I'm not sure how much credence to give to this story about Homer Simpson, I mean Omar Shamshoon and his family moving from Springfield, USA, to...er...Somewhereville, ME...that's Middle East.
Now apparently to make The Simpsons, I mean The Shamshoons a little more palatable to the nation of Islam, the producers of The Shamshoons have removed anything forbidden by the Koran, such as bacon, beer, and any other references that might be considered offensive.
Instead of chugging down Duff Beer like it's going out of fashion (which it is, the Koran forbids alcohol) Omar Shamshoon will guzzle down good old Arab Soda. Hot dogs will become Egyptian beef sausages, and donuts will become a popular Arab cookie called "kahk."
So, if Beer is verbotten, what about the Cheers-like scenes set in Moe's Tavern? Say goodbye to Moe's, because Somewhereville, ME has no place for it. Moe's has been written out of "The Shamshoons", along with any characters who are Jewish (Krusty the Clown), Hindu (Apu Nahasapeemapetilon) and Christian (Rev. Lovejoy and Flanders).
Man, and we thought we had it tough here with censorship.
So, has anyone else seen anything about this? Does the name of the new show "The Shamshoons" imply that this just might be a joke? After all, Matt Groening, The Simpson's creator, is famous for his sense of humor. Could this be a build-up to the Simpson's Annual Halloween Special?
Maybe the Wall Street Journal is in on the gag too.
If the story is legit, and it isn't just some huge publicity stunt, it's no surprise that The Shamshoons is not a hit in its highly edited "Islamic" form. I say the producers should have attempted to do a direct translation of The Simpsons and kept the series for what it is; a satirical show which takes a jab at everything that is wrong with American society. Now that kind of show is something the Nation of Islam would have appreciated.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Monday, October 17, 2005
Part I - Blanchard
The first two parts of the following story told first from Blanchard's then Hollis' point of view are Urban Legends, of sorts. The Epilogue is my own addition.
* * * * *
Blanchard's interest had begun eighteen months before while browsing a second-hand book store, and one book in particular had intrigued him; not with its words but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and an insightful mind. In the front of the book, Blanchard discovered the previous owner's name, Miss Hollis Maynell, and after some time and effort he located her address up inNew York City
He saw a young woman approach. Her figure was long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears, and her eyes were as blue as a clear summer sky. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. Such was her beauty that he started toward her, not yet aware that she was not wearing a rose.
While the young lady was just entering her twenties, Hollis Maynell was well into her thirties. Whereas the young lady's hair was light and blonde, Ms. Maynell's hair was light and greying. The contrast between the two was evident, right down to the rose on Ms. Maynell's lapel; a rose which Blanchard was now painfully aware that the pretty, young lady did not possess.
As their eyes met, Blanchard realized that Hollis had been watching him the entire time. From the corner of his eye he saw the girl in the green suit walk quickly away, and he felt as though he was being torn in two. He was filled with the urge to follow the girl, yet that desire was matched by his longing for the woman whose spirit had upheld his own during his time at war. And now she stood in front of him. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, and her brown eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle.
Blanchard possessed just enough presence of mind to thank the lady, before he turned and set off in pursuit of the "love of his life".
John claimed to have found a book of mine; one that I had marked notes in. I honestly don't remember doing it, but I was willing to accept it as truth, because that is the kind of thing I'd do, so I wrote back.
* * * * *
* * * * *
John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Marine's uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He was looking for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn't, who had told him he would know her by the rose she'd be wearing in her lapel.
Blanchard's interest had begun eighteen months before while browsing a second-hand book store, and one book in particular had intrigued him; not with its words but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and an insightful mind. In the front of the book, Blanchard discovered the previous owner's name, Miss Hollis Maynell, and after some time and effort he located her address up in
Blanchard wrote to Hollis and invited her to correspond with him but the next day he was shipped overseas to fight for his country in World War II. When her reply caught up to him in France,
During the next year and a half the two grew to know each other through the mail, and each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart and their romance bloomed. Several times Blanchard requested a photograph but each time Hollis refused. She said that if he really cared, it shouldn't matter what she looked like.
When the day finally came for him to return from Europe they scheduled their first meeting; 7:00 PM at the Grand Central Station in New York
Now it was 7:00pm , and Blanchard was in the station, looking for a girl whose heart he loved but whose face he'd never seen.
He saw a young woman approach. Her figure was long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears, and her eyes were as blue as a clear summer sky. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. Such was her beauty that he started toward her, not yet aware that she was not wearing a rose.
As he moved toward her she looked up at Blanchard and a small, provocative smile curved her lips. "Going my way, sailor?" she murmured to him. Almost uncontrollably Blanchard made one step closer, and then he saw the lady standing behind her, the lady with a rose in her lapel. Hollis Maynell.
While the young lady was just entering her twenties, Hollis Maynell was well into her thirties. Whereas the young lady's hair was light and blonde, Ms. Maynell's hair was light and greying. The contrast between the two was evident, right down to the rose on Ms. Maynell's lapel; a rose which Blanchard was now painfully aware that the pretty, young lady did not possess.
As their eyes met, Blanchard realized that Hollis had been watching him the entire time. From the corner of his eye he saw the girl in the green suit walk quickly away, and he felt as though he was being torn in two. He was filled with the urge to follow the girl, yet that desire was matched by his longing for the woman whose spirit had upheld his own during his time at war. And now she stood in front of him. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, and her brown eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle.
Blanchard gripped the worn, blue leather copy of the book that was to identify him to her. This would not be love, but it would be something precious, perhaps something even better than love, a friendship for which he had been and must still be ever grateful. He squared his shoulders, saluted, and held out the book to the woman. "I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard,” he said, “and you must by Miss Maynell.” Even as he spoke the words, John felt choked by the bitterness of his disappointment. “I'm so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?"
The woman's face broadened into a tolerant smile. "I don't know what this is about, son," she answered, "but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she asked me to wear this rose on my coat. She said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should go and tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test."
Blanchard possessed just enough presence of mind to thank the lady, before he turned and set off in pursuit of the "love of his life".
* * * * *
Part II - Hollis
"I can’t believe I’m doing this," I thought to myself while in the taxi, heading toward Union Station. I was going to meet John Blanchard for the first time, although truth be told, we already knew each other so well from our correspondence.
My interest in John first started when I received a letter from him, approximately four months after my husband had been killed in the war. Perhaps that led me to hope that in John's writings, I might find a new love.
John claimed to have found a book of mine; one that I had marked notes in. I honestly don't remember doing it, but I was willing to accept it as truth, because that is the kind of thing I'd do, so I wrote back.
Almost two months passed before I received John's reply. Like my husband John had also been called away to fight in the war, and he implored me to keep writing. So we exchanged letters and during the next eighteen months we grew to know each other through the mail. I couldn't help but hope that a new romance was budding. Even my friends teased me about him.
About six months into our correspondence, John sent me a photograph of him and requested one in return. I said that if he really cared about me, it wouldn't matter what I looked like. Several times he requested a photograph and each time I refused. I told him that I wanted to look into his eyes the first time he saw my face. Finally the war ended and John was to return home.
We arranged to meet in Grand Central Station at 7:00 pm. Since I hadn’t given John a picture I told him that he would recognize me by the red rose in my lapel. He responded that he would be carrying my blue leather book, which he'd carried to Europe and back.
As the taxi pulled up to the curb I placed the rose in my lapel, paid the driver, and left the cab. My first impulse was to turn around, right there and then, and forget this whole crazy thing. Instead, I pressed on. It was just a few minutes past7:00 when I first saw John.
As the taxi pulled up to the curb I placed the rose in my lapel, paid the driver, and left the cab. My first impulse was to turn around, right there and then, and forget this whole crazy thing. Instead, I pressed on. It was just a few minutes past
I recognized him instantly; if the uniform wasn't a giveaway, the book he was carrying was enough. He was a handsome man, clean-cut and fresh from his tour of duty. He reminded me of my late husband, and a tear formed in my eye. But he had not yet seen me.
As I began to approach him, a remarkably beautiful girl dressed in an elegant emerald suit passed in front of him, and the desire in his eye was all too obvious. As she walked past he took a step in her direction before seeing me; a 35 year-old woman, just a few years past her prime, and the beauty of the young lady only accentuated the effects of time on my own appearance.
John looked longingly at the young girl as she left the station before he finally approached me, and I was more acutely aware of my homely appearance than ever before. "I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard," he said, taking my hand and shaking it, "and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?"
He tried. He really tried to hide the disappointment in his voice, but I could hear it only too well. All of my fears had been realized, and I recognized that it would never work between us. Fighting back the tears I replied as cheerfully as I could, "I don't know what this is about, son, but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she asked me to wear this rose on my coat. She said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should go and tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test."
That was all the convincing he needed. He thanked me and walked away. After three steps he started to run.
It was only then that I called out to him. "John, wait!" But it was too late. I turned around and walked away, crying.
Looking back on that day, I sometimes fantasize what if I was the young lady? Or if John hadn't been so quick to believe that I was? I sit here now, wondering whether or not John caught up to the young lady, and what he did when he found out that she wasn't me. What if I had just handled things a little differently. I wonder what might have been.
* * * * *
EPILOGUE
Hollis sat at the small, scarred, wooden table in her cozy kitchen in her one bedroom apartment. There wasn't a lot of room in the apartment, but Hollis wasn't someone who needed much room. Her two children from her first marriage were long grown with children of their own, and her second husband had passed away almost ten years ago now.
As the man reached out to knock again he looked up at the peephole, and Hollis looked into his eyes, and her heart skipped a beat and she took a step back in shock.
Hands trembling, she fumbled with the security bolt for several seconds before she finally managed to slide it across, then she unlocked the door and pulled it wide open to stare at the aging soldier in front of her.
His uniform was old and faded, and it hung a little in some places, but it was still very neatly pressed, and as the old soldier snapped to attention it seemed as though he and the uniform were made for each other.
Then he smiled at Hollis and she went weak at the knees and she had to lean even more heavily on the door for support.
"I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard," he said, offering her his right hand, (a very old, very worn, blue leather-bound book was clasped in his left.) "You must be Miss Maynell. I'm glad you could meet me. May I take you to dinner?"
She sat quietly, sipping her cup of tea. Although she'd favored coffee in the past, a single cup left her with heartburn and kept her up half the night. The Sunday paper was open in front of her but Hollis wasn't reading it. With her hands clasped gently around the warm cup, Hollis stared out the kitchen window into the tiny backyard where a cherry tree, lit by the afternoon sun, was fighting to find its niche in the suburban jungle surrounding it.
