It's Jeopardy!

On Tuesday (today is Thursday), we took a bus tour to the Farmers' Market in Los Angeles for lunch. It was o.k., but the Farmers' Market is more of an institution than what I was expecting. There are fruits and veggies, but many butcher shops (or meat shops) surprised me. Then it was off to Culver City where the Sony Studios are. The Black List and a couple of other shows I recognized are produced there.

Jeopardy shares the studio with Wheel of Fortune and if you are a contestant on one, you can't be a contestant on the other for something like ten years. Jeopardy only tapes two days per week, so we saw two different shows being taped. They had already had another taping in the a.m. before we got there for a 2 p.m. start. We left at 4 p.m. just in time to dive head first into LA afternoon traffic. It took us 3 hours to get back (only 2 hours to get there even with the traffic totally stopped at one point due to a car fire).

Alex Trebec is really a stand up guy! When they had a break (where commercials would be inserted locally), he would take questions from the audience.

We weren't supposed to take any pictures inside the studio, but I sneaked a couple that you can see below. They had a practice before the taping and some guy was feeding REALLY easy questions to the 3 contestants. They were checking the microphones and lighting. Then they brought the other 3 up from the second show to practice.

You can see the board on the left is just the way you see it on TV. On the very far right is the monitor (there's one on the far left too) so the audience can see what people see on TV.

Again, this is during the practice when no taping was going on. You can see a dividing wall in the audience on the left. We were in the second half of the studio audience. To the right of us in the audience were the contestants and their families and friends. We were told not to speak to any of these people because if we spoke to a contestant s/he would be immediately disqualified. There was a fellow who cued us when to applaud or when to be silent.

There was a break between the two tapings and they let us go either to the rest room or to take a photo. I chose the photo op.

The last picture (below) is from our drive into LA. I took this from the bus trying to show the traffic. It was heavier than it looks!

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The next day, on Wednesday, we went to see The Favourite at the movies. Don't. Well, no, you should make up your own mind. But originally, I thought of titling a review of it as "Fuc*king, Puking, and Bad Makeup." The music at times was so awful that I wanted to run from the theatre. They used a fish eye lens multiple times for no reason. Everywhere you looked someone was either fornicating or puking or both. When we finally got home, Mom looked up the history of Queen Anne, King James' daughter. And the movie had it right except for one bit of poetic license. I think all of the pallor of death makeup that the noblemen wore (and some of the women) must have had lead in it because they were all stark raving mad.

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From the Did She Hum While Building? Department:

Our neighbors, Eric and Paul, have a new tenant on their patio. Mama Hummingbird started her nest by picking up George the Dog's black fur after Eric swept it out of the house. We were wondering about the blue -- Eric thought she may have hired a gay decorator -- but the mystery was solved. She used pieces of a chewed up dog toy that Sammy (the pup across the way) had left out on his patio!

Photo Courtesy of Eric Adams

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Today we had a lovely time shopping and then we had lunch at Aqua, which is at The River.  A river? you say. In the desert? Yup, you can see it below. Last winter, they froze the sucker so people could ice skate. Really. I don't know if they will do that again or not this year. 

Right now it's raining like crazy. In the desert? you say. Yes. Sigh. We have had more rain here than they have had in two years! We have a flash flood warning going on. I have a feeling that it will be a flower-filled March!

Mom asked if those are storks or cranes. I only know it's a stork if they have a blanket with a baby in the bill. But I'm guessing those are cranes.

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I am so sorry that the East (and many other parts of the country) are going through a deep freeze. I'm just so grateful to be here! As my friend, Ang Pompano, said: there are only 47 days until spring! Cheers!

COD

The COD, aka College of the Desert has the best open air market/swap meet/street fair/good time around. We went on Sunday, two hours before closing. It was great walking around in the 74 F. temperature with a moderate crowd. LeeAnne was amazed at how much it had grown since she had last been there. Of course, the College keeps adding buildings, so the street fair has been moved while also adding many more rows of vendors.

Aren't these guys cute? I like the non-shiny one best (second from the top).

Gotta have some Palm Springs bling! The COD is in Palm Desert but these vendors know their market!

