California

It's been nearly a month since the last "Slow dismemberment" update, and I wasn't expecting to find anything left of the sad bicycle remains locked to a street sign in downtown Riverside. Nevertheless, I was hopeful to find at least something left as I came around the corner from the Transit Center terminal.

Eureka! It's still there. Well, still mostly there. Here's the last picture from May 20th:

What was left of the chain is now gone. The dismemberment continues. More updates as they happen.

Apparently the LA Galaxy aren't bothering with that whole "losing a game thing" this season. After today's 4-1 victory over the Houston Dynamo, the Herbalife boys are 12-0-2 so far, tying the MLS unbeaten record. And they're continuing that streak without a couple of their big stars, in South Africa for the World Cup.

What's crazy is not just the streak. In the 14 games they've played, they have 22 goals for...and just 3 against. That's right: in the 1,260 minutes of Galaxy soccer this year (not counting added time), their opponents have managed three goals.

Came across what looks to be the sad remains of a bike theft in downtown Riverside a couple of weeks ago:

Eight days later, the front fork was gone:

We'll have to see how long it lasts.

Love letters adorn the walls underneath the famous balcony at the Casa di Giulietta in Verona.

The Guardian: "Dear Juliet: the fans who write to Shakespeare's heroine"

Letters are sent to Juliet from all over the world. A new film tells of the volunteers who reply to them. It's not Hollywood fantasy – it's fact

To find the most romantic spot in Romeo and Juliet's home city of Verona, you must take a dual carriageway out of the picturesque centre, then turn down a ramp into a decrepit industrial estate. Beyond the cemetery, next to a railway siding, is an office whose stock-in-trade is people's most passionately guarded secrets, their deepest hopes and fears. The headquarters of the Club di Giulietta (Juliet's Club) is also the inspiration for a soon-to-be-released movie.

Letters To Juliet tells the fictional story of a young American journalist who has joined this remarkable group of volunteers, replying to messages sent from all over the globe to Shakespeare's heroine by lovers seeking advice, or an excuse to unburden themselves. Sitting around a table strewn with handwritten letters, three of Juliet's real "secretaries", Giovanna Tamassia, Elena Marchi and Gioia Ambrosi, tell stories that are by turns touching and weird, thought-provoking and heart-rending.

And if you're in Southern California, why not come watch Romeo & Juliet live at the Redlands Shakespeare Festival going on right now?

New Metrolink Car by Szoksnapshots, on Flickr

Perhaps a last meal before I get to the part in Fast Food Nation where Eric Schlosser talks me out of eating it ever again?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In addition to venerating the blessed Irish saint, March 17th also marks the birthdays of favorite author William Gibson, as well as prominent Redlands CA citizens the twin Smiley Brothers.

The latter were recently featured on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations TV show, in the Hudson Valley NY episode with their astounding Mohonk Mountain House on the shores of Lake Mohonk.

From Wikipedia: Mohonk Mountain House Taken by User:Mwanner, 20 July, 2000.

And like every holiday, the brothers out front of the A.K. Smiley Library in Redlands have been festooned with appropriate decorations:

Happy birthday to all and sundry, and a hearty "Éireann go Brách!"

Previously on Celsius1414:

• 2009: "It must be green!"
• 2007: Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!
• 2005: Morning chaos on St. Patrick's Day.

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