Family Christmas 2004

Here is a photo of my family and I taken on Christmas day. Yes, I am a few millimeters taller than my (older) brother.

The new glasses have been officially broken in with the proper beer. Doesn't that look beautiful?

Strong Storm

Last night I woke up at 2 AM to the sound of strong rain and wind. I looked out my window and it looked like a hurricane was passing over. My condo is surrounded by eucalyptus trees which fall over easy in strong wind, and they were swaying back and forth ready to fall. Then I looked out my front window and saw one of those trees lying across a nearby road, blocking two cars, and it looked like the tree had fallen on a parked car. There was also a driving rain coming down almost sideways. I tried to sleep but I was too worried that a tree was going to fall on my home. I finally did sleep, and when I woke up and looked out side it looked like a disaster area. When I drove to the gym, I saw trees laying on the ground everywhere, including one that landed on a condo near mine - so I wasn't being paranoid last night. I saw on the news that over 100 eucalyptus trees toppled over in my neighborhood. Now it is cloudy outside with a mild wind blowing - time to clean up the mess.

I am a Unit Leader (Spoken in a monotone voice)

Here is a slightly blurry picture of me on Christmas day holding one of four Stella Artois glasses and a Homer bottle opener. I asked for the glasses because ever since I ordered the beer at a bar in Key West, I liked that it came in a custom glass. Since I couldn't find where to buy the glass, I put it on my Christmas list hoping someone else would have better luck - which they did! Now I have four of these glasses to enjoy Stella Artois or any other beer in. The Homer can opener was an unexpected gift. When you open a bottle, you hear Homer say "Hmm, beer. Oh Yes...." It is funny at first but I'd imagine that after awhile at a party it would become annoying. So lets find out.

To the right is a photo of me the day after Christmas at Pizza Port holding a beer. I came here looking for my lost Christmas spirit, which I found at the bottom of this glass. Unfortunatly, Christmas is over, so I'll have to hold on to that spirit for one year.

What does these photos have to do with being a Unit Leader? Nothing. In fact, I am neither a leader nor a follower. I do what I want when I want, whatever that means.

Christmas Eve

Well, it's now Christmas Eve, and here I am sitting in front of my computer drinking a Guinness draught from a bottle - brilliant! I just went on my annual Christmas light viewing drive. I ventured up to a newer neighborhood where I saw not only beautiful light and decoration displays, but some very large expensive homes. Who can afford all these houses? What jobs are out there that pay enough so these people can buy $800,000 homes? It must be nice. I also ended up in an area where houses were still being rebuilt from last years big fire. That was depressing. So anyways, I say to the whole world, Merry Christmas!

Goodbye to Shopping Mall Traffic

I have finished my Christmas shopping. Traffic on the freeways was slow all day, and the parking lots were filling up fast. But I braved a trip to the North County Fair and lived to talk about it. All the gifts are wrapped and ready to be opened in two days. Now I'm free to do what I want on Christmas Eve. Oh joy!

Done With Work

I just finished my last day of work for 2004! What a nice feeling. I'm looking forwards to 11 days of sleeping, eating and relaxing. I have just one more Christmas gift to buy and I'm done with visiting shopping malls. Now if I can just figure out something fun to do New Years Eve. Last year I sat in front of my computer with my web camera turned on, broadcasting my image (every 15 seconds) to the whole world, knowing that not even a mouse was watching me.

Web Search Results

I have been impressed with how often people find my blog using various web search sites, such as Yahoo! Using Sitemeter, I can see how people find my blog. It will show what keywords people used in their search. Yesterday someone searched for "Love. Angle. Music. Baby" using Yahoo! Korea and spent three minutes reading my blog posts. My site was the second site listed in the search results. I like the idea that people all over the world locate my blog and find it informative enough to read. Other searches used to find my blog were: "TechTV Sucks" and "Knott's Scary Farm". Now I need to find a way to make money off my blog.

I'm Gonna Get Fat

Food, food, food. This is a weekend of eating food and attending parties. Thursday I ate lunch with the people I work with. This is the first time in the seven years I've worked on this project that we have had a group lunch at Christmas time. Even one retiree joined us. On Friday I partook in my company holiday potluck. There was enough food to feed everyone ten times over. I don't know what happened to the leftovers. This is the one time a year when I see people I used to work with. I haven't worked at the company office in nine years, and we have many employees, including me, working all over town. I spent over two hours eating and talking before I loosened my belt and headed back to work. Today I'm going to my friends annual Christmas party, where there will be lots of food, beer and shots of exotic drinks. If I survive tonight then Sunday it's off to my sister's house to watch the extended version of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. This movie viewing will include more beer and food. By the time I get to work on Monday, I'll be looking more like Santa, except I won't be wearing a red outfit, hopefully. Sounds like I'm finding my holiday spirit, but not took much spirit like that guy in the Jack In The Box commercial.

Have You Seen My Holiday Spirit?

Because I seem to have lost it a couple of years ago. This is the second year that I haven't put up Christmas decorations in my house because I just wasn't in the mood. I have all these Star Trek ornaments that light up and speak and they're just sitting in their boxes. Maybe I'm getting older and this is what happens as we age. They say Christmas is for kids, and I am no longer a kid, and there are no children in this house. So if you know where my holiday spirit is, please let me know.

Another Day of Christmas Shopping

Today I bought some Christmas gifts for someone other than myself. I got off to an early start, which for me is around noon, with a slight Stargazer Ale hangover (see previous post). At this rate I'll be done shopping before Christmas Eve. I even had enough leftover energy to go to the gym, where I was able to lift 170 lbs on the lateral pulldown - a personal best for me. I think the three strong cups of coffee I had with breakfast was still affecting me. Now I'm all set to watch football tomorrow after a brief morning shopping trek.

First Attempt at Christmas Shopping

My first day of Christmas shopping was a success. The day started with my Dad I and buying the family Christmas tree. We went to Target and ended up getting the first tree we looked at, so the whole experience took less than a half hour. Then I went to Costco and spend almost $200 on ... me. Nobody can accuse me of not pumping money into the economy. I bought myself some really nice gifts, including a case of Karl Strauss Stargazer IPA. This is the first time I've seen this beer for retail sale. I'm drinking one now, and it is quite good, but would be better if it were colder. Tomorrow I'll take my shopping list and buy gifts for someone other than me.

Christmas Wish List

Happy holidays! As I get set to buy my Christmas gifts this year, I think about what I would buy myself if I had oodles of money. The one present I will buy for myself this year is a new cell phone. Mine is five years old and is so large it doubles as a self-defense weapon. However, here is my non-realistic wish list:

• 50 to 60 inch LCOS high definition television
• 6.1 dolby digital sound system
• 3 GHz PC with high-end components and a LCD monitor
• 6 MP digital camera with video
• 2005 Ford Mustang

That's just the beginning - I could type for hours. No, I'm not materialistic, I just like expensive toys.

Interesting Quiz about Something

I found this quiz from someone's blog. I'm not sure what it is all about, but I liked the questions: What Flavour Am I? It said I taste of death. What does that mean? It doesn't sound good. What are your results and what is it about me and quizes?

The Screen Savers Ruined

Well G4Tech TV finally ruined my favorite technology show, The Screen Savers. TechTV was bought by G4 network last year, and there had been many changes since then. But last month they unexpectedly sacked most of the hosts. Their replacements pretty much suck, but that is not the worst part. They got rid of the studio audience! I had been planning to go see the show live since they moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The show seems empty without the cheering crowds, and the new hosts are neither funny nor knowledgeable about computers. The two only two cast members that were kept, Kevin and Sarah, are worth watching, but I can't believe they fired Yoshi and Dan.

Not a lot of people watch The Screen Savers, but those who do tend to be technically savvy - the type who hack computers. These are not people who you want to annoy, and annoyed they are. The Screen Savers web site was taken down by a so-called denial-of-service attack, and their on-line forums are full of comments by ex-viewers expressing how much they hate the new show. Time to find a new show to watch.

New Album Review

I recently bought several new albums by both old and new artists. I got the new albums from Scorpions, Dokken and Gwen Stefani.

Scorpions - Unbreakable

You can't go wrong with a Scorpions album. I don't know how old the members are, but they still know how to rock. No, this is not the soundtrack to the movie by the same name. Like all Scorpion records, there are power ballads mixed in with guitar-heavy tracks. I have no problem with formulas - if it works, don't break it. There is nothing worse than a band changing their sound to match the latest trend in music, like Metallica did. I liked all the songs on this album, but I can imagine any being huge radio hits like "Rock You Like a Hurricane". Not because the songs aren't good, but because there isn't an audience for this genre any more and there isn't a MTV to play their videos in heavy rotation. As we all know, MTV plays almost no videos, and very little music, but that is a topic for another blog post. So I'm doing my best to let the world know that the Scorpions are alive and rockin.