I wish they hadn't added the little crosses necklace because I like the clean lines of "the balls." But I had a feeling they didn't want my advice on display.

This photo does not do justice to this jacket. It is a true work of art. The seller saw me eyeing it and told me that they are designed  and made in "The Valley." That's the Coachella Valley. 

How can you resist these dots? I made the faux pas of calling them polka dots, which brings to mind the lovely polka music and dancing that I used to watch on local TV on the weekends. (Local to the Pioneer Valley, that is.)

These scarves gleamed in the sunshine. They were not only lacy, but also infused with tiny metal balls.

This blue painting is stunning in person and also about 5 feet tall.

Let the colors flow!

Mom was appalled that this dress cost $175. "It's hand painted!" I exclaimed. 

This fellow has totally caught the Palm Springs sensibilities.

These raisins were better that those of September. (LeeAnne bought some.) I didn't taste the Medjool dates, but both Mom and LeeAnne agreed that they were as sweet as candy.

Yes, these were genuine granny squares woven into the blouse. The fiber used for the squares looked like thread used for darning.

 These colors just drew me right in. The gorgeous blue on the far right was a mere $125. I didn't buy it. I had a very hard time passing up the over blouse and tank top (green) on the far left. It wasn't that expensive, but it was double what I usually pay. Maybe I'll treat myself on my birthday.

And last, but not least, these little guys are also metal. There are some really big ones (about two feet high) on the left that I cropped out. They were too big. Although I supposed if you put them about a half acre away, it wouldn't be bad.

So Much to Tell You

As usual, I'm a little late with things due to my having to use Mom's computer to post my pictures. Somehow I have to be able to do it from my Chromebook!! I can get the pictures there (in Google photos), but I can't save them anywhere. Sigh.

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Here's my picture of the Red Wolf Moon. It was fun watching it with Mom and LeeAnne.

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We had five days of rain which is quite unusual in the desert, followed by two REALLY windy days. I would like to say all of these cuttings are from the wind, but this is the normal twice weekly cuttings. The wind did blow down A LOT of hard brown palm tree bark but I didn't think to get a picture for you. I stacked some up outside because the pieced were really messy strewn about the lawn. And one piece looked like a dog on its back and it was weird. One piece I picked up looked like a breast plate for someone skinnier than I.

The fruit has fallen off the trees.

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Yesterday, Mom and I went to the "cheap movies."  (The ticket is only $5, but if you get a diet Coke, that's $4, lol.) She saw Vice and I saw Aquaman. She said she came out of the movie know that Dick Cheney was a "not nice" man. I came out of my movie liking it a lot. The CGI was amazing and there were some well known actors and a bit of humor.

As we drove out of the parking lot, Mom asked if I wanted to see Cardenas, a Mexican supermarket. I said, "Sure!" and we set off on our merry way.

Since I was driving, and I noticed it, I asked Mom if I could go into the marijuana shop. Curiosity, you know. Screech! I zoomed into their parking lot.

There is a little office with chairs and a receptionist. I asked if I could take pictures for my friends in Massachusetts where we have voted in the shops but none have opened yet. Ooops, I just realized one has opened in Central Mass. Oh, well. The receptionist said, "Just like Michigan."

After showing my ID, (I figured this was not a good time to use my government issued gun license) she buzzed me into the retail space. BTW, on TV they were saying that a lot of customers are over 50 years old and looking for pain relief with marijuana.

This is one of two large cases with sales people behind. No, I don't know what this stuff is!

These are packages of cookies (edibles) for $32/pack. Only the two with the green top will ease pain and not get you high. Too bad: no chocolate, only vanilla. The other cookies will get you high. You can see some of their wearables on the right. I didn't see if they were made from hemp. Mom was waiting in the car and I didn't want to take too long. No, I didn't buy anything.

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So then we went around the corner to Cardenas.

 Always the Best!

There were lots of beans. I'm not sure if the big bags in the back are beans, but I did see bags that big (50 pounds?) of rice and corn. People like to buy in bulk here! The trays of chicken legs, for instance were huge -- 20 or so to a pack.

