According to Xinh's Rules of Dating, it was just lunch, coz there was no activity before or after the the meal :)
Normally lunchtimes find me in the lunchroom with my coworkers, but today almost everyone was out of the office. I had a coffee bill to pay so I seized the opportunity to go to the bank on my lunch break. I was amazed to discover the bank was practically empty, especially as it was high noon, and within minutes of walking in the door I was heading back outside, wondering where to go for lunch. I decided seeing as I was free, I'd give Natey a call and when he answered it sounded like I'd woken him up but he said he was in downtown and he was available for lunch. He also works a few block from my office so I recommended a South American place (actually El Salvadorean) on Olympic & Hill where I'd eaten a few times before. Natey said he knew of it but had never eaten there, but he was willing to give it a try.
For about $10 we each got a HUGE plate of food and two papusas, although after finishing our plates we were only just able to get down one papusa each, which we used to wipe clean our plates. Oh, $10 included Iced Tea as well.
I don't know the name of the place, but if you're ever in downtown Los Angeles and are looking for a feed that won't break the bank, and you're rather partial to semi-authentic El Salvadorean food (or Central/South American in general), look for the restaurant on the south-west corner of Olympic & Hill.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Not counting your chickens...
From Wolfgang's Blog I got a couple of ideas on how it might be possible to improve the electoral system in the U.S. and make it more fair for every voter.
As it currently exists the Primary Elections are a war of attrition. Candidates can be eliminated and resign when they lose crucial states, or stay in the game by winning the same. People in several states have already had their say, and regardless of how you look at it, their vote is more important than yours because their vote has caused some candidates to concede. Too bad for you if you liked Hunter, Thompson, Richardson, or Kucinich. For the Republicans the race is down to McCain and Romney, while the Democrats have no real choice other than Clinton and Obama. I like Ron Paul but he's pretty much out of the running (although he hasn't resigned, yet), and Romney, my second choice, needs to win a few big states if he's to challenge McCain, who leaped to the front after winning Florida.
You can argue until you're blue in the face, but letting some people cast their votes early, counting those votes, and making the results known, does not make for a fair election. So the first change I'd recommend is every Primary Election in every State be held on the same day, no exceptions.
The second change I'd make is not allowing the results to be released early. Count the ballots and tally them up, sure, but having a running tally as the day goes on only hurts one person...you, the voter.
Why?
Let's use the Democrats as an example, and let them choose between Clinton and Obama.
When the polls open all of Clinton's followers turn out and vote. The News people conduct exit polls and see that for every one person who voted for Obama, ten people have cast their vote for Clinton. By mid-afternoon close to 90% of Clinton's supporters (being your stereotypical Peggy Bundy, Bon Bon eating, stay-at-home Moms. Yes, I'm being facetious here.) have cast their vote. Around this time most of Obama's voters (all blue collar laborers or businessmen, yes, another facetious, tongue-in-cheek generalization) are getting off work and planning to vote for their hero, but turning on the radio in their car what do they hear? Clinton is beating Obama by a landslide! That's it, they think, my man has lost. And so they don't go to the polls but go straight home and sure enough, Clinton wins by a landslide, because all of Obama's voters heard the news and instead of voting they all went straight home.
So not only should everyone be voting on the same day, but nobody should have access to the results prior to the close of Polls. And this brings us to one final change.
When the polls close at 8pm along the east coast and the ballots are tallied and the results are known by 9pm, those results should not be released to the public, for the exact same reason as above. 9pm in Florida is only 6pm in California, so people in California still have 2 hours to get to the Polls. Many people in California are just coming home from work at 6pm, but they plan to stop and vote on their way. When they turn on their radio and hear the results of the east coast elections, how a certain candidate is winning by a landslide, that can have a demoralizing effect, of course it can also work both ways. "Oh, my guy's already won; I don't need to vote." Then the next morning they get up and find their guy lost.
I mention Florida specifically not just because of the Miami-Dade debacle of a few years ago, but because Florida didn't have to be the tight race that it became. Florida actually spans two time zones, so when the polls closed in eastern Florida, they were still open for another hour in western Florida. Allegedly many voters in Florida don't come out until the last hour or so because it's cooler in the evening, but throughout the afternoon the western Florida voters had been hearing the results of the east Florida elections, and apparently turn outs in western Florida were extremely low, unusually low. The people in western Florida figured their candidate was winning (or had already lost) so they didn't bother coming out to vote, which skewed the results.
Elections are important. Every person is supposed to be able to have their say, and every vote is supposed to carry equal weight, but when the people who vote first are able to affect the decision of later voters, the system becomes biased towards those first voters. Unfortunately the Me Generation is also the Now Generation, and that has affected the entire population. Why should I have to wait for tomorrow? I want the results NOW!
Imagine an election for Class President where 8 people like Joe and 9 like Ted, and it just so happens that Joe's people all sit on one side of the classroom. The teacher running the poll doesn't ask for a show of hands, but instead asks the first student who he's voting for, then the second, then the third, and so on. By the time she gets to the eighth student it seems support for Joe is unanimous so Ted, knowing Joe needs just one more vote to win, concedes...and Joe is elected Class President, even though Ted would have won if every vote had been counted.
This is the situation we have today, and it's not fair in the classroom or the real world. The electoral college system could remain, nothing would need to be changed about that, the only change would be everyone votes on the same day, and the results are not released until all the results, nationwide, have been officially tallied.
As it currently exists the Primary Elections are a war of attrition. Candidates can be eliminated and resign when they lose crucial states, or stay in the game by winning the same. People in several states have already had their say, and regardless of how you look at it, their vote is more important than yours because their vote has caused some candidates to concede. Too bad for you if you liked Hunter, Thompson, Richardson, or Kucinich. For the Republicans the race is down to McCain and Romney, while the Democrats have no real choice other than Clinton and Obama. I like Ron Paul but he's pretty much out of the running (although he hasn't resigned, yet), and Romney, my second choice, needs to win a few big states if he's to challenge McCain, who leaped to the front after winning Florida.
You can argue until you're blue in the face, but letting some people cast their votes early, counting those votes, and making the results known, does not make for a fair election. So the first change I'd recommend is every Primary Election in every State be held on the same day, no exceptions.
The second change I'd make is not allowing the results to be released early. Count the ballots and tally them up, sure, but having a running tally as the day goes on only hurts one person...you, the voter.
Why?
Let's use the Democrats as an example, and let them choose between Clinton and Obama.
When the polls open all of Clinton's followers turn out and vote. The News people conduct exit polls and see that for every one person who voted for Obama, ten people have cast their vote for Clinton. By mid-afternoon close to 90% of Clinton's supporters (being your stereotypical Peggy Bundy, Bon Bon eating, stay-at-home Moms. Yes, I'm being facetious here.) have cast their vote. Around this time most of Obama's voters (all blue collar laborers or businessmen, yes, another facetious, tongue-in-cheek generalization) are getting off work and planning to vote for their hero, but turning on the radio in their car what do they hear? Clinton is beating Obama by a landslide! That's it, they think, my man has lost. And so they don't go to the polls but go straight home and sure enough, Clinton wins by a landslide, because all of Obama's voters heard the news and instead of voting they all went straight home.
So not only should everyone be voting on the same day, but nobody should have access to the results prior to the close of Polls. And this brings us to one final change.
When the polls close at 8pm along the east coast and the ballots are tallied and the results are known by 9pm, those results should not be released to the public, for the exact same reason as above. 9pm in Florida is only 6pm in California, so people in California still have 2 hours to get to the Polls. Many people in California are just coming home from work at 6pm, but they plan to stop and vote on their way. When they turn on their radio and hear the results of the east coast elections, how a certain candidate is winning by a landslide, that can have a demoralizing effect, of course it can also work both ways. "Oh, my guy's already won; I don't need to vote." Then the next morning they get up and find their guy lost.
I mention Florida specifically not just because of the Miami-Dade debacle of a few years ago, but because Florida didn't have to be the tight race that it became. Florida actually spans two time zones, so when the polls closed in eastern Florida, they were still open for another hour in western Florida. Allegedly many voters in Florida don't come out until the last hour or so because it's cooler in the evening, but throughout the afternoon the western Florida voters had been hearing the results of the east Florida elections, and apparently turn outs in western Florida were extremely low, unusually low. The people in western Florida figured their candidate was winning (or had already lost) so they didn't bother coming out to vote, which skewed the results.
