^ You forgot the weather, 75-80 today in Southern California.

It was 95 in downtown LA actually. 91 in Santa Barbara the day before whixh was miserable.

Bunker Hill kinda sucks, but its supposed to, since its the Financial District. The Theater District (along Broadway), Jewelery and Toy districts along with Santee Alley are definitely worth a trip to see.

I love LA, but its good points are tough to find if you don't look hard enough. For as many visitors as it attracts, its probably one of the least tourist-friendly cities I've ever been to.

As for the heat, anything above 85 in Southern California is uncomfortable. Its not as humid as the Midwest, Florida or East Texas, but to someone from Arizona, its definitely noticeable. Doesn't help that a lot of older buildings don't have air conditioning. Its hit 110 in inland Orange County, and the house I lived in at the time lacked air conditioning...

Yeah it did crack the 90s in El Cajon, Ramona, which really aren't that far from the ocean. Some records were shattered the past 2 days. I'm surprised it got so hot in Santa Barbara though!

I've been meaning to do an LA trip for so long...maybe this summer finally.

It's weird, I can't wait to go to cities like SF, Chicago, NYC, DC and there is a huge, interesting international city just a few hours away by car and I never go. I've been a bunch of times but never explored the city in the same way I do those other cities. I usually just go to the beach, do some shopping a mall and that's about it.

Come to think of it, I don't even know much about it. What are the good places to go? Do they have a happening urban area with sidewalk patios and people strolling by? Something like the Gaslamp in SD?

So many areas were just teeming with pedestrians and very cosmopolitan. I loved koreatown, santa monica, and just about the whole westside. Beverly hills was a trip so much money. Bentleys were more common than civics.

I love LA. It is a severely misunderstood and under-rated city. It has that energy that I've only experienced in New York.

When I go, I usually stay with friends/family along the coastal communities (SM, Venice, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach), but I have stayed at the Westin Bonaventure Downtown - located in the heart of DTLA, close access to the red line subway to get to Hollywood, which was also a good time.

Hollywood was weird. I wouldn't do that tourist trap again.

Next time I go, I want to hit the beach cities and go back to Brentwood and find the Fresh Prince house. That was my favorite show growing up and I really wanted to see that house, but we ran out of time.

I did feel as though there was a good chance of getting carjacked/mugged just about everywhere I went though. Call it racism if you want, but all those cholos got me on edge.

I've been through South Central a couple of times, which isn't nearly as intimidating a built environment as we're led to believe. Personally, I find places like the South Side of Chicago and parts of Over-the-Rhine and the West End of Cincinnati (my hometown) much more intimidating.

Chicago's southside scares the shit out of me like nothing else I know of. Crime in Chicago though, is historically much higher than Los Angeles. I've also found myself in some neighborhoods just north of downtown Detroit that were pretty effed up.

Haha I lived, albeit a very short time, on Chicago's Southside (Woodlawn) as a kid. It's bad but not really as bad as most people would think, especially with Woodlawn being one of the worst areas of the Southside. During the wintertime, though, it's incredibly bleak. Then again, that's true for much of Chicago outside of the Loop.

I vaguely recall the area around Tiger Stadium in Detroit being sketchy, but this was way back in 1993, so who knows what its like nowadays...

This looks to have some good info...haven't actually read it myself yet...

http://www.azcentral.com/community/p...es-debate.html

Apropos of nothing, I found this sweet retro style Phoenix Giants hat online today:

http://www.ebbets.com/product/Phoeni...llcap/Ballcaps

I'll probably buy it. I'd love to get a Firebirds hat and I know New Era did a run of them a few years ago but they were kind of cheap and flimsy and never in my gigantic size :/

The same website also has a (very pricey!) Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings jersey:
http://www.ebbets.com/product/Bisbee...aseballJerseys

I picked up a firebirds hat at Lidz just a few months ago. It is the same 59/50 fitted cap that they make for every other team. Many people don't know that Lidz has lots of exclusives from New Era.

While we're on the topic of hats, I have never owned a D'backs hat simply because their hats are hideous. I like the new colors, that was a great move, but the logo has got to go.

How about they make a hat with the letters "AZ" overlapping each other? A logo that is timeless and never needed to be changed ever again...:shrug:

you mean a logo like every other team in the league? Fuck that I'd rather have something at least a little bit different. I like the big D shaped snake.

I totally agree. Their logos suck. The "D" snake logo is kiddie crap. Ball caps look the best with simple letters. Actully I wish they had taken the firebirds logo/colors etc when they became a franchise. Even if that's not a lettered ball cap, it looks good.

Totally agree with you on the Firebirds thing. Thats what both the Angels and Padres did, they just 'graduated' their AAA team logo/nickname to the MLB.

