The L.A. Weekly has a profile of my friend Juliette Ochieng, aka Baldilocks, in the current issue. The article focuses on some uncanny parallels between the lives of Juliette and Barack Obama — and the different ways they have responded to those parallels. Juliette says it’s mostly accurate.

Yours truly is quoted (cut me some slack; the interview was me talking on speakerphone on a bad connection as I headed down the 110 freeway after work).

It’s interesting stuff. Go read it all.

And Juliette? The picture looks great.

Kevin Murphy of the Interocitor blog has a letter to the editor in today’s L.A. Times with a clever idea:

A humble suggestion for naming the Metro lines: forget colors or letters or other mundane schemes. Follow London’s example of memorable names.

To visitors, this is Hollywood. Name the lines “Bogart,” “Monroe,” “Hepburn,” “Gable” and such. Public awareness will take care of itself; all language issues will vanish with proper signage; and the map color can be arbitrary.

KEVIN MURPHY

Los Angeles

Good idea.

I guess it’s okay to tell you that Xrlq is no longer a Californian, since he just announced it. Congratulations to him on his new home on a three-acre lot in Virginia.

There’s just one thing that I don’t understand. If he wanted a home on a three-acre lot, why didn’t he just get one here in California?

Dan Weintraub, who was the keynote speaker at our recent Bear Flag League Conference, has a nice column today about the League.

Today’s Bear Flag League Conference was, I thought, a smashing success. I saw some old friends, met some new ones, and had a fabulous time.

I think I convinced Ted Costa to post, in a clearly accessible fashion, the text of the version of Prop. 77 that was circulated to the voters, so that we can see for ourselves whether Bill Lockyer’s lawsuit to remove it from the ballot has any merit. I complained about the L.A. Times‘s failure to do that in this post; hopefully we can soon compare the documents for ourselves.

Dan Weintraub interviewed me, so I may make an appearance in an upcoming column of his. Why he would want to interview me, of all people, I have no idea; if I show up in the column, I suppose he’ll explain why . . .

Good food, good company — a great time. I’m sure many of the participants will be weighing in with posts and pictures; I’ll try to link a few here.

UPDATE: Here are some links:

Flap has pictures and some notes from the event.

I can assure you that Kevin Drum survived his trip to the dark side.

Breaker has pictures.

Dafydd ab Hugh has a fictional and rather bizarrely amusing account of the event. He’s right about the directions.

[7-15-05 UPDATE: I am bumping this post to near the top of the blog this evening because of the link from Hugh Hewitt. There is a special deal available for his listeners in this post that I don’t want you to miss.]

This is a reminder that the Bear Flag League Conference will be on July 17 at the Avery House at Caltech in Pasadena.

$50 [but see below] gets you lunch, the chance to hear Dan Weintraub, Bob Hertzberg, Ted Costa, and others — and the chance to meet some of your favorite Southern California bloggers, including Gerard Vanderleun of American Digest, Xrlq, Baldilocks, Gay Patriot, BoiFromTroy, members of Local Liberty Blog, Little Miss Attila, and others. Including me.

And the invitation is open to anyone! You don’t have to be a blogger.

If you are a Hugh Hewitt listener, I can get you in for $40. Just write me at this link and tell me that you’re a Hugh Hewitt listener, and I’ll make the arrangements for you.

I hope to see you there.

UPDATE: Offer extended to readers of Captain’s Quarters (though I believe there is substantial overlap between his audience and Hugh’s). Thanks to Dafydd for mentioning this. To start the process, just leave a comment with a contact e-mail.

UPDATE x2: Dafydd ab Hugh and his lovely wife Sachi will also be attending.

UPDATE x3 (7-5-05): I just learned that Kevin Drum will be attending. I respect Kevin (who is wrong about almost everything) a lot, and love his blog. I am very much looking forward to meeting him.

Come meet Dan Weintraub, Bob Hertzberg, and Ted Costa. Oh, heck — who cares about those guys? Come meet Patterico!!

What am I talking about? The Bear Flag League Conference on July 17. Details are here and here.

Bottom line: it’s $50 for a great lunch, the chance to hear some real movers and shakers speak, and the chance to meet some of your favorite Southern California bloggers (and me). And the invitation is open to anyone — even including you!

For details or confirmation, e-mail Justene Adamec at justenea AT yahoo DOT com.

I hope to see you there.

Xrlq’s new terms of use (no link!) specify a 75 word limit, along with hyperlink, for quotations. Therefore, I present to you the following:

If the Dems do not filibuster a single judicial candidate between now and January 20, 2009, or if the first filibuster is met with the same “nuclear” response the Republicans should have brought last week, Paul wins a bottle of Merlot, of a label of his choice, price not to exceed $20.00. Otherwise, I win a bottle of a type of my choice, subject to the same price constraints. Basically, I win either way. I’m open…

That quotation is 76 75 words long, and I didn’t include a link! HA!

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