, etc.

Thanks for the ode!  Wish me luck.

HAL

Overheard Tonight While Riding Home on the 200 Bus

sketchy guy: "do you smoke?"
teenage girl: "huh?"
sketchy guy: "do you smoke? weed?"
teenage girl: "oh... no."
SG: "you want to go to a party? we can smoke weed, listen to music..."
TG: "no thanks."
SG: "i bet you're real mature. girls always more mature than guys. i read somewhere that girls do better in school... you in school?"
TG: "yeah."
SG: "what grade you in?"
TG: "ninth."
SG: "ninth grade, that makes you what, 14? boy, i'm telling you, girls are more mature than guys."
TG: "..."
SG: "you got a job?"
TG: "no."
SG: "oh, so you're a full-time student?"
TG: "yeah."
SG: "you want a job?"
TG: "no."
SG: "your parents treat you good?"
TG: "..."
SG: "'cause i can give you a job. you can make lots of money. you want a job?"
TG: (gets off the bus as quickly as possible)