Mom was impressed with the neatly stacked produce, but I had seen this at Whole Foods.

This is one of two artificial trees in the fruit area. It made it seem, like we were in an open air market. I really liked it. The store was really really busy at about 3:30 p.m. The kid on the left kept making his little brother giggle which I thought was kind of nice. Usually, kids are fighting.

I had never seen these before. This was a huge jar -- not something I wanted to try. They also had a huge bar with crema and cheese and soupy stuff that a lady would measure out for you. I felt very ignorant because I had never seen much of the stuff.

In another area, they were grilling chickens. The chef chopped a whole chicken in half with one blow of a hatchet and he grilled a half chicken at a time. He and the ladies packing newly fried nacho chips were behind glass so you could watch. In front of them were huge bags of masa (dough made from corn to be used in tortillas). Of course, there were many many displays of bagged tortillas and corn husks.

I bought a chayote which someone said was low carb and they used it for mock apple pie. Well, they must have used a ton of apple pie spice and sugar because it tastes like -- nothing. Actually, it reminded me of a raw potato.

We didn't go down the rows here, but at the Food for Less near the gym, they sell a lot of cane sugar. An the packages look like the cones of thread used on a long arm quilting machine. I asked the cashier what it's used for and I picked the one Anglo who had no idea. They must have to grate the sugar because the cone is hard and packed in clear plastic.

This week I'm taking it easy because last week, we were out four times in five days. That's a lot of wine!

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In the finally finished department: Palm Springs Sunset

Yes, the grass really is that green. The piece is on a plastic bag and that's what is peeking out on the left.

I hope you are having a wonderful time wherever you are. Cheers!

Half of 36

LeeAnne drove Mom and me to the Rancho Mirage Library today so we could go on the 3 p.m. observatory tour. Yes, the public library has an observatory!

First I bopped into the library to see if anything had changed. I think the aquarium which is part of the Children's Room is new, but I'm not sure.

 This self check out machine is outside of the Children's Room.

 Computer Room

 Quartz Exhibit in the case.

This lady on the right might have been working on a book (she had note cards) in the Local Authors nook.

 This is 50% of the view -- I didn't want to photo the other people who were reading and facing the camera.

 No question about the function of this desk!

 Here is half of the observatory. There is a small dome on the right, which is actually the rest rooms. But the design is supposed to look like a comet.

 The foundation of the building is quite interesting with cement piers that do down 20 feet in order to minimize movement.

 Entrance is up a ramp, making the whole observatory ADA compliant. One woman who was using a walker had no problems.

 First was a solar telescope.

 These cement pads all have a data port and an electrical port. It's the top of the concrete pillars. When they have solar scolars, they set up a telescope on each pad.

 Inside the cosmic (or celestial) office. Red lights keep the light low and is easier on the eyes at night.

 Work stations with screen saver photos taken by this telescope.

Still in the office, you can see the telescope through the window. The screen is the weather screen.

Can you see how dark the window is now? The tour guide was able to darken the window at a push of a button.

The big screen behind these telescopes is basically 'today's status of the telescope.' It was offline.

We had to go outside to get into the telescope room and this is the view looking over the railing on the ramp.

And finally, we were in with the telescope. Our group was 36 and the tour guide could only take half in at a time. We were in the second group, which was fine. It was a nice day (a bit nippy for the natives) and we chatted.

There is a periscope on the side of this telescope, which is not usual. But the library's mission is to engage and educate the public so the periscope was added for the public to look through the telescope. They have stargazing nights once a month (that fill up a month in advance) and an astronomer will focus on 'two or three interesting things' that the public can look at. 

 This is the office looking down through the window in the telescope room.

It was really interesting and fun. I learned about the difference between a Gallileoean and a Newtonian telescope. I learned that there is a dog house to get into the telescope room because you don't want there to be more than a 10 degree difference between outside and inside. They lower the temperature when the ceiling is open on a chilly desert night. The flooring is made of especially dense wood (so heavy that it sinks in water) in order to minimize movement due to temperature changes.

I'm sure I learned other things ... but the memory is not so good! It was a fun time. I highly recommend a trip to the Library!