4th Of July, Disney Style

We spent the 4th of July with our nephew at Disney's California Adventure.

A splendid time was had by all including watching a special fireworks presentation. Instead of the regular Disney-themed fireworks, we were presented with red, white, and blue fireworks. What was particularly amazing were fireworks that exploded in the shapes of stars, smiley faces, boxes, and pentagons.

Unfortunately, the show had to stop early because the wind started picking up and Disney didn't want to risk embers drifting into the nearby neighborhoods. Especially since California is a statewide tinderbox right now.

One of the biggest treats was getting to go on the new ride "Toy Story Mania". This is now officially the most addictive ride at the Disneyland Resort (sorry, Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters).

Needless to say, I was too busy shooting targets to take pictures on the ride, but here's some posters and the ride's entrance:

STEVIE WONDER!!

Hey, guess where me and my wife were last night??

Watching Stevie Wonder at the Hollywood Bowl!! Practically in the front row. The legendary Stevie Wonder! Almost three hours of one classic song after another (plus one new song currently in the works).

I've been to the Hollywood Bowl several times and this was the first time I have ever seen every single person on their feet dancing to songs like "Sir Duke" and "Superstition".

Some pictures from my "yes, I know it doesn't have a flash or a zoom lens" iPhone (some were taken off a nearby video screen):



Stevie and his family at the beginning of the show.



Stevie and his daughter Aisha. She's was the inspiration for the song "Isn't She Lovely" when she was born. Trippy experience to see him serenade his daughter, who is now an adult, with the song.



Stevie and one of his sons singing a duet. His son sounds just like him at that age. Again... trippy.



One long shot of the stage. The band consisted of Stevie (obviously), a trumpet player, a sax player, three percussionists, two keyboardists (other than Stevie), two guitars, one bassist, three backup singers, and a full orchestra.

Happy 4th Of July!

Happy Fourth of July!

Even if you don't celebrate where you live, have a happy day anyway.

Drink a beer.

Barbeque something.

Shoot off a firework.

Intro To Hawaiian Food

We picked our eight year old nephew up at the airport this morning. He's going to stay with us for a couple of weeks and we're going to hit practically every theme park Southern California has to offer.

In addition to the usual travel stuff, his parents packed some awesome Lau Laus. Best on the islands.

What is Lau Lau?



Let Wikipedia enlighten you.

Good eatin'.

Gay Marriage - Week Two

It's been two weeks since California permitted gay couples to legally marry.

Let's have a reality check, shall we?

- Has California fallen into the ocean? Nope.
- Has fire and brimstone fallen from the sky? Nope. (California is always this hot during the Summer)
- Have hetero marriages disintegrated and the divorce rate shot up to 100% as the very sanctity of marriage is compromised? Uh. No. I'm still very happily married to my wife.

So have gay marriages destroyed civilization?

No?

That's what I thought.

We should spend less time protesting gay marriage and more time protesting intolerance.

Required Listening

While I cleaned the kitchen tonight, I stole borrowed my wife's Sounddock to listen to my iPod.

I randomly flipped through a few albums and landed on Sufjan Stevens' "Illinois", the second of his (overly ambitious) project to record an album for each of the 50 states.



This is one of the best albums of the past several years.

Recommended listening.

Wipeout!

Watched one of the silliest, looniest game shows ever last night.

It's called "Wipeout!" and involves people in various stages of fitness attempting to navigate a series of crazy obstacle courses for a chance to win $50,000. What makes it all the more entertaining is John Henson's overly snarky commentaries.

Full details here: Link (ABC)

I'm never ceased to be amazed at what people will do for money. Of course, all those winnings will probably go towards filling up their gas tanks!

Around The State In A Day

Had a really cool adventure on Saturday.

The religious organization I belong to, SGI (Soka Gakkai International), sent a bunch of us to San Francisco for a big kickoff meeting. We left L.A. at 11 PM Friday night, spent the day in San Francisco, then were back in L.A. by 11 PM Saturday night.