Gwen Stefani - Love. Angle. Music. Baby.

Yes, that is the title of her album, complete with periods (not commas) between the words. If you think No Doubt is one of the greatest new groups and you either love Gwen Stefani or want to be her, then you need to buy this album today. Now don't expect another No Doubt-like album, because this collection of songs is much different. Gwen Stefani's fans tend to be young, much younger than me, and this album is aimed at them. If you are older than 17 you might find some of the songs too poppy, but if you are like me, you'll just enjoy her singing and unique style. I will admit that the song Hollaback Girl is really annoying and I don't know why she recorded it. One of my favorite songs is Rich Girl, which is written to the tune of If I Were a Rich Man from Fiddler on the Roof. In case you haven't figured it out, I'm one of those people who love Gwen Stefani - after all, she is closer to my age than she is to most of her fans.

Dokken - Hell to Pay

I am not ashamed to admit that I have every Dokken album, including the solo album from Don Dokken. I like his voice and all their earlier albums are made to be listened to very loudly. However, they should of stopped producing new material years ago. This album is boring and not very noteworthy. No song stood out as better than the rest, they all just blended together like a simmering pot of stew. Yeah, that's the best analogy I could think of. There are no bad songs, but maybe if there were, it would make the other songs seem better. I don't regret buying the record, but it will probably get filed away alphabetically with my other CDs soon, not to get played again for years.

Who Are You?

As you might have noticed, I use Sitemeter to keep track of who visits my blog and for how long. I sometimes see someone who spends up to 30 minutes viewing my blog. However, I don't know who these people are. Please post a comment or something so I have an idea of who likes my posts. I attempt to write posts that appeal to not just my friends and family, but to other bloggers who have the same interests as I. I often view other peoples blogs using the "Next Blog" link, and if I find an interesting blog, I'll write a comment. So far, I've only got feedback from two of these people. One lives in Pennsylvania, and the other lives in Australia. Blogs are a great way for people around the world to interact. So let's take advantage of this new medium and communicate!

Thanksgiving Downsized

This year it was just my Dad and I eating Thanksgiving diner. The rest of the family, my brother, his wife and my sister are all in France for some reason. So my Dad and I went to the Barona casino for their Thanksgiving buffet. The last two years we went to the Valley View casino, which was nice, but the buffet at Barona was much larger and the food was better. Last time I went to Barona was in 1996, and the entire casino was in a huge circus-like tent. Now there a beautiful Las Vegas style hotel and casino - it's really quite impressive (but sadly, we didn't see Kenny Rogers). The only downside is that they allow smoking in the casino, however, nobody was smoking in the restaurant. We'll all have to go back next year - so much food to try, so little room in stomach.

Recurring Dream, New Twist

The other night I had a dream with a recurring theme, but with a new twist. I have this dream like once a week where I start out at point 'A', and for some reason go to point 'B'. Then the rest of the dream I spend trying to return to point 'A'. Usually I start by driving a car, then for some reason I am riding a bike. Then I loose my bike and I'm walking. There is always something blocking me from getting back to point 'A', such as, all I have to do is go through a building, but as I do, I end up on an elevator that doesn't stop at the floor I need to go to. Another common dream I have is that I have the ability to levitate myself just by concentrating. In the dream I had recently, I was trying to get back to point 'A' while levitating in a small wooden chair. I made it to the top of a large cliff, or a waterfall, and was thinking of jumping off because I knew I could float, but then Godzilla showed up and I knew I couldn't get past him. He was about 100 Ft. tall and started walking towards me. Then he started talking and I tried talking to him, but in the end, I never made it off the cliff, and thus never got back to where I started from. Godzilla? What was I watching on TV before going to bed? I'm sure that this dream has meaning, but who cares. Remembering it in detail two days later is better than watching TV. I hope that in the future there will be a way to record dreams, with sound and video. My dreams are so weird, they could be turned into a television show like The Twilight Zone.

SHOUTcast

I have rediscovered Shoutcast, a web site that has thousands of internet radio stations playing music 24 hours a day for free. You can find a station playing any type of music, many that you may not have heard before, such as: ambient chill, downtempo grove lounge and industrial gothic. For some reason, the most popular stations are techno and trance. I don't know who would want to listen to that music for more than five minutes without being on a dance floor jacked-up on some little pill. I like to find new, unique music that I have never heard before, found mostly on college radio stations. Yesterday I heard a song by Manic Street Preachers, a band that's been around for years that I have never heard of, and now I want to get a CD by them. I guess that's why some bands let their music get broadcast for free. One note, you really need a high-speed internet connection to listen to the music.

Another feature of Shoutcast is the ability for anyone to broadcast their own music. One simple way to do this is by using a Shoutcast server Winamp plug-in. I played a CD using Winamp, turned on the server, and my station was on the air. To verify this, I powered up my other, older and slow PC, whet to Shoutcast.com and searched for my station by name. There it was! There was about a ten second delay, but the music was playing to the whole world. I say simple, but it took me hours to get it working. But still, pretty neat. I couldn't keep my "station" up too long for two reasons. First, I was playing copyrighted music (specifically They Might Be Giants), and secondly, my ISP doesn't allow the use of local servers. Uploading music from a computer uses too much bandwidth, slowing down the whole network. Therefore, once I got the station working, I turned it off. Oh yeah. One more feature is the ability to DJ the songs by talking into the microphone. The downside is the inability to mix the microphone with the music; you have to switch back and forth.

No Motivation

I am off work this whole week, and planned to relax and undertake some projects around the home, but instead here I am surfing the internet. I did go to the gym this morning after sleeping for 11 hours (which was relaxing). I have no motivation to start any project, such as installing a mirror in my bathroom that doesn't cut off the top of my head. Houses are just not designed for tall people. I could also repaint my security screen door, which has numerous rust spots, but I will probably end up hiring someone to do that. I'd rather pluck my toenails than paint. On a lighter note: feathers.

Blog Obligation

I feel obligated to blog about my adventures last night. I didn't do anything remotely cultural like watching a movie or going to a museum, just a night of beer drinking and debauchery. My night was centered around the Aztec football game. We had seven people this time, and the more people the more fun you will have. We al met at my friends house, piled into his Ford Expedetion and drove to the stadium. After 1 1/2 of beer drinking at the tailgate party, we headed into the stadium to watch the game. First stop, the bar to get a beer. As we headed to our seats, I had to make a pitstop. By the time I got to my seat, three of my friends had just walked on to the field! On of them had a green pass from the tailgate party, and for some reason security thought this was a field pass. My other two friends just kind of followed him on - one was carrying a beer. They spent the first half watching the game on the UNLV sidelines, talking to the players and making numerous cell phone calls, you know, like people do at a sporting events when they are on TV. As the first half ended and the players headed to the locker room, my one friend high-fived the UNLV coach, John Robinson, who was coaching his last game ever. Then two of my friends headed into the locker room with the team. On ended up leaving after he got the football he earlier grabbed taken away. The other listened to the coach give his half-time speech. Once we all got back together, it was another trip to the bar before we headed home at the start of the 3rd quarter. Yes, we had a designated driver.

Next we headed to a bar in Escondido called Woody's, where someone knew a band was playing. We hung out there for a while drinking beer and playing foosball. We left two friends there and traveled to RB to get some Mexican food. I got a Monster burrito, and big it was. Our next stop was the local bar called McGee's. Here we sat for five minutes without drinking beer before going back to our starting point. Two more people left, and us last three watched some HBO on-demand, drinking water.

This morning I woke up with a headache and to the sound of thunder. I haven't heard thunder that loud in a long time. The storm lasted around 20 minutes with heavy rain and some hail. Now I'm trying to decide if I should go to the gym or just sit and watch football all day. The Chargers play the Raider this afternoon. Oh yes, the Aztecs ended up winning, with a season record of 4-7. We'll do better next year.

