JoshWillTravel’s Festivus Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
Our Festivus Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is entered in the LA Times Holiday Cookie Bakeoff.
There is no prize, just recognition for the cookie.
Please check out the recipe and vote for me! You can vote once every 24 hours! Thanks!
It’s Friday, June 3rd, 2016! We thought we might try to “live blog” the day.
My dogs and a couple guests Friday morning chillin’ on the backyard patio:
What time does the poker game start?
Woke up and got out of bed. We had bacon, grapefruit, a glass of orange-pineapple juice and an iced espresso for breakfast, and then a dill pickle, some tortilla chips and another iced espresso later on.
BACON
Social Media Time! Set up this Blog and worked on our other Social Media platforms, went through the emails and did other stuff in the Home Office until lunchtime.
We made a cheese quesadilla for lunch. It was quick and filling.
Dropped one of the dogs off at the pet groomer and then ran some local errands.
It’s National Donut Day 2016 in the USA! (see our previous Blog)
We went to get some donuts…
Dunkin’ Donuts at Ventura Blvd and Balboa Blvd
We stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts and there was a parking spot in front, but then when we got out of the car and walked over, the line was out the door!
LUNCHTIME RUSH! No Progress after 10 Minutes! Time to Bail!
We waited for about ten minutes without making progress or getting inside the doorway of the donut shop, so we bailed! Not very well managed if you ask me, offering a free donut with beverage purchase, and knowing there would be a rush at lunchtime…
So we drove a few blocks north on Balboa Blvd to Stop In Donuts at Victory Blvd. There was a parking spot in front and a pan handler in the lot.
Stop In Donuts at Victory Blvd and Balboa Blvd in Encino, California
There wasn’t a line (in fact it was us and the owner and her daughter alone in the shop) and so we bought a bag of donuts! Five donuts: Cinnamon Roll, Apple Fritter, 2 cake with chocolate frosting and a chocolate glazed with sprinkles for $6.30 cash and then they gave us a half dozen donut holes for free! (but we had to ask) And in tribute to Mitch Hedberg…THEY DIDN’T GIVE US A RECEIPT! (and we didn’t ask for one) Thanks Stop In Donuts!
Bag of Donuts from Stop In Donuts in Encino, California
We went to the local Post Office. Then instead of running our other errands we returned home because the temperature was 100 degrees in the San Fernando Valley and we wanted to bring the other four dogs inside the house and out of the afternoon heat.
Time to EAT the Donuts! Five donuts: Cinnamon Roll, Apple Fritter, 2 cake with chocolate frosting and a chocolate glazed with sprinkles for $6.30 cash and then they gave me a half dozen donut holes for free (not pictured)
Siesta! Afternoon nap time! Too hot for humans or dogs outside!
We woke up from our nap and it was still hot outside. The other dog was returned home from the pet groomer looking pretty and smelling nice.
Temperature at 6pm: 95 degrees! Hot in the San Fernando Valley Tonight!
Hot in the San Fernando Valley Tonight!
We fed the dogs, got ready to go out and then drove to NoHo. When we arrived there was food cooking on the grill! We drank a beer (Pabst Blue Ribbon) and waited for dinner time!
Texas BBQ Dinner in North Hollywood at a friend’s house:
Dry Rubbed Ribs Smoking on the BBQ Grill
Ribs in Tinfoil w/Beer&Sauce
Beans on the Stove
Dinner is Served! Texas/NoHo BBQ: Ribs, Beans, Bread & a Dr Pepper
On The Menu: Texas BBQ Baby Back Ribs, Beans, Bread and Butter with a Dr Pepper!
Dinner was a total surprise, and we weren’t expecting to eat so well. We didn’t eat until late, and then after a little post dinner digesting, we drove home.
And then we logged on to the internet around midnight and got the BAD NEWS:
Muhammed Ali RIP 1942-2016
He was The Greatest! Float like a Butterfly!
May the Four Winds Blow Him Safely Home.
This Pic Was Tweeted By The Family
Growing up, Muhammed Ali was THE SPORTS HERO! He was a black man in a white world who stood up for what he believed in. He was a great boxer! An Olympic Gold Medal Winner! The Heavyweight Champion of the World! He was a victim of Parkinson’s Disease. He changed the United States and the world!
