Tag Archives: crime

by - 1 Comment

A Month in Review

I’m kinda at wits end about data storage options. This is the second back up drive that crashed and wiped out all the stuff I’ve saved this year. Short of burning everything in ever-increasingly dis-organized volumes to CD I have no idea what I’m going to do. My backup drive failed, then another and now a flash drive I bought so I could carry stuff between two computers also crashed out. I just bought it. I’m sort of angry about it and some rare stuff is lost forever. I could duplicate some of the art I made but that would be a chore the second time around and not in the least bit enjoyable. I’m most upset over losing very detailed drafts of the apocalyptic tale Sacrilege Lands and Realms Apart, a short story of elder gods infesting San Diego. When the hard drive crashed I was glad I had the documents saved on the flash. Then that one quit working within a week. Rating: ☆

At the start of the month I was at work when a good citizen came into the store and let me know that some kids idling their car next to the outside produce stands were loading up watermelons into the vehicle. I looked out the window and saw that was indeed the case. I also noticed there was no license plate on the front of the car. I went outside to send them off. While walking towards the car I noticed they had no license plate on the back of the car, either. Apparently they had removed them prior to coming onto the property to steal stuff. Often when a shoplifter gets out of the store we just get the license plate of the car, make a police report and send off the video to the detective assigned to the case. The owner of the car will eventually get pulled over and there will be a warrant out for them. A lot of the time they are career criminals and we get a call asking if we want to press charges. We always do.

I was walking toward the kids when they jumped into the car and started shouting, yelling that I was out of luck in trying to identify them to the police. They all found great amusement in this fact and called me names like ‘bee-yotch’ and impugned my gender preferences. The car started to accelerate away so I took a couple of steps towards it and kicked the passenger side door really hard. The car screeched to a halt and I kicked the door again, this time denting it severely. The driver went absolutely bonkers and started screaming through the open passenger window about what I did to the car. I thought that took some nerve. I told him to have his Daddy call me about the dent and I’ll fill him in about how it happened. Then I said, being awesomely cool: “How do you like those melons?” He screamed some curse words and drove off. I decided to call it even. Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Saw Terminator Salvation this week and while I didn’t outright hate it I agree that it would have been much better had it gone with one of the alternate screenplays where Christian Bale did not play John Connor. I also think the decision to cancel Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles over the execrable Dollhouse was directly linked to the expected box office prospects of the film. I speculate that it was common knowledge that there would be little future and revenue for the film past the opening weekend. Since the television show ratings would not be getting a boost from Salvation, the decision was made to cancel Chronicles rather than renew it and be on the hook for all the production money. I have little doubt if there was positive buzz in the studios that Salvation would be a huge smash then Chronicles would have been renewed for at least one more season. Rating: ☆☆

Bully sent two books which I enjoyed immensely.

Even the most uninitiated who know of the Superman character are aware that he has been around in print for longer than they have been alive. Many people think he was the first superhero. Well, they are wrong. Supermen, The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes 1936-1941 is a fine companion piece to the Fletcher Hanks collection from 2007. The book showcases a number of characters that were around long before Superman jumped over his first skyscraper. All the comic book heroes were continuations of if not descendants of the Pulp Heroes of previous decades. Comic books, back then, where the replacement for the failing market and the more mature content of pulp magazines were being attacked by politicians and parents. Easy to read sequential pictures replaced text and a whole new and younger market was exploited. The book is a fine collection of early comic books and is a must-have for those interested in pulp heroes and the infant comic book industry.

Boody. The Bizarre Comics of Boody Rogers was the other book I received. This collection of Sparky Watts and Babe tales put together by Craig Yoe is just what the title claims: Bizarre. Rogers combined surrealism, zany excess, ‘Lil Abner and super heroics to create his stories. What’s missing from the volume though is the apocalyptic tale of Sparky Watts that started all the renewed interest in Rogers when it appeared on blogs a year or so ago. The volume is well-represented otherwise, particularly with the Babe stories, but the end of the world arc is really too good not to have been included. You can get Supermen, The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes 1936-1941 and Boody. The Bizarre Comics of Boody Rogers at Fanatagraphics. Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Halfway through two weeks vacation. Did I need it. The last time I was on ‘vacation’ was a few years ago when I was looking for work. That wasn’t a very restful time. This time around I’m taking it easy and getting stuff I enjoy done. Reading, watching movies, getting caught up on things. Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

I’ve been spending a lot of time wandering around used book stores and thrift shops looking for old books. Found a few nice ones that I scanned and posted some of the images over the last few days. Southern California really isn’t the best resource for what I’m looking for. Most of the houses and families have not been around that long compared to other parts of the country. On the other coast boxes of books, records and other cool ephemera will be in some attic for 60 years or more and will eventually make it to a garage sale.