That means in a 24 hour period, we were on a bus for 14 of those hours. It takes approximately seven hours to get from L.A. to S.F. (driving at legal speeds, mind you).

We arrived at the San Francisco Community Center around 6:30 AM, where we could freshen up and have something to eat. Then they sent us to the Golden Gate Bridge for a group photo. Normally, you think one would be a little annoyed when half the bridge was enshrouded in fog, but it seemed appropriate for San Francisco. After that, it was across the bay to Oakland for the big meeting (which was both wonderful and inspirational), followed by a looooong one mile walk to a park for lunch and jazz music. Then it was back on the bus.

An absolutely wonderful, if wirlwindish, experience!


The San Francisco Culture Center


The Golden Gate Bridge


The meeting -- they gave us T-Shirts with a Harley Davidson-esque logo. Very cool.

Freeze Frame

So you're watching "So You Think You Can Dance" on the DVR.

So you get a phone call.

So you pause the DVR.

So you end up with the following frozen picture on the TV.



CREEEPEE

Hands Free For You And For Me

On July 1st, California implements a statewide law requiring drivers to use some kind of hands free device while driving if they need to use their cell phone. It can be one of those Lt. Uhura Bluetooth devices in the ear, a Bluetooth-enabled speaker box (that's what we're using), or even the cellphone's speaker. Basically, anything OTHER than holding the cellphone to their ear.

Even better, drivers 18 years and under can't use their cellphone while driving AT ALL, hands free device or not.

No longer will I be behind a car that's weaving dangerously in their lane only to discover they're not drunk. They're yakking away on their cellphone.

The first offense is $20. Next offense is $50. It continues getting more expensive.

I now find myself next to cars where the driver is on the cellphone and thinking "that's a ticket." I would love to know much money law enforcement rakes in during the first month.

Aloha

My wife gave me a Hawaiian-Word-A-Day calendar for Christmas so that I could pick up some Hawaiian words (and not sound so haole when we visit family).

I've discovered over these past months that some Hawaiian words have multiple meanings. Obviously, the most common and well-known one is "Aloha", which can mean hello and goodbye among other things.

However, today's word has some very diverse meanings. Can you find the correlation between all the meanings, 'cuz I sure can't.

The word: PE'A.

It can mean: 1) cross, 2) sail of canoe, 3) boundary and (here's the kicker) 4) to menstruate.

Know-it-all status to anyone who can correlate all four meanings...

Headline Of The Day

D.L. Hughley on Obama: `He's like a tall Urkel dude'

Link to Article.

George Carlin

George Carlin died a few days ago.

In my opinion, he was one of the funniest comics working the circuit. He could brilliantly point out the absurdities of every day life.

In his honor, here is a YouTube link to his classic "Seven Words You Can't Say On Television" (NSFW - the language IS salty) *

Link

* Interestingly, some of the words aren't so shocking anymore...

How Hot Was It?

This is from my car's AC controls at 6:30 PM Friday.



Yes. It was 111 degrees Fahrenheit (43.9 degrees Celcius) at 6:30 PM. 6:30. P.M. (That's evening time... when things are supposed to cool down).

After driving around for a few minutes, it cooled down to a relatively frosty 106 degrees.

That just ain't right.

iPhone Picture Time!

They've been marinating on my phone for months. Time to take 'em out of the broiler, season them with some comments and serve 'em up hot n' fresh.

Pictures from the iPhone.

In NO PARTICULAR ORDER!! WOOOT!



Kung Fu Panda! (from our local movie theater lobby)



A REAL Panda! (from the San Diego Zoo)



A real BABY Panda! (also from the San Diego Zoo)



Mmmmm. Heartburn.



How animals cool down on a hot day - birdy division.



How animals cool down on a hot day - squirrel division.



Lions, lions, and baby lions, oh my! (from the San Diego Wild Animal Park)



The Hollywood sign (taken from Hollywood & Highland)



The Hollywood Bowl (the little ant playing on stage is Elvis Costello. The iPhone doesn't exactly have a zoom lens)



Laundry cat!!



