400 words column

[larryJ]

Occasionally, my paper posts a column written by Steve Lambert of which I have quoted before.  The column is entitled 400 words.  I find myself starting to like this guy more and more.  Here is the latest column.

Written by Steve Lambert, editor and publisher of the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group.

GUYS:  GIVE UP ON HAIRBRAINED IDEAS.

Guys and their hair..............call me jealous, but I just don't get it.

And after watching Bob Costas host NBC's Olympics coverage with brown dye practically streaming down his face, I'm reminded how lucky I am for genetics some would consider a curse.

I sure did, when I was 25 and well on my way to the low-maintenance monk fringe I sport today.  Time has a way of healing, however, and by the time my friends were pulling strands of hair out of their combs, I'd long since accepted my place among the follicly challenged (a.k.a.) bald guys, cue balls, chrome domes.)

Which speaks to this simple truth, men; It's not whether your hair will fall out or turn gray, but when.  The sooner it happens, the happier you'll be --- and less likely that you'll waste your middle years trying desperately to hide the truth.

"Trying" is the operative word here.  When it comes to aging's effect on men's hair, there is no hiding.

We've all known guys who thought they'd be the exception -- that they'd fool Mother Nature with their bad dye jobs, plugs, creepy-looking hairpieces or comb-overs. 

Some joke about it, as Art Garfunkel did (yes, those curly locks are false) during his recent appearance in San Bernardino.  Which may be stranger still --"I'm bald, I'm going to cover it up with a bad wig, then tell you all I'm covering it up with a bad wig."  Why not just stay bald?

Telly Savalas did.  Michael Jordan did. And if you ask women which version of Sean Connery they find sexier --- the buzzed, confident street cop in "The Untouchables" or the badly touped submarine captain in "The Hunt for Red October" it's not even close.

Which is part of the problem.  Even in an age of uber mass media and information overload, men still don't understand what women find attractive.  Inner strength and self-confidence -- yes.  Vanity and overcompensations?  Let's just say wearing our insecurities on our sleeves (or in this case, on our heads) gets us nowhere.

The fact that we are, by our nature, superficial beings plays right into this.  Guys will live with gooey dye dripping down their faces or a hairy road kill-looking piece glued to their heads if, though their own blurred eyes, it makes them feel younger.

I don't want to work that hard..  Bald may not be beautiful, but it's the best some of us got.

____________

Larryj

[larryJ]

Another 400 words from Steve Lambert---

CENSUS PARTICIPATION WELL WORTH THE TIME

It took about 15 minutes to fill out a census form I trust will be put to good use.

"Trust" is the operative word here. When it comes to government, our already-shaken sense of confidence has reached magnitude-8 levels.

Take health care (please, in the words of Henny Youngman).  While America is looking for movement on the economy, Washington has spent the better part of a year stuck on Obamacare.  Here's an idea:  You want to guarantee coverage for more people?  Create some jobs.

Then there's sideshow freak Eric Massa, the New York congressman who in a single week managed to make both sides -- Democrat and Republican -- look about as bad as they possibly could.

By the time "Saturday Night Live" got a chance to poke some fun at Tickle Me Eric last weekend, we'd already memorized the punchlines:  inappropriate behavior with aides, naked confrontations in the congressional locker room with Obama staff chief Rahm Emanuel, even an apology from Fox's own goofball Glenn Beck, who admitted he'd "wasted an hour" by giving Massa 15 more minutes of fame, times four.

Which brings us back to the census, and our duty to participate.  It's too easy to get cynical in times like this -- to write off everything government does as corrupt, poorly thought out or otherwise disconnected from reality.

Certainly the Census Bureau did itself no good when it mislabeled tens of thousands of addresses on the official forms that went out this past week -- including a large number sent to Whittier households but addressed "Pico Rivera."

The bureau claims it wasn't a mistake, but the result of some bulk distribution mumbo jumbo and that all will be counted correctly.  Maybe, maybe not.

But not participating isn't an option  --  not if you want your community to have anything resembling a fighting chance when it comes to congressional districting, federal funding and any number of other fair-representation benefits that come from accurate census reporting.  It's why cities, counties and states are so desperately getting the word out -- the census may be a federal program, but the impact is local.

Refuse to play, and you become part of the problem, alongside those who don't vote, don't get involved in their kid's schools, or don't take the time to try to make a difference in their communities.

Filling out a census form may be a bother, but only about 15 minutes worth.

Trust me on that.

____________________________________________

Larryj

[larryJ]

Another one from Steve Lambert------

GOVERNMENT SPENDING IS A TAXING PROBLEM

By Steve Lambert, Editor and Publisher of the San Gabriel Valley Newsgroup.

Wednesday is the 104th day of 2010.  For the average California worker, it means the money you make moving forward is yours.  What you have earned up until then is the governments -- a sobering fact at a time when individual tax liability is certain to go up before it comes down.

