Welcome to Spring Allergy Season 2013

Spring is here with blooming flowers, chirping birds and warmer weather. Unfortunately, also spring brings itchy eyes, runny noses and the feeling that you're being punk'd. 
Or at least that's how I felt for the last few days. And it ain't no fun! I hate allergies!!!!!!
So Are you ready for the sneezing, sniffling, red itchy eyes season? Brrr....

Spring going into Summer

March 1st: Just a beautiful day @ Santa Monica Beach

Never run in the rain with your socks on

Rain for several days and then it's supposed to be 80 degrees. Let's talk about bipolar weather.

"Never run in the rain with your socks on.”
― Billie Joe Armstrong

Space Shuttle Endeavour - final journey

If you're in LA this weekend, don't forget Endeavour hits the streets for a close-up and a final journey! The first, last and only time a space shuttle will travel through city streets.
The home stretch of Endeavour's final journey begins Oct. 12, when four computer-controlled transport vehicles will roll the shuttle out of its airport hangar. The orbiter is slated to arrive at the California Science Center the next day.
When and where you can #spottheshuttle you can find from this article!


                    

The space shuttle Endeavour rests atop the Over Land Transporter (OLT) in a hanger on Sept. 24, 2012 at Los Angeles International Airport. (Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)

                   

Disneyland for Nerds - Caltech

With a little over 2000 students(undergrad and grad), Caltech took the number one spot in The World's Top Universities 2011 put out by Times Higher Education, a London magazine that tracks the higher ed market. 

CalTech’s focus on science and engineering attracts some top students and professors. Its faculty has won 32 Nobel prizes. 
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) owned by NASA and operated as a division of Caltech through a contract between NASA and Caltech. In 2008, JPL spent over $1.6 billion on research and development and employed over 5,000 project-related and support employees.The JPL Director also serves as a Caltech Vice President and is responsible to the President of the Institute for the management of the Laboratory. via Wikipedia
Here are a few pics from Caltech campus, located in Pasadena. 

East side of the campus as seen from Hill Ave 

Sssht , someone at Caltech  is performing an experiment! :) 

The Bent, symbol of Tau Beta Pi (National Engineering Honor Society, California Beta Chapter)

Beckman Auditorium

Beckman Institute 

Remember Moore's Law? In case you don't, here is a reminder: simplified version of this law states that processor speeds, or overall processing power for computers will double every two years. The term "Moore's law" was coined around 1970 by the Caltech professor, VLSI pioneer and entrepreneur Carver Mead , in reference to a statement by Gordon E. Moore, the billionaire co-founder of Intel Corp. and a longtime supporter of Caltecha( he received a PhD in Chemistry and minor in Physics from Caltech in 1954)who gave the school two gifts totaling $600 million. 

World's most fuel-efficient car! - Pedl Pwr

Bergamot Station-Santa Monica, CA

Rescue in Topanga State Park

10 Little Known Facts About Los Angeles Facebook Users via allfacebook.com

Are you a resident in the City of Angels? Maybe you have given thought to going out and catching your big break in Hollywood? Are you interested in UCLA or the other universities in the city? A massive West Coast city, and second largest in the United States, is Los Angeles and their Facebook population surely follows suit. The city is renowned for many different aspects from their seemingly unbeatable Lakers to being the showbiz capital. We researched the users of Los Angeles on Facebook and came up with a variety of different interesting and fun facts about the city’s social network users.


Population


According to the U.S. Census Bureau there is about 9,862,049 people currently living in the Los Angeles area. 6.173 million of those individuals are on Facebook. That means roughly 63% of the city is on the site. As per usual, women typically tend to prefer the site over men. Over 50% of the 9.8 million Los Angeles social networking site users are women. Additionally, 52 percent of Los Angeles Facebook users are 18 to 34.



Sports

Los Angeles hosts a variety of sports teams. They have the Lakers and the Clippers on the basketball court. They have the Kings in the hockey rink. They also have the Dodgers and the Angels on the baseball field.



The 2010 NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers have over 226,000 fans on Facebook who are local, as opposed to the Clippers who have only about 8,000. The Lakers rivals in the finals, and throughout the season, the Boston Celtics have a surprising 14,940 fans on the site who live in Los Angeles. I bet it’s not easy sporting a Ray Allen jersey around with the way those finals turned out.