Star Wars Trilogy DVD

Over the past two weekends I watched the Star Wars trilogy DVDs, which include episodes 4 to 6, plus a DVD of bonus material. My first thought after watching the movies on DVD for the first time - I need a bigger television. My 10 year old 27 inch RCA TV just doesn't work for movies like Star Wars. If I had thousands of dollars burning a hole in my pocket then I'd buy a new high-definition TV. Since I don't, I'll just wait until my current set breaks and make a decision then. However, I could tell that the video was much improved on the DVD over how it looks on VHS tape. My sound system is half way decent and my livingroom walls were shaking nicely during the louder action scenes. As far as the changes that George Lucas made on top of the special editions, I wouldn't have noticed unless I was told in advance, except for the final scene with the replaced Anakin Skywalker. The highlight of the bonus material is a 2 1/2 hour documentary called "Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy". They spend almost one hour showing how Star Wars came to be, and I had no idea how many problems George Lucas encountered during the whole process. It was quite interesting to me, however, I'm sure much of what was discussed is known by all Star Wars die-hards. I didn't listen to any of the audio commentaries, and I normally don't. The problem I have is that I end up trying to listen to the movie dialog in the background and have a hard time concentrating on the commentary. Plus sometime the commentary can be quite boring. One more note, there is a hidden feature on the bonus disc, or an "Easter egg", as they are called. I don't see how anyone could figure this one out. On the games menu, type "11", then "3" then "8" and you get a five minute "bloopers" reel. I get the "1138" reference, but how would someone figure out when to enter this sequence of numbers? I found out from Hidden Features, a site that lists numerous Easter eggs for hundreds of DVDs. Stay tuned for my review of "Star Wars: Episode III, Revenge of the Sith" in May of 2005. I can hardly wait!

Reasons not to Read Someone's Blog

The following are some of the reasons that I don't read someone's blog:

• Changed my cursor
• Sweep effect when displaying the page
• Background music
• Pop-up ads
• Blog posts in small scrolling window
• Foreign language
• Incomplete sentences written like a 13 year old in a chat room
• No posts to read
• A blog consisting of nothing but links
• Tiny, unreadable fonts
• Blog dedicated to a topic of no interest to me

Can you Add to this list?

Joey

Each season, TV that is, there are many new shows on the major networks. However, I end up watching at most one new show each year. This year it is Joey, the Friends spinoff. Joey started off slow, as all new shows do, but after watching this weeks episode, I realize that it has actually gotten really funny. The downside of the show is Joey's character is a little dumber that he was on Friends. The upside is Joey's sister, played by Drea de Matteo. I can see this show making it into a second season, hopefully without a "guest" appearance by a Friends co-star during sweeps week. We don't need an appearance by Rachel or Ross! Let's let those characters live forever in television history.

New Anya and Tara Figures

I arrived back home this morning after running some chores and was at first shocked that on my front porch my mat had been moved and draped over a box. My first though was, "Oh my, someone has placed a bomb on my step and I'm about to be blown up!". Then my shock and horror changed to joy and excitement when I realized that the box was a package from Diamond Select Toys that I was expecting. The box contained six action figures from the Buffy The Vampire Slayer series VI, including five variants of Anya and one Tara figure. These are the first new figures since the six Willows were released earlier this year. There are three other Tara variants that I did not buy, mostly because they all looked the same and Anya is a more interesting character than Tara, as you can see by these pictures I took. Taking photos of the figures in their boxes is not easy. The light reflects of the plastic creating a glare, plus the camera wants to focus on the plastic, not the figure inside. My next project will be finding space on my wall to display my new figures. As someone once pointed out, I have plenty of open wall space, but I'm determined to keep my toy collection in my two extra rooms. I want the rest of my house to look semi-normal. The solution seems to be that I need a bigger house! So what's next in the Buffy/Angle line? Spike and Darla figures early next year, and just announced for mid-2005, Wesley and Lorne. Then the year will end with one more Buffy line of figures where we will hopefully get maybe a new Buffy and Dawn. Until then, happy collecting!

Cassini and Saturn

Have you been viewing the pictures beamed back from the spacecraft Cassini-Huygens orbiting Saturn? They are amazing! Cassini just made the closest approach to Saturn's moon Titan ever, measuring all aspects of planet-like sphere using a multitude of instruments. Later this year, the craft will send the Huygens probe into the atmosphere of Titan. Hopefully it won't crash like the Mars Climate Orbiter and the Mars Polar Lander did. Speaking of Mars, the two Mars Exploration Rovers are still alive, roaming on the surface taking pictures and sampling the soil. This is an amazing feat, and most people forgot about this exceedingly successful mission months ago. The rovers have lasted three times longer than they were designed for. I have been interested in space and astronomy since I was a kid and hope NASA/JPL's budget doesn't get cut much more.

Four More Years

It is time I broke my silence and confess that I voted for Bush. I am happy he won, unlike many of my friends who now think the world is going to end. Sure, the President is not perfect and his administration has made many mistakes, including Iraq, but could Kerry do any better? Kerry is great at pointing out all of America's problems and saying he had a solution to every one, including the ability to make paralyzed people walk again, but I don't think that he really could follow-up on his promises. I could have done better in the debates than Bush. But could I lead the country? No. Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks this way, and that is why George has four years to complete his agenda.

Halloween

Here I am at a Halloween party after my blades had been plucked from my hands! I looked much better with spikes poking out of my gloves. The beads were given for each beer I drank, except when this picture was taken I was on about my 10th beer, meaning that I should be hunched over due to the extreme weight around my neck. Sunday was no fun day for me.

Blogshares

Well, I claimed my blog at Blogshares. What exactly does that mean? I'm not sure. This web site has 1.8 million blogs that are tracked like stocks, where you can buy and sell shares of blogs. I found my blog here by chance, and signed-up so I could claim ownership of my blog. Also, I got some shares automatically invested in my own blog, as well as "cash" to invest in others. Is there actual money to be made here? Not that I can see. My goal is to increase the value of my blog, which seems to be based on incoming and outgoing links. However, it says my blog has 3 outgoing links, and I know I have over 20. Lets see how long this trendy endeavor holds my interest.

Time to Vote!

Tomorrow is election day. I hope everyone votes. If you don't vote, you don't have the right to complain if your candidate doesn't win or your favorite proposition is defeated.

Interesting Blog Quiz

I found a link to a blog quiz called Are You A Blogaholic? on someones blog. I scored a 40/100 and here is what it said about me:

You are a casual weblogger. You only blog when you have nothing better to do, which is not very often. There's nothing wrong with that. But if you'd post a little more often, you'd make your readers very happy.

Knott's Berry Farm

It's time to talk about something more uplifting, my trip yesterday to Knott's Berry Farm. I hadn't been there in over 15 years, and this was the first time I had been to Knott's around Halloween time, when it is decorated for Knott's scary Farm. It was a perfect day weather-wise, abundant sunshine and warm enough to wear shorts. Plus, free passes into the park! I remember going to Knott's when I was young, and seeing some of the old rides and attractions brought back memories. The last time I went was the first time I rode the rollercoasters, like Montezooma's Revenge.

There were many new rides for me to experience, as well as the classics. I rode: Timber Mountain Log Ride, Calico Mine Ride, Jaguar, Montezooma's Revenge, Bigfoot Rapids, Hat Dance and GhostRider. Some rides, like the mine train, were decorated for Halloween. The miners were replaced by ghosts, zombies and the Grim Reaper, which added a new twist to the ride. However, these creatures weren't animated - I get the feeling that they save the good stuff for the Knott's Scary Farm event after dark.

My favorite ride was GhostRider. This is a newer ride, and had the longest wait. It is a wooden coaster, like Colossus at Magic Mountain, but has many more sharp turns and twists. I got a little beat-up on the ride but it was worth it. I was laughing the whole time. Laughing in fear! There were a few attractions that were closed for the day. Some were only open for the nighttime event.

For lunch I ate a chicken meal at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant. This is the first time I remember eating here. As a kid, I never wanted to eat there - I wanted hotdogs instead. The chicken was excellent, as well as the biscuits and apple pie. Since most of the lines for the rides were so short, after 5 hours I was ready to go home. It was a great day that wasn't quite over. I ended up at the Karl Strauss brewery in Carlsbad, drinking pints of beer and watching the World Series. I slept well last night.