Which is worth considering as the California Primary and the November mid-term elections approach.  Who's got your back?  Who's got your wallet?

I wish the answer was easy.  In today's world, you can't assume that one party has an edge when it comes to running government efficiently.  Nor is government spending necessarily a bad thing.

It's how that money is spent.

When California recently expanded its home buyer tax credit to $10,000 -- at a cost to you and me -- even some Realtors wondered why.  It's already a buyer's market, what's really needed are sellers and financing.

Then there's this bit of expensive irony from the recently passed health care bill.  While every man, woman and child in America will see his or her tax liability grow by an average of $165 a year, the government is setting aside $10 billion to clothe and feed 16,500 IRS agents needed to make sure the new taxes are collected.

Who's making these decisions?  Indirectly, all of us, by the choices we've made at the polls.  We've enabled government to run fat and lazy while the rest of us try to operate leaner and meaner than we ever have.

My good buddy Tim Gallagher, a former newspaper publisher who now consults businesses from his home base in Ventura, put it in simple terms the other day:  "State government commits $1 in spending for every 75 cents in income," he wrote on his Facebook page.  "Homeowners who operate this way find themselves in bankruptcy court."

What's to keep California from a similar result?

Very little, short of a mandate from voters.  And candidly, that's not likely to happen anytime soon.  Not since 1982 has any non-presidential primary in California attracted at least 50 percent of registered voters, which is why the same people get elected over and over again.  Term limits might change the names and faces, but the DNA is indisputably the same.

In two months, we can reverse that trend or stand back and watch as the government we work so hard for finds new reasons to hire more IRS agents.

Larryj

[larryJ]

Steve Lambert again-----

FOR YOUNGSTERS TODAY, LIFE IS A ROLLER COASTER

My dad and his dad worked a collective 60 years for the same company.

I've spent 32 years in this business.

My kids?  Chances are, they'll venture in and out of five or six different careers, which makes any of my fatherly advice suspect at best.

So it goes as I look for ways to counsel my oldest on what the future may as he finishes his second year of college, unsure what he wants to do, but with opportunities ahead of him I can't begin to comprehend.

That's the difference between the grown-up world I entered way back when and the one he's about to tip-toe into.  Mine offered security; his is all risk.

Which isn't a bad thing, necessarily.  Scary, yes, especially for someone whose role models went down traditional career paths.  And yet, as we've all come to learn, even the most deeply rooted professions have lost their safety nets.

I used to say that my parents generation had it best -- pensions, job security, Christmas bonuses  --  but in all likelihood, our kids will fare better, by understanding from the start the value of self-reliance.  They will be more adventurous, more entrepreneurial, more willing and able to adapt to a rapidly changing world.

And they will follow their dreams in ways we could only dream of.

In a small way, my son is doing that now as a top-of-his-class junior college baseball pitcher.  It could get him a scholarship to a four-year college, and might even get him drafted by the pros.

For now, it's the opportunity to do something he's loved since he was a kid.

I gave up that dream way too soon, trading my glove and bat for a typewriter (we used those back then) and focusing my energy on a more sure thing.

Can't say I regret it. To paraphrase Chico Escuela, newspapers have been "berra, berra good to me."  But I admire my son's willingness to take a chance.

Sort of like Grandma's metaphorical take on life and merry-go-rounds in the old Ron Howard movie, "Parenthood."  "That just goes around.  Nothing.  I like the roller coaster.  You get more out of it."

Young people today have no choice.  Their's will be a roller coaster ride.

And my guess is, the only ones with white knuckles will be their parents.

__________________________________________________________

Larryj

[larryJ]

Steve Lambert---------

BLUSHING AT THE THOUGHT OF FACEBOOK IN 25 YEARS

When I was 13, we'd take our brand-new bell-bottom jeans, drench them in bleach, rip holes in the knees, and sew bright funky fabric along the cuff line.

Our parents hated it -- and not just because of the money being poured down the drain (along with all that blue denim dye.)

They hated it because they didn't want to be seen with us.  To them, our expression of nonconformity was less a style statement than proof that we'd lost our minds.

Fast forward 40 years, and my wife and I have a 13-year-old who's suddenly obsessed with modern teen-age fashion -- skinny jeans, saggy drawers and enough hair gel to lubricate a 747  --  convincing us, like every generation of parents before, that our kid's gone completely nuts.

Was it really a year ago that he stood guard at our spring yard sale, decked out all Alex P. Keating-like in a gray two-piece suit and gold tie?  True story.  He said it made him "look hot" and helped drive sales.

Not that he's gone completely the other way.  By today's standards, his preferences are still reasonably tame.  But we see what's coming; eighth grade, then high school, then our three daughters not too far behind.

