2010 San Diego International Car Show

2010 San Diego Auto Show

Photos I took at the 2010 San Diego International Car Show. Enjoy.

Buenos Aires: Last Day and Trip Home

If you managed to read my post yesterday then congratulations. I haven't even re-read it. I hope this blog post is not as long but let us see.

We slept in Thursday morning because we knew we had a long day ahead and not much to do in Buenos Aires and a long flight home. We met at 10 AM in the lobby to go to breakfast. We went back to Galerias Pacifico Shopping Mall (I just found an advertisement for it in the map I'm using to retrace our steps). The choices for pastries and coffee were almost overwhelming. I got a coffee drink with three small pastries at one of the cafes. Since they don't celebrate Thanksgiving there none of realize that it was an American holiday.

After breakfast, we went back to the hotel to check out and then have our bags stored by the concierge (that is a hard word to spell, I tells you). We then planned our last day in Buenos Aires.

The night before Karen and Lorie used the Internet to find the exact address of the El Zanjon house that we had read about but could not find two days ago. Rather than walking, we finally used the subway. There was a subway station one block from the hotel. We bought one-way tickets which were only 1.25 Pesos, which is very cheap. The subway stop was still some distance from the house, so after arriving back in the San Telmo district, we still had more walking, and it was very sunny and warm outside. We found the house, but were told to come back in 50 minutes for the English speaking tour.

So with more time to kill, we wandered the street of this colorful neighborhood. This place was part of a "walking tour", and there were signs posted in front of notable houses and buildings. One house was listed as the smallest house in the city. You could walk right by and not even notice the house or even realize it was not part of the buildings on either side if it weren't for tourist map and the house was painted in a different color. The problem we ran into, is because the streets are lined with tall buildings, it was hard to get good photos of the best looking buildings. The best place for a photos would have been on the roof of the building across the street, which of course was not possible.

So after 50 minutes of walking we made it back to our destination of the day. They promptly let us in at 2 PM. There was a small issue with admission because we were running low on Pesos and they didn't know the exact exchange rate on US dollars. But we ended up paying $12 each for the one hour guided tour. There were only eight people on this tour, which was nice. The tour guide spoke good English and had a unique accent. She did a great job of making the tour interesting. She explained how this old, run-down building was bought by a person who had plans to turn it into a shop, but soon realized that there was a maze of underground rooms and old stone walls that were used to block off a branch of a river running through the house. Once we walked downstairs she told us we could not take any more photos because they wanted to preserve the mystique of the house, meaning you have to come visit it to appreciate it, not just look at someone else's photos.

Besides guided tours, this house can also be rented for parties. It is actually set up for Tango dancing where they turn off all the lights and then start the music and turn on the disco balls. That would be interesting to experience. But not on this trip. Once our hour was up we departed and continued our walking tour of the neighborhood.

There were museums in the area, but they all seemed to be closed. So we looked at the map and found the nearest subway station was back at May Square. So for the third time we were back at the site of the protests. None today, luckily. The subway line we took to get back to Florida Street was, I think, the oldest subway in the city, which used original subway cars or something. I did not get a photo of the cars. We somehow lucked-out and got onto an express line, which bypassed all stops but the one we needed to transfer on. The next subway took us to a stop near Florida Street, where we planned to go back to the same mall for lunch. There were so many choices it took me longer to decide where to eat than to actually eat. This turned out to be our Thanksgiving dinner. Not the typical Thanksgiving dinner, but just as good because it was with family.

Once we were done eating we basically sat and did nothing. There was not enough time to make anymore trips within the city, and too much time before going to the airport. Finally we decided just to go back to the hotel and arrange for a ride to the airport. Turns out that this was a good idea because it took over 30 minutes to get a non-taxi/non-shuttle to show up. The car was rather small, but fit all our luggage plus us. I sat in the passenger seat. Our driver began by taking the surface streets, and just like the taxi drivers, cut in and out of the lanes and did his best to get in front of slow cars and busses. Once we got on the expressway, traffic was moving slow. So he exited the expressway and did his best to explain why. Turns out he is from Russia and does not speak much, if any English, but we understood what he was telling us about how there were two ways to get to the airport.

Taking the surface streets, or the long way, gave us an opportunity to see parts of the town we had not seen. We went though the poorer sections of town, where we saw playgrounds on rooftops (with no fences to stop children from falling off) and soccer fields in grassy areas between the road, which were cluttered by burned-out cars. Once we got near the exit for the airport, for some reason the driver did not want to follow the signs. He tried to make a left turn against traffic but was stopped by police. He then tried to take a short-cut though a neighborhood but found the street blocked and had to back up the wrong way to find another path. I did not realize that somewhere during this excursion he scraped a parked car. I did notice the speedometer didn't work, which was just as well. We finally got onto the road to the airport and he dropped us of in front the our airline departure area. The ride took about one hour, only 15 minutes more than the ride from the airport to the hotel.

Once in the terminal, we found that there was a line for our specific flight. First they had to find our itinerary which was pre-printed out. Since we all and American Airline priority access, we got to bypass the long line and were taken to the business-class checkin, except for Karen who was already upgraded to business class. That didn't take much time, but we all found out that we had to pay an airport exit fee which was put in place after we bought our tickets last February. This made for one more stop, one of many required to fly internationally into the US. We all got though security without any problems and now waited for our flight departure.

We boarded the plane and almost left on time. One of the two runways were closed so there was about a 15 minute delay. The flight back went through Dallas and took more time than the flight from New York. It was a 10 hour and 30 minute flight. After be fed dinner, I did my best to get relaxed hoping I could sleep. Unfortunately, there was some rough turbulence for the next two hours and I could not relax. I must have fallen asleep after the bumpy ride because then I woke up when the flight attendants came by to serve breakfast. So I must have gotten at least five hours of sleep because we were only 90 minutes for Dallas.

As we approached Dallas, it was still dark at 6:30 AM. We landed on time and exited the plane to go through customs. My sister had a special Global Entry pass which allowed her to use an automated kiosk to clear passport/customs. The line for us regular folks was moving slow. Somewhere along the way I realized that I had a different flight home than my brother and his wife. I was going to arrive in San Diego two hours later than them, and they were my ride home. So I rushed off to their departing terminal to see if I could get on their flight to LA and there was plenty of room. I even got an emergency exit seat. They put me on standby for the flight from LAX to SAN, but there was no guarantee that my luggage would arrive early even if I did. It was on the flight to LAX that I realized I lost my iPod. I was not happy about that. It was due to my carelessness. I never lose anything, except for my mind.

Once at LAX, I watched the standby list with my name listed as number three. The flight was full but I was still hopeful. When the plane boarded, Brad and Lorie got on and I waited. There was room for two more people, so I missed it by one. The next flight left in one hour and I was listed as number one on the standby list. As this fight boarded there was along delay before they started calling standby passengers. I was not happy when three people were given tickets even though MY name was at the top of the list. Just as I stood up to complain, they called my name. All is good.