Elections are important. Every person is supposed to be able to have their say, and every vote is supposed to carry equal weight, but when the people who vote first are able to affect the decision of later voters, the system becomes biased towards those first voters. Unfortunately the Me Generation is also the Now Generation, and that has affected the entire population. Why should I have to wait for tomorrow? I want the results NOW!
Imagine an election for Class President where 8 people like Joe and 9 like Ted, and it just so happens that Joe's people all sit on one side of the classroom. The teacher running the poll doesn't ask for a show of hands, but instead asks the first student who he's voting for, then the second, then the third, and so on. By the time she gets to the eighth student it seems support for Joe is unanimous so Ted, knowing Joe needs just one more vote to win, concedes...and Joe is elected Class President, even though Ted would have won if every vote had been counted.
This is the situation we have today, and it's not fair in the classroom or the real world. The electoral college system could remain, nothing would need to be changed about that, the only change would be everyone votes on the same day, and the results are not released until all the results, nationwide, have been officially tallied.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
R.I.P. Heath
Just who the f**k discovered Heath was dead? News reports say his housekeeper was present at the time, but that it was Heath's Massage Therapist who realized he was going to need more than just a rub down.
TMZ.com (a self-proclaimed "Celebrity Gossip" site that my wife gives credence to, but which I've never heard of until two days ago) states that Heath was found by his maid, Theresa Solomon, and his masseuse, 'Diane Lee'.
Yahoo! News rehashing an Associated Press story (and when it comes to the news AP is a name I'm more familiar with) also states that Heath was found by his Massage Therapist HOWEVER!!! the AP story identifies the Massage Therapist as one Diana Wolozin.
In a further twist, AP reports that when Diane/Diana discovered Heath was unresponsive, she grabbed his cell phone and called 911. Wait! No she didn't! AP says Diane/Diana first called Mary Kate Olsen, whose number is programmed into Heath's phone and whom Lee/Wolozin knew was a friend of Heath's, and she asked Olsen what to do.
Allegedly it was Mary Kate, who was in California at the time, who sent over her bodyguard. Apparently Diane/Diana checked Heath again, realized things were really serious, as in deadly serious, and now she called 911. No. Wait. My bad. She called Mary Kate again. It was only after she'd made that second call to Olsen that Lee/Wolozin finally called 911.
So who is Diane Lee and who is Diana Wolozin? And why are both women credited as being Heath's masseuse/massage therapist? And when finding an unconscious client allegedly surrounded by bottles of pills, why would someone use their client's cell phone to call another celebrity, twice, before calling 911?
I think Ms. Diane Diana Lee-Wolozin, or whatever her name is, has a lot of explaining to do.
TMZ.com (a self-proclaimed "Celebrity Gossip" site that my wife gives credence to, but which I've never heard of until two days ago) states that Heath was found by his maid, Theresa Solomon, and his masseuse, 'Diane Lee'.
Yahoo! News rehashing an Associated Press story (and when it comes to the news AP is a name I'm more familiar with) also states that Heath was found by his Massage Therapist HOWEVER!!! the AP story identifies the Massage Therapist as one Diana Wolozin.
In a further twist, AP reports that when Diane/Diana discovered Heath was unresponsive, she grabbed his cell phone and called 911. Wait! No she didn't! AP says Diane/Diana first called Mary Kate Olsen, whose number is programmed into Heath's phone and whom Lee/Wolozin knew was a friend of Heath's, and she asked Olsen what to do.
Allegedly it was Mary Kate, who was in California at the time, who sent over her bodyguard. Apparently Diane/Diana checked Heath again, realized things were really serious, as in deadly serious, and now she called 911. No. Wait. My bad. She called Mary Kate again. It was only after she'd made that second call to Olsen that Lee/Wolozin finally called 911.
So who is Diane Lee and who is Diana Wolozin? And why are both women credited as being Heath's masseuse/massage therapist? And when finding an unconscious client allegedly surrounded by bottles of pills, why would someone use their client's cell phone to call another celebrity, twice, before calling 911?
I think Ms. Diane Diana Lee-Wolozin, or whatever her name is, has a lot of explaining to do.
Virtual friends
Wolfgang has a post up about playing WoW (insert MMO of choice here) and how the friends we make online can bring us back to a game, or breath new life into it.
When I first began playing WoW I played it as a single-player game in a world populated by characters controlled by real people. I rarely grouped, and often attempted to complete quests beyond my level, on my own, simply because I didn't know any better. Eventually I responded to a Guild Recruitment message just because I liked the Guild's name, joined, and found the Guild consisted pretty much of four real life friend, and a few other players. Eventually the four friends moved on and all but one of them stopped playing WoW, although he still quit our guild and joined another.
The guy who received leadership of the Guild from the original leader recruited a few of his RL friends and it was these players who formed the basis of a fairly successful casual Guild which completed content normally conquerable only by hardcore guilds. Most of those people are still in the Guild today, meaning I've known most of them now for almost two & a half years. In my downtime, when I'm not spending time with my RL family, I'm spending time with my virtual friends.
When we went back to Australia for mum's wedding last year I actually stopped playing a week or so before we left, and when I got back I found other things to do than log in. When I finally logged back in I just sat there staring at the character selection screen...wondering what I was going to do. Finally I selected my "main" character and entered the game, and as soon as the game loaded I saw Guild Chat light up with people virtually screaming my name.
It's hard to explain to people who don't play MMOs exactly what the attraction is. What makes you log into a game, only to sit on a dock somewhere and catch fish for several hours, just to level up your fishing skill. Why would you steer your avatar around an area, killing & skinning hundreds of Mobs over the space of several hours? Does all that gold really mean anything? Do you really need a faster Gryphon? Why would you spend several hours with four (or more) other people, in a coordinated assault on a dungeon, just for the chance (not a guarantee, mind you) to score some virtual loot that will make your avatar just a little bit stronger?
And why do you keep logging back in, time and time and time again, only to do the same old thing, time and time and time again?
It's the people. It's your virtual friends. In most cases, they make logging in all worth while. You may never meet them IRL. You may only ever communicate with them in-game, or via a headset, but over time you've gotten to know these people as intimately as any other close friend. You've journeyed with them, put your faith in them to heal you and keep you alive (in-game of course), or trusted them to hold the attention of a virtual dragon while you fired arrow after arrow into it.
MMOs are all about the people.
When I first began playing WoW I played it as a single-player game in a world populated by characters controlled by real people. I rarely grouped, and often attempted to complete quests beyond my level, on my own, simply because I didn't know any better. Eventually I responded to a Guild Recruitment message just because I liked the Guild's name, joined, and found the Guild consisted pretty much of four real life friend, and a few other players. Eventually the four friends moved on and all but one of them stopped playing WoW, although he still quit our guild and joined another.
The guy who received leadership of the Guild from the original leader recruited a few of his RL friends and it was these players who formed the basis of a fairly successful casual Guild which completed content normally conquerable only by hardcore guilds. Most of those people are still in the Guild today, meaning I've known most of them now for almost two & a half years. In my downtime, when I'm not spending time with my RL family, I'm spending time with my virtual friends.
When we went back to Australia for mum's wedding last year I actually stopped playing a week or so before we left, and when I got back I found other things to do than log in. When I finally logged back in I just sat there staring at the character selection screen...wondering what I was going to do. Finally I selected my "main" character and entered the game, and as soon as the game loaded I saw Guild Chat light up with people virtually screaming my name.
It's hard to explain to people who don't play MMOs exactly what the attraction is. What makes you log into a game, only to sit on a dock somewhere and catch fish for several hours, just to level up your fishing skill. Why would you steer your avatar around an area, killing & skinning hundreds of Mobs over the space of several hours? Does all that gold really mean anything? Do you really need a faster Gryphon? Why would you spend several hours with four (or more) other people, in a coordinated assault on a dungeon, just for the chance (not a guarantee, mind you) to score some virtual loot that will make your avatar just a little bit stronger?