Lord help us.

Which is what our parents said, and theirs said before them and theirs before them and theirs before them.  Then, eventually, reality set in, we landed that first real job interview, and the planets realigned themselves precisely as they should have.

The fun part is looking back on our artistic, rebellious and expressive pasts via the photographic evidence our parents kept.

Long after we decide to fit back in, the goofy clothes and goofier hair invariably come back to haunt us.  For today's young generation, the scariest will be even more extreme thanks to social media.

It's how I found our our oldest son -- at college in New York -- has a Mohawk.  He posted a picture of himself on his Facebook page.

Again, pretty benign, all things considered.

But what he's too young to appreciate is that all this Internet stuff is retrievable long after it's been deleted -- maybe 25 years.  Which gives me an idea for his 45th birthday present -- something we'll enjoy sharing with his wife and kids.

Including, with any luck, his very own 13-year-old.

_________________________________________

Larryj

[larryJ]

Steve Lambert----------

ARE LUCKY NUMBERS REALLY LUCKY --- OR JUST NUMBERS?

If I have a lucky number, it's 15.

My oldest son was born on the 15th, as were his brother, two of his sisters, my wife, and my dad.  Another daughter was born on the 30th -- double 15.

And while I've never had my 15 minutes of global fame, as Andy Warhol promised, a very distant ancestor, James Buchanan, was the 15th President of the United States.

Not all 15s are lucky.  Babe Ruth hit his first career home run in 1915, but it was also the year of Typhoid Mary, World War I and the locust plague in Palestine.  And, April 15 is the one day of the year every taxpayer would just as soon forget, refund or not.

So why do we take lucky numbers and rabbit's feet and ladder and black cats to such extremes?

Why is it that athletes will wear the same pair of socks -- unwashed -- until good fortune begins or ends?

Or that Michael Jordan always wore blue University of North Carolina shorts --washed, we hope -- under his red-and-black Chicago Bulls uniform?

Or that Napoleon was afraid of cats and the number 13?

Why did Harry Truman nail a horseshoe over the his White House door?

Or John McCain carry lucky coins and a feather on the campaign trail?

Or William McKinley were a red carnation on his lapel?

In McKinley's case, the story goes, he gave the flower to a little girl moments before he was shot by an assassin.

Call it a coincidence, or dumb luck, but if the smartest, richest people in the world believe in this stuff, why shouldn't the rest of us?  Or is superstition a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder, as some even smarter people claim?

I asked my buddy Bill Brenner about that.  Years back, he was diagnosed with OCD and now writes a blog on the subject, "The OCD Diaries."

"With a superstition," he told me, "the compulsion is driven by the fear that something bad will happen if you fail to do the compulsive action or if you fail to avoid the proverbial broken mirror.  If I break a mirror, I don't freak out.  Never did.  I just go out and by another one."

Which means, I think, that my lucky number is nothing of the sort.  It won't win me the lottery or a $15 bet at Santa Anita Race Track.

It just makes it easier to remember all those birthdays.

Larryj

[larryJ]

by Steve Lambert-------(and I put this on here just for Diane)

SAN GABRIEL VALLEY LOOKING FOR PROPER SLOGAN

Years ago, my home state tried to capture some tourism dollars with this catchy little musical slogan, "Just outside Chicago there's a state called 'Illinois.'"

These days, we all know that "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."

But my favorite dubbing came from a newspaper in Delaware who, responding to a contest in the local press a number of years back, suggested that the state change its motto to "close to where you'd rather be"  --  which, if you've ever been to the Land of Biden, speaks for itself.

The irony is that Delaware already has several slogans:  "The First State" (first to ratify the Constitution), "The Company State" (so christened by Ralph Nader for DuPont's influence on all things Delaware) and "The Diamond State" (I'm not sure why ... maybe because some DuPont heiress wore diamonds.)

Which brings us, in a roundabout way, to the San Gabriel Valley, and new efforts to put our tourism industry on the map.

In recent weeks, a group led by Cynthia Kurtz and the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership has been batting around ideas to attract more visitors, increase hotel occupancy and put the Valley's hidden gems in a platinum setting for all to see.

That's really what it's all about -- visibility.  From the Huntington Library to Old Pasadena, Santa Anita to the Pacific Palms Resort, the San Gabriel Valley has no shortage of destination spots for people with time and money to spend.  But while some are world renowned, they tend to operate in the shadow of Greater L.A.'s major attractions.

Collaboration and branding can begin to change that, and it starts with determining who we are and what connects us.  Could it be Route 66, which runs through the Valley and offers plenty of branding opportunities?  Or is it our weather, our relative affordability or, very simply, our location?

It's probably all of the above -- and more -- which makes coming up with a clear, powerful, digestible message all the more arduous.