The quick 25 minute flight to San Diego was, well, quick. I was really hoping that my luggage was there, but it was not. So I had to wait for the next flight, my original flight. Luckily, my brother was waiting for me back at the food court in terminal one. I took the "red bus" there and went to Starbucks and bought one of their special Christmas-time mochas. It was only 1:30 in the afternoon, even though it seemed later. Usually on our overseas trips we leave very early on a Friday or Saturday and get back home very late the same day. At 2 PM we walked to our car in the long-term parking and drove back to the commuter terminal. We timed it perfectly. I walked in, saw my bag had just arrive and walked back out where my brother was waiting for me.

I got home by 2:30 and proceeded to do laundry, go shopping and read my e-mail. By 8PM I was ready for bed. Even though I slept in, I woke up every hour starting at 2 AM. At 6:30 AM I was out of bed and ready for the weekend. I had nothing planned other than relax, and relax I did.

Overall I'd say this was a fun trip. I'd rank Buenos Aires better than Lima, Peru and not as interesting than any historic city in Europe. We have officially decided that next year we are going to Vienna, Austria, with a day trip to Bratislava, Slovakia. Can't wait.

Buenos Aires: Colonia, Uruguay Day Trip

You may have noticed by now, those of you who have read my blogged "vacation reports" before, that I am not including photos. Since I have already posted all my photos I figured it wasn't necessary. Also, it saves time. I might also add that I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read my blog posts. Even though it takes me an hour or two to write them, I enjoy the opportunity to share my fun life experiences with the whole world in a format where I'm able to write in my own style. Not what they taught me in college which was "Say what you are going to say, say it, and then say what you said." I prefer the freedom to write in my own, unique, narrative style.

Now that I'm done with that unexpected paragraph, let's get on with the day. My alarm went off promptly at 6 AM and I was down in the lobby by 7 to meet up with my brother, his wife and my sister. We had planned to get breakfast somewhere near by, but nothing looked good, so we just walked down to the pier. Once there, we found the line to check in for our boat. There were automated kiosks which made the process simpler since we had no bags to check. Then we made a stop at the cafeteria and grabbed some pastries and coffee.

From there we headed upstairs where we basically exited Argentina and entered Uruguay. We had our passports stamped out of Argentina and stamped into Uruguay. Very efficient. We then waited for the boarding of our ship. We had coach tickets that had seat numbers, but once we boarded the ship we realized we could sit anywhere in the couch class. We found four seats in the middle section, which turned out to be good for anyone who gets sea sick as this section had the least motion. I do not get sea sick.

The trip across the river took about one hour. We then docked at Colonia Del Sacramento. Once off the boat we exited so quickly we passed by the place where we turn in our passes and are told what bus to board. We eventually found this booth and boarded bus 126 - the English speaking tour. The bus was only about 10% full. I'd say less than 20 people.

As soon as we departed the terminal the guide started her speech. The bus tour lasted about 45 minutes or less. We got a tour of the area outside of the historic district of Colonia, making only one stop where we got out to take photos. I tried take photos while the bus was moving, but they either turned out blurry or just didn't capture the scenery. It was kind of funny that most of the sites were of buildings that were built in the early 1900s and then abandoned a decade later, such as the bull fighting ring. During the tour the guide also gave us a history lesson of the city, told us about the people, lifestyle and average temperatures during the summer and winter. She made it clear that Colonia was a very laid-back city with very little crime and the water along the beaches were clean, unlike the polluted waters of Buenos Aires.

Once we arrived at the center of town, our guide, who's name I can't remember, led our group down the main street, showing us where the restaurant was that we would be eating at. There were maps of the city along the street, and she stopped to show us where we were on the map and where the various sites to see were. We than had over four hours to explore the city before meeting up again for a guided walking tour of the historic area.

Our first stop was the beach. It made for some great photos of the city and of us. From there we wandered towards a lighthouse. It was just 15 Argentina pesos to climb to the top. In Colonia they accepted Argentina pesos, Uruguay pesos and US dollars. I think the exchange rate on the US dollar was the best deal, but mostly we used our Argentina money. The stairs to the top circled up a tight path, but I think it only took a few minutes to reach the top, unlike some of the towers and domes we walked up in Italy last year. From the top there was a great view of the city, and since the sun was out it made for great photos. Once we had our fill of the view, we walked back down, being careful of people walking up as there was only one stair case.

After exploring the city some more, we decided to have our lunch before the restaurant got too busy. The lunch included the salad bar, which had a large variety of cold foods other than salad, a choice of beef, chicken or pasta, and a desert. I chose the mushroom filled raviolis for my main dish. Overall the food was quite good. The lunch did not include drinks, but I just got a Coke. I could have tried a local beer, but their beer didn't look too exotic, plus that would have just made me want to take a nap. So after just over an hour there dining, we paid our bill, tipping the waiter nicely, and continued our explorations of the town.

During the next hour or two, we did lots of walking. We went into many shops to look for souvenirs. I ended up buying a magnet in the shape of the lighthouse we climbed. The lighthouse was completed in 1857 according to the map I'm looking at. As the day went on, the temperature warmed up and we did our best to stay in the shade. We walked up and down the quite streets. It was interesting that most of the intersections had no stop signs. Drivers just politely yielded to the the car that was already in the intersection. We explored a farmers market but bought nothing. Then we walked to the Basilica of the Holy Sacrament, one of the few religious sites we visited.

By this time we were very tired and hot. We saw other tourists who were even hotter, as their shirts were soaking with sweat. Finally, as it got near 4 PM, we walked to our meeting place where we met back up with our guide and the rest of the people on the bus. She then took us to the places in town that we did not tour because we knew we would be there for the guided tour. We learned more about the culture, the influence of the French and Spanish, and much more about the differences in how the French and Spanish build roads than we ever wanted to know. Water drainage, sidewalks and types of stone. We, as with the rest of the group, were ready to board the air-conditioned buses by this point.

So just after five we boarded the bus and made the short trip back to the port. Once again we went through passport control and got two more stamps in our passports. On the boat we sat in the center but closer to the front. The one hour ride was eventless except for the hard rain we encountered as we approach Buenos Aires. Luckily the rain stopped by the time we docked, making our walk back to the hotel rain free.

You are in luck. Since I'm getting tired of typing I decided to take a photo of the magnet I bought in Colonia so you can see what the lighthouse looked like that we climbed to the top of. Enjoy :-)

Once back at the hotel, we took another hour break before going to dinner. A shower and change of clothes felt great. Even though I put on sunscreen, my face still got sunburned. I tried my best to reduce the redness in the photos of my using Photoshop. Also, I had a few misquote bites, but not as many as my sister had. We were worried because there were signs posted everywhere, which I never saw, that warned us about getting the Dengue fever from misquotes. As of now, over two week later, none of us got sick.

