GIGA GRANADA HILLS

According to a losangelescannabisclubs.com user review dated July 3, 2009, Golden State Collective was raided by police. "Unfortunately I am writing this review post-raid that took place earlier this evening. I would be asleep right about now but was not able to get the medicine needed for my insomnia. (The only thing that ever helped me fall asleep at a decent hour.) " Golden State Collective is the place that I bought marijuana-laced Rice Krispie treats for my stepfather, who had cancer of the liver. The treats were nicely packaged and labeled, which decreased his reluctance to give them a try. They gave him some periods of relief from the months and months of continuous nausea he suffered toward the end of his life, which happened just eight months ago. I have not been able to verify the rumors that GSC was raided; GSC's phone has a "mailbox is full" message, and LAPD has not yet responded to a request for information. A sign in the window says that the...

8:00 a.m. this morning The L.A. Times would call me hard-hearted, but I don't like giving over my recyclables to pilferers. After July 4th, my recycling bin was stuffed with a wealth of beer bottles and soda cans. So instead of putting it out the night before for collection, I delayed and put it on the street only when I started hearing collection trucks rumbling by. Minutes later, I heard the clink of bottles and the rattle of a shopping cart as the items were being plucked from my bin by the enterprising fellow pictured above. Is he hard-working? Certainly. Deserving? Probably. Indigent scum? Not at all. He's clearly just a guy who's doing a dirty job while trying to make ends meet. So why deny him my refuse? My argument against pilferers has Utilitarian roots. Simply put, municipal curbside recycling programs perform a greater good for a greater number of people, and I feel it's important to keep them financially viable. Scavengers undermine municipal ...

The following entry was written by guest blogger Lee Lavi Ramirez, chief instructor at the newly relocated Aikido center North Valley Aikikai , located on San Fernando Mission Boulevard, two doors down from the Tender Glow. I had no idea that homelessness was so close to home. I've lived in Granada Hills for almost seven years now, and drove almost daily through the busy shopping center on the Northeast corner of Balboa and San Fernando Mission Boulevards. Right near Jack in the Box, behind the Trader Joe's store there is an island, full of bushes. The bushes were full and quite tall, and used to be the home of some people. The first time I noticed this was when I opened my Aikido school, on San Fernando Mission, and started walking to my bank across the street. As I was passing by, I heard people talking, and then saw a few chairs in between the bushes, with people on them, talking and drinking. The next time, one early morning, I noticed the sleeping bags, and even a mattre...

It's only about a 45 minute drive from Granada Hills to the enchanting town of to Fillmore, home of many lovely farms, fruit stands, and this time of year, plentiful safe 'n' sane fireworks. Buying and transporting such fireworks back to your Granada Hills backyard might make you a scofflaw, but it also means you're supporting of organizations like the Vernon Police Officers Benefit, Rotary Club, AYSO, and Future Farmers of America. Oh, and did I also mention that it makes you a patriotic American? Yep, it's true. City slicker types might prefer to head to the El Monte area, not too far from Pasadena, where you can stop for a lovely lunch in the Old Town shopping district, thus further stimulating the American economy. For locations, visit the TNT Fireworks site.

A number of parents and family members were denied access to their children's graduation ceremony at Kennedy High. Why is it that I never hear anything good about that school? View more news videos at: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/video .

image lifted from runchadrun In my baby book, on the line next to "Baby's First Car Trip," it says "Gemco." Gemco, of course, later became Target, which is basically the same store with better picture frames. A few years ago, this friendly little Target was demolished and rebuilt into the megamart it is today. I'm not sentimental because I'm a knee-jerk opponent of change, but there's a lot I miss about the previous incarnation of Tar-jhay. First of all, now that you have to take an escalator to get into the store, there's no more pretending that you're going to run in and run out, which never actually happened to me anyway, because of mission creep. Going up that escalator gives a trip to Target a new sense of commitment. The thing I miss the most, though, is the garden department. I used the garden entrance more often than I used the main entrance, simply because it was so pleasant to walk through the cool, damp mini-jungle filled with...

Despite the deteriorating sign and grimy interior, Fumi's gets good reviews from hobbyists for fish care know-how. I'm a regular buyer of seven-for-a-dollar goldfish there since my fishpond is frequently decimated by neighborhood raccoons . They do have an impressive selection of fish -- it's clear that all of the money Fumi's makes goes into inventory, and none of it goes into maintenance. Overheard in the aisles: "They've got a lot of great triggers here." When I asked the owner if I could take his picture for this blog, he demurred, saying that as a published author he wanted to keep a low profile. It turns out that Fumi's current proprietor (Mr. Fumi retired, and so did the two Thai ladies who followed him) has published many short stories in Korean, and one in English that's listed on Amazon.com , and is currently at work on another novel. That means that Fumi's is the fish and literary capital of our town. Who knew?