comicsofme: 2010

Modern Cup Designs

Modern mugs and creative mug designs from all over the world,availble on 2011....

As The Years Fly By - 2011 Already

I'm off to work, but before I leave I want to offer my sincere thanks to everyone who took the time to stop by my BHB blog this year and to wish all of you a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2011.

Cheers!

And to all of my blogging buddies, I want to thank you for bringing me a wonderful year of fabulous blog posts to read. I appreciate the time and the effort that all of you put into writing your blogs.

(we shall leave the posting about New Year's resolutions to another day)

Moonshine, a fish parade, and a happy new year

Even before national prohibition, Huntington Beach was supposedly a "dry town." Of course, that's not how it worked in practice, even with occasional busts by the local police.
..
This photo, from the Jan 7, 1932 Huntington Beach News was captioned, "Photograph taken at police station... showing bootlegging equipment confiscated at the warehouse at 708 Huntington avenue, [between Geneva Ave. and Hartford Ave.] alleged to belong the Steve Stimatz whose trial for possession will be heard Friday. In the picture from left to right are: Officers Robidoux and Shafer; Councilman E. B. Stevens and Chief of Police L. F. Keller..."
.
These days, the City approves almost anyone downtown who requests a liquor license.

E. B. Stevens, by the way, is best remembered as the father of the short-lived Huntington Beach Fish Parade. In 1926, the entire fishing-themed parade, from bathing beauties to dignitaries to jazz bands, wound its way from Huntington Beach along a route more than 85 miles in length, taking in communities as distant as Olive, La Habra and Norwalk. The event was not repeated in 1927.
.
Anyway, have a happy new year and enjoy the (merely) 5 1/2-mile long Rose Parade. But take it easy with the bathtub gin.

More Claim Jumper history: Nik's and Nick's

This is a follow-up to my post a couple months ago about the history of Claim Jumper restaurants. I told you that Carl Nickoloff previously ran Nik's Coffee Shop in Long Beach (seen below), and that Carl and his son Craig started Claim Jumper in Los Alamitos in 1977. The family later sold the chain.

In response to my post, founder Craig Nickoloff sent me a very nice email that included information about yet another generation of the family to go into the restaurant business:

"...Meanwhile my son, Nick Nickoloff, who is a fourth generation restaurateur has opened two restaurants in Orange County serving lunch and dinner, 'Nick's Laguna' and 'Nick's San Clemente', both restaurants are doing great and he is planning on expanding in the near future, I am very proud.
"My daughter and son-in-law have opened a small sandwich shop in San Clemente on Pico Blvd next to the high school named 'Humphry's', they are doing great, the sandwiches are excellent."

I had the chance to have dinner at Nick's San Clemente last night. (See photo at the top of today's post.) The food was very good, and the place was packed. Expect prices that are a bit steeper than Claim Jumper. The vibe is "nice casual." My Hawaiian shirt was fine, but I felt a bit under-dressed in the jeans and sneakers I'd been wearing to walk around town that afternoon. Also, be warned that one of their salads is almost a meal by itself.
.
Toward the back of the establishment were a number of framed menus and photos from the old Nik's Coffee Shop in Long Beach. I snapped photos (below) so I could share them here on the blog.

(I apologize for the fuzziness of all these photos. The battery in my good camera went dead and I was left using an older digital camera that I happened to have in my glove compartment.)

I love the wonderful Mid-Century logo and signage! It would have been at home on any Googie building.

Here's where I wish I'd been using my newer camera. Still, you get the idea.

To see my original post about Claim Jumper, click here.

Men’s jewelry for 2011- Men’s Chains and Pendants

Men’s jewelry is not an unusual thing bit big statement necklaces with chunky pendants make it quite unusual. Vivienne Westwood, Versace Mens Spring 2011 runway and Etro Spring 2011 runway presented lot of men’s jewelery
that was big and bold. Pairing suits with chains and breezy ascots is quite different. Armani Spring 2011 show presented chains as jewelery.
Milan Men’s Fashion Week 2011 has given way to new mens fashion trends that are unusual and very different. So Girls, what’s your take on these spring mens fashion trends. Are they among list of mens fashion that women hate just like some women fashion trends that mens hate or among promising men’s fashion trends.

Transparent Desktops

Have you ever been watching Only Fools And Horses show? Can you remember Del Boy's famous sentence "Bloody Hell"? Well I refreshed my memory on that one when I saw these things; it was the first thing that came out of my mouth "Bloody hell, how did they do this!?" Then all sorts of things started to flow around my head - "Could it be true? Can they really somehow make those screens transparent? If so, could it be that these computers are the most expensive in the world?" Hell no.