We had planned to eat a an Irish Pub we passed several times, but once inside we opted not to eat there due to smoking allowed downstairs and the music was too loud (yes, we are old). So we walked a few blocks away and found another Irish Pub. While my brother and I waited near the door, my sister and his wife walked up towards the bar. At the bar there were several businessmen in suits who were more than happy to see two American girls in their local bar. They proudly spoke their best English to impress the women. Then Brad and I finally walked up and we were seated in a table near the bar but in a less crowded and quieter place. The waitress did not speak much English, but we managed to order our drinks, my sister and I got a Guinness while Brad and Lorie got their usual Coke and Coke light. We ended up all ordering the same meal, their salmon dish. It was not near as good as our meal the night before, and in fact was very fishy tasting.

We eventually paid our bill and left. It was now dark outside and the latest we had stayed out. Before I forget, I really wanted to see some Southern hemisphere stars and constellations, such as the Southern Cross. But due to clouds and light pollution I saw but one star and the Moon. Guess I'll have to make that trip to Australia some day. Once again we found ourselves on Florida Street. However, by this time at night, pushing 9 PM, the vendors had left and there were actually a few prostitutes hanging out on the street corners. They were obviously hookers, just standing there wearing very short, easy access, skirts. This was not a "Pretty Woman" scenario. I was not going to bring one of them back to my nice hotel in a fast car.

A few more stops along the way and we were ready to turn in for the night. Since Thursday was our last day in town and our travel home day, we all agreed to sleep in and meet at 10 AM for breakfast before checking out by noon. Back in my room in packed my bags for the trip home, watched some TV, thought briefly about the hookers and went to bed.

Buenos Aires: First Full Day

I have forgotten to mention that since Argentina is in the Southern hemisphere, it was late Spring there, so the temperatures, even when cloudy, were 75 degrees during the day. The humidity was also high, making for an uncomfortable walking environment. We could have worn shorts, but almost no body wears shorts there. I saw only a few tourist wearing short and they stood out, something we did not want to do. Although it was obvious to every local that we talked to that we were American, and luckily they still like Americans.

We met in the hotel lobby around 7 AM I think and went out for a light breakfast and coffee. After that we walked down to the docks to buy our tickets to Uruguay for the next day. We knew the walk was short, but once at the docks we somehow missed the building with the big sign that read "Buquebos", the name of the company the hotel suggested. So we walked too far into the docks and finally a man stopped us at the entrance to an empty building and directed us back to the correct building.

Once there, we found the room where you buy tickets. It was set up very nice. They took our name and then when a representative was ready our name was posted on a monitor, which we did not notice right away. The saleswoman was very helpful and got us signed up for the deluxe tour, which included the price of the fast boat, a guided bus tour of Colonia, lunch at a nice restaurant and then a walking tour of the city. I think this cost about $100 dollars per person, which is relatively cheap.

Now that we had our tickets we went back to the hotel to drop them off and then made the plans for the day. Now for some reason, exactly what we did this day and in what order are a little fuzzy. I suspect my memory was not so good due to jet-lag and the extra long two days it took to travel there and all the walking the day before.

I believe our first plan was to use the so called hop-on-hop-off bus to take us to a few sites around the city. The bus had a stop across from the hotel. We boarded the bus and after sitting for some five minutes someone finally came to sell us tickets. Turns out they wanted over $100 US dollars! That is way to much. These tour buses usually cost more like $15, and we were only going to go to a few of its stops. Plus they seemed very disorganized - and slow. So we ran off the bus and opted to walk to our first destination - the Recoleta district to see the Recoleta Cemetery.

Many famous people are buried there, including past Argentinean presidents and Eva Peron. This cemetery is huge, with rows and rows of mausoleum (or crypts?). Each one decorated in some unique, ornate way. After walking round in the sun and snapping some photos, I was ready to leave. We found the site were Eva Peron was buried, but not her husband. We could have paid for a map from one of the many people outside selling maps to this free site, but they were too annoying so we just ignored them.

By this time we were ready for lunch. From the day before when we were here looking for the Hard Rock Cafe, we knew there were many places to eat. We ended up in the Buenos Aires Design center, an upscale mall with all sorts of interesting stores with expensive looking furniture. I was fascinated by a booth that was selling door locks that open with your finger print. We sat down at a small cafe and I opted for what looked like a callzone. It wasn't too bad, but was over-cooked and needed more fillings inside. I was really hungry.

We then left and hailed a cab to take us back to the San Telmo district. There was a house with underground rooms that we wanted to check out. The conseair at the hotel had marked on a map where the house was located, but we walked up and down the street and could not find it. However, we walked into a museum to ask about it and they didn't know what we were talking about, but encouraged us to check out their "door" museum, which was free. It was a very small place, with items recovered from buildings that used to line the street back when the area was kind of a Little Italy, I believe. After a few photos and signing a guest book, where the people who signed it before were from San Diego also, we left.

After some more walking around we found ourselves at May Square again, near the government buildings. This time something was abrewing. There were more police and they were in riot gear. I took a photo of them without being obvious because they were stopping others from taking photos. Not wanting to get involved in any kind of riot, we walked back to good-old Florida Street. As we headed up we heard some noise. It was the protesters marching up a street banging on drums and holding signs. We think it was a protest by indigenous laborers, but we never found out. They were protesting peacefully and even had their protest permit displayed on the front banner.

So more walking got us back to our hotel. I was also hoping that my lost luggage was found, and once in my room I saw I had a voice mail message. I eventually got ahold of someone who told me my bag was delivered by the airline. I was very happy to hear this. Clean clothes awaited me.

We took about a hour break before going back out for dinner. There were restaurants everywhere. We heard someone talking about a place near the hotel, but we got there too early and all they had were pizzas, not their full menu. So we checked out a few menus of nearby places and found a nice restaurant called Dada's. Turned out this this was our best dinner and dinning experience of the trip. The waitress was very nice, spoke great English and the food was unbelievably great tasting. I can't remember exactly what I had, but it was beef of some sort topped with all sorts of flavorful sauces and sides. We finished off the meal with a decadent desert. We left feeling satisfied and again, ready to turn in early, since we planned to meet at 7 AM in the lobby so we could get to the boat dock by 8 AM.

This may have been the night that Brad, Lorie and I went back out for another walk up Florida Street as Karen went to her room. We discovered that later at night, when the leather shops are closed and nobody is trying to get us into their stores that the street was much nicer. It was also well lit with bright lights. We discovered a three story mall with a beautiful, tall Christmas tree, above which was a Sistine Chapel-like painted ceiling.

Since the planned wake up time for me was 6 AM (or 1 AM San Diego time), it was time to go back to our rooms. It was kind of depressing to watch all the people leaving the hotel, dressed up for long night of dinning and possibly Tango dancing as we headed up to our rooms for sleep. We did no Tango dancing while in Argentina, which was fine by me.