And why do you keep logging back in, time and time and time again, only to do the same old thing, time and time and time again?
It's the people. It's your virtual friends. In most cases, they make logging in all worth while. You may never meet them IRL. You may only ever communicate with them in-game, or via a headset, but over time you've gotten to know these people as intimately as any other close friend. You've journeyed with them, put your faith in them to heal you and keep you alive (in-game of course), or trusted them to hold the attention of a virtual dragon while you fired arrow after arrow into it.
MMOs are all about the people.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Lightning
In 1942, a Park Ranger in a fire lookout tower is struck in the leg by a lightning bolt. He loses a nail on his big toe.
In 1969, a man driving his truck along a mountain road is struck by lightning and knocked unconscious. The lightning burns off his eyebrows.
1970: A man in his front yard is struck by lightning and suffers burns to his left shoulder.
1972: A man in a Ranger Station is struck by lightning and is forced to douse his head after his hair catches on fire.
1973: A man struck by lightning is thrown from his car with his hair ablaze.
1974: A camper is struck by lightning, suffering injuries to his ankle.
1977: A fisherman is hospitalized with burns on his chest and stomach after being struck by lightning.
How are these incidents related?
In 1969, a man driving his truck along a mountain road is struck by lightning and knocked unconscious. The lightning burns off his eyebrows.
1970: A man in his front yard is struck by lightning and suffers burns to his left shoulder.
1972: A man in a Ranger Station is struck by lightning and is forced to douse his head after his hair catches on fire.
1973: A man struck by lightning is thrown from his car with his hair ablaze.
1974: A camper is struck by lightning, suffering injuries to his ankle.
1977: A fisherman is hospitalized with burns on his chest and stomach after being struck by lightning.
How are these incidents related?
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
And...Survey says?
Out of curiousity I ran a Facebook Groups search on the major candidates for the 2008 U.S. Primary Elections, and discovered the following...
The top four Groups for Hillary Clinton are actually anti-Hillary:
Stop Hillary Clinton: (One Million Strong AGAINST Hillary), with 681,000 members;
ANTI Hillary Clinton for president '08 with 64,600;
Hillary Clinton: Stop Running for President and Make Me a Sandwich with 28,600; and
Life's a bitch, why vote for one? Anti-Hillary '08 with 13,600.
The first pro-Hillary Clinton Group is the fifth most populated, being Hillary Clinton for President - One Million STRONG with 12,425 members.
By contrast, the most populated Facebook groups for the other candidates are all for those candidates, but don't let their numbers fool you. Many people opposed to a candidate will join that candidate's group in order to challenge, debate with, and just generally piss off that candidate's supporters.
Barack Obama's group Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Barack) is the clear front runner with 418,797 members.
Ron Paul's group Congressman Ron Paul for President 2008 at number two with 62,885 members still has a clear lead over the rest of the pack.
Mike Huckabee's group Mike Huckabee for President 2008! has 28,237 members.
Mitt Romney's group Mitt Romney (One Million Strong for Mitt) has 19,954 members.
Hillary's group would be here, with its 12,500 members.
Fred Thompson's group Fred Thompson '08 has 6,179 members.
Dennis Kucinich's group Dennis Kucinich for President in 2008 is close behind with 6,007 members.
John Edwards' group Edwards 2008 has 5,771 members
Mike Gravel 2008 has 3,578 members.
John McCain for President has 2,660 members.
Bill Richardson's group makes the hard-to-believe claim America for Bill Richardson, considering it has just 2,477 members.
Duncan Hunter for President in 2008 has 943 members.
Despite the real man's popularity Rudy Guiliani for President in 2008 has a pathetic Facebook representation with just 872 members.
And bringing up the rear (because someone has to) is Alan Keyes For President In 2008! with 311 members.
What does this tell us? Not a lot, really. It's not a real poll. People join Facebook groups for various reasons, not always because they believe in the group, but because, as I said, they want to troll the boards and piss off the real members. And although we're well and truly embracing the Internet age where someone like my Mum could marry a guy she met online, there's a large percentage of the population who are willing & able voters, but who will only show their support at the Polls, nowhere else. Not to a Telephone Pollster, or a Petitioner outside a market, and certainly not online.
Still, looking at Barack Obama's and Ron Paul's Facebook numbers, I would expect both of them to gather a lot of real support (not just online) as more people have their say in the coming months and upcoming Primaries.
The top four Groups for Hillary Clinton are actually anti-Hillary:
Stop Hillary Clinton: (One Million Strong AGAINST Hillary), with 681,000 members;
ANTI Hillary Clinton for president '08 with 64,600;
Hillary Clinton: Stop Running for President and Make Me a Sandwich with 28,600; and
Life's a bitch, why vote for one? Anti-Hillary '08 with 13,600.
The first pro-Hillary Clinton Group is the fifth most populated, being Hillary Clinton for President - One Million STRONG with 12,425 members.
By contrast, the most populated Facebook groups for the other candidates are all for those candidates, but don't let their numbers fool you. Many people opposed to a candidate will join that candidate's group in order to challenge, debate with, and just generally piss off that candidate's supporters.
Barack Obama's group Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Barack) is the clear front runner with 418,797 members.
Ron Paul's group Congressman Ron Paul for President 2008 at number two with 62,885 members still has a clear lead over the rest of the pack.
Mike Huckabee's group Mike Huckabee for President 2008! has 28,237 members.
Mitt Romney's group Mitt Romney (One Million Strong for Mitt) has 19,954 members.
Hillary's group would be here, with its 12,500 members.
Fred Thompson's group Fred Thompson '08 has 6,179 members.
Dennis Kucinich's group Dennis Kucinich for President in 2008 is close behind with 6,007 members.
John Edwards' group Edwards 2008 has 5,771 members
Mike Gravel 2008 has 3,578 members.
John McCain for President has 2,660 members.
Bill Richardson's group makes the hard-to-believe claim America for Bill Richardson, considering it has just 2,477 members.
Duncan Hunter for President in 2008 has 943 members.
Despite the real man's popularity Rudy Guiliani for President in 2008 has a pathetic Facebook representation with just 872 members.
And bringing up the rear (because someone has to) is Alan Keyes For President In 2008! with 311 members.
What does this tell us? Not a lot, really. It's not a real poll. People join Facebook groups for various reasons, not always because they believe in the group, but because, as I said, they want to troll the boards and piss off the real members. And although we're well and truly embracing the Internet age where someone like my Mum could marry a guy she met online, there's a large percentage of the population who are willing & able voters, but who will only show their support at the Polls, nowhere else. Not to a Telephone Pollster, or a Petitioner outside a market, and certainly not online.
Still, looking at Barack Obama's and Ron Paul's Facebook numbers, I would expect both of them to gather a lot of real support (not just online) as more people have their say in the coming months and upcoming Primaries.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
What happens in Vegas...
is pretty darn good :)
Angela was asking how the shows were that we saw in Vegas, being Zumanity and La Reve, and they were pretty darn good. Liz ordered our tickets quite some time in advance, so we had pretty good seats, although the theaters are reasonably small so there's really no bad seats.
We entered the theatre for Zumanity about 20 minutes prior to the show starting, only to discover the pre-show well under way. Two rather large ladies in very very skimpy 'French Maid' outfits were serving strawberries to various members of the audience, and they always leaned over in such a way that one audience member or another had a face full of the ladies' more-than-ample bosom or maximized gluteus maximus. Meanwhile a casanova-type fellow & his girlfriend provided more comic relief by flirting with the audience. Singling one attractive young lady out, Casanova's GF asked her where she bought her tits, only to be told they were natural.
"You're a lucky mother fucker," Casanova's GF told her, only to have Casanova point to the girl's boyfriend and say "No, he's the lucky mother fucker."
As Casanova's GF walked away she said "I wish I had tits like that." Casanova sighed and responded, "I wish you did, too."
Very crass humor, but delivered with such aplomb that only the most prudish Utah-resident could hope to be offended.