Muhammed Ali lights the torch at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta:
All photos copyright 2014-2016 JoshWillTravel (unless otherwise noted)
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A Collection of Posts, Pics, Good Memes & Cartoons!
Jeb Bush had a good breakdown of everything that was wrong with Trump’s tweet: “It’s like eating a watermelon and saying ‘I love African-Americans”
Trump said this today at a rally in San Jose: “We had a case where we had an African-American guy who was a fan of mine….Look at my African-American over here. Look at him. Are you the greatest? You know what I’m talking about?”
Trump is a “Cheap Fraud!”
And federal judge Gonzalo Curiel, who Trump called “A Hater” and “we believe, Mexican” ordered the release of internal Trump University documents and also ordered that Trump will go to trial starting Nov. 28 in a civil case in which he is accused of defrauding students who attended. Former managers of the for-profit school portray it as an unscrupulous business that relied on high-pressure sales tactics, employed unqualified instructors, made deceptive claims and exploited vulnerable students willing to pay.
“I believe that Trump University was a fraudulent scheme,” Mr. Schnackenberg wrote in his testimony, “and that it preyed upon the elderly and uneducated to separate them from their money.”
Trump is a Liar and a Con Man who uses “Veterans as Props to Get Votes”
“For four months, Donald Trump didn’t cut the check to veterans groups that he claimed he had, and had not raised the money he said he did. And he never would have, unless investigations by multiple outlets had exposed him.” Former US Marine Alexander McCoy organized a protest outside of Trump Tower, demanding that the billionaire “apologize for using Veterans as props to get votes while failing to keep his promises.” After weeks of media scrutiny about donations he promised to veterans groups, Trump held a news conference Tuesday. The Washington Post and the Associated Press reported Trump sent many of the checks after reporters began asking the campaign questions about the fate of the donations. The total also fell far short of the $6 million Trump had been bragging about.
First Amendment and The Constitution?
Trump insulted the Press during the news conference and ABC News’ Tom Llamas was branded a “sleaze” for asking about the gap between the $5.6 million and the $6 million in donations. His question: “You said you had raised $6 million. Clearly you had not. Your critics say you tend to exaggerate and have a problem with the truth.”
And a Trump campaign staffer and private security guard removed a Politico reporter from the San Jose rally on Thursday for reporting on the event without permission as violent demonstrations and protests erupted outside the venue.
V-O-T-E spells VOTE! “Rock The Vote” 1990 CENSORSHIP IS UNAMERICAN!
(this has a been a public service announcement)
So here’s a little personal history from the late 1980’s and early 90’s.
I graduated from UCSC in 1987 with a degree in Theatre Arts, and moved to Novato in Marin County, north of San Francisco. After living and working in the Bay Area for a year, I returned to Los Angeles to work in the entertainment business.
My very first “Hollywood” job as a Production Assistant (PA) was for a company called Highlight Commercials in 1989. I worked for them on the first “Rock the Vote” PSAs for Virgin Records with Iggy Pop and Anthony Kiedis (and a bunch of other celebrities) on the Chaplin Stage at A&M Records in Hollywood. I was paid $50 a day for three days of work.
Virgin Records “Rock the Vote” Campaign – “Censorship is UnAmerican!” PSAs for MTV withIggy Pop and Other Celebrities – Press Photo & Copy 1990
This is a still from the first “Rock the Vote” Censorship is UnAmerican video campaign in 1990. I was the Production Assistant wrapping the cellophane tape around Iggy Pop! Filmed in 1989 on the Chaplin Stage at A&M Studios (now Henson Studios) in Hollywood with Iggy Pop, Woody Harrelson, Anthony Kiedes, Justine Bateman, Louis Perez, Blair Underwood and others. Oh, and yes, CENSORSHIP IS STILL UNAMERICAN!
I found a rundown/synopsis of the some of the PSA shoot:
3:49 Iggy Pop reads First Amendment: As he reads, he is gradually having tape wrapped around his body. At the end, the tape covers his mouth. “Express yourself. Vote.” (I was the guy wrapping Iggy in the tape!)
4:50 Woody Harrelson:“Howdy. I believe in freedom of expression. Express yourself. Vote.”