Buenos Aires: First Day

After checking into our rooms, we were ready to head out into the city. We had no plan at this point other than find sunglasses for my sister. We needed to find a bank first to get some money. They use Pesos in Argentina, and the current exchange rate was about 3.5 Pesos for one US dollar. Overall, prices for food, taxis and merchandise was cheap. However, there was a 21% tax included in all prices.

Our hotel was at the end of Florida street, which was a pedestrian street lined with all kinds of shops, but mostly leather since Argentina is known for its meats and leather. I know this street goes by a different name, but I can't seem to find what it was called on the maps I'm looking at. During our stay, we made the walk up and down Florida Street so many time, the vendors who stood outside their shops trying to get people into their stores began to recognize us. Some of the vendors were so aggressive, it was annoying after a while and we found ways to avoid the worst blocks by taking short cuts through a mall and using side streets.

Anyways, you would think there were many stores selling sunglasses, but it took about 20 minutes before we found one. So my sister bought a pair of not only cheap sunglasses, but ones that distorted her vision due to poor lenses, but at least they blocked out the brightness of the sun. We kept walking up the street, taking in the sights. After about an hour we stopped to decide what to do. Up ahead I saw some interesting buildings so we kept going. It was interesting that the people hanging out on the street went from shop owners to hippies and other assorted Bohemians. We must have walked to a different district.

The buildings we were headed for ended up being the Government House located next to May Square. May Square was a nice park, but it was divided in the middle by a big, ugly fence. We soon realized that this fence was there to keep protesters away from the Government House. There were a few police guarding the access to the other side of the fence which you could get to from the sidewalk. There was no protesting going on at this time, but there was evidence of protests of some sort by the graffiti painted on monuments and buildings. It was sunny at this time so we took some photos of the area and then moved on.

By this time we were getting hungry and feeling the effects of lack of sleep. We knew there was a Hard Rock Cafe somewhere in Buenos Aires. Once we reached the Centro district, near the Obelistk, we found a tourist information booth. I asked the bored looking man inside where the cafe was and he marked-up a map of its location. Looking at where we had just walked from, and where the cafe was, we agreed to just walk there. Unfortunately, maps can be deceiving if they are not to scale, and buildings on the map do not look like they do in real life.

So the walk was much further than expected and even when we found the right building, we were still unable to locate the restaurant. Even after asking a person where it was, the entrance was so hidden we wondered how anybody could find the place. Because it was still early, like 4PM, only the upstairs was open. We had a nice waiter who spoke some English, but was trying very hard to learn more words, so he discouraged us from speaking any Spanish. So we ordered our food and beer, which tasted like food and beer from any other Hard Rock Cafe around the world. Once finished, we all agreed on taking a taxi back to the hotel. No more walking.

Like in any other country than the US, the lines on the road are only "suggestions". People drive swerving in and out of lanes, or they drive in two lanes at once. They at least stop at stop lights, but their stop lights not only turn yellow before turning red, they turn yellow before turning green. So as soon as the light is yellow, all cars race to get ahead of the slower buses, which there were TONS of.

Back at the hotel, even though it was not even 7 PM, we were done for the day and decided to go to our rooms for much needed sleep. Our plan was to meet in the morning, get some breakfast and then go buy our tickets for the trip to Colonia, Uruguay. The concierge recommended getting the tickets the day before make the trip. Since there was a chance of rain on Tuesday (it was still Monday if you lost track), we would decide what to do the rest of Tuesday depending on the weather and how we felt.

I watched TV for a little while and really had no problem falling asleep. I think I dreams about flying in planes and walking round city streets.

Buenos Aires: Travel to Day

This year for our family Thanksgiving overseas vacation we decided on Buenos Aires, Argentina. We (or I) made this choice for a few reasons. First, it was a part of the world that we had never been to before - the east coast region of South America. Second, it was time to take a break from trips to Europe, where there is a 9 or 10 hour time difference. Argentina is just 5 hours ahead of the Pacific time zone. Third, I saw a show on some channel about how nice Buenos Aires is. They said it was very European and metropolitan. We also decided before going, that we would make a day trip to Colonia, Uruguay, which is a designated world heritage site.

Since we knew that there wasn't anything really famous to see in Buenos Aires, we planned a shorter trip - just three nights. However, since we were arriving in the early afternoon the first day, and leaving in the very late evening the last day, we really had almost four days to site see.

We, meaning my sister, brother, his wife and I, all flew out on the same flights. We left San Diego early Sunday morning and flew to JFK in New York. Once there, we had about a five hour layover. All but one of us used frequent flier miles to fly for free, so we were limited on our choice of flights and times. At JFK we killed time by eating, sitting, walking around and more sitting. I was happy to find a TV to watch the Charger game on and was even happier that they won. Finally, our flight was ready to leave. From JFK to the airport near Buenos Aires, EZE, was a ten hour flight. I was in an non-emergency exit, isle seat with very limited leg room. Luckily the lady sitting next to me was short and spent the whole flight sleeping and never left her seat.

Even then, this was the longest flight I had ever been on. I think I was able to get three or four hours of sleep. Everybody woke up about 2 hours before landing when they served breakfast. Then the pilot announced that there would be some heavy turbulence and even asked the flight attendants to buckle up. So for about an hour the plane shook pretty hard, making some passengers nervous and sick. I was too tired to be scared so I just tried to relax and get more sleep.

We landed on time, around 11 AM local time. It didn't take much time to get through customs and passport control. But soon I had my first disappointment - my checked bag never showed up. So I went to the lost baggage window and put in a claim for my lost luggage. They said most likely it would arrive on the same flight the following day. Luckily I packed extra clothing in my carry-on backpack.

We had pre-arraigned for a ride to the hotel, so as we exited the secure area we met up with the man holding a sign for use. The hour of us piled into a large van and then sat and observed our first view of Argentina during the 45 minute ride to the hotel. Since it was still early afternoon, there was not much traffic.

Our hotel was a Marriott, located near the center of Buenos Aires. We checked in with no problems, but over the next two days we had issues with our rooms, due to the hotel getting confused about our reservations. We had three rooms for three nights booked by my sister and I using our Marriott rewards points. Somehow the hotel got mixed up and lost the reservation for one of the rooms for two nights. It took a long phone call by my sister to Marriott (while we were in Uruguay) to get this mix-up straightened out.

When we checked in, only two of our room were ready due to our early check-in. Mine was ready, but I think I got a smoking room, as it smelled like cigarette smoke. Since it was just for three nights, I wasn't going to bother asking for a different room. So, after about an hour we were ready to start our adventure in Argentina.

A short movie I took at the Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Buenos Aires Vacation Photos

Argentina and Uruguay - Best Of

These are the best of my photos taken in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Colonia, Uruguay during my Thanksgiving family vacation.

Site-seeing photos in Philadelphia

Site-seeing In Philadelphia

This weekend I flew to Philadelphia to attend a friend's wedding. I arrived on Thursday evening and the wedding was Saturday evening. So I had a chance to do some site-seeing. On Friday I went to the historic part of Philadelphia and saw the Liberty Bell and other sites. Then on Sunday we made a quick trip through Valley Forge.