Mommy and baby Raccoons (a couple of blocks from our apartment)



Posted at the Santa Clarita, California Metrolink station. Commute to work at your own peril.



Ouch! (posted on the parking gate of a nearby apartment complex)



Posted in a bathroom stall. I can understand the first request, but the second? EEEW.



Who's been a Mouseketeer for over 15 years?? (16 years, 3 months to be exact).

That's it!

Thanks for playing!

The Good Ol' Days

I was looking over some of my previous posts (because there are SOOOOOOO many of them!*) and noticed way back in April that I incredulously declared that gas was $3.61 a gallon.



I would KILL for $3.61 a gallon. Gas in lovely, downtown Burbank is now averaging $4.55 a gallon. I am very grateful that I only work five minutes by car from my house.




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* See? You CAN convey facetiousness over the Internet.

One More Post

Another post full of what George Carlin calls "Brain Droppings":

- Indiana Jones was good. Total cinematic comfort food. Still, a little disconcerting that 1/2 the audience wasn't born when Raider of the Lost Ark was in the theaters.
- Good movies to rent: "Michael Clayton", "Zodiak", "Cloverfield"
- Newer, cheaper, faster iPhone coming out. Guess my wife is getting THIS one.
- Finally got my 15 year service award. I put a picture of it up only Facebook page.
- The Lost finale was in.sane. Now I have to wait until next January for Season 5.
- Saw The Police and Elvis Costello at the Hollywood Bowl. Even Sting's dad played. Oh, wait, that WAS Sting sporting a full (and graying) beard.
- Speaking of the Hollywood Bowl, gonna go see Stevie Wonder there in July.

Okay. That's enough for now.

iPhone Post

I'm posting something using my iPhone because I'm nerdy like that.

Happy Birthday!

Hey, guess what else April 8th is?

My Wife's Birthday!!

Happy Birthday!!

'Sup?

Hello Blog.

Sorry I've been ignoring you lately. My brain is chock-full of posts, but the calendar isn't chock-full of time. Plus I suffer from a bad case of "post-nesia". My posts are beautifully composed, full of flowery prose and profound ideas... until I sit in front of the computer. Then I forget everything I was thinking of and can only sputter out "Uh... how ya doin'? How 'bout that weather?"

So here I sit writing about how I can't think of anything to post because... I can't think of anything to post.

I guess some random thoughts will do:

- Jason Castro covered Bruddah Iz's version of "Over The Rainbow" on tonight's American Idol. Woooot for Hawaii!



- Ancient bands from Atlanta are kickin' some sonic butt right now. Both R.E.M.'s "Accelerate" and The B-52's "Funplex" are two of the best albums of 2008. My jaw dropped when, while reading a small blurb about "Funplex" in People, they noted that the median age of the band is 55. 55!. The whippersnappers over in R.E.M. are almost 50.





- Speaking of the walking (or singing) dead, the soundtrack for the Rolling Stones' new documentary, "Shine A Light", is also awesome which is amazing since the combined ages of all four members is about 100 years past death.



- The Pregnant Man. I love how the media is trying to promote this story as some kind of genetic miracle. A guy is pregnant!!! How can this be??? Are we entering some real age of X-Men? Uh. No. Repeat after me: Tran-sex-u-al. The "he" used to be a "she". And he/she still has the she plumbing. What we're actually witnessing is the world's first openly hermaphrodite individual. He/She's (It's?) appearance on Oprah was rife with TMIs. Don't mention "intercourse" around my wife.



- For the first time in many years I'm looking forward to seeing some movies...in a movie theatre! - Indiana Jones, James Bond, Star Trek (oh wait, that's next year now), Wall-E (gotta support the home team).

- Gasoline is up to $3.60+ a gallon. I'm about thiiiiiis close to tying a leash around my car and walking it to work.

- Yay! Lost still has five more episodes. I would have dropped to the floor and thrown a tantrum hissy fit rivaling any pissed-off three year old had "Meet Kevin Johnson" been the season finale.

There. Blog updated. Balance in the world is restored.