Cedar Fire One Year Later

It was a year ago today that I did what I never thought I'd have to do, evacuate my house as a huge fire approached. I will never forget that morning. It started when I woke up at 5 AM and for some reason looked out my window, where I saw what I thought was a fog bank. I opened the door and it was warm outside, and I thought, "that's strange, how can there be fog when it is so warm?". So I went back to sleep. Around 6 AM I woke up again when I heard sirens nearby. During the next hour I heard about 20 fire trucks drive by, and still I just wanted to sleep. Finally I got up at 8 AM and after looking outside again I realized that the fog was really smoke, and it was getting thicker and closer. I turned on the news and every station was broadcasting pictures of the fire as it was burning up my neighborhood - about 4 miles away. Then the news channels said everyone south of the street I live near by needed to evacuate. I live about 1 block north of that street, so I decided it was time for me to leave. Not knowing what to pack, I took my computer, photo albums and a bag of clothes, threw them into my car and headed north on the freeway. It was an eerie site to see the southbound lanes filled with cars not moving, because the freeway was closed. Only a few cars were going north with me.

Not knowing where to go, I called my friend Mark and said, "hey, I just evacuated my house, can I come over?" So I spent the next two days at his house, sleeping on his couch and watching the local news, not knowing if my house was burned or not. All I could do is call my home phone, and if my answering machine answered, then I knew it hadn't melted into a pile of goo. When I was finally allowed to return home, my house was there. The air was thick with smoke and ash, and the smell of smoke was inside as well. I didn't want to spend the night there, so I drove back to my friends house for a second night on the couch. As I drove away, I saw that the fire burned on two sides of my complex, burning some trees within a few hundred yards of my home. A few months later I found out why our neighborhood didn't burn. My neighbor sprinkled some holy water that she keeps on hand. Either that, or it was the two neighbors who didn't evacuate and fought the fire with a garden hose. My guess is the winds were blowing the fire to the south. No matter, I'm glad my precious action figures didn't go up in flames.

Gwen Stefani solo album

Good news everyone. Gwen Stefani has her first solo album in the works. It is called Love. Angel. Music. Baby. and will be released November 23rd. Why you ask am I giving her free advertising? Because I am a big No Doubt fan and I think Gwen Stefani is one of the most talented singers around. You can listen to her new single and see the video at her web site, Gwen Stefani.

Washers and Mundaneness

On Sunday my not-so-old washer finally gave up. It started having problems a year after I bought it - right after the limited warranty expired. For six years it limped along until my washer decided to wash no more. Luckily, it failed during the final rinse, so I wasn't left with soapy clothes. So after watching the Chargers lose, I went shopping for a new washer and ended up buying a front-loading LG Electronics model at Best Buy. I wish I had bought a front-loading washer originally, but they are almost twice as expensive as regular, top-loading washers. However, they are more efficient in both electricity and water usage, plus they get your clothes cleaner with less wear and tear. I'm doing my first load now, as you, the whole world, can see in the photo.

Baseball vs. Football

What a great sports night! I was watching the Yankees/Red Sox game and was actually excited for Boston, mostly because I don't like the Yankees, especially Jeter, with the stupid smirk he has. Last nights game was too late for me to watch 'til the end, and I live on the West Coast. Only real fans will sit in the cold of the night until 1:30 AM to watch baseball. Tonight worked out great, because even though the coverage of the Astros/Cardinals didn't start until the 8 inning, there were no runs scored until the bottom of the 9th when Houston won. I don't care who wins this series, but I'm leaning towards the Astros. Then, as I flip channels, I realize that Monday night football is on, and it is tied in the 3rd quarter. So much for getting caught up on my recorded shows: Enterprise and Charmed. Yes, I do more than watch TV all night, usually.

Rain in San Diego?

I think not. Everytime rain is forecast for San Diego, it doesn't rain! Some high pressure moves in and pushes the low to the North of us. There is a 50% chance of rain tonight. If I wake up to the sound of rain, I will stand outside and sing "Singing in the Rain" while juggling pears. I don't know how to juggle, but I'll learn.

Glucosamine

I have been taking the dietary supplements Glucosamine HCI/Chondroitin Sulfate for several months. These supplements are known to reduce joint pain, of which I suffer in my knee, especially when I go hiking. It was after my aunt and uncle told me that they gave a cat-sized portion to their 14 year old cat and it cured her osteoarthritis, allowing her to walk around without pain, that I decided to try the supplement.

After taking three pills a day for three months (more or less), I decided it was time to test its effectiveness by going on a hike that I have done before: Iron Mountain. The last time I hiked the mountain before talking the pills, my knees were aching as I hiked down. My friends had to wait at the bottom for me because I was so slow. Then my knees hurt for several days afterwards. This is a problem that has been worsening for me over the last 10 years. So yesterday morning, I drove up to Iron mountain and set out on a hike. It is three miles to the peak. I made it to the top in one hour, stopping three times the rest and stretch my muscles. I spent 10 minutes at the top enjoying the 360 degree, slightly hazy view of San Diego county. Now the real test is the hike back down. It took me one hour make it back down, with one stop to rest at the half-way point. My knees didn't hurt, but my leg muscles sure did. Aching muscles are good, that indicate they are getting a good work-out. I'm not sure why it took me the same amount of time to hike down, because I know I was walking faster and I only stopped once.

This morning, after a good nights rest, my knees feel fine and my muscles are only a little tired. So I would say that the drugs worked! My only concern is that I havn't consulted my doctor about this supplement. He might tell me not to take it, since there have been no tests proving its safety and effectiveness in humans. I will continue to take the pills, and hopefully go on other, more strenuous hikes.

Cross-Linking with Spamusement

I have been checking the site Spamusement often because a new cartoon is added daily. Today I noticed that the site has a list of referring web sites and my blog was listed! After returning to the site several times, I realized that this list is updated dynamically as people visit the site. My blog was not listed when I entered the site from another web page. However, my blog must have been listed there a while because several people read my blog today, and according to sitemeter, spamusement was the referring page. Both visitors spent almost two minutes reading my blog, which is more time than most people linger. I did a Google search on "spamusement" and found hundreds of references to that site. No wonder the author is asking for donations - he could get rich. Isn't the internet an amazing place?

Bike Ride and Safe Blogging

Today I went on my Saturday morning bike ride. I have been taking a weekly ride regularly since I got back into biking a few months ago. My rides are not long, between 6 and 10 miles, but they sure beat spending 20 minutes on a stair-stepper in the gym. It was about this time last year that I stopped ridding my bike, partly due to the destructive fire here in Scripps Ranch. The fire burned next to all the roads that I ride on, and since there was smoke and ash in the air for months after the fire was out, I stopped riding or even spending any time outdoors. I was happy today to see that more houses are being rebuilt. Soon there will be no visible indication that a fire ravaged the area at all.

Why do people insist on adding some plug-in to their blog that forces you to install an application in order to view their page? I will never install anything unless it is an application that I really trust, like QuickTime, which I already have installed. If you refuse to install the program, then a message box pops-up saying "You must install to view page" and then you cannot close your browser or go to another blog. I advise all you bloggers out there NOT to install any plug-ins. What you should do if this happens is press "cntl-alt-delete", select "Task Manager" if you are running Windows XP, select the the Internet Explorer line and click "End Task". This process might vary depending on your operating system. Doing this will help ensure that your computer does not get a virus or any spyware installed. And you all know how I feel about spyware!

Strange Bedfellows

I recently rediscovered this strange photo and thought it was time I explain to the world how it came to be. I got the Bart mask at a San Diego Comic-Con a few years ago. The teddy bear belonged to my mom. The cardboard cut-out of Ricker was grabbed from a Jack-in-the-Box during a daring daylight heist. Somehow all three ended up in my guest bedroom. During one of my Superbowl parties, a guest arranged them under the covers as you see here (and funny she thought she was). So I took this photo, closed the door, and left them alone for the night.

Women Need to Try This

Inspired by the web site Spamusement that I posted about below, I gave my best effort to draw a cartoon based on an actual subject line from a spam e-mail that I received. As I expected, it is not easy to think of something funny to draw, not to mention that I can't draw people, especially women. I drew this picture using Microsoft Paint, and didn't try really hard to make it realistic. I need to thank Sarah Michelle Gellar for providing the inspirational photo I used as an example. My crude drawing is not unlike the one that Giles drew on the episode Hush, except there he made Buffy look fat. I went with the skinny body, big hands look. Once again, this picture was not drawn by a 5 year old. With time I believe I will improve.

Rodney Dangerfield

We new it was going to happen soon. Rodney Dangerfield has died, and I am saddened. Looking back on all the roles that he played, the one I remember him most for is when he voiced the character of Burns' son Larry on The Simpsons. That was almost a comeback role for him at the time. It is amazing how effective The Simpsons are when it comes to making an actor that might not be well known by a younger audience suddenly popular and cool again. Other personalities that benefited by appearing on The Simpsons are Tito Puente and Tom Jones. Lets all have a beer for Mr. Dangerfield and give him that respect he truly deserves.

