White Boy/White Dog Move To Skid Row

Certified Beach Dude Moves To Downtown Los Angeles

Yesterday, Sunday the 2nd, was a great day. It rained rather gently in the morning, and made my morning White Dog walk very enjoyable. I was trying to decide what to do at mid-morning: hit the gym, take Isis to Lofty Dog Indoor Dog Park, or eat breakfast and sleep some more. Sleep won out- I needed it as I was out again Saturday night, still rollin’ from the Halloween Festivities Friday.

I know the Pershing Square “No On 8″ rally was not going to work for me. On the weekend, I need to keep Isis occupied as she is used to to a 1-hour+ group dog walk, and I can’t take that away from her. If the rally was a march, it would have been different, but she just cannot stand around with people for any amount of time without starting to whine and do her “dance” on the leash (she’s getting really good at standing on hind legs and moving her front paws like she’s “grooving” to some tunes- of course people have to stop and check this out, which is cool, but it’s not burning energy like walking).

I decide I have to take her to the Lofty Dog’s indoor dog park- I pay $60/month to be able to use it, and I want to take advantage of it. Usually there’s a few dogs there, at least the owner, Cabrini’s four or so dogs. So after my mid-morning nap I head over to Barker Block. First thing I notice is the line of tour buses along Main St. in front of CalTrans, and some music coming from City Hall- I guess the hateful “Yes on 8″ folks have arrived, but I’m not going near there. Unfortunately, some of them had decided to hang out at the corner of 2nd and Los Angeles and 2nd and San Pedro with their signs (and goofy outfits, I must say- kind of “Cub Scout” looking, I don’t know why, not Mormon I don’t think). So as my blood begins to boil I give them all the finger and start yelling at them- I didn’t realize how pissed I’d be when I actually saw these people- glad I didn’t have a sign as I honestly could have hit one of them just for fun. The weird thing was they were all Asians- someone told me later they were bused in from Torrance/South Bay- my old stomping grounds- not sure what church they belong to but I don’t think it’s the temples that my Asian friends’ parents go to.

Then, more action- little did I know but there was a Columbian street festival, complete with live bands, and the closure of Hewitt St. for vendors, etc. It was pretty much of a zoo. I get to Lofty Dogs and see Cabrini and Karen out front, having a bbq! They said they really had heard nothing about the festival, but decided to just go with it and have fun.

Honestly, when I was in the dog park, there was a non-stop procession of interested visitors coming to the gate and watching me and Isis as all the other dogs were in a seperate fenced in area- some were Cabrini’s and some were maybe bording? Maybe some of these folks will become dog park members or Lofty Dog clients, so of course I didn’t care, but it was a little like being in a “fishbowl”. But having the main place to ourselves gave me some time to train Isis on the various obsticles, using treats, which is near impossible with a pack of dogs following us around.

Isis is getting to be pretty good on the slide- and she can almost run up it backwards, which usually results in her slipping and sliding back down on her side or back, but she can even control that a little now. Here’s a few pics and video (you can hear the Columbian bands that were right next door to warehouse and sounded pretty good!)

When I returned home mid-afternoon, I didn’t see any Yes on 8 protestors on 2nd St, which was good. But up in my loft the crowd noise was getting louder and louder- I’m thinking “these haters can’t be that numerous and that vocal can they?” And then, I make out the chants of “No on 8″- very cool! It seems that some of the Pershing Square folks decide to march right up to City Hall and have a yelling match with the Bible Thumpers. And they were holding their own, from what I could hear. It turns out that Sasha Baron Cohen, of Ali G and Borat fame, who’s filming his new “Bruno” move, had infiltrated the “Yes on 8″ folks and was marching with them- all as a farce, of course (can’t wait to see the movie, as Bruno was a favorite Ali G character of mine).

Then the “No on 8″ folks marched down Spring St. and stopped at the corner of Spring and 2nd for quite awhile- I was not sure why. Eventually I decide to take a quick movie- and of course they were just dispersing then, with the heavy police presence right behind them.

Today I found out one of the reasons they were looking at the Higgins and kept cheering- a neighbor had a great idea on how to show support for “No on 8″- and a pic of a banner the “Yes on 8″ folks thought was appropriate- just shows how ignorant they are…

Above 2 pics by czarlos Check out more of his pics from event here- great pics!