Of the two shows, La Reve was the more confusing, but I preferred it over Zumanity which was more a series of raunchy skits interspersed with dance routines. Yes, there was a lot more naked female flesh on display in Zumanity (and by a lot I don't mean large amounts) than in La Reve but Zumanity lacked the story and sheer acrobatics of La Reve, which at times had you in awe of what you were witnessing. While Zumanity had a very witty host who styled herself...himself(?) after Rocky Horror's Dr. Frankenfurter, La Reve had its share of comedy relief in four angel-type characters, who at times behaved in very un-angel like fashion, flirting with female members of the cast, and so on.
See Zumanity if you're in the mood for some light-hearted, semi-nude debauchery with a bit of singing and dancing, and a lot of joking around. And go early. Take your seat at least half an hour before the show, and if you can try to get front row seats, not for the view, but for a chance to interact with the cast.
See La Reve if you want to leave the theatre going "Wow! That was amazing!" and be left discussing with your partner exactly what happened, or what you thought was happening. Was she dreaming? Did he die? Did she die? I know I enjoyed it, but exactly what was it? And yes, I'm aware that La Reve is French for The Dream, or something like that, but that still leaves a few questions unanswered :)
Also don't take your seat for La Reve until you have to, because the music they play at the start is very repetitive and quickly begins to bore a hole through your skull. There is no pre-show for La Reve, and our show did not start right on time due to last minute safety checks.
Despite that, both shows were very enjoyable, in very different ways.
Angela was asking how the shows were that we saw in Vegas, being Zumanity and La Reve, and they were pretty darn good. Liz ordered our tickets quite some time in advance, so we had pretty good seats, although the theaters are reasonably small so there's really no bad seats.
We entered the theatre for Zumanity about 20 minutes prior to the show starting, only to discover the pre-show well under way. Two rather large ladies in very very skimpy 'French Maid' outfits were serving strawberries to various members of the audience, and they always leaned over in such a way that one audience member or another had a face full of the ladies' more-than-ample bosom or maximized gluteus maximus. Meanwhile a casanova-type fellow & his girlfriend provided more comic relief by flirting with the audience. Singling one attractive young lady out, Casanova's GF asked her where she bought her tits, only to be told they were natural.
"You're a lucky mother fucker," Casanova's GF told her, only to have Casanova point to the girl's boyfriend and say "No, he's the lucky mother fucker."
As Casanova's GF walked away she said "I wish I had tits like that." Casanova sighed and responded, "I wish you did, too."
Very crass humor, but delivered with such aplomb that only the most prudish Utah-resident could hope to be offended.
Of the two shows, La Reve was the more confusing, but I preferred it over Zumanity which was more a series of raunchy skits interspersed with dance routines. Yes, there was a lot more naked female flesh on display in Zumanity (and by a lot I don't mean large amounts) than in La Reve but Zumanity lacked the story and sheer acrobatics of La Reve, which at times had you in awe of what you were witnessing. While Zumanity had a very witty host who styled herself...himself(?) after Rocky Horror's Dr. Frankenfurter, La Reve had its share of comedy relief in four angel-type characters, who at times behaved in very un-angel like fashion, flirting with female members of the cast, and so on.
See Zumanity if you're in the mood for some light-hearted, semi-nude debauchery with a bit of singing and dancing, and a lot of joking around. And go early. Take your seat at least half an hour before the show, and if you can try to get front row seats, not for the view, but for a chance to interact with the cast.
See La Reve if you want to leave the theatre going "Wow! That was amazing!" and be left discussing with your partner exactly what happened, or what you thought was happening. Was she dreaming? Did he die? Did she die? I know I enjoyed it, but exactly what was it? And yes, I'm aware that La Reve is French for The Dream, or something like that, but that still leaves a few questions unanswered :)
Also don't take your seat for La Reve until you have to, because the music they play at the start is very repetitive and quickly begins to bore a hole through your skull. There is no pre-show for La Reve, and our show did not start right on time due to last minute safety checks.
Despite that, both shows were very enjoyable, in very different ways.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
All I want for Christmas...
It was obvious by our gifts that we're a 21st Century family.
Amber got the Happy Feet DVD (and some other gifts, including one pink and one purple "My Little Pwny".)
JE got Mario Kart, Mario Party, and Yoshi's Island for the DS, and Mario Party 8 for the Wii.
Liz got Puzzle Quest for the Wii, and My Sims for the DS (which I think she's forgotten about ;)
I got Ghost Squad for the Wii (I got it myself because I knew nobody else would, and no, I didn't buy everyone else's presents. I bought a few, but not all of them ;)
Liz and I also got each other some perfume/cologne.
I had to go in to work on Christmas Eve (the day, not the evening), I didn't have to go in (I could have used a Vacation Day), but I'd already said I'd be in and a few others had already requested the time off, so I went in knowing that I was missing the annual Christmas breakfast with Liz & the kids and the rest of her family. It used to be Christmas dinner (on Christmas Eve) but this year it was changed to breakfast. So I went in to work, thinking my wife and kids would be joining me for lunch. Instead, just before noon, Liz called to say the kids and their cousins were having a great time playing together, so they were staying at Uncle's for lunch as well.
One of my supervisors took off at noon. Before she left she told us our other supervisor was leaving at 2pm, so the three of us (in my section) would pretty much be on our own after that. Meanwhile our Bureau Chief was waiting for a call from the Commissioners' offices to see if we could go home early. I told our only Senior to call one of the girls in the Commissioners' offices (who used to work in our Bureau), rather than wait for 'them' to call us. So he called and discovered all of the Commissioners are on vacation this entire week. Hooray for them. Technically this meant our Chief could make his own decision as to whether or not to let us leave early, rather than wait for permission.
At 2pm my other supervisor left, telling us we could leave an hour early, "but do so quietly," she said, and so at 2:30 I was out the door and on my way to the bus stop to join my family, who were still playing happily at Uncle's house.
Back at work today I discovered our Chief pulled the same stunt as last year, going around at 3:30pm and telling everyone they could go home early. 3:30pm is the time I and a few others would normally leave anyway, so it's not exactly leaving early.
When they did this to us last year on Christmas Eve, a week later on New Year's Eve I deliberately kept asking our Program Manager if we were going to be let go an hour early. I even reminded her that I and several others come in at 6am and leave at 3:30, so it would be nice to know before that time if we could go home early. What happened? 3:30 arrived and our smiling Program Manager came around and told us we could all go home an hour early. Yeah, thanks for nothing. Then they go and do it again this year, and I expect they'll do the same again this New Year's Eve. Lovely. Just lovely. There are days where you don't feel appreciated and you wonder why you came in to work at all. Christmas Eve should not be one of those days.
Thank Orion for things like Ghost Squad where I can let off steam by blasting terrorists in the privacy of my own home :)
Amber got the Happy Feet DVD (and some other gifts, including one pink and one purple "My Little Pwny".)
JE got Mario Kart, Mario Party, and Yoshi's Island for the DS, and Mario Party 8 for the Wii.
Liz got Puzzle Quest for the Wii, and My Sims for the DS (which I think she's forgotten about ;)
I got Ghost Squad for the Wii (I got it myself because I knew nobody else would, and no, I didn't buy everyone else's presents. I bought a few, but not all of them ;)
Liz and I also got each other some perfume/cologne.
I had to go in to work on Christmas Eve (the day, not the evening), I didn't have to go in (I could have used a Vacation Day), but I'd already said I'd be in and a few others had already requested the time off, so I went in knowing that I was missing the annual Christmas breakfast with Liz & the kids and the rest of her family. It used to be Christmas dinner (on Christmas Eve) but this year it was changed to breakfast. So I went in to work, thinking my wife and kids would be joining me for lunch. Instead, just before noon, Liz called to say the kids and their cousins were having a great time playing together, so they were staying at Uncle's for lunch as well.
One of my supervisors took off at noon. Before she left she told us our other supervisor was leaving at 2pm, so the three of us (in my section) would pretty much be on our own after that. Meanwhile our Bureau Chief was waiting for a call from the Commissioners' offices to see if we could go home early. I told our only Senior to call one of the girls in the Commissioners' offices (who used to work in our Bureau), rather than wait for 'them' to call us. So he called and discovered all of the Commissioners are on vacation this entire week. Hooray for them. Technically this meant our Chief could make his own decision as to whether or not to let us leave early, rather than wait for permission.
