What I have been reading lately #35

CBGB's: Thirty Years from the Home of Underground Rock-- Introduction by Hilly Kristal; afterword by David Byrne. This was a book of photographs. It took about forty-five minutes to read.

Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock-and-Roll's Legendary Neighborhood by Michael Walker. I once knew someone named Michael Walker, but not the one who wrote this book. This book has lots of information about many musicians, including (but not limited to) Cass Elliot, Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell, Steven Stills, Micky Dolenz, David Crosby, various member of the Turtles, and everyone in Led Zeppelin.

Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss by Tom Davis. Tom Davis wrote for NBC's Saturday Night Live program for many years and was one-half of the comedy team of Franken and Davis. He has many interesting stories to share and tells them in an amusingly random fashion.

Below: Tom Davis (right) and Al Franken (left) with some of their co-workers.

Picture of the Day - Gattuso rides a bicycle

LOS ANGELES 19 LUGLIO: GATTUSO IN BICICLETTA

AC Milan were recently in Los Angeles to play a friendly against the LA Galaxy.

What I have been reading lately #22

Earlier today I finished Where The Money Is: True Tales From the Bank Robbery Capital of the World. This book is written by former FBI agent William J. Rehder (along with Gordon Dillow). For those of you who don't know, the bank robbery capital of the world is apparently Los Angeles, California.

This book was highly informative and entertaining- the author worked for over 30 years in Los Angeles catching bank robbers. The book focuses on just a few of the most interesting cases, including the "Yankee Bandit" (about whom a movie is being produced), LA gangs who took up bank robbing, "The Hole in the Ground Gang" who tunneled under and into bank vaults and were never caught, David Mack (an LA police officer who went bad), and, of course, the two men involved in the North Hollywood Shootout, whose robberies resembled something out of a bad action movie.

The book reminded me of when I worked for Gold Shield Security Services in Connecticut as an unarmed bank guard. I believe I made $6.50 an hour (early 1990s money) and spent most of my time worrying about getting shot at. Hartford, CT is far away from Los Angeles, however, so I did not have to undergo any robbery attempts.

Below: A photo from a random bank robbery - I believe it is from Colorado.

What I have been reading lately #6

I just finished reading John Albert's Wrecking Crew: The Really Bad News Griffith Park Pirates. It has everything - baseball, punk rock and heavy metal, amusing stories about junkies. The book is similar to The Bad News Bears, except, of course, without Walter Matthau.