California's Gas Tax To Be Highest In Nation

It would cost me around $242 to fill the RV gas tank if I remained in Commiefornia.

Yes, that's what I would be paying if I filled the gas tank of The Beast in California. That is based on a photo I saw of a gas station's price sign of $4.39.

California is set to hike their gasoline tax on July 1. This is only because stupid people went to the polls to vote down an initiative that would have cut the tax and the hike in vehicle registration fees the Democrats passed in 2017.

According to ABC 7 News:

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- When the new gas tax kicks in July 1, California will have the highest gas tax in the country. 

The new gas tax will add an additional 5.6 cents per gallon of gas.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported:

The 5.6-cent increase represents the second iteration of Senate Bill 1, commonly called the gas tax, that was passed by the Legislature in Sacramento in the spring of 2017 and signed into law by then-Gov. Jerry Brown. 

Under the terms of SB1, the tax increase comes in stages. 

Drivers first experienced a 12-cent per gallon rise at the pump in November 2017. An additional 5.6 cents per gallon will be tacked on at the beginning of next month, which will boost the state’s total excise tax to 41.7 cents a gallon. 

Add in other state taxes and fees plus the federal government’s own 18.4 cents a gallon excise tax and Golden State motorists will pay 79.18 cents a gallon in taxes and fees whenever they fuel up. 

That will move California into the top spot in the country, edging past the 77.1 cents a gallon drivers in Pennsylvania pay in combined taxes and fees, according to state-by-state data compiled by the American Petroleum Institute.

California is increasingly becoming more and more inhospitable to residents, especially retirees. I am glad to have moved out of California a year and a half ago. The gas price at the local Flying J (New Mexico) is $2.59/gallon, but with my Good Sam Club discount, that is lowered to $2.54/gallon. Far better than Commiefornia's price!

This is the price one pays when a state is a one-party state (Democrats).

To read more, go here.

Mountain Lion Kittens Discovered In The Simi Hills

KABC reported:

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (KABC) -- National Park Service researchers recently discovered a litter of four mountain lion kittens in the Simi Hills, a small area of habitat wedged between the larger Santa Monica and Santa Susana mountain ranges. 

All four kittens are females and are now known as P-66, P-67, P-68 and P-69. 

The mother is P-62, who researchers have been tracking since January. Biologists visited the den site while she was away on June 11, locating it after several previous attempts failed because radio telemetry showed that she was still at the den with her kittens.

To read more, go here. 

Half Dome Hiking Permit Lottery Now Open

Above, Half Dome. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

We must be approaching spring, even though the recent weather in my area doesn't seem to indicate it.

But with the coming of spring, the lottery for climbing Yosemite National Park's Half Dome is now open for applicants.

According to KABC-TV:

FRESNO, Calif -- Hiking to the top of Yosemite National Park's Half Dome is one of the world's most spectacular hikes. 

It starts on a trail that winds past glorious waterfalls and ends with a strenuous cable-assisted climb up the side of the granite formation to reach the expansive vistas at the top. 

But only 300 hikers each day get the honor of making the trek, and right now, you have the opportunity to apply for a permit. 

The National Park Service is currently accepting applications for their preseason lottery. Now through March 31, climbers can submit their name online for a chance to be granted one of the 300 daily permits. 

The cost to apply for the lottery is $10 and if you win, the permit costs an additional $10.

For more information, including where to apply, go here. 

Dababneh To Resign Assembly Seat

Above, Matthew Dababneh.

Assemblyman Matthew Dababneh will be resigning at the end of this month, which causes the Democrats to lose their super-majority in the State Assembly.

According to KABC News:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California Assemblyman Matt Dababneh is resigning after a lobbyist alleged he sexually assaulted her in a bathroom. 

Dababneh again denied the allegation in his resignation letter, but said he no longer believes he can effectively serve his Los Angeles district. He is the second Democratic California lawmaker to step down following allegations of sexual misconduct. He said he'll cooperate with an ongoing Assembly investigation into the claim. 

"Beyond the salacious headlines, I am confident that the completed investigation will bring to light and into focus the significant and persuasive evidence of my innocence," Dababneh wrote.

He should resign now, not wait until the end of the month.

To read more, go here. 

Suspicious Fire At Tilted Kilt Northridge

Above, the Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery last January. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

"Oh, no!" exclaimed a sobbing Glenn Thornhill in an email sent to members of the F.I.D.D.C. on news that our new annual dinner venue, the Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery in Northridge, has sustained fire damage.

Above, a Tilted Kilt waitress waiting to take orders during this year's dinner. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

According to KABC News:

NORTHRIDGE, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Investigators in Northridge are looking into what sparked a large fire that ripped through a popular restaurant overnight Monday. 

The flames broke out around 2 a.m. Tuesday morning at the Tilted Kilt. 

The fire triggered a large response from firefighters. 

Investigators said they found enough evidence to call the fire suspicious, but did not reveal what they found.

We have our suspicions (a clue is in the photo below).

To read more and see a video report, go here.

Holy Father Time! 50th Anniversary of "Batman"

Above, the Batman soundtrack album released in 1966. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Fifty years ago today, ABC-TV premiered a new television show. The show was Batman, starring Adam West as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Burt Ward as Dick Grayson/Robin.

The show was such an enormous, and overnight, sensation that it sparked "Batmania" for the rest of the year. It was high camp.