At 2pm my other supervisor left, telling us we could leave an hour early, "but do so quietly," she said, and so at 2:30 I was out the door and on my way to the bus stop to join my family, who were still playing happily at Uncle's house.
Back at work today I discovered our Chief pulled the same stunt as last year, going around at 3:30pm and telling everyone they could go home early. 3:30pm is the time I and a few others would normally leave anyway, so it's not exactly leaving early.
When they did this to us last year on Christmas Eve, a week later on New Year's Eve I deliberately kept asking our Program Manager if we were going to be let go an hour early. I even reminded her that I and several others come in at 6am and leave at 3:30, so it would be nice to know before that time if we could go home early. What happened? 3:30 arrived and our smiling Program Manager came around and told us we could all go home an hour early. Yeah, thanks for nothing. Then they go and do it again this year, and I expect they'll do the same again this New Year's Eve. Lovely. Just lovely. There are days where you don't feel appreciated and you wonder why you came in to work at all. Christmas Eve should not be one of those days.
Thank Orion for things like Ghost Squad where I can let off steam by blasting terrorists in the privacy of my own home :)
Sunday, December 23, 2007
A weekend in Vegas
Friday, after watching (& video taping for the school) my son's Christmas program, Liz and I headed off to Vegas. This time the kids stayed behind so it was just the two of us in Sin City, and so this time around we were able to see a couple of shows: La Rêve, and Zumanity.
We also visited The Gun Store and fired an M-16 and an MP5, both full auto. I was seriously impressed at the almost complete lack of recoil on the MP5. No wonder SWAT and CTUs love them.
We also did a bit of gambling, but limited ourselves to the 1¢ machines. I ended up winning $30, but I think Liz spent that much herself, so we probably just about broke even :P
Hotelwise, the Monte Carlo is far superior to Circus Circus.
Do not go to The Wynn for their buffet dinner on a Saturday night. The food might be worth the $40 price tag, but it wasn't worth the 2-hour wait to get a table.
We also visited The Gun Store and fired an M-16 and an MP5, both full auto. I was seriously impressed at the almost complete lack of recoil on the MP5. No wonder SWAT and CTUs love them.
We also did a bit of gambling, but limited ourselves to the 1¢ machines. I ended up winning $30, but I think Liz spent that much herself, so we probably just about broke even :P
Hotelwise, the Monte Carlo is far superior to Circus Circus.
Do not go to The Wynn for their buffet dinner on a Saturday night. The food might be worth the $40 price tag, but it wasn't worth the 2-hour wait to get a table.
Friday, December 07, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Not going to be a good weekend
Liz's uncle passed away this morning. When I saw the text message from Liz my first reaction was to snap my phone closed. I don't know why. I'm not extremely close to her uncle, and the signs were very clear that he was fading and fast, but it was still shocking somehow. I snapped my phone closed as if that would delete the text message, but having already seen it deletion is irrelevant. Liz's uncle was in his 90s and until the last week or so was still living with his wife and their son in his son's condo. He was admitted to hospital, briefly moved into an assisted living center for a few days, and then was transferred back to the hospital where he spent his last few days.
By comparison my father spent a few days in hospital then was sent home where he died about five days later, in his own bed, with my mother and my sister by his side. I'd rather go out like that. I'd hate to be lying in a hospital bed, knowing I was dying, seeing my family for a few hours each day and when I said goodbye to them each night have no idea if that would be the last time we'd see each other.
Here, it was probably better for Uncle to pass away in the hospital. Likewise in Australia, except in Dad's case a palliative care nurse had just visited less than 30 minutes prior to him passing away, and because of that the police didn't need to be involved, there was no need for an autopsy, etc.
I suspect that sometime this weekend we'll be attending Uncle's funeral. It's sad because another aunty and a cousin are flying in from Chicago and New Jersey tonight. Like me with Dad, they also never got to say goodbye to Uncle.
The blessings we can count are that Uncle lasted this long, so even though his presence was missed at Thanksgiving dinner we were still able to celebrate. On a personal, somewhat selfish level, I'm glad that this year's family Christmas get-together (traditionally held on Christmas Eve) was changed from dinner to breakfast. With Christmas Eve being a Monday I have to work, so I won't be attending this year's get-together, meaning while the rest of the family has to contend with the hole left behind by Uncle, I can sit at my desk, bury myself in my work, and pretend that all is still right with the world. It's not that Uncle's death affects me so much, it's that I'd rather not have to witness the effect it's having on everyone else, especially Aunty. Ignorance is bliss, and this is one weekend I'll be glad to get behind me.
By comparison my father spent a few days in hospital then was sent home where he died about five days later, in his own bed, with my mother and my sister by his side. I'd rather go out like that. I'd hate to be lying in a hospital bed, knowing I was dying, seeing my family for a few hours each day and when I said goodbye to them each night have no idea if that would be the last time we'd see each other.
Here, it was probably better for Uncle to pass away in the hospital. Likewise in Australia, except in Dad's case a palliative care nurse had just visited less than 30 minutes prior to him passing away, and because of that the police didn't need to be involved, there was no need for an autopsy, etc.
I suspect that sometime this weekend we'll be attending Uncle's funeral. It's sad because another aunty and a cousin are flying in from Chicago and New Jersey tonight. Like me with Dad, they also never got to say goodbye to Uncle.
The blessings we can count are that Uncle lasted this long, so even though his presence was missed at Thanksgiving dinner we were still able to celebrate. On a personal, somewhat selfish level, I'm glad that this year's family Christmas get-together (traditionally held on Christmas Eve) was changed from dinner to breakfast. With Christmas Eve being a Monday I have to work, so I won't be attending this year's get-together, meaning while the rest of the family has to contend with the hole left behind by Uncle, I can sit at my desk, bury myself in my work, and pretend that all is still right with the world. It's not that Uncle's death affects me so much, it's that I'd rather not have to witness the effect it's having on everyone else, especially Aunty. Ignorance is bliss, and this is one weekend I'll be glad to get behind me.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
PSA: Facebook, Beacon, & Invasion of Privacy
If you and your loved one are on Facebook, and you shopped online for Christmas this year, chances are your loved one (& all of your Facebook Friends) may know what you bought for them, thanks to Facebook's Newsfeed & a tracking utility called Beacon.
But the good news is if you use Firefox, there's a workaround, as found at this site and reproduced here...
1. Download and Install the BlockSite plugin for Firefox (if you don't already have it).
3. Restart Firefox then select ‘Add-ons’ from the Tools menu.
4. Click the ‘Options’ button on the BlockSite extension
5. Click the ‘Add’ button
6. Enter http://*facebook.com/beacon/* into the input box
7. Click ‘OK’, then ‘OK’ again, and you're good to go.
If you already use Adblock or Adblock Plus you don't need to install the BlockSite plugin, just add the filter *.facebook.com/beacon/* to your block list.
But the good news is if you use Firefox, there's a workaround, as found at this site and reproduced here...
1. Download and Install the BlockSite plugin for Firefox (if you don't already have it).
3. Restart Firefox then select ‘Add-ons’ from the Tools menu.
4. Click the ‘Options’ button on the BlockSite extension
5. Click the ‘Add’ button
6. Enter http://*facebook.com/beacon/* into the input box
7. Click ‘OK’, then ‘OK’ again, and you're good to go.
If you already use Adblock or Adblock Plus you don't need to install the BlockSite plugin, just add the filter *.facebook.com/beacon/* to your block list.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Tap's Fish House & Brewery
Today Liz and I made our way to Brea for brunch at Tap's Fish House & Brewery. I was surprised when I got there to discover they offer not just the traditional Champagne Brunch, but a Beer Brunch as well. You all know what a Champagne Brunch is, well, a Beer Brunch is pretty much the same, just you get to sample two 16oz glasses of one (or two) of Tap's fine microbrews. Per our server's suggestion I ordered the Cream Ale, a light-bodied beer which was very easy on the palate, and disappeared very quickly when I made myself a cheese plate from the various cheeses available. The surprising taste was the bleu cheese which had a very strong, distinct flavor; it practically exploded in my mouth, and exploded out of Liz's when I gave her a small taste. No sir, she didn't like it. She also didn't like the Pumpkin Ale, my second beer of choice. I don't know how to describe the flavor of the Pumpkin Beer, which Tap's describes as "a medium-bodied ale made with 100 pounds of fresh pumpkins and spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice." They don't get the 100 pounds of pumpkin into each glass, but each glass sure does pack a lot of flavor. I ended up stuffing myself so much (the beer didn't help) that I told Liz we weren't going to the Brea Mall straight away, so we took a stroll around the shopping center across from Tap's instead, and that helped settle everything :)
Then we went to the Brea Mall, and that's pretty much the last time I set foot in a mall until at least the second week in January. Having worked in two malls for two Christmases, they're the last place I want to be between Thanksgiving and New Years. Not enough parking spots, too many people, not enough tables in the food court...so I'm doing my part to reduce the crush by staying out of them. The problem is Liz saw a Toys-R-Us catalog with a "Buy 2, get 1 Free" special on Wii games, so I think we're heading to our local Toys-R-Us tomorrow night. Monday night at a very small open-air mall, it shouldn't be too bad.