The Dodgers have the primary fanbase on Facebook out of the two baseball teams. While the Angels have over 54,000 fans who live in Los Angeles, the Dodgers are close to 125,000 fans. The Dodgers’ rivals to the north, the San Francisco Giants, have 9,740 fans residing in LA. Maybe they prefer the Southern California sunshine rather than the incessant fog in San Francisco?

College

Over 192,000 US graduates earned degrees from UCLA. Almost half of those graduates still reside in the Los Angeles area. About 20,000 users on the site are currently enrolled at the college, and about 30% of those will be graduating with the class of 2011. It will be interesting to see if they stay in the Los Angeles area as so many of their fellow graduates on Facebook have done.

While UCLA is a prominent college in the area, there is also many other fine academic universities around the city. One example is California State University’s Los Angeles campus. The school hosts about 2,400 Facebook users.

Media

Print media has been said to becoming more and more of a dying breed, and based on the number of fans of the Los Angeles Times, we’d have to agree. Only about seven thousand people in the US are fans of the Los Angeles Times, and only about half are within the city. Even less than this is Los Angeles magazine with only about 1400 fans in the country.

Movies and Television

It is good to see governor Arnold Schwarzenegger getting some love in his hometown state. His movie, Predator, has about 6,200 fans on the site who live in LA. It is only unfortunate that Kindergarten Cop didn’t do so well with just over 300 fans.

Entourage, is one of the biggest premium television shows shot and based around Los Angeles. Surprisingly, only about .2% of LA residents list themselves as fans of the show. Doubling the fan base of the show, is another Los Angeles centered premium channel show, Californication. The show has about 22,000 L.A.-based fans on Facebook. Maybe the public just prefers Hank Moody over Vincent Chase?

Weather

With sunny skies being the primary forecast in the Southern California city, it must not always sit well for the almost 16,000 local fans of the rain.

Food

The original Tommy’s burger place that opened in Los Angeles has only about 10,000 fans who live in the city. The bigger chain, In-N-Out Burger, has about five times more local fans. It appears the chain from up the coast is winning in the city.

Conclusion

Los Angeles is one of the largest cities in the US, and their population on the site follows that pattern as well. While there is still a decent number in the city not on the networking site, having over six million profiles from the area definitely makes Los Angeles a large Facebook city.

Articol preluat de pe  allfacebook.com

Caldura mare,mon cher

Din fericire in ultimul timp am avut o vreme superba in LA,nu mai putin de 30-35 grade Celsius ziua! Ce mai ,vara in toata regula. Ca urmare,animalutele au iesit la plimbare! Seara dau nas in nas cu raccoons care se plimba doar in echipa(2-3) ,iar Britney mai latra cate un sconcs.
Azi am prins-o in poza pe asta mika,chit ca se tot ascundea pe dupa copac:)))

Where everybody knew his name-Coach John Wooden

A fost odata un antrenor faimos, cunoscut simplu ca si "Coach".Aceasta este o poveste  frumoasa despre cum  se respecta valorile intr-o societate normala! !

http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/ucla/post/_/id/3105/where-everyone-knew-his-name

"TARZANA, Calif. -- It’s officially referred to as “Table No. 2” by the waitresses at Vip’s Café in Tarzana, Calif. but for as long as they can remember it served as the morning home of their No. 1 customer, John Wooden.



I first saw Wooden sitting at his signature table a decade ago when my parents moved into a fifth floor office unit above the café. I simply thought Wooden, who lived in nearby Encino, was in the mood for some bacon and eggs. Then I saw him the next day and the next day and the next and it became clear Wooden, who was always greeted with a thunderous “Coach!” from the patrons when he walked through the double glass doors, was a regular"

RIP Coach! Go Bruins Go!

Verde de LA

Pornind de la comentariul lu' cepuscamea de la postul anterior...iaca si ceva poze :



Flori....

Arbore de piper:

Daca avem noroc,temperaturile de 30 C vor tine pana in mid-november. Apoi vor cobori undeva la 7-10C noaptea si 15-20 C ziua.

Beautiful autumn in Los Angeles!