The chimes of her doorbell broke her reverie of yesteryear, and as the notes died away they were punctuated by a knock at her front door.
"Coming!" Hollis called out, as she slowly climbed to her feet and made her way to the front of the apartment. Although it was just a short distance from the kitchen to the front door, the passing of the years had slowed Hollis down so she called out once more, just in case her unknown visitor hadn't heard her the first time. "Hold on! I'm coming!"
Peering through the peephole Hollis saw an elderly gentleman with graying hair. Something about the man's appearance spoke to Hollis and she sensed that there was no danger here. A few weeks ago, Mrs. Jenkins, the widower from three doors down, had been been beaten and robbed for opening her door to the wrong person, but as Hollis looked out at the man she couldn't help but feel she knew him from somewhere.
As the man reached out to knock again he looked up at the peephole, and Hollis looked into his eyes, and her heart skipped a beat and she took a step back in shock.
Hands trembling, she fumbled with the security bolt for several seconds before she finally managed to slide it across, then she unlocked the door and pulled it wide open to stare at the aging soldier in front of her.
His uniform was old and faded, and it hung a little in some places, but it was still very neatly pressed, and as the old soldier snapped to attention it seemed as though he and the uniform were made for each other.
Then he smiled at Hollis and she went weak at the knees and she had to lean even more heavily on the door for support.
"I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard," he said, offering her his right hand, (a very old, very worn, blue leather-bound book was clasped in his left.) "You must be Miss Maynell. I'm glad you could meet me. May I take you to dinner?"
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Shooting is hard work
Today I hit the range with a good friend of mine who served with the U.S.M.C. during the Desert Storm conflict. I got to shoot (more than just) the five numbered guns in the above picture.You can click on the photo to view a slightly larger version of it.Here's a picture of me with the .50 caliber (the BFG at the back of the above photo).
I also shot several skeet with both a Winchester and a Mossberg 12-gauge pump-action shotgun. I impressed my friends when I nailed 5 of 5 skeet with the Mossberg, which seemed the easier of the guns to shoot. The Winchester has a tighter choke which means the pellets didn't spread as much, so you needed to be dead-on accurate with it. I was the only one who could actually hit a skeet with the Winchester :)
Not pictured are several .357 Magnums and a .44 Magnum (all revolvers), all of which were actually fairly pleasant to shoot...except for the .44 Magnum which kicked like a mule. It was not the most brutal handgun to shoot, that honor belonged to a friend's Beretta Tomcat, a tiny semi-automatic that could fit in the hip pocket of a pair of jeans and almost go undetected. Because it was so small it kicked a lot, even though it only fired a .32ACP round.
I guess with the adrenaline flowing, I didn't care about bruising, but now my right shoulder is starting to feel a little tender, and for some reason my whole body aches as if I spent the day working instead of playing and having fun, and boy, did I have fun :)
Sight/s of the day was the deer which wandered across the back of the range. In the morning, while we were shooting the handguns, and in the early afternoon while we were blazing away with the rifles. Now keep in mind that my friend and two other shooters had their .50 caliber rifles out and firing, and several people were blowing skeet out of the sky, so there was a lot of noise going on, and yet these deer wandered within 400 yards of the shooters. No, we didn't shoot them, it's not deer season, and as soon as a Lane Marshall noticed the deer, a "Cease Fire! Deer on the Range" announcement was made, so we had to stop shooting or risk a $10,000 fine for shooting dear out of season :P
All in all, we had a great day. Thanks go to my buddy for providing the day's toys, and to my wife for letting me out to play :)
Friday, October 14, 2005
Aaagh, you got me!
Liz tagged me, I think, so here goes.
Band of choice: Men At Work.
I think I'll tag Mogs :)
Band of choice: Men At Work.
Are you male or female: Man With Two Hearts
Describe yourself: Down Under.
How do some people feel about you: Be good, Johnny.
How do you feel about yourself: Helpless Automaton
Describe what you want to be: Down By The Sea.
Describe how you live: Upstairs In My House.
Describe how you love: Settle Down, My Boy.
Share a few words of wisdom: No Sign Of Yesterday.
Describe yourself: Down Under.
How do some people feel about you: Be good, Johnny.
How do you feel about yourself: Helpless Automaton
Describe what you want to be: Down By The Sea.
Describe how you live: Upstairs In My House.
Describe how you love: Settle Down, My Boy.
Share a few words of wisdom: No Sign Of Yesterday.
I think I'll tag Mogs :)
A missed opportunity
I was thinking quick, but not quick enough.I was out walking with a coworker and we were waiting to cross with the lights at a busy downtown intersection. We got the green light and started out into the cross walk, but watching the cross traffic as one always does in Los Angeles, and probably in many other parts of the country (if not the world), and a good thing too.
A young lady, in her brand new car, still with dealer plates, rolled across the pedestrian's cross walk and stopped, just on the other side, halfway out into the intersection. She came within a couple of feet of hitting me, and would have done so if I hadn't been paying more attention. She then foolishly engaged Reverse, as if the pedestrians she'd almost run down were going to let her back her car up out of the intersection.
Not a chance. Not one.
Everyone walked around behind her car, and she was forced to sit out in the intersection, blocking one lane, which had a big old bus in it. Once the light finally changed to green for her, despite her having a 12 foot lead on everyone else, she was the slowest car through the intersection. I guess her little incident shook her up somewhat. I guess almost running down half a dozen pedestrians probably would shake someone up a bit.
Afterwards, I realized I'd missed my opportunity. She wasn't going that fast. She stopped just the other side of the pedestrian crossing, with the back of her car blocking part of the crossing. Had I really been on my toes, I could have ignored her and stepped in front of her car, and got hit. I would have thrown my weight upwards and backwards and landed across her hood (bonnet for you non-US readers) with probably nothing more serious than a couple of bruises. But I wasn't thinking quite that clearly, or opportunistically, or right now I'd be lying on an Ambulance stretcher giving my statement to a police officer. With me would have been my coworker, a government employee, not as above reproach (in the eyes of the law) as a Police Officer, but still a more than credible witness. I would have also ensured the bus driver did not leave the scene, and thus acquired a second government employee as my witness.
Of course knowing my luck, after she hit me, the girl would probably have floored it right into the intersection in a foolish attempt to flee the scene (coz that's just my luck) and she would have either rammed another car, or I would have gone flying and bouncing down the road and really hurt myself.
Maybe it's for the better that I didn't seize the moment and launch an unethical operation, which could have netted a small fortune.
Liz, don't be too mad. Yeah, maybe I passed up an easy opportunity to score a few hundred thousand dollars, but the potential for me to have been seriously hurt if I did jump in front of her is fairly high, not to mention, what if she was one of those thousands of drivers who don't have insurance.
Yah, there's a reason why honest people don't usually participate in dishonest activities.
A young lady, in her brand new car, still with dealer plates, rolled across the pedestrian's cross walk and stopped, just on the other side, halfway out into the intersection. She came within a couple of feet of hitting me, and would have done so if I hadn't been paying more attention. She then foolishly engaged Reverse, as if the pedestrians she'd almost run down were going to let her back her car up out of the intersection.
Not a chance. Not one.
Everyone walked around behind her car, and she was forced to sit out in the intersection, blocking one lane, which had a big old bus in it. Once the light finally changed to green for her, despite her having a 12 foot lead on everyone else, she was the slowest car through the intersection. I guess her little incident shook her up somewhat. I guess almost running down half a dozen pedestrians probably would shake someone up a bit.
Afterwards, I realized I'd missed my opportunity. She wasn't going that fast. She stopped just the other side of the pedestrian crossing, with the back of her car blocking part of the crossing. Had I really been on my toes, I could have ignored her and stepped in front of her car, and got hit. I would have thrown my weight upwards and backwards and landed across her hood (bonnet for you non-US readers) with probably nothing more serious than a couple of bruises. But I wasn't thinking quite that clearly, or opportunistically, or right now I'd be lying on an Ambulance stretcher giving my statement to a police officer. With me would have been my coworker, a government employee, not as above reproach (in the eyes of the law) as a Police Officer, but still a more than credible witness. I would have also ensured the bus driver did not leave the scene, and thus acquired a second government employee as my witness.
Of course knowing my luck, after she hit me, the girl would probably have floored it right into the intersection in a foolish attempt to flee the scene (coz that's just my luck) and she would have either rammed another car, or I would have gone flying and bouncing down the road and really hurt myself.
Maybe it's for the better that I didn't seize the moment and launch an unethical operation, which could have netted a small fortune.
Liz, don't be too mad. Yeah, maybe I passed up an easy opportunity to score a few hundred thousand dollars, but the potential for me to have been seriously hurt if I did jump in front of her is fairly high, not to mention, what if she was one of those thousands of drivers who don't have insurance.
Yah, there's a reason why honest people don't usually participate in dishonest activities.
Friday, October 07, 2005
From the depths of my memory
I was young, not sure how young, but maybe 6 to 8 years old at most.
We'd been to a birthday party at a younger cousin's house. My aunt had five kids, and each new kid supplanted those who came before, until she had R, when she stopped...or maybe she had her tubes tied. I don't know, I don't care, she had no more after R. He was the baby of the family, and he was spoiled rotten. He could do nothing wrong and he always got whatever he wanted.
The birthday party was R's birthday party. In keeping with the natural order of things, that when kids leave birthday parties they take a balloon with them, I had taken a balloon with me. I was in my seat in the back of the car, holding my balloon, when R decided he wanted my balloon, and my aunt had to get it for him. It didn't matter that there were probably more balloons inside the house, or that this one had been given to me, R. wanted my balloon, and my Auny had no choice but to get it for him. I remember her running down the path towards our car. My window was down because my seat was closest to the house and we were all in the car saying goodbye.
My aunt is not an attractive woman. In fact she's a downright scary looking woman. When I replay the scene of her bearing down upon the car, one word comes to mind. An appropriate word, I believe.
Harpy.
I remember screaming and complete chaos ensuing. I think I remember my older sister telling my dad to drive away. I remember my aunt leaning in the window of the car, tugging at my balloon, trying to pull it from my arms. I remember her fingers pressing at the sides of the balloon and it seems to me that she'd decided if she couldn't get it for R, then I wouldn't have it either. I can see her hands and her fingernails as I cast my mind back across the years, but I don't see hands, I see claws, I see talons.
I don't remember what happened. I guess my dad couldn't drive off with my aunt hanging half in and half out of the car. Maybe the balloon burst. Maybe my aunt gave up. Maybe she got the balloon away from me. I don't remember any of that. I just remember this screeching woman bearing down on the car, and her hands clawing at my balloon. I remember the fear and panic I felt at this moment.