I didn't take any photos during the wedding events, but I hope to have copies of photos that other people too.

Clouds

Classic Star Trek Christmas Ornament

I just happened to be in a Hallmark store today and remembered to look at the new Star Trek Ornaments. I did not like the Klingon Cruiser. I just lit up and had no sound. But this "The Menagerie" one was much better - and $4 less! I regret not buying last year's "The Trouble with Tribbles" ornament. It had a internal mechanism that dropped Tribbles on Caption Kirk.

Bike RIde to Waterfall in Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve

I was extra ambitious this morning. I woke up just before 8 A.M. I took my time drinking coffee and eating breakfast because I saw it was 48 degrees out side. At 9:30 I went outside and was glad I was ready for a bike ride because it felt like 80 degrees. My plan was to ride to a waterfall in the Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve. I heard about this waterfall from a friend and knew about where it was. Thanks to my bike ride two week ago, I realized I could bike there from my house. So a three mile ride to the beginning of the dirt path that took me under highway 15. Then five miles along a smooth but dusty trail that was crowded with walkers, runners, bikers and horse riders. Once at the waterfall, I stopped and took a few cell-phone camera photos. There were about 20 people at this spot, and yes, there was water in the 'river', even though it has not rained really since April!

I then headed back home. The ride there was mostly downhill, since it is towards the coast, so the ride back up uphill. I pushed myself near the end, as in I rode my bike up hills without shifting into easy gears. The whole trip took less than two hours and totaled 17 miles. The temperature and weather was perfect. I like these rides that are both relaxing and provide a good cardio work-out.

My U2 Weekend

The Invite:

On Thursday night I received an unexpected phone call from my friend Steve, one of many friends name Steve. He asked me if I was interested in going to the U2 concert Sunday evening at the Rose Bowl. I had never been to a U2 concert and I wanted to go, but I had to think about it due to the busy, but fun schedule leading up to the concert. I ended up saying "sure" and the following weekend turned out to be quite fun - and tiring.

The night before - Halloween Party:

Almost every year I go to my friend's Halloween party thats held the last Saturday before Halloween. This year's theme was Survivor, as in the TV show, but as many of the party goers don't watch the show, they wore costumes based on other survivors, such as of the Titanic. I just dressed as a generic Survivor with ragged clothing. We, meaning the couple I was going to the concert with, stayed until about midnight and then made the short trip a few blocks away to their house where I was spending the night. Asleep shortly after midnight.

The morning of the concert:

At five in the morning I got the wake-up call, a knock on the door. It was time to get ready for the concert. At five AM you ask? Yes. We had general admission tickets, and our goal was to get to the Rose bowl may 8 AM when they started allowing people to get in line for GA. The rummer was that the first 2000 people in were able to get into the 'inner circle', the closet to the stage.

At 6 AM we met up with another couple who was going to spend the day with us. So we drove up to Pasadena, where Steve and his wife had a hotel room. I might mention that at this point I had no place to stay, but I wasn't worried. From the hotel, the five of us got into the hotel shuttle. However, the shuttle could only take us to within about 1.5 miles of the Rose Bowl. There were restrictions on shuttle and taxies not being about to get anywhere near the stadium. So we grabbed our stuff, which included six chairs, two coolers and a beach umbrella and proceeded to walk the rest of the way.

Arrival at the Rose Bowl:

We got in the general admission line around 9 AM. We expected tons more people there, but we were about the only ones walking in at that time. It looked liked there were less than 1000 people in front of us. We set up our chairs and umbrella and proceeded to sit and talk for a few hours, eating some food and taking occasional bathroom breaks. Around 1 PM someone came by, writing a number on everybody's hand. They started at the front of the line, which we heard people lined up there at 5 AM. My number was 1122, so we know that we should get into the inner circle, but just because you had a number did not guaranty that.

More waiting:

They were going to open the gates at 5 PM, so Steve and I wandered around and found some people to challenge in a game of cornhole. They had a Texas Tech themed board, complete with LED lights on the inside of the hole. We ended up not winning but had fun anyways.

We walked back to our spot in line and noticed that the line was thinning out. So, since it was about 4:15, we stated to gather up our belongings.

The mad rush:

Then, almost instantly, everybody in front of us began running towards the gate. So we grabbed our cooler, since it still had beer in it, and ran too. We abandoned everything else as planned. There were so many people running that it looked like a stampede, complete with a dust cloud. We also saw many people rushing in from the outside, people who obviously had not been waiting in the line. And yes, there was no security to be found. Next thing I know we are standing in a big mob in front of the gate. People are complaining that they have numbers below 500 and ours are over 1000, but we point out that there are far more people around us without numbers, or wristband which we also were given earlier.

Entrance into the Stadium:

Once security finally arrived, they looked confused and were also outnumbered. Shortly after five, they finally started letting people in - slowly. They attempted to let people in by groups, but some yellow ribbon was not going to stop people from running to the gate.

When we got to the gate, we were given a very brief search. Once inside I lost track of my friends. So I just headed down to the field and eventually found my way into the inner circle, but could not find my friends. So a exited, getting a re-entry stamp and checked my voice mail. Seems they were on the left side and I had been on the right side. So after much effort, I rejoined my friends. Now we waited for two more hours before the concert started - standing in our "spot" about 10 feet from the stage. Also, there were many people without numbers on their hands, so these people had not waited in the long line all day, but showed up whenever and got in. So much for following the rules. I'd blame the poor security and planning by the security than the people who "cheated".

The Concert start with the Black Eyed Peas:

The was actually the second time I'd seen the BEP. They opened up for Gwen Stefani during her first solo turn. I do like many of the BEP songs, and I must say, they put on a great show. They really did "get the party started" and "pumped-up" the crowd with lots of "boom boom pow!". OK, enough with the quotes. If you have already seen my posted photos, you know that Fergie is my favorite. Anything she sings is top-notch. The surprise for the night was the guest performance by Slash, the guitarist from Guns and Roses. I didn't realized what happened before they played Sweet Child of Mine until later, but I guess will.i.am was supposed to sing, but he pointed at Fergie just as the song began, so Fergie sang the song. I guess she messed up on the second verse, however, her performance was unbelievable. If you watch the YouTube video of they song, it does not due her justice. Her singing was 10 times better than that Axel Rose guy.

The main act - U2:

I need to mention that this U2 concert was being recorded for a DVD release. There were cameras everywhere. Look for me in the crowd when watching the DVD. I'm standing about 20 feet away from Adam Clayton.

I have like U2 since the early 1980s, but this was my first U2 concert. I knew all their songs except most of the ones from their new album.

The stage itself was rather simple, with some equipment and the drums. Above the stage was some kind of rocket structure with all sorts of lights. Around that was a 360 degree video screen.