Spamusement

I found this very funny web site listed on another blog. Click on each link in the site, the cartoons are hilarious. Well, they were for a computer geek like me. Note, I could be sending this link out to all my friends in a spam-like fashion, but instead I'm making you come to me, thus eliminating one more useless e-mail.

Spamusement

Hot Or Not

Yes, I have submitted my photo to the famous web site "Hot or Not". So far the results don't look good. If they don't improve, I'll submit a different, better picture. Click here to rate me, and please, be nice. I was rating pictures of women between the ages of 33 and 40, and most of the pictures did not do the women any justice. I gave lots of 3's and 4's, and was surprised that their average vote was 6 and 7! I guess I'm just too picky. The photo I used was the same one I use for my blog. I hope the Simpsons action figures in the background didn't hurt my image.

Company Going Away Dinner

Last night I went to a going away dinner for our local center director/vice president. I like to attend as many company lunches/dinners as I can. It gives me an opportunity to meet fellow employees and talk to people who I rarely see, since I don't work at the company office. I kind of regretted signing up for this event, since I figured that there would be nothing but old, upper-level managers at this event. That part was true. However, I met our new center director, and several other managers saw me there, so that made me look good. There were enough people there that I knew that I didn't feel completely out of place, even though I was the youngest person there, even at 37 years of age. There were about 40 people at this dinner, and I expected more since it was for a vice president. This turned out to be a plus, since everyone was given the cordless mircophone to give the guest of honor, Steve, a going away message. The man next to me had the best comment. He said, "If I had known I was going to speak I'd wouldn't have shown up." Such honesty! The man before me said, "I have learned that it is best to keep your speech funny and short, and since I am not funny, I'm done." It took almost a half hour for everyone to deliver their messages to Steve. After all was said and done, I said my good-by to him and snuck out around 9:30.

Brooms and More

So I now have the audio that you have all been waiting for. Let us here it for TMBG!

First Presidential Debate on Beer

What? This is what happens when you watch a presidential debate while drinking various "beers of the world" that you bought from Costco. First, they (Costco) have some new beers this year. I'm trying a beer called La Bolduc from Canada. Opinion: nothing special. Now a few words on the debate, which is not over yet. Kerry is making Bush look really bad. Will this change my vote? No. What is my vote? You will not find out by reading any of my blog posts. What is interesting, is that I am reading other blogs using the "next blog" link, and find that one of every ten blogs is about politics and the upcoming election. I found more than one blog that had quotes from the ongoing live debate. What were they doing, blogging while watching the debate? Wait, that is what I am doing. Luckily, the Padre game is on soon.

I Am Not Your Broom

As I walked past my broom today I realized that it is just a stub of its former self. How did this happen? My broom used to have long, straight bristles ready to sweep the dirt away. Over the years the bristles slowly wore down, leaving a sad looking stick that can no longer perform its intended task in life. Am I not like my broom in some existential way? Perhaps I should restore my verve before I replace my broom. What would my broom say about this? "Do what you like, because I am not your broom."

Charmed Guest Stars

The television show Charmed on the WB is off to a strong start this season with appearances by two Sci-Fi veterans: John de Lance from Star Trek and Charisma Carpenter from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. John de Lance went from being an omnipotent being on Star Trek to a powerful elder, and Charisma Carpenter went from being an evil Master on Buffy to a demonic seer. Hmmm, I see a pattern here. Both actors played their part, although short, convincingly. As you might have guessed, I don't care about that other recurring guest star, whos name I cannot mention.

Aztecs Win

The SDSU Aztecs won tonight against Nevada (who are they?). Better yet, we all got two free fish tacos from Rubios because the Aztecs scored more than 25 points. (One taco per ticket - we found four extra tickets on the ground.) Their next home game is on October 16th, and since I'm the only one who is going, I have three extra tickets to the game. Plus I can get anyone into the SDSU Athletic Foundation tailgate party before the game where there will be plenty of beer and hotdogs.

Key West Trip

I am back from my trip to Key West. I left for home earlier than planned for two reasons. The first was to beat the rush of people fleeing hurricane Jeanne, and the second was to get home in time for the Festival of Beers. I did avoid the hurricane, however, I'm too tired to go downtown drinking tonight. I have been awake since 3 AM West Coast time and have spent the last 12 hours in airports and on airplanes. Because I changed my flights at the last minute, I had to fly home through Dallas. There were no delays, but the only food they served was a small bag of pretzels. Talk about cheap! Good thing I had a turkey sandwich in Dallas.

My time in Key West went by quickly. I actually got tons of sleep due to my work schedule being shifted to the afternoon and evenings. I got my fill of local food including an excellent pecan crusted Mahi-Mahi dinner and a Willie Burger, which is a hamburger in a croissant with cheese. Tomorrow it is off to root on the Aztecs at the Q.

DSL vs. Cable

I just got through installing SBC Yahoo DSL for a friend. SBC was going to charge $150 for the installation, which is a ripoff. However, it took me over two hours of my time to install a network card, get the DSL service working, activate the account and configure the e-mail. The end result is that I dislike DSL even more now than I did before. To install a cable modem, all you have to do is connect the coaxial cable to your modem and the modem to your computer. Then run any browser, like Internet Explorer, and you are connected to the internet. SBC Yahoo requires you to install software, run a special browser that requires a login, and the default page is cluttered with extra icons, links and other junk. Plus, you cannot change your home page. I would strongly recommend to anyone who asks me about DSL or cable that they should get a cable modem if available in their area.

Final LASIK Post-Op

Greetings, fellow LASIK under-goers. I had my final LASIK post-op exam yesterday. It has been 10 months since my surgery. My optometrist said my eyes healed perfectly and have stabilized as expected. I do have a slight prescription, but nothing that would require me to ware glasses until I need reading glasses in 10 years or so. Since I started this blog after I had my surgery, I should mention that I had my surgery performed by Dr. Schanzlin at the Laser Eye Center in La Jolla, CA. I had the Custom LASIK procedure, which was a little more expensive, but typically has better results. I would suggested that anyone wearing glasses should look into having LASIK if they are a candidate.

Johnny Ramone

The rockers of the 70s are dying off too quick. Johnny Ramone of The Ramones is now the third member of The Ramones to die, leaving only one original member. He was only 55. Somehow the rock pioneers of the 60s like some members of The Beatles and the Rolling Stones are living longer than many of the innovative rockers of the 70s such as The Ramones, Frank Zappa and Robert Palmer. It's sad to see artists that I think are still young die, and it also makes me feel old because the 70s was a long time ago. I guess these entertainers lived hard and paid the price. I might live until I'm 90 but I will never experience the adventurous life led by madmen like Keith Moon of The Who.

Tropical Storm Jeanne and Ranting

Here comes the next storm to delay my trip to Key West once again. I have never spent so much time tracking hurricanes. I should be working for NOAA. On the up side, if my trip next week is postponed, then I can attend the SD Festival of Beer.

Start of Rant:

On an unrelated topic, what is the deal with San Diego radio stations? Every other city in the US, even Salt Lake City, has better radio stations than we do. San Diego radio plays what I call "safe rock". Music that is not too extreme and not too soft. Why can't we have a radio station like K-Rock in New York? K-Rock plays the kind of music we used to hear from 91X, back when they were "on the cutting edge of rock" (now they are on the trailing edge of rock) combined with the pure rock of the now internet only KNAC from Los Angeles. I know what the problem is: Clear Channel Communications. However, as much as I dislike their monopoly on radio in the US, I don't believe that Clear Channel, the FCC and President Bush are out to get Howard Stern. Howard needs to take some kind of anti-paranoid pill and get back to talking about strippers, porn stars and more strippers.

End of rant.

Ivan ruined my trip

No thanks to hurricane Ivan, I will not be traveling to Key West on Monday. My trip was postponed for one week, and even that trip might be delayed if there is substantial damage on the island. If I go as planned, I will miss the 10th annual San Diego Festival of Beer. True, I can drink all the beer I want when in Key West, but it is more fun to sample a variety of beers in the festive Downtown atmosphere with fellow beer drinkers than it is to hang-out with co-workers on a tropical island. Not that I don't enjoy going to dinner with them, but I end up looking like an alcoholic after I finish my 4th pint of Guinness at Finnegan's Wake. Well, now it is time to escape this sauna I call a house and search for a cooler place to relax.