We all had traumatic times in our childhood. This is one of mine.
We'd been to a birthday party at a younger cousin's house. My aunt had five kids, and each new kid supplanted those who came before, until she had R, when she stopped...or maybe she had her tubes tied. I don't know, I don't care, she had no more after R. He was the baby of the family, and he was spoiled rotten. He could do nothing wrong and he always got whatever he wanted.
The birthday party was R's birthday party. In keeping with the natural order of things, that when kids leave birthday parties they take a balloon with them, I had taken a balloon with me. I was in my seat in the back of the car, holding my balloon, when R decided he wanted my balloon, and my aunt had to get it for him. It didn't matter that there were probably more balloons inside the house, or that this one had been given to me, R. wanted my balloon, and my Auny had no choice but to get it for him. I remember her running down the path towards our car. My window was down because my seat was closest to the house and we were all in the car saying goodbye.
My aunt is not an attractive woman. In fact she's a downright scary looking woman. When I replay the scene of her bearing down upon the car, one word comes to mind. An appropriate word, I believe.
Harpy.
I remember screaming and complete chaos ensuing. I think I remember my older sister telling my dad to drive away. I remember my aunt leaning in the window of the car, tugging at my balloon, trying to pull it from my arms. I remember her fingers pressing at the sides of the balloon and it seems to me that she'd decided if she couldn't get it for R, then I wouldn't have it either. I can see her hands and her fingernails as I cast my mind back across the years, but I don't see hands, I see claws, I see talons.
I don't remember what happened. I guess my dad couldn't drive off with my aunt hanging half in and half out of the car. Maybe the balloon burst. Maybe my aunt gave up. Maybe she got the balloon away from me. I don't remember any of that. I just remember this screeching woman bearing down on the car, and her hands clawing at my balloon. I remember the fear and panic I felt at this moment.
We all had traumatic times in our childhood. This is one of mine.
Monday, October 03, 2005
The weekend in review
Saturday was a real rush job (except for a relaxed few hours in the afternoon, which only contributed to the rushing continuing into the late afternoon.
I dropped Liz at the hairdressers Saturday morning, then took JE to the Huntington Arboretum for a Kids Art Class. Liz had said it was at 10:45, but when we got there everyone tried to tell me the only class was for 12 noon. Now it's not like my wife to be wrong. I'm not saying she's always right (she has a horrible sense of direction and could get lost on a one-way street), but when it comes to organizational stuff she usually knows exactly what's going on and when. So when the girls at the front entrance to the Arboretum told me the only class was scheduled for 12, not 10:45, I was a little skeptical. The girls passed me off onto the Members Office, apparently a separate entity from the Front Entrance, the two areas never know what each other is doing. On this they both agreed, there was no 10:45 class. Feeling a little confused that my wife had insisted the class was at this time JE and I went outside and looked at the peacocks for a few minutes. Then I noticed a man who looked suspiciously like an Art Teacher going into the Gift Shop; a third building at the entrance to the Arboretum (the tub of pens & pencils, and the art folio kind of gave it away that he might be an Art Teacher). JE and I headed into the Gift Shop and found no sign of the "Art Teacher". We looked around for a minute and JE decided he wanted one of the Peacock feathers they sell for $1.50
I bought a feather for him and made small talk with the cashier about the art class, and sure enough, it had been the Art Teacher who'd passed through. The cashier directed me out on exit door (an exit door from the Arboretum, but the way we were going it was an entrance into the Arboretum) so we followed his directions and discovered the 10:45am Art Class, just like the wife had said. Apparently the 12 noon class had been overbooked, so the Art Teacher had set up a 10:45 class at short notice, hence no one else knew about it.
I left JE at his class and raced back to the hairdressers where the stylist was applying the finishing touches to Liz's hair, turning her into an even more ravishingly beautiful woman, and here you were thinking that was just not humanly possible :)
We then raced back to the Arboretum and arrived just as the class was winding up. Dropping the kids at the in-laws it was off to Santa Anita where Liz wanted to get her nails done (we had a wedding reception that evening, wedding was six months ago, reception was tonight). After lunch Liz went to the nail salon while I headed upstairs to Dave & Busters. Around 3pm Liz called me to say she was finished. I suspect she'd been shopping too, but I'd been shooting bad guys and collecting tickets for JE to turn in next time for a prize so I wasn't complaining.
We got home around 3:30 and Liz checked the Invite to discover the reception started at 4pm. Fortunately it was in Pasadena, not too far away, so after a very quick shower and shave (me) and dressing and make-up (both of us...except for the make-up) we were off. We made it to the reception shortly after 4pm, but no one is ever on time for these things. We hooked up with a couple of people from work (the girl who got married was a girl from work), had a little bit to drink (not too much, just enough, 4 or 5 Coronas ;) then headed into the dining room for the dinner.
What a great night. Good food, good friends, just enough alcohol, great conversation. 'Twas an awesome night.
Sunday morning I had a mild hangover, but nothing to worry about. I'd just finished my bowl of cereal when Liz got up and was dismayed to see that I'd eaten already. Apparently she'd wanted to have breakfast at some coffee shop she'd read about on someone's blog. Well the coffee shop is in Hollywood so it took a little while to get there, but not too long, about 20 minutes. Neither the food nor the service were anything to write home about. The coffee shop is located under a hotel. It's more of a Diner than a coffee shop, and not a very good Diner at that. It appears to service both the hotel's guests and neighborhood locals, not that that's a bad thing. I don't mind eating in Diners, I work in downtown, I've eaten in some places that you'd drive past with the doors locked and windows rolled up, but this was not a good Diner.
I expect top quality service in a Diner. I'm not talking 5-Star service, but Diners have legendary waiters. These are the waiters who are supposed to get customers seated, take their orders, get them their food, get them coffee refills right when they're needed most, then have the check sitting on the table as the customer mops up that last bit of egg yolk with the last bit of toast or biscuit. The service at this Diner was nothing like that. We seated ourselves and had our waiter tell us he'd be with us in a minute. He then brought us a glass of water (each) and the menus, then we never saw him for 10 minutes. Ok, that's not true. He walked right by our table many times carrying food for other customers but never stopped to take our order. I was seriously thinking of getting up and leaving when he finally stopped to take our order. We ordered our meals and two coffees; one coffee arrived. Liz & I both said we wanted two coffees. The waiter returned with a second coffee. Liz pointed out that she did not have a napkin or cutlery. He had to come back with those. These are little things that a good waiter should be looking out for. I downed my first cup of coffee in no time at all, then had to wait forever for a refill. Low points for that effort as well. Then the bill arrived. $20, for two breakfasts & coffees, at a diner in a run down neighborhood in a town that has a far greater reputation than what it deserves, but then nobody in "Hollywood" actually lives in Hollywood.
We left Hollywood for a better part of town, namely "The Grove". The difference is just a few blocks, ok, it's a little bit more than "a few blocks" but it's not too many more. Our breakfast Diner and The Grove are on the same Thomas Guide page, but they couldn't be in two more different areas if they tried. Ok, they could, stop making me contradict myself.
I think this was my third time at The Grove (maybe it's been more, trips have been few and far between) but if it is the third time, it means every time I've been to The Grove I've seen a star. The first time we saw one of the many Wayans brother (should Wayans be apostrophized? Is there even such a word as apostrophized?) and Nicholas Brendon (Buffy's Xander) on another trip. This time out we ran into Tom Lenk, (Buffy's Andrew) one of the evil trio who helps to make Buffy's last season particularly difficult for her. He was standing in the checkout behind us at The Gap. Man, is he short. No, really, he is. He's only 5'6". Danny Strong, who played Jonathan Levinson on Buffy, is only 5'2". No wonder Adam Busch, who played Warren (the third of the evil trio), who's not that tall at 5'8", seemed to tower over Jonathan.
After The Grove, Liz was in the mood for Vietnamese food; there's a Vietnamese noodle house we like to go to close to home but we hadn't been there for a while. I was still full from breakfast (and a milk shake I got at The Grove) so I talked Liz into going home where I finished relaying the floor boards that I'd had to pull up when we had the water leak all those months ago. I'd special ordered a couple of boxes of replacement boards a few months ago but when they arrived they were the wrong shade, so I had to return them and reorder new ones, after making sure we had the correct shade. It took a lot of work, cutting, shaping, fitting, etc, but I finally got the planks replaced, including laying wood down on the floor of entryway closet because I'd left it carpeted when I did the job the first time (much to Liz's chagrin).
After all that work I was ready to eat, so off we went to the Vietnamese restaurant where we ate dinner for cheaper than we'd had breakfast. In my opinion, the food and service was far superior, too. To go with our meal we each got a Vietnamese Iced Coffee, French-style, with condensed milk. OMG is that stuff gooooooood! :)
If we'd just drank water the meal would have been even cheaper still, but you can't have Vietnamese food without Vietnamese Iced Coffee. It just wouldn't be right.
The weekend was almost over by that time so home we went to chill out and relax, or relax until the in-laws dropped the kiddies back home, and then things were back to normal :)
I dropped Liz at the hairdressers Saturday morning, then took JE to the Huntington Arboretum for a Kids Art Class. Liz had said it was at 10:45, but when we got there everyone tried to tell me the only class was for 12 noon. Now it's not like my wife to be wrong. I'm not saying she's always right (she has a horrible sense of direction and could get lost on a one-way street), but when it comes to organizational stuff she usually knows exactly what's going on and when. So when the girls at the front entrance to the Arboretum told me the only class was scheduled for 12, not 10:45, I was a little skeptical. The girls passed me off onto the Members Office, apparently a separate entity from the Front Entrance, the two areas never know what each other is doing. On this they both agreed, there was no 10:45 class. Feeling a little confused that my wife had insisted the class was at this time JE and I went outside and looked at the peacocks for a few minutes. Then I noticed a man who looked suspiciously like an Art Teacher going into the Gift Shop; a third building at the entrance to the Arboretum (the tub of pens & pencils, and the art folio kind of gave it away that he might be an Art Teacher). JE and I headed into the Gift Shop and found no sign of the "Art Teacher". We looked around for a minute and JE decided he wanted one of the Peacock feathers they sell for $1.50
I bought a feather for him and made small talk with the cashier about the art class, and sure enough, it had been the Art Teacher who'd passed through. The cashier directed me out on exit door (an exit door from the Arboretum, but the way we were going it was an entrance into the Arboretum) so we followed his directions and discovered the 10:45am Art Class, just like the wife had said. Apparently the 12 noon class had been overbooked, so the Art Teacher had set up a 10:45 class at short notice, hence no one else knew about it.
