A Peak Worth Croaking About

If you're a big statistics/metrics geek, you will easily notice that the Militant Angeleno doesn't do much when the weather is cold and the days are dark. So it wasn't until a nice warm President's Day when the Militant decided to step out of his compound for a change and finally get inspired to get down to blogginess.

By now you've heard about the big hubbub regarding The Hollywood Sign, and why it's been temporarily altered the past few days - the first legal alteration of the sign since 1992 when the sign was used to promote the Ralph Bakshi animated film, Cool World (Remember, Holli Would?).

By the way, if you are so moved by the sight of 50-foot tarps bearing red and black letters urging that private development not take place up there, pause for the cause and make a contribution by the April 14 deadline. The Militant sure will.

Since the sign will be brought back to normal on Wednesday, the Militant thought it would be great to take some pics of it for posterity, so up he went into them thar hills, to a semi-secret location near the Hollywood Reservoir (or should that be the Save The Peak Reservoir?).

But apparently it wasn't that secret, as a bunch of folks got up there, by foot, by car, by bike, by Segway and by Time Machine to bask in the lovely summer-like weather in mid-February that only Los Angeles can offer.

Wait, what? TIME MACHINE?!

Okay, okay, not an actual time machine, but car owned by a dude named Paul Nigh, who tricked-out his own Back To The Future replica DeLorean car (puictured right). The owner said that the frame was salvaged from a Universal Studios backlot junkyard and built up from that. Likely inspired by the aforementioned lovely weather, he let curious and fascinated Gen-Xers and other movie fans snap pictures and take a seat in the iconic wing-door automobile (free of charge), playing amusing sound effects from the thing and bragging about how the original movie car's designer has seen and admired it.

The Militant didn't want to leave just set - due south was a breathtaking view of the Los Angeles basin, with the Baldwin Hills, Rancho Palos Verdes, the Pacific Ocean and even Catalina Island visible in the distance. Yes, it was one of those days.

But as the Militant left the area, he discovered something more far more fascinating than just a nice warm sunny day and a temporarily-altered landmark.

Upon sighting a gated archway with a bronze plaque on it (The Militant is instantly attracted to plaques (no not that kind), signifying the construction of the Toyon Tanks which hold the water source for the Save The Peak Reservoir), the Militant pulled over and saw four dudes hiking on a nearby incline. It didn't take long for the Militant to find out what brought them there. He could hear it right away.

Instead of describing it in words, let the magic of streaming video show you:





Yes, it was a swamp full of croaking frogs, right up here in the Save The Peak Hills. The Militant couldn't actually see any frogs (them critters are pretty elusive as it is), but as the video proves they are clearly heard.

A swamp full of frogs, up in the hills hundreds of feet above the City's streets, in the middle of our wonderful metropolis.

The Militant sure loves surprises like that.