Brush Fire Sepulveda Pass

Getting word that there is a brush fire that has caused the evacuation of the Getty Center.

The fire that hit Getty Center Drive has scorched about 20 acres so far.I don’t even want to think of the amount of damage it would cause to the beautiful and priceless art that is stored in the Getty Center.

The Getty Center is perched atop the hillside right above the 405 freeway.  I can remember a long time ago Janet Jackson lived right at the top of that hill.  I hope none of the homes in the area are in danger.

The firefighters are hitting the blaze hard from the sky.  Let’s hope they get it out soon.

Billy Mays Dead

image courtesy www.ianhouse.com

World famous Billy Mays – Mr. As Seen on TV – has DIED. The entertainment industry has suffered enough.  No more please.

According to the news, his wife found him unresponsive this morning.  He was 50 years old.

Apparently he had just been on a flight that had blown out a front tire and hit HARD during landing.  As a result he was hit in the head.  His quote to a local TV station was “All of a sudden as we hit you know it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping. It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head.”

Could his sudden death have been a result of a head injury?

OMG – so sad.  Enough already.

Prayers to his family.  He was a favorite of mine for sure. I always bought what he was selling.

Billy Mays was just on Conan the other night and clarified, the Shamwow is NOT Zorbeez.  For the record Billy Mays was not the spokesperson for Shamwow.  He was the Zorbeez man (the real towel absorbent cloth).

Billy was the infomercial king and the face of many products.  OxiClean is probably the most famous, then there are the Tool Band-It, Quick Chop, Simoniz Fix It, Mighty Putty and many more.

I will leave you with this:

Ed McMahon Dead at 86

Ed McMahon Dies at 86

Ed McMahon died what seemed to be a peaceful death in his sleep last night at the UCLA Medical Center with his wife by his side.  Mr. McMahon is most well known for being Johnny Carson’s right hand man and faithful side kick of 30 years on The Tonight Show.  Growing up in the Carson era, I spent many late nights up watching Ed start the show with his coined “Heeeeeeere’s Johnny!”

Apparently Ed McMahon had been suffering from pneumonia and had been battling bone cancer, although his cause of death has not been determined.

Late night in the 60s and 70s was an awesome time to be a TV host.  You got to smoke and drink on the air.  They always looked like they were having a blast. I can also remember watching Ed McMahon on Star Search, Bewitched and seeing him on all those Million Dollar Sweepstakes commercials.  He was the million dollar face.  Funny that he actually started his career as a bingo caller.  He did have a great voice and his smile will be missed in Hollywood.

RIP Mr. McMahon and say hi to Johnny for us.

Zicam FDA Warning

Stop using Zicam .  FDA warning is now saying it can cause permanent loss of smell or taste. Products include… Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel –Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Swabs –Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs, Kids Size

It has been talked about on the web for over a year already that people are experiencing a loss of taste or smell after using Zicam.  In one case the person had extreme burning in their nasal passage, to the point where they could barely touch their face.

I have used this product and I did not have this experience.  The product actually worked great as far as preventing a cold and in another case reducing cold symptoms.  I am bummed I can’t use it anymore, but thankful that I or no one in my family had this horrible side effect.

As of right now there is no information on the Zicam webiste about a recall, but the FDA warning is enough for me. I’m pulling it out of the medicine drawer now.

Laker Championship and L.A. Riots

Congrats to the Lakers for winning another NBA Championship.  While the series was a bit uneventfull it is still very cool that they won and are world champs.

I was driving home from Vegas and listening to the game on ESPN radio and while I was so proud of L.A., I was also so dissapointed to hear that people were rioting in the streets by Staples Center. Growing up in L.A. and living through the 91 riots makes me very sensitive to the topic of damaging the city and demolishing city or personal property.

I pray that nobody was or gets injured and that local residents can just get a grip and celebrate safely.

The Laker parade is Wednesday at 11am and will start at Staples Center and go down Figueroa Street ending at the L.A. Colluseum.

Great SoCal Shake Out

Thursday November 11, 2008 at 10am will mark the moment of the largest earthquake drill in the history of southern California and the world.  What is called the Great Southern California Shake Out is a drill that mocks a 7.8 earthquake that would span from the southern end of the San Andreas Fault and fan out over 200 miles. If you can even comprehend it, this earthquake would be 5000 times larger than a 5.4 quake that shook Los Angeles on July 29th.

So here’s the deal.  Southern California residents are asked to pretend that at precisely 10am on Thursday November 13th there is a massive earthquake.  Residents are asked to drop and take cover while holding on for dear life for approximately two minutes. 

Scientists say that a quake like this is long overdue.  An earthquake of this magnitude would most likely cause about 1800 deaths (half of those would be the result of fires that are caused by the quake).  An estimated 213 billion dollars in losses would most likely be felt as well as over 300,000 building suffering damage and therefore losing 10% of their property value.

To find out more and to register to be part of the largest earthquake drill in history go to the Great Shake Out website.