by Japhy Grant on July 20, 2010
Meet the 'California Gays'.
As far as I can tell, Katy Perry’s ‘California Gurls’ is the jam of the summer.
I want to be clear that I’m not saying it captures the cultural zeitgeist of 2010 or anything — it’s just the song that America has collectively decided to bore into our collective skulls for the moment. And why not? It has Snoop Dog and manages to steal from both the Beach Boys and Big Star in one sugary swoop. The fact that the video features a naked Perry surrounded by orgasming streams of cotton candy might have something to do with its popularity as well.
The real sign that the song’s a huge hit is the number of parody videos that have sprung up. There’s one for Wisconsin, one for Jersey, Milwaukee gets in on the act and there’s even a parody for California. The most popular parody, (at least based on the number of times it keeps showing up in my Facebook feed) however is Ryan James’ “California Gays.”
Instead of doing something useful with my day, I chatted up GOOD‘s information architect, John Durkin about the video, what it says about the gays and what this video means for the future of humanity: [click to continue…]
by japhy grant on May 19, 2010
L.A's Lights vs. Arizona's "Rights"
If pressed, your average Californian would admit they never really liked Arizona all that much to begin with. Phoenix has all the smog of Los Angeles without any of the charm and if you want to see the Grand Canyon, Disneyland’s got a diorama of it. Yet, for the most part, the two states have mostly managed to ignore each other, comfortably separated by desert, irrigation canals and the occasional accidental manmade inland sea-cum-cesspool.
All that changed last week as the Los Angeles City Council voted to initiate a boycott of Arizona businesses and services in the wake of Arizona’s new anti-immigration ‘target the Mexicans’ law. Pasadena, San Diego and now (not surprisingly), Berkley have passed similar measures.
Yesterday, Arizona Corporation Commissioner Gary Pierce (who’s running for reelection) wrote Los Angeles Mayor Antonia Villaraigosa that he’d “be happy to encourage Arizona utilities to renegotiate your power agreements so Los Angeles no longer receives any power from Arizona-based generation”, adding, “I am confident that Arizona’s utilities would be happy to take those electrons off your hand.”
L.A. gets 25% of its power from Arizona. Can Pierce, an electric-utility regulator, really shut out L.A’s lights? [click to continue…]
by japhy grant on April 13, 2010
Image via Wikipedia
2010 is shaping up to be a record year for earthquakes in California. Already, over 70 earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.0 or higher have rocked the state, many caused by aftershocks from the 7.2 Mexicali quake earlier this month.
With a whole lot of shaking going on, is it any wonder that a rumor that Los Angeles was about to experience a massive earthquake sometime between now and Friday would take off like wildfire?”
Area seismologists have been furiously trying to correct the claim (which seems to have originated with ‘quake quack’ Luke Thomas), which in Internet rumor fashion has taken a life of its own; one version claims Pasadena’s under evacuation orders.
The problem of course, is that nobody can predict earthquakes. If the earth is going to swallow you up whole, take comfort in the fact you’ll have no warning. Still, even if the ‘Big One’ can’t be predicted, it’s only a matter of time before Los Angeles falls into the ocean and Lex Luthor makes trillions in desert seaside development, right? [click to continue…]
by japhy grant on March 24, 2010
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
California voters will get a chance in November to decide if they want to legalize marijuana, not just for medical purposes, but you know, for fun. A ballot initiative allowing for the possession, growth, sale and most importantly, taxation of marijuana has been submitted to the state. Pro-marijuana supporters have mustered the 433,000 or so signatures needed to make the petition a reality. A major appeal of the bill (besides, well, the obvious) is that marijuana tax revenues could go a long way to saving the state from its chronic fiscal crisis.
In any other non-West Coast state, this would be a big deal , but a Field Poll shows 56% of Californians support marijuana legalization. Pro-pot proponents compare their movement to the repeal of Prohibition and argue that legitimizing a $14 billion dollar industry will tap down on the crime, trafficking and violence.
These are all great arguments, to be sure, but even if you support marijuana legislation, you ought not support this initiative.
[click to continue…]