As their performance began, I was totally amazed and impressed by the moving catwalks. I saw them before the concert, but did not realize that they moved. These platforms allowed the musicians to walk from the stage to an outer platform. The catwalks moved right over us, and at one point, Bono was singing one foot above my head. Really cool!

During the concert I was taking lots of photos, and some videos. Many of the pictures did not turn out well, due to the lighting. Spotlights can ruin the exposure for a simple point-and-shoot camera, even one with 10X optical zoom.

I had expected the show to end by 11 PM due to noise restrictions, but U2 had either one encore that lasted five songs or two encores. I'm not sure. They played until about 11:20.

The concert, like a friend of mine said, was almost spiritual. Even now, three days later, I'm still walking around singing U2 songs.

The Trip back to the Hotel:

We were able to exit the floor by walking out the main ramp to the parking lot. As we headed back to the hotel in "Old Pasadena", there was a sign that indicated it was three miles away. I almost forgot to mention Rick. He took the other ticket on Thursday, but had to work and did not get to the Rose Bowl until 7:30. ALso, while waiting in line. Steve got a call from the Holiday Inn Express where he was on the waiting list for a room. That room was for me and Rick, so by this time I had a room in a hotel that I had not checked into yet, nor knew where it was.

Once we got to the place where we were dropped of my the shuttle that morning, we realized that we did not know were the hotel was. By asking people and using someone's cell phone with a map, we walked for another 30 minutes before calling the hotel to get directions. Overall, I think we walked five miles to get to the hotel.

Somewhere along this walk, Rick called me, and he ended up meeting us at the hotel. From there, I got in his truck and we proceeded to find our hotel, which was about three miles down the road. Both of us were hungry, but every fast-food place that was open had a long drive-though line. We finally found a Del-Taco with a short line and bought a few burritos.

We then got to our hotel, checked in an ate a late night dinner at 2 AM. I'd say I fell asleep at 3 AM. So yes, I was awake for 22 hours! Having fun if very tiring.

I regret not bringing ear plugs. Not for the concert, which had great acoustics and was not too loud, but because of my roommate's snoring! He was in the bed next to me, and even with the AC on, I'd say I got about four hours of solid sleep.

The next (or later that) morning:

I set my watch alarm for 8:30, but was away since 7:30. When I got out of bed I showered, called in sick to work. Then I got a text from Anne inviting me to join them for breakfast at a quaint but popular restaurant with yet another couple who was at the concert.

So they picked me up at my hotel, where Rick stayed behind because he had work to do later that morning. We split the cost of the hotel room, which they jacked-up the price due to the concert. $210 is a LOT for a small room with two beds, so having a friend to split that cost with was nice.

The breakfast was really fun. I was still on an emotional high form the concert, despite my physical and mental exhaustion. During the meal, I actually laughed harding that I have in a long time. Laughter IS the best medicine.

The Rest of the Day:

We hit the road around 11:30. Late enough that the road were clear from the morning rush hour. I was home by 1:30. After spending a few minutes on the computer, checking my e-mail and posting a few photos on facebook, I took a two hour nap. That felt so good. Once I woke up, I felt more relaxed than I have felt in a long time.

Even with the nap, I was asleep by 10 PM and woke up at 5:45 for my work day. I made it though most of the day without feeling too tired, and yes, I was still on an emotional high, singing BEP and U2 songs aloud and in my head.

Will I go to another U2 concert? Yes. But by Bono's comments near the end of the show, it sounded like they might be done. We assumed that he was referring to the poor sales of their new album. Well, just put out another album with better songs and you can have another sold-out world-wide stadium tour.

Done.

U2 360 From Pasadena - Best of Photos

U2 360 Best of My Photos

First time ever I've been to a U2 concert, and they didn't let me down. Who knew back in the early 1980s that U2 would be one of the last 'supergroups', playing to 100,000 people in 2009? I can't wait to buy the DVD that they recorded at the Rose Bowl. Look for me standing not too far from Adam Clayton.

Black Eyed Peas Photos - Best Of

Black Eyes Peas my Best of Photos

Made an unexpected and fun trip to the Rose Bowl this weekend to see U2 with the Black Eyed Peas opening up. These are the best of the photos I took. I was standing about 20 feet from the stage, and as you can see, I really like Fergie.

Bike Ride and Sam Knott Oak Park

I started my bike ride with no real plans as to where I would ride. After yesterday, spending so much time in the sun and drinking a few beers, I thought I'd see how I felt after a few miles.

Well, after riding up a not very steep hill, I decided no more hills. So I ended up riding around the Saber Springs neighborhood when I rode over a bridge and saw a dirt trail below. This trail looked interesting, so I rode around until I found the path leading to the trail.


Once on the trail, I rode slow since my bike is not a mountain bike. I encountered a few people hiking and walking their dogs. As I rode further west, I realized this trail might take me to the bike path along interstate 15.

Once I got near the freeway, I wasn't sure which path take, and ended up on two dead-end trails at the bottom of a steep, narrow path. The paths had tire marks on them, so I must not have been the only one to make this mistake. But since I had no destination or time limit, these diversions were just an adventure.


Eventually I found the trail that took me to some kind of water treatment plant, located below I15 and Poway Road. As you can see, the walls are decorated with colorful art work. Then I noticed an area with trees planted. As I walked closer to it, I saw lots of memorials next to each tree.

There was a bench that identified that this was a park dedicated to people that died as crime victims. After looking it up on the Internet, Sam Knott was Cara Knott's father, and Cara was the woman who was kill by a CHP officer in this area in 1986. Sam Knott died while tending to the park in 2000. How sad.

There was a stone path that led to a covered patio area. Many of the stones were carved like grave stones. There were names of people who died in the early 1900s all the way to the present.

I was really surprised to find this park here, because I didn't think that there was vehicle access - only walking and biking. There was a truck parked there, but I did not see any one else except some other bikers passing. There is a paved road from Scripps Poway Parkway, but it looks like there are gates that might get closed at night.

After sending about fifteen minutes at the park, I continued on my bike ride, heading back home. Overall I was gone for two hours and rode about 15 miles, three of which were on dirt trails. My speedometer broke some time along the way, so I had to use the 'ruler' tool on Google Earth to retrace my ride and get the distance.

Anza Borrego Trip

I went on a day trip to a few sites in the Anza-Borrego desert this weekend. The weather was perfect, 84 degrees and very sunny. Great for hiking and photographing. We first explored possible camp site for later this month or next year. Then were drove to the trailhead of a 1 mile walk to some old Indian pictographs. I would have walked right by had my friends not known where they were. They are on a big rock right of the right-side of the trail. Interesting site to visit that is so close to home.

From there we continued on the trail for another 15 minutes where you reach the end, as in if you keep hiking you fall off a 50 foot cliff. The rocks in the area make for good photos, plus there is a nice view to the west of Laguna Mountain.