Am lipsit cateva saptamani de pe blog,dar am avut motive bine intemeiate.Zic io!:) Pe langa jobs( am unul si jumatate),mai am si scoala care m-a solicitat la maximum in perioada asta. Proiecte de predat plus examene ,tot tacamul. Dar in weekend-uri mi-am facut timp sa merg la ocean si apoi sa ma relaxez putintel.
Pe langa faptul ca avem temperaturi de 25-30 grade Celsius  ACUM in Octombrie , totul este verde din nou,dupa cele 3 zile de ploaie.
Am ajuns si pe la cafeneau mea preferata 212 Pier ,in Santa Monica. Este un loc bohemian, si numai bun daca vrei liniste.  A big hot-chocolate, green-tea made with love :) and Tiramisu cake. Yummy! Si foarte ieftin totul(cred ca a fost undeva in jur de $10).

Cer senin in Downtown Los Angeles!

La plimbare cu "masina" prin Pasadena

Din ciclul "Mare-i gradina ta Doamne,si multi au sarit gardul". Poze din "arhiva" personala.

In benzinarie:

"Eee...parca nu e asa rau!" s-a ganditul omul nostru,si a plecat mai departe. 

Cum sa obtii pasaport romanesc la Consulatul Romaniei din Los Angeles

A venit si timpul acela cand brrrr trebuie sa iau iarasi contact cu birocratia romaneasca. Adika trebuie sa-mi schimb pasaportul,pentru ca-mi expira in cateva luni. Asa ca am inceput research-ul pe internet.
Lucky me ca am Consulatul General al Romaniei in Los Angeles la cateva mile . "Consulatul General" mi se pare un titlu prea pompos,avand in vedere ca ultima data cand am fost acolo(ceva alegeri prin 2007 cred) abia l-am gasit .Se afla intr-o cladire mare de pe Wilshire Blvd.(in  cladire se mai afla si  consulatele altor tari) ,dar din exterior nimik nu tradeaza faptul ca in aceea cladire ar fi vreo misiune diplomatica romaneasca.
Statele care se afla sub jurisdictia consulara  a Consulatului Romanesc din Los Angeles sunt:CALIFORNIA,
WASHINGTON,MONTANA ,OREGON ,IDAHO ,WYOMING ,NEVADA ,UTAH ,COLORADO ,
ARIZONA ,NEW MEXICO
Asadar daca locuiesti intr-un stat care se afla sub jurisdictia  consulara  a Consulatului Romanesc in Los Angeles,si vrei sa obtii un pasaport romanesc ,cam asta ai de facut:
1)Intri aici si vezi care este orarul la consulat.

 "Working hours: 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Monday through Friday

The Consulate General will be closed on the public holidays (American and Romanian)For further information, please call 1-310.444.0043, Monday through Friday, until 4 p.m"

Comentarii:Deci...orar de 3 ore/zi de la 9am-12pm.Program de femei gravide as zice.Buuuun.Ai si un numar de telefon:1-310.444.0043 la care poti suna de luni pana vineri ,pana la ora 4 pm. Ma intreb daca o sa si raspunda cineva, dar inca nu am incercat asa ca ...sa nu ma grabesc cu concluziile!
2)apoi aici pentru informatii despre cum poti sa obtii un pasaport,si ce acte ai nevoie.
Comentarii:daca esti "cetatean roman cu domiciliul in SUA' e musai sa te prezinti la consulat pentru ca..ta-ta-ta-ta pasapoartele sunt biometrice .Si e nevoie de tine in persoana ca sa-ti ia informatiile biometrice(poza si amprente).Iar actele tre' sa fie in original.

Citesc mai departe:
"ATENTIE!!!
In cazul in care intentionati sa va deplasati la sediul consulatului general pentru procesarea cererii de pasaport/ titlu de calatorie, va rugam sa contactati consulatul general in vederea programarii zilei si orei! "
Chestie care mi se pare de bun-simt ,adika mergi cu programare !!Buuun.
Citesc mai departe:
"Modalitati de contact:

Telefon: (310) 473.8061
Email: consulara@consulateromania.net; consulat@consulateromania.net "
Deci un numar de telefon si 2 adrese de e-mail Cam putin daca ma gandesc ca in aceste state tre' sa fie cel putin cateva sute de mii de romani,dar nah...sa fie!
Si citesc mai departe:
"Atentie:

Cererile pentru eliberarea pasapoartelor/titlurilor de calatorie se vor procesa numai in zilele de LUNI si JOI, cu programare prealabila si prezenta personala la Consulatul General din Los Angeles, cu documentele necesare, in original. Precizam ca in zilele de LUNI si JOI NU se vor executa alte activitati si servicii consulare (procuri, inregistrari de acte civile etc.) Celelalte servicii consulare se vor executa in zilele de MARTI, MIERCURI si VINERI intre orele 9:00 – 12:00, cu exceptia sarbatorilor legale. "
Ahaaaaa...stiam eu ca va urma ceva "romanesc" ,pentru ca totul incepuse prea frumos. Deeeeci  daca vreti sa va schimbati pasaportul la Consulatul General Romanesc din LA, o puteti face DOAR luni si joi,intre 9 am -12pm(asta daca aveti norocul sa nu fie vreo sarbatoare -romaneasca sau americana). Iar Luni si Joi nu puteti face alte 'treburi" pe la consulat, ca nu se executa! Asa ca daca mai aveti si alte acte de rezolvat ,tre' sa mai stati o zi prin LA.:)
Acte necesare :

1.Documentul care atesta domiciliul permanent in SUA sau care atesta aprobarea din partea autoritatilor SUA a dreptului de sedere legala, in original.

Documentele acceptate cu acest statut sunt:
   -Pasaportul american valabil;
   -Certificatul de naturalizare
   -Resident Alien Card valabil
   -Permanent Resident Card valabil
   -Alte documente valabile, emise de autoritatile americane, privind aprobarea dreptului de sedere legala pe teritoriul SUA.

2.Cartea de identitate valabila emisa de autoritatile statului de resedinta (state ID), in original sau/si permisul de conducere SUA valabil (driver’s license sau non-driver ID), in original.


3.Buletinul de Identitate sau Cartea de Identitate romanesti, in original.
Aceasta nu se aplica pentru cetatenii romani care au inscris in pasaportul romanesc la rubrica domiciliu “Statele Unite ale Americii”.
Nota : La primirea noului pasaport cu domiciliul in SUA, persoanele care aveau inscris in vechiul pasaport domiciliul in Romania au obligatia sa predea cartea (buletinul) de identitate

Comentarii: Io nu cred ca mai am CI-ul romanesc(de fapt nu stiu pe unde e) si nici nu am mentiunea de CRDS(cetatean roman cu domiciliul in strainatate ) pe pasaport. Ce-o sa fie..ce-o sa fie?:))))
4.Certificatul de nastere romanesc, in original.
Nota : In cazul in care numele actual al solicitantului este diferit de numele inscris in certificatul de nastere, este necesara prezentarea documentului romanesc in baza caruia s-a produs schimbarea numelui in Romania ; acest document poate fi, dupa caz: certificatul de casatorie romanesc sau hotararea judecatoreasca de schimbare a numelui pronuntata de o instanta romana. Orice alt document eliberat de o autoritate straina trebuie sa fie transcris in Romania.

5.Certificatul de casatorie romanesc, in original (pentru cei casatoriti sau vaduvi); sau, dupa caz, sentinta de divort romaneasca ramasa definitiva, in original (pentru cei divortati) sau certificatul romanesc de deces pentru persoanele vaduve, in original.
Nota: Se primesc numai certificate romanesti de stare civila in original (nastere, casatorie, deces), cele straine vor fi inregistrate in evidentele de stare civila romanesti, conform prevederilor Legii nr. 119/1996.
In cazul in care casatoria a fost incheiata in SUA, certificatul de casatorie american va fi mai intai transcris (inregistrat) la autoritatile romane; in baza inregistrarii, primaria localitatii in care solicitantul a avut ultimul domiciliu in Romania sau misiunea diplomatica elibereaza un certificat de casatorie romanesc. Numai acest document este acceptat la solicitarea unui nou pasaport. (a se vedea sectiunea Transcrierea/ inscrierea actelor de stare civila straine).
Persoanele care au divortat in strainatate vor proceda conform instructiunilor de la sectiunea privind “Recunoasterea hotararii de desfacere a casatoriei pronuntata in strainatate”, iar persoanele care doresc sa-si schimbe numele pe cale administrativa in Romania, conform instructiunilor de la sectiunea privind “Schimbarea de nume”.
In cazul in care exista necorespondenta intre numele/prenumele sau datele inscrise in diferite acte, este necesara mai intai efectuarea indreptarilor erorilor materiale sau a corectiilor de rigoare, conform prevederilor legale.