5:49 Justine Bateman:“You might as well be invisible if you don’t vote. You’ve got everyone telling you what to do. You don‘t want people telling you what to see. Express yourself. Vote. It’s your life, it’s your world.”
6:50 Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Higher Ground music video plays. “If you love your freedom, fight censorship. Express yourself. Vote.”
7:50 Anthony Kiedis:“Most beautiful and powerful ingredient in America – freedom of speech.”
8:50 Blair Underwood:“If we don’t make the rules we’ll have to live with somebody else’s. 70 percent of American voters are over age 40.”
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“Rock The Vote” – Censorship is UnAmerican PSA – Virgin Records 1990
In 1989, a group of Virgin Records executives began the “Rock the Vote” campaign in response to the Recording Industry’s Parental Advisory Labeling and Tipper Gore’s attempt to censor American music. The campaign partnered with MTV and the most popular, outspoken and controversial artists of the time to rally young voters to protect the First Amendment of the Constitution and encourage more people to vote.
Madonna’s 1990 PSA eclipsed all the other Celebrity Spots. Draped in an American flag, Madonna, flanked by two male dancers in cutoff denim shorts, raps an acapella version of “Vogue” about the First Amendment and replaces the lyrics with “get up and vote!”
NOTE: The next job I worked for Highlights was a Lady Stetson perfume commercial.
History of THE PMRC and CENSORSHIP in the 1980’s:
The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was a committee formed in 1985 with the goal of increasing parental control over the access of children to music deemed to be violent or sexually suggestive. The committee was founded by four women: Tipper Gore, wife of Senator and later Vice President Al Gore; Susan Baker, wife of Treasury Secretary James Baker; Pam Howar, wife of Washington realtor Raymond Howar; and Sally Nevius, wife of Washington City Council Chairman John Nevius. They were known as the “Washington wives”
The PMRC began in 1984 after Tipper Gore, along with her daughter Karenna, heard Prince’s song “Darling Nikki”, which appears on the soundtrack to the film Purple Rain, contains references to sex and masturbation (“I knew a girl named Nikki/I guess you could say she was a sex fiend/I met her in a hotel lobby/Masturbating with a magazine”). Rap music of the mid to late 80s, especially artists that were deemed violent, particularly Ice-T and Run DMC furthered their influence in American politics. Ice-T was personally accused by Tipper Gore with support from the PMRC for the increasing rates of violence against police officers in Los Angeles in the late 80s.
The PMRC also released the “Filthy Fifteen”, a list of the 15 songs they found most objectionable:
1 Prince “Darling Nikki” Sex
2 Sheena Easton “Sugar Walls” Sex
3 Judas Priest “Eat Me Alive” Sex
4 Vanity “Strap on Robbie Baby” Sex
5 Mötley Crüe “Bastard” Violence
6 AC/DC “Let Me Put My Love into You” Sex
7 Twisted Sister “We’re Not Gonna Take It” Violence
8 Madonna “Dress You Up” Sex
9 W.A.S.P. “Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)” Sex/Language
10 Def Leppard “High ‘n’ Dry (Saturday Night)” Drug and alcohol use
11 Mercyful Fate “Into the Coven” Occult
12 Black Sabbath “Trashed” Drug and alcohol use
13 Mary Jane Girls “In My House” Sex
14 Venom “Possessed” Occult
15 Cyndi Lauper “She Bop” Sex
The PMRC also advocated against supposed subliminal backmasking in records and (incorrectly) accused bands including Iron Maiden, Styx, Rush, Pink Floyd, Van Halen, Kiss and Queen of backmasking to promote Satanism and/or drug use.
In August 1985, 19 record companies agreed to put “Parental Guidance: Explicit Lyrics” labels on albums to warn of explicit lyrical content. Before the labels could be put into place, the Senate agreed to hold a hearing on so-called “porn rock”. This began on September 19, 1985, when representatives from the PMRC, three musicians–Dee Snider, Frank Zappa, John Denver–and Senators Paula Hawkins and Al Gore testified before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on “the subject of the content of certain sound recordings and suggestions that recording packages be labeled to provide a warning to prospective purchasers of sexually explicit or other potentially offensive content.”
This Blog was UPDATED January 31 and February 9, 2017 to combine a previous blog and add more information.