I left JE at his class and raced back to the hairdressers where the stylist was applying the finishing touches to Liz's hair, turning her into an even more ravishingly beautiful woman, and here you were thinking that was just not humanly possible :)
We then raced back to the Arboretum and arrived just as the class was winding up. Dropping the kids at the in-laws it was off to Santa Anita where Liz wanted to get her nails done (we had a wedding reception that evening, wedding was six months ago, reception was tonight). After lunch Liz went to the nail salon while I headed upstairs to Dave & Busters. Around 3pm Liz called me to say she was finished. I suspect she'd been shopping too, but I'd been shooting bad guys and collecting tickets for JE to turn in next time for a prize so I wasn't complaining.
We got home around 3:30 and Liz checked the Invite to discover the reception started at 4pm. Fortunately it was in Pasadena, not too far away, so after a very quick shower and shave (me) and dressing and make-up (both of us...except for the make-up) we were off. We made it to the reception shortly after 4pm, but no one is ever on time for these things. We hooked up with a couple of people from work (the girl who got married was a girl from work), had a little bit to drink (not too much, just enough, 4 or 5 Coronas ;) then headed into the dining room for the dinner.
What a great night. Good food, good friends, just enough alcohol, great conversation. 'Twas an awesome night.
Sunday morning I had a mild hangover, but nothing to worry about. I'd just finished my bowl of cereal when Liz got up and was dismayed to see that I'd eaten already. Apparently she'd wanted to have breakfast at some coffee shop she'd read about on someone's blog. Well the coffee shop is in Hollywood so it took a little while to get there, but not too long, about 20 minutes. Neither the food nor the service were anything to write home about. The coffee shop is located under a hotel. It's more of a Diner than a coffee shop, and not a very good Diner at that. It appears to service both the hotel's guests and neighborhood locals, not that that's a bad thing. I don't mind eating in Diners, I work in downtown, I've eaten in some places that you'd drive past with the doors locked and windows rolled up, but this was not a good Diner.
I expect top quality service in a Diner. I'm not talking 5-Star service, but Diners have legendary waiters. These are the waiters who are supposed to get customers seated, take their orders, get them their food, get them coffee refills right when they're needed most, then have the check sitting on the table as the customer mops up that last bit of egg yolk with the last bit of toast or biscuit. The service at this Diner was nothing like that. We seated ourselves and had our waiter tell us he'd be with us in a minute. He then brought us a glass of water (each) and the menus, then we never saw him for 10 minutes. Ok, that's not true. He walked right by our table many times carrying food for other customers but never stopped to take our order. I was seriously thinking of getting up and leaving when he finally stopped to take our order. We ordered our meals and two coffees; one coffee arrived. Liz & I both said we wanted two coffees. The waiter returned with a second coffee. Liz pointed out that she did not have a napkin or cutlery. He had to come back with those. These are little things that a good waiter should be looking out for. I downed my first cup of coffee in no time at all, then had to wait forever for a refill. Low points for that effort as well. Then the bill arrived. $20, for two breakfasts & coffees, at a diner in a run down neighborhood in a town that has a far greater reputation than what it deserves, but then nobody in "Hollywood" actually lives in Hollywood.
We left Hollywood for a better part of town, namely "The Grove". The difference is just a few blocks, ok, it's a little bit more than "a few blocks" but it's not too many more. Our breakfast Diner and The Grove are on the same Thomas Guide page, but they couldn't be in two more different areas if they tried. Ok, they could, stop making me contradict myself.
I think this was my third time at The Grove (maybe it's been more, trips have been few and far between) but if it is the third time, it means every time I've been to The Grove I've seen a star. The first time we saw one of the many Wayans brother (should Wayans be apostrophized? Is there even such a word as apostrophized?) and Nicholas Brendon (Buffy's Xander) on another trip. This time out we ran into Tom Lenk, (Buffy's Andrew) one of the evil trio who helps to make Buffy's last season particularly difficult for her. He was standing in the checkout behind us at The Gap. Man, is he short. No, really, he is. He's only 5'6". Danny Strong, who played Jonathan Levinson on Buffy, is only 5'2". No wonder Adam Busch, who played Warren (the third of the evil trio), who's not that tall at 5'8", seemed to tower over Jonathan.
After The Grove, Liz was in the mood for Vietnamese food; there's a Vietnamese noodle house we like to go to close to home but we hadn't been there for a while. I was still full from breakfast (and a milk shake I got at The Grove) so I talked Liz into going home where I finished relaying the floor boards that I'd had to pull up when we had the water leak all those months ago. I'd special ordered a couple of boxes of replacement boards a few months ago but when they arrived they were the wrong shade, so I had to return them and reorder new ones, after making sure we had the correct shade. It took a lot of work, cutting, shaping, fitting, etc, but I finally got the planks replaced, including laying wood down on the floor of entryway closet because I'd left it carpeted when I did the job the first time (much to Liz's chagrin).
After all that work I was ready to eat, so off we went to the Vietnamese restaurant where we ate dinner for cheaper than we'd had breakfast. In my opinion, the food and service was far superior, too. To go with our meal we each got a Vietnamese Iced Coffee, French-style, with condensed milk. OMG is that stuff gooooooood! :)
If we'd just drank water the meal would have been even cheaper still, but you can't have Vietnamese food without Vietnamese Iced Coffee. It just wouldn't be right.
The weekend was almost over by that time so home we went to chill out and relax, or relax until the in-laws dropped the kiddies back home, and then things were back to normal :)
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Friday Five
It's all about computers!
1. What kind of computer do you have? (Mac, iBook, Dell, etc.)
A generic PC. It's got an Athlon XP 2600+ CPU, 1Gig of PC3200 DDR Ram, a Radeon 9600 256Mb video card, a DVD drive and a CD R/W drive. The only let down is my HDD. It's got a total of no more than 40Gig, of which I have just 6Gig free.
2. How old is it? Are you happy with it?
It's about 1 year old. After upgrading the Video Card and the Ram, I'm fairly happy with it. A bigger Hard Drive would be nice, or a dual-drive setup.
3. How many computers are in your household? (at home if you are away at school)
3 desktops and 1 laptop (plus all the bits in storage that Liz doesn't know about).
4. What are your favorite games/time wasters on your computer?
Absolutely no points for anyone who can guess (do you even need to guess) that my FTW is the life draining World of Warcraft.
5. If money were no object, what kind of computer would you like to have?
That would be this baby.
1. What kind of computer do you have? (Mac, iBook, Dell, etc.)
A generic PC. It's got an Athlon XP 2600+ CPU, 1Gig of PC3200 DDR Ram, a Radeon 9600 256Mb video card, a DVD drive and a CD R/W drive. The only let down is my HDD. It's got a total of no more than 40Gig, of which I have just 6Gig free.
2. How old is it? Are you happy with it?
It's about 1 year old. After upgrading the Video Card and the Ram, I'm fairly happy with it. A bigger Hard Drive would be nice, or a dual-drive setup.
3. How many computers are in your household? (at home if you are away at school)
3 desktops and 1 laptop (plus all the bits in storage that Liz doesn't know about).
4. What are your favorite games/time wasters on your computer?
Absolutely no points for anyone who can guess (do you even need to guess) that my FTW is the life draining World of Warcraft.
5. If money were no object, what kind of computer would you like to have?
That would be this baby.
Friday, September 30, 2005
7 x 7 things
7 things about me:
1. I have a bald spot on the back of my head
2. I have a 2" long scar in the middle of that bald spot
3. I got the scar when I fell 15' out of a tree and landed on a concrete block
4. When I cast my mind back, I can still see the blood on my hand
5. I was maybe 4 to 5 years old at the time
6. I suffer from nerve deafness, but only in my right ear.
7. The nerve deafness is apparently because I had German Measles when I was a baby.
7 things I plan to do before I die:
1. Travel to Europe
2. Buy and restore a late 60s Mustang
3. Spend time with my gandchildren
4. Attend another winning Richmond Tigers AFL game
5. See Richmond win an AFL Grand Final
6. See Richmond win an AFL Grand Final, in person
7. Retire to Australia
7 things I can do:
1. Play the guitar (not well, but I can play ;)
2. Sing
3. Read a book in a moving vehicle and not get sick
4. Give you the best foot rub of your life
5. Rock climb (climb anything)
6. Repair a hardware computer problem
7. Anything (ok, I can't really do everything, but I think I can)
7 things I cannot do: (these will all contradict "Things I Can Do" #7)
1. Major plumbing repair jobs
2. Run 100 metres in 10 seconds
3. Run a mile in less than 4 minutes
4. Fly an aeroplane
5. Compete in a Formula 1 race, as a driver, that is.
6. Ride the winning horse in the Melbourne Cup or the Kentucky Derby
7. Shoot a fox (had the opportunity, couldn't pull the trigger)
7 things that attract me to another person:
1. Humour
2. Sensitivity
3. Honesty
4. Faithfulness
5. Devotion
6. Committment
7. Physical appearance
7 celebrity crushes:
1. Jennifer Connelly
2. Amy Dumas (aka WWE's Lita)
3. Angelina Jolie
4. Lucy Liu
5. Catherine Zeta Jones
6. Denise Richards
7. Yancy Butler
7 Things I say the most:
1. I love you
2. Possibly
3. Potentially
4. Maybe
5. Yeah, yeah
6. Hang on
7. In a minute
1. I have a bald spot on the back of my head
2. I have a 2" long scar in the middle of that bald spot
3. I got the scar when I fell 15' out of a tree and landed on a concrete block
4. When I cast my mind back, I can still see the blood on my hand
5. I was maybe 4 to 5 years old at the time
6. I suffer from nerve deafness, but only in my right ear.
7. The nerve deafness is apparently because I had German Measles when I was a baby.
7 things I plan to do before I die:
1. Travel to Europe
2. Buy and restore a late 60s Mustang
3. Spend time with my gandchildren
4. Attend another winning Richmond Tigers AFL game
5. See Richmond win an AFL Grand Final
6. See Richmond win an AFL Grand Final, in person
7. Retire to Australia
7 things I can do:
1. Play the guitar (not well, but I can play ;)
2. Sing
3. Read a book in a moving vehicle and not get sick
4. Give you the best foot rub of your life
5. Rock climb (climb anything)
6. Repair a hardware computer problem
7. Anything (ok, I can't really do everything, but I think I can)
7 things I cannot do: (these will all contradict "Things I Can Do" #7)
1. Major plumbing repair jobs
2. Run 100 metres in 10 seconds
3. Run a mile in less than 4 minutes
4. Fly an aeroplane
5. Compete in a Formula 1 race, as a driver, that is.
6. Ride the winning horse in the Melbourne Cup or the Kentucky Derby
7. Shoot a fox (had the opportunity, couldn't pull the trigger)
7 things that attract me to another person:
1. Humour
2. Sensitivity
3. Honesty
4. Faithfulness
5. Devotion
6. Committment
7. Physical appearance
7 celebrity crushes:
1. Jennifer Connelly
2. Amy Dumas (aka WWE's Lita)
3. Angelina Jolie
4. Lucy Liu
5. Catherine Zeta Jones
6. Denise Richards
7. Yancy Butler
7 Things I say the most:
1. I love you
2. Possibly
3. Potentially
4. Maybe
5. Yeah, yeah
6. Hang on
7. In a minute
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Grand Final 2005
At the start of the fourth quarter the Sydney (formerly South Melbourne) Swans were up by just 2 points. The Eagles continued to apply the pressure they'd poured on in the third quarter, forcing the ball into their forward pocket. Then, for reasons unknown, after taking a clean uncontested mark, Sydney's Luke Ablett kicked across the Eagles' goal square, missed his team mate and gave the Eagle's Ben Cousins an easy mark and shot at goal from just 15 metres out. Cousins didn't waste the opportunity; he made the 6-pointer and the Eagles finally regained the lead. Two minutes later the Eagles kicked another goal, increasing their margin to 10 points and Sydney fans everywhere were reeling in shock.