The problem will be buying three Wii games and not letting JE play them until the weekend, or Thanksgiving at least. Actually the problem will be buying three Wii games, period. We already have Mario Galaxy, Zelda:Twilight Princess, and Guitar Hero3. There's not too much else out there (that I know of) that's worth spending $50 to $60 on.
*edit* except I just found out that Link's Crossbow Training AND Ghost Squad both come out tomorrow, and both games can be picked up for around $50+tax. Bargain! One more game and Link's Crossbow Training (cheapest game at $20) is free!
Then we went to the Brea Mall, and that's pretty much the last time I set foot in a mall until at least the second week in January. Having worked in two malls for two Christmases, they're the last place I want to be between Thanksgiving and New Years. Not enough parking spots, too many people, not enough tables in the food court...so I'm doing my part to reduce the crush by staying out of them. The problem is Liz saw a Toys-R-Us catalog with a "Buy 2, get 1 Free" special on Wii games, so I think we're heading to our local Toys-R-Us tomorrow night. Monday night at a very small open-air mall, it shouldn't be too bad.
The problem will be buying three Wii games and not letting JE play them until the weekend, or Thanksgiving at least. Actually the problem will be buying three Wii games, period. We already have Mario Galaxy, Zelda:Twilight Princess, and Guitar Hero3. There's not too much else out there (that I know of) that's worth spending $50 to $60 on.
*edit* except I just found out that Link's Crossbow Training AND Ghost Squad both come out tomorrow, and both games can be picked up for around $50+tax. Bargain! One more game and Link's Crossbow Training (cheapest game at $20) is free!
Friday, November 16, 2007
Would you watch this?
It seems to me that if shows like "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila" can make it on the air, a show like I'm about to describe should also be hugely popular.
It's a variant of American Idol, but the contestants have to play Guitar Hero 3.
Wait! Wait! Don't change the channel just yet!
When you play GH3 the object of the game is to beat each song, but you don't have to play perfectly to beat a song. In the game when you beat a song you get a score based on how many notes you hit in a row, and when you used (if you used) your Star Power. You're also shown a percentage score, based on how many notes you hit. On "GH3: The Showdown" we'll multiply your score by your percentage to give you a Song Score. So the people who hit the most notes and use Star Power at the right time will get the highest Song Score.
Just like in American Idol there will also be Judges, who will be judging your stage presence. See it's not enough for you to hit every note and rack up a huge Song Score while standing there looking like a zombie; part of being a Guitar Hero is looking like a Guitar Hero. So the Judges will score you based on how well you can rock while playing, then your Song Score will be multiplied by your Judges' score to give you a total score.
The show will be filmed before a live audience who can dance and rock along to the music because there won't be any seats; yep, it's standing room only, folks. Because our Guitar Hero has to face the audience but also needs to see the notes he has to play, there will be a large screen TV at the front of the stage, facing him; but there will also be a projection screen on the back of the stage showing the audience what the Hero is seeing, thus they can see just how well the Hero is playing and egg him on when he's playing really well.
At the end of each night the two Heroes with the lowest score have to battle each other using Guitar Hero's very own in-game battle mode, with the loser being eliminated.
The final episode will have the last three Heroes battling it out for the title of Ultimate Guitar Hero. They'll each play a couple of songs with the lowest scoring Hero being automatically eliminated, then the remaining two Heroes will face off in a Best of Three Battle. The Ultimate Guitar Hero would get two customized GH3 guitars, their choice of a PS3, XBox360, or Wii console, plus a copy of GH3 for the same, along with a 60" Sony HD-TV and a home theater/surround sound system. The runner-up could get one customized GH3 guitar, choice of console w/ GH3, and a 46" Sony HD-TV. As far as final prizes go, it may not be a million dollars like you'd get for winning Survivor, but the people most likely to compete for the title of Ultimate Guitar Hero wouldn't be complaining, and the prizes could also be donated by your potential sponsors, being Sony, Microsoft and/or Nintendo, thus keeping your production costs down waaay low.
So if you're in The Industry or know somebody in The Industry and you like my idea, please feel free to steal it and plug it to somebody who can make it happen. I'd love to see a show like this, and if it knocked out A Shot at Love, that would just be gravy :)
It's a variant of American Idol, but the contestants have to play Guitar Hero 3.
Wait! Wait! Don't change the channel just yet!
When you play GH3 the object of the game is to beat each song, but you don't have to play perfectly to beat a song. In the game when you beat a song you get a score based on how many notes you hit in a row, and when you used (if you used) your Star Power. You're also shown a percentage score, based on how many notes you hit. On "GH3: The Showdown" we'll multiply your score by your percentage to give you a Song Score. So the people who hit the most notes and use Star Power at the right time will get the highest Song Score.
Just like in American Idol there will also be Judges, who will be judging your stage presence. See it's not enough for you to hit every note and rack up a huge Song Score while standing there looking like a zombie; part of being a Guitar Hero is looking like a Guitar Hero. So the Judges will score you based on how well you can rock while playing, then your Song Score will be multiplied by your Judges' score to give you a total score.
The show will be filmed before a live audience who can dance and rock along to the music because there won't be any seats; yep, it's standing room only, folks. Because our Guitar Hero has to face the audience but also needs to see the notes he has to play, there will be a large screen TV at the front of the stage, facing him; but there will also be a projection screen on the back of the stage showing the audience what the Hero is seeing, thus they can see just how well the Hero is playing and egg him on when he's playing really well.
At the end of each night the two Heroes with the lowest score have to battle each other using Guitar Hero's very own in-game battle mode, with the loser being eliminated.
The final episode will have the last three Heroes battling it out for the title of Ultimate Guitar Hero. They'll each play a couple of songs with the lowest scoring Hero being automatically eliminated, then the remaining two Heroes will face off in a Best of Three Battle. The Ultimate Guitar Hero would get two customized GH3 guitars, their choice of a PS3, XBox360, or Wii console, plus a copy of GH3 for the same, along with a 60" Sony HD-TV and a home theater/surround sound system. The runner-up could get one customized GH3 guitar, choice of console w/ GH3, and a 46" Sony HD-TV. As far as final prizes go, it may not be a million dollars like you'd get for winning Survivor, but the people most likely to compete for the title of Ultimate Guitar Hero wouldn't be complaining, and the prizes could also be donated by your potential sponsors, being Sony, Microsoft and/or Nintendo, thus keeping your production costs down waaay low.
So if you're in The Industry or know somebody in The Industry and you like my idea, please feel free to steal it and plug it to somebody who can make it happen. I'd love to see a show like this, and if it knocked out A Shot at Love, that would just be gravy :)
Thursday, November 08, 2007
How much is your time really worth?
I make approx. $32/hr at work. So for every two minutes that pass by while I'm sitting here, I earn $1. In a 40-hour week I earn approx. $1,280, but there are actually 168 hours in a week, so over the entire week of seven 24-hour days I earn $7.63 per hour or 13c every minute. Awake or asleep, working, working out, or just vegging out in front of the computer, I am accruing 13c for every minute that goes by.