Buffy and I

To see something bizarre, click on this photo.

Sky Show and Aztecs

Last night was the KGB Sky Show at the 'Q'. Since the Padres moved to Petco, and having a big fireworks show downtown is not possible, they decided to have the Sky Show after the home opener for the SDSU Aztecs football game. Since I get season tickets every year anyway, I was happy to hear this. The game was rather boring. The Aztecs beat Idaho St. 38 to 21, which is good, but the game took over four hours, which was bad. After the game, Marshall Faulk pushed the button that started the big show. I believe that this was the loudest Sky Show ever. The fireworks and other explosions were so loud that the music was drowned-out. Between the acts, they showed specially produced clips staring the characters of Space Ghost and Zorak from the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim which I didn't find very funny, but I never watch those programs. We left quickly after the show and exited the parking lot with no wait, despite the fact that there were 57,000 people at the stadium - a new record for an Aztec football game (Note: SDSU students now get in for free).

Beer, The Govenator and Monk

First beer. I recently tried two new beers from Stone Brewing Co. The first is their 8th Anniversary Ale. I must say I was disappointed. Their 7th anniversary beer was much better. This years beer had no unique flavor and was kind of flat. The second beer is Stone's Russian Imperial Stout. Now that's what I call a beer! Thick, dark and full of flavor. One bottle and you're done - more or less.

Now politics. This is my first post related to politics. I just wanted to say that no matter who you are going to vote for this November, our governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, just gave a great speech at the RNC. I hope he runs for president in 2008.

Lastly, I just read that the character of Sharona Fleming on the TV show Monk, played by Bitty Schram, is off the show. The actress, and her character, are going to be hard to replace. I also didn't realize that Bitty Schram played the woman from A League of Their Own who "cried" in baseball.

Spyware Removal

I now consider myself an expert on removing "spyware" from computers. I got a call from someone who I hadn't talked to in years asking me how to remove a virus from his computer. After several unsuccessfully attempts to help him over the phone, I brought over a CD with several programs that will remove spyware. It took three hours to remove the poltergeist that was hiding within his computer. I proclaimed: "This computer is clean", and luckly it didn't turn inside-out and get sucked into nothingness.

To fix his computer I ran several programs. I first ran "AdAware" which will find and remove various programs and cookies that may or may not do any harm to your computer. On the first run, it found around 30 bad items, including "malware" and "data miners", both of which are much worse than spyware. That still didn't solve his problem. When we tried to go to his credit union web site, the browser got redirected to another site, and then his default home page changed to that site. So then I ran Spybot Search and Destroy. That program found six more programs to delete. The problem was still there. So I ran AdAware again after downloading the latest update to it and it found another 20 files to delete. This finally fixed the problem.

The main culprit was a program called "Cool Web Search" and after researching that program on the internet it seems it is one of the nastier programs out there that infects computers. It is not really a virus, so Norton Antivirus won't catch it. It installs on your computer automatically when you visit "certain" web sites unless you have ActiveX disabled on your computer, and most people have that enabled. I read about another program called "CWShredder" which is designed to remove this program, but I didn't run it on his computer, but if the virus comes back, I will try that. A good place to download the programs I have talked about is download.com. So the moral of the story is: Practice safe computing, or, he who visits questionable web sites will suffer.

Mexico Photo

Here were are at night in a beach bar with two people we met while playing Whiffle Ball earlier in the day.

Pyramid Resort

I spent this weekend at the Pyramid Resort, which is located about 20 miles south of Rosarito, Mexico. This is my third trip to this resort. While it is always nice and relaxing there, the skies are overcast much of the day due to the cliffs on the east side causing an orographic lift (look it up). So what did we do? We ate food, drank beer, hiked up to the top of the cloud forming cliffs, danced like white people, listened to music and played a great game of Elvis whiffle ball. Elvis whiffle ball is just whiffle ball with Elvis playing on the boom-box. We were joined by two spectators who wanted to be part of the fun. They just happened to be from San Diego too. As usual, the worst part of the trip is crossing the border. We always seem to get in the line where the customs agent questions every car and asks for ID. Now it is time to do laundry and get ready for work.

Pyramid Resort

Iron Mountain

Keeping with my current exercise and health craze, I hiked to the top of Iron Mountain this morning. This was the first time I have hiked it alone, and without someone else to keep pace with, I walked too fast at the beginning and was very tired by the time I got to the peak. From the top you have a good view of the area burned by the big fire last October. In fact, I saw a fire burning off in the distance. I used the telescope at the top to look at the fire and saw aircraft dropping water on it. Why didn't they do that last October? I wasn't worried about the fire reaching me, since all the brush was still burnt. It looked like a volcano exploded - if you have ever been to Mount St. Helens you would know what I mean. It took me one hour to walk up and one hour to walk down. I was the last person off the mountain - the sane people will hike it in the evening when the air is cooler. It is now time to rest my legs and get ready for my next local adventure.

Nibbler

This is Nibbler. He is more powerful than he looks. Click below to hear him speak.

More Vacation Photos

I forgot to put a link to my web page that has more photos from my vacation. Aren't you glad I remembered? It is better than being trapped in a livingroom watching vacation photos on a side projector. Click here to see all photos.

Summer Vacation 2004

This years summer vacation, like the previous ones, was centered around a trip to Lake Tahoe with my friends. My first day took me to St. George, UT, which is a good stopping point on the way to Salt Lake City. My plan was to go for a bike ride to stretch my legs after a long drive, but the temperature was 104 degrees! So I headed to Chili's for dinner. I sat at the bar since I was alone and was happy to see that they sold beer on a Sunday. Utah has some strange alcohol laws. My eyes were tired by the end of the day so my vision was blurry. I looked at the beers on tap and ordered the Mahogany Porter. The bartender said: "Do you mean the Polygamy Porter?". I said "Yes" and the other people at the bar all laughed because they thought I said Monogamy Porter. I let them think that is what I said because it was funnier, since monogamy is the opposite of polygamy. To make a long story short, the beer was great tasting. Back at the Hotel 6, I had nothing to do but watch TV and sleep. Since the sun was setting around 9pm, it was still light outside when I went to bed.

The next day I got up early and drove to my aunt and uncle's house in Salt Lake City. This relatively short drive got me there in the early afternoon. I chatted with my aunt and uncle and then we went to dinner. The next day I decided to go on a bike ride, since I dragged my bike with me. I ended up riding from their house, which is in Emigration Canyon, to the top of the canyon. It was four miles of uphill and took me 45 minutes, but it was worth it. I stopped several times to rest, but knowing that some friends of mine were currently hiking up to the top of Mt. Whitney (which they succeeded in doing), I figured I could finish this little ride. I felt tired but invigorated at the top, and the view was spetacular. After resting for awhile, I rode back down, which only took me 15 minutes.

That afternoon I went with my aunt and uncle to visit two of my other aunts. We ended up going to Chuck'a'Rama for lunch, which is an all-you-can-eat buffet. That evening, an uncle that I hadn't seen in year came to the house with his daughter and visited awhile. He is a crane operator and can't seem to talk about anything but cranes.

The next day I went on a drive through East Canyon, which is the most scenic drive I've been on recently. I would like to ride my bike though that canyon next time, despite some steep hills. On the way, I saw a moose, who stopped in the road and glared at me, as if saying, "what are you doing in my woods?". Since I didn't have a map, I didn't know how long the road was. I ended up way out of the city on Interstate 84.

That afternoon, we went to the Olympic Village at Park City. We took a tour of the village, where they showed the bobsled course, the downhill slope, and the freestyle area. It was kind of interesting to see that they can train all year around, without snow. The surfaces of each slope behave like snow. The day ended with another dinner and I had to get ready for the long drive the next day.

After saying goodbye and thanks to my aunt and uncle, I headed west on I80. With no delays, I made the long 576 mile trek across Nevada to Lake Tahoe in 9 1/2 hours. The only event that I encountered was a large fire in Carson City, which was burning houses and producing thick smoke. Once at the house that my friend rented for the week, I was able to relax with a beer. This house was huge! It was three stories plus a large deck on the roof with a view of Take Tahoe. My room was on the third floor (with the first floor being on the top, and the third floor on the bottom). After a week, my legs were worn out from the walk up and down the stairs.

On Friday we spent some time at the beach at Zephyr Cove. I was the only adult to brave the cold lake waters with a swim. Saturday was the day of the softball tournament. The team won the first game, but lost the next two games to two really good teams. Since this meant elimination, we had all of Sunday free. That ended up being our biking day. We have this route that we always take, and for the first time I got to ride my own bike instead of renting one. We bike to a cafe near Camp Richardson, have lunch, and ride back.