Sydney's Barry Hall had been closely marked all game and had been relegated to a support role, but halfway through the fourth quarter the big man's strength showed through and he took a mark 50 metres out frfom goal. This was a crucial kick for Sydney but Big Bazza came through, the ball sailed through the goal posts and the Swans were back in the game.
Ten scrappy, hard fought minutes later, the Eagles had managed to add just 2 points to their total while the Swans had added only 1. It was the Swans' Amon Buchanan who kicked the next goal to put his team back in front by just 1 point. As the clock ticked down the Swans kicked and missed four more times, increasing their margin by only 5 points. They really needed another goal to give them some breathing space but it wasn't going to happen.
The Eagles never gave up and drove the ball back down to their end of the field. With the ball in their forward pocket the Eagles desperately needed a goal and they fought hard for every loose ball, every mark, every possession. The Swans knew just how important a goal was and they fought just as hard to prevent the Eagles from getting a clean possession and a chance at goal.
The entire Footy world held its breath when a kick from an Eagle boot sailed towards goal, but the ball fell short, was grabbed by a Swan and run over the line. The Eagles got 1 more point to their total but what they really needed was that 6-pointer. The Swans kicked the ball back into play and more hard, scrappy fighting ensued. The Swans couldn't clear the ball and it stayed inside the 50-metre line, within easy kicking distance of the Eagles' goal.
With just seconds left on the clock the Eagles were determined to kick a goal. This was the 2005 Grand Final and victory was within their reach.
And I was watching the game.
And I was barracking for the Swans.
And we all know my record, don't we?
We all know what happens to the team I'm barracking for when I'm watching the game.
A boot found the ball, sending it skywards. When it fell back to earth it was right in front of the Eagles' goal square and barely 15 metres out. A solid pack of players waited below for their chance to make history.
If the Eagles could take the mark, or even just get a possession and clear the ball, the Grand Final was theirs. The Swans knew this and were determined to make sure that didn't happen. Of the 18 players the Swans are allowed to have on the field, I think 15 of them were in that pack.
Countless hands reached for the ball as it came back down, but it was the Swans' Leo Barry who flew out of the pack and took the mark. Despite having a dozen Eagles players land on top of him, Barry hung on and the pack crashed to the ground. As the umpires blew their whistles and tried to sort out the mess the final siren sounded.
The 2005 Grand Final was over, and after a 72-year drought the Premiership Cup will once again grace the Swans' locker room, at least until next year.
Sydney's Barry Hall had been closely marked all game and had been relegated to a support role, but halfway through the fourth quarter the big man's strength showed through and he took a mark 50 metres out frfom goal. This was a crucial kick for Sydney but Big Bazza came through, the ball sailed through the goal posts and the Swans were back in the game.
Ten scrappy, hard fought minutes later, the Eagles had managed to add just 2 points to their total while the Swans had added only 1. It was the Swans' Amon Buchanan who kicked the next goal to put his team back in front by just 1 point. As the clock ticked down the Swans kicked and missed four more times, increasing their margin by only 5 points. They really needed another goal to give them some breathing space but it wasn't going to happen.
The Eagles never gave up and drove the ball back down to their end of the field. With the ball in their forward pocket the Eagles desperately needed a goal and they fought hard for every loose ball, every mark, every possession. The Swans knew just how important a goal was and they fought just as hard to prevent the Eagles from getting a clean possession and a chance at goal.
The entire Footy world held its breath when a kick from an Eagle boot sailed towards goal, but the ball fell short, was grabbed by a Swan and run over the line. The Eagles got 1 more point to their total but what they really needed was that 6-pointer. The Swans kicked the ball back into play and more hard, scrappy fighting ensued. The Swans couldn't clear the ball and it stayed inside the 50-metre line, within easy kicking distance of the Eagles' goal.
With just seconds left on the clock the Eagles were determined to kick a goal. This was the 2005 Grand Final and victory was within their reach.
And I was watching the game.
And I was barracking for the Swans.
And we all know my record, don't we?
We all know what happens to the team I'm barracking for when I'm watching the game.
A boot found the ball, sending it skywards. When it fell back to earth it was right in front of the Eagles' goal square and barely 15 metres out. A solid pack of players waited below for their chance to make history.
If the Eagles could take the mark, or even just get a possession and clear the ball, the Grand Final was theirs. The Swans knew this and were determined to make sure that didn't happen. Of the 18 players the Swans are allowed to have on the field, I think 15 of them were in that pack.
Countless hands reached for the ball as it came back down, but it was the Swans' Leo Barry who flew out of the pack and took the mark. Despite having a dozen Eagles players land on top of him, Barry hung on and the pack crashed to the ground. As the umpires blew their whistles and tried to sort out the mess the final siren sounded.
The 2005 Grand Final was over, and after a 72-year drought the Premiership Cup will once again grace the Swans' locker room, at least until next year.
Friday, September 23, 2005
A painful start to the morning
Amber woke me up at 4 this morning saying her name. Clear as a bell I hear her say "Amb-uh", which is how I say it. If I pronounced it "Amb-er" then I'd sound like an American. Which I am, of course. I was naturalized last year, but I'm also still an Australian. The most apt description is that I'm an Australian who thinks like an American.
So for the next 20 minutes or so Amber is in her cot, talking to herself and playing with her toy dog that goes "Wow! Wow! Wow!" "Pant, pant, pant.", etc.
She finally dozes off and I get back to sleep, only to be woken 30 minutes later when my alarm goes off. I gather my clothes and decide that with Amber only just getting back to sleep I'll get dressed downstairs. I head downstairs with an armful of clothes and half-way down I miss a step.
Fortunately I had both my legs out in front so there was no chance of wrenching a knee or breaking a lower limb, but I also had my clothes in my left arm so I had no chance of catching myself either. I think I slipped down a couple of steps, catching myself with my right arm braced on one step. My left elbow either hit the wall or smacked against the steps, which are carpeted so they're a little softer than wooden steps. But I now have carpet burn on my left elbow, my lower back is sore and I think I jarred my neck a little bit.
Did I mention a while back my neck was all messed up and clicking when I turned my head to the right and back? Well that finally went away after several repeated, loud, almost painful neck pops.
Now my neck hurts again and I really feel like I need to pop it. I don't think I should though. I don't think it's out of alignment (although that's possible) I think it's more that I just jarred it, and it needs time to recover.
What a great start to the morning.
I'm working on my regular day off for the next month or so to accrue time off for a vacation in November. So I'm at work today when I'd much rather have just crawled back into bed after falling down the stairs.
On a positive note, coz I believe in looking on the bright side, I'm heading out to Santa Monica this evening to watch the Aussie Rules Grand Final (think Super Bowl) with a good mate of mine who is actually a supporter of one of the two teams in tonight's game. Gonna be a late night. The game doesn't start until 9pm (2pm Saturday in Australia) and won't be over until at least midnight. Then it's a good 30-45 minute drive from Santa Monica back home afterwards. We're going to Santa Monica because there's an English Pub there which shows the Grand Final every year, and all the Aussies know this, so this is a communal thing as well.
I could just watch the game at home tonight but I'd miss all of the atmosphere that will be present at the Pub. I just hope for my mate's sake that the Sydney Swans win...and for mine too, coz they're who I'll be barracking for. Unfortunately, whenever I watch a game, the team I am barracking for almost always loses. Like 98% of the games I've watched, the team I've been cheering for has gone down. And I can't use this to my benefit and root for the team I want to lose, because we all know curses don't work that way. Despite what you're saying out loud, the curse knows what's in your heart, so the team you're secretly rooting for will still lose.
You might as well just be true to your heart, cheer out loud for the team you really want to win, and not be too disappointed when they lose like you knew they were destined to do.
So for the next 20 minutes or so Amber is in her cot, talking to herself and playing with her toy dog that goes "Wow! Wow! Wow!" "Pant, pant, pant.", etc.
She finally dozes off and I get back to sleep, only to be woken 30 minutes later when my alarm goes off. I gather my clothes and decide that with Amber only just getting back to sleep I'll get dressed downstairs. I head downstairs with an armful of clothes and half-way down I miss a step.
Fortunately I had both my legs out in front so there was no chance of wrenching a knee or breaking a lower limb, but I also had my clothes in my left arm so I had no chance of catching myself either. I think I slipped down a couple of steps, catching myself with my right arm braced on one step. My left elbow either hit the wall or smacked against the steps, which are carpeted so they're a little softer than wooden steps. But I now have carpet burn on my left elbow, my lower back is sore and I think I jarred my neck a little bit.
Did I mention a while back my neck was all messed up and clicking when I turned my head to the right and back? Well that finally went away after several repeated, loud, almost painful neck pops.
Now my neck hurts again and I really feel like I need to pop it. I don't think I should though. I don't think it's out of alignment (although that's possible) I think it's more that I just jarred it, and it needs time to recover.
What a great start to the morning.
I'm working on my regular day off for the next month or so to accrue time off for a vacation in November. So I'm at work today when I'd much rather have just crawled back into bed after falling down the stairs.