6.Pasaportul anterior (expirat sau inca valabil si care trebuie schimbat/reinnoit)


7.In cazul declararii FURTULUI pasaportului simplu, este necesara prezentarea dovezii eliberate de organele de politie a statului de resedinta, cu traducerea efectuata de un traducator autorizat cu apostila.


8.In cazul DISTRUGERII pasaportului simplu, se va prezenta pasaportul distrus sau deteriorat sau fragmente din acesta, cu conditia ca acestea sa cuprinda elemente care sa faca posibila identificarea documentului.


9.MONEY ORDER pentru Romanian Consulate, cu taxa consulara la zi.


Pentru cei care vor calatori in Romania in curand,si au pasaportul expirat pot solicita un"Titlul de calatorie"- care este un document valabil 30 de zile de la emitere,si tine loc de pasaport pentru un drum dus spre Romania .Mai multe info  titlu de calatorie.

Si am ajuns si la intrebarea  "how much?" Raspuns:125 para baby!:))
Aici costuri pentru toate serviciile consulare.
Informatii despre personalul consulatului aici. Va rog sa cititi resumeul consulului. :))) Va las pe voi sa trageti concluziile.:D Si cateva informatii despre activitatea consulului Ghenea:
Consulul Romaniei la Los Angeles acuzat de frauda
Comunitatea romaneasca cere demisia consulului din LA

P.S.O sa revin cu un update dupa ce o sa "beneficiez" de serviciile consulatului.

Hai-hui prin Playa del Rey

Playa del Rey nu este o plaja  aglomerata, desi se gaseste undeva intre Santa Monica si Manhattan Beach ( astea fiind mai cunoscute:)). Dar, pentru ca trebuia sa existe un dar, se gaseste chiar sub culoarul avioanelor care decoleaza de pe LAX.  Asa ca azi voi fi "spotter- by-default":)))

New Zealand...

KLM...

Air Tahiti Nui...

Dupa ce s-a mai racorit, am plecat inspre In-N-Out, locatia S.Sepulveda Blvd, langa LAX. Se zice ca In-N-Out este favoritul multora pentru hamburgherii facuti din carne proaspata (nu se foloseste carne care a fost inghetata) si french fries din cartofi adevarati, curatati si taiati in fata ta. Iar shake-urile sunt facute din inghetata adevarata.

Cel care a infiintat brandul, a fost si primul care a venit cu ideea de "drive-thru hamburger stand". Din pacate brandul exista doar in cateva state de pe coasta de West : California, Arizona si Nevada, plus o locatie in Utah! Lucky us!

LAX-ul de departe...

Virgin America...

Air France...

Lufthansa...

Locatia este un loc favorit pentru plane-spotters, pentru ca este chiar sub unul dintre culoarele de aterizare de la LAX si  foarte aproape de aeroport. Avioanele sunt atat de jos de ai impresia ca vor pica la tine-n cap.

Cooking demonstration-Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa Ca

Duminica Iulie 18. Orange County fair in Costa Mesa CA.. Prietena mea Tina  http://ciaoflorentina.com/  a fost invitata sa faca o demonstratie de gatit.

Ce a gatit?Tiramisu!!!  Pozele si filmuletele au fost facute cu telefonul,asa ca nu au cea mai buna calitate.

Dupa ce "kitchen fairy" aka Diana(lol mi-a luat cateva minute sa relizez ca era vorba despre mine) a adus portiile racite din frigider , s-a trecut la degustat produsul final. Yummy! Am mancat 2 portii si va spun cu mana pe inima ca a fost DELICIOS!

http://www.ocfair.com/2010/   Targul are multe atractii-de la  sculpturi in gheatza  pana la  Motorhome Madness Demolition Derby.Si multe multe altele.

Hai-Hui prin Encino,Ca

O vizita in Encino . La prietena mea  Tina . Ca de obicei o zona superba.O zona upscale si enervant de linistita. Muuulta verdeata si flori.

Pranzul gatit de Tina. Lamb chops & risotto

Casa unde a crescut Michael Jackson. Aici locuiesc copiii cantareului impreuna cu mama acestuia.

 

Maci

Senzatia este ca te afli undeva in padure,departe de oras.

Panorama