Elizabeth Taylor| English-American actress

Elizabeth Taylor is a long time English-American actress, known by many as one of the all time great actresses in showbiz.

36 Karat Precious Diamond Watch

Elizabeth Taylor said that “many women need big diamonds”! Perhaps in this case in terms of carat size is less important but the effect will be as safe! We are talking about the last born in our firm, known for high jewelry house that has launched precious diamond watch whose name is symptomatic: Crazy Flower, or Flower Crazy! We do not know whether it is more “crazy” who will sign the check or who will wear it but it is to gape.

The 36 Karat Precious Diamond Watch structure looks like a flower whose petals are broken down by the wind, which gives it a touch and a feeling of movement and life
.

The petals, finely decorated, are composed of 116 diamonds baguette cut. Cascade gemstones also true for the dial which are housed in 206 diamonds with 66 stones to decorate the outer crown. While the hands which do not occupy the entire quadrant are “protected” by a slightly elliptical barrier composed of 20 baguette-cut stones.

The 36 Karat precious diamond watch is winding mechanical movement. In a joke, having seen an object like this, the true lovers of diamonds and watches can only “looking forward” to have him on the wrist!

Winter Reading

I didn't think that I would like this book but I enjoyed it. Alexandra Lebenthal, ex-bond babe (and I don't mean the films, I mean muni bonds), socialite and New York Social Diary editor, weaves a clever story about trials and tribulations of Wall Street wives as they deal with private school admissions, cheating hedge fund husbands and the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The tidy ending is certainly contrived but the book is worth reading for the description of the characters alone.

Next on my list of books...

What are you reading this winter?

Is It Snowing Somewhere?

Christmas week picnic in Laguna Beach.
Why wasn't I invited?

In New York Snow is For The Little People

I have to admit that it has been rather relaxing to take a couple of days off from the computer.
It has years since I have gone that long with out an internet fix in years, and while I thought that I would end up like an addict yearning for crack, I did just fine. I spent a lovely day with my family on Christmas Eve and then cooked a traditional Christmas meal at home on Christmas day. Boxing day was spent relaxing at home with a book or two and then yesterday it was back to the office and business as usual.

Happily, the deluge stopped, the sky cleared and the sun has once again brightened Southern California.
And after seeing so many pretty pictures of New York and New England blanketed in snow, I'm glad that I am not there to share in the experience. I remember snow storms when I was growing up in Brookline Massachusetts, but I don't remember them leading to an utter breakdown in transportation systems and people being stranded at airports for days.

But that was Boston, so what's up with New York?

Send in the Plows! Outrage as Transit a Mess, NYers Still Stuck
New Yorkers are grumbling about the city's and MTA's preparedness

Two days after slamming the tri-state, millions of people affected by a post-Christmas blizzard continue to dig out from a storm that shut down area airports, crippled commuter train and subway service and stranded thousands traveling during the holiday weekend.

The sixth largest snowstorm in the history of New York City dumped two feet of snow and left many, especially those living in the outer boroughs and small suburban side streets, feeling trapped or ignored as city resources went to dig out Manhattan.

"I'm furious at Mayor Bloomberg, he's a rich man, so he doesn't care about the little people," said New Enrico's Car Service livery driver Julio Carpio, speaking in Spanish. "I have to work, why aren't people out there plowing? Why does the mayor always go on TV the night before to say, 'We're all set with a fleet of salt trucks,'? and then you never see a single truck. They always abandon Queens."

You would think that New York could handle 20 inches of snow without issues, but apparently not. God knows that any hick town in Colorado or Idaho could handle 20 inches.

Some New Yorkers in the outer boroughs are complaining that the city took too long to plow their neighborhoods, ignoring them in favor of wealthier Manhattan areas. City officials said that some side streets might not be cleared until well into Tuesday.

State Senator Carl Kruger blasted the city's response, saying part of Mill Basin and Manhattan Beach were not plowed even once by Monday evening.
"It is unconcsconsiable," Kruger told NBC New York. "It has to be addressed. There has to be some reason given....When the Fire Department asks to declare a state of emergency and the OEM denies that request, then there is something wrong."

So the upper East Side gets plowed but the people in the boroughs have to put up with snow...

While I love to see the photos winter wonderlands from the snow covered fields in Wales to the ice laden trees in Germany, I am very happy that I live in Los Angeles and not in New York.