Monday was a good day to go hiking. Only four of us decided to hike. We started at Fallen Leaf Lake and hiked up to Angora Lakes. The trail was steep but we all made it. At the lake, there was all sorts of activity. You can drive to this lake, rent a boat and dive off rocks. We bought some famous lemonade, rested, and headed back down. As usual, my knees were hurting by the end.

My last day in Tahoe was spent on a boat. We rented a pontoon style boat for a half day. We also rented an inner-tube which is easier than waterskiing - at least for the kids. When I tried to get into the tube, I threw my shoulder out of socket - which really hurts - twice. I'm still recovering from that injury. Everyone got a good laugh at my disasterous attempt to go tubing. I had better luck when I swam to the island in the middle of Emerald Bay with the kids. We jumped off some rocks into the lake before swimming back to the boat. We also realize that no one knows how to use an anchor. We amused several onlookers while we struggled for 15 minutes trying to anchor the boat.

On Wednesday I drove home. This time I did encounter a delay - the freeway was closed heading into San Diego due to a chemical spill. That delayed me almost two hours. I got home around 9:30 pm and then had to get ready for the Comic-Con, which you can read about in my previous posts. There is much that happened on this trip that I didn't cover, but I had fun as always. I need to thank Steve and Ann for organizing the trip and renting the house. Trip mileage total: 2000 miles. Average miles per gallon: 26.6. End of story.

Bender and I

See the likeness?

Comic-Con: Day 4

Sunday was the last day of the convention. I wanted to see two panels: Joss Whedon: Serenity and Wonderfalls: Unseen Episodes. Joss Whedon is always entertaining, and this year he had a surprise: the entire cast of his movie Serenity, which is based on his canceled TV show Firefly . The hall was packed with at least 6000 people, and he got a standing ovation - the biggest I've ever seen. When he announced the cast they also got a standing ovation. Lots of good questions were asked and the entire panel was obviously happy at the positive response from the fans. Looks like this movie will do well (unlike the poor response from the trailer for Anacondas, which got boos from the audiace in an earlier presentation.).

After that panel ended, I stuck around to watch two unaired episodes of Wonderfalls. Unfortunately most of the room left. I guess, as the producers put it, everyone who watched the show was in the room. They did some Fox TV bashing, but overall the three executive producers were upbeat about the future of Wonderfalls after its DVD release. The two episodes were just as good as the four that were broadcast. I will buy the DVD which will have all 13 episodes for sure.

Sadly, Comic-Con was over. I headed home with some Angel and Simpsons figures I had bought and got ready for my return to work after two weeks of vacation. Boy, am I exhausted!

Comic-Con: Day 3

Saturday at the Comic-Con is always the best as well as the most crowded. You get used to being hit by backpacks, lightsabers and angel wings. The first panel I attended was The Simpsons with Matt Groening and various producers and directors. The discussed the upcomming season 17 and answered questions. No big announcements, but it is always fun to hear Matt speak. He admitted that he has been attending the Comic-Con as a fan since 1978, which would explain the episode of The Simpsons in which he appeared as himself at a comic convention.

Due to an overlap in programming, I missed this years Star Wars Spectacular with Steve Sansweet. Other than his announcement of the title for Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, I didn't miss his babbling rhetoric about how great the Star Wars universe is. In the afternoon, I attended a panel on action figure sub-culture. It was interesting to her about the state of the action figure/toy industry from the presidents and artists of small-time toy companies.

I sat through the last part of the Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow panel, which didn't impress me. I guess I'm not a Jude Law fan. I was really there in Hall H to see the next presentation: The Grudge. The two co-stars were there, Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy) and Jason Behr. This was Sarah's first appearance at the Comic-Con and she handled the audience like a seasoned convention pro. She was funny and witty, and had no  problem answering the obsessive fan's questions. She even read a list she wrote of why this was her first time at the Comic-Con. Her number one reason was: There isn't enough merchandise with my damn picture on it!

After a dinner that included my first boxty, an Irish food, and some more beer, I returned to the Con to watch the Worst Cartoons ever. Some of these cartoons were so bad they were funny. Others were so bad they were painful to watch. The guy behind me was laughing so much I had to move because he got annoying. Finally, I went to the Masquerade Party/overflow out in the "sail area". They needed an overflow for the overflow! There was no room to watch the show on the screen that was set up. So I headed to the trolley and then home.

Comic-Con: Day 2

Friday was a long day at Comic-Con. I finished walking the dealers room, taking some photos along the way of up coming action figures I might want to buy, including such Buffy figures as these Darals here.  There were also prototypes of new Spike, Anya and Tara figures. I was happy to see a line of "Family Guy" figures. However, the though of starting a new collection frightens me - where will I put them?

I attended four panels: Sci-Fi: Battlestar Galactica, Eliza Dushku, Science Fiction Museum and New Line: Return of the King, Harold & Kurmar, Blade III.  I really wanted to see Eliza Dushku, who was there to promote her show "Tru Calling", since I missed her last year. She was a great sport in handling obsessive fans and was enjoyable to listen to. The other panels were just OK for me. I was tired by the end of the night, but still had energy to go with friends to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and beer.

Comic-Con: Day 1

I just got back from my first day at the Comic-Con. Today I bought many nifty action figures, including two sets of the Charmed Ones. After buying the first set, I found out that there was also a set of CineQuest exclusives, so I bought them also (a discount if you buy them as a set). Add a wind-up Nibbler, two Buffy/Angel ornaments and one Simpson's action figure and you have a very large, heavy bag that I had to drag to dinner, on the trolley and on a five minute walk to my car.

I only went to two panels today: a summer movie preview and an action figure discussion. Both were just OK. Tomorrow I'll finish walking the dealers room, buy some more action figures and attend more panels. Hopefully I'll also have some pictures to post as well.

Back From Vacation

I am back from my vacation despite being delayed by a major freeway closure. I will try to post my trip highlights and some pictures soon but now I have four days of Comic-Con to attend - and write posts for.

 

Padre Game at Petco

Well I finally made it to Petco Park and saw the Padres play the Huston Astros last night. We got there early, before the gates opened, so we had time to walk around and find the best food and beer. Let me start my saying that the people working at the park and the concession stands in particular are extremely friendly and helpful. I hope it stays that way. They were all ready to serve me as I walked by the stands eyeing the beer and food choices.

First the food. I was happy to see more than just hot dogs and burgers for sale. They had food from Oggi's Pizza, Rubios and Gorden Biersch. I ended up eating a chicken burrito from Rubios and was pleasantly surprised that it tasted better than a burrito from a regular Rubios! It had more chicken and cheese, and less of the "filler" ingredients like rice. It made the $7 price seem reasonable. Because the burrito was so big, I wasn't hungry enough to try other foods. That will have to wait.

Next the beer. A few weeks ago I was at the Angel's stadium in Anaheim and all they had was Budweiser and Bud light. Petco had all the usual suspects plus the premium beers Stone Pale Ale, Oggi's California Gold Blonde Ale and Gorden Biersch Marzen, all of which I had, for $7 each. I also saw heineken, Redhook ESB and other semi-premium ales. Going back to their great service, each vender made sure my glass was filled to the top with beer, not foam, and they cleaned off any extra beer that spilled on the sides. I don't mind getting beer on my fingers - really!

In conclusion, the whole experience was enjoyable, even though the Padres lost. Oh, that reminds me, I watched a baseball game too. Almost forgot about that. The game was almost a secondary event after the beer and food. I will try to get to another game soon. I have no excuse since I work near a trolley stop.

Getting Caught Up

I'm a little behind in my blog entries so it is time to get caught up. Last weekend was unusually busy for me - in a fun way. On Saturday I went to a "promotion" party for my supervisor. A person who my boss and I work for with had a party for his daughter's high school graduation, and he decided to also make it a promotion party for my boss. It was kind of strange having high school age kids mixing with us old folks. Despite being cloudy, there was enough food and drinks to make the party fun.

On Sunday I went to my brother's house for Father's Day. We all swam in his warm pool and ate some very good steak and salmon grilled on the BBQ. For this party it was warm and sunny. Even the neighborhood cat had fun.

Monday took me to see the Angels in Anaheim. I haven't even been to a Padre game yet in the new Petco ballpark, but there I was rooting on the Angles. Angle fans are so much more loyal and supportive than Padre fans. Even though the Angles were ahead by like 8 runs in the ninth, no one but us left early. We had an excuse - one of us twisted his ankle walking down the steep steps of the view section (not me).