On a positive note, coz I believe in looking on the bright side, I'm heading out to Santa Monica this evening to watch the Aussie Rules Grand Final (think Super Bowl) with a good mate of mine who is actually a supporter of one of the two teams in tonight's game. Gonna be a late night. The game doesn't start until 9pm (2pm Saturday in Australia) and won't be over until at least midnight. Then it's a good 30-45 minute drive from Santa Monica back home afterwards. We're going to Santa Monica because there's an English Pub there which shows the Grand Final every year, and all the Aussies know this, so this is a communal thing as well.
I could just watch the game at home tonight but I'd miss all of the atmosphere that will be present at the Pub. I just hope for my mate's sake that the Sydney Swans win...and for mine too, coz they're who I'll be barracking for. Unfortunately, whenever I watch a game, the team I am barracking for almost always loses. Like 98% of the games I've watched, the team I've been cheering for has gone down. And I can't use this to my benefit and root for the team I want to lose, because we all know curses don't work that way. Despite what you're saying out loud, the curse knows what's in your heart, so the team you're secretly rooting for will still lose.
You might as well just be true to your heart, cheer out loud for the team you really want to win, and not be too disappointed when they lose like you knew they were destined to do.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Sight of the day
Downtown Los Angeles. Spring Street. The Bus Stop halfway between 5th & 6th Streets.
Approximately 6 ladies were standing at the bus stop, all had their hands over their mouths & noses, all had grimaces on their faces at some unknown but obviously despicable smell.
I suspect an odoriferous denizen of the streets was nearby, and his fragrance was not pleasing to these ladies. That or a street dweller had chosen that very spot to use as his toilet. The smell of ammonia or fecal matter can be rather overpowering on a warm day.
Approximately 6 ladies were standing at the bus stop, all had their hands over their mouths & noses, all had grimaces on their faces at some unknown but obviously despicable smell.
I suspect an odoriferous denizen of the streets was nearby, and his fragrance was not pleasing to these ladies. That or a street dweller had chosen that very spot to use as his toilet. The smell of ammonia or fecal matter can be rather overpowering on a warm day.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Los Angeles County Fair
I was talking with my niece last night and she was all excited that she was going to the Royal Melbourne Show next week. I told her that I was going to the Los Angeles Show the next day, which was today. Yes, I know it's really a County Fair, but my niece is Australian, and essentially the Royal Melbourne Show and the L.A. County Fair are the same thing, just in different countries.
Xinh came around early this morning and we convinced Liz that she wasn't staying at home. My knees have been killing me all week, and there was no way I was going to let Liz stay home while I went and walked all over the Fair grounds.
We got out to the Fair fairly (ha!) early, but not as early as last year where we had to line up and wait for the ticket booths to open. Like last year we also paid for VIP parking, $15 for a parking spot within 30 seconds walk of the entrance/exit, totally worth it.
The first ride JE wanted to go on was the giant slide, which had the name Euroslide.com on top of the launch platform, but there appears to be no valid website for www.euroslide.com ;)
We bought $40 worth of tickets to use for the rides, but the giant slide was not our first stop. Our first stop was the Lazer Tag game. It was pretty fun, considering it was just JE versus me :D As soon as Liz & Xinh upload their photos from today you'll be able to see how much fun we had :)
We walked through the Midway, played a few games, won a few prizes, before we got to the giant slide. JE & I went on it three times, chewing through over half of our tickets. We also had a turn on the Bumper Cars. Now I get it, I almost typed Dodgem Cars then, that's what Australians call them. See, I was dodging all of the other cars, whereas the Americans who call them Bumper Cars were bumping and ramming everyone else. So Liz told me to ram a car or two, so I did, and I think I almost gave JE whiplash. I blamed Liz for that ;)
Then Liz decides she wants to go on the Ghost Train/Haunted House so Xinh stayed with Amber while the three of us went on that ride. Bad idea, Liz. JE was ok with the first thing popping out at us, because the doors behind hadn't closed fully so it was still light. Then the doors closed, the lights went out, and the second "scarey thing" jumped up screaming, which really scared JE and he grabbed hold of me. I put my hands over his eyes but when we got outside he got upset with me, with me! for covering his eyes! I explained to him that the rest of the ride was very scary, just like the first bit. He accepted that, especially when he saw the three-story fun house, so I took him in that. Moving floors, very fast conveyor belts with holes at the end, a very long slide from the third floor down to the ground, it was a lot of fun, albeit slightly dangerous, or so I thought. The conveyors stopped and started at random, and they moved very quickly, I'd hate to be on one of them when it started up, especially given the deep depressions in the floor at the end of the belt, which you need to jump over or risk stepping in and potentially tripping up or falling over. I had to ride down the slide with JE, because it was somehow too big. This is the kid who went on the Euroslide (.com) three times, but he was scared to go down this enclosed, spiralling slide.
The "farm" was mentioned and JE decided that was where he wanted to go. We made it to the "farm", actually the animal barn where all of the show animals are on display. Of course we lost Liz and JE in there, so Xinh and I made our way outside. I had Liz's phone in my bag and when Xinh went to get a drink I saw Liz, so I ran up to her and passed Xinh getting a drink, but I didn't realize Xinh was right there. I figured I had the phone, Xinh had her phone, I'd found Liz and JE, best that I stick with them and we could call Xinh and tell her where we were, especially as I didn't go back to the seats out in the sun where we'd been just before but found us a table with chairs inside a small shed where they were setting up for a show or something. I started feeding Amber (who was very hungry by this time) and then Xinh called, or we called her, either way we managed to locate each other again.
After Amber had been fed we decided we needed to be fed too, so we found a BBQ Shack and got some real people food there. JE didn't want the Hot Dog we got him, he wanted a roast corn on the cob. To his credit, once we got one for him, he ate the whole thing. Amber had fallen asleep by now and Xinh wanted to ride the tram back to the exit, but the trams don't allow strollers on board unless they're folded up. Kind of hard to fold up a stroller if there's a sleeping baby inside ;) The two girls and JE rode the tram around the perimeter of the Fairground, and changed trams half way around, then caught a Trolley Car for the last leg. I made a beeline straight through the Fairgrounds for the exit, and got there before them...several minutes before them. In fact I got there before them by such a large margin that I actually called them twice (I took Liz's phone with me) to see where they were.
On my walk back back to the exit I was looking for the perfect person to be a nice guy to, and I finally found them. A father spending the day with his daughter received the last 8 ride tickets we had. It wasn't much, just a ride or two for them, but we were leaving and had no use for them, I figured someone else could use them and have some fun. I realize there are people in this world who would say "Screw them. These are our tickets. We paid for them. Why should we give them away to someone we don't even know, just because we're leaving the Fair and won't use them." I'm not that kind of person.
As we left the parking lot we passed all these cars full of people coming in. I understand that the Fair runs late into the night, but we were leaving at the hottest part of the day, and these people are just getting to the Fair AND it's totally crowded by the time we were leaving, and it was only going to get worse with all of these people coming in. By comparison, when we get there early in the morning the grounds are very empty, we can have an enjoyable time without having to deal with huge crowds. There's still crowds of course, just not as brutal as when we were leaving.
So, that was our day at the 2005 Los Angeles County Fair.
Xinh came around early this morning and we convinced Liz that she wasn't staying at home. My knees have been killing me all week, and there was no way I was going to let Liz stay home while I went and walked all over the Fair grounds.
We got out to the Fair fairly (ha!) early, but not as early as last year where we had to line up and wait for the ticket booths to open. Like last year we also paid for VIP parking, $15 for a parking spot within 30 seconds walk of the entrance/exit, totally worth it.
The first ride JE wanted to go on was the giant slide, which had the name Euroslide.com on top of the launch platform, but there appears to be no valid website for www.euroslide.com ;)
We bought $40 worth of tickets to use for the rides, but the giant slide was not our first stop. Our first stop was the Lazer Tag game. It was pretty fun, considering it was just JE versus me :D As soon as Liz & Xinh upload their photos from today you'll be able to see how much fun we had :)
We walked through the Midway, played a few games, won a few prizes, before we got to the giant slide. JE & I went on it three times, chewing through over half of our tickets. We also had a turn on the Bumper Cars. Now I get it, I almost typed Dodgem Cars then, that's what Australians call them. See, I was dodging all of the other cars, whereas the Americans who call them Bumper Cars were bumping and ramming everyone else. So Liz told me to ram a car or two, so I did, and I think I almost gave JE whiplash. I blamed Liz for that ;)
Then Liz decides she wants to go on the Ghost Train/Haunted House so Xinh stayed with Amber while the three of us went on that ride. Bad idea, Liz. JE was ok with the first thing popping out at us, because the doors behind hadn't closed fully so it was still light. Then the doors closed, the lights went out, and the second "scarey thing" jumped up screaming, which really scared JE and he grabbed hold of me. I put my hands over his eyes but when we got outside he got upset with me, with me! for covering his eyes! I explained to him that the rest of the ride was very scary, just like the first bit. He accepted that, especially when he saw the three-story fun house, so I took him in that. Moving floors, very fast conveyor belts with holes at the end, a very long slide from the third floor down to the ground, it was a lot of fun, albeit slightly dangerous, or so I thought. The conveyors stopped and started at random, and they moved very quickly, I'd hate to be on one of them when it started up, especially given the deep depressions in the floor at the end of the belt, which you need to jump over or risk stepping in and potentially tripping up or falling over. I had to ride down the slide with JE, because it was somehow too big. This is the kid who went on the Euroslide (.com) three times, but he was scared to go down this enclosed, spiralling slide.
The "farm" was mentioned and JE decided that was where he wanted to go. We made it to the "farm", actually the animal barn where all of the show animals are on display. Of course we lost Liz and JE in there, so Xinh and I made our way outside. I had Liz's phone in my bag and when Xinh went to get a drink I saw Liz, so I ran up to her and passed Xinh getting a drink, but I didn't realize Xinh was right there. I figured I had the phone, Xinh had her phone, I'd found Liz and JE, best that I stick with them and we could call Xinh and tell her where we were, especially as I didn't go back to the seats out in the sun where we'd been just before but found us a table with chairs inside a small shed where they were setting up for a show or something. I started feeding Amber (who was very hungry by this time) and then Xinh called, or we called her, either way we managed to locate each other again.
After Amber had been fed we decided we needed to be fed too, so we found a BBQ Shack and got some real people food there. JE didn't want the Hot Dog we got him, he wanted a roast corn on the cob. To his credit, once we got one for him, he ate the whole thing. Amber had fallen asleep by now and Xinh wanted to ride the tram back to the exit, but the trams don't allow strollers on board unless they're folded up. Kind of hard to fold up a stroller if there's a sleeping baby inside ;) The two girls and JE rode the tram around the perimeter of the Fairground, and changed trams half way around, then caught a Trolley Car for the last leg. I made a beeline straight through the Fairgrounds for the exit, and got there before them...several minutes before them. In fact I got there before them by such a large margin that I actually called them twice (I took Liz's phone with me) to see where they were.