Say it takes me one hour to perform a chore, like mowing my lawn; that's $7.63 of my time. If I pay someone to mow my lawn for me I will naturally compensate them more for their expertise, but if I can do the same job myself...for a lot cheaper, aren't I better off doing it myself? Hmmm, am I?
Let's say the Lawnmower Man charges me $15 to cut my lawn, which is a task I can do myself in one hour. In real terms I make $7.63 during that hour, so the $15 I pay the Lawnmower Man is offset by the $7.63 I make during that hour, meaning it really only costs me $7.37 to have the Lawnmower Man do the job, $7.37 is almost exactly one hour of my time anyway. So I can either spend a real hour cutting my lawn myself, or I can pay the Lawnmower Man to do it, and either way the real cost is the same (or close to). Interesting, no?
How much is your time worth?
Say it takes me one hour to perform a chore, like mowing my lawn; that's $7.63 of my time. If I pay someone to mow my lawn for me I will naturally compensate them more for their expertise, but if I can do the same job myself...for a lot cheaper, aren't I better off doing it myself? Hmmm, am I?
Let's say the Lawnmower Man charges me $15 to cut my lawn, which is a task I can do myself in one hour. In real terms I make $7.63 during that hour, so the $15 I pay the Lawnmower Man is offset by the $7.63 I make during that hour, meaning it really only costs me $7.37 to have the Lawnmower Man do the job, $7.37 is almost exactly one hour of my time anyway. So I can either spend a real hour cutting my lawn myself, or I can pay the Lawnmower Man to do it, and either way the real cost is the same (or close to). Interesting, no?
How much is your time worth?
Monday, November 05, 2007
Weather Watch Alert
This just in! And yes, it's a screengrab from an actual weather report which can be seen here until it gets taken down.
I guess 4 to 6-feet swells, with the occasional 8-footer, could be described as sweet in some circles. The minor coastal, low area flooding? Not so sweet.
I guess 4 to 6-feet swells, with the occasional 8-footer, could be described as sweet in some circles. The minor coastal, low area flooding? Not so sweet.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
The Mediterranean
After bumming around most of Saturday we decided to do dinner at the Mediterranean Garden Grill in Monrovia. I'd got take-out lunch from there before, and the food was pretty good, and somehow Liz and I were thinking of the same place so that was where we went. We really should have known better, at 7:30 on a Saturday night, but this is Monrovia we're talking about; the place is practically dead after 5pm on a Friday, except as we drove up Myrtle the old town still showed signs of life. The movie theater had people milling around outside, cafes and restaurants were jumping, and even some of Monrovia's small-town speciality stores had their doors open.When we turned on to Foothill and approached the Mediterranean we didn't realize it was the happening place to be in Monrovia on a Saturday night. We pulled into the parking lot, drove around the back of the building, and exited the other side. The lot was full (then again, it's a small lot) so we ended up parking on a side-street. Back to the restaurant we were told it would be about a 15 minute wait. Not too bad for a Saturday night, even in Monrovia.
The thing that got to us, and what really got to the couple ahead of us, was the apparently flagrant display of nepotism going on. A customer would walk up and the owner would greet him in a typical European fashion with kisses on the cheeks, followed by a very friendly conversation in Armenian or Greek or some language other than English. And shortly afterwards this guest and his party would be seated, while we waited outside. The couple in front of us eventually gave up and stormed off and I hardly blamed them, although it meant our wait was shortened so I was also happy to see them go ;)
It was close to a 45-minute wait before we were seated. Really, we should have known better. It's a Saturday night and we were there at 7:30 looking for table. Almost every restaurant worth eating at is going to have a long wait on a Saturday night. Next time we're either going at 6pm, or waiting until 8:30 or later. There also wasn't really any nepotism, just a lot of camaraderie among countrymen, and an owner wanting to try to get everyone seated. So he was seating parties of four ahead of couples, because he knew a slightly larger party that was occupying several tables pushed together would be done eating soon, so he could seat the party of four now, and in 10 minutes when the larger party leaves he can seat the three couples. It all makes perfect sense, except when you're waiting for a table :P
So our food finally arrived and we'd ordered the Dinner Combo for Two, which was the same dish the couple next to us had ordered, being two younger guys (in their 20s) with their toddler son (ok, he was one of their sons and probably the other's nephew...maybe, and even if it's something else there's nothing wrong with that ;). They ate their fill then called for boxes and ended up taking a lot of food home. Liz and I devoured pretty much everything between us, then finished up the evening with a serving of Ashta and a Baklava chased down with an Armenian Coffee, which comes served in a thimble not unlike an Espresso (which, contrary to popular belief, does not need to be drunk in one hit like a shot of liquor, although it must still be drunk within a couple of minutes of brewing or its individual components break down and it loses its flavor).
Just as we were leaving a couple of Hookahs were delivered to the party a couple of tables over from us. The interesting thing about the Mediterranean Garden Grill is its quasi-outdoor setting. Although you're surrounded by four walls and a ceiling, the windows are kept wide open and I think the owner has somehow got it classified as an outdoor restaurant. I'm assuming it's legal for diners to smoke cigarettes, cigars, or Hookahs, which can be rented from the restaurant for an after-dinner smoke, or it wouldn't be happening, right ;)
That night we finally got to enjoy an extra hour in bed as Daylight Saving Time officially ended, but we were still up somewhat early because we needed to go to LAX to pick up Liz's aunty, who was flying in from Chicago. We dropped her luggage at the in-laws' house then met up with the in-laws themselves (& our kids) at a local Shanghainese-style restaurant for lunch. I've been to this restaurant a couple of times now, and it drives me nuts, because their A/C fan is not balanced properly. It doesn't seem to affect anyone else but me, but the imbalance makes it oscillate at a particularly annoying rate which ends up giving me a headache. Last time we sat at the table in the center of the restaurant, and it was free when we walked in, and the waitress tried to show us to that table as well, instead I said I wanted to sit at the other empty table against the window. The vibrating fan was still audible, but not as intrusive as at the other table, so I was able to concentrate more on enjoying the delicious food, of which there was plenty. My dish of choice was Orange Beef, which came with several chili peppers that I managed to pick out. I thought I got them all but Liz's Aunty still found one. Lucky she had a glass of water, although milk or beer is better for putting out a chili fire. The in-laws had brought milk for the kids, but the kids had drunk it all :D
JE went home with Aunty and the in-laws, while we took Amber home for her nap. Liz decided she wanted a nap, too, and after a bit of fuss & bother and threatening to put her in her own bed, Amber finally fell asleep beside her Mommy. The house is so much more peaceful when they're all asleep :)
The thing that got to us, and what really got to the couple ahead of us, was the apparently flagrant display of nepotism going on. A customer would walk up and the owner would greet him in a typical European fashion with kisses on the cheeks, followed by a very friendly conversation in Armenian or Greek or some language other than English. And shortly afterwards this guest and his party would be seated, while we waited outside. The couple in front of us eventually gave up and stormed off and I hardly blamed them, although it meant our wait was shortened so I was also happy to see them go ;)
It was close to a 45-minute wait before we were seated. Really, we should have known better. It's a Saturday night and we were there at 7:30 looking for table. Almost every restaurant worth eating at is going to have a long wait on a Saturday night. Next time we're either going at 6pm, or waiting until 8:30 or later. There also wasn't really any nepotism, just a lot of camaraderie among countrymen, and an owner wanting to try to get everyone seated. So he was seating parties of four ahead of couples, because he knew a slightly larger party that was occupying several tables pushed together would be done eating soon, so he could seat the party of four now, and in 10 minutes when the larger party leaves he can seat the three couples. It all makes perfect sense, except when you're waiting for a table :P
So our food finally arrived and we'd ordered the Dinner Combo for Two, which was the same dish the couple next to us had ordered, being two younger guys (in their 20s) with their toddler son (ok, he was one of their sons and probably the other's nephew...maybe, and even if it's something else there's nothing wrong with that ;). They ate their fill then called for boxes and ended up taking a lot of food home. Liz and I devoured pretty much everything between us, then finished up the evening with a serving of Ashta and a Baklava chased down with an Armenian Coffee, which comes served in a thimble not unlike an Espresso (which, contrary to popular belief, does not need to be drunk in one hit like a shot of liquor, although it must still be drunk within a couple of minutes of brewing or its individual components break down and it loses its flavor).