The hike back to the car seemed longer, as it always does. Then a short drive on more dirt roads led to the second trailhead. From here you hike one mile up a mountain. At the top is the ruins of a house that a man and his wife lived in in the early 1900s. This house is so isolated you wondered how they survived. Not much left of the actual walls of the house, but we spent about 20 minutes exploring the hill.

The walk back down the mountain was very quick, and as the sun was setting, we decided to head back to my house and celebrate my birthday with beer, food and a movie.

2009 Mustang Show at Seaport Village

2009 Mustang Show at Seaport Village

The best of my photos taken at Seaport Village Mustang show.

Bachelor Party for Chris

Chris Party Best Photos

A fun time was had by all.

Season Premiere of Bones.

Bones. I finally saw the season opener. I liked the episode, however, I did not like how they 'glossed-over' the coma-dream that Booth had. I had assumed that, after watching the cliff-hanger last season, than Booth had total amnesia, not just confused about who Bones was - his wife or co-worker/partner, but who he was. The part where he said "I love you, in a .... way", was kind of a cop-out, in my opinion. How long can they drag-out this love sub-plot between the two main characters?

Band Playing at SD Festival of Beers

I went to the 1st one 15 years ago with Mark G. and several in-between. Good to get there early because the lines are much shorter. 10 4 oz. samples were enough.

Prescription vs. store-bought reading glasses.

About a year ago I went to the optometrist for my annual eye exam, and admitted to myself for the first time that I needed reading glasses. Now I had been told by many friends not to get prescription glasses because they were too expensive and the glasses you buy at a generic store work just as well. I ended up getting my glasses from the optometrist because he convinced me that off-the-shelf glasses would not work because they would be too strong. Yes, the glasses/frames/exam/anti-reflective coating were expensive, but the glasses worked great.

Last week I was in Costco and they have this set-up where you look through four different lenses to see which reading glasses work the best. The "125", whatever that number means, was the weakest, but I could tell that I could read the letters better. So I bought a three-pack of that type. When I got home the first thing I did was test them out while working on the computer. Immediately I noticed that the glasses did not make the text on the computer screen easier to read, but actually more blurry than my prescription glasses. The Costco glasses seem to only work for actual reading, where the book is about 12 inches from my face. The computer screen is about two feet away, and the glasses I've been using work great for both computer use and reading books.

So if anyone needs "125" glasses, I have three pair - with cases! - you can have, except I might keep one just for the fun of it.

SDSU at UCLA 2009

We had a crew of 11 go to the Rose Bowl to see SDSU play UCLA. The game was almost postponed due to the fires and smoke, but by Saturday the smoke had cleared and other that being hot it was a nice day.



Short movie of us playing cornhole in the golf course parking lot before the UCLA game.

UCLAgame1_09

The best of the photos I took.

Three Day Weekend

This year my off-Friday was not this Friday, so I only get a three day weekend. Works for me. Just got back from short four-day trip to Key West for work and now I'm getting ready for the UCLA at SDSU game up at the Rose Bowl. They decided yesterday not to postpone the game because the air quality from the fires was not all that bad. I don't know. When I flew over the area yesterday landing at LAX, all I saw was smoke. It was so think I could not see the ground. Either way, I'll have fun with my friend's BBQing, drinking beer and playing the every popular cornhole!

White People Can't Dance

I'm glad I'm doing the filming because I can't dance either. Steve, who is trying to eat, is not amused even though it is his birthday. Oh yeah, this video was shot in 2006. We stopped going to Mexico due to the drug wars, violence and it just wasn't fun anymore as all the clubs were empty of partiers.

No Doubt Concert Second Time Around

Last night I saw No Doubt in concert for the second time this year. Just like in May, the venue was the amphitheatre in Chula Vista. But this time I was chosen to get a pit ticket, so I was standing just yards from the stage. Concerts seem much better when you are closer to the stage, standing with others that are just as glad to be there as you are.


The opening band (actually the second band) was Panic! At the Disco. I'm not very familiar with their songs, but they at least sounded good, but I'd prefer to see Paramore again like in May.

The No Doubt show was basically just like the one in May. Same songs, same stage and same awesome videos and lighting effects. However, this time Gwen did not go running through the crowd.


Once again, I broke down and bought a $12 beer or two. Why is beer so much? How gets this money? Well, at least parking is free.


On the way home, our designated driver did a great job of avoiding an accident that happened just in front of us. Some car hit something on I15 north and there was car parts scattered all over, a man and a woman jumped out of their car on the freeway and ran to the car that crashed. We kept going because cars were breaking hard and swerving to avoided the cars stopped in the middle lanes. On the dive back home I passed the scene again and there were ambulances and fire trucks everywhere. There must have been secondary accidents after we drove by. Other that this incident, it was a great evening.

Futurama Action Figures Series 6

So much for my theory of the boxes being in better shape when action figures a shipped directly from the retailer. My Amy Futurama figure was damaged during transport. Luckily, the Clobberella is is good condition. I might just have to buy a second Cloberella so I can take it out of the box and play with it :-)

Futurama Action Figures Series 5

I didn't even know that Futurama action figures series 5 from Toynami had been released until I saw them at Comic-Con. I also saw series 6 is out, which should be arriving soon. I thought about buying all four at the convention, but I found them online for a good price, plus when you buy online, the boxes are more likely to be in better condition. I saw some of the figures hanging and the boxes were staring to rip and bend. Now I can add Calculon and Super King Bender to my collection.

Comic-COn 2009 - My best Photos

Best of Comic-Con 2009 PHotos

The best of the photos I took at Comic-Con. All the pictures from the panels are photos of the large projection screen, since I was always sitting in the back of the room. Enjoy.

Comic-Con 2009: Day 4

I slept in this morning because I didn't have anything I wanted to see at the Comic-Con until 1:00 - The Ghost Whisperer panel. This year Jennifer Love Hewitt was in attendance, as well as three other main cast members. They had no previews to show, only a summary of the season. The one major change this year - spoilers alert - is that after Melinda gives birth, they jump ahead five years so her child is five years old. This way the child can talk and be part of the show.


Some time during the panel, my sister showed up and text-ed me "Where are you in room 20?". I replied "Isle rt ctr" and that was enough for her to find me. There was nothing else either of wanted to see until 4, so we went downstairs and wandered the exhibit hall for a while.


I had walked past this Star Trek captains chair before, but this time I had someone to take a photo of me, which turned out very nice, thank you. Around 3:30 we headed to ballroom 20 to get a seat for the Buffy musical "Once More with Feeling", shown for the second year in a row.


There seemed to be more people this year, and once again it seemed that even though the audience was encouraged to sing and dance they mostly just watched the episode, cheering Buffy and Spike and booing Dawn. I enjoyed the showing, and got another monster finger puppet to take with me next time to New Orleans!

So a 5 PM we left the convention center was walked to Hennesses for another Irish meal and beer. A great way to end the long weekend.