In Southern California the pickings are far more slim and neat stuff will often get thrown out rather than dragged from home to home until it sells at a yard sale. The other aspect of this area is that quite often people are aware of what their old stuff is worth and won’t part with it unless they get top dollar. Not that I’m looking to make a steal or rip someone off, I don’t care about that. The problem with people wanting 50 bucks for an old book is that there really isn’t much market for it. It isn’t even that there is a speculation boom. Typically some owner looks up a book on the internet and see it’s worth $100 someplace and they want that much for it, regardless of the condition or whether they can actually sell it or not. Travel north a bit and there are plenty of garage sales you can find cool stuff at without taking out a loan. I just look for neat stuff to purchase at a reasonable price. I’ve got some family camping up north this month and they usually find good stuff to bring back. Rating: ☆☆☆

My son got a notice to serve on a jury a few weeks back and went in today. He didn’t get picked so he won’t be called for a year at least. Personally, I despise jury duty. I’m not in a job where I get paid if I am not working. Serving on a jury means no paycheck which means not paying the bills which means I lose my car and then have no job. I went through that in Maryland and I’m not ever being in a position where that happens again. Juries also scare me. The prospect of being tried by a ‘jury of my peers’ keeps me on the straight and narrow. I’m terrified that I will get arrested in some Kafkaesque nightmare of a situation and going to trial. Not being wealthy I’m totally screwed if that happens. My peers are probably rampaging dumbasses. I imagine I’ll get the chair because my jury will consist of twelve wingnuts who would consult the bible for their jury instructions and pray for guidance in the best way to make me pay for my sins so my eternal soul can be saved. Rating: Zero stars.

Please ignore the hot pink and black rubber (that melts in the heat of a closed car and gets sticky blobs all over) 2 Fast 2 Furious steering wheel cover that came free with the car and check out those tire tracks on the road ahead. The off-ramp I’m driving down is leaving the 805 above Mission Valley towards Interstate 8. On the other side of that mound of iceplant the tracks lead through is a drop of about 100 feet. That must have sucked to go flying off the edge. Hope everything was okay. Rating: ☆☆☆ (For schadenfreude).

by - 0 comments

Crime Watch: Linda Vista Road and Fulton Street

Last Saturday on April 18, 2009, shortly after 6:00 a.m. in the vicinity of Linda Vista Road and Fulton Street a female friend was walking to the bus stop on her way to work when she was ambushed and viciously assaulted in what Police are calling an attempted rape.

Her attacker shoved a gun to the side of her head and started to drag her away. She fought back. At least one shot was fired by her assailant that narrowly missed hitting and probably killing her. She was beaten with the pistol and received numerous injuries before her attacker fled the scene. Eventually, she was assisted by some people in nearby apartments.

She is hurt, traumatized and it is likely that she will not be returning to work for some time. She is fortunate to be alive. It is without reservation that I can attest my friend was respected and liked, if not loved by everyone who knew her. Her fellow employees are taking up a collection for her at work. This woman has some healing to do, might be out of work for a while and she and her family should not be worried about whether the electricity will be turned off during her recuperation.

Here is the initial news report: Suspect in Linda Vista Assault Still on the Loose.

The first follow-up report is mostly about public safety: Protect Yourself from an Attack with Self-Defense Training. I appreciate that the choice to fight an attacker was addressed. She was hurt and could have been killed, but common wisdom states that if taken from the scene of an attack the odds of survival drop precipitously.

The suspect was described as male, of slim build, dark-skinned, in his late 20s and wearing a white, hooded sweatshirt. It was reported that he fled the scene in a dark-colored compact vehicle. This is an initial description and may not be fully accurate.

I’m sure the Police will be doing all they can to apprehend this criminal. If the age of the attacker is as reported it is doubtful this is the first crime this person has perpetrated and he is in a database somewhere. It is during events like the recent attack that one wishes television crime shows were not so fanciful and that DNA tests would quickly identify a suspect in a matter of hours. A check of the San Diego Police Department crime statistics maps reveals a number of sexual assaults in the vicinity over the last month but it isn’t possible for civilians to determine if they are related. The stats for that particular area are not any greater or less than those for nearly any section of the city so it would be foolish to speculate and better left for Police to determine.

While often it is the steady hard work of dedicated and trained individuals in Law Enforcement that solves crimes sometimes they are closed by the average person connecting some dots and passing the word along. I’m hoping that if the Police are unable to swiftly resolve this crime then maybe some civilian will help. For example: One could help by noticing that someone matching the description of the attacker and driving a similar car didn’t come into work Monday. Then when they showed up on Tuesday had lots of scratches about the face and arms.

Anonymous tips can be sent in via the San Diego Crime Stoppers site.

by - 5 Comments

Bibimbap is the shizznit

Being married to a Korean woman of traditional ways I eat a lot of Korean cuisine. Since I can’t really exercise anymore because of the lower back, the high-veggie ingredients of my Korean-style meals are what I credit for my waistline going from a 46 to a 42. By the time the next San Diego Comic-Con rolls around I should look less like a stereotypical fanboy and instead more like a superhero. I don’t mean Herbie, either.