This weekend I stayed at home and steam cleaned my carpets. What a load of fun. Now my carpets are clean but my back is sore. I rewarded myself for this hard work by going on my first bike ride in almost nine months.

Now I'm planning my summer vacation next month to Salt Lake City and Lake Tahoe.

Weekend in Rosarito

I just got back from a spontaneous trip to Rosarito, Mexico. My friends and I decided on Friday to go there for the weekend. The plan was to crash an Athletic Singles Association (ASA) party that my friend knew was happening down there. I have lived in San Diego my whole life and this was my first trip to Rosarito, so I didn't know what to expect. Ironically, I was surprised to see so many Mexicans, since I thought that all the clubs were filled with Americans.

After checking in to a dive hotel (with three small beds, no air and a faulty circuit breaker that killed all but one light), we headed out looking for people from ASA that my friend knew. First we went to Papas and Beer, a famous club that you might have seen bumper stickers for. We met no one there, so we headed to the Rocking Taco, where we found a large group of ASA members. After some drinks and mingling, we headed back to Papas and Beer which now was packed with partiers. After some food and more drinks, we headed back to the hotel where we didn't sleep much due to music from the hotel bar, which finally stopped around 3 AM.

For breakfast we headed south to La Fanda for a brunch, which might end up being a breakfast-lunch-dinner (bruncher?), and then we drove back across the border. Back to work I go tomorrow.

Papas And Beer

Athletic Singles

What Happens in Vegas ...

... stays in Vegas. I spent Memorial Day weekend in Las Vegas celebrating a friends 40th birthday. We did the usual - gambling and eating. Some of his friends arrived Friday morning, but three of us flew there in the evening.

On Saturday we decided to try to get into the pool at the Hard Rock hotel (which was across the street from our hotel). Only hotel guests can get into the pool area. However, we heard there was a way to sneak in - and it worked. The trick is to take an elevator to the second floor and then take the stairs down to the pool. Once we were inside, we got some beer and looked around. Soon we noticed that everybody had wrist bands on but us, so after a half hour, we walked out the main entrance as the security guard eyed us. Later that day we snuck into the pool at the Palms. This was easier than the Hard Rock - we just entered through the servants doors, and there were no wrist bands required. We ate lunch, which wasn't easy in the strong gusts of winds.

For dinner that night, the birthday boy wanted to go to a fine restaurant called Smith & Wollensky. The food and service was great. Most of us got the Cajun steak, which was large, tender and full of flavor. Be prepared to spend close to $100 per person, though. That was the most I have ever paid for a single meal!

That night we went to the Riviera casino to see the Amazing Johnathan. He is a comic and magician with off-beat humor and bazaar illusions, such as cutting his own arm off. I thought he was funny, but parts of his show I didn't like. For more that half the show he had a volunteer from the audience on stage, which was too long. His assistant was annoying, but she was supposed to be. I'd say if you have seen him on TV, skip the live show.

On Sunday we gambled some more and had lunch at the ESPN Zone in New York, New York. The food there was average. We played some games upstairs in the arcade. That night was our big night out. We went to Club Rubber, a special event at the Palms casino. There was long line to get in, but we had bought tickets the day before and walked right in. The club was outside at the pool and inside the Rain nightclub. Inside the club there were multi-leveled dance floors, rotating bars of lights and several go-go dancers on platforms high above. Quite an experience. Our group was way to old for this crowd, but that didn't bother us. Most of us got back to the hotel around 5 AM. After one hour of sleep, we awoke at 6 AM to get to our 9 AM flight. We were all tired, but made it home by noon. I am still recovering today. I think I'll stay in town for my 40th birthday, which is still a long way off.

Willow Has Arrived

On Friday my five Willow action figures arrived! There is a story behind these Willows, as you may have guessed. The original Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS) action figures were produced by a company called Moore Action Collectibles (MAC). Their figures were very popular, but after BtVS was canceled, MAC stopped producing new action figures. Then, last year, MAC announced that due to an increase in demand for BtVS figures, they were starting a new line of figures, beginning with six different Willows. I signed up as a member of their collectors society so I would have first access at buying them. I was able to buy a pre-production White Witch Willow, of which they only made 995. I then pre-ordered all six Willow figures. Sometime in March, MAC sold the BTVS (and Angel) action figure rights to a company called Diamond Select Toys (DST). During the transition, many people, including me, had their orders lost. (This is based on usefull information I read from a BtVS figures forum.) By the time I found out, DST had already sold-out their White Witch Willows. So I ordered the other five and in one week they were delivered to my door. Now they sit on my wall for all to admire.


Diamond Select Toys

BtVS Figures Forum

Last Angel Party

Last night I had some friends over to watch the final episode of Angel. After five years of outstanding writing, directing and acting, the television show Angel came to an abrupt end. In fact, there are no shows on TV by Joss Whedon anymore. At one time there were three. Our only hope lies in the fact that the ending was a cliffhanger - the battle never ends. I wish I hadn't waited until the end of the 3rd season to start watching Angel - lets here it for DVDs! I thank the people who came to my house yesterday - it has been a while since I've hosted a get-together of more than three people. I wanted to take a photo of everyone but forgot. Also, next time I will have more potato chips so we don't have to ration. For tonight - leftover pizza for dinner and one Smirnoff Ice malt beverage.

Xyst

What does "Xyst" mean? I will explain soon. I recently saw Dennis DeYoung, formerly of Styx, perform with the San Diego symphony. I had been wanting to see him solo in concert for almost 20 years, ever since he released his first solo album, Desert Moon, in 1984. I had see him perform with Styx three times and had enjoyed each concert. But at this show I got to see Dennis DeYoung do more than sing. He told jokes and made the audience laugh. He let other singers perform while he watched from back stage. Dennis DeYoung still has a great singing voice and knows how to perform in front of a live audience. I had never seen the San Diego Symphony before, and they were a great accompaniment to the music of Styx. I am glad I went to the concert. So how does "Xyst" fit in? Well "Xyst" is the name of a game that I wrote on an Atari 800 back in 1981. "Xyst" comes from Styx, my favorite band of all times. "Xyst" was written in Basic and the object of the game was to have each band member find their instruments in a series of rooms. The only copy of the game exists on a 5 1/4 floppy disc in my closet - I hope it still works. Yes, I do have the Atari 800 still.

How it all started

How did this blog get started? It involves They Might be Giants, Wil Wheaton and The Screen Savers. Read on. I was driving up to Anaheim with my sister to see They Might be Giants at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney. On the way my sister asked me, out of the blue, "What's a blog?". I told her that a blog was a web log, a journal style of web site. After seeing Kill Bill Volume 2 and eating diner at the Rainforest Cafe, we saw the concert, which was excellent, as TMBG always is. Even the opening act, Corn 'Mo, was fun. Corn 'Mo was a one man band who played an accordion and a foot symbol. Moving on. A few days later, I was watching the show The Screen Savers on TechTV, and they had Wil Wheaton as a guest. He was talking about computers and such, and then he mentioned that he saw TMBG last week and at the concert he talked to Corn 'Mo about blogs. Seems that Wil was at the same concert we were, and had the same converstion about blogs - scarry!. So my sister stared a blog on e-blogger, and a few weeks later, I created this blog. That's how this blog got started.

Web sites discussed above:

Wil Wheaton's Blog

They Might be Giants

The Screen Savers

Corn 'Mo

Trip to Picacho

This last weekend I went camping with some friends at Picacho State Park, located on the California side of the Colorado River. We camped at a "primitive" camp site, meaning there is no water and only a portable out-house, plus covered tables. Well, I guess it is not so primitive after all. The camp site sits near Taylor Lake, where we float around on rafts drinking beer. This time we actually ventured out to the River, where we watched boaters race madly up and down the river. We stayed near the edge, otherwise the current would take our small rafts swiftly downstream to certain peril. Below are some pictures Steve took plus a link to the park's web site. Next trip - Kern River.


Picacho State Park

My First Blog and Post

Hello World,

This is my first blog entry in my new blog. Yes, I jumped on the blog bandwagon. Now I can talk to Wil Wheaton if I see him at a concert without talking about Star Trek (a long story for another blog entry). My next blog entry will actually have something interesting in it. 'Till then,

Happy blogging
Keith

P.S.

I just did a spell check using the built-in spell checker, and "blog" was not in their dictionary! Wow!