Batman premiered on Wednesday, January 12, 1966. It played locally in Los Angeles on KABC-TV Channel 7. It was an unusual show in many ways. It played on Wednesday and Thursday nights, with the Wednesday night show ending with a cliff-hanger. The Thursday show would pick up where Wednesday's show left off. It had odd (tilted) camera angles.

The show was filmed at 20th Century Fox studios and produced by William Dozier, who also provided the voice-over narrations. Neal Hefti composed the iconic "Batman Theme". A LP record of Batman soundtracks was released that year and I bought a copy, which I still have.

Many stars appeared on Batman, either as the week's guest villain (such as Burgess Meredith as The Penguin, Cesar Romero as The Joker, Julie Newmar as Catwoman, Frank Gorshin as The Riddler) or in a cameo. The cameos were set as Batman and Robin scaled a building (with their Bat-ropes) and the cameo star would open a window to banter with the Dynamic Duo.

The success of the television show spawned a feature-length motion picture that was released that summer. I saw it at the Centinela Drive-In Theater in Westchester. The second feature was Our Man Flint, a campy take-off of the James Bond movies.

Above, Adam West at Comikaze Expo in 2012. Photo by Armand Vaquer. 

The last happy memory of my maternal grandfather is due to Batman. He came over for dinner the following week after Batman premiered on a "Batman night". I believe it was the first Penguin episodes. He had not yet seen the show.

When the cartoon opening of the show came on, my grandfather laughed his head off. The show was vastly different than the Adventures of Superman of the 1950s, which he was a fan of. He passed away a few weeks later on February 12, 1966.

I saw Adam West in person at Comikaze Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center in 2012.

A Happy Bat-anniversary to all!

Tornado In Lake Elsinore? My Cousin's Five Minutes of Fame

My cousin, Ashley Kerr got some airtime on KABC-Channel 7 on a story about a funnel cloud that touched down at her home in the Lake Elsinore area.

The funnel cloud caused some minor damage when it touched down yesterday.

Here's the KABC video of my cousin:



From the KABC website:

Residents said the strong winds were frightening. Ashley Kerr and her children were in their home near Lake Elsinore when the powerful winds tore through, knocking down patio furniture.

"We were all swimming in the pool and we look up and we just see dirt and like leaves and trees and tumbleweeds flying through the air. I just yelled, 'Get out of the pool, get out of the pool," said Kerr.

Today In History: "Adventures of Superman" Premieres In L.A.

It was a hair under a year before my time, but on this date in 1953, the Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves, Phyllis Coates, Jack Larson, John Hamilton and Robert Shayne premiered in Los Angeles on KCEA-TV Channel 7 (the forerunner of KABC-TV).

The premiere episode was "Superman On Earth," which chronicled Jor-El and Lara's sending the baby Kal-El to Earth before the planet Krypton exploded.

The episodes that followed were the ones that Robert Maxwell and Bernard Luber produced. These were rock 'em, sock 'em crime dramas and not kiddie shows. Note the broadcast time in the advertisement.

King Kong vs. Godzilla

Above, Godzilla and King Kong go after each other while demolishing Atami Castle in the process.

Over at the Classic Horror Film Board (CHFB), there is currently a topic in the Japanese Giants section titled, "Was KING KONG VS GODZILLA especially loathed in monster fandom?"

One thing about G-fans (or fanatics of any genre), there's always disagreements (some heatedly) amongst them. The subject of King Kong vs. Godzilla is one of those that brings up the passion level.

King Kong vs. Godzilla was released in the U.S. by Universal Pictures in June 1963. It as a heavily-edited version that inserted American actors to "help" with the narrative. Unfortunately, those edited-in scenes actually marred the movie. The original Japanese version plays out better as the satire it was intended to be.



I first saw King Kong vs. Godzilla at the Balboa Theater in Los Angeles in the Manchester-Vermont shopping area with my parents and friends. We sat in the balcony (photo left). I was nine-years-old at the time. It was paired with John Wayne's Donovan's Reef. (This was the subject of my first G-FAN article, by the way.)

While my parents and us kids laughed at the mangy King Kong suit, we were still greatly entertained by the movie. It was my first Godzilla movie to be seen on the big screen.

The premise of the thread, "Was KING KONG VS GODZILLA especially loathed in monster fandom?" really doesn't have any legs as there was no "fandom" back in 1963. Maybe a few monster elites didn't much care for it (Forrest J. Ackerman was one, so maybe that's why he came up with the phony "two-endings" tale), but to younger teens and pre-teens (and some adults), King Kong vs. Godzilla was good, mindless entertainment. If anyone "loathes" the movie, it is mainly by revisionist fans of today. King Kong vs. Godzilla still remains the boxoffice champ (by number of tickets sold) of all the Toho-produced Godzilla movies.

As an adult, I still find it fun and entertaining, but I now prefer the Japanese version.

A few side notes:

Back in 1972, I was perusing the now-defunct Los Angeles Herald-Examiner's sports section and on page two, there was a doctored photo of King Kong and Godzilla in a boxing ring wearing boxing gloves. It was to hype KABC-TV Channel 7's airing of the movie. That got me wanting to see it again.

Some of the locations in King Kong vs. Godzilla are covered in The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan. They include Atami Castle, Diet Building, Mt. Fuji and Ginza (interestingly, the overhead tracking shots of Ginza are only in the American version).

The Balboa Theater still stands, but it had been converted into a mosque and is now up for sale. The theater opened in April 1926. It was once part of the Fox-West Coast Theater chain.