Just as we were leaving a couple of Hookahs were delivered to the party a couple of tables over from us. The interesting thing about the Mediterranean Garden Grill is its quasi-outdoor setting. Although you're surrounded by four walls and a ceiling, the windows are kept wide open and I think the owner has somehow got it classified as an outdoor restaurant. I'm assuming it's legal for diners to smoke cigarettes, cigars, or Hookahs, which can be rented from the restaurant for an after-dinner smoke, or it wouldn't be happening, right ;)
That night we finally got to enjoy an extra hour in bed as Daylight Saving Time officially ended, but we were still up somewhat early because we needed to go to LAX to pick up Liz's aunty, who was flying in from Chicago. We dropped her luggage at the in-laws' house then met up with the in-laws themselves (& our kids) at a local Shanghainese-style restaurant for lunch. I've been to this restaurant a couple of times now, and it drives me nuts, because their A/C fan is not balanced properly. It doesn't seem to affect anyone else but me, but the imbalance makes it oscillate at a particularly annoying rate which ends up giving me a headache. Last time we sat at the table in the center of the restaurant, and it was free when we walked in, and the waitress tried to show us to that table as well, instead I said I wanted to sit at the other empty table against the window. The vibrating fan was still audible, but not as intrusive as at the other table, so I was able to concentrate more on enjoying the delicious food, of which there was plenty. My dish of choice was Orange Beef, which came with several chili peppers that I managed to pick out. I thought I got them all but Liz's Aunty still found one. Lucky she had a glass of water, although milk or beer is better for putting out a chili fire. The in-laws had brought milk for the kids, but the kids had drunk it all :D
JE went home with Aunty and the in-laws, while we took Amber home for her nap. Liz decided she wanted a nap, too, and after a bit of fuss & bother and threatening to put her in her own bed, Amber finally fell asleep beside her Mommy. The house is so much more peaceful when they're all asleep :)
Friday, November 02, 2007
Waiting for Kimmel
The more correct title would be "Waiting for Rimes" as it was LeAnn Rimes holding up the show, but Waiting for Rimes doesn't have the same ring to it as Waiting for Kimmel.
Around 3:50 we headed over to the El Monte Bus Station where we caught a 484 bus to Union Station, followed by a ride on a Red Line Train out to Hollywood & Highland and the El Capitan Theatre. The eTicket told us the doors would open at 5:30, so we were in line and waiting around 5pm. Sometime between then and 5:30pm a staff member told us the egotistical diva known as LeAnn Rimes had arrived late (don't ask me how when she drives a Dodge Viper) and she wanted to practice her songs so we were forced to wait some more. It was almost 6:30pm when the doors finally opened and the line started to move, and it was 7pm by the time we'd been seated and Jimmy made his first appearance. I must admit, for a 1-hour show, I was seriously impressed that Jimmy managed to get the job done, interviews completed, etc, in about one hour. Nice work, Jimmy.
With the show over shortly after 8pm, and with the El Capitan being right across the road from the Hollywood & Highland station we managed to catch the 8:22 back into downtown, where we waited for our 484, and waited, and waited, in the cold, at the entrance to the Freeway, wearing not much more than jeans and light, short-sleeved shirts. For me, an ex-pat Aussie and former Victorian, it was nice, cool but nice. For Liz, a long time southern California resident, it was particularly chilly. We saved a few dollars on parking and wear & tear on our car by taking public transport, which cost us $6.25 total (for Liz, I already have my Metro pass for getting to work & back). Tickets for Jimmy's show were free, just in high demand, so we were lucky that Liz was able to get them.
We finished off the night with a late supper at the Red Ant, a local Chinese restaurant (somewhere on Valley Blvd. in Temple City) where you get a large portion of quite good food for a fairly decent price. For $20+change we were both fed to bursting, with food left over. All in all, it was a rather good evening.
Around 3:50 we headed over to the El Monte Bus Station where we caught a 484 bus to Union Station, followed by a ride on a Red Line Train out to Hollywood & Highland and the El Capitan Theatre. The eTicket told us the doors would open at 5:30, so we were in line and waiting around 5pm. Sometime between then and 5:30pm a staff member told us the egotistical diva known as LeAnn Rimes had arrived late (don't ask me how when she drives a Dodge Viper) and she wanted to practice her songs so we were forced to wait some more. It was almost 6:30pm when the doors finally opened and the line started to move, and it was 7pm by the time we'd been seated and Jimmy made his first appearance. I must admit, for a 1-hour show, I was seriously impressed that Jimmy managed to get the job done, interviews completed, etc, in about one hour. Nice work, Jimmy.
With the show over shortly after 8pm, and with the El Capitan being right across the road from the Hollywood & Highland station we managed to catch the 8:22 back into downtown, where we waited for our 484, and waited, and waited, in the cold, at the entrance to the Freeway, wearing not much more than jeans and light, short-sleeved shirts. For me, an ex-pat Aussie and former Victorian, it was nice, cool but nice. For Liz, a long time southern California resident, it was particularly chilly. We saved a few dollars on parking and wear & tear on our car by taking public transport, which cost us $6.25 total (for Liz, I already have my Metro pass for getting to work & back). Tickets for Jimmy's show were free, just in high demand, so we were lucky that Liz was able to get them.
We finished off the night with a late supper at the Red Ant, a local Chinese restaurant (somewhere on Valley Blvd. in Temple City) where you get a large portion of quite good food for a fairly decent price. For $20+change we were both fed to bursting, with food left over. All in all, it was a rather good evening.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Halloween 2007
Just like in years gone by our section once again led the way in dressing up (or down) for Halloween.
This time around we settled on a theme of Angels and Devils. I decided to dress in a manner similar to a devil/demon you might see on reruns of Angel, which meant wearing dark jeans with Doc Marten boots, my Punisher t-shirt, and my very macho leather jacket. When we bought a set of horns at the local Party/Costume store I realized my hair was currently too short (not to mention too sparse) to conceal the cord used to hold the horns on, so I didn't have a haircut for close to a month prior to Halloween. I also grew a goatee (again).
And here's a picture of me (in costume) with my kids.
One of the girls at work dressed up as a classic angel in white, another as a classic devil in red. My supervisor bought the same devil-in-disguise kit as I, so he had the exact same horns, but he wore a black outfit with a cape (I've never trusted capes since The Incredibles). One girl wore a half & half devil-angel outfit with a halo held up by horns, and red & white wings (one of each color), while another was a "fallen angel" dressed all in black, complete with a bandage on her knee where she fell :D Another supervisor was also dressed in a black angel outfit, but we decided she was a Dark Angel, rather than a fallen angel. Finally the last two supervisors coordinated with one wearing a New Jersey Devils' sweater, and the other wearing an Anaheim Angels' sweater. Brilliant!
I don't have a picture of all of us, yet, but when I do I'll put it up, too :)
This time around we settled on a theme of Angels and Devils. I decided to dress in a manner similar to a devil/demon you might see on reruns of Angel, which meant wearing dark jeans with Doc Marten boots, my Punisher t-shirt, and my very macho leather jacket. When we bought a set of horns at the local Party/Costume store I realized my hair was currently too short (not to mention too sparse) to conceal the cord used to hold the horns on, so I didn't have a haircut for close to a month prior to Halloween. I also grew a goatee (again).
And here's a picture of me (in costume) with my kids.
One of the girls at work dressed up as a classic angel in white, another as a classic devil in red. My supervisor bought the same devil-in-disguise kit as I, so he had the exact same horns, but he wore a black outfit with a cape (I've never trusted capes since The Incredibles). One girl wore a half & half devil-angel outfit with a halo held up by horns, and red & white wings (one of each color), while another was a "fallen angel" dressed all in black, complete with a bandage on her knee where she fell :D Another supervisor was also dressed in a black angel outfit, but we decided she was a Dark Angel, rather than a fallen angel. Finally the last two supervisors coordinated with one wearing a New Jersey Devils' sweater, and the other wearing an Anaheim Angels' sweater. Brilliant!
I don't have a picture of all of us, yet, but when I do I'll put it up, too :)
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