"Arizona Diamondbacks" was always an awful name. Too many syllables and I hate when pro teams use the states name instead of the Cities, that seems like something that should be reserved for colleges. "Phoenix Firebirds" rolls off thr tongue, plus their colors were the colors of the state flag, it was great.

The biggest problem with the D'backs hats is they don't really work to represent the City. Think about how often you see people in Yankees, Red Sox or Dodgers hats. Really they're wearing them more as New York, Boston or Los Angeles caps as opposed to for that particular team. I've known many people who don't care about sports at all but wear the cap that represents their home City.

If the Suns were smart they'd fill the gap the D'backs have left. I've always wanted a dark purple (or black or charcoal) hat with an orange Western style "P" like on the original Suns uni's (and seen in my avatar). I think something like that could become synonymous with Phoenix and that would be cool.

E: I type this while I sit here in a red D'backs hat with the D. I'm a fan, so Ill wear pretty much whatever my home team puts out, but I do wish they had better stuff. I HATE that the home uni's say "D*Backs", ugh, so lame. I wish they all just said "Arizona" like the road grays, those are the slickest uni's they've had in Franchise history (I have one).

Hoover, I hate state names fOr teams too. U hit the nail on the head with people wearing a hat for the city not necessarily a team. Not many people want to rep Phoenix with a corny D snake hat, unfortunately. And the coyotes r going to become the Arizona coyotes. Bleck.

I cant blame tgese teams for not wanting to be phoenix anytging.

This is absolutely correct. How many people have we all seen that will tattoo these logos into their bodies to represent their hometown?

When you watch a dodger game, 90% of the crowd is sporting their one and only blue LA hats. The SD and SF hats are huge too and they all play in the same division. I'd rock an AZ hat if it ever happens...Until then, I'll stick with the Red Sox.

From a financial perspective: Imagine how much additional revenue the D'backs would generate by creating classic, traditional, timeless merchandise. For the kids, they could keep making the pink and goofy hats.

I'd buy stuff in a heartbeat if they ever did that. I was uber disappointed when they went with the new colors and basically kept the old logos. As it is now I only have 1 d-backs shirt that I mostly wear as a workout T. No way will I buy a hat. The team is so kid/family oriented and lowest common fan (people that know nothing about baseball but have some discretionary income) oriented it's really quite lame.

Hoover, why don't you make the hat you're talking about (westernish-style "P" on a dark hat)? I'd buy one.

That's not really the reason... Phoenix is such a big city in a state without competing big cities. The Phoenix-based teams want to show the state they rep everyone in Arizona (and thusly everyone in Arizona thinks it's their team so they buy more merchandise and support the team).

If Tucson was slightly bigger to warrant a pro sports team, do you think any Phoenix (or Tucson for that matter) team would be named Arizona Anythings? Hell no, it would be a city rivalry and the team would be all about the city.

Don't they make that suns hat?

Speaking of the D-backs unis... did anyone see their opening day game in Colorado? The guys on the bench were wearing hoodies that had a classic simple athletic look to them.

http://mlb.imageg.net/graphics/produ...-7108169dt.jpg

If they made that "A" into their cap, that would be simple and cool. Hell, make the David Blaine copied "db" logo their main logo and put it on the cap. Using a nickname logo as your main cap logo isn't very traditional, but anything is better than the "D" or the snake looking "A".

http://www.lids.com/MLB/Arizona-Diamondbacks/20141080

http://www.lids.com/NBA/Phoenix-Suns/20234586

you'd be walking around in a hat that says you're a DB!!

Not a fan of either hat. It is very difficult to match orange and purple into everyday street clothes. The hat is only good for game night (if that).

The black on black "db" hat is somewhat better bc the hat could go with anything you wear, but I've never been much of a fan of hats of the mascot. ie: old Cleveland Indians, Florida Marlins, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, etc...

What about, like, an upper case P that's on fire?

I like Cincinnati's white wishbone C for the Reds, but I'm a homer, so take from that what you will.

I tried to get it made at uh....Lids or the Hat Club or one of those places that does custom hat stitching in a mall. However they wouldn't do it because I wanted an orange Western "P" with a slight white outline (again, see my avatar) and the guy caught on that I was doing a Suns inspired thing. They said they couldn't do it because its too similar to something thats been copy written by the Suns.

I also think it would be sweet to have on the back of the hat a small setting sun with either "Suns" or "PHX" in it, like used to be on the Suns shorts:

http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba...estphalPhx.jpg

One day when I win the lotto and have enough money to create a Phoenix version of something like StL Style I'll make said hat :D


Not that I've ever seen. The nearest thing I've seen is a black or charcoal hat that in white letters spells out "Phoenix" in the western font on a slight arch.