On my walk back back to the exit I was looking for the perfect person to be a nice guy to, and I finally found them. A father spending the day with his daughter received the last 8 ride tickets we had. It wasn't much, just a ride or two for them, but we were leaving and had no use for them, I figured someone else could use them and have some fun. I realize there are people in this world who would say "Screw them. These are our tickets. We paid for them. Why should we give them away to someone we don't even know, just because we're leaving the Fair and won't use them." I'm not that kind of person.
As we left the parking lot we passed all these cars full of people coming in. I understand that the Fair runs late into the night, but we were leaving at the hottest part of the day, and these people are just getting to the Fair AND it's totally crowded by the time we were leaving, and it was only going to get worse with all of these people coming in. By comparison, when we get there early in the morning the grounds are very empty, we can have an enjoyable time without having to deal with huge crowds. There's still crowds of course, just not as brutal as when we were leaving.
So, that was our day at the 2005 Los Angeles County Fair.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Understanding Realtor-speak
I believe some of my readers are looking for new places to live, so this little post may come in very handy. Now when the Realtor starts using their industry-lingo to describe your "Dream Home", you'll know exactly what they mean.
Dream Home = You? Afford this place? You're dreaming!
Dream Home = You? Afford this place? You're dreaming!
Wide Open Floor Plan = Previous owner removed supporting walls
Starter home = Needs a lot of work, see "Wide Open Floor Plan"
Must see to believe = Usually used along with "Starter Home"
Scenic view = Of the garbage dump/trailer park/prison over the back fence
Useful outbuildings = No inside toilet
Country-style theme = Wooden toilet seats, also see "Useful Outbuildings"
Much sought-after = Listed twice and still no buyers
You'll love it = No, you won't
Unique city home = Used to be a warehouse, buildings either side still are
Much sought-after = Listed twice and still no buyers
You'll love it = No, you won't
Unique city home = Used to be a warehouse, buildings either side still are
Hamlet = Small, backwoods town. You'll never be a local, no matter how long you live there.
Charming = Tiny (room for Snow White, but none of the Dwarfs)
Cozy = Cramped (room for one of the Dwarfs)
Studio = Even smaller than cozy
And much, much more = we ran out of fake compliments
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
A very Bushy vacation
Please pay close attention to the following picture. Note the clarity and the detail in the photograph. Notice the crispness of the subjects in the foreground, and the slightly out-of-focus look to the subjects and scenery in the background.
If you're going to photoshop a picture, this is a perfect example of how to do it. While software tools exist to facilitate the merging of two photographs, as has obviously been done with this picture, it still takes skills to produce a piece of this caliber. Although it's obvious where the separation line between the two merged photos must be, the only visible indication is the slight blurriness of the water next to the tail of the fish. Yes, the subjects in the foreground are very clear compared to the slightly out-of-focus background, but that's not a flaw or a sign of a photoshopped picture; blurriness of the background is to be expected if the camera is focused on the subjects closest to the lens.
Whoever created this masterpiece really knows their stuff. I am very impressed.
Ladies & Gentlemen, I give you, a very Bushy Vacation:
If you're going to photoshop a picture, this is a perfect example of how to do it. While software tools exist to facilitate the merging of two photographs, as has obviously been done with this picture, it still takes skills to produce a piece of this caliber. Although it's obvious where the separation line between the two merged photos must be, the only visible indication is the slight blurriness of the water next to the tail of the fish. Yes, the subjects in the foreground are very clear compared to the slightly out-of-focus background, but that's not a flaw or a sign of a photoshopped picture; blurriness of the background is to be expected if the camera is focused on the subjects closest to the lens.
Whoever created this masterpiece really knows their stuff. I am very impressed.
Ladies & Gentlemen, I give you, a very Bushy Vacation:
Fire in the hole!
I made two pathetic attempts to nail J, one of the girls in our office, with those soft, squishy, stress-release thingamabobbies (I have a light bulb and a star) and was picking them up off the floor between our cubicles when our Director came around the corner. Thinking quickly I claimed that J had thrown them at me. Usually a good sport our Director was oddly enough not amused. Of course J denied throwing them at me so I quickly quoted Shakespeare, stating that the lady doth protest too much. Our Director was still not amused. No more throwing of things, she said, as she walked past us and into the breakroom.
J came by my desk later and explained that the Director had not been in a good mood because J and A (another coworker) had been having rubber band wars last week and got caught. We're not talking about those pitiful little rubber bands; we're talking those 6 inch long, 1 inch wide babies. We're talking about the elephant guns of rubber bands. A had been nailing J all week, and J had been trying to get him back and succeeding as well as I had when I'd thrown my squishy, stress-release toys at her, so finally J loaded up two of these heavy duty rubber bands and let fly. Of course she caught A right in the back of the head just as our Director walked around the corner.
Our Director seems to have a knack of being in the wrong place at the right time...or is it the right place at the wrong time?
J came by my desk later and explained that the Director had not been in a good mood because J and A (another coworker) had been having rubber band wars last week and got caught. We're not talking about those pitiful little rubber bands; we're talking those 6 inch long, 1 inch wide babies. We're talking about the elephant guns of rubber bands. A had been nailing J all week, and J had been trying to get him back and succeeding as well as I had when I'd thrown my squishy, stress-release toys at her, so finally J loaded up two of these heavy duty rubber bands and let fly. Of course she caught A right in the back of the head just as our Director walked around the corner.
Our Director seems to have a knack of being in the wrong place at the right time...or is it the right place at the wrong time?
Monday, September 12, 2005
Sunday, September 11, 2005
The weekend in review
After spending the last weekend painting our stairway walls and ceiling, which required me to get on the step-ladder on the landing half way up the stairs and use a roller on an extension and still just be able to reach the ceiling, I was wiped out. Liz wanted to paint this weekend as well, she wants Amber's room painted, as well as the final stairway wall, but it didn't happen. We had a relaxing weekend instead :)
Saturday evening we went out with Liz's parents to a Chinese restaurant that is an old family favourite, called Mr. Chopsticks, located in a corner mall at Santa Anita & Lower Azusa in El Monte. Seems like we've been there at least once a month during the last 7 1/2 years, on average. The food is pretty good, and while they do have the Caucasian favourites, beef w/ black bean, orange chicken, kung pao chicken/shrimp, etc, they also have some more traditional Chinese dishes which are exceptionally yummy. I love their shrimp with walnut in orange butter sauce. We get it every time we're there. The check finally arrived at the same time as the "after dinner plate of oranges" and both were placed on the table next to me. Liz's mom reached across the table for the check so I picked up the plate of oranges and offered them to her. Well she was trying to get the check, but she wanted some orange too, so she took an orange and I went and paid for the dinner. They'd invited us out and intended to pay for dinner but I thought it would be amusing if we paid for it instead. Well I thought it was funny :)
Last night I joined my sister, her husband, and a member of their guild online in a dungeon in the World of Warcraft. That doesn't mean we were locked up. Think of Dungeon in a Dungeons & Dragons context. After we completed the Dungeon my brother-in-law and I set off to do some more quests, kill some more critters, and maybe go up a level. My sister's character is many levels higher than us so unless we need her assistance in a Dungeon (which requires several people working together) usually I'll just hang out with her brother-in-law, or my niece who has a low level character and likes to play with my high level Hunter/Ranger character and his pet Tiger.
After a good bit of questing I was standing by a tower in a low level area (lvls 10-20 normally quest there) when I saw two Horde Rogues (we were playing Alliance characters) come in and start killing the NPCs in the area. The server we play on allows Player vs Player action, but most people just group together and kill the computer controlled monsters or NPCs (NPCs also include the towns' villagers, blacksmiths, innkeepers, etc). When you attack one of these NPCs, you get flagged as a PvP character. Now what most of the newbies in the World of Warcraft do not realize is that a PvP character cannot normally attack you unless you attack them first, which switches your PvP flag on, allowing them to retaliate. My character was only lvl 18. The Horde players were ?? to me, but as I saw them kill a couple of lvl 60 players I figured they were lvl 60 themselves. My Hunter is a high level but still only lvl 48. I msgd one of my Guild members, a lvl 55 and told him of the situation, explaining that the Horde Rogues were killing the low level players, who were just doing what they thought they had to and defending the land from the invaders, and getting killed in one hit by players 4 times their own level.
*aside* When one or more players set out to harass other players by killing them and stopping them from enjoying their game, we call that Ganking or Griefing.
I wasn't the only one reporting to my Guild what was happening. I've been using my headset to talk to my bro-in-law as we adventure, which is way better than typing as we fight, especially in the middle of a fight, so my bro-in-law was also letting his Guild know about the Griefers, and I'm sure the lowbies getting ganked were calling out to their Guild members for help too. When two of my Guildies said they were coming in, I logged out and logged back in as my Hunter. By the time I got to the area where my lowbie character had been earlier the tables had been turned. There were a dozen very high level Alliance characters making mince meat out of the Rogues. While my Hunter would have been carved up by the Rogues if I'd taken them on by myself, as a support character I have some very useful anti-Rogue skills, such as a Hunter's Mark which prevents the Rogue from Stealthing (going invisible) which allows him to backstab you and potentially kill you in one hit. I also have a Flare ability which can be used to detect Stealthed characters if they're in the area where my Flare goes off. Now I felt for the little lowbie characters who'd been ganked by these Horde players, because when I first started playing I had exactly the same thing happen to me, and I felt compelled to fight back against these Horde players who'd dared invade our land, and I got backstabbed to death for my effort, several times.
Last night helped my brethren kill the Griefers five times, including one exciting chase half way across that area. I'd Marked the Rogue so he couldn't Stealth, set my Tiger on to him and cast Dash on my Tiger to give him an extra burst of speed, which helped him catch the Rogue. Being a Hunter I naturally have a Rifle, or at least as a Dwarven Hunter I have a Rifle. If I were playing an Elf I'd naturally have a Bow. As such, although the Rogue was far ahead of me, I was still able to get off a shot every now and then as we chased him down. I'm sure he didn't appreciate us running him into the ground then beating him senseless, because after we killed him he was last seen running for the hills back to his own lands.