One thing's for sure; We're not "close" to where you'd rather be, we "are" where you'd rather be.

Sorry Delaware.

__________________________________________________

Larryj

[Diane Amberg]

The "Diamond State" nick name came from Thomas Jefferson. He considered us a jewel among states because of our location. Also because we are small, but valuable. In spite of the teasing it's very pretty state with the north being rolling hills, lots of trees and plantings and downstate is rural sandy farm land, flat as can be, with bay and ocean beaches and fishing. We're not more than 2 hours from an enormous amount of "everything." We are also sometimes called "Small Wonder" and sometimes we call ourselves the "State of DuPont." Their influence isn't as strong as it once was. Wilmington, our one big city in New Castle County has has it's slogan," A Place to be Somebody." Because of the gun problems in the one bad area, we have renamed it.  "A Place to be a Body."

[larryJ]

By Steve Lambert

Titled:    SUMMER'S HERE; TIME TO LET LOOSE.

I can't remember when I've looked forward to a summer as much as this, which is part of the reason we are getting out of town this weekend.

No oil spills.  No market crashes.  No home renovations or bill payments.

Just enjoy the ride.  Enjoy the kids.  Enjoy the start of what I hope will be a memorable summer.

We aren't alone.  Heading into this weekend, AAA projected that 32.1 million Americans would travel over the Memorial Day holiday, up about a million and a half from last year.

Economics certainly have helped.  The recovery, soft as it is, has us ready to do what we do best ---  spend.

Consumer spending:  up -- New-home sales:  way up.  And now, at long last, we're ready to hit the road again.

But there's something else going on here, and has to do, again, with the Great Recession.  If we've learned anything these past three years it's to appreciate those things we've taken for granted.

We don't need to travel to Bermuda or Europe or even across our own continent to have a good time.  There are so many amazing things close to home -- places people elsewhere pay good money to see. 

We've also discovered a reconnection with our families, and learned not only how to enjoy the time we have together, but to revel in it.

At least, that's what I'm thinking now, before the kids start terrorizing each in the back seat and my wife and I have to ground each one of them for life.  But, isn't that what summer's about?  Letting loose?

That's how I remember it, from ......... well, it's been a long, long time.  Even in college, I came to dread those three months of midnight shifts at some local factory.  I made speaker cones, assembled plastic pots, even swept floors at a diaphragm factory -- a story for another time.

The point is, I want this summer to be the antithesis  of all that.  To make it special for my kids, even if they are grounded.

We can go to the beach, have barbecues, and recharge their batteries for another school year.

I'm liking the sound of this

Have a great  Memorial Day weekend , and see you on the other side.

________________________________________________

Larryj

[larryJ]

By Steve Lambert

TEA PARTIERS MAY BE NEEDED WAKE-UP CALL

Give the tea party movement this--it has raised voter consciousness is ways our mainstream parties have forgotten or ignored, and in doing so is forcing Democrats and Republicans to work harder than ever.

Whether it leads to some kind of seismic demagoguery -- as some fear is already in motion -- or simply energizes a political process that lost its mojo long ago remains to be seen.

But what is certain is the imprint this largely grassroots movement has had in a relatively short amount of time.

In Nevada, tea party-backed Sharron Angle beat out more than a dozen candidates Tuesday to win the GOP Senate primary -- momentum she hopes to carry in her quest to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in November.

In Arkansas, Sen. (and Democrat) Blanche Lincoln, fresh off a hard-fought runoff victory  in her re-election bid, now looms as a likely tea party target in the general election.

And in our own 59th Assembly District, tea party and Minutemen activist Tim Donnelly emerged from seemingly nowhere to top a crowded field in Tuesday;s GOP primary.  Provisional ballots will decide the winner of that still-to-close-to-call race., but Donnelly's reliance on e-mail, word of mouth and door-to-door campaigning defied the conventional wisdom that you need to spend a whole lot of money ($100,000 or more) to win a legislative seat in California.

Which speaks to two of the tea party's most valuable assets:  An angry electorate and a keen sense of viral marketing.  Throw is low voter turnout, and an otherwise low-profile candidate has a fighting chance.

That can change as the stakes rise, and certainly November will be a more formidable challenge.

In Nevada, Reid's camp wasted no time in declaring Angie out of touch with the mainstream and "more extreme than Rand Paul," the tea party backed Kentucky Senate candidate and self-declared "constitutional conservative" who caused a national stir with his controversial take on the Civil Rights Act.

Then there's money, though there, too, the tea party is stirring things up.  In the past ten months, Rand Paul has raised more than $1 million through four "money-bombs" - 24-hour online and social media-heavy campaign blitzes.

All of which will make for some fascinating watching -- and reading -- over the next four and a half months.

And for the parties in power, perhaps, just perhaps, it's the wake-up call they need.

___________________________________________________

Larryj