I particularly enjoy Bibimbap. It is awesome. At most restaurants it comes in a huge bowl with a couple of pounds of condiments (including Kimchi) on the side. Like many of the items on the menu it has a high veggie to meat ratio. Vegetarianism is dull and boring. I couldn’t face life if I had to eat carrots for every meal. A few days of that and I’d kill a cow with my bare hands and eat it raw. What would you rather eat, a plate of steamed veggies or a big, hot stone bowl of Bibimbap? You can be totally Vegan and not want to kill yourself out of boredom three times a day just by eating Korean food. It is true.

On Convoy street in San Diego are a few nice Korean restaurants that serve good meals. The favorite of the wife and I is one with the name of her home town in the title. The lunch specials are great and are a popular destination for the people who work in the area. We go there about once a week. The price is small and the portions are large.

One aspect of the place I dislike in principle is the information about the dishes in the framed printouts that line the walls. While the photos and descriptions serve to educate those guests not familiar with Korean cuisine they are also filled with paragraphs touting the health benefits of the food. But none of the descriptions contain much in the way of facts and instead make woo-woo claims similar to those found in books, articles and websites about homeopathy. It should be enough to state the benefits of real food over chemically-saturated and processed junk. Instead nigh-magical properties are attributed to the ingredients that ‘clean the blood’, ‘improve the spirit’ and ‘ such blah blah blah. The mystical, magical and junk-science claims are not necessary, but I am very aware they appeal to a certain type of person.

Not that one culture is particularly apt to take advantage of their own over another, but I am often angered by what I see as an incredibly predatory attitude among members of their own community. Magic cures, quack medical procedures and junk science abounds. Like an evangelical preacher will use religion to make a buck, these grifters exploit the cultural traditions regarding age, respect and ingrained social politeness as pry bars to open the wallets and purses of their marks.

One of the items a market near the Convoy area sells are six inch strips of neoprene cut from wetsuit material. This rubber is nothing short of magic and supposedly cures an amazing list of deadly ailments. By the way, the rubber is cut into trapezoid shapes, ensuring that every other piece leaves a smaller triangle-shaped scrap that is sold for around $300. Nothing is wasted, there. The product purportedly works through ions and magnets and other made up blather. My assertion would be any material that does what it claims doesn’t need a large piece to work as the application of even the smallest piece should be equally effective.

That store and nearly every other in the area is full of quack items like that and is one of the reasons I don’t let my wife shop alone when she is in the area. Many people of her background have shown themselves susceptible to the high-pressure tactics by salesmen who seek to take advantage of cultural predilections. Some of the salesmen, and I witnessed a lot of this tactic in Maryland, would find a family and prey upon them like a telemarketer with a sucker list. They used cultural and familial pressures to make a sale for some ridiculous device, juice or magic pill. Once a sale is made the word gets out and the vultures descend in a mighty flock.

In Maryland I was often asked by members of my family and the community who had questions about a product to check out the claims. I printed out evidence from the FDA, warnings about scams from the BBB and other sources, pointed out the miracle health pills being pushed on them for $175 a bottle was in fact powdered baby formula. I even once held a presentation for a group revealing that the test for “bad” tap water a salesman was performing in selling $2500 water filters was a scam the government has been warning people about for over 40 years. I often wondered why I bothered to help because in nearly every instance the salesman was able to babble some nonsense and I would be dismissed. On one occasion I’m aware of the product representative asked why anyone would believe a “Westerner” over a fellow countryman.

Just before I left Maryland a member of a small local church asked me to look into the claims of a company pushing miracle Amazonian berry juice. Someone was aggressively contacting the entire congregation. Product aside, it turned out to be an up-sell scam using high-pressure in-house visits to sell a customer a case of very expensive juice on a recurring bank withdrawal or debit card. On the basis of the sales tactic alone I advised against it. Many people signed up anyways and bought nearly $1000 worth of Acacia juice any organic market sells for far cheaper. The funny part was when one of the customers discovered the added protein ingredient in the juice was from shellfish, shrimp casings to be precise. The consumption of shellfish was against one of the tenets of their religion. Massive soul-cleanings then resulted along with the usual problems associated with canceling an account with a company that doesn’t have public email address and won’t return telephone calls.

Sadly, against all evidence and common sense most of the time people would shell out the cash. Not because they were stupid but because the grifter was working several fronts at once and had already ingratiated themselves to an elder member of the family. If anyone failed to accept the dubious claims of the salesman, they usually withered under the generational influence of an elder who berated them into purchasing the magical, magnetic, ion-saturated vitamins or device. The alarming fact is that for most people, even when the product or service turns out to be useless, they just go on and accept a different incredible pitch.

I have little reason to doubt that many similar scams are being worked here, also. I have never really witnessed a hard sell like I did in Maryland, but considering the claims some of these products make I’m surprised someone hasn’t shut them down for fraud or questionable sales tactics. Salesmen in certain stores communicating with my wife step quickly away when they notice me approaching. I doubt I’m scaring them as I usually appear neutral if not jovial. It must be due to awareness that the husband, especially one of another culture, is a greater influence on the wife than they will be in the short time allotted. Unfortunately the desire or need to purchase products and items that can otherwise only be found in Korea leads us into certain stores like the one that sells the magical healing rubber.

But woo-woo claims aside, Bibimbap is the shizznit.