With the fighting over I had to push myself away from the computer and take a big, deep breath and let the adrenaline run its course. I've been playing World of Warcraft for several months now, but killing real players (killing their characters, that is) is a HUGE rush. It reminded me of back in the day when my friends would come over and visit and my bro-in-laws would come by, and we'd all network our computers and kill each other multiple times in hour long Doom & Quake deathmatch sessions. The women folk would enter the room and hold their noses, apparently the testosterone levels in the room were too high for their sensitive noses ;)
This morning Liz took the little ones to her parents, then we bummed around for a little while until it was time to head for Long Beach and the Queen Mary. We joined Xinh and several of our friends who we haven't seen for the longest time for Brunch, which seemed a little more expensive than I remember, but maybe it's just that we haven't had Brunch there for some time. Apparently the Queen Mary is haunted, and as we were getting into our car afterwards liz said she heard someone scream like they'd seen a ghost, or perhaps they succumbed to the hype and thought they'd seen a ghost.
After we got home Liz had a nap, then we prepped Amber's room for painting, which involved moving her crib into our room for the next X days until the painting is done and the paint smell has dissipated. We discovered I had to remove our door in order to get Amber's crib into our room, but there's only two hinges on our door and the pins slide out very easy so it was a simple process to remove it and rehang it afterwards.
Now it's only 9:15, and I'm a little tired, and I've got work tomorrow, but am I going to go to bed now? Heck no, the World of Warcraft awaits. For years I've searched for the perfect game. World of Warcraft isn't it, because the perfect game doesn't exist yet, and it won't until we have fully immersive games a la The Matrix, but, World of Warcraft does come very, bloody close to being the perfect game :)
Saturday evening we went out with Liz's parents to a Chinese restaurant that is an old family favourite, called Mr. Chopsticks, located in a corner mall at Santa Anita & Lower Azusa in El Monte. Seems like we've been there at least once a month during the last 7 1/2 years, on average. The food is pretty good, and while they do have the Caucasian favourites, beef w/ black bean, orange chicken, kung pao chicken/shrimp, etc, they also have some more traditional Chinese dishes which are exceptionally yummy. I love their shrimp with walnut in orange butter sauce. We get it every time we're there. The check finally arrived at the same time as the "after dinner plate of oranges" and both were placed on the table next to me. Liz's mom reached across the table for the check so I picked up the plate of oranges and offered them to her. Well she was trying to get the check, but she wanted some orange too, so she took an orange and I went and paid for the dinner. They'd invited us out and intended to pay for dinner but I thought it would be amusing if we paid for it instead. Well I thought it was funny :)
Last night I joined my sister, her husband, and a member of their guild online in a dungeon in the World of Warcraft. That doesn't mean we were locked up. Think of Dungeon in a Dungeons & Dragons context. After we completed the Dungeon my brother-in-law and I set off to do some more quests, kill some more critters, and maybe go up a level. My sister's character is many levels higher than us so unless we need her assistance in a Dungeon (which requires several people working together) usually I'll just hang out with her brother-in-law, or my niece who has a low level character and likes to play with my high level Hunter/Ranger character and his pet Tiger.
After a good bit of questing I was standing by a tower in a low level area (lvls 10-20 normally quest there) when I saw two Horde Rogues (we were playing Alliance characters) come in and start killing the NPCs in the area. The server we play on allows Player vs Player action, but most people just group together and kill the computer controlled monsters or NPCs (NPCs also include the towns' villagers, blacksmiths, innkeepers, etc). When you attack one of these NPCs, you get flagged as a PvP character. Now what most of the newbies in the World of Warcraft do not realize is that a PvP character cannot normally attack you unless you attack them first, which switches your PvP flag on, allowing them to retaliate. My character was only lvl 18. The Horde players were ?? to me, but as I saw them kill a couple of lvl 60 players I figured they were lvl 60 themselves. My Hunter is a high level but still only lvl 48. I msgd one of my Guild members, a lvl 55 and told him of the situation, explaining that the Horde Rogues were killing the low level players, who were just doing what they thought they had to and defending the land from the invaders, and getting killed in one hit by players 4 times their own level.
*aside* When one or more players set out to harass other players by killing them and stopping them from enjoying their game, we call that Ganking or Griefing.
I wasn't the only one reporting to my Guild what was happening. I've been using my headset to talk to my bro-in-law as we adventure, which is way better than typing as we fight, especially in the middle of a fight, so my bro-in-law was also letting his Guild know about the Griefers, and I'm sure the lowbies getting ganked were calling out to their Guild members for help too. When two of my Guildies said they were coming in, I logged out and logged back in as my Hunter. By the time I got to the area where my lowbie character had been earlier the tables had been turned. There were a dozen very high level Alliance characters making mince meat out of the Rogues. While my Hunter would have been carved up by the Rogues if I'd taken them on by myself, as a support character I have some very useful anti-Rogue skills, such as a Hunter's Mark which prevents the Rogue from Stealthing (going invisible) which allows him to backstab you and potentially kill you in one hit. I also have a Flare ability which can be used to detect Stealthed characters if they're in the area where my Flare goes off. Now I felt for the little lowbie characters who'd been ganked by these Horde players, because when I first started playing I had exactly the same thing happen to me, and I felt compelled to fight back against these Horde players who'd dared invade our land, and I got backstabbed to death for my effort, several times.
Last night helped my brethren kill the Griefers five times, including one exciting chase half way across that area. I'd Marked the Rogue so he couldn't Stealth, set my Tiger on to him and cast Dash on my Tiger to give him an extra burst of speed, which helped him catch the Rogue. Being a Hunter I naturally have a Rifle, or at least as a Dwarven Hunter I have a Rifle. If I were playing an Elf I'd naturally have a Bow. As such, although the Rogue was far ahead of me, I was still able to get off a shot every now and then as we chased him down. I'm sure he didn't appreciate us running him into the ground then beating him senseless, because after we killed him he was last seen running for the hills back to his own lands.
With the fighting over I had to push myself away from the computer and take a big, deep breath and let the adrenaline run its course. I've been playing World of Warcraft for several months now, but killing real players (killing their characters, that is) is a HUGE rush. It reminded me of back in the day when my friends would come over and visit and my bro-in-laws would come by, and we'd all network our computers and kill each other multiple times in hour long Doom & Quake deathmatch sessions. The women folk would enter the room and hold their noses, apparently the testosterone levels in the room were too high for their sensitive noses ;)
This morning Liz took the little ones to her parents, then we bummed around for a little while until it was time to head for Long Beach and the Queen Mary. We joined Xinh and several of our friends who we haven't seen for the longest time for Brunch, which seemed a little more expensive than I remember, but maybe it's just that we haven't had Brunch there for some time. Apparently the Queen Mary is haunted, and as we were getting into our car afterwards liz said she heard someone scream like they'd seen a ghost, or perhaps they succumbed to the hype and thought they'd seen a ghost.
After we got home Liz had a nap, then we prepped Amber's room for painting, which involved moving her crib into our room for the next X days until the painting is done and the paint smell has dissipated. We discovered I had to remove our door in order to get Amber's crib into our room, but there's only two hinges on our door and the pins slide out very easy so it was a simple process to remove it and rehang it afterwards.
Now it's only 9:15, and I'm a little tired, and I've got work tomorrow, but am I going to go to bed now? Heck no, the World of Warcraft awaits. For years I've searched for the perfect game. World of Warcraft isn't it, because the perfect game doesn't exist yet, and it won't until we have fully immersive games a la The Matrix, but, World of Warcraft does come very, bloody close to being the perfect game :)
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Funny signs
Just a quick post (not a real one) in an effort to bring a smile to someone's face, anyone's face, it doesn't matter. If you smiled at even one of these (or groaned) then I've made a difference and my cunning plan has worked ;)
I'm sure some people need this sign, they'd be the same people who need to be told not to use their hair drier while in the shower ;)
I guess they mean the other right.
So how do I get in then? And do I really want to get in? Is there also a sign at the exit that tells me not to exit there?
Well of course it is. That's just stating the obvious. It's all downhill after that.
"Cigarette? No? Ok, well, I guess I better be going. Got work in the morning. I'll call you."
This one speaks for itself :)
And you thought revealing the location of the Bat Cave was bad :)
Hope you all have a great day.
I'm sure some people need this sign, they'd be the same people who need to be told not to use their hair drier while in the shower ;)
I guess they mean the other right.
So how do I get in then? And do I really want to get in? Is there also a sign at the exit that tells me not to exit there?
Well of course it is. That's just stating the obvious. It's all downhill after that."Cigarette? No? Ok, well, I guess I better be going. Got work in the morning. I'll call you."
This one speaks for itself :)
And you thought revealing the location of the Bat Cave was bad :)
Hope you all have a great day.
Friday, September 02, 2005
The Golf Ball, and Physics 101
The coefficient of restitution of the average golf ball is 0.6, meaning if we drop (u=0) the golf ball from a height of 10 feet (or 10 metres, doesn't matter) it will rebound to a height of 6 feet (or 6 metres), i.e., it will rebound to 6/10 of the height from which it was dropped.If you throw the golf ball towards the ground (u>0) you will affect the proportional height to which it rebounds not because you have changed the coefficient of restitution, but because you have increased the velocity (v) at impact, however, it does not matter how hard you throw the golf ball, you will not affect its acceleration (a), you will only directly affect its initial velocity (u).
Acceleration (a) of the golf ball is dependent on two factors: gravity of 32 feet per second-squared or 9.8 metres per second-squared; and the drag coefficient imposed on the golf ball by wind resistance, which for this exercise we'll set at 0.5, a not unreasonable figure for a golf ball.
The weight of the golf ball is the industry standard 1.6oz, or 45.3grams.
You are standing on top of the building on the left. Your friend is standing on top of the building on the right. If you simply dropped the golf ball from a height of 170 feet, given a COR of .6, the golf ball should theoretically rebound to a height of 102 feet. It would therefore be quite feasible for you to throw the golf ball with enough initial velocity (u) to have the golf ball return to its initial starting point, 170 feet off the ground.
Between the two buildings you will notice there is a road and a sidewalk (footpath) upon which cars are driving and people are walking. At the base of your building (the left one) there is a parking lot. What with it being a Friday and the parking lot servicing a nearby government building (yours), there are an abudance of empty parkings spots within the lot.
Remember, you are standing on top of the building on the left, at the base of which is a reasonably empty parking lot. You also have a golf ball in your hand, in case you hadn't yet worked that out already. Your friend is standing exactly 100 feet away from you, on top of the adjacent 170 foot tall building.
Now, the question is, if you throw the golf ball down into the parking lot, 170 feet below, do you reckon you could nail one of the cars?
Now, the question is, if you throw the golf ball down into the parking lot, 170 feet below, do you reckon you could nail one of the cars?
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