If you have been wandering around Legacy Park recently, there are several very colorful and interesting animal statues to look at. They are not actually statues, and feel more like papier-mâché constructions painted brightly and are well worth a trip to the park.
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The rumors are probably true that the Malibu movie theater will be closing down at the end of the summer, which will leave Malibu — a town filled with people who work in the industry — ironically, without a movie theater. There is still the Malibu Film Society and some movies put on by the city, and we also have several people searching for a new venue, which is probably going to require some developer cooperation.
I’m also wondering if we may be seeing a profound change in our viewing habits. These days, going to the movies with $15 admission and $8 popcorn is a major investment for a family, whereas streaming video from Netflix, Amazon or HULU is a fraction of that cost and there is enough out there to keep you busy for a lifetime. I can see first-run movies, particularly the smaller ones, actually opening in a direct-to-streaming cable market, which they may even have already.
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Donald Trump, the great entrepreneur he is, has created a spike in capitalistic creativity. Today, someone gave me a Donald Trump doggie poop bag with The Donald’s face on the bag. I’d suggest you not delay and go online immediately to order some, since I’m sure Donald’s lawyers are headed for court to stop them using Donald’s likeness and names on the bags and to make them disgorge all of their illegally gotten doggie poop, which rightfully belongs to Donald.
And as long as I’m on the subject of The Donald — the newspapers were full of stories today on how Donald has not raised very much money. In fact, his campaign is practically down to its last million or so, and papers suggest that maybe the campaign is kind of iffy. Frankly, I’m puzzled. If I were running for president, and believed I really had a chance, and I also had a $10 billion fortune, I’d pick up the phone and call my banks and say I need an immediate $100 million dollar line of credit. Then I’d hire someone or a group of someones to raise money for me.
True, it’s not easy for a bragging billionaire to raise money, but Trump has gotten 14 million-plus votes and that is an enormous potential source of givers. Bernie Sanders managed to raise $210 million, 98 percent from individual voters, so I can’t understand why Trump, with all of his individual, often very committed, 14 million-plus followers couldn’t raise whatever he needs. And I wouldn’t be too concerned about The Donald even if he loses the election and his $100 million goes down the drain. The Trump brand will survive and in the future you can count on a long line of Trump products, from clothing, to apartment buildings, to auto dealerships, to insurance companies, to retirement homes, particularly in the red states, where I’m sure he’ll do quite well in this election.
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Today is the first day of summer and, judging from this weekend, it’s going to be hot and dry and our fire season has already begun. If you haven’t done it already, get your brush cut back and try and find a water supply and buy some emergency equipment because you just might need it.
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On a totally different note, I owe an apology to all those professional baseball players I thought were dogging it when they went on the disabled list and said they were injured and couldn’t play, particularly with something like a pulled hamstring muscle, which I always thought was kind of baloney. About a week ago, I tripped over my dog Ella and went crashing down onto a concrete floor. Well, Ella, who has just now turned 17, is not as agile as she used to be and keeps getting under foot, and I must confess I’m not that light-stepping twinkle toes I once was, so between the two of us we are a danger to navigation. I will admit I am re-evaluating my opinion about badly pulled hamstring muscles, because they really do take two or three weeks to heal and do they ever hurt. Also, everyone I know has suddenly turned into a drug pusher with all sorts of pills, nostrums and potions — proven and unproven — which guarantee a quick cure. My experience is it takes time, rest … and leave me alone.