January 2005

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Click on a picture to see the full-sized version. I have originals for many photos as well, available on request. They are much larger, and much more detailed.

Dylan turned 1/2 on Jan 8th, so we had half a birthday party!

Went to LA to see Chris compete in the Donnelly Cup. The US is split up in four regions, with one team per state. Except Texas and California each get two teams. South Texas won the south-east region and competed here against the other winners, Illinois, Connecticut and South California.

Amazing traffic jams for a Saturday. LA skies are never this clear! All the rain cleared the smog.

Stopped by Caltech. First people I saw were all wearing 70's style tie dye shirts, bell bottoms, etc. I felt like I was in a time machine! They asked me to snap a photo. I stayed in Dabney Hall in the 70's, so I stopped by and chatted with some current residents. Pretty dumpy now, it was nice back then.

Never been to La Brea Tar Pits before. It was cool. Near Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Lots of critters got stuck in the tar and lots of predators got stuck trying to eat victims! Only 6,000 to 20,000 years ago. Some critters:

Saber tooth cat. No longer called tigers. They impaled rather than bit their quarry, and were not very fast runners.

American lion. Similar to African, but much larger.

Mastadon. Large flat head elephant-like.

Mammoth. Huge, wolly.

Giant Sloth, bigger than a grizzly bear.

American Camel(!)

The airport picture has an amazing story. Waiting at LAX for my flight home. Business dude is late for his flight out this door. It was a little commuter flight where you had to catch a bus. Since he was late, he went through all the barricades, ignored all the signs, opened the door, and walked onto the tarmac!!! Gee, I wonder what happened? Well, let's start with some ear-piercing alarms. Then about ten security personnel. Then about eight heavily armed police. And all the time, the idiot kept yelling at the cops. Saying that all he was doing was trying to avoid missing his flight! Wow!

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