Comic-Con 2009: Day 3

Despite getting to the convention center later than I had planned due to lack of sleep caused by a planned power outage in my neighborhood from 11PM to 6AM. It seems that all the activity was outside my home and I kept waking up to strange noises and no electricity. Anyways, I was once again standing in line to get into room 20 and just when I though I wasn't going to make it in time to see the Family Guy panel, the line started moving. I got into the room just as they were introducing the cast and crew. Of the four panels I saw today, this was the funniest. They showed a preview of the Family Guy Empire Strikes Back episode, and for those of you who have seen their take of Star Wars, this one looks just as good. The panel members also were having fun on stage, as you can see by this photo of Seth Green and others after a romp under the table.



Immediately following Family Guy was The Cleavland Show panel. This show is a spin-off of The Family Guy, a show about Cleavland and his new family. I didn't know most of the actors, the one I did know, Jammie Kennedy, I was surprised to see since he just joined the cast of The Ghost Whisperer last year. The previews they showed for this show didn't really make me want to set my DVR to record all new episodes, but you never know how good a show is until six of seven episodes in.


I'd have to say that the most disappointing event of the day was the Futurama panel. It has always been one of the funniest, but, as announced by Hypnotoad, none of the cast were there. It seems there is some "disagreement" between the studio and the producers, or something. So all we had to hear from were the writers and directors, plus Matt Groening. Plus, since there isn't any new episodes in production yet, they had nothing to show. So they answered questions from the audience and Matt gave away something free to each person who did, which was nice. One person, dressed as Nibbler, got a special boxed-set of all the Futurams DVDs.



By now I had been sitting in the same seat for over two hours, so I was ready for the final panel - The Simpsons. Once again, none of the actors were present, so it was just Matt and the directors. They did show some unfinished scenes from this year's Halloween episode, which will be shown before Halloween for once. After they finished the Q&A session, they had a surprise for Matt Groining. He was presented with a Guinness World Records plaque for the longest running sit-com, I think it was. This was a surprise for him and he thanked everyone that had ever worked on the show.

Once outside the room, I met my sister and two of her friends. Then we hooked up with two more friends and headed to Dublin Square for a late lunch, or early dinner. Afterwards, everyone else but me headed home. I wanted to see one more show, but there were still long lines to get into any room, even at 6 PM. So I left, got on the trolley and came home. After all, I still have one more day of geeky adventures.

Comic-Con 2009: Day 2

I somehow arrived at the Convention Center right at 10 and walked right in. My goal was to be in room 20 by 11:45 for the Caprica/Battlestar Galactica: The Plan panel. I was able to walk right into this room too, but even though there was no wait they were still making people walk what seemed like 10 miles just to get in. All the events I wanted to see today were in room 20, but I knew that I would have to leave for lunch at one point.

Since I was seated before 10:30, I ended up seeing the Stargate Universe panel. I must have been one of the seven people in the room (they made fun of us) that was not a regular Stargate watcher. It's not like I don't like the show, it's just that that I can't watch every TV show out there that might interest me.

Next was the BSG: The Plan/Caprica panel. I kept getting confused as to which show they were discussing, and which was being released on DVD only and which was going to be aired on SyFy next year. This panel wasn't very interesting because Edward James Olmos was the only actor there I knew (until Grace Park made a late appearance), and producers are not only boring, they tend to talk way to much.

After it was over, I made my way out. As I did I looked at the line to get back in and it was loooooong!

So I ate a quick lunch, outside in the nice sun, and walked back to get in line once again. It was 1:30 and I figured I'd never get in by 3. This year they had the line outside and provided tents for shade along the way which was nice. The line outside kept moving, but not the line inside. But finally the people near the beginning of the line were moving, and eventually the ripple effect made it to me and within 10 minutes I was back in room 20. The wait in line was one hour total, which is really boring when you are by yourself.

I caught the end of the 24 panel. The only actors I knew were Kiefer Sutherland and Katee Sackhoff, who I did not know was now in the cast of 24. She moved on from BSG pretty quick.

After 24 was the Bones panel. They introduced Emily Deschanel, who walked onto the stage with loud applause, but then announced that David Boreanaz could not make it because his wife was about to give berth. They played a taped message from him where he rambled-on for a few minutes. There was a director there too, but he was boring. So it was up to Emily to entertain the crowd and she did.

Finally, the big event for the day for me was the Dollhouse and Joss Whedon panel, which included Eliza Dushku, the star of the show. It was funny, on all the other panels there was a moderator, but not for this one. Joss just walked-out on stage with no introduction and everyone clapped loudly for him. They he introduced Eliza and she too get a warm welcome. They immediately played the unaired episode of Dollhouse, Epitaph One. This was a really good episode, but I almost see why Fox did not show it. The episode completely changes the direction of the show, taking place in the year 2019. It consisted of many back-flashes, but most of it took place in the future where only one of the actors was in any of the scenes. However, they said that during season 2 of Dollhouse they would address some of what we saw in this episode.

After sitting in poorly designed seats all day, my back was ready to stand up and leave. I made a quick run through the main floor and proceeded to a local Irish pub for a beer and food. Tomorrow will be the busiest day, and I'll be lucky if I see one of my planned events, but at least my sister will be there so I won't have to do everything alone.

Comic-Con 2009: Day 1

So on Thursday at Comic-Con my plans were to see the action figure panel, Richard Hatch, Robot Chicken and Terry Gilliam. I saw none of these! Got there too late for the action figure discussion and as for the rest, the rooms were full and the waiting lines were long and not moving. The line for Hall H must of had 3000 people in it. The atendees were queued up like a ride at Disneyland. Thursday used to be the day where you could get into any room and walk the main floor with no problem. Now Thursday's are more crowded than Saturday's were 10 years ago.

However, you always need a backup plan. Sometimes the panels you know nothing about turn out to be the best. I was able to get a good seat for the Time Jumper panel which included Stan Lee, since it was his project. Time Jumper is a series of short, digital animated comic episodes that you can download from iTunes. Stan Lee is very feisty for an 86 year old man. He made everyone laugh with everything he said. They also showed the first episode, which seemed to be less than five minutes. The digital animation was cool and I enjoyed the story. Doubt I'll buy it, though. BTY, Stan Lee created (or co-created) Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Iron Man and the Hulk.

I spent time walking around the exhibit hall, taking various photos of whatever I found interesting. I don't normally photograph the people who dress up, since everyone else seems to do that, but there were a lot of good costumes being worn by true fans.

The second optional panel I attended was a BluRay discussion, which was sort of boring, but killed 30 minutes.

I also bought my first action figure, a Futurama 2-pack limited edition Fry and Leela from an alternate universe. It is 1 of 2000, but I'm not sure of the exact number, as in 305/2000. It might be labeled on the bottom of the figures feet, which means I'd have to open the box to see. I'll need to think about that.

By 4:30 I was already getting tired of walking, so I decided I'd see enough for one day and headed home. After all, I have three more days left. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get to see more of the panels on my list.