Not a fan of either, the Suns one is just too much orange. I'm not a big fan of the D'backs "DB" logo as once I saw it the first time I thought "that looks like a cross section of a penis" and now every time I see it I can't get that immature thought out of my head.

You're not being a homer, its a great cap. You see that hat you immediately think Cincinnati (even though the Chicago Bears C is similar, but the colors make it distinct). I see that hat and I think "WKRP", "Skyline Chili", etc and thats great.

The Snakes easily have the worst caps in the NL. The only team in baseball that I think is worse is the new school Blue Jays hat with the bird coming out of the "J", its atrocious (though the old Jays stuff was nice).

Heck even Tampa Bay wised up and came out with those very sharp "TB" hats when they did their image update and realized style choices made in the mid and late 90's were horrifying.

ding ding ding! That is the worst era ever for uni/logo/color design. That crap will never even come back as fashionable "throwbacks" unless it's as a joke.

I do remember watching the unveiling of the Phoenix Coyotes shortly after they relocated from Winnipeg and I was 100% sure they were going to be named the Arizona Coyotes. Even back then in 1996 I was pissed about teams being named after states. When I saw they were unveilied as the Phoenix Coyotes I rejoiced (only to now find out they're becoming the Arizona Coyotes if the whole gig out there in Glendale is ever figured out).

When the Diamondbacks were unveilied I remember thinking about how sh!tty the teal/purple combination was and how disappointed I was in the design. If only they'd listen to me/us...

I was able to mock this up at Lids.com but the problem is even with it set to the largest available font the "P" looks tiny and silly:

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/1874/phata.png
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/1793/phxhat.png
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/8087/phatgrey.png
http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/3236/greyback.png


even if I did figure out a way to mass produce something like this I'm sure I'd eventually get a cease and desist from the Suns. Which would be OK by me, I wouldn't care as long as they agreed to start making the hats themselves. Seems like such an obvious idea...

The grey looks really nice and would be a good option for males not comfortable with purple (though I'm a borderline dandy, so I'd probably go purple). Plus with the Suns using the grey/graphite trim on their uni's these days it works.

^^ I'd definitely purchase those hats. Simple and clean.

To follow up on the car talk from earlier...

http://www.phxphotos.com/2011Audi/9.jpg

:)

Now I have to do a downtown car photo shoot like I did with my old car when I first bought it. Maybe next weekend. :D

http://nitnelav.com/AudiDowntown6.JPG

http://nitnelav.com/AudiDowntown8.JPG

Congrats dude. Thats a nice looking ride.

Does anyone here mountain bike more than just as a weekend warrior?

Discovered a killer trail today at Estrella and ate shit on one descent.

^^I used to ride the Desert Classic trail in South Mountain.

I was a weekend warrior though.

Thanks man, I'm really liking it.

Sweet rainbow just now! I think it's the best I've ever seen in person.

http://nitnelav.com/rainbow.jpg

double rainbow oh my god!!! WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!

haha

btw, if you need some car shots, I'll be happy to tag along and take some. That's my forte and I've been published in some car and motorcycle mags and websites.

Yea? That would be sweet. Gotta wait till I get some tint and wheel spacers then I'm down.

from a shoot I recently did for Greasy Kulture Magazine

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._3388813_n.jpg

I don't know if this will interest anyone else, but I found the MP3's for Ferde Grofe's "Valley of the Sun Suite" online.

If you're not familiar with "The Valley of the Sun Suite" (you've almost assuredly heard Grofe's more famous "Grand Canyon Suite") here's a little about it:

Description from this blog.

He also has an image of the album artwork:
http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/9383/0009071.jpg

The third movement is named Masque of the Yellow Moon, which is about a sadly bygone tradition in Phoenix that sounds like it was really something to see. You can read more about the Masque here. Thankfully there's talk that one Marshall Shore may be trying to revive the Masque in some capacity down the line.

Uhh WTF Brewer?!

Why the F should they be able to choose their corporate tax formulas to benefit themselves. Good for her not bending over and taking it from corporate america.

I don't know the details of the legislation or the tax code, obviously, but nothing from what was posted above makes me think Brewer did anything I wouldn't have done. Eff Apollo Group's lobby and statements threatening Arizona.

Do other states do it?

No idea. But they've been here for years and grew here into a huge company making tons of money for years in Arizona. Now all of the sudden they want their tax formulas changed to benefit themselves (detrimental to arizona's tax collections), especially now that they're hurting big time.

Sounds almost like they want an indirect bailout from Arizona and if they don't get it they threaten to move.

Again, I obviously don't know much about what's going on sans what the article says, but I say good for Brewer.

This is one of the problems with our economy relying so much on large companies (like U of Phoenix) that don't require much skilled labor - they can move much more easily than a company who's capital is in skilled employees.

Im sure some state will give in. Ahh... Down economies.